#cat's controller corner

[talershan]

I had a fun time with Hollow Knight: Silksong... but only because I modded it. It has no accessibility settings that can make things less incredibly punishing if you can't handle it or if you just want a slightly less punishing experience (like Celeste has and all difficult games should). I believe that if it had those settings I would adore the game. But as it stands, Silksong has several frustrating game design aspects that I think are outdated or just all around BS. If you want to read more on this rant, please see below. Again, I did enjoy the game, I just think it needs accessibility settings, so don't come at me please.

Hollow Knight: Silksong is a Frustratingly Mixed Experience

That gets infinitely better if you mod it.

[talershan]

We Must Unite Against Anti-Consumer Policies

It's all up to us.

Today I wrote an article about how pervasive the Anti-Consumer Policies are in the Videogame Industry, how we got here, and how we might be able to fight back. Hint: We have to work together.

[talershan]

I got banned on here for Part 1 of my History of Queerness in Videogames article series. So now, 3 weeks later and with both the series having completed over on my Substack and with my account reactivated, here's part 2!

Part 2 has to do with the 2000s, goes over a lot of great games that had a mix of different types of portrayals. I also go over some of the groundwork laid in the decade for the 2010s GamerGate reactionary BS. If you weren't around the gaming sphere in the 2000s, there's probably some stuff in here you didn't know about.

The History of Queerness in Videogames - Part 2 - The 2000s

The 2000s were a surprising decade of increased foreground queer representation.

[talershan]

A couple weeks ago I reviewed The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy and I have to say it is one of the best games I have ever played. It's witty, it's weird, it's filled with twists and revelations, it's amazing. I ended up having to review before I finished almost every ending but here weeks later I've finished a lot more of it and damn does it just get better and better.

Here's my review!

You Must Play The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy

Especially to truly understand how wide the scope of it actually is.

[talershan]

Do you have religious Trauma? Do you understand how religion has fundamental flaws that undermine everything they preach? Do you think that it's important to dissect how a religion represents itself vs how they actually act and are? Do you see the hollowness of religious doctrine and how all it actually does is make us hate ourselves? Well then here's a throw back from back in February of my Indika review. Damn good game and if you've personally gone through religious trauma that has forced you to have to reexamine all that you were taught, I highly recommend it. And if you havent gone through religious trauma because you weren't raised religious, it can very accurately show you how religion can really mess people up. So play it no matter what.

Indika Helped Me With My Religious Trauma

And if you have some you should play it too.

[talershan]

Oh hey! It's been a week since I posted part 2 of my series on the History of Queerness in Videogames! Well then here's part 3! In it we both cover queer representation in the 2010s and unfortunately have to go on a tangent about gamergate. There's so many good games of the 2010s, some even helped me process my own transness. It was a great decade for representation despite also having some bad ones too.

The History of Queerness in Videogames - Part 3 - The 2010s

This week we discuss the 2010s, and have to address the elephant in the room, GamerGate.

[talershan]

Here's Part 4 of my 4 part series on the History of Queerness in videogames. Today (technically a month ago) we go over the first half of the 2020s, as the second half hasn't happened yet. In the first half of this decade a whole lot of queer games and just games with queer representation have come out. Most of them fantastic.

I talk about what "woke" actually means and then discuss some of the backlash to queer representation as well, but just remember, there's always good queer games and always will be. No matter what the people who freak out about it think or say.

The History of Queerness in Videogames - Part 4 - The 2020s

Today we finish out the series by discussing the current decade and talking more about backlash. This week we have a Content Warning: specif

[talershan]

Something I really like about Avowed is that it has taken the right lessons from issues in the industry that caused super long dev times. It cut needless things, like things that only serve "realism" like fish in the water, or having the fully open world which isnt important for a good RPG. It then takes what is left and turns that up to 11 making the game feel like it was designed around fun and interesting experiences. It's an amazing game that you should totally play. Here's my review if you want to read more, but there are spoilers:

Avowed has the Best Parts of Skyrim & Mass Effect

I was surprised how much it improved on the Skyrim formula.