(videobun is my main now)

takes on video games and other stuff on the internet.

[videobun-gameblog]

Consumer Perspectives on Games as "Art"

(Preface that this is a sort of off the cuff essay written over the course of a little over an hour while winding down for bed, so this is definitely a bit of a ramble) Something that always bugs me in conversations around a lot of games (typically AAA, but it sadly bleeds into a lot of indies too when people approach them with a more consumerist mindset) is a very prescriptive language regarding how mechanics should work, in any regard, and often brings out the contrarian in me when friends speak to what would "fix" certain systems without any elaborate framework other than personal taste or past experience of other games that have done it "better".

In the company of friends I at least usually know contextually what is meant but philosophically it still irks me, even though I am definitely a hypocrite and do have opinions on what I would prefer certain games to have as features or what kinds of tweaks I'd like to improve the feel of something to my taste, I at the very least attempt to couch those opinions with the preface that I'm not the developer, the artist, or any kind of arbiter of design for something that ultimately isn't mine, I'm just a critic, and critics are… well, valuable, but a dime a dozen and rarely offer sincere insight worth listening to other than friendly banter on personal taste. If one were to have an audience and have any influence in taste-making, it would ideally be responsible with the aim of seeking a like-minded audience who still thinks critically and independently and primarily want the input of someone hopefully being insightful and humble with their feedback.

This opens up a whole can of worms regarding how popular opinion online propagates that I don't want to get entirely into, but just as often as people "borrow" their opinion from influences, people often resort to arguing that an opinion that they dislike must be "borrowed" and that's almost more annoying than the prescriptive opinions in the first place.

It sometimes feels like games can't be art not because they aren't art, but because very few people actually want to treat them as such. Even proponents of games as art are frankly horrible at looking at games for their artistic merit, instead viewing them as media to rank as better or worse than one another, and they simply call games art because it gives one of their hobbies of choice some degree of prestige or credibility that they don't even remotely appreciate. To them, it just sounds good that "the thing I like is art" but do they actually care about analyzing the style (not just surface level audiovisual ones, but more experiential design unique to games), pondering intent, message, etc. in things beyond just story and immediate gameplay? I think very few people care about this at all.

To others "games are art" is also just a broad statement about how illustrators, animators, musicians, etc. all collaborate towards the collective effort of the finished product, but that in itself only gets to a fraction of what calling games "art" even means and is a fairly shallow view of what calling games "art" means if that's all someone thinks it refers to.

This isn't to say that people can't or shouldn't have these surface level opinions or that those are necessarily even insignificant, but I don't often really get the impression that folks who express them have much modesty about it. The overall popular perception of games is that they are a product, and as pretentious as it sounds, I think a lot of people have deluded themselves (unintentionally, though capitalistic cultural osmosis) that products in their product-ness are art, even if they have disdain for "products" or "soulless" "corporate" design. Despite this stance, they still lack the perspective to really treat games as anything else. They know that one perspective is "bad" and that the other is "good" and this bleeds into visual and design trends that they believe are "well designed" (attributed to developers) and "poorly designed" (attributed to publisher/CEO demands as design by committee trend seeking, or whatever other pejorative point of view they may have).

I think there's some truth to this in the way AAA games are designed, there definitely are "safe" and "requested" features of games that are implemented with the intent to sell, but it's also very hard to pinpoint whose vision is whose in projects so massive that there's no singular authorship even with a proper director, and alongside prescriptive language to describe how a game "should" be, there's also a lot of presumptions on assigning and assuming intent behind every decision that one simply can't know unless they were involved. There's obviously educated guesses that can be made, and I think it's fun to ponder these things from time to time, but (I can't overstate it enough that despite the tone of this essay, I don't mind armchair conversations about this stuff, I just hate that people don't seem to have the humility to recognize that their opinions are just that, armchair assumptions) I often wonder how often people who makes these guesses are really aware just how much perspective they lack. It's okay to lack that perspective, but even an ounce of self awareness of it does so much in the way of turning an insufferable demand into a reasonable opinion.

In some ways, this is the "problem" of AAA, but as mentioned earlier, this half-baked perspective often bleeds into all games. These sort of takes are absolutely rampant in places like Steam reviews (and itch, albeit a bit less so). In some ways, it may be "fair" to say a AAA game "should" be a certain way if only because they ARE designed more in line with the intent to appeal to an audience in a way that garners popular (or at least targeted demographic) approval, and I don't entirely dislike these debates, but I do always try to be cognizant of how easy it is to get mired in absolutely trivial non-constructive debates about differences in taste.

What really does suck is how smaller games can suffer from the culture at large, and in ways I'm not even sure I know how to escape. I think it's fine to have negative opinions about games, about individual features of them, and speak exclusively to one's taste when doing so, I just often see people assume that those opinions carry far more weight than they really do. Especially in smaller projects, folks really seem to forget that another person's taste and perspective is involved, that being the person/people who made it. There's little desire to really treat engaging with the work as a "conversation" the way one might a painting or literature. I'm sure there's interesting dialogue to be had in how and why someone likes or dislikes different aspects of a game, but instead of viewing it as something emotionally resonant or more deeply interesting, it's simply a point of frustration with the "product" portion of the object. "I don't like this" could more often be used to reflect on why that is as opposed to immediately jumping to how it would be "fixed".

When I don't like a work of art, don't think "it should have been more red, it should have had more contrast" I usually have some perspective that accepts what I see is final. I'm sure the last two decades of games being available to be patched doesn't help this at all, and I hadn't really considered just how pervasive that element is until writing this last paragraph, but that's also definitely an interesting detail; AAA games are practically all guaranteed to go through a series of patches these days, even indies are. When I yearn for the days where games were final on launch, it's not because I "wish developers were forced to be more attentive to what they released", it's because I wish people as consumers were forced to contend with the media they are viewing is in fact a completed work of art. You don't like something about it? Ruminate on it then.

Granted, games also have the capacity to be "flawed" in ways that a painting may be undetectably "flawed" In a painting, some detail of the canvas material, condition, type of paints used, etc. may be "wrong" in ways one wouldn't know, meanwhile a game can in fact be "broken" in unintended ways. In that sense, it's a blessing to developers that the internet allows for fixes to the end result. I don't think there's anything wrong with patches for such reasons, but when it comes to practically every game being expected to be live-service, I almost revel in a game being released with nothing more than a short set of bug fixes and the nothing else. At the very least, it's nice when games are patched simply because the developer wants to add more for their own sake, and not necessarily to meet consumer demands. (This is one of those armchair opinions, it's impossible to know when this occurs one way or another, and I don't mean to imply that a developer desiring to appeal to their players is a bad thing, but I have at the very least spoken to and witnessed a few developers go through the process of patching a game over time, and I have a lot of respect for their project as a personal work, their rationale for adding more, and when they decided the project was certainly done.)

I could go on an entirely new tangent on the entitlement involved in consumers who consider games "dead" when content patches end or when "early access" games fail to receive timely support, but even that label in itself is an arbitrary product marker to define when a developer thinks a game is "not finished" at their discretion. To keep it short though, this is yet another angle in which folks actively choose to see a game as a product regardless of what their voiced opinion may be on the medium's status as art.

Admittedly, this section is meandering a bit and I'm not entirely sure how to conclude this point. I don't think it's wrong to view games as products, they obviously are, we pay money for them to play them and there's nothing inherently wrong with viewing them as a toy. This designation isn't mutually exclusive from art, in many ways what makes games toys is what contributes to their ability to be art in ways that non-interactive media cannot. Still, it's essentially their "curse" as well, because toys, as objects, are more easily commodified and turned into objects of desire and consumption than more established, "mature", and respected media that, while equally commodified, has had enough time to be grounded as "art" and thus has a wider more visible audience of people that appreciated them on deeper levels. But hey, I've read amazon book reviews, seen the way digital fanartists get treated from time to time on social media, and know just how quickly and shallowly independent music gets chewed up and spat out, so what do I know? The problems of consumer culture are pervasive in ways that aren't unique to games, I just feel that these perspectives are more visible (and sometimes even celebrated) so it's easier to frame this issue through that lens.

[videobun-gameblog]

"Just Make Art"

A sentiment I see from time to time among folks, at least those who happen to fall for engagement bait putting some sort of egregious, cringey consumer behavior on display, is that people need to stop consuming slop and "just make art" as a solution to whatever societal ill they seem to be extrapolating from what they are witnessing. Whether it be a video of a kid acting up over branded toys, nerds having trivial public debates online about some popular media subculture, or Disney adults being as they are, there's always some way to frame it as simple raw consumerist behavior over products that have no artistic merit.

I suppose the main issue is that social media destroys nuance. It's a big part of the reason why it's not worth engaging with what seems like bad faith or half baked arguments; they either mean it, and there's no convincing them otherwise, or they don't mean it but you're either going to get into a disingenuity competition because you fundamentally disagree, or a hair spitting competition because you fundamentally agree, but nobody wants to be the loser who made the biggest misunderstanding between the two.

With that said, there's a few ways to interpret "just make art [instead]":

Folks should not be consuming corporate pop-culture media, instead they should strike a balance between engaging with indie art and making their own. This is the most charitable interpretation, and give the benefit of the doubt that their lack of nuance is less about being flippant and more to do with saving their own time to express a more reasonable sentiment.

Consuming in itself is a useless act, we should only be creating practical and "meaningful" things. This is a less charitable interpretation but not one I haven't seen expressed before. If someone is being reductive and edgy or (ironically, impractically utilitarian about it) they might just say "yes" to thinking exactly this.

Corporate consumer culture represents some aspect of societal decline. This one is not mutually exclusive, and jokingly I'd call this one the "horseshoe theory" take, because it often comes from far right or left folks who are identifying an problem with capitalism (but where they assign blame and how they believe it should be addressed vary greatly, of course).

In general, I'd say I tend to choose to, or hope that someone would believe in points 1 and 3, from a leftist perspective, but offer at least some grace to the "consumer" and make less assumptions about the hows and whys of their interest in whatever thing it is they're interested in. I think the thing that bugs me has less to do with the perspective that one should engage with more art from less corporate sources and be a participant in art-making - that's an intuitive stance for someone of my political perspective - but rather the assumption that all of it is so mindless that it's worth reductively saying "we should make instead of consume things" or any other sentiment to that effect.

What is art without an audience? If art is communication, then who is being communicated to? To me, the metaphorical consumption works best with the framework that pop-culture, corporate media, etc. is junk food. It's worth criticizing, there's plenty of problems rooted in its production and consumption, and the world would be a better place without it, but it's also a reality of our modern existence and not really one I care to shame every individual instance I see of it. I don't really seethe at the notion of someone eating fast food, I'm not above it myself, but I do try to be critical and cognizant of my diet and would encourage everyone to do so as well.

That said, the metaphor falls apart (somewhat) when it comes to explaining the part I take issue with in "just make art" - obviously, when someone's response to junk food consumption is "just make food" there is a sort of practical argument to be made there (and no, I'm not going to get into this specific can of worms in earnest right now, while I do have thoughts on the subject); cook for yourself, find healthier options within your means, etc. The issue is that you CAN cook for yourself, you CAN'T exclusively make art "for yourself". Folks will argue with me on that! And to be entirely clear, I don't mean "make things that appease others because it's pointless to please yourself in the process of making art only for yourself". Obviously a good portion of making art is self fulfilment. Rather, because art is communication, art for yourself is introspection. "Exclusively" is the operative word there. One SHOULD make some art only for themself, but to make art also means to share it, to nourish others with it, to have conversation through their interpretations of it. Only making art for oneself is a lonely experience, and refusing to consume others' art in the process of only making art for nobody is a foolish endeavor that will not lead to the production of satisfying art in the long term. Just like plants need roots in soil to grow, artists need influence from the world and in turn can influence others positively through what their plant produces.

Naturally, the charitable interpretation of "just make art" includes that sort of sentiment. One should be making art instead of consuming pop-culture because those individual artists will influence each other and create a much healthier environment than the one we've created now under corporate, capitalistic, consumer culture - and YET, even so, I still feel like this blanket statement falls short. It has a bite of neglectful cynicism that doesn't really aim to assist others in beginning the process of making a healthier art culture, instead it just sort of curmudgeonly looks towards the worst of that culture, then interprets it as pessimistically as possible for some sort of schadenfreude or to feel better about themselves in one way or another.

Anything can be met with "just make art" including browsing social media, feeling the need to make weird, flippant, unproductive comments. Why is their consumption of social media ragebait slop any better than the capeshit the nerds they see arguing over that made them feel inclined to express the opinion in the first place? Shouldn't they "just be making art?" I dunno. I don't fully believe that of course, this would be an equally disingenuous stance, but it is a point of hypocrisy, right? Frankly, if pop culture is junk food, then social media engagement bait is absolute waste.

Not to come to the defense of big media projects in their entirely or whatever, but to squeeze every last drop of the food metaphor that I can, junk food isn't entirely meritless. I'll just name an example. I like Magic: The Gathering. I hate what the companies that produce it stand for, but I like the individual artists who are commissioned to produce illustrations for it, I like the social environment it creates, I like the thought process that the gameplay induces, and I like that the quality time it facilitates between me and my friends. Would it be better if we all collectively got better completely overlapping hobbies in the form of going out to art galleries, collecting, reading, and discussing indie comics and literature, playing indie video/tabletop games, and doing art projects tother instead? Yeah, probably. Actually, yes, definitely. But it's also not really THAT deep, is it? 90% of the Magic we play if done using all of the assets for free in Tabletop Simulator, I only buy product when it comes to prereleases which let me go to a social event where I meet folks, have fun, and make worthwhile memories. All to say that we do find some way to find valuable experiences through this consumption; it's not entirely lacking in media-nutrition, because we're capable of doing so responsibly. Of course unhealthy versions of this same habit exist, gambling thousands of dollars on packs, scalping product to get a buck off of other addicts, etc. but there's degrees to it.

To get to the point, like everything, it's not just a black or white issue. More people than you think have more critical perspectives of the things they consume than you might think as a cynical onlooker, and I personally believe that the social media environment that leads to someone's overt cynicism is an equally, if not worse, habit of consumption. I like to give the benefit of the doubt. Don't get me wrong, I am also taken aback by thousand dollar collections of IP junk, the mania that the bad sides of fandom can produce, etc. etc. I just think it's not worth making broad generalization about when you already have a valid stance that indie art would be better for everyone. What's the point in subjecting yourself to a feed of ragebait, influencer drama, and lolcows? Just as one can change their art consumption habits, everyone has the capacity to change their feeds. When I found myself inundated with twitter ragebait, I used the site less, I deliberately follow more artists and unfollow folks who put annoying stuff in front of my face.

"Just make art" is such a strange, reductive sentiment that gets to a point that I largely agree with but is so stuck in the muck I have to question why it's even worth saying. To who? To feel superior, to get a reaction or start an argument? It's advice folks should follow themselves if they feel it resonates with them, especially if they've been tempted to say it in response to some bait on Twitter. I guess that's why I even bothered writing this whole post. I've never fully articulated this sentiment before, though these thoughts are ones I've been mulling over for years as I've spent time online. To me, THIS experience was worthwhile. I gave myself the opportunity to express my thoughts and put them to words in a long blog post for... well. I would say nobody but myself, but I'm sure a couple people will read it. It was a valuable use of my time personally at least.

Go make art - but also look at other people's art, be critical of ALL media you consume, and don't fall into traps of timewasting unproductive cynicism that stops you from engaging with others sincerely.

[videobun-gameblog]

Good Art by Bad People and Confusing Taste for Morality

I'm going to get ahead of any pretense or beating around the bush and just spit it out: I thought (and still think) Tamashika (the game) looks cool. It plays cool. It's a neat flow state speed game that balances speed and precision nicely, it's got parries, it's got perfect play (don't miss, take damage) mechanics, etc. all in the shell of a visually messy and overwhelming aesthetic that is fun to decipher and learn to make legible in the process of mastery. I like all that stuff. It's janky in a few ways, but ways I tend to forgive from any other game. Main problem is, it's made by a diehard Zionist. Oops! Well, needless to say (or, very needfully said, given you might not know me) I don't give a fuck about this game anymore. I'm not playing the demo, I'm definitely not buying it. Interest dropped to zero.

So what now? I guess the main reason I'm writing this is because upon browsing my "For You" page on Twitter (big mistake) I found a bunch of folks quote tweeting the game dev's tweets exclusively to dunk on it, calling the game shit, ugly, unfun, etc. etc. Opinions that one can rightfully have, but also a very odd reminder that even discourse I "agree" with can still have an air of obvious bullshit overlayed on top that completely misses the point for the sake of sanctimonious… well. For lack of a better term "virtue signaling" - and I don't mean that in the "anti-sjw anti-woke" "this game is actually good and I don't care who made it" way, but just in the very literal "signaling one's virtue" by moralizing over not just the one very obvious thing that matters at all (the fact one should not support a game made by Zionists funding the IDF) but also choosing to reiterate that they thought it looked and played bad as well. Which, again, totally fair opinion, but is completely tangential to the point that is necessary to be boosted (don't financially support people who will use that money for genuinely harmful purposes).

Why does it matter to me though? Why do I even feel the need to argue that "errm actually this art made by an asshole was fun to me"? I guess because I care more about the whole argument that surrounds every instance that this has ever occurred, and I care about people making sound arguments against things as opposed to using vestigial, irrelevant components to an argument that are only used to make oneself feel good; again, favoring the schadenfreude of sanctimony over the sincerity in a moral claim that aims to do better for the world. Tamashika COULD look and play like anything. Tamashika could be your favorite game of all time, it could be the ugliest, most uninteresting piece of dreck you've ever come across, it wouldn't matter. One doesn't have to flatten nuance of their aesthetic preference into simply "good" and "bad" to strengthen a larger and more prominent moral argument. Regardless of what your opinions are on a piece of media, which I still think you should always allow yourself to maintain as complex, nuanced, etc. the core argument still remains, one should not support a game like Tamashika because doing so directly funds folks who will use that money to do direct, tangible harm.

I'm not above it though, I know exactly where this mindset comes from. I LOVE taking the opportunity to moralize about some random bullshit I don't partake in and feel some sense of superiority in the fact that I don't consume it or even enjoy it artistically as a rationale to not having engaged with slop that also happens to be mired in controversy. I don't play Fortnite. I don't play Bethesda games. I think Rockstar games are all boring artless bullshit that doesn't respect the medium they're a part of. etc. etc. and it all culminates as a signifier of my taste wrapped up in moral arguments from time to time. I do get a slight feeling of superiority anytime Epic games or the other studios mentioned catch some heat for bad business practice in the form of disrespect to their employees and consumers - but I also try (more and more lately) to avoid making such argument out loud, because I know I'm a hypocrite. I still play Nintendo games. I still like old Blizzard games (even though I don't like the studio now and haven't supported them for over a decade), I still got hooked on Zenless Zone Zero for over half a year and it has only now begun to subside. Each of those projects/studios have been caught up in controversies equally as bad if not worse than the ones I listed, but I still partake because the nature of big business obfuscates the harm done at such scale. I prefer to stick to indies, but I do like my AAA from time to time, as problematic as it is to engage with the games industry at large in such a way. More and more over time, my interests have shifted away, but I still remain curious and interested in a handful of projects that, whether I like it or not, were in some way affected by issues like crunch, wage theft, etc.

Anyway, I'm not saying all that to make the argument "it doesn't matter" or "just play what you want" or "separate the art from the artist!" because I think that mentality is willfully ignorant. I don't take the "just a participant in society" approach that lets me excuse all of my consumption. I know with certainty that I have agency over what I choose to consume, especially in the realm of art/media. What I mean to say is, every instance of these weird purity tests that explode online are just a reminder of why I try not to pay attention to it. Not because I think ignorance is bliss, but because if I must remain informed about things, I'd much rather it be in a way that respects my capacity to think for myself and separate my aesthetic/taste sensibilities from my moral ones, not just so I don't get condescended to, but so I avoid actively participating in this exact form of juvenile behavior that is lording my jumbled aesthetic/moral preferences over others as if they are equally valuable to the same argument.

I've liked art from shitty people and good people, I've disliked art from shitty people and good people. I make my decisions based on what I think sends the most impactful message based on my moral sentiment. If I know my money is directly going to people who will use it for ill intent, I don't want to do that. As I said, I'm not buying Tamashika, I'm just also not afraid to admit I enjoyed the time I had with it. My opinion didn't change just because my willingness to financially support it has been erased. That said, I only care to explain why I liked it for this framing device. You won't catch me talking up how cool it is from here on out in any public way other than to use it as an example of such instances that occur from time to time. It's a shame! I wish it weren't so, I'm bummed out, but I'm also a responsible adult with some degree of principle that I'd like to stick to. That dev can go fuck themself, and I can thank them only for the opportunity to express my opinion on this larger issue though the lens of the product they made.

[videobun-gameblog]

Current good games played this last month include Zero Ranger, Blue Revolver, Tiny Rogues, and LOVE 3. LOVE 3 is something I've already 100%ed a while ago, but I've been semi-seriously speedrunning it lately since its appearance at GDQ and having a good time. The community is small but it's honestly one of the nicest I've been a part of in a while. I aim to make some custom levels for it later once I've got the time to commit to it. I wrote the first Steam guide for it too, so I feel like that's a community I actually participated (and still participate) in somewhat seriously in :) Zero Ranger and Blue Revolver as cool shmups, I didn't click with Blue Revolver enough to stick with it as much as ZR which is a little more approachable and generous to new players imo. OST on both are great though, but Zero Ranger in particular has become one of my faves games of all time, def surprised by it. Tiny Rogues is cool but also early access so I basically did as much as was available to me now aside from some longer term achievements and am putting it down until the next big patch so I don't wear it down the way I do too often with other early access stuff.

On the end of uh. Worse games I'm playing right now, Tembo the Badass Elephant is definitely bad and ass. Or well, that's not fair to it, it's mid. I think it's just solidifying my general dislike for platformers that rely on backtracking for collectibles, and while I might enjoy it more if I weren't such a completionist about it, I can't help but want to 100% each level. Problem is, it's that kind of game where it's super easy to accidentally collect only like.. 95-98% of the items, and then backtracking just turns the level into a chore and the actual design and flow of the game isn't particularly groundbreaking or exciting in any capacity. Which is funny because LOVE 3 is just a plan ol' run and jump game with no frills and yet I'd consider it a vastly superior platformer because it doesn't try too hard to be anything more than it is. Tembo sort of evokes Sonic, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong Country vibes but it's worse than any of those individually. That's all I really gotta say about it. Anyway yeah, me playing some 2015 ass Game Freak platformer that is just okay.

Dunno what I'll get around to next, I need to dive into some big games before March 'cause Wo Long drops then.

[videobun-gameblog]

33 (oh no) Games I'm looking forward to in 2023 and beyond, including 2022 (and a few earlier) games that I missed

Games Releasing in 2023 onward I'm looking forward to most:

Oh my god, there's way too many.

Darkest Dungeon II: I need to play the first still, a game I know I'll like, I just haven't because I know once I do It'll take over my life for the month.

Nine Sols: Incredible souls-y sidescroller with a boss demo that instantly made me know I NEED this game. Very stylish, pretty, dark, and just sorta my jam wrt its aesthetics on top of its gameplay being pretty darn good.

Momodora: Moonlit Farewell: I assume this is coming out in 2023, though you never know with these indie projects. This is supposed to be the last game in the series, so this is a fairly big release!

Returnal (PC): Finally, I'll be able to play it. I no longer want a PS5 :x

Hollow Knight: Silksong: For all we know this could be another couple years out, but I'm holding out hope that 2023 is the year. The first game is extremely good.

Endless Dungeon: I've been playing the open dev betas and I'm liking how this game is shaping up, even if it's got some divisive changes from Dungeon of the Endless. That said, I'm hopeful it'll still be a fun multiplayer game for a couple months.

Wildfrost: Cool card game demo I tried out during a Steam Next Fest event, I think it'll be a good time.

Another Crab's Treasure: From the developer of Going Under, It's supposed to be a souls-y experience, so I'm hoping it can deliver on that, I liked their previous game even if it wasn't to all of my friends' taste.

Gunbrella: Another Next Fest demo I tried out, it's REALLY fun, the movement is extremely good and has high potential to go ridiculously hard if the level designers have the guts to go all out in the final release.

UFO 50: I have no clue if 2023 is going to be the year for this collection, but It's in the hands of Derek Yu and a handful of other very good indie devs, a collection of 50 dang games that's been in development for quite a while now.

Animal Well: A really stylish pixel metroidvania that I'm very interested in.

Hades II: I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is actually going to hit in 2024 (unless it's confirmed for 2023, I didn't pay attention) but I really enjoyed the first, Supergiant really never misses imho.

Skate Story: I'm not super big on skating games but I absolutely can't get over how good the aesthetic of this game is, it's, as the kids might put it, "a vibe".

Remnant II: The first Remnant wasn't really anything too special, but it was a fun low double digit hour multiplayer romp that I'd happily do again with some improvements, which is what I'm hoping this ends up being. It looks promising.

Enchain: ANOTHER Next Fest demo entry, this FPS has some of the most satisfying movement I've ever played around with in recent memory, with so much cool tech innately available to you that only gets revealed every few minutes, it's ripe for sequence breaking and speedruns. Absolutely keeping an eye out on this, even though I expect it to be done after 2023.

Lone Ruin: This will likely be one of the first games I'll get to in 2023, Next Fest really introduced me to a ton if interesting games, and this one is no exception. Isometric action roguelike twin stick shooter sorta thing with a cool look and a wave mode to boot, it's addicting, I know I'm going to like this.

Lies of P: Just a truly bizarre souls inspired game that, despite my skepticism, I can't help but be intrigued. The concept is goofy as hell, but I just have to know if it's good or not.

Replaced: I'll be honest I don't know enough about this game to be sure I'll be into it, but the Game Awards trailer caught my eye.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor: Look, as little as I care about Star Wars as a whole, I really enjoyed the first game, so I'm 100% on board for this sequel.

Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon: I hate to admit it, but I'm a bit of an Armored Core fan poser; I haven't really played any other Armored Core outside of dabbling in what I retroactively recognize as Armored Core at a friend's house ages ago, it's that kind of game for me. Still, I've loved everything Fromsoft has put out lately, I'm a budding mecha fan getting into all sorts of mecha media lately, it's time I really sink my teeth into one of these; honestly, I might play some of the older games before this releases to get a taste.

Earthblade: This is supposedly coming out in 2024, and it doesn't seem like a really intense platformer along the lines of Celeste, but I like the dev, I'm curious. I'm sure it will be interesting.

The Lords of the Fallen: Lords of the Fallen (2014) was one of the most mid games I've ever played, a fairly repetitive slog that I, for some reason, felt compelled to 100%. This is apparently under a new director/team (??) so this confusingly named reboot is something I'm cautiously optimistic about.

Final Fantasy XVI: I'm not really a big Final Fantasy fan, my experience is in the first two games. That said, the action of this game looks cracked, I can't deny. I'm interested. I know the writing for the series lately has been compelling, and the combat designer for this game worked on Dragon's Dogma and Devil May Cry V, so I can only assume this one is going to be nuts.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn: From the developers of Ashen (which was very souls inspired), this one looks like it's got more of its own identity which is cool. I also think it follows that game's lore?? Who knows, we'll find out.

Games from 2022 and earlier that I need to get to:

Norco: I just didn't have time to get around to it, narrative type games tend to get put on the back burner for me.

Citizen Sleeper: See above, same reasons.

Disco Elysium: See above, except longer standing.

Kentucky Route Zero: See above, and begin laughing.

Outer Wilds: See above, except with the context that I played an hour and just sort of forgot. I'm sure it's good, and I know it's short-ish, but here's my sort of hot take: the [spoiler, gimmick] is something I always thing is COOL in games but is never something I actually LIKE that much in games. I always feel like I'll find one that really clicks, but something about it sort of short circuits my brain and willpower.

Thymesia: A souls-y game that just sort of went under my radar and I couldn't afford and didn't have the time for

Hyper Demon: Partially due to lack of money and partially due to not being done with Devil Daggers quite yet

Signalis: I have no excuse - well yes, money. But aside from that, I know I should play it.

NieR Replicant: I just forgot! I own it, I just.. didn't have time!

[videobun-gameblog]

Games Finished in 2022

I'm going to put most of this under a read more, basically I'm going to write quick description of literally everything I played this year (including a bit from December 2021) all in one post. I'll make a separate one for demos I played as well as anticipated games coming in the next couple years. This is generally in order of completion, though a few entries may be slightly scrambled in the midpoint as I added some retroactively during periods where I forgot to update or played multiple games in the same time frame. Not everything I played was from 2021/2022, there's plenty of stuff I just finally got around to this year.

Daemon X Machina (2019): Weird Armored Core-ish mech game, I kind of hated the story and characters, totally lacked depth in ways that would have been far more interesting with more competent writers given the fairly simple premise. Solid, though mech on mech combat was a bit of a slog sometimes especially by the end game where it just felt tedious. The final boss is horrendous and soured my overall opinion of the game. I did not bother to 100% this game, far too tedious achievements.

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knight (2021): Fairly fun metroidvania, the bosses are great. It definitely draws a lot of inspiration from Momodora and such. Exploration is a little slow given the scale of the world, and it's far more combat oriented > puzzles. Still, the boss rush got a good amount of my time. I 100%ed this game.

Slay the Spire (2019): I've been playing this game since 2019 and 100%ed it last year, but I finally managed to beat an Ascension 20 run with every character this year, so I'm including it on this list. idk what to say about this game other than its probably one of my all time faves.

Inscryption: Kaycee's Mod (2022): The base game is fantastic, and honestly was my Game of the Year for 2021. This mod is more of the base game, though elaborating further would spoil the main; I 100%ed this mode, it's quite good, and compliments the base game nicely.

Death's Door (2021): A nice little game with less substance than I'd have liked, combat is fairly simple and puzzles also leave a bit to be desired. Its aesthetic design is very good though. I liked it enough to 100% it, though I had quite a few issues with it, definitely lacked a bit of substance. Minimal in some not-always-great ways.

Binary Domain (2012): What a ride. Janky arcade cover shooter action with a bizarre and charming cast of characters and story. I liked it a lot.

West of Dead (2019): A very mediocre game, honestly, but something about it was exceptionally gripping to me despite its jank. It has a really nice combat flow room-to-room that takes some getting used to, but has a lot of superfluous mechanics that lack a lot of depth and variety. I'm hoping they succeed with the Hellboy game they're working on.

Cave Crawler (2022): A fun little free to play platformer that takes about half an hour to finish at most. Not too special all things considered, but neat!

Gloom (2017): A weird indie side scrolling action roguelike clearly inspired by Bloodborne with a bit of visual inspiration from Limbo. Very RNG dependent for some of its tight time based achievements and such, overall quite janky, but it held my attention for a solid week or two.

Elden Ring (2022): What can I say, it's the Game of the Year, by many people's standards. It had me mesmerized by its world and scale so many times I could hardly believe it, it's sort a game you could only dream of, made real. I do have a few small complaints regarding its overuse of some assets in ways that its scale is a bit of a negative factor in retrospect (also just a handful of bosses have some design I dislike; it's a bit loose in ways something like Sekiro isn't, for example, which still remains my fave combat From has ever designed) but all considered, it's still exceptional. No game is perfect, but this was damn near close.

Neon White (2022): Honestly, this may be tied with Elden Ring for Game of the Year for me. I'm a defender of its cringe, which, all things considered, is a small portion of that game. The gameplay itself is something I never knew I wanted; single player arena shooter time trial speedrunning. It's like the Trackmania of FPS games, and good lord it is something special. I 100%ed this game and got every red ace medal.

Dicey Dungeons: Reunion DLC (free, 2022): An absolutely exceptional send off to an already exceptional game, the music for these episodes absolutely slapped, and the remixed mechanics for each character are maybe my favorite in the entire game, really the ultimate example of how to give a game a proper last hurrah.

Spelunky 2 (2020): I've been playing this game since 2020, but I just wanted to note here that I finally 100%ed this game, excluding having completed the Cosmic Ocean (of which there is no achievement for). Anyway, Derek Yu is a genius and that can never be stated enough, this game sincerely is a masterpiece.

Into the Breach: Advanced Edition DLC (free, 2022): A game I had already completed the year prior got an extremely good and well rounded patch with new enemies, mech squads, etc. I went in to 100% the new achievements as well as get a Hard Mode 4 Island clear with every squad for the hell of it. Also one of my favorite games of all time, I can't say much else about it.

Cult of the Lamb (2022): An incredibly addicting colony sim with roguelite-inspired elements, the rogue aspects left a lot to be desired to be quite honest, but the gameplay loop surrounding the cult carried it. If it weren't for that I'd have been disappointed honestly. The best analogy I can think of is ordering from a restaurant, getting a completely different order, but eating and enjoying it anyway. Not what I expected, but still enjoyable.

skorpulac (2017): a cool short retro inspired platformer by the guy who does Spelunky's music, a very interesting atmosphere with a fun little twist at the end, I loved it.

Super Hexagon (2012): A game I played back in 2012, but finally decided to get the 60 second achievement on the final mode. Peak "flow state" video game.

Carrion (2020): A neat and relatively short metroidvania-ish monster game. It's fairly linear despite its seemingly open ended nature of the hub, I enjoyed it but was never really totally enthralled. A very solid "good!" - the best compliment I can give it to its aesthetics and its very good design and guiding the player on where to go with environmental design while hiding its general linearity. Never in your face while guiding you on your way, devs could learn a thing or two from this game about how to lead players in the right direction without explicitly telling you in text.

Hand of Fate (2015): Truly the only game I hated this year, and I could tell it wasn't for me in just half an hour. I expected card game, I got mediocre action game hidden underneath a ""card game"" veneer. Simply not for me; it felt very dated, despite having a neat presentation.

Environmental Station Alhpa (2015): From the Baba is You and Noita developer, I basically took on this game as "homework" before diving into Noita, and I was not disappointed. Maybe one of the best Super Metroid inspired games that truly understood what made it good, and honestly, probably surpassed it, and that's not even a hot take. This game has absolutely absurd depth, underneath the skin of a fairly normal metroidvania is a monolithic highly esoteric cryptographic puzzle that can add on at least triple the time to complete, and the platforming/boss challenges do not mess around either. Comprehensive and deep, Arvi Teikari is, much like Derek Yu, basically a god damn genius of this craft.

Noita (2019): I'm not quite done with this game, but I'll add it here, since I've given it a long enough rest - I've only scratched the surface of what there is to do in this game, which might be saying too much. This game is loved by masochists and hated by people with little patience and/or imagination, I think your average person would consider it a wacky little game that is fascinating and frustrating in equal measure. For weirdos though, everything horrible about this game is good, actually, and everything good is sincerely genius. I fall in that camp.

Bananner Nababber (2022): Just an absolutely unhinged and beautifully ugly retro inspired platformer boss rush. It's free. If hitting your head against a wall to fight 6 3 phase bosses on par with some of the hardest NES/SNES hellspawns sounds fun, this is for you to waste an afternoon to.

Wow! This got so long I had to add a break!

Dead Cells (2018): This game just doesn't stop getting content, and I'm far from finished with it, but I have to add it to this list simply because I did much more this year after putting it down for a while. It's got ANOTHER expansion/crossover with Castlevania coming next year which is wild. Anyway, I like this game a lot even if it ends up being a bit of a visual clusterfuck at times and is a little oddly slippery with some progression systems I don't like as much as other games, but it's... cool. It's good. Not my favorite game or anything, but I like it enough to keep coming back a couple times a year for a few weeks at a time.

Spelunky HD (2008): Yep, I'm adding this one to the list, I decided to go back to this version to 100% it, though I still have a couple achievements to get, so expect this game to come up again in 2023 as I get around to that (or not, I dunno). Everything I said about Spelunky 2 applies here, except like, a decade earlier, slightly less refined but no less genius.

Tumbleseed (2017): Someone made Ice Cold Beer a video game except about a seed climbing a mountain, and it's good. It's frustrating, but it's good, and it feels good to get good. I still need to finish up a couple achievements that I got so close to finishing, but then life got in the way. I will return! Underrated as hell, though admittedly obviously niche and not very appealing to normal folks.

Gunfire Reborn (2020): I played a lot of this last year, but I also played more of it this year. It's fun, but more fun with others. That said, 80% of my time in it is solo to wrap up achievements, of which I'm fairly deep in on, but still have plenty to go. I have not paid for the DLC. Anyway, I like it, the guns feel good. It's like, if Borderlands were a short 1 hour run roguelike and instead of cringe dialogue it's just funny animal people who don't say anything except "hyaah" and such.

Rogue Legacy 2 (2022): It's more Rogue Legacy, but unlike Nioh being for better and worse, it's all for the better. Vastly improved visuals, movement mechanics, enemy variety, progression, etc. While I ultimately dislike the not-very-rogue persistent upgrades, it is what it is, and they make it work. The challenges are hellish, and I still have some to wrap up, I'd like to 100% this game next year.

Devil Daggers (2016): I have not done everything I wanted to do in this game quite yet, but I'll add it to this list regardless. I'll say it how I summarized it on a Tweet; this game feels like a creepypasta about a haunted arcade game that takes over your brain and forces you to keep playing as it gets weirder and more grotesque as it goes along, except it actually exists. Horrific Overstimulation. I still need to get around to Hyper Demon, I'll see that one in 2023, which just seems like this game on crack (I hate to have written that, but it's true).

Monolith (2017): What an absolutely underrated gem of a game, it's a more shmup-y Isaac. I love it. I wish I could say more, it's just cool as hell. Sometimes that's all that needs to be said.

Vampire Survivors (2022): I don't know how to describe how I feel about this game. It's amazing, but it sucks. I don't even feel bad being low key a hater; it lacks a lot of sincere depth, it's repetitive and the challenge absolutely melts away once you're given access to meta tools, but I can't deny that it's addicting as all hell and charming in almost every other regard. It does a handful of cool things here and there, and is almost taking over the world. I refuse to call things "overrated" on principle, but this is damn near close. The devs are good people and they deserve every bit of praise they get, but man did this game start to wear down on me in my attempt to 100% it.

Floppy Knights (2022): As of writing this, there's still one more piece of promised final DLC, so expect to see this on my 2023 list as well once I complete that. This game is good! As with quite a few others on this list, I wrote a lengthy Steam review about it. It's a really good puzzle tactics game! Emphasis on puzzle - this will leave a lot to be desired for RPG tactics fans, which initially disappointed me, but grew on me as I started to understand it as an open-ended puzzle game. The challenge modes (with set decks you're forced to play with) really nailed this aspect and were honestly more fun and rewarding to complete than the base game which ultimately ended up a bit cheesable by the end (albeit the way its progression works, was always balanced, so I have to give it credit for that) Anyway, soft recommend for PUZZLE fans who happen to also like turn based tactics. I would tell RPG tactics fans to give it a look too, but to expect a generally slower paced and more methodical game style.

Nioh 2 (2020): It's more Nioh! For better and worse. What an absolute nightmare of a grind with totally superfluous loot treadmill mechanics that it absolutely does not need, needlessly complicated marginal stat gains across weapon and character skill trees, armor, weapons, and trinkets, etc. etc. But at the end of the day, the core mechanics surrounding its combat are absolutely exceptional, the boss fights are some of the most fun in any action game of this style I've fought, and that's even in competition with the Souls games that inspired it. It's SO fun, here's hoping Wo Long is at least a little less grind-y than this.

Umarangi Generation (2020): Retroactively one of my top 5 2020 games probably, it's got a sincere understanding of what makes the PS1 era visuals and level design that inspired it good. Mildly janky in a few areas that don't affect the overall experience, this is one of those games I'd recommend to any visual artist honestly. The photo editing is really well implemented. If I ever get around to the DLC, I'll include it in my 2023 list.

Higurashi When They Cry Chapter 1 (2006/2015): Felt the need to get around to some Ryukishi07 work in light of the announcement of Silent Hill f. Gripping and chilling, honestly, immaculate pacing and sense of tension. Admittedly required putting on some blinders to its grosser elements (mostly in the, y'know, teenage boy protag surrounded by girls premise and the weird writing that often leaves me wishing to NOT be in the protag's head) but aside from that it's still really good. You just have to be an anime trope immune person to enjoy this sort of stuff. I'll give a full opinion on the entire story as I complete it in 2023.

Mortal Shell (2020): A very souls inspired short game that was thoroughly enjoyable, save a few oddities with its character progression and are designs. There were a few stand out positives, and just a couple glaring negatives, but overall I like it a lot. I still have the expanded roguelike "Virtuous Cycle" mode to sink my teeth into, so I'll update my thoughts in 2023 on that.

Good lord, I wish there was more I could say about each game (in some cases there was, in which case I put up a likely private Steam review for, sorry)

[videobun-gameblog]

video game industry shit, unorganized 

so there’s going to be microtransaction regulation for games played by minors, at least, it’s a proposition in the US Senate right now, and I saw two comments, basically conservative/liberal takes related to art

the first said this will stifle artistic freedom because of the government having a hand in how games can be made, the second said hopefully after these regulations, games can be seen as art and not money things to milk for cash

but i feel like these both miss the mark on what stops games from being seen as art, it’s not about how regulated or not by the government games are, it’s the economic level that ruins artistic integrity, because games to big publishers are nothing more than products. the teams working on it might consider it art, the individual labor of each contributor might be considered art, but the utility of it is not to be art, it’s to be consumed. this isn’t to say games aren’t art, but rather to say that corporate interest is the biggest threat to art in general, because all labor used to produce it is to create something profitable and not purely interesting or communicative in its own right. plenty of unique creative decisions are changed purely because of market forces. AAA studios cannot make purely experimental works with unique or specifically critical/political/social messages or odd (unfamiliar/”bad”/inaccessible/too minimal or too comlpex) systems because those choices would hinder the product’s ability to be SOLD, even if those choices might make something far more interesting and meaningful. market forces are what force things to be a little more cookie cutter, with the guise of “innovation” only coming through in SAFE (market safe) decisions with mitigated risks. games CAN be art, but capitalism itself has done more to damage games as art (and all art in general) than government regulation has, because the government regulation only comes in response to corporate greed to begin with. both government and corporate interests are bad, but people are so blind to how much capitalism affects art/entertainment/media/communication that they almost arbitrarily decide whether or not the government is more or less helpful towards games being considered art or not, but that’s strictly limited to US liberal-conservative framing and completely ignores the most damaging institutions for the sake of furthering a not-so-different from the opposition political agenda. games (and almost everything) struggle to be art under capitalism, of which both positions still uphold anyway.

[videobun-gameblog]

Rambling about Sekiro (spoilers below read me):

- Evolution of "i'm scared to block, i like Souls rolling" to "okay i'll block and sort of deflect but only basic attacks i know" to "okay I don't even need to dash except for perilous attacks!"  to "okay now i can actually flip between defense and offense on the fly and this is SUPER fun!!"

- Basically, I've never in my life played a game where offense and defense mesh so well together, where blocking is FUN and viable, and seeing your attacks get deflected is actually GOOD and not just infuriating, because you're making progress in the fight.

- People've said Dark Souls is a little like a hard, combat focused Zelda but really, THIS is what that's like, and I'm in love. From did it.

- The upgrade system is neat and I appreciate it for rewarding exploration but also allowing you to challenge yourself by refusing to use them. Also it just works out really well for speedrun balancing and I can’t wait to see the evolution of speedruns in this game because there’s a good balance between wanting more power, posture, and HP and wanting to go as fast as possible.

SPOILERS UNDER CUT, DON’T DO IT UNLESS YOU ARE ALREADY AT /END/ GAME OR DO NOT EVER INTEND TO BUY SEKIRO

   ---!!!SPOILER ZONE (I'm serious do not read if you intend to play or are still playing)!!!---

 (long space for people who might see this on the blog first as opposed to via the dashboard)

- I absolutely adore the weird scientific/medicinal/supernatural macabre shit in this game. The red lump item gave me chills picking it up the first time. Same thing with seeing the first undying monk thing, I couldn't even burn it (but then I finally did it with THAT ITEM... more below)

- haha hand in a jar! haha that guy that flies at you... haha, monkey :) haha ninja dog...... hell even the headless... I love From's mix of disturbing humor (or just flat out being funny despite the bleak setting). Their version of mimics in Souls sum this up best but there's plenty of things here too that are just flat out hilarious and I love it.

- Oh Christ, speaking of, I did the Doctor questline and oh god it gave me some of that Bloodborne dread.

- "IS THAT A FUCKING DARK SOULS?" also lmao when he falls

- "IS THAT THE FUCKING CHAOS BLADE!??" oooh fuck oh fuck *pushes up glasses* remember the cut content with Shiva in Dark Souls???

- Sekiro/Wolf having the "defy your father, break the code" moment was SO good and I love that whole archetype. Simple but I just... <3 Oh god and When Owl is basically just like "that's my boy" when you kill him... I... u_u

- giving Lord Kuro rice was SO cute and just furthered my love for Wolf because this child is teaching him part of how to be himself and to also enjoy things (basically chill the fuck out you freaking murder machine, you are more than that) through compassion, friendship, and a reminder of his own childhood and I don't really get emotional over stuff like this often but awww..! ;_;

- The sake dialogue moments are so good. A very simple concept but I love the nature of sharing part of one's past through a friendly offering, it felt like a really good balance between clear concise mechanics (sake) fitting neatly with narrative elements. It's basically just a dialogue item but it didn't FEEL that way. I felt genuine excitement upon finding new drinks knowing I'd get a chance to share it.

- OH MY GOD ENFEEBLED IS SUCH A GOOD ASS STATUS EFFECT??? THE ANIMATIONS!!! He just hobbles around like a dude who just suddenly became an old man (’cuz that’s literally what it is) with his sword as a cane??? I LOVE FROMSOFT! That shit is so wonderfully expressive but also fits perfectly with that style of horror humor (and I lied before. Mimics are beaten by THIS status effect. New number one spot for my fave moment like this in a From game)

- Oh also speaking of animation, those fucking boss kills!!! *deep inhale* BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- While not my favorite boss mechanically, SPECIFICALLY that kill animation on the Giant Ape... DUDE HOLY FUUUCK! and then the fake out!?!?!? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! SO good!

- Lady Butterfly was a fun main boss and O'Rin of the Water was a fun mini boss. Plenty of others were fantastic but those stood out. Like, two of my friends so far have expressed the same feelings on Butterfly! Good Fight!

- I even liked the gimmick fights! They did it! Gimmick fights that are actually well designed! They're more about exploring mechanics outside of pure combat without punishing you super fucking hard at a random point just because they can. (Bed of Chaos, Micolash) Strangely a little bit of a breather, which is fitting because it’s a perfect counter balance to the stress of finding yourself in a unique situation. They actually give you time to analyze, think, and breathe it all in!

- I'm currently stuck on an end game "secret"/optional boss with some classic From Lore Implications *ok hand* and it's brutal af. I am excited to learn how to master this.

 --- SLIGHT CRITICISM (basically the “i love it so much i can’t help but see small flaws but I’d still give it a 10/10 anyway” part) ---

- I like that even when they repeat mid bosses they usually put them in a new arena to change things up. I think a FEW were a little overdone though and could have benefited from maybe... I dunno, a couple new ones in their place or at LEAST alternate movesets to change things up a bit more than just location BUT the combat is engaging enough that I don't mind, I just found it a LITTLE weird how despite the rest of the polish there was a tad bit of copy-paste (but far FAR less egregious than DS1)

- Idk how replayable this game is gonna be but I can definitely see myself finishing NG+ and doing two more playthroughs for all endings. It's replayable more in the Metroid or Legend of Zelda sense and less in the Dark Souls character build sense. "I wanna try a new route first and beat bosses more effectively this time. I wanna be as stealthy as possible this run" etc. and not "I wanna make an int build" (less a critique and more an observation on how it differs from Souls replayability)

- Dragonrot is like, the only actual flaw in this game imo. It doesn't have enough depth. I was thinking it would have more end game narrative significance but it's just something tied to the sort of useless unseen aid mechanic which fails to really incentivize risky play. If anything it just encourages you to grind before bosses to cap the current exp bar and save/store/spend sen by spending 10 minutes fucking around elsewhere until you're ready so that you have nothing to lose. I feel like it should have done some world state changes and something more intense, like ACTUALLY having npcs die and having a healthier world state and an unhealthier world state where some enemies get weaker or stronger based on which extreme your world is on etc. etc. basically ANYTHING more than it is now. But this is super minor relative to how good everything else is. It just felt underwhelming considering all it was hyped up to be. It’s one of those things I just ignore as if it wasn’t there and it’s just as good because it has little effect on the parts that I DO like the game for.

 ---FINAL NOTE---

- To end on a positive note though, Sekiro managed to be a game that iterated on the Souls formula by defying part of what it became (dodge heavy, block averse play, slow, parrying primarily for one-shotting) yet still providing the same feelings of starting one of those games fresh. Part of what makes it FEEL Souls-y is precisely what separates it from those games, and it's all too good to really put into words at the moment. Like sure it's got Estus, bonfires, and a kick-your-ass "you're going to get stuck and frustrated and that's how it is" attitude and it's got a similar enough control scheme, but beyond that, there's just so much more combat and movement depth that it's a whole new beast, and I love it so much.

[videobun-gameblog]

More Ashen stuff:

Points still stand regarding Ashen. I’ve finally readjusted to “Souls Controls” mode mentally so there’s no more frustration there. Aesthetic serves both narrative and functional purposes, hub development is even better than I thought, and the lantern mechanic remains useful in specific “Dark” dungeons and a few main map areas (caves/secret areas) which is pretty cool.

Story is still a bit hard to keep track of, like I keep hearing Big Lore names and being like “alright get on with it then, I gotta kill ‘em, I get it” and I haven’t really been actively keeping track of what EXACTLY is going on other than “Dark Souls story, except Bird and anima”. I’m somehow more invested in the side mission stories than I am the main story, even though I still enjoy it thematically.

Combat has remained pretty samey but it’s fun so I like it. I’m a little disappointed in how vague weapon descriptions are because there’s only two classifications of weapon (1 handed and 2 handed) but they have marginally different movesets and speeds which aren’t really outlined at a glance the way it is in DS. There also isn’t a substantial enough difference between their attack powers to really make me want to swap out. It’s weird because armor and shields seem to be found in such a way that each one (USUALLY) is a direct upgrade from the last one found (linear) while weapons don’t seem to have anything special about them other than some having a bit more crit chance or stun capability and marginally varied attack values to match their bonuses (less damage on critting weapons, higher damage on weapons with nothing special). Their heavy attacks don’t differentiate themselves enough from each other. I feel like if each weapon had something similar to a Weapon Art from DS3 they’d feel a bit more special and make it worth experimenting, but for the time being I’ve just settled into a 1 handed weapon with decent damage and crit and have never been compelled to change it for the last few hours (over half my time so far). I rarely use my 2 handed weapon so I basically just picked one that was a Boss drop of sorts, but there’s nothing special about it even in moveset so that’s my one main disappointment with the upgrade system. Progression has smoothed out to feel natural, but there’s a major lack of actual variety in weapons despite appearing to be rich on the surface. It’s a case of little variety but I like most of what’s there anyway so it doesn’t hurt it too bad but I can see why someone expecting more might be disappointed.

Map/Mission structure opinion still stands, but here’s how it’s shifted: The mixed “open/linear” structure bothers me less now, the map has gotten easier to recognize simply due to more time in the game. Side areas are dense and interesting to explore and are kinda like short bursts of something like a Dark Souls area (I know I keep using this comparison but it’s definitely the source of inspiration so I feel like it’s fair here). I also like that you can complete missions (SOME of them) before you’re supposed to, like you can stumble across a unique enemy with a special drop only to find out it was a quest “midboss” an hour later which is pretty nice, but some quests involve NPCs that only pop up after previous quests in the line have been completed, so it’s about 50/50 what you’re allowed to do early without direction. The quests are simple and not tedious so they’re not like quintessential shitty quests or anything (I even mentioned earlier I find their stories more engaging than the main quest), but they’re very basic and also NECESSARY for major stat boosts and other useful stuff which is kind of annoying. Like, you don’t technically have to do them I’d imagine, but you’d be missing out on substantial stuff that doesn’t really leave room for you to /actually/ choose when/if you want to to do them, instead you just choose which order you want to do your 3-4 sidequests before finally going back to main. Like, yeah doing sidequests do build up the town which is one of the coolest parts but it’s the fact that they’re almost a false choice that sucks. It also makes it harder to roleplay in the world, you’re kinda just playing one character no matter what (idk entirely tho, I haven’t tried to kill any major NPCs or tried to pass up a quest in its entirety yet so maybe there is another way to play and it’s just a case of “dark path is hard as fuck and basically a DS SL1 run” situation)

[videobun-gameblog]

The amount of text split between “Good” and “Mixed” in my last post might make Ashen seem a little uncertain but really the mixed column is only that way because I don’t have enough time to make a solid decision on some things. “Mixed” here is less about being meh and more about being good but flawed so I’m waiting to see how it pans out in the long run.

[videobun-gameblog]

Ashen is a fun game so I want to get out a few thoughts on it just based on my first few hours:

Personal issue: Nioh and Monster Hunter have absolutely fucked up my ability to play anything with the Souls controls, though I think after a few hours I’ve finally adjusted with few mistakes

Good stuff:

1. Overall aesthetic: Simple, readable, pretty. Functional AND looks good. I was skeptical of the faceless characters and such initially but that seems to be deliberate and relevant so it’s not even JUST a dev limitation, but a limitation that’s inspired part of the overall design and it’s good.

2. Voice acting: Some characters talk a little slow and I’ve seen ONE instance of written dialogue not matching the voice (extra unspoken line in text) but other than that I was honestly surprised.

3. Hub: neat place that grows over time, I’ve seen people talk about this and have been slightly (but not majorly) spoiled, so I won’t (and can’t really) say anything else other than I’ve gotten a taste of it and it’s cool.

4. Lighting: Oh god, so you know how Dark Souls 2 and 3 promised way cooler stuff with the torch that actually never really came to fruition and DS2 only ever NEEDS it a few times and DS3 never? This game actually does it! And it’s good! Areas are actually dark without light (like, “can’t see shit” dark) but the light actually WORKS well as opposed to crap like the DS1 catacombs (and isn’t on a timer like DS2). It makes for an interesting visual effect/atmosphere as well as a solid mechanic. I really hope to see more of this done in the future, because so far it’s only bee useful for one dungeon and a handful of secrets.

Mixed stuff:

1. Story: Heavily Dark Souls inspired but with different and more directly explained/understood origin. It even does a similar opening of a straight up world lore dump. This has honestly kept me less invested because it feels like a little too close to its inspiration but the world is lived in and explained enough to be appreciated, also there’s meta “animation” (like, root word anima shit) in it which I’m kind of a sucker for so I love it, even if I’m letting some of the smaller details slip by.

2. Combat: You kinda end up coming across lots of enemy encampments as opposed to finding particularly designed encounters based on the map’s entire structure (with the exception of dungeons, which I’ve only found one), but because things are out in the open, each encounter can feel unique coming from a different angle. It reminds me a bit of Breath of the Wild, except like, the combat is better. Relative to Dark Souls, it feels to me more like “chunks” of Dark Souls maps sprinkled over an open field which is both a good and bad thing (more in point #3 below). Upgrade progression is mixed, but I have yet to see the results of it long term so all I’ll say for now is that upgrades are few but substantial, so it’s easy to become as powerful as necessary to progress, but also easy to immediately dip into being frustratingly underpowered simply by walking into the very next zone which can halt your progress fairly quickly (especially relevant in issue #3 below). I have a feeling like this will change a bit over time so that’s all I can say for now.

3. Map/missions/etc.: The world seems to be a mixed open/linear system with (relatively) small open segments scattered with bits of more tightly designed encounters/dungeons. The missions seem to be the guiding force for most events but you’re not absolutely drowning in them with dozens of map markers, instead so far it’s like, 3 at a time and you only really need to focus on one or two simultaneously. Unfortunately, the mission system seems to be so much of a guiding force that I haven’t once really felt the impulse to go out and explore entirely on my own. Instead I end up going towards mission points and clearing out nearby sections along the way, getting sidetracked for minutes at a time for a hidden item or two. I could be wrong but so far it seems you can’t NOT have any missions active unless you purposely ignore the next NPC dialogue for a quest, in which case you’ll still have them marked on your map to remind you that you’ve gotta talk to them. Further, HP/Stamina upgrades and useful function unlocks are directly related to mission progress, so if you want to avoid being underpowered, you should basically always be doing a mission. This mixed linear/open design somehow manages to flip flop constantly from being the best of both worlds to feeling noncommittal, so I really don’t know what to think. On one hand, you have have moments where you’re slowly figuring things out on your own, exploring new areas along the way to your destination and finding secrets in nice bite size chunks of open world design that avoids being overwhelming. Getting into a new area is always interesting, and you know there’s always going to be some new encounters or secrets to challenge you. On the other hand, sometimes you’re just retreading an area of fairly plain (yet pretty) open fields that don’t have enough majorly distinct landmarks to keep you from having to check your map more often than you should. I keep FEELING like I should be able to get the lay of the land in my head more easily than I am, but it doesn’t really stick the way things do in other games. At the same time, the small area sizes mitigate this problem so you’re not simply getting mindlessly/frustratingly lost, and the map markers obviously help a lot without being too obtrusive. It’s not BAD design by any means, but it doesn’t feel as solid as it should. Things are good when you come across an interesting encounter and are going through areas for the first time, but because it’s hard to remain interested in a location after a couple passes and because the missions are so necessary for progress, there isn’t much incentive to really go out on your own unless you’re backtracking for secret cleanup or are just a sucker for some of the visuals (which, to be fair, is a totally valid reason). One good point about this though is that the devs seem to be well aware of proper pacing so they don’t keep you in areas TOO long, but rather only so long as fatigue just starts to set in; you’re never overstaying your welcome, and it keeps things flowing nicely. This is one of those things that I really can’t tell what I’ll think of it in the end, so far it feels like a fairly balanced scale. I’m interested to see which direction it tips once I’m 20+ hours in, because there’s a lot of potential here for it to fall heavily one way or the other.

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Death Stranding made me go from intrigued to skeptical to cautiously optimistic and honestly the latest trailer, while not showing anything related to gameplay, does have my excited. The one thing I’m sick of (and I’m posting here ‘cuz I don’t really want to ruin everyone’s fun) is the whole “WooaHh KojiMA WHaaT the FUuCk!!!??” stuff :/ sorry. Looks good but like... alright. 

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I’ve got to get around to making some post about minimalist indie platformers(/antiplatformer) with good music because N++, Flywrench, and LOVE/kuso all somehow managed to get placed among my favorite games I’ve ever played even though I’ve played each relatively recently. I feel like in terms of getting to the core of their genre and as video games (specifically the non-narrative challenge based variety) they’re almost perfect. Readability is key (LOVE/kuso loses some points here, though it makes up for it in being the simplest of the 3) and it’s like the aesthetics are purely functional while still being visually captivating. I could go on about the visuals and then still go into the OST but for now I just wanted to post about these games briefly because it’s so hard to describe with words what makes each so good.

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“I think with Nioh it was our first time getting into that genre. And to be quite honest, as part of our team, we were a little bit cautious and it was sort of trepidatious in that sense. I think this time around, with the experience that we gained, and obviously all the encourage and support that we have, we’ve gained a lot of confidence as well. And thinking back, there were a lot of things that we didn’t get to do. But this time around, I guess the simple way for me to put this is, the glove are off, we’re going to go in hard.”

I don’t think I’ve read an interview quote that has gotten me so hyped for a game ever. Nioh 1 was them being cautious? Nioh 2 is going to be fucking amazing. 

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2 years ago Fromsoft said they were working on 3 games:

Project 1: An action role-playing game with a dark fantasy setting similar to Dark Souls, but approached from a ‘different angle’.

Project 2: A reboot of an existing franchise, with ideas inspired by Dark Souls and other previous franchises.

Project 3: A brand new IP that’s ‘something different from what the company has been doing previously’ and ‘a bit weird’.

We also know that an Armored Core is in the works.

E3 just confirmed what Shadows Die Twice is, which seems to match up with the description of Project 1 (or 3, but is a stretch since Sekiro seems to basically be Dark Souls with a twist to its mechanics set in Japan)

Since Armored Core isn’t a new IP, I think this means that Armored Core is getting a reboot. I’m hoping this means starting from the ground up. I’m reading into this way too much but the next time we hear about Armored Core I’m expecting to see it slightly Souls-y (only a bit) and reworked with a fresh start. It’s the perfect series to reboot. Fans have been complaining it’s changed too much from its roots and it tends to get mediocre scores. It’s basically perfect. Please From, I need this game.

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3rd game is that VR thing, so we know all of ‘em! High hopes for Armored Core info some other time. Tokyo Game Show or next year.

[videobun-gameblog]

2 years ago Fromsoft said they were working on 3 games:

Project 1: An action role-playing game with a dark fantasy setting similar to Dark Souls, but approached from a ‘different angle’.

Project 2: A reboot of an existing franchise, with ideas inspired by Dark Souls and other previous franchises.

Project 3: A brand new IP that’s ‘something different from what the company has been doing previously’ and ‘a bit weird’.

We also know that an Armored Core is in the works.

E3 just confirmed what Shadows Die Twice is, which seems to match up with the description of Project 1 (or 3, but is a stretch since Sekiro seems to basically be Dark Souls with a twist to its mechanics set in Japan)

Since Armored Core isn’t a new IP, I think this means that Armored Core is getting a reboot. I’m hoping this means starting from the ground up. I’m reading into this way too much but the next time we hear about Armored Core I’m expecting to see it slightly Souls-y (only a bit) and reworked with a fresh start. It’s the perfect series to reboot. Fans have been complaining it’s changed too much from its roots and it tends to get mediocre scores. It’s basically perfect. Please From, I need this game.

[videobun-gameblog]

Hey, this is a blog for video game talk. I like doing video game speculation, wishlists, design discussion, etc. but I don’t want this stuff to drown out my main blog. Speculative hopes for sequels and such also tends to be a bit annoying because everyone’s vision of the perfect game is so subjective and isn’t really constructive. It’s also easy to ramble at length about ‘em so I’m dedicating a blog to these thoughts instead. It’ll involve things like talking about what I’ve been playing, discussion on general design art, etc., first impressions, and possibly my own work in the future.

(This post will likely be edited into a description later)