Games

Today’s game is Alan Wake. I got back to it and finished Episode 5. Tomorrow the power will be out and I’m hoping to clean through Episode 6 entirely and start the DLCs (possible thanks to my Steam Deck).

Episode 5 ramps up the difficulty a lot I feel like, but not to an unfair level. I think the only part I struggled with to an unfair degree was a jump while being chased by the tornado in the screenshot. The power plant is also really fun to play through because you can push enemies into powerlines to kill them.

I also found another red chair out of bounds in the start of Episode 6. The player could never see it in normal play through I think. I’m wondering if maybe it’s a twin peaks reference or a developer in joke.

Little Nightmares is a wordless, side-scrolling game about a tiny girl in a yellow raincoat named Six, stowed away on a massive ship called The Maw. She journeys from room to room across the ship, trying to escape.

She finds herself surrounded by giant, terrifying, warped versions of adults, who will stop at nothing to capture her. Like this blind guy with stubby legs and horrifyingly long and stretchy spider-like arms. When we meet him, he's packaging up living children in paper and twine like they were hocks of meat. He's very sensitive to sounds; don't let him hear you walking on the creaky floorboards!

Or this chef who is preparing a grisly feast for the grotesque guests aboard the ship.

Six herself is crippled with hunger several times throughout the game. To the point where she starts considering some awful food choices...

Fortunately, she's able to find sustenance around the ship. Next to a cafeteria of sorts, a small child drops a piece of bread for her to eat. She also runs into these little gnome-like creatures scurrying around the ship. After eventually befriending one of them, he offers her food when he sees her struggling.

Little Nightmares is a side-scrolling stealth/puzzle game. You're trying to silently find your way across this massive ship without being caught by the giant adults, but you occasionally find yourself stuck and need to find a lever to turn or pull, or a button to press, or a key to unlock a door. They're simple puzzles, but the atmosphere is dark and spooky, making any hesitation in the open a frightening ordeal. Not to mention, the creepy details in the background, like how this bed has straps across it to hold someone down:

The scariest part of the game for me is when you're trying to walk across the dining tables of all the grotesque guests who are shoveling food into their fat faces as fast as they can. If you're not quick enough, you'll get snatched up and crammed into one of their maws. It's such an anxiety-ridden scene, I almost didn't take any screenshots. I was too focused on trying to stay alive!

Not to mention, the creepy subtle music throughout this game. I especially like Six's Theme Part I and Hunger II (for those of you who bought the soundtrack). That haunting child's hum set to a spooky background theme makes for some terrifying mood-setting music.

This game has a sequel, Little Nightmares II, which I believe might be a prequel story. You play as a tiny boy named Mono, who discovers a fading Six and attempts to save her, while also searching for a signal tower that's corrupting everyone through horrifying broadcasts. I daresay it's even more terrifying than the first game, with a horrifyingly dark end to its story.

Also, a new game, Little Nightmares III, has been announced for release next year. It follows two new children, Low and Alone, trying to find their way out of Nowhere. I'm excited to see what that game will be like! And I hope Six shows up at some point. I'm fascinated with her story and hope we get some more expanded lore on her.

Today’s game is Animal Crossing New Horizons. I was stuck in a car for 6 hours and when I got home just wanted to relax. So this is what I turned on.

I caught a tilapia I named Todd, and took this screenshot out front of my home after putting him in my home. I don’t spend much time on this game as I struggle with games that need commitment (I think that much is obvious though), so my game is not very far along even half a year in. I just got to the point where I can construct the house for the three villagers moving in today.

It’s a shame though I can’t stay with this game. Because I love the early game. Pole vaulting around is awesome and satisfying. The wild but chill vibes I get from the game are nice too. I have the soundtrack saved to my iCloud music library just so I can play it while working.

This one has Argo Tuulik and Lenval Brown involved, which lends some serious credibility to the project in my eyes. Tuulik was one of the prominent writers of Disco Elysium, as well as one of the settings' co-creators as one of the players in Kurvitz's tabletop RPG sessions.

I need some suggestions on what to play. Single Player games only. Most of the games make me feel lonely and alone. In most of the games, the protagonist has to deal with the problems on their own, like Control, Crysis, Ghost of Tsushima, God of War (I liked the original 6 more than the new ones, even though the new ones had companions), horror games like Outlast, Echo and Alan Wake, and many others.

I want something that won't give me anxiety. I really enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy, having those teammates by my side always made me feel "safe". I also liked Spider-Man and Deadpool because the humour makes me feel comfortable. In old Harry Potter games, Ron, Hermione and Harry were usually together, so, I never felt alone while playing those either. In Indika, that one hand man was with me for most of the game.

Open world games also give me less anxiety, like most Assassin's Creed games, Ghost of Tsushima, Just Cause series, etc.

I think you all get my point. So, what do you suggest I should play?

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is an incredible game dealing with psychosis and mental trauma. It's about a Celtic girl named Senua who is journeying to the Viking Hel to bargain with Hela for the life of her lost love. She literally carries his head in a cloth tied to her belt.

Throughout her journey, Senua is plagued by visions and voices, some helpful and some harmful. A narrator of sorts guides her, while a bunch of chatty voices in the background express her fears, desires, anxieties, etc.

Senua finds herself fighting monsters who spawn from thin air, intent on stopping her from her goals. Each time she dies, rot spreads from her limbs. If it spreads to her head, it's game over.

Along the journey, you can find runestones that will explain some ancient Viking mythology and help you understand Senua's intents. You don't need to track them down to beat the game, but it's a welcome world-building tool for us modern-day folks who may not know anything about ancient Viking mythology, geography, and traditions.

This game is beautifully designed and gorgeous to look at. The way cinematic cutscenes blend right into gameplay is amazing! I highly recommend playing with surround sound headphones because the voices in Senua's head whisper from all different angles and distances from her. It's incredibly immersive and gives you a sense of what it's like to deal with psychosis.

I debated whether I should include this in my Halloween gaming marathon because I wouldn't necessarily consider it a horror game. But exploring the mental trauma of a young girl who lost her love and has to battle invisible demons while trying to come to terms with that loss... it's a haunting tale. Definitely on par with some modern day horror plots.

There's a sequel that just released this year called Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, which further explores Senua's struggles as she attempts to save both herself and others. I own it, but it's been so long since I played through Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice that I need to replay the original before I check out the sequel.

Continuing my Halloween-themed screenshot posts, today we'll be looking at a different kind of game. Slay the Princess is a game about, well... slaying a princess. There's a narrator who guides you through the woods and up to a cabin where a princess is chained in the basement, and in order to save the world, you need to slay her. Seems pretty straightforward, right?

But the narrator isn't the only voice who reasons with you. Your voice (Voice of the Hero) will discuss with the narrator and try to make more sense of the situation. It's not like you're given much information to go on. Who can you really trust?

This is a visual novel type game, where you are given conversation and action options, and you choose the path of the story. You can play "20 questions" with the narrator, slay the princess, save the princess, or just walk away from the whole affair. But your actions have consequences...

Depending on your actions, you might find yourself conversing with more inner voices centered around the actions you chose, like a Voice of the Stubborn, or a Voice of the Smitten.

Regardless, there's a deeper, darker story going on underneath your seemingly simple choices, and you'll just have to play this game to discover it for yourself.

I especially like that, despite the fact that you're the supposed hero, every shot of your hand shows what appears to be a scaly monster's hand. It makes you wonder who - or what - you really are...

On October 24th, a day after its one-year anniversary, Slay the Princess is getting a free update called The Pristine Cut. According to the developers, it will add about 35% more content to the game, including thousands of new voice lines and illustrations, 17 new music tracks, improved background artwork, and a new ending to the game.

Also, they'll be porting the game to consoles with this update. I'm a strictly PC gamer, so this doesn't interest me, but if you like console gaming, you'll be able to play this game later this month on PS4/5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox.

I'm excited to re-play this game later this month. Maybe I might post some new screenshots to compare it to this original version of the game.

Today’s game is Zomboid. Me and my friend continued the adventure of Cable and Jerry.

We went and looted a farm building for crops and hoping to find a watering can. Sadly we didn’t find any but we did walk away with 8 sacks of stale potatoes. After that we decided to gear up for Louisville and make a journey to the Military Base there.

The car we were going to use had a broken window though so Jerry cruised into town and ripped apart all the cars he saw to get his mechanics up and then got into a scuffle with some zombies at the police station after they caught him stealing their car seats.

After that we spent all (in-game) night looking for a single fucking window for the car that wasn’t already destroyed in a wreck. Finally nearly a hour later we found the right one outside a school. I stole the window and sped off home to install it to our cargo car.

After that we packed the car and drove off for Louisville. We had to briefly make our car a train because the bridge was covered in burned out wrecks so we turned onto the railroad bridge. After merging back onto the highway and plowing our way through zombies, we made it to the military base.

It was surprisingly empty, but we loaded a ton of Ammo and Guns into the car and an extra generator. On the way back we made a trip to a gas station, filled up our Gas Tanks, we got lucky and found the Watering Can where we didn’t expect, and then robbed a liquor store and sped off because the alarms on the window called the horde.

Once we got home, I got to work leveling up my carpentry. I built a shelf in Cable’s rooms, and he put his pet Rollypolly he called Pipsqueak on the shelf. I took a screenshot of the shelf and if you zoom in far enough and look past the JPEG artifacts you may be able to see Pipsqueak (the gray speck on the bottom left corner of the shelf)