Hey everybody! My wife and I have recently been playing Destiny 2. It's excellent imo and both of us are having tons of fun, except for one little detail...

We need a third person!

We both like to take our time with levels, enjoy the scenery, role-playing our characters... and with most of the level thingies (strikes, vanguard) its required that we have another player with us.

Sometimes that goes well, but more often than not we end up with someone who just rushes through. Totally kills the whole point of why we play!

Is there anyone out there interested in playing with us? Or have advice for finding others besides the fireteam finder thingy? That hasn't really worked so far.

I hope this doesn't violate any rules for posting on this instance!

Thanks everyone!

Edit: fixed the title so people would stop thinking I'm asking for a threesome

Back on the other website, there used to be a sub called r/12in12 where people would try to beat 12, 24, 36+ games per year. I never really set myself any specific target like that, but the end of year reviews were always fun to read/write. Considering that I don't think a single game I beat came out this year, I think this is the right community to ask this.

What games did you beat this year? What did you think of them?

For me:

January:

Nothing!

February:

Spider-Man: Miles Morales 7/10

When I first played Spider-Man on a PS4, I didn't like it. The 30fps cap made the swinging feel clunky and nothing about the rest of the game made up for it. The PC release finally comes around and at last I get the hype, the web swinging is so good. The combat is very Arkham and it's fine, the story is fine, but the web swinging is just so good. Spider-Man Miles Morales is just more of that.

The Zachtronics Solitaire Collection ?/10

This game is responsible for Steam thinking that Solitaire is one of my favorite genres of games. There are multiple versions of the game here, most of them are fine but Fortune's Foundation is probably my new favorite version of Solitaire. I don't know what I'd rate this out of 10, but I got 90 hours of entertainment for my $10.

March:

Split / Second 8/10

The PC port sucks, you have to use a fan patch to remove the 30fps cap, the controller support is terrible, but there's nothing else like it. It's a fantastic arcade racer with a super unique premise. The rest of the industry seeing this and Blur bombing financially is probably why racing games are so goddamn anemic now which is such a shame.

April:

Rakuen 7/10

I've never really gotten into any RPG Maker games like this, but it had great reviews and I needed something battery-friendly to play on my Steam Deck. Rakuen was pretty darn good, the characters are well written and the environments outside of the hospital are pretty. The story is a little predictable, but I think that's fine what it wanted to tell.

May:

Hotshot Racing 6/10

What's here is fun, but there's almost nothing here. I beat the entire campaign in about an hour. The AI rubber-banding was a bit annoying at times. Also re-reading the Steam page, apparently it has always-online DRM? The fuck?

June:

Universal Paperclips ?/10

I was in the mood for a clicker game. I tried Cookie Clicker first but the pacing is just so slow. Universal Paperclips is a clicker game that can be completed in a reasonable amount of time, and it scratched the itch I was looking for.

July:

Wilmot's Warehouse 8/10

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ai4NZnjOdUE/maxresdefault.jpg

Super Meat Boy 5/10

I've forced myself to start this game so many times over the years, I finally completed it and I just don't like it. Way too janky/buggy for a simple 2D platformer. I beat the final level 3 times and couldn't figure out what to do at the end, only for it to turn out that the final cutscene wasn't activating because my frame rate was too high. Ugh. It just made me want to play N++ again.

Ape Out 9/10

Ahhh it's so good. The soundtrack and sound effects and visuals, it's just perfect. A little on the short side (only took 1:40 to beat), but it's pretty replayable.

Neodash 7/10

It's basically Distance but worse. Distance is one of my favorite games of all time and is firmly a 10/10, so that's not necessarily a bad thing. Any levels that rely on the mid-air controls bring down the experience a bit, but luckily there aren't a ton of those.

August:

CrossCode 10/10

A top-down RPG with a ~50-hour story? I should hate this, but everything clicked into just the right place. The puzzles are fun (maybe a little too long), the combat is great, the characters are great, the story is great, I did not expect to love this game as much as I did.

Sayonara Wild Hearts 6/10

It's basically a 1-hour music video. It's very pretty and the songs are good, but the gameplay just kind of... exists.

Mad Max 6/10

It's a beautiful looking game and the vehicle combat is fun, but everything else is pure mid-2010s generic open world game, complete with Arkham combat.

Riptide GP2 6/10

It's fine, but there's absolutely no reason to play this over Riptide GP Renegade unless you're really board and looking for a grindy podcast game like I was. Renegade is just this but better in every way. It is a bummer that there are so few boat (or boat-adjacent) racing games coming out these days.

WRC Powerslide 4/10

It's insanely repetitive and the driving physics are really floaty. The power-ups are awful but luckily they can be turned off in settings. The damage model is actually really good though, which is bizarre for a top-down racer. This got delisted from Steam years ago, if I didn't already own it, I would not go out of my way to play it.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter 7/10

It's a fun little walking simulator mystery game, I don't remember much of the actual story right now lol. I played the remastered version which was very pretty though.

Quantum Conundrum 7/10

It's a 6/10 puzzle game brought up by a full point because of John de Lancie's character.

September:

Hotline Miami 8/10

I know it's technically kind of a mess, but like everyone else I really loved it anyway. The soundtrack is excellent and clearing rooms is super satisfying. Raycevick's video really makes me want to play OXTO next.

PowerWash Simulator 8/10

The perfect podcast game.

October:

Cassette Beasts 8/10

The Pokemon games have always sounded interesting to me, but I've just never been able to get into any of them as an adult. Cassette Beasts finally scratched that itch for me, and this works way better as a concept than the Pokemon games do for me. As a bonus, the story is surprisingly good as well. Also it's made in Godot!

Sonic Generations 5/10

I don't like the Sonic games, but I've always heard this is one of the good ones so I decided to play it. A couple of the levels were fun, but most were just frustrating and/or buggy. For a character who's entire thing is going fast, the levels sure like constantly slowing you down with obstacles that cannot be seen coming.

The Witness 6/10

90% of the levels in this game are good and clever, where finding the solution is fun and satisfying. The remaining 10% includes puzzles where the entire screen is flashing to make it hard to look at, puzzles where the answer still makes no sense even after googling it, and puzzles that cannot be solved unless you solve a different puzzle first with no indication of where that's the case. The story is also nonsense but luckily it's easily ignored. This video was so cathartic after finishing the game.

Doom Eternal (& The Ancient Gods) 8/10

"Doom Eternal is a game with so much testosterone dripping from its orifices that it caused me to create a son via mitosis"

November:

Superliminal 8/10

My primary complaint is that it isn't longer. It took a little over an hour and a half to reach the end, but what's here is fantastic.

December:

Nothing again, lol

Might not be a game worth playing, even for free, based on the various scummy actions Bungie has done to it over time (what I heard was grind-heavy events, content that people paid for deleted, the vanilla game and plot experience for newcomers making no sense). However, if it was ever on your radar of interest, now would be a decent time to get it.

It comes with 3 campaigns in the bundle: The Witch Queen, Beyond Light, Shadowkeep.

EGS link

After several months I've eventually finished this game. I've played other 'mixed-genre' visual novels before (Danganronpa, Persona and Ace Attorney for example) and generally enjoyed them. And yes, I did find 13 Sentinels interesting and fun to play for the most part. I'd definitely recommend trying it.

However I think the way the story was presented made an already complex story unnecessarily confusing at points. For context, the story is told from the perspectives of 13 separate protagonists, in short chunks. Because of the way you unlock different sections of the story (either by getting to a certain part with one character, or making progress in the battle mode), you'll be shifting through each of the individual stories constantly.

In some ways this is a neat way to tell the story and keep things mysterious, but when there are so many characters with branching storylines it becomes a lot! Granted, it probably didn't help that it took me several months to get through it - that was mainly the result of the battle mode feeling like a chore to play at points.

Despite all this I did really like where the story went, and it mostly makes sense after one playthrough.

Some aspects of the story that I'm still unclear on:

spoiler

The whole deal with the multiple versions of Morimura/Iora/Chihiro. Morimura was a previous version of Iora from a previous loop? And she wanted to implant her memories onto Iota?

spoiler

Similarly, Ida's story. Amiguchi is another version of him?

spoiler

Why was Chihiro trying to force another loop? She wanted to be the one in control somehow? And similarly, why was this the final possible loop?

If you like visual novels, confusing anime storylines and science fiction you'll probably enjoy this game. Visually it's very impressive with some beautiful animation on the characters and painterly backgrounds. The voice acting and music is excellent, perfecting fitting with the tone of the game. It's likely not for everyone, but if you're willing to accept its shortcomings it is worth playing for the fascinating story alone.

This might sound a bit random, but Cyberpunk 2077 has this sort of warmup sound that plays through the game startup sequence that always gets me relaxed or psyched up to play. Another example is the title song in Trails from Zero. Calms me every time.

Whether it's a sound effect, music, or a loading screen, is there a game that does this for you immediately when you open it?

I've just replayed Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, and I think this video sums up quite well why 2 wasn't quite as good as the original. It's more than it just being more of an expansion than a sequel, it's the little bits that make it feel a bit more special.

I want to play Chrono trigger for the first time. I’ve actually played it a bit years ago, but I have no memory of it and didn’t finish it.

So, what the best way to play it snes emulator? I don’t want to do any rom hack kind of stuff as I was the original experience.

Tell us what game you are currently, or recently played, greater than 6+ months old.

If the game happens to be on sale, a link would be a plus.

I'm not young. But 25 years after the hype, I am finally getting around to playing half life (1)! Stupidly missed the free action, but paid a few eurocents for it. They're totally worth it! Awesome game, holds up very very well after two and a half decades!

For the last several years, I've made a gimmick month for myself of November. As can be guessed from the name, I spend the month focusing on visual novels of varying types. I am a big fan of the genre and some of the experiences one can find in it. Setting up the limitation of a specific genre can additionally force you into playing games that might have been overlooked in favor of flashier or newer titles and, thereby, find some hidden treasures in your game list.

As usual, I didn't reach all that I would have liked, but my results for this year are in play order:

Blood Code -

Holy crap. This one was a whiff. I found out early that it was an otome game (girl targeting, one girl many guy romance game) which isn't my genre. But! I also think that it is important to go outside of your comfort zone at times. Plus, while I haven't played them myself, I know that there are a number of high quality otome games that I could likely enjoy.

Sadly, this was not one of those. I started to write out all of my feelings about this but the page started to stretch out toward infinity. The el, dee are: poor translation, broken time management mechanics, a flawed money system, and a clumsy writing style made this a pass from me. Maybe it's better if you can play it in its native Chinese?

But hey, you can date Christ!

Grade D

Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk ... -

So I had played the first of these and was ultimately unimpressed. I appreciated how different it was in its story... narrative? in what it was and its presentation, but ultimately it felt a bit too art house for me.

This one is also very art house, however it landed better. Maybe it was just the production value, which is dramatically higher, or that it's a bit more obviously introspective and my dumb self could latch on better. Either way, I enjoyed this quite a bit.

It doesn't really go anywhere, acting more of a snapshot of the protagonist's mental state. A weird, weird snapshot. While the fan named milk-chan rambles, can contradict herself, and really needs a therapist, her stream of consciousness remains tight enough to remain interesting and engaging. The harsh monochrome of everything outside of the main character creates a really striking environment that I enjoyed the limited window into.

Grade B

Just Deserts-

Despite having never played one previously, random selection handed me two stat managers in quick succession. I enjoyed this one more than the other and not because it was more catering to my preferences. The game is longer and allows for better pacing in presenting information as a result. The characters themselves are much more cartoony and by no means deep, but interact with each other in endearing ways and are shown more respect by the writers than I was expecting than I was expecting.

The story is... there, and the prose did its job. I may have stuck around and explored more if it weren't for the holy shit painful battle system. The game uses a turn based battle system as the method of gathering money and it works about as well as you might guess a turn based battle system in a visual novel engine runs. The original Final Fantasy would be considered a bastion of quality of life features in comparison.

Overall, an alright time if you don't mind its fatal flaw or just really like stat managing dating sims.

Grade C

World End Economica chapter 1 -

So this was actually a continuation of last year. I had started it, made it about half way, but lost interest and got distracted with other things. Felt bad about it so went back to finish it.

The game is from the writer of Spice and Wolf and is another venture into economics parallel to mystery girl genre. The writing of this one is quite good, though very, very bogged down with details and narrative regarding day-trading. I just... couldn't get excited by it. I can see people really digging it, but it wasn't for me.

Some points of interest are that the characters, while still not the deepest in the world, don't fit quite as neatly into trope silhouettes as those in other works, particularly this year. I enjoyed that the main character actually has a personality, flaws, and a gradual arc through the story rather than being an empty vessel for the player.

The world that the work inhabits obviously had a lot of thought put into it and is quite interesting as a result. While it doesn't lean much on scientific explanation, the game is far more grounded than your typical sci-fi story and builds a very believable picture for its setting. The hardships presented are those of real people and while the abilities of certain characters are high, they aren't so infallible to stretch credulity.

Outside of struggling personally with the story, my biggest complaint is the ending. To maintain a hands off approach to the plot, it is very much a part one of three rather than something that can comfortably stand on its own. Given my struggle with the plot, I doubt I'll visit the other chapters

Grade B

Utawarerumono (Prelude to the Fallen)-

So I wasn't having the best of months this year. I was getting most of my true enjoyment from sharing Little Busters with my wife through the month, which I will not be talking about here as it's something I've played in the past. This turned things around, though.

I originally debated if I should play this as it started early with a difficulty select. A very odd thing to lead a visual novel. Steam has a habit of labeling anything that has dialog heavy scenes with the visual novel tag so I was afraid I had been had once again. However, a bit of research showed that it was most commonly listed as a visual novel with srpg elements rather than the other way around. So I gave it a shot.

I loved this game. It definitely has flaws, most notably with the above mentioned rpg elements, but the novel itself was very solid. It was very refreshing to see a fantasy setting from a Japanese writer that takes place in a Japanese themed world. The writing, especially in the quiet moments, had the comfy character interaction that I crave. Despite its length, it was constantly moving and didn't ever spend so long on a single plot point that I felt it drag. This was my first game from Aquaplus, or Leaf, and I knew very quickly that I would be looking further into their games.

Now for the bad part. This was not a fatal flaw for me, however I could -easily- see it being so for others. The combat. It has a number of tactical rpg fights throughout the game and the whole system feels half baked. There are a number of good ideas there, but none of them are expounded on enough to really shine or tie everything together. While your choices do matter and total victory isn't guaranteed, they are absolutely balanced in the players favor and winning will not be a problem to most.

Given that I was here for the story and characters, I could just power through these to continue. I can not ignore it however, though, given that the game would be better if they just weren't present. Anyone approaching this game looking for a proper tactical RPG should hard pass, though.

Grade B (Would have been an A if not for the battle system)

Elisa the Innkeeper -

I made it one scene and hard pass. Either the translation is terrible or the writing is. Either way, no.

Grade F

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Tatarigoroshi-hen-

I've been moving through these one a year for the past few years now, this being the third. I had watched the original Higurashi anime when it aired in the late aughties and had been a fan. Visiting the VNs years later has been a very fun experience as a result.

While I know most of the mysteries being presented, the presentation and characters are written in a way where I can still get quite a bit of enjoyment. Sometimes the experience is elevated from knowing what's going on in the background and thereby the tragedy of some of the actions taken.

These games are updated versions of the originals, but the original assets are all present. It's easy to see that these were extremely indie when originally made. The sound effects and filtered photos used as background come together for a very ambient experience. Despite being one of the weaker chapters in the series, still ended up a very enjoyable time and something that I would recommend to anyone who likes the anime.

Grade A

Cat Hustle -

Very light visual novel with some fantasy elements. Went in not expecting much and came out feeling pretty good with the experience. It doesn't try to be anything more than a short, fun time and succeeds in that regard. I've gone back off and on since completing it to go through different routes but it lacks a proper skip feature which is grating

Grade C

Coffee Talk -

Unfortunately it is hard to play this without comparing it to the far superior VA11-HALL A. It is quite good fun for what it is and the light fantasy theming is fun to explore. Had the legs to hold a lot more substance than it had, but too short is always better than too long.

Grade B

It's a bitter sweet feeling afterward, but I love it when a game has characters where, after the game is over, I miss seeing a part of their lives. Be it due to the characters themselves or the interaction they have with one another, exiting their world feels more like a loss than when normally putting a story away.

Are there any games where you experienced similar? While it can be a bitter sweet feeling, I know that it is a sign that I really enjoyed what I was playing and love to find these experiences.

Came from this post: https://lemmy.ca/post/9854590

Looks like it has a lot of games I haven't seen in decades. I want to grab some of them, but I'm not familiar with the website.

I recently finished The Last of Us 2. My girlfriend sometimes watches me play my games. And while I thought that TLoU would be a great game to follow, it was hard for her to watch (due to the violence). I wonder if there is a game that would be easy or even interesting for her to watch while I play, without it having to be something strictly "family friendly" , that also has fun gaming mechanics and isn't just a walking simulator. Looking forward to any ideas! :)

Since the normies are starting to do their GotY thing.

I think mine's Hardspace: Shipbreaker, although 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim continues to grow on me.

Tell us what game you are currently, or recently played, greater than 6+ months old.

If the game happens to be on sale, a link would be fantastic.

I have tried a ton of RPGs, and most just don't click for me. Here are a few:

• Skyrim - enjoyed Morrowind for the side content, Skyrim just felt empty
• Chrono Trigger - enjoyed until about halfway through with the battle with Magus; felt very RNG dependent, or maybe I was under leveled; I bailed after 5 or so attempts that all ended the same way (healer got killed and everyone got picked off)
• Pillars of Eternity - burned out somewhere in Act 2 (20-25 hours); combat system annoyed me, and I dislike picking new abilities
• Banner Saga - story is great, but I hate the combat, so I bailed

Some things about me:

• I don't care about leveling up/character builds, it feels like a chore; abilities also don't interest me
• I hate grinding
• using items feels like cheating, so I tend to just use character abilities (I will heal if needed); I'd rather "git gud" than buy and use items
• turn based combat (tactics) is generally boring, but I do like puzzles, so that can make it acceptable
• I don't like the feeling of being OP, I want to struggle through the end
• I don't like loot

That said, here are a few that I've really enjoyed:

• ARPGs like Ys and Zelda - items are rare or are tools in a puzzle-like system; favorites are Ys 1, Ys Origin, Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Zelda: Skyward Sword (probably because I played Skyward Sword recently); I dislike BotW, and Memories of Celceta has been dragging a bit (I'm near the end, but excited to finish)
• interesting RPGs like Undertale - short and very unique experience
• Souls-like games - challenge involving melee/dodging keeps me going
• Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - not a fan of the combat, but the story is interesting somewhat at least; I'm about 2/3 through I think (30 hours), but I've taken a multi-month break; likewise, Xenoblade Chronicles is interesting so far, but I'm not super excited about it (may bump down to story mode to get through it, the combat sucks imo)
• Nier: Replicant - great story, leveling stayed out of the way, and I never felt like I needed to grind or upgrade gear

I really like the storylines of RPGs, I just don't like actually playing them. Unfortunately, my preferred ARPG genre is filled with loot nonsense, and I've played most of the ones that don't really on that as a mechanic. Perhaps my favorite RPG-adjacent game not mentioned already is Yakuza 0, I'm not a fan of the combat, but he story is amazing and the side content is fun.

Does anyone feel similarly? Do you have any suggestions for other games to try?

Share your unfiltered, unpopular gaming opinions and let's dive into some real discussions. If you come across a view you disagree with, feel free to (respectfully) defend your perspective. I don't want to see anyone say stuff like "we're all entitled to our own opinions." Let's pretend like gaming is a science and we are all award winning scientists.

My Unpopular Opinion:

I believe the criticism against battle royales is often unwarranted. Most complaints revolve around constant content updates, microtransactions, and toxic player communities

Many criticize the frequent content updates, often cosmetic, as overwhelming. However, it's optional, and no other industry receives flak for releasing more. I've never seen anyone complain about too many Lays or coke flavors.

Pay-to-win concerns are mostly outdated; microtransactions are often for cosmetics. If you don't have the self control to not buy a purple glittery gun, then I'm glad you don't play the games anymore, but I don't think it makes the game bad.

The annoying player bases is the one I understand the most. I don't really have a point against this except that it's better to play with friends.

Overall I think battle royale games are pretty fun and rewarding. Some of my favorite gaming memories were playing stuff like apex legends late at night with friends or even playing minecraft hunger games with my cousins like 10 years ago. A long time ago I heard in a news segment that toy companies found out that people are willing to invest a lot of time and energy into winning ,if they know there will be a big reward at the end, and battle royales tap into that side of my brain.

This is just my opinion

In Costume Quest, you play as one of two fraternal twins who go out to trick-or-treat, but then your sibling gets kidnapped by monsters and you go on a quest to rescue them. Along the way, you collect new costumes (which give you new abilities), get friends to join you on your quest, and collect power ups.

In Costume Quest 2, you are transported to a world where Halloween has been outlawed, and you work to fix it. Gameplay is similar to the first where you collect costumes and power ups and fight monsters to catch the person responsible for outlawing Halloween.

Gameplay is pretty basic. The core gameplay loop is:

1. Knock on a door
2. If a human answers it, you get candy and repeat from 1
3. If a monster answers, you get into a turn based fight like a simplified Final Fantasy battle; repeat from 1

The battle mechanics are simple enough my young kids (were 5&8 at the time) could handle it with some help on strategy. The strategy gets more relevant later in the game (certain attacks do better on different kinds of monsters), but it's simple throughout.

Both are fantastic, casual, Halloween-themed RPGs suitable for kids, and I really enjoyed playing both with my kids tag-teaming with me. You can get both for $5 total right now.

The reason I bring it up is because my kids asked me to play them again with them, and I was trying to find something similar and came up empty (I don't like replaying games).

Does anyone have any recommendations for games with a similar appeal? The mix of costumes with power ups and simple combat was the main draw for us, but I'm open to looking at anything with a Holloween theme that is suitable for younger kids, bonus points for couch co-op style of gameplay. The closest are probably LEGO games (which are great), but my kids seem a little tired of the formula.

FF Origin? Lies of P is still full price, Lords of Fallen has some bad reviews, Remnant 2 was good but badly optimised so I can't run it.

Opening up Morrowind to try to replace Starfield or DOS 1 to replace Baldur's Gate 3

I am fascinated by games with 2D art that still manage to give you a good scare. I guess what I find interesting is if a game can manage to translate the scares and audio design which we know from 3D environments and movies. I have never really played any though. I would love to hear some suggestions, especially with Halloween coming soon!

I hang out in a couple circles that have fans of Gust's massive Atelier series. The promise of a laid-back, generally cheerful experience always sounded appealing and a nice change of pace from the typical RPG story's apocalyptic stakes. I've also always liked crafting systems in these kinds of games. I just needed a good entry point.

I had a rough start with the series when trying Mana Khemia, with its confusing character advancement system and slightly-too-cute aesthetic. That's all on top of needing to figure out how the crafting system works. I decided to step forward a generation to the remastered version of Atelier Rorona.

One thing Rorona had that Mana Khemia didn't was very clear direction right from the start. Atelier Rorona is one of those that give the series its reputation for a having a time limit, but I think that mechanic worked for me in the end. It nudged me just enough to figure out the alchemy system and to get efficient with it and my travel (even if it means I'd probably hate trying to 100% this game).

The low-stakes plot was there, and I got a "good" ending, even though I came nowhere close to clearing the combat content. Both are refreshing elements to someone like me that has so much experience in the genre. Having tons of Rune Factory-style plot triggers around town was always enjoyable, due in no small part to how genuinely funny the dialogue could be at times.

It wasn't so easy at first, and I had to take on this game in small chunks for a while as I was learning its mechanics. Now, I think investing in Rorona could be paying off. I've moved on to Atelier Totori and I'm feeling more confident right from the start, now that I know the alchemy basics.

Taking a chance on this one unlocked a big series for me. I'll have a ton of games to catch up on at this rate!

A few years back I tried to play this on PS4 (it was a free PS+ game at one point). I didn't give it much of a chance, and my subscription ended before I got round to finishing it. But boy am I glad I gave it another go! What a great game.

To be clear, I played the HD version on Steam, which is a glammed up port of the 2002 Gamecube remaster. The pre-rendered backgrounds look great, with some nice reflections and lighting effects on top. Having fixed camera angles did take some getting used to, but actually added some additional tension because you didn't always know what would be coming up around the corner. I've previously played RE2 Remake and RE4 (original), and I reckon RE1 is the spookiest of these. The macabre notes you find, the eerily quiet mansion, and the constant fear of death when you have limited saves all contribute to an underlying dread. By the end of the game I knew the mansion layout pretty well (there was a LOT of backtracking required. Especially as I was playing as Chris, who only has 6 inventory slots).

Mercifully the HD version has a new control scheme so I didn't have to worry about tank controls. The gun aiming controls were fine, although I'm not sure how headshots work. I think if you aim upwards at the last minute, you have a % chance to get a critical hit. One thing I'd recommend to new players - if you don't decapitate a regular zombie, make sure you burn the body. Otherwise they'll come back as stronger, faster ones later on which can be very dangerous.

Throughout my playthrough I felt like I was playing an escape room (or, escape house) more than a third person shooter. The zombies are there to build the tension, but the puzzle of the mansion is the actual gameplay for the most part. Most of the puzzles were pretty standard fare, but a few stuck out in my mind:

spoiler

-Using the fireplace to get the 2F map

-Unlocking the chemist's room using the eye symbols from the lounge area. The colours related to the pool balls, which give you the required numbers.

-The second password in the lab involving x-ray images and the afflicted body parts

Surprisingly I felt like this was a good fit for the Steam Deck. Playing it handheld in short bursts was perfect, and it also runs smoothly at 1080p when docked.

If you haven't played this one before it's well worth it! Quite a different experience from the later RE games but you can clearly see how this one set the seed for the rest of the series. Despite my initial aversion to the camera angles and controls, once it clicked I couldn't stop playing. It goes on sale really cheap on Steam so definitely give it a go :)

The other week I played through the original Dead Space, and I've now followed that up with the well-regarded sequel.

Wow - this game really improves on all aspects of the original! Graphically it's a huge step up, with some incredible lighting effects and texture detail. It honestly still looks amazing to this day.

The guns feel a lot tighter to use, and that's coupled with some nice new animations (seeing the used ammo vent on the plasma cutter when you reload is always satisfying) and punchy sound effects. Little things like the ability to reload without having to aim down sight make the game a lot less frustrating than the original. I also found myself using the stasis ability in every fight (unlike the first game); it's now an AOE which is super handy when you don't have much time to react (in particular the enemies that hide behind cover and then rush you when you least expect it). One neat new feature is the ability to rip off enemy arms and use them to skewer others. Extremely satisfying!

I actually found DS2 to be a lot scarier than the original. There were a few jump scare moments, really creepy hallucinations appearing on screens and just some great environmental spookiness. If anyone ever played PT, that's the sort of vibe I felt - picture an old radio playing a recording, windows rattling in the wind and something creaking down the hallway... You're on edge and then an enemy drops down from the ceiling! The fact that the game is so visually dark really added to this effect - it was sometimes hard to see without your flashlight.

The setting was much more varied - shopping centres, apartments, churches and maintenance areas. I didn't find myself getting lost as much as I did in the first game. The zero gravity sections were easier to navigate too as the aerial movement system had been reworked.

Somewhat annoyingly, the PC version is loaded with all the DLC so the shop is flooded with free weapons and armour. These DLC items have icons next to them so they're easy enough to ignore, though I wish you could turn them off. I also found the armour unlocks a bit weird - it seems like most of them were locked behind the doors that required a power node? Bit of an odd design choice.

Overall though I really enjoyed Dead Space 2. It holds up extremely well for a game from 13 years ago, so I'd recommend you give it a go if you haven't already. Playing the original first was well worth it for some of the story points of the second.

Keeping with the spooky theme I've just started playing through the HD version of Resident Evil. Let me know if you'd like a write up once I've finished that :)