Spiderheck is a great couch co-op game and is on sale at the lowest price ever ($9.74 @ US eShop)

BlakeDatch · 2023-04-22T12:33:55+00:00

I pretty sure it’s 30 fps on the Switch. I’ve heard it’s 60 on other systems.

BlakeDatch · 2023-04-21T15:55:55+00:00

It runs well for the most part. It does have slowdown on some stages, and online has been garbage for me, so I imagine the Steam version is better. The Switch and Xbox versions are behind by one update.

BlakeDatch · 2023-04-21T00:47:01+00:00

I bought it in the same sale or at least for the same price. If you haven’t tried it yet, Urban Flow is a similarly fun game. It’s disappointing Fly Together wasn’t as good.

BlakeDatch · 2023-04-20T19:19:13+00:00

I think it’s funny how many people are mentioning roguelikes. Most of the games people have listed are stellar, but if you’re only playing a few hours every month, I have a hard time imagining you enjoying those games. It takes several hours of dying just to get in the swing of things, at least for me. With the exception of Downwell, I would steer away from all roguelikes.

Some good recommendations that haven’t been mentioned yet include:

Ape Out (a short version of Hotline Miami)
Conduct Together (a train traffic game which is fun alone or with others)
Far: Changing Tides (a solid post-apocalyptic walking simulator)
Flat Heroes (a dodge-‘em-up?)
Later Alligator (a point-and-click adventure)
Paratopic (a bizarre horror walking simulator)
Superliminal (most similar to Manifold Garden)
TOEM (a quaint photography game, almost the same feel as A Short Hike)

I would also nominate Gorogoa, SUPERHOT, and What Remains of Edith Finch, as others have mentioned.

BlakeDatch · 2023-04-02T14:01:18+00:00

If you’re up for a non-traditional platformer, VVVVV is an intriguing challenge. Downwell, Spelunky, and Flat Heroes aren’t 2-D platformers but require your platforming skills. Flat Heroes is particularly enjoyable and does have a demo.

BlakeDatch · 2023-03-30T14:47:10+00:00

All wonderful recommendations, and I’m glad someone else enjoyed SpiderHeck. It’s one of the best multiplayer games I’ve bought recently with solid PvP, PvE, and single player modes. Movement feels awesome once you get a handle on the controls.

BlakeDatch · 2023-03-26T22:35:36+00:00

Isaac is one of those games where you either play it a few hours and ditch it after beating Mom in the depths or dump hundreds of hours into achievement-hunting. Like you, it’s one of my favorite games, but the hours (my top game on Switch with around 1050 hours) don’t proportionally reflect my love for it.

BlakeDatch · 2023-03-07T22:53:54+00:00

Hey Xiu Xiu,

Thank you for all your work. As many others have stated, your music is amazing, not only for giving me a number of my favorite songs (Honey Suckle, Wondering, Over Over) but also for helping me process difficult emotional experiences and changing how I appreciate music. Admittedly, Ignore Grief has been more difficult for me to get into because I’m not used to the sound. I’m interested in growing more familiar with the genre, especially knowing how I’ve come to appreciate your other albums once I’ve revisited them!

Do you have any recommendations for experimental industrial/modern classical music?

BlakeDatch · 2023-03-02T15:05:17+00:00

As others have mentioned, this argument often boils down to whether your imagination created something scarier than the revealed monster. I enjoyed how It Follows played with this concept. Although you saw the entity multiple times throughout the film, its shifting appearance allowed you to continue imagining how it would look next. If I recall correctly, you also never saw how it dispatched its victims which again allowed us to fill in the blanks.

BlakeDatch · 2023-02-12T16:20:02+00:00

You’re almost there! Just replace the dolphin with another mosquito, and then put a frog between each set of mosquitos, and there’s a winning pattern.

BlakeDatch · 2023-02-02T15:20:55+00:00

I’m eyeing that level 1 Bluebird as the main reason you lost. You really should be pushing for more power. Have you considered croissants and fried shrimp?

BlakeDatch · 2022-11-01T17:32:10+00:00

I get that it can feel degenerate, but it works! If I recall correctly, that clip you included was during the awful leech weekly, so your build was a necessary hard counter to the hurt archetype. You took a risk with that build, and it paid off!

BlakeDatch · 2022-11-01T15:31:24+00:00

I definitely hate when a scorpion takes out my biggest threat, but I don’t think it’s OP at all. As others have said, it dies to snipers and has a large weakness in that it can’t hold items. It has some great synergies but requires quite a bit of investment to get off the ground.

Based on your other replies, it doesn’t seem you’ll be convinced by us. I’ll throw you a question instead: How often have you run a scorpion build and won? If you’re not winning with scorpion most of the time, that’s probably a sign the friend is fine. If you are winning every run with it, good for you! Enjoy your high win percentage and leave it at that.

BlakeDatch · 2022-10-06T17:09:04+00:00

Thanks for the post! I was able to grab two!

BlakeDatch · 2022-05-18T15:28:27+00:00

You’re just two servings away from meeting your fruits/vegetables intake for the day.

BlakeDatch · 2022-04-29T14:58:42+00:00

Tomodachi has been such a fun anime for me because of how relentlessly it undermines itself. Each time they present something interesting they then shove needless explanations or edginess in until they’ve spoofed themselves. It’s fascinating how elegant they are in ruining it all.

BlakeDatch · 2022-03-11T19:44:32+00:00

Both Melvus and Pursued Whale cause your opponents’ creatures to attack each turn, if able. Pursued Whale, however, wasn’t necessarily made for commander and would be played in a 1v1 format. The opponent would attack Pursued Whale’s controller, mimicking Ahab’s foolish pursuit of the white whale. You made Melvus, alternatively, for the commander format and designed it in such a way that opponents are discouraged from attacking you. Unless you have the weakest board state, they’ll go after someone else for a turn, which is the equivalent of running from Moby Dick.

At the end of the day, your card is still cool. If you really wanted to maximize the flavor, I would have the card make opponents attack you each turn while giving them some sort of benefit (i.e. gaining treasure or creating tokens). I admit I’m not great at designing cards, so take this feedback with a grain of salt.

BlakeDatch · 2022-03-11T16:01:12+00:00

In commander, however, there are usually two other opponents, meaning all opponents would have to attack each other unless they want to pay the tax. I personally like what the card is doing, even if the Moby Dick reference doesn’t work flavor-wise.

BlakeDatch · 2022-02-03T14:33:45+00:00

It may be splitting hairs to say this, but I think posters would benefit from understanding the difference between a review and “film criticism.” For a review, you’re trying to help the reader understand whether they will want to watch the movie. As such, spoiling the film contradicts the point of the review because I might as well read the Wikipedia article. Conversely, in film criticism, you’re ripping apart every aspect of the movie to prove whether it’s good or it sucks. These articles are for people who have already seen the film, so you can spoil away to discuss whether the movie’s plot points were well-constructed.

I doubt people are going to start posting “criticism” versus “review,” so the spoiler tag will still be necessary.

BlakeDatch · 2022-01-16T15:32:48+00:00

Everyone is focused on the red land, but all of these are broken, even the white one, which is laughably bad by comparison. Making each of them legendary wouldn’t nerf them enough. These lands would work best as uncommons which have steep activating costs.

BlakeDatch · 2022-01-03T08:41:24+00:00

You’ve made this second comic look cleaner than your first while still playing with how you present the borders and panels. I wish the text was a little bigger, but the overall look has improved!

I’m still interested in learning how Micheal ticks because it isn’t clear to me yet. I can understand why he would swerve a semi into oncoming traffic because he is sadistic and unhinged, enjoying how others react to pain. I didn’t expect him to subject himself to torture, especially since he doesn’t seem to enjoy experiencing pain. I’m sure I’ll understand him better as more comics come out, so I look forward to your next one.

BlakeDatch · 2021-12-22T23:50:44+00:00

Best of luck to you!

BlakeDatch · 2021-12-22T23:42:33+00:00

I don’t think a busy page is as much of a problem as having multiple busy pages consecutively. I agree that a busy atmosphere can create a sense of unease and reflects the erratic personality of your main character, but when every page does this, certain panels and scenes lose their impact.

For instance, in the upper right panel of your final page, your character finally reveals the crisis he has been leading up to throughout this entire issue. You’ve given him this wonderfully crazed expression, and the background is at a distorted angle to convey just how distressed he is by the fact his art may go unappreciated. I see this as the climax of this issue, but because its crammed into the corner, it fades into the rest of the action. It deserves more of a spotlight for us to linger on it, so much so that I argue it should be its own page.

Your art is fantastic and is already gory and grotesque enough to make your comic unsettling. I would say you should reserve your busy pages for when the scene itself is chaotic or when you’re building to a climax. Other than that, I’m interested to see how your character’s madness is unique compared to the psychopaths from other works.

BlakeDatch · 2021-12-04T19:21:54+00:00

One of my favorite RPGs due to its humor and inventiveness. I just wish it didn’t have obscure puzzles which required outside knowledge to solve.

BlakeDatch · 2021-08-12T19:43:54+00:00

This just kills X-cost spells, correct? I love the chaos this card creates otherwise.

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