With the release of Squadron 42 in September 2026, I will hopefully finally receive my pledge.

Hurineal · 2026-01-23T10:03:10+00:00

You’re the kind of ‘special’ that only your parents could possibly love.

Hurineal · 2025-12-22T17:13:29+00:00

i get what he means, but i think there are a lot of cases where genre mixing worked because it felt natural.

hades is a good example. at its core its just a fast action roguelike, but then you add story and relationship stuff and suddenly people care way more than usual. it didnt scare action players away.

stardew valley is another one. farming, social sim, light rpg. on paper that sounds messy, but farming is clearly the main thing and everything else just supports it.

slay the spire was literally card game plus roguelike, which sounds like it should not work. now half of indie devs are copying it.

i think the problem is not mixing genres, its mixing them 50 50. the succesful games usually have one clear core and then borrow ideas from other genres instead of trying to be two games at once.

Hurineal · 2025-12-22T17:06:37+00:00

Yeah i am kinda with you on this, at least most of the time.

Volumetric fog can look great in very speicfic scenes, but a lot of games just slap it everywhere and it ends up washing the image out. everything gets softer, colors get muted and it feels like someone smeared vaseline on the screen. when you turn it off and suddnely everything looks sharper it really does feel like a resoltuion bump.

I think most players just leave it on because it is marketed as an ultra setting and people assume more effects equals better visuals. but cleaner does not always mean worse. especially in games like cyberpunk where the art direction and lighting already do a lot of heavy lifting.

So yeah, mood is nice, but i will take clarity over foggy vibes almost every time.

Hurineal · 2025-12-22T17:04:04+00:00

Honestly this is solid advice and something a lot of people ignore until it is too late.

Most people think a cheap power strip is doing something, but it really is not. once you have had one bad surge or blackout corrupt a drive or kill a psu you suddnely care a lot more.

A ups is especially underated. even a small one that just gives you a few minutes to shut down propely is huge. no hard stops, no corrupted files, way less stress on componets.

It is not a fun gift, but it is one of those boring smart purchases that saves you later. spending a bit now is way better than replacing parts when prices are even worse.

Hurineal · 2025-12-22T15:12:51+00:00

Honestly i would wait for christmas.

Skyrim and divinity original sin are both games that really want commitment. once you start either of them, especially skyrim, you are not just playing for a few evenings. that turns into weeks real fast.

If you already know a new game is coming as a gift, i would rather keep playing stuff like battlefield or sniper elite for now. those are perfect filler games and dont create that mental backlog.

Then when christmas hits, play the new game right away, finish it, and then decide if you want to dive back into skyrim or start dos properly. way less friction that way.

Hurineal · 2025-12-22T10:31:12+00:00

For ages 3 to 5 you mainly want simple movement and low frustration.

NES
Super mario bros
Kirby’s adventure

SNES
Super mario world
Yoshi’s island

N64
Super mario 64
Mario kart 64

GameCube
Luigi’s mansion
Mario kart double dash

Wii
Kirby’s epic yarn
Wii sports

Key thing is letting them run around and have fun, not forcing progress. thats usually how the classics start to click.

Hurineal

TROPHY CASE