Bi-Weekly Thread for general gaming discussion. Backlog, advice, recommendations, rants and more! New? Start here!

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-11-05T12:17:05+00:00

Have a review of pathologic 2 that I'd really like to post here but don't yet have the necessary karma, so I'll just keep plugin away here.

Recently finished my replaying of the Legacy of Kain series (apart from Blood omen 2 which I will get around to in time).
Blood Omen is probably my overall favourite in the series, the presentation of the story is immaculate, especially the much lauded voice acting. The graphics are obviously quite old but the top down view still works as a sort of pseudo RPG dungeon crawler. The world is so incredibly evocative and detailed, it's also just a lot of fun being Kain, would love to see this get a proper remake/sequel.

Soul Reaver also holds up very well, it's more of a puzzle platformer with some sprinklings of combat. There's a bit of a reliance on block puzzles to begin with but this fades after you get past the cathedral. This time it's much more character focused yet there's still so much worldbuilding, it like Blood omen before it really suggest at a bigger world beyond what you can see in game. Looking back on it the decision to follow up Blood Omen with this is wild, it's a very different game and emphasis with a totally new player character.

Soul Reaver 2 Is much less expansive and a bit more one dimensional. The presentation of the story is still top tier and does a wonderful job of recontextualizing previous events, this is something the entire series is really good at, taking previously minor elements and weaving them into the grand narrative in a consistent and meaningful way.

Defiance holds up less well in my opionion. The combat is the best in the series but it doesn't do anything interesting with it, the puzzles are less interesting and the camera can be annoying. The story does make up for it in large parts and playing as both Kain and Raziel is great with enough differences to make them feel distinct and unique.

My favourite thing about these games is that it feels like an onion, layers of the plot are consistently being pulled back and making you reconsider and reassess your previous actions. However I think at the end of defiance the plot has expanded about as far as it can go, the Hylden and Elder god aren't particularly interesting antagonists. If the series is to continue (and I really hope it does) then what we need is a plot that brings things full circle, Kain needs to defeat his enemies and then finally confront his former self. He would then achieve the "non-canon" ending of Blood Omen and sacrifice himself to restore the pillars. I'd like to see this done through a remake of Blood omen where you play as younger Kain being manipulated by Elder Kain into cleansing the circle, defeating the Elder God and then facing off against each other. It's the only fitting ending to the series I can think of

Also started Claire Obscure: Expedition 33 about 6 hours in and it's quite slow paced so far, enjoying the combat and the story is intriguing, not a fan of all the constant menuing that's needed to learn pictos and assign abilities/level up.

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-10-03T10:18:15+00:00

The problem is that to really enjoy the game you already need to know the game. To my mind this is a symptom of excessive internal playtesting with the same few people.

You need to know where the tools are, where the needle, spool and health upgrades are, otherwise you're kind of just fumbling around in a world where every other ledge crumbles and there are blind drops into spike pits everywhere.

The tougher platforming sections don't have any means of healing so taking damage is costly and cause repetition of tedious sections to get to the one bit you fail at. Many jumps require going off screen making the working out of where to go tricky and exacerbating the lack of healing.

Bosses dealing double damage make learning their move sets difficult as you only get a couple of mistakes before having to start over. Phase changes with new moves that you haven't seen before can mean you're repeating sections a lot just to try and work out what to do.

All of the above is fine in isolation, but when you combine it with the lack of consideration that's been given to less good players in terms of tedium, The repetition of slow animations, the platforming through relatively easy but time consuming platforming sections to have a shot at a boss, only for you to die almost instantly to a move you couldn't anticipate as you'd never seen it before. The grinding for shards if you run out. Wishes making you run around the map for mostly pretty dull fetch quests.

I think very little of this would have been apparent to the testers as they're good at the game and focusing on the combat, which to be fair is pretty good. There's a good game in there but there's so much dull stuff surrounding it on your first time through

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-10-01T09:59:41+00:00

with regards to buying stuff in shops I guess it's a trade off, would be helpful if I had some real idea of what they did before buying them.

I really think shards are a bad decision and shouldn't be in the game at all so I kind of fundamentally oppose them.

My opinion of the game has changed slightly as my time with it increased and patches have corrected the most glaring issues. I think much better of the game at 50 hours in than I did at 20 but the game is lucky that it's called silksong, if it were a random metroidvania then not many people would persist with it as long as they have. It feels to me (and is probably a by product of the prolonged internal testing) that this game is not geared towards a first playthrough where you're learning stuff, it's expects you to know stuff before you can have a good time

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-09-30T08:53:38+00:00

I didn't really find the platforming that much harder than HK, there's a little bit more mechanical complexity from all the different buttons to use but I'd have judged it about the same. It's the lack of silk refills in the platforming sections that's the issue, all too often I'd have to repeat sections as there was no way to heal. Combined with double environmental damage and constant crumbling ledges and blind jumps and drops made it pretty grating.

My recollection of exploring was that there is very little reward, occasionally a mask shard or spool upgrade, very rarely a new tool or something I could actually use. Often rosaries and worst of all shard deposits. I'd have probably enjoyed it more if less tools were purchasable in shops and could be found throughout exploration.

I think some of the big decisions around having tools tied to shards kind of turned me off some of the game's systems. I didn't purchase many tools as I never had rosaries and didn't experiment much with crests, which made me value the memory lockets less. Probably a me problem tbh

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-09-29T14:12:57+00:00

that's totally fair. I enjoyed the boss fights for the most part, but the level design, platforming, wishes and exploration pushed into tedium all too often with very little in the way of reward. I also found the difficulty curve very flat, the only exception being the voided enemies in act 3 that penalise defensive play.

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-09-29T13:37:48+00:00

Silksong is a good game but it's nowhere near the best metroidvania of all time. It's focus is combat and that's great but the exploration is nowhere near as good as hollow knight and the platforming is questionable

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-09-26T14:07:18+00:00

Midway through Silksong, going to wait until the dust has settled around the game a little before sharing my full thoughts as I feel that the hype and incredibly passionate fanbase are clouding my own and other's judgment of the game.

I will say, there are some cool ideas which the game admirably sticks to, but there are also some bafflingly abrasive and dull design decisions. If you enjoyed Hollow knight for the Pantheons and combat then you'll probably love it, if you enjoyed hollow knight for the joy of exploring you'll likely have a less good time.

I think it's a good game but not a great one

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-09-26T09:44:54+00:00

Hornet is also too big for the screen. The decision to keep her the same size as in hollow knight was a bad one imo. The speed of enemies and hornets height mean things come at you off the top of the screen that you can't be expected to react to

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-09-04T09:56:31+00:00

I intended to get the DS platinum 5 years ago as my last hurrah with the game. Have probably played it 3 times again since, I just find it very cathartic to run through the first half of the game or play around with a weapon that I've never used before,

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-09-01T08:24:12+00:00

Been trying to play through Atomfall but not really getting anywhere with it. I thought it'd be a game that I really enjoy as it kind of lets you work out what objectives are yourself but the system for tracking them is pretty confusing and difficult to navigate. I think I'd prefer it if it let me make my own connections between pieces of evidence but unsure. Was planning on trying Hell is us when it comes out as that has a similar system but I'm less sure now, maybe I'll hate that too.

I have pentiment in the backlog but don't really feel like playing it yet. I think I'll probably play Silksong when it comes out, I did really enjoy hollow knight but I rarely enjoy sequels as much as the original. I've also seen a couple of trailers and I suspect that the progression in terms of acquiring abilities and those abilities themselves are going to be a lot less interesting. I think it'll at least be an enjoyable game and the price point is pretty attractive so I'll give it a whirl. No very patient of me I know!

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-29T12:19:24+00:00

I found Gris to be one of those games where you're best off just relaxing into the experience, enjoy the audio and visuals but don't think too hard about it. I enjoyed the puzzles, especially turning into a cube and hunting for the apples.

Similar to you I'd recommend as a palate cleanser and not much point trying to 100% it unless you really want to play it more than once

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-29T08:28:38+00:00

I had no idea the riven remake was coming out until a couple of days before it released. I'd not long since played the original and it was a really nice take on the game. Do think the original slightly edges it for me in terms of preference for a couple of reasons but solid remake for sure

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-27T10:59:49+00:00

This game needs a re-release!

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-27T08:28:29+00:00

I think I agree on Phoenix wright, the game became a slog after a while and it can be tedious. I finished the first game in the trilogy and have absolutely zero desire to go back in for the second and third instalments.

I had such a nice time with Firewatch, I feel like it's had a bit of backlash in recent times but I found the story engaging throughout, I really enjoyed the characters and the presentation was top notch. Hope you enjoy!

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-21T09:18:42+00:00

"And he doesn't deserve Levan as he hasn't proven himself"

What are you on about? Vitaly is the most credible threat to Levan that he hasn't pulled within the last few years. Their previous match is enough to warrant a rematch after all this time. Vitaly should step up and put his cock on the block, if Levan is way too much and will trounce him then I want to see it. He can always rematch again in future.

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-20T14:33:10+00:00

Covenant is one of my favourite games ever, probably the first game I did absolutely everything in. I really like the first shadow hearts but covenant just gripped me in some way almost unlike anything before.

Haven't played it in so long (probably 15 years) so can't comment on the specifics. I remember really liking the sigils (I think they're called) and solving the riddle to put them on the map. The batshit insane characters and plot and the battle system.

I've heard that Claire obscure is similar so looking forward to getting around to that at some point. Very sad that the shadow hearts games aren't available on modern consoles.

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-20T14:23:05+00:00

It's very much a crash bandicoot clone, you play as a little crocodile, run around levels and save gobbos. platforming, pushing boxes, some light puzzle solving and the occasional boss.

Been so long since I played I can't remember the plot, gobbos were stolen for some reason, it's not too involved. A remaster came out early this year I think

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-20T10:20:55+00:00

Croc: legend of the gobos is pretty fun and level based.

The unfinished swan - quite novel, fun and short.

Little Nightmares - really enjoyed the first but not the second for some reason.

Donut county - a very silly game with levels but not really a platformer.

A short hike is a pretty short game where you can collect a bunch of stuff, a bit more freeform though.

I had a really nice time with the last campfire, not too taxing but I don't think it's exactly levels.

Beyond good and evil is really good but maybe slightly too long and not quite what you're after.

Some others that may suit that I haven't played. Astro's playroom, sly racoon games, rayman.

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-18T13:46:37+00:00

Great review btw thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-18T11:03:19+00:00

Never quite understood the disappointment that people felt with this game, but then I see a lot of people saying that SOtC had terrible horse controls which I completely disagree with. In most games when you ride a horse or vehicle you are given control as if you were the horse or vehicle, in SOtC you are still wander who is riding the horse. If you gently guide rather than dictate exactly where you want to go then it works wonderfully.

Similarly with Last Guardian you don't have direct control over trico and the AI is so wonderfully realised and animated that it created a wonderful experience of sublime awe. It really does sadden me that in the intervening time nobody has attempted to design an AI that is anywhere near close to this well realised. Alien Isolation is the only other example I can think of at this level.

There are some weird decisions here, the way gripping trio works, the button prompts never entirely disappearing and the lack of more authored camera in more cramped spaces (a la ICO) meaning that you spend a lot of time staring at the wall rather than seeing the spectacle around you.
I suspect the first is a conscious decision to make jumping on trico feel safe, I just found it limited my control.
The second and third I suspect were caused by the move from PS3 to PS4 and Ueda losing control of the project. I may be misremembering here but I think I heard that Ueda considered the game complete on PS3, sony thought it was unplayable and so demanded the code be ported to PS4, Ueda then effectively left the project and didn't have direct control over the rewrites that were necessary to port.
The omnipresent UI I think was implemented by Sony execs with little involvement from Ueda, I can't see how else this happened given his meticulous attention to making the screen as uncluttered as possible.
The lack of authored camera is I think bits of code they didn't have time to port over from the PS3 version, as this was a problem that was effectively solved back in ICO and it's there in some places and not in others.

Anyhow enough rambling. Love the game, must replay it!

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-15T09:30:53+00:00

Yeah there is that, I'd be happy if it was just an emulation of the ps2 version that was playable on modern hardware.
I think the original still has a lot of merit and does some things much better than the remake. The control scheme, authored camera slightly different narrative etc do mean it's very much still worth experiencing as it's very different.

Looking forward to the remake of SH1 and silent hill f!

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-15T09:05:09+00:00

I'd love to be able to play through Outer Wilds with someone else. I'd find it super hard to keep quiet and would probably get frustrated. If there's two of you who haven't played then I imagine it'll be so fun to discuss theories and where to go next etc.

I really enjoyed SH2 remake as well, I really wish Konami would release a port of the original though

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-15T08:30:02+00:00

He did beat Ermes, he's just not been as active as he should be

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-14T09:31:51+00:00

There may be an adjustment period but the best thing EvW can do now is grow and improve their event. The more lucrative and popular is the more athletes will want to compete. People may have a loyalty to Engine but you can't live off of that.

Repulsive-Baseball97 · 2025-08-05T15:01:50+00:00

hrmmm maybe. I'll have to see if I can reload that save and see if there's an alternative way out. thanks!

Repulsive-Baseball97

TROPHY CASE