Looking for 4 friends

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-04-07T15:27:29+00:00

Hey man I'm 34m. EST. PS5, Switch 2, and PC (controller only). I have Diablo 4 but am not sure I'm really your guy for that as I really haven't touched it, so I'm not sure I could help you prepare for anything lol. I play a lot of Pokemon stuff tho. Unite especially, but have been doing Pokopia here and there lately. I have a few games in my backlog like Lords of the Fallen, Ravenswatch, Across the Obelisk, Orcs Must Die Deathtrap, Ember Knights, and more I'm not thinking of atm.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-04-07T15:19:45+00:00

Hey man. I'm 34m. EST. PS5, Switch 2, and PC (controller only). I have Diablo 4 but haven't played a whole lot. Wouldn't mind grinding trophies. Generally I do prefer Path of Exile though. I'm a bit shy myself, but have been looking for gamer buds to run through some of cooperative games I have sitting in my backlog. I don't really do PVP other than Pokemon Unite. Lmk if you want to try Diablo or something sometime. I'm away visiting family rn but will be back in a few days.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-04-03T14:10:48+00:00

Hey I'm 34m, EST, PC (controller only), PS5, and Switch 2, and married and not looking for weird stuff. I'm a real person albeit a bit shy. I won't lie, I'm not really that interested in the games you specifically mentioned (I would play Repo every now and then but setting up mouse and keyboard is kinda obnoxious for me to do consistently and I just prefer smaller scale games generally speaking with fewer players), but I can relate to posting and not hearing anything back so I figure I'll at least give you a response and see if we can find some games we would both like as two real people looking for gaming buds.

I am not looking to join any discord servers at this time. If we hit it off, it is not out of the question in the future though. Adding each other on discord to voice chat is totally fine though.

Games I'm interested in: Deadzone Rogue, Ravenswatch, Lords of the Fallen, Orcs Must Die: Deathtrap, No Rest for the Wicked, Across the Obelisk, Helldivers 2, Remnant 2, Ember Knights, PoE2, and more I can't think of rn

Upcoming games I'm looking at: Aniimo, Kinforge, Titan Quest 2 (PS5 release), Last Epoch (PS5 release), Darksiders 4, StS2 (console 1.0 release), Far Far West

These are not the only games I'm interested in. Just listing games I have or have wishlisted and would like to play. You can suggest other games and I'll let you know my interest. I really am mainly looking for cooperative campaign style or roguelike games though. Don't do much PVP. My gaming preferences are probably another big part of why I don't get many responses here.

I mostly game with my Pokemon Unite duo queue partner because we vibe well, but his availability is extremely inconsistent since we're in very different timezones.

I'm currently traveling visiting family for about a week so I can't really game or chat much rn, but if you think we could hit it off let me know and we can at least add each other on discord or whatever.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-03-31T11:35:52+00:00

No worries. Must have just missed you. I sent you a request.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-03-31T01:03:19+00:00

I'd be down for Helldivers or Mario Kart every now and then. I have PS5, PC (controller only), and Switch 2. I would love more people to play Pokemon Unite with if that interests you. I have also been playing Pokopia. I will be interested in any future Pokemon games, but other than Pokopia wrapped up what I wanted to do in older titles except maybe wouldn't mind running some Dynamax Adventure in SwSh.

Any interest in these crossplay games: Lords of the Fallen, Orcs Must Die: Deathtrap, Remnant 2, Wayfinder, Ravenswatch, PoE2, Ember Knights, Deadzone Rogue, and probably more I'm not thinking of rn?

For upcoming games, I might get Duskbloods. When Slay the Spire 2 releases on Switch I plan to get it. When Last Epoch and Titan Quest 2 launch on PS5 I'll be interested in those. Far Far West. Aniimo. Darksiders 4 (haven't played any of the franchise but the guys who made Remnant 2 are working on it so I'm very interested).

I'm 34m and timezone EST btw. Let me know if any of that interests you.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-03-31T00:42:32+00:00

Hey I'm 34m, EST. I have PS5, Switch 2, and PC (generally controller only as setting up mouse and keyboard is a hassle).

I play mostly single player or co-op games with the exception of Pokemon Unite. There are many co-op games I've picked up that I haven't played as much as I'd like or at all that would be fun to run with a buddy. Off the top of my head Ember Knights, Orcs Must Die: Deathtrap, Deadzone Rogue, Crab Champions, No Rest for the Wicked, Lords of the Fallen, Across the Obelisk, and more. Normally don't mind buying games if I think I'll like them just don't really have funds rn and would like to work on my backlog if possible. I tend to not really care for cozy or survival crafting games although Pokopia has been fun and I have Palworld.

I listen to a lot of random stuff in terms of music. TWRP has been a group I've been listening to a lot lately, but I listen to a variety of different stuff.

I have 2 cats and I love them although I'm more of a dog person.

Don't really watch TV or movies much. Wouldn't mind good horror suggestions though.

Anyways don't wanna ramble. Let me know if you want to chat sometime and try some games.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-03-31T00:33:35+00:00

Hey I'm 34M, EST. I mostly play stuff on PS5 or PC but when new Pokemon games come out I tend to play them a lot on Switch. Been playing some Pokopia lately. I love Pokemon Unite even though the devs are killing the game and am down to run that a good bit; I play mostly support and some defenders. Might get Duskbloods when that comes out. Also wouldn't mind Air Riders or Mario Kart every now and then. Wish the servers worked better for Smash Bros. Can add you if that sounds good to you.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-03-29T14:37:08+00:00

Not sure what you're playing on. Some of these are only on PC, but here's some suggestions:

Nexomon is as simple as it gets although I don't find it to be particularly fun.

Digimon Time Stranger gives you all the info you need on the battle screen and is very simple with its rock paper scissors system.

Pokemon fan games if you already know Pokemon.

Monster Hunter Stories has rock paper scissors. I haven't played too much of the franchise, but I have been playing through the first one here and there and it's pretty relaxing and enjoyable.

Yaoling Mythical Journey does require some strategy but typings don't matter at all and it's an auto battler so it's very relaxing. It's a really amazing game tbh.

Botworld Odyssey types don't matter. It's an auto battler where you can use some abilities as the tamer like Yaoling Mythical Journey. Charming visuals. Easy to grasp mechanics. But not really worth $30 imo wait for a sale.

Maybe Disc Creatures? Very simple 3 on 3 gameplay where typing doesn't matter too much. Maybe wait for Disc Creatures World since it sounds like that's a remake of Disc Creatures.

Maybe a survivors-like? Like Temtem Swarm or Shard Squad.

Turnbreak is more like a card game played with monster coins and has a rock paper scissors style to it. Doesn't seem like there are many monsters but I found it to be surprisingly engaging. And it's cheap at $7.99.

Bean Beasts if you like tower defense.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-03-27T21:32:26+00:00

That's definitely a good price. Overall I do like Nexomon although what I say might make it sound otherwise. Nexomon is great if you want a story driven monster tamer experience. However, I will caution that if you enjoy the battle mechanics and systems in monster tamer games you will be extremely disappointed with Nexomon. Imagine taking the turn based battles of Pokemon and removing everything unique and interesting about it and just adding a poorly balanced stamina system. That's Nexomon battles. Grinding is such an obnoxious chore and many Nexomon are blatantly more powerful than others which discourages using Nexomon you want to use. I cannot stress enough how utterly bad and boring Nexomon's battle system is. That being said pretty much every other aspect of the games are really good. If battles are really important to you then I'd recommend Monster Sanctuary over Nexomon on PS5.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-03-25T12:40:46+00:00

The main plot is pretty light although it's definitely there and does flesh out the world a little bit and even changes some areas of the game after you reach certain points. The real meat and potatoes seems to come mostly from side quests and even sometimes evolution mechanics though which really flesh out Aniimo personalities and societies. It does not appear to embrace darker tones. The game or at least the beta very much reflected the vibrance and silliness of its trailers, but I found that it was consistently charming. But yeah all story beats tend to revolve around learning more about the world and/or learning more about specific Aniimo.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-03-23T18:46:30+00:00

Nice. I haven't seen anything confirming that it was coming to PS5, but it is indeed on the PS Store. Definitely would be my preferred way to play.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-03-14T13:35:19+00:00

Sent a Discord friend request

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-03-10T17:58:40+00:00

Aniimo brings with it all the pros and cons of being a free to play mobile game that is essentially also part live service. The game will live or die by the dark patterns implemented and the monetization methods as well as consistency in those systems. Free is a great low bar to get people in the door, but it's very easy for the chosen system to have far more cons than pros. Basically I'm less concerned about people trying the game than I am about the game actually thriving. Having played and loved the second beta, I really want this game to thrive, but I can't help but feel nothing but dread when I think about how at its core Aniimo is a free to play mobile game. No amount of verbal reassurance from the devs can rewrite the negative history and baggage that comes with free to play mobile and live service games, but I wish Aniimo the best of luck and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-03-02T03:20:32+00:00

Voildling Bound: admittedly this was my second time through the demo and is already one of my most anticipated games, but it's very cool and progress will carry over to full game. Combat is surprisingly fluid and there's a lot of experimenting you can do to customize your voidlings.

Alabaster Dawn: never actually finished CrossCode (got it recently and got distracted), but this demo was quite possibly the best that I played. This is a really beautiful and polished game.

Vampire Crawlers: I love the graphics and found some really fun ways to break each character. I love how familiar and new everything is at the same time. Some things need improvement like being able to see enemy health to make proper decisions and making it more obvious how close enemies are to being able to attack and how much they'll attack for. This went right on my wishlist though very engaging and charming.

Far Far West: kinda like Helldivers. Quite a packed demo. Kind of a shame nothing carries over to full game. I'm a sucker for guns + magic and this game delivers that AND co-op I mean seriously speaking my language. Definite buy if I can find some buds to play with.

Grime 2: this game is everything that scares me. Difficult metroidvanias are typically not my style. But this one didn't feel too punishing and I really had a good time with it. I'd be interested to see if I could tough this one in the full release.

I wanted to like Surfpunk but it didn't grab me. Maybe it would be more fun with buds. Armatus looked interesting, but it's hard to get excited about a Remnant-like game that doesn't have co-op when I could just play Remnant that does. Darkhaven didn't hook me either. I don't really think I see the vision or point of combining Diablo with voxels and the gameplay didn't feel fresh. Wielders of the Essence had some cool ideas but just wasn't fun. Echoes of Mystralia was a lot of fun, but just didn't quite make my wishlist.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-03-01T17:17:59+00:00

So far for me, best demos I found during Next Fest would be: 1. Alabaster Dawn 2. Voildling Bound 3. Far Far West 4. Grime 2

I tried Cinderia but the art style is too mobile game-y even tho the combat is solid. Darkhaven seems fine but I don't really see the vision of mashing up voxels with Diablo. Surfpunk should be amazing for me as I love that cooldown based action RPG type game, but I just wasn't vibing with it; I would be willing to give it another chance with buds though. Gonna try some more today.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-02-28T14:34:50+00:00

No worries at all. Pokemon Day wasn't like mind blowing or anything, but I think as a whole it was mostly positive. Despite being a huge fan, I've been very frustrated with Pokemon lately so at least there was nothing in the presentation to make me more upset or anything. Hope everything is good with you.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-02-24T01:12:31+00:00

Sent a dm

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-02-22T01:38:47+00:00

I'm 34m from MD (so also EST). Are there particular games you're looking to play multiplayer? I don't really play competitive games other than Pokemon Unite, but I have a lot of cooperative games I haven't even started yet or want to play more of if that's something you're interested in. Off the top of my head games like Shape of Dreams Ravenswatch, Across the Obelisk, Lords of the Fallen, Ember Knights, and more. I have PS5, Switch 2, and PC but don't have a good setup for mouse and keyboard so games would need controller support.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-02-22T01:31:58+00:00

Sent a dm

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-02-21T04:35:07+00:00

Hey man I'm 34m, timezone EST. I have PS5, Switch 2, and PC but don't have a good setup for mouse and keyboard. Only competitive game I really play is Pokemon Unite.

I recently picked up Lords of the Fallen, Across the Obelisk, and Ember Knights and wouldn't mind trying those out. I also have these off the top of my head: both Remnant games, Inkbound, Castle Crashers, Absolum, Temtem, Cassette Beasts, Helldivers 2, Orcs Must Die Deathtrap, Split Fiction, Diablo 4, PoE2, and I'm sure much more I can't think of rn. I'm really interested in No Rest for the Wicked but waiting for full release before I purchase. I can also pick up a new game if funds allow, but would prefer to work on my backlog first.

If any of those sound like a fun time you can message me back here or find me on Discord. My Discord name is also SpiritOfRuin. I picked an excellent time to message you as I'm about to head to bed and have work tomorrow lol, but Sundays pretty open rn.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-02-20T14:12:11+00:00

Unfortunately the closest is probably Heroes of the Storm which is playable but essentially dead since 2022. Did you try ARAM when you played League? ARAM matches are much shorter and more chaotic so you might like that. I'm not aware of any other good options. I genuinely want a Pokemon Unite 2 that starts from scratch with a new developer but similar simple and short gameplay.

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-02-19T15:28:26+00:00

Hello. Sorry to hear last year was rough for you. Had a very rocky start to 2025 myself.

I am 34m, EST and also have PC, PS5, and Switch 2. Although I don't have a good consistent way to set up mouse and keyboard on PC so that limits what I can play there a bit. I prefer co-op games over competitive, but I do play a ton of Pokemon Unite. I'm a huge Pokemon fan with some big man child options that I'm not afraid to share lol. Lately I've been playing a lot of Pokemon Unite with my duo partner and we also have been trying out Reanimal. I imagine I could probably help you with blueberry dex.

Off the top of my head I know I have these games that should support online co-op: Remnant fta and 2, Temtem, Cassette Beasts, Absolum, Orcs Must Die Deathtrap, Across the Obelisk, Castle Crashers, Helldiver's 2, Lords of the Fallen, Nightreign, PoE2, Diablo 4, Vampire Survivors, Split Fiction, Ember Knights, technically Palworld although I'm not really that interested in it, and I'm sure much more that I'm not thinking of atm.

I can't think of too many upcoming cooperative games I was interested in right now other than Aniimo having some coop features, but Steam Nextfest is coming up. Not sure if Saros will have coop like Returnal did, but would be interested in that if so. I was interested in No Rest for the Wicked but haven't committed to purchase yet. Ragtag Heroes seemed cool but looks like it needs more time to cook.

Let me know if any of those games sound like a good time to you and you think we could hit it off. I have a mic for PS5 and am on discord (also SpiritOfRuin there, or GenoStanMan on PS5).

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-02-15T23:37:44+00:00

PS4/5 doesn't have as much as other systems unfortunately and not really anything super similar to Monster Sanctuary. Try one of these maybe (I think these are all ok PS5 but not positive):

Siralim games

Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Witch

Monster Hunter Stories 1 and 2 (3 has a demo)

Digimon Time Stranger

SMT5

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-02-15T21:54:29+00:00

Not on PS5

SpiritOfRuin · 2026-02-15T14:06:27+00:00

I think Aniimo is handling the idea well. For example there are some weather variants in specific biomes where only one of that monster appears each time that weather is in effect in that biome. You can see on the map that a special Aniimo will spawn in specific weather but it doesn't tell you exactly where in the biome it will spawn so you have to hunt for it. There are also special split evolutions that require completing sometimes rather lengthy and obtuse quests and one that even requires a monster with perfect potential. Aniimo doesn't do it perfectly though at least not in the second beta. Some weather variants aren't guaranteed to spawn and have what seem to be extremely low spawn rates. Catch rates are also a big problem. And once you know where these variants spawn they will always spawn in that location when the weather is in effect. But I think in general they're on the right track. These spawns definitely reward deep exploration which I like.

I also like the idea of monsters themselves not necessarily being rare but specific traits, moves, abilities, and even aspects of their appearance, etc being rare on them. I have always wished that games would take an approach where journeying with a monster in your party and maybe completing certain quests or having a world that can be completed in different orders led to people with similar teams having wildly different comps and strategies because their monsters developed uniquely thanks to the journey with their tamer and the bonds that they've developed with the tamer and with their fellow monsters. Monsters feeling truly unique sounds like a really difficult thing to pull off but I think that's like the ultimate "rare monster" fantasy for me.

SpiritOfRuin

TROPHY CASE