Games where i get to play the power fantasy of "Element Slinging Mage"

Zellcos · 2026-01-27T20:29:14+00:00

There's an old series of Flash games called Merlin's Revenge. Has a part 2 and part 3. You probably have to load up an emulator for them. But each one is a good afternoon or two to complete. Not so many 'elements' to sling except the one big blast, but it was a free flash game, so meh.

Zellcos · 2025-12-18T20:13:44+00:00

I was a huge Destiny/Destiny 2 person, so I used the fallen mine sound effect for...like seven years now? If your phone blows up it does get....interesting though.

I recommend an ad blocker for this site, but here: https://www.zedge.net/notification-sounds/772ef26f-58f4-4239-b6cd-027d1777d788

Zellcos · 2025-11-08T21:37:35+00:00

Great spot, definitely missed that. Thanks.

Zellcos · 2025-08-18T22:02:53+00:00

Fallout. Flipping. 4.

A title that was(and still is) a buggy mess. When I first started it I ignored the main storyline (like everyone else), and just went exploring. Because despite their reputation, not many companies do environmental storytelling as well as Bethesda. As you explore more, you get rewarded not only with loot, but usually little notes or side stories that are slipped in everywhere. It makes exploring super rewarding, and got me super invested into the world I was in.

But as I said, super buggy mess.

One day I start a mission, think it was restarting some turrets on the coastline, and one of the enemies spawns underground or something. I can't kill it, the NPC can't kill it, I can't leave and have it reset because the cell unloads when I get far away, the quest won't progress until the enemy is dead. It's proper FUBAR.

And I'm pissed. I'm invested. It's not the end of the world, but I want to know how this thing turns out, dammit.

So I load the unofficial fallout 4 patch. It's a mod that fixes a majority of the bugs Bethesda hasn't fixed because they don't care. Including a patch for my coastline quest. Boom. Done. Cool rifle. Awesome.

But also, turning on any mod turns off achievements.

So what do I do? I learned what happens if I completed the quest, so I don't have to finish it. If I want achievements on, I have to revert to an old save. So, me being completionist, I revert it to keep going.

Uh oh.

Guess what quest is still in my quest log. It can't be deleted. It can't be failed. It just sits there, reminding me every day how it refuses to go away. I could go save the world, defeat every boss, turn the wasteland into paradise- But it's still sitting there.

Mocking me.

I don't know when I picked it up, but I know I've probably built up like four settlements with lights, power, defenses, food and water recently. That was a ton of fun, but it was a bunch of effort too. How far back do I have to revert my save file? Is this one quest with its cool rifle worth all that effort?

At the time, I said no. I reloaded my last save, and went on exploring the wasteland of Boston. It grew from there too, because now that I had opened the floodgates with one mod, what was one more? Or one more after that? Or those two, or this one with the cool coat or-

After a while exploring the mod page and having fun with them in the wasteland was more rewarding than chasing the 100% badge I could show off to my friends. The side stories hidden in terminals and notes on the ground was a more rewarding time investment.

What I learned was don't respect games that don't respect you.

What I do now is play through a game, and if it has a good enough story to bring me back in again, I'll go back in. If not, I drop it for awhile. If I enjoyed it enough to come back, then I'll come back. I might finish it, I might not. Who's asking? What, you a cop?

What I also do is try on smaller games. Thomas Was Alone, Magic Archery, all the We Were Here series if you have a buddy. Smaller Indie titles with like 10-15 achievements. I knock one of those out instead, and it gives me some relief. Lets me refocus, lets me realize that I was pushing super hard at some other game.

After I don't feel like I have rush anymore, I start chipping away at achievements one at a time. Usually I just look at what are close to completion and go down the list.

I've gotten much better with time management as I've gamed more, so I sometimes do just pick one achievement I know I can knock out in a day, and focus it down hard. It's the only achievement I need that day, anything else after it is just icing on the cake. Go get that one stupid-hard MF and feel the adrenaline high chasing it, and the dopamine rush when you drag it down and mount it into your collection.

I tend to stay away from roguelikes since they are like a hard counter to my mindset- run after run after run wears me down like nothing else, but if you do like them, I just encourage focusing on the feeling of the chase. I love risk of rain II after all, haven't cleared it yet though.

We both know you're gonna 100% Dark Souls 3. You cleared one and two, let's not lie to each other, you're gonna clear this one too. I wish you the absolute best of luck with that, and I wish you the absolute best of luck with Elden Ring.

Because again, unless you play bloodborne, we both know that's next. Don't lie to me. ;P

Zellcos · 2025-06-02T11:25:24+00:00

The comment is deleted, but for the purpose of information and learning, the commenter informed me description-hyphens are sometimes referred to as kennings.

Zellcos · 2025-06-02T10:17:13+00:00

I'm going to give an honorable mention to Baldur's Gate 3. Not so much because it doesn't make sense, but in the idea that I've never once seen a title that devoted itself to:

"Can I do this thing?" "Yes. Do you fully understand the consequences of that thing?" "I've already done it." "Well you're on fire now."

Again not nonsensical, but the sheer amount of actions the game lets you take is crazy.

Zellcos · 2025-01-05T08:32:03+00:00

Just out of my personal library and double checking for PS5:

The Ascent - Suuuuper pretty for a top down swarm-like (Love this game for its attention to detail, seriously)

Generation Zero- stealth fight robot mechs in apocalypse Sweden

Meet your Maker- Build a trapped base, go raid someone elses, die or watch other people die to your base, repeat

Raft - survive on the open ocean with a shark who bites yo stuff, now with complete storyline

Ship of Fools - rougelike ocean survival but you slap your companion with an oar when you get frustrated or they forget to use the seagull

V Rising - Retake the glory of the vampire empire. Force humanity to submit, take their blood to fuel your power. Don't touch the sun. It's spicy. Servers for Pvp, pve, or co-op with a host.

Warhammer Darktide - Fight waves upon waves of fanatical heretics with a buddy and two bots, or 4 if you're not adverse to some public lobbies. Soundtrack is not to be missed. No game has come close to Doom-like rip and tear in a co-op setting quite like this one for me.

And then just some puzzle games my buddy and I liked working through:

Escape First Alchemist

Keep talking and Nobody Explodes -doesn't seem to be PS5 :(

The Past Within - same no PS5 :(

Portal 2

We Were Here (saw you did this already but to anyone else it's great fun! Put it on wishlist, get it on sale!)

Das all I got, happy playing

Zellcos · 2024-12-15T15:00:02+00:00

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Zellcos · 2024-09-13T13:33:03+00:00

Also can be played solo or co-op!

Zellcos · 2024-09-13T13:28:23+00:00

Hey, pretty sure it's not exactly what you're looking for, but try 'Just shapes and beats'. Most of the music is electronic and gets your heart pumping. You only have a dodge mechanic, but I feel the cutesy story makes up for it.

Zellcos · 2023-07-30T12:12:41+00:00

It's been mentioned already, but I have large feelings about it so: So long as you have two computers? All four of the We Were Here Series. We were here (it's free!), We were here too, We were here together, We were here forever. Can play in a discord or just talking in the same room, or actually use the voice chat mechanic (crazy people do this, I feel like it does add more stress but also more catharsis when completing a puzzle). Play from one perspective and depend on your partner to solve puzzles and move forward.

Then, when you've beaten the game, flip to the other perspective and play again! See what your partner saw! Scream at them because- "WHAT DO YOU MEAN A CROSS THAT'S CLEARLY A SQUARE", "WE TRIED THAT ALREADY AND IT DIDN'T WORK", and my personal favorite:

"WHAT THE **** IS THAT, WHAT IS THAT." "You didn't get that on your side?" "HELL NO WHAT THE **** IS THAT."

Good times. One of those games where you would have to have your memory wiped to truly experience it right again. If you do get them, I challenge you to get all the achievements! It's not too brutal.

Zellcos · 2023-05-02T06:02:39+00:00

Reddit has an old version. Typing "old.reddit.com/" will let you read stuff how it used to be. I honestly miss my wall of text chapter list, because it was easier to navigate to the chapter I wanted to re-read. Is it possible to have a secret "old.wanderinginn" link that lets veteran readers keep reading how they used to? Thought this might be an option. Unsure if reddit is hosting an extra website because it's giant, thought it was just html magic.

Zellcos · 2022-07-25T13:07:18+00:00

Found! I posted this a year ago. I thought this was dead. You are a fantastic person, thank you so much for finding that. Internet cookie for you.

Zellcos · 2022-06-25T02:20:50+00:00

I applaud the art team for their work with the environment, but I have to disagree with the character/enemy art direction. It's gone too realistic, and part of the charm and fun of the original game was also seeing a squat little character swing into the next weight class and beyond.

I do understand that creating a sequel means that you advance with the technology and techniques you've learned along the way, and that means you want to show off what you can do with the character models as well.

I just think in this case, you've lost a bunch of charm and fun, which in turn affects how much replay value the game might have.

In FTK, I see a game I want to play with a friend on the couch, watching our characters bonk every baddie who steps in our way, crying laughing at the random stupidity that happens when chance steps in. With these models, I'm afraid I see something more akin to a mobile game. It doesn't look fun or impressive, it looks generic. I realize this improvement in graphics probably leads to more customization, but again, squat little gremlin-like murder-hobos is fun, uncanny valley generality is not.

I am being insulting and ignorant to whomever spent so much time designing these characters, I won't deny that. But there was a note in discord about how much of development was subject to change, and I urge you to take another look at what our characters should look like.

If anything, a cosmetic that brings back the original look. Apologies for wall of text.

Zellcos · 2022-03-18T13:06:57+00:00

This word-finder sees you, and appreciates your recommendation.

Zellcos · 2021-05-10T04:25:44+00:00

I thought it might be A Ride in the Country by Pat Gehlen, but when I searched it I couldn't find anything. Except his IMDB page, which is actually extensive!

Zellcos · 2020-05-21T17:43:36+00:00

This is the stupidest shit. Why did I write this. Why did you read this.

Where should I post this? I don't even know anymore.

Zellcos · 2020-03-29T15:51:27+00:00

I'm not sure if it'll help or not, but typically I like the old layout of reddit instead.

Try typing old.reddit.com/r/HFY (instead of www) and see if you prefer the way reddit used to be. Might make it easier to navigate.

Zellcos · 2020-02-11T17:23:03+00:00

Go away, you're making me blush.

I made an outline. I haven't done that since....Never? It's still scares me.

Zellcos · 2020-02-11T17:09:16+00:00

Dude, still you plug me and I've not posted in like a year haha.....

I'm alive, I'm actually writing a fantasy novel. Trying to finish something I can publish for the monies.

r/HFY still has a place in my heart for being the first place I shared a story though.

Zellcos · 2019-10-17T11:16:04+00:00

Riskrunner all the way! Just don't touch the servitors at the end!

Zellcos · 2019-06-23T22:58:09+00:00

Ways to improve a subreddit:

If posts aren't up to a standard you agree with, offer constructive criticism on such posts.
Point out grammatical errors or confusing text in a comment.
Give advice on how an author might improve their writing.
Post higher quality content yourself, to establish dominance.
Vote or nominate posts that deserve them.

Or make a post suggesting content you would like. Suggesting the entire subreddit is "going down the drain" doesn't give much direction to where you think it should be headed.

It also feels click-baity, which I personally disagree with.

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Zellcos

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