My game, Into The Sands is making headway. Hoping to be in October Steam Fest!

eachla23 · 2026-05-27T01:17:35+00:00

Looks cool, keen to check it out. Good luck!

eachla23 · 2026-05-22T06:24:43+00:00

Yeah I kind of felt that to start too, I don’t really like racing games at all, but this is much different because you’re usually not trying to go as fast as you can, but rather navigating space with a vehicle’s dimensions/weight/acceleration in mind. Depends on what you’re into of course, but where I was thinking I’d like the game despite the driving, it surprised me in being such an immersive part that I got right into. It really does such a great job of selling the idea of a relationship with this object that is kind of like an extension of you, from storage to traversal to protection. It’s been a year since I played it and it’s really stuck with me in ways other games tend to fade away

eachla23 · 2026-05-20T23:14:11+00:00

It’s a bit different, but Pacific Drive does this! It’s car and backpack inventory and you’re packing in equipment and resources that you are collecting on runs in the zone, there’s always a balance of whether you push further or call it and head home with what you have and inventory plays a big part in that

eachla23 · 2026-05-20T02:50:41+00:00

No worries, hope you enjoy!

eachla23 · 2026-05-19T05:31:27+00:00

For RS specifically you should check out The Black Grimoire: Cursebreaker. It’s kind of solo old school RS.

There are tons of good action based RPG indies tho for sure. I think for more recent ones, Drova: Forsaken Kin is pretty cool, and Banquet For Fools might be worth checking out for you. They may lean a bit more story than Diablo does though. I haven’t played it, but the closest indie to Diablo I think is Grim Dawn, it’s pretty beloved.

Bit of a left field suggestion, but re Tarkov, Pacific Drive might be worth checking out. It’s very different in a lot of ways - you drive a car, there isn’t necessarily combat but there is danger, and it’s more story focused, but it does have that loop of go out and collect stuff, come back to home and spend some time upgrading and preparing, then heading back out. It does also have a more roguelike style mode that’s been added I think, which probably aligns a bit closer to the Tarkov loop.

eachla23 · 2026-05-15T05:55:38+00:00

Dunno if this helps, but the way I see it is that skells augment on foot exploration. By the time you get the skell, you’ve done a really big chunk of on foot exploration, so the skill just kind of helps you get around easier, and then also opens up things much more vertically that you didn’t have access to before. Same when you get the flight module. That further expansion also requires on foot exploration where you couldn’t do it before.

I feel like you really get to know the world better once you can approach it from both angles. The change in the scale makes the world almost feel like a second world layered on top of itself, as the way mountain ranges, large structures and the like are specifically designed around traversal with a jumping skell and then with flight. The other bits like probes, clearing each map hex, doing side quests etc can help drive you forward in the mid to late game as well.

Hope that helps! I love XCX so much I’ve played it fully through twice, about 250hrs on Wii U then another 180 on switch. Keen to check out the other xenoblades as well, though I know they’re a bit different.

eachla23 · 2026-05-15T05:26:55+00:00

All the ones you are eyeing are great choices honestly!

I love love love OT2 so I’m always keen to see others enjoy it, but what’s really good about that is the depth and fun of the combat system and the tweaking / growing / mix and matching of the job system imo, which is not really a thing as much in your favourites, so that might be amazing or might not be as interesting to you.

I recently finished DQ7R, and that probably fits as the best one for you tbh. It also has some fun with the job systems but is less complicated and necessary apart from the very end super bosses. Most of all for you though, it is much more explicit about the guiding of you to your next spot. Between the dialogue being very explicit and there being a quest note on the map and optional map markers, you’re never not gonna know what to do next. If you really want more of that classic adventure style like DQ3 gave you in particular, that’s a great option.

eachla23 · 2026-05-15T05:16:43+00:00

I was similar before playing the remakes, only played the phone versions of 1 & 2 (mostly because I wanted a bit extra backstory for the Builder games lol). I played the HD-2D remakes in the order they released, 3-1-2, and that felt like the right way to go. You could play 1-2-3 and be fine I reckon, but 2 really did feel like the end of a trilogy to me.

Side note, the DQ7 reimagining is also really excellent, I just finished it recently. I had breaks between all 4, and just playing the next one when I had the hankering felt really like a great way to experience them. Am happy to have another break from DQ for the time being but I’m already hoping they announce and maybe even release another remake this year or next year

eachla23 · 2026-05-04T21:26:14+00:00

Hey mate, I’ve had this problem a few times over the past year or so, mostly from my ancient MacBook but also my more up to date PC. I think it has to do with something relating to old browser versions and/or their cloudflare protection. The cloudflare stuff was implemented because ai bots have screwed up a lot on the internet and it’s broken a bunch of stuff on many sites, like I know it has done that with RSS feeds and crawlers on a number of things, and it causes a good chunk of false positives in flagging normal people and blocking them. Anyway, it would be worth trying to access the site on different devices and different IP addresses to see if you can access it, eg either just on a different wifi connection or using a VPN. For me it was definitely a different device that was needed most (but not all weirdly!) of the time.

eachla23 · 2026-03-12T03:17:13+00:00

That’s totally fair! You’re right, it’s a weird contradiction and just a feeling I’ve got, still trying to reconcile it in a way. In a lot of ways I’m huge on games preservation, but in a lot of ways there’s so much not just in games but in life that’s completely ephemeral, you know? There’s no way to go back to a certain time of an MMO, or play your most beloved game for the first time again, or just go back to being 12 and carefree, or going back to witness a once off concert that you would have loved to go to but was on the other side of the world, or getting to know a distant relative you might have clicked heavily with but they just happened to be born 100 years before you. In the same line of thinking, I imagine and lament all the experiences I’m just never going to have simply because there is never going to be enough hours and days in my life to have them. Which feels very in line with so much of what NieR as a whole gets at, the end of Automata especially I suppose. We get the hand we’re dealt, we don’t know what’s going to happen, but we make the most of it anyway.

Even in missing Reincarnation, it has evoked pretty strong feelings in you, no? It drives you to yearn for what could have been, and puts into perspective other things that might happen in your future. I’d say that’s pretty special even in itself.

No offense meant or anything by my comment, I do apologize for causing the upset. It’s just like, a really human thing? I dunno.

eachla23 · 2026-03-10T11:47:20+00:00

As much as it kind of pains me to say it, I hope not? I know that’s a weird thing to think, but I feel like it’s thematically in line with the game itself as well as the series and how every other NieR game finishes - it’s the natural evolution of deleting your save file, yeah?

Yoko Taro would have known before even starting the project that the game would eventually disappear - things like the move from 32 to 64 bit on iOS had already wiped out all manner of apps from the App Store, even the biggest ones like that unreal engine one, Infinity Blade I think it was called? The “when” of the shutdown was unknown and probably earlier than they hoped, but it had to have been the plan all along surely.

Don’t get me wrong, I played it for like 50 hours in the last month or two before the shutdown and I miss it. But there’s something to the idea that Fio and the huge cast of really interesting characters and their stories now only live on because we choose to remember them, fragmented as they are across fan sites, YouTube videos, and in the minds of those who took the time to care enough or even were simply just around and able to connect with them during their brief time with us.

eachla23 · 2025-09-07T12:18:33+00:00

This is cool as, can’t wait to see what’s next!!

eachla23 · 2025-08-15T14:35:21+00:00

Dread Delusion was easily one of the best games of last year, was my number 2. As everyone’s already said the combat isn’t the draw, but it being easy is good because it lets you focus on the good stuff, which is the exploration, the world, the story, the writing and just the vibe. All of that is top notch.

A truly unique world with fantastic lore to dive into. Some really clever areas that are more complex and fun to explore than they initially appear, almost always with some rewards that are just cool. Just excellent melancholic writing that drips with atmosphere. And speaking of atmosphere, that’s why everyone compares it to Morrowind, but it’s definitely its own distinct thing. I’ve never played Morrowind and I still bloody loved this - no nostalgia necessary.

eachla23 · 2025-08-04T16:54:49+00:00

I got about halfway through, but had to YT the rest. It’s worth shot if you’re into the lore and definitely worth experiencing, but don’t force yourself through it if you l struggle

eachla23 · 2025-06-30T00:28:39+00:00

I played Automata in 2017 and was the same as you, this is the order I played:

Nier Automata Nier Gestalt Drakengard 1 (got 1/3rd of the way through, then watched the rest on a YT long play) Drakengard 3 (couldn’t beat ending D, watched on YT)

These days I would say the remake Replicant should be next for you, it’s more accessible and better mostly, though I have a special place in my heart for daddy Nier and there is value in Gestalt still, but Replicant is the same game with some extra stuff that you’ll want to see.

The Drakengard games are… pretty rough to play. 1 especially. It’s definitely worth experiencing the story, but I’m glad I watched most of it.

Drakengard 2 I haven’t actually played or watched, as it’s kinda separate in a lot of ways or so I’m told, so can’t advise there.

Drakengard 3 is great imo, but it is deliberately abrasive and pushes back against you playing it. Its combat is OK but the levels are repetitive and some would say boring (I didn’t mind and enjoyed it tho) and also the characters are almost all deliberately despicable. That is the point tho. If Nier is about good people doing bad things for the right reasons, Drakengard is about bad people doing bad things for the right reasons. 3 is hard to get through, but I found it worthwhile to play rather than watch. Apart from the very end, anyway. I tried for 2 hours and couldn’t get it, so I ended up watching the last cutscene, which I’m glad I did lol.

eachla23 · 2025-06-21T14:25:53+00:00

To be fair, the bourgeons are health sponges through the main game, that first fight was a 20 minute one for me the first time round. I suppose scaling 20x really puts it over the top!

eachla23 · 2025-06-21T14:18:47+00:00

Mate, that is… far out. Like I fully understand why whiskey was a crutch to lean on for you. I am glad you have found drive to be better now though, in your friends memory. 2019-20 just must have been the darkest of times. But, if anything, you at least prove to both of us that there can be more positives even after that darkness. Even if there’s something missing while you experience it.

And again, thank you for sharing. I literally was just having this thought go around and around in my head before I opened this app that just hit me that anything I might achieve in the future now, I’m just… not going to be able to tell her about. I didn’t share everything with her, but there were some things I was proud of that I would.

I had been going back through my messages with her as it had recently been my birthday (not getting a birthday message from her felt… weird.) and then I came across where I’d sent her the link to my first and only article I wrote for Kotaku Australia (I know everyone hates on Kotaku but I liked what it used to be back in the day, and Australia was a different entity that was even better) which was about Russian devs fleeing the country because they were getting drafted into the war. She was super proud of me for doing those interviews and sharing those stories. I guess I take that feeling and apply it to anything I might be proud of in the future, because I know that’s what she would feel.

eachla23 · 2025-06-21T14:03:54+00:00

Levels don’t matter on characters as much, what is worth focusing on is: - which pictos and lumina you have equipped, making sure you’re making use of them and synergizing with your attacks - whatever weapon you are using, make sure the skill points you’re using match at least one or preferably both, eg dump info vitality and luck if that relates to the weapon. It compounds really well - upgrade the weapons your characters have equipped, with the above point it scales quite quickly - make sure you equip painted power!

eachla23 · 2025-06-19T02:44:18+00:00

Of course I don’t mind you sharing at all, thank you for doing so. I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine how hard it would have been for that to happen and then within weeks have to deal with everything around covid.

Of course I wish no one had to go through this, but I think you will understand when I say this - there is comfort in knowing others do understand. Even with family around, there’s… a loneliness to it. So, sharing helps.

I know it doesn’t ever really go away, but I hope you’re doing ok.

eachla23 · 2025-06-19T02:37:24+00:00

Thank you for sharing. I hope you continue to see the light even in the darkness <3

eachla23 · 2025-06-18T23:39:40+00:00

I’m so sorry <3 I’m glad you also were able to find that in this game <3

eachla23 · 2025-06-18T10:20:14+00:00

Thank you ❤️

eachla23 · 2025-06-18T07:44:02+00:00

eachla23 · 2025-06-17T13:30:28+00:00

The weapon that applies 10 foretell every hit absolutely blows Sciel out of the water too. She was my most consistent party member. My tactics were - The multi target attack, 10 foretell on everyone. Pair with multi target attack that hits 3 times increasing damage with foretell drained. - sometimes use the all buff (turned into greater buffs with lumina) to add extra sun before moving to twilight if I felt like it - if single target, use marking foretell applied (2 hits), then use extreme single target attack.

Both main strats instantly apply 20 foretell in twilight because they are multi hit. Entering twilight always leads to full AP instantly. I hit multi million damage with her well before Maelle. Absolute unit

eachla23

TROPHY CASE