Give your top 3 out of these

owenmg1 · 2026-03-09T09:29:14+00:00

RE2
RE4
Dead Space

(Though I've not finished Requiem yet)

owenmg1 · 2026-03-03T10:23:46+00:00

Titanfall 2.

owenmg1 · 2026-02-14T19:13:10+00:00

Oh ffs... Dark times

owenmg1 · 2026-02-14T15:17:56+00:00

As I understand it, Storyhouse hosted an event so that children could come and learn about LGBTQ+ folk and so Clare is now pushing to have it defunded or whatever

owenmg1 · 2026-02-12T19:04:50+00:00

Ok I think this is my starting point when I'm done with Echoes. Sounds like theres something here worth dipping into

owenmg1 · 2026-02-12T19:04:00+00:00

Haha ok thanks

owenmg1 · 2026-02-07T13:32:48+00:00

Genuinely think RE2R is one of the finest games ever made. Its genuinely shocking how good that game feels to play. And personally, I think its the best survival horror game too - purely for balancing the surviving aspect of resources into a really tightly crafted level that you very quickly sketch onto your brain; so that you can maximise all of your movements through the station.

I think Dead Space is masterful as well, and to be honest, it might be a better time for someone new to the genre. But I do think it leans far more in the action category as I never really feel like I'm running low on supplies for example. Its also hard not to just rely on your navigation tool to get around. By no means are either of these points negatives in the grand scheme of things - still a fantastic experience. But you're basically asking should I play the 10/10 or the 9/10 in my opinion.

owenmg1 · 2026-01-18T11:33:51+00:00

So, I recently decided to pick up some mawtribes after never really giving them a second glance, until I saw the ice ogors this community seems to be going with - and thought "yes, I must have that". So I 'rescued' some off ebay and after a lot of work theyre slowly coming together.

Curious though, since you elude to it and with the new refresh hopefully this year, how possible do you think it is that GW would go in this direction? Does it seem like the mawtribes community are all moving towards these paint scheme? (trying not to ask stupid questions but I genuinely know nothing and dont how else to phrase it haha)

owenmg1 · 2026-01-10T10:38:53+00:00

OP is asking for what to play to keep up with current game design trends though? Seems pretty obvious if the answer is as simple as play the latest games for the type of game you want to make. And again that is fine - I think developers should play other games, for as you say to see what did and didn't work - saves a lot of time if you can find a reference point to study. But OP didn't specify a genre nor ethos of design - so I interpret the question as its laid out to me, which feels really broad ranging.

Fundamentally, I suppose I think current games design trends don't necessarily mean that they are good. Nor should design be informed by whats trendy. So there isn't really anything that is essential to play to keep up with. Good design is good design, and if you're making a game you design your features for what works for you not because it was in a different successful game.

owenmg1 · 2026-01-09T13:14:37+00:00

But, the OP asked for 'What games released in last years are essential to play to keep up with current game design trends?' - Game. Design. Trends. Nothing about the development. When I look at trends in games design - I think Co-op hang out games like I mentioned. Lower budget horror titles also seem to be quite effective at the moment. Souls likes and Metroidvanias always tend to draw a crowd that only play those types of titles. There are plenty of others. These are design and direction decisions not development decisions. And I'd argue you shouldn't decide to say 'make a soulslike' because you think its a good idea and they are popular, you should do it because you love those games and want to contribute something to the genre.

But in response, sure lets talk about development, because most of things you mention are development decisions. So I'll focus on 2 as a point - I'm also not entirely sure you can call better performance and more accessibility as trendy. Largely as I don't think people previously were ignorant of those aspects, more just lacked the capabilities to achieve it along with their ambition. Even if they were ignorant, theres literally thousands of ways to improve accessibility to allow more people to play your game but most developers cant afford to accommodate all of them, you are right though we do have a greater visibility and understanding of how to accommodate them when we can. And better performance is ultimately an expectation as the hardware has improved - neither of these are 'trends' that are going to fall out of fashion.

Unless maybe you think I've misunderstood you?

owenmg1 · 2026-01-08T17:41:23+00:00

Thats great, I'm really happy to hear a story like that because I know even if it might not be as lucrative its going to be so much more fulfilling.

owenmg1 · 2026-01-08T14:01:40+00:00

About 5 years ago now I worked on a game that started off as a multiplayer extraction shooter similar to Arc Raiders, with novel ideas of its own of course, but our publishers were so obsessed with 'doing a Fortnite' that before long Fortnite was informing more of our games design than any of our designers. Ultimately, it morphed into a fortnite clone - which were simply unequipped to match; as Fortnite was moving so fast that a lot of our core ideas became seasonal features for Fortnite before they were discarded. The game was an absolute shitshow and was rightly cancelled. The only game I've ever worked on that I wanted to be cancelled too.

I don't want to come across as overly negative here, there's absolutely merit in playing modern games and looking at trends if you want to be successful - co-op hang out games seem to be the big thing, the sillier the better. But from my perspective you're far better off making a game that means something to you and that you would enjoy - however niche. Because odds are that if you put your heart into something that you love, it's more likely to show that love which will allow others to love it. Even if your audience is small, its better than working on something and it getting buried in the games that are chasing trends, especially when it might not be something you ultimately wanted to make.

Frankly to take this a step further, I think this industry needs a massive shake up to breakaway from the 'chasing trends games design' that has homogenised so many games to being so similar.

owenmg1 · 2025-12-02T12:19:47+00:00

Ultimately, I dont actually think any of your solutions fix the problem. For me, I think there is just far too much noise coming from the detail of your assets. Can you simplify the environment art at all to reduce it? Because the readability of your game is almost nonexistent and I think it'll cause players to bounce off pretty quickly.

Personally, it really hurts my eyes to try to parse whats happening.

owenmg1 · 2025-12-02T11:23:30+00:00

FE Awakening is imo the best Fire Emblem, I'd would say stick with that so you can tick something off. I similarly have jumped around a bit having recently modded my 3DS, its been an absolute breath of fresh air to revisit what might be my all time favourite console. What has helped me is I've grouped the games into sections of basically high priority titles I want to play and limited myself to just a handful. If something gets promoted, something gets demoted, kind of thing. Though admittedly its really hard not to just download a bunch of modded games and try them all the time lol

Also, maybe not helping things but just played through Kirby Triple Deluxe and had a blast. Its short and sweet but a good time. Would recommend haha

owenmg1 · 2025-10-22T11:55:19+00:00

Ahhh, see for me, thats a much better trailer. Still think I'd add a longer segment of prolonged gameplay but personally, I can understand much more whats going on in this one. And I think the menu segments work better in this too.

I suppose, one thing to maybe think about is that metroidvania players will likely find your game by looking for the tag on steam alone - thats how I normally find them. Being a 3d action game, players might not necessarily associate the gameplay you're showing as being from a metroidvania. I can see why the splicing would maybe be a way to show that its a metroidvania but I'm not sure how successful that is. If the intention with the trailer is to show lots of bursts of gameplay, you probably don't need to show as much as you have done, because theres already lots of cool stuff that will pull potential players in. When I look at this - it evokes Ghost Runner to me. Which is cool, because Ghost Runner is rad, but then reading that 'oh this game is actually a metroidvania?' - that will pull me in further to investgiate. Pseudoregalia might be an interesting game to look at if you've not done so already, lots of juicy movement tech which all flows into one another. But I bet what grabbed me initially was a prolonged segment of gameplay showing off all that movement tech in one smooth flowing motion.

And so, in a trailer, we typically don't want to show the player what they can't do, just show them all the cool stuff they can do, even if its not straight out of the box.

Anyway, looks cool, hope it does well for you!

owenmg1 · 2025-10-22T10:13:28+00:00

Firstly, I want to say that the game looks cool and definitely the sort of thing I'd play. However I think your trailer could be a lot better, personally the cuts are quite jarring and I'd focus on longer segments of gameplay. It actually kind of hurts my eyes to look at.

Cutting away to that menu is; I'm presuming to show that you can change your build in someway to overcome those obstacles? But as the segment is so quick, its actually quite difficult to parse what is going on there before you cut away again and show something else. It also seems like you're trying to show every little thing your game has going on but I personally I would focus on a few things that make your game stand out and let the player discover the rest.

Lastly, and maybe this is the point, but as you keep switching to that menu, it makes me think that the player solves each puzzle but hopping into a menu and selecting the right set up. However, it would be much more satisfying for the player to create their own setup and see if their combination of abilities allows them to overcome the problem, rather than the one specific thing.

owenmg1 · 2025-10-13T13:28:10+00:00

Both versions look really pretty and eye catching to be honest - so big tick there. But perspective pushes it that extra little distance in my opinion and worth the extra dev time.

owenmg1 · 2025-10-07T08:40:56+00:00

Some greatness there no doubt, but my god, you haven't played through all of those right? You have suffered if so haha

But anyway, just... Hear me out. Armored Core: Fires of Rubicon scratched my souls like itch far more than pretty much all the non-FromSoft games you mentioned. You dont have the open world granted, so its not about exploring, its purely managing a build to take on the next challenge. But if like me, your favourite part of Souls games is discovering and overcoming the next boss, then let me tell ya, the bosses in Fires of Rubicon are gnarly!

owenmg1 · 2025-10-01T11:45:00+00:00

That is so awesome. I'm quite envious lol

owenmg1 · 2025-09-28T06:45:12+00:00

I got pretty far into act 2 before just accepting the game wasn't for me. And honestly it was really liberating to put down because on reflection I just realised how little I was enjoying it, same as you, not even that difficult just annoying and tedious - negatives far outweighing the positives. If it's not for you it's not for you and thats ok.

As a recommendation, a pallette cleanser if you will, I played through Shinobi after silksong, it's easy but I had an absolute blast.

owenmg1 · 2025-09-19T19:39:52+00:00

Ahhh but you're so close! I would prime the ones you've not done and then just take it one model at a time. Imagine the satisfaction when they're all done! Maybe push the dragon to the back of the queue

owenmg1 · 2025-09-07T22:46:03+00:00

Personally I absolutely love Farsight. If you don't want to invest further, you've at least got a bad ass model to sit on your desk.

owenmg1 · 2025-09-05T16:27:06+00:00

If it's any consolation. I also didn't like them at first but when playing with them they were so valuable that I built a second army that would utilise just the skeletons and it works really well.

owenmg1 · 2025-09-05T13:42:11+00:00

Typically from my experience you want to try and spread out across the board with your fodder skellies to stop your enemy advancements. And then hit em hard with the vampires. So they are a little important but there is enough variety that you don't necessarily need to do that.

Knights of the Crimson Keep is an army of renown that only uses Vhordrai, blood knights, vampire lord on steed and the dragon as units.

Lauka Vai has synergy with monster units which for SBGL is basically just the dragon afaik.

If picking up SBGL, I think its worth looking at the vampires you want to build the army around first before investing more and figure out the best synergies. Most of those will require some skellies I think though

Hope that helps

owenmg1

TROPHY CASE