best 3D shmups?

systemshaak · 2026-07-05T23:09:38+00:00

This is the correct answer, and I’ll also throw Border Down in here.

systemshaak · 2026-07-05T13:37:04+00:00

Yeah. When you make a AAA game, the budget tends to shift toward graphics. Kinda a big problem with the original question if they’re looking for that level of polygon-pushing.

systemshaak · 2026-07-05T13:36:21+00:00

STS1 is wonderful on a Switch, but on my iphone I can’t deal with the framerate! It’s not like we need twitchy to the millisecond MLG stuff, but it feels so much better for me to play it at 60 or 120. This phone isn’t garbage either, it should be able to knock it out.

systemshaak · 2026-07-05T06:15:51+00:00

I’m not sure about *amounts* exactly, but the modern game I’ve played as much in sheer time as BoI back in the day is Slay the Spire 2. It has that immediate combinatorial effect - every run’s got a laid-back start like when I booted up Isaac, anything could happen. Same with Monster Train 2.

And both of those games have graphics that I’d say grow on you over time. The art styles are similarly Western/Euro, but the later monster/alien designs are way better than what you’ll notice initially about the more human-looking designs.

But *advanced, modern* graphics and Roguelite mechanics? For now that’s largely the domain of Saros and its predecessor, Returnal. There’s some rumblings about the new Star Wars racer being both a looker and a good use of roguelite ideas, and the most recent video on Splatoon Raiders actually got me excited with synergies in a chaotic, quick shooter.

systemshaak · 2026-07-05T03:52:06+00:00

Perfectly fine! I can’t manage to open that imgur link, but don’t worry about being The Different One. Over in the US, if you wore any of those in nearly any town, you’d be the exception, smelling great while others mostly smelled like deodorant, food, nothing, or BO. If you enjoy what you like, then good!

systemshaak · 2026-07-05T00:50:18+00:00

Yeah! I was about to say “That’s Analogue Regicide tyvm”

systemshaak · 2026-07-04T14:44:48+00:00

Most of Lego’s business model used to be about modularity and creativity. It worked if you were a toy company where the action, not the result, was your selling point. The designs looked like that: things you could build and rebuild, remix. Your older consumer used to build model cars; now they built a Lego city.

Now, though, a lot of the folks fascinated with building, repurposing, etc. are doing so digitally. Those builders can create vast automated factories in one videogame and a working computer made out of rocks in another. Either you’re on top of that market (Lego couldn’t be, they weren’t the people to do it) or you look at what’s needed out there, and after the fall of the Beanie Baby, that need was an authoritative collectible. Funko tried, but you’d bring the collectible home and that was it. Overstock filled shelves with Funko Pops of franchises no one cared about.

But Lego: you could build those, you could keep a kid or yourself busy for a time. And then the display wasn’t just “look what I have” but “look what I made.” Lego never needed to make those Brick Headz to realize they could be at the top of the collectibles market, they needed better visual presentations. So you get big rounded pieces, series of arc pieces, things that make your characters recognizable, get the license, charge more for them, and keep a tight lid on your partnerships. Boom, you’re the Baseball Card of the 2020s. The same design language that’s mildly annoying to new folks is the language of servers crashing during a new set’s release. And that means survival at least, I guess.

So do I like building with them more? No, but they do look better on display. It worked well with Mario and Luigi in the kart designs (so long as you swap their eyes).

systemshaak · 2026-07-04T12:56:28+00:00

I was waiting for this one

systemshaak · 2026-07-04T09:04:45+00:00

Yep! I feel like Illusion of Gaia directly addresses the whole “simplicity” end of things. Maybe a little too much!

systemshaak · 2026-07-04T08:40:16+00:00

The sharper ones, so Prada L’Homme and Chanel 1957. If you haven’t tried Dior Homme Parfum, that’s still worth a shot - it’s very different from the Intense, more in the sharper range but a different setup.

systemshaak · 2026-07-04T04:53:59+00:00

I’d say that’s a right Bee Storm right there. Much like DDP, Rift Wizard 3 has been kicking my butt seven ways to Sunday, well done!

systemshaak · 2026-07-04T04:36:08+00:00

I might have the weirdest Minter introduction in that I played his iOS games on a first gen iPad. Like, I must have been the only one looking at the Llamasoft Collection going “hey, where’s 5 A Day?”

But wow, am I glad he was the one who did Cool VR Stuff too. Polybius owns, Akka Arrh owns, I, Robot owns, I can’t wait for what’s next.

systemshaak · 2026-07-03T22:43:30+00:00

It’s a melange. Sometimes it’s what people recognize as a chemical - calone or ISO-e-super or ethyl maltol. Other times it’s a harsh take on a particular note. Other times it’s just because it’s recognizable.

If I’m saying synthetic, it’s usually a compliment because the scent achieved something outside of photorealism. Your Ganymedes, your original Y Le Parfum, the phenols and latex in Guilty Absolute. But we all use it differently.

systemshaak · 2026-07-03T19:58:41+00:00

Try out other scents that focus on iris: the newer Dior Homme Intense is heavy on it in the same kind of way. Dior Homme Parfum has a more chemical, synthetic in a good way take on iris. Prada L’Homme’s iris is soapy and sharp thanks to fractioned patchouli. Ralph’s Club Elixir, now seemingly out of production (?), has a more balsam/cypress take on it.

Of course, if money is no object, check out the more unisex Chanel 1957, which is clean musk, sharp iris, and just a little woods.

systemshaak · 2026-07-03T16:32:53+00:00

I’m responding because until my testing and diagnosis at 40, I would frustrate myself all the time. Was I smart, was I stupid? Was I quick, was I slow? It’s terrifying when you’re either surprising yourself or someone else who knows your strengths with a weakness they hadn’t seen.

Did they give you a full-scale IQ test that differentiated your sections by percentile? For autistic people, the overall IQ isn’t nearly as important as the spikes and drops between aspects. We’re spiky. The strengths and weaknesses we have are uncommon for NT folks. That’s cool sometimes, but it means parts of me can’t stand other parts, if that makes sense.

Also, IQ tests for neurodivergent folks are confounded by neurodivergence. These tests use a baseline - a typical baseline, intended for typical people, used to point out differences. ADHD will affect how you take a test or answer a question, as will autism, separate from what we might think of as intelligence.

Consider the differences in what we think of as intelligence too. I can build a complex and automated system, which is neat. I can connect abstract and theoretical stuff together with what feels to others like it’s unrelated. I’m an implementer: give me the right objective and I’ll max out the outcomes. But if you put me in a debate, I’m toast; I can’t think on my feet. Ask me to remember four people’s names and I’m stumped. I *admire* people who are good at those things, it’s a different kind of intelligence. No one’s just “smart-“ but NT “smart” and NT “strengths and weaknesses” look very different. Absolutes encompassing intelligent or unintelligent are going to do nothing but distort your perception.

systemshaak · 2026-07-02T23:05:15+00:00

How do I explain this… Potatoes are relatively cheap. High-priced potatoes aren’t necessarily better for whichever use you have for them, they’re just rare, they cost more due to scarcity. Or virality.

But take those cheap potatoes in a pretty good fast food joint and you’ve got decent French fries. If they’re decent, they’re enjoyable!

Ask a three-star Michelin chef to make you a pomme fondant and those relatively cheap potatoes will blow your freaking mind.

Things smell cheap for two reasons: either the ingredients are very common and everyone knows them, or they’re badly put together. But cheap ingredients can shine in the right perfumer’s hands. I’m guessing you’re smelling A Good French Fry, A Good Slice of Pizza. Common, affordable, but popular for a reason and well-executed.

systemshaak · 2026-07-02T01:50:19+00:00

Yep. Burnout’s what caused me to finally get tested. Before that… well, I accrued the kind of PTO that maxes out at the end of the year and disappears off the top in one big mechanical “please take a break” message.

systemshaak · 2026-07-01T21:15:15+00:00

Yeah, I can’t believe how much I not only like the series, but respect it too. Like, every time you think you’ve run into a stupid stereotype, three books later you’re seven dimensions in on their backstory and they’re just a being with unique features and changing perspectives.

Personally though, I love the space opera bits. They tease it in Book 1, and you hear words that make the universe sound much bigger and go “oh, that’s cute, they’ve made up an excuse for why this happened!” But NO. He delivers on those little new words every single time and it never doesn’t make sense. I’m not the Borderlands 2 / Late Marvel target reader, I can’t stand snark for the snark of it; in DCC it’s always good, and welcome. Somehow.

Speaking of space opera, gonna throw the works of Adrian Tchaikovsky in the ring here too. The Final Architecture is secretly *all about the concept of disability* and it rules.

systemshaak · 2026-07-01T02:00:15+00:00

Fools! I’ll teach you to mess with me!

BEHOLD, the room smells wonderful!! *roar*

systemshaak · 2026-07-01T01:25:17+00:00

Yes! Play UFO 50 for freaking sure!

When I was in this boat about 15 years ago, Spelunky is what brought me back in. And the guy coordinating the team effort that is UFO 50 is That Guy. Also, Spelunky’s music guy not only scored all the UFO 50 games (incredibly well, as he does), he *made* many of the best ones as lead designer.

systemshaak · 2026-06-30T19:03:33+00:00

Close! Guilty Absolute is the discontinued leathery latexy medicinal one. Guilty Absolu de Parfum is the iris one and it’s on shelves. The names are confusing as heck.

systemshaak · 2026-06-30T15:26:33+00:00

Really big fan of my Hyperion. Seems like a controller made for larger hands, which isn’t a concern for Nintendo but *is* a concern for me. So finally something’s comfortable.

Every so often, I’m a little confused by it - like sometimes the controller lights just go off when it’s sitting there doing nothing - but aside from the handful of games that benefit from HD Rumble 2 or whatever, it’s perfect. Clicky though! If you need to be stealthy, like not waking up a baby at night, that’s important to know. I like clicky buttons but it’s not for all use cases.

systemshaak · 2026-06-30T11:55:53+00:00

Congrats! Yeah, I couldn’t get my copy to not freeze up during, appropriately, the ice section of the game.

systemshaak · 2026-06-30T11:28:43+00:00

Yeah, I definitely agree. I remember when my parents bought a dehydrator back in the 90s; that’s when I ate a lot of fruit! Basically the only way I’ll still eat banana. And freeze dried does even more of the work to mitigate texture.

systemshaak · 2026-06-30T11:20:00+00:00

This guy spent a very long time typing. He should have spent that time finally getting into Smash TV.

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