More games

[schneefink]

I started playing a "Recursion" in Transistor, i.e. the game again but with all the upgrades etc. I got in the first game. Turns out that when I'm less distracted by trying to figure out what is going on and how the gameplay works, I can focus more on how sad the story is. Poor Red :( Sadder than I'm currently in the mood for, so I put it aside for later.

Instead I played Figment, which is beautiful. The world design is wonderful (and at the very end especially clever.) So many nice details, and the music too – each villain has their own villain song, it's great. The puzzles were just interesting enough to keep me engaged and I always wanted to continue playing to see just one more area. It took me about six hours to get to the credits, and currently I'm walking around trying to find the last few memories.

I have several options as to what to play next, and there's a Steam sale going on so I bought even more games. Now I can play Hollow Knight if I want, which I look forward to (with a little bit of apprehension because I really love pretty and colorful games, and from what I've seen Hollow Knight doesn't exactly have many colors. It's said to be hard too, I'll see how it goes.)

Other games I've played recently but stopped:
- The Lion's Song: A point-and-click game with four interwoven narratives in and around early 20th century Vienna. I only played the first one, which might not have given me a great look at the narrative yet, but I wasn't very invested, I didn't like the character very much, and the art isn't my style, so it's possible I'll pick it up again but I doubt it.

- Undertale: I heard good things about this game so I tried it, but… it didn't immediately draw me in and the art isn't very appealing to me, so the first time I was even vaguely frustrated by a puzzle I was almost relieved to have an excuse to put it aside. Maybe I'll watch a playthrough eventually because I heard the story is not very long but intriguing.

- Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna): "an atmospheric puzzle platformer developed in collaboration with the Iñupiat, an Alaska Native people, drawn from a traditional story that has been shared across the generations." I did like the atmosphere, and the cultural background tidbits to discover etc., but I didn't enjoy the gameplay very much (though I can't put my finger on why) so I stopped.

Comments

[marginaliana]

If you end up wanting a let's play rec for Hollow Knight, let me know. I can link you to the person I watched who is wonderful.

[schneefink]

A former Hades streamer starting playing Hollow Knight, which is how I got interested in it, but then I decided to stop watching to avoid spoilers. But if I get stuck then watching might be very helpful! So I'd appreciate a link jic :)

[marginaliana]

Woo! The one I watched is by Playframe, here. I find Dan's style very mellow and story-focused, but he's also actually skilled enough to make it not agonizing. :)

[schneefink]

Thanks! I'll keep the HK vids until later but I saw he has a couple of others I might be interested in in the meantime :)

[isis]

I mostly do RPG adventure type games, but I also enjoy puzzle games. One that my brother has recommended to me and I've bought but haven't played yet is The Talos Principle.

You might enjoy the games by Amanita (which are fairly cheap on GOG.com and often go on sale); I've played Botanicula, in which you play a group of, uh, plant-creatures of different types? and travel around the tree in which you live in order to save it from evil spider-things, which you don't fight but outwit through the puzzles, and I'm about halfway(?) through Machinarium, in which you play a robot trying to find his girlfriend. Neither have dialogue, they're all visual point-and-click type things with great music and stylized but pretty visuals.

[schneefink]

Thanks for the recs, these look interesting :)

[myrdschaem]

I really recommend Undertale as an experience while playing, if you can. Happy to help out with any puzzles - they are more in there as typical elements of an RPG but don't need to be figured out. The story and the music and the jokes are the things that stand out.

I bought Transistor at the Summer Sale and haven't tried it yet. Mostly because other games like Celeste or Plague Inc are being tried first.

[schneefink]

So many games to play, so little time!

I searched for an Undertale walkthrough and it recommended that when playing for the first time one should play as a pacifist. I've played for about an hour and while I left most encounters without killing anyone, I can't remember if I did kill one or two. Ah well, guess I'll find out if I ever continue playing.

[myrdschaem]

It does make it easier to reach pacifist ending faster (and that's usually considered the "true" ending), but not a requirement. There are also routes one might not want to play even in this game.

[moonvoice]

I heard good things about this game so I tried it, but… it didn't immediately draw me in and the art isn't very appealing to me, so the first time I was even vaguely frustrated by a puzzle I was almost relieved to have an excuse to put it aside.

This was my exact experience with Undertale, honestly. I love the soundtrack, and the idea, but the fact that the puzzles are hard (for me) and rely on a lot of hand-eye coordination, I did have a moment of 'this does not feel worth it.'

If you get back into it at any point I really hope you enjoy it!

[schneefink]

The odds of me getting back into Undertale would be higher if there weren't so many other games I also want to try! Maybe I'd be more interested if I knew more about what it was about, but I've also been told that it's better to play it with as few spoilers as possible... we'll see.

[mllesatine]

YOu should check out Disco Elysium, it's an RPG game and it's incredible. It had a slow start for me and I almost returned it to Steam but then it grabbed my attention and hasn't let go yet. I'm on my third run and there is still new content to discover and it hasn't gotten boring yet even though I've played through the story twice already.

[schneefink]

I just installed that yesterday, in fact! eglantiere recommended it, and the last game she recced was Hades and that worked out pretty well ^^

[mllesatine]

:)