Yes that’s true! I find that games like that have their own sort of niche, in which players usually know quite a lot about the game (from watching others play it online) before jumping in. And there’s an expectation that they’ll refer to the wiki regularly. These kind of games can’t have a tutorial that covers everything, because there’s way too much to cover.

This is a weird one for me because it often depends on whether I paid for the game. I got the first Fallout game for free (from GOG or something), and when I inevitably became confused by the UI and objective I ended up giving up on it. If I’d bought the game (either today or back when it came out) I definitely would have invested a lot more time into it, and got past that initial hump. Back when PC games came on disc with an instruction guide, reading that was part of the experience. There’s definitely a awkward period around the early 2000s when games were becoming way more complex, but before in-game tutorials were regularly a thing. I find it hard to go back to a lot of those games.

Likewise I played the first hour of Resident Evil HD on my PS4 (free with PS+) and never had the motivation to get into it. After paying for it in a Humble Bundle, I played through the whole thing on Steam and loved it! The fact that I’d paid for it was able to outweigh the fact that the game was quite outdated. I guess I felt like I wanted to get my money’s worth.

Any game from 2005-ish onwards feels ‘modern’ enough that I don’t usually have this problem.

Yeah I agree with all that! Definitely a bit too much school life stuff near the start. The story starts to get properly interesting around the halfway mark, but also branches out so much that it’s hard to follow. I’d love to see a similar game in this setting, with an equal complex story but told in a more standard way.

Also yeah Megumi’s part kinda sucked. Didn’t ever get interesting.

Thanks for the clarification on those bits!

Wait I’m confused… You’re asking for a fan-made mod to be added to the Switch version of Stardew? 🤔

I started playing it years ago but quit after reaching the Strip - this time I will make sure to actually finish it! The writing is great and the quests are really memorable.

Have you played any of the series before? MGS2 and 3 are some of the best games ever made, IMO :) Twin Snakes is ok, but I much prefer the original.

Playing through:

• New Vegas
• 13 Sentinels
• Might start on Skyward Sword on Switch, now that I’ve finished TOTK

Oh I completely misread your earlier comment lol. They sound good though! I’ve heard great things about ULTRAKILL too

Not heard of that one! I can’t seem to find it online - unless is the game called Virtuaverse and Master Boot Record did the music?

This is a difficult one to answer as most RPGs I can think of have some combination of the stuff that puts you off. Have you tried the Witcher 3 (great story, and the RPG elements are fairly simplified) or Deus Ex: Human Revolution? And if you’ve played Nier Replicant and enjoyed it, I think you’d love Nier Automata.

Yeah I guess that’s my take on ‘gamifying things’, but there’s probably a few different ways to do it. I’ve heard that in psychology, rewards are a lot more effective than punishments - so maybe frame it slightly differently. Personally I wouldn’t base things on how well you do in the game, because that could get frustrating - in the worst scenario you’ll already be annoyed at doing poorly in the game, and that’s followed by having to do more work. Instead I’d spin it, so if you do all the tidying reward yourself with an hour of gaming. If you get all your chores done, you get 2 hours of gaming etc.

I agree with what others have said about gamifying life. For example, ‘oh it’s 5pm, I need to spend 30 minutes doing some tidying before I can play a game again’. And for games with no clear end point, set yourself goals so you know when to take a break. ‘Once I’ve built this factory, I need to take an hour’s break before I can play again’.

This is probably an irrational annoyance, but I don’t like how finding the inverted castle is near impossible without a guide. I like logical puzzles! So that put me off slightly. I will go back and play through it eventually though.

I ‘finished’ Symphony of the Night the other day. By which I mean I got the bad ending, rather than doing some extra stuff to unlock the inverted castle. Should I go back and do that? Maybe at some point.

I’m very close to finishing Tears of the Kingdom, and I’ve also started a new playthough of New Vegas on my Steam Deck. Plenty to keep me busy!

Weirdly enough, I’ve heard the opposite - that the first game is way better than the second 🤔

Yes I loved that one! Played it not too long ago. They did an excellent job remaking that whilst keeping the feel of the original games.

Opus Magnum is really great if you haven’t played it before :)

Thanks, I’ll give X a try first and then move onto the others if I enjoy it :)

I have heard really good things about that game! I think you’re right.

Whoa, that looks a lot like the Metal Gear Acid games, which I loved! Glad to have found out about this.

Ohh yes I do have this on Steam! I think I played a few hours, can’t remember if I ever finished it. Either way I should totally go back and play it.

How does it compare to super meat boy?

LOVE seems nice! Very low fi soundtrack.

I hadn’t considered SMW mods - thanks, I’ll look into that

Thanks! I like the sound of the Legacy collection - I’ll take a look :)

I’ve actually never got into the Megaman games. I’ve always found them unfairly difficult… but maybe I haven’t given them enough of a chance. Is there any particular one you’d recommend to start with?

Hah, all excellent points. I think I may need to play SOTN and the original Resident Evil this month for the spookiness.

Oh damn I actually played this on X360! It was excellent. I’m tempted to get it again on Steam now that you mention it.

I’ve heard of that series but never tried it. Actually the trailer reminded me a bit of Castlevania SOTN - which is another one I really should play!

The fact that this fits on a NES cart is really neat! Thanks for the suggestion - I hadn’t heard of this one before

Thanks, those look fun! Doesn’t seem like chiptune music is the only thing

I actually had no idea Prey (2017) was a loose sequel to an earlier game. It looks like the 2006 game is quite hard to obtain nowadays… Maybe one to pirate at some point.

What do you think of the 2017 game? I’ve also heard good things about that.

Ah that’s cool! But then again, the game is designed to be quite linear (there were a couple areas that required backtracking) so I wonder how much of a difference it really makes.

I’ll have to give the remake a go at some point in the future.

Celeste is hard, but so rewarding! And the OST is stunning

Ah I meant I’ve never played P3 (any version). So they’ve completely remade it from the ground up?

I’ve never played this one. How does it differ from the original? New graphics?

I don’t get how this lets you play a game the way you want? It takes out an option in a drop down that you wouldn’t use in the first place? It’s like me removing the colour blind option in a game, when I’m not colour blind. Just don’t use it if you don’t need it.

I’d love a new open world Red Faction game. Guerilla was so fun!

Very true! A really interesting world/backdrop to set a film in. I’m optimistic

I played TP not that long ago (I had it on Wii, but this was my first time actually finishing it). I agree that it’s quite an easy game, but it was enjoyable throughout. The items were nicely varied and most of the dungeon puzzles were clever. The weirdness of the world reminded me a lot of Ocarina of Time. I’ve actually never played Majora’s Mask so I should give that a go sometime! If you’re on Steam Deck, I’ve heard a good option is patching the N64 version with HD textures (which may require a Windows system initially).

Interesting! There isn’t much of a story to Slime Rancher, so I could see a standalone film, free to do its own thing and set it that universe being fun.