It’s quite different from Jusant. I found Jusant to be to arcade racers what Cairn is to simulation racers. Jusant was like a puzzle game with a climbing aesthetic, whereas I found Cairn to be truly about the climbing.

I played the demo for Cairn and genuinely can’t remember the last time I had a sense of accomplishment in a game that compared to teaching the top of the demo climb… And then the reveal of how much farther you’d go in the full game. It was very exciting for me. A very novel, interesting experience for me.

As for Witchbrook, I love Stardew Valley and magical fantasy, so that is looking like a no brainer.

Genuinely stoked for Cairn and Witchbrook.

“When AI first came out in 2022, we’d already started on the game. It was just a new tool, we tried it, and we didn’t like it at all. It felt wrong.”

I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one. I’m pretty hardcore anti-AI these days, but when it was just hitting the masses and it was the shiny new toy, I was ignorant about the specifics and tried it out here and there. So this specifically resonates with me.

Broche then drew a line in the sand. He mused that it would be hard to predict how AI might be used in the gaming industry in the future, and declared, “But everything will be made by humans, by us.”

I hope they stick to their word on this, but only time will tell in that regard.

So you’re saying capitalism is the problem. We agree!

I’m in an entirely different industry than the topic at hand here, but my boss is really keen on ChatGPT and whatnot. Every problem that comes up, he’s like “have you asked AI yet?”

We have very expensive machines, which are maintained (ideally) by people who literally go to school to learn how to. We had an issue with a machine the other day and the same ol’ question came up, “have you asked AI yet?” He took a photo of the alarm screen and fed it to ChatGPT. It spit out a huge reply and he forwarded it to me and told me to try it out.

Literally the first troubleshooting step ChatGPT gave was nonsense and did not apply to our specific machine and our specific set-up and our specific use-case.

Wow Core Keeper is a real highlight on this list. Merry Christmas and thanks for sharing the gift of gaming!

Don’t sleep on the Gamecube man, some real bangers on there. Hell on the Wii and WiiU too. And the Switch. Damn it, say what you want about Nintendo, but they make some damn good games. Luckily emulation or, as you say, second-hand market exists.

Is that really considered hidden? I thought its gem status was well known.

Happy for them and hope Ubisoft lives long enough for them to benefit from it, lol.

I am actually among the “don’t like roguelikes but this was an amazing game” crowd. Sorry it didn’t work out for you. I can’t say exactly what it is, but something about how they nailed the roguelike formula is perfect. Always new dialogue to unlock, new things to buy, resources to farm, prophecies to fulfill, there was just so much perfectly aligned for me. Probably helps that I also love Greek mythology.

Jedi Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor have a really attractive bundle for both, actually. Pretty fun games if you like the soulsbourne formula.

Or just make sure you check isthereanydeal.

Detroit is a great game if you like cinematic, story-driven experience. It’s like a Choose-Your-Own Adventure book, in video-game form. Kind of like an interactive movie.

Holy false dichotomy. I can care about more than one thing at a time. The existence of fascists doesn’t mean I need to use and like AI lmao

we have to just admit that AI is going to be used to some degree in a larger studio.

“we” don’t have to admit anything.

Except for the ethical question of how the AI was trained, or the environmental aspect of using it.

Too bad they are leaning into AI.

I don’t want any of the games, just wanted to say thanks for doing this!

I’ll see you Best RPG and raise you a Best Independent and Best Debut Indie.

They have a publisher that funded them with hedge fund money and outsourced aspects of the production to entirely different companies. I’m not making a comment on the quality of the game, but how is that indie?

Because it was a joke.

The games have tutorials built in. There’s levels of advice you can turn up or down. Seriously, just play the game and you’ll learn as you go.

A key feature here seems to be the ability to create wishlists and gift to friends. So, if you play Marvel Rivals and want a skin, a friend who you have on Discord but doesn’t play Marvel Rivals at all could buy it for you as a gift. Kinda cool, actually. I have many friends on Discord but don’t necessarily play all the same games as them.

Never did finish Returnal, need to get back to it. Was a lot of fun just kinda fell off of it. This looks pretty cool.

Hmm, a voice actor he is not.

Reminds me more of The Last Guardian than Ico. Seems like the companion will be helping you solve puzzles and such.

never heard of the guy

Director behind some of the best RPGs of all time. Baldur’s Gate 2, KotOR, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect, Jade Empire.

SOMA is one of the best video games ever made. Very excited for this.

Thanks for sharing, hadn’t heard of it. Looks stylish as fuck.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is too slow paced imho for what you’re looking for.

Both GTA5 and Just Cause 3 (or 4) are genuinely good picks for what you’re after.

I’ve absolutely seen people who like 3 more than NV. Hell, I might be among them.

That would just be even more dull imho. The combat was already incredibly janky. The only thing that gave it any dynamic was needing to utilize all your tools.

Honestly never clicked with witcher 3. The characters and world are great but the gameplay was so incredibly dull.

The article is using it because FitGirl uses it.

Is it just video gaming or is tabletop gaming included?

Why is it barely usable outside of gaming?

“more expensive” really is underselling it. It’s out of control. Some kits have tripled.

I have hopes that a lifetime of playing video games is going to help keep my mind sharp in old age. I seem to recall reading a study to that effect some time ago.

Reason that the Stop Killing Games initiative is important number… What are we on now?

The PS5 triggers are so dope. I love when a game supports them.