Yeah, if you read other articles by the author, it’s all slop like this. Also note that the OP seems to only link articles from this site…

I haven’t been active in TF2 in years, but I have 2.9k hours, all without idling for items. That game was basically another life for me, around 2010-2016. In that timespan I picked up PC gaming, got into shooters, got into TF2, joined a community, started collecting strange weapons, got my first unusual and traded it, and captained a Highlander team as Pyro.

The game was and still is amazing; I only ever stopped because it was becoming detrimental to my life and schooling. Now, when I try to play, I mourn the loss of my old community servers, get frustrated with my worse skills, and despise the number of bots I run into on Valve servers.

I added this to my Steam wishlist like 2 minutes after I saw this announced… Maybe a year ago? I’m awful at skate games but I really love the look of this game.

It’s a mod, but it may as well be a completely new game. It’s a huge revamp that Max has pumped so much time and money into.

I’m having a good time with it! If you’re a Marvel fan, it draws from a lot more than just the MCU, and is much better for it in my opinion. If you’re not a Marvel fan, it’s similar to an Overwatch, but with each character playing drastically different from each other. Character complexity can feel like a lot, but it works out in a chaotic, fun way.

Iron Man, my preferred character, has a projectile repulsor blast, a close-range unibeam, perpetual flight, boosters to move quickly (with a recharging meter), a temporary damage buff, rockets that can fire while buffed or while using boosters, and an ultimate bomb. If he’s on the same team as a Bruce Banner/Hulk, then whenever Hulk drops Gamma radiation, Iron Man’s buff is stronger (and green).

On the indy front, I picked up Terra Memoria, and it’s been interesting so far!

Hell Let Loose, I’m assuming. Haven’t played it, but I think it’s a WW2 sim shooter?

I mean, it’s certainly one way to have “flavor of the month” characters without actually having to rebalance things monthly.

A lot of good games can be based on randomness. Being in control of the deck building means that your choices shape the odds. I used to have a similar viewpoint as you, but learned to really embrace randomness and the design challenges it presents.

I say this as a Magic player, where even the greatest players in the world can get screwed or flooded on mana. The possibility of screw/flood increases the importance of card draw/card selection, makes the playability of low-mana cards more important, and makes heavy color pip investment, multiple colors, and higher mana costs a very serious concern.

Oh, I already have it, I just needed a good reason to hop into it and really give it a shot over the holidays.

I’m fine with games that push you to change your combat; combat that’s only there as a stat check and grind doesn’t feel like a compelling reason to have combat.

I was on the younger end of the target demographic, but I got big Geocities vibes from a lot of those pages. Such a neat game.

I’m like, one toe deep in 4 different turn-based RPGS. What does this one do particularly well?

Hey, don’t forget about good old Riding the Dilu Horse. +2/+2 and Horsemanship that stuck around, with no counters or attachment.

Wyrmspan is awesome.

If you enjoy Wingspan, Wyrmspan feels like a Wingspan where you can actually “build” in a cohesive manner, and everything feels a little tighter/tougher due to the reduced number of resources you can get per action initially. The ability to earn more actions within a round becomes pivotal. And it feels like there are different viable paths to victory, whereas Wingspan really felt like "get early pink ability birds, then focus on high point value birds.

My board game group has switched over without looking back, and we had already invested in the Nesting Box and every expansion for Wingspan.

Thanks!

I didn’t know/understand the integrated memory thing.

It seems like this thing is like 80% of the way to an amazing machine. Hall Effect sticks and a great screen and chip set, but the Windows 11 nonsense and the short RAM keep it from being an auto-recommend.

If SteamOS goes public, I’d really hope to see how this device fares.

Aside from the cruddy software, I don’t understand these complaints?

Yes, it’s Win11. Terrible interface, awful setup, and I’m not a fan of it.

16GB of RAM is what’s in my Steam Deck, and the Ally X goes above that with 24GB.

This seems to be a 1080p, 120Hz, OLED display. Is your issue the lack of HDR/color depth? Or are the resolution and refresh rate too high for the battery? Or is it actually like, RGB lighting on the handheld?

Okay, would people recommend playing 1, 2, then 3, to get the experience as it was first given? Or going 3, 1, 2?

I wonder if people realize that cyberpunk is meant to be a dystopian satire, and not just a cool aesthetic. It should feel like a condemnation of a number of modern practices (including our over-commercialization and hypercapitalism). I guess the issue with Deus Ex is that reality has jumped the shark so hard that it doesn’t even look like much of an exaggeration in some spaces, and more like the logical outcome of another decade or two.

I’m sure there are some weird tech bros out there that see it as a utopia, and that’s where I stop being able to see eye to eye with them. Who would want to live in a world where the cycle of poverty is more vicious than ever, where literal under-cities of people have to subsist on artificial light and synthesized foods that keep them alive, but only barely?

Oops. I did all of mine like 8 hours ago.

Aggression should be part of a game, but shouldn’t be the only way to play it. Obviously, when a game is optimized, it may be the best way to play (Monster Hunter and HAME speedruns come to mind), but a lot of great games try to design so that different archetypes can coexist and play off one another.

Street Fighter 6 encourages aggression. The Drive Meter system makes it so that turtling and blocking forever will end with you in blowout, taking chip damage and having worse frame disadvantage, as well as removing your ability to use Drive moves and opening you up for stuns. However, also hidden within the Drive System are some of the tools to deter mindless aggression. Drive Impacts are big moves with armor that lead into a full combo, so if you can read a braindead attack sequence, you can Drive Impact to absorb a hit, smack them, and then combo them for 35% of their life total. There are also parries, which can refill your drive meter.

Magic: The Gathering has tried to balance the various archetypes (Aggro, Midrange, Control, and Combo) so that every format should have at least 1 competitively viable deck in each meta archetype. Typically, Aggro will be too fast for a Control deck to stabilize and kill them before they can get their engine set up. But Midrange will trade just efficiently enough (with good 2-for-1 removal or creatures) to stop the aggression, and then start plopping out creatures that Aggro will have difficulty overcoming. And Combo often has nothing to fear from Aggro, since Aggro oftentimes can’t interact with the game-winning combo pieces. And because of this system, Aggro decks have to have sideboard plans ready for whatever meta they expect at an event or tournament. Removal or protection to get over or under Midrange, and faster speed or other types of interaction to take down or disrupt Combo. Magic’s systems (Mana/lands, instant speed removal, and even the variance that comes from being a card game) don’t punish aggro directly, but they make sure that there are usually answers out there.

You’re right, I guess I wasn’t thinking it all the way through. Guess it’s up to SE to decide if they want to hire more artists and spend their time polishing bits of older content.

Usually when a dev studio says “budget”, it’s primarily a time budget, not just money. Yes, money can be used to hire more staff, but everything we know about software development says that output doesn’t scale linearly with man-hours.

Fixing hats in the way they would like (which isn’t just the modded method of having ears or parts of heads clip through whatever hats/helms exist) would require them to go through every headpiece created so far and rework them for the races’ head shape. Is it possible? Yes. Is it the best use of their time and effort? Probably not. It’s a live game; they’re always pushing on for the next bit of content.

I can build a new PC or whatnot, but one thing that has helped the Deck along is that it’s established a clear standardized set of specs that some developers have chosen to build for. Obviously there have been plenty of games that won’t run on the deck, but sites like ProtonDB basically create a sticker for “this runs well on the Deck.”

I haven’t delved into this game much, and I’m not well-versed in 40K lore, but do you only get to play as the Ultramarines, or do they have other legions/chapters to customize as?

I dislike the Epic Launcher and almost every move they’ve made as a company, but I’m glad that competition exists. People should have choices of where to get games, in ways that make sense for them. Unfortunately, I don’t really see a reason to choose EGS other than exclusives and freebies, but hopefully they actually develop it into a valid candidate.

In general, having more publishers and storefronts and developers in a place of stability is good for the industry. It sucks when studios have to get shut down because the funding isn’t there.

Any big finds in this list?

I’ve personally really enjoyed Sea of Stars. I don’t know if it’s too short or too long, because it did drop out of my attention for a bit, but the good moments are great. One of 2 games where I actually teared up/cried last year.

I like Into the Breach a lot! I’m not much for roguelike/roguelite games because I feel like I’m not improving/learning at the rate that the game expects, but Into the Breach is just so cool and fun, and it’s the tactics-based game that has made me think the most on every individual move. Each team plays so differently, and they do make use of the run-based system in interesting ways.

If you care about story, I’d recommend going 0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7 (Like a Dragon), Man Who Erased His Name, and then Infinite Wealth (8).

If you specifically want turn-based combat, you can start on 7 and honestly be pretty OK.

If you just want to have an enjoyable time, you can jump in on any side entry, like Judgment/Lost Judgment, Isshin, or this new Pirate one.

Overall, the mainline Yakuza games have an earnest and serious plot, with moments that take it over the top. But all of it is interspersed with moments of random goofiness and levity. My cousins have spent months on Yakuza 0 because they got really into learning Japanese Mah Jong and enjoyed the slot car racing.

Bought it, gonna give it a shot tonight. I remember hearing about this while on a bus to class maybe 7 years ago, and even though I wasn’t a Spelunky guy, I wanted this thing immediately. Derek Yu seems to have a pretty good handle on how to make a compelling game, so I’m looking forward to seeing this collaborative project.

Is it covert if you know it’s happening and have agreed to it?

This game gave me my first real experience of melancholy. A sort of bittersweet sadness, born of what was and what could have been.

To the Moon is an awesome little narrative. One of the games that reminded me that there’s room to feel feelings in games. And the main theme song (I think performed by Laura Shigihara?) is one of my favorite pieces of music to come from a game.

I probably won’t end up playing this, as I’m bad at this kind of game, but man does it have styleeeeee.

It still exists, but a lot of communities shut down after official matchmaking was implemented.

Back in the golden days of community servers, it sure as heck didn’t.

For anyone not into PokemonTCG, this looks like PokemonTCG but will play with different cards and different rules. Energy is different (it looks like you have energy in an Energy Zone instead of attaching to individual mons), the battlefield is different (3 bench spots instead of 5), and so far the cards look to be simplified from actual existing cards.

I believe last time they showed it off it was something like 2 free packs a day, and trading is included (unlike the current digital platform, Pokemon TCG Live).

So overall, it’s probably a fairly different game that’s looking to simplify the gameplay and introduce the entire “collect and play” thing to people for free. Hook them in with this, and maybe get some people invested in playing “real” PTCG.

Honestly, Pokemon is one of the games with fewer money issues than other TCGs. A tier 1 deck in Pokemon costs $30-$120 for Standard format, which is what most people play, apparently. JustinBasil has good posts detailing the decks and key cards, as well as strategies and example gameplay videos.

I say this coming from MtG, where that price point is only really something you can do in Pauper (commons only format), and a Standard deck will cost $50-230, a Pioneer deck will cost $120-380, and a Modern deck will cost $270-700. In Magic, the most powerful cards (for competitive 60 card play) is the credit card.

Pretty sure YuGiOh and One Piece and Lorcana and Flesh&Blood and Digimon also have more expensive decks than Pokemon. Obviously, Pokemon can get expensive once you try to bring out your deck with special art and special foil versions, but for just obtaining usable competitive game pieces, it’s basically the cheapest thing around.

Embracer doesn’t really make a game good or bad. The harm they’ve brought to the industry has more to do with their acquisition of studios and then closing them down after realizing they’ve overextended themselves. In the early days, they were looked at as a potential boon to the industry, offering pay stability for studios with their size, but obviously they made some poor choices and have done irreparable damage to many developers’ lives.

I mean, GW2 (by Arenanet, owned by NCSoft) has had a lesbian couple since the first Living World season, and had a non-binary character in the 3rd expansion. They have inclusivity in a way that doesn’t feel hamfisted or marketed; it’s just in there because they feel like their world should have all sorts of people.

I agree completely. Some games and genres really need enough players to ensure queue times aren’t awful, and that there are lobbies/games/matches where players of all levels can enjoy themselves.

Battle Royales need big playerbases. Team-based games (like many shooters and MOBAs) benefit from larger playerbases. Fighting games want large playerbases, because it’s very frustrating to get a game 6 months after release only to find that it’s a Discord fighter, or that the only people playing are absolute killers who destroy you without leaving you any room or time to learn how to improve.

Among 2D fighters, SF6 and MK1 are pretty dang big.

I would recommend GBFV:R and GG Strive. Granblue is very grounded, and if you play Street Fighter you’ll be able to wrap your head around the systems. Strive is a bit more anime, but without being too much (in the way that Xrd Rev 2 and Melty Blood are too much for me to comprehend what’s happening).

I don’t know if you’re into tag-style games, but learning one might help you get ready for when 2XKO comes out. I’m not a Riot fan, but Riot has such a following that whenever it launches, it’ll receive a large playerbase immediately.

Also, regarding the 30th Anniversary collection, I personally think it’s super cool. Awesome for local play and for nostalgia. It even has netplay for Hyper Fighting, Super Turbo, Alpha 3, and Third Strike, though most PC people are probably just playing on Fightcade instead.