Azurephile gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
Azurephile gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
Do you like cats? Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be a cat? Lying around all day, chasing your own tail, knocking things off of ledges (or tables), and leaving your mark on everything with your claws sounds good, right? Well if youâve ever entertained such fantasies in your own mind, you can now see them realized with Stray, one of the most adorable games that came out last year on Steam and PlayStation. Itâs headed to Xbox on August 10.
Itâs a great little game, but itâs too short. I finished the game in under 6 hours. It probably would have taken me longer to figure everything out, but I had already watched Paul Soares, Jr. play through much of... Read All
Do you like cats? Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be a cat? Lying around all day, chasing your own tail, knocking things off of ledges (or tables), and leaving your mark on everything with your claws sounds good, right? Well if youâve ever entertained such fantasies in your own mind, you can now see them realized with Stray, one of the most adorable games that came out last year on Steam and PlayStation. Itâs headed to Xbox on August 10.
Itâs a great little game, but itâs too short. I finished the game in under 6 hours. It probably would have taken me longer to figure everything out, but I had already watched Paul Soares, Jr. play through much of it on his channel. You can check out his playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEbtIY4p_ltoIZzlhNL0JMnI4di0HYQ-o
My other disappointment with the game is that you canât choose your cat, you have to play the orange one. I donât mind orange cats, but I would have liked to have been able to choose a black cat or calico in loving memory of the cats Iâve had.
I was concerned about the lack of a manual save option, but the game's auto save feature was just fine.
Other than that, Stray is pretty good. It has environmental puzzles, but theyâre not usually too difficult. Thereâs a bit to be explored and making discoveries is fun, so is traversing as a cat. The setting, story, and lore of the game are all very interesting and sci-fi. It is enjoyable and you donât have to worry about a litter box or fleas!
If you like cats, sci-fi, exploration, and some light puzzles, youâll probably like this. Let me know what you think about this and if itâs something youâre interested in.
For a game play review without major spoilers, check out Strayâs âBefore You Buyâ video on the gameranx YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/-Wj479wiMg8 (PC issue mentioned, but I had none.)
In one of the funniest videos I've seen in a long time, YouTuber DougDoug created an AI to play through the game Pajama Sam. The original stream on Twitch was around 8 hours long, but it's been edited down here to *just* 2.5 hours lol.
I can't really put into words the insane hilarity that ensues, but here's a quality comment on the video:
AI Sam: Talks about crab secret, golden sword and Elgrim the Demon Lord, killing trees in a terrorist attack, putting communist carrots in a concentration camp and rambles about eldritch horrors in a British pirate accent while chugging an unhealthy amount of energy drinks and making creepy noises like he is possesed by a demon. Chat:... Read All
In one of the funniest videos I've seen in a long time, YouTuber DougDoug created an AI to play through the game Pajama Sam. The original stream on Twitch was around 8 hours long, but it's been edited down here to *just* 2.5 hours lol.
I can't really put into words the insane hilarity that ensues, but here's a quality comment on the video:
AI Sam: Talks about crab secret, golden sword and Elgrim the Demon Lord, killing trees in a terrorist attack, putting communist carrots in a concentration camp and rambles about eldritch horrors in a British pirate accent while chugging an unhealthy amount of energy drinks and making creepy noises like he is possesed by a demon. Chat: "I can fix him"
This is a long time commitment, but it's so good! I'm contemplating finding the original 8 hour version and watching all of that LOL
To date my favorite entries in the Super Mario franchise are the more traditional side scrolling platformers and Super Mario Maker. The New Super Mario Bros. games are thematically similar but different enough through each release to be a lot of fun. That said, after the New Super Mario Bros. achieved it's final form in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe on Switch and I wasn't sure what direction the game could go to keep things fresh. Then Nintendo announced Super Mario Bros. Wonder today and it made sense. The new direction is here and New Super Mario Bros. Wonder looks incredible. It also looks like it's not a proper New Super Mario Bros. sequel, it looks to be doing... Read All
To date my favorite entries in the Super Mario franchise are the more traditional side scrolling platformers and Super Mario Maker. The New Super Mario Bros. games are thematically similar but different enough through each release to be a lot of fun. That said, after the New Super Mario Bros. achieved it's final form in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe on Switch and I wasn't sure what direction the game could go to keep things fresh. Then Nintendo announced Super Mario Bros. Wonder today and it made sense. The new direction is here and New Super Mario Bros. Wonder looks incredible. It also looks like it's not a proper New Super Mario Bros. sequel, it looks to be doing something different.
So after a zillion Mario platformer games how do you make a new entry in the series feel fresh? By making it look and operate in a totally unique and bonkers way such as entirely changing the level physics, mechanics and art style. Also what if Princess Peach, Daisy and all the Yoshi's were playable characters?
What's the most exciting about Super Mario Bros. Wonder is what Nintendo is holding back to tell us about as the game gets closer to launch. I appreciate that they are keeping the four player couch co-op and the game will be a day one purchase for me for sure.
Super Mario Wonder comes exclusively to Switch on October 20th!
I recently bought a Switch OLED specifically The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild. Of course I also had to pick up a Mario game, so I bought Super Mario Odyssey too. Now it looks like I'll have to nab this as a late birthday present for myself in October. :-)
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 06/24/2023 at 08:37pm
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The Links Awakening remake is worth a look.
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Super Mario RPG is one of Nintendo's most beloved Super Nintendo Mario games and a classic RPG. The game is replayed by many fans and very popular in the Speedrun community as well as the retro game collector community. Since Nintendo seems hot to release remakes of their classic games the next game to join them is SUPER MARIO RPG! It's not a game I thought Nintendo would remake, but a welcome choice as it's a great game that deserves a new coat of paint and a fresh new audience. Plus many fans would love to come back and play this classic game in an all new way.
It looks like Nintendo is upgrading the battle system which fans think is a good idea considering the... Read All
Super Mario RPG is one of Nintendo's most beloved Super Nintendo Mario games and a classic RPG. The game is replayed by many fans and very popular in the Speedrun community as well as the retro game collector community. Since Nintendo seems hot to release remakes of their classic games the next game to join them is SUPER MARIO RPG! It's not a game I thought Nintendo would remake, but a welcome choice as it's a great game that deserves a new coat of paint and a fresh new audience. Plus many fans would love to come back and play this classic game in an all new way.
It looks like Nintendo is upgrading the battle system which fans think is a good idea considering the original wasn't very challenging. That said, I imagine Nintendo will hit the right mark for difficulty and fun.
The Super Mario RPG releases November 17th exclusively on Switch!
XBox had a direct recently and it was one of their best. That said, it was the first deep dive we've received for Starfield and it feels like the most in depth deep dive I've ever seen for a video game before launch. In fact, I've heard some video game pundits say it may have gone too deep and some of what they showed should have been better experienced by playing the game, but honestly in a world where game launches go so badly, it's good to see most of the game beforehand. All that said, the game looks incredible and I'm going to play it on launch day.
True story, I don't believe I've picked up a Triple A big release since Fallout 4 which launched back in 2015.... Read All
XBox had a direct recently and it was one of their best. That said, it was the first deep dive we've received for Starfield and it feels like the most in depth deep dive I've ever seen for a video game before launch. In fact, I've heard some video game pundits say it may have gone too deep and some of what they showed should have been better experienced by playing the game, but honestly in a world where game launches go so badly, it's good to see most of the game beforehand. All that said, the game looks incredible and I'm going to play it on launch day.
True story, I don't believe I've picked up a Triple A big release since Fallout 4 which launched back in 2015. Fallout 4 was pretty good but nothing has really caught my attention that I just had to have on launch day. (Well, Shredder's Revenge, but that's a much much smaller game in scale).
I think the standout parts of the game to me is that this looks like a different take on No Man's Sky that looks to bring in a narrative and flesh out a lot more. I'm not trying to knock No Man's Sky, but Starfield looks like the right kind of game that promises to do much of what No Man's Sky is and does. When Bethesda showed off that you can get into dogfights with spaceships and board them to steal the ship for your own I was sold. I just hope the promise of running cargo AND being a space pirate as well as the single player and run and gun stuff is as strong as what they showed.
Starfield will be a game I play day on at launch but I'm not sure how I'm going to play it. I have a few months of Game Pass I could play it with or pick up a copy on XBox. Either way, I'll let you know what I think when it comes out.
In partnership with Krool Games, McDonalds released Grimace's Birthday a themed game that ties in with the Gimace's Birthday meal celebrating everyone favorite purple McNugget. That sentence might sound like it's entirely made up, but it's not and Grimace's Birthday on Gameboy Color is actually really really good. It's only a handful of levels long, and not very hard, but why does every game have to be Dark Souls and 5,000 hours long? Grimace's Birthday isn't and it's so fun my seven year old son likes playing it. I was happy to have been able to beat it in my second setting in 4m33s. Currently as of me writing this the Speedrun record for Grimace's Birthday is by... Read All
In partnership with Krool Games, McDonalds released Grimace's Birthday a themed game that ties in with the Gimace's Birthday meal celebrating everyone favorite purple McNugget. That sentence might sound like it's entirely made up, but it's not and Grimace's Birthday on Gameboy Color is actually really really good. It's only a handful of levels long, and not very hard, but why does every game have to be Dark Souls and 5,000 hours long? Grimace's Birthday isn't and it's so fun my seven year old son likes playing it. I was happy to have been able to beat it in my second setting in 4m33s. Currently as of me writing this the Speedrun record for Grimace's Birthday is by CheeseSodaPunch at 4m23s which may be as fast as is humanely possible.
That said, you can play it right now in your browser on your phone or desktop OR in your Gameboy Color on your favorite emulator or flash kart on your system.
Currently the developers released 1.4 to the website and the Internet Archive currently doesn't have that but you can download it through your browser by inspecting the network traffic and plucking the .gb file out of it. That's pretty technical so you could also wait for the Internet Archive to update the 1.4 file or play 1.3, which is plenty fun anyway.
I just found an announcement that Shredder's Revenge is getting a DLC. It says "new game mode," "new character colors," and even "new playable characters," although the only one listed is Usagi Yojimbo. You can wish list it and get more details on Steam. There isn't a release date or price announced yet, though.
Let me know what you think.
I just found an announcement that Shredder's Revenge is getting a DLC. It says "new game mode," "new character colors," and even "new playable characters," although the only one listed is Usagi Yojimbo. You can wish list it and get more details on Steam. There isn't a release date or price announced yet, though.
Yeah, it's shaping up to be quite a good amount of DLC. Hopefully they do a few more and release a physical edition wrapping it all up. That said, they didn't do that for Street of Rage 4 that I know of.
Azurephile Super Member Post Author
wrote on 08/31/2023 at 08:19pm
"The History of Diablo" is a great 15 minute video giving some details about the history of Diablo in time for Diablo IV's release. I think it's a must-see for Diablo fans.
Let me know what you think about it and if you're getting into Diablo IV today.
"The History of Diablo" is a great 15 minute video giving some details about the history of Diablo in time for Diablo IV's release. I think it's a must-see for Diablo fans.
Let me know what you think about it and if you're getting into Diablo IV today.
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 05/27/2023 at 01:05am
Awesome! I think I'll be busy playing Diablo IV at the time. I need to wait anyway if I want to play w/ shaders, because those files have to update, too. I might create a new world as I usually do, but I'm thinking about using the seed I last played on.
Are you going to be playing this and Diablo IV, Jon?
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 05/29/2023 at 08:18pm
> Are you going to be playing this and Diablo IV, Jon?
Most likely I'll play more Minecraft 1.20 with my son. As to Diablo IV, I've considered getting it on PC but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. Hard to say, are you getting Diablo IV at launch?
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 05/29/2023 at 09:31pm
>Most likely I'll play more Minecraft 1.20 with my son. As to Diablo IV, I've considered getting it on PC but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. Hard to say, are you getting Diablo IV at launch?
I'm glad you'll be enjoying Minecraft w/ him. Me and Vinny didn't play Minecraft together very much at all, but he's the one that got me into it.
I'll get Diablo IV very soon.
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 06/07/2023 at 08:05pm
Azurephile gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
Azurephile gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
One of the things I like most about games that are sequels is seeing how a game I enjoyed got improved. This is especially true when it comes to PCBS2. There are new tools and lots of QoL (quality of life) improvements, which I often see in sequels I enjoy. PCBS2 gives you more to work with and unlocks a lot of good stuff quickly without too much leveling up progression needed.
One of the things I love most about this game is itâs amazing soundtrack, which has a beautiful mix of rock, rap, and techno. âHard to Believeâ is often in my head and âNo Fear of Fallingâ really strikes a chord with my heart strings. There are a couple of references to COVID such as in â... Read All
One of the things I like most about games that are sequels is seeing how a game I enjoyed got improved. This is especially true when it comes to PCBS2. There are new tools and lots of QoL (quality of life) improvements, which I often see in sequels I enjoy. PCBS2 gives you more to work with and unlocks a lot of good stuff quickly without too much leveling up progression needed.
One of the things I love most about this game is itâs amazing soundtrack, which has a beautiful mix of rock, rap, and techno. âHard to Believeâ is often in my head and âNo Fear of Fallingâ really strikes a chord with my heart strings. There are a couple of references to COVID such as in âAntidotes,â âhard everyone lock down, hard everything lock down.â You can check out the playlist on the official PCBS YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyTsMZIO5Z4&list=PL1qw64qmrhBNK1zw712CLmDO9AKbJrv-l You can also buy the soundtrack and check out the lyrics of each song here: https://pcbuildingsimulator.bandcamp.com/album/pc-building-simulator-2-original-soundtrack
I think PCBS has a good tutorial for learning how to build a PC, teaching you what each component is and what it does. PCBS2 doesnât seem to have that unless I overlooked it. It does have multiple tutorials to show you how to do everything. I think thereâs less guess work when it comes to troubleshooting, too, and youâre given more tools. One of them is a tablet that makes the office PC obsolete and redundant.
The tablet is always with you. You can access it any time by pressing âTâ on your keyboard. Once you unlock it, and you do so quickly, you really donât need your office PC. There are a couple things it can do that your office PC canât. For instance, thereâs an app that uses the tabletâs infrared camera to check the thermals of a running PC. Sometimes faulty components that need to be replaced will be running much hotter than everything else. Thereâs also an app allowing you to customize your work area including pictures, workbenches, walls, floors, and ceilings.
One way in which PCBS2 is different is that it gives you a big workshop and storefront. In PCBS, you have only one workbench until you level up and pay for additional workbenches. Even then, it only gives a total of three, but PCBS2 doubles that and doesnât require much to unlock.
There are now three types of workbenches, each with itâs own specialty and you can change them anytime a PC is not on them. Youâll be mostly working with a âbuildâ bench that lets you do all the PC building and troubleshooting. Another workbench allows for water-cooling customization where youâll take individual components like a GPU, motherboard, or RAM. The last workbench allows you use spray paint and stickers for case modding. You probably only need one of each for the last two, while the rest you may want as âbuildâ benches.
The storefront includes one of these workbenches, itâs mostly there for tinkering with the PCs youâre going to sell. There are multiple spots (four I think) to put a PC for sale, so you can sell many of them at the same time. You can buy a PC from a store app, which contains at least one broken part. You can then replace the part (or completely remove it if itâs an extra) and resell it. If you give the PC a name, overclock, or customization, you can get more money for it, too.
The game play is essentially the same as the first game. As I mentioned in my review of PCBS, you take over a PC repair shop. Potential customers will email you, asking you to fix their computer problems, build them a PC, or request that you give their PC a customization. Email from them also contains plenty of info like what needs to be done such as run virus scan, paint case, or replace a part. Once you click âacceptâ the customerâs PC will arrive in your store the next day for you to work on.
Itâs pretty simple game play, but thereâs plenty to do. Some customers want you to do something simple and the game tells you what to do. Others are more mysterious requiring you to figure it out on your own, which isnât usually too difficult. Some customers want their PC to meet a certain score on a benchmark like 3DMark and Cinebench. Thereâs an app that helps you decide which parts will give you a certain score.
There are resources online about PCBS, including Steam guides that are still relevant. You might get a BSoD (blue screen of death) and not know whatâs wrong (because theyâre not very descriptive), but if you âGoogle it,â youâll be able to find your answer easily. I got one of these recently and realized I forgot to apply thermal paste to the CPU I replaced.
The game has gotten three updates and I wouldnât be surprised to see more, because theyâve added content and features. One of them introduced cable customization, which lets you color each individual cable, so you can have multicolored cables. Usually they add new parts and partners (PC companies like Phanteks).
PCBS2 is an Epic Games Store exclusive. Months ago, I did a Google search to see when or if it is coming to Steam and it seems as though it will not, even though PCBS is there. PCBS had a lot of workshops customized for different PC brands, like Razer, but PCBS2 doesnât seem to have that and thus no additional DLC to pay for.
Thereâs actually a demo for this game, so if this sounds like something youâre interested in, you can check it out before buying. The game is only $25 and I think itâs definitely worth it. Also, check out the PC Building Simulator YouTube channel for game play videos: https://www.youtube.com/@PCBuildingSimulator
I think this is a cool game, especially for someone like me whoâs a PC building enthusiast. Iâve already played this game on two different PCs, because I built a new one this year. I may keep playing so that I can unlock my hardware and build âAzura Azulaâ in the game. If youâre a PC building enthusiast, youâll probably like this game, too. If youâre just starting out, I think I might recommend playing the first game a bit. Just a bit, though, enough to get through the tutorial and maybe a little familiar with the game play.
Let me know if this sounds like something youâre interested in. If youâve played it, let me know what you think about it and if you have anything youâd like to add to this.