Friday, December 31, 2021
Sunday, December 26, 2021
The Witness (PC) (2016)
Overview: You're on an island full of puzzles to solve. There are no instructions, but the puzzles are designed to be solved through a combination of trial-and-error and visual indications which lead to the solutions.
20211226:
I meant to play this game a while ago, but for some reason I didn't get around to it. Yesterday, however, it fell under my radar and I decided to prioritize playing it.
While playing the game, I was mostly reminded of Antichamber. However, according to the Wikipedia article, the game was inspir3ed by Myst. In any case, I feel like I enjoyed the variety in puzzles for Antichamber much more than those for The Witness. In particular, my attention with the game only lasted a mere one and a half hours. Though to be fair to the game, it's not exactly a fair comparison as it's been a very long time since I've played Antichamber and my general gaming preferences may have changed since then (I played it in 2014).
If I were to guess concerning my lack of attention, I would hypothesize that I no longer like the exploration aspect of the game - at least when it comes to solving puzzles. For example, having to walk around and look for puzzles is a different experience from a puzzle game where I could just pass from one level to the next.
Overall, I'm glad I got around to trying the game out, but it didn't have the spark needed to keep my attention.
Epic Game game time: 1h 29m 30s
20211226:
I meant to play this game a while ago, but for some reason I didn't get around to it. Yesterday, however, it fell under my radar and I decided to prioritize playing it.
While playing the game, I was mostly reminded of Antichamber. However, according to the Wikipedia article, the game was inspir3ed by Myst. In any case, I feel like I enjoyed the variety in puzzles for Antichamber much more than those for The Witness. In particular, my attention with the game only lasted a mere one and a half hours. Though to be fair to the game, it's not exactly a fair comparison as it's been a very long time since I've played Antichamber and my general gaming preferences may have changed since then (I played it in 2014).
If I were to guess concerning my lack of attention, I would hypothesize that I no longer like the exploration aspect of the game - at least when it comes to solving puzzles. For example, having to walk around and look for puzzles is a different experience from a puzzle game where I could just pass from one level to the next.
Overall, I'm glad I got around to trying the game out, but it didn't have the spark needed to keep my attention.
Epic Game game time: 1h 29m 30s
Friday, December 24, 2021
Babble Royale (PC) (2021)
Overview: Scrabble meets Battle Royale.
20211224:
A friend of mine was talking about this game and I decided to try it out straight away. Unfortunately, it was less fun than I thought it would be.
Steam Game Time: 58 minutes
20211231:
Decided to give the game some extra time. Ultimately, I don't think I have the ability to be good at this game. There's a lot going on and the strategy involved is just too much for me.
For the most part, the game mechanics are reasonable. I think the game would be more fun and better paced if an overload came with two new letters. Having letters in the way is a weird part of the game.
Perhaps one strategy I should try if I ever revisit the game is to play starting closer to the middle and just try and fence people out. Force other players to use bombs or overloads to get into the center.
Steam Game Time: 106 minutes (total game time) / 48 minutes (session game time)
20211224:
A friend of mine was talking about this game and I decided to try it out straight away. Unfortunately, it was less fun than I thought it would be.
Steam Game Time: 58 minutes
20211231:
Decided to give the game some extra time. Ultimately, I don't think I have the ability to be good at this game. There's a lot going on and the strategy involved is just too much for me.
For the most part, the game mechanics are reasonable. I think the game would be more fun and better paced if an overload came with two new letters. Having letters in the way is a weird part of the game.
Perhaps one strategy I should try if I ever revisit the game is to play starting closer to the middle and just try and fence people out. Force other players to use bombs or overloads to get into the center.
Steam Game Time: 106 minutes (total game time) / 48 minutes (session game time)
Monday, December 20, 2021
Loop Hero (PC) (2021)
Overview: To collect resources, the player character ventures out on expeditions that take place in a loop. Through cards, the player can affect the expedition by placing buildings and enemies onto the play area. Choose when to retreat to your base - bringing back a percentage of the goods collected based on the situation (e.g., 70% is lost when defeated).
20211220:
Epic Games gave this game away and I decided to play it straight away. I put a couple hours into the game and found it mildly entertaining. However, I felt the game had too much of a grind to it. Worded differently, some RPGs do a good job of building up the fun of the game which later encourages the grind. But this game feels like a grind out of the gate without a clear reason to do so. I can kind of see how the game may be addicting to some, but it didn't manage to hook me.
Epic Games game time: 2h 41m 21s
20211222 Comment:
Today I thought about how a negative aspect of the game was the seemingly little low level of interaction between the cards.
On a different note, regarding the lack of addiction, I imagine if I put another two hours into the game, there could be a mechanic unlocked that would give me a power spike large enough to get me addicted to the game, e.g., a new class. And the fact that I'm on the fence about putting said two more hours into the game is an indication that the game does have a reasonably attractive base game mechanic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loop_Hero
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1282730/Loop_Hero/
20211220:
Epic Games gave this game away and I decided to play it straight away. I put a couple hours into the game and found it mildly entertaining. However, I felt the game had too much of a grind to it. Worded differently, some RPGs do a good job of building up the fun of the game which later encourages the grind. But this game feels like a grind out of the gate without a clear reason to do so. I can kind of see how the game may be addicting to some, but it didn't manage to hook me.
Epic Games game time: 2h 41m 21s
20211222 Comment:
Today I thought about how a negative aspect of the game was the seemingly little low level of interaction between the cards.
On a different note, regarding the lack of addiction, I imagine if I put another two hours into the game, there could be a mechanic unlocked that would give me a power spike large enough to get me addicted to the game, e.g., a new class. And the fact that I'm on the fence about putting said two more hours into the game is an indication that the game does have a reasonably attractive base game mechanic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loop_Hero
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1282730/Loop_Hero/
Sunday, December 19, 2021
Genshin Impact (PC) (2020)
20211219:
I installed it on the Epic Games platform. However, apparently I already installed the game independently (I realized after checking if I had a miHoYo account). I have no memory of this. With that being said, today was absolutely the first day I ever played this game.
First Impressions:
Thus far, I played the first four "temples" meant to familiarize the player with four characters/elements (wind, fire, ice, electricity) and I felt as if these areas could have been made a little longer and/or more challenging. It seems as if the game allows players to revisit these areas upon reaching a higher experience level, which would be a different experience from what I'm familiar with (e.g., The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time). As a side note, the bow character Amber seems underpowered.
Epic Games game time: 3h 15m 42s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genshin_Impact
I installed it on the Epic Games platform. However, apparently I already installed the game independently (I realized after checking if I had a miHoYo account). I have no memory of this. With that being said, today was absolutely the first day I ever played this game.
First Impressions:
Thus far, I played the first four "temples" meant to familiarize the player with four characters/elements (wind, fire, ice, electricity) and I felt as if these areas could have been made a little longer and/or more challenging. It seems as if the game allows players to revisit these areas upon reaching a higher experience level, which would be a different experience from what I'm familiar with (e.g., The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time). As a side note, the bow character Amber seems underpowered.
Epic Games game time: 3h 15m 42s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genshin_Impact
Saturday, December 18, 2021
DUET (PC) (2013)
Overview: The player controlling two orbs must dodge incoming obstacles. The difficulty lies in the fact that the two orbs stay diametrically opposed to one another. As such, the player may successfully avoid an obstacle with one orb, but run into an obstacle with another!
20211218:
I've played this game before on Android (see this post). Today I played until I defeated "guilt."
Steam Game Time: 40 minutes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duet_(video_game)
20211218:
I've played this game before on Android (see this post). Today I played until I defeated "guilt."
Steam Game Time: 40 minutes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duet_(video_game)
Saturday, December 4, 2021
while True: learn() (PC) (2019)
Overview: A programmer discovers his cat knows how to code, and sets out to understand his cat in this puzzle game that also aims to inform the player about machine learning algorithms.
20211204:
First Impressions:
The pace of the game thus far is slow. There were too many prompts. I was sleepy so perhaps that made it worse.
Epic Games game time: 22m 8s
20211204:
First Impressions:
The pace of the game thus far is slow. There were too many prompts. I was sleepy so perhaps that made it worse.
Epic Games game time: 22m 8s
Friday, November 19, 2021
Factorio (PC) (2020)
Overview: A factory simulation game. More specifically, the player will build and place machines that in turn will convert raw resources into other resources (via a crafting recipe system).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factorio
20211119:
Played the first three tutorials (third tutorial: "Power plant").
Steam Game Time: 87 minutes
20211121 AM Hours:
Played the fourth tutorial ("Science and automation")
Steam game Time: 4.4 hours (total game time)
20211122 AM Hours:
I played the next and last tutorial. Automating the train took a while for me to understand. I thought the train could go backwards. Unintuitively, it can go backwards when driven manually, but when automated will only pull. Thus having it go back and forth between two stations requires either a loop or two locomotives facing opposite directions.*
I spent some time trying to figure out a setup to build red and green potions. I learned some things while iterating, but I felt my final setup was still bugged.
Steam Game Time: 12.9 hours (total game time) / 8.5 hours (day game time)
*[20211208] Apparently the Factorio wiki makes this clarification:
20211122 Comment:
I was watching some videos about a concept called a main bus (becaues I somehow learned about them and I like being informed).
One cool thing I learned about is that splitters can be used to rebalance a bus after diverting a lane. Mathematically, with four lanes, the quantities can be completely different, for example, A, B, C, and D. Splitters can be placed on adjacent lanes to result in the averages, two lanes with (A+B)/2 and two lanes with (C+D)/2. Then pair up the lanes with splitters to further take the average resulting in (A+B+C+D)/4 in each lane!
20211123:
Today I watched a tutorial video on YouTube. Then I started playing the main campaign. I had trouble deciding how to position my belts and what to build to be efficient.
Setup: Rich resources, enemy bases off, pollution off
20211124 Comment:
I watched a tutorial where I learned that one can theory craft efficiency by determining the number of resources needed, how many resources fit on a belt, the speed of the belt, the speed of crafting, etc. As an example, copper wire requires 2 iron plates and 1 copper plate. So in the early game one can place resources into a container at that 2-to-1 ratio. As another example, a transport belt can handle a maximum throughput of 15 items/second (7.5 per side) while a stone furnace makes 0.3125 iron plates per second. Thus to saturate the belt, one should have 15/0.3125 = 48 stone furnaces (24 per side).
20211124:
By the end of today, I was mostly producing just red and green science and doing research. I suppose turning off the biters makes it worry-free but the downside is a lack of urgency. Also, many of the upgrades are related to weaponry, and without biters, there's less priority to research those upgrades.
Steam Game Time: 21.3 hours (total game time) / 5.0 hours (day game time)
20211125:
Steam Game Time: 21.6 hours (total game time) / 0.3 hours (day game time)
20211126:
I played some during the day. However, I really got progress and managed to get some time into the game during the night. I played during the evening into the morning (of 20211127).
Gameplay Log:
At the start of the day I had red science, green science, and engines.
I fixed my smelting setup.
I established military science.
Explored the map in search of oil
Started harvesting oil.
Created sulfur and plastic bars and sulfuric acid.
Created chemical science pack
Steam Game Time: 35.1 hours (total game time) / 14.5 hours (day game time)
20211127:
Gameplay Log:
Felt like I should get a train setup because oil is so far away from base.
Transferring over plastic and sulfur from oil area to base. (to do: transfer materials in from elsewhere to oil area)
Messing around with the smelting setup again.
I realized that the lanes weren't balanced. At first I tried a fix and it was kind of good. But then I tried again and it was better.
Looked up a balancing setup that balances both input and output for a lane. Super cool.
I figured I could try and use robots, but I thought the armour mechanics seemed more interesting and decided to focus on crafting the parts necessary to take advantage of it (the crafting recipe for power armor consists of processing units and electric engine units; that of an electric engine unit consists of lubricant; an example of an accessory: personal battery MK2)
Ended the day familiarizing self with the robots ("logistic network")
I am sleepy, otherwise I would play more
Steam Game Time: 44.3 hours (total game time) / 9.2 hours (day game time)
20211128:
Gameplay Log:
Started fixing my oil setup: I was using my oil to make products remotely, but that required shipping materials to the area, and bringing materials back. Instead, I'll be transitioning to moving the crude oil to the base via fluid wagons.
Started using the logistic network. Wow. This is amazing!
Steam Game Time: 50.4 hours (total game time) / 6.1 hours (day game time)
20211129:
Steam Game Time: 57.3 hours (total game time) / 6.9 hours (day game time)
20211201:
Today I started making much more use of the logistics network, including heavy use of the request container which I unlocked after crafting the science for it. It's such a quality of life improvement to have bots shifting around the materials instead of having to use transports.
I was so hooked onto the idea of using logistic bots for everything that I had to branch out to mine stone, and instead of simply taking the time to run an electric line up to feed the electric wires, I first decided to make a local water-coal-steam energy source but that required coal. And so I thought I would use the bots to deliver the coal. But that required running the logistic network up, which happens to need power lines anyways. So while extending the logistic network, I had a power line running up which as I mentioned would have supplied the electric miners without the need of the water-coal-steam or bots.
On that note, I know it's probably more efficient to use a train, but I have mental barrier in developing a train system. What I might do is use an online blueprint maker to help facilitate. Right now, I have my base, I have a train that runs from the base to the north east to get oil. Then I'm running out of ores near the base, so I've run to the west and just have a long transport line bringing in goods. Thinking about the fact that I've now made about two-three lanes each of coal, copper, and iron (I process the copper and iron locally into plates), I probably should use trains. However, I probably should rethink my smelting setup. I think my smelting near base is just producing somewhere between one and two lanes of copper and iron. The off-base smelting does produce about two lanes each.
Gameplay Log:
Built yellow science.
Then built purple science. So that's six of the seven sciences.
Steam Game Time: 64.8 hours (total game time) / 7.5 hours (day game time)
20211202:
Steam Game Time: 66.8 hours (total game time) / 2.0 hours (day game time)
20211203:
I'm just about bored of playing Factorio now. I have too many dependencies that I just don't want to bother sorting out. I suppose one action is to turn everything off and activate it based on counts. That way the resources aren't used up everywhere. I'm so close to finishing the main goal of the primary campaign: build a rocket. Well close in the sense that I built the recipe for the silo. And yet... I think I will just take a break from the game.
Gameplay Log: Rocket silo recipe unlocked
Steam Game Time: 72.8 hours (total game time) / 6.0 hours (day game time)
20211208 Comment:
Today I read about the concept of a mall. A mall is a place specifically for the player to get items. I like this idea because I was recently thinking about how I would run around the bus stealing items from the lines. Which is inefficient.
On a related note, I also read about smaller logistic networks. I supposed it makes sense. I probably got carried away with adding bots to my base...
In any case, I haven't launched the game in a few days and probably won't return anytime soon. It's overwhelming.
 |
| Early Game - Red and Green Science |
20211119:
Played the first three tutorials (third tutorial: "Power plant").
Steam Game Time: 87 minutes
20211121 AM Hours:
Played the fourth tutorial ("Science and automation")
 |
| Cyan science |
Steam game Time: 4.4 hours (total game time)
20211122 AM Hours:
I played the next and last tutorial. Automating the train took a while for me to understand. I thought the train could go backwards. Unintuitively, it can go backwards when driven manually, but when automated will only pull. Thus having it go back and forth between two stations requires either a loop or two locomotives facing opposite directions.*
I spent some time trying to figure out a setup to build red and green potions. I learned some things while iterating, but I felt my final setup was still bugged.
Steam Game Time: 12.9 hours (total game time) / 8.5 hours (day game time)
 |
| Remote oil processing |
*[20211208] Apparently the Factorio wiki makes this clarification:
- Locomotives can be manually driven forwards or backwards, however, they are generally slower going backwards. The left and right movement keys are used to change direction at switches.
- Trains can only drive forwards automatically. An automatic train can drive forwards and backwards when two locomotives facing different directions are connected to the train.
20211122 Comment:
I was watching some videos about a concept called a main bus (becaues I somehow learned about them and I like being informed).
One cool thing I learned about is that splitters can be used to rebalance a bus after diverting a lane. Mathematically, with four lanes, the quantities can be completely different, for example, A, B, C, and D. Splitters can be placed on adjacent lanes to result in the averages, two lanes with (A+B)/2 and two lanes with (C+D)/2. Then pair up the lanes with splitters to further take the average resulting in (A+B+C+D)/4 in each lane!
20211123:
Today I watched a tutorial video on YouTube. Then I started playing the main campaign. I had trouble deciding how to position my belts and what to build to be efficient.
Setup: Rich resources, enemy bases off, pollution off
>>>eNpjZGBk0GMAgwZ7EOZgSc5PzIHxgMIOXMn5BQWpRbr5RanIw pzJRaUpqbr5maiKU/NScyt1kxKLoYohJnNkFuXnoZvAWlySn4cqU lKUmlqMEGmw5y4tSszLLM1F18vAeDXLaUlDixwDCP+vZ1D4/x+Eg awHQHkQZmBsAKtmBIrBAGtyTmZaGgODgiMQO4GkGRkYq0XWuT+sm gJkgoGeA5TxASpyIAkm4glj+DnglFKBMUyQzDEGg89IDIilJSD7I ao4HBAMiGQLSJKRsfft1gXfj12wY/yz8uMl36QEe0ZDV5F3H4zW2 QEl2UH+ZIITs2aCwE6YVxhgZj6wh0rdtGc8ewYE3tgzsoJ0iIAIB wsgccCbmYFRgA/IWtADJBRkGGBOs4MZI+LAmAYG32A+eQxjXLZH9 wcwIGxAhsuBiBMgAmwh3GWMEKZDvwOjgzxMVhKhBKjfiAHZDSkIH 56EWXsYyX40h2BGBLI/0ERUHLBEAxfIwhQ48YIZ7hpgeF5gh/Ec5 jswMoMYIFVfgGIQHjiZQo2C0AIO4OBmZkAAYNrYpJB+DACvQp3T< <<Steam Game Time: 16.3 hours (total game time) / 3.4 hours (day game time)
 |
| Comparing belt/splitter layouts (to feed into smelting) |
20211124 Comment:
I watched a tutorial where I learned that one can theory craft efficiency by determining the number of resources needed, how many resources fit on a belt, the speed of the belt, the speed of crafting, etc. As an example, copper wire requires 2 iron plates and 1 copper plate. So in the early game one can place resources into a container at that 2-to-1 ratio. As another example, a transport belt can handle a maximum throughput of 15 items/second (7.5 per side) while a stone furnace makes 0.3125 iron plates per second. Thus to saturate the belt, one should have 15/0.3125 = 48 stone furnaces (24 per side).
20211124:
By the end of today, I was mostly producing just red and green science and doing research. I suppose turning off the biters makes it worry-free but the downside is a lack of urgency. Also, many of the upgrades are related to weaponry, and without biters, there's less priority to research those upgrades.
Steam Game Time: 21.3 hours (total game time) / 5.0 hours (day game time)
20211125:
Steam Game Time: 21.6 hours (total game time) / 0.3 hours (day game time)
 |
| Using Autotorio to generate a blueprint to be layed down at a resource |
20211126:
I played some during the day. However, I really got progress and managed to get some time into the game during the night. I played during the evening into the morning (of 20211127).
Gameplay Log:
At the start of the day I had red science, green science, and engines.
I fixed my smelting setup.
I established military science.
Explored the map in search of oil
Started harvesting oil.
Created sulfur and plastic bars and sulfuric acid.
Created chemical science pack
Steam Game Time: 35.1 hours (total game time) / 14.5 hours (day game time)
20211127:
Gameplay Log:
Felt like I should get a train setup because oil is so far away from base.
Transferring over plastic and sulfur from oil area to base. (to do: transfer materials in from elsewhere to oil area)
Messing around with the smelting setup again.
I realized that the lanes weren't balanced. At first I tried a fix and it was kind of good. But then I tried again and it was better.
Looked up a balancing setup that balances both input and output for a lane. Super cool.
I figured I could try and use robots, but I thought the armour mechanics seemed more interesting and decided to focus on crafting the parts necessary to take advantage of it (the crafting recipe for power armor consists of processing units and electric engine units; that of an electric engine unit consists of lubricant; an example of an accessory: personal battery MK2)
Ended the day familiarizing self with the robots ("logistic network")
I am sleepy, otherwise I would play more
Steam Game Time: 44.3 hours (total game time) / 9.2 hours (day game time)
20211128:
Gameplay Log:
Started fixing my oil setup: I was using my oil to make products remotely, but that required shipping materials to the area, and bringing materials back. Instead, I'll be transitioning to moving the crude oil to the base via fluid wagons.
Started using the logistic network. Wow. This is amazing!
Steam Game Time: 50.4 hours (total game time) / 6.1 hours (day game time)
20211129:
Steam Game Time: 57.3 hours (total game time) / 6.9 hours (day game time)
20211201:
Today I started making much more use of the logistics network, including heavy use of the request container which I unlocked after crafting the science for it. It's such a quality of life improvement to have bots shifting around the materials instead of having to use transports.
I was so hooked onto the idea of using logistic bots for everything that I had to branch out to mine stone, and instead of simply taking the time to run an electric line up to feed the electric wires, I first decided to make a local water-coal-steam energy source but that required coal. And so I thought I would use the bots to deliver the coal. But that required running the logistic network up, which happens to need power lines anyways. So while extending the logistic network, I had a power line running up which as I mentioned would have supplied the electric miners without the need of the water-coal-steam or bots.
On that note, I know it's probably more efficient to use a train, but I have mental barrier in developing a train system. What I might do is use an online blueprint maker to help facilitate. Right now, I have my base, I have a train that runs from the base to the north east to get oil. Then I'm running out of ores near the base, so I've run to the west and just have a long transport line bringing in goods. Thinking about the fact that I've now made about two-three lanes each of coal, copper, and iron (I process the copper and iron locally into plates), I probably should use trains. However, I probably should rethink my smelting setup. I think my smelting near base is just producing somewhere between one and two lanes of copper and iron. The off-base smelting does produce about two lanes each.
Gameplay Log:
Built yellow science.
Then built purple science. So that's six of the seven sciences.
Steam Game Time: 64.8 hours (total game time) / 7.5 hours (day game time)
20211202:
Steam Game Time: 66.8 hours (total game time) / 2.0 hours (day game time)
20211203:
I'm just about bored of playing Factorio now. I have too many dependencies that I just don't want to bother sorting out. I suppose one action is to turn everything off and activate it based on counts. That way the resources aren't used up everywhere. I'm so close to finishing the main goal of the primary campaign: build a rocket. Well close in the sense that I built the recipe for the silo. And yet... I think I will just take a break from the game.
Gameplay Log: Rocket silo recipe unlocked
Steam Game Time: 72.8 hours (total game time) / 6.0 hours (day game time)
20211208 Comment:
Today I read about the concept of a mall. A mall is a place specifically for the player to get items. I like this idea because I was recently thinking about how I would run around the bus stealing items from the lines. Which is inefficient.
On a related note, I also read about smaller logistic networks. I supposed it makes sense. I probably got carried away with adding bots to my base...
In any case, I haven't launched the game in a few days and probably won't return anytime soon. It's overwhelming.
Saturday, November 6, 2021
Lost Ark (PC) (2022)
20211106: (Closed Beta)
I got a key through Twitch drops and gave the game a try.
First Impressions:
Movement throughout the overworld felt slow until getting the mount. It was still slow after unlocking a mount, but not as bad. On a different note, a cost for using a portal seems silly. While potentially more realistic as a resource, it feels less fun from a game perspective (kind of like games that implement stamina).
Steam Game Time: 5.0 hours (total game time)
20211107: (Closed Beta)
Steam Game Time: 7.0 hours (total game time) / 2.0 hours (session game time)
I got a key through Twitch drops and gave the game a try.
 |
| Appearance after getting geared up. |
First Impressions:
Movement throughout the overworld felt slow until getting the mount. It was still slow after unlocking a mount, but not as bad. On a different note, a cost for using a portal seems silly. While potentially more realistic as a resource, it feels less fun from a game perspective (kind of like games that implement stamina).
Steam Game Time: 5.0 hours (total game time)
 |
| Early game character appearance. |
20211107: (Closed Beta)
Steam Game Time: 7.0 hours (total game time) / 2.0 hours (session game time)
Friday, October 22, 2021
Path of Exile - Scourge
Overview: Scourge was a Path of Exile challenge league. The primary mechanic consisted of collecting blood, switching to an alternate world, and defeating Scourge monsters in order to "Scourge" items. The league also consisted of currency that allows players to alter corrupted items. The league started on 20211022 and ended 20220201.
20211022:
I played starting with the first day of the league and I got to Act 7. I'm following Subtractem's Bane Occultist.
20211104 Comment:
I'm quite bored.*
Milestones:
20211022: Started and Reached Act 7
20211023: Reached white maps
20211030: Reached level 90. Approximately 2 days, 17 hours
20211103: Reached level 91. Approximately 3 days, 4 hours
*20220408: I made a similar comment during the last league, roughly with the same number of time played, but with a longer physical time difference (here roughly 14 days, while last league was about 20 days).
20211105:
I felt weak and squishy with my initial character so I started prepping for Toxic Rain Champion.
20211106:
While I appear to be no faster leveling, this build feels tankier while dealing less damage. Note that I made the "mistake" of starting with a bow skill before switching to splitting steel, which I've never used before.
20211112:
Today I beat Acts with my Toxic Rain Champion: 11 hours and 36 minutes with 15 deaths. In contrast, I spent 1 day, 2 hours, and 3 minutes with 90 deaths on my Bane Occultist character.
20211205:
I stopped playing the League and started playing Standard.
20220408 Comment:
Since I stopped playing early in the league, I did not make any sales and purchases exceeding 1.5 exalt. My greatest spend was 60 chaos for a large cluster jewel for my Bane Occultist character followed by 30 chaos for a two-stone ring for my Toxic Rain character. Meanwhile my top sale was 15 chaos for a cobalt jewel.
 |
| Banebenadada - Bane ED Occultist |
20211022:
I played starting with the first day of the league and I got to Act 7. I'm following Subtractem's Bane Occultist.
20211104 Comment:
I'm quite bored.*
Milestones:
20211022: Started and Reached Act 7
20211023: Reached white maps
20211030: Reached level 90. Approximately 2 days, 17 hours
20211103: Reached level 91. Approximately 3 days, 4 hours
 |
| Niarcixota - Toxic Rain Champion |
*20220408: I made a similar comment during the last league, roughly with the same number of time played, but with a longer physical time difference (here roughly 14 days, while last league was about 20 days).
20211105:
I felt weak and squishy with my initial character so I started prepping for Toxic Rain Champion.
20211106:
While I appear to be no faster leveling, this build feels tankier while dealing less damage. Note that I made the "mistake" of starting with a bow skill before switching to splitting steel, which I've never used before.
20211112:
Today I beat Acts with my Toxic Rain Champion: 11 hours and 36 minutes with 15 deaths. In contrast, I spent 1 day, 2 hours, and 3 minutes with 90 deaths on my Bane Occultist character.
20211205:
I stopped playing the League and started playing Standard.
20220408 Comment:
Since I stopped playing early in the league, I did not make any sales and purchases exceeding 1.5 exalt. My greatest spend was 60 chaos for a large cluster jewel for my Bane Occultist character followed by 30 chaos for a two-stone ring for my Toxic Rain character. Meanwhile my top sale was 15 chaos for a cobalt jewel.
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (PC) (2012)
Overview: You're a blob that must swallow objects to grow in size in order to progress.
2021013:
I didn't know what to expect going into the game, but after finishing three or four levels, I felt bored.
Setup: Laptop
Steam Game Time: 54 minutes*
*About 15 minutes were spent idle as I was trying to get my earbuds to work
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Good art
+ Humorous
Cons:
- Occasionally boring gameplay; perhaps a full keyboard and mouse would make it more fun
- Time seems to be critical but it seems hard to actually zoom through a level
Summary:
As a puzzle-platformer, this game appeared to lean towards being a platformer more than a puzzle game. But I think the puzzle part of a puzzle-platformer is more fun, otherwise I'd just prefer to play a platformer. When trying to think to games similar to this game, but with more of a puzzle element, I thought of Blocks That Matter.
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (PC) (2012)
Relevant Links:
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (Wikipedia.org)
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (steamdb.info)
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (Steam Store Page)
2021013:
I didn't know what to expect going into the game, but after finishing three or four levels, I felt bored.
Setup: Laptop
Steam Game Time: 54 minutes*
*About 15 minutes were spent idle as I was trying to get my earbuds to work
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Good art
+ Humorous
Cons:
- Occasionally boring gameplay; perhaps a full keyboard and mouse would make it more fun
- Time seems to be critical but it seems hard to actually zoom through a level
Summary:
As a puzzle-platformer, this game appeared to lean towards being a platformer more than a puzzle game. But I think the puzzle part of a puzzle-platformer is more fun, otherwise I'd just prefer to play a platformer. When trying to think to games similar to this game, but with more of a puzzle element, I thought of Blocks That Matter.
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (PC) (2012)
Relevant Links:
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (Wikipedia.org)
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (steamdb.info)
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (Steam Store Page)
Saturday, October 9, 2021
ARCADE GAME SERIES: GALAGA (PC) (2016)
Summary: Move your starship left and right, avoiding enemies and their projectiles as you shoot them down to get points and advance to the next stage (clearing all enemies on the screen).
20211009:
This seems like a simple arcade shooter that would take a combination of skill and patience to master. Enemies appear to spawn in the same pattern everytime, so with practice one can position oneself and time one's shot to repeat a run consistently. However, an even more skilled player may wait for moments to kill moving enemies for more points.*
For example, during the challenge stage, under the C, to the left, under the S, to the right, under the C, and the under the G, where the letters are the letters of "HIGH SCORE" at the top of the screen.
Setup: Keyboard.
Steam Game Time: 14 minutes
*Watching a speedrun to a million points, the top runner did not appear to ever wait for enemies to start moving. With that being said, the runner did usually hit multiple enemies as they fly in. Cleverly, the runner intentionally gets a ship captured at the end of Stage 1, so that he/she can release it in Stage 2 and create the twin ship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaga
 |
| A group of three Galaga ships fly down toward the player ship at the bottom of the screen. |
20211009:
This seems like a simple arcade shooter that would take a combination of skill and patience to master. Enemies appear to spawn in the same pattern everytime, so with practice one can position oneself and time one's shot to repeat a run consistently. However, an even more skilled player may wait for moments to kill moving enemies for more points.*
For example, during the challenge stage, under the C, to the left, under the S, to the right, under the C, and the under the G, where the letters are the letters of "HIGH SCORE" at the top of the screen.
 |
| Gameplay statistics after a Game Over. |
Setup: Keyboard.
Steam Game Time: 14 minutes
 |
| I saw a Boss Galaga using a tractor eam and lost my last life while taking a screenshot. |
*Watching a speedrun to a million points, the top runner did not appear to ever wait for enemies to start moving. With that being said, the runner did usually hit multiple enemies as they fly in. Cleverly, the runner intentionally gets a ship captured at the end of Stage 1, so that he/she can release it in Stage 2 and create the twin ship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaga
Wednesday, October 6, 2021
PC Building Simulator (PC) (2019)
Reason for Playing: This game was available for free on the Epic Games Store, but I actually already own it on Steam.
Overview: The player is in charge of a computer repair shop. Customers send in their computers for repairs, upgrades, and more. The game features various components from the real world.
20211006:
For the most part, the simulation is fun. Some of the actions are tedious, but purchases can be made to remove them.
Random Note: for some reason the dates for the screenshots are incorrect; probably the clock was wrong
Steam Game Time: 4.1 hours (session game time)
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ A free build mode for just playing around
+ Cord connection is well-done via highlighting
+ All the real-life components are fun to work with though I could do away with having to manually screw parts in and out (e.g., case cover, video card); with that being said, having to do so is part of the PC building experience
Neutral:
~ The campaign mode is neat, but the rules regarding budget were not obvious to me at the beginning
[20211008]
Summary:
This game was fun. At first I was surprised when I hit the one hour mark. I only stopped playing because I was beginning to feel sleepy and I was surprised that I had played the game for more than four hours. While the game was fun, I'm not sure I'm up for playing more of it any time soon.
PC Building Simulator (PC) (2019)
Relevant Links:
PC Building Simulator Website PC Building Simulator (Wikipedia.org)
PC Building Simulator (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
PC Building Simulator (steamdb.info)
PC Building Simulator (Steam Store Page)
Overview: The player is in charge of a computer repair shop. Customers send in their computers for repairs, upgrades, and more. The game features various components from the real world.
 |
| Finished the repair! |
20211006:
For the most part, the simulation is fun. Some of the actions are tedious, but purchases can be made to remove them.
Random Note: for some reason the dates for the screenshots are incorrect; probably the clock was wrong
 |
| Checking requests for repair |
Steam Game Time: 4.1 hours (session game time)
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ A free build mode for just playing around
+ Cord connection is well-done via highlighting
 |
| Run 3DMark (doesn't take as long as a real benchmark) |
+ All the real-life components are fun to work with though I could do away with having to manually screw parts in and out (e.g., case cover, video card); with that being said, having to do so is part of the PC building experience
Neutral:
~ The campaign mode is neat, but the rules regarding budget were not obvious to me at the beginning
 |
| Dusty PC that needs some air dusting |
[20211008]
Summary:
This game was fun. At first I was surprised when I hit the one hour mark. I only stopped playing because I was beginning to feel sleepy and I was surprised that I had played the game for more than four hours. While the game was fun, I'm not sure I'm up for playing more of it any time soon.
PC Building Simulator (PC) (2019)
 |
| Buying PC parts to stock inventory |
Relevant Links:
PC Building Simulator Website PC Building Simulator (Wikipedia.org)
PC Building Simulator (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
PC Building Simulator (steamdb.info)
PC Building Simulator (Steam Store Page)
 |
| Interesting and unfamiliar case... |
Saturday, September 25, 2021
Hitman: Codename 47 (PC) (2000)
20210925:
I tried to play this game today, but it was hard to enjoy because of the game's age which resulted in unenjoyable controls and a low resolution. Actually, I could deal with the low resolution, but the screen would constantly shake and that was extremely annoying.* With that being said, I toughed it out and played until I ran into someone other than the player character. I didn't realize it was someone I should have taken out, so I walked up to him, he whipped out a tazer, and took me down. I was then dragged back to my cell where basically the game served me a "you failed, start over." At that point, due to the aforementioned complaints, I stopped playing and pulled up a speedrun; I watched the first eight or so minutes.
Setup: Normal difficulty. OpenGL 1600 x 1200. WSAD Keyboard layout.
I didn't realize this while playing, but the default WSAD controls are basically SZXC as the traditional WASD, then AD are for turning (but can just use the mouse), QE are for leaning, and W is for running. I probably should have remapped the keys.
Aside from the strange default key bindings, I disliked how the player has to open doors and pick up items. Instead of just pressing a button (e.g., keyboard E in practically all games), the player needs to right click and scroll to one of the interactions.
Steam Game Time: 24 minutes
*20210926: According to this thread, the camera shake appears to be a known issue and the replies address possible fixes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitman:_Codename_47
https://store.steampowered.com/app/6900/Hitman_Codename_47/
I tried to play this game today, but it was hard to enjoy because of the game's age which resulted in unenjoyable controls and a low resolution. Actually, I could deal with the low resolution, but the screen would constantly shake and that was extremely annoying.* With that being said, I toughed it out and played until I ran into someone other than the player character. I didn't realize it was someone I should have taken out, so I walked up to him, he whipped out a tazer, and took me down. I was then dragged back to my cell where basically the game served me a "you failed, start over." At that point, due to the aforementioned complaints, I stopped playing and pulled up a speedrun; I watched the first eight or so minutes.
 |
| Target practice went well |
Setup: Normal difficulty. OpenGL 1600 x 1200. WSAD Keyboard layout.
I didn't realize this while playing, but the default WSAD controls are basically SZXC as the traditional WASD, then AD are for turning (but can just use the mouse), QE are for leaning, and W is for running. I probably should have remapped the keys.
Aside from the strange default key bindings, I disliked how the player has to open doors and pick up items. Instead of just pressing a button (e.g., keyboard E in practically all games), the player needs to right click and scroll to one of the interactions.
 |
| Oops! Back to the beginning... |
Steam Game Time: 24 minutes
*20210926: According to this thread, the camera shake appears to be a known issue and the replies address possible fixes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitman:_Codename_47
https://store.steampowered.com/app/6900/Hitman_Codename_47/
Sunday, September 12, 2021
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (PC) (2017)
20210912:
The story seemed interesting but I got stuck early on and decided that was enough. While my time with the game was short, there was one part where I felt as if the game missed out on an opportunity to better immerse the player. More specifically, I recall the player character was going through a fenced area and it just felt plain, at least compared to how a similar interaction would be handled in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
Setup: Amazon Luna. Normal difficulty. Keyboard and mouse.
Game Time: less than half an hour
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil_7:_Biohazard
Thursday, September 2, 2021
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight (PC) (2016)
Overview: Play as Kaho, a priestess looking to stop a curse that has spread and begun to affect her village. 2D metroidvania. It is the fourth game in the Momodora series.
Reason for Playing: AStats Score: 8.7 (54 votes)
20210902 Part I:
I'm glad I played this game today. It's been a while since I've really played a Metroidvania that I felt inclined to play more. The last one I can clearly remember is Teslagrad. Compared to Teslagrad, this game feels more difficult (more deaths) and it's graphics have a more retro feel. Furthermore, the game feels darker.
Setup: Xbox controller. Fullscreen. Normal difficulty.
In any case, I still like the old Castlevania games I played* more than Reverie Under the Moonlight; in general, I liked the theme, movement, item drops, magic systems, artwork, and music of Castlevania.
Ultimately, I'm inclined to continue playing the game.
After playing the game, I watched a part of a speedrun and the speedrunner tends to skip by most enemies, does a lot of rolling, and executes jumps that allows for omitting as many platforms as a regular run. The speedrunner also obtains an active item that allows for taking down bosses very efficiently. I later learned this item is called the Bakman Patch and can only be obtained by defeating Moka and Lubella without taking any damage. Apparently each boss drops an item if the player doesn't take any damage.
Steam Game Time: 82 minutes (session game time)
*All the titles appearing on the Gamebody Advanced and Nintendo DS; I might have purchased Order of Ecclesia without playing it.
20210902 Part II:
So I decided to play more and while it's mostly fun and challenging, sometimes it can be frustrating to lose so much progress upon death. I recall there were moments like that in the GBA Castlevania games, but usually only against bosses and usually the save point is nearby. For this game, sometimes I die from falling into a pit or just a normal enemy. Due to the difficulty, I wish one could turn on a "quick checkpoint" option that puts the player at the entrance of their last failure for non-boss encounters.
I would note that if it weren't for the above frustration, I'd likely continue playing.
I'm also not too happy about the fact that the warp system is a subset of all the save points and that the player has to memorize the locations by name instead of using a map to help choose where to go. Speaking of the map system, I dislike that the map doesn't show all the shopkeeper locations.
And last, but not least, the music and sound of the game are actually poor. Apparently the game is affordable and so can't possibly have a soundtrack that compares to the quality of a Castlevania game, but I'm thinking they could have applied a sort of 80-20 rule. Get 80% improvement in the sound department with just 20% of the effort. Perhaps such an effort would even qualify boosting the cost of the game by 20-30%.
Steam Game Time: 2.4 hours (session game time) / 3.8 hours (total game time)
20240417 Snapshot:
I've been using Playnite to tackle my backlog starting with most time played and I've reached this entry (which was sitting at a little under four hours).* In assessing whether I should play the game, I read my blog post above and I think I will set the game status to "Abandoned".
Steam Game Time: 3.8 hours (cumulative game time) / 3h50m (Playnite)
Last Played: 20210902
*20240418: today I realized that I seem to have skipped a section of games within the 5 to 6 hour region.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momodora:_Reverie_Under_the_Moonlight
 |
| Kaho fights Lubella |
Reason for Playing: AStats Score: 8.7 (54 votes)
20210902 Part I:
I'm glad I played this game today. It's been a while since I've really played a Metroidvania that I felt inclined to play more. The last one I can clearly remember is Teslagrad. Compared to Teslagrad, this game feels more difficult (more deaths) and it's graphics have a more retro feel. Furthermore, the game feels darker.
Setup: Xbox controller. Fullscreen. Normal difficulty.
 |
| Kaho fights Pardoner Fennel (I found staying close and using melee resulted in taking less damage from her attacks) |
In any case, I still like the old Castlevania games I played* more than Reverie Under the Moonlight; in general, I liked the theme, movement, item drops, magic systems, artwork, and music of Castlevania.
Ultimately, I'm inclined to continue playing the game.
After playing the game, I watched a part of a speedrun and the speedrunner tends to skip by most enemies, does a lot of rolling, and executes jumps that allows for omitting as many platforms as a regular run. The speedrunner also obtains an active item that allows for taking down bosses very efficiently. I later learned this item is called the Bakman Patch and can only be obtained by defeating Moka and Lubella without taking any damage. Apparently each boss drops an item if the player doesn't take any damage.
 |
| Kaho fights Derelict Frida (It took me a while to determine and react to this boss's attacks) |
Steam Game Time: 82 minutes (session game time)
*All the titles appearing on the Gamebody Advanced and Nintendo DS; I might have purchased Order of Ecclesia without playing it.
20210902 Part II:
So I decided to play more and while it's mostly fun and challenging, sometimes it can be frustrating to lose so much progress upon death. I recall there were moments like that in the GBA Castlevania games, but usually only against bosses and usually the save point is nearby. For this game, sometimes I die from falling into a pit or just a normal enemy. Due to the difficulty, I wish one could turn on a "quick checkpoint" option that puts the player at the entrance of their last failure for non-boss encounters.
 |
| Kaho as a cat. |
I would note that if it weren't for the above frustration, I'd likely continue playing.
I'm also not too happy about the fact that the warp system is a subset of all the save points and that the player has to memorize the locations by name instead of using a map to help choose where to go. Speaking of the map system, I dislike that the map doesn't show all the shopkeeper locations.
And last, but not least, the music and sound of the game are actually poor. Apparently the game is affordable and so can't possibly have a soundtrack that compares to the quality of a Castlevania game, but I'm thinking they could have applied a sort of 80-20 rule. Get 80% improvement in the sound department with just 20% of the effort. Perhaps such an effort would even qualify boosting the cost of the game by 20-30%.
Steam Game Time: 2.4 hours (session game time) / 3.8 hours (total game time)
20240417 Snapshot:
I've been using Playnite to tackle my backlog starting with most time played and I've reached this entry (which was sitting at a little under four hours).* In assessing whether I should play the game, I read my blog post above and I think I will set the game status to "Abandoned".
Steam Game Time: 3.8 hours (cumulative game time) / 3h50m (Playnite)
Last Played: 20210902
*20240418: today I realized that I seem to have skipped a section of games within the 5 to 6 hour region.
 |
| Finally, I got the ability to warp... |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momodora:_Reverie_Under_the_Moonlight