Upgrading your safehouse will give you lots more control at the strategy layer to find new squad members, manage your roster, get leverage before attempting heists, and more.
The Turn-Based Thursday Fest starts today on Steam and goes for 4 days (until April 8). It's pretty funny browsing through the list of games included, as half of them are already on my wishlist 😂
After realizing there isn't a consolidated community of Polytopia here I decided to create this magazine, everyone who follows the rules is welcome!...
Partially rotoscoping directly on the computer speeds up the animation process considerably. So far, the output seems consistent with the Mars walk cycle for the protagonist. This was based on footage of my youngest child, which I'll show in a comment.
Comparison of the sketch animations and final walk cycles for the protagonist in his "envirosuit" outfit, from upcoming point & click / RPG 【Future Ghost】
The first time I played Soul Hackers 2 must have been about two years ago and I found the game to be very strange. It maybe wasn’t the best game to get into the Megami Tensei universe due to the wave of critique it got (it’s a bit hard to unsee that) and the first dungeons and areas weren’t inviting enough from the perspective of a new player (i.e., my perspective exactly.) The whole thing didn’t go very well. I loved Ringo and the art, but it was as far as I got. For some reason, I didn’t pay attention to the music. I played it on Xbox Game Pass and these things tend to happen when we try a new game for “free.” If we don’t get immediately captivated by the gameplay and environment, we can move on to something more palatable, so there’s little effort involved. Also, we need to account for the lack of context because everything in megaten games has a continuous set of references that can and will be lost on someone unfamiliar with the universe.
https://swordofseiros.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/20240210213128_1.jpg?w=1024Let’s admit, Ringo is awesomeAnd then there’s this thing I can describe as “it’s not you, it’s me.” I react strongly against new experiences and it’s a constant struggle to counteract that. Even in the real world, if things aren’t predictable and constant, I panic. So, when I manage to get into new things it’s like a miracle and I treat those experiences like so. If I manage to overcome a challenge, I relegate it to the realm of the unbelievable. My biggest life challenge was moving to another country to work and learn another language in adult age. From my perspective this is unbelievable, a miracle. Of course, I had the help of an angel and short thereafter, the help of an army of angels, however I managed to overcome my anxieties and step into new ground making it my own to the best of my ability. This doesn’t digress too much on a micro level from experiencing a new game that’s completely detached from what I am familiar with, or a movie, or a book, or traveling.
https://swordofseiros.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/2024021623155100_s.jpg?w=1024An army of angels – Shin Megami Tensei VBack to Soul Hackers 2 we have to fast forward a bit when I landed on my post-Persona 3 Reload situation, which was a very different one. With Persona 3 Reload I finally paid attention to the demons (the personas) and during my hesitant attempts at Shin Megami Tensei V I started comparing them just for fun. They are very similar and sometimes have different names but are instantly recognizable. They’re a joy to look at! Then the battle systems of exploring weaknesses and fusing powerful demons with a variety of skills could have been (and still are) a bit overwhelming but I adapted to it and now I’m not afraid to mess up. The games provide mechanics to correct many mistakes, at least the newer ones.
I started enjoying dungeon crawling with the new Tartarus and now the old Tartarus from Portable doesn’t bother me that much. The same happened with the dungeons from SH2. At first, they can seem barren and very boring, however when we enter the Soul Matrix and progress a little more in the story, the dungeons also develop into a puzzle of sorts and an invitation to test our spatial awareness skills. They can be very laborious in the sense that they’re long, therefore I need to clear them in the same gaming session in order to keep track of where I was and study when I should backtrack to gain access to other areas. I plan my sessions accordingly while completing all the Soul Matrix quests in the process to spare time. I only progress the main story when I don’t have anything else to do inside the Soul Matrix and when I’ve cleared all jobs given by Madame Ginko at Club Cretaceous. I enjoy this loop.
https://swordofseiros.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/20240303001232_1.jpg?w=1024Saizo sector 3F inside the Soul Matrix is a bit crazyIn order to unlock gates in the Soul Matrix we have to increase our soul level with Arrow, Milady and Saizo by engaging into a number of activities and hangouts. By exploring the dungeons thoroughly, we gain access to objects picked up by the demons doing reconnaissance which in turn are used to unlock more hangouts. When the soul level reaches a certain threshold the gates inside the Soul Matrix can be unlocked. The Matrix also expands through main story progression. The game flow feels very natural and the story, although not as dark as Persona 3 Reload, is well told through the experiences of an older cast of characters way past high school age. It’s a breath of fresh air and I’m glad that I’m finally able to enjoy this game.
There's a couple of games from which I think they will be extra fun to play on a #SteamDeck. I'm looking forward to installing the old #Neuromancer at some point. For the time being, a little session of #Shadowrunner just feels pretty nice, too. #retrogaming#linux#turnbased
I’ve been having the best journey I could possibly have with Persona 3 Reload. It has been a surge of story twists and side-stories to remember in the future. It’s a game that leaves a lasting impression on us, a rarity, a little gem, a precious treasure, a work of art, a pleasure through and through. I’m so glad I can play this now among many other good games. Atlus is on a spree and the year is only at the start. I believe I’ll be playing Atlus games for the remainder of 2024 but I’ll try to take some breaks with other games in between. Usually, I play one long game and one short game at the same time. When I finish a long game, I play another short game, and then start a new long-running game. However, this time, from all the games I’ve installed on pc or started on Switch, it’s always something in the order of 100+ hours.
When I wrote about Trails of Cold Steel, I thought “how am I going to play this now?” and I really, really want to, but I think it will have to wait a bit. I intend to play Soul Hackers 2 after finishing Persona 3 Reload. On the Switch I’m playing Shin Megami Tensei V and now we have the Vengeance variation coming. Should I finish my version or start the new one? Do I even have time and health for any of this? Why am I even thinking about this? Since my brain is glitching, I need to do two things. Enjoy the games that I’m currently playing and maybe read the internet a little less often. Being on top of things happening this year is exhausting. We already knew this would happen at the start of 2024 with jrpgs. I will buy the Switch games I want, and they will rest comfortably on my display until I have time to play them. And then a new console will come. There’s no point in being on top of things.
Persona 3 Reload deserves all the time I could put into it and after the events of the first part, where we all thought we would defeat the last Shadow and end the Dark Hour, there was a twist. We were betrayed by the one who guided our steps. It isn’t unheard of, but it hurts nonetheless. When I started Persona 3 Portable on the Switch just to take a peek and compare the character portraits (and I admit, it was also an excuse to hear Tara Platt as Mitsuru again) he showed up and I dreaded him. And what about all the cameras in our rooms? Are they only for my entertainment or was he also spying on us? Everyone seems to be oblivious to those, and I, as a silent character, have no will of my own.
Something bad happened to Mitsuru so she had to take a break to take care of her business at the Kirijo Group. Right after the conclusion of special events and interactions, a text box shows with a few words about what our character’s thinking in reaction to those events. After what happened to Mitsuru our main character showed his highschooler empathy by thinking that Mitsuru cried like a child. You know, as one does with the loss of a dear family member. One cries like a child. Throw in a tantrum for good measure while we’re at it. “I hope you put more effort in when you try romancing her,” I thought. All went well in the end, and our main character behaved more like himself, maturing along with his lover and friends, in the dawn of a catastrophic Fall.
The story with Elizabeth happened a bit before my romance with Mitsuru. I got an invitation that I decided to accept. After all, I wasn’t yet committed with anyone, all my social links were in friendly terms and Elizabeth had some curiosity about what one does in a gentleman’s room. I boldly accepted her request, only to hear that she cherished every moment with me, but she couldn’t abandon her important station. After the initial grief, I came to terms with it, that her help was invaluable to fight the Fall and abandoning ourselves to love would only mean said love would be very short living. She had her Master, and I had the contract I signed taking full responsibility for my actions. In P3P that contract gave me access to the Velvet Room. If there’s any relation between the contract, the Velvet Room and Pharos I’m none the wiser.
Speaking of, we got a new transfer student right at the end of the semester. It was strange to see Ryoji so grown up all of a sudden. At the time I didn’t know what to think, and my main character didn’t seem to notice the likeness of an old friend. Aigis reacted strongly against him and I, being as I am on Aigis side at all times, detested his honey voice and his advances on other girls and on myself. I know how much of a hunting ground a high school can be. Put Junpei and Ryoji in the same room and you see what’s the intended audience for this game. I bet Ryoji would have been a success on the beach setting, a setting so familiar to a person who had to witness it from the other side. It was there that Aigis came to us, and that event saved the setting for me, because everything else wasn’t from a world I would like to belong to, although unfortunately I still have to.
Elizabeth’s requests are almost fulfilled. Yesterday I accidentally killed the last boss inside the Monad door that fulfilled the last request she had in store for me before the 100th one, which is to kill the Reaper. I tried it once, but his damage output was too much for my tanking capabilities and for the buffs I had at the time. Once I learn how to trigger his arrival in Tartarus, I’ll bring a team that can deal with him. Having Personas with severe and massive magical damage is a game-changer, especially when they hit weaknesses and debuffed enemies. I love to use Concentrate, prepare a sequence of debuffs, and then finish enemies with my Satan. It doesn’t work every time but when it does it’s a sight to behold.
I made sure to give Junpei the white flowers for Chidori. I was reading a random guide about gifts and stumbled upon it by chance. The time window to give him the white flowers is short, but I had a save from before the tour to Kyoto. I reloaded it and gave him the flowers. After our tour, the flowers showed at her room when she was visited by the Strega. We still had to fight her, but I think she’s now transmogrified rather that dead. I’m still unsure if the flowers had any effect or if it’s something only featured in P3P. We didn’t kill Chidori. It was an unfortunate circumstance that made her lose her life-force. It was for a good reason, though, and it made for a beautiful part of the story. The post-event thoughts of our character matched the mood, and nobody cried like a child this time.
Then came the revelation of doom, but not before Aigis engaged on a solo mission after finally realizing who a certain mysterious individual was. After running through her long-term memories and connecting the dots (maybe with the invaluable help of Koromaru) she decided to deal with unfinished business from ten years ago by her lonesome. I appreciate the romantic nature of this enemy, the fragility of his docile appearance in contrast with his immense power. After all, death flirts with us during our entire lives. Whether we like it or not, our bodies will ultimately fall into its embrace. However, what I like even more is the machine protector, the one that goes to great lengths to save our lives and does so with stoic disposition. Aigis is one of the best characters in the game.
I’m happy to have her back. We had to wait a few weeks while she was under repairs. She came to us even better than before, more human and knowledgeable of human ways, which isn’t necessarily a good thing. From that convo at the command room between Ryoji and the rest of the group I sensed danger. My lack of sympathy for him remained even though he’s meaningful in relation to the Arcana he represents. “I’m here and I’m your friend, I love you but my arrival means you’re dead. Could you please kill me now in order to forget everything so that you can get killed later and live the remaining of your lives in blissful ignorance?” What about Aigis? I saw she didn’t forget, however she sided with Ryoji’s opinion about his annihilation. The protector would run out of something to protect, their purpose gone and mankind with them.
This is more or less where I’m at. In terms of social links there wasn’t anything substantial happening before and after the ultimate decision. I maxed more social links than I think I could, but after a certain point I had to prioritize. We had a free week at the start of January, so I used that time for dates during the day and exploring Tartarus at night. My new social link is upgraded but I don’t feel I’ll be able to fuse Messiah on this playthrough. I’m in unknown territory now. Nyx, the Mother of Shadows, is supposed to reveal herself at the top level of Tartarus, and I’ve already reached the point where I can’t proceed yet. Now it’s a waiting game. I see that I’ve still some months left in the game, so I believe that at the end of January I won’t be defeating the last boss. I haven’t started Aigis’ social link yet and some previous dialogue seemed to hint at some future interaction. I may be wrong. My heart may be taken but she’s still my protector so far.
I've had a lot of feedback about my roguelike's demo, but by far the most common criticism is that coins disappear too quickly.
I'm wondering how to address this, as I want to discourage defensive play, where you kill enemies from a safe distance.
Previously, I tried a combo system, where you would get more money for killing enemies in quick succession, but I wasn't that happy with it.
What do you think? How might you address this problem? #gamedev#gamedesign#roguelike#turnbased#indiedev
There’s a nice Steam sale going on this week from XSEED and Marvelous! games. I’ve also seen a number of Bandai Namco games on sale, so I grabbed Code Vein and Tales of Arise while I was at it. They have been on sale for some time now. Time means days in Steam time. I’ve seen both games on PS+ for ages and never played them. Under the XSEED/Marvelous! banner, I bought something else.
I reacted so strongly against Trails in the Sky that I decided the best way to move on was buying another Trails game (right?!). This time, I decided to be careful. I would buy it, install it, and see if I liked it as soon as possible. We only have two hours to play and test a game before we either decide to ask for a refund or keep the game. When we run a Trails game for the first time, it displays a configuration tool, and the timer starts even when we’re only trying to figure out the appropriate config for our setup. My setup is not like a setup. It’s a laptop, so it was set up for me, which I am very grateful for. That didn’t discourage me from prying it open and upgrading my RAM because, for some reason, I decided it had to be a weekend project. Imagine the nerves. I never did that before in my life. This must be nothing to you but to me it was dangerous! You can’t imagine the obsessive preparation I did before to make up for my lack of experience. Now, I can proudly say that I’ve gained 500 XP, 100 Knowledge, 50 Endurance, and 1000 Faith.
But back to Trails. Trails in the Sky can pretty much be played in a calculator. I’m sure my Casio fx-991EX Classwiz could play the game if it wanted to. That little config tool was easy to set up, and the game was pretty much ready to go on my very old laptop, where I played it for the first time. I don’t know what I was expecting from a 2004 game. I’ve written somewhere in my first posts that I didn’t grow up playing these games. I don’t know how I should put this, but I do enjoy older games in general. I’m by no means a retro gamer, but I’m curious, and I want to learn about the millions of games I’ve overlooked. However, sometimes my body decides to reject some games, and it so happened that Trails in the Sky was one of those games.
The pastel colors and textures didn’t do any good for my sight, as I couldn’t identify many elements in the open world. During the exploration in the first town, I tried panning the camera, although the way it moved as well as the perspective gave me nausea. Traversing the town was painful, to say the least, and I was constantly losing my sense of direction because I wanted the camera to stay static, except I had to move it, either left or right, to see my characters. I tried the map, maybe it could help me, yet I found it very hard to read. I barely used it, but of course, I had to in order to complete the first quests. Navigating the dungeon (sewers?) was easy, but the combat appeared to be very convoluted. I didn’t enjoy navigating the menus, and at a certain point, I had loads of crap I didn’t know what to do with. The thing is, this was not like Shin Megami Tensei or Persona, where I didn’t know what to do, but I wanted to learn it so badly. In Sky, I just wanted it to be over with. -400 Willpower.
I pressed on and completed the quest where we had to save two or three kids. Then we had to go all the way back to the village and then home. I found my way back home (took me a while) and read the conversation between Estelle, Joshua, and their father. It was a cozy moment of respite. Our father had to depart somewhere, and we would be on our own from then on, completing quests to get stronger and wiser. I’d love to see the story through, but I decided to say my goodbyes to our father at the station before closing the game for good. It was the least I could do. I cared about those characters, but I cared more about myself. +100 Dodge.
I even read some guides without spoilers and intended to put my experience out there. I’m glad I didn’t because the Trails community can be very… passionate, especially when there’s conflict of opinions, and I didn’t have the time nor energy to deal with the consequences of my ramblings. Some kind souls on Reddit expressed the need for a full-on remake of the Sky trilogy to accommodate new players. You can only imagine the backlash. It wasn’t violent, but if you’re any good at reading between the lines, there were layers there. It’s like saying in public that you’re happy with the implementation of casual mode in Fire Emblem. Layers.
You could ask me why you want to like a game so badly? Because I lack a personality of my own. It’s because I’ve read countless words of love about the series. I wanted to partake in that love and sense of discovery and adventure. Trails games are known for their long and riveting story arcs. I don’t think it’s wrong to at least experience one of those arcs, even if it’s not the best one. Thus, I decided to dig further, comparing games, taking a closer look at screenshots, and finally going for Trails of Cold Steel on this week’s sale.
Before launching the game, I had to go through the config tool. I enjoy testing different types of settings, but I didn’t have much time. The 2 hours mark, remember? I launched the game. The first cutscene was stuttering at times. Something went wrong, the clock was ticking, I had to quit the game, enter the config tool again, and lower the MSAA. It got better with no visible loss. I just wanted to try the game to see if it was playable or if it had buildings trying to aim at my jaw. And, Seiros in heaven, it was! It’s a 3D game. I’m inside the environment with no camera or angle issues. I was never so happy to experience such an evolution! The map was readable, with zoom in/out and camera angles. The textures were fine, and due to the lighting and sharpness, I didn’t even have to squint!
I’d like to play more but it was too late yesterday. Estelle isn’t there, nor is the rural setting from Sky. I’m at a military academy, in a special class with commoners and nobles, a bit like in Three Houses. I’d like to have time to try the combat at my level. The game started some months after the initial events, so the first fight went smoothly with no issues. I tried crafts, attacks, and arts. I think it’s possible to build a nice variety of characters with buffs, debuffs, and magic attacks without freaking out about the menu navigation. Making plans is always a good sign. I’m still on the fence, though, but I found this first experience very promising.
I’ve played a bit more today and decided to keep the game. There’s only so much we can do on a Trails game before the timer runs out. There’s a lot of dialogue, and I didn’t find it necessary to skip anything. The game shows its age in terms of graphics, but everything else seems to be working just fine. Occasionally, I experienced some minor issues with character movement when I break objects, but it’s nothing serious, at least so far. I’m curious about some characters and what they have in store for our group. I only went through the normal introductions and inside the first dungeon. I experimented with the combat and familiarized myself with the ARCUS combat orbment. I’ll learn as I go, as I always do. This can be the beginning of a love story or just a good time! I’m good with either! In the end, I forgot to ask myself if I had the time to play it.
I'm not one for "New Year's resolutions", but I am one for overly ambitious projects.
For 2023, Project365 is "One New Game Per Day".
Given that I have 634 unplayed games in my Steam account and {mumble} unredeemed bundle Steam keys, there's a reason my unplayed collection is tagged "Pile of Shame".
I'll pin this to my profile, and give a brief summary here each day (or x, if I miss x days due to work or stuff).
I'll play 15-30 minutes of (at least) one new game I've never played before (or played less than 15 minutes of). I'll give every game at least 15 minutes, even if I hate every minute of it.
I'm also open to suggestions; if you reply to this thread with a game, I'll schedule it, or tell you what I thought of it.
One of the things that's come up is that I have a bunch of games that I've played once, and not touched again.
February 28, 2024 - Day 424 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 460
Game: Earthlock
Platform: Steam
Released: Mar 8, 2018
Installed: Feb 1, 2024
Unplayed: 27d
Playtime: 20m
Earthlock is a third-person turn-based ARPG, that claims inspiration from JRPG's from the 90's, and really leans into the nostalgia for those games.
I lack the prerequisite nostalgia for 90's JRPGs, and as I did not enjoy this game, I cannot imagine any kind of context in which I'd choose this over Baldur's Gate 3.
Game number five in this month's Humble Choice Bundle is Terraformers. It's a "turn-based colony builder and resource management game with roguelike elements", built around an Earth expedition to terraform Mars.
You start with a single base, and need to explore and colonise various areas of the planet, gathering a whole load of different resources, which in turn pay for the various "research projects" that are delivered in a roguelike card-shuffle each turn.
Some turn-based games could be categorised as "just one more turn" games. Those games in which you're so deeply engrossed, that you look up, and the sun is coming up, and you need to call in sick so you can get some sleep, and then play for the rest of the day.
The key to those games is that they're scratching a particular itch, in an enjoyable and satisfying way. There's a constant series of build-ups then payoffs, and the effort->reward loop keeps those sweet dopamine hits coming at the right intervals.
I think this is why an integrated and well-planned narrative is so important; that's frequently the key to the payoffs.
Terraformers prods at the same territory, without delivering on the same satisfaction. I clocked out at just over 90 minutes, and just felt frustrated.
At the start of the game, you're presented with a choice of two leaders. Each leader has three skills, and a permanent buff. That bit's critical, because after each in-game year, you have to select a replacement leader.
I get why it's done from a gameplay mechanics perspective, but it feels like it repeatedly broke my sense of connection with the colony.
The game sets itself up as an "ancestors planting a tree" kind of story. It makes it clear that the colonists are doing this with the realisation that they'll never enjoy the fruits of their labour. I think that might be one of the key problems with the game.
I understand that the in-game population is building towards a long term goal with little short-term payoff, but the player needs some short-term payoffs, or else it feels more like a job than a game.
On top of everything else, Terraformers gives the population a hedonic adaptation loop. As they game goes on, it requires an increasing amount of effort to keep them happy, as they adapt to life on Mars.
With the repeated loop of disconnection, the cost of research projects grinding upwards and needing more resources, and the population becoming increasingly demanding, I eventually just tapped out.
Terraformers has some interesting ideas, but ultimately it felt like the gameplay was a lot of effort for little reward, and left me feeling pretty:
Polytopia Fandom's Strategies (polytopia.fandom.com)
Seven Years War: How The Battle of Polytopia conquered the mobile strategy world (www.pcinvasion.com)
/m/Polytopia Lounge - Thread for off-topic chat and post friend-codes.
After realizing there isn't a consolidated community of Polytopia here I decided to create this magazine, everyone who follows the rules is welcome!...
Tanks of Freedom II Version 0.6.1 is out (czlowiekimadlo.itch.io)
Version 0.6.1 of the game is now available! This time just a few small fixes to address annoying issue....