Computerchairgeneral

I’ve been grinding away at Yakuza: Like A Dragon. Spent the last few days running up against the brick wall of the Chapter Twelve Two-against-four boss fight that still manages to make you feel outnumbered. I was suspicious of just how the insistent the game was about checking out the battle arena, but it kind of feels mandatory if you want to get through that fight. Also managed to get spoiled for that Chapter 14 boss fight while looking up strategies, so I’ve got that to look forward to.

So after banning adult content a few years ago, Tumblr decided to shoot itself in the other foot? It feels like the people in charge are actively trying to drive off the site’s users.

You know if anyone needs to be let go maybe it’s the management who were spending like there was no tomorrow and are now throwing everyone overboard to stop the ship from sinking. Or, you know, just keep cancelling games and shuttering studios. I’m sure that’ll work out eventually.

Seven years feels about right for a length between consoles. I am curious to see what they do with it. It’s hard to see Nintendo not sticking with the handheld console approach with the Switch 2, but just building a more powerful Switch doesn’t feel very Nintendo, if that makes sense. Like there has to be some feature or gimmick to set it apart from the Switch.

They’re charging people higher prices and refusing to allow them to keep their digital content? They’re basically just handing out the pirate hats and eye patches at this point.

It’s really been whiplash inducing to go from reading about how Microsoft was going to dominate gaming because of the Activision buyout to reading about how Microsoft is going to be the next Sega and are possibly exiting the console market. And it all happened in the span of a few months.

Finally got around to Yakuza: Like a Dragon, so I’ve been making my way through that. Enjoying the turn-based RPG game-play a lot more than I was expecting. Focused on the main story right now, but the side-content I’ve dabbled in has been pretty fun. Feels like one of those games I’m going to be chipping away at for a while.

I’ve also been playing Dread Delusion and absolutely loving it. I don’t tend to pick up Early Access games, but hearing it described as a “Morrowind-like” RPG caught my interest and it is the perfect way to describe the game. It really captures that feeling of playing Morrowind for the first time, of being a nobody in a strange land. The game doesn’t even give you a map when you start out. You have to get by on directions and landmarks until you complete the side quest that gives you a map. And even then you have to fill it out as you explore the world. More than that, it’s that sense that you never really know what you’re going to encounter around the next corner. You can wander into a town looking for your contact to continue the main quest only to end up accepting a quest from the atheistic Inquisition to help them hunt down a rogue god and their followers.

Like I said it’s still Early Access so it is a little rough around the edges. There’s more than a handful of bugs and the combat is…fine, but not much else. Then again there’s such a focus on sneaking, talking, and magicing your way around problems that that might be intentional. Still, what I’ve played so far has got me excited for when the finished product releases.

While it’s better than nothing, and I understand why they made the choice, it’s still disappointing it’s a settlement and not going to trial. Oh well. Just have to wait and see what happens with the other lawsuits he’s tangled up in.

Disappointing, but not surprising. I know I’m not going to “learn” a language with Duolingo, but it’s been nice recognizing a few words and phrases when I hear them. But I don’t really trust that a bunch of overworked and underpaid contractors are going to catch every error using AI is going to introduce. At least there are already alternatives in this thread for me to look through.

Given how many companies have been embracing AI tools it was really only a matter of time until they were allowed on Steam. At least you’ll know before hand if you’re going into a game with AI-generated content.

All valid points and it is perhaps for the best that E3 just ended rather than continuing on as a shadow of its former self. Still, I hope something emerges that fills the void E3 left behind, even if I don’t think that is likely. Summer Games Fest is fine, but it’s still a far cry from what E3 used to be and all the scattered streams and announcements don’t really capture that concentrated excitement you had back when E3 was at its peak.

Not terribly surprised they are shutting down, but I am a little shocked that it is happening less than a week after the game released. I kind of expected them to at least attempt the old “we’re sorry you are disappointed and are working to fix the game” routine before bolting. Then again judging from all the articles and videos it doesn’t really look like there was any way to fix it or even really bring it close to the game they promised they were going to release.

On the one hand I’m not opposed to mod creators getting paid for their work. There are a lot of great Skyrim mods, released and upcoming, that I wouldn’t mind paying for. Total conversions like Enderal, giant content expansions like Beyond Skyrim, and especially a lot of the great companion mods. The pay what you want option seems like a good way to let people support mod creators while not creating a paywall. On the other hand I just don’t trust Bethesda to deal with all of the issues this is going to create and it’s hard to see how it doesn’t end up negatively impacting the wider modding community.

Can’t wait to play Florida Simulator in 2025! More seriously, the game does look great and I’m curious to see just how accurate all the leaks over the years were, since the Bonnie and Clyde premise is seemingly confirmed.

Interesting read. I really liked Fable 3’s Industrial Revolution setting, but it did feel like the game was on fast forward once you actually got the throne. It’s a shame they weren’t able to make it the experience they wanted it to be.

Kind of in between games at the moment. Been digging through my backlog, looking for something to play, but nothing has really clicked yet. In the meantime I’ve been doing this little gaming advent calendar thing with Mission in Snowdriftland. It’s a platformer that used to be a flash game that was used to promote Nintendo products back in the 2000s. It’s set up like an advent calendar, with 24 levels. You could probably beat it in a few hours, but I’ve been enjoying taking it one level a day,

Well, it looks like Fallout. The people behind the costumes and set design certainly did good work. Hopefully it ends up feeling like Fallout too.

And Embracer claims another victim. It feels like they aren’t going to have many studios left when they finish their “restructuring” process. At least Wingefors was nice enough to acknowledge that the employees, who might be about to lose their jobs, are going through a slightly more challenging time than the executives who are deciding which studio is next on the chopping block.

This is something I’ve noticed for a while now, but haven’t been able to really describe. This shift away from clickbait headlines towards cryptic headlines that just refuse to tell you what they’re talking about. Like The Best Part of Alan Wake Is Now On Youtube or The Best Soulslike Of 2023 Just Got Easier. And those are just a few that I’ve seen today. Maybe it will fade away like the worst clickbait headlines did or they’ll just keep getting so cryptic and opaque that one day the headlines will be: Something Just Happened.

Honestly, I had forgotten that some of these games had come out this year. It just feels like there’s been so many in 2023. Also pleasantly surprised to see People Make Games get nominated for Content Creator of the Year. I don’t think they’ll win but it is nice to see their documentaries/ deep dive investigations receive some recognition.