Overwatch 2 situation. We just add numbers now to excite people.

It seems like there’s a few studios that get this trick. Hazelight (Split Fiction, It Takes Two) seems to have a good cadence to releases and likely hasn’t inflated their size all that much. They’re consistently making good games.

I wish there were more examples of that.

Does this apply to all Hoyoverse games? Never got into Genshin, but I enjoy Zenless Zone Zero.

Seems like a tragedy of MMOs when they want to introduce what’s new to returners, but then deliver an avalanche of “new stuff” to people brand new to the game.

I suppose I’ve plugged it recently, but Another Crab’s Treasure.

It opens pretty plainly as an ocean-based Soulslike parody with a simple story premise and some self-subverting humor in the dialog with other crabs. As you go on though, every 20th conversation becomes really pointed and real-world-connecting, going beyond just “pollution bad”. It’s not quite Spec Ops: The Line, but it at least has something to say about society.

The combat is frustrating but addictive, much like Souls games - and it’s okay with handing off a number of allowances like accessibility modes and tip systems. It’s even helpful that, if I die to a glitch or something bogus, I can actually just choose to re-obtain my microplastics (souls) through a menu.

The soundtrack to Tunic is so moody.

I used a few little hints to help with the “true final boss”, but it was a fantastic reorienting of everything, and was glad by then it got away from traditional combat. I enjoyed the core combat too, although I usually don’t even like Soulslikes.

I was getting into Blue Prince, then I think I got a little annoyed with a puzzle involving a time lock, that claimed you could set it to open at a future date/time and it would stay for one hour. Fun, inventive way to get people to plan ahead.

But no, then I wasted several out of game days planning only to find that it’s referring to in-game time; something that has not plainly existed through any of the other mechanics thus far. I’ll likely get back to it, just think they could’ve chosen the orientation of “big picture” puzzles like that a bit better.

I think about the creativity that goes behind translations like Ace Attorney, and lament that people are skipping past the nuance. Ex:

• The name “Naruhodo Ryuichi” means nothing to me. However, their invented name “Phoenix Wright” evokes a popular image on its own. Same for a great many of their pun names. There are many detective games I’ve played from a Japanese theme where I actually couldn’t put clues together because I couldn’t remember “Udo Rayoge” was a noodle shop owner and “Ero Gotaro” was the police deputy that was taking bribes and was murdered - because those names form no connections in my mind.
• Maya Fey eats burgers. Before translation, it was ramen; but at time of release, Americans associated ramen with being extremely cheap and low-nutrition (thanks to Cup Noodles). Changing it to burgers accomplished the intended character theme of being junk-foody and gluttonous.
• Quite often, linguistics have some effect on the visual clues of the game (and Danganronpa mysteries just as much so), which means they often have to go very creative with something like a torn letter or a message written in blood.

I think there is a “graphical plateau” to gaming; a universal constant a bit like Moore’s Law. And while it’s not certain, it’s very possible the Steam Deck has mostly moved beyond it.

I definitely don’t think there’s an infinite bound to the detail games can add, especially within the resolution displayed on the Deck. Plus, many formats of games have not been well-served by that sort of extra detail. When a fringe hit like Liar’s Bar, REPO, or Lethal Company comes along, it never really needs the extra horsepower of top consoles. There’s a few rare PS5 exclusives that may struggle on it, but given Cyberpunk 2077 runs on it, I don’t even think we need be too worried.

Is yours part of a larger network? I am lucky to live in a denser area where multiple library branches are within biking distance; and they generally share a database. They also have some options to have items delivered to a branch by request (though, with the demand video games get, this is probably more common for particular books)

It sounds like Nintendo games would really be the preference for librarians.

• They stay at high price so many patrons will want them
• They’re often kid friendly; and part of a library’s goal is giving kids a destination
• The console they’re designed for can be carried to the library
• The media is resilient to damage or being faked

LinkedIn and dating sites are hilarious juxtaposition - the opposite people are looking for each other and want to avoid the seekers on each site.

This is a problem a lot of VR games have to work with. They work best when you’re not adventuring around, so many of them prescribe a long set of challenges in a small space.

If the Princess gets any kind of ranged ability, you could make it like a sniping “puzzle” game across a wide parapet. And, if trying to elongate the game, come up with story reasons why just as the Knight opens the gate to her keep, he’s discovered and an evil dragon/Baron whisks her to a different tower. (Kinda like what Super Meat Boy does every level)

Another Crab’s Treasure.

Oh, haha, a souls game but with crabs, funny parody haha!

Except, no, while it does seem like it would be compared to SpongeBob humor, and it does self censor “shit” to “ship”, the themes of the story go well beyond just “Crab must find his stolen shell!”

It takes time to ramp up but in some ways it feels like a better-written game than most Soulslikes (to me, that’s not a high bar given the way many of them wrap their lore in many layers of obfuscation that you don’t get to enjoy in the moment)

Watching speedruns and trying NG+ is also a lot of fun.

I don’t think they’re morons…just slaves to convention and compatibility. Not many ways to get away from that and justify it.

This is actually why I want more politics to happen via webcam conversations. Bots can’t interfere, and it’s harder to express a totalitarian sentiment like “AlL iMUGrEntS dIE BYbY”

Valve hasn’t gotten the memo yet. Someone email them again?

I’m mostly PC. I have a PlayStation, and I just like the rental tryout system of PS+. I still think it’s a nicely cost effective way for someone new to gaming to try a lot of stuff.

But yes, even then you can often get much of the same through Steam key bundles.

I’ve always wanted a tv episode or something that works out like this; a long lead-up of “Why doesn’t he notice she’s interested in him?” ending with the guy finally stating he’s just not interested.

“He heard a loud BANG through the phone”

Sentences that can be taken in two ways.