Games Roundup, Volume 1

After over a month on ADHD medication, I'm beginning to feel confident in my ability to keep up hobbies again.

I haven't been able to finish a book in two years, struggle heavily to play games that aren't ones I've played to death, and overall fail to convert stray thoughts into new ideas that I could enjoy. It's early days, but the tide may be turning on this.

I've tried out a few new games recently. I find them easier than books to get engrossed in, and I don't feel as bad about discarding ones that don't sit right. There's enough games played recently that I feel confident compiling a few of them into a rambly little post.

Some of them are visual novels - yes they're games fuck off. And some of them are smutty. I aim to increase this percentage the more brazen I get.

Europa Universalis IV

It's an important virtue to give opportunities to those who may struggle with equal opportunities. I commend Paradox on their hiring of a team of blind imbeciles. Except for the part where they were tasked with the entire game's UI. I will have every single one of these people hunted down and executed.

The depth of the game appears to be impressive, though it's near-impossible to understand or interact with most of it. After several hours of attempts, I still have no fucking clue how trade routes work. The intricacies of diplomacy, the subtleties of warfare, the joys of empire building - EU4 presents all of this to you, shoved into a powered-on blender and politely asks you to stick your hand inside to check it out.

I will never achieve my goal of building a worldwide Cork empire.

Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk

Delightfully short and unnerving. Maybe the presentation on social anxiety and trauma will do something to you, maybe it won't. You'll find out quickly either way.

Impressive commitment to multiple languages considering the tiny size of the project. Also it's cheap.

Higurashi: When They Cry

Higurashi When They Cry is a sound novel. The music, backgrounds and characters work together to create a world that is the stage of a novel for the user to read. They laugh and cry and get angry. The user takes the point of view of the protagonist to experience the story.

Somehow an even stranger blurb for a visual novel than anything TYPE-MOON ever came up with.

Ryukishi07's work is a near-polar opposite to TYPE-MOON's slick presentation though: Higurashi is twisted and unsettling, clawing into your mind and gripping it until you simply won't care about the awful art style. You could apply the 07th Mod to fix this, but you'll find it grows on you. Like an itch on your neck that grows and grows until you can't help but smile and laugh.

The slow burn throughout the chapters is almost painful. And the way the story turns near the end is contentious. But its unnerving narrative leaves a strong impression that simmers in your mind.

Signalis

See here for more detailed thoughts. I dropped it about halfway through.

The story may be good, but I saw none of it. The gameplay does little for me. Art style and sound design is neat though.

Deltarune: Chapters 3 & 4

This was always going to be a delight. Toby Fox knocks it out of the park as usual.

The quality consistency in his games is astounding. His team simply does not drop the ball with banger boss fights, lovely soundtracks, and the silly humour you have to enjoy to appreciate.

Chapter 3 is oodles of fun, and Chapter 4 takes a fascinating different direction. Can't say more because Caoimhe′^[1] hasn't played the latter yet. Teehee.

Slay The Princess

This is simply lovely. I adore games that fuck in a meta way with the narrative, and Slay The Princess goes above and beyond in delivering this.

Less is more when talking about this game. It exceeds expectations time and time again. Whenever you think you've figured it all out, there's another layer, another element, wrapped around a sweet little story with a cute bow tie on top.

X4: Foundations

I dreamed of my space empire simulator. Stellaris didn't click for me the first time, though a friend promised me that a revisit would unearth an entirely new game every time.

X4 targets the space trading and combat elements of empire building. I found it all a little tricky to process. The arbitrage mechanisms for trade seemed stupidly unrealistic and plain. No space empire would allow simple good transportation to work profitably like this. Nothing particularly wrong with the combat, but maybe it just wasn't for me.

The story isn't alluring in the slightest. The controls are overwhelmingly bizarre. The learning curve is absurd. Too many issues for me to consider spending more time here. I will keep hunting for my Frieza-core tyranny simulator for a while longer.

Yume Nikki

Supposedly a beautiful work of art that can only be explored without a hint as to what's coming next. Except I didn't really care that much.

Sure you walk around, interact with the environment sometimes, and encounter bizarre oddities. But does any of it matter?

If it works for you, it works, I suppose.

Full Service Shop

Look it's a short VN about getting cyber genitals installed into you by a kinky technician of your choice. You either fuck with this or you don't.

Exit is based as fuck and I will commit corporate terrorism with her in exchange for 10 minutes of [REDACTED].