For me its paper minecraft, dota, dog simulator and etc. I found interesting to play flash games. Now I use ti play aventures from https://www.juegos.monster/adventure-games-category/ which are curious for me. Plus I do not need t o buy super gaming laptop for its playing.

I had no idea what to play after beating Plague Tale, so for a couple of minutes I just mindlessly browsed through the list of games I have installed on my PS5 and ended up just launching What Remains of Edith Finch because why not. I beat it almost entirely in one fairly short session and then finished it after getting up today.

I had been told by some people that it's the best "walking simulator" out there, even better than Firewatch (which I haven't played yet) and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (which I love). And well, it's really good.

In the game you assume the role of Edith Finch who returns to her abandoned childhood home after many years. As you walk through the house you learn the bizarre and sad story of the Finch family. It's IMO a very interesting and touching story and the developers used the "walking simulator" format expertly to tell it. Where most walking simulators I've played were fundamentally about walking through extensive locations and inhaling the atmosphere with the occasional point of interest in-between, Edith Finch is an carefully orchestrated ride of sorts. There isn't really much room for exploration, it is a highly linear sequence and it's pretty much impossible to get lost. You can spend as much time as you want inspecting the crapload of details in the house but it feels like the game is really designed to just keep going, which results in a long and natural inner monologue of Edith.

That may sound boring but it really isn't. It's a masterfully paced game that just stays interesting. What also makes the game better than some of its peers, IMO, is that you actually feel physically present. Where most of these games make you feel like a disembodied ghost, here the camera work, the animations of Edith's hands and even interactions where you have to execute specific motions (a bit like in Heavy Rain), make things quite visceral and real. There are also a few imaginative "gamier" sequences thrown in. Now add a decent art style, good voice acting and a beautiful soundtrack and it's a beautiful ride worth taking.

While I'm not sure it's the best walking sim I've played, it certainly is a solid contender and one of the titles that justify the existence of this genre.

Descent. I remember playing this back when it originally came out and thought it was really impressive although I never played it extensively. Having finished it finally, I still think it's impressive in limited doses, but it did start feeling like a slog a little past halfway through it.

The DX rebirth mod is great for polishing the visuals and controls. The maps are impressively convoluted. The enemies have a decent variety, but the gatling gun enemies are total pains because they're hitcan types and very fast on the draw and very accurate. Encounters with them usually result in you taking a lot of damage fast, so you get in the habit of just creeping along and peeking around corners carefully. The other particularly bitchy enemy is the red goon that fires homing missiles at you. You can outsmart the missiles but they're surprisingly tenacious and nimble. When those two enemies aren't around, the combat can be particularly fun.

I'm tempted to start the second game but I also think I need a break from this style for a bit.

DARQ. The Tower (DLC) (2020) (Linux/Wine)

As I really liked the base game, and I couldn't resist to complete also one of 2 additional puzzles – "The Tower" DLC. Once again – it's rather easy, but offers a nice gameplay, creepy atmosphere and even some interesting twist. I'll play also the second one asap.

List of all games completed in 2021.

Civilization : Beyond Earth

2K's attempt at another civ in a sci fi setting received about as much praise as it gathered opponents over its course of life. There can be a lot said for both sides though in all earnest. ALMOST EVERYONE WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY HAPPY WITH A AUTHENTIC UPDATE OF ALPHA CENTAURI INSTEAD OF THIS BLIGHT OF A GAME, that is actually quite fun to play. While nowhere near its older brother's aim on warfare Beyond Earth manages to deliver on a intricate technology system placed on a beautiful game world and even introduces some smart ai army management systems in the warfare part of life.

My own game, just the standard setup, took only 6! hours ( fast M.2 drive and a cpu to go along with it ) to complete. One of the smallest maps, just above beginner level or at beginner level difficulty, 400 turns where over before you know but... left me with a small sense of accomplishment. The creation of a society that leaves the small nomadic days of survival into an age of deliverance and discovery is present in such a way that you do have to appreciate the work that went into the creation of this now seven-year-old game. From the non-native English speaking commentator to the quest lines you can find yourself engaged in. Its there, and it works quite well together with the choices you've made creating a direction.

I will be sure to return again probably this year, bigger map, higher difficulty, standard protocol.

finshed games in 2021 : https://www.gog.com/forum/general/games_finished_in_2021/post16

DARQ. The Crypt (DLC) (2020) (Linux/Wine)

...and the second DLC for DARQ completed. I really liked this one too. It's similar to "The Tower" (and I guess it should be played after The Tower), but seems to be a bit harder (especially that music puzzle caused me some serious problems). Overall – DARQ is a fantastic game with 2 interesting additional scenarios, resulting in ~5 hours (so not that bad, as some reviews suggest) of interesting puzzle gameplay in horror atmosphere. Recommended!

List of all games completed in 2021.

Just recently finished this year's playthrough of Bard's Tale 4. I do not think I'm going to keep beating it every year. This is enough at least for the time being.

I really enjoy this game and recommend people should play through it once, but saying that, I also really enjoy its combat and the quirks of the game give it a lot of charm for me.

I recently started Encased and Song of Horror, but I'm not sure which I'll be completing first.

I am planning on playing through House of Ashes for Halloween here in the US.

-Cym

Curious how Song of Horror is.

And I have probably seen you before on this forum to say this, but not exactly remembering, so I will say, Go Browns!

Here's a link to my first episode. I just started it the other day: https://youtu.be/KWC2E3ex0EI

Also we spoke to each other a few years back when the Browns were doing that stretch of horrible games and going 1-31. I started a thread at the time, asking if they were the worst Pro sports team in the US/World. I remember you and GO BROWNS! :)

Have a great evening. SoH is very good so far, I was going to record a new episode tonight, but had to watch the Browns game after the fact, because I got off of work late. I hope you enjoy the video!

I just finished all the Arkham games. Fuck the Riddler. Fuck you Eddie!

Ah, that's right, and likewise! Apologies for my poor memory, I assure it is not intentional. Very cool, I will have to look at your video (and, on to the Bears)!

The Saboteur (GOG) on Linux via Wine
Dear lord this port has so many problems. Looking at PCGW, it seems the only build that isn't completely borked is from GOG, every other store front has issues with this game. I didn't open the stats screen even once because opening that at a resolution more than 1080p insta-crashes (I played this at 4k60). For controller users, be sure to use the Controller incorrectly mapped fix from PCGW otherwise the game thinks you are constantly using the sticks. I definitely did notice however there were no graphical issues on Linux compared to Windows

Now about the game. It's good, nothing particularly special other than the black and white aesthetic. The cover shooting is ok, racing is ok. I beat all the side missions until Act 3 but by then I was getting bored with them so I just stuck to the main story line. There are tons of smaller tasks to do that reward you with money but it was just busy work so I didn't touch that even once. The main storyline is also good, nothing to write home about. Grab it on sale

Yesterday I finished off Rayman Origins on the Wii. This is a game I genuinely wish I owned when I was younger, seeing as it is a ten year old game now.

I don't have a ton of Rayman history, I played four or so of the various Rabbids games but the main games I have a few of but either only played a bit of or not much. This was the first one I made a concerted effort to beat (after trying it out and really enjoying what I played I left it alone to make sure I could sit down and enjoy this game at a later time and the past week was that time).

If there was a story to this game I could not tell you what it was but it was an incredibly charming game throughout. Interestingly, your rewards for doing well in the game are rescuing curvy nymphs, which is kind of funny since Betilla is kind of your mom and you rescue her sisters so I summarized it as rescuing your aunt waifus. Joking aside, the game is very appealing visually even on Wii and looks better in HD on Xbox or PC, so if you either have no particular associations with the Wii, like me where it is one of my favorite home consoles, or its controllers then play it on PC or an HD system and let the colors pop better.

Speaking of which, I am not certain but the Wii either is less well balanced (I know the 3DS version was made a little easier) or there are bugs because the timing on some of the chase bonus stages is excruciatingly precise. The main game is not too hard but if you want to beat the Land of the Livid Dead (like I did, and let me tell you I could hardly stand listening to myself after a while) then you will be in for a world of hurt, a kick to the teeth, and beat down because this game can be brutal. I did not gather all of the electooms but I think seeing the credits twice is more than enough for this game (I made sure to punch out Michel Ancel's sadistic name when I had the chance). Add on to that the fact that my power went out when I was about three-fifths of the way through Land of the Livid Dead and the frustration can pile on.

However, thankfully, aside from being horribly mean spirited at times, the level design is very, very good and is some of the finest 2D game design on a system with some rather good titles (Muramasa, A Boy and his Blob, Klonoa). The space ship (or, mosquito rather) shooting sections are also very well done and made me like the game just that little bit more.

I am hoping to put more Rayman under my belt in the future (I believe Rayman 3 on Xbox One is going to be done before long and I may do another 2D title also) and could not recommend Rayman Origins enough.

(Cherry tapped Rabbids on the DS)

Yakuza 5 (XSX Game Pass)

Well that finishes up what people describe as the PS3 era Yakuza games, in this case the remastered versions. On a technical level you can really tell these are PS3 games simply bumped up in resolution, compared to the totally remade Kiwami games. Yakuza 5 was okay, but I'd still rate it my least favorite of the series so far- just a bit too much padding to the story using things that would normally be side quests and mini games that could be skipped in other games. Having said that I did actually do pretty much all side missions and side activities for all 5 characters with the exception of the baseball batting stuff...because I just could not get the hang of the batting controls if truth be told. Easily my favorite side activities were the taxi racing in Kiryu's part of the story. I always like racing side missions.

Like most Yakuza stories, this one contains approximately ten or so "Luke, I'm your father" style plot twists, maybe 5 or 6 too many. But that's Yakuza for you, it's part of the charm. What isn't part of the charm still, especially for these PS3 era games, is the over proliferation of blocking and grabbing enemies that slow the pace of fights down. Also bosses that are so fast to block that the only viable tactic ends up being running circles around them until they commit to an attack and launching one single kick, rinse, repeat for 15 minutes until the bosses health bars finally run out...the final boss had something like 8 health bars! So boss fights are just a battle between the health bars and your recovery drinks to see which runs out first. It's not hard, just long and drawn out. This is why I like the latest game, Like a Dragon, so much better- despite being turn based the fights actually feel faster.

Anyway, one game left in the series, number 6. I'm expecting that one to be more like Yakuza 0, since they are both PS4 era games.


Have you played Rayman Legends yet? I liked that game even more than Origins. I'm not really a big platform game fan, but I totally 100 percent completed that one (all stars, all tweenies- everything unlocked). Probably about time there was a new Rayman game.