I finished Pentiment yesterday. It’s fantastic. I was fighting with clunky controls a bit at the start, but I’m really glad I did not give up.

RPG elements (i.e. character progression) are very basic, gameplay-wise it’s like crossbreed between point and click adventure and walking (& talking) simulator. No action whatsoever, just walking and talking. And still it’s a great game. How? It’s all about the story, characters and your interactions with them. All writing is great, as we can expect from Obsidian. The entire game I wanted to progress further and further just to see what happens next, how people react to what you do, how tables turn and the game did not disappoint in this regard. Also art style, sound effects (like writing sounds when dialogs roll) and fragments of music helps it a lot to get that “medieval” atmosphere.

I won’t spoil the story in case there are still people who haven’t played it yet, I’ll just tell the game has three acts, where first one is the most non-linear and open and each subsequent one is more narrow and linear as the story continues. And while it might look like it’s limiting, it fits the storytelling well, so no problem with me. There are quite a few story twists during the game so I honestly enjoyed it a lot and I didn’t know how it would wrap up to the very end.

The game gets 5/5 from me and I can highly recommend it to everyone seeking calm gameplay focused on story and characters. It is similar to games like Disco Elysium in this regard, although the gameplay is still very different. It’s also one of those games you want to start over right away to see how different choices you make alters the story and the ending, which doesn’t happen very often (at least not to me). Thumbs up!

I finished Withering Rooms a few days ago, having done both a full first playthrough and a quick run through NG+ to get the ending exclusive to NG+. Since then I’ve been in that odd spot where I’m kind of having trouble moving on to the next game. I just keep thinking about Withering Rooms.

This game was so amazingly good, it is seriously unbelievable it is the work of a solo dev. Especially since he also composed pretty much all the music - and the music is as phenomenal as the game. I don’t think I’ve been this impressed with a solo dev since Lucas Pope and Obra Dinn.

If you vibe in any way with what you see on the Steam page, I heavily encourage you giving it a shot. It is one of the most unique games I’ve ever played, which is funny because it simultaneously wears its inspirations on its sleeves. But the influences never end up leading to derivative end product, instead they are just the foundation for the very distinctive artistic vision of an auteur developer that is doubtlessly doing his own thing.

And it’s not just about the story and world building and art direction and atmosphere, but the gameplay and build variety is also really good. All the gameplay systems are so well designed, the puzzles are intuitive and the game has so many thoughtful little touches you wouldn’t expect from the first game of a solo dev, especially on the QOL front.

The combat itself is a little clunky, but you do get used to it and there are several ways to build both melee and spellcasting, there is a ranged weapon build that leans more into consumables, you can sneak around and place traps, you can be a summoner… Probably more that I didn’t think of yet. And using all these different tools is a lot of fun.

Having played this I am unbelievably excited for the sequel, which enters Early Access this year.

Made it to Act 2 in my current Baldur’s Gate 3 run. Since this is my first time going Dark Urge, I’m not playing on Honor Mode (although same difficulty settings, except not single save), and I’m definitely save scumming more, even if you ignore the times I’m just trying new stuff (did the exploit to kill Raphael in Act 1 for the first time for his loot).

I’m also using (sub)classes that I’ve never or rarely used this time. Swashbuckler is pretty neat and Druid Owlbear form is just dumb (in a good way). Frost Sorcerer seems neat, but I don’t really care about getting enemies wet first for double damage, so I might just switch that build down the line. Wildheart Barbarian can really chunk, although it’s mostly just hitting people with your stick. I then made Karlach to a dual crossbow Arcane Trickster, mainly for a token ranged build (I’m really melee heavy otherwise), but I’m not really feeling it, so I might change that up as well later.

I’m definitely starting to get burned out on BG3, since I played like 200h in the last two months or something. Although it’s not like I’m fiending to play anything else right now (although I have a huge backlog), so it’s still fine.

@chloyster what is sts2?
Cyberpunk 2077, second try and this time ir runs well

just finished metroid prime 4 and the game really does get progressively annoying. Gathering green crystals at the end was not so fun, but the first three areas were quite good so all in all i enjoyed my time.

Now i will star mario wonders which is probably gonna be a relaxing fun experience

I’m on that Wingspan kick! Recently finished Hogwarts Legacy which was a treat, and Wingspan has been so fun it’s all I play lately. Helps to have a dedicated few friends who love it like I do, so we play asynchronous due to our schedules being crazy lately. Happy belated birthday!

I got absolutely sucked into Mewgenics the past month, still playing that. It doesn’t help that no other recent releases have caught my eye, and there aren’t really any on the horizon other than Mina the Hollower, which still doesn’t even have a release date.

Getting back into my second playthrough of From Space, a fun little top down shooter with kooky guns, cool unique alien designs, and not too much thought required.

I’ve been playing Unbeatable quite a bit, although only the arcade mode, as I initially found the story mode to be a bit buggy and should now restart it.

I’ve also played a bit of Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin and Risk of Rain 2. Having fun with both.

Finally I’ve just started Knights in the Nightmare on PSP. I’m enjoying it, it takes a bit of getting used to, but the gameplay is really unique. I also quite like the aesthetic.

Happy birthday! I’m playing Enotria (mediterranean soulslike), the ambience and vibes are just excellent, fitting with spring being in full swing. I’ m enjoying my time with it, it has some neat idead going on.

Happy (belated) birthday! 🎉

Pausing Backpack Hero a bit and playing American Arcadia. It’s a short story-driven game with some puzzles. 2 hours in, so far really liking it. I don’t know what makes me invested in a character, but this game’s got it.

Otherwise it’s been a week of mostly board games, which is nice, since I mostly play video games by myself.

Battle for Westnoth, I just like the unit evolutions. I don’t know what on Earth I’m doing.

Actually in hope of GTA VI I am back to playing GTA V single player.

Studying with Spirit City: Lofi Sessions.
Playing Slay the Spire 2 with friends and GF.
Playing Wanderstop alone on the Steam Deck.

I actually prefer Wanderstop to StS2. Only completed the first chapter of the game, but I absolutely love each interaction and how the story is progressing. The tea stuff is okay enough too.