I think Subnautica was the first crafting game I ever played, and I didn't really understand the genre, so I found it frustrating and slow. I prefer my games to have an ongoing story, and this... didn't. Not to say there isn't a story here, it just takes a backseat to the gameplay, which is exploring and crafting.

The game opens with you jumping into an escape pod. Something's wrong with your spaceship, the Aurora, so you're abandoning ship. As you fly away, you watch a massive explosion erupt from your former ship. The blast damages your escape pod and you're hit in the face with a metal panel. When you come to, your escape pod is on fire!

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You jump up from your seat and grab a nearby fire extinguisher. Putting out the flames, you realize your secondary life support system and radio are both broken. You need parts to build a repair tool. You climb out of your escape pod to find yourself floating on a water planet, with the wreckage of the Aurora nearby.

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In desperate need of resources, you dive into the ocean and start exploring. At first, all you can do is pick up a few resources found on the shallow ocean bed. But with the right kind of components, you can craft a scanner at the fabricator on your escape pod.

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The scanner allows you to scan almost everything in your environment, collecting data from this strange alien world. It may also help you to unlock new crafting recipes. You find scattered wreckage all over the ocean floor, and scanning broken components will help you to reassemble their recipes so you can craft them yourself.

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Once you've found the necessary resources, you can build a repair tool, which you can then use to repair your secondary life support system and radio.

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Almost immediately, your radio picks up a message. Listening to it, you hear survivors of another escape pod. They're nearby, and under attack from a giant sea snake of some sort.

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You swim out to their location, only to find the remains of their escape pod. You pick up a PDA left behind in the wreckage and download its data, which will give you the crew's log.

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Your own PDA has been communicating vital information to you throughout your journey so far. Around this time, you may hear her say that the Aurora's drive core is going critical and is about to explode. You can actually watch the explosion from the surface, just make sure you're not swimming anywhere near it at the time.

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From here, you're just responding to radio signals, exploring and collecting resources to build more and more advanced technologies, and eventually, you can build an entire underwater base to live in.

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I didn't get much further than this, because this game is so incredibly slow for me. I enjoy the crafting game Satisfactory because all the resources I need to get started are right nearby, almost within eyesight of my landing pod, and I can scan for the location of more resources as I start to branch out. Plus, your hub gives you instructions on what to build, so you have some direction to progress toward.

Subnautica, on the other hand, just dumps you in the water with no explanation and expects you to just swim around and collect stuff until you figure out what to do with it. The first time I played this game, several years ago, I spent maybe 2 hours swimming in circles, unsure what I was supposed to do. Eventually, I realized that I needed to repair my escape pod, and then I started getting radio broadcasts.

But even then, every escape pod I tracked down was wrecked with no survivors. It was just demoralizing for me. I was hoping for some sort of plot, or an eventual rescue or something. But instead, I found myself just floundering about in the water for hours, not really sure what I'm doing or if this gameplay is going anywhere.

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Not to mention, this is a survival game, so on top of trying to figure out what I'm doing, I was also trying to figure out how to find food and water to stay alive. And despite being a game about exploring an alien ocean, I could barely be under water for 30 seconds before I was drowning. It took an exceptionally long time for me to find appropriate resources to build more advanced oxygen tanks so I could stay underwater for longer. I couldn't ping for resources, I kept getting lost or turned around under water, and I could never find exactly what I needed to progress in the game.

I know this game is exceptionally popular and I rarely ever hear a bad thing about it. But I personally just can't get into it. I gave it a second chance last night, and I progressed much faster than I did my first time playing, but it was such a slog. I have no idea if it gets better later, but it's frustratingly slow and I just can't enjoy it.

I've done it, i've beaten Alan Wake II's Final Draft today. It was amazing, i was worried knowing (most of) the story would ruin the Final Draft for me, but it was just as amazing. I also did it on Nightmare mode too since i want to be able i claimed i did it, which was a fun challenge. One thing i appreciate about Remedy's Games is that their Nightmare modes isn't just a "Let's ramp the difficulty up impossibly high" like i feel most other game's are. It achieves a good level of difficulty that can be offset by being skilled at the game.

I Picked today's screenshot as i felt it was kind of appropriate for beating the Final Draft with how sort of Serene it is. Ik that's kind of a dorky reason but i just felt like it was appropriate.

SPOILER (THE PART WHERE I TALK ABOUT THE STORY)

This is the part where i talk about the story. I really enjoyed the change to the ending. It felt rewarding enough that i got to see him get free of the spiral, while also leaving the answer up in the air as to what's next/what happened. I'm also curious what Alan means by Master of Many Worlds.

I'm thinking it's that Alan rewrites the Dark Presence to be part of him, basically giving it's origin as it being born from "the small part of" himself "that it had been born from. Alice," (The Final Draft Ending). What i read this as is that without Alice there to be his light and balance him, it created Scratch/The Dark Presence (Or at least that's what Alan writes at it's origins). When Alan is hit with the Bullet of light, that's him achieving the Balance, as he's had that light returned to him, becoming in control of his inner demons.

I think this was hinted at in Alan Wake's American Nightmare too as the "Balance slays the demon" we see, as we're told that "When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace". And once Alan has slain the Demon (The Dark Presence) in Alan Wake II he finds his peace.

I feel this is kind of supported as from what i understand is that American Nightmare was Alan reusing a old draft of Return to fight scratch, and we're told in Alan Wake II that he's had "So many drafts," (The Final Draft Ending) that he used to work his way out of The Dark Place. We see something similar there too with Alice's Film about Alan being used to Slay Scratch (Like the Bullet).

I feel this is even further supported by the Time Loop (Or Spiral) we see in American Nightmare basically being a similar idea. Alan loops around until he's able to defeat scratch with the process to change reality, after which he's returned to his home dimension. Plus we also see overlaps here with Alan bringing the Dark Place over into reality a little "near one of the thin, worn places in the world," (Night Springs, Arizona Manuscript from American Nightmare), and he does this by "forcing the door open a crack so" he "can slip through," (Night Springs, Arizona Manuscript from American Nightmare).

This is by no means a formal Essay (despite the in-text citations). This is mostly just me rambling with things i'm connecting in my head right now. I just beat it so it's still fresh on my mind.

When the music from the first game kicked in again while running through the woods as Alan it had just as much punch as it did the first time. Remedy knows how to perfectly play it's cards right and in a way that doesn't lose it's effect.

Overall i loved this game, Saga was a fun new protagonist (Though i will Always pick Alan as my favorite due to sentimental reasons), and did Alan justice in a way i love, and it was amazing. It was well worth the agonizing wait and is as close to perfect as i'd consider something.

I do feel Alan's segments were a bit short compared to Saga's (I think it was the stealth being an option, along with less areas outside the plaza), and i do wish there was more variety too Saga's section's environments. I feel like the three areas we got, got stale easily compared to the first game where every episode was basically a new area. I also think the reload being relegated too a simple tap X kind of took some of the thrill out for me. These are just my subjective opinions though, so they aren't any sort of fact.

Despite that this game is basically a 10/10 from me and i loved it. I'm sad it's over, and my assumption is that a proper sequel will take another 10 years probably. I know that time will be worth it though and remedy shouldn't be rushed because it hopefully means the game will come out well crafted like this one was.

I also wanted to share a landscape shot i took of New York in the game before wishing everyone goodnight, as i am in love with New York in this game:

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I'm replaying Arkham Asylum for the first time since close to when it first came out! It's old for sure but it doesn't take long to get used to it again.

However, I'm reminded of 2013 when young me saw a TV commercial for "Batman: Arkham Origins".

If you're a Batman fan and never saw this trailer before, I promise you that this is the epitome Batman video that captures the pain, resolve, and essence of Batman entirely within 53 seconds. This is a must-watch.

Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/InUj9BT8KCc

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Pacific Drive is a fantastical driving/survival/crafting game, where you are sucked into a reality-altering unstable zone, with the only working car the trapped residents have seen in ages. This is a very story-rich exploration game.

In 1947, the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state became a staging ground for developments in a new technology. Unfortunately, it didn't go as planned, and by 1955, the government had walled off parts of the peninsula. 30 years later, after expanding the radius of the walls many times, the government finally sealed all access and abandoned it. No one ever found out what happened inside the wall. All was quiet until you happen to be driving by in 1998...

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Finding the road blocked by the wall, you turn off on a dirt road parallel to the wall, hoping for a path through the region. The ground in front of you starts shifting and morphing until you drive near it and it pops back into stability... until a large enough burst of energy kills your car's engine completely.

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You sit in dark silence for a moment, until a massive burst of red glowing energy suddenly swells next to you, dragging your car off the road and into the vortex!

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You wake up on the ground, surprised to see bits and pieces of your car floating through the air. The slightest tingle of radiation courses through the air around you. You realize that you're inside the walled-off peninsula now.

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Wandering down the path, you find an old station wagon in a garage, flashing its lights at you. Over its radio, you hear someone chime in. They've detected strange but familiar energy readings coming from your vicinity. They identify themselves as Tobias Barlow and Francis Cooke.

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The vehicle is extremely beat up, rusted, missing several panels, two doors, and the front left wheel. You find a wheel sitting nearby and install it yourself. You try the engine and surprisingly, it starts up!

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You can't respond to Tobias and Francis, but they're tracking the energy your car is giving off. They instruct you to drive a few miles up the road to a safe zone, before the incoming instability scrambles you. You pull up to an auto shop, right as your left front wheel falls off again.

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This shop belongs to Dr. Ophelia Turner, or Oppy, as the two guys call her. But without working vehicles, the shop has been mostly abandoned for years. When you turn on the power in the shop, she's alerted to a trespasser and threatens you over an intercom. But Tobias quickly sends out an emergency broadcast, insisting that you're there on official business for them. Oppy is annoyed, but intrigued that you have a working car. She lets you patch it up in her garage and assists you in your journey, if only to help you find a way back out through the border walls and out of her hair.

This will become your staging area for the rest of the game; you'll always return here after each mission. This is also the only place you can save your game. You can't save during a mission; you either need to complete your mission and return home, or abandon it.

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At this point, the game becomes a crafting game, except almost exclusively for your vehicle. You learn how to repair, build and replace parts, and even upgrade and add components. You can also upgrade various stations in the garage, and even upgrade your gear to better protect yourself in the wild.

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Oppy instructs you to use this strange "repair putty" on the damaged parts of your car. It's a pale green glowing goop that seems to magically restore parts to their full strength! It's in limited supply, but you can always make more at the workbench. This is how you repair your car as it gets beat up in the field.

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She also has you fill your trunk with cardboard boxes and a craft mat. The boxes will be your excess storage, outside of your backpack. The craft mat will let you build tools and resources on the road. Your tools have a limited durability and will break after so much use. But as long as you have resources on hand, you can easily craft another one from the trunk of your car.

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Finally, Oppy has you install an Arc Device in your passenger seat, her own personal invention. This will be your map, as well as a guide to warn you as anomalous storms approach. It auto-rotates to face you no matter where you're standing, so you can glance over at it while driving, or you can run up to the passenger window and view it quick.

Also included is a status screen on your dashboard, which will inform you of the "health" of your car's parts. As you take damage, each component will turn from green to yellow to red, then gray as they break off the vehicle. Be sure to repair your car as needed!

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There is a giant map on the wall of the garage, and Oppy is able to remotely access a projector to display data on it. This is where you'll pick your missions. She instructs you to go find parts to build an antenna for the garage; otherwise, you'll never be able to travel far. The zone within the walls is unstable and entire regions could be erased entirely, or reconstructed into another land that didn't exist previously, so you need to be able to receive data about each region before - and during - your travels there.

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It's explained to you by Tobias that your car is a Remnant, which is essentially a shabby cast-off item imbued with strange properties, that randomly appears within the zone. He gives the example of a broken microwave that freezes food instead of heating it, or a rusty paint can that produces every color of paint in existence. Your car gives off this same energy, which is exciting for him because it's been several decades since the last remnant appeared, and it remains to be seen what strange properties your car will produce.

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Most of the game is spent exploring regions and scavenging all the parts you can find. You're told that most all of the zone is abandoned and each region could cease to exist if a wave of instability passes through, so you might as well loot everything that's not bolted down. Be aware of aggressive machines roaming the lands. These floating guys in particular will just grab your car and drag it into the woods before abandoning it.

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While out scavenging for parts, I ran into these creepy mannequin-like guys stuck in the ground. They pulse red from the head or chest, and if you bump into them, they explode. The creepiest part is, if you get close enough to them, then look away, when you look back at them, they'll be much closer to you. You never see or hear them move, and they never attack you or anything, but if you're not paying attention near them, you might turn and walk into one suddenly. You need to stare them down while backing far away, so they don't pursue you behind your back.

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Once you've completed your objective in each zone, you need to find and grab a stable anchor, a round glowing ball sitting on a large semi-circle device, and feed it to your Arc Device. It will cause some instability in the vicinity when you pull it, so be careful.

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Grab as many of them as you can! Your map will point them out in the region. There are always a few of them scattered around, and you use their energy to unlock more advanced technologies and blueprints back at the garage. So the more you find, the quicker you can upgrade your crafting capabilities.

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Once you have at least one, you will be able to use the Arc Device to open a gateway directly back to the garage. But only activate it when you're ready to leave, as it will quickly collapse the stability in the region. Make sure you know where the gateway is and that you're relatively close to it, Then once you summon it, drive like mad into the giant sky beam! Be prepared to do a bit of off-roading for this part.

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As you explore, you can find paints, decals, and other trinkets to deck out your car. Plus, keep upgrading its components to make it stronger and more efficient. Here's my car after applying some glow-in-the-dark decals, adding off-road tires, and replacing all of the panels and doors with steel.

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This has been an extremely entertaining game so far! I'm enjoying the open world exploration, scavenging parts off other vehicles or wherever I can find them, and of course, I love driving games! That's your main mode of travel in this game, so you'll be doing a lot of it. Your car is your lifeline, so stick near it at all times!

This game is pretty in-depth, and with 11 hours of gameplay already, I've barely scratched the surface of the plot. I've been so preoccupied exploring around and looting everything that I can get my hands on, that I haven't actually made it very far into the story yet. I'm debating taking a brief hiatus from posting these so I can really enjoy this game.

Game Information --------------------

Game Title: Mario & Luigi: Brothership

Platforms:

• Nintendo Switch (Nov 7, 2024)

Trailers:

• Mario & Luigi: Brothership — Greetings from Concordia! — Nintendo Switch
• Mario & Luigi: Brothership – Announcement Trailer – Nintendo Switch

Developer: Nintendo

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 80 average - 78% recommended - 23 reviews

Critic Reviews -------------

CGMagazine - Jordan Biordi - 8.5 / 10

>Mario & Luigi: Brothership is like a perfect representation of the Bros themselves: even though one might trip up here and there, everything works so well together that it makes it an unforgettable experience.

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COGconnected - James Paley - 75 / 100

>This game suffers when subjected to a reviewer’s brutal pacing. Maybe if I hadn’t been racing towards the finish line, the endless tiny loading screens wouldn’t have bothered me as much. I was also forced to discard a lot of the side content. It’s not super compelling stuff, but the act of completing it can be pretty relaxing. Searching for Sprite Bulbs scratches that completionist itch in a big way. Plus, the game is beautiful and the battles are a lot of fun. I still wish the puzzles weren’t so frustrating for me. But again, they benefit from more patience than I could spare. My momentum while playing felt wobbly and uneven, but this is still a well-crafted game. Perhaps your time (if you can offer more of it than me) will be well-spent playing Mario & Luigi: Brothership.

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Checkpoint Gaming - Elliot Attard - 7 / 10

>Mario & Luigi: Brothership is undeniably endearing, learning from other media forms to present an uplifting adventure with lovable protagonists. With too much dialogue and backtracking implemented within the game's design, it can run at a pace that feels slow, ballooning what should be a fun jaunt into an overly long adventure. There's room for further fine-tuning of ideas, meaning Brothership isn't the flawless seafaring journey we wanted. Though it's also far from a shipwreck with incredible charm and gameplay offerings carrying this title across picturesque waters.

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Console Creatures - Bobby Pashalidis - 9 / 10

>Mario & Luigi: Brothership may not reinvent the series but it's yet another excellent adventure filled with over the top humour featuring the iconic Mario brothers.

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Daily Mirror - Aaron Potter - 4 / 5

>Mario and Luigi: Brothership is an utterly charming reinvention of the brotherly RPG series that, up until now, had previously been left adrift for too long. By offering even more ways to traverse and do battle through the introduction of new Bros. Moves and Battle Plug modifiers, Nintendo has found a way to keep Mario and Luigi’s turn-based escapades fresh, while the new sea-faring structure offers a great means to explore various types of locations jam-packed with several micro-stories and mysteries to resolve.

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Enternity.gr - Nikitas Kavouklis - Greek - 9 / 10

>Mario & Luigi: Brothership will keep you busy for dozens of hours, and the best way to enjoy it is to spend as much time as possible exploring every crevice and pipe.

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Eurogamer - Christian Donlan - 4 / 5

>A relatively minor instalment, but in a series this magical, that's still good news.

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GAMES.CH - Benjamin Braun - German - 87%

>Quote not yet available

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GRYOnline.pl - Filip Melzacki - Polish - 7.5 / 10

>Not everything works here, but the spirit of Maio & Luigi series is strong. Brothership is a successful return, and – in case we don’t get any more installments – a much better finale than Paper Jam. Despite a weak beginning I’m happy with my time with this game, and fans should be as well.

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GamesRadar+ - Luke Kemp - 4 / 5

>Despite a few lurches here and there and some so-so exploration, Mario & Luigi Brothership offers an enjoyable voyage with smooth sailing, and a punderful script that brings the laughs. It has a new developer and an extra dimension, but the same dedication to humor and brotherly love.

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Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 8 / 10

>Mario & Luigi: Brothership doesn’t disappoint as the first RPG in the series in nearly ten years. It is a charming adventure that fleshes out a wonderful new world to explore. It looks unlike anything we’ve seen from Nintendo with an impressive coat of cel-shaded paint. While the game might feel like a basic RPG in comparison to the modern greats, there’s a lot more to enjoy here.

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God is a Geek - Adam Cook - 8 / 10

>Brothership is a fun time, but has frustrating moments. It's not an easy recommendation like Paper Mario, but you'll have a good time nonetheless.

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Metro GameCentral - GameCentral - 7 / 10

>A welcome return for the Mario & Luigi franchise, that proves to be a more involved role-player than expected, even if it lacks the consistent humour and weird gameplay flourishes of previous games.

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Nintendo Life - PJ O'Reilly - 9 / 10

>Mario & Luigi: Brothership takes this long-running RPG series to new heights in a high-seas adventure that's packed full of top-notch combat, inventive variety, a positive and thoughtful story, and lots signature comedy from the dynamic duo themselves. This is a big game, packed full of surprises and fun, and the all-new Battle Plug system, alongside lots of flashy specials, a fittingly emotive art-style, and a world that brimming with puzzles and challenges, make for a must-play in our book.

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Press Start - James Berich - 7.5 / 10

>Mario & Luigi: Brothership is the classic Mario & Luigi experience that fans have been clamouring for since Bowser's Inside Story. While there are significant pacing issues that means the game takes a while to get going, a simple but engaging battle system and incredibly intriguing second half of the story helps to keep Brothership on course.

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SECTOR.sk - Michal Korec - Slovak - 9 / 10

>It takes a while, but when The Brothership is in full swing, it is an excellent action RPG after all these years: exploration, arcade elements, tactical strategy and the mix of gameplay is top-notch. We are so glad that the Switch has its entry in the series.

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Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 7 / 10

>A game carried by its scrappiness more than its technical feats or original ideas. It might be overshadowed by its older sibling series, but that doesn't mean it can't be a fun and packed experience.

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Shacknews - Ozzie Mejia - 9 / 10

>Mario has ventured to massive worlds before. He's even surfed the cosmos across different galaxies. Rarely has a world in any of his games felt this connected. Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a game about building bonds, the kind that Mario shares with his cherished brother.

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Spaziogames - Valentino Cinefra - Italian - 8.7 / 10

>Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a delightful return for the beloved series, with deep gameplay and vibrant worlds that make it a must-have on Nintendo Switch, despite a few minor design shortcomings.

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Stevivor - Matt Gosper - 9.5 / 10

>With so many bespoke moments for each little mini-story, complete with unique minigames and interesting character arcs, Brothership is bursting at the seams with fun things to do.

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TheSixthAxis - Stefan L - 7 / 10

>Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a welcome return for the other Mario RPG series, taking a more straightforward, less gimmicky approach to bring new players into the fold. The rhythm of the brothers in combat is pleasingly engaging, as ever, and there's a solid adventure here, but it's just lacking that spark to match the franchise's very best.

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VGC - Andy Robinson - 4 / 5

>Mario & Luigi Brothership is a triumphant return for the series, maintaining the spirit and action-oriented platforming of its predecessors, coupled with fantastic exploration and satisfying battle mechanics.

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WellPlayed - Kieron Verbrugge - 8 / 10

>Although the formula is bordering over-familiar at this point, it's been long enough between entries that this return to the Mario & Luigi series is incredibly welcome. It manages to feel fresh enough with interesting new wrinkles that play on this new world and story's overall themes, and its obsession with fraternal bonds results in probably my favourite take on the Bros. to date.

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Little Kitty, Big City is a cute game where you play a cat who fell out of their owner's window, way atop a high-rise apartment.

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Miraculously surviving the fall (thanks to some well-placed obstacles and a bird you cling to), you find yourself on the street level several blocks away, unable to find your way home.

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The bird admonishes you for your poor flying skills, then offers to get you a fish when you insist you're too tired and hungry to climb all the way back up your building. But you need to pay him in "shinies," which you can find lying around all over the city. You will need to find 4 total fish around the city before you'll have the stamina to climb your way back home.

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From there, you're traveling around the city, interacting with other animals and collecting cute hats to wear. You either find the hats lying around in places, or you can pay 5 shinies to the bird at a vending machine and he'll get you a hat out of the machine.

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You rescue a rambunctious tanuki stuck in a pipe and he professes to be an inventor. He offers to let you be his test subject for interdimensional travel.

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He's been messing with the spacetime continuum and has connected all the sewer pipes through a sort of wormhole. This is your fast-travel in the game, so you can cross the map quickly without having to run across the whole city.

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He calls it the Petwork™ and insists you unlock each one with a single bird feather.

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Another cat will teach you how to sneak up and pounce on birds, causing them to drop a feather. Don't worry, it's a catch-and-release game; you let the birds fly away as soon as you catch them.

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You also meet a duck who has lost his four children. You agree to track them down for him, but be warned that he won't take them back until all four are accounted for. So you'll have a trail of ducklings following you everywhere until you find all of them.

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Another fascinating character you'll run into is a chameleon who can't change his colors to match his surroundings. He's convinced you're a magician (like he is!) because you can always see him. He gives you riddles, then "hides" and you have to track him down across the city.

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There's also a beetle, who is the manager for Taffy, a wealthy social influencer cat. The poor guy is stressed beyond belief and hanging by a thread. #JusticeForBeetle! He gives you a phone, which you can use to take selfies. In Steam, snapping a selfie will actually take a screenshot.

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There are a few other cats who will teach you how to behave more like a street cat, unlocking different cat reactions you can use throughout the game.

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And that's pretty much the jist of the game. There are a few other characters to meet and plenty of small puzzles to figure out. Ultimately, you need to get your stamina up so you can scale your building and get home. Which will be a challenge in itself, even with a full stamina bar. But there are plenty of fun things to do around the city on your way there.

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Or just find one of many nap spots all across the city and take some time to relax.

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Today i Continued Alan Wake II's Final Draft.

I took this screenshot while continuing Alan's Side of the Story. This poster is really cool because it's a excerpt from Alan Wake's American Nightmare, Specifically the page Night Springs, the Cult TV Show. This game has a ton more references to the first game that i keep finding more and more.

SPOILER

I'm breaking the bit i have going where I mirror the equivalent post for my first play through, but one thing that i noticed was the whole Spiral thing was kind of foreshadowed in Alan Wake's American Nightmare (Though it makes me wonder why Alan got to keep his Memories in that Spiral but not this one? Maybe it's because he dies at the end of this one?

While also in the VHS tapes we get throughout Alan Wake II we see a Insane Alan who wants to stop writing and give up and die, which is basically the plot line of the Special Episodes The Signal and The Writer in the first game, where we play as the "Sane" part of Alan as Zane puts it. I don't know if these were accidents, but knowing remedy they aren't and they adapted these plot threads for this one, which i think is really neat.

I completed Alan's Side of the Story tonight and i went back to Saga's, since that's where the game is directing me to go.

While Continuing Alan's Story i took a few Macro Photos I thought came out well:

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I was almost forced to take a hiatus from posting today! I was up all night playing this game, when around 5 AM, my PC popped and shut off suddenly. It felt hot, so I just left it to cool down and went to bed. This afternoon, it wasn't booting back up, so I opened it up and blew all the dust out of it (it was due for a cleaning anyway). Nothing looked broken, so I flipped off the power switch and flipped it back on... and it started right up! Woo! Adventures in custom-built PCs...

Anywhoo... today's game is The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. This game is like a blend between Satisfactory (minus the automation) and Deep Rock Galactic, with a Lord of the Rings theme. It's a crafting game, but takes place deep in the mines of Moria. You can play solo, or play online co-op with up to 8 players on PC or 4 players on console. The mines are procedurally generated, so no single gameplay will play out the same.

You get to custom-build your own dwarf to play as, including their appearance, name, and origins. Of course, I like to play as women in my games (my mother was a strong, independent type, so I'm drawn to strong women in my life and games), so I made my dwarf a woman. I named her Nordri. I seriously debated giving her a beard (that's an option!) but it made her almost indistinguishable from the men... so clean-shaven for now! You can edit your character any time from the main menu, so you're not stuck with a single look for the entirety of your gameplay.

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Gimli declares that it's time to stop waiting for Durin's potential return and that the one true home of the dwarves, Moria, needs to be rebuilt. He calls on dwarves from all regions of Middle Earth to converge on the Misty Mountains and help excavate it. But for some reason, they can't get through the Doors of Durin.

While attempting to use explosives to blow their way in, you end up falling through a fissure that opens up and land deep in the mines. Unable to be heard by anyone, you decide to make your way to the Doors of Durin from the inside.

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Along the way, you find Aric, a Raven of Erebor. He's also trapped in the mine, but some "ill curse" prevents him from leaving. So he scouts ahead for other routes out of the mine while you forge ahead on your own.

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This is where you get your introduction to crafting and building. Crafting helps you build tools and weapons, while building will create structures that you can use to improve a home, or in this case, climb a wall.

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You make your way to the Doors of Durin, only to find them sealed with a shadowy curse from the inside. No wonder no one could get in! It looks like you need to venture further into the mine and find a different exit.

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If you explore in the halls near the door, you'll find signs of the Fellowship!

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Venturing further into the mines, you find that it's orc-infested. They're pretty cowardly on their own, choosing to run instead of engage you, but be careful of packs of them roaming in the middle of the night. They can be aggressive when they're prepared and in larger numbers.

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You run into Aric again and he suggests you rebuild an old camp nearby, so you have somewhere to shelter and prepare food. You fix up an old stone hearth, a furnace, and a forge, and you now have the basics for crafting! You can find mushrooms, berries, and some other plants growing around the ruins, and you can kill roaming rats and wolves for meat. All these resources respawn pretty regularly, so you're never in short supply.

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You need to eat at least 2 meals a day to keep from getting hungry. If your hunger bar runs out, you'll take the occasional small bit of damage to your health. You also need to sleep at least once a day to prevent exhaustion. Your stamina bar will get smaller and smaller the more tired you are, until you can barely trudge from one place to another. Sleeping will fast-forward the clock 6 hours.

There is a day and night cycle, and the luminescent stone ceiling in the mines will mimic the time of day, so it's extra dark and cold at night and decently bright during the day. Make sure you keep a torch on you at all times, to keep your courage up in the darkest corners. There are small buffs you get depending on various situations, and you'll see them in the bottom left corner of your screen. Also, certain meals will give you an additional buff if you eat them at certain times of the day.

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Occasionally, a pack of orcs will attack in the middle of the night, targeting your current camp. Be prepared to fight them off before they break everything. I learned the hard way to build a wall to keep out the orcs. The first time I came under siege in the night, they just walked in and wrecked my stuff.

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Fortunately, you can make a hammer that will restore damage to structures; both your own constructions and to the ruins of Moria. If you spent enough time, you could technically fix up all of the ruins, single-handedly restoring Moria!

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If you find damaged statues, be sure to rebuild them. You'll get recipes from some of them which will expand your crafting capabilities. I've mostly received improved armor and weapons from them so far.

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Of course, what would a game about dwarves in a mine be without some mining? You need to mine ore in order to smelt various types of metals for armor and weapons, as well as some fancy furniture and structures later on. While mining, you get the option to sing an inspirational tune, which will give you a buff. There are various songs that may be sung and your character may comment on the songs too! They put some serious effort into this detail instead of just designating one mining song that you always sing.

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I once found a barrel of ale in the ruins of an old tavern, and it was still good! I drank and sang merrily for a bit, which gave me a little buff.

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There are more than just endless dark ruins in the deep. You can find other places, such as an Elven Quarter to explore, and the Great Forge of Narvi, which you can repair to gain more forging abilities.

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Keep pressing deeper into the mines to find more advanced crafting and building options, and be sure to move your camp forward as you go. I learned the hard way that sticking with my original camp meant hoofing it a long ways back to drop off supplies or forge new supplies. Eventually, I learned that I need to make a new hearth and rebuild my camp, then move my supplies forward so I'm not spending 90% of my game time running back and forth.

This would probably be easier with multiple players, as you can move all your resources quickly. I had built up my original camp so much, I had to make at least 3 trips to collect everything. I was also stockpiling resources instead of using them, so that made it more difficult to move.

This was a very fun game! It just released in August, so it's relatively new and still being tweaked by the developers. I haven't had any issues with it yet, besides my beefy desktop computer overheating for the first time ever. But that was after 7 hours of continuous gameplay, and I maxed out all graphics settings, so I may have been pushing it a bit on this one.

Otherwise, it was very enjoyable, not only exploring Moria, but getting to fix it up and restore it as I go. Definitely scratched that itch for a good crafting game that Satisfactory gave me. And like I said, mining resources, tunneling through caved-in halls, and fighting occasional roaming enemies felt like a medieval fantasy version of Deep Rock Galactic, another game I thoroughly enjoy. I give The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria top marks!

Here are the basic photos of the rig:

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This is the plastic and rubber manufacturing:

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The residue from that goes into the turbofuel refineries:

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some of it is packaged, the rest gets burned in 8 2x overclocked fuel generators for power:

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But that's not all! I had to do quite a bit of infra to get the oil rig working, like:

Oil pipelines:

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A train network:

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(the last picture is the view from the tower i showed off in my last post here.)

and a compacted coal production building thing:

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here are the details about the input/output:

| inputs: | outputs: | |---------------|-----------------------| | 480 crude oil | 205.5 plastic | | 165 coal | 92 rubber | | 165 sulfur | 45 packaged turbofuel | | | 4000MW |

All machines working at 100% with zero waste

please ask if you have any questions.

EDIT: here is the map

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Today's game is Alan Wake again.

This screenshot i took was in the Subway while making my way back to the Collapsed Train Tunnel. This game really has upped the fear factor. Personally i love the first game's controls more, but this game has a way of constantly keeping me on the edge of my seat. I love it.

The game has a ton of clever references to the first game. For example there’s the shoebox where i can store items, which is a really awesome reference to Zane's shoe box in the first game.

I took a bonus screenshot while Alan was running away and my game bugged out. I don't think he realized the rest of the Subway car was gone already:

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Road Redemption is a unique game, in that it's a motorcycle racing game, but also a fighting game.

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There is some lore, presented with a single screen of text. According to the Steam store page, this takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, ruled by a brutal dictator. Biker gangs rule over segments of the country. You're part of the Jackal gang and basically racing against other biker gangs through their territory, pursuing an assassin for the bounty.

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Every once in a while, some other Jackals will show up to help you (see first screenshot with the peace symbol over a Jackal's head), but you're on your own for most of the races.

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This is a game of stamina. There are 17 total races across 3 gangs' territories, and your status carries over to each one. Any loss of health, nitro, and if you've unlocked it, your jump boost, all carry over to the next race and require you to replenish them during races.

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You either pick up resources on the road, or kill other gang members to collect resources. Or you can also gain a small bit of nitro every time you have a "close call" with an oncoming car. Just steer so you nearly miss oncoming traffic and you'll be rewarded with some nitro. Which is needed to catch up to the racers in the lead; you'll never gain on them otherwise.

There are two main types of races: 1.) a straight race to the finish, either finishing in 3rd place or better, or just survive to the finish line by a certain time limit; or 2.) enemy takedown, which requires you to eliminate a certain number of enemies before the finish line. Sometimes the cops show up alongside the gangs to fight everyone, sometimes the cops are the takedown enemy.

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Cars are especially hard to take down. Explosives are pretty much the only way I've found to stop them. During takedown races, they'll also plow through oncoming traffic, denying you that needed nitro boost to gain on them. It can be very difficult if you're stuck behind a car with no nitro left.

The last race in each territory is a takedown enemy race against the gang's leader. They're pretty tough and you need to kill them before you reach the end of the race.

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There is one random event that may take place called "Hallucinogenic Chemical Zone," which will have cars and trucks randomly spawn in the sky and fall onto the track, creating hazards to navigate around. None of these vehicles have their parking brake on, so if they land on their wheels, they'll slowly roll across the road, making it harder to determine the best path around them. You never know which direction they'll start rolling until it's almost too late to change direction.

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After each race, you spend the money you earned taking out enemies or meeting the objective to upgrade your current stats or replenish health or nitro.

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Whether you win or lose each race, you'll automatically continue on to the next race. But your health bar will shrink if you lose the objective.

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The races continue until you die. Then you get to spend all the XP you've earned on permanent upgrades, which will make it easier the next time you play. You likely won't beat the game in your first playthrough. As a matter of fact, I couldn't even beat the first territory until I'd upgraded my permanent stats quite a bit. I've replayed the campaign race many times over and I've finally made it all the way to the assassin, but I still haven't beat him. Gotta keep upgrading my character!

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Before each game, you get to select your bike and character. Both come with various stats and weapons, so pick what works best for your play style. You can unlock more bikes and characters as you accomplish certain criteria throughout the game.

I like to play with Admiral Uganda (a Captain America knockoff) because he has 35% resource gains from regular kills, 140% resource gains from shield kills, and 115% max nitro. He also doesn't use guns, which is fine with me. I'm terrible at aiming a gun while also steering my bike, so I mostly fight with close-range weapons that only require a button press to use.

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There are other joke characters like Santa Claus, who's a pacifist and can't kill anyone except for bosses; Helloween Rider, a Ghost Rider knockoff; PC Master Racer (see screenshot above); or Theranos, a blonde woman with Thanos' golden gauntlet. Plus a ton more to unlock.

My personal play style is to just kick other bikes. It sends them flying off to one side, and if you time it right, you can kick them into obstacles or off bridges and kill them instantly. Much easier than hacking at them with a sword or beating them with a lead pipe, etc.

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Most races are on roads cross-country through mountains, snowy terrain, or post-apocalyptic cities. But the most interesting races (in my opinion) take place across building rooftops. You spend the entire race speeding from rooftop to rooftop, and it's easy to knock people off to their doom. Or fall to yours, if you're not careful. These levels are where the jump boost comes in really handy, keeping you airborne longer if you don't time a jump between buildings well.

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Then there's the extra rare rooftop race through a hallucinogenic chemical zone! Don't get hit by falling cars while soaring across rooftops!

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I've mostly described the campaign mode for this game, but there is also a 4-player split-screen mode where you can play together or against each other, or you can play online with other gamers.

There's a DLC you can buy on Steam called "name a character" that lets you put a custom name into the game itself. You'll notice that every time you take someone out, it shows their name across the bottom of the screen, then scratches it out in red. Supposedly, these are all names added by other players over time. So the next time you play, keep an eye out for cobysev...

I normally don't like games that force me to replay them over and over, grinding just to level my stats enough to continue the plot (I'm looking at you, Hades). But the gameplay is so enjoyable in this one, I can't help but play it over and over. I don't even care if I don't finish; the racing and fighting is so much fun! Every time I play this game, I end up doing nothing else for the rest of the day.

Google drive to the rar file: Google drive

Hey all, as you may know from my previous posts I make indie games and I decided to take a little break from my main project and spend 3 days to make a scary (but also kind of humorous) horror game for my girlfriend. It's called the Terrors of Adulthood and the theme is all the bs the we have to deal with as adults. I presented it to hereon Halloween and she kinda liked it (she's not really a gamer). So I decided it to post it here because this is my first venture into the horror genre and I'm not going to lie, it's kind of exciting. I might go all in on a horror game in the future. I kind of like small atmospheric stuff that slowly immerse you in their horrors. I would love some feedback from actual gamers Also I want to say the ending is from an inside joke that we have - I'm not making any statements about relationships, feminism, modern society or anything like that. Here are the controls: WASD, ARROWS - Movement E - interact with objects (up to the player to find out which objects are intractable) Space - Jump F - skip intro when replaying

I didn't have time to make menus or restart screens as I was in a hurry to finish the experience by Halloween. So ALT+F4 to quit the game. :D

P.S. I'm not sure if these types of post are allowed. If they are not - mods feel free to remove it. :)

Today's game is Alan Wake II. I beat it today. I'm going to try and put how i feel about it into words but the game was as close to perfect (for me personally) that i feel a game could get. Most likely it will come out as a jumbled mess because i haven't had any time to properly format any sort of essay form to this, but i wanted to get my thoughts on it out there.

I'm going to put any possible spoilers in lemmy's built in spoiler box so people who don't want to be spoiled can at least somewhat understand my points (it will just be lacking the explanations).

Before if i was forced to pick between Alan Wake I or II, it would have been hard but i would ultimately go with Alan Wake I because of Nostalgia. But Remedy's writing and attention to details in this one have knocked it out of the park. There were some points where it legitimately left me holding my breath.

spoiler

There's one segment where Alan gets out of the dark place, and is running through the woods. He makes a mention of how it's just like he started and then the Song Water Pressure plays, which is the same song that plays in the first one, like when he started. I also found myself smiling at his narrations while int he woods. it made me so nostalgic.

Then the game also has a remix of Departure playing in some places which did the same thing. I legit stopped at the Jukebox playing it and went "hey! that's departure from the first game!"

Also, Alice's "Death" genuinely creeped me out though, and the way it was executed had me genuinely believe she might be dead despite seeing the background and saying to myself "That's cauldron lake, maybe she went to the dark place?"

Then with Alan's death, i love how it saves the answer to the question that it might be a loop for an after credit's scene. It left time for the fear that he might actually be dead to sink into my stomach like a weight.

And then there was Saga's segment in her mind palace. It was so well done, because the game spends the entire time setting it up as a safe place kind of like what Fable 3 did with it's sanctuary. Then it rips the safety and control you have over it out from under you. The jumpscare of the cultist legit got me, and i appreciate they only did it once.

I'm so glad i avoided spoilers for this game, because it's one of those games that after beating it i'm left with a pit where it used to be. I unlocked the Final Draft (Basically the game's New Game Plus) which from what i understand adds to the story, i already am making plans to jump straight into that because Alan Wake II has left me wanting more.

As is tradition for what i've been doing with Alan Wake II, i took a couple more portraits too:

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October is over, and that means I'm back to playing all variety of games, not just horror or Halloween-themed games. But I did miss one day in my daily October marathon, and I said I'd try to make up for it.

So... consider this game to be a happy medium. The Invincible isn't exactly horror - more sci-fi mystery/thriller than anything - but it is kind of a personal fear of mine: being stranded alone on an alien planet with amnesia, limited oxygen, and no certain escape. I definitely shared in the anxiety and fear that the protagonist suffered at times on her journey.

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The Invincible is a blend between a walking simulator and a visual novel. You spend most of the game walking from one point to the next and performing some basic tasks along the way, while also communicating back and forth with your ship's commander. It's not a particularly strenuous form of gameplay.

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There are dialogue choices, but for the most part, the game plays out the same regardless of your choices. Although certain choices can open up deeper philosophical discussions into the theme of the plot. Also, investigating the areas around you might help you learn more about the planet itself, which provides a richer story experience than just trying to get to the end of the game as quick as possible.

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Also, as the game progresses, your story path is documented in comic form, which you can pause and read at any time.

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This game is actually based on a Polish novel of the same name, published in 1963 by Stanisław Lem. Although I would recommend not reading the summary of that book, as its main plot gives away most of the mystery in this game's story.

The Invincible opens up with Yasna waking up on a rocky desert planet, with no memory of where she is or how she got there. Her radio is broken, her locator beacon is missing, and she's all alone. The only thing going for her is that she seems uninjured, and her space suit and oxygen tank are still intact.

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She checks her notes and discovers she's there with her team of researchers. Using her logs and hand-drawn maps, she triangulates her approximate position, then sets out to find their main camp.

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Along the way, bits of her memory start coming back to her. She remembers her research ship's commander, Novik, who is known for making rash decisions. Previously, his insistence on making an unscheduled stop for a valuable mineral cost him a broken leg and severe pain.

Now, the team was finally on their way home when Novik awoke them early from cryogenic sleep. He made the decision to stop at yet another planet, Regis III, because he has intel that it's potentially valuable to the Alliance, and he wants to find out what is so valuable that it would draw them there.

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The book followed characters from the Alliance aboard their massive ship, The Invincible. This game, however, follows a small research team of the Interplanetary Commonwealth, an opposing faction. So it's important to Novik that they do their research quick, then get off-planet before the Alliance arrives in their deadly ship.

Yasna reaches her team's base camp, only to find one of the members in a stupor, babbling unintelligibly. His vitals are all normal, but he's unresponsive and helpless. Yasna takes his radio and is finally able to speak with Novik, who is aboard their spaceship orbiting the planet.

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Novik has been unable to reach the team for a while now. He's grateful to speak with Yasna and instructs her to find the rest of the team. She catches up on their research notes and sets out to round up the team.

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The team was investigating a strange metallic structure sticking out of the ground. It proved impossible to unearth, and scans with their metal detectors showed it stretching underground like tangled metal roots. One of the research team, Dr. Gorsky, ventured off in search of the end of this metal root structure, so Yasna pursues his trail.

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She bumps into a damaged probe and, with the help of Novik, is able to boot it up. Using the probe, Novik is able to remotely control it and assist Yasna more directly on the ground. You get the opportunity to pick its name, if you like.

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Pursuing her team, Yasna explores complex metallic structures, finds herself lost in underground caverns, and even has run-ins with the Alliance!

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Finding all of her team members and getting off-planet proves to be a challenge, with setback after setback. It's up to you whether she'll find the courage to proceed, or succumb to hopelessness and depression.

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This was a fantastic story that explored deeper philosophical topics on life and biology, evolution and invasion, and of course, the will to survive. It's an easy-going game, where the most dramatic twists and turns come more from the dialogue than the action. If you want a simple sci-fi game that lets you ponder life's greater mysteries instead of shooting aliens, this may be for you.

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Plus, you get to drive around in a little rover! How cute is this thing?

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I continued Alan Wake II today. I've been avoiding spoilers for this game so i have no clue if i'm near the end or not, but i'm loving the entire thing and i already don't want it to end. I'm hoping to get a second part of going back to play as Alan but with where i got too in the story i have a feeling i'm close to the end sadly. I also took a ton of screenshots (Though i do that everyday, i just have a lot that i feel are "share-worthy").

Overall i'm enjoying Saga's half of the story just as much as Alan's. While Alan's section allowed for stealth, Saga's embraces combat with boss fights and such.

This screenshot doubled as a experiment, i wanted to see if since it's a dark photo if a bit more grain could help it look realistic. I did a similar thing when the hallway filled with blood, but i think i put too much grain in it:

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I also played around with the portrait mode some more and took a photo of Tor and a enemy. I really like this game's photo mode because it feels like it encompasses it's whole theme of art. So it's very appropriate that it allows for that:

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I also took this screenshot of the road which i loved because i feel like it showcases how pretty this game is. Some of these photos i (personally) feel like could pass for real life at a glance. I think for sure tricks like the motion blur help:

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Bonus pic of a deer head i took because it caught my attention:

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Happy Halloween! I had planned to play one of my favorite games this month, Alan Wake, but @[email protected], the other screenshot poster here, already made several posts about that game recently. So in order to generate new content, I'm posting a tangentially-related game, and another absolute favorite of mine, Control.

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This game is loosely based on the SCP Foundation, a fictional secretive organization that contains anomalous or supernatural items and entities away from the eyes of the public. They Secure, Contain, and Protect (SCP).

Their wiki linked above is a creative writing project, where anyone can sign up and submit their own creative writings on supposed anomalies that the SCP has encountered in the world. And they have a Creative Commons ShareAlike license (CC-BY-SA) for all work posted to the wiki, so anyone is able to use it for their own creative projects. As such, a lot of SCP-related video games have been popping up lately. If you search on Steam alone, there are about 75 games with SCP in the title, and that's not counting derivative works like Control.

Control starts out simple enough. You play a 28-yr old woman by the name of Jesse Faden. She's been looking for the Federal Bureau of Control for 17 years, ever since they kidnapped her brother, Dylan, in their childhood. The shady secret government organization has eluded her all this time, but Jesse just happens to find them in New York City and enters to an empty lobby.

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The place seems deserted, except for an odd janitor with a heavily-Scandinavian accent, named Ahti. He asks Jesse if she's here for the job interview, because he's in need of an assistant. He points Jesse toward the Director's office.

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The first thing you might notice is that you're trapped in the building now. When you turn around, you realize that the hallway you came down just dead-ends, as if there was never a hallway there in the first place. Also, some of the offices and meeting rooms in the hallway don't seem to have any doors leading into them, just windows. Welcome to "The Oldest House," the office building which is an ever-shifting anomaly in itself.

You enter the Director's office and find the Director dead on the floor; an apparent suicide. Jesse is compelled to pick up the handgun lying next to him, where she suddenly finds herself pressing it to her own temple. You hear distorted voices who refer to themselves as "The Board," and they test whether you're capable of wielding it.

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Jesse is transported to the "astral plane," a bright white space with disjointed black and gold marbled cubes to walk on. A giant inverted pyramid looms ever-present in the background.

You fight some faceless humanoid enemies, learning to harness a limited psychic ability to attack them. When you find the gun in the astral plane, you learn how to take down the faceless enemies with it. You have a limited clip of ammo, but it regenerates infinitely, without the need to manually reload or resupply.

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When you've completed the training, Jesse is appointed the new Director by The Board. All of a sudden, you're in charge of the Federal Bureau of Control! Portraits can be found already updated with professional photos or paintings of Jesse all around the building.

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You also start to find official documentation scattered around the offices concerning various Objects of Power (OoP), including your own service weapon. Just like SCP documentation on their wiki.

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Almost immediately, Jesse finds herself exposed to an invasive hissing noise that feels like it's trying to invade her soul (See first screenshot). She's able to withstand it, but it takes over other Control agents and forces them to attack her. Fighting your way to the Central Executive room, you find a marked circle under an inverted pyramid and realize you can use your psychic energy to dispel the "Hiss" from the area and restore the distorted space to its normal state.

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Survivors call out from a nearby shelter and Jesse gives them the all-clear. The assistant to the Head of Research, Emily Pope, comes out and immediately recognizes Jesse as the new Director. She's stoked that Jesse's able to withstand the Hiss without specialized equipment and she's excited to perform some experiments to test Jesse's abilities.

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Pope quickly becomes your go-to for any information you need about this strange place. She explains that the building has come under attack by a deadly and invasive anomaly that Jesse helped dub the "Hiss," and since Jesse is the only one who seems able to resist and fight back, she's needed to help clear sections of the building and rescue other survivors.

Jesse is also desperate to find her brother, but Pope doesn't have access to that level of information. She suggests Jesse rescue the rest of the former Director's team scattered throughout the building and they should be able to fill her in on what happened to Dylan.

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From there, the game is spent running back and forth across the various floors of the building, rescuing people, fighting the Hiss and liberating areas, and learning more about Control and what they do. You can find various sources of media scattered throughout, including documents, tape recordings, and video recordings.

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Not to mention, some more OoPs that bind to Jesse and enhance her abilities. You can telekinetically lift and throw objects, rapidly dash through the air to evade enemies or reach far-away platforms, construct a shield out of psychic energy and physical objects, and even fly! Keep progressing through the game to find these OoPs and bind them, then enhance their powers through missions and side quests. Eventually, you'll be practically invincible!

Amongst the video recordings, there's a cheaply made kid's puppet show called the "Threshold Kids" that has episodes randomly distributed all over the building. It goes over various anomalies and supernatural situations, as if it was meant to explain complex topics for young children. It seems simple enough at first, but there's something creepy and off about it, and it gets very dark and existential in later episodes. I love the world-building it brings to the game!

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I mentioned Alan Wake was tangentially-related to this game. That's because the development studio of both franchises, Remedy Entertainment, included documentation you can find in Control that explains Alan Wake as an Altered World Event (AWE), with Alan's typewriter being a suspected OoP! And if you play Control's AWE expansion after the main campaign, it sets up Alan Wake II.

I love SCP-related content, and the Federal Bureau of Control is a whole SCP-like organization, with rich and detailed lore dealing with supernatural and otherworldly objects and powers. And then adding lore to tie two separate game franchises together in the same universe? I absolutely love it! This has been one of my all-time favorite games since it released and I'm really excited to play Control 2 whenever it finally comes out.

By the way, the Alan Wake Franchise bundle is 80% off on Steam, so you can play the first game and its spinoff game for only $5, then save a few bucks off Control by buying the Alan Wake/Control Franchise bundle. Or wait for a better deal; Control was only $8 for a couple weeks last month, so keep an eye out for their next sale and get it super cheap.

My one gripe is that Alan Wake II was published by Epic Games, which means it will probably never come to Steam. I'm adamantly against using Epic Games, as they have very anti-competitive practices with the gaming community. So unless someone else gets PC publishing rights, I may never get to play Alan Wake II. (Note: I don't own any current-gen consoles, so playing it on console is out) The rest of the franchise is published by 505 Games or Remedy Entertainment themselves, including the upcoming Control 2, so I can enjoy everything else in the meantime.

Today's game is Alan Wake II. I got the FSR 3 mod running, bringing my frames up to a far more stable 30 fps outside. There's some noticeable ghosting rarely but besides that it works great.

I took this screenshot while doing Alan's story on my way to the theater. I love the poster because i love how it's the opening of the First Game's dialog. The whole game has so many cool poster and signs in the dark place.

I completed what i assume is the first part of Alan's Story, and it automatically took me back to Saga's. I decided to continue her part since it seems like that's where the game wants me to go.

While continuing her story i took a portrait of Alan and Casey i thought came out well:

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I had another game I planned to play last night, but then the first Red Dead Redemption finally released on Steam yesterday, including its Undead Nightmare story mode, and I found myself up all night enjoying the zombie western horror fest! Finally! It only took them 14 years to port it to the PC.

I'm going to be talking exclusively about Undead Nightmare today. I'll go over Red Dead Redemption another time, but this extra content is basically its own game, with a story that veers off from the main game's campaign. Treat it like an alternate universe to the main game.

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Undead Nightmare takes place after the main campaign of Red Dead Redemption, but before the epilogue. Honestly, you could say it's an alternate ending to the game that replaces the epilogue with a dark twist.

John Marston, the protagonist of the main game, sends his boy to bed and is settling in to bed with his wife when Uncle shows up, bloodied, deranged, and violent. John knocks him out, then goes to get his shotgun. But Uncle isn't down for long, and he chases John's wife out of the house, getting a solid bite on her throat before John returns and guns him down.

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John's son comes running to his mother's aid, only to be bitten by her! They both rapidly turn into the undead, and John hog-ties them to keep them from hurting anyone else. He leaves them tied up in the bedroom, then promises to return once he's found a doctor.

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John goes to the nearest town to find it overrun with the undead. He helps the few remaining citizens liberate the town, then asks random survivors what's going on.

One girl mentions that her mother came back long after being dead and buried, and ate her dad's face off! She recommends burning coffins at the local cemetery to keep the dead from rising again. And also suggests she had an evil uncle who was buried there.

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Considering her contempt for him and the loving message scrawled on his tombstone, it hints at the dark kind of relationship they may have had. Also, she mentions all the horribly abusive things that her own father does, but dismisses them because "he's a good man!" So her uncle must've been a truly terrible person.

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From here, you're going from town to town, helping people survive undead attacks, following rumors about what might be causing it, and trying to find an end to the nightmare so you can cure your wife and kid.

In the original campaign, there was an easter egg where you could go way up north into the mountains and find a family of Sasquatch hiding in the forest. In Undead Nightmare, you get a quest to hunt them down.

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After killing several of them, you find one crying against a tree. He can speak! He begs you to end his life because "some maniac" has killed all of his friends and family and he's the last of his kind left. It's up to you whether or not to end his life.

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There are several other mythical creatures to be found roaming the lands, like chupacabra, black horned goats with red eyes, unicorns, and even the Four Horses of the Apocalypse - War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are not to be found.

You can wrangle and tame the first three horses, then the horse Death will appear in the wilderness to be tamed. Death is automatically awarded to you when you complete the whole storyline too. My favorite is War, because it's the only one with a fiery mane. The other three just look like regular horses with creepy eyes.

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My original horse was just a normal horse... until I encountered an undead bear, which knocked me over and killed my horse. The next time I called for my mount, this undead horse showed up! Turns out there are some tame undead; although the undead horses have a bad habit of ignoring commands and doing their own thing sometimes.

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There are many theories as to what's causing the undead to walk again. Some have some merit and warrant investigation, but others are completely outrageous.

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Still others are so wrapped up arguing over what to do in this new chaotic world that they don't pay attention to their surroundings...

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The most interesting theory I heard was that this was just a thing that happens every couple hundred years. A sort of cleansing ritual or something.

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I bought Red Dead Redemption ages ago, specifically for this Undead Nightmare content. But I didn't want to jump into a story-rich game without knowing all the characters and lore, so I rushed through the campaign as quick as I could.

I later regretted it, as I felt like the campaign was much better than this zombie storyline. Sure, you get a quick tour of all the characters from the campaign and see how they're handling the "zombie apocalypse." Hint: most aren't handling it well. But the undead story just feels like it was tacked on last-minute, with very few story missions and a lot of side quests to keep you running back and forth across the land.

Don't get me wrong, Undead Nightmare is a lot of fun to play if you want to run around and shoot zombies in a "spaghetti western" setting. But I much prefer Red Dead Redemption.

Today's game is Alan Wake. I had a ton of free time and managed to get pretty far. I'm playing on Steam Deck so my frame rates occasionally dip below 30 (You can tell my low video settings by Alan's face). I saw someone online though talking about a FSR-3 mod for it though and how it's super simple. Figured i'd install it. ended up spending 4 hours on it. First the tutorial was outdated and i had to install the mod directly into the game, then the controller wasn't being detected, then it wouldn't launch in game mode, then the mod vanished. At that point i said screw it and went back to the game. I might try again tomorrow because the benefits seem worth it.

This screenshot i took was in the Ocean View Hotel while making my way back into the main foyer area. I love how this game upped the thrill factor. I do prefer the first games controls i think, but this one i think has me constantly on edge. I love it. I also like the nods to the first game too. One example is There's a shoebox where i can store items, and i think it's an amazing reference to the lore of the first game.

I took a bonus screenshot while Alan was getting his face pummeled in by a Shadow. It looks like he's taking a selfie while pissed off:

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