Steam

When you REALLY want to play DCUO, but all you have is the Switch…

Okay, I have been working on EXAPUNKS the last few weekends, and dreaming about it most nights. But I’m done with the main plot; got the achievement for proof, and I’m going to exorcise the game by writing down how I solved each puzzle. First, some of my solutions are optimal, some are terrible, most fall somewhere in between. The first rule of programming is to get something working. Once you have an implementation, then you can go back and refactor; many times, your first pass is good enough. My boss used to tell me not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good; a good solution that produces the desired results is better than a perfect solution that is never finished. You’ll see what I mean by that when I get to some of my solutions. ...

Basically Cyberpunk 2077, except you never leave your bedroom.

A warm, friendly murder mystery that doesn’t outstay its welcome and sets up themes that Persona 5 would eventually deconstruct.

Unsung Story, by Little Orbit, is the game I never thought I would see. It was due to be released five and a half years ago, but is only hitting early access on Steam now with a lot of work ahead of it. I had written it off. But, here it is – mostly. When the Kickstarter campaign for Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians launched, it pretty much promised to make exactly the game I wanted to play. A tactical adventure crafted by the master Yasumi Matsuno, legendary designer of Final Fantasy Tactics, Ogre Battle Let Us Cling Together, Ogre Battle March of the Black Queen and Vandal Hearts, among others. This is a genre he created – and now he was back with a game that moved a step beyond his earlier triumphs. Square grids? Unsung Story would use a hexagonal grid. Job tree? Unsung Story would use a job decagon, with ten different qualities coming together to form a unique job. ...

I looked at all the RPGs I’ve played this year, trying to pick the one of them all that would be the best of the year. Several stood out, but I couldn’t pick just one. I guess if there were a game that I felt worth spending hours of my life playing, that proved its quality, maybe? Outer Wilds (PS4; finished January 26) This indie game about a hapless astronaut who is trying to stop their sun from exploding in (looks at watch) 24 minutes made a huge splash when it came out last year for all the right reasons. The clockwork solar system our astronaut lives in is full of puzzles everywhere you look. The lore is amazing. The physics are on point. And every 24 minutes, the sun explodes and you start from the beginning again, but you still have retained all you learned. ...

I am done with the early access content in Solasta: Crown of the Magister. I think Solasta did what it set out to do. It made a statement about how it would approach the modern era of D&D computer RPGs and how it sets itself apart from other modern offerings such as Pillars of Eternity, Divinity: Original Sin and Baldur’s Gate 3. And it made me eager to see what comes next. ...

After I posted today’s Blaugust prompts, especially the bit about the origin of most of my characters’ last name, “Tanglewood”, Bhagpuss commented that there was actually a game by that name, back awhile ago. I had absolutely no idea. It was kind of funny that he’d also considered “Tanglewood” as the name of his druid. The 80s-era game was for the Amiga and the Atari ST, and looked like a pretty standard adventure game of the era, with some rather nice graphics to go along with the gameplay. This is back when adventure games were a genre – a genre that no longer exists. ...