#i may criticize the devs' game design choices a ton

[rimeiii]

The entire Google Play report debacle is precisely why I think PB rating WHB as 16+ and not 18+ is a misstep on their part, especially considering they've already had previous experience of difficulty with LU's release, knowing that WHB is much raunchier and contains much more controversial content compared to LU.

Of course there's the other issue of Certain Groups of People taking offense to the content of the game, but I feel like the Play Store would be more likely to ignore such reports if this game was rated 18+ in the first place.

Still, it's hilarious that the reason why this debacle happened was due to profanity when it...was already a thing from the start. Like where were you when the game first dropped? Why not report the game then if you're really reporting for profanity? Why now? Y'all are a riot I swear.

[zybilna]

Another list of recommended non D&D TTRPGs

Mostly just a list of stuff that I personally have been having fun with!

5. Pathfinder: Look if you wanna replace dnd, this is probably the easiest way to do it. It is slightly more complex, but pf2e is WAY more beginner friendly than most people expect it to be. The main source of complication is also the system's greatest strength, in that the more in depth character customization lets you fill out your character's abilities in a more compelling way. Have you ever been frustrated because none of d&d's classes fit your character idea that well? Have you ever gotten a major class feature and not used it much because it doesn't fit your idea for your character? Pathfinder may be the system for you!

It does have a few minor issues in the form of design relics from the old edition d&d it was based on, but aside from the spell prep system most of those can be table ruled out or avoided with minor build tweaks.

4. Monster of the Week: This system is great for anyone who feels more intimidated by rules-dense systems. Being a Powered By The Apocalypse game means that if you learn one of these, you learn a bunch of other systems. Monster of the week is also very inexpensive to get into (Basically everything is free aside from the GM rulebook) and has good community support!

The genre is primarily modern Urban Fantasy with a focus on solving mysteries, but the publisher's most recent book, Codex of Worlds, expands the options so you can take those same supernatural horror mysteries into settings based on The Victorian Era, The Renaissance, The Dark Ages and even The Stone Age!

3. Thirsty Sword Lesbians: Look, this is an incredibly flexible system that has a shitload of uses so its hard to describe quickly but at its core this is another PBTA game that has more of a focus on mind games and emotional drama than the actual swordfighting mechanics. Swordfighting is just a backdrop for drama, and magic largely exists as a metaphor for the characters' personality traits, this makes the system incredibly easy to reflavor or tweak. I've seen a game run with a completely mundane fencing club, a homebrew setting based on a theater department and an official module based on a chess tournament. Anywhere people are competing and communicating can be the backdrop for this game. I should also note that despite the name and most of the art, the game is designed to work well with LGBT storytelling in general.

The core mechanics are essentially a rules-lite drama simulator, with the only truly consistent elements being romance and melodrama. The flavor is flexible and the rules have a ton of caveats that say "If you don't think this fits your character, ignore it!" Its primarily a game for people who like to really get into character to make choices and who are willing to shoot themselves in the foot for the sake of being true to that character.

2. Lancer: If rules-lite systems aren't as much your thing and you wanna take a very different approach to your new campaign setting, Lancer may be the game for you! This is a crunchy mecha combat game with a really in depth customization system that lets you make some wild shit. There are a ton of different customization options on top of an iconic series of mech frames that each have unique and iconic abilities!

It's also not as intimidating to get into as most crunchy systems, as its actually pretty hard to make a "bad" build in the game, the devs have been super cool about providing good digital resources like the Comp/Con app and the community is known for being pretty helpful!

Court of Blades: So this one is a bit more of a niche, but it's basically a system reskin of the critically acclaimed Blades in The Dark with some interesting new twists. Players take on the role of a group of nobles and courtiers in a low-magic fantasy setting inspired by Renaissance Italy's feuding noble houses as they attempt to bring their house to the top.

The real appeal of this system to me is how effectively it lets players play a group of scheming rich bastards, with mechanics around currying favor and having people to do things for you. If you've ever tried to run a noble in a different system only to be frustrated at how little the game lets you use your character's wealth and influence, you might like this game! It's a narrative driven game with a very different approach to structuring plots and missions compared to most ttrpgs that creates a much more engaging narrative flow. The player character playbooks can feel a bit linear and restrictive, but if more people play this one that means more homebrew options!

[is-osana-here-yet]

Comparing Lunar Scythe and Yandere Simulator 1/? : Character Design

This is Luna, her backstory as written by Dev is:

The main character is a girl in her late teens named Luna. Luna is obsessed with an idea; the idea that this world is full of people who don't deserve to live. Murderers, thieves, kidnappers, human traffickers, drug dealers, arms dealers, arsonists, scam artists, identity thieves - Luna desperately wishes she could do something to rid the planet of such people, but she feels like there is nothing she could do that would ever make a difference. At the beginning of the game, Luna dies. As Luna's spirit looks down at her own body, she feels nothing but apathy. She didn't want to live in a world filled with human filth, anyway. That's when Death shows up. Death looks into her soul to determine which afterlife she belongs in, and he is surprised at what he finds within her. He learns that she is free of sin, yet her strongest desire is to take millions of lives. While examining this pale girl clad entirely in black who yearns to kill, Death feels as though he's looking at his own reflection for a moment. Death decides that Luna may be able to serve him a purpose. Instead of sending her soul to the afterlife, Death makes Luna an offer. "I'll bring you back to life, if you agree to bring me human souls." Luna is shocked by his offer. "But I don't want to kill innocent people!" "Then do not kill the innocent," Death replies. "Kill the guilty." "But who are the guilty?" She asks. "That's for you to decide," Death replies. Death is offering her the authority and the power to kill anyone she thinks deserves to die - and she thinks that a LOT of people deserve to die. She doesn't want to come back to life and return to a miserable world filled with criminals, sadists, and psychopaths...but if she had the power to purify this sinful world, she could create a world that she actually wants to live in. And so, Luna accepts the offer, not to become Death, but to become Justice. Death resurrects Luna, gives her a giant scythe, and grants her superhuman powers that become active at midnight. By day, Luna is an ordinary girl who works part-time jobs to scrape by...and by night, she is the judge, jury, and executioner of her city, an agent of death. If Luna does not bring him enough souls, Death will take her life. Luna asks Death how many souls he wants, and what her deadline is. Because Death does not perceive time the same way that mortals do - in terms of seconds, minutes, or hours - he cannot give her a specific date. As he looks upward in contemplation, he notices that the moon is full. And so, he decides that Luna must use the scythe to deliver a specific number of souls to him by the end of the lunar cycle. Hence the name of the game, "Lunar Scythe." (What do you think? Corny?) The game takes place over the course of a year. After each full moon, Death demands more souls by the next full moon. So, Luna has to kill more and more people to meet her quota each month. What Luna doesn't know is that she's not the only dead girl that Death has brought back to life! He has also resurrected other recently deceased girls who each have the capacity to take millions of lives. Every time there is a full moon, Luna will fight another resurrected dead chick wielding a giant energy weapon. The game takes place in 2015, and there are 13 full moons in 2015, meaning Luna will have to face 13 of these enemies in total.

What is Death plotting? Why does he want mortals to gather souls for him? What will happen once Luna has defeated all of the other dead girls?

You'll have to play the game to find out. ^.~

Alex has given her a fairly simple backstory that could easily be expanded on. In the forum he presented this in, he gets some good feedback on her character wise. The people pose questions such as “what is her goal?” and “well this bit doesn’t make sense because .....” 

We already know Dev made Ayano a blank slate, because when he presented Lunar Scythe, he was met with what he saw as “harsh criticism.” However in the forum no one is really that harsh. Most tend to clue in that Alex doesn’t take critique well, and pose their thoughts in ways such as “well think about why she does this, who made her like this...” One of the major problems fans have with Yandere Simulator, is the lack of personality/story for Ayano. One could say Ayano is meant to be a self insert for the player, but the problem is she is legit nothing. A self insert in other games typically has a base story, and the interpretations of a character are formed based on the choices that the player makes. In otome games, Persona 5, Fallout, you can choose dialogue options. It’s up to the player to pick the snarky comment, the kind comment ect... The only way a player could form an interpretation of Ayano is through elimination methods. Do they stab a person? Blackmail? Pair them up with someone else? Either way the only focus on these options is Ayano’s perspective on removing someone from Taro’s life. The player can’t decide why Ayano loves Taro. What kind of person Ayano is. 

I tried my best to make sure that Luna wasn't a Mary Sue. There are a lot of details about Luna that I left out... Luna's younger sister, Stella, was a child genius and a celebrity. Chess grandmaster, master of four instruments, wrote and published a best-selling novel, graduated college, performed surgery - all before the age of 12. Luna was never able to measure up to her little sister in any way, which left her with a horrible inferiority complex. As soon as Stella started pulling in tons of money and making the family famous, her parents practically forgot that Luna existed. Luna tried everything to get her parents' attention - causing trouble at school, wearing bizarre fashion, dying her hair crazy colors - but this only pushed her parents further away. She moved out at age 18, and she hasn't spoken to them since. She doesn't bother reading any news related to her younger sister, preferring to pretend that she doesn't even exist. The goth fashion and dyed hair became a part of her identity after so many years, so she still keeps a little bit of dye in her hair and wears gothic accessories from time to time. Luna started struggling immediately after moving out. She barely graduated high school, she can't make friends easily, she can't hold down a job, and can't afford to pay her rent. She's depressed, miserable, and desperate when she finally dies. Even after her resurrection, she still lacks the qualifications or experience for any full-time job, and has to keep doing lousy part-time jobs to scrape by. She literally has nothing going for her, other than the fact that she gets superpowers for a brief period of time at midnight...then it's back to being a failure at life.

Again, this is very underdeveloped. Why can’t she hold down a job? Doesn’t she learn? Is being depressed just part of her character? Alex refused to give Ayano a backstory, because he decided that if people didn’t like what he wrote for Luna, they wouldn’t like what he wrote for Ayano. Ayano has been given a few backstory prompts, sort of. The biggest being “Ayano can’t feel anything”, however people criticise Ayano’s character because it contradicts the very basis of her, she’s a yandere. It feels like Alex has just recycled the murderous intent from Luna, removed her backstory and stuck it into Ayano. There is no “deredere” to contrast the “yan” side of her, making her boring and dull.

People began saying Luna looks too generic, looks like Ryuko from Kill La Kill, Ruby Rose from RWBY, and Cassie Hack from Hack/Slash. People also though she looked too “edgy”, typical busty goth anime girl. When met with this criticism, Alex went around commissioning different artist to come up with a different design for his character. He asked the forum what they liked best. The designs presented were:

And this, is Ayano’s concept art.

Ayano’s first design shares some similarities to Luna. The red/black palette. Short hair. It seems as though Alex abandoned the original “having a distinct silhouette” and opted for having a plain design. Ayano is not easily recognisable, as she looks like any other Japanese middle school student. In the forum, he is constantly asking for harsh criticism. He says he want to improve the character. He often asks what other people would suggest instead. 

As he’s met continuously with criticism about the practicality of this all, he states:

I'm totally aware of how ridiculously impractical it would be to use a scythe as a weapon...in real life. But this is a video game, where the Rule of Cool is the only rule I need. I'm willing to throw realism and practicality out the window for the sake of having the coolest weapon possible, and to me, that's got to be an energy scythe. An umbrella isn't a practical weapon to use in a fight, either, but that doesn't stop Parasoul. You can argue that Parasoul is using a special fantasy umbrella that shoots projectiles - and, likewise, my character is using a special sci-fi scythe with an energy blade rather than a solid blade, which opens up combat options that a grass-cutting tool does not.

I agree that the costume is impractical, but that doesn't matter to me very much. Once again, I'm willing to completely suspend my disbelief as long as something looks cool enough...or sexy enough. I'd rather have an impractical and cool-looking character than a completely realistic, practical, boring character. With that said, it may be entirely possible for her to be wearing a much more cool-looking outfit than her current corset / skirt combo...but whatever outfit I eventually decide on will definitely not be restrained by practicality. So, what would you suggest for the outfit?

It seems like this is what fuelled Alex to make Ayano so boring. Ayano seems like she’s just a huge “fuck you” to the people that criticised Luna. Ayano is very practical. Very realistic. To the point of boredom. People continually state Luna’s character is boring and too simple, his response:

The reason I wanted to give the protagonist a simple hairstyle is because I haven't been able to get cloth physics or long hair physics working in my game engine. But, of course, that's a personal failing, and shouldn't restrict the character's appearance. So, what would you suggest for the hairstyle?

Having short hair fits with the first design of Ayano. Perhaps his engine still was that bad that he couldn’t get physics working. Personally, I feel like Alex continuing to ask people for suggestions when met with any criticism becomes very passive aggressive. Every single comment is met with that. It comes off as “well if you think it sucks, tell me how I should do it then.” You cannot saying the hair is generic without giving an alternate suggestion according to Alex.

He also gets upset over someone stating there was no reason for having a young white female protagonist. Keep in mind Ayano too, is a young white female protagonist.

What's wrong with having a young, white, female protagonist? If this is a "social justice warrior" thing, I'm definitely not going to argue about that subject in this thread. The costume is my primary concern here.

Alex quickly abandons is old “please critique my work!” rhetoric and writes this rant defending his choices.

About the cleavage, midriff, and legs...well, there is a story-related reason why she desires to dress up in a sexy outfit when she fights, but even if there wasn't a plot-related reason, I'm going to fall back on the Rule of Sexy. I absolutely love sexy-looking femme fatale characters. ...aren't we on...the Skullgirls forum...?...

This goes back to Alex is making a game for himself. A character for himself. He is sexualizing this girl and is lying about having a story related reason for the sexy outfit. He does the same thing with the characters of Yandere Simulator. 

I really hate over-designed characters with too many belts and zippers and random useless accessories hanging off of every limb...but I really don't think my character suffers from that problem. She's got a pretty simple outfit. There are some details, sure, but I don't feel the design approaches the DeviantArt level of ridiculous over-design. Everything about the character's design, however implausible it might seem at first glance, does have a justification. The reason she dyes her hair, the reason Death thought a scythe would suit her best, the reason she wears a sexy outfit - it's all worked into her backstory. Is that what you're talking about? I didn't really purposefully make the game's storyline dark for the sake of being dark - I just made it a story that appeals to me, and dark things happen to appeal to me, so the story came out really, really dark. I guess you could say that my over-abundant enthusiasm for impractical weapons, sexy outfits, and super dark-and-edgy plot elements is totally steering the design and direction of this game. (However, because the game takes place predominantly in LITERALLY dark environments, it may be a good idea to give her a brighter color scheme...) Maybe it's because all of these aspects of her design appeal 100% to my personal tastes, but I just can't imagine that choosing to go with this character design could actually result in "practically no revenue". Is that what you're really suggesting? Or are you just saying that every time I make a decision about a character's appearance, I should treat that decision, no matter how minor, as being a choice that could ruin the game financially? Because that doesn't seem realistic to me, either... Anyway, why even criticize the original design? I'm ready and willing to replace it with one of the new re-designs that I posted. So, please tell me what it is you like / dislike about the NEW designs.

The thread goes into gameplay a little more, and then Alex says this:

I'm starting to think I made this thread a little too soon. I mean, I'm TOTALLY aware that I could never, ever ship a game that plays exactly like that prototype you played. Obviously, the final game won't just be killing sets of 5 dudes over and over. Obviously, the final game won't have that lame death animation. Obviously, the final game won't have a special move that is just spinning in a circle. But since people are getting the wrong idea, I guess it was a mistake to post that prototype and call it a "demo". Maybe I should have called it a "proof of concept". Or maybe I should have called it a "programming test". Or maybe I shouldn't have posted anything at all just yet...

It’s quite similar to the pity party he threw himself when his game was critiqued by Mike Z. Alex posts more designs for his character at this point

We go back to Luna’s goal and backstory, and Alex just keeps stating that she hates bad people and wants to rid the world of them. He states a few times “you have to play the game to find out” A similar tactic used with core plot points in Yandere Simulator.

What I’ve gathered from looking at Luna and Ayano together, Ayano is Luna. Same sadistic side. Lack of empathy. Similar beta designs and motifs. Ayano just had Luna’s backstory removed because Alex didn’t want to face criticism again. 

[carree958game-blog]

9 Ridiculous Runs Regarding VIDEO GAME

Prime 20 Gaming Blogs You Must Be Following

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[adamhhutchins]

A Twitch Integration Lets the Viewers Call the Shots

Q&A with Fatshark Games and Warwitch

With tons of enemies attacking you at all times, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is a hectic game. It’s hard for Twitch broadcasters to read their Chat or interact directly with their viewers. That’s why the game developer Fatshark decided to include an innovative Twitch integration that allows viewers to change the outcome of the game for the broadcaster. Every 30, 60, or 90 seconds Chat can vote on what happens in the game. The integration makes it easier for the broadcaster to play and comment on the screen.

We caught up with Fatshark and Warwitch, a Twitch creator that often streams Vermintide 2, to get the behind-the-scenes lowdown on why the integration is so cool and the technology behind it.

https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fplayer.twitch.tv%2F%3F%2521branding%3D%26autoplay%3Dfalse%26video%3Dv375726965&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitch.tv%2Fvideos%2F375726965&image=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic-cdn.jtvnw.net%2Fs3_vods%2Fd163aa85d91d375b0251_warwitchtv_32480893856_1098681297%2Fthumb%2Fcustom-304a8ee8-f20a-4e90-ac75-955a8eb89c91-640x360.jpeg&key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=twitch

Q&A with Gunnar Johannson, PR Manager at Fatshark

Q: Can you tell me more about Fatshark and Vermintide 2?

Fatshark has been around for 12 years with the first title Lead and Gold debuting in 2010. It’s a tightly knit team of over 90 experienced and skilled employees, who do regular updates for Vermintide 2 and are always on the look-out for new and exciting projects.

Vermintide 2 is the sequel to the critically acclaimed Vermintide. It’s a fierce first-person, co-op slaughter-fest, featuring visceral and ground-breaking melee action set in the apocalyptic End Times of the war-ravaged Warhammer Fantasy Battles world. The game has sold over two million units and has about 397 million minutes watched on Twitch. It was also voted the co-op game of the year by PC Gamer — and is on the cover this month for the second time. Kotaku called it the “The Best Four-Player Co-op Since Left 4 Dead.”

Today also happens to be the first anniversary of the game. You can play for free on Steam until tomorrow!

Q: Why are you excited about this Twitch integration?

A: The integration is a really great way to get the viewers engaged in the stream as well as in the game. It lets a massive amount of people play together, even though only four are playing the actual game. The audience becomes the game directors, and for the players, it’s a bit like improv theatre. The viewers get their voice out there via the voting, and suddenly the players get a Chaos Warrior to fend off.

Q: Why did you, as a company, decide to invest in this integration instead of something else?

A: We have been talking with Twitch about possibilities since they first told us about the integration, and this was a long time before the game was even announced. We had it on our list of things we wanted to include at release or shortly after. About a month before release we had a meeting where we decided between what would be in the game on day one, and what would come within a few weeks after release. With the huge — H-U-G-E — success of the beta with streamers, it was an easy decision to include the integration at launch, because it would give the streamers more options to interact with their viewers, but also show that we appreciate what they do.

It’s also fair to say that our Twitch integration was a pivotal part of the success we had on Twitch when we released the game, and Twitch is an integral part of reaching out to gamers.

Q: What are you planning to do next?

A: The integration is played daily, and we get positive feedback from so many streamers when we visit any event, etc. We are looking into what we can add, and what would be appreciated by both streamers and viewers.

Q&A with Victor Magnuson, Game Designer and Producer at Fatshark

Q: Can you briefly describe your development process? Including how you came up with the idea, how long it took, what you did to test or troubleshoot, etc.

A: During the development of Warhammer: The End Times — Vermintide we realised that the system we use to populate the world (the Ai Director) would be pretty well suited for a integration of this type. The director already took into account how the players were doing and acted accordingly. For instance, if the players took a beating, it would lay off them for a while and if a player left the group, it would send an Assassin to kill that player. We realised that we could hand some of this power over to the streaming audience and let them be a part of the streaming experience in a very direct way. So when we started development of the sequel, a strong Twitch integration felt like an obvious choice. It was also during this time that streaming as a part of the general gaming community really took off.

Q: Describe the technology behind this integration?

A: It is quite simple actually. We ask the streamer to connect with their Twitch account name in the the game, we then send a request to “https://api.twitch.tv/kraken/users?login=" .. <twitch_user_name> to collect their data. If we get a positive response we check their user_id with a https request to “https://api.twitch.tv/kraken/streams/" .. <user_id> to see if they have an active stream going. We then use the channel name for the stream to connect to “irc.chat.twitch.tv” and join their channel. This allows us to constantly parse their Chat and use that to look for answers to the queries that we present on screen. We also make sure that the same user cannot vote multiple times.

Q: What learnings or best practices would you share about developing integrations with Twitch?

A: Keep it as simple as possible but make sure that whatever the audience is doing in the game is very noticeable; you want the viewers to feel like they are impacting what is going on in the game and easily recognise that what is happening is due to their involvement. Another thing is that the audience will most likely either try to always help the streamer or always make the life difficult for the streamer, so when you have multiple options for the viewers to choose from, try to make them balanced, otherwise the results tend to become very similar. For example, if the options are opposites (a good and a bad choice) dependent on the relationship between the streamer and their Chat, the result will always be the bad or the good choice.

https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fplayer.twitch.tv%2F%3F%2521branding%3D%26autoplay%3Dfalse%26video%3Dv376075971&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitch.tv%2Fvideos%2F376075971&image=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic-cdn.jtvnw.net%2Fs3_vods%2F0b8845e445e83ffb3e61_warwitchtv_32579786592_1104862093%2Fthumb%2Fcustom-1b8d40eb-84b6-443c-93b0-e6dba8377978-640x360.jpeg&key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=twitch

Q&A with Warwitch, Twitch Creator

Q: Can you tell us about yourself and your Twitch Channel?

A: My name is Warwitch from WarwitchTV and I’ve been a Twitch Partner for nearly five amazing years. I play a variety of exciting games, Vermintide 2 being one of my favorites, and also my first experience with Twitch integration.

Q: Please describe (briefly) your experience with Twitch integration.

A: I had actually never heard about integration until the release of Vermintide 2. I was naturally excited and interested, so I tried the feature out as soon as I was able. I immediately loved the fact that my viewers were able to shape events in the game directly. It’s fun to watch as they laugh and chuckle when their votes have a lasting impact on what happens.

Q: What benefits does the integration give you as a streamer? How does it enhance the viewer experience?

A: When my viewers are integrated into the game, I find it improves every element of my stream. I always try to make my viewers feel that they are a real part of the show (not just spectators), and integration really helps to make that happen. One of the coolest things I’ve seen about Twitch integration is how it empowers lurkers who may not otherwise have much to say to get involved in the stream. That’s very important to me. I try to interact with as many of my viewers as I can, and with Twitch integration that becomes even easier.

Q: How did you find out about the integration?

A: Vermintide 2 was the first time I had actually ever heard of integration in streams. When the devs announced that viewers would be able to have a hand in the events of a game I was playing I was thrilled. It’s been one of my favorite features to use during my live streams since.

Q: Any ideas for how it could be improved?

A: More options to vote on is always a good idea. More ways the viewer can impact and change the flow of the game. People also love to see their own names “up in lights,” so to speak. I’ve seen some integrated games that even copy the names of viewers who voted and place them in game as a boss or enemy to face. That’s a very fun experience for a viewer!

Q: Would you encourage other streamers to use Twitch integrations or Extensions? If so, why?

A: Absolutely! It’s a super fun way to get to know your community better and let them either help (or destroy) you. Either way, it’s a win. Twitch integration is an incredible way to bond with your community and just a whole lot of fun!

For more information on Vermintide 2 or Fatshark, visit https://www.fatshark.se/.

As always, let us know what you think by connecting with us @TwitchDev on Twitter, in the developer forums, or on our live broadcasts (follow us for notifications when we’re live).

Ready to build interactive experiences on Twitch? Start now!

A Twitch Integration Lets the Viewers Call the Shots was originally published in Twitch Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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Cozy up to the dead with these recent Switch releases

Loss of life, dismemberment, and demons, all simply in time for Halloween

In keeping with Irish folklore, Samhain is the day on the calendar when doorways between the land of the residing and the land of the useless and different areas of the supernatural open at their widest. Over time, the day morphed into what we now name Halloween, a vacation the place kids’s minds are stuffed with ideas of monsters whereas they stuff their mouths with sweet that may ultimately kill their our bodies. Additionally it is the night time when the most individuals on Earth might be discovered sporting slutty Luigi. The Yin and Yang, life and demise relationship between teeth-rotting, blood sugar-spiking sweet, and the attractive Mario Bros. are simply a part of what makes this such a particular time of yr. 

For those who’re a Change proprietor and also you wish to rejoice the day in a extra off-beat means, these 5 new-ish video games (most of that are additionally on PC) could do the “trick.” Not like most typical horror tales, these titles do not at all times work laborious to make you concern demise. As a substitute, they permit the participant to interact in contemplative, generally empowering relationships with the tip of their lives, making them an ideal match for Crom Cruach’s large occasion. 

Pinstripe 

I used to be not anticipating a lot out of this sport, nevertheless it actually blew me away with its writing and voice performing. It is not clear that any of the characters in Pinstripe are alive for any of our time with them, however they actually come to life emotionally, particularly Bo, your three-year-old daughter who faces a destiny worse than demise for many of your journey. The sport is about attempting to avoid wasting her from Pinstripe, a shadowy, devilish man who desires her for himself. It is uncomfortable stuff, however by no means exploitative. It is spectacular how shut the narrative involves straight addressing critical subjects like alcoholism and youngster abuse whereas by no means veering into territory that I would conceal from a ten-year-old. 

The sport’s puzzles are extra hit and miss. They vary from quick re-appropriations of Flappy Chook to hidden object hunts straight out of Highlights journal, although they’re all tailor match for the narrative. There are additionally some limited-scope motion sequences, often involving taking pictures one thing with a slingshot or leaping on a canine with a giant butt. All of them vary from fine-to-fun, nevertheless it’s the Burton-esque artwork route, unsettling use of By The Mild Of The Silvery Moon, and underlying themes of paternal guilt and habit that actually make this one work. It is a rated-T 2D Silent Hill: Shattered Reminiscences for the fashionable period. 

The Lacking: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Reminiscences 

As Chris stated in his assessment, there may be much more to The Lacking than you would possibly glean from simply the trailers. I’ve heard some folks say that the sport seems like one other dread-filled 2D platformer within the type of Limbo or Inside, the place grisly shock-value deaths lie round each nook, besides that this time it is a beautiful younger lady who will get repeatedly massacred. That is not solely unfaithful, however one of many issues that makes The Lacking particular is the best way it turns participant motivations on their head, generally actually. As a substitute of desirous to run away from having your cranium caved in or your legs lower off, it’s essential to run into these brutal assaults in an effort to progress, and it hurts each time. 

Hurting herself is the one means for J.J. to avoid wasting somebody very near her. In that means, The Lacking forces the participant to alternate between the roles of protector, victimizer, and sufferer on a relentless cycle, and that is all simply in relation to controlling the sport’s protagonist. It is extraordinarily intense, which makes me all of the extra grateful that the carnage is damaged up by the occasional bursts of surreal comedy and in-game textual content messages that really feel very actual. Regardless of some points with wonky physics and uneven issue curves, The Lacking is a must-play sport for followers of physique horror, survivor tales, and anybody who is aware of what it is wish to be hated only for being your self.

Black Chook 

This new Fantasy Zone-meets-Steel Slug shmup from the thoughts of Yoshiro Kimura (Dandy Dungeon, Rule of Rose, No Extra Heroes, Little King’s Story) can also be a few lady who dies and comes again time and again, however not like in The Lacking, the violence right here is never masochistic. As a substitute of coming again damaged and bloody, the star of Black Chook reanimates as a ghostly raven’s head who wreaks havoc on every part she sees. The message can also be slightly tougher to parse. Do all of the soldier-peasants appear like Mario as a result of the sport is about struggling indie devs who wish to let free on the senseless mascot-worshiping client tradition that usually leaves them ignored? Would the world be higher off if the spoiled innocence of nature rose up in a rage and destroyed mankind and all its environment-poisoning expertise? Which has extra of a proper to exist, the vengeance of a useless youngster that left the world in wreck, or the lives of apathetic bystanders who did nothing however watch as that very same youngster died within the streets?

I haven’t got solutions to these questions, however I do know that Black Chook makes it very enjoyable to explode issues, and its soundtrack is already one among my favourite sport scores ever. It is a gibberish opera sung by passionate Muppets the likes of which we have not heard since LocoRoco, and higher but, many enemy spawn occasions are tied to the choral beats. This inherently enjoyable fusion of sound and motion mixed with non-linear development and a copiously deep combo system makes replaying the eight ranges (4 in the primary sport, 4 in new sport plus) a pleasure to blast via each time. Although the sport is technically fairly quick, it has tons of secrets and techniques, unlockables, and random occasions to assist each apocalyptic spherical of destruction really feel contemporary.

Friday The 13th: Killer Puzzle 

Sure, consider it or not, this makes the fourth sport to launch on Change this month the place you play as some type of a useless individual. This time although, the rotten face you tackle will in all probability look extra acquainted, even though it is hidden behind an cute hockey masks. Like within the movies from which he hails, Jason Voorhees is out for revenge once more, however this time his homicide spree takes place in a collection of human jigsaw-like puzzles. As a substitute of film items round a board, you progress Jason, who’s mainly the Superman of the slasher world; impossibly robust, capable of transfer into your private house right away, and susceptible to only a few obstacles. On this case, his types of kryptonite embrace lakes, bear traps, and even getting arrested by the cops. Jason could also be a mass assassin, however with regards to interacting with the police, he is downright well mannered. 

These issues not often gradual Jason down although. His fundamental drawback right here is, he cannot stroll diagonally, and he can solely cease shifting when he hits a wall or somebody to kill. That may make it laborious to walk up and decapitate a camper who’s hiding in a nook down by a bear entice subsequent to the lake. Whereas the primary 10 levels or so are slightly too straightforward, the following 100+ greater than make up for it with sensible design and satisfying options. The devs additionally labored all of the DLC content material from the Steam construct into the Change port with extra pure, in-game unlocks. Now new variations of Jason are accessed through progressing via varied modes and coming into secret codes. That features the return of the NES’s inexperienced and purple Jason to Nintendo consoles, which is a trademark occasion for anybody who grew up with that individual iteration of our illustrious drowned boy.

Streets of Purple: DDD 

This can be the one sport on the record the place you play as a residing individual, however do not you are worried, it is nonetheless received loads of reanimated corpses to mess around with. In truth, there’s at the very least one boss that bears greater than a putting resemblance to the beforehand talked about Voorhees youngster, although this mama’s boy is extra of a parody and fewer of direct illustration. He is simply one of many many satirical tributes to horror movie icons. You could possibly virtually consider the sport as co-op horror Smash Bros., because it has equally easy inputs, however with a crossover of sport characters combined in with the lookalikes of The Demogorgon, Freddy, Colossus Titan, and the one who scares me most of all, none apart from Jim Sterling.

We additionally simply acquired phrase that the sport is about to get a complete lot greater. As you’ll be able to see within the trailer above, it is getting a free replace, tentatively set to go reside on Halloween. The patch features a good quantity of recent content material, together with new bosses, language choices, and the implementation of on-line leaderboards, all alongside a brief value drop.

I’ve helped advise the creator of Streets of Purple on varied points of the Change port for some time now, so any reward from me could come off as biased, however hey, I am not the one one who likes it. Whereas all of the video games on this record come extremely really helpful, that is the one one which’s constructed for 4 gamers, so in the event you’re planning on partying this vacation, placing this in your Change is the best way to go. 

Bonus Deal with

This artwork by James “Illmosis” Beaver, entitled Horror Combat 2, is on the market proper now and I am unable to suggest it sufficient. I purchased an 11×17 print of this piece final month, so I can attest to the print high quality and paper inventory, that are each high notch. In case you have time for one final Halloween ornament earlier than the 31st rolls round, do not be afraid to choose it up. 

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