#Gaming Computer Review

[no-lullaby]

Sorry for no art in a very long time. I've been playing outer wilds and struggling

Hyper Light Drifter warm up

[electricea]

also i think of all the tycoon games, special mention has to go to hot dog king - they clearly, uh, knew their audience (although i think the only people who ended up playing this were kids lmao)

[hardcore-gaming-101]

Mawaza

The PlayStation 2 library never ceases to amaze with its vast range of games. Sometimes, you set out expecting to find copper, and while you do find copper, you also stumble upon a tiny piece of gold. That gold comes in the form of Mawaza. This relatively obscure puzzle game has remained exclusive to Japan for two decades now, but the good news is that it offers an incredibly addictive experience that anyone can enjoy. Developed by Media Vision, the company behind the popular Wild Arms series, and published by Sony, Mawaza delivers a simple yet challenging concept that is easy to learn but difficult to master.

Read more...

[commodorez]

Clint / LGR and his exhibit, featuring the Bear-A-Byte PC - VCF Midwest 18

[retrocgads]

USA 1993

[sydmarch]

[20kmemesunderthesea]

Verne: The Shape of Fantasy

Absolutely losing my mind over this game!

"Verne: The Shape of Fantasy" is a side-scrolling adventure game with beautiful graphics.

The storyline takes place in an alternate dimension. You play as the chief scientist of the Nautilus, one Monsieur Jules Verne. In this alternate dimension, a world war is underway and Captain Nemo is leading a resistance against "The Nation," a global power which is slowly taking over more and more countries.

Captain Nemo is salvaging ancient Atlantean technology which has the power to alter reality. Everyone quickly realizes that only Monsieur Verne seems to have the ability to alter reality.

Things turn dark, Captain Nemo's mental health declines as he faces the pressures of war. You, meanwhile, begin to question your own sanity as you begin to hallucinate weird things such as...a Mysterious Island...books with your name on them...messages from someone named "Ned Land"...

A lot of the game involves exploring. Personally, that's my favorite aspect of adventure games anyway, but I think some players might possibly wish for more puzzles.

There are collectable info cards you find around the game world which have interesting historical facts surrounding Jules Verne's life and literary works, which I thought was absolutely brilliant. They showed photographs of Jules Verne and his associates during the credits, and there was an after-credits scene as well.

"Verne: The Shape of Fantasy" is available on Steam and GOG.com:

[feral-lore-creature]

Jade Shadows review spoilers!

I'm going to do a review on the quest, and it's going to be long. While I, personally, don't believe it's an epic quest you just NEED to experience for yourself, I want others to create their own opinions first.

Okay, bluntly, Jade Shadows struck a bad cord with me. I don't take direct/personal offense to it, as I've never had a loved one die from complications with pregnancy, nor have I had any issues like those myself, but I can at least say it wasn't good.

For my sanity's sake, I'll be putting my thoughts into categories.

Gameplay: It's as generic and predictable as any other set of missions, only with new/uncommon characters talking via transmission. Very average. If you've played Warframe long enough, you know what you're in for.

Music: As per usual, the music itself is fucking stunning. Once again, no surprise there. It's very fitting for the energy of the story as a whole, and is very beautiful. That's the best part. (Aside from little owl Ordis, obviously. 💜)

Story: Okay, this is where my problem REALLY lies. I wasn't expecting much from a filler quest, but look, if I wanted to watch a (fictional) pregnant woman die for the sake of a man's development, I'd watch any subpar action/thriller film streaming right now. It's clear that the writers didn't want to make light of pregnancy, but while sticking to the message of how hard pregnancy is on the body, but still insisting the focus be on Stalker/his missions, they devalue Jade. We never get to know WHO Jade really is, and we probably never will. She has no actual personality presented throughout the quest, has even fewer voice lines, and therefor functions as an incubator/love interest to some guy. (A guy we barely know, in fact.)

It's like she's sidelined, which is ridiculous to me, since SHE'S the NEW Warframe we're getting for gameplay, and SHE'S the focal point/message of the story in the first place. (Or at least she SHOULD be-) Her active suffering has heavier weight than whatever else is happening.

Concluding Thoughts: It was overall very emotional -and it might just be my period hormones talking- so I'd say this quest didn't exactly feel like a slap to the face, even if my wording seems harsh, but the lack of detail/character given to Jade is still upsetting. Again, less insulting, more disheartening and disappointing.

I don't want to think this problem was intentional, as it was likely the lack of dedicated time/resources as a whole that caused this. (DE is dealing with Tennocon, and also working on a big main quest, etc.) I don't believe it was from carelessness, It's just too damn short. It's a reason, but not an excuse.

All in all, this a story that should have stayed on the shelf until DE had the proper time for it.

[scarletcomet]

my mom just sent me a goodnight text wishing me luck on my exam tomorrow. I haven't started studying yet....

[ahmedmahi81]

[bluekat12345]

ClanGen review

I recently have gotten into a game called ClanGen. For those unfamiliar, it's basically a fan-made Warrior Cats game. Its more of a management game

I actually learned about it after seeing a video of it on YouTube. Then I checked out a demo-like version of it on a website. And I enjoyed it and was content to keep playing that version. But then I learned more about it, so I decided to download the full version of this game and give it a go.

It was a pain to download, but I still enjoy the game. Admittedly, I often have a habit of deleting and starting over clans, but I do that with most (if not all) my games. I enjoyed running my own clan, checking out the lives of the warriors and seeing how their stories plays out. Makes me nostalgic and make me reread my old Warrior books. I like to make two clans: One good clan and the follows the traditions of rules of Warriors, and one bad clan similar to BloodClan or ShadowClan under Brokenstar's rule.

I also feels like it has more to offer than the book series does, in some aspects. But I also can't help but feel frustrated when things I didn't want to happen does happen. But it reminds me that how lives of warriors are often dangerous and unpredictable.

Not sure if I recommend, but for any Warrior Cats fans, check out and see for yourselves.

[elizabethplaid]

"Dear Esther: Landmark Edition" - menu screen

I've effectively played this game 3 times now, and I found myself crying a little at the end. Just... when you get to the part with the chainlink fencing, the wind whipping around you, on the edge of this cliffside... and then KNOWING what happens at the end. It was spooky the first time. Second time, less spooky but still felt a sense of dread.

TL;DR - The "landmark edition" is def nicer, but I still enjoy the quirks of the original. Playing both helped me better appreciate both. Just remember that this game deals with death and grief. The closer you look, the harsher the themes.

More talk and screenshots below the cut. It's a lot of grays and desaturation, along with "moody lighting", so you may need to turn up the brightness on your screen to decipher anything.

The lighting is less spooky (until near the end) in the "landmark edition" of the game. It meant some of the graffiti on the beach didn't glow as much. The moonlight was also brighter.

The graphics aren't much better than the original. Though it uses a different game engine, there's still the endearingly janky jpeg assets decorating the landscape. I particularly love the clusters of kelp that are so clearly just a photo.

[According to the director's commentary, "Dear Esther" was initially a mod for "Half-Life 2" on the Source engine. Then it was turned into a stand-alone game in 2012 (the original version). The "landmark edition" was made in 2017 with the Unity engine. Haven't finished all the director's commentary yet, but it's good so far.] =======

As for the screenshots, I really felt like a tourist in this landscape. I wanted to capture the views, note the landmarks, highlight how people's love for each other is part of the landscape. God, there's so many little cairn stone groups. I found one that wasn't in (my play-throughs of) the original version. Most are on the hillside with the bothy (tiny cottage) and shed.

By the ships, near the buoy. The paint on the rock was in the original game, but the lines in the sand and the grouping of rocks was not.

At the base of bothy hill. One wide-flat stone with "sun ray" lines radiating from the middle. Just behind the main grouping are 2 smaller stacks, right next to a larger rock. (I'm not going to post ALL of my screenshots, but I did photograph most of the cairns in both games. I had so many screenshots; they're all so beautiful!)

Partway up the hill, with only 4 lines radiating. I liked how this one has a tiny stone as a "cap". (The narration doesn't mention the cairns, surprisingly.)

The bothy was constructed originally in the early 1700s. By then, shepherding had formalised into a career. The first habitual shepherd was a man called Jakobson, from a lineage of migratory Scandinavians. He ws not considered a man of breeding by the mainlanders. He came here everysummer whilst building the bothy, hoping, eventually, that becoming a man of property would secure him a wife and a lineage. Donnely records that it did not work: he caught some disease from his malcontended goats and died two years after completing it. There was no one to carve white lines into the cliff for him either.

Further up the hill, there's a mini archway in this cluster. I loved capturing the bothy (cottage) and the aerial (beacon) in the background of my pictures. It's really tough to gauge a sense of dimension on this angled hillside, especially with all the gray and stones and sun-bleached driftwood.

This little one behind the bothy's shed looks more like a cross and also has some radiating lines. I was really struck by how -purposeful- this placement was, especially with so many on the hillside and so much space for many more. It breaks my heart how secretive it seems.

A section of the caverns that I missed in the original version. I thought I was being sneaky taking a side-path, but I didn't realize it wouldn't reconnect me to this junction. The lone candles in the caves were always haunting.

Glowing mushrooms and lichen.

The "armada" of paper boats. (They appear elsewhere, but shh!)

From here, I can see my armada. I collected all the letters I'd ever meant to send to you, if I'd have ever made it to the mainland but had instead collected at the bottom of my rucksack, and I spread them out along the lost beach. Then I took each and every one and I folded them into boats. I folded you into the creases and then, as the sun was setting, I set the fleet to sail. Shattered into twenty-one pieces, I consigned you to the Atlantic, and I sat here until I'd watched all of you sink.

One of the two ghostly figures I've found. (The other is too spoopy!) This is effectively as close as you can get before they disappear.

This is how it looks in the original game, for comparison.

The ghostly figure's cliff-point. You can see part of the candle path along the beach. It's such a beautiful section; that image is going to stick with me for a very long time.

I've begun my voyage in a paper boat without a bottom; I will fly to the moon in it. I have been folded along a crease in time, a weakness in the sheet of life. Now, you've settled on the opposite side of the paper to me; I can see your traces in the ink that soaks through the fibre, the pulped vegetation. When we become waterlogged, the cage disintegrates, we will intermingle. When this paper aeroplane leaves the cliff edge, and carves parallel vapour trails in the dark, we will come together.

[I left the British spelling as-is. It took me so long to remember "bonnet" means "car hood" when I first heard it in the narration, without necessary context.]

Same place in the original, though I didn't capture it fast enough to include the narration/caption.

To conclude, this was the menu screen upon completing the original game. As I mentioned earlier, I had almost gotten to the end on my first session, then had to replay EVERYTHING (about 2+ hours) to get back to the same spot. I was like 5 minutes away from the end, haha. =======

Yes, I highly recommend this game, if you're already exploring narratives that have themes of death and grief.

The creators purposely designed it to have different variations on each play-through, unfortunately. I've been through it (almost) 3 times, and I enjoyed noticing the differences in details. There are some sections -even in a single chapter- that don't let you double-back on the path. Explore what you can before taking too many forks in the road, if you don't want to do multiple plays.

A lot of the "big" landmark items are the same between versions. There are new urns to find, which is an achievement. I only found one on my own; passed by 2 without realizing it; looked up info for the 4th.

I had started to play this with the director's commentary on, but then I realized it wasn't showing the narrator's dialogue at the same time. I only explored the lighthouse and its nearby beach before I restarted.

What little of the commentary I did hear was wonderful. The composer, Jessica Curry, noted that the original had audio samples for the soundtrack. The newer soundtrack features live musicians. Both are wonderfully haunting, though I wish music played through more of the game. Then again, the howling wind was all-the-more eerie this way.

[fogaminghub]

🎉 Hey gamers! Have you heard? The Black Myth: Wukong Patch 1.0.12.16581 is now live! 🚀 This update introduces thrilling challenges like "Return of Rivals" and "Gauntlet of Legends" plus the all-new Journeyer's Chart to make exploration a breeze! 

Check out our latest blog post to get all the details, tips, and what to know before you jump in! 🎮💫 

[retrocgads]

USA 1993

[review-anon]

Dude i think you're either mistaking it by some other weird horror game from the 2010s or flat out wrong because Imscared was never a dark web game neither does it contain an actual virus. I believe this misconception may have originated from the fact that the style of the game and one of the endings involving your character hanging themselves probably shocked players/viwers quite a bit since, for the time it was released, these weren't very commonly seen in the space of indie horror, thus it may have been wrongfully deemed an "Dark web game"

Same thing with it coming with an actual malicious virus, Imscared is literally the pionieer of indie horror games that mess with your computer like creating files on your desktop, opening links and requiring you to mess with settings at times in order to progress in certain segments. But it never goes overboard with it to the point of seeming dangerously invasive like i've seen some really shitty Sonic.exe fangames or even horror minecraft mods go, it's clever and it uses this aspect of itself with tact that ties well within its confusing narrative about White face and whatever this game was actually meant to be.

The original version came out all the way back in 2012 and the full version in 2016, with a workshop edition demo sometime in-between those, and it got a remaster of sorts a few years back for its 10th anniversary! (I mention this since no version of Imscared is exactly the same from one another, though it's differences aren't Hello neighbor alpha levels of drasctically different and are more just subtle strange changes that all ties into an arguably loose narrative) It's one of my favorite horror games ever and i'd recommend it for anyone who's curious about it to at least watch a let's play online, but i do understand that it's stile isn't everyone's cup of tea

Oh yeah I think I confused it with Sad Satan which is from the dark web and does contain some messed up stuff which I won’t say on here because it violates several guidelines.

I think the issue is both have similar graphics and came out at the same time so my brain obviously confused the two. And YouTubers were talking about it at the same time, and with many Sad Satan videos saying in bold capital letters “DO NOT DOWNLOAD THIS GAME” and I think some clickbaits said the same for Iamscared as well. So it was misleading at the time.

I’m not a fan of horror games that mess with your computer because it can be hard to tell if it’s just adding files on the computer or if it’s gonna into full virus mode. I’ve seen videos during the 2010s of those type of horror games and they just creeped me out especially with YouTubers claiming they have dummy computers just in case it bricks them. And when you had a virus almost mess up your computer only failing due to your computer having overheating issues at the time so that the frequent BSODs ended up messing up the virus’s code allowing you to purge it from your computer, you tend to get super paranoid about programs which edit stuff on the computer.

Maybe they are just being super dramatic but either way it’s left a bad taste in my mouth.