First of all – I hope you're all doing well with this craziness everywhere.
Much to my own embarrassment I'm digging out the ancient Ongoing category I thought would never see the time of day again... making me realize I haven't updated that layout specifically in two years. This is for games I've played enough to make an impression, that weren't demos or such, but I don't think I have enough material for a review. Sometimes this may also be for effectively endless games. So all in all, a light update for you and at least there are no reviews to post on Steam this time.
I also got around to collecting some Multimedia stuff.
There's a funny story to Exit the Gungeon and how I acquired it. You see, I bought the newly released title couple of days ago as a mistake. I saw “Gungeon” in the title and since Enter the Gungeon is on my wishlist I just assumed that was it. It never crossed my mind devs put out a spin-off title. Not being one to ask for refunds I decided to give it a go... and so began my Days of Troubles™.
Turns out I'm pretty damn terrible at the game. Probably not helped by the fact this is one of those “long term projects” kind of titles where dying, restarting with new characters and getting better is simply part of the equation with replay in-built replay value, but lack of manual dexterity can be laid entirety at my feet in every other respect. Weird part is I kinda knew it was gonna turn out this way the moment I realized there's a vertical platforming element to a bullet hell. Maybe I'd fare better with a gamepad although I can't see how analog stick could replace the mouse for targeting accuracy. Story? Eh, it seems to continue right after Enter ended and now you have to escape the collapsing Gungeon. Along the way goddess Kaliber bestows a blessing upon you so your weapon randomly changes every ten seconds or so. You can imagine the RNG fun to be had along the way.
Non-lift periods are cooldowns between intense action and where you're liable to get items.
Hello Games should definitely be commended for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, even more so when you consider many, many developers would have rather taken the money and ran away with it, but unless you're already into what No Man's Sky is peddling I don't think that's really going be as important as it may seem.
What do I mean by that? Well, I can only speak for myself when I say I'm not exactly sold on “collect stuff so you can upgrade your gear so you can collect even more stuff faster” gameplay cycle game employs. Which becomes an issue because that's the framework upon which No Man's Sky is built. A lot of stuff has been added since launch and even some narrative, but that's not the selling point. It seems to be a bonus you uncover as you engage in former and explore/terraform/fight your way across the galaxy. Literally. This is also a kind of game where you wonder what more can developers add as they have more or less realized that (in)famous multiplayer feature promised at launch. There is fun to be had in occasionally jumping into the game before you're slowly pulled out as meeting basic needs to keep going piles on.
If having that third-person camera was a deal breaker it's been in the game for a while.
Kinda hard to believe last time I talked about ESO was in 2018. Also in an Ongoing update. Yet, here we are. A lot has changed in those two years with most notable additions two expansions further fleshing out the world. As of writing this I'm missing recently released Greymoor one, but that won't stop me.
On my own end very little has changed in that period, though. I even lapsed in logging for daily rewards and have only recently made an effort to try again. I created a new Necromancer character with whom I have yet to even get out of the [then] new Elsweyr tutorial area so that's a bust. As far as my old Sorcerer goes I've been spending my days just stealing from chests and pick-pocketing people wherever I can for no reason. I even put leveling aside, not that it matters much due to level scaling introduced with One Tamriel update, and just focused on fencing stolen goods for the gold. Can't say much about the performance update seeing as there's been no obvious change here. I really need to start playing ESO at least semi-casually if only for the stories.
Old staple of mixing different categories of armor is still in even if it looks silly. No reason why a spellcaster can't wear heavy armor.
Space Force ( Science Fiction, Comedy, Drama, 2020, 10 episodes ) + TRAILER
At a certain point, almost midway through or so, it actually becomes a drama about the newly formed Space Force with levity and humor, but journey to get there had to contend with shoehorning in a fictional take on modern politics and society that end up more detracting to overall package than adding. Basically, it has to constantly remind the audience Trump is seen as a crazy man who goes on Twitter tirades and even his opposition on the Left gets couple of characterizations. Best part is you have Carell taking the reins as a great comedic lead who has to deal with leadership as well as familial issues and is otherwise counterbalanced by snarkier Malkovich as his scientific counterpart. Their dynamic is great throughout, not to mention other characters I somehow ended up caring for more than I anticipated with their earlier introductions. Asian guy driving with a black woman and having a heated discussion about Fullmetal Alchemist came out of nowhere, for example. For all of my complaining about earlier references to real life politics, political figures and progressive bullshit, I rather liked how modern day grounded show felt otherwise in relatability. US space program being constantly one upped by other nations and pushing forward with more projects with comedic overtones as they content with espionage, oversight pressure, etc ended up being quite entertaining once it got rolling. That's also coming from someone who considered dropping the show after first few episodes. I would also to extent a big MIDDLE FINGER to Netflix for their cliffhanger endings in what is obviously just the first part of the planned script.
Moyashimon ( Comedy, Drama, 2007, 11 episodes ) + OPENING
Here we have Moyashimon, story about a college freshmen Tadayasu Sawaki who can see microbes with his naked eye and even communicate with them... or rather they communicate with him via their cutesy anthropomorphic forms. To make matters interesting he decides to leave his hometown to attend Tokyo's Agricultural University with a childhood friend Kei to expand their horizons seeing as they're heirs to yeast and sake makes respectively. What follows is equal part comedy and lessons about microbes. Former mainly comes from show's support cast, mainly featuring a pair of bumbling seniors and leather-bound assistant with her brusque attitude, but I was surprised by how Moyashimon actually makes an effort to explain the way this unique power could be used in research environment as it gradually expands the cast along the way for additional dynamics. Let's just say that for all the college antics and trying to get girls I sure as hell learned out more about fermentation than I expected, particularly when it comes to sake. Final quarter or so dips a bit because they introduce drama, and a cross-dresser out of nowhere, but even with that comedic relief characters come off as rather grounded with real problems wondering what to do with their lives. Expect light slapstick comedy with some life lessons from the wise old professor when he's not busy brewing alcohol on college grounds. For research purposes, of course.
A Hunger Like Fire ( Horror, Drama, 2004, 284 pages ) + QUOTE
I could've sworn I read A Hunger Like Fire already, but considering it happens to be roleplaying game fiction there's a possibility I've read about it or characters were features in Vampire: the Requiem material proper. Being familiar with the source material this is one of those cases where I'm seeing the author translate game terminology or mechanics into fluff terms everywhere I look. What's it about? Well, it's about two newly made vampires coming from drastically different backgrounds as they go through their nights - one barely piecing together what's happening to him and other enjoying a position of privilege as she was made by Chicago's vampire Prince. Circumstances have them interact more and more towards the end of a brief story, but for the most part they each get their individual first person POV chapters so reader can see both sides of this vampire society. Real kicker is we also get a few chapters dealing with much better established elders engaging in plans within plans schemes that incidentally involve these new bloods seeing as everyone is looking for that leg up. Contrast between someone who has played the game for two centuries and really misses scented grease in his hair to keep the bugs away versus nightmare made manifest eating dogs in back alleys because he doesn't want to hurt anyone is rather compelling. Could have done without the cliffhanger just after having the antagonist's fate up in the air, though.