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Be aware: It’s probably this submit shall be stolen and harvested by AI, which I get fairly sick of. I could also be transferring my posts elsewhere at some stage this yr with the intention to forestall that from taking place. However to be trustworthy, I’m primarily leaving this be aware right here to see if the folks stealing my stuff may even be bothered studying it earlier than they churn by it with a thesaurus machine and repost it. I look ahead to it 🙂
Streaming is lots of enjoyable. However, it is usually tougher than I typically acknowledge to myself once I begin a stream for the day. It may be onerous to maintain educational dialogue throughout a 3 hour interval a couple of single recreation. So I do hope I’m additionally capable of be entertaining – however streaming can also be bizarre in that it’s not like speaking to a room full of individuals. I can’t learn the room or all the time confirm how persons are feeling. After I’m speaking, I typically marvel – is that this an fascinating tangent? Does my horrible sense of humour land? Studying the way to maintain curiosity has been a studying curve, and I’m clearly falling out and in of apply on a regular basis.
There have been some enjoyable playthroughs I did this yr although, and I needed to replicate on how just a few of those video games really feel to stream. Possibly this may present some perception as to why I stream what I stream – and the way I’m feeling as I’m flailing round, questioning what the hell I’m doing 🙂
Some Spoilers Comply with For Sure Video games.
Pathologic Basic HD
Outdated Streams Playlist (Changeling / Bachelor)
New Streams Playlist (Haruspex)
The sport that I’ve streamed for the longest period of time by far, and naturally one of the crucial essential video games I’ve ever performed. It’s unusual as a result of I’m positive I repeat myself typically throughout streams, however I really feel that there’s all the time one thing new to think about relating to Pathologic.
It additionally fits my streaming model utterly completely. Dialogue freezes time in-game, so I can ramble for so long as I would like in one thing barely extra fascinating than a pause menu. The strolling is comparatively low-stakes for me nowadays, that means I can present fascinating commentary while not having to cease speaking and concentrate on the gameplay on the display. Studying out the dialogue additionally lets me nonetheless speak whereas nonetheless having fascinating issues to say, and letting my inside stockpile of “issues to investigate” recharge a bit.
Pathologic is a cornerstone of my channel and a chunk of media that fascinates me (and most others who play it). An odd, troublesome recreation that looks like it ought to collapse beneath its personal ambitions, however thrives. Very like Silent Hill 2 (2001), it really works inside its limitations, with all of these restrictions including to the work, moderately than detracting from it. Basic HD deserves to be performed and loved, even when all you do is make it by the Bachelor’s route. It’s the form of recreation that alters your notion of what a online game could be – and it modified my life to such a level that I’m scripting this proper now, after having streamed it for over forty or fifty hours.
What else can I say about Pathologic apart from that I’m disillusioned with the brand new allegations introduced ahead about Ice-Choose Lodge director Nikolai Dybowski? Given my channel began due to an earnest love for this recreation, it will get more durable and more durable to really feel comfy about my channel’s profile image being immediately related to Pathologic. Does that imply a change? Possibly, if I discover an artist I just like the model of. However it’s disheartening to consider one more influential piece of artwork that has been produced by one other unhealthy particular person. The allegations in 2021 had been already severe sufficient, however with much more stuff popping out, I really feel unhealthy for everybody else at Ice-Choose Lodge who should have their names related along with his.
No matter all of this, I’ll be ending Basic HD this yr and transferring on to Pathologic 2, because the latter has been requested who is aware of what number of occasions through the years. However I’ll shift away from Pathologic as a common aesthetic for my channel due to these most up-to-date allegations – however I’ll see what occurs.
Yakuza Kiwami (Full Sport Spoilers Comply with!)
Full Playlist
Yakuza Kiwami was far out of my consolation zone by way of streaming, however undoubtedly inside my consolation zone relating to the video games I play in my private time. I’ve come to treasure the Yakuza sequence, and it does a lot proper.
The themes of the story are actually easy. Kazuma Kiryu takes the autumn for a criminal offense he didn’t commit, and within the intervening years in jail, emerges to seek out that the most effective pal he coated for has snapped beneath the strain of being the pinnacle of a criminal offense household. If the sport had anchored itself extra strongly across the dynamics between Kiryu and Nishikiyama, I believe the unique Yakuza might have had a narrative even higher than Yakuza 0. Sadly Kiwami is beholden to the truth that it’s a remake, and it suffers from the truth that it nonetheless has to stick to the unique recreation’s story beats (nicely, it doesn’t should, however they did anyway). A lot of the sport is spent away from Nishiki, and we waste time on subplots with characters we’re by no means actually on condition that a lot cause to care about. Nishiki’s highlight because the central antagonist is basically stolen, though I do nonetheless love that the ultimate battle occurs despite that. Nishiki nonetheless has a rating to settle. As with most tragic battles by the sequence, the ultimate boss here’s a combat that feels avoidable, however at its core, was by no means going to finish in a handshake.
Kiwami was an odd recreation to stream, partly due to my erratic streaming schedule. Given I wasn’t capable of stream very a lot to start out with, I ended up taking part in the primary three or 4 episodes blind, earlier than going forward and ending the sport at dwelling. I’m now as much as Yakuza 5 and Judgment (taking part in each concurrently) and have 100% accomplished Yakuza 0 and Yakuza 4, whereas additionally intermittently making an attempt to complete Kiwami 2 and Yakuza 3. By now I’ve seen and completed a lot of what the Yakuza franchise provides, and I nonetheless love these video games an enormous quantity.
Kiwami is on no account the most effective Yakuza recreation (that award thus far for me goes to both Yakuza 0 or Yakuza 3, bizarre as that sounds), nevertheless it’s nonetheless an ideal recreation by any metric. I used to be primarily conscious I wasn’t capable of construct the routine schedule wanted to bounce off of the chat for a recreation like this, so I did really feel like my commentary right here wasn’t as insightful because it might have been. Moreover, a lot of my time was spent pummeling Majima’s face into the pavement time and again. There’s solely so many occasions you may remark about how a lot enjoyable rush model is earlier than you simply should shut up and let the fists fly.
Kiwami in all probability has a few of the finest “what the” moments of my streams, simply by advantage of its weird story. Certain, I’ll take Haruka playing. Ah sure, a spy on line casino constructed beneath the homeless park. In fact, a grown man hiding beneath a site visitors cone for months. All of this may appear nonsensical on paper, however the masterful tone shifts within the recreation make the humorous moments an efficient counter to dramatic, emotional story beats that, recreation after recreation, nonetheless produce tears.
Siren: Blood Curse
Full Playlist
Blood Curse is such a wierd, unusual recreation. On the one hand it’s moody, atmospheric and extremely detailed. It’s nonetheless unimaginable how a recreation from 2007 can nonetheless look so good. On the similar time, it’s a grotesquely ugly recreation at occasions, with far too many visible filters preventing for supremacy, and murdering your eyes on the similar time. The gameplay is a far cry from the earlier video games within the sequence, regardless of being a remake / reinterpretation of the unique. As an alternative of the shibito being virtually unstoppable killing machines and your character having the dexterity of a damaged tank, the shibito are knocked down in just a few hits, take ages to get again up, and your character virtually all the time has entry to a weapon.
When the sport’s soundtrack kicks in, it’s chic. The sounds are haunting in methods which can be onerous to right away describe. The music appears like sorrow (or terror) made audible, at occasions. But on the similar time, like – why? Why is there a lot that’s stripped from the sequence’ id? The episodic framing is irritating. Each chapter opens with a recap, and ends with a “right here’s what’s developing”. However I’m taking part in the sport proper now! I don’t want a recap for chapters which can be about thirty minutes lengthy at most. Not like earlier video games within the sequence, Blood Curse simply doesn’t appear to belief the particular person taking part in it, which is a pet peeve of mine. Should you aren’t satisfied you might be telling a narrative value remembering, it is likely to be value modifying the story.
This isn’t to say the story is unhealthy. Blood Curse has some nice background data occurring, and a few of the finest collectibles in video video games. The builders went out of their technique to make actual variations of every archive merchandise, taking photographs of them, and inserting them into the menus. This degree of authenticity is to be applauded, given how way more actual it makes the sport really feel. It was lots of enjoyable to stream simply to see folks’s reactions to the weird ultimate boss battle and all the overly-grotesque monstrosities the sport throws on the participant.
Whereas I’ve extra to say about this recreation, I’ll go away it for a video essay to finish my take a look at the sequence (coming this yr, I promise)!
Silent Hill: Homecoming
Full Playlist (watched at your personal peril)!
One of many strangest and maybe most depressing streams I’ve ever completed, however not due to something in addition to the sport itself (and my very own schedule). Homecoming might be the worst Silent Hill recreation (though I haven’t performed no matter Ascension was), and taking part in it on stream was in all probability an unimaginable mistake. It’s dry, boring, and repetitive. The sport is stingy with sources to the purpose that slogging by is just not an inevitability. You must combat for each inch of progress in Homecoming – however all extra progress rewards you with is extra Homecoming. The graphics are bland and encourage no worry. The monster designs solely have benefit relating to the bosses – the others are both copied from earlier video games or are simply gray blobs, or worse, are simply human cultists, made faceless and disposable. Quite than making an attempt to humanize the cultists – which the most effective entries within the sequence did to nice impact, making them authentic human threats, these guys are simply cannon fodder for the participant to gun down. Bear in mind discovering how terrible Dahlia was in Silent Hill? The sympathetic qualities of Claudia in Silent Hill 3, or the twisted motives of the killer Walter Sullivan in Silent Hill 4? Scrap all of that. Simply make the villains generic murderers who torture folks to demise with energy instruments, and who rent legions of faceless thugs to be whacked or shot to demise.
The fight in Homecoming is very misguided, simply because they tried to make Alex Shepherd, our protagonist, extra cellular than earlier protagonists – however they failed miserably. Travis from Silent Hill 0rigins on the PSP feels higher to manage, for crying out loud! The enter delay is unbearable. Melee fight versus a couple of enemy is only one technique to get Alex stunlocked and killed more often than not. Enemies react a lot quicker than Alex and but haven’t any approach to withstand gunshots more often than not. When you will have ammo, you’re invincible – while you don’t, you’d higher exploit the one dependable melee combo – dodge, swing, dodge, swing. Repeat till the enemy is useless. In any other case Alex is simply too sluggish and sluggish to answer do something. Do you perceive that this recreation isn’t any enjoyable but?
I’m actually unsure how many individuals soldiered by (pun supposed) my Homecoming playthrough. It’s obtained some fairly low view counts, and I don’t blame folks. Who wants extra Homecoming of their lives? No person – however I’m a minimum of glad I completed them. There aren’t many Silent Hill video games left to archive on my channel. There’s Downpour, and the Silent Hill 2 remake, and I assume The Brief Message. All I do know is, I actually, actually don’t wish to play by Homecoming once more. The cherry on prime of my streams is that the sport crashed earlier than the ending cutscene. On the time I stated “that’s about proper for Homecoming”, and my ideas haven’t modified. A becoming ending for a horrible recreation.
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Because of everybody who watches my streams and reads my blogs, I’ll be seeing you all extra this yr in 2025 🙂
Go right here to see final yr’s reflection like this.
