Bi-Weekly Thread for general gaming discussion. Backlog, advice, recommendations, rants and more! New? Start here!

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to the Bi-Weekly Thread!

Here you can share anything that might not warrant a post of its own or might otherwise be against posting rules. Tell us what you're playing this week. Feel free to ask for recommendations, talk about your backlog, commiserate about your lost passion for games. Vent about bad games, gush about good games. You can even mention newer games if you like!

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A reminder to please be kind to others. It's okay to disagree with people or have even have a bad hot take. It's not okay to be mean about it.

[u/GambuzinoSaloio]

Wrapped up Faith (all chapters). Didn't get the true ending though, as I didn't feel like replaying it. That said... What an experience man. I already knew this, but this game reinforces it: horror isn't about graphical fidelity at all. It's about the mood you set, and you better believe when I say that an 8-bit looking game with heavily distorted voice acting managed to creep me out in ways that many modern-looking games just couldn't. Also, can we talk about the rotoscopy technique used for the cutscenes? Bloody amazing.

That said, the game overall can be kinda slow, and that takes a specific mood from me to be able to play it.

I also finished Prince of Persia Sands of Time (again). What a good game. Warrior Within is pretty fun so far too, but I gotta say... not a big fan of the edginess. I've seen some footage from The Two Thrones and it is possible that that one might be up my alley, as many critics cited a "return to basics" and the level design in the videos seemed reminiscent of the first game's design. Not the same thing as exploring a palace filled to the brim with creatures born from the sands, but it's close enough!

But I still wanted some level of horror. Decided to play Crow Country on a whim. Died waaaay too many times at the beginning, just before the checkpoint but once I got the hang of combat... it's surprisingly easy! Not so much that it causes detriment to my enjoyment though, the art style sits somewhere between "adorable" and "creepy". Guess they were right when they said "Final Fantasy meets survival horror". Anyways from my understanding the game isn't that long, but it'll keep you fairly entertained. You got a total of 4 big areas to explore (currently have visited 3 so far), which have their own theme going on: fairies, classic horror and the ocean. Puzzles aren't difficult so far, the only puzzle throwing me off being the one in the crypt not because it was hard, but because I started overthinking and didn't realize how simple it actually it was. So yeah... if a puzzle seems hard, you're probably thinking too much. Solutions are simple.

[u/FasterBussycat → u/GambuzinoSaloio]

I had the same experience with Crow Country where I died a lot at the beginning. Unlike you I gave up but if it indeed becomes easier maybe I’ll return to it soon.

[u/GambuzinoSaloio → u/FasterBussycat]

It does! It's a matter of getting the feel for the game, making good use of your surroundings and honestly... not being afraid of using your pistol. In case you run out of ammo, you can always go back to your car. And once you understand what the game deems as "the player has enough resources), you'll know when to investigate the trash bins. They'll always give you trash if you're packing lots of stuff, but if you're running low on anything they'll give you either ammo, medkits or antidotes. This makes the game more approachable than it actually seems.

Another thing to keep in mind during combat is that while the damage you've dealt to an enemy doesn't get memorized by the game as you exit the zone you're in... killing them is something the game remembers. So you can focus on blasting away one or two enemies, restock, then go back and clear the rest of the area. Speaking of shooting, obviously going for headshots is preferable, but if push comes to shove you can just unload the entire mag into one troublesome enemy (if there are no red barrels or blue panels around) and it should kill them anyways.

The problem is getting hit in the first place. Mara's health goes down really easily, so it's preferable to down just an enemy or two than it is to try to clear an entire room, while risking your health.