#ngl.. the game was lagging so hard when I tried to play it

[redkehlchen]

Gaming.

[videogametako]

steam next fest feb 2024: plushie from the sky

anime girl souls-like, cute. link here

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1679510/Plushie_from_the_Sky/

we're in tutorial land, a land of joy and whimsy

lowered graphics twice to reduce lag (laptop could not handle)

overview

so uh as the name implies we kinda just fall out of the sky and we go through the tutorial (see above screenshots)

when we're done with that we once again fall from the sky into

yeah, with how slow this loaded on my computer i died a few times immediately lol, it asks you to immediately learn to fly without pausing time (which i think devs should consider doing)

an enemy spawns right beside your save point too uh i'm not agreeing with some of the design decisions here ngl

the enemy isn't that hard though. i kinda like the weird enemy designs contrasted with the player character's whimsical joyous kid stuff. it's certainly quirky (as the devs put it) and having an anime girl fight a cactus monster with a monkey plush first thing is a neat way to set the game's atmosphere

mechanics

the controls feel like a bit of a mess, but maybe it's just because i'm not used to souls-likes? regardless, judge for yourself

dashing barely depletes stamina so all you basically have to manage is melee attacking and rolling. ideally. i say ideally because stamina never really felt like a problem. also you can kinda just blitz past enemies, though i wanted to feel how combat is and it's how i expected it. ranged attacks need ammo but cost no stamina and you engage from a distance, and melee attacks are pretty strong bc they seem to always stagger enemies? upon further inspection it's more like, as long as they aren't already attacking which makes more sense

chests and critters to collect, pretty standard

recovery mechanic, you get a cute bed like when you save. it charges when you melee combat, fair enough. though i didn't expect meeting a boss so soon after this, i was engaging a mob then suddenly the big cactus thing just rolls up in the background and there we are

weak point. i was mainly just jumping around and switching between melee and range attacks and it died. yippee

anyway right after i discovered that rolls have no cooldown between them, it's pretty fun to do and when you get the rabbit plush you move pretty fast. you can even practically fly with it. i tried getting screenshots but ended up turning on high contrast mode so i decided to get my thoughts of the game so far down first. so, uh, lemme try again

i think that's good enough. decided to map dodge to F so i could do this easier

oh yeah those collectible critters are apparently ammunition! you can do a charged shot in this game

i ended up lagging too much at a certain point (you'll see why) so it's time to conclude this post after this uh, anecdotal section

that one enemy

i ended up stopping early because one of the enemies (pictured) makes this really really annoying ringing sound and uh, it uh, summons other enemies.

a lot of enemies.

a LOT of enemies

i upped my stamina regen so i could basically infinitely roll + jump (not that hard) in the air but they chase you so like. i could not play. at all. my frames were probs below 10 throughout this entire ordeal and uh, honestly in it's own way it was kind of fun

closing thoughts

plushie from the sky felt like a casual soulslike experience (from someone who doesn't play so many soulslikes) and i thought it was interesting enough! there is a lot of polishing that needs to be done here. or maybe my device just couldn't handle it.

i can sorta see the vision the devs have for this game i think, and i respect that. it's definitely not my thing (at least not until i can run it properly). i'd also rather reserve judgement for a (1) demo that (2) i cannot run properly in (3) a genre i don't have much experience in (i just tried it out bc it looked cute). the later levels shown on the steam page look kinda cool and fun too

overall, i'm keeping my mind open to this game, will probs try it again when it releases and i hopefully have a better computer. wishlist it if it sounds like something you'd like, it helps the devs

[lowpolyshadow]

sonic frontiers review go!!!! (non spoilers then MASSIVE spoilers under the cut) TLDR overall score: i would say it's an objective solid 8/10, but for me personally i just. i just had so much fun. 10/10

gameplay (combat/bosses) 9/10 gameplay (cybers) 6.5/10 gameplay (shmovement) 8/10

i fucking Love. Comboing Shit For Video Game Combat. it's Fun. it's Exciting. I Love That Shit. excellent combat system, i just wish either skills were harder to unlock or there were just more to unlock (preferably the latter i guess, but i can't think of anything i want ... added ... it's just that skill points are so easy to come by and i maxed out the tree pretty fast, so i have a bunch of excess points for nothing. tbf i have a LOT of excess EVERYTHING but)

bosses were fucking excellent. THE highlights imo. mob fights and stuff are fine, everything manages to be its own puzzle which i adore but mini bosses and bosses are the shit. the cyberlevels are fun genuinely but either too short to get into, have some jank physics in a couple of them, or . well some of them aren't that fun GJKLASDF but i didn't hate them! ive only played sa2 so i only recognized those ones + the Super iconic ones (chemical plant and all that) and that probably affects judgement since blind reacting to a sonic stage is the fun part imo

they're ridiculously easy (to... me at least) though. besides 1-2's s rank which i finally got, i was able to get all four missions done for every cyber level within one sitting ... on average like . 3 tries per i'd say (blind first, going back for any red rings or ring reqs, and then speed) with some taking a few more for speed but never more than like. 10-20 min tbh. in general i almost want a very hard mode bc the game overall was a very chill time, which is fine but sometimes i want my shit rocked

parries being Not timing based both threw me off (bc i would try to let go at the exact time when in fact you just hold it) and made them feel a little less ultra cool since sonic will just hold the parry for as long as ... you do, essentially (though there is heavy end lag on it so if you don't parry anything that's at least punished) it's a minor tryhard gripe where i wish there was like a PARRY parry i could toggle or smth

i like being sonic in a big environment it's just fun. the amount of fucked up shit you can do is great, he truly is a prime candidate for bigass open areas (and he controls pretty nicely, just got a couple weird moments and things like he goes into 'trick' mode too easily or some platforming things don't work the way they're supposed to bc you go too fast lol)

story…… 8.5/10 characters 10/10 i like them :)

character writing was absolutely the highlight for me this game, good banter, many quips, overall just characterization i adore and love to see i was well fed this game with my beloved little scrimblos it was a good time

the story itself went pretty hard ngl, a lot more lore than i expected and generally it was sonic taking its ridiculous plot seriously again which is all i wanted !!!! it's like somehow ridiculous but probably the most straightforward story they've done in a while, but that's not a bad thing. good story i pogged a few times

music 11/10 straight bangers they just don't fucking miss

i don't think i have much spoiler stuff i'd wanna say other than i genuinely think they hyped themselves too much at the start. like the gameplay was fun learning how it works, how movement goes, the setup and everything etc. etc. i always 100% the map first thing as soon as i can then go through for anything i need/pick stuff up along the way and then i do the boss fight

and that first boss fight. is so fucking sick. oh my god. i felt like. if i was 12 and played this and got to experience that boss fight the way i did now it would've literally changed the trajectory of my life. it DID change the trajectory of my life right now at 23 it was just pure hype, i was so giddy, i had the biggest fucking grin i was literally ready to physically pop off yelling LETS GOOOOO i just let the little tutorial popup chill while i head banged to the song like dear fucking god dude. INSANE intro they set the bar way too high off the bat

wyvern/second boss was perhaps my favorite mechanically just bc it really goes at you the most, you gotta react a lot and parry a lot to get through the fight which is Fun .... giganto/first boss tho. easily the most memorable experience in gaming that i've had in years. it was just so phenomenally done, probably biased bc it's the first one but shadow of the colossus-ing your way up to his fucking head to get the emerald, turn into super sonic, hear that FUCKING SONG

but this game has sonic be so fucking anime and that means knight/boss 3 easily has the best fucking finisher when sonic picks up a sword the size of the island itself and does the most anime cut in half shot he possibly can god it was so fucking SICK THIS GAME IS SICK SONIC IS THE COOLEST

the story weakness imo is the ending where they had so much build up but not a Ton of payoff, not even talking about sonic like essentially dying in soul/mind and then being revived with friendship (based tbh) but like the last boss fight and last islands just weren't nearly as cool as the others imo .... supreme was a lil similar to giganto and went by a lot faster than expected, probably bc by that point sonic's probably juiced up from upgrades (i went all in on attack no defense too lol sooo) ... i love a good bullet hell but i wanted a super cool super sonic fight, a hyper sonic fight, something that lets me go to town and see a fucking Spectacle

fun bullet hell but that wasn't what i'm HERE for (also finally hearing im here was sick but the fight itself really was so short/not quite as hard or anything innovative that it.... ehhh .... plus it was oddly quiet compared to the other songs i think, like, the sound mixing)

the ending feels a liiiittle rushed? The End is cool as a concept especially with how fucked up we know it is but i dunno, it really does feel like it blew the load a little too early and the ending just didn't live up to earlier hype/expectations

but it was still fun it just. it just didn't make me Feel the way giganto did, the way wyvern did, knight was where the hype started dropping off a liiiittle but knight was still a fucking SHOW where sonic beats a mf with his own shield AND THEN BLOCKS A SWORD BIGGER THAN MOUNTAINS WITH HIS OWN FUCKING HANDS THEN USES IT AGAINST HIM ITS' SIK IT'S SICK the final boss didn't have any truly THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME bits that really let you walk away going YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH and that's the part they need to fix

also no boss rush :/ brings the score down tbh i want to relive these things so fucking bad

the character relationships were soooo good though i just. gughugh. i don't want to get emo again but GOD they're such good friends they love and care about each other, i'm obsessed with amy saying how sonic loves the world and he has so much love to show because it's true sonic just LOVES living he loves life he loves getting to just Be and

tails is growing up on him faster than he expected .... uuu ....

and the fucking SONIC AND KNUCKLES BAYBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH BUTTING HEADS SNARLING AT EACH OTHER LAUGHING AND GIVING FIST BUMPS AND TALKING SHIT THEY WERE SO GOOD YEAHYEAHYHEAY MOTEHRFUCKING KNUCKLES SWEEP BABY LETS GOOOO

god. so good. so fucking good. this is a game about love (sonic and his friends, eggman and sage of all people, the koco and their. selves? their history?, even chaos technically ....) and who am i if not a fucking Sucker for that shit. lets show that creep the real super power of team work

i did not actually hear vandalize in game yet because that is apparently only if you go into the final fight on easy or normal (i played to completion on hard exclusively) but the "true" ending song by nate goddamn wants to battle is INCREDIBLY sonic. one way dream is soooo reach for the stars/endless possibilities. it just makes me Feel happy. it's a little melancholic the way all of frontiers sort of is, but it's still hopeful and all about like. going forward. overcoming anything in your path and getting better for it and seeing the start of another new adventure and that sure is sonic the hedgehog

[itstittycitybaby]

May Death do Us Part (Benrey/Gordon Freeman)

A/N: ahaha im a bit nervous to post this one ngl but fuck it might as well give it a shot. if you haven’t seen hlvrai please do it’s so good and so fucking funny. Thank you @kryogie for helping me with this fic! I really appreciate it bro.

Warnings:angst,suicidal thoughts,suicide attempt,hurt/comfort,dissociation.

Benrey couldn’t die. Anyone else would be ecstatic to know that they could out run the hounds of death. Gordon’s apartment was dark that night. He’d mention earlier that morning picking up another shift, so he’d be home later. The silence was deafening as Benrey stared at the bright T.V. screen. His thoughts felt like he was dragging through quick sand and his brain lagged. “not pog. cringeworthy moments right here,” Benrey murmured to himself as a CPU beat his ass on Smash. Sonic, the one Benrey mains, looked glum as he clapped for Bowser. It was suffocating; the silence and the distant but also bright colours of the T.V. The switch hummed faintly but Benrey had trouble focusing on it. 

He hated the quiet. Whenever it was quiet the guilt came rushing back. The memories of Black Mesa were fuzzy but Benrey couldn’t forget what he had done. His hand laid there on the cold cement ground as Gordon cried out in pain in the dark. His form being dragged by three soldiers as they left him to die. Benrey could faintly see the blood as Tommy started to cry.

“N-no! What are they d-doing to Mr. Freeman?”

Benrey choked on his breath; his chest felt tight and his throat contracted harshly. The whispers of the dark swirled around him and laid on his trembling form thickly. The T.V. that sat on its stand became blurry and Benrey felt as if he were sinking.

He couldn’t move. The soldiers around them paid him no mind. They laughed and carried on like nothing had happened. After all, Benrey’s job was done righ? This is what he had wanted?

“calm down,” Benrey told himself. “this..this is baby behaviour...we’re supposed to be..epic gamer....” Gordon had moved on from Black Mesa. Or so he told himself anyway. His arm was back, something Tommy’s dad had fixed. Even with his hand being back, Benrey could see the underlying anxiety Gordon had. He could see it in the way Gordon fidgeted and jumped at every loud noise. He couldn’t blame him at all. This was all his fault. He had always enjoyed making Gordon irritated. It was funny and entertaining but he had taken it too far.

Benrey knew he didn’t deserve Gordon’s kindness. He didn’t have to let Benrey in his apartment as the rain poured that night. Gordon was anxious and still held some malice towards him, but Benrey could see his big brown eyes soften with concern as he saw the blood seeping through his security shirt. Gordon was insistent on tending his wounds even though he knew Benrey couldn’t die. Something Benrey still couldn’t wrap his head around to this day.

How long had it been? Hours? Minutes? Benrey couldn’t tell but the thoughts were getting louder and louder as he sat there on the couch. He had to do something. His limbs didn’t feel like moving but he wiggled them as a test. They felt sluggish and heavy but Benrey eventually got a leg off the couch. He deserved this didn’t he? He deserved the pain and despair of the aftermath. It’s what he caused after all. So why was it so hard to move on?

“wasn’t suppos’ to be..like this,” Benrey mumbled one night as the both of them sat in front of the T.V. Some stupid rom com played. Pretty and Pink, was it? Gordon didn’t say anything but his brows furrowed. “What?” Benrey huffed. “can’t hear me feetman?..gordon freeman??more like.. gordon deafman haha...can’t even hear his bro talking to him..” Gordon rolled his eyes and sighed. “Can you ever talk seriously?” “yea...I tried but deafman couldn’t hear me....” Gordon just snorted, picking up the bowl of popcorn from the coffee table. “Whatever man just watch the movie.” Benrey could see a small smile on Gordon’s plush lips. It made his heart flutter.

The balcony felt cold underneath Benrey’s feet. Gordon’s apartment was high enough that he’d smack on the concrete and die from the impact. Sure, he’d resurrect again, but it helped with the pain. All the emotions swirled around him and bit at his gut. It was an endless torture of not being able to be at peace. People saw the ability of never being able to die a blessing. Hell, they would kill for it. Benrey saw it as a curse. It was perfect for him and the thought made him laugh hollowly. It was raining again and the air nipped at his toes and fingers. The wind made his skin numb from the cold. He laughed at the clicheness of it all. Like some damn cheesy RPG game where the main character hit his low. The sky wept with Benrey’s misery.

Benrey’s fists clenched tightly on the balcony. The metal railing was cold to the touch and the water made it a bit slippery. The laughter wheezed out of his chest. Was he crying? His tears felt hot;His arms felt slackish and unbearably slow.”c-could end everything r-right now....little feetman wouldn’t have to...p-put up with me anymore...i’ll just respawn like a gamer and...keep d-doing it....” Maybe one day he’d disappear. Maybe he’d actually stay dead. Benrey cackled at the thought. It was wishful thinking, he knew it. Yet, he couldn’t help but think of the science team. What if he actually stayed dead? Tommy would cry and wail like a good friend. He cared about Benrey even after all the shit he put them through. Dr. Coomer might be a little sad but would be back in no time. Bubby..well Bubby was and always will be a wild card. Benrey’s heart lurched when he thought about Gordon. The science team never worried too much when Benrey died but this was different entirely. Benrey wanted to die. Would they even care? Gray orbs left his mouth as he remincised over what he had done. He had fucked up and couldn’t forgive himself. How could he when he had hurt the man he liked. 

Gripping the railing for support, Benrey balanced himself onto it. Carefully, he stood up on it. His stomach lurched with anxiety as he looked down. Cars honked and people walked among the sidewalks blissfully unaware. Benrey couldn’t help but think about if his head smacked onto the pavement. How traumatized innocent bystanders would be and if they would tried to help. Was it wrong that he couldn’t find himself to care?

“Benrey!” He jumped in surprise, causing him to teeter on the railing. His arms waved and so did his fingers for balance. A hand grabbed him by the back of his shirt and yanked him onto the balcony floor. Benrey let out a hiss as his back made contact with its cement floor. He cursed once he realized who prevented him from jumping off the balcony and ending his misery for a short awhile. “W-what the fuck man?!” Gordon Freeman hovered over Benrey. His glasses were speckled from the rain and his hair that was pulled up was starting to get damp. His brown eyes were wide and..was he crying? The waves of guilt that were already washing Benrey away were now crashing to the surface. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

He looked so afraid and hurt. Benrey averted his gaze. “L-let’s get you inside,” Gordon said, mostly to himself. He was trying to reassure himself, Benrey noticed, as he helped him up. Gordon’s hand wrapped tightly around his as he lead him back into his apartment. God, Benrey felt so damn guilty. He just wanted to die for a bit and be nothing. It only lasted for a couple hours before he came back but the seemingly never ending darkness called to him. It called for him to come home. Benrey could barely register a fluffly towel being wrapped around his quivering frame. His clothing clung to his skin in a gross way and he felt cold and warm at the same time. There were groceries and a pack of Moutain Dew on the kitchen isalnd. Benrey’s favorite.

Gordon ran a hand through his hair. A nervous tick he had which didn’t help Benrey’s guilt at all. “’m...s-sorry,” Benrey choked out. “weren’t suppose...to see that.” Gordon’s head shot up. His brown eyes wavered as he looked into Benrey’s seemingly cold black ones. “No man don’t a-apologize. I-If I had known...” Gordon trailed off. Benrey shook his head. “n-not just for that feetman...for everything..” His lip quivered and he dropped Gordon’s gaze. Finally, he had said what he’d been keeping in for so long. “Is that why you tried t-to..do that?” Gordon gestured to the balcony. Benrey nodded. Gordon let out a shaky sigh. “L-look man.. I’ve already forgiven you. I care about you and...I worry about you Benrey..I l-lo-” Benrey’s eyes widened. Gordon’s cheeks heated up and he swallowed thickly. “..wha?..” “U-um,” Gordon stuttered, eyes averting anything close to Benrey. “U-uh..fuck it man! I like you alright? I-I.. love you after all these months! I was gonna tell you but... I-I didn’t think you’d feel the same.. Now of all times isn’t g-good to tell you either.” Benrey stood there stunned. 

Gordon swallowed nervously as he waited silently. Benrey’s silence and his stare didn’t help Gordon in the slightest. “L-look man if you don’t feel that way it’s fine. I’m more concerned about you though...I-I have a friend who’s a therapist! S-she’s great and she-” Gordon got caught off by soft lips against his own. His eyes widened but when Benrey clutched tightly into his shirt, he kissed back. 

Gordon cracked a smile once they pulled away. “I-I don’t wanna pressure you into anything while in this state...so I-I understand if you don’t wanna g-get into anything-”  Benrey cut Gordon off with another kiss. They were a bit cold and damp from standing in the rain. “y-you’re my gamer boyfriend now feetman..” Gordon barked a laugh as he pulled away. “I still want you to get help though okay? I want to help you through this.” Benrey nodded, “i-i’ll try bro....i’ll try.” Satisfied, Gordon beckoned to the couch. “Wanna play some video games or something?” Benrey nodded, already shuffling to the couch. 

After Gordon put the groceries away and grabbed Benrey a can of Moutain Dew and his so called “gamer snacks”, he joined him on the couch. “Can I,” Gordon asked, hovering his arm over Benrey’s shoulders. He nodded and as soon as Gordon wrapped his arm around him, Benrey nestled into his side. They both smiled as they basked in each other’s presence and played Heavenly Sword. Tomorrow will be a better day.

[tardytothesimspardy]

In Which I Am in Utter Shock

I Am Simply Befuddled

I played through a few days, and really only two things of note happened: Summer asked Laurie out on three dates, and I had Buck make a friend. Oh, and Laurie got a promotion, so now I think she's level 7 or 8 in the mixology career. She's doing way too good in the career, and I fear the Brokes won't be broke for much longer (like they're currently at a stable 3k, this is distressing). I need to do something about that. I tried to do a little renovation and decorating but the build/buy was lagging so ferociously that I couldn't do anything.

I started by having Laurie work on her New Year's resolution of losing weight, which I knew wasn't going to be enjoyable for her at all (given that she dislikes fitness and has the lazy trait). But I didn't rebuild the Oasis Springs gym to not use it.

I had her first try swimming, which she seemed to have a good time with, until she didn't.

(I promise she's wearing a swimsuit it just blends in really well with her skin tone and I probably didn't think of that before because I never needed to)

Then Summer asked her on the first of three dates, and she did this and it was so cute <3

For the next few days, I continued having Laurie go to the gym for as long as she could stand (there were days where I was really pushing her, she got super tense and angry), and I noticed something that, ngl, I still feel kinda weird about: she lost weight super fast. It felt like she had been going for two days and she went from the pictures above to this:

Just,, weird. Idk.

Then the second date with Summer was in Britechester of all places, and they got pretty flirty (they usually do, like I always think, "Oh dang, they seem to just be doing friendly interactions, maybe I was wrong about them, and then bam they're both super flirty it's weird). I keep wanting to have them just run off and have Laurie live with Liberty, Summer, and Shawna, but I have to remind myself that 1) they just started dating like, not even a week ago, and 2) I'm not sure how I will play the households if they are separated like that. I know that if Rich and Laurie do separate, Rich will be staying with the boys, because if Rich goes off on his own I will 100% forget about him. It's probably not best for Flat or Buck for him to stay, but for the sake of whatever semblance of a story I have that he does.

After that date, it was a Saturday, so I decided to focus a little on Buck, since he really wasn't doing much of anything. I had him go to the park in Oasis Springs, partially to work on his aspiration a smidge, but mainly to make some friends. I've had him do the "Make Some Friends" thing while he's at school, but I want him to actually have a few friends, y'know?

He first tried to talk to a girl called Bryanna, but she turned out have the mean trait, and just called him names until he got angry. For some reason, after she was rude at Buck, he had the option to apologize. Why?? He has nothing to apologize for!

After Bryanna, I saw that Shawna had showed at the park, so I decided to have him become friends with her instead. Luckily, her trait is music lover, so she wasn't being actively antagonistic like Bryanna was. I'm not planning to have Shawna and Buck be a thing, that honestly would be pretty weird, given that Shawna's mom is Summer, and if I were to continue having Summer and Laurie be a thing, having Shawna and Buck be a thing would just be,,, yikes. Idk, not great. I kinda toyed with the idea of Shawna kinda being where Buck kinda started liking people with blond hair (because Mary Lu had blond hair), but idk if that's too weird, given that they're both kids. (Idk when stuff like that happens so it's hard for me to judge)

Maybe tomorrow I'll find it within me to focus on Rich. Probably not. Right now it's a bit of a waiting game until the end of spring where I age up Flat and Flo. I've been meaning to have the rest of the family get to know Flo better, so maybe I'll do that. Maybe I could even play a bit from Flo's side, to help flesh her out as a character and get to know her better. Hm, that probably would be beneficial.