#retro-six-shooter

[strange-doll-child]

Horrible horrible creatures

[lulu2992]

My (spoiler-free) opinion on Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix

It was very good.

Seriously, I enjoyed it a lot! This “remix”, as the name suggests, is basically a big mashup of Ubisoft franchises, in a style that resembles Japanese animation (but by a French studio), and with a hint of arcade games. Some names, faces, or events may be familiar, but the story is set in 1992 in its own world with its own rules and people, so don’t expect anything or anyone to be exactly the same as what you’re used to.

For example, among the existing characters featured in Captain Laserhawk, we have Pagan Min, who still wears pink, has bleached hair and eyebrows, and is a villain, but isn’t a dictator, doesn’t seem to have the same backstory, and is more exuberant and carefree than he is in Far Cry 4 (he reminds me more of the young version of him we see in the Control DLC). Marcus Holloway, on the contrary, is older and more serious than his canonical Watch Dogs 2 self, but he’s still part of the series’ version of DedSec.

Visually speaking, it’s very rich, and the animation manages to be simultaneously “simple” (because of the low frame rate) and impressive. Sometimes, the show temporarily becomes a retro game, which I thought was really cool, not to mention a clever way to move the story forward. Not only are those “gameplay sequences” very well done and look like actual games, but various styles are also represented (platformers, shooters, even a dating simulator), so they really are a nice, original touch.

The soundtrack is reminiscent of the music we could hear in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, and I don’t have much to say about it except that it was good and worked well!

As for the story, it was well-written and engaging; I watched the show in one sitting and never got bored. There’s at least one plot twist in each of the six episodes, and while the series is inspired by and references a lot of existing pieces of media, it still feels unique and manages not to fall into easy tropes and clichés. It’s funny, but it knows how to be sad. It’s colorful, but it can get really dark. It’s animated fiction, but it also tackles very real issues. Captain Laserhawk does it all, at it does it well. It’s made for an adult audience, so it contains violence, blood, drugs, vulgar language, nudity, and (implied) sex. That said, those mature elements, much like everything in the series, are well-dosed and don’t feel gratuitous, in my opinion. It’s appropriately inappropriate, I would say.

In general, I thought the actors were good and that the characters were compelling. My favorite is probably Bullfrog because he has some great scenes and I think he encompasses all aspects of the show: he’s here for comic relief but has solemn moments, he’s a cute cartoonish frog but also a skilled Assassin, etc. On a side note, as a French person, I really appreciate that his accent, although very strong, is real and not a caricatural imitation. Even when he lets out things like “ok, d’accord”, “et merde”, or even just “oui”, it sounds spontaneous and natural.

In conclusion, Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix is great. Both esthetically and narratively, it’s super creative, there’s always something happening, and you’re constantly surprised. This show is a lot but, strangely, it’s never too much. I think it’s obvious by now, but I recommend watching it (if you’re over 18... or just 16 in my country for some reason), even if you’ve never played a single Ubisoft game in your life and just want to see a good animated series. In the end, the thing I dislike most about it is that... there aren’t more episodes!

[useless-catalanfacts]

Gamers i contingut sobre videojocs en català. Part 2

Per veure la part 1, fes clic aquí.

Streamers de videojocs shooter i competitius:

(CATWs): Warzone, FIFA, Call of Duty, etc. Twitch, YouTube, Twitter.

Hirokus: molts jocs diferents. Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok.

El Moviment Ondulatori: jocs de lluita, col·leccionisme i història dels videojocs. Twitch, YouTube, Twitter.

Rockstr85: Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Bsky, Discord, Telegram.

ValSet i Jet Set Cast: videojocs nous i retro. Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Ivoox.

Shendeluth: Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram.

MeritxFeifer: Fortnite. Twitch.

Associacions que fan competicions i també streaming:

Gamesports Electrònics: competicions d'eSports a Catalunya, LOL i Valorant. Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, pàgina web.

Gaming Barcelona eSports Club: Twitter, Twitch, Instagram, TikTok.

Esports Electrònics de Girona: Twitter, Twitch, Discord, Instagram.

Streamers de jocs de carreres (racing):

LopezNorman44: jocs de carreres, Elden Ring i altres. Twitch, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, canal de WhatsApp. També porta el pòdcast de F1 Bandera Blava.

Alvamoll7: jocs de carreres. YouTube, Twitter.

A tot drap: jocs de carreres. YouTube, Twitch.

Streamers i creadors de contingut d'altres tipus jocs:

MirdeTost: jocs d'estratègia complexa i RPG, sobretot Crusader Kings 3. Twitter, YouTube.

Simmer valenciana: els Sims, Minecraft, indie, Wow i jocs de terror. Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Mastodon.

Gufolove: videojocs indies i soulslike, també anime. Twitter, Twitch, TikTok, Instagram, Discord.

Devidcat: YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Mastodon, Facebook.

Pulga Tejana: Twitch, YouTube, Twitter.

Comunitat catalanoparlant de jocs en concret:

CAT of Duty: comunitat catalanoparlant de Warzone i Call of Duty. Telegram.

CATCOM: comunitat catalanoparlant d'Star Citizen. Pàgina web, Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, Instagram, Guilded.

FortniteCAT: comunitat catalanoparlant del Fortnite. Twitter, Discord.

Cavallers del Cel: comunitat catalana de Simulació de combat. Pàgina web, YouTube, Twitter, Discord.

La Banda Catalana: comunitat catalanoparlant d'Age of Empires. Twitter, Twitch, Discord.

Grup de Telegram d'Animal Crossing: Telegram.

World of Warcraft: Telegram.

Grup de Telegram Cloud Gaming (Stadia i altres plataformes streaming): Telegram.

Rocket League en català: Telegram.

Rainbow Six Siege en català: Telegram.

Xe Quin Pasme!: jocs de terror. Telegram.

[satoshi-mochida]

Rusted Moss for PS5, Xbox Series, and Switch launches June 20

From Gematsu

Physics-based grapple hook Metroidvania game Rusted Moss will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and Switch on June 20. Pre-orders for PlayStation 5 and Switch physical editions are now available in Japan for 4,400 yen at retailers such as Amazon and Biccamera.

Rusted Moss first launched for PC via Steam on April 12. As previously announced, the console versions will launch alongside a major update.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

This Metroidvania utilizes your grapple and weapons with a full 360-degree aiming system. The freedom created by these controls creates a smooth experience for users to feel in complete control of their character. Find creative solutions to flexible traversal challenges, and blast away witches and machinery with precise aiming.

Now for the Hook

The grappling hook is hard to learn yet rewarding to master. This unique physics-based elastic grappling hook uses your kinetic momentum to propel your character forward. Similar to rock climbing, there’s no set path through this melancholic abandoned wasteland. Latch onto any moss covered structure and swing your way through this rugged terrain.

Guns, Guns, Guns!

No more aiming in just eight directions. As a twin-stick shooter, Rusted Moss emphasizes tight and precise gunplay. Quickly switch between your arsenal of weapons to best suit your playstyle and situation. Get up close and personal with a shotgun before grappling away and pulling out a sniper for the killing blow!

Boss Fights

Push your gunplay and grappling hook skills to their limits! From powerful witches to machine monstrosities, each boss fight throws its own unique challenge at you. Dodge swords, avoid energy fields, and blast away at conjured spiders.

Story

Journey across desolate landscapes drenched in melancholy; witness the remnants of humanity and their rusting iron inventions… Humanity is on the brink of collapse and will soon be invaded by faeries. In a desperate bid to survive, humans have empowered their own witches with stolen fae magic. But all is not lost, as the humans were deceived – for one of their own is not what she seems. The fae have stolen a human baby, and replaced it with something else… Raised by unsuspecting human parents, Fern is a changeling whose true loyalties have emerged. Alongside a mysterious shadow named Puck, she sets off on a journey to return fae to the world and end the Age of Men. Whose side will you choose—human or fae?

Key Features

Master the grapple.

Over 20 unique abilities to find!

Customizable strategy and gameplay.

Over six challenging bosses to defeat.

Eight distinct weapons to find.

Multiple endings.

Encounter humans and fae folk trying to find their way through the world. Speak to them and learn their stories.

Uncover lost shrines and abandoned computer stations to learn about old secrets and forgotten tales.

Beautifully melancholic pixel art. A retro vibe with a modern aesthetic, the world of Rusted Moss comes alive with moody pixels and stylish animation.

[onlynewgamesonconsole]

Evil West is supplying enough blood to satisfy the bloodthirsty vampires

Evil West is a popular vampire hunter video game fixed in the Wild West environment. There aren't just vampires; there are all kinds of monsters, such as werewolves, zombies, and even dragon-like beings. The type of this game seems very retro since it's very linear, and it is amazingly similar in how you traverse the map. However, if it is done correctly, the linear game can turn out to be amazing in general, but not all games have to end up being open-world.

Story People are Jesse Rentier and the Rentier Institute, a corporation run by the group to defend against monsters all over the world. While vampires and other creatures see humans as food, people tend to fight back, inventing intriguing weapons to defend themselves and keep creatures at bay. However, the vampires and other creatures are generally alive, which means that the humans are beginning to gain an advantage through the ongoing combat among them and are generally bringing the attack, delivering a significant number of problems at Jesse's door. There's something from every genre and a ton of amazing New PS4 games to enjoy.

Combat Let's begin with combat. This begins by explaining melee, which is important inJesse has a Tesla-style gauntlet that may be faced with energy. It has a plethora of moves, including a Scorpion-inspired pull, and may blow up bad guys with certain combinations. It's extremely satisfying. I would like to see more combos, though. This type of thing stopped happening after I unlocked all of them in the skill tree. I discovered a few great combinations that helped me get through the majority of the games. Jesse is also a collector of guns. By default, the six-shooter game is very oriented toward the trigger. This fires a single shot, or you will be able to also fan the hammer with a hold down. The rifle can be fired with the left trigger and offers respawning ammunition that has typically advanced over the years. In the end, you'll also have an assault rifle that operates when it cools down and can blow up adversaries instantly. All of them feel good, but they don't add to the depth of the overall combat. It all looks fast and visceral, much like Flying Wild Hog's different titles. Hurry up, cheap PS4 racing games are on the market. There is an experienced tree that grants Jesse new performance and improvements to established arms. The level system is frequently slow. This is ideal for obtaining a lot more items regularly. Players can also earn gold in amounts that could be utilized to buy, well, unusual improvements. It's a strange strategy that appears to have been combined into one large upgrade set using one money, but hey, at least you can find something to discover. Also, some reports and bestiaries expand the world. Indeed, it's a neat setting, but I haven't felt like I wanted to know more.

Quests You'll find 16 quests that vary in duration and intensity and can be played in 12–15 hours (in my opinion). The story wasn't the most compelling I've played with, but it did keep me interested for the duration of the time I played. The narrative and framework ended up being presented through cinematics, and while this was an excellent option, I found the transition between guns blazing and story cutscenes to be a little bumpy in certain cases. There were also some areas where you could wander and learn more about information and lore in between assignments. Truthfully, Evil West was about the fight, and that was sufficient for me. I had very few technical issues; I also suspect there were two or three instances where the game froze and I had to restart.

Visuals The first thing to detect about this game title would be the fact that it is visually impressive. It is a blend of designs that makes it a pretty scene to take in. The over-the-shoulder perspective makes you feel like you're playing Gears of War, and the clothing and voice acting are reminiscent of Red Dead Redemption. Red Dead Redemption games along with those styles is a bit of steampunk, which is accompanied by many electrical gears and mechanical components through the arms, such as your gauntlet.

Conclusion Evil West seems like an original take on the traditional "Old West" settings we've seen, supplying a worthwhile fighting method as well as enough blood to satisfy the bloodthirsty vampires. The dark narrative and enjoyable characters are both captivating; however, some questionable design choices hinder the experience in locations. There's no doubt, however, that the Evil West should always be played by anyone who has a passion for Occidentals, the Western setting, and the occult themes. In great cowboy fashion, this story is rich in sadness, problems, action, and determination to overcome obstacles, and it makes an excellent occupation out of it!

[dimalink]

Gala New Year - New Year in spring

It is already beginning 2023! Friends and gamers! I can congratulate with new year event! As it can be said, in a new year – new games. And by the new year begins, I want to talk about my current development – Gala New Year! Development starts in 2022 and according to the plan is going to release 2023. It goes like release will be in a new year. But, yes, I failed to release a game to the new year celebration. But it is not so big fail.

And, I remind you what is it about. Gala New Year – it is continue of Gala. It is direction – of space arcades, retro. Most valuable word here – is retro. This style has original game Gala, it is first part. It is about to fighting with aliens. It is inspired by retro and 80s. By the games – it is after big impression after Galaga and Space Invaders. But I have made by my own. And it is a space shooter. Like it is 80s. But for modern systems.

I show here links to Gala:

At my website - http://www.dimalink.tv-games.ru/games/gala/index_eng.html

Itchio - https://dimalink.itch.io/gala

GameJolt - https://gamejolt.com/games/gala/501658

 And Gala New Year – it is continue. About New Year theme. So here everybody are kind. But it is also a space shooter. About New Year. And this game is in current development. Here everybody has a space new year. Everybody celebrates it and have fun. And instead of rockets it is about fireworks and about to take a gift. You take a role of a space Santa Clause. And you to collect gifts, that are thrown all over the space.

It is such funny continue. About kind theme, and game is about good things. And funny space. So to be good and kind – it is a big part of the game. As also a celebration mood. Holiday! Game is made with the idea to make a celebration for every player, that plays it. So, you run game in summer – and receive a new year with a fresh cold.

And now about development. I am making game process. Game menu is done. It is made in sketch simple system of upgrades and powerups. All game elements of menu already are reacting and indicating as it should be according logic. It is a process of making a power ups system. It is already done work with game objects. And menu is reacting on this. And it gives you a bonus. I don’t want to make you be boring, because of programming details. Which objects. It is just a little.

And it is already a vision about how system of powerups will work. So, I will talk about this. So, you will have three different weapons. And each with upgrade. In result, six weapons, including upgrades. You need to receive them by raising scores.  More you shoot – the better it goes. More scores you gain. You receive 300 scores – you get automatically new weapon or upgrade. You receive 500 scores – again and so on. It is such equipment. It continues the ideas of the first game. Rockets T1 and rockets T2 and Spider. Weapons has a speed and amount of hit damage it makes. It differed but not a big. It looks like a new upgrade or a new weapon is looks like a new upgrade.  

There is one more interesting thing. For several destroyed enemies with fast speed during gameplay you will receive a sigh. Sigh X2 for two destroyed enemies at once. Sigh X3 – for three destroyed at once enemies, X5 – for five. It counts, if during a second you get more destroyed enemy. And after level you will receive these scores. So, it counts all X2, X3, X5 that you receive. And it multiply. So, amount of received X2, that you receive during the level, will multiply with two. And adds to scores. The same way about X3 multiply 3, and same for X5.

For a certain amount of raised scores during the level, you can even get invincible for 10 seconds. Also, for raised scores you can turn on speed up 25 and 50 precents, or make a shooting with 25 or 50 percents higher rating.

All these bonuses you will rise automatically. But in order to get them you need to raise scores. Some bonus is activated when you get 300 score on level, some at 500 scores, some at 700. And so on. After you raise certain amount of scores, system will give you a bonus according random. It will be shown as a sigh at menu. It can be a weapon, upgrade weapon, or some time effect like speed up shooting at 50 precents.

So, this way will work bonus system in game. It made by my own way. We will see how it works. So, I have interest to make my own bonus system. Even if it is simple.

And development of Gala New Year to be continues. And maybe game will be released at spring or summer. It will be a new year in summer or spring. It is like a winter in spring or summer. Winter in July. Like this.

[gameforestdach]

Die Gaming-Welt ist ständig im Wandel, und der Xbox Game Pass steht dabei oft im Mittelpunkt dieser Entwicklung. Mit seiner umfangreichen Spielebibliothek ist der Dienst eine Fundgrube für Enthusiasten aller Art. Beim Eintauchen ins Jahr 2023 wollen wir die besten Games, die der Xbox Game Pass zu bieten hat, näher beleuchten, um sicherzustellen, dass jeder die perfekte virtuelle Herausforderung findet. Vielfältige Welten entdecken: Von den Straßen Yakuzas zu den Bergen Skyrims Yakuza: Like a Dragon Yakuza: Like a Dragon, ein JRPG-Ableger, bietet eine unkonventionelle Wendung des Genres. In einer modernen Kulisse nehmen die Spieler an rundenbasierten Kämpfen teil, eingebettet in die urbane Kultur Japans. Die Besetzung des Spiels, insbesondere der Protagonist Ichiban, bringt ein herzerwärmendes Element in dieses packende und unorthodoxe Abenteuer. Sea of Stars Sea of Stars begeistert Fans von nostalgischen, retro-stilisierten RPGs. Als Kinder der Sonnenwende nutzen die Spieler himmlische Kräfte, um gegen den Fleischbeschwörer anzutreten. Das Spiel verbindet auf wunderschöne Weise traditionelle RPG-Elemente mit modernen Mechaniken, in einer bezaubernden Pixelkunst-Welt. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition bleibt ein Meisterwerk unter den RPGs. Als Dragonborn erkunden die Spieler die weite Welt von Skyrim mit der Macht, Drachenseelen in sich aufzunehmen. Die packende offene Welt und die detaillierte Erzählung fesseln die Spieler auch mehr als ein Jahrzehnt nach der Erstveröffentlichung. Strategie und Überleben: Taktisches Gameplay und endlose Abenteuer Rainbow Six: Siege Rainbow Six: Siege hebt sich als führender taktischer Multiplayer-Shooter hervor. Strategische Planung und Teamarbeit werden betont und es gibt einen Kader von über 60 einzigartigen Operatoren, von denen jeder auf unterschiedliche Weise zum dynamischen Spielgeschehen beiträgt. Cocoon Cocoon, ein isometrisches Puzzle-Abenteuer, fordert die Spieler heraus, durch Welten innerhalb von Kugeln zu navigieren. Entwickelt von den kreativen Köpfen hinter Limbo und Inside, verbindet es komplizierte Puzzles mit einer fesselnden Erzählung. Vampire Survivors Vampire Survivors bietet ein Rogue-lite-Erlebnis, bei dem das Überleben gegen Monsterhorden entscheidend ist. Das Spiel beweist, dass Einfachheit unglaublich fesselnd sein kann, mit minimalistischen Grafiken und strategischem Gameplay. Immersive Erzählungen: Fesselnde Geschichten quer durch die Genres Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order ist ein aufregender Zusatz für Star Wars-Liebhaber. Es kombiniert herausfordernde RPG-Elemente mit dem ikonischen Star Wars-Universum und bietet eine reichhaltige Erzählung und optisch beeindruckendes Gameplay. Alle unsere Top Tipps: Yakuza: Like a Dragon Sea of Stars Rainbow Six: Siege The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition Cocoon Vampire Survivors Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Disney Dreamlight Valley Dead Cells Signalis Hitman Trilogy Crusader Kings 3 The Forgotten City Ori and the Will of the Wisps

[alternativecontrollervc]

More Retro

The Menacer

The Menacer is a light gun designed for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis gaming console. It was released in the early 1990s and was Sega's response to the success of Nintendo's Super Scope for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The Menacer features a futuristic, white and black design and is held like a rifle. It requires players to aim at the screen to interact with on-screen targets.

Games for the Menacer:

Menacer 6-Game Cartridge:

This compilation cartridge included six mini-games designed specifically for use with the Menacer. The games varied in genres, including shooting galleries, target practice, and sports-themed challenges. It showcased the versatility of the Menacer peripheral and provided a range of interactive experiences.

Body Count:

Body Count is a light gun shooter game designed for use with the Menacer. Players take on the role of a futuristic soldier battling enemies in a variety of environments. The game features fast-paced action and requires players to aim and shoot at adversaries using the Menacer's light gun functionality.

The Zapper

The Zapper is a light gun peripheral designed for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was initially released in 1985 and came bundled with the NES Action Set. The Zapper is used by pointing it at the screen and pulling the trigger to interact with on-screen targets. The technology behind it involves detecting light changes on the television screen to determine where the player is aiming.

Games for The Zapper

Duck Hunt:

Duck Hunt is one of the most iconic games that used The Zapper. Players take on the role of a hunter accompanied by a dog. The objective is to shoot ducks that fly across the screen. The Zapper is used to aim and shoot at the ducks, and the game also features a bonus round where players can shoot clay pigeons.

Hogan's Alley:

Hogan's Alley is a shooting gallery-style game that utilizes The Zapper. Players take on the role of a police marksman and must shoot various targets, including gangsters, while avoiding innocent bystanders. The game features different modes, each presenting distinct challenges for players to improve their shooting skills.

The Power Glove

The Power Glove is a controller accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) released in 1989. It was developed by Mattel and designed to be worn on the player's hand like a glove. The Power Glove aimed to provide a unique and immersive gaming experience by detecting hand and finger movements for controlling games.

Games for The Power Glove

Super Glove Ball:

Super Glove Ball was specifically created for use with the Power Glove. In the game, players manipulate a glove-shaped cursor to bounce a ball through various mazes and obstacles. The Power Glove's motion-sensing technology was intended to provide a unique way to control the ball's movement.

Bad Street Brawler:

Description: Bad Street Brawler is a beat 'em up game that was compatible with the Power Glove. While the Power Glove was not the primary controller for this game, it had a mode where players could use the Power Glove for specific actions, such as punching and jumping.

[buddhajesuschrusthole]

Hello everybody - daily reminder to take your time in life! Do not try to rush things - for life may seem like an eternity now - but later it will feel so fleeting - it will feel almost as if time doesn’t even exist at all!

So move with love - and don’t forget to try your best to find something to smile about (food, art , that one time that hot guy smiled at you, when you put on glasses for the first time and saw how beautiful everything around you was, when you played that retro-futuristic Japanese game that you loved, when you got your first kill in a shooter, when you tried mochi for the first time in Japan, when you got your beautiful first kiss that felt like a radiant surprise of bliss and pure energetic love, when you lost your virginity to someone that you loved so dearly - and it felt like time just slipped into eternities fingers like a silken web of unified oneness!)

Sometimes you have to make your own reason to be alive - on a day to day basis - mine would be working!

I have been so isolated for so many years, not doing anything - I am 25 now and I have kept a job for six months now - and I feel the happiest I have ever been on a day-to-day basis! I get to see the same beautiful souls every day, to begin with! Plus, my coworkers always make me smile to see them.

I used to dread going into work when I was younger - and I think it’s because I felt alone and isolated! It was because I didn’t talk to any of my coworkers! But to open up like a blooming flower, is a beautiful oasis of experience- it feels like a free flowing energy of bliss and connection - one that cannot be burdened by anything negative anymore.

To open up to others is a beautiful thing , and like a flower in the winter - sometimes it takes time to grow into what you could be. Sometimes it takes a lot of waiting - a lot of pain - the snow of winter - if you will. But we somehow can turn all of this suffering into something gorgeous and meant-to-be in this universe!

Take the time to turn yourself into a beautiful bloom - the spring is coming - and the sun is out - ready to dance upon your perverted pink petals! Oh ew, that took a gross turn. But like nature - life is full of woes and riches, too!

Now a lion eating a zebra…isn’t that nice! Not for the zebra, it seems - but for the lion - it is a saving grace! Nature can be mauling- and even less than appealing… but sometimes love can turn a frown upside down! So the lion thanks the zebra - even as it takes it down!

Life is full of pure happiness - it is just a change in state of mind - and day to day events.

What would make you happy in life?

For a start, maybe talking to others would assist you in your journey - so let’s start with this ideal first!

It’s hard - I know - because there is a hatred in you - even if you don’t know it yet! Hatred sometimes stems from a fearfulness. Fear is your enemy in this game - this game is the game of life.

Do not be afraid of anything - not that guy chasing you - just be calm - and react in a calm-like manner.

Do not be afraid of the dark - I know sometimes it feels like there’s something there. But it is actually just yourself. I mean this in an energetic way. You are energy - emotions and energy are two in the same - in some sort of weird and complex way - something I cannot yet explain scientifically. But one day - humans will find some weird and strange answers out - maybe some answers we wouldn’t even want to know about.

It seems that when we are afraid - more scary events seem to pop up! Why is this! Because energy can be scary! So don’t be scared of it - because it is yourself! It is what you are! Energy! That is actually you - scaring yourself! You are the demon - or monster - the energy is within you - so use it wisely! I will tell you a true story about something that has happened to me in the past when I was about 21 or something…

So one day - and yes, this is a true story, I have a video on this on my YouTube channel (Buddha Jesus Chrusthole (Infinite Butthole Jesus))!

One day I was listening to ghostemane - whilst walking around my local downtown area. While I was listening to the music - I really payed attention to the evil behind the lyrics - and started to pave my way into fear. I started becoming afraid - wondering if the devil was whispering in my ear.

So, while I was listening to the “devils music” - I was becoming afraid. This was over the course of about ten minutes - I really believed in the devil for these ten minutes - and that’s all it took for this moment to manifest into my reality.

As I walked around town - scared- listening to ghostemane - I was afraid of the devil.

I shit you not - when I was walking downtown - within ten minutes of me believing in the devil - being scared of it - I looked to the wall and saw a month with an upside down cross on its wings! (I did not believe in the devil prior to these ten minutes - so that’s why I stopped giving it energy - because it seemed to be manifesting into my physical reality!!!)

But there’s a message for you - so don’t be scared of anything! Especially if you don’t want it to be real! Because reality and imagination are intrinsically linked together! This is important information for your life!

Imagine something beautiful - something that you believe in - even if you just play pretend and sound delusional. (DO IT!)

Make believe your crush likes you and will ask you out - and believe it - because deep down you know it is true! (Believe in it. I swear to god, I have done this kind of thing in the past and it has worked!)

So believe in your dreams - aspirations - and believe in something (even if it seems impossible - it truly isn’t - because when you use your imagination to think and fantasize about it - it is really there! You can even see it - therefore it may be an intrinsic part of reality and the very fabric that it is based upon!)

[musicarenagh]

John Byrne Takes You on a Wild West Ride with “The Bold and the Blasphemous” It ain't often you stumble across a pure, dirt-kicking instrumental that simultaneously rekindles your love for 50's cowboy jingles and unpretentious rock. John Byrne, that beacon of musical multitasking from Liverpool, has managed just that with his bold (naturally) single, “The Bold and the Blasphemous.” https://open.spotify.com/track/6bouZ3m0uM8yC2ZfkVkdCH From its opening strains, this is a tumbleweed-rollin', steer-roastin' retro number that snatches your attention by the bootstraps. It's anthemic—even without any lyrics—evoking images of dusty plains and sunsets over craggy canyons. You half expect John Wayne to saunter out with an acoustic guitar slung low instead of a six-shooter. Byrne proves to be no slouch on the guitar front. The lead guitars here don't just sear; they blaze like a campfire in high wind – giddy with untamed energy and demanding you either join in or hightail it outta there. Rollin' Sound Studios in Sweden wielded their much-appreciated touch in mixing and mastering the track, complementing Byrne's rich production. [caption id="attachment_52442" align="alignnone" width="1080"] John Byrne Takes You on a Wild West Ride with “The Bold and the Blasphemous”[/caption] Yet, what truly democratizes this stompfest is the drum-beating backbone—driving, relentless—it gives the piece a certain momentum akin to a galloping stallion across Arizona desert landscape. It isn’t just music; it’s an auditory movie reel catapulting us back into golden era westerns. In essence: If Sergio Leone had lived long enough to see Byrne’s symphony of saloons and sheriffs unfold via “The Bold and the Blasphemous,” he would’ve surely presented him with his esteemed seal of Spaghetti Western approval! Follow John Byrne on YouTube and Instagram. Supported by Musosoup #SustainableCurator

[strange-doll-child]

H u h- Well, goddamn I finally finished the Retro Puppets in this Steampunk style! Now- What do I do with the rest of these f-ckers?

[marginalgloss]

I turn 35 tomorrow. How better to celebrate that than with some notes on the handful of video games I have managed to finish over the last ten months. In no particular order:

Judgment (PS4)

Something I think about often is that there aren’t many games which are set in the real world. By this I man the world in which we live today. You can travel through ancient Egypt or take a trip through the stars in the far future, but it’s relatively rare to be shown a glimpse of something familiar. Hence the unexpected popularity of the new release of Microsoft Flight Simulator, which lets you fly over a virtual representation of your front porch, as well as the Grand Canyon, and so on.

I found something like the same appeal in Judgment, a game which took me longer than anything else listed here to finish — seven or eight months, on and off. Like the Yakuza games to which it is a cousin, it’s set in Kamurocho, a fictional district of a real-world Tokyo; unlike other open-world games, it renders a space of perhaps half a square mile in intense detail. I spent a long time in this game wandering around slowly in first-person view, looking at menus and in the windows of shops and restaurants. The attention to detail is unlike everything I have ever seen, from the style of an air conditioning unit to the range of Japanese whiskies on sale in a cosy backstreet bar. And this was a thing of value at a time when the thought of going anywhere else at all, let alone abroad, seemed like it was going to be very difficult for a very long time.

It’s a game of at least three discrete parts. One of them is a fairly cold-blooded police procedural/buddy cop story: you play an ex-lawyer turned private eye investigating a series of grisly murders that, inevitably, link back to your own murky past. In another part you run around the town getting into hilarious martial arts escapades, battering lowlifes with bicycles and street furniture. In another, you can while away your hours playing meticulous mini-games that include darts, baseball, poker, Mahjong and Shogi — and that’s before we even get to the video game arcades.

All these parts are really quite fun, and if you want to focus on one to the exclusion of the others, the game is totally fine with that. The sudden tonal shifts brought about by these crazy and abrupt shifts in format are, I think, essentially unique to video games. But the scope of Judgment is a thing all its own. As a crafted spectacle of escapist fiction it’s comprehensive, and in its own way utterly definitive.  

Mafia: Definitive Edition (PS4)

I was amazed when I found out they were doing a complete remake of Mafia, a game I must have finished at least three or four times in the years after its release back in 2002. Games from this era don’t often receive the same treatment as something like Resident Evil, where players might be distracted by the controls and low-poly graphics of the original. 

A quality remake makes it easier for all kinds of reasons to appreciate what was going on there. (Not least because they have a lot of new games in the same series to sell.) But in the early 00s PC games like this one had started to get really big and ambitious, and had (mostly) fixed issues with controls; so there’s a hell of a lot more stuff going on in Mafia than in most games of that era. It was also a very hard game, with all kinds of eccentricities that most big titles don’t attempt today. Really I have no idea how this remake got made at all. 

But I was so fond of the original I had to play it. The obvious: it looks fantastic, and the orchestral soundtrack is warm and evocative. The story is basic, but for the era it seemed epic, and it’s still an entertaining spectacle. The original game got the balance of cinematic cutscenes, driving and action right the first time, even while Rockstar were still struggling to break out of the pastiche-led GTA III and Vice City. 

They have made it easier. You’re still reliant on a handful of medical boxes in each level for healing, but you get a small amount of regenerating health as well. You no longer have to struggle to keep your AI companions alive. Most of the cars are still heavy and sluggish, but I feel like they’re not quite as slow as they once were. They’ve changed some missions, and made some systems a little more comfortable — with sneaking and combat indicators and so on — but there aren’t any really significant additions.

The end result of all this is that it plays less like an awkward 3D game from 2002, and more like a standard third-person shooter from the PS3/360 era. Next to virtually any other game in a similar genre from today, it feels a bit lacking. There’s no skill tree, no XP, no levelling-up, no crafting, no side-missions, no unusual weapons or equipment, no alternative routes through the game. And often all of that stuff is tedious to the extreme in new titles, but here, you really feel the absence of anything noteworthy in the way of systems. 

My options might have been more limited in 2002 but back then the shooting and driving felt unique and fun enough that I could spend endless hours just romping around in Free Ride mode. Here, it felt flat by comparison; it felt not much different to Mafia III, which I couldn’t finish because of how baggy it felt and how poorly it played, in spite of it having one of the most interesting settings of any game in recent years. But games have come a long way in twenty years.    

Hypnospace Outlaw (Nintendo Switch)

If this game is basically a single joke worked until it almost snaps then it is worked extremely well. 

It seems to set itself up for an obvious riff on the way in which elements of the web which used to be considered obnoxious malware (intrusive popups and so on) have since become commonplace, and sometimes indispensable, parts of the online browsing experience. But it doesn’t really do that, and I think that’s because it’s a game which ends up becoming a little too fascinated by its own lore. 

The extra science fiction patina over everything is that technically this isn’t the internet but a sort of psychic metaverse delivered over via a mid-90s technology involving a direct-to-brain headset link. I don’t know that this adds very much to the game, since the early days of the internet were strange enough without actually threatening to melt the brains of its users. 

(This goes back to what I said about Judgment - I sometimes wonder if it feels easier to make a game within a complete fiction like this, rather than simply placing it in the context of the nascent internet as it really was. Because this way you don’t have to worry too much about authenticity or realism; this way the game can be as outlandish as it needs to be.) 

But, you know. It’s a fun conceit. A clever little world to romp around in for a while. 

Horace (Nintendo Switch)

I don’t know quite where to begin with describing this. One of the oddest, most idiosyncratic games I’ve played in recent years. 

As I understand it this platformer is basically the creation of two people, and took about six years to make. You start out thinking this is going to be a relatively straightforward retro run-and-jump game — and for a while, it is — but then the cutscenes start coming. And they keep coming. You do a lot of watching relative to playing in this game, but it’s forgivable because they are deeply, endearingly odd. 

It’s probably one of the most British games I’ve ever played in terms of the density and quality of its cultural references. And that goes for playing as well as watching; there’s a dream sequence which plays out like Space Harrier and driving sequences that play out like Outrun. There are references to everything from 2001 to the My Dinner with Abed episode of Community. And it never leans into any of it with a ‘remember that?’ knowing nod — it’s all just happening in the background, littered like so much cultural detritus. 

A lot of it feels like something that’s laser-targeted to appeal to a certain kind of gamer in their mid-40s. And, not being quite there myself, a lot of it passed me by. Horace is not especially interested in a mass appeal — it’s not interested in explaining itself, and it doesn’t care if you don’t like the sudden shifts in tone between heartfelt sincerity and straight-faced silliness. But as a work of singular creativity and ambition it’s simply a joyous riot. 

Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4)

I stopped playing this after perhaps twelve or fifteen hours. There is a lot to like about it; it still looks stunning on the PS4 Pro; Aloy is endearing; the world is beautiful to plod around. But other parts of it seem downright quaint. It isn’t really sure whether it should be a RPG or an action game. And I’m surprised I’ve never heard anyone else mention the game’s peculiar dedication to maintaining a shot/reverse shot style throughout dialogue sequences, which is never more than tedious and stagey.

The combat isn’t particularly fun. Once discovered most enemies simply become enraged and blunder towards you, in some way or another; your job is to evade them, ensnare them or otherwise trip them up, then either pummel them into submission or chip away at their armour till they become weak enough to fall. I know enemy AI hasn’t come on in leaps and bounds in recent years but it’s not enough to dress up your enemies as robot dinosaurs and then expect a player to feel impressed when they feel like the simplest kind of enrageable automata. Oh, and then you have to fight human enemies too, which feels like either an admission of failure or an insistence that a game of this scale couldn’t happen without including some level of human murder. 

I don’t have a great deal more to say about it. It’s interesting to me that Death Stranding, which was built on the same Decima engine, kept the frantic and haphazard combat style from Horizon, but went to great lengths to actively discourage players from getting into fights at all. (It also fixed the other big flaw in Horizon — the flat, inflexible traversal system — and turned that into the centrepiece of the game.) 

Disco Elysium (PS4)

In 2019 I played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons. I’m talking about the actual tabletop roleplaying game, not any kind of video game equivalent. For week after week a group of us from work got together and sort of figured it out, and eventually developed not one but two sprawling campaigns of the never-ending sort. We continued for a while throughout the 2020 lockdown, holding our sessions online via Roll20, but it was never quite the same. After a while, as our life circumstances changed further, it sort of just petered out.

I mention all this because Disco Elysium is quite clearly based around the concept of a computerised tabletop roleplaying game (aka CRPG). My experience of that genre is limited to the likes of Baldurs Gate, the first Pillars of Eternity and the old Fallout games, so I was expecting to have to contend with combat and inventory management. What I wasn’t expecting was to be confronted with the best novel I’ve read this year.

To clarify: I have not read many other novels this year, by my standards. But, declarations of relative quality aside, what I really mean is that this game is, clearly and self-consciously, a literary artefact above all. It is written in the style of one of those monolithic nineteenth century novels that cuts a tranche through a society, a whole world — you could show it to any novelist from at least the past hundred years and they would understand pretty well what is going on. It is also wordy in every sense of that term: there’s a lot of reading to do, and the text is prolix in the extreme. 

You could argue it’s less a game than a very large and fairly sophisticated piece of interactive fiction. The most game-like aspects of it are not especially interesting. It has some of the stats and the dice-rolling from table-top roleplaying games, but this doesn’t sit comfortably with the overtly literary style elsewhere. Health and morale points mostly become meaningless when you can instantly heal at any time and easily stockpile the equivalent of health potions. And late on in the game, when you find yourself frantically changing clothes in order to increase your chances of passing some tricky dice roll, the systems behind the game start to feel somewhat disposable. 

Disco Elysium is, I think, a game that is basically indifferent to its own status as a game. Nothing about it exists to complement its technological limitations, and nor is it especially interested in the type of unique possibilities that are only available in games. You couldn’t experience Quake or Civilisation or the latest FIFA in any other format; but a version of Disco Elysium could have existed on more or less any home computer in about the last thirty years. And, if we were to lose the elegant art and beautiful score, and add an incredibly capable human DM, it could certainly be played out as an old-fashioned tabletop game not a million miles from Dungeons and Dragons.

All of the above is one of the overriding thoughts I have about this game. But it doesn’t come close to explaining what it is that makes Disco Elysium great.

[stomygame]

So, I’ve made the decision to stop working on Ctesiphon. It was meant to be a quick 1-year project back when boomer-shooters were really an untapped market. The last five (phew) years working on it have been incredibly valuable for me as a game developer, but I’ve never really developed a proper vision of what Ctesiphon would actually _be_ once it was done. Just “a quake clone” or something.

Today things are different, there’s a ton of awesome retro-FPS games like Amid Evil, Hedon, The Citadel, and excellent Doom mods like Hideous Destructor and anything @combine-kegan makes. With plenty more on the way, my game doesn’t really have much to sell it with other than the controls and physics being “really smooth and satisfying.”

I also had gotten really fed up with Bullet 3D and wanted an excuse to finally bite the last bullet and go all the way to having the engine actually written in C99 rather than “very C-like” C++.

So, given that, I’ve decided to shelve the project and move on to something with a much clearer end-point in my mind, a magnum opus I’ve been imagining for years: Turbostellar.

What you’re seeing here is a first-person camera capable of 6DOF movement, including a physically-accurate system of gravity (including shell theorem corrections if you go under the surface). The collision system is entirely hand-made and functional out to actual Earth-scale (and probably much further), though the game will be somewhat smaller in scale than real-life (about 1/12 I’m thinking, like Daggerfall’s default timescale).

This is the first clip I’ve released of the game, culminating many weekends of work over the past five or six months. I intend to post whatever interesting I have done on Saturdays, and rather than describing the game upfront, I’ll just let the clips do the talking for a while. In short though, I want to take the ideas behind Ctesiphon’s gunplay and put it in a heavy metal inspired, hard-sci-fi, space-sim rpg.

[pixeldistractions]

Hudson was in such good spirits afterwards that he made breakfast for them. It was six in the morning. They hadn’t slept a wink all night, but they were both hungry.

But then the conversation went sour.

He wasn’t really interested in video games—not simulations, not first-person shooters, not RPG’s, not even retro games—not any video games at all. He didn’t really read much, and he especially didn’t keep up with Oscar-nominated films. He didn’t get her jokes, sadly. He actually wasn’t much of a jokester at all. He was bored that all she wanted to talk about was aesthetics—what? is plaid an aesthetic?—and Paris and gap years and the Great American Novel. And he thought she liked camping?

“Well, sure, I’d love to go backpacking through Spain. Not that I’m opposed to regular camping. That’s fine, too.”

“Regular camping?” Yeah, he meant more like hunting in the mountains. Perhaps they didn’t like the same kind of camping.

And no, he didn’t know about whatever video game was going to debut at GeekCon next week, and he probably wouldn’t enjoy meeting all of her friends to watch the loud, hectic, noisy presentation.

“You met my friends,” she said. “You seemed to think they were fine.”

“They were a little intense,” he said. “But nice kids.”

“Kids?” She glared a little. “Oh-kay. Well, how about Alien Con then? This summer?”

“Alien what?” Hudson was baffled. It was just that she suddenly seemed so very twenty years old. Maybe his sister was right. “I think I’m too old for aliens,” he said.

“Did you just call me immature?”

Whoa. Time out. To think, after everything, that this little romantic experiment might fail on simple mismatched interests.

— [x]