Ethereal87

@Ethereal87@beehaw.org

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of November 10th⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I finally cracked into Phase 4 of Satisfactory when I haven’t been able to do that before, so I’m enjoying seeing some new things but also feeling a bit analysis paralysis on where to go/what to focus on. Currently trying to build a cool sky train that connects my bases. Also working on the Castlevania DLC for VS and doing my best not to just “look up the answers” to all the new content. I don’t have a ton of nostalgia for Castlevania outside of Aria of Sorrow, but I’m enjoying the sheer amount of new stuff they added in.

  And lastly, Rise of the Golden Idol came out yesterday and consumed my evening. I loved that first game so much that this was a no-brainer.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of October 6th⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Satisfactory. It hit 1.0 about a month ago and I’ve been chipping away at a new world. It is so satisfying to build a working factory and figuring out the right input rate for your resources…it just feels so zen like.

  I’m also weirdly feeling an itch to purchase and get into either Pokemon Scarlet or Violet. I can’t explain it, but I’ve apparently crossed the threshold of holding off and it just keeps floating around in my head.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Outer Wilds' Community has been AWESOME!⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I think it’s fair to say that I would remember SOME things that took a lot longer to figure out the first time, but the specifics are gone that I still could not finish the game outright.

  Also I’ve had two kids since it first came out and my memory is shot so that helps too!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Outer Wilds' Community has been AWESOME!⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  Agreed. I’ve played the game twice, once when it came out and the second when the DLC came out. Fortunately enough time passes, you can easily forget the puzzle solutions and just lose yourself in the world again.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Let's discuss: Stardew Valley⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Hmm…440 hours on Steam…probably another 125 on the Switch…

  I love this game. It’s so cozy and comfortable. I found SDV after my divorce just when it had originally released and I was drawn into the cute world and how much character oozes from every corner. Every person you meet has something going on or you can just be a weird hermit building out your farm in peace. There’s enough of a story to propel you forward but never overbearing and it gets out of the way when it’s “done”.

  As time has gone on from my first playthrough, I’ll typically dive back in when the itch strikes or a new content update comes along. The last few playthroughs I’ve done a lot to mod the game and introduce new things into the world to discover, some of which just feels indistinguishable from the official content and others that just help reduce barriers that I want to skip over (like fishing).

  Stardew Valley is a game I will likely always go back to. I’m sure it will eventually eclipse my current most played game (Team Fortress 2 @ ~800 hours). I’ve tried other games like it and while they’re fun, none seem to have the staying power that Stardew has over me. While I will absolutely check out his next game, I’m hoping Stardew Valley never really stops being updated over the years.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Let's discuss: The Sims⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I think original Sims made the biggest impact on me since I probably played that one the most. Our PC couldn’t handle The Sims 2 when it came out, and I only tangentially tried 3 and 4. Mostly enough to build a cool house and spend a few days with the Sims I created. Sims 1 I probably poured a ton of hours into it.

  One thing I did discover and never fully completed in the later games was trying to do some sort of haunted house family. As in, have someone move in and intentionally die in a way that created a new color of ghost. Get all of the different ghost colors in one house/lot then move a normal family in. I don’t think it really mattered in any way, I just loved the idea of a regular family cohabitating with a rainbow of ghosts.

  There’s something both so unique and also so simple to the Sims that I’m surprised it’s taken this long for folks to try and “go for it” the way Cities:Skylines went for Sim City. Like, you have to craft interesting stories within the game but you don’t need to wholecloth invent a galactic empire/fantasy world/etc…you can broadly look at our world and copy/paste for inspiration. With Paralives and Life By You “coming soon” in some fashion, there’s going to be some interesting competition here.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of May 5th⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  We just had our second kid so any games have to basically be on the phone right now. Luckily, someone mentioned Wildfrost in the same breath as Slay the Spire and it has been awesome to play while holding the little one.

  It’s a card/deck builder rogue like, but you’re deploying units into one of two lanes and positioning them for maximum effect. Each unit counts down until it attacks, but you have a handful of cards to directly attack as well. You run until you fight the final boss, unlock more stuff along the way, etc…it’s been a blast. The art style is cute (how big can Yuki’s snowball get? Try and find out!) and I love the soundtrack.

  On iOS at least, the game is free to download and try out before purchasing (think it was $7). If you like Slay the Spire and similar games, well worth looking into!