mohab
@mohab@piefed.social
- Comment on 10 hours ago:
I like this trailer—he stuck with his style, and that’s pretty cool. Has to be close to 2 decades since the Isaac trailer dropped, no?
Game looks like Into the Breach meets Isaac. Not for me, but happy for fans of both.
- Comment on Players are returning their Dispatch copies due to Switch censorship 10 hours ago:
Mind you, Nintendo is cool with putting Doom and Duke Nukem on the Switch.
And literally owns Bayonetta 😂
- Comment on Indie Game Roundup (January 23, 2026) 6 days ago:
A new shmup port! Nice, thanks for sharing.
- Comment on Ubisoft initiates colossal restructure to become a more 'gamer-centric' company 1 week ago:
“The new operating model will further empower the execution of the Group’s strategy, centered on Open World Adventures and GaaS-native experiences, supported by targeted investments, deeper specialization, and cutting-edge technology, including accelerated investments behind player-facing Generative AI,” reads the document.
I can’t 😂😂😂 This is so funny, OMG… I swear I’d retire if my job is to write comedy. There’s no topping this shit… it’s like an absurdist Tim and Eric sketch 😂
- Comment on What challenge from a game isn't worth completing and what challenge from a game is worth completing? 1 week ago:
Action games, for the most part, have well-thought achievements, TBH. If designed well, they can nudge you towards the intended way to play the game and by the time you’re done, you will have mastered the gameplay or got really close.
In Hi-Fi Rush, for example, some achievements encourage you to parry, parry counter, air juggle… etc.
- Comment on What challenge from a game isn't worth completing and what challenge from a game is worth completing? 1 week ago:
Challenges in action games are worth completing most of the time because they’re typically designed to either drive home the intended purpose of individual combat mechanics, or outright reveal mechanics too advanced to cover by basic tutorials—e.g. dodge counter in Hi-Fi Rush.
- Comment on Micron addresses Crucial exit backlash: 'We are trying to help consumers around the world' — company warns that DRAM drought could last until at least 2028 2 weeks ago:
When a suit talks all I hear is: oink, oink, oink.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 2 weeks ago:
In action games, scoring the highest is typically not the priority as much as getting the rank, which happens once you pass a certain threshold predefined by the game. For example, if you need to score >5000 style points to get S in style, scoring >7000 won’t change the outcome because S is the highest rank. The result is: how you score higher than >5000 style points does not really matter, it is up to you. In a good action game, there typically is multiple tools you could use to get there depending on many factors, one of them is preference. How you start a combo, how you end it, or what you do in the middle, is up to you as long as the finally tally of the battle adds up to >5000 style points, and you stay under the time and damage taken ceiling.
What you end up getting is multiple people fighting the same boss, getting an S rank, even though they have different strategies/play styles.
Even if you choose to shoot for the highest combo score, attacks are typically assigned categories, and each category is assigned a score value. Kind of like damage level in fighting games. So, in theory, you could chain together a combo with different attacks and get the same score as long as they all fall in the same category.
Now, this is one way to approach those games, which is different from what you hinted at earlier: playing to create style showcases, or “COMBO MAD”, which can also be endlessly fun because the player actively chooses to throw away the rules of the game and make up their arbitrary rules for their own enjoyment. The games typically give you the tools to play them both ways, up to you.
In shmups, where grading is literal score chasing and more deterministic, flavor is typically added through (a) ship variety, (b) exploiting the game’s scoring mechanics when planning a route, and (3) player skill. This is why scores with different ships are often listed separately because, even though you’re playing the same game, using a different ship can heavily alter routing, including how the player exploits the game’s mechanics to get higher scores. It is the main reason people are still breaking records for games that came out decades ago: if everyone is playing exactly the same way, this wouldn’t be possible.
In theory, there may be only one optimal route for every shmup out there, but we’ll never know what that route is for as long as people are still playing the games and breaking records. Same goes for action games: there may be one optimal combo for every enemy in every game, but in reality people typically only pursue this kind of knowledge when they’re playing some kind of challenge run, or looking for tips to cheese the game if they’re achievement hunting.
I see what you mean with fighting games. My issue is: I whiff a -9 attack, you’re within range, you hit me with an attack that comes out in 5 frames, I am at 25% health, and I have no meter for a Roman Cancel: not only will your attack hit and do damage every time, it will be the same damage value, given I’m playing with the same character and you’re not A.B.A. going super sayian or you have some other damage modifier on.
To approach this from another angle, I get hit in a fighting game, it’s on me. I misread a play, or did something silly like not hit-confirming a -9 attack. I find this different from “dumb luck” when I tactically maneuver myself into a superior position, I have 99% hit chance, I miss, and they get a critical hit next killing my character off. That to me is… not ideal, haha.
I leave Faust to ElvenShadow, I’m not touching that crazy man.
I like DMC5 a lot, it’s just too much of a combo simulator to make it into my list of favorites. I like weaving in and out of defense and offense like in Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden, and God Hand. I too prefer Hi-Fi Rush to DMC5, TBH. Such an awesome game! And mechanically deeper than most action game fans think, I have found. I watched some of my favorite action game YouTubers review it (Combat Overview and TheGamingBritShow) without covering some fun mechanics like parrying shields or dodge counters. Many people seem to think it’s all about the music beat gimmick, but it has a little more going for it than that. A replayable game, for sure.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 2 weeks ago:
You’re free to freestyle and get a lower score, but without RNG, there will be one way to play that always works.
Most score you on style as well, not just efficiency. And massive breadth and depth of combat interactions yield more than one way that works, not just one. Even for shmups, routing can vary depending on the player, their skill, and understanding of the game. It’s not a timid sandbox wherein only one way works.
If that counts as infinitely replayable, then so does any other game you enjoy.
Keyword is enjoy. I don’t see myself replaying DMC5 for as long as I’ve been playing some of my favorite games because I enjoy it less.
And for fighting games, that RNG is just substituted for your opponents’ decision making.
Hmm… how does that work? I hit my opponent, they take damage, no Xcom bullshit. I don’t see any RNG-like behavior in this interaction.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 2 weeks ago:
Ayyy, I love linking to Gamebrary:
https://gamebrary.com/b/pUM4ceVfPR2l9K2qqLDN - Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 2 weeks ago:
I’m just glad my favorite games don’t have any of this and are still infinitely replayable.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 2 weeks ago:
God, yes… it’s literally an interactive medium… like, I AM the story, motherfuckers 😂
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 2 weeks ago:
Holy shit, action games and giant bosses you can’t juggle… I love Bayonetta, but goddamn… Jeanne aside, some of the worst bosses in the genre.
Assaulf Spy was awesome for letting you juggle literally every boss in the game.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 2 weeks ago:
I hate RNG so much 😂 I don’t get it. Life has too much RNG, I play video games because it’s a predominantly skill-based controlled environment.
It’s like picking up a piano and there’s a 35% chance F# is just F every time you play the damn note 😂
I guess it makes sense if you’re role playing and want your experience to mimic real life, which is why they’re mostly used in RPGs, but I also feel so immersed playing skill-based games without RNG, so I can’t assess its actual value.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 2 weeks ago:
To clarify: by action games I’m specifically talking about Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, The Wonderful 101… etc. Among basic movement, combat mechanics, and weapon switching, they typically eat up the entire controller layout.
I don’t imagine Persona, for example, having any strong reason to utilize the sticks like that. Not sure why No Man’s Sky did that either; I haven’t played it, but it doesn’t look like a high-octane game.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 2 weeks ago:
I thought of another one: shitty covers. OMG, The Surge? WTF is that Steam library cover? There are exceptions like Catherine: Classic, but most covers where the protagonist stares at the camera suck so much.
Specifically if it’s an action game: show the character in action, FFS. The Wonderful 101 has a great cover. So does Vanquish.
And when half the cover is the logo… just stop with that already. Or an atrocity like Scarlet Nexus… it’s just a cropped image… like Bandai couldn’t afford to commission a cover.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 2 weeks ago:
Hmm… I think for action games it’s somewhat of a necessity because there are so many actions the character can take at any given point, so you kinda need to utilize every clickable button.
That said, I agree it never feels great. No matter how good the controller is, it always somehow feels wobbly, specifically after long-term use.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 2 weeks ago:
In 3rd-person games with a free moving camera, pressing the joystick not repositioning the camera behind my character. It’s so annoying in action games to have to manually reposition the camera while 5 enemies are happy to attack you from off screen.
- Comment on How Are You Guys Handling This? 3 weeks ago:
I played +400 hours last year and most demanding game in my library has a GTX 1050 minimum requirement. There’s much more to gaming than yearly AAA releases.
- Comment on Arc raiders is a horrible game 3 weeks ago:
I’ve been trying that with fighting games and rollback netcode for years now. I still have hope it’ll get adopted eventually.
- Comment on Arc raiders is a horrible game 3 weeks ago:
Kinda odd Steam doesn’t have a PvPvE tag, TBH.
- Comment on The highest-rated games and what the people say 4 weeks ago:
It’s one of those games where the power level is so high that almost the entire roster is viable. You really can’t go wrong with any of the 3 characters you named. All powerhouses in different ways.
- Comment on The highest-rated games and what the people say 4 weeks ago:
In a hypothetical three-layer scenario:
1. Highest rated games, regardless of genres. (RDR2, The Last of Us, Portal… etc.)
2. Highest rated games, that happen to belong to my favorite genres. (Bayonetta, GGPR, Hi-Fi Rush… etc.)
3. Games that belong to my favorite genres, but aren’t necessarily highly rated. (Hellsinker., Soulstice, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax etc.)Highest rating doesn’t guarantee I’ll like anything in layer 1, and not every game in layer 3 ends up being good enough. Layer 2 is the happy middle ground and the highest chance of finding games I’ll enjoy.
+R mentioned, nice
Ayyy, let’s go. Who do you main?
- Comment on The highest-rated games and what the people say 4 weeks ago:
Is this an ad for Backloggd?
On a serious note, there’s a happy middle ground between my favorite genres and the highest rated games, and this is typically where I have the best experience.
Examples: Bayonetta, Guilty Gear Plus R, or more recently: Hi-Fi Rush.
- Comment on 'Friendslop' dominated 2025 by proving time and time again that graphics are overrated 4 weeks ago:
Yeah, I am saying I think it comes down to personal preference, not arguing against your point.
- Comment on 'Friendslop' dominated 2025 by proving time and time again that graphics are overrated 4 weeks ago:
It all comes down to personal preference.
But sophisticated graphics also can make a game.
This is not the case for any of my favorite games, for example.
- Comment on All Delisted Steam Games 4 weeks ago:
The Samurai Jack game is not listed either.
- Comment on All Delisted Steam Games 4 weeks ago:
Man, it’s almost as if someone had a vendetta against any remotely good Transformers game.
- Comment on Do you preorder games? 4 weeks ago:
I don’t even order games 😂 Deep sale or no buy.
- Comment on The Knightling Did Everything Right - It Still Struggled to Sell | Beyond the Pixels Podcast 5 weeks ago:
Nice. RPGs in particular seem to be having a good time recently. Lots of well-received games in the previous 2~3 years.