So I've been playing this recently...

[ResidentSeagull]

It has been a while since I played a game that sucked me in as much as Signalis has, but here I am to recommend it to everyone. If you are looking for a classic survival horror game in the same vein as OG Resident Evil and Silent Hill, then you really need to play it.

Stylistically it is very much inspired by Alien and Dead Space (taking place in a retro-futuristic space station conquered by eldritch horrors beyond our comprehension), with anime-inspired character designs reminiscent of Ergo Proxy and the style of Tsutomu Nihei (the Blame!/Biomega/Knights of Sidonia guy), all presented through the heavily pixelated character models and backgrounds of PS1-era graphics.

Again, gameplay is very reminiscent of RE's 'search all the rooms and get keys to other rooms while solving puzzles and fighting/avoiding enemies with a limited amount of resources' formula. The enemies and later environments are shameless SH rip-offs in the best way possible (the way being 'ewww the fuck is that get it away from me'). Puzzles are really creative and engaging and all the guns are really satisfying to use.

The story is very Lynchian and Silent Hill-esque in that it is very dreamlike and conveyed through several disjointed perspectives and flashbacks, as well as cryptic scenes of jumbled (but still decypherable) information. It gives you enough to piece together the most important, character-related aspects of the story (when you get to the ending, at least the one I got, the emotional gut punch really hits), but it leaves enough open to interpretation so that not everythings is clear cut even after you're done with a first walkthrough. It is very much like NGE in that sense. The world building about the setting that you get through all the documents is also really interesting and worth reading through.

Overall, it's amazing. It's a case where a piece of media is unabashedly influenced by its predecesors, yet still manages to combine all those influences in a unique and inspired way, wrapping it all up in a tight, 9-hour package. Again, highly recommended.

[Mattias]

So, I finally finished off Bayonetta 2. Just my luck that my two favourite weapons come up at the end of the game. Alruna and Salamandra are really fun. The Aoe of Alruna and it's Snatch abilities when charged are a great counterpoint to Chainsaw Hands going BRRRRRRRR. The Space Harrier section was good too, didn't overstay it's welcome like he first game. The biggest downside to the game is the aerial bossfights. They all feel like they're taking away all the movement options in the game while also punishing you if you want to use a slower weapon, like the Chernobog I was using for a good portion. They get really repetitive, and they're always in the middle of fights I was actually enjoying before and after.


Then I fired up Bayo 3. I got to the end of the Shibuya section before I called it for the day. I like the demon summoning, but the dash feels so slow now and there's no Crow Within. Which makes the Umbren Jewels a huge pain to collect now that Bayo is slower than everything. The out of bounds goo is frustrating, to the point I killed myself trying to get somewhere thinking there would be an Alfheim behind it. Alfheims themselves are going new interesting places, but it's countered by the multiple jumps needed to get to the arena, when it used to be just a bridge. The new enemies are neat, but the fact they show no battle damage makes it really hard to gauge how their health is. And there's no explosion of gore when they do go down. That spider section in Shibuya, with all it's strange movement, odd jumping angles, degrading surfaces, and later on the spider swing that is so good it overshoots every platform you aim for, might have been the most frustrating level I've seen in a Bayonetta game. Maybe tied with trying to get through the first Fortitude fight with a good rank and missing the QTE constantly, ruining the whole run. I think the highlights of these first chapters were the Strider fight, the Spidernetta vs the Whale and the hidden Alarune fight, which I enjoyed just for the ability to completely stomp her with Madama Butterfly.

Fuck I wish they let you Astral Chain a chapter after you're done and play individual Verses to get the best score rather than the whole level.

It seems like every Bayonetta game has one glaring flaw, and this one's might be platforming.

[ResidentSeagull]

Is the dash you're referring to the sprint from the dodge or the unlockable 'R+R' move?

[Mattias]

The dash that has you transform into a demon. So I guess the sprint form the dodge? The old Beast Within always felt so much faster. Handled like ass until you got used to it though, but when in a fight you could get clear across an area in no time. It could even just be psychological thing, where both are just as fast only 3 has much larger areas to account for the Kaijuu summons. All I know is that it feels slower.

[ResidentSeagull]

I'm asking because with regards to catching the Umbran Tear animals, I didn't really do it with the sprint. What I used is the aforementioned unlockable 'R+R' move that every weapon has. It's mostly used in combat so that Bayo zips towards an enemy, but I found it overall very useful for cheesing the kitties and crows, as well as traversal in general.

Just as a tip. I think it'll save you a lot of trouble if you're gunning for them.

[Mattias]

Ah an unlockable move. I've been focused more on unlocking the moves that showed up in past game, rather than new ones, and since I've had to do it for so many that falls by the wayside. Now that I know new weapons and classic fights come from Umbrean Tears, I might get a bunch of currency though when I go back and grab them.

[Deathhappens]

After a looooong break, finally took the plunge and started Trails in the Sky SC (without my previous save, but what can you do).
Still in Chapter 1 and the game's been seriously kicking my ass. Makes it pretty clear the AT system was never designed for less than full party situations. Buut we're getting there, at least.

[LegalLoliLover]

Voice acting really makes all the difference for me. I'm more eager to replay Touhouvania than to finish Rabi-ribi once.

[Laserman]

I got Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Persona 5 the Royal for Christmas, but I've been playing more of the former than the latter.

[WorldForgot]

Just beat Death Stranding. What a trip. I vacuumed that game's story mode up, 40 hours in one week. I really love what Kojima has done for the medium. Its game loop is so addictive and relaxing without sacrificing the genre thrills of MGSV.

[Ligerleon89]

I played and beat some games. Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Blaster Master Zero 3, Sonic Generations for the 3DS. I'm working on the Pokemon games after some experimenting on EV and IV.

[eddyak]

It turns out I am garbage at Signalis.

[Deathhappens]

I don't know why I started and finished a THIRD X-Com 2 playthrough, but I enjoyed it.

[ResidentSeagull]

It turns out I am garbage at Signalis.

The horror in survival horror is at its most potent when the worst enemy is the player themselves.

[eddyak]

The horror in it for me is the navigation and puzzles, tbh.

The bastards eventually getting back up is fine, I can work with that, but needing to trawl through six or seven levels to find the door I've forgotten for the key I found on the opposite end of the facility... ugh.

[SpoonyViking]

For a game that I remember being hailed as a glorious return to the day of old-school FPSes, not only does Painkiller not play a lot like those games (to put it mildly), but it's also... Incredibly not good. No better than average, really. And yes, I'm talking about the original, not the expansion packs, which the internet tells me are reviled.

Side note: it's screwed-up how many games are sold on Steam without proper support for running in modern-day operating systems. Thank goodness for fan-made patches!

[Deathhappens]

Painkiller was the Doom 2016 before Doom 2016.

[LegalLoliLover]

New FE denied me cunny, so I'm watching for Agarest in March.

[SpoonyViking]

Painkiller was the Doom 2016 before Doom 2016.

Then I guess Doom 2016 is bad, because Painkiller is bad.
At this rate, I'm only going to finish it out of stubbornness.

[Deathhappens]

It wasn't nearly as polished and way more "horror-leaning" than 2016, admittedly.