Posts from Recently viewed games

Ment promised to post about the new Arknights, but I see that he didn't do it... Oh well.

Ment promised to post about the new Arknights, but I see that he didn't... Well.

YOU ARE AN ANCIENT, TIMELESS INHABITANT OF THE CONCRETE FORESTS.

YOU ARE BORN AND DIE TO FULFILL THE WILL OF CONCRETE.

LAST TIME, YOU WERE IN CHARGE OF OPERATING THE CONCRETE PLANT IN THE FAR NORTHERN BLOCK, AND FOR YOUR OUTSTANDING WORK, YOU EARNED A TEN-YEAR SABBATICAL.

SOMEWHERE ON THE EDGE OF YOUR MIGHTY CONSCIOUSNESS, OCCUPIED BY THE CONTINUOUS AND PRECISE OPTIMIZATION OF CONCRETE DATA AND FORMULAS, YOUR NAME FLOATS, ONCE FAMOUS THROUGHOUT THE GIGAHIVE.

Endmin.

Endmin.

ENDMIN!

SOMEONE IS CALLING. IT SEEMS THAT YOUR NEW SUPERVISOR IS ON THE LINE.

YOU SEE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE CORRIDOR LEADING TO THE CHECKPOINT, AND YOU WALK TOWARDS IT. IN ONE MORE MINUTE, AFTER AUTHENTICATION, YOU WILL BE EJECTED INTO THE GIGAHIVE THROUGH A SPECIAL HERMETIC DOOR THAT SEPARATES THE CONCRETE DIMENSION FROM THE STANDARD ONE.

YOU WINCE AT THE OVERLY BRIGHT LIGHTING. WHAT IS HAPPENING? WHY DID THEY SCREW IN A CHANDELIER WITH SO MANY HUNDRED-WATT BULBS INTO THAT BLUE CEILING? DO YOU EVEN REALIZE HOW MUCH ENERGY THEY CONSUME?

WHERE ARE THE WALLS? WHY ARE THEY SO FAR AWAY? HOW MANY TERRAWATTS ARE NEEDED TO HEAT SUCH A HUGE LIVING SPACE?

WHY IS THE ENTIRE FLOOR PAINTED IN THAT ACID GREEN COLOR? IN YOUR TIME, THAT COLOR WAS ONLY FOUND IN RAT POISON.

HAVE YOU GONE CRAZY?!

YOU'VE REALLY LOST IT IN TEN YEARS.

THIS GIGABLOCK NEEDS A COMPLETE MAKEOVER, BUT FORTUNATELY, YOU ARE EXACTLY WHAT IS NEEDED FOR THIS TASK.

***

YOU WERE BRIEFED ON THE SITUATION BY YOUR NEW SUPERVISOR, A MUTANT-BIRD PERSON NAMED "PERLITSA".

FIRST, SEEING YOUR DISPLEASURE, SHE ASSURED YOU THAT THE FAITH IN CONCRETE IN THE BLOCK HAS NOT WANED.

IN FACT, THE INHABITANTS OF THE BLOCK RESPECT CONCRETE SO MUCH THAT THEY EVEN GAVE IT A SPECIAL NAME.

"ORIGIN". BECAUSE CONCRETE IS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL LIFE.

DESPITE THE APPARENT DECAY AND LACK OF CONCRETE AROUND, CONCRETE-ORIGIN IN THE FORM OF FINE PARTICLES IS PRESENT IN ALL OBJECTS AND CREATURES OF THE BLOCK, AND IS ALSO THE BASIS FOR ALL KNOWN TECHNOLOGIES.

THE GREEN COATING ON THE FLOOR IS ACTUALLY LIVING ORGANISMS ON A PLANT-BASED BASIS AND IS CALLED "GRASS". THE BLOCK'S HEATING IS AUTOMATIC AND IS PRODUCED BY THE SAME CHANDELIER ON THE CEILING, WHICH IS CALLED "THE SUN". FORTUNATELY, ITS ENERGY SOURCE IS INDEPENDENT OF THE BLOCK'S ENERGY SYSTEM.

THE PROBLEM OF TOO BRIGHT LIGHTING FOR YOU WAS SOLVED WITH THE HELP OF SPECIAL EYE MASKS.

THE PROBLEM OF PROGRESSIVE AGORAPHOBIA, UNFORTUNATELY, YOU WILL HAVE TO SOLVE YOURSELF.

BESIDES THE UNUSUAL STRUCTURE OF THE BLOCK, THERE IS OTHER NEWS, THIS TIME QUITE GOOD: DURING YOUR ABSENCE, YOUR DEPUTY, PERLITSA, DEVELOPED A NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR EMERGENCY CONCRETE PLANT STARTUP. THE PLANT CAN BE DEPLOYED ON VIRTUALLY ANY FLAT SURFACE WITH THE SNAP OF YOUR FINGERS.

BUT THERE IS ALSO BAD NEWS: ATTACKS FROM CREATURES FROM OTHER FLOORS HAVE INCREASED. ALSO, IN SOME AREAS OF THE BLOCK, FOR UNKNOWN REASONS, ANOMALOUS SELF-ASSEMBLIES ARE OCCURRING, INITIATED BY BLACK GOD WORSHIPPERS LED BY SOMEONE NAMED "N.E. FERRITE". YOU NEED TO URGENTLY PARTICIPATE IN THE DEFENSE OF THE "VALLEY IV" BLOCK, WHILE THE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE IS STILL HOLDING.

FORTUNATELY, YOUR TRUSTY, SHARPENED PIECE OF REBAR IS STILL WITH YOU. AS IS YOUR UNIQUE ABILITY TO DESTROY ENEMIES WITH ENDLESSLY CRYSTALLIZING PIECES OF RAW CONCRETE.

AND WHEN THE ENEMIES ARE GONE, YOU CAN FINALLY GO TO YOUR HOME PLANT.

THE PRODUCTION OF THE CONCRETE PROCESSING PLANT INCLUDES EVERYTHING THAT THE BLOCK'S INHABITANTS NEED. MEDICINAL PILLS MADE FROM BUCKWHEAT, "CITROM" CANDIES, "KRONA" BRAND CONCRETE BATTERIES, COMPONENTS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CLOTHING. NONE OF THIS NEEDS TO BE PURCHASED SEPARATELY.

CONCRETE, FIBERGLASS, IRON, AND COPPER FOR THE PLANT ARE EXTRACTED AUTOMATICALLY BY AUTOMATED MINING MODULES; YOU JUST NEED TO PLACE THEM AND CONNECT THEM TO THE POWER GRID. MOST PLANTS ARE AUTOMATICALLY GROWN AND HARVESTED IN HYDROPONIC MODULES.

FOR MILITARY NEEDS, BATCHES ALSO REQUIRE HIRING EMPLOYEES AND EQUIPPING THEM WITH WEAPONS. THIS IS DONE THROUGH AN IMPORT SYSTEM CALLED "GACHA", WHICH MAY BE THE ONLY, ALTHOUGH SIGNIFICANT, ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGE OF THE CURRENT PRODUCTION.

OTHER MATERIALS ARE EXTRACTED MANUALLY OR SEMI-AUTOMATICALLY. SEMI-AUTOMATIC MODE IS IMPLEMENTED, FOR EXAMPLE, AS FOLLOWS:

DOSSIER OF KEY EMPLOYEES:

ENDMIN

THAT'S YOU. CITIZENS INSIST THAT YOUR EXTERNAL RESEMBLANCE TO PENGUINS IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL AND YOU HAVE NO COMMON BIOLOGICAL ANCESTORS.

DEPUTY PERLITSA

CALLSIGN "GULI-GULI-GULI". ACCORDING TO THE DOSSIER, AS A CHILD, SHE FELL INTO A POT OF CALCULATORS, AND SINCE THEN SHE HAS BEEN ABLE TO RAISE TEN-DIGIT NUMBERS TO TEN-DIGIT POWERS IN HER HEAD.

OPERATIVE CHEN

TRANSFERRED FROM AN ASIAN GIGABLOCK FOR POOR PERFORMANCE. AS DUMB AS A CONCRETE EATER, BUT HAS EXCELLENT GRADES IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION.

 

AND ALSO CITIZEN LEVATINA (THE MAIN CONSUMER OF FROZEN RATIONS IN THE BLOCK), MINOR GANGSTER ROSSI FROM THE HOSTILE MACARONI BLOCK, ATHLETE SVETOSNEZHKA...

AND OTHERS.

NOW, WITH THIS BACKGROUND INFORMATION, YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.

Finally closed the gestalt that I opened and left unfinished 15 years ago.
Anyone who played it knows that everything after was only worse, except perhaps for the quests—though here they are completely primitive: go here and kill/bring something, and that's almost all of them—both guild quests and random side ones. Maybe that's just how it is, but for me, the quests in Oblivion+ never felt like anything other than something cobbled together by a schoolboy, maximally ridiculous "uncanny valley" stuff, given its clownish engine with idiot NPCs and markers.
I used to be repulsed by the Wikipedia-style "dialogues," but now I've reconsidered, and compared to what came later, it's not that bad. You can always ask almost any NPC where a certain shop or character is; otherwise, 99% of the standard question-slop can be ignored immediately—as can 99% of these NPCs—you won't miss anything, and there's no need to click through everyone clockwise. Remembering those ridiculously animated Oblivion morons who make faces, looking at your ear or the top of your head while talking with a dead-serious face, belching out one soy-flavored voice acting per race, different voicelines in different voices, and generally chatting quite primitively—the "straight to business" Wikipedia conversations aren't that bad. Persuasion here is also better than that ridiculous wheel. Over time, by the way, I first realized another of many factors as to why NPCs in the company's games look unnatural—everyone has a unique name, and if it's not a name, it's some kind of twisted contortion, sometimes reaching pure absurdity. The idea that no two NPCs in the world share the same first name is such an inorganic stupidity. As a result, everywhere you look: either some Dolbos Navpiskoniy, or Skufing Beerbelly, or Nykhus Soleus.

The combat based on hit chances, which I remembered as being absolutely hideous, also turned out not to be that bad. A relatively small value in the weapon skill is already enough to land hits decently, and moreover, enemies aren't damage sponges that you have to hack for 5 minutes like in Obli. For this, thanks to the lack of auto-leveling—in this part, you can calmly level up, even suboptimally, and experience no difficulties. There is some conditional minimum tuning of monster grades based on your overall progression, but it's minuscule.
All sorts of magical effects, abuses, and so on—I didn't use them much because I barely leveled magic—but they are here, and they are clearly the boldest and coolest by the standards of all Bethesda creations; you can't argue with fans on that, and they were cut from subsequent parts.
The cave clearing isn't as excessive as in Obli+. There are enough of them, but minimum are mandatory for quests, and they themselves aren't confusing copy-paste labyrinths taking three hours, but quite manageable.

The little world is disgusting enough, with bug-mushrooms-deserts and plague mutants, with janky houses, with ugly local red-eyed elves inhabiting it—now it's clear why they are so wretched in this setting—but then again, as fans say, it has its own taste; you can't deny its uniqueness, whereas subsequent parts devolved into maximum generic. It's as if a different company made this part, it differs so much from the rest of the line.
Some people seem to praise the plot, or rather its delivery, and the presentation of this very little world. I didn't see anything special here. Some would say you need to read the books, but that is, of course, complete madness—absorbing hundreds of volumes of in-game graphomania about god knows what, written by literary monkeys on stimulants during a crunch week.

I'd give it a 7, maybe a 7.5 at its best moments.
The feeling that you're playing an extremely outdated relic almost never leaves you, with gaps in gameplay and design, ergonomics, and many individual moments. But alongside this is a sense of old-school boldness in character progression and the overall look of the product, more freedom and a more unique vision.
But overall, the main plus is that it's just chill to play. You walk around, do something, click, nothing much is required of you, no fuss or hysterics with portals to hell or dragons—just a slow feeling of decay in an already uncomfortable world where you gradually poke around. I think this effect is achieved, ironically enough, in no small part by the aforementioned flaws regarding combat, quests, and Wikipedia.

They make faces, look at you now in one ear, now on the crown of your head, while talking with the most serious face.

🙂😧😠😐😫😒🥴

It's a pity I didn't write my review after finishing the game, because there was something to tell...
1. I agree about the dialogues. At the beginning, you can read them, but then you just skip everything except for rumors. There is sometimes useful information there. Perhaps there is something in the advice as well; I don’t remember anymore. Sometimes I was also interested in the "occupation" of NPCs, but that's it. On the other hand, it's nice that you can ask each person and talk about different topics, unlike in new games where there are only two or three lines. It would be good to improve this system, and maybe it would be okay. By the way, some quest-related NPCs were immediately revealed due to this (lack of conversation topics). Well, bribery is a good thing if you have money.
2. I agree about the quests; they are boring. There are those that stand out, like the barbarian under paralysis or the guy in the water whose pants were stolen, etc., but overall, everything is quite monotonous in terms of execution. In this aspect, Oblivion looked better; the quests were still more interesting, at least some of them. Apparently, because they started to include elements of plot.
3. The combat is fine; I never understood the complaints about it. People probably leveled up one skill but used another, or didn't level up their weapon skills at all. I don't remember any difficult moments with this, except for a couple of cases. First - the initial cave, where a barbarian with a hammer sits at the end and knocks you down with one hit, and fortunately finishes you off with the second. Second - the super-guard from the Tribunal DLC, from whom you later loot cool (quest?) gloves. This guy is really strong. Third - the ugly mobs from the Blood Moon DLC, but they aren’t so much difficult as annoying, and there are many of them.
4. I agree about the dungeons. In Oblivion, this is complete garbage, and there are only two or three types. Here, at least, there is variety and differences in general. I actually explored approximately half of them, besides, I forgot about the fortresses that I left for later. ☹
5. I agree about the world; it differs from the rest, and this is a plus, although the color palette doesn't bother me particularly, and even the swamp looks nice.
6. I don't remember the plot very well, but the final location is cool.

Overall, Morrowind is better than Oblivion. The latter is good only because of its physics and quests.
PS: And recently, I came to the conclusion that exploring Fallout games from Bethesda is much more interesting than scrolling through The Elder Scrolls.

And did you play the DLC?

Glad we came to an agreement.
I finished Bloodmoon; the main questline for werewolves felt a bit tedious in places: visiting nine ancient obelisks, clearing out the ice castle, and especially the final labyrinth – I started the expansion with a fully enchanted katana and was able to complete everything on maximum difficulty with one-hit kills, but they gave the monsters in the lab a million HP, which just made it annoying to click, heal, and spam healing spells, so at that point, I lowered the difficulty by 100. Otherwise, it's not bad considering the game.
The trading campaign seemed quite interesting, with branching paths and gradual village development, and the quests themselves are good; you can see that they tried to move away from the default faction format of the vanilla version and add some fun elements. Probably one of the most enjoyable things overall in the game. The Thieves’ Guild is also great; it’s easy and pleasant to steal, and you get a lot of money.

I didn’t have enough energy for the Tribunal; after finishing Bloodmoon and the main werewolf storyline, I barely touched it, and it generally felt kind of mediocre. A huge, empty city, boring sewers – as a result, I only cleared out the Dark Brotherhood early in the game to defend against assassins, and that was pretty much it. I tried to find an army of goblins there, but I got lost, shrugged it off, and went home.
Vivec also seemed incredibly awful to me, simply impossible to navigate, but over time, I got so used to it that I could even run through it without flying, and then with boots and flight, it became even easier. I was surprised at how my final impression of it differed from my initial one. Mushroom houses are much worse; it's unpleasant to even go into them, and the model glitches on wall and staircase terrain.

reduced the difficulty by 100 at this point

100% understanding
0% judgment

I probably lowered it too.

The Tribunal is smaller in size, but there's Dwemer dungeon and all sorts of stuff that I don't even remember. In the end, you just return to the city and kill someone. I didn't like that I couldn't teleport items to my house, and as a result, I think I left some loot behind. But there were top-tier artifacts that I ended up using. I had a pikeman in medium armor. By the way, I joined House Redoran (they seem to be the best).

Yes, I have the same situation with Vivec. He looks ugly, but eventually you just memorize him and fly around in boots. And the mushroom houses are too narrow; you enter and bump into a wall, not knowing where to go. But they are interesting to look at from the outside. Ultimately, all the normal cities are in the west. Ald'ruhn appealed to me the most, although Balmora is also pretty good.

===================================== By the way, wouldn't you want to update the images or write the game titles in your old reviews? Because in many posts, the artifacts aren't displayed, and it's unclear what game we're talking about. This applies to some messages from other users as well.

Turgor
Don't confuse it with the Void... Trying to play the Steam version as is resulted in a break of аж five years, and only recently I got around to playing the original.
A hardcore Russian eroge with ancient sonnets, an opening from "The Lusiads," terrible 3D models, and the vibe of Khrushchev-era apartments. Why do we need this in the age of Japanese visual novels? Why do we need these awful faces, a deposit simulator with interest, WALKING, and many other strange game design decisions? Gamers are racking their brains, but since there's just so much Russkiness in me, I have a simple and obvious answer – so that we suffer and think.
So that we believe in suffering, or rather, feel it – here’s your crappy mechanic. So that we think, not just watch – here are the creepy models. So that we feel our helplessness – here’s random chance, so strong that it can completely ruin a playthrough. Complete immersion, like a prolonged binge – at first it’s hard, then you start to enjoy it, then you sit with red eyes at three in the morning, and the thought that you should stop doesn’t even occur to you.
What useful thing could I say… It’s something special, that’s for sure. The plot is summarized in two or three sentences, the characters occupy at best 10% of the screen time, monotonous gray locations, one or two choices per game, and you could put a failing grade on it and end it right there, but as a result, we get 10 (!) full-fledged characters (for an average AAA RPG, 5 is considered "a lot"), another ten secondary ones, a cozy world that you initially need to force the player into through the thicket of ancient graphics and crazy gameplay, and then you won't be able to pull them out, one of the most skill-based combat systems, if not the most, and about a hundred reasons to THINK. Do you often think? I don’t very much, especially when playing games.
And against all this, there’s the question: where is the second part? Or at least a decent remake? We already have the third Moor, but there isn’t even a second Turgor... Sigh.
I would rate it excellent with many drawbacks.
And in such cases, a tier list seems appropriate

Title

Uta > Yuna > Bezimyashka > Echo > Ire > Ava > Ima > Ole > Yani > Eli >>> Aia

I had a pikeman in medium armor. By the way, I joined House Redoran (they seem like the best guys).

And I just ran around with one-handed weapon + shield at first, then switched to a two-handed weapon. I also leveled up alchemy and teleportation/flight spells, but in the end, I wanted to become the head of all guilds, so I had to level up a bunch of magic and other stuff. I played through Hlaalu, although I didn't know that they wouldn't accept me into other factions later, but even if I did, I would have gone there anyway.

In the end, all the decent cities are in the west. Ald'ruhn appealed to me the most, although Balmora is pretty good too.

Balmora is the base; despite its Arabic vibe due to the faction architecture, it’s centrally located, and everything is convenient there, so it will definitely be among the top choices. Sadri Mora somehow appeals to me as well, although there are only mushrooms and a fort. Probably because of the nature and transportation, and the fact that everything is conveniently located in the fort, although I saw an opinion on the internet that, on the contrary, the map there is incredibly confusing. But I don't understand such people; literally, the entire fort is a spiral staircase with three guilds, 10 meters to the exit to the street or a teleporter from any point of interest. And 30 meters to the street to the tavern with thieves.

By the way, do you want to update the images in old reviews or write down the names of the games? Because in many posts, the artifacts are not displayed, and it is unclear what game we are talking about. This applies to some messages from other guys as well.

Yes, I probably wouldn't remember some of them without pictures myself.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword 🧝‍♀️

I finally finished one of the parts. Not the best or most famous, but considered the first in a fan-made sequence that was later canonized. Although in reality, this doesn't really matter given the different worlds, details, and so on, but I want to believe that with this fictional paradigm it will be easier to build a picture of the game series in my head.

As for the game, in my opinion, it is a true gaming adventure as it should be. Partly because the gameplay is quite balanced and diverse, there are no overloaded mechanics, tediousness, or anything else that might get boring after ten hours (except for the backtracking haha). Only the scale isn't very large, but in this case, it's hard to call that a minus.
We start in a cozy little town floating in the sky. By the end of the game, it feels like home. You could even add it to memes about childhood gaming "courtyards." And the music in the city further contributes to this, as does the melody from the menu. There are about 30 characters in it, and while they don't have ten-page detailed biographies or an equal amount of dialogues and so on, each is memorable thanks to their appearance and a couple of lines that easily reveal the character's personality. Most of them have quests, and almost all of them serve only one specific purpose. Some of them are quite funny, even with choices. Besides this, there are a few funny situations and dialogues, some even relatable. Generally, I think the Japanese know how to do this, which is why it turns out cool.
Briefly regarding the plot: we study at a knight academy and at the beginning of the game, we must win a competition among students to earn a title. After that, we watch cutscenes, perhaps do something else, and in the end, a tornado hits and carries Zelda away from our cozy island somewhere down below. We are left with no choice but to set out in search of her, descending from the heavens...

Besides the city, there are three other main locations (forest, volcano, desert), which are located on the ground and will expand as the plot progresses. In short, the visiting scheme is: city-forest-city-volcano-city-desert-city-forest, etc. We reach them on a large bird that allows us to fly in the sky. That is, you leave the city by summoning your pet and fly freely in the sky location, where there are a few useful islets, secret chests, and even enemies. Then you land in the required location. Overall, the mechanic is good but ambiguous, as this is backtracking for the entire game and it's the only thing that might start to irritate. On the other hand, you don't need to fly every five-ten minutes unless you want to yourself. The main locations differ greatly from each other; for example, in the forest there is an underwater sector, and in the desert you can ride a boat (though it seems unlikely), + time stones are found there that change the environment around them. Also, there are Temples everywhere, where you usually "take an exam" on how to use new items. At the end of the game, there is also a Temple where you need to apply all the knowledge you've gained throughout the entire game, and this moment is truly great.

As in other parts, skills gradually appear here that are unlocked by obtaining items. And even at the 60th hour of gameplay, there is still something to surprise you with. Most of them are needed for plot progression, of course, but they can also be used to find secret cubes (chests), and some even for making money, like the blower (for money, you can "vacuum" one of the houses in town). Although the freedom in their use is not as great as in newer parts, which is understandable. And if I'm not mistaken, almost every new item is needed to defeat a boss encountered after obtaining it. The same blower was used to "dig up" a scorpion hiding in the sand.

The gameplay itself isn't limited to running and fighting; you have to think here—sometimes I even thought too much (apparently I've grown slightly dull from other games). And I'm not even talking about puzzles, but simply about finding the way forward, because there aren't many hints in the game (besides some general ones from the NPC companion) and sometimes you don't understand what to do next. I really liked this. Sometimes I had to spend a bit of time on bosses as well, since it's not always necessary to just hit them, like in Souls and other games. Besides this, there are mini-games, almost all of which I completed (couldn't get the maximum on bamboo cutting and not sure if I cleared the minesweeper on the large field). You can also catch insects, which are needed for upgrading potions. To upgrade items, you need to search for resources by knocking them out of mobs or simply finding them in specific places. By the way, in town you can sleep until night and upon going outside discover that monsters are roaming around while residents stay indoors. A gameplay segment closer to the end of the game seemed funny when stealth suddenly appeared, which is needed for literally 15 minutes. Although there was a similar segment in the spirit world, but the situation there is different.

The combat is generally normal (there's a shield and deflections, while rolls seem to be only outside of combat), although it was unusual to play on a gamepad and took time to get used to. At first, I tried fighting with motion controls and the feature seems cool, but I quickly decided to give it up. Maybe in some moments it would have been easier, I don't know. Otherwise, spiders were annoying at first because they had to be finished off, which I had problems with—especially after a break when I completely forgot how to do it and had to search on the internet. Some bosses also required time; sometimes I sat for half an hour. However, with HP upgrades it becomes easier, and only at the very end can hitches arise again, as bosses' attacks now take away more than one heart.
But the most annoying was a huge demon that I had to fight three times. He isn't particularly difficult, but there is a nuance that was very stressful and because of this I had to replay it, since the fight is timed. This is the only tedious moment in the whole game.

The main flaw would be obtaining the best shield in the game. All previous ones could be found/bought and then upgraded by the blacksmith, but the last one is given only for completing a trial. It consists of a boss rush, which I dropped without hesitation without even trying. Why grind through eight bosses in a row again, whom I've already defeated, when the game is almost over and only the final fight (two fights) remains. The shield is cool, of course, because it cannot be broken, and that is actually a good feature, especially in the battle with the final boss. But my upgraded one was not bad either, as it restored after a few seconds when I ran away from the enemy and didn't use it. In the end, I defeated the villain without problems, although not on the first try. Perhaps in NG+ all these things are more useful.

Result: a good game-thingy, but I'm sure half of the other games in the series are even better 🧝‍♂️

PS I will highlight two most memorable moments:
1. there was a funny and romantic quest in town about a ghost who lived in the toilet(?). it was unexpected and a bit creepy
2. the ability to "vacuum" was initially part of a quest; a woman asked to clean the house because she's lazy and usually waits for a strong wind that just blows all the dust away (this is a quote), and her son scolds her for this and doesn't want her to spend money on a hired helper haha

My experience with FromSoftware: I really enjoyed Dark Souls 1 and 2, Sekiro is one of my favorite games, but I dropped Dark Souls 3. Elden Ring felt like DS3, only with an open world, which is a double negative in my opinion. When I left the starting area, I thought the graphics were decent, but that impression quickly turned into disappointment due to the empty world, which I had no desire to explore. Just wander around wastelands where mobs and structures are scattered semi-randomly – even in Skyrim and Oblivion this was implemented much more interestingly; at least there you could find something to loot in caves and there were variations in gameplay + you could imagine your own adventure. Moreover, in an era when Sekiro and Stellar Blade exist, they should be ashamed of such combat... I didn't play it for long and dropped it. Maybe I'll try again if I don't have any other alternatives.


I don't know why, but Chinese developers seem to have trouble creating interesting stories. They pile up all sorts of things on a universal scale, but it's not very engaging, especially considering that almost all side quests are like those from MMORPGs - random fetch quests with NPC clones. Compared to other Chinese gacha games, Endfield stands out favorably due to the factory building system, but that alone isn't enough to prevent interest from fading. For now, I still log in daily to do dailies.


Apparently, you need to be a connoisseur of streaming... It just didn't click for me + when the music appeared in memes, it seemed funny, but here it even irritated my ears with its repetitive beat. Dropped it.


There is such a thing as chewing gum - essentially, it's an imitation of eating; you chew and chew, but you don't get full, and there are games that imitate playing. At first, I wanted to say this about Haven, but at some point (~when I finished the Castle and moved on to the next parts), my opinion changed for the better.

+ In terms of narrative, it's a worthy continuation of the main storyline; there's no feeling that it's a random horror game.
+ After Wesker was killed in part five, Chris remained the coolest character, and he is portrayed quite well here.
+ Contrary to my initial impression, I surprisingly liked the protagonist. He's cool.
+ Good graphics and detailed levels. The winter landscapes are magnificent in places.
+ Fat Albert and his sisters are amusing.
+ I liked how the atmosphere of the locations changed depending on the level and type of lighting.
+ They did a great job with the doll: despite the time limit, to defeat her, you need to move slowly, carefully looking around, contrary to the intensity of the situation.
+ The ball mini-game is fun.
+ The last level is awesome; it reminded me of the fifth installment - which I enjoyed the most in the entire series.
- I didn't like having to go back and forth in the village.
- Lady Dimitrescu seemed ridiculous, but I blame this on the way she chased the player along a fixed route, i.e., really like an NPC. You shoot her in the back, she gets angry, slowly turns around, starts walking towards you, and you run into a safe room and say "I'm in the house," and she has no choice but to turn back.
~ MiSide was scarier) Although it was also funny to see that the developers directly borrowed the location with dolls from there.
~ I played it in Japanese, even though it's not a very suitable voice acting for this setting. I tried playing it in English, but it turned out to be unpleasant to my ear. Considering that I can watch old American movies without any problems, I assume that the problem lies in modern voice actors...
~ The guns have weak sound; it feels like they are not firearms, but just firecrackers. Nevertheless, there are no complaints about the shooting itself – you can even knock down an arrow flying at you!
~ The additional storyline that unlocks after completing the main one is less interesting, especially since it's made of reused assets, but it's still decent.

Overall, among all the parts, I would put this in third place after part five and the original first game. For 2021, it's very good.

A standard collection of games for a self-respecting gamer

^ November.
Nice playing games on the gaming forum…

Write down your top 10 games/series; it would be interesting to read.

It’s a pity that no one wrote anything.

Dark Souls

Well, as usual, ten thousand years later I finally got around to the game that everyone has already played.. 👴
I might have forgotten some things since I had to take a two-year break, but I seem to remember most of it. Before starting, I thought for a long time about who to start as, although it's not that important. In the end, I decided that I could play as a knight in the next part, so for now, I'll choose a pyromancer. Let me say right away that I played the old original, like a cool old trailblazer at 30fps, and not like some wimp installing a patch for smoother gameplay or Gen Z+, who play the remaster (besides, back in the day I paid five rubles for the game and had to earn them).

There's not much to say about the prologue, other than that I obviously couldn't kill the boss properly on the first try.
🔥 Then, near the Temple of Fire, like many others, I tried to loot the graveyard, getting beaten up by skeletons. Later I went into the city and tore through some losers there. Perhaps I spent the most time in these initial and favorite locations, leveling up and looting in the city of the undead. In the end, I considered a chainmail set and a two-handed greataxe (or axe?) to be the most normal gear for me at that moment. Due to the low fps, I didn't use parrying at all, so I just rolled and tanked. The next vivid memory is related to the first Black Knight. No idea how many attempts it took to kill him, but enough. And yes, since this is an old part and the internet functions have long been dead, I looked up the dragon tactic outside the game, and I'm not even ashamed. First, of course, I shot off the tail and got a sword (the Dragon Sword drops from it, or whatever it's called?), which I used for quite a long time. And with the bull boss, I didn't make mistakes like in the prologue. The gargoyles were harder for me, and on the roof, I made the biggest fail of all: I attacked Oswald, thinking he was a mannequin and attacking him for some reason. In the end, I had to kill him. Why even add NPCs where they weren't before? What if an enemy appeared or some thing that I missed? Anyway, that was the idea. Good thing the character isn't very important. After that, I went down to kill various bandits and get acquainted with other locations in the game..

🐀 The Depths also seemed like a cool place; it was scary descending lower and lower, and when I fell into the sewers and saw those samey-eyed monsters.. well, that's probably a classic, as is the first slime. I spent maybe half an hour to an hour killing the local drake, I don't remember exactly.

🕷😷 Blighttown was worse, but not some completely awful place, although poison at that point in the game is certainly unpleasant and very stressful. And running slowly isn't fun either if you don't have a ring. And perhaps killing the spider took the most time; I sat there for at least an hour, although the fight itself didn't seem difficult.

🐉 I don't remember the Valley of Dragons at all, but I tried to kill the main dragon several times. Maybe I came there too early; I don't even remember why or from where.

🦎 I remember Sen's Fortress poorly, although the location seems cool and bone-crushing (for some reason that's the word I wanted to use), considering the narrow paths, traps, and 30fps. But I didn't spend much time there; it was a quick trip. And it seems only in this place did I learn that you need to use humanity and summon phantoms for the boss fight (although maybe I knew it in the swamp too but forgot). It's a pity that in this case, the phantom didn't help me at all and was sent flying by the golem five seconds after the start of the fight x)

🐺🌲The garden and lake are basically normal locations, although not particularly interesting. Regarding the second one, I can highlight the tower where Olam Havel sits x) I called him that throughout the game. I think I descended to him from above but was too scared to fight and only decided later. His story is pretty cool, in my opinion. I have a similar attitude toward the garden; there are only spirits for farming and the wolf. The latter also has a good story, but a sad one. I even watched the alternative cutscene before the fight with him.. And yes, regarding the garden, it's worth noting that at the beginning I only reached the door, and I cleared the second part after Anor Londo and other things. I don't remember exactly why, but in fact, this was a plus, as by this point I had Havel's armor. The point is that Sif turned out to be an inconvenient opponent for me and my 30fps, so I simply decided to tank it, dressing in the strongest armor, and defeated him. But until that moment, I ran almost the whole game in various pieces of light armor, except that in Anor Londo I found Silver Knight armor and added a chestpiece to my hodgepodge. Basically, I spent almost the entire game running around in different gear, sometimes changing something, and for bosses, I occasionally took Havel's set if problems arose.

☀️ Anor Londo. A bleak place that is boring to run through, especially on such a scale. A break was taken right before the double boss, so after resuming the game, I had to undergo a serious trial. First, I ran in as hollow to memorize their moveset and practice, and then I summoned a phantom for help and tried to kill them. In the end, it took about 4-5 attempts, keeping in mind that I killed the fat one first, because in this case, the loot drops from the second one and is apparently better. Yes, I looked up this part too) And generally googled what humanity is for, because I probably forgot about it quickly at first, and after two years even more so. By the way, by this point, I already had the Black Knight sword, which I used throughout the game. In my opinion, it's the best weapon and it's not entirely clear why you need others.. Although here I also found a halberd and realized that it helps a lot against some enemies and is very good as a second weapon.

👻 The ruins of AL are also a decent location; I remember how I met ghosts for the first time and ran away x) Actually, only they can cause problems, considering their ability to fly through walls. Otherwise, it's basically fine—a gloomy place, anyway. Maybe ХВ in the world of DS would look like that..

🧙‍♂️ I didn't really like the Archives, although at first they seemed normal. Maybe it's because going deeper into them is easier than coming back and getting arrows in the ass from all sides. And you can't get the chest on the cupboard for nothing. It's funny that I died several times to lizards, of which there are only a couple there. There's not much to say about the grotto, just little golems. And yes, I also slipped off those bridges several times, but I reached the blue titanite via the invisible path on the first try. 😎

💀 The Catacombs are a decent location, although in some places they can look scary. But once you learn them, it's easy to run through. The best place for leaps of faith and hidden secrets. The Tomb is basically the same, but even more frightening and remains so x)

👿 The demon ruins and Izalith seem kind of small, like the grotto or a couple of the last locations. + there's no real "special touch." The places with bright lava are ugly; the rest seems fine.

🍄 The Abyss is a funny thing, like a level from a platformer. I died several times while chasing lizards. The Lake of Ash seems like a completely pointless place, although the background there is pretty.

🎨 The Painted World is a good location, almost like the starting ones but in the snow. It's a pity there are few such places. And I think a mob bugged out somewhere for me, because I heard sounds through the wall but couldn't find it.

⚔🥀 Artorias DLC. I wonder what IQ is needed to get into it? I don't rule out that one could figure it out by reading descriptions, but first you have to go across the lake after the hydra and find the lady. And what if you didn't find her or see her? A difficult question, but it would take a lot of time. Overall, it's not bad, although in reality, they mixed a forest and catacombs. I killed the knight relatively quickly, but spent more time on the final boss. Thanks to the phantom and Havel's armor. I know there's a trick to kill him with a bow, but in the old version you can't aim down x)

I killed the game's final boss on the first try. Or rather, I almost killed him, but remembered that I hadn't summoned the phantom as I wanted and therefore died, so that I could summon them and win together. But it's quite strange that there's such an easy enemy at the end of the game.. or maybe I just became too cool? 🤔

As for the game, I liked it. Even upon release, I liked the atmosphere, design, all those cool knights, the gloom and so on. It's a pity that I partially missed the lore by putting off reading item descriptions until later. I'll check out a video on this topic sometime. I was pleased with the presence of characters with their own stories and quests; it brightened the journey through the game world. And most importantly, I'd like to highlight the level design and how the locations are connected, especially the central ones. It's very cool when you go to one place, pass through a location, and then return to the start but from another side and think "Wow, so that's where this door/passage led!". In ordinary metroidvanias it's not as cool, given the limitations of 2D and the fact that it's just a shortcut. Here such things are perceived not just as an opportunity to cut the path, but as something more and more interesting. By the way, toward the end of the game I was level 100, maybe slightly higher. I ran with two-handed weapons throughout the game, only occasionally using a shield. I used various armors, and as for magic, only healing and teleport were useful, although I also burned slimes with fire in the sewers. I upgraded all types of weapons. It's a pity that subsequent parts are considered worse, but I hope the combat there is at least better 🙃
PS added a bit to the post about Zelda..

It's a pity that the following parts are considered worse, but I hope the combat there is at least better 🙃

In 2 it's good. In 3 it's a shift-key pressing simulator.

Due to low fps, I didn't use parrying at all

Noob. Parrying is easiest in the first one.

But it's quite strange that there's such an easy enemy at the end of the game... or maybe I've become too cool?

Nah, Gwyn is an easy boss.

It's a pity that the subsequent parts are considered worse, but I hope the combat there is at least better

They are considered so. But a specific person might actually like them more than the first one. Out of all three, I like the second one most (yes, I am one of those perverts).