Avatar

cheapLEY's off-topic extravaganza, ft. Hades, 17776, & more! (Gaming)

by cheapLEY @, Monday, September 21, 2020, 17:49 (1284 days ago)

I've got a few things I just want to talk about, so instead of cluttering up the forum, I figured I'd just make one big ol' post.

First up is Hades, the new game from Supergiant, creators of Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre. It's been in early access for like a year now, but it just hit 1.0 and was officially "finished" last week.

Noclip has done a series covering it's development--it's well worth the watch.

In any case, the game is out now (and on Switch, where it's freaking perfect!). It's a rogue-like in which you play as Zagreus, son of Hades, and you're trying to escape the underworld. It's got all the typical stuff you'd expect of Supergiant--it's absolutely gorgeous, the sound is amazing on every level, from voice acting to effects to music, and it feels great to play. Unlike most rogue-likes I've played, it's also has a strong story and a great way to tell it. Every time you die, you end up back home, you visit your bedroom to buy upgrades, you talk to the denizens of the underworld, and the story is slowly told to you. It works really well and makes for a more compelling experience than rogue-likes that rely solely on their gameplay to keep players engaged.

I could rave about it forever--the weapon variety, the abilities, the boons you receive from the gods of Olympus for upgrades during runs, etc. Instead of reading all of that, just watch the trailer and maybe go play it.


Next up are two things that are connected. Jacob Geller is a youtuber doing the video essay thing about video games. I think his videos are really good. The first one I saw and one that remains a favorite is this one, a video titled Control, Anatomy, and the Legacy of the Haunted House, a video that explores haunted houses in games (and life). His videos are great, because, really, they're about life and experiences, using video games as a lens.

His newest one looks at Microsoft Flight Simulator and the legacy of humanity. It's great.

In the video, he also covers Football 17776, a story written by Jon Bois and published in 2017 that I somehow just never heard of. If you've got an hour or two, go read it. It's a fascinating piece of fiction that spans transcripts, gifs, videos, and maps. It's worth experiencing. The above video will probably give you enough to judge if it's something you might want to read.

I think that's it--just a few things I've been excited about lately.

Also, despite all my bitching, I've been happy to be playing Destiny again for the previous few weeks. The game is still supremely disappointing and frustrating in so many ways, but when it's fun, it's really damn fun. I think it's always going to be a struggle for me to have a healthy relationship with the game, but I think I'm getting there. Excitement for the new expansion has certainly helped, but not really engaging with any of the seasons this year after I got frustrated with the grind has also helped--I now know from a year of experience that I can safely miss out on stuff in the game and it'll be okay.

Back to the forum index
RSS Feed of thread