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Smashing Bottles (PC) by jp (May 30th, 2026 at 18:16:28) |
Heard about this one recently and got stuck playing the demo on itch (though it's also available on Steam) for a few hours until I got to the final (demo) ending!
It's an incremental game with some interesting things going on - you have a bat and smash bottles, but you have a limited time to do so (in seconds, like max 25 or so after all the upgrades?). When time runs out you can go again or go to the shop to buy upgrades. As expected you want to get more money from smashing bottles and there's ways to do that - spawn golden bottles, champagne bottles (when they smash the corks fly out and can smash other things), and even molotov cocktails (that explode, smashing other things).
There's a few things I thought where nice/clever:
a. The game has two distinct phases (once you unlock molotovs, everything changes, really) - the "you smash" and the "maximize money in the time allowed". In the latter, the game mostly plays itself as the molotovs keep everything getting smashed.
b. The "you smash" has rotating bottles, and since the smashing can take a few hits, there's some interest in smashing champagne such that the cork flies in a certain direction for more damage.
c. The champagne corks are pretty clever - since it gives you a reason to, in the short time you have to smash, choose what to smash a little more carefully. Go for golden or champagne hoping for a productive chain reaction?
Of course there's also a prestige/reset mechanic - from which you can lock a separate bat that smashes.
I'm curious how far things will go once the full game is out - and what the nature of the upgrades will be. I'm really hoping for more variety in the experience beyond the simple "number go up" - in that sense the molotovs seem like they're capping the experience in a detrimental way (even as they were super fun to smash when I first unlocked them.
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Donkey Kong Bananza (NSW2) by jp (May 30th, 2026 at 18:07:32) |
Still playing!
It has an interesting structure in terms of its levels and such - the core metaphor is that you're going deeper into the planet with each level, and they're both thematic and numbered. I got to a point where there's a bifurcation - go right into what I thought was "jungle land" or left into "snow land". I went right did a few more levels, cleared the boss (it was plant/poison land) and in order to continue going deeper I was then told to go back to "snow land"! There's a fast travel/teleport system involving giant worms that can move your around, so it was easy enough to do this, but I was surprised to learn that the fork was just a "choose what order to do these" situation... and also, the entire "fork" makes little sense thematically so I'm curious to see how it's explained and communicated in the interface - will it look like a fork in the "hole" going into the planet's core?
The titular ability (bananza mode!) was a bit underwhelming - you turn into a bigger DK and can now punch things you couldn't before - it lasts a limited amount of time. But, I've since unlocked a new one - DK-bird - where you can glide around (and after paying to unlock) and drop an egg on enemies. The gilding around was important/necessary in the plant/poison levels, and I'm expecting it to be similarly required in the snowy ones. We'll see!
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Hollow Knight: Silksong (PC) by dkirschner (May 13th, 2026 at 14:58:07) |
Kicking myself for not writing an entry when I was playing this 6 months ago. I am cleaning up my wishlist, backlog, and etc., and the FEELING I get when I see Silksong "in progress" is anxiety. I had jotted a few notes in December, as follows:
"It’s true, Silksong is hard. Like, really, frustratingly hard. Like punishingly difficult. I hit a wall at the end of Act 1 trying to beat the Last Judge. The game likes to place benches far away from boss fights, such that retrying boss fights involves slogging back through tough platforming and other sections of the map."
I did kill the Last Judge and complete Act 1. I remember that took a very long time, and that after the Last Judge, I died a few more times and, probably, with shaking hands and rapid heartbeat, said, "I can't do this anymore." Actually, it may have been in one of those rooms with waves of enemies. This innovation is new and unwelcome to Silksong, rooms that lock upon entering and spill several waves of challenging enemies at you. Yeah, I think that is what got me, just being pummeled over and over in one of those rooms, getting tired of exploring the maze-like map, tired of dying, tired of corpse runs, just exhausted. The game became a chore.
Besides that, I loved it, haha. I was definitely into it for a while. It was sublime until it wasn't.
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Turnip Boy Robs a Bank (PC) by dkirschner (May 12th, 2026 at 17:20:35) |
I meant to quickly beat this back in April so I could have a "completion" for the month, but I got really busy after spending barely an hour one afternoon with Turnip Boy Robs a Bank, a bizarre little twin-stick shooter about a turnip...who robs a bank. The game builds off previous games in the series, which I have never played, in which Turnip Boy commits tax evasion and, according to this game at least, seems to have started a war. Work has slowed down for the first time in nearly two months, and while I wait for my next contract to begin, I figured I'd knock this out.
The whole game is silly. The world is populated by sentient fruits and vegetables. You are employed by a pickle / mafia gang leader to rob a bank of a garlic bulb / bad guy / killed your dad. You have a base, where you can get new weapon loadouts by bringing weapons from the bank (always try to return with something new or high-powered!), purchase progression items from the "dark web," and upgrade stuff at another vendor. You go on "runs" to the bank, which are timed (starts at 2 or 3 minutes, goes up to 5 or 6 with upgrades). Runs are over when you die or when you exit the bank. Die and you lose half the cash you accumulated in the run. Survive and you are handsomely rewarded. Upgrade stuff. Go back to the bank. It's a roguelite too.
The bank has a specific layout of rooms, but you'll encounter some randomized areas too, and enemies and treasure are somewhat randomized. Throughout the bank are tons of NPCs with little fetch quests that usually reward you with pictures (fun/ny to look at) or hats (fun/ny to equip). A blueberry might want you to find its wedding ring, a lime wants you to get divorce papers from her lemon husband, a scientist pineapple wants you to find a philosopher mango and ask it an ethical question about experimenting on fruits, etc. I had some good laughs.
In each corner of the bank is a boss. Boss fights were fun, but the most challenging were early on. Once you start upgrading stats, the game becomes easy. It definitely ends up being an "upgrade everything and go nuts on all the enemies!" type game, experience being overpowered.
I haven't played a twin-stick shooter in a while, and while this wasn't revolutionary or anything, it was fun and scratched the itch. I gotta get back to Divinity: Original Sin 2. I might have some extra time till my next gig, so maybe I can boot it up, remember what I was doing, and make some progress this week.
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Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS) by jp (Apr 27th, 2026 at 22:04:52) |
I got to that point where I hit a monster/boss that just wasn't that much fun, and then I got a bit lost in terms of where to continue making progress, and the backtracking started to get a bit tiresome...as I explored and searched for different paths. So, time to bail!
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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PC) by zergling |
| Today, once again, I got disgusted about GTA San Andreas because of the violence within the game. I am saying this because the only way to get money (at least for what I have seen) is robbing people or even worst, killing them. Honestly, I did not do any of those things, but I read on the internet, that you can kill practically everyone you want; from a police officer to old people. This did really bother me a lot because the game pushes players to do unethical actions such as killing and stealing.
Furthermore, the game forces players to be violent. For example, in one mission I had to go to my house, and instead of walking or stealing a car, I thought to get a taxi, and pay for the ride. But the game did not allow me to do that. Instead, as soon as I tried to enter the taxi, the game interpreted my action as if I wanted to steal the vehicle.
Moreover, another reason that made me dislike this game is because it may promote violence. In addition, I think that players that play this game could become in the long run less sensitive about violence. For example, when I was 14 years old, my friend and I saw the movie "Warriors" which both of us enjoyed very much. The problem is what my friend asked when the movie ended. He said: "Pino, what do you think if we make a gang? Come on man! I know people that would be excited about this!! On top of that, your mother can sew our jackets!! And later we can go and brake stores' windows and make graffiti! So? What do you think?!" I remember that I was astonished about his querying. I remember asking him if he was serious and he replied to me by saying: "Sure! Let's do it. We can be like the warriors in the movie; have our headquarter on the beach!" I am sure that not everyone after seeing the movie "Warrior" ended up in gangs, but still, it could happen.
But, when it comes to video-games, I think the chances to do unethical actions are much higher because even though violent games have age restrictions, parents do not really pay attention to them. Consequently, many times violent games such CTA San Andreas are played by people much younger than 16 years old, and it is much easier for them to distort reality. They could think that what happens in the game reflects the real world.
Because of these reasons, I think GTA San Andreas is not a very ethical game because it pushes players to behave in unethical ways. This is my honest opinion, and I am sure there are people out there that are not going to agree with my view. |
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most recent entry: Wednesday 20 January, 2010
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Today, like yesterday, I got disgusted once again because this game also stereotypes ethnicity and as well as genders. I noticed that most of the African-American women in San Andreas were prostitutes whereas, Caucasian women were middle-high class. I think this is a terrible discrimination of females because it might put down African-American women, especially black woman that are living in a poor neighbourhood. Consequently, black women and especially the ones that are living in degradated neighbourhoods could use this game as an escape from reality, giving up their dream. What I am trying to say is that San Andreas could facilitate to all of these women that are living every day of their life in poverty and financial problems. So, for those people the game could send the wrong message by telling them "Why are you working so hard? Why are you studying? You are just wasting your time! Sooner or later you will end up on the street and sell your body." I know this sounds terrible but it could happen. This is similar with people who start smoking or drinking because it looked cool in games.
Stereotypes against gender is unacceptable because it could reinforce the stereotype that black women are good for nothing, expect for sex, and that Caucasian women are the essence of purity and perfection. Please, give me a break!
In conclusion, my experience with GTA San Andreas was more a pain than real enjoyment, and honestly I cannot understand how in the world this game sold more than 20 million of copies. Also, as soon as I finished my last game session, I removed this game from my PC, and I will never install it anymore.
P.S. Maybe, it is true what I say to myself once in while, that I am too good for this world.
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