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American Truck Simulator (PC) by jp (Feb 4th, 2026 at 23:07:13) |
Not my usual cup of tea. But, I'm playing simulator games this semester and I picked this one for the list.
A real positive surprise - I would call this an accessible driving game - yes, it's a giant truck, but you (I) could get by without having to do a million tutorials because there's all kinds of settings you can turn on/off to make it more or less realistic as a simulation of driving a truck.
The game starts in California, Arizona and Nevada - more places unlocked via DLC, which was a bit of a disappointment. But, this was mostly because I was really hoping to drive a truck in Utah. That being said, parts of Nevada (I chose to start in Elko) were basically like Utah...
The game has a really interesting time/space compression thing going on. Drives that are 4 hours in real-life take a lot less, but you never really notice when it scales down the space/time. I think that when you're on the highway/big roads time moves faster (and the distance counts for more miles), but when you're going slow in a town - it seems to go by 1:1.. It's a really cleverly designed system that gives you the experience of having along drive - but without getting bored or tired.
I wasn't expecting an entire business-sim as well, though it's arguably lighter on this end? You take on jobs- get money, eventually buy your own truck. Then more trucks and end up hiring more people who also drive for you..and so on. But, I didn't get that far - there's also a levelling/XP system for you, which for the most part just unlocks perks that make it more profitable/easier to drive. Not in the gameplay/mechanics sense, but rather in that you earn more money, use less gass. So, not like "+1 to top speed" or other unrealisitic stuff.. just unrealistic stuff like "now you can do trips that are longer". For really long trips you need to plan ahead for where you'll re-fuel as well as stopping to sleep!
This was way more fun and interesting than I expected and it made me think that games where you're supposed to drive from A to B, follow roads and laws, are...a rare type of game? I couldn't think of any that weren't truck simulator games... everything seems to either be a race or an openworld exploration sort of thing. Weird, huh?
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Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (PS4) by jp (Feb 4th, 2026 at 22:53:48) |
Still playing!
At this point I beat the game...but it took so much longer than I expected. This was almost entirely because I was significantly under-leveled, but...I practiced the real-time side of combat and, with a bit of patience, I basically went in and beat the final boss despite being 20+ levels under. I was level 49 or so...and the final boss was 62? And the final, final boss was 72. Or thereabouts. This was 40 hours and I was getting to the point of bailing because "I just can't be bothered", but I stuck it through (without levelling up, just by getting better at the game).
Weirdly, I now want to go back and keep playing because my kingdom isn't levelled up enough! I guess I'll decide if I do or not the next time I can sit down and play for a bit....
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Rustler - Grand Theft Horse (PC) by Gabin B (Jan 23rd, 2026 at 14:45:29) |
Session 1 :
Reprise parodique du système de jeu de GTA (premiers opus) dans un contexte médiéval. Le système de jeu repose sur deux grands modes : à pied, à cheval.
Le monde ouvert propose plusieurs activités : quêtes annexes, tournois, courses hippiques, collectibles, etc.
L'ambiance est intéressante, le mélange de la culture urbaine avec le médiéval propose des idées amusantes, incongrues et originales.
Je regrette pour le moment une histoire très creuse, aucun personnage marquant (le doublage marmonné n'aide pas), des quêtes oubliables. Mais surtout une parodie de GTA qui perd la critique sociale, la satire et les enjeux derrière l'expérience irrévérencieuse.
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A parodic take on the GTA gameplay system (early entries) transposed into a medieval setting. The game system is built around two main modes of play: on foot and on horseback.
The open world offers a range of activities: side quests, tournaments, horse races, collectibles, and so on.
The atmosphere is interesting; the blend of urban culture with medieval aesthetics generates amusing, incongruous, and original ideas.
For now, I regret the very shallow story, the lack of memorable characters (the mumbled voice acting doesn’t help), and largely forgettable quests. Above all, this GTA parody loses the social critique, satire, and underlying stakes that give meaning to the irreverent experience.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Jan 23rd, 2026 at 14:52:44.
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Herdling (PC) by dkirschner (Jan 19th, 2026 at 19:45:09) |
I really enjoyed Okomotive's first game, Far: Lone Sails, but then really disliked the sequel, Changing Tides. So I decided to give this one a chance. I wasn't sure based on the reviews, but I saw a lot of them saying that it was more like Lone Sails than Changing Tides. Turns out to be true. Herdling is another atmospheric game about a journey that revolves around one core mechanic, herding creatures that look kind of like yaks. You are a kid and you find some kind of magical herding stick that lets you control where the yak-things go, and then for whatever reason, you start herding the yak-things toward a distant, snowy mountain.
The herding mechanic is simple. You press RT to command the yak-things to move ahead, and the direction they move is based on where you are in relation to the herd. They move 180 degrees in front of where you are facing (so straight ahead). That means if you want the herd to go left, you need to move behind them to the right, and vice versa. That's pretty much it. You will guide them through various levels and environments, avoid obstacles, solve the occasional easy puzzle, and proceed toward the mountain.
On the way, you find and tame more of the creatures. I really liked doing this because the game encourages building a connection with each one, firstly, because you can name them. So of course I named them after the dog we are fostering (Noodle), our cats (Baby and Teddy), Sasha's mom's dogs, my mom's cat, my stepmom's cat, and some of our friends' pets. It turns out that the creatures can be killed, so there was a Teddy II in my herd (and the ghost, it turns out, of original Teddy, stuck around). You can feed them, clean them, pet them, play fetch with them, and adorn their antlers with trinkets. It's all very cute.
The "bad guys" are these fierce owl creatures that are feared on the mountain (according to the cave art), and they occasionally harass your herd. Your herd can die from owls, falling off cliffs, falling into chasms, and probably a couple more ways. Teddy is the only one of mine who died, so I feel like a pretty successful herder.
The story is...? Maybe examining the wall art would reveal more, but it's one of those wordless journeys. You take the herd to the mountain and...everyone lives happily ever after? You fulfill the prophecy? The herd lives to graze another season? Who knows. There's not much of a climax, but the moment-to-moment gameplay was thoroughly relaxing and enjoyable. Not a necessary game to play, even if you are into these kinds of experiences, but managing the herd was calming. Oh, and "stampeding" is fun and can put you in a flow state. The game breaks out into these wide open spaces where the herd can run. Move them through fields of blue flowers and they can stampede, going really fast, so finding the winding paths through bunches of blue flowers, hearing the music swell, watching the pretty landscapes go past, was engrossing.
I saw that their next game is a pinball deckbuilding roguelite. Iiiiiinteresting!
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Keeper (PC) by dkirschner (Jan 18th, 2026 at 00:56:35) |
This is the latest Double Fine game. I was expecting a creative, artistic, narrative game. I got creative and artistic, but not so much narrative. Turns out that's fine. The game's got plenty of charm from the detailed artwork.
You play as a...stay with me here...lighthouse. Or rather, you are the light (and you happen to be atop a lighthouse). The game starts out slowly. The lighthouse is wobbly and all it can do is crawl around and shine a light. You basically press forward until you encounter an obstacle, shine the light to get past it, and continue pressing forward. Eventually, you get some simple puzzles, and finally, you reach the end of the lighthouse part and the game starts to get more fun.
I forget what happens, but your lighthouse is destroyed and the light ends up on a boat. The levels open up, the puzzles get more complicated, and movement is faster and smoother. I thoroughly enjoyed being a boat. I enjoyed the next metamorphosis even more. Then the final one is another "press forward" situation, but that's the end of the game, so it's okay. At the end (the last two transformations), you get a neat boss fight and some seriously trippy levels. Keeper is pretty to look at. Oh, and you also have a couple bird companions because...I guess...a light would be pretty boring on its own?
I'd recommend for something artistic and chill. It gets better as it goes on, and the third (of four) transformations was my favorite. I'd probably say three, two, four, one. Wonder what the Double Fine folks will cook up next!
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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PC) by kohbruce |
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most recent entry: Tuesday 20 January, 2009
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On my final time playing GTA:SA, I tried to act morally. I started off down the street and quickly decided this was too slow. So I decided to hop a cab. Now I know in this game you steal cars, but I figured if I walked up to the back door of the cab, I'd be able to get in and maybe pick a destination. I was wrong. Although my character was clearly positioned in front of the back door, when I pressed the action button, he automatically repositioned himself in by the front passenger door, opened it, and threw the cab driver out on the street. I drove off, and then noticed that the screen was telling me that I could start cab missions by pressing a button. Interested in some work that didn't involve crime, although one could not access this work without first committing the crime of grand theft auto, I pressed the button and picked up my first fare. The game told me that my tip decreased the longer I took to get the fare to his destination, and so, of course, I drove as fast as I possibly could, as this is what the game is encouraging. The car didn't handle very well, and I ended up running over a few pedestrians along the way, causing the police to take notice. I tried to outrun the police but eventually my car was wrecked, and I was forced to crawl out. The police, rather than trying to apprehend me, were shooting at me, and so, in the interest of self-preservation, grabbed a police motorcycle and drove off.
The situation basically escalated further in the manner described above, ending in many pedestrian deaths, and the deaths of a few police officers. This situation illustrated clearly to me how easy it was to do immoral things, such as run over pedestrians, steal cars, and cause general mayhem, and how hard it was to do any moral things, such as complete an honest day's work as a cab driver. In fact, it is impossible to do these moral actions without first doing something immoral. Having played through a good portion of the story-line, I know that CJ is a "good" gangster who takes out the "bad" gangsters in the city. In a twisted sense, CJ is moral in his ends, as he seeks punishment for the murderers of his mother, but he is extremely immoral in his means.
Still, as much criticism as this game receives for encouraging and rewarding immoral behavior, it seems to me that the game world is enough removed from reality to keep gamers aware that the consequences for such actions in the real world are harsh. There's just not much about Grand Theft Auto that is realistic, and while the themes presented in the game would conceivably be damaging to a you mind, the game IS rated for those 17 and older. Still, the argument can be made that because the game treats immorality so lightly, it could lead to the gamer becoming desensitized to such issues. I see where this argument comes from, I just really don't think GTA:SA is realistic enough to accomplish this.
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