Blogging the experience of gameplayhttp://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=http://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7975Not 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?jpWed, 04 Feb 2026 23:07:13 UTChttp://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7975&iddiary=13482http://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7961Still 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....jpWed, 04 Feb 2026 22:53:48 UTChttp://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7961&iddiary=13481http://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7974Session 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. -------------- 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 edited2 times. It was last edited on Fri, 23 Jan 2026 14:52:44.)Gabin BFri, 23 Jan 2026 14:45:29 UTChttp://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7974&iddiary=13480http://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7973I 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!dkirschnerMon, 19 Jan 2026 19:45:09 UTChttp://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7973&iddiary=13479http://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7971This 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!dkirschnerSun, 18 Jan 2026 00:56:35 UTChttp://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7971&iddiary=13478http://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7972Short and sweet. Hotline Miami / Superhot vibes. Cool narrative presentation with a good story and solid voice acting. Levels are either time-based (complete objectives as fast as possible) or wave-based (survive waves of enemies). In both, you get more points for skill-shots and creative kills (e.g., shooting hornets' nests down on top of enemies, getting multi-kills with claymore mines, etc.). More points = higher rank. There are also two challenges in every level, such as "kill x enemies with hornets nests/throwing knives/explosive barrels/etc.", "melee only", "don't pick up any health", and so on. Those were fun to aim for during replays, which you will have to do because the game gatekeeps levels from time to time (get A rank on x number of levels, get S rank on one level, complete x challenges, etc.). It's not terribly deep, but it does what it does well. The whole thing took me under 3.5 hours. I saw there are additional challenge levels, DLC with story levels, and some super hard (apparently) levels that the game warns you, "you may not be able to beat a single level." My Game Pass month is almost over (and it was completely derailed!), but if I had time, I would try the story DLC. dkirschnerThu, 15 Jan 2026 16:19:04 UTChttp://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7972&iddiary=13477http://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7970Finished this over the weekend. It's a cute, charming little narrative game with a clever gimmick that doesn't get overused or used to its full potential. In Great God Grove, you play as a character who needs to solve the problems of various gods and denizens in the titular great god grove. You see, a rift has opened in the sky, and it requires all the gods to work together to close it. But they are all angry and disharmonious because the newest god has gone and manipulated them all, turning them against one another and making them cause problems. So, you get this megaphone that can suck up dialogue, and then you can shoot the dialogue at characters, causing reactions if it makes sense. For example, one character might be telling you all the great things about his girlfriend. You suck up his words, find the girlfriend, who tells you that she wishes her boyfriend would tell her how he feels about her. Then you shoot his words at her ("I love her so much, she's so great"), and she goes "Aww," and they can be emotionally vulnerable with each other (or whatever). It's a clever little word game, but in practice it ends up being easy and straightforward. There are only so many sentences that can be sucked up, you can only hold five at a time anyway, and there are only so many situations in which it makes sense to use them. I did look up solutions in a walkthrough a few times really early on, but once I got the hang of the game and its logic, I never used one again. It's about identifying what dialogue would make sense being spoken to other characters, finding that dialogue, and then using your megaphone to blast it to the other characters. Levels are small enough that this is not hard. That's basically it. It's really simple. There are some "optional" interactions, as you can play around and see what sentences will have what effects on what characters, but you'll usually have solutions figured out quickly. It's got charm and it's kind of funny, but I'd say has more of a silly vibe that often makes it cross over into childish territory. As the end approaches though, it begins sharing poignant lessons regarding its themes, and I appreciated it a bit more. One other thing to mention is its treatment of gender, which is really diverse. That stood out to me: masculine women together with feminine men, pronouns that don't match gender performance, gay couples, humans and gods crushing on each other, characters who you totally misgender because they look ambiguous. It was a little confusing at first, but once I realized that the game was playing with gender constructs, I liked that aspect. Wouldn't really recommend unless you want a one-trick pony silly narrative game. I wouldn't have missed it had I not played, but it was good for a few evenings worth of entertainment. dkirschnerMon, 12 Jan 2026 16:10:32 UTChttp://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7970&iddiary=13476http://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7965Great sci-fi story that touches on real-world topics like protest, the experiences of immigrant families, and intergenerational trauma. It's really creative and artistic, with excellent writing (though the voice acting leaves something to be desired). You play (first) as the new "Watcher" (people are assigned functions: Watcher, Healer, Knower, etc.). Watcher observes things and enters into "communion" with other people, where they share their memories with Watcher. This helps Watcher understand them. As a new Watcher, you don't know a whole lot, so by communing with others, you learn about the history of this odd society, how it came to be, its religious belief, its hierarchy, and the dangers it faces. Too much to attempt to summarize here, and that would ruin the joy of discovering how this society operates. But, you aren't just communing with others to learn. You are communing with others because people have secrets, notably the "Allmother" (a god-like figure revered in society). The Allmother may not be exactly how she is portrayed, and you end up trying to get to the bottom of who she is and the implications of that for everyone else. Turns out she has a history...A major event occurs halfway through the game that moves the story forward in time and changes who you play as, and makes you question what you had done so far and your goals going forward. Very cool. That's basically the game! It's purely narrative in 3d environments, so you'll run around talking to people. Goals are clear and direct you from task to task. The story moves along at a good pace. The one thing I didn't like is that navigating "The Orchard" (the main area wherein the game takes place) is difficult. You get a kind of radar showing where other characters are, and you get a map, but they aren't terribly effective, particularly for helping you navigate the weaving hallways and ramps. There is a particular spot, a center of a garden, that I always had trouble finding. I could see the icon on the radar of whatever character I was meeting there, and I could often see them through trees, but it would take me a while to find the correct path! In sum, I really enjoyed the story here and definitely recommend if you want a creatively presented, unique, and complex narrative. The map really isn't that big a deal, the voice acting is fine, and it can be a bit slow, but the story was so engaging and thought-provoking that I even stayed up one night till 2am playing. I usually start falling asleep around 11, so that's high praise!dkirschnerSun, 04 Jan 2026 10:23:28 UTChttp://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7965&iddiary=13475http://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7969I spent almost the entirety of Jan 1 playing this game co-op with my son. It's been a long time since I've played a game for that long in a single stretch! It was fun and I've really been enjoying it. That first day we almost finished Act III, which was kind of shocking because, for a hot minute, I thought that was the end of the game...it turns out there are something like 6 acts, and at the moment we've just finished act 5. So, getting there? We're playing on the hardest difficulty allowed, and it's been surprisingly easy. I'm not sure exactly why except that maybe we're over-levelled? The only reason this may be is because, when we run around the overworld map and we always do "public events" when we see them, and these drop nice loot. On the other hand, we've been playing super fast and wild - just making a beeline for the campaign goal, ignoring all sidequests, monsters on the way, etc. We barrel through everything when on horseback - no looking back. So, from that angle we should be under-levelled. It's not like we never die, it just happens rarely and often surprisingly, and mostly from inattention rather than actual challenge. I've been playing a sorceror - using only fire-based attacks, but I really like the free re-speccing and want to try something new out. My son's playing a necromancer, and it's only annoying because the screen is full of enemies all the time so it's like walking around with a posse.jpSat, 03 Jan 2026 10:57:41 UTChttp://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7969&iddiary=13474http://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7961So, it's time to head over to another kingdom to see if they're interested in joining! I've gotten to a point where I'm slightly underleveled, but I don't want to grind. And while the combat is more challenging (and thus interesting)...I've realized that I should be doing a bunch of sidequests and such...and, it's ok? The fast travel system is great, and it's unlocked really early in the game - and I love wandering around the environments - the overworld map just looks pretty and interesting and I get nice warm StudioGhibli+DragonQuest vibes... but I'm also looking at a stack of other unplayed games, and...at 20 hours in I feel like I've given this one a fair shake? (as in, I've gotten my entertainment value's worth for sure). But also, I'm curious about how the story will continue...and also, since the whole kindgom building kicked in, I've enjoyed that too and I wonder if there are some other surprises down the road? Sigh. I haven't made a decision yet, but we'll see. Oh, another thing that's kind of interesting - for me at least. There's a million different resources to collect and pick up, and it makes the game feel really rich...but, you don't have to really engage with it deeply (you probably could for some extra benefit) - but I kind of like that you can (automatically, through the kingdom) accrue all these items and then suddenly some are helpful - like when doing the bonus-quests(?) as soon as you pick up the quest. (there's a guy who appears in the cities and has quests - and many of them allow you to recruit people for the kingdom, so that's where it's helpful).jpSat, 03 Jan 2026 10:50:33 UTChttp://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=7961&iddiary=13473