Video Game Chat Thread - Pre-Alpha Experimental Version

[Jace on ice]

That State of Play looked trash for the most part.

The first thing I did after watching it was download a bunch of mods for actually good games and ROM hacks because based on that showcase my 2026 and most of 2027 are going to be new game free.

Sloppers are going to be eating good though.

 

[Asian tech support]

Fatekeeper released into early access yesterday.

 

[Scarthew]

It's cool to see a new stuntman since it's been like 20 years since ignition, but also a bit odd they're using real movie liscenses when the originals used parodies making them more endearing.

I've been waiting for Kemuri since unseen first got set up. Ikumi Nakamura has been in game art design for 25 years and was an understudy of both Shinji Mikami and Hideki Kamiya so seeing her make an original action game definitely has me interested.

That one horror game ILL looks interesting but no clue what it actually is.

Dave the diver spin off I'll probably play even though I wasn't a big fan of the original but I still appreciate the art/presentation of it.

 

[Dafuqisdis?]

Some more mini reviews from me.

Gato Roboto - Bit of a hidden jem. Gameboy style Metroid clone where you play as a cat in a robot suit. Takes about 5 hours to finish.

Balatro - really addictive poker game where you unlock special jokers that increase your score and give you other special abilities. Had to quit I was sinking too much time in it.

Dead Format - I'm surprised this game hasn't gotten more attention. There's not a lot to it gameplay wise but it has loads of atmosphere. You put in cult horror vhs tapes and then step into the movie in a pretty cool way.

Chasm: The Rift - really by the numbers Quake 1 boomer shooter that's very generic and exposes you to a lot of cheap hits. Do not recommend.

Forbidden Solitaire - Another game with a meta retro videotape twist you pull cards off ever morphing solitaire runs to defeat monsters in a "forbidden" game from the 90s that can kill you. I enjoyed it.

Look Outside - I think I've mentioned this one before. This is a great horror pixel art JRPG that was probably my favorite game last year. There's no gay shit but full disclosure, the creator is a French Canadian shitlib.

Is This Game Trying to Kill Me? - This is basically an escape room with a horror twist, although there's not really many scares here - it's got cartoony PS2 graphics. If you like escape room style puzzles you'll like this.

Battle Princess Madelyn - Nobody played this game but I like it. Ghost's & Goblins clone that files off a lot of the rough edges of that game while maintaining a high difficulty. Nice pixel art.

 

[HTTP Error 404]

Has anyone actually played Mina the Hollower?

It doesn't look bad, but there's this veneer of toxic positivity all around it that concerns me, and the meat of iconic clips and stuff like that isn't there underneath it. Like this game is getting a default glazing anywhere you look, but it feels like it's Blast Havers praising the game for their supposedly-good experience rather than people actually showing their iconic moments.

The situation definitely gives a vibe of if you said it was bad someone would throw a brick through your window and imply you needed to apologize, or blacklist you from ever working on the Journo-slop scene ever again. Apparently this is by the same team that did Shovel Knight and the unspoken thing is they fucked up Shovel Knight real bad. Not that they like, made a bad game or something, it's just they apparently didn't monetize Shovel Knight at all and released 5 sequels as free DLC. It turns out that's not possible unless your name is Sean Murray and you're getting Sony money to make No Man's Sky.


In other esoteric gaming news,

X4 9.0 is coming next week. Sounds like it does quite a few updates to the game. I'm surprised an X5 hasn't been announced, X4 is getting long in the tooth.

Stellaris Nomads is week after next I think, and is adding fleet based gameplay.

And apparently in the realm of monster catcher spreadsheet sims, LumenTale: Memories of Trey came out from noewhere and is apparently by one of the Pokemon fan game groups but with an original IP and a lot of "Best of" elements of older, pre-Switch Pokemon games, before the Enshittification happened.

No news on Dragon Quest Monsters 4: The Withered World, but people did a deep dive on the timeframe and it's heavily implied it will be out in August or September based on the fact that it was a little over 2 months from ESRB rating till Dark Prince's release, and they did the ESRB rating of Withered World last week. Also, according to what I'm reading it's apparently a direct sequel to the original Dragon Quest Monsters games ("Withered World" is a different translation of a place in the first two games, "Kingdom of Dead Tree") which means it might be a roguelike.

 

[HanyuuF]

Has anyone actually played Mina the Hollower?

The game is solid. I might be a bit of a sucker for that sort of Link to the Past mix with Castlevania theming, but if you’re at all interested in the game it’s an easy recommendation. They’ve crafted a pretty charming little world and I like the trinket system for mixing up your play style, similar to Hollow Knight. I think people are overselling how hard it is. I had a little trouble at the beginning but I feel like I’m sort of flying through it now.

My only real gripe so far is the lack of a real map or quests. It makes trying to find the next dungeon pretty annoying, and I’m starting to get a little frustrated with all the backtracking to figure out where to go next.

 

[Thiletonomics]

I did mention this in the Wrestling thread, WWE 2K26 added Take-Two's CEO Strauss Zelnick as a playable Wrestler in today's patch, but has there been other times where a CEO self-inserted himself into a game?

2:04

On one hand, there have been times where directors inserted themselves or were involved with making their own game, i.e. Chris Metzen voicing Thrall, but Zelnick having "My Way" by Frank Sinatra as his entrance music (and it's exclusive to him only and can't be used with other Wrestlers), his crowd reaction is Cheer, personality is Bold, and the dedicated commentary lines for him is on its own level. Even Neil Druckmann inserting himself into The Last of Us Part II with the "Dr. Uckmann" card seems light compared to this.

 

[HTTP Error 404]

I believe the Square Enix CEO was DLC for one of the Neir games, wasn't he? Or was that FF13-3?

 

[Disc]

Apparently this is by the same team that did Shovel Knight and the unspoken thing is they fucked up Shovel Knight real bad. Not that they like, made a bad game or something, it's just they apparently didn't monetize Shovel Knight at all and released 5 sequels as free DLC. It turns out that's not possible unless your name is Sean Murray and you're getting Sony money to make No Man's Sky.

They weren’t sequels. They might be framed as such, but they’re really just character campaign dlc - with pretty funky playstyles at that, from what I remember.

I think Yacht Club’s problem is that they spent way too long circling the drain on shovel Knight 1 But Isn’t This Control Scheme Schmancy rather than moving forward to something like Shovel Knight 2. Hell, in the time it took Shovel knight to get through its character dlcs, Mega Man went from its first release all the way to it’s fifth game. Imagine if we’d had even just two or three tightly-crafted Shovel Knight mainline games by this point, each with their own cast of unique baddies and levels and such, rather than all the dlc constantly about the same narrow part of the world?

The result is I think shovel knight is iconic more as a symbol of the potential of indie games, rather than iconic as an indie game itself. His shovel-weapon gameplay is a distant memory even in his own franchise, when it should practically be as iconic Mario or, well, mega man by now.

The game is solid. I might be a bit of a sucker for that sort of Link to the Past mix with Castlevania theming, but if you’re at all interested in the game it’s an easy recommendation. They’ve crafted a pretty charming little world and I like the trinket system for mixing up your play style, similar to Hollow Knight. I think people are overselling how hard it is. I had a little trouble at the beginning but I feel like I’m sort of flying through it now.

My only real gripe so far is the lack of a real map or quests. It makes trying to find the next dungeon pretty annoying, and I’m starting to get a little frustrated with all the backtracking to figure out where to go next.

That’s a much more grounded response, thank you, I think I’ll still wait for the buzz to die down a bit and get a few more opinions before I decide to commit or not, though.

And apparently in the realm of monster catcher spreadsheet sims, LumenTale: Memories of Trey came out from noewhere and is apparently by one of the Pokemon fan game groups but with an original IP and a lot of "Best of" elements of older, pre-Switch Pokemon games, before the Enshittification happened.

I’ll warn people, the game has been getting mid-70s for review score on steam. That doesn’t sound that bad, but you gotta keep in mind that the only people more eager to lick boots than the hardcore Pokemon Stans are the hardcore Pokemon antis, and they praise some genuine stinkers pretty much purely in the hopes of getting pikachu-senpai to notice them again. So a lot of the cloniest games get a period of wild glazing only to be dropped like a wet turd the moment the next one comes along.

To have one of the softest of softball critique squads and only get sub-80 does not bode well, to say the least. Monster crown has more positive reviews than negative ones and that shit makes Gen 9 look polished.

 

[Chuck 'n Geck]

but has there been other times where a CEO self-inserted himself into a game?

Technically Kojima, once, in the MGS5 demo. As well as Fork Parker in a few Devolver-published games (Serious Sam 3 comes to mind), but Fork Parker isn't a real person.

EDIT: I bet Jim Turdling is crying into his pillow, enraged, because his obese ass wasn't put into a single wrestling game, - yet one of his archnemesi was.

 

[clickbait]

Has anyone actually played Mina the Hollower?

It doesn't look bad, but there's this veneer of toxic positivity all around it that concerns me, and the meat of iconic clips and stuff like that isn't there underneath it. Like this game is getting a default glazing anywhere you look, but it feels like it's Blast Havers praising the game for their supposedly-good experience rather than people actually showing their iconic moments.

The game is difficult, movement sucks for the difficulty. Lack of a main map, the exploration gets boring, unlocks are ok but there is no need for like 2 of the main weapons. Puzzles are simple. It's very linear. Never got lost once I found my way to the correct area. Getting there sucks though since there is lots to explore with very little reward. It's "fun". But pipistrello is a better Zelda game.

The only thing I actually like is the tower mini game.
Boss fights are brutal.

Ended up playing with in-game cheats for how a unforgiving the combat is and the lack of tightness in the controls. Why even have a weapon you gotta charge to attack when you can't change directions when charging it and the bosses constantly move.

Wasting time.

 

[VanyaMotorbike]

I did mention this in the Wrestling thread, WWE 2K26 added Take-Two's CEO Strauss Zelnick as a playable Wrestler in today's patch, but has there been other times where a CEO self-inserted himself into a game?Wyświetl załącznik 9098446

On one hand, there have been times where directors inserted themselves or were involved with making their own game, i.e. Chris Metzen voicing Thrall, but Zelnick having "My Way" by Frank Sinatra as his entrance music (and it's exclusive to him only and can't be used with other Wrestlers), his crowd reaction is Cheer, personality is Bold, and the dedicated commentary lines for him is on its own level. Even Neil Druckmann inserting himself into The Last of Us Part II with the "Dr. Uckmann" card seems light compared to this.

There was Vince Desi, the CEO of developers Running With Scissors, who is a recurring character in the Postal series. I believe there were other guys from the studio who appeared in the games too

 

[Jace on ice]

There was Vince Desi, the CEO of developers Running With Scissors, who is a recurring character in the Postal series. I believe there were other guys from the studio who appeared in the games too

Vince is the guy that fires the dude on Monday in Postal 2. You pick up your last paycheck from him (and optionally murder him.)

 

[Wild Wild Wisteria]

me irl

Gonna replay MR4, that game's been on my mind for the last 2 weeks.

 

[lurking for the deets]

Don't know if anybody here cares, but massive news was posted yesterday about a game that's been in development for over 10 years.

​

A sequel for Tormentum: Dark Sorrows, a point and click puzzle game with amazing atmosphere and top tier art, finally has signs of life besides "It's totally coming out next year". It's kind of been a joke in the community because they've said that so many times with nothing to show for it.

There is finally a demo with the devs saying that the translations are 99% complete which means the game really is going to come out soon (I hope, lol they have a bad track record). They have finally given a definitive release date which is Jul 23, 2026. They are fully indie with two people working on the game so it makes sense that it's taking so long.

Here's the trailer for the sequel:

0:28

Here's what the announcement said:

Spoiler: Announcement

Hello everyone,

the first door to Tormentum II has just opened.

Tormentum II will be part of the upcoming June edition of Steam Next Fest, but we didn’t want to wait for the festival to begin. The demo is available right now.

You can step into the world of Tormentum II early, see the beginning of the story, and play the first part of our new adventure game by OhNoo Studio.

The demo contains a short opening chapter. It is only the first glimpse of a much larger journey. A fragment of a world that slowly reveals its rules, its secrets, and its disturbing places. We are not showing everything yet. We are showing the beginning. The first step. The first shadow of what comes next.

Tormentum II is being made by a truly independent studio. OhNoo Studio is just two people. There is no big publisher behind us, no large sponsor, no corporate safety net. What stands behind this game is our love for classic adventure games, hand-crafted worlds, dark symbolism, and stories that stay with you after you step away from the screen.

That independence matters to us. It lets us make Tormentum II our own way, without sanding off the strange edges, without chasing trends, and without softening the things that make this world feel like Tormentum. We want this game to have its own rhythm, its own weight, and its own unsettling character.

There is also something we really want to share today.

Just one month ago, we thought Tormentum II would be available in only two languages: English and Polish. Today, thanks to the kindness and incredible effort of the community, we already have German, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, Russian, and French translations about 99% complete.

And that is not the end of it.

More translations are already in progress, including Spanish, Dutch, Turkish, and Czech.

This is truly special for us, especially because Tormentum II contains around 150-200 pages of text: dialogues, descriptions, notes, and narration. With a game of this size, every localization takes a lot of work, care, and understanding of the atmosphere. Seeing the community become so involved in this process has been one of the most beautiful moments of the whole production.

To everyone who has shared their time, language skills, and energy to help make Tormentum II available to players in different parts of the world: thank you. This is not just a technical list of languages. It feels like something real is beginning to grow around the game.

The demo we are releasing today is a short opening chapter. We hope you treat it as your first step into the world of Tormentum II. Not a full answer yet, but the beginning of the road.

After playing, if you have any thoughts, suggestions, bug reports, or simply want to share how the demo felt, feel free to write to us on the Tormentum II forum

We read your messages. Your reactions matter to us, especially now, as the game enters a very intense stage before Steam Next Fest.

Add Tormentum II to your wishlist to follow future updates!

Thank you for being here with us.

OhNoo Studio

I haven't tried the demo yet, not sure if I want to spoil the game. I'm really weird like that, I want to go into it blind when it fully releases. I have enough faith in this studio to buy it on release day.

I really recommend playing the first game. It's one of my favorites and is one of the best point & click you can find. The story is rather simple and cliché though, but not in a bad way. The main draw is the art, puzzles and atmosphere anyways which they nail really well. Even if you aren't big on the genre I'm sure you can find enjoyment out of it regardless.

^ From the first game ^
If enough people care about this franchise I'll make a thread about it.

 

[BubbaRobot887]

So it looks like in the next God of War video games are once again taking an attractive actress and making her ugly.

 

[Space Monkey Mafia]

Just a quick note: I want to engage with this thread more, but my computer is such dogshit it never wants to load anything properly.

I'm sorry if this came up, but I want to make sure everyone knows Gitaroo Man is getting added to the PlayStation Classics catalogue in the middle of this month. I don't have a subscription, but I think you can just flat out buy it if you don't? I know I paid for Mr. Mosquito.

I'm just worried how well it's going to play. I can get an S rank consistently up until the Sanbone Trio on the PS2 but on a PS3 there's input lag so I was getting Bs. Still, it's an absolutely fantastic game and I'm glad people will have access to it again, and it'll be great that the load times won't be an issue anymore. The PSP port was not great and it was a bummer they swapped out a Japanese song with English vocals; it didn't work nearly as well.

 

[Nitro!]

Has anyone actually played Mina the Hollower?

It doesn't look bad, but there's this veneer of toxic positivity all around it that concerns me, and the meat of iconic clips and stuff like that isn't there underneath it. Like this game is getting a default glazing anywhere you look, but it feels like it's Blast Havers praising the game for their supposedly-good experience rather than people actually showing their iconic moments.

I took one look at it and assumed it was the designer's barely disguised furry porn addiction. It's from the same studio that did Shovel Knight, and I know that was well-received, but it has that same kind of grimy style that reinforces my first impression. To answer your question, no I did not play it, but I don't think I'm missing anything. It's furry pixel art, we all know when, where and how this game will reveal itself to be deeply viscerally faggy (around about three minutes past the refund window).

 

[souschef]

Look Outside - I think I've mentioned this one before. This is a great horror pixel art JRPG that was probably my favorite game last year. There's no gay shit but full disclosure, the creator is a French Canadian shitlib.

Honestly look outside deserves all the hype. There are many RPG Maker projects out there, but this one is so polished and well put together that it doesn't even look like RPG Maker

Artwork is pretty cool too. I'm excited for the game he's cooking up

 

[Gimmick Account]

His shovel-weapon gameplay is a distant memory even in his own franchise, when it should practically be as iconic Mario or, well, mega man by now.

wasn't that just Ducktales for the NES