Elden Ring - Shadow of the Erdtree

I’m 160 hours in, completed the base game, and now am on what I believe to be the final boss of the DLC. I got to phase 2 on the first try, only to hit a brick wall lol.

The DLC is a lot bigger than I was expecting, and some of the bosses are the most difficult I’ve faced. The highlight for me has been Cerulean Coast and

Looking forward to NG+ and beyond as I work towards the 100% achievement - speaking of which, it’s a little disappointing how little is required to get it compared to DS1/2/3, especially since ER is so much bigger of a game. I really enjoyed hunting down all the rings for DS3 and felt they could have had a talisman achievement to match in ER.

My favourite moment of the past week was when I summoned two players for a certain boss (another phase 2 kicking my ass), but we got invaded by “Jesus” who just kinda lore-walked around and gestured, and eventually we followed along. Nobody got hurt, and they even gave some gestures of encouragement for us to go beat the boss.

Ilamentia

Very weird indie puzzle/platformer. It feels like a fever dream. You have a FPS view and (some of the time) a set of hands that shoot projectiles (reminds me of Gauntlets of the Necromancer from Heretic), except they don’t necessarily do damage, they interact with the puzzles in each world.

There are some abstract hints for each level, but I find myself really having to think about what’s in front of me to solve the puzzles (in a good way). I noticed a negative review complaining about the game mechanics not being consistent, but I think that is completely intentional and serves the overall feel of the game nicely. It’s not meant to be obvious or easy, you have to figure it out. I don’t think this is a game for everyone, but I am enjoying it for what it is. Apparently there are 96 levels so I’m more than getting my money’s worth.

Bleak Sword DX

Action/roguelike/soulslike? Each world is broken into about 10 levels + boss fights, and from what I can tell there are about 10 worlds. I’m enjoying the feel of the gameplay a lot - blocking and dodging are satisfying like a souls game. The difficulty is starting to ramp up as I work to finish world 3. Surprised I hadn’t heard of this sooner. Probably a good one for Hollow Knight fans, but there isn’t exploration. It’s bite-sized action and it’s done well imo.

Noita

What a game. Alchemy, wand-building, every single pixel is trying to kill you. Especially the water which is also on fire. It’s amazing and highly addictive. I have no idea how large the world actually is yet, since I’ve been busy discovering new ways to blow myself up. Pretty much every run I see something new. This will easily get 100+ hours out of me.

It’s probably sticky too

Relief is temporary. Pain is forever.

If they remaster it there’s a chance they’ll release it on PC and then I won’t have to buy an entire PlayStation just for one game.

Don’t give up, skeleton!

What is your favourite colour?

“The only alien I accept is Jesus Christ.”

cocks shotgun

“Now it’s time for you to phone home.”

Thanks for going through with it and posting the update!

Hard 7

My mistake. It seems like every time I check if a beloved game from that era is on PC it’s always “no”.

Time Splitters, Dark Cloud, ICO, Twisted Metal Black, Shinobi, FFX…

So many games I would gladly pay them for (again) on PC.

She caught me with the flounder

Wasn’t me

Saw us making chowder

Wasn’t me

Bears, even though I think they’re really cool. It’s gotten worse over time. I’ve seen a lot of videos of idiots interacting with them, getting too close, leaving food out at campsites, etc.

Plus my ever-declining faith in humanity, it means the likelihood of a bear I would encounter being made more dangerous because of other people is high.

I used to want to go to the Adirondack mountains, but after reading reviews about one of the main camp areas being overrun with black bears (due to eating human food) that’s no longer on my bucket list.

Even on a fairly recent camping trip with a friend with equal knowledge about bear safety, they left a plate out with some meat grease overnight. We heard all sorts of sounds and the plate was far from the eating area in the morning. Like can you not leave a welcome present out for the apex predator, please?

I know almost nothing about it, but I find ancient Mesopotamia fascinating.

Mysterious Ways ™️

Articulated like a true toddler

Rocky 3 (1982)

Akira (1988)

This is England (2006)

Planet of the Apes (1968)

Something about taking prostitutes on voyages across the sea in the olden days. You’d romance her under the cannons and the bastard child would be a “son of a gun”. I don’t remember where I learned this so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

Edit: I looked it up and got some details wrong, but pretty close

minutiae

You make a good point. Still, I think it depends. I can see a multi-millionaire caring more about their $50 than the average person. 60k on 1.1mil is more than 5%. And when your primary goal is to gather as much wealth as possible, that matters - that’s 60k that isn’t making them more money, plus time for construction that delays making more money on the investment.