some fools be like “i play games to escape my responsibilities” then pick tank or healer
in my greatest fantasies i am able to help people
In my fantasies I can prevent people from being hurt, even if it means I get hurt in their stead.
In my fantasies i dont have to know how to aim
If I aspire to anything in my YouTube LP career it’s to sound like a pleasant midwestern man spinning a yarn ‘round the fire.
It’s kind of… embarrassing for modern AAA game design that I am enjoying Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2002) more than God of War (2018). They are exactly the same type of game–follow corridors in 3rd person view, meet enemies in a combat encounter and brawl ‘em up, move along through another corridor or open space to the next combat encounter and dialog, rinse/repeat. GoW has some more depth in its upgrades and attack abilities, but beyond that it’s just money thrown at scope and polish to make a game that is meant to feel epic but is mechanically identical to the older game. They also share thematic beats such as crumbling environments, demons and the undead, and generally spooky atmosphere. Both games are just plucking the same strings and I’m not vibing with GoW like I am with Buffy.
Not to say Buffy should automatically be worse because it is older or might have had a smaller budget, or automatically better because it’s retro or something. If I had to try and explain why I’m not enjoying GoW as much as the other game, I’d say it’s in the tone and characterization. Dad of War is just so bland and humorless, which has been there from the start on PS2 and may be why I bounced off the second game and never looked back until giving this reboot a shot. I need to hear these characters talk all the time and there’s nothing there to latch onto, unless maybe you’re also a dad working out some stuff. Buffy, on the other hand, brings in the sort of Whedonesque quips you see in any of those 90s and early 00s TV series. It’s tough to get past the burden these shows carry now that Whedon has been outed as another Hollywood abuser, but it does take me back to that sort of campy dialog and lighter tone that tries to make these things fun. Buffy has quips galore as the player fights through the game, and those lines repeat themselves often, but it’s just so much more enjoyable and earnest.
I’m not through either game yet and we’ll see how things shake out after I complete them and have more distance to think about them, but so far, I’m not compelled to move on to the latest GoW that is winning more awards this season. But I am absolutely in for another schlocky action game that blends elements of camp, humor, and spooky vibes.
“You can download a modern game engine and make a game for everyone to play on PC and console!”
No that’s scary someone might find it.
“I guess you could use this tool to make homebrew games for the long dead Virtual Boy.”
a couple more studies. it was fun painting Dana’s long suffering expression
Happy to see Kristin Lehman out here getting a role on The Outer Limits as a normal person, not carrying on ill-fated romances from behind a screen or via hologram.
I wish octopus could learn how to read. They could be pen pals with middle schoolers.
Dearest Samantha,
I do not know what a guinea pig is, but it sounds delicious. I hope you have fun devouring it, or playing with it, if that is your preference. Today I hacked a local computer to get more bubbles in my tank and took a photograph of an unsuspecting victim. Do let me know how your human activities are going. And if this “Karen” continues to antagonize your brother, I would suggest smacking her very hard. And do send more canned snacks.
Best Wishes, Octopus #5, Monterrey bay research aquarium
