Underneath my yellow skin

Tag Archives: demos

Steam Next Fest is making me tired

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I’m tired, y’all. I’m so tired. Yes, this is trivial in the grand scheme of things. *Glances around at the world going up in flames* I can’t do much about that, though, so I’m going to ignore it for now and focus on what I can. Which is the Steam Next Fest as it continues to disappoint me. Here’s my post from yesterday in which I talked about the games I tried and didn’t like. Talking about in general terms, I mean. I also talked a bit about the depressing state of the gaming industry. Which, to be fair, I could do every day.

Look.

I don’t know if it’s me just asking for too much, the games not giving me what I want, or the games actually being bad. It might be a combination  of all three. Or other things, too. I installed several demos, and I was cautiously hopeful for one or two of them. I mean, just in general. I’m always hopeful in general that I’ll find something good. And, you know, it’s not as if it’s a terrible thing if I don’t. I have so many games in my backlog; I don’t really need to add anything new.

That doesn’t mean I won’t look during every Steam sale. There are so many. So. Many. I honestly think Steam has at least one sale a month if not more. I have hundreds of games in my backlog, if not more. I don’t need to buy anything, and I probably won’t.

I am still on the hunt for a HOG that satisfies me. I said yesterday that I tried one that was ok, but not great. Today, I tried one as well, but it was one of those ‘throw hundreds of one object in the scene and call it a day’. Plus, and this is something that annoys the fuck out of me, I turned the sound off in the menu. When I want back into the game, it was on high. No matter how many times I tried to turn it off, it was on full blast when I went back into the game. I gave up after thirty seconds or so because I cannot stand loud noises if I don’t choose those loud noises. It hurts my ears and it makes me angry. Like physically angry. Like I want to punch someone angry.

I talked yesterday about how I hate ASMR with all my heart. It, too, made me want to punch something or someone in the face. Basically, any noise that I could not control gave me issues. Acutally, this is something that I want to address. Fucking sound.

Let. Me. Control. The. Fucking. Sound. From. The. Very. Beginning.

This is perhaps one of my biggest pet peeves in casual games. They never let you control the sound until after the intro, which means I skip the intro. I cannot stand listening to something if I can’t control the  sound. Apparently, this is now becoming a thing in some hardcore game as well. Or maybe just in indie games. At any rate, it annoys the fuck out of me.

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More about Steam Next Fest

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I’m back to talk more about Steam Next Fest. I went on at length about this sub-genre of Hidden Object Games (HOGs) that is shoving hundreds of the same object in tthe background (in this case, cats), which I find to be boring unless there is some other hook in the game.

Today, I tried out a few more demos. I am not going to name them beacuse I did not enjoy them, and I don’t think it’s fair to give them negative pub before the games actually come out. I will say though that one of them was by a developer who did a game I liked waaaaay back when, but found quite frustrating. I played their second game, which was so buggy. I liked it and tried to push through, but I ran into a bug that made it impossible for me to continue. I gave up on them after that.

This one, there were no bugs. What I did find, though, was something that is a pet peeve of mine, and it happens a lot in indie games.

Clarification: Before I go any further, I want to say that I realize indie devs are doing the best they can with very little. I know that they are running with a very bare crew. Again, I’m talking about indie teams that are under twenty people. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt because they don’t have the money or the people or the time that bigger devs do. Seriously. I will overlook many things.

One thing, however, I have a really hard time looking over is a tutorial that doesn’t tell me how to actually play the game or what the controls are. Or how to exit to the menu. I think this is pretty basic info, and I don’t see why it would not be the first thing they did.

I also don’t like it when puzzles don’t tell you how to solve them. I don’t mean they’re supposed to give you the answer, but they should give you some hint that you have actually solved the puzzle. I did this one puzzle, and I thought I had it right. Except, the game did not make any indication that I had done the right thing. There was a blinking light bulb button, and I thought it was to give a hint. I didn’t want a hint, but I couldn’t see anything else to do.

I hit the button, something flashed before my eyes, and then the puzzle was done. Did it solve the puzzle for me? I was mad about it, so I restarted the game and quickly got to that part again. I did the puzzle once again (and it was a clumsy puzzle. Very much did not like it), and still, nothing to indicate what I should do. I checked a playthrough, and I was, indeed, supposed to hit the button I had hit before.

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Steam Next Fest, let’s talk about it

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When I was a casual game player (decades ago), I liked Hidden Object Games or HOGs as they were called. As the name implied, the main purpose is to find objects that are hidden in the scene. It’s pretty much as simple as that. At least it was when I played them. Then, the devs decided that they needed to make the games adventure games because, oh, I don’t know, they felt guilty about putting out the same game over and over again? Soon, they were putting in morphing objects and collectibles. I hate that shit, but I also feel compelled to find every one. Which is part of the reasons I quit playing them. Another was the aforementioned collectibles. The last reason was that I started playing “hard” games and relegated casual games to a once-in-a-while thing.

I still like HOGs, though, and Steam has started to have more and more of them on the platform. We now have a sub-category that I’ll call hidden cat games. As you can probably tell, that’s right up my alley. I love cats and I used to like hidden object games. What more do I need?

Well.

I feel a bit ungenerous in what I’m about to say.

I don’t like the way it’s being implemented. In most HOGs, the objects are hidden in a way to make them blend into the background. Plus, it’s usually ten or fifteen hidden objects per scene. The new breed of HOGs (and the one in which most cat HOGs fall) is to just throw a shit ton of objects on the scene, pretty artlessly.

In the case of the cats, it’s just hundreds of cats tossed in the background. There are some other objects to find as well, but it’s mostly just tons of cats. I’ve played several of these games, and I’m bored with it already. If there’s nothing else to reel me in, then I don’t really want to play it. I’m not saying it’s a cynical money grab, but, I’m also not saying it’s not.

How does this tie into the Steam Next Fest? One of the demos I saw was for one of these games by a developer of whom I had bought their two previous games–which were exactly the same. That’s three games in a year, which is very similar to how the devs in casual games dropped their games. Same game just with a palette swap. This series is really pretty, I’ll give it that, but it’s…boring. There are literally over a hundred object in each scene. If you keep the ‘page’ at the regular size, you will miss half the objects beacuse they simply won’t appear.

You can enlarge the page to the point where you have maybe one-fortieth of the page on screen.  But then you have the chance to miss something when you’re scrolling to the next part of the scene. There is a hint, but you have to wait something like 2 minutes for it to refresh. I read a hint that if you go out of the level and go back in, then the time resets.


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Things that turn me off gameplay wise (part two)

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Yesterday, I was intending to write about what my next game might be. I did mention the demos I’ve played in the past few days, but then I wandered very far away from the main point as in my wont. I needed to talk about what would make me turn off a game, especially an indie game. Why? Because I’m trying out a bunch of demos, and I will turn them off in a flash if certain things happen. Yes! That’s where the link is.

I stopped after giving 1/2 of a two-point (completely conflicting) answer, so let’s jump into the second part. I mentioned that I loved a small, self-contained 2-3 hour experience that was just good vibes and joyful. A game that was comfortable and acted as a blanket to be snuggled in. There is nothing wrong (and sometimes, everything right) with a well done small game.

Here’s the counterpoint: there is something exhilirating about an indie game that reaches for the stars. Even if they falter, they go out in a glorious burst. In fact, I wrote a post last year about two indie games that did just that. Reached for the sun, I mean. One of them worn Game of the Year last year (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive) whereas the other came and went without any fanfare (Promise Mascot Agency (Kaizen Game Works)). One of them was my favorite game of last year, and it wasn’t the one that won all the awards.

I have written plenty about both of these games, so I’m not going to go into it again. I just want to say that it’s hard to say why one was such a smash success while the other barely made a blip. I did note that one of them was more normie-friendly (the former) while the other was only for weirdos (the latter).

Don’t get me wrong. I am a weirdo. I am a total weirdo. I am such a weirdo, other weirdos say, “Wow, that person needs to dial it back a bit.” I’ve talked about it before, but I’m the kind of weirdo that is too weird for the weirdos.

I’m fine with that. I don’t care, honestly. It’s better than thinking there was something wrong with me, which was what I thought my whole childhood. Now, I just accept that I think very differently than most people. Yes, it’s a neuroatypical thing, and I’m dealing with it. I wish I had known it decades ago, but at least I know it now.

I know to keep most of my opinions to myself if I’m the gen pop. I can never relax because I know if  Ilet my mask go even for a few seconds, I will get a strong reaction. It’s not necessarily negative, but it’s more likely negative than positive.

Before I played Promise Mascot Agency, I had watched a trailer, and I knew the basic premise. I also knew Shuhei Yoshida (ex-president of Sony) was in it. That was it. I didn’t even know until I was almost done with the game that the voice actor for Kazuma Kiryu (Takaya Kuroda) plays Michi, the protagonist in this game. Same kind of role, but different voice. I have not played much of the Yakuzas, but I have seen a lot of Kiryu.

There was a lot that frustrated me about PMA, but there was also more that brought me joy. The devs threw everything and the kitchen sink into the mix, to the benefit and the drawback of the game. So, yes. They went for it with gusto. No, they did not hit every mark they were reaching for, but that wasn’t the important thing in this game. The important thing was they tried. They went outside the box, and they dared to fail.

My favorite thing about the game is the cast of mascots. You know how in many games, the ‘weird’ characters are just mildly different than the norm? Like in romcoms when the ‘ugly’ girl is signified by someone hot like Zendaya having frumpy clothing, messy hair, and wearing glasses. or the weirdo is the hot guy who is wearing glasses and has one nerdy quirk, like playing D&D. Come to think of it, that’s really popular these days.

In fact, I was comparing CO:E33 to PMA about this, too. The former tries to paint the main group as a band of outsiders (because of the world they live in–look, it’s complicated), and that this band of plucky outsiders had to come together to defeat the big baddie. Except, each member is incredibly hot and skilled. Yes, they talk about being outsiders, but in the very safe way. Not fitting in with the family for the most part. Or that they had tragedies happen in their lives that were what many people had.

It’s what I call ‘safe’ weird. It’s the way popular media likes to portray weirdos–as being one step outside of the norm.

In PMA, the mascots are weird with a capital W. And some of them are really unlikable. They are gross, awkward (actually awkward), fearful, timid, annoying, and cringe-inducing. Not all of them  and not all of the traits, but most of the mascots have at least one really negative trait. There are a few mascots that I really did not like at first. I mean, really did not like. Like, ‘get this creep away from me’ did not like.

By the end of the game, though, I had a fondness in my heart for them all. Granted, I like some better than the others. To-Fu, , the first mascot I recruited remained one of my favorites. I had a real soft spot (heh) in my heart for him. My sensitive little block of soy.

This was the first time I felt there were real weirdos in a game. Sure, they were mascots and not humans, but I cared about them more than I have about many NPCs in other games. I wanted to spend more time with my mascots, but I had to keep sending them on jobs. Also, I couldn’t just spontaneously interact with them; I had to do prescribed interactions instead (performance reviews and such). Honestly, I would have loved to have just chilled with them.

I don’t know if PMA was considered a success or not; I know that CO:E33 most definitely was. But, in my honest opinion, it’s a much safer game than PMA. People raved about it being so fresh and original, but I just didn’t see it. Again, that’s just me.

But, as I said in that previous post, I rather games soar for the sun and fail than not try anything new. And while I did not think CO:E33 went that far outside the box, they were doing something fresh. At least if I were to believe what others say. I did not see it myself. But, I did feel like the sum was more than the individual parts. At any rate, I’m glad both games exist.

The next big thing (gamewise)

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In yesterday’s post, I intended to talk about what my next game might be. I veered wildly off into brand loyalty and how I don’t think I’ll be playing FromSoft games for much longer (and why I’m OK with that. Well, not ok, but resigned).

I’ve played several demos, and I immediately uninstalled several. Why? There are a variety of reasons. Some required twitch responses that I did not have. I was really sad about a few of them because I really dug the aesthetics, but I simply could not play the games.

Here are thirngs that will cause me to uninstall a game quickly.

1. Mini-games that make me do QTEs, any kind of ‘fill in the circle’ motion that has to be precise, and anything of that ilk. It seems to be something that more indie games are doing, sadly, much like parrying is king in most triple A action games.

Side note: I don’t know when it happened, but I flinch now whenever I hear the word ‘parry’ as the main combat in any game. I hate the word ‘soulslike’, too, because it usually means the game has taken my least-favorite aspect of From games and glorified them to kingdom come.

I know I have said this over and over again, but I’ll say it one more time. Most devs don’t give a shit about accessibility. Sadly, that includes many of the indie devs, too. I give them more benefit of the doubt–at least, the teams that are small, like 20 employees and under. They simply don’t have the resources to do everything that the bigger companies can do.

However. That doesn’t mean I actually want to play their games.

Side note: I didn’t realize the whole time I was playing The Spirit Lift (prettysmart games) that the game was first-person. I mean, I knew it was, but I did not have the negative reaction I normally have to first-person games. I mentioned it to Ian, and he said that in keeping with the ’90s feel to the game (no bobbing of the head, for example). In thinking of it, it made sense. The only time I got slightly nauseous was when I swung the camera around too quickly–and that was on me.

I cannot tell you how many times I have regretfully turned off a game because the first-person perspective made me sick to my stomach. Sadly, Blue Prince (Dogubomb Studios) was one of those games. Not only was it in first-person, it had a fish-eyed point of view that increase my nausea. The game didn’t have much to fiddle with, sadly. Yes, there was a FOV slider, but it didn’t do much. I played an hour at a time, gritting my teeth as I played. After three hours over two days, I gave  up. I really liked what I played, but I just could not do it.


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Why I don’t do brand loyalty

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I am at a loss as to what game to play next. This happens when I get obsessed with a game. In this case, The Spirit Lift (prettysmart games). I was obsessed with it, and I want to parse what kind of games sink their claws into me. I will break down the games into two different categories: FromSoft games and non-FromSoft games.

FromSoft games are in a league of their own. I have a longstanding rule that I do not preorder games. Except. FromSoft. If they put out a game, I’m buying it (if I can. Still bitter over Demon’s Souls, Bloodborne, and now The Duskbloods on The Switch 2). I will say that my faith is a bit shaky with Nightreign and Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon coming out in the last few years and now The Duskbloods.

Side note: I don’t have loyalty to brands. Our relationships are purely transactional. As long as I enjoy/like/get use out of your product, I will buy it. If standards start slipping or I no longer like your product, I will no longer buy it. That’s pretty much it.

It’s the same with FromSoft. Well, not exactly the same. I had a much more emotional connection to the ‘product’, but….

I can feel the games going out of my reach. I have known since the DLC of Dark Souls III that there would be one day I could no longer play the games. My abilities were shit to begin with, and I struggled to complete Dark Souls (my first From game). It took me roughly 150 hours to finish it (with the DLC) for the first time. I had the Prepare to Die edition, which meant it was the whole game. I remember a games journalist casually saying there was no way anyone could take a over a hundred hours to finish the game (sans DLC). He was very much, “No one is different than I am. I am the gold standard for how to play Souls games”, but even so.

I almost quit once, and I did quit for a year another time. I struggled so hard. But I kept going back to it. Ornstein and Smough killed me over a hundred times. Well over. It took me roughly seven hours (one hour a day for seven days) to kill them. Why did I stick with it? I have no idea why.

The funny thing is that they didn’t make me quit; it was the Gaping Dragon, of all bosses. It’s not a particularly difficult boss, but it has a ton of health. It’s a very tedious boss if you don’t have at least a +5 weapon–which I did not. After spending a billion hours chipping away at its health (only a slight exaggeration), I got it down to one or two hits. I stepped back to avoid an attack and–stepped into nothing. There was an abyss I guess I didn’t see, and I died a most ignomious death.

I was furious. I was used to dying–good lord, I was used to dying. I mean, it’s in the name of the edition: Prepare to Die. But not to a fucking hole in the ground. I threw the controller and gave up the game on the spot. A year later, I picked it up again. Why? I’m not quite sure, but I think it had something to do with Scholar of the First Sin coming out.


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Oh, the games I’ve played (this year), part three

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I want to talk more about the games I tried out this year and did not get along with. There have been severeal, I see, as I have been looking over my Steam Replay timeline. Some of them are just the demos, whereas others are games I’ve bought. Oh, here’s the post I did yesterday on some of the games I played this year.

The first one is The First Berserker: Khazan (Neople), a brutal soulslike. I have one word to say to this game: NO.

To expand a bit more, I was sighing within two minutes of playing. I will say, though, get paid, Ben Starr–get your bag! He’s in everything, and he’s the main character (the player character) in this game.

I am so tired of soulslikes glomming onto the brutal difficulty part of From games and thinking that’s all it takes to make a good soulslike. Oooooh let’s make it so you can die in two hits by a scrub! Ooooooh let’s have mob after mob attack you in a way that you can’t see them coming, nor can you separate them. Ooooh let’s make it so that the opening saps your will to live. And then let’s have a mini-boss who will break your back, your spirit, and make the game not fun at all to play.

Oh, and ever since Sekiro, let’s include a parry/deflect that is an integral part of the combat because god forbid a dev dare make a soulslike these days without it. God forbid that the combat be hefty enough on its own so that you don’t have to use the parry/deflect. And god especially forbid that you don’t crank the difficulty up to a billion before I’m even out of the tutorial area.

I don’t blame From for this, but I can’t help feeling a bit bitter. I was already the dregs when it came to From games, and now, I cannot hang with many of the clones. The only way I made it through the base game of Lies of P (Round8 Studio/NEOWIZ) was by maxing out a consumable-forward build and using said consumables to beat every boss from the fourth one on (or fifth?) in their second phase (and they all had second phases after that point). That’s even how I beat the super-hard optional secret boss at the end of the game, plus a drastic change of my build in general. I didn’t feel good about it or proud (well, some pride on the last boss), but I did what I had to do.

I played maybe an hour of The First Berserker: Khazan and quit without hesitation. It was not enjoyable at all, and it was missing the point of Souls games, at least for me. The vast majority of people play the From games for the bosses. I felt no joy in playing the game, and I knew I would have quickly been at that place where I could no longer play the game.

I don’t know when it happened, but I’ve gone from being eager and excited when a soulslike is announced to being disenchanted, jaded, and ‘ugh, no’. It’s almost a revulsion at this point. Take, for example, Nioh 3 (Team Ninja). It was announced at… I want to say The Game Awards, but I’m not sure. It was recent, though; I know that much.

I have earnestly tried to play the first two games and got my ass relentlessly whupped. I was not having any fun, and I eventually gave up on each (for different reasons). I was numb when I saw the trailer for the third game. It did not move me in any way, and if anything, the trailer turned me off of it. I can’t think of the last soulslike that excited me. It’s not that I’ve outgrown the genre, but that it’s grown in a way that does not include me. In other word, it’s dumped me and not vice-versa.

Side note: I don’t have loyalty to any brand, not even FromSoft. Currently, I buy their games on day one or even pre-order them, but I was deeply disappointed by Nightreign and their decision to make The Duskbloods a Switch 2 exclusive. If they eventually bring it to other platforms including PC, I’ll probably buy it–but I won’t be happy about it. PvPvE does nothing for me. I’m sure they’ll do it well, but it’s not my thing at all.

Look, just because I love past From games does not mean that they earn endless grace from me. I mean, they can make whatever games they want. Clealy, they don’t need my approval to do that. But, I don’t have to buy those games if they don’t appeal to me.

I’m curious if they’ll do a sequel to Elden Ring. I can’t imagine they won’t given how successful it was, but I would rather see them move on to something else. no, I don’t want them to return to Dark Souls, either. I would like a game in which the combat was not so emphasized (and hard) and there was more focus on the exploration.

Another game that I was really looking forward to was Date Everything (Sassy Chap Games). It had a very interesting premise in that you receive this pair of glasses that make it possible for you to, ah, date everything (well, not everything, but most things) in your house. And by things, I mean things. The microwave, bed, your diary, washer, dryer, vacuum cleaner, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Erika Ishii is in it, and they play ben-wa balls named Ben-hwa. You can bet I ‘dated’ them as soon as possible. It was pretty damn hot, but also weird, which is a good tagline for the whole game.

Ben Starr is also in this game; as I said, he’s getting PAID. He’s the doors in the game, and he’s one of my favorite characters. I like talking to him, and apparently, he’s 17 doors. I have found maybe five of them?

The dialogue is snappy for the most part, but it just does not gel for me. It’s trying too hard, and I did not vibe with it. All the names are puns, and all the dialogue is written as if for a sassy sit-com. Itt’s well-written, but just not for me. Also, I learned that once you ‘date’ someone (read, bang), that’s it. There are no long-term relationships. Granted, I don’t know how long the person who told me this had played the game, but they seemed to be pretty confident about it.

I did feel it was way too easy to woo a few of the people I banged, including Ben-hwa. I felt like I was enacting a main character fantasy with the support of all the NPCs. I would have liked it to be…I don’t even know what. More authentic? But that’s not the point of the game. I mean, the very premise is weird and wild, so why would the rest of it be grounded in any way?

I played maybe a half-dozen hours of it and never really warmed up to it. Regretfully, I put it away after twice giving it a real shot. I don’t think I’ll be going back to it.

 

 

 

A confession about my backlog

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I want to talk more about demos/backlogs/piles of shame, etc. Why? Because I’m stridently ignoring the world around me and because why not? Here is my post from yesterday.

Every person who games, especially on the PC, has a vast backlog. We PC players jokingly call it our Steam pile of shame. I, myself, have hundreds of games I’ve bought on impulse because Steam makes it so easy. There’s always a sale. Currently, there is a Krafton Publisher Sale. I had no idea who the hell they were and took a quick glance at the list. I know two or three of the games, but don’t really have an interest in any of them.

Wholesome Games Direct was a few days ago (a week?) as was NextFest. Wait. That’s still going on now. I would not be surprised if there was a sale of some kind every day. Every time I pop over to Steam, which is once a week or so, there seems to be a sale going on. And, like most PC players, I will pick up any game that catches my eye as long as it’s under five/ten/twenty bucks (my threshhold is ten dollars). Is it on my wishlist? Maybe. Does it have to do with a cat? Probably. Will I buy several of them at the same time? Yep.

A content creator I used to watch said that if you don’t buy a game for a buck during a Steam sale, you probably are never going to buy that game (and should take it off your Wishlist). He was right about that, and yet, I still have about 200 games on my Wishlist.

Let’s be real. I should probably take off at least half those games because I will never buy them. And even if I do buy them, I will not play them. But for whatever reason, I insist on keeping them on my Wishlist. Well, I know why. It’s because I can’t be fucked to go through my list and weed out the games I no longer want.

Back to games I buy on impulse. I am someone who doees not usually buy games when they first come out*. I suppose this ties in with the fact that I’m not brand-loyal. Or with the fact that marketing doesn’t work as well on me as it does on most people. It’s really hard to sell me on something that I don’t want. And I’m prone to not wanting things more so than wanting them, so good luck on changing my mind.


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Tackling that Steam backlog one game at a time

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I’m trying to get through my Steam backlog and the countless quirky indie demos that I keep adding to my list of games to try. It doesn’t help that Steam always has some kind of sale, and right now, the sales going on are cozy games related. This is entirely my jam. Putting aside FromSoft games (with great difficulty), I have two other categories of games that I play. Roguelike/lites and cozy games. There is some crossover between the two categories, but not that much.

If you were to ask me my favorite games outside of From games, they would be:

1. Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
2. Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games)
3. Cozy Grove (SpryFox)
4. Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! (David Galindo)
5. Hades (Supergiant Games)

The first two are in the right order, whereas the next three are pretty interchangeable. I really related to Mae, the main character of NitW, because she was a moody black cat (all the characters were animals) who, as the game went on, became more and more like me. Crushing self-esteem problems, severe mental health issues, and she was bisexual. The last one is something you can play through the game and never find out, depending on what the choices you make. I was so pleased when it was revealed because at that point in time (2017), there weren’t that many games with bisexual characters. Some with gay characters, but not bi.

That would be five indie games, four of which are considered cozy….well, three are for sure. The fourth (CSD!2!! is debatable) is a cooking sim, which you think should be chill, but isn’t. It’s highly addictive, though, and the reason I prefer this game to the original is because I can decorate my restaurants in addition to making recipes.

In the past few days, I have tried to sttorm through my Steam backlog/Steam demos. It’s an uphill battle, though, because I add demos to my Steam client as a way to remember games I might be interested in. I have almost two dozen demos on my Steam client, and I’ve deleted a few I’ve recently tried as well.

Here are a few things that will immediately turn me off a game–if it makes me motion sick; if it requires a dexterity that I don’t have; or if it has a confusing/lack of tutorial. I just played one that was a puzzle-solving game (putting shapes into a big rectangle squares marked off inside the rectangle), and it was cute, but too simple for me.

I know that my tastes are very weird and particular. Ian has said it’s hard to find games for me because I am so damn picky (he was more diplomatic about it, but that’s what it boils down to). That’s how I am with pop culture in general, by the way. I dislike more than I like to the point that I’m comfortable saying that I don’t like movies and TV shows in general. In other words, a TV show or movie is going to have to work hard to win me over.


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I’m as cold as ice

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It’s 69 degrees (nice) and I’m a happy clam. It’s still outside my comfort zone, but after two weeks of over a hundred, I’ll take it. Being outside didn’t make me want to claw my own face off and I could actually feel a nice breeze. I fucking hate summer. We get a hundred day here and there, but nothing like the last two weeks. Even with air con, a fan blowing high, ice water, ice packs, and as little clothing as possible, it’s miserable. I can’t think in the heat–it feels as if my brain is frying. It makes me snappish, irritated, and unable to concentrate.

Even though the weather is much more tolerable, it’s still not fun for me. I’m fine with 20-50 degrees, but I prefer it under that, honestly. Down to zero is nice and then it’s a bit nippy when it gets to sub-zero temps. I talked to Kat Friday night and we reminisced about how back when we used to go out, we’d have such a different reaction to the weather. She’s a Florida gal and revels in the heat. When we went out in the summer, I would be whining and moaning about the heat, barely able to move while she would be flitting around, clearly in her element. In the winter, however, the shoe was on the other foot. She would be hunching over, shivering, demanding to know why my spine wasn’t scrunching up. I, on the other hand, would be in my element and loving it.

As I grow older, my ability to deal with cold gets less attuned*, but my ability to deal with heat hasn’t gotten better at all. If anything, it’s gotten worse. I would love to live in a place where the weather never rose about 50 degrees.

Let’s talk demos. Still trying them out and I really dig it. I can play a game for ten minutes or an hour and not have to commit to it. During the Steam Next Fest, there are so many demos! This is both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s good because I can try out any game that catches my eye without plunking down money for it. It’s bad because, well, there are so many bad games out there. That ain’t throwing shade at video games because that’s the case with, well, everything. 98% of pop culture is pure crap. That’s just the way it goes.


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