Posts by grissallia@aus.social
(DIR) Post #AhubfcVu02GycAdMrg by grissallia@aus.social
2024-02-24T08:42:52Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
February 22, 2024 - Day 418 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 454Game: Deadly DaysPlatform: SteamReleased: Sep 19, 2019Installed: Feb 2, 2024Unplayed: 20dPlaytime: 15mDeadly Days is a top down pixel-art strategy roguelite set in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse caused by chemically tainted hamburgers.Your goal is to eventually locate and destroy the source of the hamburgers, and honestly it just didn't grab me at all.Deadly Days is also:2: Meh#DeadlyDays #TopDown #PixelArt #Strategy #Roguelite #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #Ahubffmfq8TGl3VIvI by grissallia@aus.social
2024-02-24T09:30:00Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
February 23, 2024 - Day 419 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 455Game: Pink - Summer Carnival 2023/2024Platform: Marvel StadiumReleased: Jun 7, 2023Installed: Feb 23, 2024Unplayed: 0dPlaytime: 2hOK, so this obviously isn't a game, but it is the reason there's not an actual game review for yesterday.I've never seen Pink in concert before. This is my second live concert in three months, and with all due respect to Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters, my experience at Pink's Summer Carnival 2024 last night set a new bar that I can't imagine being topped.I found the Foo Fighters almost unbearably loud; I spent the whole night with my watch alarming for sound levels of between 103 & 109dB, and wearing ear plugs.Comparatively, my watch went off twice last night when the volume momentarily exceeded 100dB.The downside was that compared to AAMI Park's seating, the Marvel Stadium seats are more flexible, and the rows are closer together. I'm 6'3" with legs that go all the way up, and while the seating at AAMI Park wasn't comfortable, at Marvel Stadium it was excruciating, with flexible plastic seats meaning the punter in front crushed my already-twisted legs on more than one occasion.Because the two concerts were so close together (Dec 6, 2023 & Feb 24, 2024), while they're stylistically different, I can't help but compare them.Firstly, although stylistically different, both Dave Grohl & Pink can hold their own, both as musicians, and lyricists. They can both tell incredible stories with their songwriting, and both have an ear for a hook.They also both have an incredible stage presence and charisma.However, whereas the Foo Fighters concert was just sheer motherf***ing rib-shattering wall-of-sound territory (Dave said "motherf***er" so many times within two hours it would make Samuel L. Jackson blush), Pink's performance was a (literally) jaw-dropping spectacular.The integration of the staging and live video made the Foo Fighters video choreography look laid-back by comparison.I was aware that Pink's shows involve acrobatics, but before the concert started, I said to my wife that I couldn't see where she'd be able to do it.From the opening moments I discovered that my imagination is not big enough. From the moment she opened the show with "Get the Party Started" while dropping on a swing from a concealed location 50 metres above the stage, to closing out the show with "So What" while literally flying & tumbling on a harness above 2/3 of the general admission audience on the floor of Marvel Stadium, and right out to the edges of the level 2 seating, the show was mesmerising.To see two amazing performances within 3 months is an incredible privilege; last night, however, was quite literally the most incredible live music experience of my entire life.Pink - Summer Carnival Melbourne 2024 was:5: Excellent#Pink #SummerCarnival2024 #Concert #Music #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #Ahubfj49dbEiw8ho5Q by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-02T06:40:59Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
February 24, 2024 - Day 420 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 456Game: NeoversePlatform: SteamReleased: Feb 19, 2020Installed: Feb 1, 2024Unplayed: 23dPlaytime: 34mNeoverse is a 3D-ish rogue-lite deckbuilder.It didn't get off to a good start. There are three main characters, all women. The opening cutscene seemed to be entirely about them engaging in various battles aimed at the male gaze.One of the main characters featuring in the game art is a character wearing a skintight silver bodysuit, viewed from behind and below the waistline, with her butt being the focal point.As for the game itself? Nowhere near that. It's set in a multiverse, where you and two other characters need to enter universes to fight a series of staged battles to unlock more cards and save the universe(s) through card battles.As rogue-lite card battlers go, Neoverse is (just barely):3: OK#Neoverse #3D #DeckBuilder #CardBattler #Strategy #Roguelite #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #AhubflZQKJRAhhLo6S by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-02T06:52:33Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
February 25, 2024 - Day 421 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 457Game: Black BookPlatform: SteamReleased: Aug 11, 2021Installed: Feb 2, 2024Unplayed: 23dPlaytime: 43mBlack Book is a rogue-lite deckbuilder RPG.Black Book is set in 19th century Russia, and is a card-battler/RPG built around Slavic folklore.You play a woman who lives with her uncle, whose betrothed husband-to-be seemingly unalived himself.Not willing to accept this, she seeks out and makes a deal with the devil to become a witch, and seeks to break the seven seals on a tome given to her by her uncle, which may contain the power of something which can save him from Hell.The "cards" in this case are spells within a spellbook; it feels much like a very dark Slay the Spire, with an RPG layered over the top.However, the devs have layered an incredible amount of Slavic folklore into the RPG side, which (due to my upbringing) left me feeling a little bit uncomfortable.Black Book is a slightly creepy:3: OK#BlackBook #RPG #DeckBuilder #CardBattler #Strategy #Roguelite #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #AhubfoqCAPdSqaDkA4 by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-02T07:07:14Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
February 26, 2024 - Day 422 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 458Game: UndyingPlatform: SteamReleased: Dec 7, 2023Installed: Dec 20, 2023Unplayed: 68d (2m6d) Playtime: 30mUndying is an isometric zombie survival game, with a twist.Undying is set in the immediate aftermath of a zombie outbreak. With survivors having been shepherded into safe zones, the survivors are being extracted, one safe zone at a time.Anling and her son, Cody, are in one of these safe zones, which is overrun by zombies during the extraction. The extraction fails, and Anling and Cody make a run for their lives, finding a car, and returning to their home.Their home becomes their survival base, with all of the standard trappings of any number of other survival games, just with extra zombies.With one catch - Anling was bitten by a zombie while escaping, and needs to teach Cody how to survive before she turns.This adds a somewhat melancholic layer to the game, knowing that (playing as Anling), you're on borrowed time, and as a parent, this affected me quite deeply.As you go through each step of building and repairing items, you encourage Cody to observe, which levels *him* up, allowing him to do more of these things himself.Undying is:4: Good#Undying #Isometric #Survival #Zombies #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #Ahubfrgja2qlg6ojKa by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-04T08:58:29Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
February 27, 2024 - Day 423 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 459Game: Paradise LostPlatform: SteamReleased: Mar 25, 2021Installed: Feb 2, 2024Unplayed: 25d Playtime: 23mParadise Lost is a first-person walking simulator set in an alt-history 1980 where World War II did not end in 1945, and the Nazis managed to survive until (at least) the 1960's, before setting off nuclear weapons and retreating underground.A lot of folks aren't big on walking simulators, but one of my favourite (ever) games is a walking simulator - Firewatch.A walking sim needs to have a good pace, and a good story.Therein lies my biggest issue with Paradise Lost; the walking pace is so agonisingly slow, that 20 minutes into the game, I was only just starting to scratch the surface of a game that seems to have an incredible atmosphere, and design aesthetic... and Nazis.It is the story of a boy named Szymon who, after his mother's death, seeks to find the answers as to who she really was, and who the unknown man in a photo is (or was).This leads Szymon to this abandoned underground world built by the Nazis to escape the consequences of their bombs.Unfortunately, Nazis just feels too on the nose in 2024, and combined with the excruciatingly slow pace, Paradise Lost is an unfortunate:2: Meh#ParadiseLost #FirstPerson #WalkingSimulator #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #AhubfuyDNVcDrC1EUi by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-04T09:04:29Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
February 28, 2024 - Day 424 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 460Game: EarthlockPlatform: SteamReleased: Mar 8, 2018Installed: Feb 1, 2024Unplayed: 27d Playtime: 20mEarthlock is a third-person turn-based ARPG, that claims inspiration from JRPG's from the 90's, and really leans into the nostalgia for those games.I lack the prerequisite nostalgia for 90's JRPGs, and as I did not enjoy this game, I cannot imagine any kind of context in which I'd choose this over Baldur's Gate 3.For me, Earthlock is a: 1: Nope#Earthlock #ThirdPerson #TurnBased #ARPG #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #AhubfyEzDboW04tAYK by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-04T09:14:23Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
February 29, 2024 - Day 425 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 461Game: House BuilderPlatform: SteamReleased: Jan 16, 2024Installed: Jun 21, 2023Unplayed: 27d Playtime: 21mHouse Builder is a first person building simulator. While being fundamentally the same theme as Builder Simulator that I reviewed last year, the thing that it manages to do is be more fun.Developed by the same team that designed the Car Mechanic Simulator series (which I own, and enjoy), House Builder brings those dev skills to bear on building houses instead of fixing cars. They acquit themselves reasonably well, for what it is. While it's not quite as boring & frustrating, Builder Simulator, at its core it's still a work simulator, just about building houses.If you like building houses, maybe this will work for you. It's the kind of game I would absolutely need to be in the mood for, which shares mental space with Car Mechanic Simulator, Power Wash Simulator, or House Flipper, but all of them feel more rewarding.Still, House Builder is: 3: OK#HouseBuilder #FirstPerson #WorkSimulator #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #Ahubg16wXyA8u09Hvs by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-04T09:15:27Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
March 1, 2024 - Day 426 - No NewPlay ReviewThis post unintentionally left blank, as I crashed hard due to lack of sleep and illness. Dang it.
(DIR) Post #Ahubg3twAmXdYX5RZo by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-04T09:28:19Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
March 2, 2024 - Day 427 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 462Game: The Beast InsidePlatform: SteamReleased: Oct 18, 2019Installed: Aug 13, 2022Unplayed: 567d (1y6m18d) Playtime: 38mThe Beast Inside is a first person horror survival game.There's a particular kind of horror movie referred to as "torture porn". I know people watch movies like the Saw series, and Hostel series, and I genuinely cannot understand why. I'm already put off by horror movies, but the idea of that kind of movie comes close to triggering an anxiety attack.As if the cover graphics weren't a giveaway, this game's opening cutscene movie (no pun intended), feels like it verges on torture porn.I'm not even going to describe it beyond "VAW", because it would require trigger warnings. The scene ends with something like "One week ago...", meaning that your entire gaming experience is building towards that horrifying moment.It did not put me in a good mental space for enjoying the game. The game is set in the 1980's, and the story and puzzles that followed were OK; the game is broken into chapters, with an interesting time-shift into the 19th century, in the same house, but I have absolutely no desire to see how the game plays out.The Beast Inside is an absolute: 1: (HELL) NOPE#TheBeastInside #FirstPerson #Horror #Survival #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #Ahubg6aYBJoftH2VH6 by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-11T03:43:45Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
March 3, 2024 - Day 428 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 463Game: Sniper Ghost Warrior ContractsPlatform: SteamReleased: Nov 23, 2019Installed: Dec 1, 2022Unplayed: 458d (1y3m2d) Playtime: 15mSniper Ghost Warrior Contracts is, by definition, a first-person shooter. However, describing something as an FPS generally involves a particular set of expectations, whereas this game is about being a long way from the target, setting up the perfect shot, and then executing.Truth be told, in FPS PvP games, I like playing the sniper role. I like playing the Sniper Elite games, in which putting bullets in the heads of Nazis feels a little bit too good.Just randomly killing people for the sake of killing people with the perfect shot? It doesn't do much for me.Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts feels pretty:2: Meh#SniperGhostWarriorContract #FirstPerson #Shooter #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #Ahubg8p9rygop9tCK0 by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-11T03:50:16Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
March 4, 2024 - Day 429 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 464Game: Aven ColonyPlatform: SteamReleased: Jul 26, 2017Installed: Sep 25, 2022Unplayed: 526d (1y5m8d) Playtime: 41mAven Colony is an isometric city-builder strategy game set in the future, colonising an alien planet.When I first opened it, it felt a bit overwhelming, and I figured I'd give it 15 minutes. 40 minutes later...As city-builders go, Aven Colony is:3: OK#AvenColony #Isometric #CityBuilder #Strategy #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #AhubgBFoppCiMQNW9g by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-11T03:56:18Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
March 5, 2024 - Day 430 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 465Game: EmbrPlatform: SteamReleased: Sep 24, 2021Installed: Jul 27, 2022Unplayed: 587d (1y7m7d) Playtime: 19mEmbr is a first-person firefighting game, where you play the role of a firefighter working for a subscription-based for-profit fire-fighting company.Ha. Ha ha. No, seriously. The whole vibe of the game is gig-economy-meets-fire-services.I just found the game kind of frustrating to begin with, but in 2024 the whole theme just feels a bit on-the-nose.Embr is:2: Meh#Embr #FirstPerson #FireFighting #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #AhubgDXGLwLVR6YTce by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-11T04:05:36Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
March 6, 2024 - Day 431 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 466Game: Warhammer 40,000: BoltgunPlatform: Xbox Game Pass PCReleased: May 23, 2023Installed: Mar 6, 2024Unplayed: 0dPlaytime: 33mWarhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a retro FPS set in the Warhammer 40k universe. It feels like Doom-meets-Warhammer-with-mouseaim. It was added to XBGP this month, and so I decided to give it a shot.Pun intended.I think for someone who loves Warhammer, it would be awesome. However, I'm not a Warhammer girl, so clanking around in the armor, and killing everyone for Warhammer reasons just doesn't resonate with me.In terms of gameplay, it's an OK retro FPS. The titular boltgun IS kind of fun, dealing high-speed accurate death to mobs half a map away, but it doesn't feel like enough to carry me through the whole game.Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is:3: OK#Warhammer40k #Boltgun #Retro #FPS #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #AhubgFaAk5rTmhvpR2 by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-11T04:16:48Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
March 7, 2024 - Day 432 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 467Game: Conglomerate 451Platform: SteamReleased: Feb 20, 2020Installed: Aug 17, 2022Unplayed: 568d (1y6m19d)Playtime: 18mThe store page for Conglomerate 451 describes it like this: "... a grid-based, dungeon crawling first-person RPG with roguelike elements set in a cyberpunk world."Grid-based, dungeon-crawler RPG with a cyberpunk aesthetic, and roguelike elements... sure.It's technically first-person, but most first-person games don't have a fixed camera and snap turns, leading into turn-based combat encounters.It cribs from a whole lot of different game genres, and then kind of mashes them up in a way that feels like it's less than the sum of its parts.Unfortunately, it feels like it's not quite sure what kind of game it wants to be, so tries to be all of them, and fails to achieve any of them.Don't even get me started on the giant twin ventilation fans on the sides of buildings that look almost exactly like a graphics card twin-fan cooler.Conglomerate 451 is a:1: Nope#Conglomerate451 #RPG #Roguelike #DungeonCrawler #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #AhubgHUDfCHvgpA6Qy by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-12T10:20:30Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
March 8, 2024 - Day 433 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 468Game: Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of RuinPlatform: SteamReleased: Nov 18, 2023Installed: Mar 8, 2024Unplayed: 0dPlaytime: 24mWarhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin is an isometric real-time strategy game, and it's first game off the rank in this month's Humble Bundle.It's also got to be the quickest release-date-to-bundle-date I've seen.It's good looking, but boring. There's some kind of storyline here, but it feels a lot like it relies on pre-existing knowledge of Warhammer, and much like Boltgun a few days ago, I suspect if you're a Warhammer fan you might get more out of this that I did.Not a great start for the March Humble Choice bundle, Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin is just:2: Meh#WarhammerAgeOfSigmar #RealmsOfRuin#Isometric #RTS #HumbleChoice #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #AhubgJ9NTenyqlQUE4 by grissallia@aus.social
2024-03-12T10:32:15Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
March 9, 2024 - Day 434 - NewPlay ReviewTotal NewPlays: 469Game: Nioh 2Platform: SteamReleased: Feb 5, 2021Installed: Mar 9, 2024Unplayed: 0dPlaytime: 32mThe second game in the March Humble Choice Bundle is Nioh 2; it's a third-person ARPG, which is described by the developers as "masocore".It's set in a fictionalised supernatural era of Japan in the 16th century, and I hope you like sharp weapons, because there are a lot of them to choose from.Not that they did me much good, because I died pretty much straight away, and repeatedly.Turns out that "masocore" is a portmanteau of "masochism" and "hardcore", and Nioh 2 is aimed at a subset of players for whom I guess soulslikes aren't frustrating enough?It's a gorgeous-looking game, but I have low frustration levels to begin with, and this just didn't click with me. I still want to give it another try though? So I'm going give it a (just barely):3: OK#Nioh2 #ThirdPerson #ARPG #Masocore #HumbleChoice #Gaming #ProjectONG
(DIR) Post #AiSrhcyl7FqYqVdwQK by grissallia@aus.social
2024-05-31T10:08:57Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
You have got to be fucking kidding me.I read it, I read it again, I wondered why Ticketek had sent an email to an address that I didn't have registered with them.Then it clicked... not just Ticketmaster, Ticketek too. Apparently they had credit cards encrypted.
(DIR) Post #AiSrhfjcryWZORaOki by grissallia@aus.social
2024-05-31T10:52:39Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
I've just emailed them after re-reading the email a couple of times. It doesn't say WHEN this occurred.On top of that, why would you say something this awkward:"Since our third party supplier brought this to our attention, over the past few days we have worked diligently[...]"That's two separate statements in one very awkward phrase, as if they were trying to obscure that they'd been made aware of it, but only took action in the past few days... Maybe they realised that since the Ticketmaster hack, they might be able to slide this through on guilt by association, or they worked out they were in deeper shit than they realised.
(DIR) Post #AiTFe8zAZWjTr1htQ0 by grissallia@aus.social
2024-06-01T03:15:27Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@foone I’ve save three wireless keyboards from landfill at work, and the most enraging thing is that Logitech won’t sell new dongles and EXPECT you to throw away the keyboard. They literally told me that.