What Did We Play Yesterday?

My brain was fried last night, so I played the suvivorslike Disfigure, which is free on Steam. The area is entirely dark except for the player's radius, unless you get upgrades that expand or add light. All the enemies are silhouettes. The minimalist style reminds me of the original Magic Survivor on Android. The silhouettes and dark arena work, and there are tons of powerups. It is not too different from the other (many) games I've played in this genre, and one play was not enough time to make it stand out, but it's a solid game and I may play it again sometime.

Played a bit of the incomprehensible and beautiful Angel at Dusk. I really need to play this one on my PC but the keyboard controls are extremely weird to me, and IDK where my controller is. I played on my Steamdeck, but it's harder to see what's going on and to read the screen text.

The game rewards point-blanking (you don't take damage from physically hitting enemies, only from bullets) by granting hearts to build up your health bar, and a focused blast can destroy and push away enemy bullets. I played through arcade mode very hard, which is the basic level, and got an unlock. I was mostly vibing this time. Next time I'll pay closer attention to the strategy.

I came across this game while looking for brick-breakers with more elaborate fantasy-style backgrounds, not realizing it was an unreleased prototype. Not much is known about this game, there was one preview of it in a magazine and it wasn't heard of again until it was released online a few years ago.

The story is that two chosen sorceresses must close ancient monuments to keep the world from being turned into a wasteland. It's a science-fantasy brick breaking game with some pinball-esque elements. You destroy enough "things" (unsure which things) to reveal a boss, and once you do that you end the level by snagging a glowing treasure. You can cast magic spells. Some are interesting, including a giant wave that washes down. You can also strike the edges of the screen to nudge (and eventually, break through to the other side). There are six planet-themed levels. This is definitely one of the more visually-interesting games in this genre.

I grabbed this game a few months ago thanks to the excellent Obscure Video Games tumblr, but only now remembered I had it. I was surprised by how much fun I had with it.

Ghox is a fantasy arkanoid game with multiple balls and powerups. You start with two balls, and bombs send balls EVERYWHERE which is very satisfying. If you collect 5 orbs of the same color you get a perma-upgrade, and if you collect fairies you get a temporary upgrade that is replaced by the next fairy type.

You should always get the green fairy, because it splits all the balls on the screen, but otherwise it's probably best to pick one, so avoiding unwanted powerups is part of the strategy.

I was too busy dying to take decent screenshots, but the levels are interesting and unique. In addition to the blocks you have to break, there are chests and various enemies, as well as doors that can be broken to access secret areas.

The paddle moves fast, which took a few minutes to get used to, and having multiple balls can be hectic, but this is a good time. I like it better than Ball-X-Pit and it's much more challenging than Devilish.

I have no idea why this game was never ported. I caught a whiff of a Master Drive port that maybe never left development or even really got started. Arcade Archives should get on this.

I recently visited the local arcade for the first time in about a year, and they had a machine I'd never seen before: Phoenix. Turns out this game was really popular in 1980, and it saved Centuri's bacon and helped them turn a profit. It's a sort of mashup of Galaga and Space Invaders, with a boss battle each five levels... meaning a giant UFO fills the screen and you have to pummel it. This was one of the earliest instances of the now ubiquitous shmup end-level boss.

NOBODY touched this machine but me, and I was all over it. I got a high score which I won't repeat here because it was still pitifully low, so I'm not sure if it had recently been reset or if nobody plays it. The controls are a little different because instead of a joystick, you have a right and left pushbutton, and you can shoot or, for a limited time, have a shield that absorbs bullets.

The graphics on this thing cracked me up, because the birds have these little :) and :o faces. I haven't emulated the arcade yet so check out King of Grabs. The graphics are wonderfully bright and fun.

ANYWAY, I quickly learned this game has not been ported to the systems I usually emulate, which may be partly why I never heard of it before. The only official port is the Atari 2600 version, which is not as cute. This sent me on a Phoenix discovery tour, where I dug up a few homebrews, but that is another post for another day.

We're back to the Hayride event, and they've added a bunch of new goodies for returning players to encourage participation. This event is a little different than the others because it requires harvesting an event crop that is all-seasons and a cantaloupe, which is only available in spring and summer. I happened to check my farm right as the event started, and players were EVERYWHERE on each megafarm I visited, in some cases waiting around for spring for cantaloupe harvesting, so I bailed for a few days...

Only to realize this event period was set for 1 week, not 2! The devs said this was an accident and they're gonna rerun the full event next month, but I did the math and I'm pretty sure even with a few missed days I can get all the stuff, so I'm gonna dig in and commit. I don't have a decent event area for this holiday, but there's a bunch of beach themed stuff so I'm carving out an area there and we'll see how it goes.

Continuing to explore the mausoleum. I finally found the map (I managed to circle around in such a way it was in like, the last room I charted), and have been messing around with the Nebra Sky Disk. I also nabbed a sweet, sweet health upgrade. I sometimes botch the timing on the jumping enemies so the extra buffer is much appreciated.

In this area, you have to piece together the story of 9 giants, which means examining a lot of stones and statues. At once point I got crushed by a statue, which was actually awesome because it allowed access to a new area. I think I've mapped out this entire level, so it's a matter of going back and forth between the sky disc and different statues.

As soon as I heard the Earthbound Beginnings remake was finished I grabbed a copy.

This is an incredible project. I can't remember how long I've been aware of it, since I've popped in and out of Earthbound fandom over the past twenty years, but this remake has been developed 19 years. I don't technically "go here" to use Tumblr parlance, but I really dug Earthbound when it came out (stinky scratch 'n sniff and all) and the Mother/Earthbound fandom seems so dedicated and wholesome.

Anyway, the original NES game is a bit notorious for having a high encounter rate, and that is not something I personally dig, so this version's balanced approach, and the ability to auto-win low level enemies, will probably help.

The game opens with a paranormal occurrence that brings several household items to life (lamp fight!) and draws zombies out the cemetery. Nintend (who I renamed Ness because I do what I want) ventures out into the world to see what all the fuss is about, and at this point, I've been tasked with rescuing someone from the cemetery.

Firing this thing up immediately gave me mid-90's flashbacks. So far, everything is on point and very Mothery, and I'm enjoying the attack descriptions and vibes very much. I'm having to reacquaint myself with random-encounter jRPG battles a bit. I've already encountered some EXTREMELY annoying battles where Ness got haunted (status effect, unfortunately) and everything got dragged out with repeated misses on turns. This is not a game you can simply plow through, you gotta wander around and talk to people and (die). For this one I'm gonna have to just sit back and roll with it.

I was able to map out about half of the mausoleum of giants, I think, I won't be sure until I find an actual map. My previous game, I kept dying when I went to get the hermes boots. This time I grabbed 'em and yoinked back to a save point. They allow you to walk twice as fast.

I'm piecing together the story of the giants and started taking screenshots of every text bit to look over later if needed because my handwriting is muy terrible. Those rolling worm things piss me off, but I think I've finally figured out the timing to let them jump over me.

I mapped out most (all?) of the Gate of Guidance, which is the first area in the ruins. My map is a hot scribbled mess but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.

It's important to explore this area until you find the holy grail in the pit area, because the grail lets you teleport to any previous save spot (including the village) from the pause screen, which is obviously a game changer. I also picked up the shuriken, which allows ranged attacks and is probably the only way to beat those damn red skeletons.

I was able to solve a few secrets (I'm most proud of my d'oh moment in the Room of Courage lol), but there are a number that need to be solved later when I get items alluded to on stone markers, like the red light.

I fussed around in Spring in the Sky, which is a northern area, but quickly realized many areas were impassable to me due to water. I need a helmet evidently. I accidentally fell into Temple of the Sun, also a nope. Tomorrow, I will head into the Mausoleum of Giants, which is southwest from the Gate. There are a couple of goodies in that area I got on my brief earlier playthrough, but kept dying, then getting them again, then dying... well obviously, the grail will solve that problem.

For some reason, I had an itch to return to La-Mulana and figured... why not?

La-Mulana is a very retro metroidvania known for its difficult puzzles and labyrinthine ruins, which are complex enough to warrant keeping your own notes and maps and rotated saves. The game has a really fun sense of humor (I laughed when that shopkeeper said she'd mess me up) and cool pixel art.

The last time I played this game, I mucked around for a few hours and enjoyed my time but didn't get too serious with it. This time, I started off a bumbler. Didn't listen to the old man, and 30 minutes in got "stuck." I decided to Get Real and started over.

I followed the old man's advice and went to the trial area above the ruins to get the sea shell, which emits a tone when puzzles are solved. I also grinded a bit in the village area until I could buy the hand-scanner, which is absolutely essential, and the map and glyph reading software (also essential). I died so many times I started forgetting where I'd been and what I've done. I'm gonna be more cautious now, and stick to one area for as long as possible before moving to the next. After a few hours, I decided, fuggit, let's do it live, and I got a notebook and pen. IDK how long this will last but I'm in the mood to "dig in" and take my time with it, for now.

I can't remember the last time I had to physically map out a game. I know I drew a map for the original Legend of Zelda for NES and Metroid many years ago, and I vaguely remember jotting down clues for more recent games, but this is a game where people recommend writing down EVERYTHING, and treating the game itself like an archaeological ruin that needs to be mapped out and studied. Right now, really digging into a game like this is very appealing for some reason.

Down to Earth is a short enjoyably psychedelic game jam FPS. You are a witch, and you shoot cats with hearts as you look for the swirly entrances to the next level. Donuts heal you (most of the time). The music and vibes really make this one. This is one of those game I sometimes fire up just to chill for a few minutes.

This one has been in my itch.io pile forever and I kept meaning to check it out, and I'm glad I finally did. Very trippy. The Unity handling reminds me a bit of the trippy FPS sections of Baobab's Mausoleum.

This unlocked black cherry trees and... the newly added axolotls! I sacrificed my koi pond for them, which was easy since I have quite a few koi ponds.The last cherry tree unfortunately does not bloom in any of the same months as the other two. I forgot I have a cherry orchard, so I tidied it up and added those. I also completely redid my poinsettia area. There's another event in a week, and it will be interesting to see if they added anything. But beyond that, lots of fiddling and leveling the last few things on my lists as I wait for more land to open up.

Now that I know space isn't an issue and I'll have plenty more down the road, I'm focused on unlocking things and expanding livestock. Yesterday I expanded turkey fields and set up sheep for expansion. Currently I have one sheep field with around a dozen of each, which isn't great for quests. Quests max out at 600 which thankfully I haven't seen, 250ish has been the high end for me. So having at least 50 of each animal (or 6 tractor blocks) is "reasonable" both for actual game purposes and for aesthetics. I don't like having huge fields of animals, and I try to decorate them or break them up whenever possible so there's visual interest.

For leveling, every 2 days or so I exchange favors for boost time and I harvest all my poinsettias, horses, and high-XP carnations. I can usually grind out a level in about 5 minutes. It's kinda boring, even though I've set up visually interesting areas and it's not just long rows. Some people set up secondary farms for grinding, and I'll need one eventually since we've now got multiple 200+ unlocks, so I may set up a poinsettia stretch I can auto grind every few days while I'm making coffee or whatever and just spend my boost on the highest XP flower.

The first boss battle in Lost Ruins takes place in a watery pit. If you run in there slashing, you'll probably die, but if you consider the environment, a good choice is the swimsuit, which protects against lightning damage, and lightning rods. All three of the enemies are weak to lightning and you can take them out relatively quickly that way.

After this battle, you win a relic that allows you to equip one more item. Cool, right? The item is striped panties, which is a little weird, since a backpack or belt pack would make more sense but whatever. I was willing to file this under Kinda Weird But OK until I read the description, which indicates the panties have "yellow stains."

Dude. -_- Why do you have to be like this? Why can't you be normal?

We've gotten hints up to this point, but a conversation with a goblin makes it clear the witch is not telling the truth.This adds to the sorta corpse-party-esque creepy vibe. The dungeon definitely opens up at this point, and there are a lot more characters to meet.

I confirmed a July update will expand farms from 7x7 to 9x9. This will solve a lot of space problems I'm currently facing and let me deal with my perimeter train situation (tldr I started a train along the perimeter because I had nowhere else to put one and I wish I'd planned that situation out a little better). As if that wasn't enough, yesterday they added ANGLER FISH!!! and piranhas. And football.

I immediately set up a ball field and a couple of fish ponds for leveling. The angler fish will be very awesome in my castle moat, and filling the weird dead area I've got out there, so I set up a bridge kinda extension area and I'll see how I like it. Currently, the moat is stocked with tooth fish just because. The castle is one of those areas that's squished up against the farm boundary, so if that's expanded out 2 plots that would open up lots of possibilities back there. These are very exciting times.

Lost Ruins is an adventure exploration game with emphasis on survival that focuses on deliberation, equipment load out, and manipulating the environment. The heroine has been portaled into a creepy fantasy castle with no memory of who she is, and the game has a sort of Corpse Party vibe as you pick up clues from cellphone messages and try not to get spattered everywhere.

Your character doesn't level up, and gains are entirely based on equipment and how its used. The pixel art is lovely, but the challenge is somewhat variable. The heroine can easily die in one or two hits, so a bad encounter can end your adventure pretty quickly. This one is a little polarizing because of the "deliberation" part. The fight animations are slow and the controls are slightly janky, and you have to take both of those into consideration.

Jury's out on this one, but it's a relatively short game and I'm about 20% of the way through.

I recently busted out my DS lite and gave Castlevania: OOE a whirl. I bought this game on release and played it during every lunch break for a while, but never beat it. I remember the mermaid boss being a major sticking point. It's pretty tough, but it's fun and the graphics are awesome. There's a record hidden in the starting area that allows you to switch the background music to the OG Castlevania theme.

For me, this is definitely a back and forth farming/grinding deal. Glyph drops are rare, and you probably won't collect them all your first pass through an area. While you are rescuing villagers and other Castlevaniay things you can also rescue cats and return them home. The SFX are pretty goofy and the humor, when present, is equally goofy. Very enjoyable.

There was an anniversary event, and I ended up making a fairly large area for it. This event had some fun unlocks (I'm digging the cake crops more than I expected) and I think it brings me full circle on events, so short of expanding event areas I probably won't be building any more unless I still missed one somewhere.

I've also been working on my rice fields and experimenting with boulders. Although there are a few unlocks after level 200, hitting farm level 200 has been my goal for a while now. The map is almost fully unlocked, I have I think 3 plots left. Farmhands are capped at 25 and I believe I have 17 currently. So I still have a few things to do, in addition to opening additional farms if I'm up for it.

It sounds like they're going to upgrade the overall farm size soon. That's cool. I had a soft goal of having a decently harvestable area of every item in the game, and I think I can do it with the current area but it would be kinda cramped.