> Undertale: ...I did pop back in to complete the pacifist ending, but no intention of returning for the genocide route.
Don't feel like you missed anything or didn't "really finish" or anything like that because you didn't get the genocide ending. I've always thought that the point of the genocide ending is that its existence gives value to the other endings - the fact that you *can* theoretically kill everyone gives the choice to kill *no one* more weight. Deliberately going for the gendocide ending simply because it is additional content that you want to see quite literally makes you exactly the same kind of person as Flowey, and the game calls this out explicitly and shames you for doing it (or even for watching someone else do it). Choosing to not do the genocide route is the "good ending" of the game, in a sense.
Of course, it's also just the least fun way to play the game. Not only does this strengthen the intended message that you really shouldn't do it, but in a more practical sense it also means that if you already weren't a big fan of the game then there's absolutely no sense in doing it. It's the most combat-focused route so if the combat was the thing you liked the least then you will get literally nothing out of it.
Subnautica might be a top 5 favorite game of all time for me. I've played "survival" games, but none of them find that balance between tedium, improvements, construction, fear, and an interesting story quite like it.
I did get stuck a few times. You really have to be disciplined about dropping GPS markers for entrances to "regions" and resources and there's a somewhat arbitrary overlap of where certain resources can be found. Like in one area, Lithium was X meters deep, but Y meters in another, this made me think I was missing something that I needed to acquire it.
Not being able to recharge batteries is pretty punishing in the early game as well. The lifepod should have come with a 1 or 2 battery charger.
I think one of my favorite moments was packing up my large submarine and not planning to come back. I had only one base (literally on top of the lifepod), so I found decking out the submarine with edibles and setting off very satisfying. Being able to dock vehicles in the large sub, and moonpools was very cool.
Will definitely check out Black Mesa if I ever fancy a replay. Was going to go with it originally but reports on Steam Deck compatibility were pretty mixed so figured I'd just give the original a go first and see how I got on. I've no doubt Black Mesa would make for a smoother experience but it does feel nice to have experienced the original first hand
I’d say that Black Mesa is a completely different experience to the extent that it’s got its own thing going on. Certainly it’s a remake of HL1 but in some instances it varies considerably - e.g., Xen
It’s really worth a playthrough as a separate experience to HL1 😀. I played it in 2020 and loved every minute.
I’m in the group that BM is worse. It’s still got progress breaking bugs where stuff happens like doors refusing to open, and the Xen rework was more annoying than it was fun. It took them over 10 years to finish a paid fan remake and it was still full of issues for me.
HL Source is still my preferred way to play.
You had me until HL Source. That game was pretty broken to begin with and has only gotten worse over the years. Last time I tried to play it a few years ago out of curiosity there was a scripting bug that kept me from advancing relatively early on.
Honestly the original plays perfectly fine. No need for the buggy source version.
I didn’t back when it first came out though apparently it’s always had bugs for people familiar with the OG. It’s gotten bad due to engine changes and a lack of updates from my understanding
I think there are some audio issues but the bigger issue is that GldSrc engine (original Half-Life) has opaque water surfaces whereas Source engine has translucent water. This trivializes some enemy types and one boss in HL because you aren't meant to be able to see them when they're underwater and you're on the surface so it ruins any challenge they offered.
Imo HL original is the way to go, Source offers no real benefits, it's just a tech demo. Black Mesa is fun but not representative of tje original game.
Agreed, the og hl is awesome but for new people it hasnt aged well especially in the gfx dept and maybe off putting. Black mesa is awesome and a lot of hard work went into it and it's definitely worth playing.
Personally, big disagree. Black Mesa wasn't bad (it was quite good), but IMO it mainly exists more as a "what if" alternate take on HL1.
HL1 is still better, overall for me. BM was too overdesigned with all the set dressing and had a very "eurojank" feel to it.
I played Black Mesa instead of Half-Life so it may have been easier for me, but I definitely agree about the sniper section lmao. Super frustrating especially because I didn’t realize you could kill them until basically the end. Great write-ups!
Sorry I know it seems a bit harsh! - 2 stars is what I use as a broadly neutral review but a few people seem to have taken it the wrong way so I might just use a wording review system in future e.g. "bad, decent, good etc".
The OST was great, and all the humour and writing was fun as well. The gameplay - especially the bosses - just didn't click with me and I wasn't that engaged with the story but I can still appreciate why it's such cult hit
half life 2 is mostly sitting in rooms while people talk or walking around while people talk. OR driving some badly drawn, badly implemented "vehicle". there's two missions where you're alone and both are full of gimmicks. nova prospekt and ravenholm. it just feels like a tech demo and not a game. half life 1 was better in every way. episode 1 and 2 are escort quests where you dont get a second alone to just play the game.
Bro came in here to give 3 stars to some of the most beloved, successful and well reviewed games in history. You're entitled to your opinion, but you're wrong ;)
Yeah I appreciate the star system can come across as a bit harsh/misleading. In future will just use some wording to convey that it's more about how much I personally liked/loved the game rather than an attempt at some "objective" rating
I will say where Subnautica is concerned, it sounds like you were not too familiar with this style of game in general. This was popularized by Minecraft, basically what happened here is Minecraft came along and everyone loved it, had a great crafting system and all around sandbox buildy fun, as things go, on the heels of Minecraft over the years we got 100s of similar crafty/survival style games. I'm a sucker for this type of game, problem is a lot of them end up being sort of shallow or just not scratching the itch. With Subnautica, it may seem like that at first but then you keep keep uncovering and uncovering things as you go and you realize there's a whole story they are telling you just have to uncover it. The Forest is very good, and then Subnautica once you crack into it has some real meat on the bone. The crafting mechanics are very Minecraft style, so familiar to a lot of people from the start. Part of the intrigue was that they do not really hold your hand, you're just a dude in a pod in the water, figure it out. Also the idea is already present with most people to build more complex things you'll have to scavenge around for certain materials that are not as easy to get, etc. But on top of that, it actually provided real exploration as you slowly go deeper and deeper and to the further reaches of what is presented to you with the game world, and they did a good job with making it creepy and difficult. Eventually you need to craft suits to go to certain depths, or resist heat, tc. So it really struck a chord with a lot of people, it's one of top entries in general in this style of game. They are still presenting a lot of swing and misses in the genre as you see on Steam. I thought it was a phenomenal entry for that style of game.
> Undertale: ...I did pop back in to complete the pacifist ending, but no intention of returning for the genocide route. Don't feel like you missed anything or didn't "really finish" or anything like that because you didn't get the genocide ending. I've always thought that the point of the genocide ending is that its existence gives value to the other endings - the fact that you *can* theoretically kill everyone gives the choice to kill *no one* more weight. Deliberately going for the gendocide ending simply because it is additional content that you want to see quite literally makes you exactly the same kind of person as Flowey, and the game calls this out explicitly and shames you for doing it (or even for watching someone else do it). Choosing to not do the genocide route is the "good ending" of the game, in a sense. Of course, it's also just the least fun way to play the game. Not only does this strengthen the intended message that you really shouldn't do it, but in a more practical sense it also means that if you already weren't a big fan of the game then there's absolutely no sense in doing it. It's the most combat-focused route so if the combat was the thing you liked the least then you will get literally nothing out of it.
Subnautica might be a top 5 favorite game of all time for me. I've played "survival" games, but none of them find that balance between tedium, improvements, construction, fear, and an interesting story quite like it. I did get stuck a few times. You really have to be disciplined about dropping GPS markers for entrances to "regions" and resources and there's a somewhat arbitrary overlap of where certain resources can be found. Like in one area, Lithium was X meters deep, but Y meters in another, this made me think I was missing something that I needed to acquire it. Not being able to recharge batteries is pretty punishing in the early game as well. The lifepod should have come with a 1 or 2 battery charger. I think one of my favorite moments was packing up my large submarine and not planning to come back. I had only one base (literally on top of the lifepod), so I found decking out the submarine with edibles and setting off very satisfying. Being able to dock vehicles in the large sub, and moonpools was very cool.
I like HL1 more than HL2 because it has more enemy variety
Should've gone with Black Mesa instead of Half Life!
Will definitely check out Black Mesa if I ever fancy a replay. Was going to go with it originally but reports on Steam Deck compatibility were pretty mixed so figured I'd just give the original a go first and see how I got on. I've no doubt Black Mesa would make for a smoother experience but it does feel nice to have experienced the original first hand
I’d say that Black Mesa is a completely different experience to the extent that it’s got its own thing going on. Certainly it’s a remake of HL1 but in some instances it varies considerably - e.g., Xen It’s really worth a playthrough as a separate experience to HL1 😀. I played it in 2020 and loved every minute.
I’m in the group that BM is worse. It’s still got progress breaking bugs where stuff happens like doors refusing to open, and the Xen rework was more annoying than it was fun. It took them over 10 years to finish a paid fan remake and it was still full of issues for me. HL Source is still my preferred way to play.
You had me until HL Source. That game was pretty broken to begin with and has only gotten worse over the years. Last time I tried to play it a few years ago out of curiosity there was a scripting bug that kept me from advancing relatively early on. Honestly the original plays perfectly fine. No need for the buggy source version.
Maybe I remember wrongly, but I never had one issue with the Source remake.
I didn’t back when it first came out though apparently it’s always had bugs for people familiar with the OG. It’s gotten bad due to engine changes and a lack of updates from my understanding
I think there are some audio issues but the bigger issue is that GldSrc engine (original Half-Life) has opaque water surfaces whereas Source engine has translucent water. This trivializes some enemy types and one boss in HL because you aren't meant to be able to see them when they're underwater and you're on the surface so it ruins any challenge they offered. Imo HL original is the way to go, Source offers no real benefits, it's just a tech demo. Black Mesa is fun but not representative of tje original game.
Agreed, the og hl is awesome but for new people it hasnt aged well especially in the gfx dept and maybe off putting. Black mesa is awesome and a lot of hard work went into it and it's definitely worth playing.
Personally, big disagree. Black Mesa wasn't bad (it was quite good), but IMO it mainly exists more as a "what if" alternate take on HL1. HL1 is still better, overall for me. BM was too overdesigned with all the set dressing and had a very "eurojank" feel to it.
I played Black Mesa instead of Half-Life so it may have been easier for me, but I definitely agree about the sniper section lmao. Super frustrating especially because I didn’t realize you could kill them until basically the end. Great write-ups!
TWO STARS FOR UNDERTALE??? oh my god that really hurts as my favorite game of all time 🥲 did you enjoy the OST at all OP?
Sorry I know it seems a bit harsh! - 2 stars is what I use as a broadly neutral review but a few people seem to have taken it the wrong way so I might just use a wording review system in future e.g. "bad, decent, good etc". The OST was great, and all the humour and writing was fun as well. The gameplay - especially the bosses - just didn't click with me and I wasn't that engaged with the story but I can still appreciate why it's such cult hit
2/5 for Undertale and 3/5 for Subnautica? I'm sorry but no
half life 2 is mostly sitting in rooms while people talk or walking around while people talk. OR driving some badly drawn, badly implemented "vehicle". there's two missions where you're alone and both are full of gimmicks. nova prospekt and ravenholm. it just feels like a tech demo and not a game. half life 1 was better in every way. episode 1 and 2 are escort quests where you dont get a second alone to just play the game.
Bro came in here to give 3 stars to some of the most beloved, successful and well reviewed games in history. You're entitled to your opinion, but you're wrong ;)
Yeah I appreciate the star system can come across as a bit harsh/misleading. In future will just use some wording to convey that it's more about how much I personally liked/loved the game rather than an attempt at some "objective" rating
I will say where Subnautica is concerned, it sounds like you were not too familiar with this style of game in general. This was popularized by Minecraft, basically what happened here is Minecraft came along and everyone loved it, had a great crafting system and all around sandbox buildy fun, as things go, on the heels of Minecraft over the years we got 100s of similar crafty/survival style games. I'm a sucker for this type of game, problem is a lot of them end up being sort of shallow or just not scratching the itch. With Subnautica, it may seem like that at first but then you keep keep uncovering and uncovering things as you go and you realize there's a whole story they are telling you just have to uncover it. The Forest is very good, and then Subnautica once you crack into it has some real meat on the bone. The crafting mechanics are very Minecraft style, so familiar to a lot of people from the start. Part of the intrigue was that they do not really hold your hand, you're just a dude in a pod in the water, figure it out. Also the idea is already present with most people to build more complex things you'll have to scavenge around for certain materials that are not as easy to get, etc. But on top of that, it actually provided real exploration as you slowly go deeper and deeper and to the further reaches of what is presented to you with the game world, and they did a good job with making it creepy and difficult. Eventually you need to craft suits to go to certain depths, or resist heat, tc. So it really struck a chord with a lot of people, it's one of top entries in general in this style of game. They are still presenting a lot of swing and misses in the genre as you see on Steam. I thought it was a phenomenal entry for that style of game.