Presupplied Steam Link apps seem pretty hit and miss. My Amazon Fire HD10 can't maintain a stable connection either, no matter what I try. My old and new iPhone can stream fine though (although I don't want to play anything on a screen that small.) PC to PC using windowns seems to be in a very good place, I played some Civ 6 today streaming to my shitty laptop that only has 2.4GHz wifi and it's pretty much flawless.

(I've only watched a bit of Hades so I don't know all the details)

Both games have more in common with God of War than Torchlight / Diablo, they are both best with joypad and have direct control of the guy. But they have roguelike-style runs in the region of an hour a time, with permadeath and some meta progression in between runs. Hades has an overworld with characters to talk to and do quests for, which unlocks more content and progresses the story as you complete runs. Curse has a more basic system of collecting unlock currency to unlock the 3 chapters and buffs to start a run with.

Both are more indie in feel rather than AAA, but Hades is way ahead on looks with beautiful 2d artwork and a great deal more content. Curse is a bit more modest on looks and content but I think the combat system is fantastic as I said, and it's a lighter game that's easy to just pick up and play when you feel like it.

Yeah inevitably this is going to live in the shadow of Hades which is pretty much a masterpiece. But to my boomer hands Hades is a bit too high speed with spammy attacks flying everywhere. I get on a lot better with the more deliberate style of Dead Gods combat with its focus on spacing and timing. The combat's extremely fluid and satisfying, and genuinely different with each weapon loadout.

Yeah this series was pretty good fun on DS, but the free to play thing here is pretty offputting. The classic RPG puzzler remake that I'd love to see most would be Might and Magic Clash of Heroes.

Mr. Tact wrote on Nov 9, 2020, 12:33:
I'd rather have a faithful release of the video game "Tapper".

I bet Bartender Sim doesn't even have a Soda Bandit!

I can definitely understand that it's not for everyone because the gameplay is pretty minimal and the theme is a bit mundane, but in many ways it's an analogue to Tetris. You have a continuous stream of quick problems to solve, you need the right inputs to deal with the current problem but at the same time continually reappraise the situation and organise your priorities to manage what comes ahead. It's good for your concentration and mental agility, and when the balance between your skill and the difficulty is in the sweet spot, not only is it extremely satisfying but it makes you hit that flow state that makes you forget about the news and your asshole boss in a way that's pretty therapeutic.

WorthABuy made a video about the HOTAS support too. Apparently the deadzone is such that the first 50% of stick travel doesn't steer the ship at all.

Based upon my folks' place, ducks love something with water in even if it's like a foot or 2 across. They have a plant pot shaped like the bottom of a barrel, and with some rainwater in it the ducks managed to find and play in it even though it's 500m from their pond over a road and a garden fence.

You might wanna check out what Jimmy Broadbent says about it, he's pretty downbeat.

I rate Monster Train a bit higher that these guys, it's pretty great. A shade simpler than Slay the Spire but more accessible and better looking. Some nice innovations too, the modular upgrades for monsters and spells gives you a lot of specialisation, like powering up spells, making them stay in your hand until needed or come back to your hand when cast, and so on.

Best of all is the synchronous multiplayer. You can do custom and seeded runs in groups and see other people's progress on the world map and live scoreboard. The hellrush mode puts you against a timer as well, and making the right plays when under time pressure brings out a different dimension to the gameplay that hasn't been done before.

It's my favourite modern golf sim. The tone is a bit more serious than the Tiger Woods / PGA games I used to play back in 2000 or so, but it's a lot of fun. The main swing is interesting but quite punishing, with a tempo element on your gamepad down-up movement as well as testing the straightness. After about 20 rounds I still have good streaks without really knowing why, and bad streaks without really knowing how to fix it as well.

The putting system is amazing, with the power being set simply by the delay you put inbetween backswing and foreward swing which is consistent across all distances of putt. There's a real knack to getting a feel for it, and a constant battle to maintain consistency that works a bit like the real thing.

The features are pretty good too, there are loads of golf modes including some weird ones like alternate shot couples. You can join community rooms with friends or strangers and compete on a custom calendar. You can also play simulataneous multiplayer to keep rounds with your mates pretty quick. It's also frequently good looking with loads of courses and last time I saw, people were making modded courses as well. Easily worth trying out imo.

Yeah I used to blame the guitar controller... apparently it was always more precise than I ever was.

The problem I never really got over with the drums was foot pedal. The lack of feedback meant I couldn't help but use the bump of the pedal bottoming out to play by ear - but the trigger was somewhere halfway down the pedal's travel. The game would receive the hits a bit earlier than I intended which would be tolerated most of the time, but not in songs with continuous hihats like Crazy Train or Everlong where the game could receive the drums out of order. Plus that was the most I could cope with despite playing shit loads. Guitar Hero/Rock Band was an awesome craze back in the day.

I gave up on playing this game solo, the GUI isn't made for it, and just something like 'does this shop have an upgrade for my 3 guys' is so much clicking in and out of menu pages that it's torture. If you happen to have 3 players who know how to build and gear an RPG character then it's very good coop fun. The game is actually pretty unique in places, your party of 3 can move around the world map independently to get things done, and then come together for fights so there is some strategic planning your party has to talk through which is part of the fun. If you've got the group for it, it's an easy recommend especially for free.

Yeah the only Worms title that is even remotely close to Armageddon is WMD. The new engine restores some of the pixel accuracy that very early worms had, which gave you good information to make clever shots. Around the Reloaded/Revolution years, the variable zoom, blurry pixels and odd feel of the physics made it tricky enough to just make basic shots on target. With WMD you can at least get some trick shots with grenades again.

Some of the items in WMD are pretty good too, like the party balloon, gun turret, sheep on a rope, bunker buster, and that bolt that has proximity grenades hanging from it that I can't remember the name of. The crafting system was ambitious but needs streamlining imo. Picking up items gives a mix of 4 resources and you have to balance them all when spending. Also the crafting GUI keeps closing as phases of the game pass even though it's not your turn yet. Oh, and the vehicles are basically a disaster, they are well implemented but are so good that the game revolves around control of the vehicles while any are on the field. I turned them off in my games pretty quickly because the regular worms weapons are way more varied and fun.

Overall though WMD is the best worms in ages, has Steam matchmaking and a functioning ladder, but still didn't make a lot of momentum. I'm not sure the traditional worms recipe has the potential to blow up huge any more, it just seems like a side game that's great to pull out when you're with friends.

From the 'expect something new from Worms' they've been talking about, I wonder if they're cooking up a battle royale mode...

If there's a more enduring, evergreen meme than 'In space, no-one can hear you X' then I'd like to know what it is! 40 years strong and never really fell fully out of use.

I'll watch a YouTube series of this expansion, I'm interested in how the game has come along. After being a huge fan of AoW3, this game hasn't hooked me in yet.

We've come a long way since:

"All the content we ever put out for Fallout 76--all the DLC, all the post-launch stuff--is going to be free. That's important. And to say, the Atomic shop is cosmetic stuff. To make sure folks understand--look there's a line. There are people who have crossed it, but we're going to stay on the right side of it in terms of the things you can spend money on and how this stuff works and what you're getting for your $60. That you know, when they put out new content or features or whatever, I'm getting that stuff for free. That feels right."

From everything I've heard, even though the physics are pretty quirky and arcadey, they are decent enough to have fun racing. The main downside seems to be the mode for online racing with pubs, which is pretty much a Play Now button where you don't choose car or tracks, and get lumped in to a random race with a grid padded with AI cars.

Hopefully this game is a step up from Captain Planet and the Planeteers, which disappointed me in 1990 when it got bundled with my Amiga A500.

Man, who to trust when reviews vary so wildly?

IGN: "a high-point for the series – and the genre as a whole." - 9/10

PC Gamer: "Between the bugs, the extended non-jokes, the self-aggrandizing jabs at game design trends, and a few cameos I won't spoil but that made me audibly groan, Borderlands 3 has a lot in common with Gearbox fan events as of late. There's a lot of loud, extended posturing while holding what everyone really came for hostage. It's a shame, because Tales from the Borderlands found a delicate balance of absurdity, self-awareness, and genuine heart. A better Borderlands is possible, it's just not Borderlands 3." - 63%