comicallycluttered

I did mention it as a smaller, compact alternative, but I maybe wasn't specific enough with regard to the scope of gameplay.

Probably should have specified that I meant Outer Worlds as an alternative to Starfield mainly for people interested in a game set in space with the familiar approach to worldbuilding that Bethesda and Obsidian seem to share a bit, and also because it's not uncommon to hear either of them referred to (maybe a bit unfairly) as "Fallout, but in space".

Then again, most people interested in that would probably already have played it by now (although lots of new Fallout fans this year, so maybe not).

I'm really surprised that neither of the 2019 "Outer" games with similar names showed up in any of your posts: The Outer Worlds and Outer Wilds.

Worlds because if we're talking about Starfield, it's something to consider as a smaller, more compact alternative (although I recently finished a playthrough and there's actually very few comparisons to be made between the two), and Wilds because... well, it's just straight up space archaeology that makes heavy use of travel and planet exploration. Also because it's probably one of the most critically well-received space games.

Something else I wanna throw out there: Heaven's Vault. Nice little narrative game which takes place in space and has quite a calming (even if completely unrealistic) method of space travel.

Ended up starting a new playthrough of The Outer Worlds.

Mostly enjoying it and having Parvati with me again feels great.

Lol, it was buggy as fuck for me as well, so I "downloaded" another build and it worked perfectly.

The Game Pass version is especially bad in this regard.

Also on Netflix:

Play Wonderputt Forever if you like physics-based and/or golf games. I found it pretty fun and fairly challenging in the later levels.

Desta is also a really interesting narrative turn-based tactics game with some poignant emotional moments (it can actually be a bit heavy at times, especially if you've dealt with LGBTQ+ prejudice personally).

And I'm also really glad Netflix resurrected Cut The Rope from its grave. New puzzle daily and several months worth (i.e. hundreds) of puzzles to play if you'd like to catch up.

Quantum Break was really fun. I'd love some more time travel games like that.

While Remedy don't own the rights and it can't officially be "canon" to Alan Wake and Control, there are some things that the community has kind of put together which establishes how it's a part of the wider universe/multiverse.

Loaded up The Outer Worlds yesterday because I wanted some first person Obsidian RPG goodness after finishing New Vegas a couple of weeks ago.

Forgot how absolutely fucking saturated and vibrant the colours are. My old monitor must not have had the saturation turned up or something because, as someone super sensitive to bright or intense anything, I don't remember it immediately hurting my brain like it did last night.

Anyway, used ReShade and toned down a ton of shit. Then I realised I'm not actually feeling it all that much, so I'm going to start a new playthrough of New Vegas instead. I think this time I'm not gonna fuck Benny and kill him in his sleep. Well, maybe I'll still rock his world because it's hilarious, we'll see.

Edit: Oh, also I've been playing a bit of XDefiant. It's not terrible, honestly. Like, I'm not paying for their battle pass and I'll definitely lose interest fairly quickly, but it's not a bad distraction.

Too many fucking ants.

Getting some diatomaceous earth and we'll see what happens.

My only worry is the spiders.

I like little house spiders. Never really bother them and they don't really bother me, and I really don't want to kill any, so I hope whichever ones happen to be hanging around (if there are any) won't get too close to the floor.

Something is very wrong with me... I've been playing Overwatch and... enjoying it? Still a shell of its former self, but it's not always too terrible.

I need to get away from the computer desk and mouse/keyboard for a while, though, so I'm thinking of either giving Fallout 76 a shot or starting up a new playthrough of New Vegas and going for a different ending.

Got a few new mods to try, particularly new radio stations and other goodies, but I'm wondering if I should use that "make your own radio" mod to add some old time radio shows like The Shadow(*) and sci-fi podcasts that fit the theme.

Sure there are a bunch of mods with great shows like Dimension X already, but after hearing the same episodes over and over again, it might be nice to listen to other popular shows (e.g. The Shadow) or more obscure ones (e.g. Candy Matson).

Might actually just use one of the other radio mods as a base and make my own mod entirely. Did that with Skyrim to much success (power metal when dragons appear, bardcore in the taverns, all kinds of fun).

(*) (I mean, that's pretty much what The Silver Shroud in FO4 was, which I should maybe also try and get into my NV radio because I enjoyed that as well.)

Hah, I was actually considering Tunic! But I'm also a little mentally burned out, so I think I need to be in a bit of a different headspace, otherwise I'm going to ignore some of the more interesting parts like the little secrets and slowly revealing the instruction manual and all that curiosity-rewarding stuff.

It's definitely on my "to play relatively soon" list, though, and thanks for the suggestion!

Okay, just finished Chants of Sennaar. That was a lovely experience. Reminded me a bit of my time a few months ago with Jusant, along with a touch of Journey and Heaven's Vault thrown in.

Had to laugh out loud when I ended up playing a fucking mechanical crank handle version of Flappy Bird. That was pretty entertaining.

One puzzle completely stumped me, but some kind soul on the Steam forums (!!) had a really good explanation without giving away the actual answer to the puzzle, which I always appreciate.

Anyway, highly recommend for anyone who likes puzzle games, environmental and organic storytelling, languages and written script, and just an examination of history, culture, and how (ideally) we can all connect if we just listen to one another and find shared interests (there's a particular interest that almost every culture in the game shares, which is something a lot of people IRL bond over as well; I found it pretty interesting because it felt so... quintessentially human).

What to play next? No idea. I think I'm done with intense action games for a while, so might find something else relatively chill to play.

Chants of Sennaar and I'm having tremendous fun.