What video game(s) are you playing at the moment?

[NieSch]

The Fallguy game is very fun to play, I got the award that only 22.6% of people who play the game get and won a full episode episode. It is very hard to at least win one full episode. Anyone else tried this game, it's quite fun and competitive if that is the right word to use.

Yeah, it's really fun and addictive (and frustrating)!

[Nessy]

I have recently finished Chrono Trigger for the first time. It was absolutely amazing I loved the battle system, the characters, the story, and the music... I LOVED the music!

I also decided to try out a new Ocarina of Time ROM hack called "Master of Time". It's one heck of an ambitions Ocarina of Time ROM hack, going as far as to make a full blown game that is just as long as the original Ocarina of Time more or less. I have more detailed thoughts about his one written below

Full Review with MAJOR Spoilers

Let's start with what I consider to be the biggest negative of this ROM hack: the story. It sucks, and there's no nicer way for me to put it. I think one of the main reasons why it sucks so much is because it had the potential to be something truly amazing, but any potential it had gets thrown away and lit on fire towards the end.

Prior to the events of the game, from what I can understand, the people of a country named Apello were terrorized by monsters that would only come out at night. Eventually, a mysterious and unnamed person nicknamed the Master of Time appeared and using the power of six medallions created an endless day to protect the people of Apello from those monsters. No longer under constant siege from monsters, the kingdom of Apello was formed where people were able to finally live in peace. Alright, so far so good. Our Link from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask arrives at Apello and meets a fairy named Nite, who tells him about a prophecy in which Link collects these six medallions, uses them to break the curse of the endless day, and becomes the new Master of Time. Why though? I mean, you have to because it's the game, yet everyone seems to be pretty happy with this endless day and no one seems to be even bothered by it in the slightest. Why break the curse? First of all, this just takes out any type of urgency or stakes in trying to break the curse. Take a game like Majora's Mask where the stakes were extremely high in that game not only because of the literal countdown, but because even the NPCs helped to sell this urgency with the way each one acted individually as doomsday got closer. Even if the NPCs in Master of Time weren't bothered by the endless day, there seems to be a lot of missed opportunities to play around with the lore and further develop the world. For example, children NPCs that start talking about a myth they heard about something called a "nighttime" that also has a sun (moon) and many lights in the sky (stars). The dialogue doesn't do it any more justice. It went for a more dark and edgy tone to it and while normally there isn't anything wrong with that as long as it is done well, and I feel like it wasn't always done well in this game. It kind of made some interactions seem almost like a parody and it really takes you out of the immersion of the world and story.

Okay so you go off and collect the medallions in different temples. After collecting five of them you suddenly learn about this plot twist where the Zoras were using special milk to turn everyone in Apello into Zoras. It's never explained why they wanted to do this, but to be fair this plot twist was hinted at in the background throughout the game so I do give the creator credit for that. However, after learning this piece of information you are allowed to continue only to be suddenly captured. Your fairy helps in this and then mocks you later on as you are in a cell waiting to be executed. You don't get a chance to escape, you just get executed in the next scene and the game gives you the bad ending. The good ending is basically leaving Apello entirely, and a message telling you that sometimes it's better to just flee from crazy places. This just comes out of nowhere and anything related to the Master of Time and the endless day are just thrown out the window. What was the point of it all? You are just left completely unsatisfied. All I wanted to do was learn more about the Master of Time and how it all connected with the events of the game. If I did collect all the medallions and break the curse of the endless day, would I have had a final encounter with the monsters that come out at night in order to finally and fully free the people of Apello?

Not happy with that personally.

On the other hand, the dungeon design, music, and overworld were all on point. Dungeons were fairly creative with interesting puzzles. I do wish that some of them were themed a little bit better. For example, we had two dungeons that were called Fire Temple and Water Temple, but that's literally the same name as dungeons in Ocarina of Time. There were also some bits that were largely unpolished, but they were mostly nitpicky things and nothing too overly serious like softlocks and the like. The overworld was also designed well with different parts of it connecting via shortcuts if you had the right items, which is always a nice touch.

Way Too Long, Didn't Read

Despite having interesting dungeons, great music, and a decent overworld, Master of Time did not reach its full potential imo as it is greatly held back with a promising story that ends up crashing, burning, and going nowhere.

[zanzindorf]

I just finished Vikings of Midgard, an OHRRPGCE game that's been in development since ~2007. The creator recently posted the full version, and it's fantastic!

The OHRRPGCE is a RPG making engine with a healthy community of developers. In the past, Vikings of Midgard has been packaged with the engine as an example of what you can accomplish with it. Even before it was fully released, Vikings is probably one of my favorite games of all time

It's free, and can be found here: https://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewgame.php?t=38&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=
Soundtrack streamed here: https://soundcloud.com/eponym_ent/sets/vikings-of-midgard

It's very much a traditional RPG, similar to the SNES Final Fantasy games. It's got a lot of HP Lovecraft and Norse mythology in it, which is neat.

[Nessy]

With the release of Spelunky 2 came a spark in me to return to the original Spelunky 1 after about a year and a half to finally attempt to get my first win in it... and I totally did! Not only that but I also managed to reach the City of Gold, although I ran out of bombs and so I couldn't do anything worthwhile once I was inside This prevented me from reaching a certain item inside that would have allowed me to reach another bonus area. That'll probably be my next objective. Overall I'm finding the game much, much more enjoyable now that I'm able to reach the later levels a lot more frequently now. I mean, there was a time when just reaching the third area was a miracle. Now it's fairly common.

[Minim]

Great job! I remember playing the original Spelunky on Xbox 360 and have never been able to beat the game (I got up to about the fourth area a few times but never went beyond that). The pitch black stages are always tough if you get one. It's also making me wonder, will the new game be easier than the other one? I hope the new game is a bit "fairer" at least.

[Nessy]

I really dislike those pitch black stages especially in the later levels (minus the third world which I don't think has that level feeling). The most annoying part has to be when you get one of those levels while already holding something in your hands like a weapon, mostly because you have to "juggle" that item with the torch. Hopefully the sequel completely removed them, and also from the little bit that I've seen from the new game I think it's meant to be even tougher than the first one I think one of the reasons might be the fact that it has more levels to go through than the first one, which I'm honestly okay with it.

[namida]

The new game is much harder than the first one. It still has dark levels, though they seem to be much, much rarer.

I really dislike those pitch black stages especially in the later levels (minus the third world which I don't think has that level feeling).

Spoiler

The 1st, 2nd and 4th worlds can have dark levels. Exceptions are that 1-1, 4-4 and The Worm can never be dark. The 3rd and 5th never have dark levels. You also won't get more than one dark level per world, and will not get one if you complete the previous level in under 20 seconds (or might have been 30 - not completely sure).

[Nessy]

Thanks @namida for that info

An update on my return to Spelunky HD

I have managed to reach Hell a total of two times now (one time during regular play and the other time during a Daily Challenge) but being too unfamiliar with the hazards has left me unable to get pass the first level in that world so far

[grams88]

That Spelunky game seems very popular, hoping you are enjoying that one Nessy.

I'm playing the (Ticket to ride) board game, it's a good little board game where you have to connect routes up to complete your destination tickets. One other game that is quite good is Carcassonne another board game where you get points for creating cities and other things.

These are games you can get on steam for a good price.

[Minim]

I'm playing the (Ticket to ride) board game, it's a good little board game where you have to connect routes up to complete your destination tickets. One other game that is quite good is Carcassonne another board game where you get points for creating cities and other things.

Out of sheer coincidence, Ticket to Ride is what I'm having as one of my Christmas presents! This game is new to me so I'll let you know how I get on.

[grams88]

Coincidence, Cool

I think you will really enjoy that one, it's certainly a fun game. I think it came out around 2004 so maybe still a new board game to the world so to say.

I like board games, you will have fun with this one. Looking forward to hearing how you get on with the (Ticket to ride)
Thanks for letting us know Minim.

[607]

That Spelunky game seems very popular, hoping you are enjoying that one Nessy.

I'm playing the (Ticket to ride) board game, it's a good little board game where you have to connect routes up to complete your destination tickets. One other game that is quite good is Carcassonne another board game where you get points for creating cities and other things.

These are games you can get on steam for a good price.

Ticket to Ride is great!
We have the Märklin edition, featuring Germany. What I love about that version is that every single card has a different locomotive/carriage on it, instead of one per colour.

I have been playing Super Mario Bros. 35 since it came out on October 1st. It is free on Switch, if you have Switch Online, and puts you against 34 other players in a last man standing type of game. You play through levels from the original Super Mario Bros. (with updated physics, but much closer to the original physics than other recent games such as Super Mario Maker), and if you kill an enemy, someone else gets it on their screen.
I really enjoy the game, but it is rather tiresome to play, because there can be hundreds of enemies flying around, and every single one is represented on screen. Sometimes when I have had a particularly busy game and stop playing I can still see enemies flying around for a few minutes.
It is very fun though! I managed to get 10 consecutive wins within the first month, which was a great accomplishment, and since then I have been trying to get a win without using any mushrooms or fire flowers. Haven't managed to do that yet! The game is really a lot different when you die in a single hit.

[NieSch]

Among Us, Fall Guys and Untitled Goose Game

[The Tomato Watcher]

Hey, NieSch, I just started playing Fall Guys Popular or not, I think it's still super fun! I'm very excited for season 3, and it definitely looks like more of a substantial update than season 2! That Tundra Run level they revealed looks so cool!

[NieSch]

Yeah, season 3 (winter theme) starts today/tomorow.

Edit: It's great fun!