Sunday, May 19, 2024
You might have noticed that I don’t review brand new games from big game companies. There’s good reasons for that. One is that I have an older PC that doesn’t run Windows 11. Many of the new games coming out require more processing speed, and my PC can’t handle it. I have a ten-year old Dell Inspiron 3668 i3-7100 CPU @ 3.90 Ghz, which might seem like plenty, but it didn’t come with a lot of memory, and there was no onboard video card. Everything was on the motherboard. That wasn’t a big deal. All the games I liked to play ran just fine on that PC, until Path of Exile updated its game. The game was really struggling to run on my computer, especially with all the spell effects.
So last year my Christmas present to myself (one of the benefits of being an adult is that you can get yourself a present) was a graphics card. Graphics cards have really gone up in price because of all the cryptocurrency farmers, but this particular card isn’t robust enough to be useful for crypto. It’s perfect for running Path of Exile, Raft, and other graphics-heavy games. That and a 16 GB memory expansion, (thanks to my father-in-law, who upgraded to Windows 11) and I was up and running.
Do your research and make absolutely sure that this graphics card will run on your PC. Things to look for – will it need a power supply? How loud is it when it’s running? Mine is very quiet, but my husband’s sounds like a plane is taking off when it’s really working.
If you want to update your system, always ask what you need from your personal computer. Are you watching movies, or playing games? Are you doing freelance work? You don’t always need the newest and fastest computer. Since Windows 11 has come out, many businesses are selling their Windows 10 towers pretty cheaply. A used tower, some memory and a graphics card, and you’re all set. I can run Adobe Creative Cloud on my personal computer, and all the games I could possibly play while still working a full time job and raising a 9 year old.
The other reason I don’t review brand new games is that there’s already plenty of people doing that (with much faster computers than mine.) I love playing them though!
Here’s some of the games I’m still playing into 2024.
Styx: Master of Shadows
I’m about a third of the way through the game, and it abruptly gets a lot harder after a big reveal. There are a lot of key commands to remember - crouching, holding on to a ledge, hiding behind a wall, sneaking up on somebody and strangling them, using the powers of invisibility and cloning... Right now I’m stuck inside a prison after letting out a prisoner, and as hard as it was to get to this point, it’s even more difficult to get out of the prison.
With Styx there are several ways to get around a problem. Brute force is discouraged because you’re just a goblin, and these big soldier guys will have no problem taking you down. So you’ve got to sneak around and remain hidden, and since they’re now on guard because the prisoner pissed them off as he was escaping, it’s even harder now. I’ve been looking for an easier way to get out of there, and I keep running into stabby NPCs.
Frostpunk
Apparently I’m stubborn. Everybody says that you have to enable Emergency Shifts and Child Labor in Frostpunk so you have enough of a workforce for resource gathering to survive the dropping temperatures, and I get stuck around Day 17 because I’ve refused so far to allow that. Then I back up (using the save scumming technique) and try again, and run back into that wall. They keep running out of resources like food, while I’m trying to get them more coal to keep the heaters working. That’s resource gaming for you - it’s all about this fragile balance between keeping your citizens fed and keeping them warm, safe, and alive.
We Happy Few
This is one weird game. I’ve had this in my library for a while and finally got it installed. I started playing it last week. In this game, you’re in an alternate version of Britain that lost the war with Germany. The citizens had to do things they’re ashamed of to survive, and so now they take a antidepressant called ‘Joy’ that keeps them happy (and causes memory loss.) It’s also a hallucinogen, so basically everybody is tripping out of their minds. The game is set in 1964 Britain, so it has a ‘Spy Who Shagged Me’ sort of feel. You start out as an employee of the Records department, censoring bad news, until you come across an article that reminds you of your past.
There’s item acquisition, combat, stealth, resource gathering, and crafting. Something unusual about this game is that you can’t just pick up stuff anywhere. If you do it in a city or inside a house they’ll attack you for being a thief and a wastrel, so you have to wait until nobody’s looking. They also attack you if you’re doing suspicious things, like climbing over fountains or crouching and sneaking around. You have to sleep, eat and drink in this game, which is a little annoying because you have to schedule quests after a good nap.
Everybody wears a white mask that covers their face, which adds to the creep factor, especially the stereotypical British bobbies with their truncheons and helmets.
I can’t save scum with this game because it keeps track of your items and quests. Instead of saving your position, it will put you outside of the area in a safe location, and you have to re-enter to complete your quest. If you aggravate your fellow citizens they’ll come after you, and then you have to go hide until they get over it. I’m enjoying it, but it’s very dark.
There’s DLC for this game, including “They Came from Below,” “Lightbearer,” and “We All Fall Down.” Normally I get aggravated by DLC, but these look interesting. And there’s no eat/sleep/drink requirement for the DLC, which can sometimes get in the way of the story.
Cities: Skylines
I had the ridiculous idea of recreating Fort Worth in Cities: Skylines, and I’ve got the traffic map created. I’m working on updating the roads to include the roundabout at Henderson and White Settlement, and thought “I know, I’ll learn how to use Blender to recreate the Fort Worth Convention Center and the Water Gardens!” I have this amazing ability to take a task and make it even more difficult.
I have several games in my Library that I’m looking forward to playing. Bendy and the Ink Machine, Subnautica, Little Nightmares, Happy Game, and Destroy All Humans are already in my library. I’ve got my eye on Dredge, a game about a salvage boat finding interesting detritus, but I really shouldn’t get any new games, while there’s games in my library that I haven’t played yet.
Gaming consoles for the win
Santa came by a little early this year and gifted us his Playstation 5 because he suffers from motion sickness and can’t play video games any more, which is just terrible. But great for us! These days gaming consoles give you a gameplay experience similar to watching an animated movie. So maybe I’ll have some reviews for you in the new year for Horizon: Zero Dawn and Lego 2K.
Keep playing, and I’ll see you in the New Year!
