• What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?

    From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Mon Dec 1 09:04:17 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action


    We're at the end of another month, so you know what that means: time
    to list out the games that occupied us all in the past thirty days.
    Can you believe that 2025 is almost over?

    But let's cut to the chase. Here's my list:


    Superbrief
    ---------------------------------------
    * Darkenstein 3D
    * Generation Zero
    * Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
    * The Complex: Expedition



    Maximum Verbosity
    ---------------------------------------


    * Darkenstein 3D
    https://store.steampowered.com/app/2195910/Darkenstein_3D/

    Well, its obvious why this game was free. It's not very good.

    On the face of it, it should be; who doesn't like a retro-shooter
    where you kill Nazis? But this game apes those classic 'Doom-clones'
    in all the worst ways. It's ugly, its level design is terrible, the
    gun-play is extremely unsatisfying, and the try-hard edginess is teeth-grindingly annoying.

    Oh, and its incredibly dark. Like, "Doom 3" I-can't-see-where-
    I'm-going dark. Which, I suppose, is a mixed blessing. The visuals are terrible, with blocky, amateur textures and awful character models
    with poor animations; the less I see the better. But it doesn't make
    navigating the levels anymore enjoyable.

    In fairness, I should admit that I didn't play this game for very
    long; I could only stand it for a few levels. But I doubt it would
    have gotten any better had I stuck around. The guns are so
    unsatisfying. They lack any feeling of power, and the few I discovered
    were incredibly unoriginal. Fortunately, the AI is equally stupid, so
    weak weapons weren't really a problem, but it made the combat a slog.

    The story and setting are sophomoric. It's a pre-adolescent's take on Wolfenstein 3D; 'what if you're a homeless guy who swears a lot, and
    the Nazis stole your pet to make it into a super-dog? And there were
    swastikas everywhere and zombies and dumb enemies who slowly charged
    at you and when the bad guys die their bodies flop around with awful
    physics. It all feels horribly amateur and lacking in any innovation.

    This game wants to be a great Wolfenstein 3D clone. It's not. It's
    more akin to a "TekWar" or an "Island Peril" (if you're not familiar
    with either of those, count your blessings and know they were
    absolutely terrible contemporary Wolf3D clones). Even free, this isn't
    a game worth playing. It isn't a game that deserves any of the 18GB of disk-space it demands. It doesn't even deserve to take up room in your
    library. Don't even bother thinking about it. It's a crap game and
    the new Microprose corporation does itself a disservice associating
    itself with such a terrible product.



    * Generation Zero
    https://store.steampowered.com/app/704270/Generation_Zero/

    "Generation Zero" is one din a long line of open-world action-survival
    games. You know the sort; you're dropped unarmed in a vast open world, surrounded by monsters, and are expected to scavenge yourself weapons
    and equipment as you build up your base. "Generation Zero's" hook
    --the thing that made it different-- was that its monsters were giant
    robots set in an alternate-history 1980s Sweden. The game also was a
    bit more stealth oriented than most --the killer robots outgun you significantly so sneaking is often the better tactic-- and the
    base-building mechanic was more of an end-game goal than anything that
    crucial to the single-player experience.

    I first played "Generation Zero" three years ago, and while I enjoyed
    its aesthetic and appreciated the core mechanics, overall the
    experience felt a bit shallow and incomplete. But that was because the
    game _was_ incomplete; though not sold as 'early access', "Generation
    Zero" was still under active development, with lots of new content and
    gameplay tweaks being added by the developers for years.
    Unfortunately, while some of these improvements were gratis, many were
    sold as DLC. Still, overall the game was worth it for me (and the
    price low enough) that I picked up the major updates with the intent
    of giving the game a replay once it was "done".

    Well, that happened in January 2025, when the developers made it clear
    they were moving on to the sequel; there would be no further content
    updates to the original. So it was only a matter of time before I gave
    the game its much-awaited replay. Which I finally did this month. And
    my opinion of the completed project? It's fine, I guess.

    Most of what I liked about the game in 2022 is still there. The levels
    are large, well-detailed, and visually appealing (even if not quite so impressive today as it was three years ago). The robots' visual design
    is spectacular. There's lots of neat ideas in "Generation Zero", and
    some of my biggest complaints in 2022 --the overall stability, the
    bugginess of the quests, the lack of narrative detail after the first
    few quests-- have been greatly improved. The game is definitely better
    than it was when I first played it.

    It's still not great, though. My biggest gripe is in the narrative;
    it's pretty weak. Most quests are presented to you through text, and
    feel utterly generic. 'Go to location and flip switch, fight monsters
    that appear.' When you're done, if you're _really_ lucky you'll get a
    line or two of spoken conversation sent to you over the radio; many
    quests, just end by being marked as 'completed' on the map. (This is
    an improvement over the 2022 build; back then, all you got was that
    the mission marker disappeared from your quest list). Still, this lack
    of real consequence to finishing the missions makes the world feel
    empty, and it makes the gameplay feels a lot more grindy than it
    actually is, just because there's so little reward for your efforts.

    Stealth has been weakened too. The number of enemies --and their
    detection range-- has been greatly increased, which means that
    sneaking by your foes isn't really a tactic anymore. Stealth is mostly
    for positioning yourself /before/ combat starts, but once the fight
    begins most enemies make a bee-line towards you. It isn't actually
    that hard to get out of a fight --the AI's pathfinding remains fairly
    weak, and if you can avoid the initial charges you can usually get out
    of their aggro range-- but you're still going to have to head back
    into the mess to finish them off eventually to complete most missions.
    Combat feels overall a lot less tactical, and more about who has the
    most ammo and most powerful guns now.

    The game is also unduly dark. The game has a day-night cycle, but
    night-time takes a lot longer to pass. The flashlight is a lot less
    powerful too, especially in the numerous caves and bunkers you're
    forced to explore. This is an intentional choice by the developers;
    the monsters have a harder time seeing you at night, so the idea is
    that you'll make most of your excursions during the midnight hours.
    There's two problems with this idea, though: first of all, you can't
    skip time to advance to night if you want, and secondly --as
    mentioned-- most of the missions have you going directly into the
    heart of robot territory, so stealth is only useful for traversal, and
    not for the mission itself. The darkness might help me avoid one or
    two random encounters, but I could just as easily skip those with
    fast-travel or just running. It makes the seemingly constant darkness
    feel annoying and unnecessary.

    So, all in all, my opinion of the game hasn't changed much. It has
    some neat ideas and interesting designs, but it still feels pretty
    empty and some of its mechanics could use work. It's not the worst
    open-world action/survival (in fact, I'd say its one of the better)
    but the "Generation Zero" experience continues to be something that
    feels like a work in progress. Except this time there's no hope that
    it will eventually reach perfection.



    * Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria https://store.steampowered.com/app/2933130/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_Return_to_Moria/

    You know, for a game I don't really find myself enjoying, I seem to be
    playing a lot of it.

    It's not that "Return to Moria" is a bad game. It's fine; it's another
    in a long run of first-person survival/crafting games where you enter
    a world without anything and have to find supplies to make the tools
    necessary to win. It's "The Raft" or "Subnautica" or "Minecraft",
    except with a Lord of the Rings skin. For its type, it's fairly well
    made. The visuals are nice, its got good atmosphere and variety of
    locales, and the overall mechanics work tolerably well. But if you
    don't really care for the genre, this game isn't going to convince you otherwise.

    And I'm one of those who don't really care for the genre... so why do
    I keep playing it? This has become a game where I play obsessively (I
    did an eight hour run on the weekend, barely moving from my chair; I
    didn't even notice so much time had passed until I finally looked up
    and saw it was way past midnight. And that wasn't the only time that
    happened). What glamour has this game cast upon me?

    It's the mining mechanic, in part. It satisfies my obsessive itch to
    collect. I go into a room that is 90% rock and just click-click-click
    until I've hammered out every single resource, leaving a vast empty
    cavern behind me. The game offers no shortcuts to this; you've no
    dynamite or machines to speed up the process. It's all very manual,
    moving slowly through a lode swinging your axe and watching the rock
    melt away in front of you. But it is so incredibly satisfying to turn
    around and see the vastness behind you that once was filled with ore.
    Even better, all the resources have physical representations --they're
    not just numbers in a spreadsheet-- and they pile up ever so neatly.
    I've warehouses filed to the ceiling with pallets of stone. This game
    is made for hoarders!

    Beyond that, though, there's very little remarkable about the game.
    The combat is functional, the monsters unexciting. The procedurally
    generated levels are passable gaming experiences but don't --if you
    think about it-- make much sense logically. The story is unexciting,
    and there are no characters and little enough dialogue to engage with.
    This is a game made for people who like crafting, and if you're not
    amongst that group you'll wonder what the fuss is about.

    I can't imagine, having finally completed the game, that I'll ever
    return. The mining and hoarding is fun, but beyond that the game
    doesn't otherwise stand out from its contemporaries in the genre. But
    on the other hand, I don't really regret all those hours I spent
    happily hacking my way through the mines of Moria, gathering every
    speck of ore and rock, and generally leaving that ancient dungeon a
    neater place than I found it.



    * The Complex: Expedition https://store.steampowered.com/app/2172260/The_Complex_Expedition/

    I 'borrowed' this game by playing it through a friend's Steam account.
    It was a game I had my eye on, but wasn't sure it was worth the price.
    "Try it here," said friend. So I did; a quick demo, I thought, to help
    me decide whether or not to buy the game. I didn't expect I'd finish
    the game in a single sitting, though.

    "The Complex" is one in a collection of "Backrooms" style games, often
    called 'liminal horror' titles, which have you wandering through the
    eponymous 'backrooms'. This is an extra-dimensional realm of largely
    empty corridors and chambers whose most notable feature is their
    boring mundanity. There's a hint of SCP mythos to the location --a
    suggestion of the supernatural-- but mostly it preys on the nervous
    feeling of wandering lost in a maze unsure as to what will happen if
    you're discovered by the proper owners of the place, or if you'll ever
    find your way out. It's a metaphor for the fear of abandonment, I
    think.

    "The Complex" presents itself as 'found footage', with you taking on
    the role of the videographer creating said footage, complete with
    distortions caused by your mid-'80s era video-camera visible on
    screen. However, this pretense immediately gives away the games
    ending; if it is 'found footage', it implies that you don't survive
    the filming. Then again, given the genre of game, I guess that end
    result is sort of to be expected. Still, a /little/ ambiguity would
    have been welcome.

    The game uses that technique of close-focus body-cam footage used in a
    number of modern games to create a very immediate, tangible and
    realistic appearance. This is doubtlessly helped by the grainy
    retro-video filter and the simplicity of the level design and
    lighting, but for the first few moments I literally thought I /was/
    watching filmed video, and not something 3D rendered. Even when the
    game's visual trickery was evident, it still added a verisimilitude to
    the experience not matched by similarly-themed games, so kudos to the developers for that.

    The devs also produced some excellent sound design, ranging from the
    boredom evident in your coworker's voices (and your own), to the
    low-bass thrumming in the background that adds a constant feeling of
    unease, to the various beeps, and squeaks, moans and wind gusts that
    make you question if there is someone else in the labyrinth with you.
    It all adds incredibly to a feeling of near-panic, as if you're being
    hunted... but at the same time make you wonder if maybe you're just
    paranoid?

    Unfortunately, you quickly realize that all this effort is pretty much
    just audio-visual trickery. While there /is/ something else in the
    maze with you, it never directly interacts with you. This game is more
    of a walking sim than a horror game like, say, "Amnesia" or "Outlast".
    There's no combat; the 'monster' (which you sometimes see, and since
    it looks like nothing so much as an oversized LEGO mini-fig it greatly undercuts its horror) never directly harms you, even if it does
    (maybe?) cause your death in the end.

    No, the core of the gameplay is just wandering through the backrooms
    and --if you're the sort to be disturbed by that sort of thing-- get
    agitated by the innate creepiness of the liminal spaces. The level
    design is excessively maze-like. I couldn't decided it the game's maps
    were procedurally generated. It /feels/ procedurally generated,
    though, with its nonsensical layout... but that same illogical flow is part-and-parcel of backrooms lore, so who knows? Still, there's really
    only one way through the maze --only one ultimate destination-- so if
    you wander around long enough you'll eventually stumble upon the level transition point. Do this five times, and you get to the end of the
    game (there are actually two endings, depending on a very obvious
    choice made earlier).

    But mostly the game is just wandering through a dull array of nearly
    identical rooms. There is some variety (for example, the plain
    yellow-painted traditional 'backrooms', some almost tenement-like
    hallways and rooms, and a mall-like area, to name a few) but overall
    everything feels very samey. I won't deny that at time the combination
    of sounds and visuals made for a somewhat spooky experience, but the
    overall emotion I felt was more one of boredom than anxiety as I
    desperately waited for something to happen.

    And then the game suddenly ended (rather inconclusively, but again,
    that's sort of a given for the genre).

    I'm not sure I can fault the game for my dissatisfaction, though. I
    just don't respond to liminal spaces the way some others do; I think,
    for its type, "The Complex" is excellently made. It doesn't feel like
    a shallow experience designed with cheap thrills that seemed mainly
    aimed at breathless YouTube streamers to dutifully scream at. It's
    slow-paced, and artfully crafted. But if you don't feel a frisson of
    horror at the idea of being in an empty room, all that artistry is
    wasted.

    So now I'm left with a question: do I buy the game or not? I can't say
    I really enjoyed it, but I /did/ play it to completion, and I do think
    the developers deserve something for the effort they put into their
    creation. But I doubt I'll ever play it again, and even if I did...
    you can finish the game in two or three hours (depending on how lost
    you get); is it really worth the asking price?



    ---------------------------------------


    Well, that's my playlist for November; I'm satisfied with the amount
    of gaming I got done. What about you? Did you get through a lot of
    games? I guess what I'm really asking is:

    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?

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  • From H1M3M@dontaltktome@nomail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Mon Dec 1 17:26:11 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Spalls Hurgenson wrote:



    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?


    It's gonna be short, both in games and words dedicated to each one. Not
    a lot of time.
    - Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (PC remake)
    Roughly 50 hours in the end. Still as enjoyable as when I played the DS original in 2009

    - Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse (Megadrive)
    Replaying a game from the start over and over until you finally beat it
    without running out of continues feels oddly nostalgic. Still holds
    well, specially the music (does not use the shitty GEMS driver).

    -Guerrilla War / Guevara (NES)
    Ikari Warriors spinoff were you play as Che and Fidel Castro liberating
    Cuba with the arsenal Uncle Sam has provided you with. Not the most
    enjoyable experience since the original arcade was designed to be played
    as a pseudo twin stick shooter and in this version you can't move and
    aim independently. Over time it starts feeling like Metal Slug's
    prototype, from the look of the powerups to the weapons and tied POWs
    that need to be rescued. A historical curiosity.

    - Thank Goodness you're here! (PC)
    Started playing at 23:30, so technically it still counts as November.
    Promising so far.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From rms@rmsmoo@moomoo.net to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Mon Dec 1 12:22:45 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?

    Amerzone - The Explorer's Legacy
    This is the remake of the 90's adventure game. I'm about 40% done at this point -- never played the original -- and am a big fan! It has the same
    basic story-line of Syberia's Taking Up The Mantle Of The Quest To Find The Mythical Mammoths, with familiar exploration and simple puzzle solving using collected items, and an old-school fixed movement between screens method
    that reminds somewhat of hypercard Myst: The environments are fully 3D and nicely animated when needed, yet you are fixed in place after each movement step, whereupon you can look around and manipulate objects around you; I
    could wish for the full movement freedom that RealMyst offered, but you are given a fast travel option for each location once you find the map for it. Environments are quite lovely, lush jungles with waving fronds and decent ambient sounds as well. It has a similar and well-loved emotional vibe that Syberia made famous, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Recommended!

    Alan Wake 2
    I mentioned this last month, but there was quite a bit of content after that point, including the 2 DLC, and Epic shows 60 hours playtime that extended into November, wow. Anyway, just wanted to mention again how involving and atmospheric this game was for me.

    rms

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From rms@rmsmoo@moomoo.net to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Mon Dec 1 12:43:13 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    * Generation Zero
    * Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria

    These two look interesting. I did buy GZ awhile back, after watching
    some gameplay and being a big fan of robot-shooting games -- popping into my head a robot-shooting game in an urban setting, that I mostly liked, can't bring the title to mind just now -- but haven't tried it myself. And I've been wanting to at least try a Middle-Earth-based game (I'm watching The Hobbit Extended Edition trilogy right now, for godsakes); do you have a favorite?

    rms

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  • From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Mon Dec 1 15:51:20 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Mon, 1 Dec 2025 12:43:13 -0700, "rms" <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote:

    * Generation Zero
    * Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria

    These two look interesting. I did buy GZ awhile back, after watching
    some gameplay and being a big fan of robot-shooting games -- popping into my >head a robot-shooting game in an urban setting, that I mostly liked, can't >bring the title to mind just now -- but haven't tried it myself. And I've >been wanting to at least try a Middle-Earth-based game (I'm watching The >Hobbit Extended Edition trilogy right now, for godsakes); do you have a >favorite?

    I don't know if I have any _favorites_, but of all the LOTR-licensed
    video games I've played over the years, these are the ones that I
    remember most.


    * Battle for Middle Earth I & II:
    A series of real-time strategy games. Fairly typical in
    gameplay; build a base, collect resources, build a large
    army, stomp opponent. It wasn't a TERRIFIC game, but it
    was well-made. In particular, I have fond memories of launching
    an army of Rohirrim (the guys on horseback) and having them
    charge into a horde of orcs. The impact of that many tons
    of horseflesh into a band of lightly-armored skirmishers
    was quite enjoyable to watch.


    * The Return of the King:
    A cinematic brawler where you bashed your way through
    the plot of the movies as the main characters. Not
    particularly deep in mechanics (it was very arcade),
    it was a visual treat that well captured the epic feel
    of the films.


    * War in the North:
    A fairly average but enjoyable action/RPG. It didn't really
    do anything that novel (or even exceptionally well) but
    neither did it do anything too wrong.


    * Riders of Rohan:
    A DOS-era strategy/adventure game that has you take on
    the roles of Aragon and company as they search for Pippin
    and Merry (as detailed in "The Two Towers" novel) and
    gather forces to repel Sauruman's attack in Rohan. Again,
    not a _great_ game, but good enough. It was also one of
    the first games I played that utilized the capabilities
    of my newly-installed sound-card, and the music and
    intro still send shivers down my spine.


    * The Beam software "Tolkien Trilogy"
    (which was actually four games long) of interactive
    text adventures. Once again, they weren't great games, but
    being able to play the adventures of Frodo and the rest
    on my computer felt so novel and exciting at the time.


    * Lord of the Rings, Vol 1:
    The 1990 DOS CRPG from Interplay. Actually, mechanically
    the game itself was quite horrible, but the 1993 'Enhanced
    Edition' had such an awesome soundtrack (I still listen to
    it today), and it used full-screen video clips from the Ralph
    Bakshi animated movie. Both left a lasting influence on me.



    Unfortunately, I don't think ANY of the games on my list are currently available for sale. A lot of the more modern games --like "Shadow of
    Mordor"-- left me fairly cold. In all honesty, though, I much
    preferred READING the books than playing the video games. The setting
    just didn't seem to fit the hyper-active medium.

    I keep buying them, though. ;-)




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  • From Rin Stowleigh@nospam@nowhere.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Mon Dec 1 18:04:30 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Mon, 01 Dec 2025 09:04:17 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?

    Mostly Arc Raiders and Battlefield 6
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From PW@noneused@noneused.net to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Mon Dec 1 20:32:56 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Mon, 1 Dec 2025 12:22:45 -0700, "rms" <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote:

    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?

    Amerzone - The Explorer's Legacy
    This is the remake of the 90's adventure game. I'm about 40% done at this >point -- never played the original -- and am a big fan! It has the same >basic story-line of Syberia's Taking Up The Mantle Of The Quest To Find The >Mythical Mammoths, with familiar exploration and simple puzzle solving using >collected items, and an old-school fixed movement between screens method >that reminds somewhat of hypercard Myst: The environments are fully 3D and >nicely animated when needed, yet you are fixed in place after each movement >step, whereupon you can look around and manipulate objects around you; I >could wish for the full movement freedom that RealMyst offered, but you are >given a fast travel option for each location once you find the map for it. >Environments are quite lovely, lush jungles with waving fronds and decent >ambient sounds as well. It has a similar and well-loved emotional vibe that >Syberia made famous, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Recommended!


    * * ---

    Looks good! Since I can/will not play the Syberia series again after
    my wife died 3 years ago (we used to play them all together), I might
    get it!

    Alan Wake 2
    I mentioned this last month, but there was quite a bit of content after that >point, including the 2 DLC, and Epic shows 60 hours playtime that extended >into November, wow. Anyway, just wanted to mention again how involving and >atmospheric this game was for me.

    rms

    *--

    Funny - I just reinstalled it!

    -pw
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  • From shawn@nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Dec 2 06:47:41 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Mon, 1 Dec 2025 17:26:11 +0100, H1M3M <dontaltktome@nomail.com>
    wrote:

    Spalls Hurgenson wrote:



    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?


    For me it is a combination of No Man's Sky and Defense Grid: The
    Awakening and Plants Vs Zombies.

    Defense Grid and PvZ have been my "I've got a few minutes and want to
    game" games. Both are level based so I can play a level or two without
    a large investment of time and with a variety of types of levels
    available to keep my interest.

    While NMS has been my main game over the last month as I'm trying to
    learn the game. The first few hours were a bit boring but the game has developed for me as I learned and explored more. As usual you learn
    the game's mechanics and how to take advantage of them so that you can
    take on more challenging foes. Nothing like taking on a Sentinel base
    only to run into your tunnel so they can keep searching for you while
    you are far away. Only to return a few minutes later to stroll thru
    the base to observe the damage and plot your next attack.


    It's gonna be short, both in games and words dedicated to each one. Not
    a lot of time.
    - Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (PC remake)
    Roughly 50 hours in the end. Still as enjoyable as when I played the DS >original in 2009

    I've seen some of the Ace Attorney game play but never took the time
    to try one of the games for myself.

    - Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse (Megadrive)
    Replaying a game from the start over and over until you finally beat it >without running out of continues feels oddly nostalgic. Still holds
    well, specially the music (does not use the shitty GEMS driver).

    -Guerrilla War / Guevara (NES)
    Ikari Warriors spinoff were you play as Che and Fidel Castro liberating
    Cuba with the arsenal Uncle Sam has provided you with. Not the most
    enjoyable experience since the original arcade was designed to be played
    as a pseudo twin stick shooter and in this version you can't move and
    aim independently. Over time it starts feeling like Metal Slug's
    prototype, from the look of the powerups to the weapons and tied POWs
    that need to be rescued. A historical curiosity.

    - Thank Goodness you're here! (PC)
    Started playing at 23:30, so technically it still counts as November. >Promising so far.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Xocyll@Xocyll@gmx.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Dec 2 09:28:45 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
    say:


    We're at the end of another month, so you know what that means: time
    to list out the games that occupied us all in the past thirty days.
    Can you believe that 2025 is almost over?

    But let's cut to the chase. Here's my list:


    Superbrief
    ---------------------------------------
    * Darkenstein 3D
    * Generation Zero
    * Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
    * The Complex: Expedition

    Cyberpunk 2077, heavily modded and newly updated with the Phantom
    Liberty DLC. (turned out it does not automatically install the DLC if purchased separately after the game is already installed. You have to
    download it from the main menu of the game with no progress display
    whatsoever and no indication that it's actually doing anything. I
    forced it to install by doing a verify file integrity in steam, and
    steam DOES have a progress indicator. It took about 20 min's to
    download the DLC at 40Mb/s; apparently the DLC is the "elephant in the
    room" :) .)[not a smiley, just punctuation.]

    Hogwarts Legacy although I haven't played it in a couple weeks.
    The Outer Worlds, started a new character, but then parked it so I could
    play Hogwarts Legacy, will get back to it at some point.

    The usual suspects:
    Star Trek Online, daily and universal endeavors and whatever special
    thing is going on.
    SWTOR, mostly just logging in for daily freebies.
    City of Heroes, currently running a grav/rad controller.
    And running in the background all the time auto-fishing, Black Desert
    Online.

    Xocyll
    --
    I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
    a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
    Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
    FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Justisaur@justisaur@yahoo.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Dec 2 07:42:59 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On 12/1/2025 12:51 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
    On Mon, 1 Dec 2025 12:43:13 -0700, "rms" <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote:

    * Generation Zero
    * Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria

    These two look interesting. I did buy GZ awhile back, after watching
    some gameplay and being a big fan of robot-shooting games -- popping into my >> head a robot-shooting game in an urban setting, that I mostly liked, can't >> bring the title to mind just now -- but haven't tried it myself. And I've >> been wanting to at least try a Middle-Earth-based game (I'm watching The
    Hobbit Extended Edition trilogy right now, for godsakes); do you have a
    favorite?

    I don't know if I have any _favorites_, but of all the LOTR-licensed
    video games I've played over the years, these are the ones that I
    remember most.


    * Battle for Middle Earth I & II:
    A series of real-time strategy games. Fairly typical in
    gameplay; build a base, collect resources, build a large
    army, stomp opponent. It wasn't a TERRIFIC game, but it
    was well-made. In particular, I have fond memories of launching
    an army of Rohirrim (the guys on horseback) and having them
    charge into a horde of orcs. The impact of that many tons
    of horseflesh into a band of lightly-armored skirmishers
    was quite enjoyable to watch.


    * The Return of the King:
    A cinematic brawler where you bashed your way through
    the plot of the movies as the main characters. Not
    particularly deep in mechanics (it was very arcade),
    it was a visual treat that well captured the epic feel
    of the films.


    * War in the North:
    A fairly average but enjoyable action/RPG. It didn't really
    do anything that novel (or even exceptionally well) but
    neither did it do anything too wrong.


    * Riders of Rohan:
    A DOS-era strategy/adventure game that has you take on
    the roles of Aragon and company as they search for Pippin
    and Merry (as detailed in "The Two Towers" novel) and
    gather forces to repel Sauruman's attack in Rohan. Again,
    not a _great_ game, but good enough. It was also one of
    the first games I played that utilized the capabilities
    of my newly-installed sound-card, and the music and
    intro still send shivers down my spine.


    * The Beam software "Tolkien Trilogy"
    (which was actually four games long) of interactive
    text adventures. Once again, they weren't great games, but
    being able to play the adventures of Frodo and the rest
    on my computer felt so novel and exciting at the time.


    * Lord of the Rings, Vol 1:
    The 1990 DOS CRPG from Interplay. Actually, mechanically
    the game itself was quite horrible, but the 1993 'Enhanced
    Edition' had such an awesome soundtrack (I still listen to
    it today), and it used full-screen video clips from the Ralph
    Bakshi animated movie. Both left a lasting influence on me.



    Unfortunately, I don't think ANY of the games on my list are currently available for sale. A lot of the more modern games --like "Shadow of Mordor"-- left me fairly cold. In all honesty, though, I much
    preferred READING the books than playing the video games. The setting
    just didn't seem to fit the hyper-active medium.

    I keep buying them, though. ;-)


    I remember people raving about the MMO. I tried it briefly and it just
    seemed o.k. Kind of like the other games you list.

    I rather enjoyed Middle Earth: Shadow of Moria. The second game was
    probably better, Shadow of War, it was just a little too much more of
    the same and I got bored with it before finishing it. The main 'flaw'
    was having to fight the same commanders over and over, and even if you
    recruit them, many would turn traitor on you and you'd have to fight
    them again. That always made me feel like I wasn't making any progress.
    So much so that I quit a couple of in person D&D games where the DM
    did the same thing. They were otherwise fine.
    --
    -Justisaur

    ø-ø
    (\_/)\
    `-'\ `--.___,
    ¶¬'\( ,_.-'
    \\
    ^'
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Justisaur@justisaur@yahoo.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Dec 2 09:53:45 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On 12/1/2025 6:04 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

    * The Complex: Expedition

    The game uses that technique of close-focus body-cam footage used in a
    number of modern games to create a very immediate, tangible and
    realistic appearance. This is doubtlessly helped by the grainy
    retro-video filter and the simplicity of the level design and
    lighting, but for the first few moments I literally thought I /was/
    watching filmed video, and not something 3D rendered. Even when the
    game's visual trickery was evident, it still added a verisimilitude to
    the experience not matched by similarly-themed games, so kudos to the developers for that.

    My kids were watching someone play one of these on youtube, then my son
    showed me the game and insisted I watch him play it or play myself. I
    was 'tricked' by the video, it looked very realistic. It was boring and
    I didn't really get it though. Ooh, there's a chair there where there
    wasn't. Ooh some humanoid shadow looked around the corner.

    Well, that's my playlist for November; I'm satisfied with the amount
    of gaming I got done. What about you? Did you get through a lot of
    games? I guess what I'm really asking is:

    Yes.


    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?


    /TLDR:

    FINISHED:
    **** Hogwarts Legacy
    **** Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
    **** Diver Dave

    PLAYING:
    *** Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

    TRIED (all on PS+ "free"")
    ** Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Appart
    ** V Rising
    ** Epic Mickey: It Takes 2
    ** Alienation
    ** MediEvil
    * The Last Guardian
    * Twisted Metal II
    * Armored Core


    /Verbose


    Finished

    **** Hogwarts Legacy
    More like 3 and 3/4 stars. An unusual game in that it captured a sense
    of being there, being a wizard, and just being content with that for me.
    They game is fine, the spell combat is pretty good considering how bad
    most other games with magic combat are (*cough*Elder Scrolls*cough*),
    but gets way too easy near the end even on hard. Flying! Lots of
    puzzles, most easy to figure out. Some crafting which is pretty simple
    and very useful on hard, but not at all necessary on normal. Lots of
    somewhat interesting side quests, and lots of repetitive side quests.
    Hogwarts school itself is a huge impossible to get familiar with maze.
    The surrounding lands make up much more of the game though. It's got
    it's issues, but it's well worth it. It's currently still on sale for
    $9 on Steam, which I'm tempted to buy it there in case I want to play it again. I wish I could see how many hours I've played it, but I already uninstalled it, and can't find it on the playstation.

    **** Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
    Again more like 3 and 3/4ths stars. Supposedly somewhat soulslike, but
    I don't really see it. You can parry, and it's somewhat dark, that's
    about it. It's more like 98% Skyrim. Took a break from it, but enjoyed
    the last third when I got back to it. Still a bit buggy toward the end,
    but a good RPG. I'm not sure it's worth it at full price (I think what
    I paid, or maybe 10% off) at $40, I'd put it more like a $30 game.

    **** Diver Dave
    Played on PS+, fun little game. Side scroller though not platforming as
    you're scuba diving. I like swimming around and harpoon fishing. I
    don't like that when I 'die' I lose up to a couple hours of fishing
    except for 1 item. It doesn't really set you back, but it does make it
    feel like you just wasted a couple hours. Lots of little mini-games, and
    very basic short fish farming and farming bits eventually, that could be mostly ignored if you want. They even put Balatro in it, but I found
    they made it much harder than the actual game and didn't like that. Fortunately you don't actually have to play it at all, I missed whatever paltry reward you get for beating all the people. Boss fights can be a
    bit rough. I found the controls slightly irritating in that you can
    only fire your gun/harpoon in about a 40 degree arc to both sides, and
    the hold trigger and press x has a bit of a delay from holding the
    trigger to being able to fire. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm not sure
    it's worth a full $20, it's on sale on gamebillet for $11 which is more
    than fair.


    Currently Playing:

    *** Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
    Well, people have said it's their favorite, and I was running out of
    things that I wanted to try on PS+ so gave it a try. I'm loving the
    Greek accent and interactions for quests. The whole thing with Elpenor
    seems weird to me, doesn't really make sense the way he seeks you out
    and provokes you, maybe I just haven't got far enough in the plot yet to understand. I'm playing it on hard, not hardest and so far combat is
    more than hard enough. I ran across a giant boar I couldn't defeat and decided to come back later, though with the scaling I'm not sure that
    will make a difference. Enjoying, but already felt like I didn't want
    to play it again once for several hours as it's essentially the same
    game as the other ACs. The setting and NPC interactions are the only
    thing that's making me really like it.


    Tried (all on PS+ "free")

    ** Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart
    Wow, the flashy is a bit much. I used to play R&Cs on PS2, but I
    quickly just felt sameo-sameo with the puzzles etc.

    ** V Rising
    Started out liking this with the diablo like content as playing a
    vampire, but as soon as I got to the base building/survival I was all
    *ugh*. I kind of wanted to keep playing it, but couldn't get past that.

    ** Epic Mickey: It Takes 2
    Played a little bit with my daughter, figuring out one jump was near impossible and we quit for a day, and then just figuring out where to go
    at another point was the last straw. My wife had played it on the
    gamecube she thinks and also got stuck at some point. Unfortunately I'm finding all the co-op games meh at best.

    ** Alienation
    Space Diablo. Abilities/enemies weren't very interesting though and I
    didn't feel like continuing to play.

    ** MediEvil
    This feels like it would've been fun if I played it 20 years ago, but
    it's a bit clunky and cartoony now, and feels like it's trying to hard
    to be funny and failing badly.

    * The Last Guardian
    Interesting idea where you try to get a giant weird animal to do things.
    I had hopes as I loved Ico, and liked Shadow of the Collosus, but that
    was 20+ years ago. The controls, not just to get the giant dog to do
    things but for your own character were literally insufferable and
    quickly killed it.

    * Twisted Metal II
    An arena destruction derby. Oof, old and feels it. Controlls were too clunky. Graphics weren't good, but that didn't really bother me.
    Supposedly this was the best of the series, so doesn't bode well for me
    liking any of the others.

    * Armored Core
    Action/Mech. Controls were again way too clunky, worst one here in that respect. I didn't even finish the first tutorial fight. I'm not sure
    how/why anyone played this and they made a sequel, even if it was from
    '97. At least I got half/most through AC6, though I still found the
    controls a bit annoying in certain respects.
    --
    -Justisaur

    ø-ø
    (\_/)\
    `-'\ `--.___,
    ¶¬'\( ,_.-'
    \\
    ^'
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  • From ant@ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Dec 2 22:33:42 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Dang it. I forgot to beat you, but I was too BUSY! Uh, same games like
    before. I don't think I played anything new?



    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

    We're at the end of another month, so you know what that means: time
    to list out the games that occupied us all in the past thirty days.
    Can you believe that 2025 is almost over?

    But let's cut to the chase. Here's my list:
    ...
    Well, that's my playlist for November; I'm satisfied with the amount
    of gaming I got done. What about you? Did you get through a lot of
    games? I guess what I'm really asking is:

    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?
    --
    "The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed." --Proverbs 11:25
    Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
    /\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
    / /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
    | |o o| |
    \ _ /
    ( )
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Dec 2 17:56:32 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Tue, 02 Dec 2025 06:47:41 -0500, shawn
    <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:

    On Mon, 1 Dec 2025 17:26:11 +0100, H1M3M <dontaltktome@nomail.com>
    wrote:

    Spalls Hurgenson wrote:



    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?


    For me it is a combination of No Man's Sky and Defense Grid: The
    Awakening and Plants Vs Zombies.

    Defense Grid and PvZ have been my "I've got a few minutes and want to
    game" games. Both are level based so I can play a level or two without
    a large investment of time and with a variety of types of levels
    available to keep my interest.

    While NMS has been my main game over the last month as I'm trying to
    learn the game. The first few hours were a bit boring but the game has >developed for me as I learned and explored more. As usual you learn
    the game's mechanics and how to take advantage of them so that you can
    take on more challenging foes. Nothing like taking on a Sentinel base
    only to run into your tunnel so they can keep searching for you while
    you are far away. Only to return a few minutes later to stroll thru
    the base to observe the damage and plot your next attack.



    "No Man's Sky" is one of those games I keep banging my head against. I
    think I've started and restarted that game four or five times, and
    each time I gave up after a few hours. Everyone tells me I should like
    it, and there's a lot about the game that _looks_ interesting to me,
    but the main gameplay loop --fairly typical action/survival stuff--
    just bores me to tears. Grinding away collecting stuff to build more
    stuff has _never_ appealed to me.

    There's something about the algorithmically created landscapes that I
    earnestly dislike too.


    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From shawn@nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Wed Dec 3 12:44:21 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Tue, 02 Dec 2025 09:51:56 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

    On Tue, 02 Dec 2025 06:47:41 -0500, shawn
    <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:

    On Mon, 1 Dec 2025 17:26:11 +0100, H1M3M <dontaltktome@nomail.com>
    wrote:

    Spalls Hurgenson wrote:



    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?


    For me it is a combination of No Man's Sky and Defense Grid: The
    Awakening and Plants Vs Zombies.

    Defense Grid and PvZ have been my "I've got a few minutes and want to
    game" games. Both are level based so I can play a level or two without
    a large investment of time and with a variety of types of levels
    available to keep my interest.

    While NMS has been my main game over the last month as I'm trying to
    learn the game. The first few hours were a bit boring but the game has >>developed for me as I learned and explored more. As usual you learn
    the game's mechanics and how to take advantage of them so that you can
    take on more challenging foes. Nothing like taking on a Sentinel base
    only to run into your tunnel so they can keep searching for you while
    you are far away. Only to return a few minutes later to stroll thru
    the base to observe the damage and plot your next attack.



    "No Man's Sky" is one of those games I keep banging my head against. I
    think I've started and restarted that game four or five times, and
    each time I gave up after a few hours. Everyone tells me I should like
    it, and there's a lot about the game that _looks_ interesting to me,
    but the main gameplay loop --fairly typical action/survival stuff--
    just bores me to tears. Grinding away collecting stuff to build more
    stuff has _never_ appealed to me.

    I get that. It works for me as I used to spend hours each night
    replaying the same scenarios in Age of Empires using various cheats to
    build massive walls to see how long they would hold out the enemies.
    That said some games don't work for me even with that same logic.
    Subnautica has proven problematic because of the deep ocean segments.
    They make me feel a bit claustrophobic and so remove the fun that I
    was having exploring the world while building my bases.

    As for you, if it doesn't work then it's time to move on. I've learned
    that some games, even well loved games, just aren't right for
    everyone. I get the idea of collecting more stuff to build more stuff
    is boring and I would expect myself to feel the same way. So far it is
    proving interesting enough to hold my attention. That may change and
    then I'll move on to another game as well. Perhaps I'll finally get
    around to play that Metal Gear Solid V I've been meaning to play. ;)
    There's something about the algorithmically created landscapes that I >earnestly dislike too.


    I get that. It doesn't help that when you play long enough you find
    the bugs in the engine. Things like the settlements can end up
    floating in mid-air and when traveling down a tunnel that you just dug
    through a mountain you can end up getting glimpses of what is outside
    the mountain even though you are a few hundred feet inside.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From candycanearter07@candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Wed Dec 3 20:10:07 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    H1M3M <dontaltktome@nomail.com> wrote at 16:26 this Monday (GMT):
    Spalls Hurgenson wrote:



    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?


    It's gonna be short, both in games and words dedicated to each one. Not
    a lot of time.
    - Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (PC remake)
    Roughly 50 hours in the end. Still as enjoyable as when I played the DS original in 2009

    HELL YEA!!!! Ace Attroney is one of my favorite series, and the only
    reason I haven't played AAI is because of Denuvo.

    - Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse (Megadrive)
    Replaying a game from the start over and over until you finally beat it without running out of continues feels oddly nostalgic. Still holds
    well, specially the music (does not use the shitty GEMS driver).

    -Guerrilla War / Guevara (NES)
    Ikari Warriors spinoff were you play as Che and Fidel Castro liberating
    Cuba with the arsenal Uncle Sam has provided you with. Not the most
    enjoyable experience since the original arcade was designed to be played
    as a pseudo twin stick shooter and in this version you can't move and
    aim independently. Over time it starts feeling like Metal Slug's
    prototype, from the look of the powerups to the weapons and tied POWs
    that need to be rescued. A historical curiosity.

    - Thank Goodness you're here! (PC)
    Started playing at 23:30, so technically it still counts as November. Promising so far.


    I've seen an internet playthrough of it, its my type of humor :)
    --
    user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From candycanearter07@candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Wed Dec 3 20:10:08 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote at 14:28 this Tuesday (GMT):
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
    say:


    We're at the end of another month, so you know what that means: time
    to list out the games that occupied us all in the past thirty days.
    Can you believe that 2025 is almost over?

    But let's cut to the chase. Here's my list:


    Superbrief
    ---------------------------------------
    * Darkenstein 3D
    * Generation Zero
    * Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
    * The Complex: Expedition

    Cyberpunk 2077, heavily modded and newly updated with the Phantom
    Liberty DLC. (turned out it does not automatically install the DLC if purchased separately after the game is already installed. You have to download it from the main menu of the game with no progress display whatsoever and no indication that it's actually doing anything. I
    forced it to install by doing a verify file integrity in steam, and
    steam DOES have a progress indicator. It took about 20 min's to
    download the DLC at 40Mb/s; apparently the DLC is the "elephant in the
    room" :) .)[not a smiley, just punctuation.]

    Hogwarts Legacy although I haven't played it in a couple weeks.
    The Outer Worlds, started a new character, but then parked it so I could
    play Hogwarts Legacy, will get back to it at some point.

    The usual suspects:
    Star Trek Online, daily and universal endeavors and whatever special
    thing is going on.
    SWTOR, mostly just logging in for daily freebies.
    City of Heroes, currently running a grav/rad controller.
    And running in the background all the time auto-fishing, Black Desert
    Online.

    Xocyll


    I'm more suprised that people made mods for CP2077
    --
    user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From candycanearter07@candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Wed Dec 3 20:10:10 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    H1M3M <dontaltktome@nomail.com> wrote at 16:26 this Monday (GMT):
    Spalls Hurgenson wrote:



    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?
    [snip]


    For some reason, E-S deleted the original message from the cache, so I'm
    just gonna reply here :(

    I've been playing SO MUCH balatro it's officially passed 500 hours.
    Also, cloverpit which is a similar gambling game and I'm up to 20 good
    ending clears.

    also ive been making a balatro mod :)
    --
    user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Anssi Saari@anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Thu Dec 4 11:02:34 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:

    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?

    * A little Outer Worlds

    Ever so slowly doing this and that here and there. I wonder if I'll ever
    reach the end...

    * The Final Fantasy 16 demo

    This took about two hours. Felt like there was so much video about
    things in the world that I didn't much enjoy it and some of it seemed
    just odd. First some infantry clashed and then one side was launching
    catapults into the fray? And then some giant (I think Eikon in the
    lingo) appeared that seemed to stomp on the infantry indiscriminately?
    Sheesh, wouldn't want to be a foot soldier in either army.

    Then some easy fights against goblins and some tougher grindy fights. I
    was really wishing for some kind of ranged here. Or you actually have a fireball from the start you can throw but it does so little damage it's pointless. So you're left to evading and spanking with your sword since
    it definitely does not ever cut or pierce anything. Well, unless there's
    a QTE.

    There's a vaunted "stagger" mechanism which lets you whale on your
    defenseless opponent but actually it just seemed to give something like
    a 1.05x damage bonus. So I kept spanking while waiting for the cooldown
    on my single bigger spell to expire.

    So to say the least, this demo didn't make me into a Final Fantasy fan.

    * Some emulated arcade stuff on MAME

    I was tired (on a day after an xmas party) but wanted to stay awake a
    little longer so wanted some non-brainy gaming.

    - Asteroids Deluxe: still sucking at it. In a can't hit the side of an
    asteroid sort of way. Usually also can't evade effectively and can't
    activate shield on time.

    - Jungler: I used to like this but now it felt like five minutes was
    quite enough. This is maybe not a super common game, you're a worm in
    a pacman-like maze and can shoot other worms, lopping of segments from
    their tails. Or just overrun them, if you're longer. And of course,
    the other worms can do the same to you.

    The controls feel a little laggy but maybe they were always like
    that. And this stupid thing happens way too often, you're trying to
    overrun another worm but it gets off a shot just in time and suddenly
    it's you who gets overrun. Frustrating but shows how you should rely
    on your guns and tactics more.

    - R-Type: My favorite horizontally scrolling SHMUP. Somewhat
    surprisingly, I finished level 4 (out of eight), so that's half the
    game in one sitting. I did save scum quite a lot on levels 3 and 4
    though, the action gets hectic in parts on those levels in a
    bullet-hell sort of way.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Xocyll@Xocyll@gmx.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Thu Dec 4 08:18:15 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid>
    looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The
    Augury is good, the signs say:

    Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote at 14:28 this Tuesday (GMT):
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
    entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
    say:


    We're at the end of another month, so you know what that means: time
    to list out the games that occupied us all in the past thirty days.
    Can you believe that 2025 is almost over?

    But let's cut to the chase. Here's my list:


    Superbrief
    ---------------------------------------
    * Darkenstein 3D
    * Generation Zero
    * Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
    * The Complex: Expedition

    Cyberpunk 2077, heavily modded and newly updated with the Phantom
    Liberty DLC. (turned out it does not automatically install the DLC if
    purchased separately after the game is already installed. You have to
    download it from the main menu of the game with no progress display
    whatsoever and no indication that it's actually doing anything. I
    forced it to install by doing a verify file integrity in steam, and
    steam DOES have a progress indicator. It took about 20 min's to
    download the DLC at 40Mb/s; apparently the DLC is the "elephant in the
    room" :) .)[not a smiley, just punctuation.]

    Hogwarts Legacy although I haven't played it in a couple weeks.
    The Outer Worlds, started a new character, but then parked it so I could
    play Hogwarts Legacy, will get back to it at some point.

    The usual suspects:
    Star Trek Online, daily and universal endeavors and whatever special
    thing is going on.
    SWTOR, mostly just logging in for daily freebies.
    City of Heroes, currently running a grav/rad controller.
    And running in the background all the time auto-fishing, Black Desert
    Online.

    Xocyll


    I'm more suprised that people made mods for CP2077

    People make mods for anything that can be modded.

    The more broken the game is at release, the more likely that the modding community will try to fix things themselves.

    For cyberpunk2077, most of the installed mods are cosmetic; clothing,
    weapons, vehicles, as well as some functional stuff like a car modding
    facility where you can "Fast & Furious" mod all the original vehicles
    (better acceleration, braking, traction, suspension, etc.)

    Xocyll
    --
    I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
    a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
    Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
    FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr
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  • From H1M3M@wipnoah@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Thu Dec 4 15:07:20 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    candycanearter07 wrote:

    I've seen an internet playthrough of it, its my type of humor :)


    I don't think I have seen so much innuendo in a loooong time. I'm
    playing roughly 30 minutes per day, and I want it to last. And that's
    how I know I am truly enjoying a game: Treating it like a box of
    expensive chocolates and not binging.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Thu Dec 4 09:59:53 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Thu, 04 Dec 2025 08:18:15 -0500, Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote: >candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid>
    looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The
    Augury is good, the signs say:


    I'm more suprised that people made mods for CP2077


    People make mods for anything that can be modded.
    For cyberpunk2077, most of the installed mods are cosmetic; clothing, >weapons, vehicles, as well as some functional stuff like a car modding >facility where you can "Fast & Furious" mod all the original vehicles
    (better acceleration, braking, traction, suspension, etc.)


    And nude mods. Lots and lots of nude mods. ;-)




    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Justisaur@justisaur@yahoo.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Thu Dec 4 07:27:28 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On 12/4/2025 1:02 AM, Anssi Saari wrote:
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:

    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?

    * A little Outer Worlds

    Ever so slowly doing this and that here and there. I wonder if I'll ever reach the end...

    It's a fairly short game for that kind of game.


    - R-Type: My favorite horizontally scrolling SHMUP. Somewhat
    surprisingly, I finished level 4 (out of eight), so that's half the
    game in one sitting. I did save scum quite a lot on levels 3 and 4
    though, the action gets hectic in parts on those levels in a
    bullet-hell sort of way.

    R-Type was my favorite arcade game for awhile. It's so damn hard
    though, and ate my quarters too fast, so I didn't play it a lot.
    --
    -Justisaur

    ø-ø
    (\_/)\
    `-'\ `--.___,
    ¶¬'\( ,_.-'
    \\
    ^'
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  • From Xocyll@Xocyll@gmx.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Thu Dec 4 22:46:30 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
    say:

    On Thu, 04 Dec 2025 08:18:15 -0500, Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote: >>candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid>
    looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The >>Augury is good, the signs say:


    I'm more suprised that people made mods for CP2077


    People make mods for anything that can be modded.
    For cyberpunk2077, most of the installed mods are cosmetic; clothing, >>weapons, vehicles, as well as some functional stuff like a car modding >>facility where you can "Fast & Furious" mod all the original vehicles >>(better acceleration, braking, traction, suspension, etc.)


    And nude mods. Lots and lots of nude mods. ;-)

    Pretty sure Cyberpunk 2077 has nude by default, it is adult-oriented
    after all.

    Xocyll
    --
    I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
    a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
    Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
    FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Dec 5 10:29:53 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Thu, 04 Dec 2025 22:46:30 -0500, Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote:
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the >entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
    say:



    And nude mods. Lots and lots of nude mods. ;-)


    Pretty sure Cyberpunk 2077 has nude by default, it is adult-oriented
    after all.


    For the main character, sure. But I'm talking about the NPCs.
    Not to mention, 'enhancements' for the main character as well.

    Nude mods are always some of the first and most prolific mods
    available. The market of 12-year olds (or those who are still stuck at
    that emotional maturity level despite their actual age ;-) can never
    be sated.


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  • From Dimensional Traveler@dtravel@sonic.net to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Dec 5 08:21:25 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On 12/4/2025 7:46 PM, Xocyll wrote:
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
    say:

    On Thu, 04 Dec 2025 08:18:15 -0500, Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote:
    candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid>
    looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The
    Augury is good, the signs say:


    I'm more suprised that people made mods for CP2077


    People make mods for anything that can be modded.
    For cyberpunk2077, most of the installed mods are cosmetic; clothing,
    weapons, vehicles, as well as some functional stuff like a car modding
    facility where you can "Fast & Furious" mod all the original vehicles
    (better acceleration, braking, traction, suspension, etc.)


    And nude mods. Lots and lots of nude mods. ;-)

    Pretty sure Cyberpunk 2077 has nude by default, it is adult-oriented
    after all.

    I'm not sure unclothed robots qualify as "nude"....
    --
    I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
    dirty old man.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Xocyll@Xocyll@gmx.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Dec 5 17:18:46 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
    say:

    On Thu, 04 Dec 2025 22:46:30 -0500, Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote:
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the >>entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
    say:



    And nude mods. Lots and lots of nude mods. ;-)


    Pretty sure Cyberpunk 2077 has nude by default, it is adult-oriented
    after all.


    For the main character, sure. But I'm talking about the NPCs.

    Ah you did not specify, and most of the nude mods are the character not
    NPCs.

    Not to mention, 'enhancements' for the main character as well.

    Nude mods are always some of the first and most prolific mods
    available. The market of 12-year olds (or those who are still stuck at
    that emotional maturity level despite their actual age ;-) can never
    be sated.

    Indeed not.

    Xocyll
    --
    I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
    a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
    Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
    FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From ant@ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Sat Dec 6 01:53:43 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com> wrote:

    - R-Type: My favorite horizontally scrolling SHMUP. Somewhat
    surprisingly, I finished level 4 (out of eight), so that's half
    the game in one sitting. I did save scum quite a lot on levels 3
    and 4 though, the action gets hectic in parts on those levels in
    a bullet-hell sort of way.

    R-Type was my favorite arcade game for awhile. It's so damn hard
    though, and ate my quarters too fast, so I didn't play it a lot.

    Loved that game too, but yeah hard. :(
    --
    "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped..." --Philippians 2:5-6. Hard 2 B like Him. :(
    Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
    /\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
    / /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
    | |o o| |
    \ _ /
    ( )
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From candycanearter07@candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Mon Dec 8 18:50:02 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 14:59 this Thursday (GMT):
    On Thu, 04 Dec 2025 08:18:15 -0500, Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote:
    candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid>
    looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The >>Augury is good, the signs say:


    I'm more suprised that people made mods for CP2077


    People make mods for anything that can be modded.
    For cyberpunk2077, most of the installed mods are cosmetic; clothing, >>weapons, vehicles, as well as some functional stuff like a car modding >>facility where you can "Fast & Furious" mod all the original vehicles >>(better acceleration, braking, traction, suspension, etc.)


    And nude mods. Lots and lots of nude mods. ;-)


    Ok, that I'm not suprised by.
    --
    user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Anssi Saari@anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Dec 9 10:59:17 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) writes:

    Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com> wrote:

    R-Type was my favorite arcade game for awhile. It's so damn hard
    though, and ate my quarters too fast, so I didn't play it a lot.

    Loved that game too, but yeah hard. :(

    Yep, it's hard. But when the emulator can save and you can do instant
    replays, it's no longer *that* hard.

    I also got an arcade stick last summer which makes things maybe a little
    better than using a gamepad or keyboard.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Anssi Saari@anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Dec 9 11:03:07 2025
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com> writes:

    On 12/4/2025 1:02 AM, Anssi Saari wrote:
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:

    What Have You Been Playing... IN NOVEMBER 2025?
    * A little Outer Worlds
    Ever so slowly doing this and that here and there. I wonder if I'll
    ever
    reach the end...

    It's a fairly short game for that kind of game.

    I guess? Maybe I'm doing it wrong and should concentrate on the main
    missions. Since I really want to be done with it and then maybe consider
    the sequel. It's still my favorite genre even if I don't like the
    particular flavor, meaning mostly the art style and writing and the
    feeling of "oh it's like Fallout only simpler/dumber/weirder".
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2