While that Metroid Prime 4 MacKenzie news is disappointing, I can't say I'm that surprised. Between the flower in Mario Wonder and Pauline in DK Bananza, this is the way Nintendo games are right now. Splatoon story modes also have constant comms chatter but the squid voices make it less tedious.

Final Fantasy XIII [2010] is one of the most deservedly misunderstood RPGs I've ever played. From the story, which throws you into high-stakes in medias res with characters throwing similar-seeming terms around all over, to the gameplay, which takes roughly 20 hours of combat mechanics onboarding.

Have dialogue choice systems ever just not felt right for you in a game? Doc lays down some good groundwork on why they are so often at odds with satisfying conversations and truly memorable moments in video game storytelling.

If you're into some unique combat challenges (think breakout meets bullet hell) then I can recommend 10SF. It's pretty intense!

The fun premise, snappy pacing, dynamic camerawork, bangin' soundtrack, funny voice and character acting, visual gags around every corner...it's all here already. And expanding Bunlith's signature PSX cutscene style to an entire show? There's just gotta be more!!

Silent Hill 3 [2003] is the most intense of the original trilogy by far! Cramped, dingy hallways filled with too many threats to handle. Do you spend some bullets on clearing a path? Risk getting hurt by swinging in melee range? Risk getting intercepted while running past? Supplies are scarce.

Some lore in Caves of Qud. How do you figure someone could fake their death using a hologram? Surely they had to put his "body" to rest. Did people bury or cremate a hologram?

When I learn of a game that's outed to have genAI placeholders, it all falls apart. What else was made using it? Even the work that's not genAI: was it thoughtlessly generated and then reworked by an artist? Where's the intent beyond "rework this thing scraped from various indeterminate sources"?

TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-... 🧵

Follow @wario64.bsky.social and repost for a chance to win 1 of 5 Steam codes for Once Upon a Katamari courtesy of @gamesplanet.bsky.social. Giveaway closes on Oct 27th, 6:30 PM PT Game is $32.97 on Gamesplanet w/ code KATAMARI buff.ly/j4qOsMG

LOOKING FOR BASS

Silent Hill 2 [2001] is such an intriguing follow-up to the original. Flipping the script on what a Silent Hill story is about, especially immediately after the first game, was probably really unexpected at the time! I wish I hadn't known anything about it through cultural osmosis before playing.

Played this fun little puzzle game called Something is wrong with my World Map. It takes the RPG abstraction of exploring a miniature world when you leave a town and asks, what if you were actually GROWING to that size??! Really tightly-designed puzzles and I thought the dialogue was pretty funny.

Video games are the kind of thing you appreciate more and more as you learn what makes 'em tick. Not just on a technical level, but conceptual too!

Silent Hill [1999] hardly needs an introduction, being both highly influential and a name everyone's heard of. Coming to it for the first time in 2025, I was very impressed with its commitment to using anticipation to drive its horror gameplay.

DISASTER ARMS IS OUT 30 BOSSES 2 ARMS 1 SOLDIER 0 TURNING BACK

📣 ICY TOWER IS COMING BACK Stoked to announce that we're making a brand new Icy Tower game, ready for the 25th anniversary next year! Check out the trailer, spread the news, and wishlist on Steam :D s.team/a/3014860 More in thread 👇🧵

Follow @wario64.bsky.social and repost for a chance to win 1 of 5 Steam codes for Digimon Story Time Stranger (giveaway courtesy of @gamesplanet.bsky.social. Giveaway ends on Oct 1st, 6:30 PM PT) Game is currently $57.71 on Gamesplanet w/ code DIGIMON buff.ly/0d0q6NQ

Final Fantasy IX really takes the Fantasy part to heart! Knights and mages, castles and airships, it's a lived-in world that transforms a lot over the course of the story. With its high focus on the Mist Continent though, the rest of the world feels quite empty, landmarks few and far between.

Zelda animation I've done based on old manual artwork. A thread!

Deadly chainsaw parkour in a ruined city reminiscent of Nier: Automata is what Motorslice is all about. Pretty brutal for a platformer, with enemies that instantly kill you and falls that get deadly very quickly, even with the roll to try and lessen the impact. It's an aggressive first impression!

Classic Resident Evil theming and Mystery Dungeon gameplay: House of Necrosis makes it work really well! Tentatively creeping through the mansion, step by step, hoping to fire on monsters before they close the distance. Saving bullets with crafty use of your knife is right at home here too.

I'm enjoying my revisit to FFXIII way more than I was expecting. This boss fight can be a lot of trouble--unless you juggle combo him and don't let him do anything!! www.youtube.com/watch?v=X915...

That skate. early access is so funny. I wasn't expecting to be able to roll around everywhere like a horrible human Sonic. I also parkoured into a bit of scaffolding and fell out of bounds. Probably a really good time screwing around with friends lol

Mud Ghost Estate, a spooky tumbling tower TTRPG I made for #FolkloreJam 2024, is getting an updated version! Please give it a follow on Kickstarter! 👻 www.kickstarter.com/projects/wha...

Entry #007 of Cool Devs is @docseuss.bsky.social! A game writer and creative director, Doc knows a lot about how and why games resonate with people, and he has a knack for explaining his reasoning in an easy-to-follow conversational tone via his engaging essays found on docseuss.medium.com.

I had this weird dream the other day where I was in the dream, but my perspective was watching myself like in a movie. Haven't been able to get it out of my head so I drew it

My boss rush game Disaster Arms is finished - I'm working on finalizing everything for Steam. We're releasing in October for $9.99!⭐ For fans of GUNSTAR HEROES - MEGAMAN - KINGDOM HEARTS RT & Wishlist's appreciated! Play the demo @ : store.steampowered.com/app/3462730/...

!!! EMERGENCY SALE !!! My car got damaged, so I'm opening a flash sale on the Itch versions of Cycle Chaser and SomnaBuster. You can get a bundle of both (+ a SomnaBuster Steam key) for 10 bucks. Please please please help me if you can - and if you can't, please RT!! itch.io/s/158310/-em...

Getting people to genuinely care in the moment made us care for a decade.

HFTGOOM/ He Fucked The Girl Out of Me has been deindexed by itch. I am worried it could be erased. Please considering downloading an offline copy to help preserve the game here: archive.org/details/HFTG... If you know any rom sharing sites please consider uploading a copy to help preserve it.

Started the Ace Attorney-style Zelda hack today, Hero of Law. It's quite ambitious and feels VERY close to its source material, both in humour and pacing! With the assets and gameplay being all altered, I have no idea why they took on the extra challenge of making it a romhack but it's great.

Hit the credits on Nightreign at just shy of 40 hours. I found the pacing completely at odds with Elden Ring's thoughtful exploration style. You really can't be wasting time wandering around and you'll quickly learn fast routes in and out of places. I really did not like this at all at first!

For how many years has #makeaterriblecomic2025 been a thing? First I've ever heard of it!!

Been playing God Hand for the first time. These cutscenes have been so good www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIav...

I really enjoyed Deltarune chapters 3 and 4! I appreciate how this game consistently has the capacity for slapstick hijinks alongside mysterious melodrama. As always, some really clever reinventions of the battle screen too.

you gotta see this completely absurd combo attack from Stella Deus on PS2 youtu.be/qdesysR_qC8

I solved a word search puzzle in the form of...a PDF?! 12 Word Searches has really cool tricks up its sleeve leading to an overall puzzle that has layers to understand. It feels so cryptic at first until you finally fully complete one of the pages. Play it free here: playcebo.itch.io/12-word-sear...

I did it. I went back, with renewed vigor, and extreme vengeance in my heart. I built the party up, everyone played their part, and I defeated the superboss of Clair Obscur without resorting to a cheese strat. Hell yes. It's done.

So I hit a certain Clair Obscur superboss's phase 3 today and I can confidently say: No. That's broken trust between player and designer and I will not continue fighting it any further... I don't want to look up a cheese build. I wanted to complete it with my own builds but it's not happening...

I've always had problems with how copyright essentially locks away concepts for our entire lives, often held by entities who never even created them, but right now it really is one of our only defenses against genAI. It's a good article and reminds me of a story...

Entry #006 of Cool Devs is @unluckychloe.bsky.social! Wielding a distinct, hyper-blocky pixel art style with striking colour palettes, Chloe's work ranges from exploring mysterious foggy forests to high-energy arcade action. You should check out her latest game, 10S Forever. owch.itch.io/10SF

Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive [2025] remains a wild ride of a game. It's always been the most hostile video game world I've ever seen, where massive hostile indigens will pick a fight with you because you're fighting something else in the vicinity. That hostility heavily shapes exploration too.

Promise Mascot Agency [2025] is an incredible adventure, tasking you with managing a business and connecting with a community of strays in a small run-down Japanese island town. It's charming, full of hilarious moments, and you get to do it all cruising around in a snappy little kei truck.

I did a 5 colour challenge today. Have a 30 second timelapse!

Yesterday, I was tricked by a genAI image that appeared to be the cast of The Matrix celebrating, maybe after shooting was complete. The thing is, it seems a lot of staunchly anti-genAI people were fooled too, and at the slightest bit of scrutiny it's obvious the image is fake.

A friend sent me a pic of her Elma's fit in Xenoblade Chronicles X so I drew her! #XenobladeChroniclesX

I did a tiny bit (like really tiny bit) of testing for Ascent DX. Looking forward to playing it for real!

I checked out the original Monster Hunter for a few hours today to see how different it was to my first game in the series, Freedom Unite on PSP. I was surprised to learn it uses the right analog stick for attacks, something they'd have to quickly rethink for their eventual PSP forays!

Entry #005 of Cool Devs is @maxkriegervg.bsky.social! With his finger on the pulse of a floundering industry and culture, Max aims to merge curation and community under a unified aesthetic that seeks to connect games with all forms of media; to reflect life rather than escape it: aqualounge.tv.