Gaming

Played Titanium Court. Its great. You should play it. Don't look up anything about it, just put your trust in the Steam refund window. You will know if it is for you or not within the first 2hrs. I am still struggling to describe it in an enticing way without spoiling anything, because this is a game that delights in constantly surprising you. Disregarding the gameplay (which is completely different) you could say Titanium Court is a little bit like Undertale for adults? That's what I felt, at least. If you want a little bit more then this short sort of captures it.

After finally tearing myself away from Titanium Court I began playing AI Limit. It's an anime-styled Soulslike, and while I'm not huge on anime I'd heard a lot of good things about it. So far it's been pretty solid. It has its flaws, but it was made by a small team after all. I wish the art direction was a little stronger and more distinctive - anime post-apocalyptic modern sceneries seem like they're dime a dozen, especially paired with mutated fleshy alien matter. There are plenty of sceneries here that may be competently designed in isolation, but just feels like I've seen before. The graphics are also very uneven and some textures look terrible - again, small team I guess.

Combat is pretty decent though. There is no stamina, instead there is a combined stamina/mana bar called Sync that also depletes when you get hit and recharges when you hit enemies (or parry them). Normal attacks and dodges don't cost any Sync, so combat has a distinctly different feel from most Soulslikes. You also deal more damage at maximum Sync, but your special attacks stop working at lower Sync. If your Sync is totally depleted you get into a vulnerable state that often means death. It's an interesting twist that makes combat feel a bit different.

EDIT: Also forgot to say, but I've missed these threads! I hope you've been well @chloyster@beehaw.org and I'm glad you're back!