Topic: Pure Xbox Game Club - 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🛢️Still Wakes the Deep🛢️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (Jul)

@ralphdibny ah thanks man. I actually dropped it. And for the exact reasons you mention. It felt too walking sim/ point and click for me which are 2 genres I don't jive with. I'm powering through starfield at this point, so ill get onto RE8 afterwards. As well as some forza.

@NintendoByNature fair enough mate, enjoy Starfield and Resi! 👍

@ralphdibny thanks man. I've had re8 in my backlog for a good while now, so no better time than October.

I've had a go on Justine a few times now. You can't save in it so you are supposed to complete it in one playthrough without dying. So far I haven't managed that.

It's basically a series of puzzle rooms where you have to work out how to progress without killing the NPC present in each trap. Or you can progress by killing them.

First time I played, I didn't realise the goal was to progress, I thought it was to save the NPC.

Second time was the same except this time I just killed the NPC and progressed knowing I was going to bed soon so I'd start again tomorrow.

Third time I thought I'd try escaping the room as opposed to saving the NPC and managed it, finally realising what was going on. Only to kill the NPC in the second trap room 😅. And then I got killed by one of them walker monsters.

Overall it's been quite tedious while I get my bearings.

I will finish it but working out how to play the game has taken me way longer than the hour this game is supposed to be beatable in.

Ok I just finished Justine. I am not amazingly impressed, mainly because it's a bit random. There are 3 areas, each with an NPC that can die or not. All can be saved, none can be saved or some can be saved. I had only one survive and I don't think I'm very keen to go back and do it again to get a different ending/achievement.

I'll spoiler tag the solutions to each area but I'm only writing the solutions so you can see why I think it's random, like there's no consistency to each solution.

Area 1 - doesn't get solved, you just build some stairs out of boxes and barrels and jump up to a hatch and escape. This is what threw me off because I wasn't saving the NPC I just wasn't killing them.

Area 2 - This actually has a puzzle which is basically choosing two options out of four and arranging them correctly. The clue to the solution is in some text you pick up. I tried working it out a few times but I just couldn't get it right. If someone works it out and can explain to me how the clue leads to the solution, I would be most grateful

Area 3 - you rush through this area with a monster chasing you. I didn't even notice there was someone to save to be honest. All I heard was them cursing me as I left the area that they were apparently in. I looked it up and you are supposed to close a door to a cell they are in so the monster doesn't get to kill them after you left. Would be good if I actually knew he was there lol.

So that's why I didn't get on with it, it's not a puzzle room game because only one room is an actual puzzle. I think if it was longer and these disparate "solutions" were exemplified repeatedly then I think I would have got the hang of it. But then again, I am glad it wasn't longer

Rating: F for frustrating

@ralphdibny only one missing now

@Balta666 it's coming, got some IRL stuff to do this week so I'll see if I can fit it in at some point! 😅

Just starting Machine for Pigs now. Is anyone else going to be starting up the Collection soon or have people just not got around to it yet? Just wondering because it had 3 more votes for it. I hope all is well with everyone

I can't exactly work out how far I am through the game but I suspect about a third of the way.

It's quite different to The Dark Descent, more walking sim this time than point and click. There's no sanity mechanic and no inventory - there have been a couple of fetch-an-item puzzles but you just hold the item in front of you and take it places instead of storing it.

I am guessing this is the reason why the amount of interactive objects has been decimated. There's very little in comparison to actually interact with, stuff that didn't do a lot in Dark Descent and wouldn't do a lot here have had their interactivity nixed. Things like books, scrolls and other random trinkets. Also doors and cabinets have weird locks added to explain this in game I suppose. I guess it's good in a way, less faff to waste your time on.

The structure is slightly different, it's a lot more linear. It's easy to miss collectibles too, especially in the opening mansion area where points of no return are not clearly indicated.

I'd say the games request for you to adjust the gamma setting is a bit off too. I adjusted it as instructed so the box was barely visible and played through the opening sections in some washed out blue hue. I thought it was stylistic but realised after a while that I hadn't used the lamp in a while so I reduced the gamma down to basically it's default setting and now everything looks like it should. Or at least I think it does lol. I believe you are supposed to basically have the lantern on all the time.

Overall it's a lot less scary than The Dark Descent. Maybe it's because I was playing with the wrong settings initially lol. There is no health meter either, least not one that I've found. I've only died once and it was only just now. I was slain by a beastly creature. Thankfully, like in The Dark Descent, I spawned nearby and while the beast didn't despawn, it took another route back to my point of death allowing me to pass it into the next area.

Okay, I have finished A Machine for Pigs.

I think my thoughts in my previous post remain the same so I won't reiterate. It did get a bit scarier as it got darker IRL 😅. I also ended up reducing the gamma even further as it got darker IRL. I can't tell what the game is supposed to look like at times tbh.

At one point a character muses on happenings of parts of history which I won't spoil. I can't really tell how it relates to the rest of the game though, he almost says it as if it's justification for an action but the link isn't explained. Or if it was, it wasn't obvious to me.

I did die again later towards the end, but was respawned with the beast that got me despawning with little overall consequence to me as a result. I think the fear that had built up dissipated after that.

Overall, I did actually very much enjoy A Machine for Pigs and as the credits rolled, I found myself saying "that was good, that".

Rating: TWGT for that was good, that

As a side note, The Dark Descent was developed by Frictional Games with A Machine For Pigs being developed by Brighton based developer The Chinese Room. Frictional Games went on to develop the rest of the Amnesia games but they also made a game called Soma which like Amnesia Collection, came to PS Plus some years back.

I did try Soma a couple years ago but didn't really get on with it so I wrote it off. I think I might give it another go though once I've played through Amnesia Rebirth if I end up enjoying Rebirth.

@ralphdibny SOMA was one of the first horror games I played and it was an absolutely terrifying experience. On top of it being an excellent horror experience, the plot was very thought-provoking with its philosophical elements. It's definitely one of my favourite horror games ever and I highly recommend giving it another try.

@LtSarge fair play, I may well do! I'll see how I get on with Rebirth first. Have you had time to boot up the Collection yet?

@ralphdibny I'm quite unsure if I'll have time for it the coming month. I still have a fair amount of the campaign left in AC: Mirage and Spider-Man 2 is coming out on Friday. If I finish AC early, I might start up Amnesia as I really want to play at least one horror game this month.

@LtSarge fair play, yeah it is a busy month!

I've started Amnesia Rebirth. So far it is quite interesting. Quite similar to the previous games in game play, maybe it leans even more into the walking sim side of things with more than one comparison to What Remains of Edith Finch able to be made. Of course the graphics are much better than its forebears along with the expected QoL updates to the gameplay as well.

We are back to having full interactivity with all range of nonsense, from pots to sandbags. It has to be rifled through though, so you can find those precious matches to light your way.

I think this one is set quite a bit after The Dark Descent and some time after A Machine for Pigs. There is an aspect that recurs through the series even if the narratives aren't linked. I won't explain this aspect due to it being a spoiler but it looks like we will be exploring it a bit further in this game.

I think I'm about a quarter of the way through it, going by the contents page of a guide I've looked at.

I'm probably a bit over half way through it now. I'll probably have to wait to play it while my partner is here so I don't get too scared 🙈😂

I think it's a bit unfair to call this a walking sim because there is danger of death in the game, even if the consequences are almost nil. There's a bit of action (but no combat) and thrilling moments. Not really sure what genre I'd put it in but it's probably a combination of a few.

@Balta666 So I want to suggest Wo Long Fallen Dynasty as a candidate for next month. That is November 2023. Wo Long Fallen Dynasty is supposed to be a Soul like action RPG game from Team Ninja. Wo Long Fallen Dynasty takes apparently place in ancient China. For the record I have never actually played a soul like game before but I have become really excited about this game and I think we would have a fun time playing it together.

@oliverp excellent choice if I may say (have been on my waitlist for a less busy time)

Played a bit more Rebirth tonight. Had my partner with me so I wouldn't get so scared but weirdly, tonight she was the scaredy cat and I was much calmer!

We're almost 3/4 of the way through so we will probably finish it on Wednesday hopefully 🤞

@ralphdibny overall, how are you feeling about the entire series? I've read most of your posts, but not all.