Last Post: 12:22:13pm, 09/16/2025
Took a break after my last post. Actually went to Osaka for a week and have just been trying to beat some big games quietly.
DOOM Stuff:
Whispers of Satan - Last year, I beat a mapset whos main thing was that it was very "safe". Well made but generic as hell I barely remember a thing about it. This was his other project. I believe it was better because it predates his generic design style (this guy has been making maps till now since 2002). So I was a bit more into it until I was told how symmetrical it was and I was like omg you're right meh.
Interception II - This one took awhile. The first one was amateur hour kinda forgettable this was had more vision (a TNT remake) and it slaps. DareIsay better than the beloved TNT remake of the same skein. Loooong ass maps tho esp the last 3.
DBP01: Monuments of Mars
DBP08: MINDBLOOD GENESIS
DBP13: Alien Bastards!
DBP11: Lilywhite Lilith
DBP09: Legend of the Hidden Tech
<The rest>
Just beat one DBP so far. We're still in the experimental era of this saga. Alien Bastards' theme is actually based on oldschool DOS ggames. A fun theme with fun maps and I believe the first total conversion, mired only by its overstimulation of custom sounds. Insufferably, lower than DBP08 which was just unfairly good because only 2.5 people worked on it so it was less a community thing but meh. There will be more coming in this list that I'm sure will dethrone DBP08, much less 01.
ZPack: Reignited - This was a series of amazing mapsets created for a controversially spanergent fork that makes DOOM less DOOM and more something else. GZDOOM has been like the basis for most retro revivals I've played in the past: Ashes, Hedon, Necromancy which if anyone is paying attention are on top of my rankings. ZPack though is from when this engine was in its primal infancy. And its age shows. But I played it for its historical value and it did in fact have some infamous maps the community loves. Enjoyed my time with it.
EPIC - This is a mapset of 5 maps based around Indiana Jones shennanigans. I only played this in preparation for the more insiduous EPIC2 which I am still suffering through. More on this when I beat that game.
Right that out of the way, here's my big game beats:
Dead Island 2
I actually beat this game before I went to Osaka. Some of the best zombie physics I've ever seen; you can actually see the sinew and everything on these guys when you whack em. I'm planning to beat Dying Light 2 later this year to compare but for now I can say definitely better than the first one. Fixed alot of things like less zombie waves and more of them hiding instead. More emphasis on one on one combat at least until you get guns later. I didn't quite like how they gated crafting behind late game questing. And also it sort of just ends without answering alot of questions---the one thing the first game was better at. I don't think I'm playing the DLCs until much much later. I need a rest from this one. Contender for my personal pick as game of the year but...
TOEM + Basto DLC
Lol no, not this one. This is just a little intermission game that I had already beat last year, but the DLC left me hanging on it until I finally got back into it. TOEM is a chill af game. Great soundtrack lofi beats to chill to. And wouldn't you know it just as I had beaten it, a sequel is coming around the corner next year.
Hell Is Us
Okay, step aside Dead Island 2, this is my contender for my game of the year. I don't think I've ever been so engrossed in the lore of a soulsclone ever. Like not even Dark Souls was I interested much in knowing what was going on lol. Hell Is Us isn't just wonderfully world built, the way you slowly find things out is well-designed. I am literally willing to excuse everything bad about it; the shallow combat system, the backtracking for puzzle solves and quests, the dark-soulsly nature of not knowing if a quest has a time limit or not leading to some unintended casualties, a cop-out cliffhangered ending. I really didn't know what I was expecting having played so many janky soulsclones in the past. I thought this was going to be another seeing the dev's track record of crappy warhammer games. But the art director of Deus Ex (the new ones) is behind this which is great. Glad to see some companies willing to put their game on the burner for far longer just to put out some quality shit.
Forgetting its flaws, this game is a breath of fresh air. Has some Control and Death Stranding vibes. I haven't felt this way about a game since the first The Surge. The game doesn't shy away from the horrors of war (as the cyclic nature of human conflict is the game's main theme), even showing and telling women and children being involved in the casualties. This is probably the first soulsclone that's actually set in a modern setting and in the middle of a cataclysm instead of the aftermath of one. So there's a very jarring human element in this amongst other things. Striking Visuals. A compelling plot and worldbuilt lore. And an intriguing play all the way through. I was sucked in.
Oh yeah one more thing. I don't know why they decided to name prominent lore characters in their game after Final Fantasy 6 characters but here you go:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/67403f50.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d779d322.jpg
And like not really a spoiler, but the Sabinians are a major faction in this game as is their rivals the err Palom-inians.
Yeah Idk why they decided to do this. It's not a dealbreaker but if you've played FF6, this is just going to stick in your mind for the rest of the game.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.