October 2024 Channel Update – In My Restless Dreams, I See 1000 Video Games
HI......
It’s October, aka the one month of the year video game developers around the globe conspire to release every title all at once, ripping money from our wallets and free time from our lives. (I’m sure they have plenty of data looking through this but whyyy is it always October!? I would’ve thought November/December would be better for the holiday spendings!)
Don't get me wrong, it’s a good and first world problem to have, but I wouldn't complain if they spaced it out a little 🗿 ANYWAY, I hope you’ve been well and enjoying lots of video games!!
TL;DR
Finished: Metal Gear Solid 3, some first looks
Ongoing: Baldur’s Gate 3, Silent Hill 2 Remake, LIS: Double Exposure
Next Up: Alan Wake II: Lake House, Slay the Princess Pristine Cut, Dragon Age: The Veilguard...
Finished Stuff
Metal Gear Solid 3: Enjoyed my time with the usual Kojima weirdness on top of some very memorable moments - don’t think I’ll be forgetting the sniper battle any time soon. This is the last game in Master Collection Vol 1. I’ll be keeping an eye out to continue my MGS adventures with Vol 2.
We had first looks of:
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Reforged: A 4K remaster/remake of a classic point & click from the 90s. The graphics look great although the audio is a real shame: they didn’t rerecord the voice acting and the existing recordings just aren’t very high quality. I see there’s some fan mod effort/further dev updates to try to improve this though – I’ll be keeping an eye to see if there’s any huge improvements, after which it could be nice to revisit.
Guild Saga: Vanished Worlds: A 2D pixel art CPRG with gameplay in the veins of Baldur’s Gate 3 and a hero-saves-the-world story reminiscent of (my image of) classic JRPGs. The beginning is kinda lore-dumpy but the isometric CRPG gameplay looked cool. In the vid I wondered if there would be romances with the companions and it looks like the devs confirmed that will be a thing 🤣
Europa: An android boy goes on a gliding adventure in search of answers on the last human that lived – super cute and relaxing. Performance is impeccable although the controls and general movement are not nearly as smooth as I’d like them to be.
NEVA: An adventure between a young woman and her wolf friend amidst a dying world. Just as ridiculously gorgeous as Nomada Studio’s previous game, GRIS, and really pleasant & silky smooth to control too. One that I’d definitely would've liked to continue if time allowed!
Current Stuff
Baldur’s Gate 3: Still trucking on! We’re in Act 2 of 3 now – I want to say we’re at least halfway through this act but I can’t tell too well 🤷
SILENT HILL 2 (Remake): Reviews looked great so I jumped in, and wow it’s been great so far. Some performance issues aside I’m really engaged by the atmosphere & surreal storytelling. I especially enjoy that it’s a lot of tension building but without “freaky monsters plastered all over your screen” jumpscares. I think I’m past halfway through now.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure: As a big LIS fan it’s painful to say but this is really middling. From the first 2 episodes: the myriad of bugs & rushed writing tell me this was a troubled production, and IMO the whole thing from story direction to the marketing campaign reek of “someone high up made decisions nobody was allowed to go against”. The underlying mystery is still intriguing, but as it stands, DE is a far cry from the heights of the franchise. I’m in Chapter 2 right now and will be continuing the rest as it releases on Oct 29.
Upcoming Stuff
TBH between BG3/SH2/LIS:DE I am mega hustling right now, so I don’t have capacity to consider much else!! (I’m taking care of myself too don’t worry – I appreciate everyone always reaching out reminding me to rest & relax! I feel bad that so many of my social media updates are always about being busy, etc etc 😭)
I’m not sure which I’ll wrap up first between LIS and SH2, but here’s my rough ideas for next plans:
Slay the Princess Pristine Cut: I played the base game a while ago, not sure how long the new stuff is but AFAIK there are 3 new routes so I don’t think it’ll be long
Alan Wake II Expansion: Lake House: probably get to it after I finish SH2 since they’re both horror. It’s a short 3-4 hour thing.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard: this might be a 100+ hour affair so I want to think more about how to juggle this alongside BG3 + still have time for smaller things. Even if not on the very first day of release I do intend on starting it soonish & not like 6 months down the line though!
Other things on my radar:
Red Dead Redemption on PC: ...... yeah I’m not getting to it on Oct 29 lol, but I’m aware it’s a thing and I would like to experience John’s story sometime!
Mouthwashing: Heard some recent chatter about this 3-hour indie– keeping a tab on it!
What have you been enjoying this October? Am I the only one going crazy over how packed it is...!?
Appreciate your support as always, and feel free to let me know any comments/suggestions you have. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must go back to Silent Hill to save my wife who’s been dead for three years...
Welonz