October Gaming - Be Very Afraid

[Kong Wen]

I beat Evil Within 2! Took about 20 hours. Great game. I’d give it an 8.32 out of 9.77. Too tough to platinum though but that’s fine. I’ll either start SOMA or Layers of Fear 2 tonight depending on my mood.

Nice! Congrats!

[The Shoemaker]

The boss rush stuff was beyond me in Hollow Knight, wasn't interested in that kind of challenge!

I actually started Resident Evil 4 the other day. I won't lie I was pretty ready to give up within the first half hour just due to know knowing where to go and constantly dying. I made it past that part though and I'm now a couple hours into the game. Haven't played an actual horror/scary game in a long time so it's fun going through this one. Can't guarentee I'll finish it, but I'll keep playing for now.

[Kong Wen]

11-14 October - I had a couple good chunks of time to play this despite the holiday. Wow this game is bigger than I thought, even with people telling me it was big. I'm glad I'm playing it right after Bloodstained, because, as good as that game was, it's allowing Hollow Knight to reveal its brilliance in high contrast. I beat Soul Master, Dung Defender, the Mantis Lords (easily the best part of the game), Flukemarm, and some ghostly warriors. I also acquired several more maps, and now have 20/40 charms.

I've been trying to clear as much of an area as I can (beating a boss, getting a map, etc.) before moving on, but after the Greenpath, this game really wants you to juggle several open areas at a time. That feeling of leaving things undone all over the map is part of what contributes to its feeling of scope. It's also very patient with revealing the world's central lore. The early game sets a certain pace, so you think you're progressing along quite nicely through a snappy Metcastlevania, and then you get to the City of Tears and realize that you've just passed the tutorial.

It lets you prod at the world where you like, instead of just telling you where to go (or even not-so-subtly guiding you through use of one obvious roadblock that can be solved with one obvious new power).

The Mantis Lords are fucking great.

OK, whew...

15-20 October - I'm now up to around 28-30/40 charms, I have a map of every area, I have the shadow versions of all my abilities including dash, I have three nail techniques, I've unlocked all the Stagways, and I beat a couple more bosses and a couple more difficult platforming sections. I'm really not sure how much is left in terms of the main story, but I'm guessing at least 4 bosses. I need to get at least 4 more mask shards (maybe 8) and 1 more vessel shard (maybe 4) and the rest of the charms. If I really want the Platinum, I also have to go to work on the pantheon/boss rushes, which will be... quite challenging. Coming along, though! I'm really glad I dedicated my October to this gem!

22 October - I beat two more bosses, completed my second soul vessel, rescued something like 9 more grubs, and I think I've unlocked the final boss (or the fake final boss before the real one, because that seems like something this game would do). Before I tackle that, I'm going to keep scouring the map for little things I may have missed. My file is at around 40 hours now.

23 October - I started scouring areas one by one. Found two more charms and a couple more grubs. I also triggered what appears to be a fairly significant side-quest, but we'll see how that goes. I went to the Arena and won the first challenge (there are two more). I also started mapping out an area I had already gotten through and found another boss stashed away in there! So that's where I'll be heading tonight.

[VictorViper]

I had been playing a lot of the aforementioned Vast quite a bit leading up to a big teach, which ended up going down on Friday. I'm glad I spent so much time playing "solo" since we only had to check in on an edge case once, with all other queries able to be answered off the top of my head. Great game, awesome table presence (we even drew a crowd)... am I a bad person for winning?

Meanwhile I've also been playing a solo (or co-op) adventure game called Escape the Dark Castle, a simple and bleak horror-fantasy themed dungeon hack full of rotten encounters. It's not especially good, but it does fulfill a similar itch as Fighting Fantasy/Choose your own Adventure, etc. I won't stop till I beat it at least once, but this one's ripe to be flipped at the first opportunity.

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[The Shoemaker]

Ended up beating Resident Evil 4 last night, which was nice as I wasn't sure if I was going to continue with it when I first started. The game isn't hard per say, but the beginning had just enough pushback that I wasn't sure I was in the mood for, but I ended up really liking the whole experience. Maybe a few hours too long I'd say, but I say that about most games. Especially if you go off the in game timer which said I had played the game for 80 hours when it was more like 10-15

This got me into booting up Resident Evil Revelations through game Pass as well, just to check out the game as I hadn't played it since the 3DS. Even though I've heard mediocre things I might check out RE 5 and RE 6 as well since they are on Game Pass.

[Sharecrow]

I’m still trying at Alien Isolation but am having trouble with a sneaking section. I think I finally know what to do it’s just doing it. The concerning thing is that I’m really early in the game to be stuck. Maybe it’ll be a slow burn game I play for months.

I started Layers of Fear 2, as I like the interface more than Soma’s. This will keep me going through the end of the month. Then I can keep working on whatever I’m not done with before picking non-scary games

[Kong Wen]

OK, whew...

15-20 October - I'm now up to around 28-30/40 charms, I have a map of every area, I have the shadow versions of all my abilities including dash, I have three nail techniques, I've unlocked all the Stagways, and I beat a couple more bosses and a couple more difficult platforming sections. I'm really not sure how much is left in terms of the main story, but I'm guessing at least 4 bosses. I need to get at least 4 more mask shards (maybe 8) and 1 more vessel shard (maybe 4) and the rest of the charms. If I really want the Platinum, I also have to go to work on the pantheon/boss rushes, which will be... quite challenging. Coming along, though! I'm really glad I dedicated my October to this gem!

22 October - I beat two more bosses, completed my second soul vessel, rescued something like 9 more grubs, and I think I've unlocked the final boss (or the fake final boss before the real one, because that seems like something this game would do). Before I tackle that, I'm going to keep scouring the map for little things I may have missed. My file is at around 40 hours now.

23 October - I started scouring areas one by one. Found two more charms and a couple more grubs. I also triggered what appears to be a fairly significant side-quest, but we'll see how that goes. I went to the Arena and won the first challenge (there are two more). I also started mapping out an area I had already gotten through and found another boss stashed away in there! So that's where I'll be heading tonight.

24-27 October - Alright... I beat the boss I mentioned before, then finished a new (!?!?!?) zone last night, collected all the collectible grubs, all the sword techniques, all the magic spells and their upgrades, all the mana upgrades. I still need 2 mask shards (HP containers), 5 charms, 1 more ore for what has to be my final sword upgrade (and I know where it is), and there are 6 optional bosses I haven't tackled yet, 2 more levels in the arena, 1 whole sidequest chain that I just discovered (not sure how long it is), and then the optional boss rush modes.

Game clock: 45 hours.

I spent $12 on this game.

[Kong Wen]

24-27 October - Alright... I beat the boss I mentioned before, then finished a new (!?!?!?) zone last night, collected all the collectible grubs, all the sword techniques, all the magic spells and their upgrades, all the mana upgrades. I still need 2 mask shards (HP containers), 5 charms, 1 more ore for what has to be my final sword upgrade (and I know where it is), and there are 6 optional bosses I haven't tackled yet, 2 more levels in the arena, 1 whole sidequest chain that I just discovered (not sure how long it is), and then the optional boss rush modes.

Game clock: 45 hours.

I spent $12 on this game.

28 October - I defeated 5 of the 6 optional bosses that I hadn't tackled. There's one left and I've tagged him on my map, so I'm coming for him tonight. I found a new Super Meat Boy platforming zone. (And beat it!! It took 3 hours.) I got the final two mask shards to complete my HP, and the final sword upgrade. I'm only missing 3 charms, but I'm 100% certain where one is, 90% on another, and 50% on the last one. I completed the arena. I only have one missing entry in my hunter's journal. I'll work on all this lingering stuff tonight. Might be on pace to finish everything on Halloween night!

[Kong Wen]

24-27 October - Alright... I beat the boss I mentioned before, then finished a new (!?!?!?) zone last night, collected all the collectible grubs, all the sword techniques, all the magic spells and their upgrades, all the mana upgrades. I still need 2 mask shards (HP containers), 5 charms, 1 more ore for what has to be my final sword upgrade (and I know where it is), and there are 6 optional bosses I haven't tackled yet, 2 more levels in the arena, 1 whole sidequest chain that I just discovered (not sure how long it is), and then the optional boss rush modes.

Game clock: 45 hours.

I spent $12 on this game.

28 October - I defeated 5 of the 6 optional bosses that I hadn't tackled. There's one left and I've tagged him on my map, so I'm coming for him tonight. I found a new Super Meat Boy platforming zone. (And beat it!! It took 3 hours.) I got the final two mask shards to complete my HP, and the final sword upgrade. I'm only missing 3 charms, but I'm 100% certain where one is, 90% on another, and 50% on the last one. I completed the arena. I only have one missing entry in my hunter's journal. I'll work on all this lingering stuff tonight. Might be on pace to finish everything on Halloween night!

29 October - Alright, here we go! Defeated the last optional boss that I knew about, but then discovered 2 more and beat one of those too! I collected all the charms, beat the side-quest, and filled my bestiary. All I have left to do tonight is complete the full bestiary notes (just killing a couple monsters multiple times), get more practice in the pantheons/boss rush modes, and beat the game.

[Claytone]

I've beaten the MediEvil remake just in time for Halloween! I posted my thoughts in the game clear thread, but I was a fan. I already liked the original, so this was a no-brainer. Glad Sony put it out the week before Halloween instead of Halloween itself (see: Luigi's Mansion). Plenty of time to beat it in the month of October. Should also become my 10th platinum trophy after I get back from Los Angeles.