materwelonz
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June & July 2022 Channel Update - A Delayed Post is Eventually Good, But A Rushed One Is Forever Bad
🕑 Added 2022-07-07 19:32:50 +0000 UTCHi all,
First off, apologies for the late update post! Towards the end of June I had been feeling really overloaded. Something had to give, and I decided a delayed update post is better than delayed videos...
(FYI when things don’t go as planned I do try to tweet out quick updates so you’re not just in the dark, which is what I did prior to this post as well!)
Let’s quickly get to the meat of things!!!
Finished Since Last Update
TUNIC (26 parts): WHEW… this started out as a cutesy foxy combat adventure and turned into something else. Not quite what I expected but it was truly a fun, unique, high-effort-begets-high-reward type of experience. My brain is tired now, it needs a vacation 🤣
This is one of those games I’d recommend anyone with even a remote passing interest in it to try for themselves first before watching videos/looking stuff up!
Horizon Forbidden West (122 parts): Finally! My original HZD playthrough was about 60-70 parts, so this took much longer than expected.
I poured out most of my thoughts in the videos already but in short: I enjoyed the HFW storyline! It’s an engaging expansion into the Horizon world with some great memorable moments. On the gameplay side of things though I felt there wasn’t enough innovation/evolution from what was already in HZD: the open world can feel quite static and there are little mechanic annoyances here and there (ie. still having to spam left/right a million times to find the one potion or item you want to use).
Don’t get me wrong: HFW is a big budget AAA title, and there’s a baseline of quality associated with that that it absolutely meets. Just for the storyline I would unconditionally play anything in this series anyway lol, but I do wish it would’ve pushed the envelope to become something more. Maybe for Horizon 3!
Progress on Current Stuff
Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong: I’m moving into the final three scenes of the story now. It’s rough around the edges (had to restart levels multiple times to get around bugs etc) but I think the story is engaging, and not in a “Lol The Council Is So Bad It’s Good” kind of way either. I’m very pleasantly surprised - will have to see if this can stick the landing!
The Quarry: A spooky choose-your-own-adventure game from the makers of Until Dawn. Currently I’m at about Chapter 8 of 12. This is some good campy horror fun and I love a lot of the dumb teenager dialogue too lmao.
(Apparently you can't strike out text in Patreon so Pretend This Is Struck Out Okay) TBH I also haven’t been finding this scary………… am I evolving into NotScaredyCatWelonz…?????
AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES – nirvanA Initiative: The sequel to the first Somnium Files which some of you might remember was a Patreon poll winner back in 2019! By the creator of the Zero Escape series, it’s a detective mystery visual novel with really weird ass Japanese things but also a ton of heart and character.
I haven’t played much (any) weeb stuff recently so this might be sort of surprising to newer viewers but here we are. The first AI was endearing and so far the second AI is shaping up to get even crazier.
I went for the Japanese voicing again for consistency’s sake (we also voted for this with the first AI), but one of these days I’d like to try the English dub too. I get the Japanese voices is a big barrier for people who like to keep videos on in the background and also for those not normally into Japanese stuff. It would be nice if we could make the experience accessible to more people...!
Upcoming Stuff
I expect VTM: Swansong and The Quarry to finish up in the next two weeks, and for July releases I think I’m just looking at Stray.
I 100% remember I said I’d like to do a poll after HFW wraps up! However, in the past few months I’ve been doing the 3-games-simultaneously thing, and with my day job getting busier I really don’t feel it’s working out that well. (Frankly: it was more okay before b/c I was using some work time on YouTube stuff hahah.)
So my preliminary thinking is I will wrap up Swansong/The Quarry, go faster on Stray, then do the poll when I’m left with AI2. Hopefully this sounds good!
(This is also supposed to be struck out, damn you Patreon) We also hit 75k subscribers recently (whoa!!) and I’ve seen some small nudges for a Q&A – maybe a small one is feasible but I don’t wanna do another big one again so soon LOL. I will go and see about this!!
Thanks for your support as always, and do feel free to let me know any suggestions/comments below!
Have a great July & summer,
Welonz
Comments
Materwelonz
No, asking here is fine! I passed on Dark Pictures mainly because they always came out at times when a billion other things came out, and then some people mentioned the first two weren't too great so I didn't end up going back to it!
Remy Lebeau
I agree with Shadow there; doing three games 'simultaneously' sounds like a disaster to happen, but then again I believe you did mention (somewhere in the past) that you like to have some variation in your games so you can stay invested. Just don't overdo it, okay? At least don't do three long games because you can't wiggle out of that unless you take breaks ;) On a sidenote, perhaps you may want to try your hand at "The Closing Shift"? It's an indie thriller game from "Chilla's Art" that you can spread out over 3-5 videos I believe. Might be good to use as an in-betweener if you are already doing longer ones. It is labeled as a "horror survival game", but to be fair it's more like a thriller with a good setup. I think you might appreciate this more realistic story as well for a change. Graphic-wise it's not that polished though (in some cases even pretty hilarious), but its focus is on the story anyway, which is what you care about, no? -- Another title that caught my eye was "As Dusk Falls", which isn't out yet, so I don't know if it lives up to your standards. The premise sounds promising though, as it's a "choices matter" type of game in a little town with secrets. -- Also, since you've played "Until Dawn" and now "The Quarry", what is the reason you haven't picked up on the games in between ("Man of Medan", "Little Hope", "House of Ashes")? Is it because they're shorter and you're not as interested in that? Or is that more a question you'd save for the Q&A? ;)
Dave
Also, if you are looking for shorter games, you might want to try Everybody's Gone to The Rapture. It's pretty much a walking sim but the story is absolutely stunning and just sooo unique. 5-6 hours long, iirc
Dave
It would be great to watch your playthrough of JFO! And before somebody (understandably) asks you to watch the entire Star Wars saga (including 2 animated series): the only absolutely crucial part for playing JFO is Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (~2hours). It will let you understand like 90% of the story points and references.
Materwelonz
Poll or not I think I'd like to get around to Jedi Fallen Order before the sequel too!
ZodiacShadow
Doing three games at once has always felt nuts to me, Welonz. I don't know how you get the time, drive or energy. Slow down the moment you feel the need to; we'll still be here.
juiceshield
thanks for the update welonz! i haven’t been watching too much of your stuff recently because it’s all stuff i’m intending to play myself but i have been keeping up with the Quarry since i’ve already knocked that one out and it’s been great! you’re right in that it’s not a very scary game but it’s one i really enjoyed nonetheless. as for suggestions, the only one I really have is a pretty far fetched one: final fantasy xiv. if you ever feel like you want to tackle another mega project, ffxiv is the way to go. super great story, and would be a fun challenge for the channel I think
Amar
I started watching your channel when you were a few episodes into Prey. That means I have been watching your content (basically) daily for more than 5 years now. Pretty insane, considering that it's very rare for me to enjoy something for that long. Even when I think I'm not going to enjoy a new LP of yours, I tend to end up liking it anyways. So, thanks for all the content, congrats on 75K, and best suggestion I can give is please keep doing whatever you think is best!
Dave
Yay, Stray!
Purbayan Chatterjee
Thank you for the update Welonz! First of all please do take care of yourself, upload 3 games simultaneously has to be time consuming. >NotScaredyCatWelonz Will it finally be time for Resident Evil 7 for Halloween this year? Or perhaps Outlast?
Captain Kashup
NotScaredyCatWelonz, eh ? Guess you're almost ready for RE7 then !
James T. Jones
Welonz, take your time. Rest up and enjoy the slight reprieve! : ) Lower your upload rate or the amount of games you are playing at the same time, whichever is needed. We’ll be here.
David Schmitz
Thanks for the update! > am I evolving into NotScaredyCatWelonz Perfect timing for The Callisto Protocol in December :P I think the English dub of AI is great and absolutely worth trying even if it's just to hear what everyone sounds like. Hope you have an immaculate July
Jack Frost
Thanks for the update ! I also think that having more focus on 1 or 2 games at most is the best way to go, for us viewers and also for your mental sanity lol ! As for suggestions for the poll later, I think Jedi: Fallen Order is a great, medium lengh game , that doesn't require you to have any previous knowledge about Star wars to appreciate it. And with the second installement coming next year, it could be a good time to play it. Thanks again for hours of entertainment !
Liam McDermott (JeevesBond)
I'm really enjoying VTM: Swansong and The Quarry! Personally, the first AI was just a bit too much for me, I couldn't vibe with it and I'm assuming the second one will be the same, but I'm supporting the series from the sidelines as it seems like something that's right up your alley :D > am I evolving into NotScaredyCatWelonz I used to be a scaredy cat too! But exposure really does de-sensitise you to horror IMO. Another poll? omg, this is it, this is the one where System Shock 2 will win! Hope you have a great Summer too Welonz!
Mecchi
Thank you for the update welonz!!! i think it's a very good idea to wait until the quarry and stray are done to do another poll! please take care of yourself first and foremost ✨
