materwelonz
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February 2024 Channel Update – It’s The End Of The Month And I Haven't Write An Update Yet AaaAAaaaaa
🕑 Added 2024-02-25 02:25:04 +0000 UTCHi all,
It’s the mega crazy release month!!!!!!!!!!!!
My brain is kinda fried right now so please pretend I wrote some nice intros, pleasantries and niceties here and we’ll get on with the video games 😂
TL;DR
- Finished: Thirsty Suitors, The Exit 8
- Ongoing: Lies of P, Pacific Drive
- Upcoming: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Finished Stuff
Thirsty Suitors (7 videos, 1-2 hours long each): Did a first look of this back in December and went back for it! Good lord dialogue is so impeccably snappy and witty. It's not for everyone, but I think the immigrant story of juggling family relations, personal identity, and intergenerational trauma will hit really hard for people who can relate. Great little gem.
The Exit 8 (1 video): Essentially a spot-the-difference game, but made scary because players have overactive imagination 😂 Short & sweet, never overstayed its welcome – had a good time with this one! (This was totally a “hey I saw everyone else playing it, maybe I’ll check it out too kind of game hahah.)
First Looks
INDIKA: A nun goes on a journey of self-discovery in 19th century alternative Russia. This one is bizarre – aesthetically it’s Plague Tale (ie. 3D photorealism), but it also has these pixel art/chiptune music segments that clash very hard with the realism. Maybe these opposing elements are used for commentary re: the theological themes but it’s hard to conclude from the demo. Very weird, but I’ll continue to keep a look out for it.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden: DON’T NOD’s latest choose your own adventure of a pair of ghost hunters who must navigate making difficult choices in a land where spirits and curses are commonplace. It’s a slow start – I played ~1.5 hours and still didn’t really get to the meat of things yet. The story and dialogue quality seem well-polished, though nothing super “WOW!!!” jumped out at me in the time I spent with it. Would’ve liked to check this one out more if it wasn’t crazy month!
Tomb Raider Remastered: This looks great graphically but the modern controls that I played with were frustratingly inaccurate, and it felt more like a game about battling the controls more so than Lara parkouring or fighting some cave animals. I think it’s totally okay to retain the 1996 gameplay feel but some more robust features like auto-saving would’ve been really welcome too.
Current Stuff
Lies of P: Pinocchio Soulslike aka my first time with a “real” Soulslike on the channel. I’ve finished the game now – thank goodness I don't have to cancel this series because I suck too much! I’ll save the bulk of my impressions for when the series gets to end (about ~10 more videos as of this post) but I had a good time with something more gameplay-focused.
Pacific Drive: It’s like Subnautica but with cars instead of boats and weird SCP-like anomalies instead of ocean monsters. I enjoyed the preview we did of it in January a lot, but with the full release I am seeing how unforgiving it can be (e.g. losing a lot of progress if you die) and the tedium and repetition can be a bit much. (The latter might be more of a content creator "omgg I gotta keep the video interesting" problem and not a player problem though, cause I think these gameplay loops can feel very addictive when you're the one actually doing it.)
I don’t’ think my opinions are fully formed yet so I’ll wait until I wrap up to say more. (I’m currently in a mad dash trying to at least finish playing this before Rebirth comes out lol.)
Upcoming Stuff
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth releases this coming week and I’m currently doing a big review of the story up until now to get ready for it. I think this + wrapping up Pacific Drive and Lies of P is going to be the bulk of the channel for the next bit.
I also wanted to share my reasoning for how I picked games this past month:
- I wanted to get to FF7R at launch, but I don’t know how long that’s going to be. A BG3 series is likely to be 100+ hours and these two will overlap if I started BG3 now, which isn't ideal
- FF7R comes out at the very end of February though, and if I wasn’t gonna start BG3 now either then that leaves a blank from January to February. I decided to slot in Thirsty Suitors, Lies of P, and Pacific Drive (all 3 are first looks from before)
All this to really say: yes, I see from the interest check poll from last update that lots of you want to see Baldur’s Gate 3, and rest assured that I haven’t forgotten about it – just looking for the right timing so I can enjoy it without too much stress. (Anyone remember when I was playing Witcher 3 and RDR2 at the same time – haha yeah that was really something LOL.)
On that previous poll I mentioned The Thaumaturge and Open Roads being on my radar – both of these ended up getting delayed into March, which ironically makes it harder for me to get to because I think I’ll be focused on FF7R by then. I’ll try my best to at least fit in first looks if I can!
Anyway, I gotta get back to reviewing the rest of FF7 Remake – I have sooOOoo much to try to make sense of before Rebirth arrives lmao. I hope you're having a great time with all the games out this month! Thanks for your support as always and let me know your thoughts/suggestions/comments below!!
Cheers,
Welonz
Comments
Mark Robinson (Hexemon)
I second this notion too. Your comment is well written (better than I could lolz) and would sum up my hopes as well as quite a few people I know. Happy gaming.
Materwelonz
I wanted to finish playing Pacific Drive so I can focus on playing FF7R (+ just editing for the other series) but I don't think that'll be possible 🤣
Materwelonz
It's not off the table but I don't have specific plans at the moment - it's a pretty taxing genre so I'd have to find the right timing (ie. not during game release season) & mood!
Kyle Junge
At this point FF7R is the only big game on my radar for the year and can't wait to see you're playthrough. Your Remake playthrough is how I found your channel so can't wait for it. I do have my eyes on Dragons Dogma 2 as well. Haven't played the first but I don't think I've ever heard a negative thing said about dragons dogma so if 2 reviews well I may take a look. Also really looking forward to your BG3 playthrough when you get to it. As others have said the devs of BG3 are really on top of updating it with significant bug fixes and even pretty major content updates so waiting to play it means you will get an even better version than those of us who beat it at launch. But most important is you tackle these games at a time and pace where you can actually have fun with them!!
naoxmon
Sounds good! Thanks for the update and all the hard work :) When you continued with Lies of P, I didn't think you would still try to squeeze Pacific Drive before Rebirth lol It's probably fine if you don't finish it before FF7R releases though, at least from my perspective. Also a good idea imo that you're keeping BG3 for when you're in a good state of mind, ready for it and not overloaded with other games or work stuff. I think it will be better for the viewers too :D
Neil F
I'll be looking forward to the inevitable "Tifa!! Hiiiii...*Welonzblush*" In FFVII: Rebirth :D I've been avoiding pretty much everything on it since I'm pretty sure they'll be switching some things up from the original, so I'm ready to dive back into that world with you. And if I can make a suggestion in preparation for when you do decide to launch up BG3, absolutely watch a video or 2 on youtube for beginners to DnD 5th Edition. Probably only a half hour might be all you need to save yourself from feeling overwhelmed at the start. It's not necessarily "complicated", just "different", and the best thing is it won't spoil anything about the game. The main things I'd focus on would be how Actions, Bonus Actions and Spell Slots work. Things have been altered to translate better to a video game but the main premise is basically the same. Things like the numbered stats you honestly don't even have to think about at the very start since the games default recommended stats are perfectly fine.
nerdnumber11
I agree. There is a danger that there will never be the "right time" and BG3 gets delayed over and over again
Luis Muratet
As a huge BG3 fan i am both happy and sad, specially since i am also one of the very few people on the planet that doesnt like the FF franchise (i know thats, generally, a very good franchise, dont get me wrong). But knowing that you havent forgotten about BG3 and actually plan to play it in the future makes me hopeful. Also as someone said before, BG3 is getting constant patches and fixes, adding even more content wich also means you will play the better version at the time you play it, but i have other concerns... for example, knowing how long FF7R and BG3 are, and knowing the confirmed game launches that are coming this year (Hades 2, Hellblade 2, and some others) i fear you will delay BG3 playthrough even more. Anyway, still love your playthroughs and will keep supporting your content because its actually very good content (the very best in fact for me) Thanks and happy gaming
Andreas Tremere Waya
Baldurs gate 3 will be a huge project. Yet I believe you will enjoy it trememdously. Looking forward to the new content! Hope You are not freezing much back there in Canada! Winter is almost done
Andreas Tremere Waya
I really love watching you getting better in Lies of P with your thinking out loud. You are really encouraging me to try some of the souls like games again...but like the last boss, I think I dont have that level of patience to deal with double levels of boss fights...
Calmmo
FF7R looks fine but at the same time I honestly couldnt stomach the poor image quality during the demo. Performance mode looks atrociously poor in terms of image quality. I feel somewhat forced to wait for PC (heard the contract squeenix have with sony is pretty short this time)
Michalis Pachitis
Would you consider playing more souls-like games like Sekiro, Bloodborne or even the Dark Souls trilogy. Depsite your initial worries you were pretty good at the game ( better than me anws) and the videos were very fun to watch 😁
Paulo Victor De Aguiar
BG3 is getting patches with new contents and bug fixes. By the time you finish FF7R, BG3 will be well polished and with the oficial mod support. I hope you enjoy playing both games.
Jordan Back
Thank you for another month of amazing videos! You are the best as usual. Can't wait to see your playthrough of Rebirth. I know I am super excited to play it myself. Been a long wait for it to come out. I'm looking forward to BG3 but please take your time, no rush. Plus with how they keep updating it so much, it will only be better when you do get to it. Take care and have a great March!
nerdnumber11
I don't know if patreon allows links but here is the link for steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2161700/Persona_3_Reload/
nerdnumber11
I am personally not interested in FF7R but I am sure many will have a blast with that LP! Patiently waiting for BG3 after:) Other than that I wanted to mention in case you missed it: atlus released this month a full remake of Persona 3 called "Persona 3: Reload". It is the shortest of the modern Persona-games (P3-5) with around 70-80 hours and this time atlus does not have any restrictions for LPs and streams. Might want to check this out since Persona is a long requested series on your channel
Tyko Brian
Happy gaming! 😁
Xavier Cho
From what I gathered, FF7R takes 4-50 hours to finish for average (non-completionist) players. I guess it means I'll have to wait another month or two before BG3 series finally starts. I can't deny that I feel disappointed since I've been waiting for the series from last year. But I totally understand and agree that you should choose to play it when it wouldn't give you stress instead of fun. And I'm sure you'd do first looks on many interesting titles in the meanwhile. Thanks for the update! And I'm glad I can still watch you playing so many great games when I can't play them as much anymore.
