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Gaming Tuesday
Apr. 30th, 2025 09:39 amFinished Veilguard. Overall I enjoyed it but I don’t think I’ll play it again - there’s not enough grit there for me to want to try something different. I do think that having Solas as the main antagonist but then having you fight a completely different enemy for most of the game is a tricky set-up to pull off, and for me it felt more like stalling than a natural story development. I did however do all the sidequests etc and ended up platinuming the game as I only had to go back to unlock two altars and jump over a particular ledge.
Then I played The Outer Wilds, which I’d tried previously and given up on after dismally failing to pilot my spaceship. In some ways this is the total antithesis of Veilguard - in Veilguard you can do all the sidequests and pick the right dialogue options and unlock the secret ending and you save the world, yay!! In The Outer Wilds, you’re stuck in a 22 minute time loop, and the more you find out about what’s going on, the more you realise you can't "win". It is a fantastic game for evoking existential dread as well as having a lot of nerve-wracking game play - there was a bit where I was rapidly running out of oxygen while navigating a rapidly changing underground maze that was filling up with sand that managed to target a significant number of my personal terrifying scenarios - and haunting imagery. I am also now much better at piloting in zero gee but I still wouldn’t employ me to land anything expensive anytime soon. It was unnerving and frustrating and emotional, and I will go back to it (there’s a DLC but there are also other endings and things I didn’t find).
It is very much a puzzle game and it reminds me of playing Myst. However, I did use walkthroughs for bits of The Outer Wilds, because I am older and have less free time and also because the loop/gameplay mechanic meant it was often hard enough for me to get to the place where the puzzle was, whereas when I played Myst I was young and pre-children and I could leave my PC on an Age for months (in one case) before I finally solved the puzzle. I also ended up re-reading Ted Chiang’s The Story of Your Life while playing this for unrelated reasons, but actually it is very similar in feel.
I then played a tiny chunk of Stardew Valley because I haven’t seen all the new 1.6 update features (I play on mobile) and *then* I picked up Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which is the new French turn-based RPG currently sweeping the internet, and it is indeed both very good and very French. You play as the members of Expedition 33, sent out to destroy a powerful malevolent being called the Paintress, who every year eradicates all people above a certain age, counting down from 100 (she has just killed off all the 34 year olds; you’re next). The combat has rhythm game elements and you can jump/dodge/parry during enemy attacks, but again timing is everything - successful dodges get you more actions and successful parries get a counter attack - and I’m enjoying it a lot. It looks great and it definitely feels French, from the city centre with all the memorial statues and the cafés with outside chairs and blackboards to the secret mini boss I have just defeated who is an evil mime (one of many!).
Then I played The Outer Wilds, which I’d tried previously and given up on after dismally failing to pilot my spaceship. In some ways this is the total antithesis of Veilguard - in Veilguard you can do all the sidequests and pick the right dialogue options and unlock the secret ending and you save the world, yay!! In The Outer Wilds, you’re stuck in a 22 minute time loop, and the more you find out about what’s going on, the more you realise you can't "win". It is a fantastic game for evoking existential dread as well as having a lot of nerve-wracking game play - there was a bit where I was rapidly running out of oxygen while navigating a rapidly changing underground maze that was filling up with sand that managed to target a significant number of my personal terrifying scenarios - and haunting imagery. I am also now much better at piloting in zero gee but I still wouldn’t employ me to land anything expensive anytime soon. It was unnerving and frustrating and emotional, and I will go back to it (there’s a DLC but there are also other endings and things I didn’t find).
It is very much a puzzle game and it reminds me of playing Myst. However, I did use walkthroughs for bits of The Outer Wilds, because I am older and have less free time and also because the loop/gameplay mechanic meant it was often hard enough for me to get to the place where the puzzle was, whereas when I played Myst I was young and pre-children and I could leave my PC on an Age for months (in one case) before I finally solved the puzzle. I also ended up re-reading Ted Chiang’s The Story of Your Life while playing this for unrelated reasons, but actually it is very similar in feel.
I then played a tiny chunk of Stardew Valley because I haven’t seen all the new 1.6 update features (I play on mobile) and *then* I picked up Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which is the new French turn-based RPG currently sweeping the internet, and it is indeed both very good and very French. You play as the members of Expedition 33, sent out to destroy a powerful malevolent being called the Paintress, who every year eradicates all people above a certain age, counting down from 100 (she has just killed off all the 34 year olds; you’re next). The combat has rhythm game elements and you can jump/dodge/parry during enemy attacks, but again timing is everything - successful dodges get you more actions and successful parries get a counter attack - and I’m enjoying it a lot. It looks great and it definitely feels French, from the city centre with all the memorial statues and the cafés with outside chairs and blackboards to the secret mini boss I have just defeated who is an evil mime (one of many!).
