I’m sticking to slowly clearing my backlog for now but thanks for the recommendation! So much to play, so little time…

Oh, I didn’t try to imply you did. It’s just I’ve seen a lot of talk about this route being more… rough (on a story rather than quality level), so to speak? If that’s the case I’m just not in a headspace for something like that and would rather play it when I’m in a position to better appreciate what’s there. Maybe I just misunderstood people’s thoughts about it, that’s also a possibility.

Either way I do want to go back to it eventually, if only to spend some more time with both characters (I do find them fun whenever they show up in other routes).

A lot of comments I’ve seen about Shizune’s route suggested it probably wouldn’t be something I’ll enjoy, that’s why I decided to skip it for now. I might give it a shot some day but for now I’m just happy with all the other great stuff in the VN.

Katawa Shoujo is great!

I played it years ago and decided to replay it again a few months back. My initial playthrough was limited to Hanako’s route (got a bad ending which I’m kind of baffled by after the replay) so this time I wanted to try out the other ones as well. Rin’s story ended up being a surprise highlight of the whole process in a way I wasn’t really prepared for (had some very familiar thoughts showing up there). Her whole story just clicked with me and wouldn’t let go until some time after finishing it.

All the other routes were great as well (haven’t touched Shizune/Misha one) and I’m glad I decided to give it another shot for an expanded experience. It was worth it and made me wish for more games with disabled protagonist/characters (without using it as their main characteristic obviously).

I tried playing Bahamut Lagoon, a Japan only SNES TRPG, but had to stop due to some technical issues with the unofficial translation. The little bit I did manage to play (prologue and the first scene after that) was interesting enough so I’ll definitely try again, I just need to get back to my PC so I can research what’s wrong with it.

To keep with the theme I started Jeanne d’Arc, the PSP TRPG, instead. I like the art style, animated cutscenes and gameplay. Not a huge fan of the fantastical elements but they’re not a dealbreaker either. I’m not sure what to think about the story just yet - I like it for the most part but there are some things that make me a bit wary since they might potentially turn into tropes I’m not going to be happy with. It’s a “wait and see” for now since I’m still pretty early on. It’s good so far.

I moved away from Unity after the whole pricing fiasco (it wasn’t the only reason but rather the final push) but I had no technical problems working with it for a good few years. As long as the SDK you need works on Linux you should be good.

Did you know Need For Speed: World is alive and kicking? Not officially, obviously, but through the power of fan servers and the wonderful project that is Soapbox Race World. It’s not the best NFS in the series and can be pretty tough if you play it without power ups but it’s fun.

For those who never heard of NFS:W - it’s a live service, online only entry in the series. It consists of maps from Most Wanted and Carbon combined into one and brings some additional gameplay changes specific for the live service model (power ups, performance parts with incremental stats upgrades etc). It also has a pretty good visual editor - can be a bit cumbersome at times but you can do some great stuff with it.

Fan servers are surprisingly active and provide A LOT of new cars, parts etc do play with. They also have different rules so if you want a place where getting everything you want is easy, you can do that as well.

My second game is Wagahime or Waga Himegimi ni Eikan o, a comedy visual novel by Minato Soft. Unlike their other work (that I read anyway) it’s set in a medieval fantasy world with magic, beast races and all the usual stuff. It has three main routes, each expanding the world and providing details for the other ones, and each filled with fun characters and events.

I won’t be spending much time on it since all that’s left is finishing the final route but it’s a great read and I really wanted to mention it. Minato Soft seriously reignited my love for VNs lately.

Last but not least, Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery - a sci-fi strategy RPG. It came out this year so I’m not going to go too much into it but it’s a great and at times challenging title. Worth looking into if you’re interested in this genre.

That’s good to know, thanks!

Much obliged for that! I often think about writing on what I’m playing but end up forgetting due to time constraints - threads like this one definitely help with that.

I get that, it’s just if there’s no mod to post it I think it’s better to have a topic rather than not, especially since it can be pinned afterwards if any mod stumbles into the community again.

We could also bully them into setting up a bot that would post those automatically but this might have its own issues since some people disable bot submissions.

That sounds encouraging. I’ve been meaning to give it a shot but the backlog is a fickle beast and lives by its own rules.

How’re the Kb/M controls?

Majikoi! Love Me Seriously! S - it’s a wacky visual novel about a group of high-schoolers in a world where melee combat is pretty much commonplace and all the girl MCs are action manga level of strong. Series is hilarious and I can’t stop playing it after getting swept of my feet by Momo in the first game (ended up blazing through it in two days which doesn’t happen often these days). This one is a sequel with the same (though epanded) crew and I really can’t wait to jump back in.

As for the monthly thread, I feel like if it doesn’t happen “officially” the first person to have something to write should just post one themselves instead of waiting. Not like there’s a lot of activity here so it should remain visible long enough to gain traction.

Ahhh, gotcha. I checked the links in OP this time and honestly the NFSU version sounds like many radio edits I heard before so I’m not sure what to tell you. Couldn’t find an official radio version to compare but I don’t really hear anything strange there.

Is it a ham-fisted way to do it? Sure. Personally I chuck it up to the fact not every label bothers with a less noticeable edit for their songs.

A lot of explicit music has (or used to have) a “radio version” which silenced or changed the offensive language so they could be used in places and products aimed at a younger audience. That’s what this is.

Music isn’t the only thing with censored cuts. Have you ever seen old TV versions of mature rated movies? Die Hard, Scarface and many others had swearing redubbed in corny and unfitting ways just so they could be played on the small screen.

It’s just another way of “protecting” kids from one thing while completely disregarding other, more screwed up elements still present in the same media.

Can’t talk for the others, obviously, but I tend to avoid unsolicited advice since I know how annoying it can be.

Oh, totally. I never went beyond Shogun 2 so I forgot to mention it. Good catch.

In case you’re not aware, there’s a project called VCMI which rewrites the Heroes 3 engine to add lots of modern improvements, fixes and easier access to mods. Thought it might be of interest since you like the game.

As for other games, how about XCOM? These games are turn based so you should be fine with touchpad + there’s plenty of time to think. Don’t know what specs we’re talking about but in case of modern revival, XCOM: Enemy Unknown should work without issues. XCOM 2 is slightly heavier but might also work.

You could also go for 4X titles like Star Ruler or Total War series.

Finally, there are turn-based RPGs like Knights of Pen and Paper - it’s light and pretty fun (as far as I remember anyway). A bit simple but might be enough to spend some time on.

Yeah, Metal Wolf is a cheesy action movie filtered through Japanese lens. It’s crazy, stupid and unintentionally hilarious.

As for Gothics, I think they hold up really well as long as you can overcome a few things:

• get used to the controls - they really aren’t bad but they were created when standards weren’t as established as they are now.
• treat them as worlds you are a part of rather than games - it helps figure out alternative solutions to quests and avoid some unpleasant surprises (in universe, not bugs).
• game world does not revolve around you - early on even basic wildlife will be a challenge, treat enemies with respect.
• there’s no level scaling - some areas will be unavailable to you until you’re strong (or crafty) enough.
• don’t play Gothic II with Night of the Raven expansion installed from the start - it adds a bunch of difficult enemies available from the get go and will make the game way harder if you don’t know how to avoid them.

I think some of those points might sound more serious than they really are but should make for a good primer anyway. There’s a lot to like about those games (even compared to another titan of that time, Morrowind) so I hope you have fun!

Couple of disclaimers to start with: I’m primarily a PC player, even most of the console games I played happened via emulation so I’ll drop stuff from both. I’m also really fond of games willing to try something different, even if they end up mediocre or bad - these ain’t GOTY material.

With that out of the way, here’s a short list of titles I really enjoyed:

• Croc: Legend of the Gobbos (PC, PSX, Sega Saturn) - 3D platformer with relatively slow and clunky gameplay (kind of similar to classic Tomb Raider games). Colorful, cute and simple.
• Kao the Kangaroo (Dreamcast, PC) - series very similar to Croc though might feel a bit less polished at times. Don’t really care about the sequel even though it’s not a bad game.
• Parasite Eve (PSX) - JRPG set in 1990’s New York. Interesting combat system focused on guns and positioning, great art and fun story.
• Gothic I & II (PC) - German RPGs with a unique atmosphere and world. Surprisingly open-ended with some of its quests. Has an unusual keyboard-centric control scheme.
• Sheep (Mac OS, PC) - game about herding sheep through various wacky levels. Lots of humor.
• Metal Wolf Chaos (Xbox) - crazy story about an American president fighting FOR DEMOCRACY in a mech suit, created by From Soft. Has modern ports for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
• Oni (Mac OS, PC, PS2) - the best Ghost in the Shell game without actually being one*. Third person action with a great melee combat, big empty levels and rough difficulty spikes. Has a community made “Anniversary Edition” with fixes and access to mods.

* I haven’t played all of the GitS games to back that up.

Nothing wrong with that.

The ability to play all that old stuff is a thing of beauty and seems to be getting stronger, both in practice and as a general concept within the industry, with each passing year. It’s great!