The Mind Of OverlordTomala

A Story About The Game A Story About My Uncle (Try Saying That Three Times Fast)

I obtained this as a freebie awhile back, and like many I collect freebies for my own amusement. I remember watching some YouTubers play this game, and it looked like a lot of fun but I could never to look for it on Steam when I found the time, not that it matters now… it was free!

It all starts out with the protagonist telling his child a bedtime story inside a black void. He tells her about his own childhood adventure about the search to find his Uncle Fred who loved to travel to infinity and beyond:

No, really.

Even in the beginning of the game there are all kinds of details scattered around in the form of notes and books, some giving you a heads up on the narration, and even some deep meta:

You can’t see much of it, but there are some pages that even detail information for the player to follow. I like little touches like these in games, it gives you something extra to look for.

Salamander Elsa

The search for your Uncle leads you to a village in what looks like a cavernous alien world with a decent amount of glowing plants, floating rocks and strange glowing writings on the walls that your Salamander Elsa friend (her name is Maddie, but I’ve decided she’s Elsa of the Salamanders) helps you decode along on your journey. She is one of the many salamander people who happen to know your uncle, but alas even they have no idea where he is either. You are at least pointed in a dark and scary direction, of which you’ll most likely find your uncle if you can traverse these dark caverns in your new found suit of course.

Checkpoint

You are armed only what is called an adventure suit, which you obtained back at your Uncle’s house. The Adventure Suit gives you the ability to power jump and grapple your way from point to point. You obtain crystals or “power cores” along your journey, and for each one you obtain you can throw an extra grapple before touching the ground. I can currently grapple three times before having to land on the ground to recharge for example.

I accidentally glitched an area of the cave where you meet a one eyed purple people eating worm, and whenever it has its eye open you have to stand perfectly still until it goes back to sleep. I decided to drop off at this point last night, and upon returning to it today the purple cockworm was stuck asleep.

Lazy Bastard

Oops? At least I made it through the cave, and the worm managed to get a good night’s sleep.

Each world seems to be more abstract than the last. You go from caves, to a skyworld, and currently I’m making my way through some icy mountain caves.

Foxy Boxes

I’m not entirely sure how far I’m into the game, but so far I really like it. You might consider it if you’re into first person platformers, the level design is really something else.

Devolver Digital Continues To Impress

Due to E3 being cancelled, game companies and publishers have pretty much had to announce everything online for obvious reasons. Out of all of them each year I always anticipate Devolver Digital’s ridiculous shows. as that has been a tradition since 2017 when they made what I would consider the best E3 presentation in history. If you’ve never seen it go check a look:

This year Devolver kicked things in a different direction, and not only released their “Devolver Direct” stream but also release Devolverland Expo on Steam; An E3 Booth Simulator built on Unreal Engine 4.

 

If you’re familiar with Devolver’s yearly shenanigans you’ll pretty much expect what’s to come when you wander through the convention center. Each booth you visit has a game trailer you can watch, and you can even obtain secret objects to unlock unannounced game trailers. It’s a pretty cool concept, and actually should have been done sooner just to give those who are unable to go a chance to experience their games in a simulated personal matter.

There’s even a boss battle at the end! After making your way to the end you obtain a power glove. This will come in handy (no pun intended) when the boss starts throwing giant sawblade like CD’s and bombs at you. This was a blast from start to finish, and I still need to go back and find the secret items. 😛 I was impressed by all the additional details at each booth, and the overall humor.

Haven’t had this kind of fun since The Stanley Parable and Jazzpunk. I hope we get something like this again next year. It was a fun experience! Of course, if you’re not into the first person shooter experience involved in traversing this simulator you can always enjoy the Devolver Direct Livestream:

It’s Starting To Look Like A Thing

I was going to post something about this last night, but ended up collapsing in a bed instead after a hard day of work and a little bit of film editing. If all goes well I should have it wrapped up in a day or two. All the clips are in place… however there are other tweaks that need to be made before a proper export can be done.

So, about that bed…

Philly Steak Without The Sandvich

I chipped in and made dinner this fine ass eve. I made philly cheese steak stuffed peppers with some bread on the side. It was pretty quick to make and very filling. I needed something easy to make, and this can be prepared in a little under an hour. I might make some cheesy risotto to make with it next time, or Quinoa or some form of rice.

Happy 4th On The 5th Open Thread

I hope everyone had a happy 4th! Our usual fireworks display was postponed due to COVID-19. So I spent the better part of the evening doing the usual stuff, dishes, animation, etc… I’ve been up late working in SFM, and I’m finally rendering the main part of the project! I’m going to let it do its thing while I rest awhile.. I’m trying to cure my vampirism before the weekend comes to a close, and I’m failing miserably in due part to drinking lots of tea.. I should still try to get some shut eye while its still dark though.

Fallout TV? What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Bethesda is partnering up with Amazon to make a TV series based on Fallout:

The Fallout franchise has been home to some of the best storytelling in gaming. The post-nuclear apocalypse series has seen a number of iterations, and is set to receive another soon. It’s been announced that a Fallout TV series is in the works for Amazon Prime Video. The show is being produced by the creators of Westworld.

My only question is if this will be based on the games, or if this will be another reality TV type thing after a nuclear attack?

You know, I do have prime… the question is can I be arsed to watch enough of it to do a write up?

Hail To The Strange Secrets Baby

Playing Ion Maiden last night made me feel nostalgic for some Duke3D. Forgot how fun this was. It had jetpacks, pig cops and aliens, rocket launchers and excellent level designs with secrets to find varying from useful to slightly disturbing:

Anyone familiar with Duke Nukem lore will know that aliens and saving babes is pretty much the premise of this series (this was the 90’s after all, you don’t need a compelling story to market a game), so finding a woman trapped in an alien cocoon is just something that happens. Still, that doesn’t make it any less disturbing. What really added to it was her begging to be killed. I know in Duke Nukem Forever the Duke’s twin slut girlfriends get captured by the aliens and placed in a similar situation, where they were not only trapped in the cocoon but also impregnated by the aliens (all kinds of yummy :/ ). I’m guessing this is why I couldn’t find any way to save this literal two dimensional woman.

There is your nightmare/fetish fuel for the evening. Time for me to head off to work!

Hell Hath No Fury Like An Ion Maiden Scorned

Ion Fury was another game I got during the summer sale. I’ve actually been following this project ever since it still being referred to as “Ion Maiden”. It plays like something out of the Duke Nukem era, mainly because it plays on the same engine with a few modern tweaks. In fact it’s basically a Duke Nukem game but with a badass woman to replace a badass man, and a more cyberpunk type of universe. The humor is pretty much the same.

I’m only two levels in so far, but so far I’ve been pleasantly amused. I think its great that 3D Realms is still getting use out of their build engine. I mean if you’re going to waste a ton of money on Hookers and Blow you can’t afford to invest in newer game engines. So good they’ve finally found a balance.