It’s a bit early, but we did some trick or treating in Resonite! Still exploring quite a few worlds, this was the last one we stopped on. You had to go up to different houses and use voice chat to get the doors to open, then they would hand over sweets, plushies or cursed items. We also did a scavenger hunt in another world. What better way to start my current vacation?
We did some cozy world exploration in Resonite this evening. The theme was Halloween, and they have quite a few Halloween/Horror worlds to explore. We visited a corn maze, went trick or treating for the elements of Halloween, did some literal soul searching, and found some nightmarish optimizations along the way. A pumpkin spiced chai would have made the evening more complete, but I’m on a green tea kick still. Meh, oh well…
Another evening, another metroidvania to try! Tonight I decided to play The Messenger! You play a ninja that has to carry a scroll to its destination, while slaying demons along the way. In some ways the controls are pretty basic, and the boss battles aren’t over the top hard, but still leave room for error if you die. What I like most about it though is the writing. It has a brilliant sense of humor that ties it all together.
On the surface this game looks like a typical old school platformer from pixel art all the way to music, but then you read the dialogue provided by the characters and it takes you by surprise. From the shop keeper to boss battles – The Messenger shows its sense of humor.
Throughout your adventures you can pass through a portal to the shopkeeper, where you can not only purchase upgrades, but listen to some odd stories as well. The shopkeeper can also give you (not so) valuable advice on boss battles. So far I’ve destroyed two, and only died during the first boss battle. Oh yeah! That’s another thing…
When you die you’ll meet this tiny demon by the name of Quarble who saves your soul, for a price. They save your life in exchange for however many points they decide to steal from you, they’ll even follow you around with a notepad until they’re either satisfied or bored.
I’m pretty happy with it so far. In fact I might continue the party on Steam Deck before calling it a night. There’s just something relaxing about curling up in a blanket with some tea to slaughter a few demons, or at the very least convince them to be less evil.
Since I’ve been doing well at progressing at Metroidvanias as of late – I’ve decided to return to Gal Guardians: Demon Purge to take on a boss that left me raging back in May. Tonight I return to The Little Shop Of Horrors to destroy the Karen of Venus Flytraps. I still died a bunch, but I did eventually destroy the damn thing.
Made it to the library, but as usual it’s getting late just as the gettin’ gets good. I miiiight sneak in a tiny bit more on Steam Deck before fully passing out though. 😉
Returned to the battlegrounds of Trick & Tear! Finished a couple of levels before calling it a night. I’ve spent so much time Quakeing and Castlevainiaing that I haven’t given myself time to go over this deadly wad of deadliness. As usual there are more pictures in my post over at Mastodon, or your choice of Fediverse.
After last night’s long ass battle in Castlevania I wanted to take a break from the series… kinda. I’m still in a Metroidvania type mood, and when scanning my library of infinite entertainment I landed on Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. Unlike Ritual of the Night, Curse of the Moon stays closer to the old school.
In Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon you play as Zangetsu, a demon slayer who doesn’t take too kindly to demons or anything/anyone inhabiting demonic energy. He bears a deep grudge and seeks a powerful demon in an evil castle. As Zangetsu travels the unforgiving lands he later meets up with characters that also hail from Ritual of the Night.
Curse of the Moon is neither a sequel or a prologue to the first game, but rather a spinoff. At the time of writing I’ve only beaten the first stage, and now that I’m playing a more modern retro-like game I’m not able to rely on save states. I’m not sure how long this will take me to finish, I can’t help but admire how much effort they put into making this look and feel like something that should play on an NES. If I put my mind to it I’m sure I can beat it!
I was determined to kick Dracula’s ass… and after a few hours of bitching out the screen in constant failure I succeeded! The worst part was Dracula spawning on top of me, but eventually I psyched him out until I got him to show his final form. The second part was actually pretty easy to do compared to Dracula’s teleportation bullshit at the start of the boss battle. But now I can finally say that I BEAT CASTLEVANIA!!!… and I have the achievement to prove it! Sooooo glad I could use save states.
One day while doomscrolling through the Fediverse I came upon Indika; A game about a young girl named Indika, who happens to be a nun in an alternate 19th century Russia. She goes on a journey of self discovery, and meets an unlikely companion along the way. Indika is an indie title with a team so dedicated to finishing their project that they (10 out of 14) had to flee their homeland of Russia in order to finish it. That alone made me curious to see what this game had to offer.
When you start the game it doesn’t take too long to realize that Indika is an outcast amongst her own. She’s forced to reside along a coven of bitchy babushka nuns, and performs tasks her sisters give to her. All the while she is narrated by The Devil himself, who is also a voice in her head. Eventually Indika has to leave the church to go on a journey of self discovery. When Indika isn’t wandering the frozen lands looking for items for basic puzzle solving, she relives childhood flashbacks in a more pixelated environment.
When the game starts she actually falls through space, and later she has a flashback with her father and their oven powered bicycles. The game also gives you the option of collecting points that don’t do anything… or do they?
So far it has been a interesting, unique adventure. Like if classic Resident Evil centered around a nun who goes on regular acid trips. It has the right level of intrigue and horror for me to recommend checking out during Spooktober!
My latest go-to for nursing a sour stomach is a hot bowl of rice and some miso soup. I cracked an egg over the rice, and some toasted nori and soy sauce for added flavor. It also doubles as a quick and easy breakfast, so I’ve been making sure to make some extra rice just in case. It seems like my stomach gets irritated every other day. We’ve been having more processed food lately, mostly due to time constraints and fatigue from working at a corporate hell hole.
That’s a story for a whole other post, preferably when I find another job.