aRPG – Ms. Bella's World

7–10 minutes

Steam’s Summer Showcase is in full swing, and for the past three days, gamers have been bombarded with livestreams featuring a wide range of offerings in multiple categories.

I’ve spent these past days watching livestreams, pouring over game descriptions, and downloading a couple of demos. Okay, more than a couple of demos. Here are some of them I thought were worth checking out (in alphabetical order):

Asgard’s Fall: Orgins – Soulpotion, No Set Release Date – This little roguelike has you battling through hordes of enemies to unleash your wrath upon the gods. With colorful pixel graphics, fun music, and multiple skill trees, this one has hooked me. Another bullet-hell incoming and a demo worth checking out!
Broken Lens – Team RUN, July 22nd, 2024 – A cozy spot-the-difference game taken straight from our childhoods, where you learn the story of a little robot with a sight problem. Featuring some fun and colorful graphics, relaxing music, and intuitive game controls, this is a game that’s easy to pick up but hard to put down. I look forward to discovering the story behind the robots and what happened to them.
Bubblegum Galaxy – Smarto Club, No Set Release Date – This hexagonal strategy city builder has you playing as a new office worker who must help discover who deleted the galaxy while building it tile by tile. Features colorful graphics, some quirky characters, and surprisingly challenging puzzles, this one is great for people who love the genre but want a little story to go with it.
Constance – btf Games, No Set Release Date – Constance is a metroidvania platformer where you play as Constance, an artist whose must escape from her own inner world. The graphics are beautiful, the gameplay is fluid and customizable to individual playstyles, and the premise is interesting, especially to artists. And the theme has me curious as to where the game will lead us in the end.
Crypt Custodian – Kyle Thompson – Q3 2024 – continuing the metroidvania theme, in Crypt Custodian you play as a Pluto, a little cat who has died and is sentenced to be the afterlife’s janitor for being bad! Meet an interesting cast of other doomed spirits as you fight, explore, and clean your way through your new home. I really love the graphics style of this game, the gameplay was smooth, and I’m definitely picking this one up.
Devilated – Trunka – EA, $19.99 On Sale until June 12th for $15.99 – This ultraviolent shooter takes its cues from old-school shooters such as Doom and Quake, giving it the tag of ‘Boomer Shooter’. Fight your way through maps of mods, unlocking new gear and abilities to keep fighting. It features old school graphics, a classic RPG inventory with rotatable items, and 30 levels for 20+ hours of playtime. Highly recommend getting to demo if you’re a fan of old classic FPS games.
Dungeon Clawler – Stray Fawn Studio, Q3 2024 – A unique mix of Roguelike, Claw Machine, and Deckbuilder, build your deck and fight enemies by grabbing items from the claw machine. Battle your way through the levels to reclaim something you lost. This one was surprisingly fun, easy to learn, and has some good graphics and gameplay. But what exactly did we lose? I wonder.
Dystopika – Voids Within, Q2 2024 – A solo developer game, Dystopika is a small cyberpunk themed city builder where you can create a towering city of skyscrapers, neon lights and signs, and traffic. The cyberpunk theme is fantastic and I really enjoyed the little details I already discovered from playing around with this. I look forward to seeing where the developer takes it. If you’re a fan of cyberpunk and want a relaxing citybuilder with a darker theme, then check the demo out.
First Dwarf – Star Drifters, Q2 2024 – DWARVES! First Dwarf is an action RPG survival where you play dwarves in a crumbling fantasy world. Hop into your mech and explore, build a base, and survive the dangers. The game features single player and online co-op, a mixture of survival, base building, and tower defense. I haven’t tried the demo, yet, but expect a full article on this one once I do as it sounds right up my alley. And, did I mention dwarves?
Hell of an Office – 43 Studios, March 14th 2023 – One of the older games in the showcase, Hell of an Office is a first-person precision platformer that’s a mix of parkour and speedrun. You play as a new employee to HellO, an office in the underworld. Using your stapler, you have to rocketjump and dash your way through hellish levels before lava engulfs you. This one is absolutely whacky, hectic, and if you’re not good with precision and speed (like me), quite challenging. However, definitely worth checking the demo out if games like this are up your alley.
Immortal Hunters – Admiral Games, 2024 – A co-op RPG, select from one of four characters to go out and fight the Khemrids, nightmarish creatures that live in the heart of the planet. The only protections against them are the church, using unquestioning obedience and questionable methods to keep the special flame – the Holy fire – burning, and the immortal hunters. Play as one of the Hunters, each with their own set of skills which can be combined to create unique fighting styles. I’m digging the darker tone of the game, the potential to play solo or co-op, and I’m curious about the world and story. I will add a caveot that, despite sounding quite interesting, the demo feedback suggest this one needs more time to cook, so take that into consideration. I’ll have more information once I get a chance to try the demo.
Iron Meat – Retroware, 2024 – Another retro inspired arcade shooter, this singleplayer/shared co-op game has you playing in an apocolyptic future overrun by ‘the Meat’, an iron-ravenous mass consuming and mutating everything. This one features a grim world, old-school pixel graphics, side-scrolling gameplay, and 3 levels of difficulty to choose from. Loving the retro vibes from this one and, judging by the comment section on Steam, so is everyone else who tried it out.
Monterona – Slave Korolev, No Set Release Date – A lighthearted and relaxing sandbox building game with a story, Monterona has you building little neighborhoods based on the stories told you by your Italian grandma. Build your scenes wtih a range of decorations, buildings and people. Explore your scene in first-person mode, allowing you to walk the streets of your build. And once you’ve completed the main story, access community stories and sandbox mode for infinite creativity. The graphics are absolutely adorable, the theme is great, and this one is high on my wishlist, along with Tiny Glade and Dystopika, for creative gameplay and fun diorama building.
Munch – Mac n Cheese Games, Q4 2024 – In Munch, you play the monster. Devour followers of Order and mutate into new and twisted forms to fight your way to their god, Ordo and defeat him. I absolutely suck at this one but thought it was a lot of fun and would definitely recommend trying out the demo.
Slime Heroes – Pancake Games, No Set Release Date – This game is a cute souls-like adventure where you play as a little slime who has to save the world from a mysterious corruption. Gather gems to craft skill sets and discover all the different enemy types to commlete your gem collection. You can play this solo or with a friend in online co-op, dropping into each other’s games at any time. The graphics are beautiful and charming, the gameplay that I tried was fun with a bit of platforming and a lot of fighting and exploring. And your slime is adorable, with the ability to customize the face and colors. Will definitely play when it comes out.
Toxic Crusaders – Retroware, 2024 – Another offering from Retroware, this sidescrolling arcade game is based off of the 90s Toxic Crusaders cartoon that, sadly, only ever had one season. The game picks up where the cartoon left off, continuing the story of the characters in their fight to rid their home of Tromaville of the radioactive mobs invading it. (Fun fact: Toxic Crusaders was loosely based off a trilogy of movies from the 80s – The Toxic Avenger – which followed the protagonist, Melvin Junko, a janitor who is exposed to toxic chemicals and mutated into the deformed superhero Toxie. It was quintessential B-movie material but it was goofy fun and became a cult classic. Watch the first one if you enjoy campy films, the rest of the movies are optional.)
Urban Jungle – Kylyk Games, 2024 – We’re rounding things out with another relaxing indie simulation where you turn your home into a plant oasis. Grow plants, find the best place for each of them in your tiny apartment, and pet the cat. This game has colorful graphics, a wide variety of plants, and a charming setting. I’m a sucker for gardening games and this one reminds me of Garden In!, a game that came out in 2023 that I’ve greatly enjoyed. I look forward to adding this one to my collection and suggest checking out the demo if relaxed, no worries gardening is your thing too.

So that’s the short list of demos I found interesting so far this summer. There was a wide mix of genres and styles, leaving us spoiled for choice in the indie game scene. But the fun doesn’t end with the showcase, as following hot on the heels of the Summer Showcase is Steam’s Next Fest, from June 10th – 17th. I wonder what else will arise from that? I look forward to finding out.

Leave a comment and let us know, which of these games was most interesting to you? Did I miss a game that you thought deserved some love?

Until next time, bye for now!

6–9 minutes

Have you ever had one of those weeks where, despite things moving along in a perfectly normal manner, you just feel like something is off? You can’t put your finger on it, but it’s there. It hovers over everything like a giant rain cloud that won’t go away.

That’s rather how I’ve been feeling lately. Just that little bit off. It certainly doesn’t help that the weather keeps waffling between spring and something more resembling winter. It doesn’t help that I suffer from clinical depression which rears its head every so often. And I’m no doctor but I’ll almost guarantee that I need to start taking vitamin B again.

You’ve probably even noticed in my last few videos that I’m more low-key than usual. Not that I’m ever super bouncy cheery, loud and boisterous. LOL, perhaps I should be. I’m often told I’m too loud and boisterous in real life! There’s a fun fact for you.

My biggest issue with the channel right now, however, stares at me each time I open my weekly planner and look at the schedule. I have entirely too many games to juggle right now! Eleven games I’m juggling, none of which I get to play for much longer than the time I have allotted to record for each of them.

I tried to ignore the fact that I’m feeling stressed. Perhaps even a little overwhelmed. But there is no longer any ignoring it. I don’t know how I’m going to rearrange things. I don’t know what I should keep or get rid of.

I do know that I won’t be dumping LOTRO.

I don’t want to stop playing Grim Dawn.

I’m really enjoying Enshrouded.

And I’m finally having fun in Skyrim, now that I’ve stopped trying to chase the main quests and have just gone off adventuring.

Against the Storm is a Let’s Play and I’ve no problems with that, knowing that in Q3 of 2024 it’ll be replaced by the next game.

Now, for the rest …

Valheim – Gus and I have taken a break to enjoy LOTRO again while we wait for Ashlands to release and the subsequent need for mods to all be updated and fixed. And honestly, I think Gus is a tiny bit bored with the current biomes, considering he’s already beat every boss to date!

On a side note, I’m also thinking Gus would love Enshrouded, and he’s looked at the game and agrees, however we’re not certain he can even run it.

Broken Ranks returned, both because I had an idea for the series and because someone requested it. However, it’s not been well-received and I’ve not gotten any feedback as to why. I’ll finish out the current subscription for the game, playing it and seeing how I fared vs. being F2P, but if people still aren’t responding well I may retire the series completely.

Subnautica has also returned by request and, while I’m enjoying it again, I’m not getting enough time to explore in the game as I’d like. Hence, I’m feeling like I’m not progressing very fast and I’m frustrated.

Guild Wars 2. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the game still, even if I only get to play a little each week. I’m especially liking the Asura right now. But I’m not loving the game and, if I were honest, I don’t think I ever will /love/ the game. I like it well enough, certainly enjoy exploring the world and doing the story quests. Not much else to say here.

Last Epoch is one of those games that, while I love it, I’m going to be slow AF playing it. While I don’t mind, I’m not certain it makes for the most exciting videos. Well, maybe watching me die is exciting. I could do that more.

And of course there’s Dragon’s Dogma 2, though I guess in all fairness I don’t do videos for it. I mainly livestream it. However, it is a pretty slow moving RPG and I frequently find myself having to backtrack multiple times to find something. I know I’ve died plenty of times though and I imagine that’s entertainment enough. I know I find them funny, even the deaths caused by me being stupid.

That’s the whole list. It was a lot longer than I thought it’d be. I’ll have to figure out how to rearrange things, what to retire, what to keep.

And of course, games don’t stop getting released and I’ve always got my eye out for new and interesting ones!

With all of that out of the way, there have been little bits and bobs of gaming news that has interested me. Things like –

Stellar Blade released on April 26th, 2024 and was almost immediately patched, censoring some of Eve’s outfits. Who’s to blame for this? Did Shift Up straight up lie about not censoring the game? Did Sony force them to censor it? Whatever the reason, it’s stupid. And it’s even more stupid to see games journalists cheer about censorship. The same journalists, mind you that would cheer about jiggle physics in male characters in Baldur’s Gate 3. I’d love it if they’d stop with the hypocrisy, but I won’t hold my breath for that to happen.
Manor Lords, by Slavic Magic, also released on April 26th 2024 in early access. The medieval strategy simulation is created by a solo developer and, while I’ve not had a chance to delve deeply into the game yet, I’ve tinkered with it a bit. Once I’ve gotten some hours in we’ll look at it. The Steam reviews are mostly positive and the reviews on GOG (yes, it’s on GOG, where I got my copy) it’s holding a respectible 4.3/5 stars. However reviews at both platforms suggest it’s got a lot of room to grow still, so keep that in mind if you’re looking to buy it. It’s not cheap for an EA game, $40 USD, but until May 10th it’ll be on sale for 25% off at both GOG and Steam.
There seem to be some life simulation games on the horizon for people who’ve been long time Sims fans. And yes, I have played The Sims. I’ve owned every version from the original up to Sims 4, and various expansions & DLC for 2, 3 and 4. I love building stuff in the game mainly. However, games like Life by You (Early Access – June 04th, 2024), Vivaland (? 2024), Paralives (? 2025), and InZOI (? 202?) are set to try to dethrone the long running franchise. EA seems to be doing everything in its power to help them along, with lackluster packs and expansions for the Sims 4 that add very little for their price points except game breaking bugs. I, for one, have uninstalled Sim 4 and returned to played Sims 3 because even with the bugs in that version, it’s still a far more open and fun experience. We’ll see how Life by You, the first of the new batch, shapes up.
Little Kitty, Big City, an absolutely adorable looking game by Double Dagger Studio is set to release on May 9th, 2024. In the game, you play a cute little cat who needs to find his way home. It features colorful graphics and a cute protagonist who may just cause a little mayhem as he navigates the world. Definitely on my wishlist!
And speaking of cute games, Tales of the Shire by Wētā Workshop takes the concept of cozy games to Middle Earth. While I enjoy the occassional farming sim or other cozy games, I’ll admit I don’t tend to stick with them for long. Perhaps Tales of the Shire could be that special something to keep me engaged, but with no release date and not a whole lot of information to go on, it’s a wait and see. Still, it’s certainly on my wishlist.

That’s it. Well, except for one more thing. I’d like to shout out Kabrutus and his new website – DEI Detected. I look forward to seeing where he takes it in the future as people push back against the DEI that’s caused such a divide in various communities.

Like many gamers, I believe there’s a difference between organic diversity in games and the forced diversity and inclusion that is the hallmark of much of this DEI push.

Done organically and with thought and care, diversity can enhance a game’s world, its characters, and the story. But shoehorned in, with established characters race or gender bent, hyperfocus on immutable traits or preferences to the exclusion of everything else, creates unlikable characters, stale worlds, and boring stories.

And that, for the moment, shall conclude my rant.

Until next time, bye for now.