i tried, SUICIDE SQUAD: KTJL, really, but jesusfuckingchrist

First game I've abandoned in a long time: had its moments of fun, but was too bombastic, too crazed, too everything I never wanted in a game from the ARKHAM world. Didn't kill any of the Justice League nevermind make it to the controversy around Batman's death and Conroy's "final "performance (which I guess it isn't but is or something, IDK) but didn't care: not a single one of the TFX, save Harley – as whom I played only to seek some semblance of gameplay continuity between SQUAD and the ARKHAM games – spoke to me. The rest of the characters (King Shark as a Drax rip-off?) and the tone felt like a bad GTA rip-off version of something far better, as though the writers tried to create the HARLEY QUINN animated series version of the ARKHAM world but weren't up to the task (was nice to see ARKHAM’s Penguin, though). Maybe I'll revisit if they add more DLC that has something resembling a story, but hell, GOTHAM KNIGHTS was a better game. Massive disappointment from one of the era-defining studios of the last decade.

links/2024w11

And we're back to the weekly list: Squarespace changed up their iPad editor and made it impossible to add links, so it's simpler to do it this way and put it together once a week on the Mac.

a few notes at +/- 50% of ALAN WAKE 2

  • A stunningly-realized horror world; the forests, especially, are terrifying – and beautiful.

  • Saga is such a great character and such a fantastic addition to the series that it makes Wake seem like even more of a raging asshole and his portions of the game a bit more of a chore. Yeah yeah, your story rewrites reality, blah blah blah. Fucking writers.

  • I'm really going to miss James McCaffery’s voice in Remedy games.

  • I was skeptical about the shared Remedy-verse, but I love how it works here. I have the Ultimate Edition of CONTROL that I want to replay soon so I'll pick up on more connections.

  • Think I'm finally understanding how Wake's Plot Board works - though I find it far less intuitive than Saga's profiling: "I have to be in the place to write..." Fucking writers.

  • That musical sequence really was something – and maddening. I love my flare gun but I hate reloading it. Or reloading anything, really... 🎶 "It couldn't be clearer... / ... something something, light / true and right..."🎶

  • Mem: you can reload while running but not while dodging.

  • Coffee World!

  • I miss Barry.

  • Have to play at night because of the location of the TV. Can't see a thing during the day. Appropriate, I suppose.

  • Fucking writers.