PIT STOP: The Triple I Initiative

  

    On April 10th; a lot of indie developers with big dreams decided to band together and do what I like to call the 'Anti Game Awards'. Thankfully gone are the celebrities who know next to nothing about the games they are presenting, no commercials not pertaining to the games and no down time between presentations. All killer, no fluff.  It was refreshing and it truly showed companies who wanted to buck the existing system. We wanted games, they gave us games.

    Over the course of the last couple years and unironically coinciding with me getting my Steam Deck I have found myself more and more getting into the indie scene. Now I've always enjoyed indie games especially during my Xbox360 era when I had access to their indie store. However the PC indie scene has grown to the point where its no longer even feels like a indie game we are playing. The budget might be smaller but the game still has a 'Triple A' feeling hence I feel why they calling it 'Triple I' I believe.

    Off the top of my head, some of my favorite games of the last couple years are not in the 'Triple A' space. I skipped titles like the 'Final Fantasy' games, 'Starfield', 'God of War Ragnarok' and other games that got a lot of media coverage, good or bad. Sure 'Elden Ring' might have been my favorite game of 2022 and Fromsoft is definitely in the 'Triple A' space but for every ER, I am also loving 'Darkest Dungeon', 'Risk of Rain',  'Inscryption' and 'Dredge' Most of the RAVES on this very blog are indie games and that I think is not by coincidence. These are the games I enjoy playing the most. Heck, something playing a 'Triple A' gets so daunting for me with all I need to do that even if I enjoy playing it, 'Marvel's Avengers' for example, I stop because I find something else more smaller and more enjoyable to me. It is just how I am wired these days.

    So when the guys who makes big indie games like Risk of Rain, Darkest Dungeon, Dead Cells, Slay the Spire and many others decided to band together and do their own presentation I got interested and now I've seen what is coming I am even more interested. Lets chat about some games we will definitely be playing soon. This list is not in order btw.

    Darkest Dungeon 2: The Kingdoms update- Right off the bat, lets talk about one of the big names who was a part of putting this all together. Red Hook studios, the sickos behind 'Darkest Dungeon' has being promoting 'Darkest Dungeon 2' for awhile now. First as a Epic Store Exclusive but it had recently came to Steam and with it, it has steadily added new content like new characters (or returning characters like The Crusader class) and patch updates. Their next big update appears to the The Kingdoms, which is a free new mode that changes the game slightly. This might be a good idea because a lot of feedback for Darkest Dungeon 2 was how they changed it a lot from how the original Darkest Dungeon played. This new mode seems more like a return to their roots which might be what the game needs to turn some of the naysayers. Also as a new mode, it does not erase the original concept with the heroes riding the stagecoach but it does give people the option to play DD 2 a different way.

    Personally, I've been on the fence with getting DD 2. A bit of trepidation was from the negative word of mouth and reviews and how much it changed the core of the game but some of it is because I am so busy playing other games and 'Learning Anime Fighter' (shameless plug I know). However it has always been on my wishlist and I really wanted to try it out for myself. Right now it is actually on sale and I can pick up the game and its DLC for less than $30 so I think the price combined with the new update coming has convinced its time to dive back into the darkness. I will probably do an impression of Darkest Dungeon 2 after I pick it up and put in some hours.

    A sequel I have no qualms picking up tho is 'Slay the Spire 2'. After revolutionizing the deck builder roguelike genre in a way that every other game similar to it since then are called Slay the Spire-likes. The team at Mega Crit have taken their time but I feel it'll be worth the wait. Speaking of waiting, we are going to have to wait till 2025 for this one but the fact that they are making a sequel is reason to celebrate. 'Slay the Spire' was one of the first games that really got me into not only the roguelike genre but the deck-building sub-genre (which happens to be my favorite sub-genre). No gameplay but it is early days but we can already see some familiar faces and some new ones (the sassy skeleton) as well. It will not be here for awhile but I am definitely putting it on my radar and I think I might bite the bullet and just buy the original again but this time for my Steam Deck. I've been seriously thinking of doing it every time its on sale and now it just feels right especially since I barely get on my PS4 (which has my original copy) anymore.

    Speaking of Dead Cells, of course you know I am super pumped for the 'Risk of Rain 2' expansion 'Seekers of the Storm'. However to give us a peek into what they have cooking, they are dropping a free update called the 'Devotion update'. This update comes with a Prisoner/ Dead Cells skin for Mercenary (yay), a brand new stage (yay!) and more artifacts (depending on what they do... yay?) and to top it off its coming for all platforms not just PC first which I know the console army is happy about. On one hand this is great news because more Risk of Rain 2 content is always good but this will be the first time RoR2 updates will be completely handled by Gearbox's team and not Hopoo whom has passed the reigns onto them. Sure the Gearbox team helped out a lot with the 'Survivors of the Void' expansion but this is the first time they are doing it all on their own so it'll be interesting if we keep the RoR flavor or if it'll feel different. I optimistically hope for the former. There is no date for this one but I have a feeling it'll be soon so I think its time to jump back into RoR 2 when it drops.

    So those are the big ones, however some other games did catch my eye like Kill Knight, Dino Lords and Hyper Light Breaker. All in all, the Initiative really did what it was supposed to do, let us know some big indies were coming and got us all hyped. Stay turned to this space because I know a lot of these games will get the focus once they drop.

* This blog previous mentioned The Rogue Prince of Persia but due to Ubisoft anti-consumer practices, I will no longer talk about nor purchase it. I have not played any Prince of Persia games before and it looks like I never will especially if they stay under Ubisoft.

AV

Risk of Rain News: Festival of Gup is a SUCCESS

 

So we had a little tidbit with the Festival of Gup announcement that today 11/8 on the 10 Anniversary of Risk of Rain, that Hopoo and Gearbox will have some big news for us.

Being a massive Risk of Rain 2 fan and Hopoo fan in general, I eagerly awaited and they blew us all away. Our Risk of Rain journey is not at the end, it is only beginning!!

Lets talk about it (in terms of enthusiasm).

Risk of Rain 2 Survivors of the Void (For Console)- Being a PC player (wow, I never thought I would use that sentence but hear we are) I've been enjoying Survivors of the Void for awhile and as followers of this blog know, my favorite survivor is from the DLC (Rail Gunner baybee) but the console Risk of Rain 2 players have been waiting patiently for this. I am happy for them, honestly. Also it means they can stop spamming Hopoo's social accounts with the same meme over and over again which I am thankful for. They can now really enjoy RoR 2 the way it was always intended.

Risk of Rain: Hostile Worlds- this is the worrying one, whilst its in the RoR universe it is also a mobile game and it is built like a mobile game (aka pay to play and gatcha elements). It is also isometric which neither RoR games are and not produced by Hopoo or Gearbox. However, it does look cool and has the RoR aethetics and an ability it appears to use 3 survivors at once seems like a fun twist on the formula. I am mildly interested about this one and will probably give it a try at least. No release date either.

Risk of Rain Returns- Okay, now we are cooking. The 2D remake of RoR is made with Hopoo and some of the finest modders who understand RoR best. It has an extensive rebalance, 2 new survivors so far (including one I really want to try), new tracks and remastered tracks by Chris Christodolou and it is out today. As a person who never experience the original and when I went to buy it realized the remake was coming and decided to wait, this will be a real treat for me. I must admit it might take a minute to playing RoR in a 2D setting but it seems the bones are still the same and I bet it'll be a blast.

On top of that, each countdown video teased multiple color palates, new shrines, Providence trials to unlock stuff and it got me more and more excited for it so I think I'll will play this one a lot whilst I wait for the final announcement.

Risk of Rain 2: Seekers of the Storm- An official in-universe expansion/ DLC is on its way and we are getting more Risk of Rain 2!! According to the developers, it'll be on par with Survivors of the Void in terms of content and as we know that was a pretty sizable expansion. My jaw was on the floor and the fact that this literally came out of nowhere with the exception of one or two small teases is the best part. This seems in its early stages and its done mostly by Gearbox (not Hopoo) but the Gearbox team also did parts of the Survivors of the Void and that turned out well so any fears it is not a wholly produced Hopoo joint might be unwarranted. They gave a breakdown of the new antagonist and they seem on a similar level as Providence and Mitrix which is exciting as well.

Also with it being done from the ground up by Gearbox, this might be what console gamers have been wanting so it can launch at the same time on all platforms (one can hope). The only bummer is no announcement date but it does have a Wishlist option on Steam which you know we did.

All in all, what a time to be apart of the Hopoo/ Risk of Rain franchise. I will be buying Risk of Rain Returns as soon as I get paid and expect some blogs about that and even more blogs once we hear more about Hostile Worlds and Seekers of the Storm. A festival and a celebration indeed!

A-V

RAVE: Chris Christodoulou

 Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to give my guy, Chris Christodoulou (or as I call him CC for short) his flowers. This RAVE will be about the gifted composer of 'Risk of Rain', 'Risk of Rain 2', 'Deadbolt' and the upcoming 'Risk of Rain Returns'.

Chris Christodoulou as drawn by BlueRogue

Like a lot of us, I found about CC through the amazing Hopoo games he has made soundtracks for. During my 'Risk of Rain 2' RAVE I mentioned frequently how his song 'The Rain Formerly Known as Purple' was one of many reasons why I was interested in 'RoR 2'. I would listen to it even when I did not own the game simply because the song is amazing. I have never had a video game OST got me so in my feels that when I eventually heard it, it really was a moment for me. However as time has gone on I've discovered he is really no one hit wonder. No, Chris Chris has many amazing songs to his credit and this RAVE we will discuss a couple of them and the impact that they have had on me. I will also try not to link to his song I have previously used in previous blogs so expect some different songs other then the ones I have spoken about ad-nauseum.

Kicking off with some of his more recent works, from the 'Risk of Rain 2' Survivors of the Void OST we have the melancholic masterpiece that is 'Once in a Lullaby'. Kicking off with an almost 16 bit soundscape backed by a masterful oboe and english horn played by Christos Tsogias-Razakov. This song accompanies one of few stages in 'RoR 2' the  Aphelian Sanctuary that I am not a big fan of, the enemies in this area are some of the more annoying ones especially the Blind Pests and Clay Templar mini-gun wielding asses BUT and this is a big but too, the soundtrack is so amazing that when I do ended up their I can grit my teeth and bare it so I can take it all in. From 5:28 onwards will just leave tears in your eyes and you would not believe a video game soundtrack can make you experience so much. 'Once in a Lullaby' is easily in my top 5 CC songs so it make sense to start here.

'The Dehydration of Risk of Rain 2' should be familiar to anyone who has played 'RoR 2'. As the introduction song and the sound you hear in the menus, you will become intimately familiar with it. This almost 'Daft Punk'/ Tron-esque tune prepares you for the madness you are about to experience. It has some of the hallmarks of CC's production on 'RoR 2' as well, this almost alien sound mixed with a sci-fi feel. Also this version builds and builds to a crescendo which the menu version does not and it just an audio treat for the ears.

For 'Deadbolt' our most recently completed Hopoo game, I actually had a hard time picking a song. Even through, Chris Christodoulou became popular in gaming circles due to 'Risk of Rain 2' I feel he was able to really express himself and his unique approach to music with this project. 'Reaper (and) Blues' come in early in the game and one of the cool things about 'Deadbolt' is the game has three main factions, the zombies, the vampires and the demons. Each faction has their own audio soundtrack and the zombies and all their songs have an R'n'B/ Hip-Hop sound to them. Previously we have also discussed the pulsating dance beats in 'Blood on the Dancefloor' for the vampires and the moody folk rock of the 'Proverbial Dust Biters' for the demons so it make sense to give the zombies get some love as well. Also it is really felt in 'Deadbolt' is CC's ability to weave a audio motif into his songs from the same game. For example, 'Reaper (and) Blues' uses the reapers' motif' riff from 3:07 onwards which is apart of a lot of songs on the 'Deadbolt' OST. Just another amazing way he awards careful listeners.

Bringing it back to where we it all began, we actually choose one of the last song in the 'Risk of Rain' OST. 'Coalescence' also plays well into CC's naming of his songs too, one being the literally meaning of 2 droplets of rain forming into one but also sounds a lot like condolences which fits because the song is filled with memories and a feeling of regret over what we ,the survivors in 'Risk of Rain' have done to get to the end, all the lives we took and the landscape we destroyed with missiles, lasers glaives and more. I can honesty say even through I've not played the original 'Risk of Rain' (as mentioned previously I am waiting for the remake instead) I still listen to the soundtrack and it has all the hallmarks of a great CC production. 'Coalscence' is also a great Segway too

It's 'Risk of Rain 2' brother in spirit. '...con lentitud poderosa' Like how 'Coalescence' was the finale for 'Risk of Rain' and it really painted the gravity of what we have done '...con lentitud poderosa' really make us give in to the sinking feeling of doubt and how even the heaviest of rain would not wash away the blood on our hands. Even the English translation of the song title 'it rained with powerful slowness' really is perfect for the final stage in 'RoR 2' and the song itself, it just gives you the feeling you have really reach the end. The instruments are especially fine tuned to bring out emotions you have held in and the guitar literally weeps with you. I kid you not, after all you have done and what you are about to do, nothing prepares you for the first time you hear '...con lentitud poderosa' in-game when you arrive at 'Commencement'. Even people who have not played 'Risk of Rain' can relate that this song and 'The Rain Formerly known as Purple' truly shows CC is in a league of his own when it comes to music composition.

On that note; I and many other Chris Christodoulou fans await his next soundtrack. According to him, he is working on some new tracks and even some re-made tracks for 'Risk of Rain Returns' and I am salivating at this fact. CC has made me have such high expectations for video game soundtracks that now when I play any video games I hope I'll find new songs like the ones above and countless other that permeated my day to day life. Truly a master of his craft and one of the many reasons he deserves this RAVE.

AV

RAVE: Deadbolt

 

        As the above soundtrack accompanies my key strokes, I'm trying to find words that describe what an experience 'Deadbolt' is. As I hit the 80% completed mark, I still feel like I am barely scratching the surface on how such a simple game can be also be so complex and nuanced.

        First, the premise is pretty straight forward. You are Deadbolt, the living embodiment of death, a reaper whose sole mission is to send the dead back where they belong. You are helped in your mission with a fireplace whom gives you missions and Charon who is the ferryman of the dead and in this case, a merchant and arms man. Along the way you'll face zombies, vampires, skeletons, demons and more. You are armed to the teeth, equipped with the ability to travel as smoke through vents and manholes but there is one big catch. You die after one hit and its back to the start for you. No bonfires save points, no second chances resurrection, either you get it right or you die. Perfect for the guy who likes to die in video games.

             The game made by Hopoo Games (of Risk of Rain 2 fame and how I found about it) in itself looks pretty simple and even tho its a bit old by today's standards (it came out in 2016) even when it did come out, it had a very simplistic approach that gave it a retro almost 16 bit feel. However it still feels like a modern game and that is the most important thing. You move as fast (or as slow) as you feel and everything is fine tuned to your reactions. Your trigger finger better be ready too cause a precise aim is always needed cause one miss and you'll likely ended up dead. Speaking of quick reactions, 'Deadbolt' is the first game where I've seriously invest in learning Keyboard & Mouse (K&M) for. Sure, I've played deck roguelikes like Indies' Lies (RAVE coming soon) and Iratus: Lord of the Dead but they were more simplistic and were not action centric games. With 'Deadbolt' you use the keyboard to move and the mouse to aim and shoot and I definitely had growing pains plenty. For awhile I was even going to give up on the game because it did not have controller support but I've stuck with it and now I feel much more comfortable playing it. My hands still get cramps occasionally but most playthroughs are short bite-sized mission and then I take a break.

        However one of the reasons why this game gets a RAVE is because I always come back to it. I've been playing on and off for the last month and I just can't get enough of its mixture of stealth with all out guns blazing dual wielding face offs. All the while, the game pushes you to get better with a ranking system that ranks you based on how fast you completed a mission, how many times you died and more. Its a very addictive gameplay loop and once you really get the hang of it, you'll understand why you want to keep going until you beat that one stage that had thwarted you at every turn. That said mission took me a 100+ tries before I beat it and not at one point did I feel I want to quit. Its that addictive.

        Another reason why I keep coming back is how each mission is structured to be something different every-time, so far not one mission resembles another to the point where it feels like a re-trend. Be in a mission where you got to kill 2 vampire sisters but they are each other's lifelines so you need to slay them back to back to prevent one from resurrecting the other one. Or the zombie kingpin who has an army of soldiers at his disposal which you need to navigate around. Or the trap master whose whole house is booby trap and your only way to get to them is to figure out what triggers what through painful death after painful death. Every-time the fireplace gives me a mission, I know its going to be something that pushes me to my limits and the elation when I beat it, it is similar to when I takedown a super hard boss in a Souls game.

        Also, a lot needs to be said about the sound design. The crisp sounds of the guns, the loud bombs from a well placed explosive and the firm whack of a sledgehammer. Its all so perfect and when you combine the amazing OST provide by Chris Christodolou with bangers like the song above and also transcendent tracks like 'Blood on the Dancefloor' and 'Heynong Man' you actually don't mind hearing the same song because you keep dying. Once again, Chris Chris deserves his own RAVE and it's coming soon.

                                            (peep this amazing artwork by Bluerogue)

        Also as a low-key achievement hunter, this game definitely has some challenging achievements that'll keep me trying new strategies and some unique approaches to the game, for example; I recent completed the challenge where all my kills had to be headshots and that was fun and there are similar ones which I wish to attempt. 'Deadbolt' also has custom made levels created by fans that'll be fun to play around with and of course, like all my PC games these days, I definitely want to check out what mods are available.

        All in all, for a surprisingly cheap game ($9.99 when its not on sale) if you like this type of game and challenge, you'll get a lot of playtime from it and have a lot of fun along the way. The last part is me shining the spotlight on a fan who wrote this in the comments for 'Blood on the Dancefloor' video and it resonated with me and really sums up how cool 'Deadbolt' is.

            "The music is deafening and the strobe lights are blinding. They don't mind however, they died years ago. Their youthful visage is striking with their deathly pale skin. They dance and celebrate endlessly, thinking they cheated death. They haven't cheated death; they are merely in debt. For tonight, I come to collect." - veiga1000

You Know... I Tried

 So the title of this blog is kind of has a triple meaning.

1st: I tried, to post a blog last week but it was not meant to be. This would have kept my commitment to blog at least once a week. I however had a busy week life wise and was sick with a cold for a couple days and I honestly did not have much to chat about. I'll try to get back on schedule starting with this one but we shall see. At most, a blog a month if we can't keep a weekly schedule.

2nd: As promised in one of my last blogs, I was going to give 'Sundred' another try and well... I tried. When I first played it I was rather new to Rogue-lites/ Rogue-likes (RL) so it did not gel with me but now I've played a couple of RLs (that blog is still coming) I decided to give it another honest try and sadly it still did not excite me at all. The opening moments of a RL to me is the most important and to me I found a lot of traversing and getting lost and then a massive group of enemies would swarm me and eventually I would die and I was back at the beginning.

With most good RLs I would want to jump back in and do another run but with 'Sundred' when I died I was happy that I did not need to play anymore. The enemies were pretty tanky, our main characters attack lacked a bit of oomph and most of my time was spent exploring empty places.  The skill tree looked large but none of the upgrades seemed that exciting at first glance. Unfortunately, none of this appealed to me so I have decided to give it one more honest try and I'll make a decision after that. I will probably give an update and how it went in previously mentioned RL blog.

3rd: The final I tried was beating 'Risk of Rain 2' on Monsoon and well, I've gotten close a couple times (made it all the way to Mitrix's final stage) and sometimes I had no hope at all. This one I know I'll eventually get because so far I've been pretty successful in all my ventures in 'RoR2'. Speaking of its time for 'RoR2' updates. Since our last 'RoR2' update we have beaten the secret hidden boss, the Twisted Scavengers a couple times now, we have played a couple new characters and earned their mastery skins including Loader (just fun), Acrid (unique/ enjoy just jumping around with him) and Railgunner (probably my fave of the three/ very satisfying gameplay loop with scoping and getting perfect shots). Her mastery skin is also amazing especially because its not a simple color swap but a homage to the Sniper from 'Risk of Rain'.

We also beat the game with the Heretic, the hidden character too and that was different. Heretic definitely feels pretty strong but the fact you can not start as her makes her a more different experience. Basically, your current run sucks? Buy up all the Lunar items you need to change into the Heretic and change your approach completely by changing your character.

Sadly the above picture is missing some of my now favorite characters like Bandit and Captain but that is because they came out much later in the game's life cycle however its so awesome its actually my current computer wallpaper. Looking at it sometimes also helps me figure out whom my next character will be after I complete this Monsoon completion run and I'm debating MUL-T or Mercenary. I am not that sold on The Engineer's turret/ tower defense playstyle and REX seems like a weird sell as well. However I will eventually get to them as well and of course the other DLC character the Void Fiend. Speaking of 'RoR2', I am now playing it exclusively on Windows via my Steam Dual Boot feature and it so I can use the mods and boy, I can't go back to playing it without certain mods now. The Better UI, Expanded Bazaar and HistoryFix alone made it worthwhile to mod my Risk.

On that note, this Monsoon run is not going to complete itself. 

Going back in.

Mini-Update: More Risk of Rain 2 and Roguelite blog

 Keeping up the my unspoken commitment to myself to blog at least once a week.

I've dived even deeper into Risk of Rain 2 (RoR 2) and now I've gotten even more invested. I'm taking on all the hardest trials, unlocking alternative movesets by completing some individual tasks and even playing the game on its hardest difficulty and looked what I got.

Yep! I've beaten the game on Monsoon (the hardest difficulty) and unlocked the alternative skin for Captain. Mind you, I did not 'beat' the game per se, I obliterated myself at the Obelisk but that counts as a 'Mastery' and a skin unlock. The Captain is now my favorite survivor but I really relate back to Skill Up's RoR 2 review where he said ever character he tried out later on became their favorite once they got the hang of them. Speaking of, tonight I also beat the game for the first time (on drizzle of course) with the Artificer and I must admit I enjoyed using her too. 

I am aiming to give every character a legit try so I have many more playthroughs and tons of extra challenges left. The Loader looks particularly fun to use and the Bandit interests me as well. Also Acrid has been described and playing as the poison Hulk so I know that'll be fun too.

On that note, a much longer RAVE is coming probably be the end of this week, beginning of next where we discuss my new found love for the Roguelike/ Rougelite genre. I've played a couple now and I think I figured which ones I enjoy and which ones I did not.

Also speaking of Roguelike and also Risk of Rain 2 because of my heavy investment in RoR 2 I am now very interested in Hopoo's upcoming Risk of Rain Returns which is a complete remake of their first Risk of Rain with tons of improvements. I might even get into streaming some of my early runs and really get involved in the RoR community.