Originally published at: http://statelyplay.com/2018/08/24/stately-scrying-what-were-playing-this-weekend-20/
I know, I know, it’s been weeks since we’ve posted our supposedly weekly Scrying. It’s definitely not an issue with the writers. They’ve been submitting their scryings through the slot on my door every Friday just as they should. I just keep running out of time and, by the time I find myself in front of my trusty laptop, the weekend is already nearing an end. I vowed to not make the same mistake this week, so I carved out time specifically to make sure the Scrying arrived on Friday night. Jump past the break to see if I made good on my vow.
Hollow Knight
https://youtu.be/Pk98MeQWUTwI bought Hollow Knight on my Switch yesterday after it dropped below $10, far earlier than I was expecting. My roommate played through it earlier this year, and seeing some of the late game sequences initially scared me off, mainly because I get frustrated with games too easily. But, after hearing more and more acclaim for Hollow Knight, I remembered that I also had a similar apprehension with Celeste, which ended up being one of the best platformers I’ve played. “Maybe Hollow Knight will ease me in, like Celeste,” I thought. Then I got to the first boss in the game and immediately got my teeth kicked in. It’s gonna be a rough go, at least for a while, but I’m determined to find out why people are claiming it as one of the best “Metroidvanias” ever. Tall words, considering the subgenre’s namesakes.
-Tanner Hendrickson
Legendary Encounters: Alien and Phantom Doctrine
https://youtu.be/YEEQ4B2o-5sHello there, friends.
This weekend, I’m taking a leaf out of my fellow writer’s books and feeling the physical fiber of Upperdeck Games’ fabric. Game over, man. It’s Legendary Encounters: Alien.
Being sadly sans friends within a convenient radius makes boardgaming or card-gaming a tad hard. So, when this rocked up on my doorstep, I was thrilled. And remain so. Base game, six hundred cards deep, big old rubber-backed game mat; the four films explored through a deck-building mechanic and themed decks. The art is lovely, too.
This should be a good old time. If you’ve had any experience with this edition, or any of the other Legendary Encounters games, I’d love to know any thoughts and tips.
Otherwise, it’ll be more Phantom Doctrine [I’m just glad you didn’t review it for us. Not sure I could handle a score that didn’t mesh with the competition -ed.] and a return to Westwood’s old Blade Runner adventure game, because if there’s one running theme this weekend, it is dark nights and rain-slicked locales.
Have a fine one!
-Alex Connolly
- Legendary Encounters: Alien for tabletop via Amazon, $43
- Phantom Doctrine for PC via Steam, $36 (on sale)
- Phantom Doctrine for PC via GoG, $36 (on sale)
Hop on Pop
https://youtu.be/COUduwxlHCQ[This is actually last week’s scrying for Tof, but it was too good to let lie. I’m hoping they’re back up on their feet, though -ed.]
Tof is sick as a dog this weekend, so they’ll mainly be playing “try to sleep while small children jump up and down on you.,” better known in the format popularized by legendary American game designer Theodore Geisel Seuss as “Hop on Pop.”
-Tof Eklund
Bearbarian and holedown
https://youtu.be/jPTvKTP70MM[This is actually Nick’s scrying from 2 weeks ago. You see what problems laziness causes? Hmm? Anyway, he’s still playing these, so on we go -ed.]
I’ve been playing a lot of Barbearian on my iPad. It’s a real-time combat game with some explosive and very fun action that reminds me a lot of Diablo III [never heard of it -ed.]. You’re a pissed off berserker that got abducted by some weirdos and now have to best the various challenges thrown at you while trying to figure out how to get home. The game progresses through a series of portals to different worlds where you face vast hordes of creatures looking to kill you. The upside is this sets up some massive charge attacks that send the corpses of said foes flying in all directions, which is quite gratifying. The game’s great and is made even better by the ability to micromanage its difficulty (speed, loot value, and damage received) and user interface.
My iPhone game of choice at the moment is holedown. It’s a ball shooting game by the dev that made rymdkapsel. You are a space miner looking for precious metals within asteroids, moons, planets, and so on. You fire balls to get to your loot and as you collect it you’re able to unlock upgrades that help you mine even better. It’s a clever idea for a well-trod genre and is compellingly executed.
-Nick Vigdahl
- Barbearian for iOS Universal, $9
- Barbearian for PC via Steam, $15
- holedown for iOS Universal, $4
- holedown for Android, $4
18xx or, maybe, Brass? And some D&D
https://youtu.be/XUh4Xci9s3sYes, I’m the most boring damn gamer in the world, which means, this weekend, we’ll be playing 18xx again. Which one? I’m not sure, but we only have 3 guys in the group able to show up tonight so my guess is 1846, 1889, or 18MEX. All three work well with 3-players and have a shorter playing time. By short I mean 4-6 hours instead of the usual 6+ hours. We’re not the quickest gamers, so a well-oiled group would probably finish a bit quicker, but we like to enjoy our train-induced backstabbing like a fine Scotch: sipped, not gulped. I recently received my Kickstarted version of the new Brass as well. It’s super pretty, but Brass works best with 4, so I’m not sure we’ll get it on the table. 18xx is the safer bet.
In other news, I will be playing some D&D this weekend, too, via Roll20. We’ve moved into Bryn Shander in our Against the Giants campaign and I can’t wait to pit my kids and their friends against some super hard-hitting giant action. Should be fun.
In my spare time…oh, who am I kidding. That’s all the gaming I’ll get in this weekend.
-Dave Neumann