I hope things get moving in a positive direction for you on the 17th. Until then, I hope your cabin can take your mind off things a bit. Looking forward to the next time you’re able to write!

Absolutely! I hope it can find an audience soon; it’s not perfect, but I love it so much.

I didn’t mind the slow ramp-up in jobs, but I’m guessing that the change to more easily unlock level 3 jobs can help more people see what makes it special (Hot Fix, in particular, is just spectacular in level 3). And I love a game that, as the devs said well before release, doesn’t want to hold you hostage and keep you playing indefinitely. In some ways, it feels like it was designed twenty years ago, and for me? That’s a great thing.

Solo play isn’t too rough, then? Some jobs have been incredibly hectic with just two, so I’m curious about whether or not it works alone.

Damn, that’s really rough. I hope having some quiet away from the world at your cabin can help counteract some of your neuropathy. 😕

Have you been able to try out FBC: Firebreak yet? I don’t know how it’d play as a solo experience, but I’m really enjoying it with one of my friends.

Damn, sorry to hear about the nerve damage. That’s really rough to deal with. I hope you’re to lose yourself in Firebreak a bit next week; I’m also looking forward to it, and I’m assuming that while some of my friends will probably play it on Game Pass for a few days and drop it, I’m hoping at least one will stick with it for a while. And if not? I’m also intent on playing it solo. I love the Remedyverse.

As for my own gaming, I played a bunch of demos from some of the RPG directs from last week. Dreamed Away is looking to be a particularly inspired horror take on Undertale’s gameplay with Earthbound’s wrapper.

If you’re interested in checking out some of the lesser-known gems on PS2, consider giving Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2 a try. They’re both completely standalone, so you could skip the first and try the more beloved sequel. The hook for both is that as you explore dungeons, you get blueprints and resources to rebuild the outside world. Honestly? I don’t know if they aged well, but I had a blast when I discovered them about 20 years ago.

Ooh, I wanted to play DotAGE after enjoying the demo when it came out, but I held out on the hopes that it’d come out on GOG (and eventually forgot)! Thanks for drawing attention to it - I’m picking it up now.