Geek Babble– A 2023 Livestream Recap

Last year I started a new tradition for myself. In addition to occasionally writing about what I’m streaming for Quarantine Control, I’d also do a recap at either the end of the year, or the beginning of the year. This time around I’ve decided to go with a year-end recap. Honestly, I needed something to write about for tonight and didn’t want to ask anyone to fill in for me. In hindsight, I probably should have asked Geoff to livestream in my place since some of you have been clamoring for him to stream all year. That may eventually happen, but I doubt it will happen soon enough to make Drew’s prediction for 2023 a reality.

So let’s talk about what I streamed throughout this year.

 

1. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon | Developer: Atlus | Platform Streamed On: PS3 | Original Game Release Date: 2009

I’ve owned Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon since it was released in 2009. It took until 2021 to get around to playing the original Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army to dig into my Raidou backlog. Learning about Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon at Otakon 2022 rekindled my interest in streaming the game, so I made it my first streaming priority in January. Had I known that it would take me roughly 50 hours to finish the second Raidou game, I probably would have just played offline. Somehow this game beat out Final Fantasy VIII for the longest game I’ve streamed. It took me six months to finish this title and that included the occasional Saturday stream, and a final seven-hour stream.

While Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon made a number of quality of life improvements over Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, I’m probably one of the few who didn’t like the story changes. I understand having multiple endings and an alignment system brings this spinoff closer to the mainline Megaten games, but I felt like these changes were extra padding. I enjoyed the short and relatively straight-forward story in The Soulless Army. It got right to the point and didn’t overstay its welcome. With alignment paths, King Abaddon added two endings to the game, and made unlocking all the side quests dependent on your alignment by game’s end. Other choices include which girl can fall for Raidou and even if some characters live or die. I would have gladly shaved off the side quests if it removed some fat from the game.

The demon recruitment system was a pain in the ass. I preferred the Pokémon-like system from The Soulless Army. Basically, weaken a demon, then try to suck it into a magical tube. Demon negotiation either didn’t work well, or after enough level gains demons practically forced their way into my party. I also didn’t like how much guns were nerfed to the point of making them almost useless. Fortunately, having two demons to control in battle, and various sword skills helped make up for the lack of a powerful gun. Having a roll button was a godsend. The gameplay made up for many of the issues I had with the game’s pacing. Storywise, the game was a tad convoluted at times especially with all of its conjecture, but it was mostly fine.

If a third Raidou Kuzunoha game is ever developed, I can only hope Atlus combines the short, but straightforward story and plot pacing from the first game with the gameplay improvements from the second game.

 

2. Cult of the Lamb | Developer: Massive Monster | Platform Streamed On: PC | Original Game Release Date: 2022

Cult of the Lamb was a game that was fairly popular in 2022. Even cosplayers and fursuiters enjoyed running around as the lamb at conventions. My husband was enamored with the game. He constantly urged me to play it, which is why it ended up on my 2023 streaming list. Drew writing about the game also helped quite a bit. Going in, I knew I wanted to play Cult of the Lamb on PC because of the Twitch chat integrations and its buggy performance on Switch. Thankfully, my PC was up to the task of streaming this game.

I immensely enjoyed Cult of the Lamb. It very much reminded me of my 2020 Hades run (also being a rougelike), except Cult of the Lamb is a lot more forgiving. The hack and slash nature of the combat was fast and fluid. Being able to change weapons mid-crusade is a great feature. With five different weapons to choose from, there was enough variety for anyone to find a play style that suits them. I found myself favoring hammers and axes just for their raw destructive power. By the game’s end, I found myself needing to take a more balanced approach with swords that did slightly less damage, but could keep up with faster enemies.

Of course, the other half of the game consisted of base cult building. I wasn’t sure if I’d like this part of the game, but I found it just as engaging as the crusade section. It’s hard getting the cult up and going at the beginning as resources and followers are limited. Thankfully, going on crusades provides much of the material to create a stronger cult. The only downside is leaving for missions and finding the cult a mess and on the verge of a breakdown when you return. Nevertheless, Massive Monster struck that balance nicely in Cult of the Lamb, and I can see why it found so much critical success in 2022.

There is a free update planned in 2024. Sinners of the Flesh teases the possibility of adding a sex element to the cult. I’ll probably check this out offline, as I don’t want to have to worry about a Twitch ban.

 

3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge | Developer: Tribute Games | Platform Streamed On: PS4 | Original Game Release Date: 2022

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge was a staff co-op game streamed not once, but twice on our channel. The first time was to celebrate our 15th anniversary along with a (lost) stream of Um, Actually. The second stream was to welcome me back to streaming after taking a month off to recover from surgery. The game itself gave me Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time vibes, but with the ability to play as more than the turtles. If you’ve played Turtles in Time, the gameplay here is just as familiar. Tribute Games also added a few modern touches such as specials, and being able to revive fallen teammates.

It was also the perfect multiplayer game, as Drew, Geoff, Joseph, and I were able to play on PS4 (and PS5) easily. Others online players were able to join our game and help us out. In our original stream we made it close to the end of the game, but couldn’t quite seal the deal. In our second run (sans Joseph), we managed to beat the game and check out a few other modes. For fun, I might try to solo this game (offline of course) and see how well I do on my own.

 

4. SteamWorld Dig 2 | Developer: Image & Form Games | Platform Streamed On: PS4 | Original Game Release Date: 2017

When I purchased SteamWorld Dig to play last year, I brought SteamWorld Dig 2 at the same time. I wasn’t sure if I’d like either game, but at least I could rest assured that I’d gotten the games at a fairly cheap price. Turns out I didn’t need to worry, as I had a blast with SteamWorld Dig. The sequel was no exception.

I loved how the game picked right up after Rusty’s story and now stars Dorothy who’s on a quest to find him. The mines of Tumbleton are long gone and have been switched out in favor of the larger El Machino. Dorothy also receives a companion in the form of Fen. He was close to being insufferable at the start of the game, but grew on me by the end. The larger mystery of Rusty being friend or foe is solved with a nice twist, though it’s hard to decide if the game’s ending can be considered happy or bittersweet.

Story aside, the gameplay was largely the same. Dig, find resources, upgrade your minerbot. The difference is that even with Rusty at his strongest, Dorothy’s upgrades easily put his to shame. Having the ability to fly, even for short periods of time makes for such a fun game changer. You don’t know how much you love increased mobility until you can fly.

I had such a good time in the SteamWorld universe that I decided to play SteamWorld Heist next year. My only regret is not getting to these games sooner.

 

5. The Wolf Among Us (Chapters 1 and 2) | Developer: Telltale | Platform Streamed On: PS4 | Original Game Release Date: 2013

The Wolf Among Us is a game I streamed back in 2019. This was before I had a set streaming schedule, a capture card, and an overlay for said streams. My first stream of this game is rife with audio issues and the video quality is so, so. Running a livestream through the PS4 was good enough at the time, but I can do so much better now. So replaying the game with different decisions from my first run while playing on Halloween seemed like great choices. Except I was talked out of streaming on Halloween.

This stream ended up being the day before Halloween and I managed to get through two chapters of the game. Honestly, playing The Wolf Among Us again felt great. I actually did better with the QTEs this time around versus my original run. Enough events played out differently to make the new run feel fresh. I thought it would be a one and done playthrough, but enough people enjoyed the stream that I figured I might as well play chapters 3 through 5 in 2024. Hopefully, I’ll get an ending completely different from my original stream seeing how this game has several endings.

 

6. Halloween Forever | Developer: Imaginary Monsters | Platform Streamed On: PC | Original Game Release Date: 2016

Halloween Forever is the game I was talked into playing for my Halloween livestream. It’s a relatively simple retro-styled platformer. You star as Pumpkin Man and you have to explore the pumpkin patch. There’s very little in the way of story and that’s fine.

The platforming is tight, and projectiles provide a nice distance while attacking. Right off the bat, Halloween Forever gives you a double jump. Though there are multiple paths to take in a stage, some areas are impossible to reach. It turns out the game is meant to be replayed multiple times, and explored with different characters that are unlocked during the run. I managed to unlock several characters, and I have to say Ms. Witch and Chainsaw Maniac were my favorites. I liked having the option to chuck cats or chainsaws at my enemies. That said, the drawback was having a limited supply of projectiles on a cooldown. Pumpkin Man has infinite candy corn ammo.

I wasn’t good enough to beat Halloween Forever on stream. I don’t think I’ll stream it again, but I would like to return to it sooner than later to see the ending.

 

7. Stray | Developer: BlueTwelve Studio | Platform Streamed On: PC | Original Game Release Date: 2022

Stray was a game that had my attention since it was announced in 2020. For some reason I was under the impression that it was only on PS5 and PC. So I ended up buying the PC version. Had I been a bit more diligent in my research, I might have gone for the game on PS4 or Xbox, since my PC struggled a bit to run Stray. The game also made me motion sick at times.

Setbacks aside, I immensely enjoyed my time with Stray. It was one of those short, but sweet indies that everyone needs in their life every so often. I knew I’d be controlling a cat in the game trying to go home, but I wasn’t expecting to unravel a sci-fi mystery as well. The game had lots of dystopian elements in the background with touches of a major apocalypse already having happened. Helping characters come to terms with all that’s going on is an element of the game, but as a cat trying to go home, it’s not necessarily the player’s concern.

In terms of gameplay, I wish having a jump button for the cat was an option in Stray. It would have made tense moments feel a little less frustrating. Otherwise, it was a sublime experience– low-key horror and all.

I learned that my husband does have a physical copy on PS4. If I’m ever in the mood to revisit this world, that’s likely how I’ll replay it.

 

8. Shadows of Adam | Developer: Something Classic Games | Platform Streamed On: PC | Original Game Release Date: 2017

Shadows of Adam was another game recommended to me. I just had game cover art, and a few minutes of gameplay to go by when deciding if I’d purchase this indie RPG or not. At some point I decided not only to buy the game, but to stream it as well. Other than learning it was a retro-styled, turn-based RPG, I didn’t know anything else. Going in, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a retro game with tons of modern sensibilities, including the ability to save at any time outside of battle. It was also loaded with homages to SNES games like Final Fantasy VI.

This game is packed with things to do, but it manages to never overstay its welcome. Even after completing various side quests, I managed to finish the game in about 20 hours. This excludes the DLC content, though I did dabble in the DLC. In short, I’ve played so many RPGs padded out for length, that it was just refreshing to experience something so much shorter. That said, the puzzles were easily the most frustrating part of my experience. They weren’t unbeatable, but I felt like the later dungeons had one too many. Also, part of me wishes I’d played this game on Switch instead of PC, given how the game crashed on me near the end (thankfully I’d saved).

Still, the positives of Shadows of Adam far outweigh its negatives. As a cool bonus, Tyler Mire of Something Classic Games actually joined the Twitch chat during my livestream. Having a developer from the game was such a nice experience. Between the game itself being so much fun, and Something Classic being so supportive of those who stream their games, I’m going to have to put other games from this developer on my list of games to play. If I don’t stream them, I’ll definitely be more than happy to write about them.

On a final note, Shadows of Adam was the second stream or bust game I did this year. The final stream beat out my Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon livestream by over an hour. Heck of a way to end my 2023 streaming year.

 

Compared to what I streamed in 2022, I feared my list would be much shorter for 2023. Turns out I didn’t need to worry, even though Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon took up half the year. I won’t be streaming any RPGs longer than 25 hours going forward. Taking four weeks off because of a planned surgery also knocked some time off my streaming schedule. That said, two stream or bust sessions that went on for over seven hours each, special Saturday streams, and my Halloween weekend hat trick definitely allowed me to squeeze in more streams.

Here’s to a better planned 2024!