Psitanium Mine: Recent Episodes
Psitanium
Psitanium goes in depth on video games he has played, what they borrow from, what worked, what didn't and similar titles you might like... all from an undisclosed mine apparently.
Steam Next Fest recently happened and so many game demos were available to play. Psitanium was able to get his hands on 12 and decided to talk about them on this episode. So, let's jet around a canyon at 1,000 mph, load a flintlock pistol, open a blacksmith shop, survive as a Viking, clean up a dungeon and figure out what Once Human is trying to be.
Wall World is a vertical rogue-lite game where you pilot a giant mech and dig into a giant wall to collect crystals. Also, you occasionally fight monsters. Eventually a large ink monster will try to kill you with a laser beam. Let's take revenge on it.
Quinn Hicks is having a very bad day. Welcome to the world of Beyond Contact, a survival game on an alien planet where you have to avoid getting killed by vicious creatures, the locals and exposure to the elements. So, let's build a base, grow some fruit and seek out oxygen deposits on Ketern.
BeyondContact #PsitaniumMine #survival
Little Witch in the Woods was Psitanium's worst ranked game of 2022, due to it being so mind-numbingly slow and boring. But, it was rather cute and really felt like a shame that it wasn't better. So, on this Second Chances episode, we are returning to the woods to brew some potions and talk to our hat in the hopes that it has improved. Emphasis on the word "hopes".
Finally, a farming sim on the show... for the 20th time. Lightyear Frontier tasks you with growing crops on an alien world while you are riding around in the giant mech. This sounds like an easy win, but it did not start out that way.
Hey, remember Vampire Survivors? The indie game scene sure does, because we have been swamped with bullet heaven games since it's release in 2022. Today on the show, we go into levels of hell in Halls of Torment, give a potato some guns in Brotato and help a frog defend his farm in Pesticide Not Required.
Stop. Zombie time.Many years have past since Psitanium played Dying Light and Dead Island. It's even been a couple years since he played them a second time. And all the while, there was a certain impression of the games burned into his head.Now we look at their sequels and, boy, the structural changes they make really changed his perception of the series. Let's discuss what changes, what stayed the same and if it was good or not.
And so we travel back to the metro to look at post-apocalyptic Russia. Good times.Once upon a time, Nathan tried playing Metro Exodus and then stopped suddenly before completing the first chapter. Now, he goes back to finish the game in it's entirety. Was it worth it? We explore the winter wasteland to find out.
Avast ye hardies. We are about to set sail with 2 naval games about the high seas and looting booty. First, we have the "Quadruple A" game from Ubisoft that finally saw the light of day, Skull and Bones. Does it stack up to the lineage of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag or somehow prove a worse version a whole decade after it started development? Second, we have Sail Forth, a smaller indie game from 2022 where you explore a water world in search of shinies and photo opportunities. Can the scrappy little game be more fun than it's major studio counterpart or will it beach itself on a rock?
There are some games I pick up for a moment and then put down, never to return to again. Many games I simply fall asleep while playing. These are not games that deserve to be on a best to worst list for how little I can evaluate them. But, on this episode of Psitanium Mine, we will be discussing those titles from 2023 and why they weren't on the list.
There are some games I pick up for a moment and then put down, never to return to again. Many games I simply fall asleep while playing. These are not games that deserve to be on a best to worst list for how little I can evaluate them. But, on this episode of Psitanium Mine, we will be discussing those titles from 2023 and why they weren't on the list.
It’s that time of year when we do the best to worst list and boy, there are so many big titles we need to discuss. There were some truly great games that came out and also… less good ones. This year’s list has 31 games on it and it’s quite a marathon. Enjoy.
It’s finally time. We need to discuss the Mass Effect trilogy. Not only did I have a reluctance to finish the series, but apparently I had a reluctance to do an episode about it.
So, let us look at the Legendary Edition, which updates and synergizes the three installments into a cohesive product. Does that help with the experience as opposed to the first time I played it many years ago? And should we still be critical of the ending?
Strange that we never talked about No Man’s Sky on this show before. Since it’s Spacember, I guess we can rectify that. So, let’s go into the infinite universe to collect carbon.
Time to discuss Breathedge for the first… second time! We did a Psitanium Mine episode on the game back in 2021, but it’s time to revisit the exploded ship and minimal gravity of this game world. Will we find our dead grandfather before it’s too late? Well, no, because he’s already dead.
Prey will make you question reality itself. You will never pick up a mug without smacking it with a wrench ever again. Arkane was in peak shape when they made this reboot and it holds up to this day. So dust off your neuromods and fire up the q-beam, we’re going to fight the Typhon one more time.
Starfield is a big game… too big, you could say. In fact, Starfield has so many things going on that it’s hard to explain exactly what you do in the game, but let us discuss what stood out after my 100+ hours of playing Bethesda’s new sandbox.
It’s been awhile since we had a Psitanium Mine. To make up for it, wwe are pleased to announced a whole month of space game episodes. It shall be called… SPACEMBER!!!
During December, each week we will feature a big space game, including Starfield, Prey, Breathedge, Dead Space and the Mass Effect trilogy.
Merry Spacemas everyone!!!
Go on a hike up Hawk Peak with your anthropomorphic bird protagonist Claire while collecting golden feathers to take you even higher. All in the service of getting cell reception to call home. Let's discuss a lighter, shorter game than we normally do as a nice change of pace.
Metroidvanias are cropping up more often now and it’s a welcome return to a great genre. F.I.S.T. is such a title with the added benefit of featuring an anthropomorphic rabbit with a giant mechanical fist on his back. Sounds great, right?
We here at Psitanium Mine are connoisseurs of fine Borderlands content. As such, we proudly present the fantasy-infused looter shooter Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. Gearbox gives us magic, dragons, pirates, unicorns, hand crossbows and so much more as we cross the overworld and hunt down The Dragon Lord. How does it stack up to other titles in the series? What works better and what features are missing here?
It’s always a pleasure to play a nice management sim and in this episode we discuss Tavern Master. Here we will build out our tavern, make a hotel, cook some food and host some distinguished dignitaries. Can we get the entire medieval town drunk? Well, yeah, but can we make a profit doing so? Still working on that.
It’s a good old-fashioned demo round-up! Yeehaw!
On this Psitanium Mine, we hit the streets as a cat in Little Kitty, Big City. Then we build the untamed wilderness one tile at a time in Above Snakes. We find out what would happen if Vampire Survivors and Hades in Death Must Die! Finally, we get to live the dream of befriending dinosaurs in the cozy game Paleo Pines.
Daggerfall is the largest Elder Scrolls game ever. Skyrim is but a fraction it’s size. Oblivion could fit in Daggerfall’s pocket. But the problem is that the game is very old. Luckily, a Unity version was made a few years ago, in an attempt to update the game for modern audiences. But can the old-school Daggerfall survive the modern gamer… i.e. Me? Let’s find out.
And here we are, with my top 10. Well, the other 10. But the top 5 I swear is the real top 5. I'm not good at ranking things. What games stuck with me through all these years? Watch to find out.
Do you ever get depressed with the current state of games? I did toward the beginning of the year and it led me to put together a list of my favorite games of all time. Make a note that this does not mean the games I think are the best, but my personal favorites.
This is part 1, handling numbers 20-11, although we're playing very fast and loose with our numbering system here.
So, recently I stumbled into my Amazon Games account that I barely remember having. Come to find out I had many games ready to claim and, on a lark, I thought I would try playing some of them. On this episode, we are going to look at Kardboard Kings, Grime and Abandon Ship… for better or worse. Gonna have to check out the episode to find out which is which.
Farming is always better with magic and Homestead Arcana delivers in that regard. So, let's grow some crops, obsessively tend to them, talk to a cat and throw on a plague doctor mask to explore an infected world. Oh, the places you'll go... on a broomstick.
Make my boners grow! Boneraiser Minions is sort of like Vampire Survivors but with summoning boney boyz. Does it work though? Well…
We now return to the cozy life sim with No Place Like Home, a game about returning to an Earth covered in trash… so everything is basically the same. Ellen comes to look for her grandfather and does some tidying up along the way, building a farm and battling spider robots. Just another day in the post-apocalypse.
Atomic Heart is what happens if you took the concept of Bioshock and placed it in the post-WW2 Soviet Union. And it feels like the Russian version of a dystopic alternate history. To some degree, it works, and yet in many others, it falls short. So, what went right and wrong and is it actually Russian propaganda?
Finally back from our break and so we must discuss one of the greatest games of all-time: Doritos Crash Course. Get ready to crash, crunch, corn chip and crash again in this interactive dystopic game show. Dark, foreboding, probably a psychological horror, shaped like a triangle, covered in cheese dust, we look into the most intense piece of product integrated media I played in March.
And so the time has come to rank all the games released in 2022 that I played and this is going to take awhile. There are 31 games on the list this year and that is even after some paring down from games I didn't play very much (listed in the episode), demos of upcoming games and some top releases I have not gotten to try yet. There is just so much to go through, so let's just get into it.
It’s the start of a brand new year! Let’s ring in 2023 with a nice, light episode discussing the entire Assassin’s Creed series spanning over a decade.
Yes, this Psitanium Mine goes into the origins behind the series, the story of the Assassins and Templars, the evolution of the games through the years and where the series goes from here.
Really light podcast for the start of the year.
Move over 12 Days of Christmas, Psitanium has 12 Months of Livestreams. Months are more than days.
Most of the games played on stream were not made into Psitanium Mine episodes, so this is an opportunity to talk about all the games and whether it was good or not.
The amount of Metroidvania titles of late have been a bit lacking, but the number of games inspired by Dark Souls have erupted. Ghost Song is one of the games that tries to take elements from both genres to make something new. But are they the best elements? How do the two types of games work together? Will my love of one genre outweight my frustration with the other? We dig deep into those questions in this Psitanium Mine.
As we get over our Thanksgiving turkey coma, it seems like a good time to look at This Land is My Land, a game where you play a native warrior fighting against westward expansion. If that seems like fun to you, well, hold your horses. Besides the problematic elements around the theme and development, which we will discuss, there are some technical issues and choices that seem odd. So, what does this game do right and wrong? Come to the frontier in this Psitanium Mine.
Sometimes I try games that seem like they might be fun but end up being nothing I wish to continue playing. Many of them will wear out their welcome in under an hour. Here are a few examples of the games I played this year that went by so fast... because I stopped playing them.
While I don't play many scary games, I have come across scary moments in otherwise normal games. You can almost feel it in the way the tone shifts from one of feeling powerful to helpless. Sometimes it creeps up on you and sometimes it jumps up into your face and screams. We'll discuss a few of those from games I have played and beware some spoilers for: Halo, Control, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, Bioshock Infinite, Portal and Half-Life 2.
From it's early roots in 1990s CRPGs to the modern open-world incarnations, Fallout has been a staple of the video gaming industry for decades. On this episode of Psitanium Mine, we're going to look at the origins of Fallout from the time it diverged from Wasteland, the time that Interplay spent making CRPGs and other experimental projects, the Bethesda era, cancelled entries in the series and what to expect in the future. Also, what makes the series so iconic and influential?
And so, we step into the degrading footwear of Norman Reedus in the game Hideo Kojima really wanted to make. Death Stranding is a game where you do a bunch of walking so you can deliver packages across a broken world. Watch out for rocks… very small rocks. A very surreal and unique experience, but is it fun?
Sit down. Everything is going to be okay. We’re going to talk about an open-world survival game. The good news is that this is a widely acclaimed indie project based with a healthy dose of Norse mythology. You will fight gremlins. Trolls will throw boulders at you. You will get killed by a tree. Let me tell you about my experience playing Valheim.
Back in the camp of the souls-like genre, we go back time to 2014 and look at Lords of the Fallen. Is it as difficult as Dark Souls? Is it more accessible than Dark Souls? How annoying are the bosses? Well, let's go into that.
Recently, we went through a retrospective of the Diablo series. Recent entries have been less than impressive, but the genre is much larger than that series. So, Psitanium has been playing some other examples of the hack-n-slash ARPG genre. Among them were the prominent examples of TitanQuest and Grim Dawn. Are they as good or better than Diablo? Which one stands above the other?
Also, a few brief notes on Rum and Gun and Path of Exile.
It’s gardening time and that’s gotten Psitanium thinking about Stardew Valley, among his favorite games. So, on this episode, we discuss the farming game made by one person that turned the indie game market on it’s head and spawned countless imitators, many of which were also really good. So, quit Joja and start fixing up the community center, Pelican Town awaits.
Well, Diablo Immortal came out to... reactions. Since we are trying to forget that and looking towards Diablo 4, Psitanium thought he would do a stupid thing and go over a brief history and critique of the Diablo series, past, present and future. Which ones were the best? Did Diablo show up at any point is this more of a Waiting for Godot situation?
Now that we know there will be a remake of the Knights of the Old Republic, it seems like a good time to look back at the original. As one of the greatest RPGs of all time and one of Psitanium's Top 10, let's go over what the game did and why it warrants a remake today.
Bethesda has released new information about Starfield and we should probably go over it, because the picture of what this game is has become much clearer. But we should also talk about the general problem with space games and how Starfield hopes to fit in a space that has already been dominated by other games.
Out of all the games I have played, Fallout New Vegas stands as one of the best RPGs. When I realized there has never been an episode of the show discussing the Fallout games, I decided to go back and talk at length about why New Vegas was such an excellent piece of video gaming. We will look at how the game starts off with a bang, the influences that made it possible, the way it builds player choices, the personal courier story versus the fight for the Mojave, the DLC and the legacy that it left. Grab your big iron because war... war never changes.
If you ever wanted a game that never ends, you have finally found it. No Man's Sky had a rocky start to it's life, but plenty of major updates later, it has alot to offer. Freighters, frigates, colonies, animal breeding, base building and so much more are now here for you as you explore the virtual universe. Let us take to the stars and talk about what you can expect from No Man's Sky in 2022.
Well, since he just played Rage, we might as well talk about Rage 2. Because it is a very different experience in the way the world and gameplay function. And it's not even about being better or worse, just different. That's explain that in this Psitanium Mine.
Going back to some old games has had mixed results. Recently, Nathan had a notion to go back and play Rage. Originally, this was a lukewarm title for him and, well, it still kind of is. Let's discuss why in this episode of Psitanium Mine.
Put on a happy face, because you have to. Nathan played We Happy Few after stepping away from it for a few years and spent some time yet again in Wellington Wells. Does this dystopic alternative universe hold up with the advent of time? Or does the cheeky title from Compulsion fall flat of it's lofty ambitions?
So there are more souls-likes than we shake an ineffective stick at. The indie scene is going with the top-down Zelda-style souls formula, such as Death's Door and Tunic. But while Nathan did not get far with those titles, he did finish Unsighted, the story of an android trying to stop a mysterious entity to save another android. So, why did he finish it? What was so special about it? Well, the answer will likely not surprise you.
And so we return to Psitanium Mine following our break and we are going to do it in style. Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most talked about game releases in the past few years... for better or worse. While there were many, many problems with the game on initial release, things have changed considerably. Into this new, improved version of the game comes Nathan, who stepped into the fashionable shoes of V to mess around in Night City with Keanu Reeves. So, is it good now? What is the lesson we can take away from this game? After 100+ hours playing through nearly everything in the game, Nathan has a few conclusions he would like to share.
With Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands releasing this week, Nathan waxed nostalgic about the entire Borderlands series up to this point. Having jumped back to Borderlands 2 and 3 a bit and streaming some of Assault on Dragon Keep, the series has definitely been in the forefront of his mind. So, let us discuss the series from the beginning including the story lines, the vault hunters, the DLCs and the mechanics they implemented. Which one was the best… in a subjective sense obviously? Let us dive deep into this subject on Psitanium Mine.
Sailing takes me away to where I’m going… and in Windbound you do quite a bit of it. Of course, you might have to contend with frustrating inventory management, resource collection and combat along the way. But the sailing is pretty cool. Is it cool enough to overcome it’s problems? That’s probably worth discussing.
I’ll see you in your dreams, because that’s where the majority of this game takes place. Dreamscaper takes the rogue-lite framework and applies it to the idea of dealing with personal anxiety and psychology. Battle fear in the dream world and then use the inspiration of your success to give a coaster to new folks you meet in the waking world. Ideas, daydreaming, meditation, finger guns and giant frying pans… yes, this is a real game. Sleepfight with me on this episode.
Today on the show we focus on the three D’s": dungeons, darkness and death. Fun times, right?
On this episode we discuss building your own dungeon with cards in Guild of Dungeoneering, watching your party go insane in Darkest Dungeon and reaping souls as a bird in Death’s Door. Did any of this work for me? Okay, these are going to be some spicy takes…
Robot dinosaurs hunts? I'm sold. Join Aloy on a large open-world adventure where you will craft, hunt, storm forts, climb towers, gain new skills, acquire better weapons, journey into ancient ruins, climb mountains, go on fetch quests... wait, have I played this game before? Find out if I experienced De Ja Ubisoft playing Horizon on this episode of Psitanium Mine.
In a game where you can play a zombie, a horse, a slug and an egg, can there be any consistency in gameplay? Well, not really, but that's kind of the point. Nobody Saves the World casts you as many characters with many skills and abilities to create a Zelda-esque adventure unlike anything you've played recently. Does that work or not? Well, we'll discuss that in this episode of Psitanium Mine
There's only so many games you can play in the same year they release. While trying to play a bunch from 2021, there were still those that were on my list before I could make a list. What is still on that list? Will I actually play these games? Well, we'll find out together. Let's discuss why these 16 games are on my list.
After playing Remnant, I got to thinking about other games in this world. So, I played some Chronos: Before the Ashes and found that it's a very different game. Some things work well, other things are not as interesting. The time jump mechanic is also very unique and worth discussing. So let's trade out our gun for a sword for reasons and discuss another souls-like.
Imagine a hunting game with robots. But wait, imagine if the robots also hunted YOU! Well, you don't have to, because that's basically Terminator. It's also Generation Zero, but likely less entertaining. Let's open a lot of car doors and shoot at mobile metal death machines in this episode.
Well, I tried. The Good Life is basically what would happen if Swery tried to make Stardew Valley. And it's a very strange game of course. Naomi goes to a quaint English town to find that people turn into cats and dogs. But don't worry, because you get to turn into a cat and dog as well, while taking photos of the quaint English town. So, how long could I play this game? Well, let's talk about that.
Ah yes, here it is, the one and only yearly list of every game Psitanium played from the year in a ranked list. We look at the best things I played this year all the way down to the complain-a-thon at the bottom. In the middle is the bland, the shrug-worthy and the ones with good ideas that were poorly executed. Let’s sort through all of it on this exhaustive list of 30+ games. Get comfortable.
You can listen to this on the podcast feed down below or watch the video that took a really long time to put together over on the side!
From zero to hero, we take a second look at a game I did not like at all and realize it's good actually. "Dark Souls with guns" is actually more of a lighter, easier, more customizable experience than the Souls game and it works surprisingly well. Let's do a full 180 on a game in this episode.
On this very special edition of the show, we talk about the little-known RPG called Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Many people have yet to heard about this epic RPG, but perhaps this episode will finally bring it some much-needed attention. Let us discuss the main game, the Special Edition, stuff we got for the Anniversary Edition, some DLC stuff and a whole lot about mods on the first episode of Season 3.
If you love space combat, light RPG elements and getting blown up by sniper drones, here's the game for you. Everspace 2 might only be in early access, but it's a full-fledged game with plenty of content that looks great, plays great and keeps you coming back for more. And you'll have to keep coming back for more since your inventory fills up almost instantaneously. Let's dive into the inky blackness of space to discuss this ambitious title.
Marvel's Avengers, not to be confused with Marvel Studios' Avengers that made all the money, is a game that would very much like to capitalize on Marvel Studios' Avengers to get all the money. But it's not really the same thing and released in a very rough state. Luckily, we're a year out and have the benefit of time to get a better picture of this game, so let's see what the stunt doubles can do in Crystal Dynamics' hands.
If you like Stranger Things and want to play a game like that... well, there are some Stranger Things games. But, there is also Echo Generation, an homage to classic games like Earthbound. You battle raccoons, meet an alien squid and get attacked by an angry spirit in your school. This game is weird and it likes it that way.
Fishing is a major industry in Moonglow Bay and you are the main participant in it having just moved from the city with no prior experience in this field. So, drop your traps, throw out your net and bait your hook. We're going to have an uncomfortable narrative depending on your opening character choices and learn if this is just Stardew Valley with more water.
Imagine if you were in the wild alien lands of a technologically advanced society... okay, it's not an everyday setting. But primitive wilds mixed with sci fi civilization is what Elex gives you and you will not be disappointed. Why? Because there's a jetpack. Yes, I buried the lead. You can have our sword, our axe, our bow and our energy weapons as we discuss the game on this episode of Psitanium Mine.
The original Myst came out in 1993 and frankly it shows. But don't worry, there is a new version and you can finally walk like in real life! It looks great, it plays great, it doesn't have a FMV actors... okay, so not EVERYTHING is better. Let's go into the Psitanium Mine Age on this episode.
Neon Giant starts it's gaming legacy strong with a top-down twin-stick shooter that looks like Cyberpunk 2077. Unlike Cyberpunk though, you'll probably want to play this. So let's join The Ascent and find out what it is hiding. Considering it's a dystopic version of the future, it's probably hiding everything.
Sometimes you don't really want to keep playing a game after an hours or two. These are such games, so let's explain why. On this episode of Psitanium Mine, we will discuss the off-brand Paper Mario known as Dodgeball Academia, the off-brand Hades known as Dandy Ace, the bird-brand Tony Hawk Pro Skater known as SkateBIRD and the rebranded Katamari Damacy known as Katamari Damacy ReRoll.
In space, no one can hear you groan. Unfortunately, you can still hear your AI talk way too fast with all the winks and nods it can muster. Breathedge is a survival game in space which has often been compared with Subnautica, however it is not the same. We shall discuss that in more detail on this episode of Psitanium Mine.
Fight. Die. Repeat.
Hades is a rogue-like featuring Greek mythology as your protagonist Zagreus tries to leave the underworld of Hades and escape his over-bearing father, Hades. You might start to see why it's named this. But is it good? And, more importantly, are rogue-likes good? Let's discuss that.
Well, they never said building your own town out of sticks and stones would be easy. Medieval Dynasty really focuses in on that fact as you explore it's map, hunt wild boars, pick hundreds of berries, craft endless wooden spoons and try not to freeze to death when winter rolls around. Good luck.
The Surge might not have grabbed me enough to go beyond the first level, but Surge 2 is a whole other animal. By creating more of an open world environment with some exploration elements, things have improved immensely.
Yes, it has finally arrived. And I am so happy. The cult classic that was Psychonauts has gotten a sequel after 16 long years and there is so much good stuff in it. Let us dive into the psychic worlds of the game, deal with some deep mental health issues and also find tags for some emotional baggage.
Imagine if you took a rogue-like but set it in the oft tread upon territory of failed startup companies. Well, you don't have to imagine it, because Going Under: Internships are Heck has done just that. So get ready to take on workaholic goblins, demons looking for love and capitalist corpses while trying to survive your first day at Fizzle. Good times.
There was once a great April Fool's Day joke that became a really good game. Yakuza is now an RPG with a new protagonist and new city to explore. Get ready for your turn-based RPG crime drama too begin!
So when a dungeon crawler and a dating sim love each other very much, you get Boyfriend Dungeon. Sure you date your weapons, but your weapons are also people, so it's fine. Sure the dungeons have you battling cocktails and cell phones, but it's all a manifestation of your psyche, so it's fine. Sure there's a whole subplot where a Frankenstein's monster character follows you around in the shadows at the command of his creator, but... wait, WHAT!?
The Ubisoft open world formula has basically taken over their entire library of games. So when they created a new IP in Immortals, you might imagine they were going to draw on previous experiences. And while that is true, Fenyx Rising pulls from Breath of the Wild as well. How does all that work out? Let's discuss that.
There were so many games you could play during the recent Summer Game Fest 2021. In fact, there were about 40. Now, I didn't play all of them, but the ones I did get to try were worth discussing in a Psitanium Mine. So, let us discuss card-based battle systems, twin stick shooters, silly names for games, voxel graphics and sailing mechanics.
Crypto returns with an overhauled version of the 2005 classic to abduct more cows and blast buildings with a death ray. Does it hold up to modern gaming standards or is it stuck in the past? Also, does Crypto still sound like Jack Nicholson? Let's discuss all of this and more.
An outgrowth from the Sniper Elite series, Zombie Army asks what if the Nazi occult division in Wolfenstein succeeded. Head back to WW2 and shoot a whole lot of reanimated Nazis to make sure they are totally dead this time.
And while we’re at it, maybe we should compare and contrast with the Sniper Elite series it is based on.
Code Vein resides in genres I am not usually interested in. However, it also found ways to surprise me with it's mechanics, gameplay, progression and accessibility. So, let's find out what happens when I play "Anime Dark Souls".
If you're lonely, like mountains and want to bike downhill, this game is for you. However, Psitanium may disagree with you as the actual gameplay revolves mostly around crashing on small rocks. Let's get frustrated at a "chill game" on this episode.
1920s Chicago with some turn-based tactics and color-coded loot. Welcome to Empire of Sin. Join Nathan as he puts on his Al Capone hat to play... well, Al Capone and do a little rumrunning.
Sure you could go a-pirating on the high seas of adventure. But, how about trading sugar and fruit to food deserts at an inflated price? Now that's punk! Come on a trip to the Caribbean with Port Royale 3!
Diablo with Vikings is actually a great idea. In fact, Vikings are an ideal candidate for a hack and slash RPG, so let's just dig into that.
Square Enix made a Destiny! Explore Enoch with your own personal Outrider and enjoy your cover-based shooting galleries. Also, good luck figuring out if there are any legendary weapons in this game.
Say what you will about Bannerlord, because I have never played it. However, I have now played Mount & Blade Warband and I am not amused. Let's go over the janky nature of this throwback title. I bet some bandits are involved!
In this episode, Psitanium gets payback for the first time he tried playing this game. It did not go well and did not take long to get controller-throwing frustrating to a bottleneck. However, returning to the game and getting past that part allowed him to open up the full game world and experience everything Forza... sorry, Need for Speed Payback... has to offer.
If you have a need, a need for speed, congratulations they made a game for you. Actually they made several. Here is the 2015 reboot for the series, featuring full motion video cutscenes and so much drifting.
So, this is one of those games many might not realize even got released because of it's history in development hell. Well, it did. Whether that was good or not is another matter. Psitanium decided to play it since it came at the low low price of free to see if it was worth that price tag.
Since we've covered Yakuza Kiwami and Psitanium has now finished Kiwami 2, it's compare and contrast time! What mini games will we play? What random street fights will we get into? Are there tiny racing cars? Oh, and there's a crime drama going on as well, right?
With Microsoft finalizing their purchase of Bethesda, 20 titles from the publisher dropped onto Xbox Game Pass. Luckily, most of these Psitanium has played so let's go over what these 20 games are and if they are worth your time.
So, Among Us exists and I still don't really know why. Luckily, I was mostly a passive observer to this social deduction experiment. Somehow, this is an improvement.
Kiryu Kazuma, fighting ’round the world. But also racing small cars, bowling, playing darts, singing karaoke. There’s always a lot of stuff to do in Yakuza, but does it work? We dig into that on this episode of Psitanium Mine.
Yes, let’s start the new year talking about a 20 year old game. Psitanium has been playing Deus Ex on stream lately and it feels like many people may not remember what this game was. Moreover, if the long load screens and problems with it upon release were a turn-off, you no longer have those issues on modern PCs. Also, it’s the best type of Cyberpunk experience you can currently get!
A little bit different on this episode of Psitanium Mine, Nathan goes on a rant about CD Projekt Red’s excuse that Cyberpunk 2077 would have it’s problems fixed by the time a day-one patch was released.
Newsflash: It did not.
Also a newsflash: Day-one patches are lazy excuses.
It’s sort of like XCOM, but with bigger necks. Also, overwatch and mission structure are completely different, but let’s just go with XCOM with bigger necks. Let’s get into the strategy and gameplay of Gears Tactics on this episode of Psitanium Mine.
It’s a game where you make paintings for people. Yep. That’s what you do in this game and overall it works. Traverse the narrative game disguised as an open world game along with Nathan on this episode of Psitanium Mine.
Well, Nathan went and played Resident Evil 7, or at least tried to, as we wrap up scary games for the season. Since this is the final horror game before Halloween, we present you with both a Psitanium Mine episode discussing what worked and didn’t work in this game and others of it’s kind and an Attempting To Play where you can see Nathan play first-hand in first-person for the first-time… and probably last.
There are many racing games you could play. This is one of them. Will you be able to outrun the cops and race through the neon streets of Palm City? Join Psitanium as he grabs a Lotus Exige and hits the tarmac.
Hey, we have a big budget game on this episode! Psitanium often plays those, whether it’s obvious or not. And this one is from the Star Wars! And EA… Some mixed reactions shall follow.So, what does Respawn’s attempt at creating a new single player Star Wars game do right and where does it fail? Is it really just space opera Dark Souls or is it actually space opera every game you can think of? Let’s take a deep dive, now without the falling damage.
This might be the biggest surprise of the year. Who would have thought that a game about death would make Nathan feel so alive? Jump into the Everlight of Stella and Daffodil as we ferry spirits through the Everdoor on their way to the Afterlife.
Journey to the Savage Planet asks an interesting question: What if Metroid, But in The Outer Worlds? Such a thing should be an instant winner, but as Nathan explains in this episode of Psitanium Mine, some things don’t always go well together.
Supraland takes inspiration from Zelda, Metroid and Portal, but looks and feels more like Grounded. Does all that work? Nathan takes a look at the miniature world of meeples with wooden sword and energy cannon in hand. Bring your force cube, you’ll need it.
Since Nathan can finally get back to discussing normal games, let’s begin by doing a rapid fire of several games he had no real ability to do a larger piece on. This is an episode where we discuss games that Nathan played for short amounts of time before getting bored and explains what worked and what did not.
Games discussed include: Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, Ikenfell, Cross Code, Dauntless, Frostpunk, Night Call, Wandersong, West of Dead, Pikuniku, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics, Coffee Talk and (against all better judgement) Disneyland Adventures
Alien Isolation was a game I played specifically because it’s the scariest time of year and I thought I would play a horror game. But my experience going in was very different than my experience getting out. So what can I say about a six year old game that was likely built with Kinect in mind? Don’t worry, I will tell you in this episode of Psitanium Mine.
While I might not play traditional horror games, sometimes I will play games that have themes of horror or categorized as such. There for, as we approach Halloween, let’s talk about some of these games and why they proved scary for all the wrong reasons. Also, let’s talk about some really good examples of horror in games and a fun title you can play specifically for the holiday.
After talking about other entries in the Saints Row series, it occurred to me that I did not mention Gat Out of Hell, which I recently played again. So join me and Johnny Gat and Kinzie Kenzington down in New Hades for a devil of a good time.
A big budget game, you say? From a major studio you say? Yes, I play these very often. And this one feels like it needs discussion, for what it did to the whole future slate of Ubisoft titles and how it is indicative of the biggest problems with the companies open-world cookie-cutter format. So, let us see if we can survive Ghost Recon: Breakpoint.
If you are greedy and fall a lot, this game was named for you. However, Greedfall itself seems to have little to do with those concepts and instead has more to do with colonialism. Oh…
Spiders most recent RPG may be their most ambitious project yet, but it took Psitanium awhile to get around to playing it. Having now spent a good chunk of time with the game, he thought to discuss what works and what doesn’t work in this Dragon Age Lite.
With the sheer number of video games that come out in a year, it’s easy to miss some really good ones. Even if it has a small but loyal following and great press, I have always been surprised by the number of people I talk to that never played terrific games I know they would have liked. True, they might not be the greatest games of all time, but they are experiences worth having, ones you have to have for yourself. So, in this episode of Psitanium Mine, I talk about 10 games that are worth experiencing and that you probably missed the first time around. Time to update your Steam wishlist!
While some people may not see narrative games as their cup of Yorkshire Gold, there are some great examples if you enjoy engaging story and characters. On this episode of Psitanium Mine, we look at one of the genre’s best entries, What Remains of Edith Finch. Why does it stand out? What does it do differently? Will everybody die in the end? Let’s take an audio walking tour together.
Ah, roguelikes… sorry, I meant: Ugh, roguelikes. No matter how many times they hurt me, I keep coming back for more. So how does the most recent one in my playlist, Undermine, stack up? Will I die continuously in this very mine? Likely. Will I enjoy the experience? That’s more of a hit-or-miss affair. Find out if this hits or misses on this episode of Psitanium Mine.
Wasteland 3 released this previous week and it’s basically everything Psitanium is playing right now. Because of this, we are pushing some of the other episodes back a week so we can discuss the newest installment in the series that spawned Fallout. Wasteland 3, however, combines the old-school Baldur’s Gate CRPG style with an XCOM style combat system and a New Vegas level of storytelling to create something very special.
Let’s trade in our S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats for the C.L.A.S.S.I.C. ones and jump into Colorado with the Arizona Rangers on a quest to retrieve some wayward sons and daughters. Also, you drive a big o’ tank and have a cat with a ranger hat. So…
If you reeaaally like the parts of Stardew Valley where you harvest resources and build an industrial complex rather than all that tedious talking to people and building meaningful relationships stuff, Forager is for you. Let’s talk about skill trees, buying land, battling bosses and throwing bombs.
If Skyrim and Minecraft had a baby, it would probably be what Portal Knights wishes it was. However, living up to the games you are attempting to mimic is a challenge. So what did Portal Knights do well? Where did it stumble? How often will you fall off a floating island? Questions abound in this episode of Psitanium Mine.
Ooblets is a game about card dance battles and farming. Perhaps we need to explain in more detail.
Welcome to the first episode of Psitanium Mine, where Psitanium explains a little about one of the many games he has played recently. What are they? What do you do? Are they good? How many other games do they borrow from? Find out on this episode.
Did you ever watch The Thing or The Blob or Alien or Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and think “I’d wanna be a monster when I grow up!” Well, first, consider therapy. Second, Devolver Digital has a game for you! Find out what happens when you play a “reverse-horror game” as we dig into the mechanics that make it work and see if it truly is a “Metroidvania” title as it is often touted.
If you ever thought Honey, I Shrunk the Kids felt like a good idea, well call Rick Moranis, because Obsidian made a game for you. Will you be able to survive the jungle in your backyard? More importantly, should you bother? Let’s find out what happens when our world gets a lot bigger in Grounded.
In the midst of all the shiny new big budget games on the market, Psitanium wanted to take a moment to explain why he’s not playing them and is instead awash with indie titles. We’re experiencing a gaming Renaissance, but you might not know it. Moreover, you should be taking advantage of it.