Games I've been playing lately

Here’s what I’ve been playing these days:

Neon Abyss

I played it back when it was on Xbox Games Pass. I stopped playing for a while (I thought it left Games Pass, but it’s available there right now), but then I saw it available for free on the Epic Games Store, so I downloaded it and started playing again. It’s a roguelike shooter. Perfect for when I want to chill out for a while.

Halo Wars 2

It’s pretty good. I don’t play many real-time strategy games, but I like this one. I was terrible at first and almost uninstalled it after a couple of tries. But then I started to figure out how to win (against the CPU) and played a lot more. Not good for when I want to chill out. The game is stressful.

Portal Reloaded

This is a mod for Portal 2 that adds a third portal you can place that moves you back and forth between present and future timelines. The stuff you do in the present (move a block, push a button, etc) affect those same things in the future timeline. But the stuff you do in the future does not affect the things in the past. So difficult Portal 2 puzzles that deal with your position in space, but in two timelines. It’s really good.

Death’s Door

Very cool Zelda-inspired indie action/RPG game that Monique bought for me. She also got a copy for herself and is having a good time with it. I wish it had some kind of co-op.

Remnant: From the Ashes

Speaking of co-op… I’ve been playing this one with Monique. We’re only like an hour in, but it’s been fun. We have really been struggling to find good PC co-op games that aren’t buggy and we’re both into, but this one works for now.

RetroArch

I’ve had the standalone version of RetroArch (frontend app for game console emulators) installed on my PC for a while, but I just decided to try out the Steam version of it, mostly so I can try out using Steam Link to do some retro gaming on my phone. Steam RetroArch works as well as the standalone version for me, so I don’t use the old one anymore.

Importing my ROMs was easy enough, but you have to use cores (the actual emulators for each console) that are listed in the store as DLC instead of using your own files, so I had to download them all. But it was easy and they have all the cores most people would want.

Steam Link worked well, except I still am not used to using touch screen controls to emulate a whole controller. I’m terrible at it. I don’t know how you’re supposed to do joysticks, face buttons, and shoulder buttons at the same time on a screen.

Anyway, some of my favorite ROMs:

• Super Metroid (SNES)
• A Link to the Past (Zelda) (SNES)
• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSX)
• Resident Evil - Director’s Cut - Dual Shock Version (PSX)
• Resident Evil 2 (N64)
• Silent Hill (PSX)
• Dino Crisis (PSX)
• Shadowrun (GEN)
• Shinobi III (GEN)
• Ecco - The Tides of Time (GEN)
• Metroid - Zero Mission (GBA)
• Majora’s Mask (Zelda) (N64)

And just random some games I had that I still play to go back in time for a little while:

• Kung Fu (NES)
• The Legend of Zelda (NES)
• Metroid (NES)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)
• Zelda II (NES)
• Batman Returns (GEN)
• Beyond Oasis (GEN)
• Comix Zone (GEN)
• Splatterhouse 3 (GEN)
• Vectorman (GEN)
• Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
• Earthworm Jim (SNES)
• Flashback - The Quest for Identity (SNES)
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (SNES)
• Pitfall - The Mayan Adventure (SNES)
• Super Mario World 2 - Yoshi’s Island (SNES)
• Terminator 2 - Judgement Day (SNES)
• Blood Omen - Legacy of Kain (PSX)
• Grand Theft Auto (PSX)
• Metal Gear Solid (PSX)
• Nightmare Creatures (PSX)
• PaRappa the Rapper (PSX)
• Parasite Eve (PSX)
• Tekken 2 (PSX)
• Twisted Metal 2 (PSX)
• Metroid Fusion (GBA)