Well, we've seen the backside of 2025, and are into a fresh new year.
There's only one thing left to do now, and that's our usual months-end
round-up of games we've played. You all know the drill, so let's hop
right to it.

Hop!



Superbrief
---------------------------------------
* Quake II Enhanced
* American Truck Simulator: Louisiana DLC
* Cyberpunk 2077

Maximum Verbosity
---------------------------------------



* Quake II Enhanced
https://www.gog.com/en/game/quake_ii_quad_damage
I only gave this game the briefest of replays. Mainly, I played the
bonus 'Call of the Machine' add-on that came with the game (it's one
of the things that make the game 'enhanced' over the original), and
that only because it reportedly connected the story-lines of the
original "Quake" and its sequel.

Which it does... but not in any truly satisfying way. The level pack
itself isn't too bad; its conceit is that you are sending soldiers
down (via drop-pod) to collect 'data CDs' from enemy strongholds. Each
module starts you off as a new soldier with no weapons or equipment,
and lasts three or four levels (depending on whether or not there is a
secret level). The maps themselves are noticeably more complex than
the original levels; larger in size, with more complicated geometry
and more 'tricks' that make the world feel slightly more alive than
the 1997's levels. They also utilize the full range of weapons and
enemies from the original game and its two expansion packs, and aren't
afraid to throw twenty+ enemies at you at once. It's amazing what the
Quake engine can do when you know the players aren't limited to 128MB
RAM.

So the levels themselves are fairly fun to play; there's some good
variety and design, and they don't feel unnecessarily punishing. It's
a bit repetitive, having to restart from scratch for each module and
build up your armory each time, but it does keep everything more
balanced. It's just a shame the narrative that connects the game to
the first Quake --the whole reason I played it-- is so weak.
Essentially you fight through the whole quest only to face off against
<ROT13>n pbhcyr bs funzoyref</ROT13> with little context except that
they are 'the creators of the Strogg'. I mean, I know this _is_ Quake,
so story is always secondary, but a /little/ more detail would have
been nice. But no, you encounter your foe, kill it, and get a 'thanks
for playing' end-screen.

Still, it's "Quake II" and that's always been my favorite of the
franchise, so I'm not too disappointed with my brief layover. If you
already own the game, the 'Call of the Machine' level pack isn't
reason enough to re-purchase the game in its 'Enhanced' format, but if
you are in the mood for some "Quake II" blood-letting, the bonus
expansion is a nice addition and you should give it a try.

Even if it disappoints in its raison d'?tre.


* American Truck Simulator: Louisiana DLC https://store.steampowered.com/app/3012580/American_Truck_Simulator__Louisiana/ Yeah, yeah. It's not my fault the developers keep releasing new
expansions. What, like I have a choice about /not/ buying/playing
them? Still, even I have to admit that these constant reviews of what
is -essentially- the same game is tiring. You don't like reading them
and, to be honest, I'm not much a fan of writing them. There's just
nothing new to say! So I'll try to keep it short... or at least as
short as I can (so, you know, only four paragraphs. That's as close to
'short' as I can do ;-).

Anyway...the Louisiana DLC. It's fine. No, scratch that. It's
/good/... but not in any way that stands out from the other well-made
map expansions released by SCS Software. It's not a disappointing
release, that's for sure. But neither does it really excite.

Oh, there are some nice things. The vegetation has been greatly
improved; obviously SCS untied the purse-strings just enough to
finally buy a bunch of new tree and plant assets, and it shows. As
importantly, the density of the trees and bushes has been improved;
everything looks quite lush and jungley. The Louisiana map feels quite
distinct from the other states. It was sometimes hard to tell when you
crossed over from, say, Nebraska into Kansas or from Utah into
Arizona.

Louisiana, though, is different. It's got all the swamps and bayous,
for one thing; this is one wet state! But the roads are darker (fewer
overhead road lights), and the buildings are smaller and with their
own character. You definitely get the impression that this is one of
the poorer states in America.

Beyond that, there's not much to say. Parts of the map do suffer a bit
much from 'flat-itis' (where the world appears unnaturally flat in
order to fit the prefab buildings), and this is one of the smaller
releases; the road network is quite dense, but there's just less
driving to do overall. But overall, I am satisfied. It may not be my
favorite expansion, but it's good and --unlike some other states-- it
feels more like a destination than just something to drive through to
get to more interesting regions.



* Cyberpunk 2077
https://www.gog.com/en/game/cyberpunk_2077
This is such a big game.

Which is both "Cyberpunk's" blessing and its curse. It's amazingly
detailed and beautiful (in a dystopian way) world that even after
driving down the same road a thousand times, I still feel that I'll
suddenly run across something new. But at the same time, the world
itself is also quite shallow; scratch the surface and you won't find
much beneath the facade. NPCs have nothing to say; the buildings are
all empty, and the vast bulk of the side-quests are nothing more than
"go there and shoot somebody" affairs. The game reminds me nothing so
much as "Mafia II", which also had a wonderfully detailed open-world
but used it incredibly poorly. With "Mafia II", I decided the game
would have been better as a bunch of stand-alone levels that /looked/
like they were in a connected world. I'm not so sure that "Cyberpunk
2077" would be improved that way... but neither am I entirely willing
to discount it.

Which isn't to say I find nothing worthy in the game; far from it. The
main quest is engaging, and --while you're railroaded through the main
plot-- the game does give you a good degree of freedom in how you
react to the story. The mechanics --the driving, the shooting, the
sneaking-- are good enough; they never were the driving force that
kept me going, but they never bothered me. It just didn't excite me
either. It didn't help that the game leaned so heavily into
gun-combat, meaning that both stealth and hacking got short shrift
(seriously, there are like 500 guns in this game and only 20 hacking
powers).

I have to admit; I'm not really that big a fan of the cyberpunk genre
either. Especially nowadays, the grim dystopian future it postulates
is looking all too likely. Although I do get a chuckle walking down
the city-streets in the game; everything else might go to hell, but at
least there are sidewalks everywhere. That's a huge improvement over
most US cities (it's so obvious this game was designed by Europeans.
Even the public transit in that dystopia is better than most current
US cities ;-)!

I'm for the first time playing with the 2.0 patch and Phantom Liberty
DLC. The former supposedly revamped the combat, but I'm not really
seeing that much of a change (then again, the combat in the un-patched
game didn't leave much of an impression on me). I guess maybe it's a
little more difficult? Stealth seems to be less useful now? It's hard
to tell. The DLC (at least as much as I've played so far) hasn't
impressed me; the first bit seems an uninteresting and extremely
linear dungeon crawl, and none of the characters introduced have any
of the depth or nuance seen in the main game. But maybe that will
change as I progress through the story.

One thing I actively dislike in this game is a lack of a third-person viewpoint. It seems such an odd lack, given how much effort has been
put into the character design and the innumerable fashion choices. Why
allow players to put all that effort into creating their character and
then hiding it so you can only see it in the inventory screen? I'm
sure there's a mod for this but it irks me that I'd have to resort to
something that should be built into the game.

Otherwise... "Cyberpunk 2077" is fine. It's no "Witcher 3" but it's
got some fancy graphics and I get to go all cyber-ninja on robots. I
don't need much more than that to have fun.



---------------------------------------

Only three games this month, but two of them were fairly long affairs
so I'm satisfied. How about you? Did you get enough gaming in between
all the holiday celebration and parties? Basically, what I am asking
is:

What Have You Been Playing... IN DECEMBER 2025?




--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Same old games! :(

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

Well, we've seen the backside of 2025, and are into a fresh new year.
There's only one thing left to do now, and that's our usual months-end round-up of games we've played. You all know the drill, so let's hop
right to it.

Hop!

...

Only three games this month, but two of them were fairly long affairs
so I'm satisfied. How about you? Did you get enough gaming in between
all the holiday celebration and parties? Basically, what I am asking
is:

What Have You Been Playing... IN DECEMBER 2025?

--
"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" --2 Corinthians 5:17. Hard to let go of the old. :) NY! Will 2026 suck 2?
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

* Quake II Enhanced

Boy, I also played through this updated version, but I guess I never noticed the Call of the Machine dlc -- or more likely decided I was uninterested in continuing beyond the main campaign. Indeed, thinking back
a little, though I certainly appreciated the engine updates, felt like this playthrough was more for nostalgia and that I was mostly going through the motions, with little emotional connection.

* American Truck Simulator: Louisiana DLC

Tangentially, I came across a copy of Jane Jensen's novelization of
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (set in Louisiana) a month ago and found
I really enjoyed it! So much so tracked down the sequel The Beast Within
(I have the game itself but have never played it) on archive.org and plan to read it as well.

* Cyberpunk 2077

Another huge game that I pre-ordered and have kept on the back burner to play when all the bugs and dlc were completed -- along with Stalker 2....

What Have You Been Playing... IN DECEMBER 2025?

I'm 10 hours into a playthrough of Okami HD ! After completing Alan Wake
2 awhile back, I really wanted something more colorful and light-hearted and maybe fantastical, and this fills the bill. If people haven't played this, Okami is a very japanese art-styled action-adventure game where you play as
a dog god, freeing the Nippon countryside from dark presences and demons and helping out the residents in your travels across the countryside. One of
your powers involves a unique mechanic of japanese calligraphic
brushstrokes, pretty fun and interesting. I'm enjoying it, finding it
fairly chill and upbeat, with straightforward arena combat, but have to say
it is much longer than I anticipated -- an average playthrough is ~35+
hours -- so it will take me a while.

rms


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Tried playing PW's "Chomo Homo Adventures In Montana"
While trying to install it I encountered a Blue Screen
and gave up.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/1/2026 6:29 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

What Have You Been Playing... IN DECEMBER 2025?

I was in the mood for some random killing and stealth action, so I
played through the main story of Shadow of Mordor again. I usually don't replay games, so I guess that's an endorsement.

As opposed to the first time around I also was quicker this time, after
15 hours (as opposed to the 50 or so I took the first time) I was at the
end. I didn't want to play the DLCs as they were not that great from
what I remember.

I also started Shadow of War again, but that was just before Christmas
and the kids being around most of the time (and on my computer) put a
damper on my attempts to do more.

Oh, and a few hours of Biomutant. Which still looks gorgeous, but I
still don't know if I can get into the story at all. Last time I gave up
after 6 hours, now I'm again 3 hours in and it feels the same.

Otherwise not much of playing this last month.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Thu, 1 Jan 2026 19:24:37 -0700, "rms" <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote:

* Quake II Enhanced

Boy, I also played through this updated version, but I guess I never
noticed the Call of the Machine dlc -- or more likely decided I was >uninterested in continuing beyond the main campaign. Indeed, thinking back >a little, though I certainly appreciated the engine updates, felt like this >playthrough was more for nostalgia and that I was mostly going through the >motions, with little emotional connection.

* American Truck Simulator: Louisiana DLC

Tangentially, I came across a copy of Jane Jensen's novelization of
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (set in Louisiana) a month ago and found >I really enjoyed it! So much so tracked down the sequel The Beast Within >(I have the game itself but have never played it) on archive.org and plan to >read it as well.

As much as I loved the first Gabriel Knight game, without Tim Curry's
drawling attempt at a southern accent (and the awesome music) I can't
imagine enjoying the game half as much. Too, Jane Jensen's story
wasn't particularly interesting; it was everything /around/ the
narrative that made the game as good as it was.

Still, in the hands of a talented author, even the worst story can
come alive and be enjoyable. But who wrote the novels?

Oh. Jane Janesen.

;-)

* Cyberpunk 2077

Another huge game that I pre-ordered and have kept on the back burner to
play when all the bugs and dlc were completed -- along with Stalker 2....

What Have You Been Playing... IN DECEMBER 2025?

I'm 10 hours into a playthrough of Okami HD ! After completing Alan Wake
2 awhile back, I really wanted something more colorful and light-hearted and >maybe fantastical, and this fills the bill. If people haven't played this, >Okami is a very japanese art-styled action-adventure game where you play as >a dog god, freeing the Nippon countryside from dark presences and demons and >helping out the residents in your travels across the countryside. One of >your powers involves a unique mechanic of japanese calligraphic >brushstrokes, pretty fun and interesting. I'm enjoying it, finding it >fairly chill and upbeat, with straightforward arena combat, but have to say >it is much longer than I anticipated -- an average playthrough is ~35+
hours -- so it will take me a while.

I played Okami on the console... was it PS2 or PS3 that it came out on originally?

[Google says Playstation 2. Thanks Google.]

The visuals and atmosphere were, as mentioned, quite nice and the
painting mechanics were... well, not original but uncommon and well
enough done to be entertaining. But my memories of the rest of the
game are that a lot of it was just ordinary running and jumping and
just not very interesting. I don't really remember much more than
that, except that I struggled to keep playing to the end.




--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/1/2026 9:29 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

* Cyberpunk 2077
https://www.gog.com/en/game/cyberpunk_2077
This is such a big game.

I'm for the first time playing with the 2.0 patch and Phantom Liberty
DLC. The former supposedly revamped the combat, but I'm not really
seeing that much of a change (then again, the combat in the un-patched
game didn't leave much of an impression on me). I guess maybe it's a
little more difficult? Stealth seems to be less useful now? It's hard
to tell. The DLC (at least as much as I've played so far) hasn't
impressed me; the first bit seems an uninteresting and extremely
linear dungeon crawl, and none of the characters introduced have any
of the depth or nuance seen in the main game. But maybe that will
change as I progress through the story.

Weird, seemed a totally different game build/combat wise to me. The
biggest changes were to netrunning though.

PL does seem a bit compressed, the story part is quite good. I could do without the zone otherwise. The air drops and gang car attacks seems a
bit contrived as well.

One thing I actively dislike in this game is a lack of a third-person viewpoint. It seems such an odd lack, given how much effort has been
put into the character design and the innumerable fashion choices. Why
allow players to put all that effort into creating their character and
then hiding it so you can only see it in the inventory screen? I'm
sure there's a mod for this but it irks me that I'd have to resort to something that should be built into the game.

Yeah that's frustrating. I've not used the mod for that, but seen some videos. They move very silly as there aren't proper animations for the character.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqxnAMJU8FQ

Otherwise... "Cyberpunk 2077" is fine. It's no "Witcher 3" but it's
got some fancy graphics and I get to go all cyber-ninja on robots. I
don't need much more than that to have fun.

I enjoyed it a lot more than Witcher 3, so I'd say the opposite.

What Have You Been Playing... IN DECEMBER 2025?

TL;DR:

**** Assassin's Creed Odyssey
***** Control
*** Sorry We're Closed
**** Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hell

--------------------------------------

SPALLS^H^H^H^H^H^H VERBOSE MODE ENGAGED:

**** Assassin's Creed Odyssey
This might beat Black Flag for my favorite AC. Lots of good NPC interactions in the story and side quests. It feels less AC than other
titles in a good way. Beautiful locations, and maybe I'm learning some geography and history. I found it hard enough I had to dip to Normal difficulty from Hard. One particular legendary boar was of Dark Souls difficulty for me, I left it and came back to find it a couple levels
lower than me, and was able to beat it at last. Which is weird as I
didn't touch the scaling and most things besides mercs scale up to your
level.
It's got some issues. For one, I played it on PS5, and Crash to Desktop started happening more frequently the further along I was.
This is the only PS5 game I've played that had that issue, maybe one or
two total on other games. You'd think they'd put more effort into
fixing that on console. Although not technically an issue, I found that
one choice much much earlier in the game has an affect on a later story
quest, where you can't complete it. This is one thing I especially hate
in Souls games, a gotcha choice for later stuff with no real
foreshadowing of it (o.k. there was some, but I chose what seemed a
better outcome for the women at the time.)
It feels a bit too big/long and started dragging a bit. The conquest/defend an area part seems pointless, If you help athens or
sparta it doesn't matter at all. I also found it very difficult as you
have to keep up with damage or the other side wins as you run out of time.
My PS+ sub ended before I could complete the game. I'm not paying current prices for the game and didn't want to spend more on PS+,
especially with my souring on the game from CTDs, broken quests, and repetitive pointless quests (it has radiant quests too, which I didn't
realize to begin with. These really need to go away in such big games.)

***** Control
Epic freebie. A sort of SCP FPS where you get telekinetic powers from items. Freaky, which I love. I like the design of enemies and combat.
I had issues with textures loading, and it took a lot of troubleshooting
to get that to be tolerable. Apparently the Epic version is older and
has more issues with that that there's very complicated fixes for, but
even then there's some issue with the way the game was made and loading textures slow and uses lower quality textures a bit too close. I don't
really like how some of the interior looks, and don't like the
exceptionally dark areas contrasted with exceptionally bright areas, and
the foggy bits. Your character has a certain inflection/accent I don't
like that makes me think of really bad actresses like Tara Reed, but
I've noticed it more and more among younger actresses and it seems like
it's just the way the language is changing. I can't help I don't like
it though. All the complaints are really minor, this is a really good
FPS and I strongly recommend it, though if you can afford it buy the
Steam 'Ultimate Edition' which is currently on sale for $6 which
supposedly fixes most of the texture issue (apparently still may load
slow and unloads to blurrier pictures/text at a bit too close even at
1080p, DLSS helps with this, so I suggest turning it on.) I'd say you
really need a RTX card to play it though as this is the first game I've
really seen a very big difference with it.

*** Sorry We're Closed
Unique and weird Epic freebie. The controls are weird, fixed camera 3d
but changes to stationary FPS when you 'zoom'/attack. Somehow this works
for a 'cursed by a demon' game to make you feel partially out of body.
It makes the combat a bit difficult, but really not overly so, and the
game's got difficulty levels if you want an easier (or harder) time. I strongly reccomend kbm vs. controller due to the fps combat with precise
quick attacks needed against demons. It's got a kind of doom low poly combined with artsy aesthetic. Choices matter in the game. Doesn't have
audio speech, you have to read everything, but the characters make
grunts, groans and giggles. The game isn't very long, so I'd say check
it out if you want something very different.

**** Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hell
Another Epic freebie. This is a Vampire Survivors clone, only with a 3d
isometric angle, and kind of WoW/Diablo 3 art (which I'm not fond of.)
Pretty fun, but extremely simple and short compared to VS. I finished
it on Normal in a handful of hours, by which time I'd figured out an invincible strategy, and breezed through Hard and the first level of
Insane after which I didn't feel like there was any point. If you
happen to be looking for a less complicated bullet heaven game with
Norse mythic setting it's a good short game.


- PS. In other news I got a 24" 1440p monitor for Christmas. I've yet
to put it through it's paces. I had to up the display settings to 120%
on text in Ease of Access, I had put it up to 150% "make everything
bigger" but it lost those settings and defaulted to 125%, it also keeps loosing turning off the HDR which might look good in a game, but it
looks bad on the desktop, I suppose I'll get used to it. I'm surprised
to find it does actually look better and easier to read than 1080p with
the larger font even though the monitor is the same size. I'm tempted
to download and run through Control again to see how it looks, but I
think I need some time for that. I tend to uninstall the larger games immediately when I'm done. Though that does result in a lot of
downloading and reinstalling. I've reinstalled DS3 and ER at least 4
times each. Maybe I'll try ER again, it always looked a little
pixelated on 1040p. I just have no interest in playing it, or there's
always Cyberpunk too. I suppose I can look through what I've still got installed.

--
-Justisaur

?-?
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
?ª'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/1/2026 6:24 PM, rms wrote:

* Quake II Enhanced

ÿ Boy, I also played through this updated version, but I guess I never noticed the Call of the Machine dlc -- or more likely decided I was uninterested in continuing beyond the main campaign.ÿ Indeed, thinking
back a little, though I certainly appreciated the engine updates, felt
like this playthrough was more for nostalgia and that I was mostly going through the motions, with little emotional connection.

* American Truck Simulator: Louisiana DLC

ÿ Tangentially, I came across a copy of Jane Jensen's novelization of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (set in Louisiana) a month ago and
found I really enjoyed it!ÿ So much so tracked down the sequelÿ The
Beast Within (I have the game itself but have never played it) on archive.org and plan to read it as well.

* Cyberpunk 2077

ÿ Another huge game that I pre-ordered and have kept on the back burner
to play when all the bugs and dlc were completed -- along with Stalker
2....

What Have You Been Playing... IN DECEMBER 2025?

ÿ I'm 10 hours into a playthrough of Okami HD !ÿ After completing Alan
Wake 2 awhile back, I really wanted something more colorful and light- hearted and maybe fantastical, and this fills the bill.ÿ If people
haven't played this, Okami is a very japanese art-styled action-
adventure game where you play as a dog god, freeing the Nippon
countryside from dark presences and demons and helping out the residents
in your travels across the countryside.ÿ One of your powers involves a unique mechanic of japanese calligraphic brushstrokes, pretty fun and interesting.ÿ I'm enjoying it, finding it fairly chill and upbeat, with straightforward arena combat, but have to say it is much longer than I anticipated -- an average playthrough is ~35+ hours -- so it will take
me a while.

Now that I played and enjoyed Control and found it's set in the same
universe as Alan Wake I need to play those. I thought it was given away
on Epic. I see Alan Wake's American Nightmare, apperantly that's the
2nd one. Looks like the first is on sale for all of $1.49 on Steam.
Survival Horror though, which I usually can't stand though (only one
I've ever got through I remember was a Silent Hill one on PS2.) I guess
I can spend that much, even if I don't like it that's hardly anything
and I got Control for free so I'm willing to spend a bit on something I
might not like from them.

I remember Okami fondly on the PS2. 'Cosey' as the kids these days say.
It's fun running and jumping around as a dog-god for a bit, doing good
like a superpowered Lassie. I can't say I'd want to play it again, I'd
love to see a sequel though.

--
-Justisaur

?-?
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
?ª'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Fri, 2 Jan 2026 09:24:56 -0800, Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com>
wrote:

On 1/1/2026 9:29 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

* Cyberpunk 2077
https://www.gog.com/en/game/cyberpunk_2077

Weird, seemed a totally different game build/combat wise to me. The
biggest changes were to netrunning though.

Have there been changes to the net/quick-hacks? Honestly, that seems
almost entirely the same. But, again, I haven't played the game in
three years so my memory on the exact mechanics aren't all that
precise... especially since the /mechanics/ of the game were never the
notable part of the experience for me to begin with.

PL does seem a bit compressed, the story part is quite good. I could do >without the zone otherwise. The air drops and gang car attacks seems a
bit contrived as well.

I'm a bit farther into it now, and I'm pleased to see it opens up a
bit. The first hour or two of the DLC is just a long, linear combat
sequence --essentially, a sci-fi dungeon crawl-- with little
opportunity to explore or interact with the environment, and I was
afraid that's how the whole DLC was going to be.

(It reminded me of the 'Mothership Zeta' DLC for Fallout 3 in that
regard.)

But eventually you get to a safe spot and the zone opens up, allowing
you access to an entirely new neighborhood. But so far it doesn't feel
anywhere nearly as fleshed out as the rest of the city, and the NPCs
feel like black-n-white caricatures. NPCs in the rest of the game all
felt slightly more nuanced.

The combat in this area is more difficult, but not because the enemies
are any stronger or more intelligent. Rather, it's just that each area
has so many more bad-guys to deal with. Not only does this make the
fights more hectic, but it also makes stealth harder because enemies
are rarely out of sight of their partners, so you can't ninja one
after another without triggering an alarm. But the fights still aren't
very difficult. I can still tank most of the damage, and if things get
too bad, I can usually just run and hide for a while until health
regenerates. It probably doesn't help that I've already scoured most
of the main-game map for all the side-quests and weapons, so am pretty high-level. ;-)

But overall, the DLC feels pretty disappointing. I'll keep at it just
because I'm a completionist, but --at least so far-- it feels like the
game was a better experience /without/ the addition of the DLC.

One thing I actively dislike in this game is a lack of a third-person
viewpoint. It seems such an odd lack, given how much effort has been
put into the character design and the innumerable fashion choices.

Yeah that's frustrating. I've not used the mod for that, but seen some >videos. They move very silly as there aren't proper animations for the >character.

A major part of the tabletop game was that style --not just clothing,
but how you performed your actions-- mattered almost as much as what
you actually did. You still get a sense of this in the game (although
in the video game, they seem to prefer to call it 'reputation' or
similar), but it's the same general idea. Which is why keeping you
from seeing yourself seems so out of place for the game. ;-)

What Have You Been Playing... IN DECEMBER 2025?

TL;DR:

**** Assassin's Creed Odyssey
***** Control
*** Sorry We're Closed
**** Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hell

--------------------------------------

SPALLS^H^H^H^H^H^H VERBOSE MODE ENGAGED:

**** Assassin's Creed Odyssey
It feels a bit too big/long and started dragging a bit. The
conquest/defend an area part seems pointless, If you help athens or
sparta it doesn't matter at all. I also found it very difficult as you
have to keep up with damage or the other side wins as you run out of time.

A major problem with Ubisoft open world games, and even more with
their newest AssCreed titles. I struggled with Origins, and it
defeated me in Odyssey. I couldn't even be arsed to start Valhalla. I
also dislike the leveled combat.

***** Control
Epic freebie. A sort of SCP FPS where you get telekinetic powers from
items. Freaky, which I love. I like the design of enemies and combat.
I had issues with textures loading, and it took a lot of troubleshooting
to get that to be tolerable.

I didn't have any tech-issues but otherwise agree more or less with
your assessment (I played the Steam version). The game shines on its
setting, and the mechanics of the game aren't too bad. The actual
gameplay design started to get fairly repetitive though. I rather
enjoyed the Alan Wake-themed DLC, though. It added some life back into
the game.






--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Now that I played and enjoyed Control and found it's set in the same >universe as Alan Wake I need to play those.

Playing AW1 before Control adds quite a bit of richness to Control, as there are so many references to the earlier game.

I see Alan Wake's American Nightmare, apperantly that's the 2nd one.

AN is more of a dlc for AW1, and didn't impress me much. AW2 is a major sequel.

I remember Okami fondly on the PS2. I can't say I'd want to play it again, >I'd love to see a sequel though.

A sequel is in the works! No idea on release date

rms


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

- PS. In other news I got a 24" 1440p monitor for Christmas.

24" ?!? Is this a monitor for Ants?

rms

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/2/2026 10:18 AM, rms wrote:

- PS.ÿ In other news I got a 24" 1440p monitor for Christmas.

ÿ 24" ?!?ÿ Is this a monitor for Ants?

rms

No, it's just pretty close, can just touch it when sitting fully back.
I had a 27" which I found too big. I gave it to my son as he was
complaining about his small monitor. At least I have a 19" in portrait
set up next to it now. I prefer a 2nd monitor to a larger one, I missed
that when I had the 27".

--
-Justisaur

?-?
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
?ª'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

rms <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote at 18:18 this Friday (GMT):

- PS. In other news I got a 24" 1440p monitor for Christmas.

24" ?!? Is this a monitor for Ants?

rms

ask ant
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:

rms <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote at 18:18 this Friday (GMT):

- PS. In other news I got a 24" 1440p monitor for Christmas.

24" ?!? Is this a monitor for Ants?

rms

ask ant

Yes, but I use 22" 1080 HD!
--
"Be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." --Ephesians 5:1-2. Pls sacrifice this old ant.
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
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| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Thu, 8 Jan 2026 04:25:50 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant)
wrote:

candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:

rms <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote at 18:18 this Friday (GMT):

24" ?!? Is this a monitor for Ants?

ask ant

Yes, but I use 22" 1080 HD!

Of course, to a 2cm ant, that's equivalent to a screen more than 40m
across for humans!!









--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/8/2026 7:42 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Thu, 8 Jan 2026 04:25:50 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant)
wrote:

candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote: >>> rms <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote at 18:18 this Friday (GMT):

24" ?!? Is this a monitor for Ants?

ask ant

Yes, but I use 22" 1080 HD!

Of course, to a 2cm ant, that's equivalent to a screen more than 40m
across for humans!!

Wow that's even bigger than a jumbotron! Why'd I have to be average
height? If I was just real small my monitor would look so big! I'll
have to go on a quest for some pishsalver.

--
-Justisaur

?-?
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
?ª'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/8/2026 7:42 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Thu, 8 Jan 2026 04:25:50 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant)
wrote:

candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote: >>> rms <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote at 18:18 this Friday (GMT):

24" ?!? Is this a monitor for Ants?

ask ant

Yes, but I use 22" 1080 HD!

Of course, to a 2cm ant, that's equivalent to a screen more than 40m
across for humans!!

You are reminding me of the horror of my only IMAX movie watch, 'The
Matrix'. A 40 foot high Keanu Reeves head is terrifying!

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com> wrote at 22:19 this Thursday (GMT):

On 1/8/2026 7:42 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Thu, 8 Jan 2026 04:25:50 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant)
wrote:

candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote: >>>> rms <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote at 18:18 this Friday (GMT):

24" ?!? Is this a monitor for Ants?

ask ant

Yes, but I use 22" 1080 HD!

Of course, to a 2cm ant, that's equivalent to a screen more than 40m
across for humans!!

Wow that's even bigger than a jumbotron! Why'd I have to be average
height? If I was just real small my monitor would look so big! I'll
have to go on a quest for some pishsalver.

whats that
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 1/8/2026 7:42 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Thu, 8 Jan 2026 04:25:50 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant)
wrote:

candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote: >>> rms <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote at 18:18 this Friday (GMT):

24" ?!? Is this a monitor for Ants?

ask ant

Yes, but I use 22" 1080 HD!

Of course, to a 2cm ant, that's equivalent to a screen more than 40m
across for humans!!

You are reminding me of the horror of my only IMAX movie watch, 'The Matrix'. A 40 foot high Keanu Reeves head is terrifying!

I saw that movie on an IMAX screen with my friend. We were not expecting the movie to be good. Wow.
--
"Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts." --Amos 5:14-15. Evil sucks.
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/8/2026 9:00 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:

Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com> wrote at 22:19 this Thursday (GMT):

On 1/8/2026 7:42 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Thu, 8 Jan 2026 04:25:50 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant)
wrote:

candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote: >>>>> rms <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote at 18:18 this Friday (GMT):

24" ?!? Is this a monitor for Ants?

ask ant

Yes, but I use 22" 1080 HD!

Of course, to a 2cm ant, that's equivalent to a screen more than 40m
across for humans!!

Wow that's even bigger than a jumbotron! Why'd I have to be average
height? If I was just real small my monitor would look so big! I'll
have to go on a quest for some pishsalver.

whats that

Aka "Drink Me" potion from Alice in Wonderland.
Which shrinks her.

--
-Justisaur

?-?
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
?ª'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

On Thu, 8 Jan 2026 04:25:50 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant)
wrote:

candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:

rms <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote at 18:18 this Friday (GMT):

24" ?!? Is this a monitor for Ants?

ask ant

Yes, but I use 22" 1080 HD!

Of course, to a 2cm ant, that's equivalent to a screen more than 40m
across for humans!!

So, IMAX?

Xocyll
--
I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com> wrote:

On 1/8/2026 9:00 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:

Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com> wrote at 22:19 this Thursday (GMT):

On 1/8/2026 7:42 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Thu, 8 Jan 2026 04:25:50 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant)
wrote:

candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:

rms <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote at 18:18 this Friday (GMT):

24" ?!? Is this a monitor for Ants?

ask ant

Yes, but I use 22" 1080 HD!

Of course, to a 2cm ant, that's equivalent to a screen more than 40m
across for humans!!

Wow that's even bigger than a jumbotron! Why'd I have to be average
height? If I was just real small my monitor would look so big! I'll
have to go on a quest for some pishsalver.

whats that

Aka "Drink Me" potion from Alice in Wonderland.
Which shrinks her.

Didn't American McGee's Alice game had this potion too?
--
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not corrupt and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." --Matthew 6:19-20. Dump everything & go to Heaven!
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
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/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
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--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Xocyll <Xocyll@gmx.com> wrote at 16:51 this Friday (GMT):

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

On Thu, 8 Jan 2026 04:25:50 -0000 (UTC), ant@zimage.comANT (Ant)
wrote:

candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote: >>>> rms <rmsmoo@moomoo.net> wrote at 18:18 this Friday (GMT):

24" ?!? Is this a monitor for Ants?

ask ant

Yes, but I use 22" 1080 HD!

Of course, to a 2cm ant, that's equivalent to a screen more than 40m
across for humans!!

So, IMAX?

Xocyll

and for much cheaper!
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)