February 2022 Channel Update – The Forbidden West

Hey all,

Hope you are well!

Things are quite hectic over here both IRL and on the channel so I will try to make this quick! I thought this month was gonna be manageable until Horizon came out, but SIFU ended up being a really big time commitment 💀 Anyway, we’re over that hump now so hopefully things will smooth out.

TL;DR

• Finished: Not For Broadcast, SIFU
• Ongoing: Hollow Knight, Horizon Forbidden West

Games Finished Since Last Update

Not For Broadcast 1.0 (11 parts):  A hectic propaganda newsroom simulator –fascinating overall as it basically carved out its own genre with the simulator gameplay + watching video clips. The narrative goes from lighthearted and funny to serious and depressing but is engaging throughout - I enjoyed it lots and am definitely going to keep an eye on what these devs come up with next.

SIFU (9 parts): A martial arts combat game where, with the help of a mystical pendant, we pursue our father’s killers to achieve vengeance. The star of the game is the combat system but there’s still enough lore to keep you interested. It feels like the game pulled a bit of a switcharoo since the preview I tried because it’s H A R D……. but we got through the whole game in the end!! It was very satisfying to see how much I improved since the beginning.

I also took a first look at:

Hidden Deep: Currently in early access, an atmospheric side-scrolling cave explorer where we’re tasked to look for missing researchers in an underwater mining and research facility. Bit of a spooky one with monsters prowling about. The overall gameplay idea is fun although a lot still needs ironing out (e.g. art/assets/HUD are all very tiny, and the numerous controls are a handful to learn).

Tinykin demo: A Pikmin and Paper Mario-inspired collectathon platformer where we’re an alien archaeologist from outer space who somehow got shrunken down and trapped in a house on Earth. It has a really interesting artstyle blending 3D environments with 2D character, and the fun whimsical tone also reminds me of a bit of stuff like Psychonauts.

Progress on Current Stuff

Hollow Knight: I’m about 95% through the whole thing with some boss battles left…!

Horizon Forbidden West: Very excited to come back to Horizon!! I watched a recap video and starting bawling when I remembered Elisabet in the first game hahahah. I got a bit of a late start with all the SIFU stuff but this should be readily underway now!

Upcoming Stuff

I expect Hollow Knight to wrap up fairly soon, and then afterwards I feel like I want to try changing things up where I go faster on Horizon instead of handling more multiple games. Theoretically this would allow me to stay more focused & involved in the story and also finish faster (I remember when I played Horizon 1 I spent so long on side quests I had forgotten major characters midway through the story lol). Not sure how this will be in practice – will see how it goes!

I’m also keeping casual tabs on a few things in March:

• FAR: Changing Tides on the 1st (will have to check out first game first)
• Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin on the 18th (I have no idea if this'll be any good but it's the one with the funny reveal trailer where they mentioned chaos 5000 times)
• Weird West on the 31st  (indie isometric immersive sim from Prey/Dishonored creators)

This obviously goes against the whole focusing more on 1 game thing, but I’ll see if I can balance things out.

Also: this isn’t a particular update that belongs anywhere, but after playing Hollow Knight and SIFU I feel like I’m conceptually more open to the idea of Soulsborne games sometime down the line…. but maybe after I rest with some “easier” games first!!

Take care, and keep on gaming! 🎮

Welonz