[Telomina]

Don't think that there's anything for me. But I will try the new Anno 117 demo soon.

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH It was mountain hiking with Nordic sticks. The terrain changes with altitude, so you can have both woodland and rocky bits on the same route. Hiking is a rather broad term, Wikipedia says that "A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside.", so I guess the terrain is not as much a factor as length and effort, maybe.

Gamescom was certainly interesting, I did manage to catch that just before I left on holiday, but those are all future releases. Silksong pulled a surprise release while I was away, and we can finally play the game already after 6 years of waiting (not me though, I will still wait for all DLCs that I know they are planning, so I will be lucky to play it this decade 😅). Not sure if we had any other big releases like that while I was away.

Though speaking of releases, Troublemaker 2 releases today,you may remember I mentioned the first part before.

I do not really like touchscreens; they never respond well to my fingers for some reason. I played Plague Inc. with a mouse. You're right, though: you can clearly see how it grew from mobile, with that bubble popping mechanic and other hints, but still, it was playable enough on PC. The advantage of a mobile version is that it's portable, I think: you can play it on a train or while waiting, but I usually use that time to read instead.

[DoctorEldritch]

Originally Posted by Telomina

Don't think that there's anything for me. But I will try the new Anno 117 demo soon.

I thought you might take a look at Cat's Vote:

Feline politics at its finest 😉

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch That sounds like a lot of fun 😄

I’m with you on waiting for Silksong. I don’t think I’ll hold out until all the DLCs are out, but considering how substantial these updates have been, it feels wise to wait until Team Cherry balances the game. Btw, some rumors have surfaced about a game that I think you’ll be very interested in 😁 The only bummer is that it’ll probably be announced while you’re on break. Not naming it in case you want to be surprised.

Oh dang, I completely missed your Troublemaker related comment 😭 It really does feel like a mix of Yakuza and Bully, with the second game even showing off combat that looks straight out of Yakuza 5. And here I was thinking Korea would be the first to put out a Yakuza-like game.

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH It really was, I enjoy that a lot. Though I prefer mountains because the vistas are more impressive there as opposed to the lowlands, I find.

Indeed, Team Cherry seems to be busy polishing and patching it. And they mentioned "ambitious DLC plans", which I am happy about on one hand, but on the other, considering how Silksong grew from one of the DLC plans for the original Hollow Knight, I shudder to think how much time it may take them to make all the DLCs they want.

I am interested in several games, I was quite glad to finally see some gameplay trailer for The Outer Worlds 2. Is that the one you meant?

Actually, I tried Troublemaker for a bit before my holiday so I would get a clearer feel of it, and the impression I got from it was a bit... So if Yakuza and Bully are big kids sitting at a big kid's table, Troublemaker makes an impression of those 14-year-old cousins that desperately want to be part of "grown-up group" but do not get what it is that makes someone a grown-up yet.

It shouts, "Hey, let me join, I am all grown-up like you! Look, I use curse words, this is what big kids are doing! (as a matter of fact, Troublemaker has so many of those that it even has a function in the menu to beep them) Look, I talk about politics, that's mature! Look, I have minigames like you, I am all grown up! Let me join in!"

Depending on how and when you look at it, it can be either or both annoying and endearing. But the potential is there, and for an indie game from Indonesia, it is a very good go at it indeed. And it is nice that they are growing, Troublemaker 2 is a testament to that.

But what of Korea, have you heard they are working on something in this genre? I don't remember seeing anything like that.

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch Say, is there any danger of predators in the hiking areas, or are they generally safe? We don’t have many hiking spots in my city, but for the rare ones that exist, the authorities usually recommend packing a special kind of first aid kit for snake and lizard bites. Lizards are a huge NOPE for me, so I’m never hiking in this region 😆

Lmao, unless Team Cherry hires more devs (which is unlikely), we’re in for a long wait 😅

Nope, I was referring to Yakuza Kiwami 3. Did you see what they did to poor boi Rikiya 😭😭😭

Wow, you should definitely post your impressions of Troublemaker on Steam, because this is exactly what I wanted to know while reading the reviews. Is the copying the grownup aspect also reflected in the moment to moment gameplay? I don’t expect the combat mechanics to be as complex as Bully or Yakuza, but hopefully it isn’t too bad?

The idea of a Yakuza-like game set in Korea was planted in my head by an article where the director of Stellar Blade (and another prominent game industry figure whose name I forgot) expressed their love for the Yakuza games and their desire to work on a similar game based in Korea.

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH It is generally safe because the hiker traffic can be quite high, and reptilians do not like that much activity near their habitats. And there are plenty of huts around that serve food and can help with first aid or calling for help if needed. That being said, there can be some snakes, various species of European vipers. This year, we saw one, and last year, we saw one of the snakes, and also a fire salamander. But they are generally rare, and encountering one should be safe if you let them be and do not provoke them, they are usually quite keen to just get out of the trail. But in terms of statistical probability, there is a chance to encounter snakes and lizards, but it is not an issue so big that the authorities need to give any advice.

Team Cherry might, they doubled their team from 2 to 4 people after the initial successful Kickstarter for the first Hollow Knight, if they find the right people, they may. That being said, I'd rather they did not: the team now is clearly very good (if slow 😅) at what they do.

Oh my, that news completely slipped by me, thank you for telling me! I looked at the trailer, and the game looks so different from how I remember it. And poor Rikiya indeed 😨 Maybe someone will make a mod to bring back his original look or something? Modders did that for Masayoshi Tanimura in Yakuza 4, though here it may be harder to do since it is not a restoration of existing files but instead there is a need to make them from scratch...

Combat mechanics are not too complex, and somewhat bulky, I'd say that grownup aspect is present everywhere throughout the game. Combat to me felt unpolished and too much settings-dependent. As in it is too hard on Hard but quite easy on Normal and the difference comes not from your skill, but from how much damage you deal and get on each mode, so there is that. But this being said, we have such a shortage of this type of game at the moment that you can forgive the game for this, especially as it was made by an indie team from Indonesia.

Oh my. A Korean analogue of Yakuza would be nice and welcome indeed, especially if they focused on the local vibes and history rather than copying the Yakuza vibe. Troublemaker may not be polished, but what it does try to convey is the atmosphere of Indonesia (more so in the second game, it seems). You would not mistake the school there for one in Japan or China. Korean devs could call their game Kkangpae 😉 And focus on domestic aspects like them involved in beauty and idol/k-pop industries, or chaebols. I'd play that.

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH They shared a gameplay video with fighting styles:

I did not know they are also working on that spin-off Yakuza 3 Gaiden: Dark Ties, that was a surprise. Of course, a new Yakuza game is good news, but I am interested in what it would feel like to play as an antagonist. Sort of. I mean, Mine Yoshitaka is still Tojo Clan, but he was the main baddie in Yakuza 3. I guess we'll see a personal ark.🤔

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch My my, look at Mine flying around! Man’s moving like Batman from the Arkham games 😂 But yeah, I’m really glad they went for this villain angle. Hopefully, this means we’ll be spending more time with Daigo. Btw, did you see all the “Daigo with a gun” memes that respawned from the Dark Ties trailer😂?

And btw, many apologies for not replying to your earlier messages. I recently landed a short-term freelance role, so I’ve been really busy with that. Just know that I read all your messages about hiking and that Indonesian bully game, and I really appreciated the insights on both 😁 I genuinely want to try out that game at some point.

Also, speaking of Bully, I don’t know what eldritch forces compelled him to appear in public, but Dan Houser had an interview with IGN, where he said this about Bully -

Speaking with IGN at Los Angeles Comic Con 2025, Dan Houser discussed his past projects with Rockstar Games, prompting a question about the rumored Bully sequel that never came to be. When asked why Bully 2 never happened, Houser stated that there was simply not enough time or resources for Rockstar to take on another big project at the time. Instead, the studio ended up focusing its efforts on games like L.A. Noire, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3, and Grand Theft Auto V.

There it is, that’s the sound of all hopes for a Bully sequel deflating 😭

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH Hey now, Daigo may be the modern Emonzaemon (kudos if you get the reference) 😉

And yeah, shapes to be interesting, more so because Mine may not be a full antagonist, more of an extreme mix of calculation and cynicism. It may be interesting to see how he got to that point, in the game he is younger. I wonder if we'll get to see young Kiryu there, too, or if the timeline of the game is set during his prison sentence.

And what will they do about the Don Quijote store, I wonder. They have no license for their music and brand anymore, in Like a Dragon they worked around it narratively by replacing it with a new police station. Probably the story will be that the store was not open yet when Mine was running around.

No worries, and congratulations on the new role! 😊 It is good to know that the reason behind your radio silence is something positive like an new job, rather than some sort of problem. Is it NDA, or are you allowed to say what it is?

Well, it's almost Halloween, friends from the other side listen to us mortals more keenly under crimson autumn moons 😉 I read that too, and I want to say, it is sad (though there is hope), but I wonder if Bully 2 can be made for a modern audience even. Though if anyone can, it'd be Rockstar.