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There are games with objectively better photo modes, yes.
But also Webfishing has that initial lure of listening to an audiobook or podcast while playing, which inevitably sidetracks into me trying to get avant-garde & weird with my screenshotsāsetting up spiffy lil mushroom compositions & chasing storms around the map.
Thereās also something to the lo-fi, pixelated aesthetics of the game feeling like theyāre failing to constrain something really sweet, and amplifying that thing in the process. Like a spearmint secret burning the inside of your cheeks. Or the dun shadow of a screen door, eroded by the light of dawn.
Mar 9, 2025
Related Recs
From a āhobbyistā perspective, the natural conclusion of OSSC upscaling fetishism and a PS2 with a hard drive is getting to play this gorgeously freaky little game on original hardware without buying a price gouged Ā£200+ disc copy.
From a personal perspective, I think Iāve tripped and stumbled into prototyping a video game? Music isnāt speaking to me the way that it used to and I guess Iām looking for a more gag driven way to get my point across. Survival horror is such malleable language. So Iām deluding myself into considering this research. Playing it in tandem with Silent Hill 4 to get a nice spread of dream-logic nightmare realms that clash with domestic horror. I do so wish P.T. was still accessible. If anybody has any other suggestions or favourites in this category Iād love to hear them!
Deliciously creepy stuff.
Jan 26, 2025
THE COSMIC WHEEL SISTERHOOD!!!! - Iāve recād it before cause itās so good, if you love a good story this is defo for you. Its so so gorgeous (pic below is from it). Youāre a witch whoās been in exile for centuries, who summons a demon to help. Choose your own adventure style story game with elements of collage (you make your own oracle cards).
Night in the woods - a weird lil walking sim story game that feels like a graphic novel. Existential and dark and mysterious.
Wylde Flowers - a cosy witchy farming and story game. i find pure farming/management sims a bit boring but this has a linear storyline which kept me entertained.
Spiritfarer - such a moving game unlike anything else Iāve played since. You play as a psychopomp ferrying souls into the afterlife and carrying out their final wishes.
Also if you wanted to get into more RPGs, I just finished Sea of Stars. Itās an adventure RPG with gorgeous pixel art. Itās made to have the nostalgia of old 90s RPGs, but youād definitely be able to appreciate it without having played them. It has combat, but itās turn based which might be easier for someone who isnāt as good at combat, and thereās relics you pick up that you can activate to make the fighting easier. Turn based combat in general is probably the way to go if you wanna move into fighting games!
Mar 6, 2024
Top Recs from @bugbitesquared
The film has so many moments of the most haunting and affecting imagery Iāve ever seen, and beyond that is staying with me in some kind of a sea-change way, which I donāt fully grasp.
Itās freely available on YouTube (linked here). Kanopy, too. Go see it.
Feb 9, 2025
David Berman was incredible with words. A new rainy day track on loop, for me.
Feb 10, 2025
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Like those weird, out-of-place lines that pop into your head when youāre trying to write a thing.
Write them down! Sometimes they lead somewhere or grow into something incredible and you just donāt know that in the moment. Like David Lynch & the opening line for Lost Highway popping into his head, completely out of context at the time.
It takes some work to trust yourself on these things, but it's damn worth it.
Feb 16, 2025