aabicus – Page 8 – The Daily SPUF

Elden Ring: First Impressions From a Total Beginner

March 19, 2022March 24, 2022 aabicus 0 Comments dark souls, early review, elden ring, first impressions, first thoughts, first time, FromSoftware, masochism, new game, recap, review, rpg, souls

Advance note: In no way would I consider this a full review of Elden Ring, as I’ve only played for a few nights and can easily tell I’ve barely scratched the surface of what the game has to offer. I know I’m not the only person who’s heard all the mysticism around the FromSoftware label. The Soulsborne ‘series’ has captivated a community and seems to hold a venerated place in the pantheon of gaming. Above all, its main reputation seems to be that of brutal, gut-wrenching difficulty that only masochists could enjoy. And it was for this reason I avoided… [Continue Reading]

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Wolfenstein 3D: Does it Hold Up?

February 13, 2022February 9, 2022 aabicus 0 Comments doom, first time, retrospective, shooter, wolfenstein

At the start of the pandemic, I finally learned why Doom is such a historically well-regarded game. After that, I moved forward and played Quake to see where the developers went from there. Now, my friend Ryo gifted me Wolfenstein 3D for Christmas, letting me experience where it truly all began. 90s Gaming At Its Height Wolfenstein 3D is one of the earliest first-person shooters, widely considered the game that popularized the genre. Everything about the experience is visceral and unashamed; your enemies are blatant Nazis who explode into puddles of gore when they die. Swastikas and portraits of Hitler litter the… [Continue Reading]

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Planetside 2 Has a New Continent

February 6, 2022February 1, 2022 aabicus 0 Comments planetside 2, update, water

Planetside 2 just recieved its first new map in eight years! Oshur has had a long and checked development history. Originally a collection of islands in the original Planetside, it was teased numerous times throughout the sequel’s history. A single developer, Wrel, developed the first iteration entirely in his spare time. Unfortunately, engine updates eventually made his version unusable. The newer version was built from the ground up, and boasts a unique island-based gameplay unlike the other maps we’ve seen. Platoons in Paradise And the new setting has been awesome from an infantry grunt’s perspective. The tropical aesthetic is a treat… [Continue Reading]

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Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach

February 4, 2022January 30, 2022 aabicus 0 Comments first impressions, first thoughts, five nights at freddy's, horror, review, security breach, stealth

I’ve personally been an almost-exclusively PC gamer throughout my life, mostly because I never had enough money to buy a second platform. Plus I prefer the moddability, customizeability, and non-gaming functionality that comes with the territory. But recently I’ve spent several days watching my boyfriend play FNaF Security Breach on his PS4. And I can’t even complain because the game is a real treat on the eyes. (Caveat: I’ve only played the first FNaF, back when it just came out. So this review will be ignoring lore entirely.) Since I don’t know how to do anything on a PS4, all… [Continue Reading]

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The Arise Quadrology: A Retrospective

January 22, 2022April 16, 2022 aabicus 0 Comments arise, criticism, escape, flash, retrospective

On December 31st 2020, Adobe Flash offically died, taking with it a huge catalogue of ancient in-browser games. The sheer volume of animations, websites, comics, and other Flash-based media that disappeared that day is impossible to overstate. While there are countless titles I could have written this memorial article about, for some reason I decided to eulogize the worst quadrology of flash games ever made. Back in the early 2000s my brother and I regularly duoed escape-the-room games as it was a particularly good genre for paired-play. Every time one of you solved a puzzle/found another inventory item, they could… [Continue Reading]

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A Call of Cthulhu Tale: The Last Stand of Barnabas Nambly

January 16, 2022December 5, 2023 aabicus 0 Comments Call of Cthulhu, cthulhu, recap, roleplay, roleplaying, rpg, story

A while back I wrote an article recounting my first experience in Call of Cthulhu. Those campaigns were all set in the default 1920s setting, but there’s actually a second available time period: the 1890s Gaslight era. After having a blast with roaring San Francisco, my group chose to rewind the clock. This time we wanted to face our next eldritch threat in London on the turn of the 19th century. For me, the first curveball came when generating stats for my new character. The online generator gave me one of the weirdest builds any of us had ever seen.… [Continue Reading]

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3 More Tips Every L4D2 Player Should Know

January 5, 2022December 29, 2021 aabicus 0 Comments l4d2, Left 4 Dead 2, tips, tricks, water

A while back I wrote an article about three basic tips every Left 4 Dead 2 player should know. Each of them are easy to understand yet massively increase anyone’s survivability. The tips in this followup article are less mandatory, but still good to know. Either they’re more situational, or there are nuances that make them a little tougher to explain effectively. Nevertheless, if you found the first one helpful, this sequel’s for you! Tip #1: Stand on map objects when you get the chance. Imagine a common situation: you’re traveling down the street, when a horde of zombies suddenly… [Continue Reading]

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Stardew Valley

December 2, 2021December 8, 2025 aabicus 2 Comments farming, first impressions, first thoughts, stardew valley

The first time I tried Stardew Valley in 2016, I just couldn’t get into it. It felt like a grindfest, it felt like a timesink, and it felt like I never had enough time in the days. I futzed around for a while, ran out of inventory space from all my tools, and gave the game up. But perhaps my life was just too hectic back then. In the new pandemic-ridden reality of 2021, I suddenly found a whole new appreciation for Stardew Valley. Sow the land Stardew Valley is a shameless Harvest Moon clone who nevertheless does such a good job you can’t… [Continue Reading]

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5 More Short, Free, Low-Poly Horror Games That Are Worth Playing

November 18, 2021December 30, 2021 aabicus 2 Comments dark, free, graphics, Horror Games, indie games, recommendation, short, spooky

My last two articles on short, free, low-poly horror games published in August and September. And now the finale is publishing in November, meaning I completely missed the correct month for spooky articles. Oh well! Even if it’s a bit out-of-season, I think you’ll still enjoy these bite-sized tidbits of terror: 1. The Whitetail Incident The Whitetail Incident was definitely my favorite game to play on this list. Not the least of which because you get a shotgun! The player character is a ranger searching for a coworker who went missing while responding to a camper’s SOS. Accompanying you is… [Continue Reading]

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Don’t Trust the Milkman – A Call of Cthulhu Saga

November 7, 2021July 16, 2023 aabicus 2 Comments Call of Cthulhu, cthulhu, milkman, recap, review, roleplay, roleplaying, rpg, story, tabletop simulator

This article’s a bit out of left-field, as it’s not about video games. Instead, today I wanted to discuss a tabletop RPG I’ve always wanted to try and recently got my wish. Except for a short one-off in my undergrad years, Call of Cthulhu has always somehow evaded my gaming tables. Like most social events, it would lay dormant and unable to find a group willing to get together to play. But thanks to the Covid-19 lockdown, my gaming group finally decided to give Call of Cthulhu a try via Tabletop Simulator. Since then, we’ve been hooked and played a… [Continue Reading]