smac

And it's still completely bonkers. And I'm going to have that damned theme tune as an earworm, again.

But if every pixel is simulated...where are the real pixels?

If we're straying away from the static puzzlers, maybe Westwood's Bladerunner adventure? Mainly point-and-click, but with puzzles, clues to collect, and some real-time behaviours, it's not a straightforward example.

Katamari is in the sale, too, so I grabbed that.

Yeah, MP is up there.

Now I'm depressed.

Any of the three (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian), really, but for me SOtC just pips Ico for atmosphere. I just rode around that sad, desolate valley for ages.

Yassssss! Couple of runs after my Defect win, and there's my Ironclad victory! Had Demon form near the end, but never played it! Same for Barricade - it only made difference in late game. Real winner was Fiend Fire coupled with Runic Pyramid AND Dead Branch. Wipe out my hand for massive damage and get a random refill.

Aaaand there's my first win with The Defect. Against Clock Bastard, too - had a lot of draw cards and relics which allowed me to play to 12 cards more easily. Seemed a bit random - well, I did pick Pandora's Box as an artefact. But I think my win was down to Dead Branch - it gave me a Thunder Strike+ that did 9 damage per lightning, after I had invoked it 16 times, so that wiped him out. Mind you, I had a Ritual Dagger charged up to about 50 damage, and a relic which meant a 50/50 chance it wouldn't exhaust when I played it, as a backup... Probably the most useful card in the run was All For One, which I've never bothered with before. But it kept pulling back all my zero cost Zap+ and Dual Cast+ cards to keep those orbs cycling, allowing me to pull off some desperate recoveries. I was down to 10HP from death, with two enemies between me and recovery at one point...no, wait, 2nd floor I have a sequence where I went: Triple Cultists --> 9HP Treasure --> 9HP Elite, Gremin Leader --> 10 HP Event, Note for Yourself, 10HP Unknown, Enemy encounter, --> 7HP Sentry and Spheric Guardian --> 7 HP Rest --> 31HP Rest --> 55HP Level Boss, The Collector. So I survived three encounters in a row at 10HP or less, including one Elite. That Unknown turning into an enemy encounter when I was at 10HP was still a bit of a pisser...

It's really bloody confusing to start with, much more chaotic than the main game. Have fun!

It's not on all the time - although it is tonight through to 7pm tomorrow: https://splatoon2.ink Entrance is to the left of the main online lobby, up the ramp. Or press X and select 'Grizzco' from the left-hand column. If you haven't played it, it's co-op horde mode against a bunch of salmon creatures that spawn in the sea and invade. With some big boss salmonids. It's kinda hard to explain until you see it. Edit: You should be able to play it - it opens up at level 4. Each game is three rounds; you will be assigned a different weapon each round (out of four used in this particular run). You only have standard Splat Bombs as secondaries. You get a random special out of a limited set (bomb rush, splashdown, inkjet, Stingray) with a couple of charges to last you all three rounds. Each round you have a target number of 'golden eggs' to pick up and deposit in your central tank. You can carry one at a time. You get these in the basic game by killing boss salmonids - but you will be swarmed by three different sizes of normal salmonids. You lose if you don't get enough golden eggs by the end of the round, or if all four of you are splatted. You can revive a teammate by shooting the ambulatory lifebelt that they become when splatted - and you can shout for help when you get splatted. Oh, and the water level varies each round as the tide ebbs and floods - sometimes you have a small area to work in, sometimes a huge one... Those're the basics - there's a shedload more to it. A whole bunch of special stages that can crop up for a start, or special Grizzco weapons.

I know. It's not a grind. But it is sometimes a massacre. I actually had a zero point game the other week. Zero! How lame is that?

Has Salmon Run opened up for you yet? When it does, you can play it to obtain tickets to use at Crusty Sean's (the fast food van behind your start location in the plaza). You can 'earn' food tickets that can more than double the rate at which you gain experience. However, you're not guaranteed to get those particular tickets - there's a whole bunch of other stuff you're as likely to get. I usually try to play up to the daily superbonus when I do. So yeah, more grind.

Ah, fine. Welcome back.

Yeah, it can be like that. You can only play Turf War to start with. Both Ranked and Salmon Run open up later. Same with weapons - some are held back until you level up more, up to l 30 or 40, I think. And gear - you can't shop until level 4 or something - and you can only buy cheaper gear with one or two slots to begin with. You should try to take part in the final SplatFest next weekend if you can - this will give you 'Sea Snails' that allow you to add slots to 1- and 2- star gear. Check out the various posts in this thread - but if you have any specific questions, ask away. Tip: We recommend you use motion controls with the sensitivity to max, and get used to that. Otherwise: it's not about killing your opponents, it's about inking the floor.