Video Game Journal – March 08 2023

In the last journal, I wasn’t feeling great. This week, Rabbit and I are feeling decidedly terrible! This put the biggest crimp in my gaming plans to date. With basically a sinus cold coupled with bouts of vertigo, VR gaming was well off the table this week.

I did get to finally get to play a game that I have been putting off for a while, so it’s not all bad. What game was that? Well, there are only 2 games this week, so it won’t be hard to work out! 😋

Dead Space (Remake/2023)

I was slowly making my way through the Impossible run on Dead Space, and I was happy with my progress. Miniboss fights, intentionally tight fight areas, some zero-gravity arenas – I was clearing them all.

You may have noticed this is all in the past tense. I was going well. Then, late in Chapter 7 of 12, after a boss fight where I died often before, the worst happened. Dead Space killed me.

I got stun locked between two small annoying enemies, and glitch killed. Not ‘pushed by little enemies into a bigger enemy to die’ killed. That would have been unfortunate but understandable. No, I got pushed through a wall as near as I can make out, and died with 2/3 of my health showing on my suit!

20230308 - Dead Space - Here we go again
A glitch death is more than an inconvenience in a permadeath scenario

I thought that would end my Platinum run hopes. I was so stressed slowly progressing, playing for 30-40 minutes and having to put the controller down. Dying like this was my worst-case scenario, and I thought might kill the desire to Platinum Dead Space.

The next day, I sat down and started a new Impossible run. I played for about 3 hours straight, progressing nicely. The best comparison I can think of is like when you get a new car.

You pick up the car and treat it tenderly. Park where no other cars are, gingerly open the doors to not hit anything that kind of thing. Then the inevitable happens, and you get a scratch or ding. All the pressure is off, it’s happened, and then you treat your car ‘normally’.

20230308 - Dead Space - Back to the Ishimura
Back to the Ishimura

That’s my run with Dead Space now. I died in the Impossible run, the worst happened, and now I can continue enjoying the game. Once I get over this bug, I can’t wait to pick up the controls and finish Dead Space!

The Henry Stickmin Collection

Years ago, the site Newgrounds was a site every PC gamer was very familiar with. In many ways, it was to access ‘free’ games, created by talented people usually in Adobe Flash in those days. Over the years, a series of games featuring Henry Stickmin keeps coming up on my radar. I play a bit, think I will come back to it later, and then forget about it for ages.

While mucking about with my Steam Deck, I tried playing The Henry Stickmin Collection. Short version, it works but isn’t ideal. That doesn’t diminish the fact that all of the games were back on my radar. I also needed something quick to distract me while I was sick.

So, I powered through all of The Henry Stickman Collection.

20230308 - Henry Stickman - Choices
I need to break into the bank. What’s my best choice?

Now, it’s called The Henry Stickman Collection as it’s all the previous games and combines it with a new series of endings.

Gameplay is super simple. You control Henry Stickmin and make decisions at certain junctions. These allow the story to unfold with many different paths. Yes, Henry Stickmin is a fun quick choose your own adventure type game.

The other big part of The Henry Stickmin Collection is the number of things to unlock. Sure, it’s a silly fun story with multiple branches, but there is also a variety of things to collect.

20230308 - Henry Stickman - Consequences
Not every choice is a winner

The most common collectible is literally failed endings. There is also the fun subversion of what you expect to happen. A lot of the humour is very much golden age Looney Tunes, and I love it.

But there are also a heap of hidden easter eggs and achievements that can be unlocked. Each character has a bio that can be unlocked by right-clicking on them, giving Henty Stickmin deep levels of lore.

20230308 - Henry Stickman - Achievements
There are so many levels once you dig into this ‘simple’ flash game

Other achievements are hidden in text or background objects that can be collected. There are also silly things just for the sake of being there.

I am probably going to go through and try and finish all of the achievements in the Henry Stickmin Collection. I am so deep in at the moment and having so much fun, it’s a solid chance.

20230308 - Henry Stickman - Charles
There are also a heap of in-jokes once you get into the games

If you are interested, try the first episode on Newgrounds (yes, it’s still there!), and if you like the humour go by the collection on Steam. To give another idea on the humour (and where you may have seen Henry Stickmin before), the people behind Henry Stickmin became well known for a little game called Among Us.

The Sixth episode lets you combine multiple endings into new adventures, and the updated graphics and elements are well worth it. You can spend hours mixing and matching the sixth Henry Stickmin episode together.

Don’t watch Henry Stickmin on YouTube if you are interested in playing. A lot of the fun is discovering everything yourself, and the videos will spoil a lot of that.

20230308 - Henry Stickman - Bios
So many things to find, and the bios are the most obvious ones!

What about you?  I hope you got some great games in.  Or are you looking forward to a new one?  Let me know! 

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Until next time,

JohnHQLD