STG's

 Heard about this one because it was available to vote for in one of Steam's 2022 awards. This is a pixel art mining game with what I guess could be called tower defense aspects. Mostly you mine the land below your dome for a few different elements (iron, water and cobalt), and after a very short time, you have to go up to defend your dome from monsters. There are a few upgrades (better drill, jet pack, dome laser, etc, etc) and a few gadgets (lift, digging companion, automated laser, probe, etc), which can also be upgraded. The goal can be getting resources (prestige mode) or getting an specific relic. The game works well, but there a few annoying choices: - tutorials are minimal, and sometimes you have to guess what a gadget does - music plays just sometimes. There is a setting, but I can't recall ever seeing someone do it this way??? - no mini-map  - even basic indicators are upgrades you need to buy - even if you like specific gadgets, you can't choose them (mostly) . T...

 I read Delta-V, by Daniel Suarez (which I liked from other books, specially Daemon) last month and forgot to review it (seems common lately). This is a common theme for SF books - near future, add some mild advances, go mine asteroids, which is obviously a big step for humankind. Higher Education and The Billion Dollar Boy come to mind, although I seem to recall both had way more SF tech (I believe the second is mostly outside the solar system). Delta-V uses more realistic, currently available tech, and it does it in a very believable manner, with nice amounts of action and betrayal (technically a spoiler). It was quite enjoyable, and I happened to get it when I heard about the sequel, so when I finished (at about 2 a.m., I believe), I happily went to buy the sequel. Which was when I realized it was only on pre-sale, 2 months away. :-( Oh, well, it should be available next month, at least...

 Just got Marvel Spider-Man Remastered, which I understand is originally pretty old. This follows the open world game recipe book pretty well. It really reminds me of Just Cause 4, even the tower unlocks to scan a region is similar (Just Cause did it a lot better - the wavelength mini-game is pretty silly, and I am pretty sure I have seen it a bunch of times since at least the 90s, if not the 80s). Graphics are pretty good. I have to mention the start-up time, which was VERY surprising. It is not only really fast, but you can even skip all the logos. Combat is nice enough, there is an ok stealth component, plenty of gadgets, skills, suits, and suit add-ons. I also like that the suit powers are choosable, as opposed to locked in a suit. Also plenty of activities. The research stations missions can be a little annoying, though. Overall, very nice, I really like it so far.

 A Desolation called peace, by Arkady Martine, is the sequel to "A Memory called Empire" (which I read, and liked, but forgot to review). Here we have the consequences of the last book - the empire is fighting the big bad aliens. Three Seagrass and Mahit, the main characters from the first book, manage to get themselves inserted in the action as negotiators. A good part of this one moved quite slowly. There are a few parallels with Ender's Game, ********SPOILERS******* since both have aliens with "magic" communication, although I don't recall if the ants had a sense of self. They also fight because they didn't think their enemies had any importance (only queens mattered in Ender's game, on Desolation conscience is apparently distributed and anyone not connected was not considered a person. /********SPOILERS******* Overall, this one was OK but I liked A Memory called Empire a lot more.

I have been playing Deathloop for about a week, and I am still not sure if I like it or hate... What I like: - looks great (minor point, though) - lots of clever stealth opportunities, specially after you can shift into roofs. - powers, in the same way Dishonored did - story is somewhat interesting - there are plenty of puzzles, with various levels of rewards (some recurring, due to the loop part). What I don't: - can't save inside a level. That does create extra tension, sure, but now you can't experiment with things you want to in the same way, plus can't just shut down instantly, so now I can only play if I have a large amount of time where I think I won't be interrupted. This combined with how easy you are to kill means a minor mistake, like bumping in a single enemy can easily kill you. And if you loop, you lose everything you acquired in both that level and previous levels on the same loop. - not a lot of levels. There are just a few (4?), but they change a lo...

Basically Fallout 3, space themed. I have found this quite enjoyable, and the variety of side quests is mission is pretty nice. Graphics are good, but nothing fantastic. So far it doesn't feel very repetitive (21 hours in, did all side quests I found). There is a lot of story, and I like how powerful the hack/lie/intimidate skills are in some missions. Having just finished Sniper Elite 5, the stealth part feels a little weak. UI could use a lot of improvements, though... I really wish I could filter for specific gun powers, and some sort of sets you could instantly equip would be great, given how armor and guns can be much better in specific situations. Instead you need to find them in a big list of items, all alike.  Overall, pretty nice, if on sale.

 Eversion, by Alastair Reynolds, was one of the rare books I bought on pre-order. There are just a few authors that I trust enough to do that. I did not regret it. The story begins in a sailship in the 1700s. The narrator is Dr. Silas Coade, and the ship is searching for a mysterious structure. Soon the doctor is killed... And next he wakes in a steam ship, with just fragments of the memory of what happened. Everyone else is the same as in the last ship. Next time it happens, it is an airship going to the hollow earth, searching for a structure... It was interesting setup, that I feel as well developed, and much cleverer than similar tropes. It pays very well in the end, and comes to a quite satisfying conclusion. Overall, very much recommended.