[Photosensitive seizure warning]
Following the legacy of Devil Daggers, HYPER DEMON finally achieves what Sorath wanted from the beginning: A complete audiovisual immersion. Hidden behind an overwhelming welcome, there is a videogame that invites you to let go and face its challenges from a whole new perspective. But to get there, you will need to practice. A lot. And the prize for making use of its simple controls, a non-disruptive fish eye view (which by itself is a groundbreaking technical achievement), and even a one-of-a-kind "holographic" rear view, it's reaching a state of peace while confronting inhuman odds. If you're into heart-pounding action games, this is for you.

Rest in Peace, Coolio.

Kojima is currently making a pretty low-key marketing effort to promote his next game. At TGS, it was revealed that Elle Fanning is involved in the project, although it is not known if she's the protagonist, with Hideo you can never be certain. The next reveal is the "where", scheduled to be at PAX. Something tells me that TGA's reveal is going to be something you don't want to miss.

By the end of the Silent Hill Presentation, a CG teaser of an upcoming new entry on the franchise was revealed. "Silent Hill ƒ", set in 1960's Japan, is being developed by NeoBards Entertainment Ltd., creators of the failed "Resident Evil: Resistance". That doesn't look good, considering this is Konami that we're talking about, I'll exercise extreme caution. But the teaser presents some interesting (and absolutely not for kids) imagery.

In preparation for the 1.0 release of Vampire Survivors (available now btw), poncle's youtube channel has been uploading the entirety of the OST, including trailers and alpha versions music and jingles, ending with this note.

After some underwhelming Final Fantasy XVI trailers, this new one turns the epic notes up to the max. Whatever this game brings, it's gonna be unforgettable.

The absolute current state of Vampire Survivors. What a fun game.

So, the username auction platform has been officially announced, which will likely be Telegram's foundation on how to fund the free service from this point forward. According to their FAQ, "Pre-existing usernames that are currently in use on Telegram can't be used for auctions, however, their owners may get a chance to convert them into collectibles in the future". That's a relief for now (btw, "digital asset" sounds better than "collectible" imo, but you do you, marketing department), but it doesn't deny the fact that this platform is enabling a big FOMO effect, allowing scalpers, scammers, and other kinds of nasty people to abuse this system. It could also kill off any Telegram user-gain momentum, due to the additional contrivances required to secure an alias. We don't know other details publicly yet, but at the same time, paywalling future aliases could go a long way in preventing spam accounts and userbots abuse, making them more easily identifiable moving forward. What I ultimately hope is that Telegram is sustainable enough that it can focus on offering a quality service for a reasonable price (for those willing and able to pay it, as well as for those who cannot), protecting those who really need freedom, and being hostile to those actors who want to cause harm of any kind. In the meantime, I will hold any further judgement until that "reasonable price" is finally revealed. Unfortunately, I already know what happens when "the market regulates itself", I really, really wish Durov would say otherwise.

Halloween is a foreign holiday for me, but as is slowly seeping into our local culture, I'm starting to like the idea of dedicating a moment of the year to the things that scare us. There's dread and fear in this world, if you know where to look, so partaking in lesser, controlled forms of horror might help to keep your sanity in check. This is, of course, my own experience that I am sharing, in the hope that it will resonate with some of you. But moving on: This year's personal highlight on the matter is an indie title called FAITH, published by New Blood Interactive, which has also helped to launch games like the Thief-inspired Gloomwood, the boomer-shooter DUSK and the ultra-violent ULTRAKILL, among others. With its first chapter released in 2017, and recently completed under the subtitle "The Unholy Trinity", this 8-bit 80's-satanic-scare-inspired videogame achieves stunning visuals despite its forced limitations, using mesmerizing rotoscoped animations for their cutscenes and keeping alive the ancient Software Automatic Mouth for the Commodore C64, it tells a compelling story about exorcisms, fighting inner demons, and ending Satanic cults. Despite being marketed as "not approved by the Vatican", it keeps it grounded without falling into caricature, which only reinforces the unsettling feel of the entire experience. This game is living proof that you don't need big investments or using a known franchise (or artist) to make a good horror videogame.

A legend has passed away. RIP Kevin Conroy, you will be sorely missed.

This year's has been by far the hardest to vote on The Game Awards. God of War: Ragnarök, Elden Ring, Tunic, Stray, Sifu, Vampire Survivors... The diversity and quality of this past year games is testament of how far the industry has evolved and matured, telling great stories, presenting memorable characters, introducing fun and engaging gameplay mechanics, creating immersive and detailed worlds and overall, giving us players plenty of choice to escape from a moment, and that's a good sign. But, among the nominees, they're still predatory and anti-consumer entries, most notably Diablo Immortal, which are profitable just because they take advantage of the underlying mechanics that make video games fun to play. But as long as we continue to steadfastly highlight and award those games that are truly worthwhile, the predators that drive the abuse of people's mental well-being will disappear sooner rather than later.

I have finally dusted my Mastodon account, you know, just in case.