I decided to try the demo for “Zero Parades” just because it sounded interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed Disco. I think the download time was longer than my playtime and I ultimately uninstalled it since the demo provided an experience that is visually similar to Disco but I lost all desire to play it after a few minutes of shit voice acting and weird new game mechanics that made no sense to me. I am keeping an eye on a few other projects from the original Disco devs such as Tangerine Antarctic so here is hoping one of them puts together a worthwhile game with a new spin on this style. I have to recommend Esoteric Ebb for anyone who was a fan of Disco and wants that kind of experience in a more traditional fantasy setting. I made it to Election day and have a bit of final stuff to do and I will be looking for another game but this has been every bit as good as Disco in my opinion.

NieR: Automata. This game was definitely not something that I would normally pick up but it kept showing up on “must-play” lists so I figured I would give it a shot when it was marked down like 70%. The initial impression from the intro/tutorial was pretty underwhelming due in large part to the confusing change in gameplay from top down shooter to side-view to normal 3rd person but once I got through that I found the setting and presentation of the game really compelling. I was even reading about the lead developer and searching for other projects to potentially pick up once I finished this one. That lasted for about 10 hours or so…spoiler ahead but I figured out how to hide the text if you haven’t played this and are considering it.

Obviously this is a bit of an unpopular opinion based on the super high scores it gets and others stuck it out for multiple replays to see the “good” endings but I just couldn’t convince myself to even finish it the first time. YMMV.