Tales of… the here and now.

Now

Random stuff I would post on Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon and/or Bluesky. In English, German , or even worse: mixed. 

(And for the moment: way too many post about The Bazaar.)

That lucky healing pufferfish saved me multiple times in the last few days.

The Bazaar: 10 Wins, Gold Victory with Vanessa

The most outrageous perfect victory I ever claimed. That golden Augmented Weaponry was OP right from the start. The Gatling Gun rarely fired a second time.

The Bazaar: 10 wins, perfect victory with Vanessa

Mickey 17

spoilerfrei (nix, was über den Trailer hinausgeht)

Ja, schade. Bei einem Film von Bong Joon-ho, basierend auf einem der besten Science-Fiction-Bücher von 2022 hätte man ja was erwarten können. Aber das ist leider nur lauwarmes Mittelmaß. Der eigentliche Plot ist todlangweilig. Die Figuren von Mark Ruffalo und Toni Collette sind völlig überzogen. Passend für eine Farce, nur passt das nicht zum Rest vom Film. Das hätte man auch intelligenter hinbekommen können. Die meisten anderen Figuren sind auch nur einfach … da. Allein Robert Pattinson hält den Film am Leben. Der Rest ist Grütze.

Aus dem Ansatz hätte man aber durchaus was machen können. Einfach das Buch ignorieren. Und stattdessen einen Film über Expendables und Multiples auf der Erde. Mit verschiedenen Charaktereigenschaften. Und mehr ethischem Dilemma. Die Themen blitzen im Film zweimal auf, und man sieht, dass da mehr zu holen wäre. Aber nein, Chance vertan.

Ich gebe 9 von 17 Klonen.

Ich bin übrigens der einzige aus unserer Gruppe von fünf Leuten, dem der Film nicht gefallen hat. Und bei Rotten Tomatoes sind 79% of 217 Kritiker-Reviews positiv. Aber nee, Bong Joon-ho hat sich schlicht das falsche Buch ausgesucht.

And just when I complain about the Bazaar I get a perfect victory. Maybe there is a pity timer?

Perfect victory with Vanessa in the game »The Bazaar«

Wow, putting Monopoly, Scrabble, Battleship, and Clue(do) in a list of »The 10 best board games of all time« is basically saying: »I have no idea what I am writing about.«
To be fair: The »best board games« are only there to give the ads some distance. But still, what a lazily researched article.

https://www.destructoid.com/the-10-best-board-games-of-all-time/

Personal snapshot: I am having a terrible time in the Bazaar (still in closed Beta).

  • By the end of 2024 I struggled to get 10 wins. Now I can’t even get 4.
  • Sure, I was absent for a few weeks. But when I come back I don’t want to again spend days to understand what is going on. For me, it is no fun to get beaten down for a day or two just to get back into the game.
  • There is still too much hidden knowledge. Just now I had to look up what Shiny meant. With most monsters I don’t know which rewards I can get. When I have the chance to upgrade I often don’t see the expected results before.
  • Why am I pitted against players who are one or two days ahead of me?
  • Why do only ten wins count as win?

There are lots of deck builders out there I have far less struggle to get back into. Maybe there should be some kind of pity counter for better rewards or something. Or this is just not the right game to come casually back to.
Guess I’ll try again next month.

I was thinking about giving #Avowed a try this weekend. But after watching this video I installed #Skyrim instead. #videogames

The Nameless King … I gave up on my first playthrough in 2020. But nearly five years later, and after surely 100+ attempts altogether, I finally beat the shittiest enemy in all the SoulsWorlds. I hate, hate, hate this fight. #DarkSouls3 #noskill

Screenshot: Finally beat the Nameless King in the videogame »Dark Souls 3«

Now playing: Slicing my way through Lothric for the fourth time. Beat Yhorm (despite weapon switching), Sulyvahn, Aldrich and Dancer on the first attempt. Finally some skill. #DarkSouls3

Tzz. Dragonslayer Armour on the first attempt as well. Last time I had serious trouble and respecced for posion. Even Albert, Kamui, and Kriemhild went down in one smooth go. I am having a run – until I meet the brothers, I guess.

Now playing … well, playing is a bit too generous. Let’s say: Now walking through »Thank Goodness You’re Here!«. What a strange little game. Incredibly weird. Well animated. Funny. It just lacks some engaging gameplay. #videogames #indiegames

If you are into indie games I have some candidates for your wishlist – because of glorious graphics, an interesting art style, intriguing mechanics, a healthy dose of nostalgia, or just over-the-top weirdness. #videogames #indiegames
https://talesof.me/en/2025/hyped-for-videogames

Two postcards from a Greepeace postcard set

Wow. Got a surprisingly great postcard set from #Greenpeace. Just because I took part in a supporter survey. Easily one of the best supporter items I ever got from any group.

Today’s launch of #Drupal CMS is accompanied by several Launch Parties all over the world. The launch stream starts at 16:45 Berlin time.
May I interest you in a corresponding Drupal CMS Launch Bingo? Play here: textformer.de/drupalbingo/

Actionfigure »Meat Boy« from the eponymous videogame series

New flatmate in da house: it‘s (Super) Meat Boy.

It’s impressive how Returnal has managed to be even more annoying than all of the FromSoftware games I’ve played. But at long last I have beaten the final boss. After 52 hours and 107 deaths.

Screenshot: Returnal player walking into the light?

Is this finally the end?

Jesus! Biome 5 in Returnal is a bitch! But after a lot of swearing (and some luck) I finally made it through. One of the most annoying game areas ever. 

Returnal: The door at the end of Biome 5

All that stress just to open this door at the end of biome 5.

Und hier noch – ungefragt – die 15 schlechtesten Filme, die ich in diesem Jahr gesehen habe.
In vielen Fällen weiß man nach dem Trailer schon, dass man hier nichts erwarten kann. Also stellt man sich auf unteres Niveau ein – und ist trotzdem enttäuscht.

  1. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) – Jaja, Klassiker. I don’t care. Ich kann die Hauptfigur nicht ausstehen.
  2. The Purge (2013) – Warum hat der Schrott so viele Fortsetzungen bekommen?
  3. Venom 2: Let there be Carnage (2021) – Woody Harrelson als Carnage ist so eine unglaubliche Fehlbesetzung! Und alles andere ist auch schlimm. Hat trotzdem über 500 Millionen US-Dollar eingespielt.
  4. Venom 3: The last dance (2024)
  5. Polar (Netflix Original Film, 2019)
  6. The Union (Netflix Original Film, 2024)
  7. Atlas (Netflix Original Film, 2024)
  8. The Predator (2018)
  9. Robin Hood (2018) – Nominated for three Razzies for Worst Remake, Worst Supporting Actor for Jamie Foxx, and Worst Picture.
  10. The Beekeeper (2024) – Ich hatte dazu eine Kritik gelesen nach dem Motto »Der ist schlecht, aber …«. Nix aber, der ist einfach nur schlecht.
  11. The Bricklayer (2024) – Aaron Eckhart schafft es eindrucksvoll, »The Beekeeper« zu unterbieten.
  12. Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire (Netflix Original Film, 2023) – Der hat es am Ende doch noch geschafft, nicht in den Top 3 zu landen. Bemerkenswert.
  13. The Gray Man (Netflix Original Film, 2022) – Chris Evans spielt einen der lächerlichsten Bösewichte, die ich in diesem Jahr gesehen habe.
  14. X – The Movie (Anime, 1996) – Der taucht in einigen Best-Anime-Listen auf. Da gehört er aber nicht rein.
  15. The Substance (2024) – Eine rein subjektive Wertung. Dieser Film wird bei anderen Leuten in den Top 10 auftauchen. Der hat ein paar gute Einstellungen und Farben. Aber in der zweiten Hälfte habe ich festgestellt, dass ich Body Horror hasse!

The five games I had the most fun with in 2024:

  1. Another Crab’s Treasure (soulslike under the sea)
  2. The Bazaar (deck/hero-building auto-battler)
  3. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (surreal puzzle game)
  4. Animal Well (puzzle plattformer)
  5. Balatro (roguelike deck-building poker)
Screenshot: Got the red key in the game »Returnal«

Damn. I mean, I never play shooters, but I still didn’t expect a hard grind of 11 hours and 33 deaths to beat the first boss in #Returnal. At any other time of the year I would have given up. This game is unnecessarily hard and annoying (for me).

Wow. The only thing I like about this first Superman trailer is a glimpse of Mister Terrific.

Curiosity Clicker:
The message in the bottle
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