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Friday Fun Thread for June 19, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Video game thread

What are you playing this week?

I uninstalled Slay the Spire 1 and 2. I realized that the games (mainly sts2) took up a lot of time and capacity due to my need to play optimally, without giving me much joy in return.

Started and finished a Civ V game instead. I got around 30 wonders, because I was playing on a more relaxed difficulty than usual.

Tried out The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales (demo) briefly. Dismayed to find it has no ultrawide support. And they call it HD-2D yet all the characters are pixel art style. Might play it in 16:9 on my TV at some polnt. They've priced it very highly, and it has denuvo, so I might wait for a deep discount further down the road.

Tried out The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales (demo) briefly.

I'm playing through the demo myself, and it's alright? It reminds me a bit of Secret of Mana with the different weapons. But if I wanted to play a Legend of Zelda game, there are plenty on the Switch that I haven't even gotten around to, and it doesn't seem better at being The Legend of Zelda than the originals. Better than Breath of the Wild? Sure, but that game and its sequel have their own appeal.

And they call it HD-2D yet all the characters are pixel art style.

To me, there are clearly major differences in art style quality among all of the "HD-2D" games. The trailer for that "Final Fantasy: Resonance" game just looked awful, but I think the "Octopath" games look pretty amazing. "Elliot" looks okay. The designs are clear enough, but I think the ruins are a little too dark. The mix of obvious 3D world with pixel characters/enemies feels very PS1/PSP/DS? I think it reminds me a lot of some of the "Ys" game footage I've seen.

Are there any great rpgs in that isometric 2d style?

I tried Sea of Stars and Chained Echoes a few years ago but wasn't hooked for long by either. Dragon Quest 8 Reimagined doesn't seem to be good enough either.

I'm playing through the Shadowrun series. I wouldn't call it great (words like "wasted opportunity" might even come to mind), but it's pretty enjoyable.

Though now that I think about it, it's actually done with 3D graphics. You can set the camera projection to isometric, though!