how long had it been since you've been SUPER into something?

[tarraxahum]

My brain demands I always be SUPER into something, otherwise it feels bad 

As of now I've juuust handed in a project I was on a burning deadline for, so I didn't have much time to be into anything at all, but I am in an energy-saving mode waiting for the new Dragon Age to come out. 'Cause I just know I won't be normal about it.

That said, at the end of September I had an intense phase of playing Palia. I was so into it I was dreaming about it at night and having that thing when you look at something irl and your brain reacts as if it's an in-game loot. I'd see a glass jar in my mom's hands and think "Sick! I've been needing one of those!" before realizing that I cannot, in fact, stick that jar into my in-game inventory. Tragic.

All of which was very surprising by the way, 'cause usually I am not into farming sims and other cozy games like that, they're a bit too chill for me. But apparently that one got me good.

Also, since I am veeeery biased towards rock bands with women for lead vocalists who can also scream, I am currently having an intense Linkin Park phase like a good twenty years later than most people had their Linkin Park phase. Like, I always loved the songs, of course, but I wasn't like, ingesting every live recording there was or some such. Just had a couple of more popular ones on my playlist. And let me tell you, right now my YouTube history is in shambles I need the damn album!

[dream]

Palia looks fun. Is it open-world, sandbox? Or is it dialogy, story-driven, and kinda linear? I prefer the former for quiet, chill immersion and replay-ability.

[tarraxahum]

Palia looks fun. Is it open-world, sandbox? Or is it dialogy, story-driven, and kinda linear? I prefer the former for quiet, chill immersion and replay-ability.

It's... both, in a way? There is a story, and there's a relationship system with the villagers (also romances), but there's also the typical farming, hunting, finding rare materials, events like a rare wood dropping at midnight (in-game time), etc. So it's kinda... if you want you can focus more on relationships and the gift giving system, if you want you can lean more on improving your skills and building a better house etc (you can also then open it up for tours and show it off to others), and if you want you can focus on the plot. There's an interesting worldbuilding in there.

Iirc it's still technically in beta, so the plot isn't fully done, but also all of it kinda blends in together? In my experience, anyway. Like, gifts increase relationships, and this week someone wants a rare drop from the other location, so I go to that other location, and while I'm there I chill with people at midnight waiting for the rare resource to drop, and then a plotline gives me a crafting quest, and that quest requires rare materials, and while I'm collecting those I level up in hunting and gathering and crafting, and for leveling up I get new recipes, and then I need new tools so I need to make my house bigger... etc.

Not sure about the replay value, since the plot points are pretty linear, and there isn't much roleplay apart from "whose friendship you maxed out first and who you're romancing" I guess. Plus a very basic personality-type system. Like, it's an online game, so your actions aren't exactly allowed to change much, everyone must stay where they are. But also since it's online I think it's not exactly tailored for replay - more like moving forward and waiting for new events to drop :D

The community is pretty nice from what I've seen. Like, for example, it's a tradition to gather everyone on the map before chopping the rare wood for example, so that everyone gets the loot, and everyone is pretty generous with sharing resources whenever they can. (But also it's pretty easy not to interact with anyone too much if you don't want to).