Playdate: Huntdown, Devil Daggers, and The Ascent With Jeff

I'm acutely aware Playdate is long occurring segment and yet clicked through totally ready to watch some Panic Playdate games get played . . . date.

Always thought Devil Daggers was robbed at GOTY.

Baby got back, with a vengeance.

I also lost the nub to one of my Elite 2 trigger lock things. It's tiny, so who knows where that thing ended up.

I've had 3 elite 2s, and my third is having issues with the rb. Makes me a little sad - MS first tried telling me it was out of warranty, then to disregard that, and I haven't heard more from them in a week... It's such a good controller, but the reliability issues make it such a problem :(

HUNTDOWN finally gets its due on GB. :D

Maybe it hit us at the perfect time (pandemic lockdown stuff) but me and my neighbor (who isn't even that much into games but likes to watch them) had an absolute blast playing through this on the couch. Recently he asked if we could play through it again and we started another run on hard. Played through it by myself also a couple of times.

No seriously, Huntdown is not super complex or huge but every aspect of it is perfectly executed. It's THE most overlooked game of 2020 in my opinion.

edit:

character ranking:

1. Anna Conda (best dialogue, best/most comfortable primary weapon (burst shot), best way to play the game imo)

2. Mow Man (Cyborg dude that Jeff chose; looks badass, good weapon, some dry-funny dialogue)

3. John Sawyer (Steel jaw guy, strongest primary weapon but shoots hella slow, not as fun, generally unremarkable compared to the other two)

Definitely a Snacher/Policenauts graphic vibe to Huntdown, which fits with the Sega CD/Turbografix CD comparison

@cptbedlam: I made a thread about it ages ago and absolutely no one cared but yah it seemed real neat. During their pandemic streams Rorie played this at one point but that’s about it.

Kind of a shame Jeff didn’t push forward like 5 more minutes in the Ascent if only for the visuals of the upper levels. Game is so dense and looks absolutely amazing on a 4K TV - UI problems aside.

I just lost that little rubber nub on my Elite 2 last week. I put it back on but lost it again, and now I think the vacuum cleaner has eaten it, so that's gone forever. Stabby little switch forever now!

Edit: Bad Boy Bob is the cream of the crop.

Ooh, Huntdown really nails 80s music in a way that's pretty refreshing after the last 10 years' Synthwave/Retrowave pastiche. Tetsuo: The Iron Man vibes all over the place. Not sold at all on the writing though.

I guess they can't call it the Jeff Gerstmann Home Game since it's ALL home game now :(

added Huntdown on wishlist

I heard that select sound on Huntdown and thought I activated sticky keys.

From the various reviews online it seems like The Ascent is pretty polarizing. I'm in the camp that's digging it so far (I'm probably 3-4 hours in). It’s certainly not a 9/10 GotY sort of game but it’s still fun. It picks up a lot once you get some better upgrades and reach the more open world.

EDIT: And I'm also in the "elite controllers are amazing in theory, but horrid in execution/quality" camp. My elite controller only lasted about 8 months before running into broken buttons and crunching noises from the joysticks.

I lost that exact same rubber piece on my elite v2. They only allow you to get replacement paddles/dpad/stick adjustment tool via the support page. Very lame.

I kinda wish that Jeff will put some more "alone time" into The Ascent. I like the lore, characters and writing in general, but reading all that is not suited for a livestream. Also more guns you get, more fun it is.

Huntdown is a game i would scroll past within 5 seconds, but spending some time with it here really shows how it's a cut above most of these games. So many nice little details, such a good fitting soundtrack. And that pacing is pretty much perfect to divide all these bounties up in 10 min chunks. Still not sure if i have enough nostalgia to get a ton out of it, but i can see myself picking it up at a discount.

The ascent seems real neat too.. I'd be into that!

Ascent looks really cool. Definitely plan on picking this up on game pass

Huntdown is legitimately one of the best games of its kind. The way it uses 80's cheesy dystopian stuff feels way more authentic than just cheap nostalgia and as a whole it does absolutely everything it sets out to do perfectly.

I think all Jeff needs to do to see big improvements in Devil Daggers is to prioritize spawners as much as he prioritizes the horned skulls that move in circular patterns :-p No, don't shoot that horned guy the whole arena away turn around and shoot that spawner!!

I wished we'd still get real Quick Looks for games like these. You know, old school. One guy prepares/plays the game for hours, deliberately seeks out a section of the game to show it off to a friend, who also is a stand-in for the viewer and has some questions prepared that might be interesting.

Huntdown and Ascent seem really awesome and well deserving of a real QL.

Oh hey I remember recommending Huntdown during that one stream Jeff did where he was asking for games on Steam to play. Nice to see it being played!

Devil Daggers is one of the few Steam games that I bought and refunded just because I didn't like it. I have over 1000 steam games. I wanted to like it but just couldn't.

SNAP INTO A [Huntdown]! That looks fun as hell.

The Ascent has cool looking environments but the game seems really boring.

@himsteveo: The RB button went out my Series 1. I replaced it, but it never felt quite the same. I read that the Series 2 had a better build quality overall, so I ended up getting one . . . Same thing happened with the shoulder button. The Series X controller feels more sturdy to me. If they make another Elite, I won't be getting one.

Huntdown looks awesome. It looks like the game Cyberpunk 2077 should have been.

Grabbed huntdown today and really enjoying it!

Also get new high score in devil daggers after being away for the year.

I'll take it.

A single player playdate

Devil Daggers just sounds icky

Thank you!

This game seems neat but playing as a "cop" who runs around shooting punks ain't hittin' in 2021. Reverse the roles.

@alex_carrillo: I bought Huntdown and that was my only qualm with it. I was hoping to blow some cops away at some point but I don't think that's coming

The Ascent RULES!