2848

It’s really good! But really, really dense.

2849

Has anyone else played Gnosia? It seems I got pretty hooked on this lately…

It’s a social deduction game like Werewolf or Among Us, but single player, wrapped in a sci-fi/horror visual novel style presentation, with some RPG trappings and rogue-lite meta progression.

The game involves repeating ‘loops’ where you’re trying to deduce the identity of the aliens who’ve taken the place of the crew. At the end of each ‘day’ someone gets voted into stasis. That night, if there are aliens still remaining then someone will disappear.

To determine who gets iced, you play 5 rounds of an argument game, where everyone is accusing, denying, and supporting each other, after which there is a vote.

You have a bunch of stats that tie in to how well you can influence others or avoid being targetted yourself, like Charisma, Intuition, Performance, Stealth, etc. These stats are a meta component that you level up and are persistent through the multiple loops.

All the other characters have various (fixed) levels in these stats too, which influence how they act and give them their distinct personalities.

It progresses in a really engaging fashion, starting off simple with only a couple of characters and roles (‘Crew’ and ‘Gnosis’, which is the name for the alien).

As you play through more loops you reveal more roles that make logical deduction way more puzzling, such as Engineer who every night can examine one person to determine if they are Human or Gnosis. But Gnosis can lie and also claim to be the Engineer… Throughout the game you will play all the roles yourself too, including Gnosis.

New characters are revealed. Each character also has a bunch of pertinent conditional information that gradually gets unlocked.

The actual argument game itself gets pretty repetitive as a lot of the response dialogue quickly repeats, but you don’t really care as the act of playing is pretty entertaining and you really want to find out more about the world and the people.

Big thumbs up!

2850

I’ve been looking at it, but wasn’t sure if I’d like it. Sounds interesting though. I think there is a VN thread where you might get stronger opinions.

2851

Thanks, I’ll llink it there. :)

2852

It apparently randomizes NPC roles so you can’t just figure things out based on previous play. The Zero Escape 3 fan thing I signed up to back when that wasn’t going to be released was excited about it.

2853

I was wondering about that! It’s described as VN style, so I wasn’t sure how systemic it was, but it sounds like there’s at least a bit of systems in there.

2854

Yep the roles are randomised, though early on some aren’t (when introducing new characters for example)*. The player ones aren’t either until you get a certain way in, at which point you can choose all the parameters, including setting or randomising a role for yourself.

*an assumption, I’ve not tried a second save to see if characters are introduced in the same order. I think they would be.

2855

I am having sooooo much fun with A-Train All Aboard Tourism! So glad it come up in this thread because I never would’ve checked it out otherwise.

2856

You have the tools to design and build full local services with express and semi-express trains all running past one another on the same route, all scheduled to the minute. If efficient railway service timetable design turns you on, then be careful playing A-Train in public.

I’ll be in my bunk.

2857

A better CPU! More memory! DLSS! And a chicken in every pot.

The bad news is that DLSS will require new code. So it remains to be seen what third party games sold today (or even first party games) will make the effort.

2858

With a new SoC, even if existing titles don’t bother with DLSS support, I suspect we might see some improvements.

2859

If true a little disappointing docked is still locked at 720p. I do like the screen upgrade to Oled though. That plus a little bigger with better performance does excite me but as a mostly portable player not that much. More memory for faster loading times? I need more details!

2860

Undocked will be max 720p as before, but there are a number of games that currently run at 540p or even worse undocked right now. So I guess the pitch to a portable player would be “Bigger screen, brighter screen, more games running at 720p.”

Which honestly… is a still a decent pitch.

2861

My work here is successfully complete then, heh. Always warms me heart to see others discover something they enjoy, what with it being a niche genre and game. Especially for console devices where such deep, complex business\management\simulation games are typically an even smaller niche.

2862

Can you say a little bit about why you like it? The descriptions of it run the gamut from contemplative to very difficult. What does the gameplay loop look like?

My interest is so piqued, but I’m worried I’d end up bouncing off of it.

2863

There is a demo, which is the tutorial.
I find the navigation of the game very cumbersome compared to the dual screen, stylus powered DS version, but I haven’t played in portable mode.
The DS (and PC port) were a quite hardcore game with very demanding scenario goals that required you to master the game’s concepts, to the point it could have felt almost puzzley in a way. Yet, however allergic I am to that concept of puzzley strategic gaming, the complexity of the game made me feel enticed to try again and again. But I got stuck pretty quickly.
Now this all is about the DS game, again. The Switch Demo turned me off because of the control scheme.

2864

Good points I did think through those. Now I’m more excited.

Who am kidding, Load time and frame rate improvements are enough for me!

2865

I think this is about all you need to know: one of the first tutorials involves how to read financial statements.

2866

I haven’t played any prior versions, but the Switch game feels very much like an industry simulation you’d typically see on PC, with a light coat of anime aesthetics and a UI adapted to console controls. It feels very open-ended, and not puzzle-y at all. So far, at least.

The controls actually remind me a bit of playing Darkest Dungeon on Switch. You can get comfortable with it after a bit of work, but it’s clear they’re using every input option available to make it function.

2867

It’s basically an industry management sim where you’re running a Japanese mass transit company. You build stations, lay tracks, buy trains, and schedule/route trains. And the towns and cities grow and build up around your work. But you can also buy and sell land, both for development and speculation purposes, deal with taxes, and the stock market, and government agencies, and tourism boards. And did I mention financial statements? Because there are financial statements! (I feel compelled at this point to state for the record I am an accountant.)

And while the controls are a bit cumbersome, the pace is relaxed and the stakes feel low. At any time, you can shift the camera to a view out the window of one of your trains and watch the scenery of rural Japan roll by.

For me, it’s the right combination of deep and relaxing.