Board 8 > July's B8 Game of the Month Club ft. Spelunky, Ninjas!, Hollow Knight, and Ethan

(+) Yeah! (+)

July's Games:
Spelunky (PC/PS3/PS4/360/Vita)
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (NES/Wii/WiiU/3DS)
Hollow Knight (PC)
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (PC/PS4)

What is Game of the Month Club?
Game of the Month is a community project open to all B8ers where users share, discover, play and/or discuss a select few games every month. The games featured each month are chosen by YOU the users (and Lady Luck)

The Basics
- Each month will feature three games that were chosen via a random drawing from a pool of games that users nominated
- For each game you beat, you get a cool point on our just-for-fun standings as well as a nomination for next month's randomized drawing
- In order to receive the point and nomination, you must beat said game within the calendar month
- If you beat one of the current month's games in the previous month, you can apply for a "recently beaten waiver," but you will only receive a point and no nomination should you do so
- Drawing for next month's games is usually around a week before the end of the month
- If you periodically keep us posted on your progress and/or talk about different aspects of the games, then everyone will think you are super awesome!

Nomination Rules
- You get one nomination automatically each month
- You can receive up to three more nominations in a month for each chosen game that you beat
- Each game you nominate has to be different from both your and other users' noms and cannot include a game that has already been selected for GotM
- Each game must be a standalone game that can be acquired and played on its own (aka cannot be DLC/expansion that requires the base game)
- Nominations only carry over if you beat a chosen game after the drawing for next month's games but before the end of the month
---

Standings of Fictional Fun
KCF: 55
gameking: 47
Mr Crispy: 31
Lolo Guru: 28
ArkOfTurus: 27
Arti: 21
KnightOfNee: 20
MegamanX: 17
Tazzy: 14
Fenny: 13
Robazoid: 13
Suprak the Stud: 10
Shaduln: 7
profDEADPOOL: 6
BetrayedTangy: 5
Eddv: 5
Korayashi: 5
Wickle: 5
Johnbobb: 4
trdl23: 4
Akira: 2
Bane of Despair: 2
JDTAY: 2
PhantomBanon: 2
TomNook: 2
agc: 1
Azp2k32: 1
greengravy: 1
paperwarior: 1
shadosneko: 1
SHINE: 1
Tom Bombadil: 1
Wiki: 1
windfish: 1

Spreadsheet with history
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X8E8oqzES42W4S82j7WTfNnzNa8c3uXdSE1rnqYG7WM/edit?usp=sharing

Additional noms this month
Arti - 1
Crispy - 1
prof - 1
---

Spelunky is $2.24 USD on Steam
http://store.steampowered.com/app/239350/Spelunky/

Hollow Knight is $9.89 USD on Steam
http://store.steampowered.com/app/367520/Hollow_Knight/

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is $2.99 USD on Steam
http://store.steampowered.com/app/258520/The_Vanishing_of_Ethan_Carter/

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is $6-8 on the US' PSN
https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-us/games/the-vanishing-of-ethan-carter/cid=UP1210-CUSA03130_00-ETHANCARTERPS4US

Steam deals all end on July 5th

The PSN Ethan Carter deal ends on July 11th
---

I have one Steam copy of Spelunky via Humble Bundle that I can give out, and I am willing to buy up to two people copies of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter via Steam to anyone who promises that they will attempt to beat it during the month and hopefully keep us updated on progress/thoughts.

The Spelunky giveaway is good for essentially all month, but the Ethan Carter one is only during the Steam sale
---

I was gifted Hollow Knight recently so I might play that, but my gaming time is limited these days so it isn't guaranteed

Still, tag
---

bumpsy daisy
---

oh here it is
---

So I should just stick to Hollow Knight and try to finish it. Ninja Gaiden II seems like a good candidate, as well.
---

bumpers
---

Tag, gonna try to begin with this month's
---

Spelunky Daily Challenge: Only made it to 1-2 man am I rusty
---

Tag
---

So... Checked the Spreadsheet that says I have two beaten games (missed my OoT, TP, and LM beatings). And you missed me beating Planetarian last month.
---

Uh I shouldn't have an additional nom this month I didn't beat anything since I didn't feel like replaying Bastion.

I will nominate Darkest Dungeon though.
---

profDEADPOOL posted...

Uh I shouldn't have an additional nom this month I didn't beat anything since I didn't feel like replaying Bastion.

And I should as I beat bastion on the 30th.
---

I have a word doc that contains the OP should the topic purge, and I must have forgotten to fully update it for the games beaten after the drawing. I will make a revision in the doc now.
---

WickIebee posted...

So... Checked the Spreadsheet that says I have two beaten games (missed my OoT, TP, and LM beatings). And you missed me beating Planetarian last month.

I've only been running GotM since June '16, so everything from before that I got from MMX. I will make sure to add those now. Also, if you do not bold when. The missed Planetarian thing is all on me though. I will also rectify that.

Oddly enough, you were already down for 5 on the standings tab (since I didn't have Planetarian), so that means I had to have totally goofed when I made the spreadsheet. Sorry for smearing your good name MMX!
---

tag.
---

oh hey I am in a constant continuum of beating spelunky!

I've been playing the game regularly for two years and I still love it
---

Anyway I beat it last night so cool point plz
---

Written down in my notebook. Feel free to nominate two games for August's drawing if you desire
---

After 194 runs reacquainting myself with spelunky (and unlocking the rest of the shortcuts), run #195 gave me a victory. (plus the ironman achievement)

Spelunky Beat!

(I may still play this more this month (probably will keep doing the daily challenge), but first...
KCF0107 posted...

I am willing to buy up to two people copies of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter via Steam to anyone who promises that they will attempt to beat it during the month and hopefully keep us updated on progress/thoughts.

I'm willing and able to beat it this month and update in this topic so I'd be happy to take you up on this.

http://steamcommunity.com/id/LoloGuru/
---

I re-downloaded Spelunky, so maybe this is the time that I actually beat it (not likely).

I sent you a friend request Lolo, so once you accept it, I can buy and send it to you. Well that was fast.
---

Vanishing of Ethan Carter: Day 1: 100 minutes edition

I kind of dig the protagonist's voice.

Find two traps before following the tracks to town.
Find a dead body and its missing legs, as well as some rope, a pipe iron, and a bloody rock.

Explore a "magic" house, putting it back together after I read a note. I have no real basis for what it's supposed to look like so I just have a combination of trial and error and educated guessing based on window location. Solved the whole thing eventually. (achievement get). This is where I first get a glimpse of the sort of kid Ethan is, with the stories he writes.

Explore the other house next, and well, that would have helped me to do the other puzzle... >.>
Get a picture of Ethan and his family right inside, and the snippets of dialogue as you wander through are very effective storytelling.

Walk into the woods a bit and I get asked a bunch of questions. No actual way to answer but they're thought-provoking all the same. Ethan's story and his Mom's letter here really hit me pretty hard.

Up the hill, I find a bloodstain and a church/mausoleum, which I'm not sure if I can finish right now. Found an oil lamp and placed it near the oil can outside.

Ran past all that, looping around and bringing me to the front of the village again.

I take a moment and open the FAQ on this site for some really simple hints as I feel lost. >_> No reading the actual walkthrough, but knowing that I certainly missed stuff outside the village means I'll be backtracking a bit. Next time.
---

Steam Sale over
---

Yo @KCF0107 I forgot to thank you for nercodancer. Damn you being so nice, now I gotta do something nice for you again to catch up.
---

No problem. I figured it was a game that you could conceivably sink a lot of time into with its high replay value.
---

KCF0107 posted...

Steam Sale over

Well, forgot to buy Hollow Knight.

its ok beating 3 games this month should be plenty! =P
---

tag
---

Vanishing of Ethan Carter: Day 2.

Running back to the start, I get the bright idea to try to leave through the tunnel you entered the area in. (achievement get).

Wandered around to find more traps. Pretty much had to stumble upon them. This took awhile. After finally triggering the remaining three I'm treated to another story by Ethan and a field of skulls. This one feels... weird. The story isn't as good as the other two I've seen, but I suppose it doesn't matter.

Onward to solve the mystery of the train tracks. First, I find that the pipe iron I found earlier is a crank to start the train car. Useful! Wandering around and wandering around, I eventually get the idea to move the train over the labeled spot. I check the dead body again. The cloud of blue is bigger but not complete yet. Not knowing what's missing, I keep wandering... and find out the spot this bloody rock came from to begin with.

This puts me in the blue memory-verse or something, where I am able to piece together the grisly details of this man's murder. Setting up the chronology is not a difficult puzzle, but... ugh. I really didn't want to see a man get his legs ran over by a train car. Feeling a little queasy, but it gives a clearly vivid picture of these events and...

and I don't really want to think about it further, too grisly. That said, both these sections make Ethan's grandpa the focus (the story is about him, and the murder... well... again I said I don't want to think about it).

I'm glad I explored the houses before completing these two sections, due to knowing a bit about the family first. If I'd fully solved the train tracks thing before the story from the houses, I'm not sure I'd have the stomach to continue.
---

Man, I am not great at Spelunky. I just got the shortcut built to the jungle and have been using it to practice this zone. Haven't gotten past 2-2 yet, but that should come with more practice.

Ever since I got into the Binding of Isaac when it came out for the Switch, I've wanted to try more roguelikes, and this was one I had been eyeing. I'm enjoying it, but we'll see if I am able to beat it this month.
---

Just made it to the ice caves for the first time. Made it to the second level before getting blown up by a landmine. The jungle is starting to feel familiar to me, so that's good.
---

Next week, I will probably hunker down and see if I want to attempt to beat Spelunky and if Ethan Carter can properly run on my laptop.
---

Seems none of my Spelunky save data is there since I last played it on my old computer. Need to go lookup how to transfer the data to this newer computer so I have things unlocked before I'll really give it a go this month.
---

Okay, brought over my old save info to Spelunky. Even though I've beaten it before, today I was playing very much like someone new to the game. Twice I died to shopkeepers by using the wrong button to buy things, got sniped by some stone statues with traps, and got crushed by a spider. I got as far as 2-3 in like 6 tries. Trying a couple more days and I think I should be back to my old self.
---

Bumpers
---

I'm about 8 hours into Hollow Knight so far. It's a lot of fun, though it's also probably the hardest metroidvania I've played.

I did give up for the moment on trying to kill the Crystal Guardian because he's so fucking far from a bench (which ended up giving me my first death without recovering my shade).
---

Went ahead and bought Hollow Knight after all: (Humble store still had it for 34% off as it was in the steam sale).
Set up to play every game this month. =D
---

Spelunky Pro tips for beginners:

ALWAYS carry something to throw; rocks, frogs, mice all work.
ALWAYS assume there are enemies in the pots
Jetpack is ALWAYS worth stealing
Once you get to the ice caves, it's fine to steal from the shopkeeper. He won't survive most of the ice/temple levels at the exit (and risk in the temple is so high, his presence doesn't make much of a difference)
---

Vanishing of Ethan Carter Day 3: 4 hours so far edition.

Did some wandering after the train tracks murder on the way to the town, and noticed a set of four lights off in the distance. Touched them a few times, then chased someone around. Kind of culminated in another story being found.

After that, worked my way back to the church area, where I figured out the thing I was supposed to do that I hadn't is that when there's a word that repeats and circles a million times, you're supposed to turn the camera until you get a direction. Then you follow that direction and find the thing you're after.

I find a crow, a dead body, and a dagger in that order. Looking at the dead body lets me once again piece together the order of events that led to his death. In this case, though, nothing nearly as brutal as *shudder* the legs being ran over. It seems that the Crow is symbolic of Ethan somehow... and his mom sacrificing them and being for sealing Ethan up in that tomb... this is really messed up.

Anyway, the final scene here gives me a new direction. There's a mines that I may have passed the entrance of in my wandering, and Ethan used some tunnel to enter instead of the main locked entrance.

Let's find that tunnel!
---

Vanishing of Ethan Carter: Game beat edition.

The tunnel is found pretty quickly running on the path beyond the church. I don't think this was accessible until I'd solved that murder though.

The mine has a stifling atmosphere. No music unlike outside. I eventually reach an oldish elevator, and I have to send it down without me before I accept that it's stable enough to ride down. Heading down it, I find another elevator submerged. Raising this one... dead body. What an awful way to go.

After following some clues about a pickax, I feel like I'm getting the hang of this game, but when it comes to this murder, I feel like I understand why this one happened.

Mine maze is bad and jumpscare-y (at least a little) I back out of this area, for now.

Following ethan's path takes me out of the mine past some not-actually-boiling water (at this point I hypothesized that the chemicals causing this reaction were responsible somehow for part of this). Found another house, this one had a missing ax, a dead body (not killed by the ax), and a pair of scissors...

This ends up being a confrontation between a past murderer and someone who was even past-er dead (in the order I played)...

This spirits me into yet another house with another ethan conversation between him and someone else, but more importantly, let me get through this house. Not finding anything to really do here, I head back to the maze I skipped.

Maze is still awful, that ghost miner is still an effective jumpscare but if he doesn't see you it won't happen. So I be careful, traverse the maze, inspect some bodies, and make my way to a chamber in the center with a huge stargate. I pretty much try random symbol orders until I get it, sadly. This unlocks another story.

Realizing there was something I could do in that house the last murder ended me in, I return there and with that, find my way across the river, where I find the remains of a burnt-down old house.

Here, I find a secret path to a basement, where another chronology murder puzzle gets solved.

And then with this complete, the drawing on the wall flips my brain on the whole thing. Was not expecting that ending, but man, it fits. And finally the achievement names (from solving murders) make sense... really makes everything make sense.
---

I haven't read your updated too in-depth yet for fear of any spoilers, but did you enjoy it?
---

I made it to world 4 of Spelunky a couple times, but haven't beaten it. I came really close earlier tonight. I had a great setup with a bunch of fantastic items and lots of health/bombs in stock, and then I carelessly got sniped by an arrow trap right over a pit of lava as I tried to leap to the exit.
---

KCF0107 posted...

I haven't read your updated too in-depth yet for fear of any spoilers, but did you enjoy it?

Beyond a certain murder being pretty graphic and an area that had a jumpscare, yeah. The entire game is figure-it-out on your own, and once you learn the rules of the world (aka red bad blue good and stuff like that) it flows pretty smooth.
I'm not going to say anything more about the ending until the month's over even in a spoiler box in the hopes that other people do get through it themselves. I probably did over-explain parts of the game and perhaps could have stood to spoiler-block more of my playthrough probably. >_>
---

Not really participating in the game of the month thing; just popping in to say The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is fucking incredible
---

I might re-attempt Spelunky tonight
---

On 1-3 of Spelunky, I got a message saying I felt a chill. I thought it was about this viper below me. I eventually saw this gigantic ghost, and I was in a terrible spot to try and avoid it. The ghost won.
---

I get so greedy for money in Spelunky. I've made it to world 4 a few times, and keep trying something dumb instead of just racing to exits by that point.
---

KCF0107 posted...

On 1-3 of Spelunky, I got a message saying I felt a chill. I thought it was about this viper below me. I eventually saw this gigantic ghost, and I was in a terrible spot to try and avoid it. The ghost won.

That's a soft time limit for each area (ghost appears after 2 minutes 30 seconds on most maps).
---

Well that's lame
---