I do think it's a grey area. Like, if one person on a three person team is exclusively doing art for the game, would they count as a developer moreso than if the two person team contracted out the artwork to separate company? Or would the other company be considered as a developer?

Like rougelites they sorta suffer from being one of the more accessible game types with regards to development time and effort. I loved the original Hallow Knight but I like platformers like that. I will say though there there has not really been a stand out in the genera as of late which is also contributing to the popularity.

Yeah I don't understand these takes. Did Fortnite or COD "change your life" or are they just popular games.

I'm not sure about the others but for me it's proton integration. As a Linux gamer it makes a hell of a difference.

It Takes Two certainly did. Fallout 76 did because that was how I spent COVID. Hollow Knight was fun.

I *hate* it. The developers don't respect the player's time. They could have done little things to improve on that, like add health bars to bosses so you know when you aren't going anywhere with a particular boss and should go in another direction. They don't do that, and you're expected to blindly grind a boss for 3-4 hours in thw hope that's the right direction to go in the game.

Without spoilers (I'm on the fence whether I'll buy it and play it), are you able to articulate the reason you didn't like it very much, if at all? I'm looking to get a more balanced idea of the game. I watched a streamer I follow play a little bit today, but not much. I'm not sure I got enough of a gist of the game to have an opinion on whether I want to play it. I'm not usually a platformer kind of person, but I don't have anything against platformers.

Maybe soo many people using their data at once? Seems crazy though, likely just people who are trying to load steam store, etc through their phone on data and it doesn't load, so they blame their data connection wrongly

Probably not overrated, you (maybe) just think so because you personally don't like the games. The amount of people excited for it and loving it justify the hype I think.

Tell that to celeste

I never touched that one. Im older so I have to back off platformers and fighting games.

I always thought of anyone that works on a game as a game developer. I dont thing that title isnintrinsicly linked to coders. Coders dont decide the genre or the story, or the direction or gameplay styles etc. They only write the code that makes it all work. I guess apply the logic somewhere else. If i say i design shoes, but all i do is pick the fabric to be used on shoes, someone else designs the shape, another person works on the comfort and another does drawings and sketches etc. Am i not a shoe designer? I think when a term becomes an industry like game development or footwear design or film maker or anything, it is fair to say you are that thing despite being a single cog in the machine. What gives the artist less value than the coder? I cant play the code. Need a character on screen and a world for them to move around in. I need story, i need objectives, i need dialogue and music and sfx etc.

Im not that guy, I only spent about 90 minutes on it so far. The jump physics feel weird, like its too vertical and not horizontal enough (theres probably upgrades that fix this later idk), and I have only identified one area i know I can't reach yet. Usually with these games you can see a cracked wall and think "oh im coming back here when I get the bombs" or "I bet I can make that jump with a double jump later" but I've only seen one platform i cant get to yet. Maybe im not observant enough, maybe I havent been in the right rooms yet, or maybe its just too slow for me to feel the hooks.

Seems that celeste has changed peoples lives for the better. Helped them to see through things that are a struggle and not give up. People probably can be changed by any game since one can speak to different people. Celeste follows a light story of not giving up, which is probably why is resonates with many.

It amazes me that one person can crash seven of the world's biggest software distribution centers at once

By who, the devs who priced their game at half of what they could have sold it for?

I'm saying that because of the way people talk about it. Like you said, it's a platformer. It's not some grand masterpiece combining art and gameplay and philosophy into an experience like no other, but damn if people don't put it on a pedestal.

I'd say it's decent, but the story and damage mechanics are a little worse than 1. I think some patches and a "hk mode" for magic/healing/damage would be nice.

Not OP. But I've had some real pain running Dungeon Keeper 2 and a number of other strategy games from 1990s. It's hit or miss. Some work in Lutris, some work in heroic. Some just fail. It can be real hit or miss. It's amazing how smooth it is on Steam.

Believe me, if there were alternatives I'd list them instead/as well. Itch.io is the best alternative afaik, and it has no features at all, just a download link.