3d Archives - Intensive Gaming Diary

Stray (Switch)

Posted on April 6, 2026 by Viljami

The next game that I wanted to play was Stray. I first played it on my PC as I bought it from Steam. As I might have told before I am identifying myself as a “couch gamer”. So, this means that I just had to buy the game also for a console. I picked the Switch version since I have liked my Switch 2 very much and been playing on it. It was for me an easy decision to make. Why am I a couch gamer? I like to play my video games when I wake up and I have found out that I easily fall asleep in the morning if I am on my personal computer. Am I getting old or something? Lets just say that I today prefer console gaming.

So, I am a cat fan. This is because it was 2007 when my parents got a cat. Sadly the cat died just a few years ago. He was an old cat already. But this is the main reason that I almost instantly started to like this game. In Stray you are controlling a cat in a fantasy/sci-fi scenario. Basically the game is about finding a path to the next location by choosing where to run and/or jump next. There are some puzzles also included.

Graphics look nice. I also liked the soundtrack which features your typical electronic music that sounds very nice to my ear. If you know anything about my habits in the field of music production I think you find it not so surprising that I am actually thinking of maybe sampling some of this stuff because it sounds basically very good.

The game takes (according to HLTB website) about five hours to complete. This is a somewhat relief for me as I had to pause my journey into Final Fantasy VII Remake after I had played over six hours of it. I had to pause because I kept thinking that the game would take over 30 hours to finish. That might be too long for me. So, at this point five hours seems just enough.

I have spent almost 4 hours now playing Stray. The game isn’t the most newest one while it also is a very fresh one. It was released in 2024. I have to say that the game does look better on my PCs screen. If you like to keep your graphics sharp you might want to actually play the PC version. I don’t know how the Xbox Series X version would look like. Currently there isn’t a Switch 2 optimized version available. At least not as a physical copy. I do like to play most of my Switch and Switch 2 games as physical copies.

If you like cats and also realistic 3D graphics and adventure games with some mild puzzle game elements Stray is a game for you. For me it cost just some euros under 40 euros. I also bought Star Wars Dark Forces Remaster for Nintendo Switch at this same moment. I hope I get some time to play also this game. Just yesterday I gathered every Switch game I have bought recently and haven’t had, yet, time to even install and I came up with some 15 games. Very many of these games were actually still sealed. What can you say? I am buying lots of video games at this moment.

There are still all the games for PS3 and also some games for PS2 that are still in a “not-yet-played” condition. The latest PS3 title I played was Need for Speed Most Wanted. I almost ended up writing a blog post about it. I played it for over 15 hours. It is a good game but not so straightforward as I would have wished for. There is a lot of goods luck involved in the game-play is what I basically mean.

What Made Tomb Raider So Appealling?

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Viljami

I wrote some time ago about Tomb Raider and how it’s 3D modeling made an impact to the whole industry. Now, we have seen Tomb Raider trilogy remake and I think it’s time to get back to this game once again. I actually got the remake collection and gave it some hours. The question here clearly seems to be that how and why was Tomb Raider so popular.

First of all I have to say that this game was a product of its era. 3d worlds were just beginning their story. The controls are clunky and not so good if we compare them to some more recent video games. There are many situations that you have to face when playing Tomb Raider today that just make the game seem a very old one.

The biggest problem seems to be how you control the main character Lara Croft. Jumping is hard and the camera is at times in a very bad angle. These 3D environments aren’t so impressive as they appeared to be back in 1990s. Tomb Raider was released in 1996. I have a copy for PC and PS1. The original game, that I happen to have in the form of the original CD, I think, can be updated so that the graphics will look even sharper.

What about the main character? Lara appears to be a female. This was still an exception back in 1996. Lara Croft was definitely one of the first female main characters. Of course these games are directed to these nerdy guys that are also into 3d and C++ programming. This was, back then, something for the real nerds.

You can feel the excitement as you play the original game. You get to interact with some very edgy and exciting environment. This can, of course, bring you many memories and make you feel the nostalgia. You start to think how could you yourself create a 3D game like this. And this game also gave programmers many ideas not to say anything about a mod that was available that made Lara seem to be totally naked in the game.

I really like Tomb Raider. Would I spend tens of hours playing it once again. Well, maybe not. Time has progressed heavily. Biggest flaw is the controlling of Lara. It just makes playing the game a pain. If you pick a good 3D game from an era of maybe even five years after 1996, say 2001, you can get something much more enjoyable. Why would you pick this one when there are many better games available.

How about the PS1 version that we have on this featured image right here? Well, it is the same game that was released for PC but with worse graphics. It is nice to handle Lara with Dual Shock controller. You can also pick a retro PC, one that has 486 processor, and play the game.

In conclusion, I don’t recommend going back to the world of Lara Croft. The game was something different. Take a note on the use of the word “was”. I know how inpiring this game was. Its impact was enormous. It broke the ice for something bigger and better. So, I suggest you get something some years newer for a new game that you would like to play.

A Neat Find from a Local Flea Market

Posted on July 14, 2023 by Viljami

You don’t have to necessarily guess what I found from a local flea market. While looking to the image right above this blog post you can see that it is an original CD-ROM of the legendary FPS game Quake. What you can guess is how much did I pay for it? It cost me two euros. Yes. That is right. Two euros. I am a bit tempted to sell this forward for maybe ten or fifteen euros but I decided that I would like to keep it.

I already figured when I decided to buy this that this game isn’t going to work on my modern Windows 10 PC. Fortunately I have a dedicated PC that runs Windows XP. I am going to play it on this old PC. I also understand that there are versions of this game available for Switch, PS4 and Xbox Series X. I think I made the right choice when I decided to buy this game. While re-use centers don’t necessarily always have the right ways to analyze the stuff they are selling I am willing to support them with buying a game for two euros.

There is one cool feature with this CD. It does play the games official sound track if you insert it to a CD player. I think this was why they had it in the audio CD section of this re-use center that I bought it from. I was actually a bit surprised that this disc didn’t have even more value. I have seen some CD-ROM PC games that were for sale for maybe 30 euros. This is of course a price of a game shop and those prices are always a bit high. This is due to some expenses that these special stores have like rent for example. I am very content in this latest purchase that I made. It is definitely a good purchase. Two euros. Wow!

I actually have a holiday at the moment. I have spent it sleeping, reading and playing. I have been just relaxing. I did spend some time in a hotel. And we are going to our family’s summer cottage next week. My wife has her holidays at the same time. We have spent some time together, of course. So, I have had a lot time for these activities I described a bit earlier. Today I had time to go to three different flea markets at Myyrmäki, Vantaa.

Quake has gained lots of attention lately. So I guess that here’s some more hype for the game. I am also waiting to get to listen once again the soundtrack of this game. The soundtrack was produced by Nine Inch Nails. If you like old school first person shooters then why not give Quake a try. Back in 1996 it was something different. It is a good game and a legendary game also.