I LOL’ed at the idea of people getting upset over the idea of a 3D metroidvania.
Dead in Vinland. Nice aesthetics, too random. Very thin margins, so you can fail through no fault of your own.
Katana Zero. Very sharp gameplay, although the conceit (play the level as your ‘plan’ and watch the execution as a replay) doesn’t make for the most satisfying gameplay. You can carry out an amazing series of moves, use slo-mo, slicing through multiple enemies, dodging bullets, deflecting projectiles, etc, and then watch it all happen in real time afterwards is completely underwhelming. Good story though, interesting structure.
I recently finished a couple of relatively short point-and-click games on mobile, There is No Game: Wrong Dimension and The Almost Gone. TING: WD was great–I thought the story was hilarious and the way in which it lampoons a couple of established game genres was great. Some puzzles are obvious, others are pretty clever and require a little more thought, but everything’s clearly there to service the story. There’s a nice built-in hint system if you get stuck. Took about 5 hours to complete and was well worth it.
The Almost Gone is even shorter–about 3 hours. The game looks great and does contain some interesting puzzles, although there were a few times I was stuck and had to refer to the walkthrough videos that are helpfully linked from the pause menu. The story’s intentionally vague and, while I got the point, I found it a bit disappointing in the end.
Otherwise, when I’m not taking turns in my digital board games, I’ve been playing a ton of Dream Quest and Threes. At some point I’ll probably tire of games from 2014 and move on to revisiting 2015 instead.
4 Likes
TL,DR: Borderlands 3 DLC and BL OST in general and me loosing my mind because of it…
With me being constantly behind because of my backlog, I just started the first Borderlands 3 DLC. Which isn’t so unusual since I play the long game with Borderlands games. I still occasionally jump into Borderlands 1 and (more frequently) Borderlands 2 despite them being 11 and 8 years old games by now.
Anyways 1 hour into the BL3 DLC and I am almost sure I won’t be able to ever finish it…
Instead of doing the usual 
and 
I am waaaaayyy to busy doing 
and 
…it is higly distracting and very detrimental to my usual pinpoint lootin’n shootin…
For everyone not privy to the finer details of Prinnmoji, this is me currently trying to play the first Borderlands 3 DLC:
Man the Soundtrack for this DLC episode is awesome!
I distinctly remember being extraordinalrily pissed when I read that the Borderlands 3 Soundtrack will not be done (almost) exclusevly by Jesper Kidd (who did the OST of all the Borderlands Games before…which really gave them a real special feel which also complimented the very well done cellshaded look of them games).
Instead it would be a collaboration efford and he will only be doing about 25% of the OST. The netherworld hath no fury like a prinny robbed of one of his famous composers in a Borderlands game…
…
…
.
well that lasted for about 7 seconds or 2 paragraphs until I read one of the collaborating composers would be Michael McCann one of my most beloved creators of Video Game music of all time (XCOM EU, XCOM EW, XCOM 2, Deus Ex HR and Deus Ex MD) .
The idea they went with in Borderlands 3 was simply brilliant. The OST for Pandora (the planet of the first BL games) would be done by Jesper Kidd again, which fits the setting best. Michael McCann would do the second planet, which has a more technical and futuristic vibe, which fits his expertise also quite well. The third planet again would be done by another composer and so on. This may be overlooked by many who scoff at BL3 despite its accomplishments, but in the sound design of BL3 at least they did pull out all the stops!
Returning to the original point of the first BL3 DLC:
The story is set in a place which ties back to the main villain of BL2, which almost immediately moves it to the top of the list because BL2’s villain was waaay more interesting and well planned out for than the (to put it nicely) controversial Twins of BL3’s main plot. And since the place is more futuristic than the average Borderlands place Michael McCann returns (among others) and delivers again…oh boy he does!
I may hate the corporate greed of Take2 Interactive/Gearbox Publishing to release the different Borderlands DLC OST seperately and not in a complete package, but my mouse still didn’t recover from the smash I delivered when I hit the purchase button of said OST…
5 Likes
Suzerain. The game’s premise caught my eye, and I thought ‘what could go wrong’ and the answer was, ‘largely the economy’. You’re running a backwards republic in the 1950s, in a rather fraught region of the world akin to the Middle East or the Balkans. There are ethnic and religious problems, women are getting uppity and demanding ‘rights’, there’s a recession, corruption, factions in the national parliament bent on division, and you’re in charge of the whole thing. Essentially a text adventure with some numbers-stuff going on in the background, the game really shines as it allows multiple facets of a character to come through in each scene, plus there can be multiple characters in a scene, so it’s not a case of WIFE IS SAD - TELL HER TO FUCKING CHEER UP - WIFE WILL REMEMBER THIS. Quite a lot of meetings are part and parcel of the gameplay, as you try to pick the right raft of laws, projects, policies, and sway the necessary people to your side. While you’re the largest political party, in a country that is mostly honest, you also have factions in your party that are set against your decisions, and you never have anywhere near enough money to spend. You’re also juggling multiple neighbouring countries, superpowers, trade deals, diplomatic and military problems, and your family life.
The game can feel exhausting, especially when you’re on your fifth meeting to discuss a project and your cabinet are disagreeing, but I bought it and promptly played for eight hours. Compelling, subtle characterisation, and gameplay that can feel like a stressful achievement.
3 Likes
I’ve been sitting on my copy of BL3 for a while, partially in hope that I get my hands on a PS5 and partially because I got drawn into Fallen Order. I think once I beat the Star Wars game I’ll move on to BL3 even if I’m still on my PS4.
1 Like
Just started Fallen Order on the ps5. Decided to give it a whirl since it’s in the EA play collection right now and EA play is on sale for $1 for a month trial. I like the exploration and light puzzles. Combat seems decent. The running animation and mantling over ledges is all wonky. But the story seems good so far.
I finally finished* Fallen Order and thought it was a solid game. The story and characters were good and the game seemed to ooze Star Wars flavor.
I think my biggest complaint at this point is actually something that I tend to love in games. As I’ve mentioned, the game is kind of a Metroidvania, with new areas opening up in maps as you discover new abilities. Some of the maps are too big, though, for me to want to go back and explore, so I doubt I will dive back in and go for the 100% completion. With no fast travel, I’d have to spend an hour fighting through all the same enemies and traversing some complicated maps to find a chest with a new skin for my poncho? I doubt I’m going to be motivated enough to do that. If you could fast travel to meditation points I would likely plumb the depths of this game, but as it is I had a good time playing.
1 Like
Hitman 3!
I though I might provide a late-to-the-party impression of the much-loved Slay the Spire. Short version: I’ve played this before. Longer answer: There is more depth to the builds and enemies in Slay the Spire that in any of the similar games I’ve played so I do think it will have some legs, but the game is not wowing me with anything new. I am fully aware that StS came before many of the games I’ve personally played before it, but I’m late to the party, like I said.
5 Likes
I really like StS, but I have to say that it is Monster Train that is my favorite of the genre now.
1 Like
I will back this. I find that it is intellectual satisfying, but not as fun.
1 Like
I’m trying to get back into DQ11 on Switch. For those who have played, I just got my ship through the gates and out into the ocean. This is the third DQ game I have played and I honestly don’t get the love. I find the series slow and generic. I know I’m in the minority but I guess DQ isn’t really for me. I’ll put the time in and beat the game for the sake of clearing out my backlog, but I don’t know that I’m going to jump into the next DQ game with the way I fee about the series.
I have never been able to get into it either. Happy to do final fantasy though, but that said, I can’t play the newer ones. Rather the Bravely Default style
1 Like
I really enjoyed DQ8, but I think that was both because I like that studio in general (Jeanne d’Arc is another favorite of mine) and because I played it at the same time as FF12, which made DQ8 look better by comparison. 12 was decent, but still just an inferior knockoff of KotOR.
I also love Jeanne d’Arc, so maybe I should try a DQ…once someone tells me what it stands for? Growing up, DQ stood for Dairy Queen, and I’m pretty sure that’s not apt here : )
2 Likes
Dragon Quest. Although none of the DQ games I’ve played have been anything like Jd’Arc.
1 Like
Yeah, not even remotely similar. Jeanne D’Arc is similar to Final Fantasy Tactics. The whole Dragon Quest series is similar to Final Fantasy II…
1 Like
Ah. ok. I’ve tried a couple of Dragon Quest games before as well, and they were not for me.
There’s a recent Mercenaries Tactics game on switch that was released like a month ago that I’ve been playing to get my FFT fix, and it’s fine, I like it, but it’s not in the same league as the real thing. And there’s really never been a game for me with the same feel as Jd’Arc. If they ported that to switch, I’d happily buy it again.
2 Likes
It’s not that Dragon Quest 8 played like Jeanne, it’s just the same level of quality both titles have, similarities that come through from sharing the same developer. Good writing, decent humor, a fun crafting system, significant game depth.
1 Like