La5t Game You Fini5hed And Your Thought5

Jimbob wrote:

TRY HARDER THIS TIME JAMES: I think my favourite bit was when I got all the power-ups and I could go round finding all the secret bits. Loved the Metroidyness. Hated the quicktime bosses, where you have to remember a button combination you only need to press once every 2 hours. Good though.

That was more or less my take on Dread too! As for Donut County, it was a fine little distraction for a couple of hours - silly, didn't overstay its welcome, but you'll forget about it by the next day.

Balladeer wrote:

On the whole, Fez left me cold.  It's a quite poor platformer, barely elevated by its world-twisting mechanic beyond being outright bad at it; and in the surface layer I've scratched, it's been no more than an adequate puzzler.  One 'puzzle' had me taking a picture of a QR code: cute, but not exactly satisfying to solve.  The game's aesthetic is nice enough, but its world feels slightly off.  I think that's intentional?  It's quiet, mostly empty of obviously intelligent life, filled with arcane graffiti, and the whole thing gives me the creeps and makes me feel a bit lonely.  That's been Fez's greatest quality so far, but it's not one I particularly care for.

Literally the day after this post, I finished Fez. By which I mean, I got the first ending, and what a bamboozling ending it was.  What I said above is still all accurate though.  Fez is more mood piece than great game, at least until you dig into the depths of decoding its language(s?) and stuff, which I did not and will not do.  Its core mechanic is undeniably clever, but it doesn't add much to the surface-level puzzling or the platforming, making it a rather unsatisfying puzzle-platformer that nonetheless has a certain something to it.  5/10



As well as playing that throwaway joke of a game, I finished bona fide classic Mom Hid My Game! 2.  #Bantz aside, what with the low-effort art, short game length (under an hour I think?), and single asinine tune, there's no way I can give MHMG2 more than the 6/10 I gave its predecessor - but honestly I have a big soft spot for it.  It made me laugh several times with its ludicrous escape room/point-and-click situations.  An hour or so of silly dumb fun that is apparently, according to me, better than Fez.  And you know what?  I'll stand by that.

Balladeer wrote:

 Still, the core is both addictive and fun: I don't think I've enjoyed a colour-matching puzzler more since Meteos.  A high 7/10.

I've started Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon recently, and it's a good fun colour-matching puzzler. Quite hard though. Still, you might like it... in as much as I can predict what you will and won't like! It might get a Balla 7/10.

Polished off my playthrough of this over the weekend, will put out my 35-second review sometime soon.
I've always held that this was a fun game, and it holds up well. I don't think it's special in the way the "true" 3D Mario games are, but it is a little more accessible and manageable so for a lot of people, this might be the only way to access that sweet sweet level design, which it does deliver.

I haven't 100% completed all the post-game stuff - I did that once on Wii U and I have other things to play - but the bite-sized, drop-in nature of this game's levels mean I am likely to keep popping back when I want a quick gaming fix - even more so than with the other 3D games which I overall like more.

Make of that what you will.

There's a point there: if it wasn't a 3D Mario I'd probably like SM3DW more.  Did you play Bowser's Fury as well Buska?

Rum wrote:

I've started Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon recently, and it's a good fun colour-matching puzzler. Quite hard though. Still, you might like it... in as much as I can predict what you will and won't like! It might get a Balla 7/10.

High praise indeed!  I've added it to the wishlist: I'm getting through that at a frightening rate, so it might be picked up sooner rather than later.  Speaking of, my fourth finished game in a week:




ElecHead is a critical darling puzzle-platformer.  I'd say it's definitely closer to puzzler, but at the same time has more actual platforming than your average example of the hybrid-subgenre.  It's quite simply a sequence of escalatingly difficult puzzles about shuttling current and throwing your head around.  Some are really quite ingenious, involving the odd 'a-ha!' moment; but only one of the really hidden collectables made me go 'how was I supposed to work that out!?'  Between the fun puzzles, a nostalgic graphical veneer that even I had a soft spot for, and some nice chiptunes, ElecHead does everything it sets out to do pretty much perfectly.

It's what it doesn't set out to do that holds it back, in my opinion.  With no bosses, hardly any story (the ending is dumb but it's really not the point here), and no obvious grand test puzzles or anything, ElecHead doesn't have much in the way of pacing.  It carries on at the same level all game, puzzle after puzzle after puzzle, without the falls and rises that would make it a great.  Instead it's 'merely' good.  A Balla 7/10

Balladeer wrote:

There's a point there: if it wasn't a 3D Mario I'd probably like SM3DW more.  Did you play Bowser's Fury as well Buska?

No. Bowser's Fury comes AFTER Odyssey.

Ah yes, I forgot. Linear order for dem vidz.

Finished Three Hopes early yesterday morning with the Black Eagles or the Scarlet Blaze route as it's called that took just over 30hrs. I said in the game's thread, it chucks a lot at you quickly, like all academy stuff is just skipped meaning you don't really know some backstory if ya new to the game, however after that you're basically playing the Three Houses story as a Musou instead of a Tactical RPG.

Which for me I played Three Houses, I did that as the Black Eagles then this with them, that I knew what characters I wanted to uses and interact with, now I see someone thinking this is a negative as I have basically played the same story twice when I could have had a new perspective with the other two houses.

I don't think the story of Shez or Byleth really add anything to the story that wasn't already there.

Overall, I thought the game was great (My Number 2 for the year at the moment) and is the best Musou I've played in a very long time.

Edit

SC isn't anything truly special, just a bit of an interesting take from Bithell on Solitaire with a story wrapped around it starring Greg Miller. It was just a good Sunday afternoon game, especially after the 30hr Three Hopes.

I'm still not quite clear. Does Three Hopes just have like a "Golden Route" alternate story or can I essentially use it to play the routes I missed in Three Houses?

From what I can tell it has the three endings and Black Eagles was still takeover fodlen and get rid of nobles etc just from a Musou view.

A lull in 2022’s release schedule meant that I had a few weeks to go through my backlog. I’m very glad that I was drawn towards Horace, a story-driven and retro-inspired game about an innocent computer game-loving robot who wants to help all and clean the world of junk. It’s one of the most amusing, multifaceted and fascinating games I’ve ever played.

Horace is a bit of everything – platformer, puzzler, adventure, shooter, Metroidvania, it’s the lot. From a gameplay perspective Horace is designed amazingly tightly, feeling really satisfying and rewarding as well as clever and imaginative. Frequent tongue-in-cheek references to ‘80s and ‘90s cultural nostalgia prop that mixture of gameplay styles up. It doesn’t lean too heavily on these references though, they instead provide humour and light relief in what’s otherwise a surprisingly dark and unsettling story. I wouldn’t spoil any of it, but it’s definitely not the kid-friendly game that it first appears. Case in point: I counted six times when someone was called a cunt.

It’s the richness of Horace’s narrative, the strength of it’s core mechanics, the ingenuity of its design and the sheer likeability of it’s cast of characters that makes the game genuinely exceptional. Especially in it’s opening third when the story is softly and poignantly told, I thought Horace was shaping up to be an all-time classic. But Horace loses its way ever-so-slightly, and I think that can be attributed to the developers’ over-ambitiousness.

Horace was made by just two guys, and one of them calls it “(his) life’s work”. It truly tells; he and his co-developer clearly poured all their energy, creativity and intellect into Horace over its six-year development. Seemingly hell-bent on creating their masterpiece, they come extremely close to be fair. Yet I think the developers would have benefited from having someone else around – like an editor of sorts, just to keep things measured and to be objective. I think Horace would have really benefited from that editor (of sorts) tapping the game’s two developers on the shoulder to interject from time to time and simply say “…that’s enough”. Frustratingly, in Horace I think there are too many platforming bits that I felt went on for just one section too long, too many bosses that I felt went on for just one cycle too much, and too many chapters where the overall difficulty was just too demanding. There were loads of times when I was playing through Horace where I thought to myself ‘…that’s enough’.

I’d say that this is all down to the developers wanting to use up all of their smartest ideas. However I think that this overindulgence is to the detriment of the game’s balance and flow. A more direct and concise game that was a few chapters and hours shorter would have likely turned Horace into the all-time classic that I initially thought it could be. I think Horace would have been improved with clearer signposting too. I’m certain that I screwed up the chronology of the events across four storyline chapters just because I went through a wrong train station door in the opening hours of the game.

I don’t want to be too critical of Horace though, and I can’t stress enough how utterly superb and near-perfect the rest of the game is. I say Horace is every bit as good as Celeste, Shovel Knight and the other modern indie greats. It’s one of the most unforgettable and definitely one of best games I’ve played in years. 9/10.

Couldn't agree more with that review, Horace was a huge surprise for me at how much I enjoyed it and the writing was superb but it wasn't without its frustrating moments. I have the Street Fighter joke saved to my Switch clips and still laugh every time I see it.

I've heard Horace brought up here and there quite a few times, but that write-up did a much better job of getting across what it is and why I should care than almost anything I've heard or read. Will add it to the list. . .

Interesting! I started Horace but it didn't really grab me within the first hour or so and I fell off it. This does inspire me to give a proper go of it.

I would say that I felt Horace was interesting to start with but long outstayed it's welcome by the end, to the point where I don't really look back on it that fondly.

Well if Andy doesn't like it it's probably worth a shot!

I...

*checks Backloggery for games that have been given out for free or mega-cheap*

do have Horace. Eventually I'll give this a go, it sounds like my cup of tea.

Treesmurf wrote:

Couldn't agree more with that review, Horace was a huge surprise for me at how much I enjoyed it and the writing was superb but it wasn't without its frustrating moments. I have the Street Fighter joke saved to my Switch clips and still laugh every time I see it.

Street Fighter joke?:

Crumpy Andy wrote:

I would say that I felt Horace was interesting to start with but long outstayed it's welcome by the end, to the point where I don't really look back on it that fondly.

I can absolutely see how anybody would feel Horace long outstays it's welcome. It doesn't seem like much, if anything, was left on the drawing board. Fair play for sticking with it until the end though.

I think it would be Jimbob's cup of tea right enough. For Rum, that first hour is very narrative driven, and I don't think Horace is given his anti-gravity boots until a couple of hours in. It recommend affording it another hour if you can.

Added Horace to my wish list


Chaos, where's chaos you dastards, tell me where he is?!

Ohh yeah, enough of Jack shouting which has been memed from SOPFFO as the game is a bit a silly at times, and I'd like to have seen it get a bit more silly like when you punch massive bosses that should be a QTE, just because.

It copies a few things from a bunch of games as well, like it is more loot based then level up your party, combat is a tad souls etc into a package I really enjoyed and I'm kinda keen to play Final Fantasy now, to sort continue the story on.

Think Andy, Jay, Muss etc would all like the game if they've not already played (I'm not going to stalk your PSN's like Andy will now do before each quiz).

I'm not surprised that Cappa liked Horace: from what I played it feels like exactly his bag, apart from the interminable narrative.  Jim too; Rum, given our vaguely-similar-maybe tastes in games, I'm not so sure about.  I chucked it about three hours in - the boots made me go 'oooh' for about a minute before I decided that the platforming sections were hard as diamond, Horace was unfun to control, and as people have already said they went on for achingly long.  I didn't really care for the trimmings either.  Good bosses though.

I've not played Horace and honestly I haven't got past thinking the main character looks like he is from some Roblox game

Luckily my brain goes to Tron Bonne's pals before it goes to Roblox.

masofdas wrote:

Balla has started, but I've got a feeling it will end up in the last game didn't finish thread.

Not only did I finish it, I liked it!  Mostly.  Even if I didn't like the component parts so much, but 13S is one of those games that's more than the sum of its parts.

What I found slightly odd was how I liked those parts.  I believe the critical consensus about 13S is, 'Wow, look at that storytelling!  Shame about the tacked-on strategy.'  I'm much more of a characters chap than a concepts or plotting chap, and I found most of the thirteen characters to be duffers.  Poe's Law applies here: I think they're meant to be parodies of certain anime tropes (we have a schoolgirl literally running with toast in her mouth), but they ended up feeling like... well, certain anime tropes.  There were some exceptions, but maybe three or so in a cast of 13?  It's not like I like the plot all that much either, and that's before the duffer trope-filled ending.  On the other hand, I don't like strategy, but found myself getting quite into it here!  Its biggest flaw is its complete inability to convey that your foes are giant intimidating city-destroying kaiju, rather than piddly icons on a map; but the strategy itself was easy, and fun, and enjoyably customisable without swamping me with stuff.  I liked it.

It's all - well, mostly - wrapped up in some top aesthetics.  The visual novel segments have the normal VanillaWare visuals, which is to say, beautiful and painterly where they aren't stupid dodgy.  (The school nurse, the kids being naked inside their Sentinels, and a moment in the ending all made me roll my eyes immensely hard.)  The strategy looks ugly, but the fighting music contains some absolute belters; as do the story bits when there's some music at all.  These elevate the game to another level than it would have reached otherwise, as do the interactions between the strategy and story bits.  

So, yes.  Balladeer plays and likes another very anime game.  Shock horror.  The different is, here I liked it in spite of its animeness.  I'm not sure how many of us/you should actually play this one, but I'll give it a general thumbs up anyway.

FoxyLand is an appealingly bite-sized 2D platformer that boasts an infectious chiptune soundtrack and some beautifully colourful pixel art. It doesn’t bring a single fresh idea to the genre though. Of course, a lack of originality and inspiration doesn’t always make for a bad game. Yet the fact that nothing of the game’s thirty-odd levels sticks out in my memory at all can’t not be seen as being an issue. The same goes for the enemy design and the script writing, there’s nothing to say about either of them. I remember more about the unconvincing hit detection and sensitive controls than the actual game itself. As pleasant as it is, it’s this that makes FoxyLand a pretty missable game. 5/10.



At £2.39 in a recent eShop sale, I thought I may as well complete the duo, and go for FoxyLand 2 to see what that’s like. It sensibly brings what was good about FoxyLand – namely the aesthetics and music – into a far bigger game. New mechanics such as a wall jump and throwable projectiles make for more involving gameplay than was featured in the hop n’ bop original too. However the hit detection remains as unfair as before, the controls are still twitchy, and it’s got new and iffy collect-a-thon tendencies. The degree of challenge is seriously ramped up too. That would have been all right if you could take several hits before losing a life like in the first Foxy Land, but you can’t – it’s one hit and you’re done. That seriously impaired my enjoyment of FoxyLand 2 alone. It was hugely frustrating almost all of the time – a total tonal shift from the easy-going original.

It’s strange: FoxyLand 2 is clearly a more substantial and dynamic game than Foxy Land, yet it’s nowhere near as friendly or likeable as it either. It’s better…but it’s worse? 4/10.

I haven't posted any thoughts about completed games for a while, so here's a dump of mini-thoughts:

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Pokemon Legends Arceus

Pokemon has needed a mainline shakeup for a while, and this was a pretty good stab at it. It isn't perfect - it looks a bit rough and it was a bit lacking in some elements like trainer battles - but the new mechanics it introduced were fun and I hope we'll see them again. I enjoyed stealthily sneaking around twatting Pokemon with balls I'd made, and running away when I'd made a grave error in twatting judgement. I'm interested to see how the series incorporates these new elements because PLA feels a bit like a proof of concept rather than a final product, but I really enjoyed my time with it. 8/10

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Unpacking

I got this because I enjoy the process of unpacking in real life, and I thought sorting everything out would be very satisfying (a la Wilmot's Warehouse). You unpack boxes from various points in an unnamed character's life, into her childhood room, uni halls, new home with a spouse, etc. That aspect is well done and I enjoyed the way her life story was told through objects in her homes. However, the actual mechanics felt a little clumsy, in that sometimes finding spaces for these objects was a bit fiddly, and sometimes I couldn't quite tell what an object was or where it was supposed to go, and the game just indicates to you that a space is wrong, rather than which space is right. I think keyboard and mouse controls might have worked better. It was cute, but didn't offer the satisfaction I had been hoping for when I bought it. 6/10

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Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon

This is a fun take on the colour-matching puzzler. You play as a knight - Shovel Knight to start, but you unlock loads of others quickly - and you have to take out chains of monsters in different puzzle dungeons. However, when you hit a monster they hit you back, so you need to make sure you heal yourself before they take you out. There are loads of different items which cause more damage, block enemy damage, help you avoid hazards, increase your HP, etc - so you can adapt your approach as you play. Each knight also has a different skill, so they can teleport, poison enemies, throw things... It started off pretty hard, but the more I got into the rhythm of it and the more I understood how you can approach everything differently, the better I got, until I beat the main game three times in a row with different knights. It's fun! But needs a bit of patience. 7/10

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Portal: Companion Collection

I can't say anything you probably don't already know, but the Portal games are fucking great. Both of them run incredibly smoothly on Switch and they are just as fun to play as they were 10-15 years ago. The original is short, almost a tech demo, but it's perfectly formed and the build up to the final boss fight (as well as the fight itself) are great. Then, Portal 2, is a masterclass in storytelling. GLaDOS and Wheatley are brilliantly formed characters, and travelling through the old facility that the games are set in gave me goosebumps - and also made me laugh a lot (JK Simmons as Cave Johnson is just fantastic). I don't want your damn lemons! As a cheap compilation it's just a fantastic slice of gaming pie. 10/10