Mar 31, 2023 - Day 90 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 97

Game: Panzer Corps Gold Edition

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Jul 10, 2011
Library Date: Mar 13, 2018
Unplayed: 1844 (5y18d)
Playtime: 23m

It should have been obvious from the name that I would not enjoy this game.

Any game that has me playing as the Nazis is not a game I want to play.

This is a hex-based strategy game AND I have to play as the Nazis? Ugh.

I got to 23 minutes because I try to at least finish the tutorial missions I start.

I finished the first two tutorials and dipped. Panzer Corps Gold Edition is over 11 years old, feels older, and again: you're playing as the Nazis, and that just feels a bit too on the nose in 2023.

Panzer Corps Gold Edition is a big old:

1: Nope.

#Hex #Strategy #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 1, 2023 - Day 91 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 98

Game: Slice, Dice & Rice

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Apr 28, 2017
Library Date: Mar 13, 2018
Unplayed: 1845 (5y19d)
Playtime: 20m

I have to assume that the games I've been playing all came in a bundle back in 2018, but I can't find any evidence that I purchased it.

Slice, Dice & Rice is fairly basic, but quite atmospheric beat-em-up.

The quirky thing about it is that as your character(s) are armed with some pretty sharp and pointy weapons, there's no health bars. A couple of hits, and your opponent is dead.

Win four matches, and take the round. There are four simple hit types, you can jump, but it's not entirely clear what triggers the jump (it might be pressing down on the left joystick?), and no complex series of button presses to remember.

If I'd paid the full price of A$14.50 for this game, I'd still be disappointed, but as it came in a bundle, I'm not judging it as harshly.

The stylised graphics and blood-spurting death animations, combined with a fairly quick load time make this a bit of fun to pick up, and lay the smack down for five minutes.

Slice, Dice & Rice is:

3: OK

#SliceDiceAndRice #BeatEmUp #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 2, 2023 - Day 92 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 99

Game: Monster Crown

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Jul 31, 2020
Library Date: Apr 2, 2023
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 16m

For reasons that escape me now, last July I decided to purchase an annual subscription for Humble Bundle.

I think my reasoning was "I've been paying USD$11.99 per month, I can switch to AUD and pay $16.95 per month, or pay up front, and effectively pay $14.92 per month! If I get one good game each month that normally costs more than $15, I'm ahead."

I am not ahead. There have been some good games - and I already owned every one of them. Most of the others I haven't played, so at this point, I am not ahead, at all.

What do have is a particular collection of games, games I have acquired over the last nine months, unplayed games that make managing storage on my gaming PC a nightmare for... me.

So... I'm going to try and play them as well.

I started with Monster Crown. I did not grow up with Nintendo, and I had trouble grasping the purpose of this game.

My son (also a Humble Choice subscriber) walked in while I was playing it and said "Oh! I saw that game. It's just shitty Pokemon."

Indeed, it turns out that Monster Crown is, apparently, "inspired by" early Pokemon games.

The 8-bit style "retro" graphics, & chiptunes had already put me off, and the gameplay didn't grab me at all.

Monster Crown is:

2: Meh

#MonsterBattler #Retro
#Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 3, 2023 - Day 93 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 100

Game: Demon Turf

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Nov 4, 2021
Library Date: Apr 2, 2023
Unplayed: 1d
Playtime: 30m

Firstly, an apology if you watched this #NewPlay live on Twitch.

Something was applying a voice-effect to my mic, and I was unable to work out the source, which is why it was so heavily reverbed.

This is another game from March 2023's Humble Choice.

It was not initially obvious to me what kind of game I was playing; Demon Turf is a 3D platformer.

The thing about a new game, is that if I need to go through a tutorial to familiarise myself with the controls, I have to want to finish the tutorial.

I did not want to finish the tutorial. I kept going because I was streaming it, but I didn't enjoy this game. You play Beebz, a demon girl with the goal to take over the Demon Turfs and wrest control away from the Demon King to become the Demon Queen, and I just don't care.

I can't quite explain why this game grated on me, but after 30 minutes of frustration, I was done.

Was it fun? Not for me. Would I play Demon Turf again?

1: Nope.

#3DPlatformer #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 4, 2023 - Day 94 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 101

Game: Hot Wheels Unleashed

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Oct 1, 2021
Library Date: Aug 31, 2022
Unplayed: 216d
Playtime: 29m

OK, tonight's live #NewPlay went a lot better than last night's and I don't even hate my voice. I should add the link to my Twitch account somewhere.

Anyway, Hot Wheels Unleashed.

It's a racing game, where you race Hot Wheels cars on Hot Wheels tracks, which is also Forza Horizon 5's first expansion pack (and was also Forza Horizon 3's second XPAC).

If you were the kind of kid who loved Hot Wheels cars, and I was, licencing Hot Wheels to appeal to nostalgia only gets you part way there.

There's got to be a good racing game under the hood (pun intended).

Fortunately for Hot Wheels Unleashed, it IS a good racing game. It's a lot of fun drifting your way around the corners, and boosting past opponents, and that's what I want in a racing game, or any game.

If you love a fun racing game, have a nostalgia for Hot Wheels, and you don't already have Forza Horizon 3 or 5 with the relevant XPACs, then Hot Wheels Unleashed might be right up your loop-the-loop.

(Do not get me started on the DLCs though.)

Hot Wheels Unleashed is:

4: Good

#HotWheelsUnleashed #Racing #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Tonight's stream: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1784343096

Apr 5, 2023 - Day 95 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 102

Game: Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Aug 22, 2015
Library Date: Mar 13, 2018
Unplayed: 1849d (5y23d)
Playtime: 20m

I live in Victoria, Australia, where you MUST barrack for an Australian Football League (AFL) team. One of the first questions you'll be asked when meeting someone new is "who do you barrack for?"

So I kind of understand how people feel about sport; I do not feel those things.

It was obvious exactly what kind of game this was, because it's right there in the name.

Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings is a cartoonish baseball game, where you alternate between batting & pitching, & yelling at the balls you strike out.

I have no idea what the secret is to correctly hitting the ball, because I was virtually unable to do so. I managed to hit a few balls in the whole game. I got someone to first base once (kissing, right?)

What annoys me is that I had a riotous amount of fun for something I found so frustrating. Watch the video, and you'll find me laughing while declaring "I hate it".

If the game hadn't ended when it did (and I don't know WHY it did), I would have played through the whole innings, and hated every minute of it.

Maybe this would work for someone who understands & enjoys baseball, but for me Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings is:

1: Nope

#SuperMegaBaseballExtraInning #Sport #Baseball #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1785314425

Apr 6, 2023 - Day 96 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 103

Game: Orwell

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Oct 28, 2016
Library Date: Mar 22, 2018
Unplayed: 1841d (5y15d)
Playtime: 22m

Orwell is (apparently) the first chapter of five in a game that's about investigation and surveillance after a terrorist attack.

You're gathering information on a person, who seems to have been pre-judged as being guilty of the crime; the "advisor" you're working with seems to have made up his mind already.

I've played a lot of games over the past few months. While it's only been 103 I've reviewed, there were a couple of hundred more late last year before I decided on this little project.

I have played games that have delighted me, annoyed me, frustrated me, frightened me, bored me.

This is the first time that a game has made me feel *bad* about playing it. This game might be something others would enjoy, but given the current political climate, and the overreach of government into people's lives, particularly trans folks, this was just a little bit too fascism-adjacent for me to feel comfortable.

I did not enjoy Orwell at all:

1: Nope

#Orwell #Surveillance #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1786225691

Apr 7, 2023 - Day 97 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 104

Game: Dredge

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Mar 31, 2023
Library Date: Apr 7, 2023
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 3h

Dredge was released a week ago, and I think this is the fastest Released -> Purchased -> Played #NewPlay this year.

Dredge describes itself as "a single-player fishing adventure with a sinister undercurrent".

I'd describe it as a cozy work simulator with a subtext of horror.

Here Be minor #spoilers:
---
The game's intro has you (intro makes it clear you're a man) out to sea in your fishing boat, which gets shipwrecked near a small fishing village, whose previous village fisherman has disappeared under unclear circumstances.
---

You are pressed into service as the new village fisherman, and given an old boat, and a loan you must repay. The village & villagers are all slightly unsettling.

The game then revolves around catching & selling fish, & dredging the bay to upgrade your boat so you can go further & faster to ensure you can get back safely to dock each night.

Fish are all different sizes & shapes, so part of the game is a puzzle minigame to arrange the caught fish in the most efficient way.

If you don't get back to dock before 6:30pm in-game, weird stuff starts happening, & your "panic" levels increase.

I played Dredge for 3 hours straight last night, because Dredge is:

5: Excellent

#Dredge #Adventure #puzzle #Cozy #Horror #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1787098972

Apr 8, 2023 - Day 98 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 105

Game: Terra Nil

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Mar 29, 2023
Library Date: Apr 7, 2023
Unplayed: 1d
Playtime: 3.3h

I first played the Terra Nil demo about 9 months ago during the Steam Next Fest.It had a lot of rough edges, but it was quite charming, and there was definitely something there.

It was released on the 29th of March; it then popped up as part of Fanatical's Easter sale.

Take a dash of ADHD, a touch of exhaustion, and a habit of buying new games as a coping mechanism; shake them all up, and I found myself the owner of both Dredge & Terra Nil (there went my savings towards a new motherboard).

Terra Nil is an "environmental strategy game". You find yourself in the middle of a wasteland, with the job of terraforming the land to restore the biomes and biodiversity that are long gone, and finally removing all traces of civilisation.

While Dredge is "cozy horror", Terra Nil is just cozy. There are challenges to achieve during the rewilding process, but there are no threats, no impending doom, just a delightful experience of watching a dead wasteland brought to glorious life, accompanied by a delightful soundtrack that seems to slowly fill in as you move towards the goal.

It did not feel like 3 hours had passed; Terra Nil is:

5: Excellent

#TerraNil #Environment #Strategy #Cozy #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 9, 2023 - Day 99 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 106

Game: The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Jul 15, 2009
Library Date: Mar 13, 2018
Unplayed: 1853d (5y27d)
Playtime: 31m

I went into today's #NewPlay just trying to stay upright, and I slept for a couple of hours afterwards. This may have contributed to my feelings towards TSoMI:SE.

I've said it before in these reviews: I'm not a huge point-and-click adventure fan.

TMI time: for a lot of my life I struggled to admit that I didn't like some things, and it's only in the past few years that I've been able to let myself say "Actually, I don't like this."

Some of my earliest computer gaming experiences were The Colossal Cave on a rebuilt mainframe we had at home (that's a whole other story), and a pirated copy of Zork.

When I started on PC, I played all of the Quests (King's, Police, and Space), and I'd usually get to a point of frustration and abandoning them.

I didn't play any the SCUMM-based adventures, and so I have no nostalgia for them; sadly, for the most part, they just do nothing for me.

TSoMI:SE isn't a bad game. I can see the love that went into rebuilding it, but maybe (in the immortal words of Fozzie Bear) "It's not that it's wrong, it's just wrong for me."

I will try it again when I'm more awake but at best, The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is:

3: OK

#TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland #PointAndClick #Adventure #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 10, 2023 - Day 100 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 107

Game: Kingdom

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Oct 22, 2015
Library Date: Mar 22, 2018
Unplayed: 1845d (5y19d)
Playtime: 68m

Kingdom is a pixel-art based, sideways-scrolling strategy/resource management game. Pretty much everything I dislike, in a single package.

As soon as I saw it load in, I was sure I'd be clock-watching, just itching for my 15 minutes to be up.

An hour later I was still playing.

Sometimes the gameplay is so good, the art disappears, and this turns out to be a great game, but you have to work for it.

It does very little to hold your hand; the first ten minutes were spent trying to intuit what was going on.

You're a king or queen, mounted on a horse. You can ride in either direction, and pick up and spend gold coins, and... that's about it. You cannot attack or fight back if attacked.

You use your initial few gold coins to hire a couple of beggars, and build a tiny village.

The tiny village allows you to provide each person you hire with a tool (hammer) or a weapon (bow & arrow).

During the day, the armed villagers kill rabbits and earn gold coins for you, while the working villagers can build defenses. At night, the armed villagers defend you. Each new day, you earn more gold coins, and the cycle continues, for just one more day.

My initial impressions of Kingdom were wrong; it's:

4: Good.

#Kingdom #Strategy #2D #SidewaysScroller #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 11, 2023 - Day 101 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 108

Game: Obduction

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Aug 25, 2016
Library Date: Mar 22, 2018
Unplayed: 1846d (5y20d)
Playtime: 47m

As Obduction loaded up, it seemed like the kind of game I'd like. Kind of the polar opposite of yesterday's game, Kingdom; it's really pretty... and I found it deeply frustrating.

At its core, it's a first-person 3D puzzle game. I like puzzle games. Right off the bat, the interactions with the in-game characters annoyed me. You activate these projected pre-recorded video bites, and something about them just set my teeth on edge.

When you interact directly with an "in-game" character though, that really broke my concentration. The character appears pre-recorded & pre-rendered, and it's almost impossible to make out the critical info they're saying.

On top of this, interacting with the various devices in the world momentarily locks your view on the object you're interacting with. Consequently, with one of the early puzzles, I gave up in frustration, only to find that I was *so* close to solving it, and it would have been obvious, had cause & effect not been disconnected by the locked view.

There might be a reasonable puzzle game underneath the frustration, but I'm not sure I want to spend the time finding out.

Obduction also works in VR, so I'm reserving a final rating until after I try VR, but right now, it's:

2: Meh

#Obduction #Puzzle #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 12, 2023 - Day 102 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 109

Game: Subterrain

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Jan 21, 2016
Library Date: Apr 9, 2018
Unplayed: 1829d (5y3d)
Playtime: 73m

Subterrain is a top-down sci-fi horror survival game.

Apparently.

You play an imprisoned scientist who has to break out of his cell, and finds that the entire prison, and apparently, base on Mars has been overrun by zombies, maybe. Based on some flavour text, on something I picked up.

It's moody & atmospheric, and I spent 73 minutes exploring all of the nooks and crannies of the prison, waiting for something to happen.

There's next to zero guidance, and you need to discover your way forward, which is why I explored every nook and cranny; all the while collecting things until I hit my carry limit. There's a recycle-and-build system in there somewhere, but by the time I got close to it, I'd had enough.

The game itself is well designed, and the sound design kept me thinking that something was just about to happen... but no. I killed two zombies in the first two levels.

There's a hint of something interesting in there, but it's buried under so much drudgery, that for a moment I questioned why I'm doing these reviews at all.

Ultimately Subterrain felt like style without substance, and I'm genuinely disappointed; it feels like I wasted 73 minutes of my life that I didn't enjoy, and won't get back. It's just:

2: Meh

#SciFi #TopDown #Survival #Horror #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 13, 2023 - Day 103 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 110

Game: God Eater Resurrection

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Aug 29, 2016
Library Date: Mar 31, 2018
Unplayed: 1839d (5y13d)
Playtime: 45m

God Eater Resurrection is a bit of an odd duck of a game.

Firstly, you cannot (and never have been able to) buy it directly on Steam, as it comes bundled with God Eater 2: Rage Burst

Secondly, it felt a bit like another game I'd played in the past six months, and it turns out that Code Vein is (apparently) set in the same universe.

Unlike the soulslike world of Code Vein, though, GER is a hack-n-slash.

As for the game itself, it would have been difficult to stop the game at 15 minutes, because at that point, having spent a few minutes in the character creator tweaking my avatar, it was *still* in the intro video, setting up the universe. All up, it was 19 minutes from when I'd started the game, until I could first move around in-game.

The between-mission area has a fixed camera, and I couldn't find a comfortable playstyle on K/M or with controller, but in-game fighting has a free-movement camera, and I ultimately settled on K/M.

There is a LOT going on in switching weapon modes, and managing the different options in-battle, but it feels like it might be worth getting to know it a bit better.

God Eater Resurrection is:

3: OK

#GodEaterResurrection #ThirdPerson #HackNSlash #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 14, 2023 - Day 104 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 111

Game: Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Aug 16, 2017
Library Date: Jun 6, 2018
Unplayed: 1773d (4y10m8d)
Playtime: 25m

I feel like I should tread carefully here; while a voracious reader when younger, I've not encountered the works of Ken Follett, but apparently The Pillars of the Earth (henceforth, "Pillars") was a "worldwide best-seller".

Pillars came in a Humble Bundle, and it's not a game that I would have purchased on its own. I'm not familiar with the source material, or the author, so the branding isn't a hook.

However, if the storytelling and gameplay game can grab me early, this isn't necessarily an issue. Unfortunately, Pillars very much seems to lean into an assumed familiarity with the source material which was strike one.

Strike two was "Oh. It's a point-and-click adventure."

I've made no bones about my feelings towards point-and-click. The Full Throttle remaster hooked me. Deponia was a bit hit and miss.

Strike three was the game pacing. It's... slow. There's a lot of slow moving from place to place, a lot of things to click on that don't seem to do anything.

The thing that tipped me over the edge, though: the game made it almost impossible to quit out. In the end, I alt-tabbed and closed it.

Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth is a solid:

1: Nope.

#ThePillarsOfTheEarth #PointAndClick #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 15, 2023 - Day 105 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 112

Game: Satellite Reign

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Aug 18, 2015
Library Date: Apr 20, 2018
Unplayed: 1822d (4y11m27d)
Playtime: 28m

I have a soft spot for cyberpunk themed games, and one of the unexpected side-effects of this project is discovering how many cyberpunk-themed games that aren't *Cyberpunk 2077* I already own.

Satellite Reign is a cyberpunk-themed class-based real-time strategy game.

So far, at the point I'd reached in the game, part-way through what just may be a lengthy tutorial, there's not a lot to critique.

It's a nice, solid little game, and I'm part way through a rescue mission. It captures the dystopian cyberpunk aesthetic nicely, without feeling like a straight rip from Blade Runner, but does feel like it draws from that well, as well as Cyberpunk, and William Gibson.

I'd love to make this a long deep review, but I'm wrestling with fatigue today in a way that seems to have fried my ability to write.

In any case, I'll definitely be going back to play it again, just to see how it unfolds.

Satellite Reign is:

3: OK

#SatelliteReign #RealTimeStrategy #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 15, 2023 - Day 105 - NewPlay Bonus Review
Total NewPlays: 113

Game: Fortified

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Feb 4, 2016
Library Date: Jun 7, 2018
Unplayed: 1773d (4y10m8d)
Playtime: 29m

Fortified is 1950's-inspired alien-invasion third-person 3D tower defense game.

It's boring.

I played across two characters, over three levels, and it was just just... boring.

A good tower defense game needs your weaponry and income to scale up appropriately to whatever you're fighting. That balance can be difficult to achieve. Orcs Must Die manages it. Fortified does not.

The "attack" buildings feel incredibly slow and underpowered, and the monsters feel generic and annoying, rather than threatening.

I like to at least reach a checkpoint, or finish a level in a game, and not quit out mid-level, but in all seriousness, I should have, because playing longer to complete the last level didn't make it any more entertaining, which is a fundamental issue. If a game isn't challenging, then it needs to at least be fun.

I can't even offer a hope that there's something under the surface. While 1950's-style the interstitial graphics and interface would feel at home in a pulp sci-fi magazine, the in-game assets feels like generic cut & paste models from a free unreal library.

Could Fortified be more than the sum of it's pulpy parts?:

1: Nope

#Fortified #TowerDefense #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 16, 2023 - Day 106 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 114

Game: Old Man's Journey

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: May 18, 2017
Library Date: Dec 4, 2018
Unplayed: 1594d (4y4m12d)
Playtime: 26m

I am struggling to write about Old Man's Journey, and so this review will be short, and long, and strangely personal, and out of order.

Old Man's Journey is a puzzle game, and a work of art. It reveals itself as you attempt to understand how to play it.

Old Man's Journey is:

5: Excellent

#OldMansJourney #Puzzle #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

I had to get that out of the way, because this game went unplayed for a very different reason to normal.

It came as part of the October 2018 Humble Bundle, and the idea of playing it terrified me.

When I was a child, for a few years, my dad used to take us into nursing homes on Sunday afternoons, as he visited people and played guitar and sang hymns for them.

I hated it. I hated the smell, and it frightened me, and I could not explain why.

I've worked in an aged care adjacent role for over a decade; I've spent far more time in the company of folks in aged care than I ever expected I would.

But I understand now what it was I hated; I hated being around old men, because I was terrified of becoming an old man.

I mean, I know you can't "catch" old man, it's just part of living as a man... and for years I found the idea of myself as an old man terrifying, as in "I would rather be dead". (cont...)

Apr 17, 2023 - Day 107 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 115

Game: The Darkside Detective

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Jul 27, 2017
Library Date: Jan 7, 2019
Unplayed: 1561d (4y3m10d)
Playtime: 16m

For someone who's not a big fan of point-and-click adventures and retro pixel art, I certainly own a lot of retro pixel art point-and-click adventures; case in point, The Darkside Detective

One of the things I think I don't like about it is that I like to play games fullscreen, and pixel art at fullscreen on a 32" monitor can feel overwhelming.

The gameplay has to overcome that. The Darkside Detective did, at least in the first "chapter".

The puzzles weren't so deeply complicated that I had to spend forever tracking back and forth to multiple locations, and then trying to work out the exact combination of multiple weird objects to make something work.

It also didn't take me two hours to make any progress; I completed the first chapter in 15 minutes. I didn't need to spend interminable amounts of time waiting for a character to walk backwards and forwards across a screen (I'm looking at you, The Secret of Monkey Island).

As far as point-and-click adventures go, The Darkside Detective is:

3: OK

#PointAndClick #Adventure #Retro #PixelArt #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 17, 2023 - Day 107 - NewPlay Bonus Review
Total NewPlays: 116

Game: Dead Island Definitive Edition

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: May 31, 2016
Library Date: Dec 4, 2018
Unplayed: 1595d (4y4m13d)
Playtime: 20m

Dead Island is another first-person zombie killing game, but this time it's set on a resort island.

It's a pretty run-of-the-mill "kill zombies, collect stuff, make stuff, kill more zombies" gameplay loop. Being set on a tropical island seems (so far) to give it a slightly different feel to other zombie games.

But it also felt kind-of familiar, not just like other zombie killing games, but like I'd played it before.

When I logged out, and looked up who'd made it, that feeling made sense; Dead Island is made by Techland, the same studio who make the Dying Light franchise.

Techland know how to make zombie games, but with the familiarity of the gameplay loop, if I was in the mood for killing zombies, I'd probably choose Dying Light 2 over this, as a more recent game with gameplay improvements.

Dead Island Definitive Edition is:

3: OK

#DeadIsland #FirstPerson #Zombies #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 18, 2023 - Day 108 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 117

Game: Wizard of Legend

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: May 16, 2018
Library Date: Dec 29, 2018
Unplayed: 1571d (4y3m20d)
Playtime: 22m

Wizard of Legend is a top-down pixel art roguelike dungeon crawler, and if you've been reading my reviews, none of that bodes well.

The game starts out in a museum that talks about a bunch of wizard arcana and wizards, that's effectively a tutorial level, which I assume was kitted out with a bunch of NPCs who were named after people that crowdfunded the game or something, but there's nothing that says whether you should speak to them or not.

Lots of things to read that do nothing except provide flavour text.

I probably spent close to 15 minutes just getting through that section, and most of it felt like wasted time.

Then I got into the game proper, and it was definitely wasted time.

Apparently a lot of people like this game. I am not one of them; Wizard of Legend was definitely not my book of arcana. It was just:

2: Meh

#WizardOfLegend #PixelArt #RogueLike #DungeonCrawler #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 19, 2023 - Day 109 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 118

Game: Super Daryl Deluxe

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Apr 10, 2018
Library Date: Feb 2, 2019
Unplayed: 1537d (4y2m17d)
Playtime: 51m

I've said before that games had me stumped for what "kind" of game they were; Super Daryl Deluxe is somewhere beyond that. It defies my abilities to describe in. It's a one-of-a-kind.

I mean that literally. It bills itself as a "RPGvania", which explains the platforming, mashed up with the RPG, and a dash of roguelike, and then liberally doused in Napoleon Dynamite. If you Google "RPGvania", it's the only game that comes up.

The art style is unique, rendered in largely greyscale with some colours in use to make them pop out, and a lot of colour washes.

The quests kept me playing long enough to get me into the rhythm of the game, and I'm curious as to where it's going.

Unfortunately, a lot like Napoleon Dynamite, that style of humour starts to become grating after a while. I'm not sure it can carry my interest for an entire game.

Super Daryl Deluxe is:

3: OK

#SuperDarylDeluxe #RPGvania #RogueLike #Platformer #RPG #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 20, 2023 - Day 110 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 119

Game: Sundered Eldritch Edition

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Jul 8, 2017
Library Date: Jan 7, 2019
Unplayed: 1564d (4y3m13d)
Playtime: 45m

Today I found myself faced with a "pure" Metroidvania. I even Googled it to make sure I understood the term.

So, some of the games I've been referring to as "platformers" may actually be better defined as Metroidvanias, and that is to say, I don't like them.

I find them frustrating, and I lack the hand-eye coordination to pull of the moves at the right time, and somehow this morning, none of that mattered.

I thought I'd knock out the game this morning in a quick 15 minute play session, and write up a review, and that would get me focused and into work time.

Some time later, I quit out to find I'd been playing for 45 minutes. Somehow, I managed to pull all the pieces together and find a rhythm, and what a marvellous rhythm it is.

It's an incredibly atmospheric game, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. Part old-world horror, part technology, dropping through floors, and wall-jumping, killing everything in sight.

While (as usual) I was playing in "easy" mode, it wasn't easy for me, but not so challenging I wanted to punt the controller out the window.

It makes me want to give some others another try.

Sundered Eldritch Edition is:

4: Good

#SunderedEldritchEdition #Metroidvania #Platformer #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 20, 2023 - Day 110 - NewPlay Bonus Review
Total NewPlays: 120

Game: Seven: Enhanced Edition

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Dec 1, 2017
Library Date: Jan 30, 2019
Unplayed: 1541d (4y2m21d)
Playtime: 26m

Why not a twofer?

It seems a lot of the games I'm playing are mashups of other genres.

Seven: Enhanced Edition is a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk isometric stealth ARPG.

I'm not sure that the parts gel together that well. The graphics are great, the ability to run, jump, climb, and zipline from place to place, and then pickpocketing someone to get a key to enter a new area is kind of fun... but the isometric view makes it somewhat tedious.

When trying to navigate in a stealth game, I want to be able to get a full idea of what's going on around me.

The game has a function that allows you to scan an area using your cybernetic eye, but it disconnects from your position to scan, which feels like it takes away any sense of anchoring that view, relative to where you are.

It's not a bad game, it feels like once I get through what appears to be the introduction it may develop further, but I get so anxious, and becomg so very methodical and careful in stealth games, it kind of takes the fun out of it.

Seven: Enhanced Edition is:

3: OK

#SevenEnhancedEdition #Stealth #ARPG #Isometric #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 21, 2023 - Day 111 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 121

Game: NeuroVoider

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Sep 1, 2016
Library Date: Jan 30, 2019
Unplayed: 1542d (4y2m22d)
Playtime: 27m

NeuroVoider is a top-down roguelite twin-stick shooter RPG... with pixel art.

I don't have a lot to say about this game, so allow me to digress; I don't get why so many indie games are done in pixel art. I'm not saying they can't be done well, I don't understand why so many people choose them.

Maybe it's selection bias on my part; a lot of my games came in Humble Bundles, and maybe someone at Humble has a huge amount of nostalgia for pixel art games.

There's the occasional one that transcends the style, but for the most part, the game has to be that much better for me to be able to get past the pixel art.

Anyway, NeuroVoider was off to a rough start for me being a pixel art game, but twin stick shooters are a huge ask.

You play a brain in a robot body, that has to shoot other robots.

I don't quite understand why, but in spite of being able to do a huge number of different things with one hand on my beloved G13, and the other targeting with a mouse, when I need to move with the left stick and aim with the right, I become incompetent.

If you're a fan of this kind of game, it might be more your thing, but I can't see myself going back to it.

NeuroVoider, sadly, was:

2: Meh

#NeuroVoider #PixelArt #RPG #TopDown #TwinStick #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 22, 2023 - Day 112 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 122

Game: Boundary

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Apr 13, 2023
Library Date: Apr 21, 2023
Unplayed: 1d (1d)
Playtime: 50m

Since I have a huge number of unplayed games, common sense would dictate that I don't add any more to the pile.

Sadly, it appears that I am lacking in the "common sense" department. A few days ago I caught a couple of minutes of a gameplay video of Boundary.

Boundary is a 6DOF multiplayer space-based tactical shooter. It looked like a lot of fun. It's in early access on Steam, so I added it to my wishlist.

Then Fanatical sent me an alert yesterday to advise me that it was on special for 10% off, and I had an outstanding 5% discount voucher, and FOMO minutes later, I was the proud owner of a copy of Boundary.

I played it today, and I'd love to say I was not disappointed. Unfortunately, I cannot say that.

There's very little in the way of laying out what each piece of kit does.

In-game found myself getting railed from across the other side of a space station one too many times (which is nowhere near as fun as it sounds).

It's got potential. When it's fun, it's really fun. It's just that it's mostly full of bots; when it's not, if your team is losing, there are no penalties to other players quitting out, so they do.

I don't regret buying Boundary... yet. It's:

3: OK

#Boundary #6DOF #Tactical #Shooter #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 22, 2023 - Day 112 - NewPlay Bonus Review
Total NewPlays: 123

Game: Sudden Strike 4

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Aug 12, 2021
Library Date: Aug 27, 2018
Unplayed: 1699d (4y7m26d)
Playtime: 39m

(Housekeeping: I've said previously that I won't review sequels unless I've played the previous games, but I'm qualifying that to say I will play them if I don't own any of the predecessors. Carry on.)

Sudden Strike 4 is a real time strategy game set in World War 2.

I fell in love with RTS games with Dune II (RIP), and played through many of the Command & Conquer games, Warcraft II (I still have the manual!), and up to StarCraft.

StarCraft was where I started falling out of love with the RTS genre. I realised that I was struggling to keep up with all of the different things I needed to, and that combined with being the main strategy in multiplayer seemingly Zerg rushing, I stopped playing.

I was since diagnosed as autistic & ADHD, and (at least for me), I find complex RTS games overwhelming.

It didn't help that Sudden Strike 4 threw me into the tutorial as the Germans. I just don't play as Nazis, ever. It's too on the nose in 2023.

I got out of the tutorial, played the first match of the Allied campaign, and it's a good looking, solid RTS, but just a bit much for me to manage.

It's not bad, but just not my cup of tea.

Sudden Strike 4 is:

3: OK

#SuddenStrike4 #WorldWar2 #RTS #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 23, 2023 - Day 113 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 124

Game: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Oct 1, 2014
Library Date: Mar 13, 2018
Unplayed: 1867d (5y1m10d)
Playtime: 74m

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a third-person open-world action-adventure (some light RPG elements) that is, surprisingly, set in Middle-earth, between The Hobbit and LotR.

However, the most surprising thing about this game for me, other than the ~20 minutes of introduction video, was how it does not feel like a game that's almost 9 years old.

You play as a Gondor Ranger that's been murdered and trapped between life and death, and... look, I'm not sure what the end-game is meant to be, but I was having a hell of a time just sneaking around and kill Uruk-hai.

Combat is fun (if a little counter-intuitive, being that space is "run" and left-shift is "sneak".)

Sneaking up behind an unaware Uruk and shanking them with the dagger is satisfying, as is straight-up swordplay.

You can also "stealth" into wraith mode, and put an arrow into into a distant orc, and watch them drop with a satisfying whistle-and-thunk.

This game feels like motivation to keep playing through library, to discover gems like this that I'd missed completely.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is:

4: Good

#MiddleEarth #ShadowOfMordor #ThirdPerson #OpenWorld #ActionAdventure #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 23, 2023 - Day 113 - NewPlay Bonus Review
Total NewPlays: 125

Game: Absolver

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Aug 30, 2017
Library Date: Apr 7, 2019
Unplayed: 1477d (4y16d)
Playtime: 41m

Absolver is an online multiplayer combat game (apparently).

Other than the initial server login, nothing in the first 20 minutes of gameplay gave me any clue that there was an online component; this lack of information was something that was reflected through the gameplay.

You're a "prospect" wearing a magical mask, on the road to becoming an "Absolver"; there's a lack of clarity around what you're trying to do, and how to achieve it.

The initial 10 minutes of the game largely walk you through the combat process, but somehow the combat feels disconnected and sluggish.

The most annoying part of the process is that there are seemingly four different combat stances, but it requires a frustrating combination of two buttons to be pressed in a particular order, to switch stance, and then it kind of just... switches back?

I even gave it another 20 minutes playtime in case I was missing something, but combat was just as frustrating the second time around.

There might be something here that rewards persistence, but if it's there, it didn't hook me.

Absolver did not absolve itself; it's just:

2: Meh

#Absolver #ThirdPerson #Melee #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 23, 2023 - Day 113 - NewPlay Bonus Review
Total NewPlays: 126

Game: Medal of Honor

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Oct 13, 2010
Library Date: Dec 6, 2013
Unplayed: 3425d (9y4m17d)
Playtime: 76m

OK, so I have no idea what's going on here. This game showed up as a "2019" game (my Steam library is sorted by year, filtered by unplayed).

However, checking the "added to account" date, shows this as being added in 2013, thus it's been unplayed for almost a decade.

I probably don't need to explain that Medal of Honor is a war-themed first person squad-based shooter.

When I'm playing a shooter against aliens or zombies, there's a sense of throwing yourself at enemies who are objectively "bad guys".

Medal of Honor turns out to be the *13th* Medal of Honor game since Medal of Honor in 1999. It was, apparently, the first Medal of Honor in a modern setting and... a lot has happened in the 13 years since it was released; I spent the entire time I was playing with a disquieting sense of unease.

As for gameplay, it's a competent shooter. The sense of progression kept me going, and before I knew it I'd been playing for over an hour.

It is a 13 year old game, and a lot of games have been released since that have similar mechanics without the on-the-nose setting.

Medal of Honor isn't for me; though as a game, it's:

3: OK

#MedalOfHonor #FPS #Melee #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 24, 2023 - Day 114 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 127

Game: Anna's Quest

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Jul 3, 2015
Library Date: May 14, 2019
Unplayed: 1441d (3y11m10d)
Playtime: 78m

I opened Anna's Quest to find that it was yet another point-and-click adventure. 78 minutes later I closed it, somewhat confused at how I'd lost 78 minutes on a point-and-click adventure.

You play as the titular Anna. Living deep in the forest with your grandfather, one day he becomes deeply ill, yet still expressly forbids you to enter the forest.

Upon leaving, you're kidnapped by a wicked witch, and imprisoned in a tower, and that's when things get weird.

It turns out that Anna is unaware that she's telekinetic, but the witch somehow knew, and wants her telekinetic gift.

The humour in the game is quirky, and seems almost childlike, the puzzles indicate that this is not a game targeted at kids. They are your usual "use X with Y" puzzle, but I'm not sure kids are going to think "If you cut that rubber ball in half, it will make a perfect insulator for that electric buzzing thing"

The game has my interest piqued, and I look forward to seeing exactly why and how Anna ended up with telekinesis.

Anna's Quest is, surprisingly:

4: Good

#AnnasQuest #PointAndClick #Adventure #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 24, 2023 - Day 114 - NewPlay Bonus Review
Total NewPlays: 128

Game: Sunset Overdrive

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Nov 17, 2018
Library Date: Apr 24, 2023
Unplayed: 0d (0d)
Playtime: 45m

Sunset Overdrive was on my wishlist for several years, & it's on sale on Steam right now for $7.11.

However, it's in a bundle in which I own the other title, dropping the price to $6.26, which seemed too easy.

Still, past me hasn't always made the best decisions with my waitlist, and my eldest has it in his shared Steam library, so I installed it from there & played it.

I spent the six bucks.

Sunset Overdrive feels like an open world mashup of Borderlands, Dying Light, & Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, by way of iZombie.

The core premise of monsters created by drinking an energy drink at a launch party feels like it was lifted wholesale from iZombie; however, Sunset Overdrive originally released on Xbox in 2014, with iZombie being developed in 2014 & released in 2015, which is interesting timing, to say the least.

The bright, hyperkinetic gameplay involving grinding rails & acrobatics while shooting monsters is refreshing, & leans into aggressive offensive gameplay, rather than playing defense like a cover shooter.

It doesn't take itself seriously, breaking the fourth wall, & if you've got a spare 7 bucks, it's worth the buy.

Sunset Overdrive is:

4: Good

#SunsetOverdrive #OpenWorld #ThirdPerson #Shooter #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 25, 2023 - Day 115 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 129

Game: Sir, You Are Being Hunted

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Aug 19, 2013
Library Date: Nov 24, 2017
Unplayed: 1978d (5y5m1d)
Playtime: 15m

Sir, You Are Being Hunted is a first person stealth survival game.

If you've been reading up on my reviews, you might assume how this is going to go, and you'd be correct.

Up front, though, let me say how utterly refreshing it is to have a game where the gameplay voiceover heavily features a gendered honorific, & allows you to change that from "Sir" to "Madam" with a button at the main menu.

Unfortunately, any potential gender euphoria from this change is overwhelmed by playing a stealth survival game.

For the newcomers: I'm not a big fan of survival games, and even less so of stealth games where you're primarily helpless; this is both. Not great for a woman with anxiety issues.

If that's your cup of tea, have at it; a game set in a quaint & creepy English countryside, where you're being hunted by robots was always going to be a big ask, & it was a "please be over, please be over" every time I died and checked the clock.

There's a whole layer of real-world subtext for me about being hunted by English people who want me to not exist that really drives the final nail into this game's coffin.

Sir (Madam), You Are Being Hunted is a big old:

1: Nope

#SirYouAreBeingHunted #FirstPerson #Stealth #Survival #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 26, 2023 - Day 116 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 130

Game: Polygoneer

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Aug 25, 2017
Library Date: Jun 6, 2019
Unplayed: 1420d (3y10m20d)
Playtime: 18m

Polygoneer takes Asteroids, fixes the "ship" in the middle of the screen, rotating on a single axis. Backgrounds distort & change colour, affecting your aim, the acid house(?) music hammers your ears.

It is not a long game; I've (technically) completed it.

Polygoneer is a 2D vector-ish arcade game that throws colour-coded shapes at you; match the colour of the shape with your shot colour, rotate left or right, shoot the shape before it hits you. Rinse, repeat, and survives as long as possible. I honestly wondered how I was going to even get to 15mins.

X, A, and B buttons on the controller map to blue, green, & red respectively.

There are 5 levels; levels 1-3 each introduce a new colour, with level 4 speeding up the three-colour action.

Each subsequent level is unlocked by surviving for at least 60s in the previous one.

Then there's level 5. A black pentegram spins against a psychedelic background, while all you need to do is just try to shoot (no colours) & survive. My longest attempt on L5 lasted just 14 seconds.

I got it free; it's currently A$0.42 on Steam, and is definitely worth the buy for a few minutes of frantic fun.

Polygoneer is a surprising:

3: OK

#Polygoneer #Vector #Arcade #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 26, 2023 - Day 116 - NewPlay Bonus Review
Total NewPlays: 131

Game: Honkai: Star Rail

Platform: Standalone Launcher (Win)
Release Date: Apr 26, 2023
Library Date: Apr 26, 2023
Unplayed: 0d (0d)
Playtime: 65m

Honkai: Star Rail is the long-anticipated latest release from HoYoverse (previously miHoYo), the developers of several games, but arguably best known for Genshin Impact.

Like Genshin, H:SR is an gacha-driven third-person RPG. Like Genshin, H:SR you collect multiple characters, 4 of which can be added to your active battle team.

I could create a list of parallels, because H:SR fundamentally feels like a sci-fi-themed reskin of Genshin Impact, right down to the button locations on the UI - but for one critical change.

The main menu is on the right, instead of the left.

Seriously though, while that IS true, it's the combat system that's fundamentally different.

Instead of the frantic character-switching active combos of Genshin, combat is a turn-based attack system from a fixed perspective.

This change does make the game feel significantly different, at least in the hour I played it. There are still character synergies at play, but with all characters in play simultaneously, it becomes a question of how you form your team to balance defense with offense.

While I'll need to play longer to give a more in-depth review, initially, Honkai: Star Rail feels:

4: Good

#HonkaiStarRail #RPG #ThirdPerson #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 27, 2023 - Day 117 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 132

Game: Phoning Home

Platform: Steam
Release Date: Feb 8, 2017
Library Date: Mar 13, 2018
Unplayed: 1871d (5y1m14d)
Playtime: 95m

Phoning Home is a third-person open-world robot survival sim. It is also free on Steam (which is why there's a link at the end).

Phoning Home was developed by ION LANDS, who went on to create Cloudpunk, (one of my all-time favourite games).

I've mentioned before that I'm not a big fan of sandbox survival games. Valheim left me cold, and V Rising genuinely left me regretting spending the money on it.

Phoning Home, on the other hand, is a narrative driven survival game, which takes the exploration and construction and gives it purpose.

I only intended to play this for 15 minutes before work, and was an hour late starting work, so deep did it suck me in and make me want to keep playing, and further the story of the cute little WALL-E inspired robot, ION.

To the point that the new Warframe expansion The Duviri Paradox dropped today (it's free too!), and if I'm to have any hope of giving it a fair go, I'll need to play that first, because otherwise I suspect I'll be up all night playing Phoning Home.

Which means this is:

5: Excellent

#PhoningHome #OpenWorld #ThirdPerson #Survival #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

https://store.steampowered.com/app/431650/Phoning_Home/

Apr 28, 2023 - Day 118 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 133

Game: Unfortunate Spacemen

Platform: Steam
Release Date: Jun 13, 2020
Library Date: Jun 14, 2020
Unplayed: 1048d (2y10m14d)
Playtime: 31m

Unfortunate Spacemen feels like a first-person mash-up of Among Us, Dead By Daylight, and Alien. It's a free multiplayer survival game that's suffered the same fate as most of the other free & paid multiplayer games that sat in my Pile of Shame for too long: no-one is playing.

The game starts with a slightly over-the-top tutorial playing as one of the titular Spacemen. It's frustratingly slow as the voiceover drones on endlessly, switching out halfway through in what was (I guess) supposed to feel funny, but just felt odd & forced. There's nothing here you don't already know from every other FPS.

Next, the "playing as the monster" tutorial. You start out disguised as one of the spacemen; you can then switch into monster form to kill a spaceman, then back to spaceman again, or even take on the identity of whoever you killed.

The gameplay feels a bit janky in the way it plays, but the biggest problem is the same one experienced by most F2P PvP games: get big quick, or go home.

The servers are still running (unlike many other games), but there aren't a lot of players, & apparently most are just griefing.

Which makes Unfortunate Spacemen a:

1: Nope.

#UnfortunateSpacemen #FirstPerson #Survival #PvP #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 29, 2023 - Day 119 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 134

Game: Flower

Platform: Steam
Release Date: Feb 15, 2019
Library Date: Jun 15, 2020
Unplayed: 1048d (2y10m14d)
Playtime: 25m

Flower started it's life on Playstation 3, back in 2009, and was ported to several platforms before coming to Windows in 2019.

I'm kind of lost for words when trying to describe Flower. It's less of a game, and more of an experience. There's no score, no lives or deaths.

You just use the controller or mouse/keyboard to navigate a flower petal through the utterly gorgeous environment. The only issue I had with Flower was that trying to control the petals could be a bit janky and frustrating at times.

As you fly across the hills flowers will appear. Fly close, and musical notes will play, and a new petal will join you, eventually building to a melody, then a flowing harmony.

Each of your interactions with the environment builds upon the ones before, bringing the land to life before you.

It's truly a wonderful experience.

Flower is:

4: Good

#Flower #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

Apr 30, 2023 - Day 120 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 135

Game: Scrap Garden

Platform: Steam
Release Date: May 7, 2016
Library Date: Sep 26, 2020
Unplayed: 946d (2y7m4d)
Playtime: 34m

Sometimes I encounter a game where the visual design is gorgeous, the music is perfect, and then the gaming elements seem to be tacked on.

Unfortunately, Scrap Garden feels like one of these games.

Scrap Garden is a 3D-ish platformer. You control a small robot, apparently the only robot to survive a calamity that has wiped out robot society, and needs you to find out what went wrong and fix it.

The character design and atmosphere all blends together beautifully; it feels like all of the love and affection by the devs were poured into these elements, then the gameplay was just kind of pasted over the top, with a voiceovers & voice acting meant to patch over the cracks, that feels more annoying than informative.

It's not a bad game, by any means, but there are enough rough edges in the gameplay to leave me feeling just mildly frustrated.

The controls feel muddy, which is not great for a platformer; I felt like I was constantly fighting with the follow camera. Then in some sections of the game, it becomes a 2.5D platformer with a fixed camera, and a new set of frustrations with controls & obscured angles.

It looks like a gourmet meal, but tastes like McDonalds.

Scrap Garden is:

3: OK

#ScrapGarden #3DPlatformer #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

May 1, 2023 - Day 121 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 136

Game: Paragon: The Overprime

Platform: Steam
Release Date: Dec 6, 2022
Library Date: Mar 9, 2023
Unplayed: 53d (1m22d)
Playtime: 33m

Paragon: The Overprime is a bit of an odd duck. It's a third-person shooter/MOBA with a history.

Many years ago, Epic Games decided to get into the MOBA space, & in August 2016 released an open beta called Paragon. In 2017, Epic released another new game, this time in the Battle Royale space, the little-known Fortnite.

For reasons lost to the mists of time, Epic chose to put all of their eggs (& devs) into one basket, pulling the plug on the Paragon servers in April 2018... then released all of the Paragon assets for free use in Unreal Engine 4.

July 17th, 2020: Strange Matter launched a game built from those assets called Fault: Elder Orb. On November 1st, 2022, Fault was shuttered.

December 6th, 2022: Netmarble released a new F2P MOBA, based on the same assets, called Paragon: The Overprime (a week after a *paid* game by different devs, called Predecessor, built on the same assets was released).

Having spent 33mins playing it, I suspect it will go the same way as its predecessors (no pun intended). There's just nothing there that isn't done better in other games like Overwatch, or more directly, Smite.

Third time probably isn't lucky for Paragon: The Overprime; it's just:

2: Meh.

#ParagonTheOverprime #MOBA #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay