January 4, 2024 - Day 369 - RePlay Review
Total RePlays: 13

Game: Marvel's Midnight Suns

Platform: Steam
Release Date: Dec 2, 2022
Reviewed: Jan 4, 2023

Rating: 5 - Excellent

Playtime: 20m (105h42m)

Marvel's Midnight Suns is a isometric and third-person tactical RPG with deck-building gameplay elements. It's the first game in this month's Humble Choice Bundle, and I "reviewed" this 12 months ago, to the day.

However, while I've transferred my original review over, it wasn't really much of a review, because early on, I lacked the vocabulary to describe a lot of the games.

Marvel's Midnight Suns takes many existing Marvel characters, and remixes them for the game's narrative.

You play as the "Hunter", a recently resurrected demon-slayer, who died centuries earlier defeating Lilith... their mother (the Hunter can be played as either gender).

Lots of things I can't explain about this because [spoilers, Sweetie], but Hunter has been resurrected because Lilith is back.

Hunter becomes one of the current Midnight Suns. The core roster of fully voiced playable characters at the beginning of the game is:

Hunter
Sister Grimm
Magik
Blade

As the game commences, you also unlock as playable characters:

Doctor Strange
Iron Man
Spider-Man
Captain America
Captain Marvel
Ghost Rider
Wolverine
The Hulk / Bruce Banner
Scarlet Witch

These versions of the characters each have a great storyline to introduce them, with their own specific deck that can be built & customised. Cards are won as part of the gameplay, but can also be created from blueprints.

There are four DLCs that were released for the game after I reviewed it; rather than being post-game content, they integrate into the gameplay. They dropped roughly every four weeks starting from January with:

1. Deadpool
2. Venom
3. Morbius(!)
4. Storm

The biggest question was about how the Deadpool DLC would work, because... it's Deadpool, but it worked surprisingly well, fourth-wall breaking and all.

The voice cast for the game is a veritable who's who of voice actors, with many of them having previously voiced other versions of the characters in other games, animated media, or live media (notably, Sister Grimm/Nico Minoru being voiced by her live action actor, Lyrica Okano), as well as several Critical Role alumni.

It's only improved in the last twelve months as the DLCs were released.

If you don't already own Marvel's Midnight Suns, it's worth buying this month's Humble Choice Bundle for this alone.

Marvel's Midnight Suns is still:

5: Excellent

https://reviews.grissallia.com/2023/01/04/marvels-midnight-suns/

January 5, 2024 - Day 370 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 405

Game: OTXO

Platform: Steam
Released: Apr 17, 2023
Installed: Jan 5, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 15m

Rating: 1 - Nope

OTXO is a noir-themed pixel-art top-down shooter with roguelite gameplay, and is the fourth game in the January Humble Choice bundle.

The game opened with low-res top-down pixel-art of a train carriage, and as someone gets off the train, they drop a mask that you pick up and are immediately compelled to put on; at which point everything fades to black, and you wake up on a beach like Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception.

You start walking and find a mansion, where a groundskeeper explains to that your loved one who was next to you on the train is now trapped at the heart of the mansion and all you have to do is kill everyone inside.

A tutorial walks you through the gameplay, but the keyboard and mouse controls left a lot to be desired, and I just couldn't get it right with a controller, and I wasn't enjoying myself anyway.

15 minutes and I was done.

OTXO is a:

1: Nope

#OTXO #TopDown #PixelArt #Roguelite #Shooter #HumbleBundle #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 6, 2024 - Day 371 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 406

Game: Roguebook

Platform: Steam
Released: Jun 18, 2021
Installed: Jan 6, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 28m

Rating: 4 - Good

Roguebook is an isometric roguelike deckbuilder using hex-based gameplay mechanics. It's game five in the January Humble Choice bundle.

The game has an impressive opening animation that leads you to the "Roguebook". You are trapped in the titular Roguebook, and need to gain brushes and ink to reveal what's hidden in the blank hex tiles on the page as you attempt to reach an exit.

Each of the inks do differing things, with some revealing smaller and larger areas around you, and some revealing (n) tiles in a straight line.

In the uncovered tiles you will find gold stashes, locations where you can donate gold to craft a card, basic & elite fights that provide the brushes and ink.

One of the more interesting things about the game is that Richard Garfield was involved in the development; his name may not ring a bell unless you're familiar with another game he created, a little tabletop game called "Magic: The Gathering".

I'm not a big deckbuilder fan, but so far Roguebook seems to be:

4: Good

#Roguebook #Isometric #Roguelike #Deckbuilder #HumbleBundle #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 7, 2024 - Day 372 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 407

Game: The Red Lantern

Platform: Steam
Released: Dec 9, 2021
Installed: Jan 7, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 34m

Rating: 3 - OK

The Red Lantern is a first-person narrative-driven game about dog-sledding, with some roguelite & survival elements.

It's the sixth game in this month's Humble Choice bundle, and it's an interesting title, that I wouldn't have picked to play.

Making a snow-change, you open the game by meeting a series of dogs, needing to select 4 of them to build a dog-sledding team in Alaska.

Once you've picked your doggos, you reach your destination, and have to make a several-day sled trip to a remote cabin through a procedurally generated environment. The game is the story of that trip.

If you fail, you wake up again in your van, "from a nightmare", and start the sled-trip over, with more resources based on your previous experiences, with your ultimate goal to reach the cabin that's marked by the red lantern hanging outside.

If you're a dog person, this game might definitely be up your alley.

The Red Lantern is:

3: OK

#TheRedLantern #FirstPerson #Survival #DogSledding #Roguelite #HumbleBundle #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 8, 2024 - Day 373 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 408

Game: Hell Pie

Platform: Steam
Released: Jul 22, 2022
Installed: Jan 8, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 24m

Rating: 1 - Nope

Hell Pie is a cartoonish 3D platformer set in hell, and is the seventh game in the January Humble Bundle.

You play as Nate, a low-level demon, who has been tasked with collecting the ingredients for Satan's birthday pie.

Hell is a muzak-filled cross between a corporate office and hell, which is somewhat tautological.

The game relies on gross-out humour, and it didn't work for me with Ren & Stimpy, and nothing has changed since then.

I found the controls frustrating on both keyboard/mouse and controller, and with the gross-out humour, I had no motivation to try and improve.

Hell Pie is a:

1: Nope

#HellPie #3D #Platformer #HumbleBundle #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 8, 2024 - Day 373 - NewPlay Bonus Review
Total NewPlays: 409

Game: Twin Mirror

Platform: Steam
Released: Dec 1, 2021
Installed: Feb 16, 2023
Unplayed: 326d (10m23d
Playtime: 35m

Rating: 3 - OK

Twin Mirror is a third-person narrative adventure, and is the final game in this month's Humble Choice bundle.

The developers of this game are Don't Nod, responsible for the "Life is Strange" series, as well as "Tell Me Why" (and other games).

In Twin Mirror, you play as a reporter who has returned to his hometown for the funeral of his best friend. His best friend's young daughter believes her father was murdered, and asks you to investigate.

I already owned Twin Mirror, but hadn't played it. It hasn't quite grabbed me as strongly as I thought it would, but it's a game I'll probably poke around a bit more in.

Twin Mirror is:

3: OK

#TwinMirror #ThirdPerson #NarrativeAdventure #HumbleBundle #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 9, 2024 - Day 374 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 410

Game: Baba Is You

Platform: Steam
Released: Mar 14, 2019
Installed: Dec 14, 2023
Unplayed: 26d
Playtime: 26m

Rating: 5 - Excellent

Baba Is You is a top-down pixel-art puzzle game. It's like Sokoban on acid.

Each puzzle has a goal. The rules for each puzzle are in each puzzle, as blocks you can move.

For example, there are three blocks "Baba", "Is", and "You".

When these three blocks are lined up, they're active as a statement. You can move one of the blocks, which will break the statement, but also fail the level.

The same level might have "Walls", "Are", and "Stop". However, if you move the "Stop" block, it will break the statement, and now you can pass through walls.

Each level also has a win statement, which is usually (but not always) "Flag Is Win". Your goal is to reach the flag.

Wonder what would happen if you pushed the "Wall" block into the place of "Flag".

Now you have an active rule of "Wall Is Win", and... now you just have to walk over a wall piece, and you win the level.

I really needed a simple game to try and knock over tonight, and this hooked me (and my 11yo, who solved one of the puzzles for me, and now wants the game himself!).

Baba Is You is a wonderful example of a pixel-art game whose gameplay overcomes my resistance to pixel-art, and so it's:

5: Excellent

#BabaIsYou #TopDown #PixelArt #Puzzle #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 10, 2024 - Day 375 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 411

Game: Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark

Platform: Steam
Released: May 1, 2019
Installed: Jan 10, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 32m

Rating: 1 - Nope

Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark is a fantasy-oriented isometric turn-based tactical RPG.

It mixes different art styles, which the characters being almost an anime style, while character portraits appear hand-painted.

It would have been a hard sell at the best of times, but compared to some of the tactical RPGs I've played in the last month, the game didn't have a chance.

Will Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark get to stay on my PC?

1: Nope

#FellSealAribitersMark #Isometric #TurnBased #Tactical #RPG #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 11, 2024 - Day 376 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 412

Game: Chess Ultra

Platform: Steam
Released: Jun 21, 2017
Installed: Jan 11, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 21m

Rating: 4 - Good

Chess Ultra is a 3D turn-based strategy... chess game.

With a name like that, you'd expect it to have gun battles and all kinds of extreme weapons and it's just a very good 3D chess game with online multiplayer, and reasonably good bots to play offline.

It has several different options for the location of your game, with appropriate sound effects, as well as several difference chess sets you can choose between.

Given my complete lack of chess games on Steam, it was nice to just kick back and play chess for a while. Chess Ultra is:

4: Good

#ChessUltra #3D #TurnBased #Strategy #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 12, 2024 - Day 377 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 413

Game: Rain World

Platform: Steam
Released: Mar 28, 2017
Installed: Dec 4, 2023
Unplayed: 39d (1m8d)
Playtime: 18m

Rating: 2 - Meh

Rain World is a 2D platformer, set in a post-apocalyptic world, where you play as a "slugcat" that's been separated from its family, in an intro that's almost as depressing as Stray's intro.

The character animations are great, and the environmental design is very well done, but after 15 minutes of shimmying up and down poles and through pipes, while trying to find food and avoid predators, I wasn't really enjoying myself.

Apparently it only gets more difficult moving forward, so it looks like this was a swing and a miss.

I just found Rain World a bit:

2: Meh

#RainWorld #2D #Platformer #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 13, 2024 - Day 378 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 414

Game: 198X

Platform: Steam
Released: Jun 21, 2019
Installed: Sep 9, 2023
Unplayed: 126d (4m4d)
Playtime: 23m

Rating: 3 - OK

198X is a 2D pixel-art pastiche of 1980's arcade games. It's a bit hard to characterise it other than that.

At the start of the game you're inexplicably dropped into a beat-em-up with a different name, and very little context.

This is one of the times that reading up on the game before I played it might have helped. It took me about 10 minutes to beat that stage, only for the actual game to reveal itself, which is a game about arcade games, and a coming-of-age story.

The pixel-art in this game is *gorgeous*. It captures a mood incredibly well, and combined with the music and voice talent, the game's backstory is well done. It's a pixel-art game where the pixel-art is actually art.

The game is built around five different kinds of arcade games that were popular in the 1980's.

Which is where I ran into problems. The second game is a side-ways scrolling sci-fi shooter, and I was always terrible at this kind of game.

Which means that's where I got stuck, repeating the same section of the game, and dying around the same point each time.

All things considered, I'd like to try and continue playing, but I'm not sure if I'll get past that section to find out.

198X is:

3: OK

#198X #2D #PixelArt #Arcade #Platformer #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 14, 2024 - Day 379 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 415

Game: DOOM VFR

Platform: Steam
Released: Dec 1, 2017
Installed: Aug 10, 2021
Unplayed: 887d (2y5m4d)
Playtime: 18m

Rating: 3 - OK

DOOM VFR is a VR FPS, and the first time I've reviewed a VR game. My list last year excluded VR games because I didn't have my VR headset set up on the new system.

It's notable that Bethesda really gave VR a red-hot go, with Fallout 4 VR, Skyrim VR, Wolfenstein Cyberpilot, and DOOM VFR.

I bought all four when they were in a ridiculously cheap bundle, and I've had mixed experiences. I've tried Skyrim VR (which I found frustrating), and Wolfenstein Cyberpilot (which tried to so something different).

I hadn't played DOOM VFR or Fallout 4 VR, so that's one more to go.

DOOM VFR follows the Cyberpilot model of setting the game in the existing game world, but doing something different to an existing game (unlike Skyrim VR).

Unfortunately, it suffers from the same problem that a lot of VR games do: "How the hell do you move?"

Gorilla Tag solves it by moving like the top half of a gorilla & loping with your hands, which makes sense.

DOOM VFR uses teleportation, which feels clunky, because it is clunky. In addition, on the Vive controls, the right thumbpad in most games is used for turning.

However, Bethesda chose to use it for a weapon wheel, which means that to turn, you actually need to turn. Most PCVR headsets are wired, which makes this a *great* way to get tangled in the headset cable - which I did.

As far as the actual gameplay goes, it does a reasonable job of giving that DOOM atmosphere; I got freaked out by mobs several times, and screamed out loud in fright when my hand hit *something* in the real world that I assume was the tower fan.

Overall DOOM VFR is:

3: OK

#DOOMVFR #VR #FPS #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 15, 2024 - Day 380 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 416

Game: Clustertruck

Platform: Steam
Released: Sep 27, 2016
Installed: Aug 4, 2022
Unplayed: 529d (1y5m11d)
Playtime: 17m

Rating: 1 - Nope

I was going to describe Clustertruck as a first-person game of "The Floor is Lava" while jumping between moving trucks, and then discovered that's exactly how the devs describe this physics-based platformer.

You start each level on top of a moving truck and you need to get to the goal at the end of the convoy as fast as possible without touching anything that's not a truck.

It requires pinpoint timing and coordination, two things I am lacking.

Unfortunately, while it's well executed, I did not enjoy Clustertruck; it's a:

1: Nope

#Clustertruck #FirstPerson #Physics #Platformer #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 16, 2024 - Day 381 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 417

Game: Legend of Keepers

Platform: Steam
Released: Apr 30, 2021
Installed: Aug 9, 2023
Unplayed: 160d (5m7d)
Playtime: 19m

Rating: 3 - OK

Legend of Keepers is part management sim, part turn-based strategy, part roguelite.

Turns out that all those dungeons that gamers raid are managed by the "Dungeons Company".

As a newly hired Dungeon Manager, it's your job to place mobs, hazards, and occasional spells between those so-called "adventurers" and the treasure at the end of the dungeon.

I started out figuring I'd be bored, and was kind of into it by the second round. I'm not sure if it quite hits my "good" level, but it comes close, so Legend of Keepers is (for now):

3: OK

#Clustertruck #FirstPerson #Physics #Platformer #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 17, 2024 - Day 382 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 418

Game: Felix The Reaper

Platform: Steam
Released: Oct 18, 2019
Installed: Jan 17, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 15m

Rating: 4 - Good

Felix The Reaper is an isometric puzzle game.

You play as Felix, a newly hired "reaper". Reapers enter the mortal realm to ensure that those who should die... do.

The game opens up with your mentor explaining the job to you, and as... OK, the voice actor for the mentor is doing an incredible Patrick Stewart impression...

...this is uncanny...

...OK, I need to Google this.

Oh. It's ACTUALLY Patrick Stewart!

Sir Patrick Stewart OBE, Shakespearean thespian, Jean Luc Picard, and Professor Charles Xavier, is playing a middle manager in the Ministry of Death.

His newly-hired charge, Felix, is already questionable; given his penchant for dancing while going about his job, as well as the fact that he's in love with Life, he's not off to a great start.

The puzzles themselves are amusing with a side of macabre. Felix shows up, time stops. Felix must get object A to point B, all while manipulating the sun so that he can remain in the shadows the whole time, and object A can be involved in a pre-ordained death (by order of the Ministry of Death).

It's gloriously silly, and the presence of SirPatStew is the icing on the cake.

Felix The Reaper is:

4: Good

#FelixTheReaper #Isometric #Puzzle #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 18, 2024 - Day 383 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 419

Game: Retrowave

Platform: Steam
Released: May 7, 2022
Installed: Jan 18, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 15m

Rating: 2 - Meh

Retrowave is an 80's-inspired arcade racing game. If you enjoyed Outrun, and enjoy Synthwave, you might enjoy this.

I've discovered over the past year I don't mind Synthwave, but as a driving game, I found it boring & repetitive.

I'd prefer Forza with a Synthwave radio station, because unfortunately I just found Retrowave:

2: Meh

#Retrowave #Arcade #Racing #Synthwave #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 19, 2024 - Day 384 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 420

Game: Suzerain

Platform: Steam
Released: Dec 5, 2020
Installed: Jan 19, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 18m

Rating: 0 - Nope

Suzerain is part visual novel, part political simulator, and very quickly demonstrated to me that I want nothing to do with politics.

I've started trying to hack down my list of unredeemed keys, a piece of mental load that I've decided to try and get rid of.

I recognised the name of the game, but nothing else, so I had no idea what the game was about, or what I was getting myself into.

You play as Anton Rayne, the newly democratically elected President of a country that's moved from a kingdom around the time of your birth, through a civil war as you reached adulthood, to a nation in crisis as a democracy in the 1950's.

If politics is something you do enjoy, this might be the game for you, but turns out it's really not my cup of tea.

The further I got into the game, the less I wanted to play; deciding the fate of a nation was hard enough, but the political machinations required were painful.

Suzerain seems like a well developed game, but for me it's a big:

1: Nope

#Suzerain #VisualNovel #PoliticsSim #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 20, 2024 - Day 385 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 421

Game: Battle Chasers: Nightwar

Platform: Steam
Released: Oct 4 5, 2017
Installed: Jan 20, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 22m

Rating: 4 - Good

Battle Chasers: Nightwar is an isometric RPG with turn-based combat.

It was literally the first game in the spreadsheet, and the name put me off, but I decided to just get it over and done with after yesterday's disappointment.

It's a party-based system, which uses a character switching mechanism while exploring the world, so that you're only controlling a single character at once.

It seems to have a reasonably well developed storyline, and it's kind of fun. Turns out Battle Chasers: Nightwar is:

4: Good

#BattleChasersNightwar #Isometric #RPG #TurnBasedCombat #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 21, 2024 - Day 386 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 422

Game: AI War 2

Platform: Steam
Released: Oct 23, 2019
Installed: Jan 21, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 27m

Rating: 1 - Nope

AI War 2 is a "grand strategy/RTS hybrid", involving fighting back against an AI that's taken over a galaxy.

Reading other reviews of the game, it certainly sounds like a game that I'd like, but they don't reflect my experience of the game.

Over time I've concluded that I'm not really wired for this kind of RTS game. They very quickly become overwhelming, which I think is an aspect of #AuDHD. There are so many different moving parts to try and follow, and I tend to hyperfocus on one aspect, which doesn't work terribly well in a lot of RTS games.

In this case I found the tutorials overwhelming. There was so much to keep track of, and so much going on, that I started to feel stressed out.

In the tutorial.

From a design and execution point of view, AI War 2 seems like a really good game, however from the point of view of whether or not I'd enjoy playing it?

1: Nope

#AIWar2 #GrandStrategy #RTS #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 22, 2024 - Day 387 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 423

Game: Raiden V: Director's Cut

Platform: Steam
Released: Oct 11, 2017
Installed: Jan 22, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 16m

Rating: 1 - Nope

Raiden V is a top-down forward-scrolling shoot-em-up, and the Director's Cut is a 25th anniversary re-release.

I don't do these kinds of games. They drive me spare; I find no fun in them at all, and found Raiden V particularly grating with the voiceover.

I came, I played, I uninstalled; Raiden V: Director's Cut is a:

1: Nope

#RaidenVDirectorsCut #TopDown #ForwardScrolling #ShootEmUp #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 23, 2024 - Day 388 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 424

Game: Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition

Platform: Steam
Released: Feb 1, 2019
Installed: Jan 23, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 24m

Rating: 3 - OK

Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition is a 2D top-down "Gothic Horror" RPG, that's part visual novel and part "what the hell did I just play?"

You start the game as the first mate of a space-faring Victorian steam locomotive that sails through the aether unmoored from such frailties as railway tracks.

It only gets weirder from there.

I genuinely don't know how to review this game, or quite honestly, how I feel about it.

There's something here that I can't quite put my finger on; Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition is:

3: OK...?

#SunlessSkiesSovereignEdition #2D #TopDown #GothicHorror #VisualNovel #RPG #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 24, 2024 - Day 389 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 425

Game: Yuppie Psycho

Platform: Steam
Released: Apr 25, 2019
Installed: Jan 24, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 34m

Rating: 1 - Nope

Yuppie Psycho is a 2D pixel-art survival horror game.

I gave it a shot, when it seemed like a point-and-click adventure (although it's more move-and-press 'E' constantly); I was a Kings/Police/Space Quest girl when I was younger, and maybe... but then it turned into survival horror.

Thanks, Yuppie Psycho, but:

1: Nope.

#YuppiePsycho #2D #PixelArt #SurvivalHorror #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 25, 2024 - Day 390 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 426

Game: Fae Tactics

Platform: Steam
Released: Aug 1, 2020
Installed: Jan 25, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 15m

Rating: 1 - Nope

Fae Tactics is a JRPG-inspired isometric pixel-art tactics game.

For a tactics strategy game to work for me, I need to feel some connection to the story.

Unfortunately for Fae Tactics, the clash between the human world and the fae world, with a human capable of magic, a bird, and a dog, trying to reach some destination did absolutely nothing for me.

I did not enjoy it at all.

Fae Tactics is a:

1: Nope

#FaeTactics #PixelArt #Isometric #Tactics #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 26, 2024 - Day 391 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 427

Game: Elderborn

Platform: Steam
Released: Jan 31, 2020
Installed: Jan 26, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 22m

Rating: 1 - Nope

Elderborn is a first-person Soulslike slasher melee-combat game.

The game opens with a bombastic monologue from the lead character (at least you can choose their gender), who lays out a brief history of how you got to the point of entering the locked-down city of doom, but there was nothing unique about it that grabbed me. It was just... filler.

(Sidenote: If your game supports 3440x1440 ultrawide, you need a FOV slider. Playing a first-person game through a fisheye lens is not fun.)

The graphics and design feel average. It feels like they forgot the narrative part of a Soulslike that gives you a reason to press on.

Ultimately, the biggest problem with the game is that it's just boring. Run to room. Cut down undead. Run to next room that looks like previous room. Cut down undead. Rinse and repeat.

Elderborn is:

1: Nope

#FirstPerson #MeleeCombat #Soulslike #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 27, 2024 - Day 392 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 428

Game: Palworld

Platform: Xbox Game Pass for PC
Released: Jan 19, 2024
Installed: Jan 27, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 4.9h

Rating: 4 - Good

Palworld is a third-person tree-punching survival game with a new game mechanic of seeking to be sued out of existence by The Pokemon Company.

If you haven't heard of the game that sold 8 million copies in a week on Steam, and is currently sitting at #2 behind PUBG on the Steam chart for record number of concurrent players, the elevator pitch for Palworld is "Pokemon with guns"

I didn't expect it to be quite so literal.

I'd read a piece about survival games by Zack Zwiezen a few days ago, in which he referred to them as "tree punchers" (which I've stolen from him), and he touched on Palworld in the review; so I had no intention of buying it.

However, after rebooting my PC yesterday, I found myself staring at the Xbox app and an install button for Palworld via Game Pass, which meant I didn't need to buy it, and the die was cast.

The gameplay loop is certainly addictive; I can understand why so many folks are playing it.

It starts out like most survival games; wake up in a random location with no idea how you got there, and start punching trees. It's the same gathering-and-crafting loop we've been doing since Minecraft (and probably even before).

Then there's the Pokemon... sorry, "Pals". I'm not a Nintendo girl. I didn't have any Nintendo stuff growing up, and the first Nintendo console I owned was the N64 I bought for our kids for Christmas 2000 (Christmas 2000 sounds like an awesome B-grade movie).

My first encounter with Pokemon was Pokemon GO. I lack the encyclopaedic memory of all the different Pokemon I encountered in PoGo, but upon encountering -and killing- Pals in Palword, they were definitely giving off Pokemon vibes.

You can also collect the Pals, by attacking them with a weapon until they're weakened enough to capture in a Pokeball... erm, Palsphere.

Once captured, you can put them to work in your base, or, uhh... butcher the cute little PokePals, to feed the other PokePals working in your base.

Best not to think too deeply about a game that is also apparently survival horror.

The Pokemon vibes ceased to be vibes and became "you're going to get sued for IP infringement" when I encountered Gumoss.

Gumoss is a grass-type Pal (yes, they've snarfed the 'type' concept too), which feels unarguably like Ditto in an acorn cap.

If I, with my limited recall of Pokemon, can recognise this, I've no doubt the Pokemon fans calling Pocket Pair out are on the money, and it makes sense that the notoriously laid-back-and-not-at-all-protective-of-their-IP, The Pokemon Company, are "investigating".

Which is primarily why I didn't buy it on Steam; I don't want to lose A$44 when they get sued out of existence for IP infringement.

Still, as a game, Palworld is:

4: Good

#Palworld #ThirdPerson #Survival #Crafting #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 28, 2024 - Day 393 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 429

Game: Etherborn

Platform: Steam
Released: Jul 19, 2019
Installed: Jan 21, 2024
Unplayed: 7d
Playtime: 28m

Rating: 2 - Meh

Etherborn is a third-person 3D platform puzzle game that seems to have been designed on the principle "What if we remade Monument Valley without understanding what made it tick, and then adding a vaguely philosophical voiceover?"

Unfortunately, it means that Etherborn feels like a knock-off version of Monument Valley, just somewhat annoying.

The same kind of 3D puzzles, now with the added ability to fall off the structure, and get placed right back where you were.

A disembodied voice speaking over the top of the initial level, then at the end of the next level doesn't really add anything to the game, other than making you wait until it finishes speaking. What it has to say seems to have little to do with the actual game.

While you can navigate from any surface to any other surface that is joined by a curve, sometimes you'll jump and suddenly find yourself plummeting to your doom.

The follow camera wanders around all over the place, with some minor adjustments possible with the right thumbstick, often leading to falling to my death because of the angle of view.

More than once I found the avatar obscured from view by parts of the level itself, which just added to the frustration.

I played through the intro level, then the first level, and after that I saved and quit, because it just felt like a chore.

Etherborn is just:

2: Meh

#Etherborn #ThirdPerson #3D #Platform #Puzzle #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 29, 2024 - Day 394 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 430

Game: The Wild Eight

Platform: Steam
Released: Oct 4, 2019
Installed: Jan 29, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 19m

Rating: 3 - OK

The Wild Eight is a top-down/isometric tree-puncher survival game set in the Alaskan wilderness after a plane crash.

I don't have a lot to add. The inventory management is a little bit frustrating, but if you've played one survival game, you've played most of them.

The Wild Eight is barely:

3: OK

#TheWildEight #TopDown #Isometric #3D #Survival #TreePuncher #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 30, 2024 - Day 395 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 431

Game: Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition

Platform: Steam
Released: Nov 28, 2012
Installed: Jan 30, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 15m

Rating: 2 - Meh...?

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is a remastered version of the original Baldur's Gate released on Dec 21, 1998. It's an isometric RPG, and I've made a terrible mistake.

The original purpose of this little project was to play through games that were in my unredeemed keys spreadsheet, or already installed in Steam, which I've stuck to most of the time.

I've been enjoying BG3, and last night got an email for a Fanatical Star Deal for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, and Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition.

Only A$5.98? Download, installed, start playing after knocking off at 11:30pm.

Here's the thing: I know Baldur's Gate is considered to be a classic RPG.

Even though The Enhanced Edition runs natively on a 3440x1440 resolution monitor, it's not in a good way. The UI, which was originally designed to sit close to the centre of the screen, is now sitting out at the very edges of the monitor, with the play area a relatively small area in the middle of the screen, dwarfed by two huge black voids on either side. Then the UI.

If that wasn't enough, after 15 minutes of playtime, I was *still* in the tutorial. I hadn't skipped it, and it's good thing I hadn't, because the idea of pausing mid-battle and making moves is considerably different to both BG3, and any other game I recall.

At the end of the day (not a cliche, literally), after more than twelve work hours, I don't think I was in the right mindset to either take the game in, or to work around the technical limitations.

With that said, I'm not sure it will grab me, but I've put it into the "replay" category to give it a second chance.

For now, Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is a bit:

2: Meh

#BaldursGateEnhancedEdition #TopDown #Isometric #RPG #Gaming #ProjectONG

January 31, 2024 - Day 396 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 432

Game: Cyber Hook

Platform: Steam
Released: Sep 25, 2020
Installed: Jan 31, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 17m

Rating: 2 - Meh

Cyber Hook is a retrowave-themed first-person parkour-with-grappling-hook 3D platformer.

Another game pulled randomly from the spreadsheet of doom.

Love the aesthetic, found the game somewhat frustrating due to the default key assignments, and my lack of general coordination.

In Just Cause, the grapple is deployed with the right mouse button, and shooting with the left.

In Cyber Hook, this is inverted. I swapped them around, which helped, but the mechanic feels just different enough to be frustrating; I have to think instead of just reacting.

The shift key is assigned slow down time, instead of speeding things up (most games assign it to run).

Speedrunning is not really my thing, so Cyber Hook just feels a bit:

2: Meh

#CyberHook #FirstPerson #3D #Platformer #Parkour! #Gaming #ProjectONG

February 1, 2024 - Day 397 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 433

Game: Still There

Platform: Steam
Released: Nov 21, 2019
Installed: Feb 1, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 40m

Rating: 4 - Good

Still There is a point-and-click adventure game set on a space station.

You play as an astronaut who has experienced some kind of family tragedy, and may-or-may-not be dealing with it.

It has a touch of dark humour, and it's got me intrigued so far.

Still There seems:

4: Good

#StillThere #PointAndClick #Adventure #Gaming #ProjectONG

February 2, 2024 - Day 398 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 434

Game: Wildfire

Platform: Steam
Released: May 26, 2020
Installed: Feb 2, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 15m

Rating: 3 - OK

Wildfire is a 2D pixel-art stealth-oriented platformer.

Having encountered something (possibly alien), you find that your village has been torched by soldiers of the king, with the survivors taken away.

You're caught, and executed... but you survive, because the encounter has changed you in a way that has given you power over the elements.

I didn't think I'd like it, but Wildfire is:

3: OK

#Wildfire #2D #Stealth #Platformer #Gaming #ProjectONG

February 3, 2024 - Day 399 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 435

Game: Hammerting

Platform: Steam
Released: Nov 17, 2021
Installed: Feb 2, 2024
Unplayed: 1d
Playtime: 25m

Rating: 1 - Nope

Hammerting is a 2.5D Dwarven mining colony sim.

I know this, because after 25 minutes of playing, I quit, and searched the web to find out what it was I was trying to play.

It feels like there's actually a reasonable game in there somewhere, but it didn't click with me, because of the way it introduced the game mechanics.

Hammerting starts by pausing the game during the "tutorial", and lighting up a bit of the screen with a popup that says "This does [x]". You then hit Next, and it repeats until it runs out of things to tell you. Sometimes it tells you quite a lot of things one after the other.

Presented like this, these things are abstracted away from their purpose, and with ADHD and not taking my meds on a weekend, it was a lot to try and fail to take in.

Even when I did manage to take something in, the UX was frequently inscrutable, with no system to give me any idea what I was looking at.

You start the game with three dwarves, and you can click on a button, and click on an item in the environment to get them to do something.

Click the mining button. Click on the copper ore. The dwarves mine the ore. The ore falls out of the wall.

The ore sits on the ground. The dwarves do nothing with it. It has a right click menu, but none of the options have anything to do with picking up the ore.

Then my hardy band of dwarves got attacked by a rampaging slime. They killed it in short order. Pieces of slime on the ground. They apparently have value, based on the tooltip.

No idea how to collect them.

The final straw was about 10 minutes later, when I thought I might be starting to get the hang of something, maybe, and the dwarves were attacked again by slimes.

The dwarves stood there, resolutely, being attacked.

I clicked on the attack button, and clicked the slimes.

The dwarves stood there, resolutely, being attacked.

I clicked to move the dwarves, they moved out of range of the slimes.

The slimes followed until they reached the dwarves.

The dwarves stood there, resolutely, being attacked.

One was knocked unconscious.

I quit the game in frustration.

Hammerting?

1: Nope

#Hammerting #Mining #ColonySim #Gaming #ProjectONG

February 4, 2024 - Day 400 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 436

Game: S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster

Platform: Steam
Released: May 23, 2019
Installed: Feb 2, 2024
Unplayed: 2d
Playtime: 32m

Rating: 3 - OK

S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster is an isometric real-time tactics (RTT) strategy game, about a war between armies of rabbits, and pigs.

It seems the universe has a sense of humour, because my complaints about the lack of tutorial in yesterday's game were met with a 16 minute tutorial in S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster.

S.W.I.N.E. was originally released in 2001, and the remaster involved some of the original devs. It's a reasonably solid game (if somewhat basic), but it scratches a bit of an itch I wasn't aware of.

With that said, there are some rough edges to the game. Having never played the original, I'm unsure as to whether they've been left that way to maintain fidelity for fans of the original game, or if it's just some stylistic choices.

The most grating, though, is the voiceover work. Within the universe of the game (by way of spoken accents), the Rabbit army are presented as French, and the Pig army are presented as German.

The accents seem very much like someone trying to imitate the respective accents, rather than a native of those countries speaking English, and while not a gamebreaker, it does grate a little.

Overall, S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster is just:

3: OK

#SWINEHDRemaster #Isometric #RTT #Strategy #Gaming #ProjectONG

February 5, 2024 - Day 401 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 437

Game: Kill It With Fire

Platform: Steam
Released: Aug 14, 2020
Installed: Feb 2, 2024
Unplayed: 3d
Playtime: 23m

Rating: 3 - OK

Kill It With Fire is a first-person action game about about killing spiders with as much collateral damage as possible.

I'm mildly arachnophobic, and it grew on me. It also has a VR mode, and I'm not entirely sure I'm ready for, or could cope with that.

Kill It With Fire is:

3: OK

#KillItWithFire #FirstPerson #Action #Gaming #ProjectONG

February 6, 2024 - Day 402 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 438

Game: Paradise Killer

Platform: Steam
Released: Sep 5, 2020
Installed: Feb 2, 2024
Unplayed: 4d
Playtime: 21m

Rating: 4 - Good?

Paradise Killer is a first person open world detective mystery visual novel... thing?

It's really quite unique, with a kind-of vaporwave-ish aesthetic and in the 20 minutes I spent with it, it left me intrigued.

Paraduse Killer is so out of the box that I'm not entirely sure, but I think it's:

4: Good?

#ParadiseKiller #FirstPerson #OpenWorld#Adventure #VisualNovel #Mystery #Detective #Gaming #ProjectONG

February 7, 2024 - Day 403 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 439

Game: Life Is Strange: True Colors

Platform: Steam
Released: Sep 10, 2021
Installed: Feb 7, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 35m

Rating: 4 - Good

Life Is Strange: True Colors is a third person adventure game, and is the first game in February's Humble Choice bundle. I actually owned it already; in my head, I pictured it as a sequel, so I hadn't actually played it.

You play as 18yo Alex Chen, who has a psychic ability and can see the emotions of others as coloured auras, and hear their thoughts.

Beyond that, I'm not sure, as the pacing of the game means that even after 35 minutes, I'm not terribly far into the storyline.

However, based on the previous games, and my experience so far, Life Is Strange: True Colors seems to be:

4: Good

#LifeIsStrangeTrueColors #ThirdPerson #Adventure #HumbleChoice #Gaming #ProjectONG

February 8, 2024 - Day 404 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 440

Game: Scorn

Platform: Steam
Released: Nov 4, 2021
Installed: Feb 8, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 17m

Rating: 1 - Nope

Scorn is a first person horror survival adventure puzzle game. It's the second game in February's Humble Choice bundle.

This was in my "never playing that" list, and seeing it show up in the bundle was a moment of "suck it up, princess."

However, for day 404, it was definitely a case of fun not found.

The game is viscerally disturbing, with the environment being all flesh, bone, and metal; a Gigeresque fusion that just had my brain screaming "GET OUT, QUIT, NOW!"

After exploring the tunnels of the first level, and sticking my avatar's hand into far too many squelching control interfaces, I was glad when my 15 minutes were up.

Scorn is an absolute:

1: Nope

#Scorn #FirstPerson #Horror #Survival #Adventure #Puzzle #HumbleChoice #Gaming #ProjectONG

February 9, 2024 - Day 405 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 441

Game: Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed

Platform: Steam
Released: Aug 31, 2022
Installed: Feb 9, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 24m

Rating: 3 - OK

Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed is a third person open world adventure game. It's the third game in February's Humble Choice bundle.

Unlike Scorn, I actually had DAH!2-R on my wishlist. However, what I didn't know is that while it's a sequel to 2020's Destroy All Humans!, it turns out that Destroy All Humans! was a remake of Destroy All Humans! released in 2005, and DAH!2-R is a remake of the sequel Destroy All Humans! 2.

DAH!2-R is set in 1969, and you're playing as a clone of the original Furon invader, Cryptosporidium-137.

As the now-President of The United States, you find yourself under attack by the KGB, having simultaneously destroyed your mothership in orbit, and waves of KGB agents launching a direct ground assault on you, while you're attending a music festival in San Francisco. Of course.

It's feels much like a pastiche of alien invasion movies of the 1950's & 1960's, and it's kind of goofy fun.

Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed is:

3: OK

#DestroyAllHumans2Reprobed #ThirdPerson #OpenWorld #Adventure #HumbleChoice #Gaming #ProjectONG

February 10, 2024 - Day 406 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 442

Game: Beacon Pines

Platform: Steam
Released: Aug 31, 2022
Installed: Feb 10, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 20m

Rating: 4 - Good

Beacon Pines is an isometric narrative adventure, in which you can go back and change the choices you've, and thus the outcomes that ensue. It's game number 4 in the February Humble Bundle.

Framed as a storybook, in which you're participating in creating the story, the story is about a anthropomorphic young deer, whose father died when he was six, and whose mother has now disappeared.

Luka and his best friend find themselves in the middle of investigating goings-on in their small town of Beacon Pines.

The game is bittersweet, and I'm interested to see where it goes from here.

Beacon Pines seems to be:

4: Good

#BeaconPines #Isometric #Narrative #Adventure #HumbleChoice #Gaming #ProjectONG

February 11, 2024 - Day 407 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 443

Game: There Is No Light: Enhanced Edition

Platform: Steam
Released: Sep 20, 2022
Installed: Feb 11, 2024
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 21m

Rating: 1 - Nope

Game number 5 is the February Humble Bundle is There Is No Light: Enhanced Edition. It is a top-down, pixel-art hack-and-slash action-RPG (ARPG).

It's set in a brutal, seemingly post-apocalyptic world, and opens with your wife being stolen away during childbirth, so that your newborn child can be sacrificed for the sake of the community.

This threw me off from the get-go, and it didn't improve from here on in.

Here's the thing: I'm on call this week. It's Wednesday morning. I'm three reviews down (have played, though) - four, if I pre-emptive count today's review. I'm running on three hours sleep, and today is going to be another long day.

The reviews this week are going to be perfunctory, but I've remembered the point of this whole thing: whether or not I enjoy a game, and want to play it again.

The answer to that question in regards to There Is No Light: Enhanced Edition is:

1: Nope

#ThereIsNoLightEnhancedEdition #TopDown #PixelArt #HackAndSlash #ARPG #HumbleChoice #Gaming #ProjectONG