Hotel Dusk was an adventure/puzzle game on the DS that I greatly enjoyed, but frankly can't remember a lot about. Last Window is a sequel, not so much in story in particular, but in characters. It would be absolutely possible to play the scenario without having played Hotel Dusk, but a couple of characters would be missing introductions which would be a bit odd.
While Last Window is again an adventure/puzzle game, the puzzles aren't common or difficult (although the last puzzle is quite a jump up - interestingly enough there's a physically sealed classified section in the manual that looks to provide hints on solving it), leading to a pretty linear feeling - the game leans much harder to the adventure side of the equation. If you're after real brain teasers then this is unlikely to satisfy.
The style and atmosphere are much more what this game is about, trying to find various secrets about the apartment complex in which you reside. The 1980s setting makes for some quaint activities, like receiving pager messages and having to go to a phone to call back (I can't imagine many younger players understanding this concept!).
The characters are fairly interesting, some being more or less involved in the secrets of the apartments, but each having some backstory to learn along the way, or a method of helping you. Their stylised, animated portrayals are the signature style of this game series, and are still very nice looking. The protagonist, Kyle, seems to have a little less personality and quirks than I remember from Hotel Dusk. He briefly got me into drinking Bourbon from the first game!
Music was adequate but not particularly catchy or listenable outside the game environment, unfortunately. Characters tend to have their own themes, so you get the good old experience of hearing a theme and rolling your eyes, saying "Oh great, what does this one want now?".
If you like adventure/puzzle games, my recommendation would be to play Hotel Dusk for sure, and if you really enjoyed that, then play Last Window as well, but otherwise you're not missing anything mindblowing here.
]]>While Life is Strange may start out as a fairly innocent-seeming teenage student-y adventure game, it develops a harsh, gritty edge that some may find disturbing and unpleasant. Think Donnie Darko - if you thought little of DD, or hate teenagers (especially mid-00s teenage lingo), you're not likely to appreciate LiS either. If, however, you're up for some time-travelly teenage-angsty detectivey adventure with some decidedly uncomfortable themes and issues, Life is Strange deserves a strong recommendation. If you are after a David Cage-like game done competently, give it a go.
Strong characters, writing, and music score underpin a compelling and interesting episodic story-driven "choose your own adventure" game that does a good job of reminding you of your previous decisions regularly, giving a feeling that your choices really did matter... even if in the end, all stories converge on the same points. The ramp-up in intensity is fantastic, however the final episode feels like it goes off the rails a bit, and didn't have quite the level of attention that the previous episodes did. That the ultimate choice in the game resulted in a near 50/50 split in the players (and quite a lot of decent conversation on internet forums) is a testament to the craft put into the scenario to that point. Emotions will be had.
There's a definite artistic choice to make Life is Strange very filmic - or even more accurately, mini-series...ic. A lot of attention is given to scene direction, visuals, and tension points (especially as episode-ending cliffhangers). While I doubt I'd be watching a TV adaptation of it (just not really my thing), in game-form it works brilliantly. Certainly one of my favourite of the genre of 'Telltale-like's. Absolutely up there with Tales of Borderlands, although with a completely different tone.
I'm glad I played it even if only for the club music mix included at a party scene.
]]>Continuing on from the first game, 'Mask of Deception', and I really mean 'continuing on' (this game literally follows the very next step in the story), 'Mask of Truth' is certainly more of the same, but also in some ways pretty different in approach. While the first game is mainly a visual novel with a few battles, a lot more of this game's focus is on the battles, and most of the visual novel part is clearly focussed on the build-up to the battles, rather than just hanging out with friends and dealing with events which happen as a result.
Said battles are pretty easy, I only lost about 3 characters across the entire game length on normal mode, so anyone looking for a bit of challenge in the strategy battle section ought to bump up the difficulty a notch or two. I would certainly claim that the recurring 'bosses' in the mid section of the game grew pretty samey and tiresome, defeating the same characters multiple times just felt unsatisfying. It is replaced towards the end by a veritable boss rush, with rolling battles of 'strong' opponents being thrown at you, which was much preferable.
There's also the feeling that this game is about 75% of the entire meaningful story, to 25% of the first game. Many huge plot points are uncovered or expanded upon, even to the point of incredulity that there's still more to be explained, including several 'Et tu, Brute?' moments. At points I was exclaiming 'this entire world is unsolvable', in disbelief at the otherwordly shenanigans that removed any hope that the scenario could ever be salvaged. Even the ending is incredibly bitter-sweet, however the epilogue calmed my pleas for justice. Unfortunately, I don't feel there was any great take-away from the story, which is something I look for in a visual novel (see 999, VLR, Steins;Gate for examples). It's merely an interesting world and characters and a bunch of stuff happens.
The original anime story is finally called upon here, too, after being pretty unimportant in the first game. Several characters and items would be total shrug-fests without knowledge of the anime series. However, this same story is coming soon(tm) to the PS4 and Vita platforms as 'Utawarerumono - prelude to the fallen', so I suppose one can wait until that is released, as a starting point. It would be pretty sweet to be able to use best girl Karura in battle.
There are plenty of other visual novels which ought to be played before this one, but I would certainly not discount Utawarerumono. And hey, maybe our future is in fact trending towards the land as described in the game, in which case foreknowledge could be pretty important, lest red jelly blobness awaits us all. Put on your Akuruka and get strategising!
]]>Of Kakegurui
[8:03 AM] Sadao: even kakegurui has a discord server? Sheesh [8:03 AM] Sadao: I mean Code Geass is an oldass show with a ton of lore etc 8:03 AM] Sadao: kakegurui has 6 episodes out and a manga [8:04 AM] Sadao: just kind of in a different league with respects to what kind of discussions can go on IMO [8:04 AM] Sadao: there's no real deep conversational topics to go with kakegurui [8:05 AM] Sadao: unless it's a bunch of edgelords going YEAH I WANNA SHOOT MYSELF TOO [8:05 AM] Sadao: I almost like midari [8:05 AM] Sadao: but when she goes full psycho it's a bit much
7:49 AM] Sadao: I just gouged out my eye for you [7:49 AM] Sadao: meh, it wasn't very interesting [7:49 AM] Sadao: I've got more eyes to gouge out if you want [7:50 AM] Sadao: nah it's ok [7:50 AM] Sadao: :frowning:
[5:59 PM] Sadao: guess I'll watch [6:00 PM] Sadao: while my nachos gently heats [6:00 PM] Sadao: I'm watching idols [6:00 PM] Sadao: got a problem with that [6:01 PM] Sadao: she wears contacts with stars in them because fuck you [6:03 PM] Sadao: "don't forget to share me" [6:03 PM] Sadao: what a shameless hussy 6:06 PM] Sadao: I keep mixing up sayaka with jabami [6:09 PM] Sadao: hah this fuck is a wuss [6:09 PM] Sadao: LOSING TO HOUSPETS, USELESS [6:09 PM] Sadao: NOT GONNA TAKE DEM ON MYSELF THO(edited) [6:10 PM] Sadao: lol gotta go take care of business just because thinking of jabami's eyes 6:14 PM] Sadao: president is shook [6:15 PM] Sadao: now this is turning into a shitty version of danganronpa [6:18 PM] Sadao: "I only came here to join the elite" [6:18 PM] Sadao: one of those elite ppl only got there because she stabbed her own eye out 6:24 PM] Sadao: 'oh man jabami is so amazing' is literally all that's happened in 11 mins [6:25 PM] Sadao: jabami sempai so kakkoiiiiii 6:25 PM] Sadao: star eyed bitch is bitch [6:26 PM] Sadao: oh yeah she stole the topping off his cake a little ways back [6:26 PM] Sadao: while another char was going on about how great jabami is [6:27 PM] Sadao: 'be careful, dont let jabami be too awesome' 6:29 PM] Sadao: 'i hope i'm not too awesome' says jabami [6:30 PM] Sadao: omg [6:30 PM] Sadao: the stakes of this bet [6:30 PM] Sadao: are so stupid [6:31 PM] Sadao: fuck me [6:31 PM] Sadao: what a fanservicey load of garbage [6:31 PM] Sadao: HAHAhAHAA [6:32 PM] Sadao: even that shitlord male character said WOW THAT'S LAME [6:36 PM] Sadao: HERE'S AN INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT LETTER I JUST FOUND SOMEWHERE OFFSCREEN [6:36 PM] Sadao: fuck [6:37 PM] Sadao: and having...
]]>Take any Call of Duty 'modern warfare' shooter entry, make it 3rd person, give it a squad size of 3 (2 AI companions), and a decent story which becomes a bit of a treatise on what a person may feel necessary to do when the mission parameters get skewed, and how they deal with these actions.
The gameplay is decidedly average overall. I've never been much of a fan of the 3rd person perspective for action games, and the only excuse for it, as far as I'm concerned, is if you need to be able to see yourself for characterisation purposes. Spec Ops: The Line barely gets a pass in this regard, I suppose - the damage of the encounters you go through certainly are shown, however this is evident from the sporadic in-game-engine cutscenes anyway. The 3rd-person shenanigans it brings are as usual - seeing enemies around corners you have no business being able to see, taking shots which are totally clear for your sights but actually hit scenery on the way through, etc. AI companions are also completely as expected, generally useless. I saw on several occasions my teammates standing with an enemy in clear view but not firing at them, not taking any evasive action... in fact doing pretty much nothing at all. Of course, all agency is completely on the player character (who is, to be fair, the captain of the squad). You do have the ability to call operations for your squadmates, but I couldn't really get it to be very effective.
Checkpointing was servicable. Which is good, since I softlocked the game at one point by being I guess too far away from the objective when a cutscene was supposed to be playing, and a door which was supposed to have become unlocked was still completely impassable. Heaven forbid I cross a room to be able to get the drop on enemies who were pouring into through the ceiling. That was a really good place, strategically. Sigh.
The story is where the majority of the kudos comes for Spec Ops: The Line. When questioning people on what makes it good, they basically would only say "to say anything would be spoilers", or when pushed "about the horrors of warfare" and "kinda subversive". I suppose I would say it's a kind of heavy-handed Apocalypse Now-ish narrative showing how easily military affairs can go wrong. Heavy handed? Well, towards the end you are being subjected to loading screens with text like "Do you feel like a hero yet?". The most disappointing aspect is likely that choices presented to you during your mission are 'David Cage' questions - the illusion of choice where each option presented actually leads to the same endpoint. At least you as the player of Cpt. Walker feel your morality is shown, even if the game gives you no reward/justice/punishment for it. One emergent property is the really nice touch in the voice barks of the...
]]>The weapons form a solid mix, although the decision to make a few of the guns intentionally weak is a little vexing when all you can find in your starting area are multiples of them. The random nature of battle royale is a curse more often than a blessing, I feel - although required for the format and its longevity.
Being free-to-play didn't hurt, either, although the content offered post-launch has so far been lacklustre, and the items up for purchase are generally neither appealing nor affordable.
Like any 'game as a service' offering, whether Apex Legends lives or dies will be determined by the support going forward, and at this point (near the end of the first 'season'), the situation is stable but also tenuous. The upcoming EA access press conference could prove a stunning revival of the incredible success the game saw upon launch, or the final straw for many of its players, who have become increasingly vexed by disappointing announcements (or lack thereof) since release.
]]>The combination of 2D overworld map/towns sections and first person 3D dungeon exploration are mindblowing for an 8-bit platform. The animations featured on the enemies were groundbreaking at the time, and still pleasing to the eye today.
The remake on the switch helpfully adds an 'ages' mode, which increases XP gain, money gain, lessens random encounters, and adds an auto map, all of which are greatly appreciated, and are the only reason I was willing to play such an old and grindy RPG in the first place. Having said that, there are many surprisingly friendly gameplay elements in place, including a free healing location from the very start of the game.
To be frank, the combat itself is a fairly repetitive affair, with little in the way of strategy to keep things interesting. Using a walkthrough if you get stuck or lack resolve to find whichever macguffin you need next is probably also wise. Regardless, it's still a great game and well worth exploring.
]]>There are plenty of stories where protagonists are attempting to save the world from ending, but even in the Shin Megami Tensei series, SMT3 is somewhat special in that the world ends about 10 minutes into the game. If there's one thing that's done very well, it's the general oppressive and alien feeling of the 'vortex world' that you inhabit after the apocalypse - while many structures and buildings resemble the earth that we know, the layouts and denizens certainly do not. Mystical artifacts, demons, and gods abound. Much of the story involves the power struggle of gods trying to gain power over this new realm, and your role is your choice - whom to aid, or defeat.
But this is Shin Megami Tensei, so the one most likely to be defeated is yourself. A notoriously difficult game, SMT3 has an infuriatingly high random encounter rate, and although you have a 'radar' for detecting likelihood of random encounter, it's almost meaningless because even when it detects 'least likely', random encounters still occur. It's not infrequent to leave one random encounter, take a single step, and go straight into another battle. Even when using items to reduce the encounter rate, the rate is still pretty high in areas with enemies that are around your level. Being unprepared at any point is very liable to end your game.
By the way, there's no save-anywhere system - save terminals are found a couple of specific locations in each dungeon, and can teleport you back to the 'root' terminal of that dungeon, but are not bi-directional. Healing stations are even less frequent, and cost money to use. Running out of MP or having a couple of dead party members without revival items generally means running to the nearest terminal, transporting back to the root node, then transporting to some other location's root node that is near a healing station, healing up, transporting back to the dungeon, and then trudging back through the dungeon to get back to where you were. All the while possibly suffering random encounters.
My biggest gripe with the encounters is that the game doesn't keep track of enemy strengths and weaknesses. Even if you use an ability to scan the enemy, when you leave the battle and encounter that enemy again, you have to scan them again to see the stats. Later games retain knowledge of these and make the game far less irritating when you encounter an enemy you haven't seen for a while and can't remember what to hit them with. A guide comes in handy.
But a guide is almost required any way. There are so many labyrinths, pitfalls, traps, dead ends, and just general lack of detail on where to go and what to do, that you REALLY have to like exploration, backtracking, and random encounters to succeed in this game without a guide. There are sections where in order to progress, you have to find inconspicuous NPCs who...
]]>Linear visual novels aren't the most appealing form the genre to me, but Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception delivers a compelling story and some "actual" videogame sections which lessen the disappointment of the lack of player choice.
Like many in the genre, initially the plot revolves around slice-of-life daily adventures (often very anime-esque in nature, for better or worse), used as a means to introduce a wide cast gradually, and to grow an attachment to them. Then, 13 hours down the line, plot bombs are dropped and the tension builds. It's an oft-used device, because it works, and Utawarerumono: MoD weaves it well.
There are also strategy-RPG-esque combat sections littered around, but they are not going to stretch your capability, at least on normal setting, and the outcome of battles makes no difference to story - you win them or you retry. I suggest selecting a higher difficulty if you want even a remote challenge. I didn't even realise an ability existed involving timed button inputs during attacks which can add greatly to your damage output (or healing capabilities for support skills). I only learned of this while having difficulty against the FINAL BOSS, and was looking up strats on how to beat it. I must have missed the tutorial instruction on these, but lo and behold when I entered the menu which described the attack modes, there it was. The boss was defeated on the very next run. The combat is fun enough, and your characters have a few different skills they can use, and gain abilities as they level up. But yeah, it's pretty easy.
Worthy of extreme note is that this game is only the first part of the story - the ending is a bit of a cliff-hanger, and a bit of an emotional wringer which I wasn't really expecting (although there were certainly flags raised). The sequel, Mask of Truth, is already available though. Furthermore, the first game in the series, simply 'Utawarerumono', is a Japanese-only adult visual novel, however there is an anime adaptation which removes the smut. I suppose watching it gave me some extra background to some of the characters and setting, but so far was far from a prerequisite to playing this game.
Anime-haters need not apply, otherwise this is a pretty good visual novel, and I'm keen to see where the story goes in the follow-up.
]]>When done right, "belt scrolling beat'em up"s (that's games like Final Fight, or Streets of Rage), are a classic arcade-y experience that are a lot of fun, especially with a 2nd player. Fight'N Rage is up there with the best, with great feeling characters, a good juggling combo system, many branching paths (including slightly different endings), and some head-bopping music. The aesthetic is a saturated splash of dingy neon 90s, filled with mutant animals mixed with fighting game characters. The homages to Final Fight and Street Fighter (with M.Bison dictator cats doing slide kicks, Muai-Thai Adon birds upkicking you with every juggle tech you try, main ninja playable character F.Norris as Guy, just to name a few), are a blast every time I see them. There are also Ninja Turtles, including a surfboarding stage. There's more though, and in general the game itself feels like a complete homage to the old beat-em-ups, particularly Streets of Rage, of which this game's structure follows to a very predictable degree.
Not that that's bad though. Streets of Rage is still a favourite game of many to this day, and aping it with a more modern touch (and lots of unlockables) is far from disappointing. That this game (aside from the music) is created by a single person is incredibly impressive.
Playing with a second (or third!) player has a nice lifespan-extending mechanic - as long as one of you is alive, the other will be able to revive after a energy bar refills - even when your final life is extinguished. When both of you expend all lives at the same time, it's game over - but you have infinite continues (as far as I can tell).
It's a shame there's no online multiplayer though, that would have been greatly appreciated.
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