First batch of May games I completed:
Game 24: A Bird Story - 1/5 - 1:13 hours (01/05/2017)
I cried because I'm an emotional dumbass, but the game is really cynical in the way it presents its story. It tries to make you care with cheap tricks, without putting in a real effort: the characters have no depth, the plot is basic and the sequences contrived, as if they were going for some fancy magical realism effect, having you go through weird mash-ups of nature and cityscapes. Actually, it's more like having you watch the character go around, because the game offers almost no interaction and nothing you'll do will ever alter the way the story progresses: the player input is literally unnecessary. Since the writing in To the Moon was pretty bad, this time around they solved the issue by featuring no dialog at all: the characters only "talk" through their actions and through speech bubbles with images inside. This is a story that could have been told through many different mediums, and certainly gaming wasn't the more apt.
This game is:
Game 25: SUPERHOT - 4/5 - 4:30 hours (03/05/2017)
Finished story mode, put some time in the challenges and other side stuff. The main mechanic has never been seen in such a game, and works wonders, the devsmanaged to introduce things slowly, so that the, albeit short, game never feels stale. The meta narrative approach has been kind of overused at this point, but it does its job still, also you don't necessarily have to meddle with it if you don't want, especially since the levels offer high replayability and you can try different approaches thanks to the numerous challenges. SUPERHOT is the most innovative shooter I've played in years!
This game is:
Game 26: Ronin - 3/5 - 7:00 hours (04/05/2017)
Completed the game with all skill points. I love the premise of the game: a turn-based stealth-action game, not something you see everyday; however this is one of the most passive aggressive games I've ever seen. The game goes great lengths to intentionally annoy you, going as far as saying "hint: the hints cannot be deactivated"... that's funny? No it's not devs, as is not fun to make the game nigh impossible to beat if you invest your skill points unwisely; fortunately that wasn't my case, but I've heard many struggling with that. The game is hard, sometimes borderline unfair, it doesn't do a good job explaining what you can and can't do, a fact that reflects in how the turn-based combat gets needlessly complex: why can't you move but only jump? Why can't you strangle like out of combat? Why can't you get up from ledges? So many differences between the stealth and combat phase are never explained, as is never explained the behaviour of civilians, how enemies reload weapons, what's a lockdown and how does it work, trhe whole part about pausing out of combat , and so on. That's too bad because the art and premise of the game are good, however you can feel the devs half-assed many parts of the game, like the menus, which are completely unresponsive when using a controller, yet very basic and boring, or the story, which is basically a very brief Kill Bill-like afterthought, that they expand upon with a DLC comic. The game needed less edge and more love, still it's enjoyable if you're up to the challenge.
This game is:
Game 27: Power Hover - 3/5 - 4:18 hours (04/05/2017)
Reached the credits, got all batteries, tried the challenges, haven't perfected the boss stages though. The minimalistic graphics manage not to be monotone or boring, to the opposite of what usually happens, thanks to an art direction which is always on point and varied. The music fits the atmosphere and aesthetic quite nicely. The gameplay is basic but addicting, mainly due to the well balanced difficulty, which never makes the game frustrating to play, also thanks to the rewind and life mechanics, that are well working additions. The controls, which are minimalistic too, can sometimes be not up to par though, mainly when you get on and off rails, and when you loop inside or outside pipes: the way the direction you input changes halfway throws me off every single time.
This game is:
Game 24: A Bird Story - 1/5 - 1:13 hours (01/05/2017)
I cried because I'm an emotional dumbass, but the game is really cynical in the way it presents its story. It tries to make you care with cheap tricks, without putting in a real effort: the characters have no depth, the plot is basic and the sequences contrived, as if they were going for some fancy magical realism effect, having you go through weird mash-ups of nature and cityscapes. Actually, it's more like having you watch the character go around, because the game offers almost no interaction and nothing you'll do will ever alter the way the story progresses: the player input is literally unnecessary. Since the writing in To the Moon was pretty bad, this time around they solved the issue by featuring no dialog at all: the characters only "talk" through their actions and through speech bubbles with images inside. This is a story that could have been told through many different mediums, and certainly gaming wasn't the more apt.
This game is:
Game 25: SUPERHOT - 4/5 - 4:30 hours (03/05/2017)
Finished story mode, put some time in the challenges and other side stuff. The main mechanic has never been seen in such a game, and works wonders, the devsmanaged to introduce things slowly, so that the, albeit short, game never feels stale. The meta narrative approach has been kind of overused at this point, but it does its job still, also you don't necessarily have to meddle with it if you don't want, especially since the levels offer high replayability and you can try different approaches thanks to the numerous challenges. SUPERHOT is the most innovative shooter I've played in years!
This game is:
Game 26: Ronin - 3/5 - 7:00 hours (04/05/2017)
Completed the game with all skill points. I love the premise of the game: a turn-based stealth-action game, not something you see everyday; however this is one of the most passive aggressive games I've ever seen. The game goes great lengths to intentionally annoy you, going as far as saying "hint: the hints cannot be deactivated"... that's funny? No it's not devs, as is not fun to make the game nigh impossible to beat if you invest your skill points unwisely; fortunately that wasn't my case, but I've heard many struggling with that. The game is hard, sometimes borderline unfair, it doesn't do a good job explaining what you can and can't do, a fact that reflects in how the turn-based combat gets needlessly complex: why can't you move but only jump? Why can't you strangle like out of combat? Why can't you get up from ledges? So many differences between the stealth and combat phase are never explained, as is never explained the behaviour of civilians, how enemies reload weapons, what's a lockdown and how does it work, trhe whole part about pausing out of combat , and so on. That's too bad because the art and premise of the game are good, however you can feel the devs half-assed many parts of the game, like the menus, which are completely unresponsive when using a controller, yet very basic and boring, or the story, which is basically a very brief Kill Bill-like afterthought, that they expand upon with a DLC comic. The game needed less edge and more love, still it's enjoyable if you're up to the challenge.
This game is:
Game 27: Power Hover - 3/5 - 4:18 hours (04/05/2017)
Reached the credits, got all batteries, tried the challenges, haven't perfected the boss stages though. The minimalistic graphics manage not to be monotone or boring, to the opposite of what usually happens, thanks to an art direction which is always on point and varied. The music fits the atmosphere and aesthetic quite nicely. The gameplay is basic but addicting, mainly due to the well balanced difficulty, which never makes the game frustrating to play, also thanks to the rewind and life mechanics, that are well working additions. The controls, which are minimalistic too, can sometimes be not up to par though, mainly when you get on and off rails, and when you loop inside or outside pipes: the way the direction you input changes halfway throws me off every single time.
This game is: