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[Toma]

Contest #14

Nabbed this one out of the Humble Bundle and wondered if I'd ever have the guts to actually play it. Verdict so far? Not that bad.

I mean, it's spooky, no doubt - a few moments that scared the hell out of me, like when my Sanity was already slipping and I was crouched in a dark corner waiting for that spooky silhouette to go away. Lots of creaky noises and general places of unease, but once you get used to the atmosphere, it's nowhere near as bad. Until your lantern runs out, you have no matches, and the game instructs you on how to hide from enemies.

Gameplay-wise it's not bad. Pretty much standard point-and-click fare. Some nice interactive bits (like taking a rock and breaking down a wall), and I loved the classic "secret door opened by pulling books off of shelves" bit. It's linear, but well made, I assume. I'm not really a connoisseur of the genre. But the graphics make it clear what is and isn't intractable and I never really felt "lost" in a frustrating way, so I count that as a success. I liked the subtle bits of sanity loss... I definitely had some double takes on white blotches and asked if that blood was there when I first entered. Not sure if they're intentional or just my mind playing tricks with me, so that's definitely a mark of a good game.

I'm not much of a "tough guy" and scary movies scare the hell out of me, but so far, it's been a mildly spooky sort of game. Of course... it's going to get worse. I can tell already, it is going to get so much worse.

But I'm looking forward to it.

I wish I could play this game, but the head movement while walking is motion sickness hell.

 

[Danielsan]

Challenge #15 Binding of Isaac

Best I could do on short notice. Wearing high heels, puked all over his face and a turd on his head. And yes, that is "Mom's pad".

And another addition:

 

[toddhunter]

#14 Tobe's Vertical Adventure

I purchased this based on GAF's recommendations of a cheap hidden gem, and actually played it because of the Steam Sale Hunt. After doing the speed run for the competition, I settled in a and tried to play a few more maps.

The issue I have with the game is the control scheme. As much as I tried to wrap my head around the controls, I couldn't quite do it. Running and jumping just seem off and not as responsive as you would like. Quite often I would think I made a jump to a ledge, but found myself falling off. No doubt I would get the hang of it with time, but I don't really have time to invest in the game given the relatively simple premise, graphics and lack of engaging story. None of those are a problem at all in a game with tight controls and fun gameplay, but this game doesn't quite pull it off.

Personally I would be spending my time playing Spelunkey, which is even cheaper rather than looking for a gem here. A sequel might have promise, but this game doesn't quite deliver.

 

[Razakin]

Seems that I can't participate on Trackmania, for some reason the game just refuses to start. Oh well, to Isaac and choosing a game on my Steam backlog that I haven't yet played at all.

 

[TheNamelessOne]

Contest #14: The Ball

The game I chose to play was The Ball - a game that has been sitting in my library since some indie bundle sometime.

The first impression I had was that I noticed that there was a distinct lack of balls at the start of this game.

After falling down a hole in the ground and basically sent to my death by the fellow archeaologists I stumbled upon this sweet-ass device. With this I would be able to manipulate The Ball, wich was still abscent.

Lo and behold. From the heavens and gods above descended the hero of this tale. The Ball. It's quite realistic I'm sure you'll agree. It's big, it's shiny and It's all mine now. We're going on an adventure together and noone will stop me.

Suddenly, a strange force pulls my newborn baby away from me. An aincent magnet tries to take my beloved. I deal with this obstacle swiftly and we move onward.

This is what happens when you try to take my ball away from me.

We entered a dimly lit chamber, my beloved and me. In it three sets of eyes gazed upon me with desire. My biggest fear had come true; Zombie monkeys. Fuck this shit, that ball ain't worth dealing with zombie monkeys. Let em have it, I'm out of here.

--------------
Epilogue

All in all I think this game can be pretty fun. I didn't play for very long and the puzzles so far I played were very simple, but I guess that's to expect in the early "tutorial" part of the game.

I don't believe I will come back to this since it really didn't grab me in any way. When it came out, back when physics puzzle games were more scarce, I think I would have enjoyed it more.

 

[schnell]

Challenge #13

I created quite the brutal track. I've only made it through once without having to rely on checkpoints and that was before I had quite finished everything so the time is lost. I made a video of my best time so far though. I'm pretty sure it's doable in under 2 minutes. The ending is by far the greatest challenge, requiring you to make a high speed jump upside down and then coast to the finish avoiding a few obstacles which, if you hit, will end your run with the finish line in sight (happens to me in the video). I feel pretty evil

Here's the overview image of the track. It has a few little updates since I made the video but they're almost all aesthetic and checkpoint fixes to make the track more playable for your first few runs

VIDEO! Beat my own validation time in this one but was frustrated at this point so didn't go for the perfect run. Sorry there's no sound

Spoiler

cliche "dat gaf" title ftw

I'll be back with the other 2 contests in a bit, spent way too long on this one!

EDIT: Download here

 

[mclem]

I'm starting to wonder if anyone's going to submit a track that *doesn't* have 'GAF' written on it somewhere.

 

[Grimm Fandango]

Contest #15

Gonna mix things up with my Magdalene.

Got some Mom's Heels, lump of coal, Squeezy, The Peeper, Mom's Lipstick and Underwear (not shown), and rock. About to grab my pony. Magdalene looks like a pretty hawt working girl.

Gentlemen, tonight we ride!

Also I had Mom's eye which fires behind you randomly as seen here. I also had an opportunity to switch to the white Pony. Hell yes I did.

AND I actually managed to beat the final boss in the Cathedral. I deserve some credit for that at least. Yay Magdalene!

 

[Toma]

I'm starting to wonder if anyone's going to submit a track that *doesn't* have 'GAF' written on it somewhere.

Dont give anyone ideas.

 

[Dambrosi]

And my Contest 14 entry is...not The Ship, as previously planned, because Steam says no, apparently. So, as a replacement...

Time played: 36 minutes in pitch blackness (ooooh, spooky!)

So, for the NeoGAF Steam Summer Sale Treasure Hunt, I chose this game, which I got as part of the amazing Humble Bundle V a couple of months back, because I thought that I needed to play something different to the rest, something...stranger.

Hoo boy, did I get my wish.

The game begins properly after a stage-dressed dream sequence, with your surgery-masked protag getting out of bed, and from there on, what you do is up to you, apparently. Being the JRPG fan I am, I decide to search the place and take as much stuff as I can find - a key, a plush cat, and a battery were among the items I pilfered, and then I discover that the flat I'm in isn't mine, and the first thing I think is "Who lives here? Where are they?", but enough of that for now, because my priority is to get to Apt. 203 and have a swinging ol' time with my buddies, for some reason.

Well, reason is one of the things this game has me doubting, for as soon as I acquire a weapon, my "buddies" become slavering pestilents hungry for my blood. I have no choice but to shoot them down - or do I? - with no idea if they or the bodies next to them were my former friends or not. Disturbing as this is, gameplay must out, so I collected some pills and went back to Apt. 206 for a nice saving nap.

Oh yeah, I forget to tell you that along the way, I travelled through another dimension in a hole in someone's bathroom wall, interacted with a giant alien heart, teleported through a network of dusty old mirrors, laid pieces of rotting meat out to attract monsters so I could get past them, grew hungry and tired in equal measure (solved by eating food found lying around and saving regularly), and picked up various strange objects of varying significance. So far, so Silent Hill crossed with MGS3's survival system. In effects-laden pixeltastic 2D, of course.

The music is also pleasantly reminiscent of Akira Yamaoka's work in many places, though there are parts where it goes off and does its own thing, though it always works well enough with the creepy sound effects throughout, especially the SH2-like crackle that accompanies a monster's presence. The flashlight you get during your dream intro also harks back to Konami's horror magnus opus, with its light being invaluable in darkness, but also giving away your position to the enemy.

Overall, this is a strange one, as I said - it's a super-condensed 2D Silent Hill with retro-styled graphics and awesome music, a very atmospheric one at that. Not overly difficult so far, but I have a feeling that will change soon enough. I'll have to delve into this one further.

Play again?: If I can get up the courage, yes.

 

[The Grim Heaper]

Contest #14: Garshasp: The Monster Slayer

Steam screenshots/F12 wasn't working so this is the only proof I have.

I really don't want to say much about this game. Bad FPS, textures look all sorts of weird, Garshasp is an awful character, the camera is one of the worst I've seen in years. It's an all-around terrible God of War clone. The only good thing I can pick out from it is the voice of the Narrator, because it's a pretty good voice. I wanted to get to the part where you have to slide down a wall using your daggers because that part looked hilariously awful, but the game stopped working after a cutscene popped up near the wall. Bummer.

 

[The Wizard]

Contest #15

I had a few more ugly isaccs lined up but I had used F12 to take screenshots a few times before I realised it wasn't taking any so I settled with this ugly nun bomber.

 

[mclem]

WESTWARD

First impressions: I started the game and was about to start playing when I remembered that the Square Enix sale on PSN was ending tomorrow, and I needed to cook food... so I wandered off and handled those two things, finally eating while looking at the menu screen. The background music - town noises in a small community - were quite pleasant to eat to.

Anyhow, I finally got around to starting the game. It's a bit of an oddity; it's an RTS, but made with a casual-gaming outlook; I found the mix intruiging when I bought it a while back. I've played through the tutorials; thus far it's rather heavily scripted, which is also something that I'm not that familiar with (although I seem to remember hearing that Dawn of War does something vaguely similar, with the single-player often feeling more like a multi-character RPG than an RTS?).

On a side note about the scripting - the important characters do have a rather distinctive, uh, character, although it's perhaps a little *too* irreverent; I think similar gags could have been delivered better without feeling quite so clunky.


I don't think I've played enough to get a rock-solid handle on just how the game plays out in general, but I've played enough to feel confident that my curiosity was worthwhile.

 

[schnell]

Contest #14

So these shoot 'em up games aren't really my thing but I decided to try out Really Big Sky anyway. Picked it up in a Humble Bundle a while back I believe. Fast, hectic, and colorful, I was confused the whole time. Thank goodness the game had a mode called "Peaceful?" where you could "Throw in your own damn towel!" and play with infinite lives. I did that for a bit, got killed a lot, and took some screenshots. I loved the soundtrack and atmosphere of the game, just a little too hectic for me.

Contest #15

Here's my Devil-Jesus looking Issac. Couldn't get steam to take screenshots in windowed mode so I hope this suffices:

 

[ChaChaChaChia]

Wizorb

Bought the game a week or 2 ago when it was on sale and decided to give it a shot today. It's an Arkanoid type game with a few extras like magic spells and buyable powerups. I'm not the most skilled at these types of games because I find it hard to aim where I need it to go and usually send the ball flying wildly all over the screen. Wizorb somehow made me feel like I was in control of where I sent the ball and each level was soon completed. The game also starts immediately into the next level which made it so easy to play "just one more". I love the character that you play as:

Also the visuals are very nostalgic for me looking like an old PC adventure game ala King's Quest and the music is a ripoff of the dungeon music in Zelda, which is awesome.

 

[LuffyZoro]

While mine may not be as challenging as some of the others, it's still pretty damn tough, especially with no checkpoints to be seen. I finished in 1:34, but I'm positive it's doable in under 1:25.

And yes, I put a GAF in mine as well.

 

[Caerith]

# 11 - Videogame Haiku

Lets go right over the voting

[B]Caerith         7,5[/B]
TheDuke56       2,5
Cth             1  
EternalGamer    1

Clear winner for the Contest #11: Caerith! Superdeservedly, as I might add. One of the many highlights of the Caelith show:


The random winner for this category will be determined from the 28 other participants (which should mark the highest entry count for any contest so far). And the winner is Dambrosi with his epic Haiku about his undying and neverending love to the game Tobe's Adventure that will transcend their relationship as player and videogame and will form a truly remarkable and longlasting bond for years to come!

Games:
Caerith - Renegade Ops! (sponsored by DOA)
Dambrosi - The Ship! (sponsored by Speevy)

Congrats to the winners! I hope those may be games you do not yet own.

woohoo and thank you!
steam community dot com
slash id slash caerith

/haiku

Contest #14 - Metro 2033

I picked up Metro 2033 like a year ago for $5-- it's always $5 in the Steam sales and I was building a new machine so I figured I needed something to test it. So I spent my time playing everything else instead, until today.

45 minutes later.

Metro 2033 apparently has excellent gamepad support, as the first thing I saw was Press Start. I prefer to play my shooters with keyboard/mouse, and couldn't intuitively figure out how to get it to ignore my gamepad, so I quit, unplugged my gamepad, and restarted. The game also supports weird resolutions, so there was another restart to get it to 1920 x 1080.

Prologue ho!

I only played the prologue and the first chapter, figuring I'd call it quits at the start of chapter 2. The events so far have been pretty heavily scripted, but that's a tutorial for you.

Drinking sim of the year.

So how does one judge a shooter? It looks great and runs great. I haven't played Metro 2032 but I think you can get a lot of the backstory from context. I'll definitely return to this in the future, but for a first impression I'd say it's worth playing.

Edit: Oh and also what's with the difficulties? Easy, normal, hardcore, ranger, ranger hardcore. What's ranger vs not-ranger? This is never explained.

 

[cheesetom]

Contest #14 - Eufloria

Mellow RTS. I think I'll bust this out in the retirement home someday.

 

[Toma]

While mine may not be as challenging as some of the others, it's still pretty damn tough, especially with no checkpoints to be seen. I finished in 1:34, but I'm positive it's doable in under 1:25.


And yes, I put a GAF in mine as well.

Took me a while to see it.

 

[toddhunter]

#13 You kind of have to squint a little...but hopefully you can see what I was going for.

Spoiler

It is Gaben

 

[schnell]

The checkpoints usually aren't there to make a course easier, but to prevent shortcuts since you can't finish without going through all of the checkpoints. Without them, it's just a race from start to finish however you can get there.

 

[LuffyZoro]

You kind of have to squint a little...but hopefully you can see what I was going for.

Cassette Man?

 

[toddhunter]

Cassette Man?

More steam related :|

Anyway

#15 Somehow ended up with this...

 

[Caerith]

Contest # 15

Not pictured: Mom's Pad

 

[The Wizard]

Contest #14
Decided to check out Gemini Rue, an adventure game I picked up in the indie bundle V yesterday. (Still on sale, If you don't down own this and Ys OiF it's definitely worth picking up.)
After a brief title sequence I was dropped straight into the game.

This game is really interesting. If I had to describe I would say it plays like a retro point and click adventure game set in a futuristic bladerunner-esque world. It seems the game has you playing as two different characters. One is a assassin turned cop investigating the corruption of thie city and the other is a mysterious test subject known as delta-six who is being kept in a sinister test facility.

The section of the game I played had me primarily playing as the detective, who I later learned was called Azriel. I was meant to meet with someone known as Mathius Howard but he was a no-show. It was up to me and my limited toolset to track him down. The puzzles, at least at the beginning of thee game, didn't feel too taxing or illogical. I didn't have any of those frustrating moments where I didn't know what to do or felt the game was not accepting my solution that some older adventure games suffer from. Controls are pretty simple click to walk around the enviroment or right click objects to bring up a menu that allows you to interact with them in various ways.
After messing around a bit and exploring I found a card that allowed me to access a nearby terminal.

The neat thing with terminals is that you can type in whatever and see if the game has a record of it. Handy to use as a glossary with so many fictional terms being thrown around without explanation. It's a small touch but it helps make you feel like you are in control of the investigation. Also handy is the map which I immediately zoomed out as far as possible to get a nice little view of the local galaxy.

Anyway with a some investigation and a small bit of justified breaking and entering I found my targets room. Unforunately he wasn't here. The local crime gang however, were.

I made a hasty escape out to the balcony and waited for them to leave. Once they left, I was able to access the targets computer and contact him by phone. I scheduled a meeting and the game cut away to a new area and I was now in control of delta-six, the test subject I mentioned earlier. After a brief introduction from a voice over speaker who referred to himself as the director I had to undergo some combat training.

Wait a minute, combat? Not what I was expecting from a typical adventure game. The actual mechanic of the shooting felt a little clunky, but it was an interesting system I hadn't seen in this genre before.
So Overall:
Good characterisation, intriguing story and world, some great sound design and some interesting new mechanics that bring a new twist to old style of point and click adventure games. I really did like what I played of it. If it looks like you kind of thing I recommend picking it up in indie Bundle V. (unfortunately it's not on sale otherwise.)

 

[A Human Becoming]

Contest #14:

First off, I got the Binding of Issac DLC, The Wrath of Lamb, before this contest. I heard it was significantly harder than the base game. There's no way from my understanding to disable it once purchased. I don't find the game THAT hard though. My biggest issue is it doesn't seem possible to save. By the third floor I typically get killed off, resulting in a restart. The levels are pretty quick however, so it's not a major annoyance. The levels also appear to be randomly generated, which keeps it considerably fresh.

So far the intro was my favorite part of the game. I guessed what type of humor it had based on the little I knew about the game, but it was still funny. Issac shooting tears is cute, but the combat is mediocre. It's a pretty simple shooter where the basic strategy is to strafe to avoid getting hit. What I don't like about it is they don't always explain what items do. There was one instance I used an item without anything happening. Maybe there was a change in the bottom right hand corner, but that's a pretty poor place to show that information. Items like mom's purse also don't explain how to use them. Is it armor?

The creator is associated with Newgrounds in some sense and it shows. It's still fun, just not as good as people had made it out to be. I'll probably take a screen-shot for the other contest and beat it sometime in the future.

EDIT: Is there no way to skip the opening cutscene when you reload the game? That would be really annoying.

 

[Wario64]

Toma are you the one that will gift the prize I got from contest #12 (Nation Red), or do I contact the sponsor?

 

[The Grim Heaper]

Contest #15

First off, I just wanna thank you for making me play this, Toma. Must've been like fate or something because it was my best venture yet. Also, a warning: Most of this is probably going to be random rambling!

Isaac's journey started out how my others normally do, getting hit a few times but lasting. My first item was the Inner Eye, which was my first time getting it and it put me off to a good start. I got my usual items then: horns, meat cube, etc... this is what I looked like after the second boss(which was The Duke of Flies).

Again, everything was straight forward from there. I got the treasure map for the first time, which made things much easier and I got to every secret room. Then, after the fourth boss, I struck the Devil Room and got myself the Brimstone.

From there, I did not find another helpful item. Stuck on 2 hearts, I pushed forward, hoping to get through this. I went to the secret room on The Depths 1 and found my savior: The Shovel. I dug down into The Depths 2 without realizing that... that is where you fight Mom. I braced myself and for the second time ever, I defeated Mom. Expecting the game to end, I was shocked to see that I unlocked a new floor: the Womb! At this point I was freaking out because it's a new area and I only have 3 hearts after the Mom boss. Well, I kept going and, without any sort of items or upgrades, I thought I was screwed. Before I knew it, it was right before the final boss... I braced myself by doing what I do best, and that is shooting my laser!

... well, I went into the boss room and died in one hit. But I've never been there before and it was for sure a great ride! I know my Isaac doesn't really look like an abomination, but that's all I can do after that! I realize half of this is rambling and not necessary, but I figured I would share anyway.

 

[Toma]

Toma are you the one that will gift the prize I got from contest #12 (Nation Red), or do I contact the sponsor?

I will do that tomorrow. Finally need to get to bed now. Sorry guys that the gifting takes ~a day during this contest thingie.

 

[A Human Becoming]

Contest #15:

Best I could do. I suck hardcore.

 

[Salsa]

contest #15:

right before beating the true ending too

 

[alr1ght]

Contest #15

that's racist

 

[Kryptonite]

Contest #14: Write impressions on a Steam game you NEVER played so far.

I decided to try Faerie Solitaire since I got it free from the devs on reddit a while ago. It is a solitaire card game that you can play in short spurts or long stretches. Use magic spells, collect pets, and unlock power-ups. Basically, it is a card game with fantasy and some lite rpg elements. I'll probably continue playing it since it is so easy to pick up and play.

 

[Fou-Lu]

Contest #14

Game of choice is Fallout New Vegas, I've had it since the last Christmas sale but haven't played it yet. 41 minutes in and while I've not even gotten out of the first town I have to say the atmosphere compared to Fallout 3 is amazing. So much more.... real.

Think I'll probably restart after adding some mods and figuring out what I want to do with my character though.

 

[the doombass]

Contest #14

Picked this up based off of a friends recommendation when it was 75% off. The game is pretty straight forward and the environment of the heist I played felt awesome. Was a blast to play with my friend, but when random people started joining in and screwing around it was kind of annoying. Would only recommend if you have people to play with. Did not try the single player mode, or mess with the leveling up of the 3 "classes". Will probably play this game every now and then.

 

[mannerbot]

Contest #14 entry:

I played Pixeljunk Eden for the first time. There's no windowed mode so this game immediately gets put on my shitlist, but it's a very pretty game with great atmosphere. From the little I played it doesn't seem to be much more than that; I get the distinct impression that it's an experience rather than a game, and one that would be far enhanced with the use of illicit substances.

Stunning visually and aurally but I don't really think I'll be compelled to finish this game anytime soon. This will probably be a game I save to "relax" when I don't feel like playing something that requires effort from the part of the player.

 

[Salsa]

contest #14:

one sitting

quite liked it. Mechanically it improves a lot on the original Alan Wake and that's about it, yet that alone makes the combat more enjoyable and varied. Other than that you just gotta take it as a more gamey side dish. Wasnt a fan of the conversation "system" but everything else was fine, appreciated the FMVs and Mr.Scratch was awesome.

It has an arcade mode that I havent touched yet and im lookin forward to it.

 

[Bliddo]

Contest #15

Hipster isaac

 

[mannerbot]

Contest #15 entry:

 

[toddhunter]

Watching IWBTGG tonight inspired this late Haiku

Floe you died, floe floe
you died, floe you died, floe floe
you died, floe you died

 

[The_Monk]

Bumping the thread for Morning-GAF!

 

[mclem]

While mine may not be as challenging as some of the others, it's still pretty damn tough, especially with no checkpoints to be seen. I finished in 1:34, but I'm positive it's doable in under 1:25.

Be careful with omitting checkpoints; they're how the game determines completion. You complete a track when you go through all the checkpoints and then go through the finish. Leaving out checkpoints does make me wonder if your track is exploitable to just cut across the grass to the finish line.

...and now I've said that, and looked at your track again, I've noticed the shadows. Whoops! Yeah, you're going to be fine.

 

[MNC]

Challenge #15 Binding of Isaac

Best I could do on short notice. Wearing high heels, puked all over his face and a turd on his head. And yes, that is "Mom's pad".

And another addition:

Holy shit, the first one looks like a harlequin baby.

 

[Joonytoon]

Here's Isaac as a ghost!

 

[mclem]

Actually, while I'm rambling about Trackmania checkpoints: A real bugbear of mine that's actually distressingly common on community tracks is a tendency to place checkpoints in an area where you can't actually *use* them; if you respawn there, you have to back up to get some speed up before making the next jump.

Touch wood I don't *think* I've fallen into that trap! It's something to investigate when playtesting, though.

 

[The_Monk]

I really don't feel confortable playing this game to be honest, don't know why.

Either way I decided to contribute:

Contest #15

More creepy than ugly but, meh.

 

[OmegaDragon]

Here's Isaac as a ghost!

Sweet Jesus that's ugly D:

 

[KPJZKC]

Contest #15

Me after studying compilers for 8 hours -

Cowboy and indians Isaac

Cyborg Isaac

 

[LuffyZoro]

Be careful with omitting checkpoints; they're how the game determines completion. You complete a track when you go through all the checkpoints and then go through the finish. Leaving out checkpoints does make me wonder if your track is exploitable to just cut across the grass to the finish line.

...and now I've said that, and looked at your track again, I've noticed the shadows. Whoops! Yeah, you're going to be fine.

Yeah, mine has a lot of elevation changes and is mostly off the ground, so doing that would be difficult.

 

[KPJZKC]

Contest #14

Not sure where I picked this game up, perhaps in one of the (many, many) indie bundles.

It's a pretty familiar kind of puzzle game, but the art style is nice, and the music isn't bad.