 |
|
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments (PS4) by jp (Apr 21st, 2024 at 00:26:13) |
This game is way more interesting than I initially gave it credit for (and I might even play all the cases, I'm that curious!)
There's a bunch of cases, you're Sherlock and you gather clues, investigate locations, use your special "eyesight", interrogate suspects, and more. So far, this is what you'd expect.
Some clues become more important and they show up in your "brain" where you can pair it up with another clue (if it's the correct one) to deduce something. Once you have enough of those, you can reach a conclusion. ALSO, once you've reached a conclusion you can decide how to act on it (usually it's either call the cops or call Mycroft - i think...).
What's really wild is that in the brain-connecting clues interface, you can reach lots of different conclusions! (I think it's 4 per case, at least it has been that so far and I've completed two cases). OH! And, as far as I can tell, the you can get it wrong! And, you just move on...the game calls some of them moral choices - which I'm confused by. But the idea that you could arrive at an incorrect conclusion and the game just moves on to the next case is pretty wild. So far, I've gotten both right (because there's abutton you can press that even warns you - like "spoiler alert" and it shows my result in green - which I assume is that I got it right).
Anyways, that's super cool!
Oh, and the game haslots of little mini-games that you play once, and they're part of the story (e.g. taking sherlock's pulse, or arm-wrestling with a sailor)..
The 2nd case is pretty neat - it takes place in the UK, there's a missing train...and there are rich Chilean (and Mexican) businessmen involved! Whoah.
read all entries for this GameLog 
- add a comment 
|
|
Fights in Tight Spaces (PC) by jp (Apr 21st, 2024 at 00:19:38) |
This one's a bit weird and I'll confess I didn't play it that much (just played one mission - which is like 1/5 of a full run?). It looks like it wants to be SuperHot, but it isn't - that's ok. But, it has a "play the movie" of what you just did in a level that you would think would play fast and smooth and super action-y. But now, it's slow and it even pauses between card plays...so it looks rather boring, which is a real shame.
As for the game, there's interesting stuff going on, but I haven't fully understood everything:
a. There's a typical energy system for casting, but a secondary system (combo) that lets you play some cards with a combo cost. If you move in your turn you lose combo so it's sometimes tricky to get everything to pull off.
b. While playing I was disappointed (because it seemed unfair) that there are objectives (bonus ones) in each level - and I wasn't getting any because I didn't know what they were! Apparently they're actually shown on screen, but in a place I did not see or notice.
c. The game seemed a bit slow - I was just moving and getting out of the way as I waited to draw into a good hand of cards. This cuts the momentum for sure and also made it hard/impossible to accidentally hit the secret (not really secret) objectives. So, I'm curious to go back and try again with awareness of the objectives. They should help a lot - in that I'm more likely to try to "solve the puzzle" of each turn and hopefully get the bonus objectives.
d. It's strange that you have to pay to heal, but I thought it was neat that you can upgrade several cards (if you have the money) and that some cards are cheap to upgrade - there's different pricing for them!
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
Hadean Tactics (PC) by jp (Apr 21st, 2024 at 00:11:34) |
Ok, I've now cleared the game (not unlocked everything, of course) and it really is quite fun and interesting. The 3rd character (which I was waiting on to try out because I wanted to clear the game with the 2nd one) is pretty neat as well though as I write this all I can really remember is that it has an orb mechanic similar to one of the characters in Slay the Spire.
The harder ending is basically another 3 levels, but they get shorter! The last one, if I remember correctly, is just the boss. I don't remember what deck I was running, but it was pretty good - in the sense that I had picked up some good combos..traps and all.
I'm going to stop playing, for now, mostly because the list of games too look at keeps on growing - one a week - because of the design seminar I'm teaching.
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
Before Your Eyes (PC) by dkirschner (Apr 14th, 2024 at 13:51:13) |
I've been looking forward to playing this, especially after playing One Hand Clapping, which had a singing mechanic. That game activates your mic and you use your voice, raising and lowering pitch, to interact with the game. Before Your Eyes was similar in that the game activates your webcam and uses your eye blinks as input. Before Your Eyes works WAY better than One Hand Clapping, and it's the better game all around. I figure that detecting blinks (yes/no) is easier than detecting notes along the range of human vocal pitch, so kudos to One Hand Clapping for trying.
Blinking in Before Your Eyes doesn't do anything unless you do it over a prompt (mouse over the prompt, then blink to interact) or unless you do it when the metronome icon is visible, which progresses the story to the next scene. The rules are simple, and it became a game in and of itself for me to blink strategically. I imagined that at the end of A Clockwork Orange, Alex's eyes are forced open so that he could successfully complete this game. At times, I felt like holding my eyes open with my fingers. This is because your eyes will get tired/dry/itchy while playing and you will screw up and blink when you don't mean to, skipping dialogue or ending a scene early. That's frustrating enough. Make sure you do the blink calibration, but I think that no matter how well you do it, it will still occasionally register some non-blinks as blinks. This really didn't happen much for me; through calibration, I think I turned the sensitivity way down, and I wonder what effect wearing glasses had. But like I said, it works surprisingly well.
So, the game itself is narrative-heavy. It's an obvious play on the idea that a life can pass in the "blink of an eye." You're picked up by a ferryman of souls who asks you to tell the story of your life. Back in time you go to remember it: your childhood, your parents, your career, etc., blinking your way through each scene. I won't spoil the story, but there is a twist that I absolutely did not see coming (though I should have paid more attention to the mysterious dark scenes) that changes the narrative and the tone of the game. This is one you can spend time reflecting on.
Aesthetically, it's got a simple visual presentation, sort of painterly, with some really nice piano music. The voice acting is good, with the exception of the girl-next-door (who sounds the same at 10 as she does at 40). For some reason, they also used the same voice actor for your dad and her dad, which made the one scene with her dad calling her very confusing ("Why is my dad at her house?!"). But I liked the dad and mom's performances. I was wondering through the whole game if your character was mute and/or on the spectrum because he doesn't talk--only through a typewriter later in the game--and otherwise expresses himself through his prodigious musical and artistic talents. But I think he's just a silent main character, not actually mute.
Anyway, the game won a BAFTA for a reason. It didn't blow my mind, but it's a neat experience that's worth having. It's short too, doesn't waste your time. I'm considering incorporating it into a class.
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
Stray (PC) by dkirschner (Apr 13th, 2024 at 12:00:39) |
Patrick and I have been playing this together this semester, and finished it a couple weeks ago. We were talking after beating it about despite how simple and straightforward of a game this is, it manages to be something new. Playing as a cat (and being able to do cat things like curl up and sleep, scratch things, knock objects off tables, etc., so cuuuute) was novel, and the setting and story were interesting. But really, playing as a cat. I smiled a whole lot throughout the game. The lil companion robot was cute too.
On the other hand, I was often tired and bored while playing, and literally fell asleep during several sessions. Patrick would be making dinner or something in the kitchen, and I'd snap awake, cat walking into a wall, and I'd pretend I had not fallen asleep, and that I was just watching the cat walk into the wall and thinking. Like how my dad always used to claim he was "resting his eyes" when he'd fall asleep on the couch.
I would not call the game exciting. It was a lot of wandering around the city and talking to robot NPCs, fetching things for them. The city is a really good-looking dystopia, and the robots are quirky, but I wish they had more dialogue. You don't get a sense that many of them have personalities besides whatever one-note thing they do. I mean, the lack of dialogue makes sense, and it's not really "dialogue" since the cat can't talk. The fact that you are a cat adds a whole layer of silly to the game. Like, why has this lil robot befriended a cat? Why are all these robots putting all their faith in a cat to save them? Cats don't understand what we're saying to them, and cats do whatever they want! Playing as a cat in a game where you're doing fetch quests (fetching is dog stuff!) and doing things to help people is very un-cat-like.
But, you know what? The ability to play as a cat and do cat things trumps how little sense it makes, and I would play as a cat in this dystopia again. Idea for next time: more cats. And what do you think? Were there cats at the end?! Optimistically, I think so.
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
|
|
|
GameLog hopes to be a site where gamers such as yourself keep track of the games that
they are currently playing. A GameLog is basically a record of a game you started playing. If it's open,
you still consider yourself to be playing the game. If it's closed, you finished playing the game. (it doesn't matter
if you got bored, frustrated,etc.) You can also attach short comments to each of your games or even maintain a diary (with more detailed entries)
for that game. Call it a weblog of game playing activity if you will.
[latest site fixes and updates]
[read more]
|
view feed xml
|
 |
|
2157 registered gamers and 3105 games. 7607 GameLogs with 13096 journal entries. 5074 games are currently being played.
More stats
|
 |
|
Shadowrun (360) by Jaadus |
| No comment, yet. |
|
most recent entry: Thursday 6 March, 2008
|
GAMELOG #2
GAMEPLAY:
As always, with customization, comes trends. Your defense isn't complete without a Troll carrying an accuracy-enhanced minigun or a Dwarf that can summon creatures and cast ice barriers. Offense will almost never capture a flag without an elf that has a sword paired with enhanced reflexes for bullet deflecting and increased speed. Certain exceptions always apply, and other combinations are usually more fun. But people always figure out what is most effective.
The tutorials, as helpful as they are, grow boring and a bit tedious after a while. I got tired of hearing the instructors voice. He talked entirely too much to explain relatively self-explanatory things. I ended up ignoring most of what he said, spamming 'X' to continue through his talking, and talking to my roommate until I was able to move again.
This game came out a long time ago. Around it's release date, I'm sure there was a lot of activity, but now there is next to none. I went online after the tutorials and there were about twenty matches happening, total. I joined a few, and the players were standing around beating their teammates with the flag they were supposed to capture. Nobody was actually playing. That left me with bot matches, and I had pretty much had my fill of those by the end of the tutorials. Overall, I'm really glad I didn't spend the money to buy this game, because I shot through pretty much all it had to offer in about three hours.
DESIGN:
The levels are designed to take advantage of the enhanced mobility and defensive capabilities of the spells. There are lots of high ledges and long drops, perfect to teleport up or fling someone from. There are rooms ideal for refuge where you can cast healing spells, and bridges and ramps for barricading. The environment combined with either offense or defense, and what stage in the match you happen to be at, really promote on-the-fly changes in style and strategy. I think this was well done. Not perfect, by any means, but well done.
Each race looks distinct. Humans are rather default, Dwarves are about half their height, Trolls are very large and box shaped, and Elves are tall and very thin. This distinction is very important in games like this where what race you're fighting makes a large difference. I don't want to approach a Dwarf for fear of losing my mana, and I know if I get into trouble I can outrun that Troll. Magic objects are also very large and distinct. Trees of Life are stationary objects that heal you, and appear as a rather large golden tree with glowing particles floating from it. The ice move produces crystals about as tall as a Human that are rather hard to miss. Summoned monsters are taller than the other races and are colored very brightly as blue or red. The idea is, you always know what each object or creature is without having to concentrate on figuring it out. You can spend more time thinking of how to behave accordingly. The only issue I had with this was, while all of that is distinct, the team colors are very dull. I ended up concentrating on player heads and shoulders to figure out teams, as the red team wore a headband and the blue had shoulder pads. This wasn't that big of an issue, and I got past it relatively fast, but I think it would have been overlooked entirely if the colors had been more clear.
I was really looking forward to a campaign and story behind this game. I'd heard good things about the Shadowrun RPGs that predated this game, and I have a soft spot for fantasy worlds. The campaign (or lack thereof) was disappointing, as I hope I've made clear. That didn't stop them from trying to add a backstory anyway. Before each tutorial mission was a sorry excuse for a cutscene, mostly consisting of still images and a female narrator telling you the story. You never participate in the story, it is merely giving some facts you don't care about as the character's motivation for shooting the other guys. I watched two and skipped the rest, as they felt like a waste of time. Essentially, they told you that people found magic, some people are trying to steal your artifacts, and we're going to train you to use magic so you can stop the thieves. That truncates to 'shoot the guys trying to take the shiny thing' and that's about all that matters.
[read this GameLog]
|
|
|
