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Portal Stories: Mel (PC) by dkirschner (Apr 26th, 2024 at 17:11:51) |
I had some Portal 2 mod sitting in my Steam library and then saw some other one released recently that was highly, highly reviewed. I thought, "I wonder what are some other fully self-contained Portal story mods with great reviews," and Portal Stories: Mel jumped out. Downloaded it, played it. It's ridiculously impressive, basically a full prequel to Portal 2. But man, is it challenging! I made it most of the way through without using a walkthrough, but eventually caved in and then relied on it to solve four or five levels. Initially, I had luck putting the game down and coming back to it later, seeing the puzzles fresh, but after a while that quit working.
It's hard in part because it begins where the difficulty in Portal 2 ended. It's a full game, but not in terms of introducing mechanics. That is to say, it doesn't introduce mechanics. It assumes you know everything and are a portal genius. That's fine as a mod. So its puzzles are difficult, and they are really clever. You have to learn new tricks, not used in previous Portal games, that it doesn't teach you. You just have to figure out, for example, that "destroying a cube" is occasionally what you need to do to solve a puzzle. It never would have crossed my mind that I would need to purposefully destroy a cube for any reason, but it pulls that trick a few times. Other times, you need to move a cube from afar using an excursion funnel. In the second level I caved in for the walkthrough, you combine these tricks, using an excursion funnel to destroy a cube, so that you can get a new cube in a different spot.
In the third level I used a walkthrough for, there is actually a decoy button and panel that you don’t need at all. I spent a lot of time messing with that button and panel! That level honestly felt mean! There is also some guesswork involved in some levels in shooting a portal where you can’t see, which was also kind of a mean trick. One trick (that I figured out, go me!) that I saw a lot of people stuck on involved sliding a cube down a slope to break the paths of a series of lasers, which opened up a series of red laser grids so that you could get to the next area. That one took a while because, annoyingly, you have to slide the cube down the slope and get it to land in a portal. You have to open the other portal after you pass the red laser grids and get the cube. But getting the cube to slide into a good spot to be able to pick it up was a pain. All these super hard levels made me feel brilliant when I solved them (typical Portal!), and like an idiot when I saw the solution online ("Ah, of course!" Or actually in this game's case sometimes, "What the hell?!?").
The story and production values are great. You play as another test subject, there is another maintenance core, and there is another AI trying to kill you. It's a direct prequel to Portal 2, which you learn after the credits. Very cool. If you're a Portal fan, it's worth playing, but just know that it'll really test you!
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Wandersong (PC) by dkirschner (Apr 26th, 2024 at 16:46:54) |
This was a freebie from somewhere or another, and it is totally worth playing. I picked it up because it looked like it had an interesting "singing" mechanic. You use the right stick to navigate an action wheel, where each of eight directions is represented by a color and produces a note. Your character is a bard, so you're basically singing with the right stick. It's pretty simple, but it is implemented in a variety of ways throughout the game. For example, you don't select dialogue options like in most games. You use the right stick to choose the option on the action wheel and the bard "sings" the dialogue option, one click on the wheel per syllable. So, "I'm a singing bard" would be like right, right, left, up, down-right. For dialogue, it doesn't matter which notes you sing, just sing the syllables. Other times, you'll have to match colors like in a typical rhythm game, or during some very cool boss fights sing notes according to colors of projectiles and environmental cues. Like I said, it's not terribly difficult, but it is such a different take on how a character interacts with the game world, and it's done in such a playful way, that it's consistently fun. I smiled through most of the game.
The entire game has a playful tone, not just the singing mechanic. The story itself plays with the typical RPG hero narrative. You aren't a hero; you're an overly positive little bard who thinks he can sing a song to save the world. There is a hero with a giant sword who calls lightning from the sky, and constantly foils your adventure, saving the world in the traditional way by killing all the bosses, but she's a jerk. The game is all about "believing in yourself" and "friendship" and "being positive" and etc. In most RPGs, you learn special moves, gain equipment to better kill enemies, get money (the bard never has any money), and so on. What does the bard find hidden throughout his adventures? A man in a mask who teaches him dances. Very silly dances. What purpose do the dances serve? None whatsoever, except to entertain you. You can dance-walk (instead of regular walk) at any time, and it is pretty funny.
The writing is also consistently funny, and there are many characters to meet. The game is broken up into seven acts, some of which are more interesting than others. They generally have a "talk to all the people" phase, then a "complete the area (side)quests" phase, then a "puzzle platform" phase, then an encounter of some sort with a fairy or a boss or the hero or someone. Admittedly, there is a lot of dialogue, and yes, I read all of it because it's good. But the characters are talkative. And admittedly the quests are not always that exciting. And admittedly the puzzle platforming leaves something to be desired in terms of how well the bard controls and in terms of length (they almost always feel too long). But damn if the whole package isn't a 9 out of 10!
It's definitely a little rough around the edges, which only added to its charm for me. The bard sometimes glitched into the terrain, so I'd have to exit and re-enter a screen. The pirate ship occasionally just refused to move in one act. Also, for some reason, when the camera was zoomed out, the dialogue could become unreadable. I assumed this had to do with the fact that the game ran in a low resolution on a TV, but it was the same on my laptop. I've watched videos where it looks fine for other people. I mean, it was like 1% of scenes that were unreadable. Most were fine, and at worst, some scenes were like looking at one of those "did u kno u can raed tihs senentce bceause the frist and lsat ltetrs are the smae??" things, which was...honestly kind of fun, like word puzzles. Obviously not ideal, but it didn't detract from how much I liked the game.
So, a big hit for me that I never would have heard of had it not been offered for free. Definitely recommend for those who like RPGs and quirky indie games.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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Donkey Kong Country (SNES) by vkbl111 |
| I like the game play. Yet it is slightly difficult for me. |
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most recent entry: Thursday 28 February, 2013
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Donkey Kong Country: Played between February 19 and February 28
Donkey Kong Country is a mainly single player game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It also includes two different two player co-op modes: a cooperative mode where the second player controls the second character when the first player gets hit, and a mode where players complete each level separately to compare scores at the end. Donkey Kong Country puts the player(s) in the "shoes" of Donkey Kong, a gorilla who's banana stash was taken by an evil crocodile, and Diddy Kong the young monkey sidekick. The game tasks the player(s) to complete levels and challenges to get back Donkey Kong's(From here on referred to as DK) banana stash.
= Players =
In single player and competitive two player mode each player is given control of DK and Diddy. At the start the player only controls DK, but if a barel is found then Diddy starts running behind DK. If DK is hit he goes away and the player controls Diddy. If another barel is found then DK comes back. At any time both apes are present the player can switch between the two. If only one ape is present and the player gets hit, it is game over.
Both apes are slightly different to play as. DK is slow but when he throws barels he can throw them further. Diddy on the other hand is fast and can jump higher to reach different areas.
In co-op mode player one controls DK, and player two controls Diddy. Only one player is in control at any given time. If DK is hit the game slightly pauses to let player two get ready, and as soon as player two hits any button on the SNES controller the game resumes with the second player controlling Diddy. Also the players can choose to switch at any time by hitting Y on the SNES controller. This can be done to reach areas and power ups that the other player cannot.
= The World =
The game world is divided into differently themed areas which consist of multiple levels. At the end of each area there is a boss, a large, difficult enemy that requires multiple hits to defeat. The first area is themed after a jungle, and the second is themed after mines. There are also lava and ice themed areas as well as water levels. The levels are all slightly different with many hidden areas that contain bonuses. On the world map the player can access save points, "teleport" points that let you go back to a previous world faster, and tip points where the player can purchase hints.
The controls are tight and do not seem to have any lag. This helps the game rely on player skill instead of using cheap deaths.
The graphics are extremely good for the SNES and set the mood well. The music also adds to both the graphics and the game play. I was extremely impressed with the game look and feel.
= The Game =
The game drops the player in a jungle and tasks the player to get to the end of each level, usually requiring the player to run to the right. There are enemies that can be defeated by throwing barels or jumping on their heads, though some enemies damage the player if the enemy is jumped on. If the player loses all their apes they lose a life. Once all lives are lost it is Game Over, and the player can start from the beginning or the last save point.
There are many items to collect throughout the game. Most common is a banana, which if the player collects one hundred of they receive another life. If the player collects the letters spread throughout each level that spell out KONG(in any order) the player receives another life. If the player collects a balloon they receive another life. Also there are animal statues spread throughout the levels. The statues are of a fish, ostrich, and frog. If the player collects three statues of one kind they are taken to a bonus level that is filled with bananas. The player is tasked with collecting as many bananas as possible within a time limit.
When the player reaches the end of an area they are tasked with defeating a boss. The boss usually has a predictable pattern and takes multiple hits to defeat. After beating the boss the player is allowed passage into the next area. After clearing all the levels and all the areas as well as all the bosses the player beats the game.
= Game Play =
I played continuous sessions throughout the week. First I tried playing the game solo, and then I had a friend join me for a co-op attempt.
Solo Session: I played Donkey Kong Country in solo mode first. I played it on the SNES using the stock SNES controller to be able to use controls as they were originally designed.
After the game dropped me off on the first level it took me some time to get used to the controls. There was a roll that was an attack, jumping was to navigate platforms as well as to attack some enemies. There was also an ability to pick up barels to get Diddy as well as to use the barels to attack enemies.
On the first level most of the enemies were the same, crocodiles. Dealing was fairly easy, and became even easier when I discovered a rhino power-up that let me ride a rhino that auto attacked any enemies that I encountered.
After trying playing as both characters, I discovered that I preferred the way that DK controlled, seemed more one to one than when playing as Diddy.
The first few levels were fairly simple, though the armadillo enemy gave me issues.
A couple levels later there was an enemy that you could not kill: giant bees. This was an enemy I learned to avoid and just jump over. This became difficult when the mechanic of firing DK between moving barels was introduced. The barels moved quickly and so did the bees, therefore timing the shots was fairly difficult. I died multiple times on this level, yet thanks to the bananas I had collected up to that point kept me from running out of lives.
The first boss fight was with a giant mouse. It was very easy and I beat him without dying even once.
The second area came after that and was in the mines. The environment was very dark, and sometimes it was difficult to see the edges of platforms even with the lights off, and therefore I died a couple of times.
I had no issues other than that in this world until I reached a level which I can only describe as the mine cart level. In this level DK and Diddy were riding in a mine cart. The task at hand was to jump over enemies on other carts, as well as jumping over gaps in the tracks. The speed and layout of this level was so difficult I could not beat it, even after I went back to the first level of the game and played it over and over to get a large amount of extra lives. I attempted the mine-cart level over multiple days and I could not beat it. So I decided to bring in some help.
Co-Op Session: As I could not beat the mine cart level alone I decided to get a friend, John, to come over and play the game in co-op with me. We breezed through the first area fairly easily. I remembered most of the levels, and the things I had difficulties with John's faster reflexes got us through much faster and easier than when I was going through the game alone. The game was much more enjoyable and less stressful when playing with a friend. Now when I died instead of getting angry we just made fun of each other and had a laugh. When we got to the mine-cart level we went back to the first level to hoard lives. After we had 20 extra lives we decided to attempt that dreadful level.
When we began the level I let John take control of the game. He was actually able to get us further than when I played solo. We got to a checkpoint, which let us begin from there every time we start the level. Yet no matter how much we tried we could not get past that forsaken level. Whenever we finally made a jump that was difficult an enemy would come out of nowhere and kill us. We decided to give up after trying for 2 hours. This is as far as I was able to get in the game.
= Overall =
Donkey Kong Country is a fast paced platformer from the days when platformers ruled the video game market. It is fun yet difficult. Often the difficulty is to the point of frustration, which I can honestly say is because of lack of skill on the player side instead of cheap tricks. Eventually I hope to beat that mine cart level, and I can't wait to experience the rest of this amazing game.
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