 |
|
American Truck Simulator (PC) by jp (Feb 4th, 2026 at 23:07:13) |
Not my usual cup of tea. But, I'm playing simulator games this semester and I picked this one for the list.
A real positive surprise - I would call this an accessible driving game - yes, it's a giant truck, but you (I) could get by without having to do a million tutorials because there's all kinds of settings you can turn on/off to make it more or less realistic as a simulation of driving a truck.
The game starts in California, Arizona and Nevada - more places unlocked via DLC, which was a bit of a disappointment. But, this was mostly because I was really hoping to drive a truck in Utah. That being said, parts of Nevada (I chose to start in Elko) were basically like Utah...
The game has a really interesting time/space compression thing going on. Drives that are 4 hours in real-life take a lot less, but you never really notice when it scales down the space/time. I think that when you're on the highway/big roads time moves faster (and the distance counts for more miles), but when you're going slow in a town - it seems to go by 1:1.. It's a really cleverly designed system that gives you the experience of having along drive - but without getting bored or tired.
I wasn't expecting an entire business-sim as well, though it's arguably lighter on this end? You take on jobs- get money, eventually buy your own truck. Then more trucks and end up hiring more people who also drive for you..and so on. But, I didn't get that far - there's also a levelling/XP system for you, which for the most part just unlocks perks that make it more profitable/easier to drive. Not in the gameplay/mechanics sense, but rather in that you earn more money, use less gass. So, not like "+1 to top speed" or other unrealisitic stuff.. just unrealistic stuff like "now you can do trips that are longer". For really long trips you need to plan ahead for where you'll re-fuel as well as stopping to sleep!
This was way more fun and interesting than I expected and it made me think that games where you're supposed to drive from A to B, follow roads and laws, are...a rare type of game? I couldn't think of any that weren't truck simulator games... everything seems to either be a race or an openworld exploration sort of thing. Weird, huh?
read all entries for this GameLog 
- add a comment 
|
|
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (PS4) by jp (Feb 4th, 2026 at 22:53:48) |
Still playing!
At this point I beat the game...but it took so much longer than I expected. This was almost entirely because I was significantly under-leveled, but...I practiced the real-time side of combat and, with a bit of patience, I basically went in and beat the final boss despite being 20+ levels under. I was level 49 or so...and the final boss was 62? And the final, final boss was 72. Or thereabouts. This was 40 hours and I was getting to the point of bailing because "I just can't be bothered", but I stuck it through (without levelling up, just by getting better at the game).
Weirdly, I now want to go back and keep playing because my kingdom isn't levelled up enough! I guess I'll decide if I do or not the next time I can sit down and play for a bit....
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
Rustler - Grand Theft Horse (PC) by Gabin B (Jan 23rd, 2026 at 14:45:29) |
Session 1 :
Reprise parodique du système de jeu de GTA (premiers opus) dans un contexte médiéval. Le système de jeu repose sur deux grands modes : à pied, à cheval.
Le monde ouvert propose plusieurs activités : quêtes annexes, tournois, courses hippiques, collectibles, etc.
L'ambiance est intéressante, le mélange de la culture urbaine avec le médiéval propose des idées amusantes, incongrues et originales.
Je regrette pour le moment une histoire très creuse, aucun personnage marquant (le doublage marmonné n'aide pas), des quêtes oubliables. Mais surtout une parodie de GTA qui perd la critique sociale, la satire et les enjeux derrière l'expérience irrévérencieuse.
--------------
A parodic take on the GTA gameplay system (early entries) transposed into a medieval setting. The game system is built around two main modes of play: on foot and on horseback.
The open world offers a range of activities: side quests, tournaments, horse races, collectibles, and so on.
The atmosphere is interesting; the blend of urban culture with medieval aesthetics generates amusing, incongruous, and original ideas.
For now, I regret the very shallow story, the lack of memorable characters (the mumbled voice acting doesn’t help), and largely forgettable quests. Above all, this GTA parody loses the social critique, satire, and underlying stakes that give meaning to the irreverent experience.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Jan 23rd, 2026 at 14:52:44.
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
Herdling (PC) by dkirschner (Jan 19th, 2026 at 19:45:09) |
I really enjoyed Okomotive's first game, Far: Lone Sails, but then really disliked the sequel, Changing Tides. So I decided to give this one a chance. I wasn't sure based on the reviews, but I saw a lot of them saying that it was more like Lone Sails than Changing Tides. Turns out to be true. Herdling is another atmospheric game about a journey that revolves around one core mechanic, herding creatures that look kind of like yaks. You are a kid and you find some kind of magical herding stick that lets you control where the yak-things go, and then for whatever reason, you start herding the yak-things toward a distant, snowy mountain.
The herding mechanic is simple. You press RT to command the yak-things to move ahead, and the direction they move is based on where you are in relation to the herd. They move 180 degrees in front of where you are facing (so straight ahead). That means if you want the herd to go left, you need to move behind them to the right, and vice versa. That's pretty much it. You will guide them through various levels and environments, avoid obstacles, solve the occasional easy puzzle, and proceed toward the mountain.
On the way, you find and tame more of the creatures. I really liked doing this because the game encourages building a connection with each one, firstly, because you can name them. So of course I named them after the dog we are fostering (Noodle), our cats (Baby and Teddy), Sasha's mom's dogs, my mom's cat, my stepmom's cat, and some of our friends' pets. It turns out that the creatures can be killed, so there was a Teddy II in my herd (and the ghost, it turns out, of original Teddy, stuck around). You can feed them, clean them, pet them, play fetch with them, and adorn their antlers with trinkets. It's all very cute.
The "bad guys" are these fierce owl creatures that are feared on the mountain (according to the cave art), and they occasionally harass your herd. Your herd can die from owls, falling off cliffs, falling into chasms, and probably a couple more ways. Teddy is the only one of mine who died, so I feel like a pretty successful herder.
The story is...? Maybe examining the wall art would reveal more, but it's one of those wordless journeys. You take the herd to the mountain and...everyone lives happily ever after? You fulfill the prophecy? The herd lives to graze another season? Who knows. There's not much of a climax, but the moment-to-moment gameplay was thoroughly relaxing and enjoyable. Not a necessary game to play, even if you are into these kinds of experiences, but managing the herd was calming. Oh, and "stampeding" is fun and can put you in a flow state. The game breaks out into these wide open spaces where the herd can run. Move them through fields of blue flowers and they can stampede, going really fast, so finding the winding paths through bunches of blue flowers, hearing the music swell, watching the pretty landscapes go past, was engrossing.
I saw that their next game is a pinball deckbuilding roguelite. Iiiiiinteresting!
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
Keeper (PC) by dkirschner (Jan 18th, 2026 at 00:56:35) |
This is the latest Double Fine game. I was expecting a creative, artistic, narrative game. I got creative and artistic, but not so much narrative. Turns out that's fine. The game's got plenty of charm from the detailed artwork.
You play as a...stay with me here...lighthouse. Or rather, you are the light (and you happen to be atop a lighthouse). The game starts out slowly. The lighthouse is wobbly and all it can do is crawl around and shine a light. You basically press forward until you encounter an obstacle, shine the light to get past it, and continue pressing forward. Eventually, you get some simple puzzles, and finally, you reach the end of the lighthouse part and the game starts to get more fun.
I forget what happens, but your lighthouse is destroyed and the light ends up on a boat. The levels open up, the puzzles get more complicated, and movement is faster and smoother. I thoroughly enjoyed being a boat. I enjoyed the next metamorphosis even more. Then the final one is another "press forward" situation, but that's the end of the game, so it's okay. At the end (the last two transformations), you get a neat boss fight and some seriously trippy levels. Keeper is pretty to look at. Oh, and you also have a couple bird companions because...I guess...a light would be pretty boring on its own?
I'd recommend for something artistic and chill. It gets better as it goes on, and the third (of four) transformations was my favorite. I'd probably say three, two, four, one. Wonder what the Double Fine folks will cook up next!
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
|
 |
|
2318 registered gamers and 3341 games. 7875 GameLogs with 13363 journal entries. 5125 games are currently being played.
More stats
|
 |
|
Donkey Kong Country (SNES) by Westown |
| No comment, yet. |
|
most recent entry: Tuesday 12 February, 2008
|
Game play:
As Donkey and Diddy move out of the first world (which is where they are from), and into new worlds the tone of the game changes. Much like it would be if you left your home town into new places, these to experience the same thing. The game is more frustrating at points, but just as much fun as it was in the beginning when you conquer a level. So far the hardest have been water levels, where you need to swim around and avoided predators, or you can defeat them using DK’s friends.
Your allies in the game world are extremely helpful at points, and although they are not necessary to defeat levels, they make it much easier. You unlock them by jumping on boxes and they act as sort of an extra life, where if you are hit by an enemy, you just lose your friend, and you are not killed.
Overall this was a very fun game to play, the fun soundtrack and atmosphere created a feeling that is different than what you experience from any other game. Even though the game was tough, and extremely frustrating at some points, it was still a lot of fun and I would highly recommended it to any age group.
Game design:
The level design in this game is different than any other game that I have played. The story is based on an island that has several different areas on it called “worlds.†Each world has a particular theme, new bad guys, and a final boss that must be defeated to unlock the next world. This is a cool version of spatial segmentation because I am not usually the kind of gamer that likes to find stuff in big maps, and have to retrace your steps if you forgot something. I like the straight forward, “hear is a level, get to the end of it†idea.
When you unlock a new world, you start over from scratch, with nothing but the remaining lives you had from the previous world. So there is no way to save your progression other than by unlocking new save points, which can only be done by beating however many levels there are before the next point. This can be a particularly frustrating dilemma if you defeat a boss from a world with only a few remaining lives, then have to beat the next few levels with only one or two lives. And if you lose, you have to go back to the previous world and do it all over again. However, new lives can be achieved easily by collecting 100 bananas, or by finding life balloons.
With the combination of its creativity, simplicity and enjoyment, Donkey Kong Country easily makes it on my top 10 favorite games ever played.
[read this GameLog]
|
|
|
