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Bridge Constructor Portal (PS4) by jp (Sep 12th, 2026 at 16:02:23) |
Oh, the main reason I got bored is because, once the levels start to get a lot more complicated, I found myself in the situation of having to painstakingly "rebuild" bridges from scratch because my first attempt just just off by a little bit...and you can't really do things like select a whole construction and, say, move it to the left a little bit...you just have to built it again from scratch, which got a bit tiresome - felt more busywork.
That being said, because the physics simulation isn't quite 100% predictable - there are moments of genuine surprise and laughter. Each level has essentially two goals - get one cart across and get a convoy (multiple, that come out at a regular rate) of carts across. The convoy part was definitely more fun because your bridge might work for one cart, but oscillate a bit such that the next cart barely missed, and then there's a whole pileup with carts flipping and getting stuck or the entire bridge swinging out of control.
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Bridge Constructor Portal (PS4) by jp (Sep 12th, 2026 at 15:58:36) |
I played 40 plus levels, it was fun, didn't take too long but began to get a bit tiresome (which is why I've bailed and moved on).
This game is a portal-themed bridge-constructing game in which carts move automatically and you have to build structures that will sustain/hold them on their way to a pre-determined exit. It's physics based, and having taken static mechanics as an undergraduate I appreciated the load-balancing/bearing principles behind a lot of the gameplay.
However, the game's gameplay is portal-themed and not portal-based. In the main Portal games (1 and 2), the cognitive challenge comes from figuring out where to place portals and how to navigate yourself (your character, in first-person view if I recall) around an area such that you can reach the exit. In this game, the portals (and later gels for speedy and bouncy effects) are already placed - you just need to build bridges. This is fair to the game's title - just an observation not a complaint.
In fact, the existence of portals arguably makes the puzzles themselves more interesting because it affords larger areas withing a single screen/area. If a level in this context is a large rectangular "diorama" - there are only certain ways to navigate from, say, the top left corner down to the bottom right. Portals allows the game's designers to create different navigational paths that violate the regular rules you'd have to follow in a normal space - Portaling around is basically teleporting (going from A to B without traversing anything in between) - so you can have more "interesting" routes you need to build bridges in.
I haven't played the other games in the series, which I assume have their own interesting mechanics and level-things to avoid/make use of, and I wonder if "teleporters" were used in their earlier games? If so, then this game is a lot less interesting - after all it limits itself to portal themed things (switches, sentry guns, the gels, etc.) while the other games could presumably have all that and much more.
Still, as a theming exercise, it's really well done - GladOs and more...and fun little interstitials every 10 levels (or was it 20?).
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Senran Kagura Peach Ball (NSW) by jp (Sep 12th, 2026 at 15:48:09) |
I kept on playing the main story - it did become a bit of a drag mostly because I did not care about the story or characters - in the vain hope that this might unlock an additional table to play on. Alas, this was not the case. It did not help that I kept unlocking different cosmetic items and virtual things that threw me off - there was one whose icon was a small pinball table. It took me a while to figure out what they referred to and, sadly, it was not a new table.
That being said, I thought the game's table goal design was interesting and how it triggers a broader goal you reach and then move on. Another way to describe it is that the game's main mode of play (the story mode) is one in which the pinball table is NOT played "until you lose", rather it is play until you complete it's goals - and then it forcibly ends you get another story sequence. There is, of course, an "endless" mode which I would call "regular pinball". LOL.
As I write this I continue to wonder why they decided NOT to go with a vertical orientation for play but alas. The different camera angles helped some, but I still felt like the game was harder to play than it should have been (it wasn't hard to play, just made harder) because of the aspect-ratio limiting how much you could see on screen or how small/big it would be. I found better success changing the pinball to different colored/textured ones I unlocked because they had better contrast with the background table...
Oh, also the tables often got stuck in an "infinite" situation that I had to nudge out of to continue playing, which is why the endless mode and score chasing are kind of pointless.
BUT, it was an interesting game. Creepy in many ways, but true to the series theme (which is, I guess, creepy/pervy already?). The table goal design were interesting, even if I found it hard to follow them (look at the right-side of the screen while playing)...
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Event[0] (PC) by dkirschner (Sep 11th, 2026 at 16:12:33) |
This was an interesting one. Another "what happened in the space station" game (I have played several of those lately!), except in this one, all your interactions are with the ship's AI (named Kaizen) through computer terminals. This game was released in 2016, pre-genAI, so Kaizen procedurally generates dialogue based on what you type. For example, Kaizen will treat you differently if you're mean to it vs. nice to it. It can be persuaded to do things, like let you into into an airlock, or you can fail to persuade it and it'll kill you. That specific example was the only one during the game where I couldn't get Kaizen to do what I wanted. I suffocated in space like 10 times before looking up what to do. You have to specifically reassure Kaizen that you're not a threat to it, that you won't harm it.
I really enjoyed trying to figure out what to do through speaking with Kaizen, but I often felt very manipulative. I suppose this is necessary. I mean, the gameplay is almost like completing a series of dialogue puzzles, probing with keywords and instructions and learning how Kaizen tends to respond. It's interesting because, knowing I was talking with the ship's AI, I was treating it like a genAI chatbot, and expecting it to respond like a genAI chatbot. GenAI chatbots are collaborative. They are designed to facilitate interaction, to address user needs. The game actually put me in this collaborative state of mind with Kaizen because it isn't framed as a rogue AI villain, as ship/station AIs are in most games like this. But then, Kaizen doesn't act like a genAI chatbot. If you tell it to do something, it doesn't ask what you mean. It doesn't suggest another course of action. It doesn't offer up very much. It's collaborative, but in a cheeky way, like talking to someone who's a little sarcastic or guarded and who isn't going to be easy to work with.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to play for about a week, and when I came back to it today, I totally forgot what I was doing, where I was supposed to go, what this code I had was for. And Kaizen was being difficult and wouldn't give me straight answers! This resulted in all the aforementioned deaths and looking up things in walkthroughs. Turns out I was right at the end. So the last little bit of the game was dampened by me having to basically follow a guide because I didn't remember anything. The game is really short, and the story and narrative presentation are both obtuse, but it's interesting for sure.
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Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (NSW) by jp (Sep 11th, 2026 at 09:55:05) |
After another hiatus - I picked it up again last night. I had played a fair amount and had gotten to a boss fight I was sort of stuck on. Sort of in the sense that I didn't clear it, but also hadn't tried for too long or too hard.
The boss was Karla - who when defeated triggers a second boss fight against Flaus(?). I'm having a hard time remembering the names because I haven't been paying too much attention...
So, I booted up last night expecting to get stuck again, and although it took me a bit to get used to the buttons and actions again, I was able to (luckily!) quickly figure out where I was at/stuck - I mean, I didn't remember what I was doing at all. And so, it was back to Karla! And...I was able to finally beat them both...and then made my way back to a part of the map that look open...and yes! Finally made some progress.
There was a room that had a giant rock and... I had been finding these keys (I had four) and...Karla gave me a 5th (well, Flaus) which was exactly the number I needed...So, it felt really good to finally unlock that area - one for which I had no real idea what I was doing and for which I was starting to get a bit worried and confused. I had picked up these keys, didn't know how to use them, didn't know if they had been used already(?). Anyways, now it was made clear and I'm looking forward to seeing what new things open up now!
I've also hit level 22...I wonder how far this goes?
A few more interesting things:
a. You have a bow you can aim, and there's some puzzles/mechanics requiring the bow. They're clever in principle - for example, fire arrows at a large gear so that it rotates and lifts an elevator you need to ride in. But, you need to fire multiple arrows at it, so it gets a bit annoying because I'm bad at aiming the bow... There are other puzzles that were more fun - shooting arrows to hit a thing that opens a door - but sometimes there are magnets that affect the trajectory of the arrow and that sort of thing. Those were neat.
b. I ran across a buy that oversees a bow shooting mini-game - I did very poorly (you get rated/ranked) and I'm not sure if there's some sort of reward associated to doing well? I've moved past it now in terms of level layout...
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Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3) by Absolute2 |
| Very fun. Both singleplayer and multiplayer are more than worth trying. Both are very different from each other. Highly Recomend It. |
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most recent entry: Sunday 13 September, 2009
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Gamelog Entry 1
SUMMARY
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is, quite simply, a game about theoretical modern warfare situations. It is a first person shooter. It has both multiplayer and single player modes. The multiplayer focus is on leveling up and unlocking new equipment and camouflage. After each multiplayer match experience points are allotted to the player based on how well they did. The singleplayer mode is about stopping a radical leader in the middle east from overthrowing the government, and helping to quell a civil war in Russia. During single player mode, you jump around from two characters: an American Marine, and a British SAS commando. Now the gameplay is mostly just move around aim and shoot, with an occasional grenade toss. However there are a few interesting missions relying on stealth and sniper skills.
GAMEPLAY
For the first hour or so of play I decided to go with the single player mode. Single player starts you off as an S.A.S. commando named Soap McTavish going through training camp. Now the first thing I noticed was how well the objectives stand out. The first command given to me is to grab the pistol, and as I look around, the gun is on the table in front of me and it's flashing yellow so that you don't miss it. Another thing that they had was a little compass on the bottom of your screen that would show you which direction the next objective was located. So far finding the objectives have been very easy and I have had no problems there. Now I have played many first person shooters and this game was easy to pick up. The controls were very much like any other first-person shooter, so its not like I spent much time dying because I pressed duck instead of shoot. After you go through some more basic shooting and movement controls you move onto the course they have set up. The course starts with a quick slide down a rope and some fast paced shooting and moving. At first the course was a little confusing, but the nice thing about this is that you can do the course as many times as you want. I must have spent about fifteen minutes on this alone just trying to beat the best score. Sadly I failed by about three seconds. The training ends once you go over to your squad and the screen fades to black.
After the screen fades in from black you see that you are on a helicopter sitting next to your captain with two other squads mates opposite him. You see a ship in the distance of the stormy night. Once the helicopter gets over it you repel down to the ship with the rest of your team. When you get to the ship you are granted full control of Soap and I immediately start to open fire on the bridge, along with my teammates, and take down about six hostiles. From there we made our way into the hull taking out any small resistance that we encountered. Once we reached the inside of the hull and cleared it out, we started to get some radioactivity near one of the crates. We found a device in there but only had time to take the manifest before we had to go. As we are leaving the room, we all suddenly get thrown to the ground by a giant blast. I then get promptly pulled to my feet by the captain and we are then making a wild dash for our lives. From the blasts that occurred on the ship was slowly turning on it's side and now sinking. This was probably my favorite part of the level. From here on out you cant use your weapon and you have to move as fast as you can through the ship by following you team. As I'm moving through, the ship is noticeable turning on its side as my character is struggling to keep himself upright. Eventually we get outside and just barely make it to the helicopter, by jumping off of the ship up to opening in the back. I have to say that this part had me sitting on the edge of my seat. It was also a nice finish they added by having you almost fall off the chopper but have the captain pull you back up.
Overall my gameplay experience has been great. The storyline has been done well so far. It has kept me glued to the game even after going through this part for the second or third time. Also the aiming mechanics work very well for how i play first-person shooters. Now grenades in this game are a little more powerful than I am used to. However, whats nice in this is that if you are within range of a grenade that can kill you, a little grenade icon comes up on your screen and points to the general area of the grenade. So you can use this knowledge to run away, or even get close enough to grab the grenade and throw it back to them. One of the most amazing things that i have seen in this game so far is the smoke grenade effect. It actually looks like smoke and kinda acts like smoke. I can't recall another game that has done a smoke grenade nearly as well. So far this game looks great and plays great with only a few things to nit pick about.
Gamelog Entry 2
GAMEPLAY
After playing single player for a couple hours I have learned a few key elements of gameplay, such as how much health I have, how many bullets are in my clip, flash-bang grenades are useful, a moving target is always harder to hit, and so on. I started my second session on the first U.S. mission in the game. You are Sgt. Paul Jackson of the U.S. Marines on a mission to take out the radical leader of a rebel organization, who just executed their country's president, on live TV. This mission starts off with you in a helicopter with a couple other Marines. As you look in front of you, you can see about ten other helicopters around yours. As you move into this middle eastern city, the choppers are immediately getting fired upon from RPGs (rocket propelled grenade). As we keep moving forward the chopper slows and starts to hover in mid air about 50 ft. off the ground. The soldier next to me throws down the rope and we slide down to the ground.
From here I follow my teammates over to a small building while taking out the small resistance along the way. Once we are inside the building we make our way to the basement to find about four enemy soldiers in a large room. The Lieutenant tells me to take point and move into the room. Here I made use of the flash-bang grenades. I never used the flash-bang grenades on soldiers until I got to this part. This technique was very useful. After the grenade went off I ran in and took out the soldiers, while they panicked, held their ears, and covered their eyes. I proceeded to use flash-bangs to clear out the rest of the house whenever i would go into a new room with enemies. When we cleared the house we reported back into command that our target was not in the house. We were told to proceed to the TV station, where it was believed that the rebel leader was broadcasting from.
After making our way over to the station, we breached the side door and stormed in. There was some small resistance in a couple of rooms as we made our way deeper into the station. Eventually we came to a large open room with some heavy resistance waiting for us. This was the most frustrating part of my session. I realized that I put the difficulty on hard, and it was definitely showing here. What I ended up doing after dying about six or seven times was moving around the edge of this room. From here I had much better luck. I was able to go into an area with some good cover and take out most of the enemies there. However, the enemy AI was pretty good. When it realized that I was only covering one side, they came in the back and almost killed me. After about five more minutes of enemies coming into the room we finally killed all of them. We then moved up the stairs most of the soldiers were coming from. Once we moved up the stairs, we got to the door the leads into the broadcasting room. One of my squad members then shoots the hinges off the door and we all enter ready for a fight. However once we are in there we find nothing. No enemies, no leader, no broadcast, nothing. Just a bunch of camera equipment and TVs. The Lieutenant relays the message to command and we are then told to mount up on the chopper. This was where the mission ended for now.
As I have played through a second time, I have found that this level is not as intense as most others, aside from dying a whole bunch and getting pretty frustrated. So far the storyline is alright. It's keeping me entertained enough to know whats going on, but its not the story drawing me in so far. Now it has no story as to who you are, apart from a U.S. Marine. Also it never shows your character, so you have no idea what he looks like. Without these, it's hard for the player to make a connection with the character. Thus if the character dies, then the player doesn't really care. Sometimes when you are walking by an allied soldier or shooting him, he might say something, but besides that the only social interactions that you have are with your commander. Overall the gameplay is what is really makes me want to keep playing. It is one of the best first-person shooters I have ever played. The controls are very easy to learn and use, which is probably why I like it so much.
DESIGN
Although this game is not the first of it's kind, it certainly is one of the most remarkable. Playing through this level helps to illustrate why. When you first come into the level you are on a chopper, and looking around I see the water, which does not look too much like actual water. However, I also see a wind effect on the top of the water that they added for when the helicopters are close to the water. They also made it so that you can't see your body when you look down. Personally I don't like that, however it is also nice when you can see things on the ground and not just your legs in the way of what you're looking at. Your character is allowed to take three different positions, (standing, crouching, prone) as well as jump, walk/run, and sprint. Each position has its advantages and disadvantages. Standing allows you to move the quickest, however it is the least accurate when shoot. As you get lower, you get slower, and more accurate. This allows me to snipe when I have to, keep suppressive fire constant, and run-and-gun when needed.
Now usually the game just has you fight some resistance on your way to whatever objective you might have. Occasionally you will have to defend an area, or protect a character. Typically your challenges are relatively simple, and involve following your squad and taking the next position. The level design is interesting, in the fact that it is linear but it is made to seem like an infinite level. By this I mean there is only one path to go, however the parts you can't go into still seem to go on, past just the see-able, unplayable area. The level I played was in a desert landscape. The visual aspect to this level alone was stunning. As I progressed through the level i noticed sand blowing around, real-time shadows and lighting, and a sun effect. The sun effect is really neat to me. when you look into the sun in the game you screen gets slightly darker as you move your head away and brightens back when your eyes adjust. Now since this game is done through the first-person, you can't get really see the scale of the invasion that's taking place. I found however, that it still felt like a pretty big operation with all the other Marines around me.
All this being said, there are still some things that I don't like about this game. I don't like how the events in the game are triggered by where you move to. For instance, enemy AI does not appear until you get to a certain point, and then they just keep appearing from that point, it seems like. Also the friendly AI is pretty horrible. One, their aim is terrible, two, they don't prioritize which person to take care of first, and three, they die easily. So going in with a whole squad is just about as good as going into it by yourself. The only good thing about it is that your squad mates give the enemy something else to shoot at instead of you. When you get shot by something, your screen shakes horribly, to the point where you can't kill the guy that is five ft. in front of you. Also the rewards are pretty stupid for whenever you beat a level. All that you are able to do is play that level over whenever you want. Even though there are a few things that I can argue over, all together I have to say that this game is fun, and easy to play. With a richly painted landscape, smooth controls, and a good story to tell, this game I can come back to and play again and again.
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