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Untitled Goose Game (PC) by jp (Dec 1st, 2024 at 20:35:49) |
Ok, this was fun, but not THAT fun.
It's - perhaps unexpectedly, more of a puzzle game than a chaotic "goat simulator" game? I knew it wasn't wild chaos like goat simulator - but it was definitely more sedate and structured than I imagined. But, it's fun - and the task list is really neat. It basically layers a puzzle on top of another. From the item on the list - I need to figure out what the puzzle is (how do I do the thing or, for trickier ones, create a situation such that the thing that needs doing gets done) and then figure out how to execute it.
I've cleared the first two areas - I think there are two or three more? So, not a very long/big game. I think. The new areas might be huge? I doubt it.
My main concern is that since I imagine the puzzles will become more convoluted, I'm worried that the wonkiness in the controls (mostly the thing the goose is locked on to seems wonky at times) will lead to a spike in frustration later on. I hope I'm wrong but we'll see.
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Kentucky Route Zero (PS5) by jp (Nov 27th, 2024 at 18:43:01) |
Chapter 5 was surprisingly underwhelming. Almost boring if I'm being honest.
You play as a cat, which was fine. You have to run around town finding conversations - some are UI-evident others just require that you sit there an listen. There's a lot of sitting and listening, much more than choosing. So, I started to get bored and...well, the ending was sort of a fizzle for me because of this. I couldn't tell you what happened in the end (I think there are different endings based on choices you make) but...no bang, no whimper, no nothing is how I'd describe my experience with it.
It seems unfair for me to say it like that. Perhaps I just was really tired that day? Not willing to really pay attention? Could be.
Overall though, I did enjoy the game and think it was an interesting experience. Most salient for me is how cinematic it is - there's lots of interesting camera work, and framing, and more. And even the interactive parts are changing around and in this sense there's a nice amount of variety. But I think I mentioned all this already. Didn't change with Act V. So, all's well in that sense.
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Impostor Factory (PC) by dkirschner (Nov 24th, 2024 at 19:37:03) |
I thought this was the last in a trilogy of games starting with To the Moon, but I must not have been paying close enough attention. After being confused how it related to To the Moon and Finding Paradise for most of the game, it turns out to be a prequel of sorts. It's a bit different than those other two as well, in that this one is part murder mystery. That was definitely the most interesting part until the end. The murder mystery is in Act I. Act II was boring and overly sentimental, narrating the intertwining lives of two of the characters. Act III ties the two previous acts together, and finally explains what this has to do with the previous games, and circles back to being interesting again.
I should probably stop playing these Freebird Games games. To the Moon was awesome, but the others have been fine. The emphasis is on story, and the overall plots are neat. The writing is good, but characters tend to feel one-dimensional, and there is like one brand of humor throughout the games, which alternates from being silly/funny to childish and back. They are slow gameplay-wise, often with very little interactivity. What interactivity there is is often an illusion. For example, in Impostor Factory, in Act II, you have to collect memories, little orbs, to progress from area to area. But you don't have to actually DO anything to get the orbs. Just click on characters and listen to the story and you'll get your orbs. They're unmissable. Perhaps I am just no longer wowed by the overall concept since it's been three games now.
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Rumu (PC) by dkirschner (Nov 19th, 2024 at 19:06:57) |
Another excellent short point-and-click game. Rumu is a cute little robot vacuum cleaner who wakes up in a big house to the voice of an AI named Sabrina. Sabrina explains that the house's human inhabitants, scientists named David and Cecily, are gone mountain biking, to the grocery store, or otherwise out of the house. Rumu is programmed to clean and to feel one emotion: love. Sabrina teaches Rumu how to clean messes and safely guides Rumu around the house, but warns not to explore. Well, Rumu eventually gets curious and explores, and finds some things Sabrina didn't want Rumu to find.
You think it's going to be a game about sinister AI, but it's not. It does say some things about our relationship with technology, about technology and ethics, and is actually really sweet and sad. To say anything else about the story will spoil things. Gameplay-wise, you just trundle around the house in a rather linear fashion learning more about Sabrina, David, Cecily, and a couple other characters, occasionally cleaning messes, and saying silly dialogue, usually about things you do or do not love, until you learn the truth of what's really going on.
I saw this game on some list of "best games you've never heard of" or something, it sounded intriguing, and it's totally worth checking out. Also, it ends with a "Baba Is You" style sentence, so I guess I'm finally going to start Baba Is You. A sign from the universe if there ever was one.
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Genesis Noir (PC) by dkirschner (Nov 18th, 2024 at 16:22:28) |
Artsy point-and-click about love and the end of the universe. The visuals are mesmerizing, lots of black and white (film noir style) with yellows for accent, flashing lights, changing perspectives, just wildly creative. The sound design is great too, lots of jazz music that often coincides with visuals bouncing around.
The story isn't easy to follow. It's a metaphor about the main character's relationship with a jazz singer told as the creation, evolution, and destruction of the universe. I didn't care much about what was going on, but was just basking in the audiovisual treat.
Gameplay is simple. Like I said, it's a point-and-click adventure at its core, but hyper stylized. So you aren't just walking around pointing and clicking. It feels like a series of scenes with toyboxes because it's not always obvious what you need to interact with or how to do it. It was reminding me of GNOG, where you just play with a level, click around and see what things do. I read that a lot of people found the gameplay frustrating, but I never did. Again, for me, this boiled down to "oooh aaah." I couldn't have cared less about how easy the puzzles were or how obtuse some of the interactions were or how deep the metaphor was going. It's a beautiful game and not one I'm likely to forget any time soon! I saw that there is another one coming out (sequel?). If it's the same kind of thing, I will definitely buy.
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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)
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2259 registered gamers and 3212 games. 7736 GameLogs with 13221 journal entries. 5097 games are currently being played.
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10000000 (iPd) by jp |
| Short, sweet, and fun. Match-3 with a little bit extra to keep you going. |
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most recent entry: Wednesday 8 August, 2012
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This game has a dumb name and an incredibly uninteresting icon. The only reason I played the game is that I read an article about how terrible a job the developer did promoting the game (including a bad name and icon) and how it's (apparent?) success was solely thanks to the efforts of an editor a a game site I don't recall. So here I am, writing about my experience with it...
There's a recent trend towards adding "RPG elements" to all kinds of games in order to make them more interesting - or to be more precise - provide more reasons to keep coming back. Another way to think about it is the addition of "persistence" to games that would otherwise consist of standalone/independent play sessions. The more repetitive the gameplay, the more likely it is for someone to add these elements.
I would call this game another interesting experiment in that vein. 10000000 is a match-3 type game, in which you match swords/staffs to attack monsters, shields to protect yourself, and keys to unlock chests/doors. In between sessions you accumulate gold (from monsters/chests), wood and stone (from in-game matching), and "experience" (from killing monsters). You use these to buy upgrades and improvements that work like buffs. There isn't much choice involved (just buy the next thing - it's better than the last), but it keeps things interesting as the dungeons you explore get tougher. Additional (for extra rewards) you can complete mini-objectives in each play session. I first saw this idea in Jetpack Joyride and it's basically the same thing here.
Overall I enjoyed the frantic nature of the gameplay and how even when I lost/failed I at least obtained some resource I could accumulate. Curiously, what I enjoyed the MOST is the fact that the game has an end. By the time I was 5hrs. and 10 mins in I had unlocked everything there was to unlock and beat the target score of 10000000. This meant my character had escaped the dungeon and I was done. Finished. (ok, there is an endless mode that unlocks as well).
I'm kind of tired of games that have an endless (or seemingly endless) grind. I feel that they're spending more effort on trying to squeeze every last minute out of me rather than ending on a high note. I was happy to get to the end, I was happy to see the end was near - and for the price of the game ($1.99?) I think that 5 hrs of engaged gameplay is a great value. Had the game lasted 10 hrs I probably would have quit at 8...and been tired and disappointed.
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