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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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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.
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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.
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2157 registered gamers and 3105 games. 7607 GameLogs with 13096 journal entries. 5074 games are currently being played.
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Pokemon Red (GB) by br264 |
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most recent entry: Monday 28 March, 2011
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Pokémon Red
Description:
In a world full of creatures called Pokémon, it is your job to go out, catch and train these monsters. As you travel on your way, you face tougher trainers who are training their own Pokémon. It is your objective to collect, train and become the very best (like no one ever has). You are first sent to Professor Oak who gives you and his nephew, your rival, the choice between three initial Pokémon. Your new rival will challenge you periodically throughout the game. As you go along your travels discovering Pokémon and honing your skills, you find out there is a trial versus the best trainers called the Elite Four. To face the Elite Four, you must battle the eight gym leaders and gain their badges. Through traveling to compete versus the gym leaders, to collect your badges, you face an evil force called Team Rocket. They use Pokémon for stealing, robbing and anything else they want. Once you beat the Elite Four, you have technically beaten the game but you can continue so you can collect all 150 Pokémon and complete any of the remaining side missions.
Player/Game Mechanics:
The main character is preteen boy whose goal is to become the best Pokémon trainer his world has ever seen. He must use Poké balls to capture new Pokémon and train them to become strong. It is a turn based game which means that every move must be picked and then you must wait till your opponent has gone, rinse and repeat. Every type of Pokémon has an advantage and disadvantage to other types of Pokémon. It makes it so that it is like rock, paper, scissors in the fact that you must train multiple Pokémon so you can beat different opponents, when they might have an advantage over one of your Pokémon.
Graphics/ Music:
The graphics are not that amazing but they really are not bad if you remember this game came out in 1996 on the original Gameboy. Some of the sprites can look a little funny and not really match the Pokémon’s image but once you start battling the Pokémon look pretty good in their green and red tints. I started playing with the sound and started remember some of the sounds from when I first played the game many years ago. Some of the sounds are amusing and fun to listen to but after playing for a few hours the repeating of the background music gets quite annoying. There is a volume button on the Gameboy for a reason and I just turned it down and only tuned into the music when I enjoyed it.
World:
The Pokémon world is made up of ten towns that your character must travel through. Between the towns there are routes, forests and even dungeons that player will encounter opponents and Pokémon. Within each town there are Poké Marts, Poké Centers and gyms. In the poke centers a player can get his Pokémon healed and take advantage of the pc in which he can store items or Pokémon. In the Poké Marts, a player can buy items that can help him along his journey. At the gym a player can battle the gym leaders and gain badges for his overall goal.
Game Session 1:
I have beaten Pokémon red before but it has been quite a few years since I have pulled out my Gameboy, so I decided that it was only appropriate to start fresh. I created a new game and was off into the world of Pokémon. I went straight to professor oak to get my first Pokémon and decided that I would start out with Bublasaur. My rival of course chose Charmander and the first battle started. I was able to defeat him, the NPCs like to use a few moves seem to do very little, giving my Pokémon plenty of time to beat his Pokémon down. After beating the rival I head out of Pallet town and onward on my adventure. On my way to Viridian City, I had to walk through the tall grass, which is where the Pokémon will attack. The first few fights were exciting and I knew that they would be no match for me. Taking more steps I start to remember some of the monotonous aspects of the game. To level you must fight players or wild Pokémon and these fights can happen often. Depending on the zone all you want to be able to do is keep running and never battle anyone. After arriving at Viridian City a NPC asks you to deliver items back to Professor Oak and once there you receive a Pokédex so you can keep track of all the Pokémon you encounter. You also obtain a town map that will help you figure out what direction you need to head in next. Now it is time to head over towards Pewter City to fight your first gym battle. The only way to get there is to go through Viridian City, Route 2 and then through Viridian Forest. It is smart to attempt to catch Pokémon and start to train them so you have different options while fighting enemies. Viridian Forest can be quite annoying since one faces a lot of poisonous creatures and since you are just starting out you will probably die a few times. Once you finally make it to Pewter City it is time to heal up your Pokémon and face the gym leader. The leader of this gym is Brock and his Pokémon are all of the rock type. This was an easy fight for me because I have a grass Pokémon and Vine Whip is very effective against rock Pokémon. Leaving the town you get to face your rival and he has leveled his Pokémon and gathered a few more. This fight I lost because I did not heal up my Pokémon before I left the city. After having a blackout, in which you are returned to the closest Poké Center, I decided to take a different route to the next city. On your way to Cerulean City you must pass through Mountain Moon. It is here where you first encounter team rocket and you begin your trails against them. Dungeons can be annoying to travel through, because Pokémon will attack you anywhere inside. Again like earlier depending on if you need to level up your Pokémon, it can be rather annoying to fight all the wild Pokémon.
Game Session 2:
A few days go by and I am able to pick up the Gameboy again. I finish making my way to Cerulean City and I make my way to heal up. At this point I’ve caught a Piggey, Rattata and bought myself a Magikarp. All healed and ready to go I head over to the gym to face Misty. Misty only trains water type Pokémon. I had no big advantages or disadvantages against water Pokémon so the fights were a little slow but I end up winning my badge. Before leaving town I like to explore all the buildings and I find a store that sells bike but they are way over priced and I can’t afford one. I wasn’t too disappointed because I remember that I could get a free one, I just kind of forgot since the last time I played when I would get it. While all my Pokémon are leveling nicely, Magikarp is leveling pretty slowly but that is because he doesn’t actually have an attack and all he can do is splash a target. I find on my way out of town that there is a day care where I can leave my Magikarp and he will slowly level as I’m away. I now begin my journey to Vermillion City. While there I’m able to get a bunch of goodies. I begin to explore the town, I see that the gym is blocked by a strange bush, I find a guy that gives me a fishing pole, I find the guy that gives me a bike voucher just by chatting with him about his Pokémon fan club, and lastly I board the S.S. Anne. There are a lot of trainers and items around the boat, I fight a few and get bored and start to avoid fights. As I make my way to the captain of the shit I have to face my rival again and of course win. Once reaching the captain he shares the HM 01, which is cut. Now with cut I figure I can manage to get past that strange tree in front of the gym. Once inside the gym you get to face Lt. Surge and his Pokémon type is Electric. Again it was like with the water Pokémon and it wasn’t anything to difficult. I head back to the previous town and got my free bike. Heading forward I now move a lot faster on my bike and travel time is now slightly less boring. I make my way towards Pewter City. The issue with getting to Pewter City is that there is a sleeping Pokémon in the pathway, so you must head into a tunnel to get to the town. If you train your Pokémon with flash you can see within the tunnel but I had to Pokémon available to teach flash to and I had to go in blind. I spent a good hour running around the different levels of the tunnel facing opens and wild Pokémon. I became really annoyed the longer I spent my time being lost within the cave. I blacked out a few times and had to start my journey over and over again but finally after a lot of running from wild Pokémon I find the exit. At this point I make it to the City save and turn the game off.
Overall:
Overall it was pretty fun replaying Pokémon Red after so many years. It was kind of annoying fighting many of the wild Pokémon and the trainers when they were under my Pokémon’s level. Gym battles and fighting your rival were more enjoyable though. I have become slightly addicted to Pokémon games again and I’ll probably keep my Gameboy in my book bag for any down time I encounter. I will make sure to go back into my closet and find my other Pokémon games and replay them.
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