This game is brilliant. I first became aware of it when people on my steam friends started playing it and then seeing it on Twitch and people talking about how great it is, I had to give it a try. This game you play as a bartender and you serve drinks and listen to your regulars or even one time customers talk about their lives. Sometimes they don't know what they want, other times you know exactly what they want and can make it without them ordering it. After awhile you can start mixing the recipes by heart. There is a story going on in the background but you're not directly involved in it. In fact the entire game takes place behind the bar counter and you only hear about it directly from the people telling you about it. Sometimes they talk about their lives, sometimes they talk about life in the dystopian city, and sometimes they talk to you about you. All the people you meet are characters in their own stories. You are just the bartender you don't get to play hero, or save the world.
You start off randomly in the life of Julianne, Jill for short, a 27 year old bartender working at Va-11 Hal-A along with your coworker Gil and boss Dana. Although you don't really see Gil working behind the bar. He's just sort of there, as is your boss. Sure you have Christmas parties at the bar and drink in your room with your coworkers and such but you mostly live a lonely life of work and sleep. As you play the game you learn more about your regulars and more about yourself and the world around you. The city is called Glitch City. A place of crime and corruption run by mega corporations. At the bar you meet the people who call this city their home. Here many species of people call this place home. The humans, the Lilium who are humanoid AI robots, super intelligent talking animals, brains in a jar, and cat boomers, people who undergo treatment of nanomachine rejection and undergo "catification."
The whole game really is about talking to people and learning their lives. A short list of some of the people you meet are as follows:
Alma - She's a hacker and probably the closest person you can call a friend. If you get evicted because you can't pay for rent she'll take you in to live with her. Has a large family of sisters and recently has problems with one of her sisters. If you ever have problems shes there to help and listen. She loves classy drinks and always asks for them.
Dorothy - Super bubbly, super energetic, super flirtatious. She's a Lilium prostitute who looks like a 10-13 year old girl. She along with Alma are your best friends and will always be there to help you out in a pinch. She's constantly talking about her sex life and making advances on any men or women around. She loves girly drinks.
Donovan D. Dawson - Mister Donovan as he like to be called is a very crude misogynistic man. He's the owner of The Augmented Eye, a news company. He likes to talk about the bitches working for him and how they're all hungry for a raise. Goes around chasing after big titted Lilims and openly talks about cheating on his wife, and claims she cheats just as much as him so its fine. He doesn't show up often but when he does he wants Beer and lots of it.
Betty and Deal - These two are inseparable. Both of them work at Seifar Toy Company, a company ran by talking dogs. Betty is the irritable and bitchy one of the two. She is a lesbian and never has a relationship longer than a week. Deal is a Lilium and he is is serious one of the two. They will always come together and complain about each other but at the end of the day they're still both best friends. Although Deal claims Betty is really sweet underneath her outward personality. Betty loves strong manly drinks while Deal doesn't like drinks with much alcohol, which Betty disapproves of and calls him a pussy.
Virgilio - A pompous buffoon who orders though cryptic descriptions rather than a name and you'll have to figure it out what he means. He is patronizing and almost completely insane when you first meet him. He loves weird shit so you don't really know what to mix for him most of the time but guessing.
Streaming-Chan - When she shows up words will fly across the screen and the music will change to her own theme song. She is super high energy and outgoing and most likely high on drugs all at the same time. She streams herself 24/7, even bath time and and sex time, but only for premium members for the low low price of $99.99! Premium members can even download a VR of her to have sex with! All for the low low price of $99.99. She is just as annoying as you can imagine but a nice change of pace from the regular patrons. She loves drinks with high amounts of alcohol so she can get wasted on stream.
There are a lot more people but this is just a small sample of the people you can meet in the game. Everyone has a story to tell and you're there to hear it all. You even have your own story going on and the people you treat nicely will be there to listen to your problems to sleep in your arms when you cry yourself to sleep. You start get emotionally attached to these people and you can make their drinks before they even ask for it.You perk up when you suddenly see someone you haven't seen walk though the door in a week and go I remember him!
There is however no other gameplay than the mediocre life of a bartender. Its not meant to be exciting but mundane. However they can somehow turn the mundane into something fun and for that it is brilliant. I never expected to have this much fun as a virtual bartender. However this game is a whole lot of reading and a whole lot of mixing drinks. If thats not your thing then this game isn't for you. Theres no combat, no shooting peoples heads off, just a single screen behind the bar counter and you make drinks. Thats it. One thing I want to add to this is that the music for this game is great. Its probably the best part of the game. There is a huge soundtrack for you to play on the jukebox in the bar and you can set it up every day and after every break period.
Showing posts with label Indie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indie. Show all posts
Monday, May 1, 2017
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Bastion - Fuck the Narrator
I don't know why this game is so popular. It was an indie game that no one had heard of that suddenly gained a ton of popularity. The developers seeing that it was getting a lot of attention started dumping into ads. Next thing you know everyone is talking about this game. All the game is, is a shitty action RPG with neither a lot of action nor RPG. You're some nameless kid walking around smacking the shit out of these ghost things minding their own business with the most boring weapons and combat.
Basically the game involves you wandering around on floating platforms on the sky. Most of the time they will drop down as you get near the edge of a platform. The art style isn't bad but the world seems tiny. I know its supposed to be small because the world exploded and all that's left of civilization are on thee floating platforms. If it takes like two steps to reach the end of a platform, its too small. You also get to fight with a melee weapon and a ranged weapon. You don't have many choices so you pick the one that is the least shitty to play with. None of the weapons feel fun to use. The last slot you can use is a skill. It could be a melee skill, a ranged skill, or even a skill that isn't tied to a weapon, like a summon. Combat is just brainless mashing and nothing really feels special about it. From the first minute into the game to the middle of the game, you're still smacking the same stuff with the same hammer in the same platforms in the same world with the same narrator being an asshole.
One thing everyone praised is the narrator's voice. Some claimed he is better than Morgan Freeman and everyone knows that just isn't true. He was so popular they even have a Dota2 announcer pack using his voice. What the hell? I wasn't a fan of the narrator nor his "humor." First of all, why the fuck was he being such a dickhead sending you around fighting then saying something along the lines of "Yeah I'm just using the kid, so what." I haven't finished the game but I don't know what the big deal with the narrator. Everyone shitting in their panties about his voice and saying the reason this game is good is because of him. Maybe its because the rest of the game just isn't fun and they are desperately trying to grab onto something to like.
The combat is repetitive, the story is weak, the narrator is annoying, and the kid who although is somewhat interesting doesn't do shit for the game. The art isn't bad but the level design is pretty shitty from a gameplay perspective. I don't play games for art, I play games for gameplay. Any kind of art is bonus like Child of Light.
Basically the game involves you wandering around on floating platforms on the sky. Most of the time they will drop down as you get near the edge of a platform. The art style isn't bad but the world seems tiny. I know its supposed to be small because the world exploded and all that's left of civilization are on thee floating platforms. If it takes like two steps to reach the end of a platform, its too small. You also get to fight with a melee weapon and a ranged weapon. You don't have many choices so you pick the one that is the least shitty to play with. None of the weapons feel fun to use. The last slot you can use is a skill. It could be a melee skill, a ranged skill, or even a skill that isn't tied to a weapon, like a summon. Combat is just brainless mashing and nothing really feels special about it. From the first minute into the game to the middle of the game, you're still smacking the same stuff with the same hammer in the same platforms in the same world with the same narrator being an asshole.
One thing everyone praised is the narrator's voice. Some claimed he is better than Morgan Freeman and everyone knows that just isn't true. He was so popular they even have a Dota2 announcer pack using his voice. What the hell? I wasn't a fan of the narrator nor his "humor." First of all, why the fuck was he being such a dickhead sending you around fighting then saying something along the lines of "Yeah I'm just using the kid, so what." I haven't finished the game but I don't know what the big deal with the narrator. Everyone shitting in their panties about his voice and saying the reason this game is good is because of him. Maybe its because the rest of the game just isn't fun and they are desperately trying to grab onto something to like.
The combat is repetitive, the story is weak, the narrator is annoying, and the kid who although is somewhat interesting doesn't do shit for the game. The art isn't bad but the level design is pretty shitty from a gameplay perspective. I don't play games for art, I play games for gameplay. Any kind of art is bonus like Child of Light.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
The Banner Saga - Cannibal Caravan
The Banner Saga, according to the developers, is Oregon Trail meets Fire Emblem. The game has you walking around with your caravan. You are the leader and you travel from one place to another. Although the main storyline doesn't change much, almost all the events are randomized. You don't know what is going to happen and you are often biting your nails thinking what you should do in this situation. This is a time of war, the naive will end up being stabbed over and over in the back until they learn. I did. At the start I was helpful and shared my supplies with suffering people. After I get to the later parts of the game where food becomes scarce, people stab me in the back, rob my caravan, kill my people, and people starving everyday. I learned quickly to start accepting bribes, to take what I want, to look out for my own caravan first, and ignore people begging for help. I don't have food to spare anymore.
People dying can be the most brutal. Heroes you train up and level up and even gear with items, they could fall off a cliff, they could get stabbed in the back, or they could just leave if they don't agree with your decisions. You will never get them back, you might lose your most leveled hero, and you don't get the items you lost. They disappear from the storyline too so it starts becoming more and more empty. However, some people might join you depending on your choices. Its pretty hard to tell which decision is the best and you will always end up regretting your decision. However, people in your caravan will often die and/or leave. If you run out of food, a portion of your caravan starts dying every day and the rest sort of cannibalize them so you can keep living (that is what I assume at least. How else do they survive another day.) The number of people in your caravan decides the outcome of a war. If you have higher numbers the enemies are easier, if they're lower the enemies are stronger. You can charge in to fight stronger enemies to save more lives from your caravan, or you can stay back and fight weaker enemies at the cost of sacrificing more lives.
The art and the animation is gorgeous. Its part of the reason I wanted to try this game in the first place. The story and the random event elements are also entertaining. However there are a few problems with the game and most of them is in the combat system. Its a tactical TBS combat but every turn you alternate between you and your enemy. This is a very big problem because, if there is a big threat on the battlefield and it has a really high armour and strength pool, you can't kill it fast enough you'll decide to kill off the small guys around it first. WRONG. If you do that you will die because the big guy is moving more often now and will one shot your heroes one by one. In this game the stats are armour which will reduce damage taken, and strength which is equal to your health and your damage. If you are low on strength you will deal less damage. If their armour is too high you won't be able to hit through to their strength and you have to choose to break their armour first. So the strategy here is to leave everything on low health, then kill the big guy, then go back and kill the small guys. This is very tedious and stupid. You are penalized for killing enemies.
After winning battles you will get renown points for everything you kill. Heroes who score the last hit will get exp. You use that exp along with renown to promote them. Each promotion gets you more stat points, allows higher level items to be worn and may level up your skills depending on the level. You can customize where you want to put your stats. However another big problem occurs. You have to purchase food with renown points. Why? I don't have a clue but you do. Eventually your caravan will be starving if you spend all your renown on promotions. That or you feed your caravan and your heroes suffer from lack of levels. Its a lose lose situation here.
Another thing I have to point out is the lack of representation of women in the game. Its all about men, talking with other men, fighting with men against other men. The only women I've seen so far is your daughter and Oddleif, the wife of the chieftain, whose husband gets killed about 5 minutes of meeting him so you take over the spot of leader for the caravan. She won't lead the caravan because, "She's a woman. People won't follow a woman chieftain and other groups would attack them because their chieftain is a woman." Well that sounds like a perfectly reasonable explanation! No it isn't. Later on she asks if its ok to train some of the women who want to in archery. If you agree then the men in the caravan starts getting uppity saying they won't want to fight alongside their wives, sisters, daughters. I did get a response from the developer about this.
There will be more women in the next game. It was actually more a limitation of money more than anything- each new class was fairly expensive to create, but I feel like we did as much as we could to represent them well.
I was thinking more about how women could be included into the storyline. Instead of just men flexing at each other proving to each other who has the bigger penis. But that brings me to another point. All the classes in the game except one are male. The only class women can be are archers.
If you like a beautifully animated Tactical RPG with random elements that screw you over at every point possible. This is the game for you. There are some flaws, but the game itself is enjoyable despite those flaws. The flaws are pretty big but its all contained in the combat itself. If you really hate it you could turn down the difficulty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbIH0vS9AG4
People dying can be the most brutal. Heroes you train up and level up and even gear with items, they could fall off a cliff, they could get stabbed in the back, or they could just leave if they don't agree with your decisions. You will never get them back, you might lose your most leveled hero, and you don't get the items you lost. They disappear from the storyline too so it starts becoming more and more empty. However, some people might join you depending on your choices. Its pretty hard to tell which decision is the best and you will always end up regretting your decision. However, people in your caravan will often die and/or leave. If you run out of food, a portion of your caravan starts dying every day and the rest sort of cannibalize them so you can keep living (that is what I assume at least. How else do they survive another day.) The number of people in your caravan decides the outcome of a war. If you have higher numbers the enemies are easier, if they're lower the enemies are stronger. You can charge in to fight stronger enemies to save more lives from your caravan, or you can stay back and fight weaker enemies at the cost of sacrificing more lives.
The art and the animation is gorgeous. Its part of the reason I wanted to try this game in the first place. The story and the random event elements are also entertaining. However there are a few problems with the game and most of them is in the combat system. Its a tactical TBS combat but every turn you alternate between you and your enemy. This is a very big problem because, if there is a big threat on the battlefield and it has a really high armour and strength pool, you can't kill it fast enough you'll decide to kill off the small guys around it first. WRONG. If you do that you will die because the big guy is moving more often now and will one shot your heroes one by one. In this game the stats are armour which will reduce damage taken, and strength which is equal to your health and your damage. If you are low on strength you will deal less damage. If their armour is too high you won't be able to hit through to their strength and you have to choose to break their armour first. So the strategy here is to leave everything on low health, then kill the big guy, then go back and kill the small guys. This is very tedious and stupid. You are penalized for killing enemies.
After winning battles you will get renown points for everything you kill. Heroes who score the last hit will get exp. You use that exp along with renown to promote them. Each promotion gets you more stat points, allows higher level items to be worn and may level up your skills depending on the level. You can customize where you want to put your stats. However another big problem occurs. You have to purchase food with renown points. Why? I don't have a clue but you do. Eventually your caravan will be starving if you spend all your renown on promotions. That or you feed your caravan and your heroes suffer from lack of levels. Its a lose lose situation here.
Another thing I have to point out is the lack of representation of women in the game. Its all about men, talking with other men, fighting with men against other men. The only women I've seen so far is your daughter and Oddleif, the wife of the chieftain, whose husband gets killed about 5 minutes of meeting him so you take over the spot of leader for the caravan. She won't lead the caravan because, "She's a woman. People won't follow a woman chieftain and other groups would attack them because their chieftain is a woman." Well that sounds like a perfectly reasonable explanation! No it isn't. Later on she asks if its ok to train some of the women who want to in archery. If you agree then the men in the caravan starts getting uppity saying they won't want to fight alongside their wives, sisters, daughters. I did get a response from the developer about this.
There will be more women in the next game. It was actually more a limitation of money more than anything- each new class was fairly expensive to create, but I feel like we did as much as we could to represent them well.
I was thinking more about how women could be included into the storyline. Instead of just men flexing at each other proving to each other who has the bigger penis. But that brings me to another point. All the classes in the game except one are male. The only class women can be are archers.
If you like a beautifully animated Tactical RPG with random elements that screw you over at every point possible. This is the game for you. There are some flaws, but the game itself is enjoyable despite those flaws. The flaws are pretty big but its all contained in the combat itself. If you really hate it you could turn down the difficulty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbIH0vS9AG4
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Freedom Fall - Psychopathic Princess Simulator
To start things off. I like how this game you're not going around trying to rescue a helpless princess. No, its quite the opposite. The princess is out to kill you. Freedom fall is a platformer where you have to avoid all sort of obstacles like traps, fires, pitfalls, electricity, etc. You are a prisoner trapped in a prison tower where if you can escape, you are granted freedom. You might as well give it a shot since you're on death row right? This entire tower was created by a haughty psychopathic princess who constantly write messages on the wall mocking you and the other dead prisoners. Its kinda cute actually. All she wants is to watch you die because shes bored and has no friends.
Difficulty wise, the game isn't very hard. The game isn't very long either but its still an enjoyable game while it lasted. The art is pretty good. Its similar to Bastion, and every time you die it goes splat then covers the spikes with blood. There isn't much of a story though. Then again this is a platformer and there really isn't any text/dialogue in the game outside of the writings on the walls. The princess is mute. Shes also quirky as all hell and it shows in her writing. Really not much else to say about this game. You should get it if you like platformers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o4ma4ki8sE
Difficulty wise, the game isn't very hard. The game isn't very long either but its still an enjoyable game while it lasted. The art is pretty good. Its similar to Bastion, and every time you die it goes splat then covers the spikes with blood. There isn't much of a story though. Then again this is a platformer and there really isn't any text/dialogue in the game outside of the writings on the walls. The princess is mute. Shes also quirky as all hell and it shows in her writing. Really not much else to say about this game. You should get it if you like platformers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o4ma4ki8sE
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Gone Home - Fridge opening simulator
What is Gone Home exactly? Well, if you know of Dear Esther then you should have an idea of what the game is about. It tells a story and its up to you to explore and find and piece together the story for yourself. Thats all, theres no combat, theres no exp, theres nothing but just exploring. That said you will miss a lot of stuff. Unless you scour through everything picking up every single thing, look under the tables, flip open every single folder. You will miss something. Even if you do all that, there is no guarantee that you will get the entire story. Its up to you to piece together the story, some parts are purposely vague, while others are obvious. I think that is pretty cool. I missed a big portion of a subplot in the story and going back I was able to piece it together.
What is the story about anyways? Well there really isn't any way to explain without spoiling the story so it basically is just you coming home to the home your family recently moved to while you were at Europe. There you find that the place is a mess and no one is home. You must walk around and interact with the world to progress with the story and find out what happens. You will read journal entires, you will find things that give clues, and you find that the empty house is really quite alive. The people that live there felt real and believable, it felt like they were still there and could come home at any second. At the back of your head it will keep nagging at you, thinking of the worst possible situations. After the story you become emotionally attached, you find yourself running to your destinations praying you're not too late, that what you're thinking is just a fantasy.
The best part would the the ambiance of the house. The dark corners, the flickering lights, the creaks as you step on the old wooden floors, and just the sound of the thunderstorm would keep you immersed for the entire time. Your mind plays games on you as well, seeing the plant in the corner of your eye, the red dye in the bath tub, the messy bedrooms and the feeling of dread creeping up from your stomach. This game is Dear Esther done better. However there is a $20 price tag which caused a lot of complaining. Is it worth it? If you think of it as a movie then the price tag isn't that much different. I enjoyed this game tremendously.
This proves that "art games" can work and there may potentially be more of these games in the future. Dear Esther started it, Gone Home perfected it. Now I can't wait to see what else other people can create.
What is the story about anyways? Well there really isn't any way to explain without spoiling the story so it basically is just you coming home to the home your family recently moved to while you were at Europe. There you find that the place is a mess and no one is home. You must walk around and interact with the world to progress with the story and find out what happens. You will read journal entires, you will find things that give clues, and you find that the empty house is really quite alive. The people that live there felt real and believable, it felt like they were still there and could come home at any second. At the back of your head it will keep nagging at you, thinking of the worst possible situations. After the story you become emotionally attached, you find yourself running to your destinations praying you're not too late, that what you're thinking is just a fantasy.
The best part would the the ambiance of the house. The dark corners, the flickering lights, the creaks as you step on the old wooden floors, and just the sound of the thunderstorm would keep you immersed for the entire time. Your mind plays games on you as well, seeing the plant in the corner of your eye, the red dye in the bath tub, the messy bedrooms and the feeling of dread creeping up from your stomach. This game is Dear Esther done better. However there is a $20 price tag which caused a lot of complaining. Is it worth it? If you think of it as a movie then the price tag isn't that much different. I enjoyed this game tremendously.
This proves that "art games" can work and there may potentially be more of these games in the future. Dear Esther started it, Gone Home perfected it. Now I can't wait to see what else other people can create.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
The Cat Lady - Blood, Gore, Violence Galore!
I'll be honest, I tried this game because of the title. How many games out there do you get to play as the crazy cat lady? I was on another adventure game binge and found this game with positive reviews. It was a horror adventure game that featured a cat lady as the main character. It sounded interesting and I gave it a try. Basically the game begins with you, Susan Ashworth, a woman in her late 30's. You are staring at your cats as you eat sleeping pills to commit suicide. About 2 minutes into the game you die. You however, instead of dying wake up in the world between life and death. There you meet the mysterious old lady called Queen of Maggots. She gives you a gift (or in your case a curse) where you will never die. Every time you die you will wake up alive again no matter how horrific the death is. You never asked for this but you have no choice. However, you can get rid of this "gift" if you do what she says. You must kill the parasites. Once you do you are free.
The parasites are rapists, murderers, arsonists, the true monsters of society. You're not actively going out in search of them, no they come for you. They're here to hurt you and all you want to do is to be left alone to wallow in your own misery. In order to leave the halfway world you must give a gift of blood, and a gift of soul. By blowing out a candle you sacrifice a piece of your own soul in exchange for the life of a parasite. A soul for a soul. Once you blown out all the candles, you die. A gift of blood is by drawing out some blood. So after blowing out the candle you must stick your arm into a hole to push the button when you do that your arm gets chopped off and you start running around holding your wound as blood gushes everywhere as the credits start rolling in. Thats your gift of blood. This game has excessive amounts of blood, gore and violence.
The game then wakes you up at a hospital for suicide victims. You cannot leave until they are convinced you won't kill yourself again. The psychiatrist will ask you questions. How you answer and what you ask will affect the game. The game isn't like the usual point and click adventure game. Its a 2d side scrolling one where you only need the left and right keyboard buttons and walk until something pops up. The up button to interact and the down button for inventory. Its a little confusing at first but after playing it for awhile its not too hard to get used to. Some puzzles are a little obscure but its not hard enough that you should feel any frustration while playing.
The horror amount for the game is not very high though. If you're looking for scares its not really there. Its more disturbing and focuses more on the horrors of humanity. For example the first parasite you meet is none other than your very own psychiatrist. He preys on weak women, charms them, brings them to his home where he tortures them to hear them scream. Then he kills them and use their bodies as art to mimic masterpieces such as, the Mona Lisa, Venus, the girl with pearl earrings. You knew too much when a nurse shared information to you before she committed suicide by jumping off the roof of the hospital. You told the psychiatrist about her and he stabbed you to death. Waking up from the body bag you find your way out of the "prison" basement and create a weapon from random items and breaking open his skull. This whole time screams in the background as he slowly prods and pokes a woman tied to a chair with a sharp object.
While you are out getting killed by parasites, you are also on a emotional journey of self discovery. Coming to terms with your past, the reasons for your suicide, and the people you meet along the way is the real story of the game. Its about loss, tragedy, and the bittersweet moments of being alive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx6j2I8v2Z0
The parasites are rapists, murderers, arsonists, the true monsters of society. You're not actively going out in search of them, no they come for you. They're here to hurt you and all you want to do is to be left alone to wallow in your own misery. In order to leave the halfway world you must give a gift of blood, and a gift of soul. By blowing out a candle you sacrifice a piece of your own soul in exchange for the life of a parasite. A soul for a soul. Once you blown out all the candles, you die. A gift of blood is by drawing out some blood. So after blowing out the candle you must stick your arm into a hole to push the button when you do that your arm gets chopped off and you start running around holding your wound as blood gushes everywhere as the credits start rolling in. Thats your gift of blood. This game has excessive amounts of blood, gore and violence.
The game then wakes you up at a hospital for suicide victims. You cannot leave until they are convinced you won't kill yourself again. The psychiatrist will ask you questions. How you answer and what you ask will affect the game. The game isn't like the usual point and click adventure game. Its a 2d side scrolling one where you only need the left and right keyboard buttons and walk until something pops up. The up button to interact and the down button for inventory. Its a little confusing at first but after playing it for awhile its not too hard to get used to. Some puzzles are a little obscure but its not hard enough that you should feel any frustration while playing.
The horror amount for the game is not very high though. If you're looking for scares its not really there. Its more disturbing and focuses more on the horrors of humanity. For example the first parasite you meet is none other than your very own psychiatrist. He preys on weak women, charms them, brings them to his home where he tortures them to hear them scream. Then he kills them and use their bodies as art to mimic masterpieces such as, the Mona Lisa, Venus, the girl with pearl earrings. You knew too much when a nurse shared information to you before she committed suicide by jumping off the roof of the hospital. You told the psychiatrist about her and he stabbed you to death. Waking up from the body bag you find your way out of the "prison" basement and create a weapon from random items and breaking open his skull. This whole time screams in the background as he slowly prods and pokes a woman tied to a chair with a sharp object.
While you are out getting killed by parasites, you are also on a emotional journey of self discovery. Coming to terms with your past, the reasons for your suicide, and the people you meet along the way is the real story of the game. Its about loss, tragedy, and the bittersweet moments of being alive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx6j2I8v2Z0
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Evoland - As boring as a real history lesson
Evoland is an action adventure game which basically rips off Zelda. Theres also the overhead view which is ripped off of Final Fantasy. You might be thinking, well if this game is such a huge rip off of other games why should we play this. This is done intentionally as a "history" of video games. You start off the game as shitty pixels and every treasure chest you open you unlock a new added improvement in the game such as fluid screen scrolling instead of the classic Zelda one, BGM, colour, etc etc. You go from shitty graphics to full on HD 3D graphics. But outside of the gimmick of video game history its a pretty bland game.
On the overworld you basically play like a final fantasy game with an ATB bar and attack, skill, item commands. You have the main hero who can do damage, and the heroine who does pitiful damage but can heal the team (all two of them) with no mana cost. Basically you just spam the same button over and over and kill everyone. Inside dungeons it could have both the same turned based combat or sometimes its the top down action adventure style like Zelda. Here you really notice how awful the control are on PC. Its awkward to move around and swing your sword and you more than often get hit trying to swing at the enemy. Not to mention how annoying most of the enemy are. Its not very hard but its very tedious because its not very fun chasing a monster around for 2 minutes trying to hit it once. The puzzles aren't hard at all and just wastes your time even more.
I know they are trying to pay homage to the old school games but when you do it so badly I think its more of an insult. The graphics eventually do get really good but outside of that there really isn't much going for it. The gimmick wears off fast and I hear the game is very short. The only upside in this game is the card game mini game. Its almost the same thing as the FF8 card game and I wasted quite a lot of time playing it. When the mini game is more fun than the main game you know you probably fucked up somewhere.
Overall, the game is boring as fuck. Outside of the gimmick of being a history of video games, its just a mediocre action adventure game and turn based game mixed together. There are references like "Claud's Buster Sword" and a guy with an airship called "Sid." But honestly, its really not that interesting.
On the overworld you basically play like a final fantasy game with an ATB bar and attack, skill, item commands. You have the main hero who can do damage, and the heroine who does pitiful damage but can heal the team (all two of them) with no mana cost. Basically you just spam the same button over and over and kill everyone. Inside dungeons it could have both the same turned based combat or sometimes its the top down action adventure style like Zelda. Here you really notice how awful the control are on PC. Its awkward to move around and swing your sword and you more than often get hit trying to swing at the enemy. Not to mention how annoying most of the enemy are. Its not very hard but its very tedious because its not very fun chasing a monster around for 2 minutes trying to hit it once. The puzzles aren't hard at all and just wastes your time even more.
I know they are trying to pay homage to the old school games but when you do it so badly I think its more of an insult. The graphics eventually do get really good but outside of that there really isn't much going for it. The gimmick wears off fast and I hear the game is very short. The only upside in this game is the card game mini game. Its almost the same thing as the FF8 card game and I wasted quite a lot of time playing it. When the mini game is more fun than the main game you know you probably fucked up somewhere.
Overall, the game is boring as fuck. Outside of the gimmick of being a history of video games, its just a mediocre action adventure game and turn based game mixed together. There are references like "Claud's Buster Sword" and a guy with an airship called "Sid." But honestly, its really not that interesting.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Defender's Quest - Yes it looks like shit
I wasn't really sure about this game when I first heard about it. One look at it reminds me of a shitty copy paste flash tower defense game. Not that I have played any of them though. So after reading about the game, reading people talk about it on the forums I decided to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it actually is. However there is one major problem that people keep arguing about over and over. The graphics are shit. People look at the graphics and go "it looks like shit it must be shit" and won't give it a try.
When you first start the game you are wandering around as Azra, a librarian. You must be going "why the fuck am I playing some dumb librarian chick." Don't worry you meet your first ally within seconds. Slak the berserker. He's smelly, he's crazy, and he's hilarious. As you progress you start getting more and more allies and the bickering between your team is entertaining. Its not all fun an games though as you learn more about the pit and how everyone that ends up here eventually becomes fucked up from all the shit they see on a daily basis. Some of your party are insane, some are bloodthirsty murderers waiting to stab you in the back, but they all have one thing in common in following you. To get the fuck out of the pit.
However, you only get half the story by playing the game. After you beat the game you unlock new game+ which adds extra missions to learn about the characters and the diary. The diary is constantly updated as you complete missions and it expands on the world and character a bit more from the eyes of Azra. Its entertaining and very well written.
The combat is fun but sometimes, a little lackluster. Its basically a tower defense game. You have one or more targets the enemy will head towards. This is usually Azra in the very end of a maze. There will be one or more spawns that will spawn enemies. You must then summon in teammates onto the wall of the mazes. Each character has different abilities and range. You will start off with some PSI, but every time you kill an enemy you will gain more. PSI is used to summon in teammates, magical spells, or to upgrade your teammates giving them bonus range, damage, skills, etc. In normal mode you basically just have to stack archers and they will snipe down everything. In new game+ you'll require a bit more thinking.
Basically don't judge a game by its shitty graphics. For an indie tower defense game this game is actually pretty fun.
When you first start the game you are wandering around as Azra, a librarian. You must be going "why the fuck am I playing some dumb librarian chick." Don't worry you meet your first ally within seconds. Slak the berserker. He's smelly, he's crazy, and he's hilarious. As you progress you start getting more and more allies and the bickering between your team is entertaining. Its not all fun an games though as you learn more about the pit and how everyone that ends up here eventually becomes fucked up from all the shit they see on a daily basis. Some of your party are insane, some are bloodthirsty murderers waiting to stab you in the back, but they all have one thing in common in following you. To get the fuck out of the pit.
However, you only get half the story by playing the game. After you beat the game you unlock new game+ which adds extra missions to learn about the characters and the diary. The diary is constantly updated as you complete missions and it expands on the world and character a bit more from the eyes of Azra. Its entertaining and very well written.
The combat is fun but sometimes, a little lackluster. Its basically a tower defense game. You have one or more targets the enemy will head towards. This is usually Azra in the very end of a maze. There will be one or more spawns that will spawn enemies. You must then summon in teammates onto the wall of the mazes. Each character has different abilities and range. You will start off with some PSI, but every time you kill an enemy you will gain more. PSI is used to summon in teammates, magical spells, or to upgrade your teammates giving them bonus range, damage, skills, etc. In normal mode you basically just have to stack archers and they will snipe down everything. In new game+ you'll require a bit more thinking.
Basically don't judge a game by its shitty graphics. For an indie tower defense game this game is actually pretty fun.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Digital: A love story & its sequels
So I was browsing around the forums learning what people thought were the best indie games they ever played. Going on an indie gaming spree I managed to try this game out. Its completely free and you can download it from here. What is it exactly? Well its a visual novel of some sort made by some writer called Christine Love. Who dropped out of school being supported financially by the proceeds of her latest project.
So we can assume this game is pretty good right? Well to be honest. It surprised me a lot, it was pretty good. The writing was good but the best part of it was the interface. Having to type in numbers in your modem and hearing the screeching sound of death and then logging/hacking your way into a BBS board then sorting through the trolls and the useful information to solve a mystery.
There really is not much choice in the story you just keep following it. Some parts you have to read posts and emails and think but you can honestly finish it in a couple of hours.
The spiritual sequel to that game is don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't your story. This was created in a span of a month for a contest. This game you play as a literature teacher in a school set in the future. The students all have handheld computers they can send messages, post stuff, and start topics for. You as the teacher have the ability to read anything they post at any time. The entirety of the game revolves around you invading their privacy and reading everything.
What I find annoying, but at the same time brilliant is the use of slang and internet speak. Bro, lol, and others are used very commonly and while it grates on your nerves it is sort of believable as students barely talk to each other and spend most of their time talking through the computer instead. Their essays which you mark are barely literate and you have to constantly raise the marks so that everyone can pass. It is mandatory that they pass. Its filled with drama, homosexuality, bullying, invasion of privacy, suicide, and other stuff. Even the "bullies" you have a chance to yell at, you can't help feeling sympathetic for. They are human after all. Everyone of them feels like they could be real people.
The current latest sequel is Analogue: A hate story. The only one that isn't free. Like the other two, it has a lot to do with technology. Set many years into the future on a generation spaceship called the "Mugunghwa" that mysteriously disappeared. It has now reappeared and you are an investigator on the ship looking through the logs and sorting out what happened. The writing in this game is much better than the previous two. For example this is just one of many letters exchanged by the crew.
Oh So-jin
When I first saw you, bringing my husband home in the late hours of the night, I was jealous. All I could think of was my daughter, and the first courtesan he'd had an affair with, nine years ago.
With every brief glimpse of you that I saw as you passed through our home, my heart burned a little, as if you embodied every single fault of my farce of a marriage.
I will never send this letter, because I know how ridiculous it sounds: for weeks, I, a noble wife, could be jealous of a poor courtesan? But you are young and beautiful, full of energy and grace; I am none of these things.
Only after you have been entertaining him for months did I start to realize what I was feeling: true, I was jealous, but not of you, for having my husband. I was jealous of my husband, for having the affections of a girl so pretty as you!
These are such ridiculous thoughts for a woman to have, I know, and even more ridiculous still is the way they have overwhelmed me. I used to dread my husband bringing his courtesans home with him; now I look forward to your nights together.
How could I not, when it means that I am treated to the sight of your bashful face in the morning? When we exchange glances, you hide behind your long hair, with so much cuteness and grace, my eyes can't help but wander, to admire the way it rests on your breasts. to see your clothes draped loosely over your hips; I cannot help myself from admiring your body as you try to hide from me.
It is ridiculous, to be so preoccupied with such thoughts, and perhaps I was better off having not ever realized them. Nevertheless, even though I may be as much of a woman as you are, I find myself longing for the same affections you shower my husband with. There is more to it than that: I would like to truly get to know you better. I like to imagine that we have much in common, aside from the obvious.
When I see you hiding in the corridor on those mornings, I imagine wrapping my own arms around those lovely hips, sharing long conversations about our tribulations in life, discovering just how much alike we are. And perhaps... I like to imagine we could share more than that.
I have been married for ten years to a man who has never paid any attention for nine of them. Perhaps my old age has made me bold, but I want more.
The next time I see you, I promise I will say something. For in all my twenty-six years, I have never felt a longing for anything this intensely. I don't care how wrong it is, as a wife and as a woman; I want you, Hana
And the reply
Hana
To my lovely So-jin,
You made it so easy, you know that?
I've always wanted to be seduced. The more I learned about it, the better I got at it, the more I thought about how lucky men are, that they'll get to be on the receiving end of it. It's always seemed like it would be so much fun.
But that wasn't why I dropped my guard in front of you, by the way. I was actually really wary the whole time you were serving my breakfast; do you know what I first thought? I thought maybe you were trying to poison me!
I mean, not seriously, of course. But it crossed my mind.
So no, I was guarded, until you started talking. You know what it was that got me? "Do tell me, how hard is it, studying to be a courtesan?" I answered modestly, "Oh you know, there's nothing to learn, you just have it or you don't"; the answer that any man would expect. But you?
You wouldn't have any of that. You said, "Please, don't lie. I actually want to know. It takes years, does it not? That must be intense for a girl of your age."
Then you leaned in, I started to blab about how it kind of is pretty intense, and I only realized an hour later that I was staring into your eyes, telling you - proudly, no less - about my whole life story. Our faces were barely a foot apart by the time I noticed what you'd done.
And that was how you caught me totally off guard. I had no idea what to do! Should I touch you? What's the right body language in that situation? Was I interpreting you right, or was it all in my head? Not even the slightest clue! You had me good.
And you played it so well! You know just the right moment to pull back, and tell me to go on my way, but in a way that left me wondering.
So-jin, you made it so easy. Returning home, my heart was so a fluttered, my feelings so confused, and all I could think about was you. You, the bored old wife of my patron, actually managed to seduce me, just like that.
I'd always wanted to know that feeling, and you know? It was everything I dreamed it'd be.
Its a story about two families, the Smith's, and the Kim's. These are the two noble families fighting to put their own family ahead and gain recognition from the Ryu family, the emperor and captain of the ship. However that has changed since many generations on the ship and society has regressed. They have no idea why they are even in space or care. Women are treated as if they don't exist. Their names doesn't matter and they are only referred to as the husband's wife. Some doesn't even have names like "the pale bride." They are raised to serve men, have their own women's quarters where they live and are married off like property at the age of 16. Like the other games and the letter exchanged above, it also have themes of homosexuality. However unlike the other two the story of this one is dark. Its based on the Korean Joseon dynasty which is one of the most brutally opressive ears for women in Korean history. Expect to read about patriarchy, sexual abuse, incest, rape, and more.
Its a fucked up place on the ship and the only thing you have to remember is:
Namjon yeobi.
Men are honoured, women are abased.
The writing is extremely well done and the interface is fun to play with. Typing in commands trying to find passwords and logging into admin and typing decrypt block3 to open new things in the game. Be warned though you might want to throw up from reading this but you will keep reading on because its interesting enough.
So we can assume this game is pretty good right? Well to be honest. It surprised me a lot, it was pretty good. The writing was good but the best part of it was the interface. Having to type in numbers in your modem and hearing the screeching sound of death and then logging/hacking your way into a BBS board then sorting through the trolls and the useful information to solve a mystery.
There really is not much choice in the story you just keep following it. Some parts you have to read posts and emails and think but you can honestly finish it in a couple of hours.
The spiritual sequel to that game is don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't your story. This was created in a span of a month for a contest. This game you play as a literature teacher in a school set in the future. The students all have handheld computers they can send messages, post stuff, and start topics for. You as the teacher have the ability to read anything they post at any time. The entirety of the game revolves around you invading their privacy and reading everything.
What I find annoying, but at the same time brilliant is the use of slang and internet speak. Bro, lol, and others are used very commonly and while it grates on your nerves it is sort of believable as students barely talk to each other and spend most of their time talking through the computer instead. Their essays which you mark are barely literate and you have to constantly raise the marks so that everyone can pass. It is mandatory that they pass. Its filled with drama, homosexuality, bullying, invasion of privacy, suicide, and other stuff. Even the "bullies" you have a chance to yell at, you can't help feeling sympathetic for. They are human after all. Everyone of them feels like they could be real people.
The current latest sequel is Analogue: A hate story. The only one that isn't free. Like the other two, it has a lot to do with technology. Set many years into the future on a generation spaceship called the "Mugunghwa" that mysteriously disappeared. It has now reappeared and you are an investigator on the ship looking through the logs and sorting out what happened. The writing in this game is much better than the previous two. For example this is just one of many letters exchanged by the crew.
Oh So-jin
When I first saw you, bringing my husband home in the late hours of the night, I was jealous. All I could think of was my daughter, and the first courtesan he'd had an affair with, nine years ago.
With every brief glimpse of you that I saw as you passed through our home, my heart burned a little, as if you embodied every single fault of my farce of a marriage.
I will never send this letter, because I know how ridiculous it sounds: for weeks, I, a noble wife, could be jealous of a poor courtesan? But you are young and beautiful, full of energy and grace; I am none of these things.
Only after you have been entertaining him for months did I start to realize what I was feeling: true, I was jealous, but not of you, for having my husband. I was jealous of my husband, for having the affections of a girl so pretty as you!
These are such ridiculous thoughts for a woman to have, I know, and even more ridiculous still is the way they have overwhelmed me. I used to dread my husband bringing his courtesans home with him; now I look forward to your nights together.
How could I not, when it means that I am treated to the sight of your bashful face in the morning? When we exchange glances, you hide behind your long hair, with so much cuteness and grace, my eyes can't help but wander, to admire the way it rests on your breasts. to see your clothes draped loosely over your hips; I cannot help myself from admiring your body as you try to hide from me.
It is ridiculous, to be so preoccupied with such thoughts, and perhaps I was better off having not ever realized them. Nevertheless, even though I may be as much of a woman as you are, I find myself longing for the same affections you shower my husband with. There is more to it than that: I would like to truly get to know you better. I like to imagine that we have much in common, aside from the obvious.
When I see you hiding in the corridor on those mornings, I imagine wrapping my own arms around those lovely hips, sharing long conversations about our tribulations in life, discovering just how much alike we are. And perhaps... I like to imagine we could share more than that.
I have been married for ten years to a man who has never paid any attention for nine of them. Perhaps my old age has made me bold, but I want more.
The next time I see you, I promise I will say something. For in all my twenty-six years, I have never felt a longing for anything this intensely. I don't care how wrong it is, as a wife and as a woman; I want you, Hana
And the reply
Hana
To my lovely So-jin,
You made it so easy, you know that?
I've always wanted to be seduced. The more I learned about it, the better I got at it, the more I thought about how lucky men are, that they'll get to be on the receiving end of it. It's always seemed like it would be so much fun.
But that wasn't why I dropped my guard in front of you, by the way. I was actually really wary the whole time you were serving my breakfast; do you know what I first thought? I thought maybe you were trying to poison me!
I mean, not seriously, of course. But it crossed my mind.
So no, I was guarded, until you started talking. You know what it was that got me? "Do tell me, how hard is it, studying to be a courtesan?" I answered modestly, "Oh you know, there's nothing to learn, you just have it or you don't"; the answer that any man would expect. But you?
You wouldn't have any of that. You said, "Please, don't lie. I actually want to know. It takes years, does it not? That must be intense for a girl of your age."
Then you leaned in, I started to blab about how it kind of is pretty intense, and I only realized an hour later that I was staring into your eyes, telling you - proudly, no less - about my whole life story. Our faces were barely a foot apart by the time I noticed what you'd done.
And that was how you caught me totally off guard. I had no idea what to do! Should I touch you? What's the right body language in that situation? Was I interpreting you right, or was it all in my head? Not even the slightest clue! You had me good.
And you played it so well! You know just the right moment to pull back, and tell me to go on my way, but in a way that left me wondering.
So-jin, you made it so easy. Returning home, my heart was so a fluttered, my feelings so confused, and all I could think about was you. You, the bored old wife of my patron, actually managed to seduce me, just like that.
I'd always wanted to know that feeling, and you know? It was everything I dreamed it'd be.
Its a story about two families, the Smith's, and the Kim's. These are the two noble families fighting to put their own family ahead and gain recognition from the Ryu family, the emperor and captain of the ship. However that has changed since many generations on the ship and society has regressed. They have no idea why they are even in space or care. Women are treated as if they don't exist. Their names doesn't matter and they are only referred to as the husband's wife. Some doesn't even have names like "the pale bride." They are raised to serve men, have their own women's quarters where they live and are married off like property at the age of 16. Like the other games and the letter exchanged above, it also have themes of homosexuality. However unlike the other two the story of this one is dark. Its based on the Korean Joseon dynasty which is one of the most brutally opressive ears for women in Korean history. Expect to read about patriarchy, sexual abuse, incest, rape, and more.
Its a fucked up place on the ship and the only thing you have to remember is:
Namjon yeobi.
Men are honoured, women are abased.
The writing is extremely well done and the interface is fun to play with. Typing in commands trying to find passwords and logging into admin and typing decrypt block3 to open new things in the game. Be warned though you might want to throw up from reading this but you will keep reading on because its interesting enough.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Long Live The Queen - Probably easier to be a real queen
I don't even know how to describe this game. The closest thing I can compare it to is Academagia, a fantasy life simulator where you play as a student in a magic school. Its not as complex and you don't need to read an essay of text every 20 seconds. However I learned its based off some Japanese game called Princess Maker where you raise a princess and force her into prostitution or something fucked up. Knowing Japan you'd probably end up fucking her too. So that raised some giant red flags. I first heard about this game from people posting shit all over the forums about it. I was looking for something to entertain me and so I decided to see what this was about. I checked their site, Hanako Games, where all you see are a bunch of Anime games. This sent more red flags but then I read on and I basically learned that its made by girls for girls.
For too many people, "games for girls" means nothing but bright pink and dolls and dress-up and shopping. Well, those can be fun, but there are plenty of girls whose lives don't begin and end at the mall. Fiction for girls (and young adults in general) often focuses on other common girl-interests, like horses, magic, and fantasy. So why aren't there more girl games with unicorns instead of prom dresses?
We are not just "girls games", although we are definitely girl-friendly. Anyone who likes fantasy and adventure, anime games, or just cute stuff is more than welcome here. We hope you will enjoy what you find and come back in the future to see what other games we have made. We may surprise you!
Want to make your own adventure? Join us...
Alright, you caught my attention. How are they going to pull this off. I remember talking about how the gaming industry is male dominated and there are not many games aimed at girls without it being shit. Well since there seems to be decent positive reviews it shouldn't be too bad right? Well, to tell you the truth it isn't.
You start off as Elodie, a 14 year old princess being pulled out of school and dragged to the castle to find out your mother has died and you will become the queen. You dad, King Dowager, the Duke of Caloris, is a stupid loser who doesn't know how to lead and forces you to do it. From what I assume its a matriarchal society in the kingdom of Nova but its never really explained why. Perhaps its explained in one of the history texts or if you play the game further but I never got there yet without being killed. Yes you can die and you will die A LOT. One thing I can't seem to remember though is the names and the titles. How the shit are you supposed to remember all this without some kind of journal or something so you can look up when you're trying to appoint some random asshole to lead some country where the king was assassinated.
Anyways so your dad is useless and you now rule over the entire country at the young age of 14 and everyone and their pet dog wants you dead. It throws you into a short tutorial where it explains the statistic screen. You have four mood meters: Angry and Afraid, Cheerful and Depressed, Willful and Yielding, Pressured and Lonely. Raising one will lower one of the opposite mood and vice versa. The one which is the highest or lowest of the four determines your current mood. You will get bonus to learning skills depending on your mood. Skills are broken down into 4 categories, each with multiple subcategories and 3 subcategories for each subcategory. For example, Social skill is broken down into the following subcategories: Royal Demeanor, Conversation, Expression. In Royal Demeanor you have: Composure, Elegance, and Presence. While in Conversation you have: Public Speaking, Court Manners, and Flattery. Then you have shit like Intellectual skills with the following subcategories: History, Intrigue, Medicine, Economics, Military. Overall in total you have 42 different possible skills to learn.
Again not as complex as Academagia but it will make anyone's head spin the first time you play. You can plan classes for any of the 42 different skills. One morning class and one evening class. These classes will last the week so you will gain 2 points for every weekday in the week. A total of 10/100 points per class if the bonus is at 0. When you see bonuses or penalties you should probably pick or avoid that. For example, if you're depressed you suffer a -2 penalty to Conversation skills. You will learn a total of 2 + -2 each day gaining a total of 0 for the week. However if she has +1 to Conversation you will gain 2 + 1 each day making a grand total of 15 points for the week. On weekends you can do stuff that will change your mood like playing with your toys, playing tennis, sneak out of the castle, and the list goes on. It will also have an event which can be anything simple from a person coming to the castle asking for funding for medicine for soldiers. If you don't have the proper skills you will fail the skill check and automatically reject the project.
Basically all the skills you learn are for skill checks. Certain events require you to have a certain amount in a certain stat to pass it. However you don't always need specific ones. For example when a maid crashes into you. If you have courtly manners high enough you can pass the check to accept her apology, to apologize or throw her in jail. If you fail that check thats fine if your Reflex skill is high enough you are able to dodge the whole thing. However shit will branch out and some options are hidden unless you have the right skills. Some will outright kill you without the right skills. For example one part I was riding on a cart to a party and we were attacked by bandits. Because I have enough Reflexes I was able to dodge the arrow. On my second play through I failed to level that skill and chose to go to the same party only to get shot and killed.
On my first playthrough I leveled my Intrigue skill up and with high enough Foreign Intelligence I was able to discover my crazy aunt's plot to steal my throne so I had her assassinated. Yes I'm a fucking 14 year old girl sending an assassin to kill my scheming evil aunt. Then when her son came to the castle you have inner dialogue going "He doesn't know I'm the one who killed her mother." Wow I just became this giant evil bitch. It didn't really matter though I was so focused on skilling up my Social skills and History and Intrigue that I neglected my Military skills. When the enemy attacked us I lost all my troops and he gave me a choice. If I dueled him to the death with magic he will leave everyone and everything alive if he wins. If he loses his army will leave. Or you can choose to fight to the end. Well I never picked up my magical girl super transformation crystal because I decided to wait until I was crowned the queen like a good girl so I wasn't able to duel him. He said he doesn't give a shit its either your head or the country. And I'm like I am the fucking country. So I ran from the duel and our armies fought and I got defeated then executed. The end.
Then another play though I decided to up my Military skill from the beginning only to fail to discover my crazy aunt's plot and she led a rebellion. It was that I either marry one of her sons and give up all power or die. Well I said fuck off and I was executed. Its much more fun than I expected it to be. Theres so much stuff to do, each and every play though will be slightly different. Maybe you get a little further, maybe you fuck up somewhere. But the things that happens always remain the same. The skill checks always remain the same. Sure you may be thinking. The title is all pink and fluttery it must be super girly. Not really. Other than the girly aesthetics like pinkness and your pink haired princess theres nothing that will stop a guy from going "Ewwww gay! Not touching!" Plus who the fuck cares about it being girly. You don't really go around shopping for clothes or gawking at guys. Sure there are some marriage candidates but they're all purely political. You can force people into marriage or break it off as well. Some are just outright creepy like a dude older than your dad that wants to marry you. Like fuck off. I dragged him to the executioner and had his head chopped off. Take that for girly.
For too many people, "games for girls" means nothing but bright pink and dolls and dress-up and shopping. Well, those can be fun, but there are plenty of girls whose lives don't begin and end at the mall. Fiction for girls (and young adults in general) often focuses on other common girl-interests, like horses, magic, and fantasy. So why aren't there more girl games with unicorns instead of prom dresses?
We are not just "girls games", although we are definitely girl-friendly. Anyone who likes fantasy and adventure, anime games, or just cute stuff is more than welcome here. We hope you will enjoy what you find and come back in the future to see what other games we have made. We may surprise you!
Want to make your own adventure? Join us...
Alright, you caught my attention. How are they going to pull this off. I remember talking about how the gaming industry is male dominated and there are not many games aimed at girls without it being shit. Well since there seems to be decent positive reviews it shouldn't be too bad right? Well, to tell you the truth it isn't.
You start off as Elodie, a 14 year old princess being pulled out of school and dragged to the castle to find out your mother has died and you will become the queen. You dad, King Dowager, the Duke of Caloris, is a stupid loser who doesn't know how to lead and forces you to do it. From what I assume its a matriarchal society in the kingdom of Nova but its never really explained why. Perhaps its explained in one of the history texts or if you play the game further but I never got there yet without being killed. Yes you can die and you will die A LOT. One thing I can't seem to remember though is the names and the titles. How the shit are you supposed to remember all this without some kind of journal or something so you can look up when you're trying to appoint some random asshole to lead some country where the king was assassinated.
Anyways so your dad is useless and you now rule over the entire country at the young age of 14 and everyone and their pet dog wants you dead. It throws you into a short tutorial where it explains the statistic screen. You have four mood meters: Angry and Afraid, Cheerful and Depressed, Willful and Yielding, Pressured and Lonely. Raising one will lower one of the opposite mood and vice versa. The one which is the highest or lowest of the four determines your current mood. You will get bonus to learning skills depending on your mood. Skills are broken down into 4 categories, each with multiple subcategories and 3 subcategories for each subcategory. For example, Social skill is broken down into the following subcategories: Royal Demeanor, Conversation, Expression. In Royal Demeanor you have: Composure, Elegance, and Presence. While in Conversation you have: Public Speaking, Court Manners, and Flattery. Then you have shit like Intellectual skills with the following subcategories: History, Intrigue, Medicine, Economics, Military. Overall in total you have 42 different possible skills to learn.
Again not as complex as Academagia but it will make anyone's head spin the first time you play. You can plan classes for any of the 42 different skills. One morning class and one evening class. These classes will last the week so you will gain 2 points for every weekday in the week. A total of 10/100 points per class if the bonus is at 0. When you see bonuses or penalties you should probably pick or avoid that. For example, if you're depressed you suffer a -2 penalty to Conversation skills. You will learn a total of 2 + -2 each day gaining a total of 0 for the week. However if she has +1 to Conversation you will gain 2 + 1 each day making a grand total of 15 points for the week. On weekends you can do stuff that will change your mood like playing with your toys, playing tennis, sneak out of the castle, and the list goes on. It will also have an event which can be anything simple from a person coming to the castle asking for funding for medicine for soldiers. If you don't have the proper skills you will fail the skill check and automatically reject the project.
Basically all the skills you learn are for skill checks. Certain events require you to have a certain amount in a certain stat to pass it. However you don't always need specific ones. For example when a maid crashes into you. If you have courtly manners high enough you can pass the check to accept her apology, to apologize or throw her in jail. If you fail that check thats fine if your Reflex skill is high enough you are able to dodge the whole thing. However shit will branch out and some options are hidden unless you have the right skills. Some will outright kill you without the right skills. For example one part I was riding on a cart to a party and we were attacked by bandits. Because I have enough Reflexes I was able to dodge the arrow. On my second play through I failed to level that skill and chose to go to the same party only to get shot and killed.
On my first playthrough I leveled my Intrigue skill up and with high enough Foreign Intelligence I was able to discover my crazy aunt's plot to steal my throne so I had her assassinated. Yes I'm a fucking 14 year old girl sending an assassin to kill my scheming evil aunt. Then when her son came to the castle you have inner dialogue going "He doesn't know I'm the one who killed her mother." Wow I just became this giant evil bitch. It didn't really matter though I was so focused on skilling up my Social skills and History and Intrigue that I neglected my Military skills. When the enemy attacked us I lost all my troops and he gave me a choice. If I dueled him to the death with magic he will leave everyone and everything alive if he wins. If he loses his army will leave. Or you can choose to fight to the end. Well I never picked up my magical girl super transformation crystal because I decided to wait until I was crowned the queen like a good girl so I wasn't able to duel him. He said he doesn't give a shit its either your head or the country. And I'm like I am the fucking country. So I ran from the duel and our armies fought and I got defeated then executed. The end.
Then another play though I decided to up my Military skill from the beginning only to fail to discover my crazy aunt's plot and she led a rebellion. It was that I either marry one of her sons and give up all power or die. Well I said fuck off and I was executed. Its much more fun than I expected it to be. Theres so much stuff to do, each and every play though will be slightly different. Maybe you get a little further, maybe you fuck up somewhere. But the things that happens always remain the same. The skill checks always remain the same. Sure you may be thinking. The title is all pink and fluttery it must be super girly. Not really. Other than the girly aesthetics like pinkness and your pink haired princess theres nothing that will stop a guy from going "Ewwww gay! Not touching!" Plus who the fuck cares about it being girly. You don't really go around shopping for clothes or gawking at guys. Sure there are some marriage candidates but they're all purely political. You can force people into marriage or break it off as well. Some are just outright creepy like a dude older than your dad that wants to marry you. Like fuck off. I dragged him to the executioner and had his head chopped off. Take that for girly.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Indie Games - Doing gaming right
I really like Indie games. I don't know whats about them that draws me to them. I spent more time playing games like Aquaria, Dungeons of Dredmore, Recettear, Dungeon Defenders or World of Goo than any of the recent AAA titles minus a few. I had more fun playing a 5 to 15 dollar game than a 60 dollar AAA title. What is it about these games that make them so freaking fun? Maybe because they have a niche audience and can cater specifically to them? Maybe they're a little old school but manage to make it new? Maybe because they listen to their fans? Who knows really. All I know is more developers need to start paying more attention to their fans, because it pays off in the end.
With the recent increase of digital distribution, more and more indie games are popping up. Some of you may be asking what are these mysterious "indie games" that are getting more and more popular.
"There is no exact widely-accepted definition of what constitutes an "indie game". However, generally indie games share certain commonalities. Indie games are developed by individuals, small teams, or small independent companies. And, typically, indie games are smaller than mainstream titles. Indie game developers are not financially backed by publishers and usually have little to no budget available."
What this means is, they are in control of everything. They can change everything on a whim, granted that the whole team agrees, if they wish to. Instead of having to appeal to a broad audience and dumbing down games or mechanics they can make their games as unforgiving as they want. There is an audience for that. They're called roguelikes where the gameplay is so frustrating and unforgiving but just the right amount that make masochists crawl back to play over and over again.
The only problem is that there is almost no marketing for these games. Most travel from person to person on forums and gaming sites. I read around on a gaming forum quite a bit always on the lookout for new games and information. What I noticed is how many indie developers hang around there. They post about their games show a little and then constantly change or update things based on feedback. That is where I find most of my games. I've already talked about Carpe Fulgur and their successes and they are just one of many. A recent one caught my attention as I was reading about an upcoming old school dungeon crawler game called Legend of Grimrock.
What exactly happened was a fan asked why there weren't any clickable arrow icons for movement like many of the old school games. When asked why, he replied that he was disabled. The developers upon hearing that spent a couple hours and added optional clickable arrow icons into the game. Just for one person. When this happened, a random guy on the forums decided to send this story to reddit and various gaming sites and soon it exploded out of proportion. Their website went down from massive traffic overload and their email were flooded.
To quote one of the developers
"It's a bit sad to find out that even such a small gesture toward fans gets so much attention, because it says that there's a huge gap between the game creators and the audience in general, and people just aren't used to this kind of interaction,"
What he says is true. Its sad how many companies don't give a shit about their customers. Hell even some indie developers start drifting away from the community. Trendy Entertainment of Dungeon Defenders for one started going on a downhill slope. For one they decided that alienating their console players is a good idea. They stopped updating for consoles entirely. Next they started drifting away from their playerbase. They used to talk to their players often and update often. Now everyone is left in the dark then a patch comes out of nowhere with nerfs and bugs. People's characters get deleted, items are lost, and other things happen. When people sent emails for help it came back with a reply more than 3 weeks later saying they'll give them 10 million mana (not even worth 1 item) so they can start over. Really? Wait 3 weeks just for that?
I think what really attracts me to indie games is how approachable and human they are. I think thats what it comes down to. Love for their work, their fans, and their own game and it shows in the end product.
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/27/indie-studio-almost-human-is-more-human-than-most/
With the recent increase of digital distribution, more and more indie games are popping up. Some of you may be asking what are these mysterious "indie games" that are getting more and more popular.
"There is no exact widely-accepted definition of what constitutes an "indie game". However, generally indie games share certain commonalities. Indie games are developed by individuals, small teams, or small independent companies. And, typically, indie games are smaller than mainstream titles. Indie game developers are not financially backed by publishers and usually have little to no budget available."
What this means is, they are in control of everything. They can change everything on a whim, granted that the whole team agrees, if they wish to. Instead of having to appeal to a broad audience and dumbing down games or mechanics they can make their games as unforgiving as they want. There is an audience for that. They're called roguelikes where the gameplay is so frustrating and unforgiving but just the right amount that make masochists crawl back to play over and over again.
The only problem is that there is almost no marketing for these games. Most travel from person to person on forums and gaming sites. I read around on a gaming forum quite a bit always on the lookout for new games and information. What I noticed is how many indie developers hang around there. They post about their games show a little and then constantly change or update things based on feedback. That is where I find most of my games. I've already talked about Carpe Fulgur and their successes and they are just one of many. A recent one caught my attention as I was reading about an upcoming old school dungeon crawler game called Legend of Grimrock.
What exactly happened was a fan asked why there weren't any clickable arrow icons for movement like many of the old school games. When asked why, he replied that he was disabled. The developers upon hearing that spent a couple hours and added optional clickable arrow icons into the game. Just for one person. When this happened, a random guy on the forums decided to send this story to reddit and various gaming sites and soon it exploded out of proportion. Their website went down from massive traffic overload and their email were flooded.
To quote one of the developers
"It's a bit sad to find out that even such a small gesture toward fans gets so much attention, because it says that there's a huge gap between the game creators and the audience in general, and people just aren't used to this kind of interaction,"
What he says is true. Its sad how many companies don't give a shit about their customers. Hell even some indie developers start drifting away from the community. Trendy Entertainment of Dungeon Defenders for one started going on a downhill slope. For one they decided that alienating their console players is a good idea. They stopped updating for consoles entirely. Next they started drifting away from their playerbase. They used to talk to their players often and update often. Now everyone is left in the dark then a patch comes out of nowhere with nerfs and bugs. People's characters get deleted, items are lost, and other things happen. When people sent emails for help it came back with a reply more than 3 weeks later saying they'll give them 10 million mana (not even worth 1 item) so they can start over. Really? Wait 3 weeks just for that?
I think what really attracts me to indie games is how approachable and human they are. I think thats what it comes down to. Love for their work, their fans, and their own game and it shows in the end product.
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/27/indie-studio-almost-human-is-more-human-than-most/
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Binding of Issac - One big dead baby joke
You're probably asking why I'm bitching about an indie game. An indie game may have niche audiences but it doesn't mean it can't suck shit. The Binding of Issac is made by the same people who made Super Meat Boy. I have never played that game but I've heard praises of people who have played it. Having no idea what that is and no idea what this is I gave this a try. All I could say after all this was what the fuck. The story consists of you, Issac a 8 year old boy with a crazy religious mother. One day your mother hears the voice of God telling her to shelter you from the outside evils. You are then locked away naked in your room. Then she hears the voice of God telling her to kill you and you escape through the basement. That is the whole story. Inside the basement you meet a bunch of different creatures such as eyeless bleeding babies, babies with head filled with flies, headless babies, floating dead baby heads, zombie babies, maggots, giant vaginas, and more.
Edgy huh? I think the game focused too much on being edgy than to make the game better. The game isn't entirely bad. Its a rogue-like inspired Zeldaesque game. Basically you go around the dungeon shooting everything with tears and you find upgrades and you slowly mutate into some fucked up shit. The amount of blood puts Dragon Age to shame. Its grotesque but the replayability is there. The only problem is, why is this 5 bucks? Seems like this game is no different than those flash games you can play for free. A couple of years ago without steam and all these digital distribution sites it would be just another flash game forgotten somewhere. The game is made in flash and when the screen is filled with a bunch of shit (literally sometimes), it slows down and you start sliding around making the game difficult and impossible to play. Its more annoying than Odin Sphere's massive slowdown. The game is all about luck. Its like solitaire, you don't play to win instead you play for a chance to win.
When people wanted joystick support, what did these guys do? They make you google another program of course! There are more and more shit like if you leave the game on for long periods of time it automatically assumes you aren't playing and closes the game for you. The only reason they could get away with this kind of shit is because its an indie game. For 5 bucks you can get something better, something like Dungeons of Dredmor another rogue-like. Even Dungeon Defenders is cheap as shit and worth way more than this piece of shit. It has a few levels and the game doesn't last very long. The only reason replayability is high is the first few tries you'll end up dying a few minutes into the game. Its not bad becuase its hard, its bad because of how unoptimized it is and how its just a game where they shove as many dead babies and internet memes they can into it.
Edgy huh? I think the game focused too much on being edgy than to make the game better. The game isn't entirely bad. Its a rogue-like inspired Zeldaesque game. Basically you go around the dungeon shooting everything with tears and you find upgrades and you slowly mutate into some fucked up shit. The amount of blood puts Dragon Age to shame. Its grotesque but the replayability is there. The only problem is, why is this 5 bucks? Seems like this game is no different than those flash games you can play for free. A couple of years ago without steam and all these digital distribution sites it would be just another flash game forgotten somewhere. The game is made in flash and when the screen is filled with a bunch of shit (literally sometimes), it slows down and you start sliding around making the game difficult and impossible to play. Its more annoying than Odin Sphere's massive slowdown. The game is all about luck. Its like solitaire, you don't play to win instead you play for a chance to win.
When people wanted joystick support, what did these guys do? They make you google another program of course! There are more and more shit like if you leave the game on for long periods of time it automatically assumes you aren't playing and closes the game for you. The only reason they could get away with this kind of shit is because its an indie game. For 5 bucks you can get something better, something like Dungeons of Dredmor another rogue-like. Even Dungeon Defenders is cheap as shit and worth way more than this piece of shit. It has a few levels and the game doesn't last very long. The only reason replayability is high is the first few tries you'll end up dying a few minutes into the game. Its not bad becuase its hard, its bad because of how unoptimized it is and how its just a game where they shove as many dead babies and internet memes they can into it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
