Destructor-8 Posted October 2, 2022 Share Posted October 2, 2022 21 minutes ago, serrated-banner9 said: don't tell him but i think i might do a trophy checklist based on his ideas. for sciense!!!!!!!!!! ......... what? it's a good idea It's really cool to make one as it can literally be based on pretty much anything & it's always great to read through different experiences too. I've found many games that I probably wouldn't have got otherwise. There were a few games from this one that I got but haven't tried out yet. 13 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said: Hey- bash on, my man - I didn't invent the concept of game ranking, and I don't have a monopoly on it... ... I'll be more than interested to read some Serrated-Science! It's definitely always interesting to read more. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serrated-banner9 Posted October 3, 2022 Share Posted October 3, 2022 alright it's up https://forum.psnprofiles.com/topic/133414-serrated-banner9s-serrated-sciense/#comment-2641492 expect the first lot probably tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted October 4, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 4, 2022 !!SCIENCE UPDATE!! The next (somewhat) randomly selected games to be submitted for scientific analysis shall be: New Griftlands Rollerdrome Yoku's Island Express Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars Islanders That's right - for the first time, this is a pure "maintenance" batch, as I've too many new S-Ranks to allow for any Legacy games ? As such, no Priority Rankings this time - I'll try to get to the outstanding one next Batch though! Can 'Current Most Awesome' game, Hitman 3, continue its glorious reign? Is gaming turdlet LA Cops ever going to lose the title of 'Least Awesome Game'? Let's find out, Science Chums! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kopite Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 19 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said: !!SCIENCE UPDATE!! The next (somewhat) randomly selected games to be submitted for scientific analysis shall be: New Griftlands Rollerdrome Yoku's Island Express Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars Islanders That's right - for the first time, this is a pure "maintenance" batch, as I've too many new S-Ranks to allow for any Legacy games ? As such, no Priority Rankings this time - I'll try to get to the outstanding one next Batch though! Can 'Current Most Awesome' game, Hitman 3, continue its glorious reign? Is gaming turdlet LA Cops ever going to lose the title of 'Least Awesome Game'? Let's find out, Science Chums! Ready to read that Yoku review! Also, eyeing up all the Voice of Cards games since they launched, so interested to see your thoughts on those as well! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Vice Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 1 hour ago, The_Kopite said: Ready to read that Yoku review! Also, eyeing up all the Voice of Cards games since they launched, so interested to see your thoughts on those as well! Yeah agreed. I'm dead keen for all 5 of these so this should be a doubleplusgood batch. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted October 4, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 4, 2022 NEW SCIENTIFIC RESULTS ARE IN! Hello Science-Bojacks and Science-Princess-Carolines, as promised (and in some cases requested), here are the latest results of our great scientific endeavour! Griftlands Summary: A Deck-Building rogue-like form Klei - arguably the most prolific, successful and versatile genre-hopping developer currently in business - Griftlands once again shows off Klei's incredible ability to "Stanley Kubrick" their way through the games industry with almost preternatural aplomb, and Neo-from-the-Matrix level adaptability. Anyone familiar with my checklist knows the respect and admiration I have for Klei - they are one of the only developers (alongside Supergiant,) who are able to genre-hop with virtually every game they make - making only one, or maybe two games within any single genre, yet often outdoing the efforts of other developers who work exclusively within that genre for decades. They made one Action stealth game - Mark of the Ninja - and it was one of the best of that genre. They made one Survival game - Don't Starve (well, two if one includes Don't Starve Together,) - and it was one of the best of that genre. They made one Turn-based strategy game - Invisible Inc - and it was not only one of the best of that genre, but also one of the best games of all time. Griftlands is thier one Deck Builder... and while I haven't played as many games in that genre as I would like to, after my 80-odd hours with it, I am comfortable stating that it is a fantastic example within that genre. Set in a fictional semi-wasteland in a far flung future, where multiple races co-exist is a Star Wars style melting pot, Griftlands sees three different characters take their own unique stories - played out over 4 or 5 in-game days in the eponymous Griftlands - with complicated and convoluted paths determined by a myriad of interdependent and interconnected variables as each of the characters struggles for survival - or dominance - in an unforgiving world. Both Combat, and adversarial conversation ("Negotiation") is played out via two different styles of card game, each with their own set of mechanics and decks to build, and each run is varied by a plethora of random events, choices, successes or failures, and narrative interactions with NPCs. Both card games are unique and interesting, and actually share little DNA between the two. More than almost any other game, Griftlands feels like one where two distinct and separate games are being learned, and excelling at one does not necessarily correlate to success in the other. The combat one is pretty analogous to Slay the Spire, with battles playing out based on various buffs, debuffs, different types of damage, and is visually similar - with HP bars, characters facing off left and right, and simple symbology used to denote status, and future moves / impacts. The diplomacy one, on the other hand, is more unique, feeling like something of a "split-the-difference" between Slay the Spire style combat, and Magic: The Gathering / Inscryption style 1-on-1 interface. The characters face off, with their "core" argument forming the frontal attack of an armada of smaller "points" and "side-arguments" that orbit around the outer of two circles, with the inner one indicating future moves. Jibes and diplomatic points can attack either the opponents core argument, or any of their side arguments, (buffs,) but debuffs can also be injected into their "argument circle", seeds of doubt, or paradoxes etc. which constantly reduce their resolve or curtail the strength of their own arguments. The balance between those two games is clever and interesting. Successfully winning a combat encounter restores some "Resolve" (the conversational equivalent of HP), while a successful negotiation restores some HP, and often results in having a new companion to fight in the next combat encounter. When selecting "missions" to embark on, or while engaging in encounters, the players choices will affect which game is played - obviously, a more diplomatic playthrough will result in far more instances of Negotiation battles, whereas the more combat-focussed, "direct" route is always available as a fallback (loosing all "resolve" - the conversational equivalent of HP - does not result in a game over, but rather the inability to convince the opponent, and generally the requirement for combat,) but of course, a less diplomatic run can go straight to battle, ignoring the chance for nuance! It is up to the player to determine which are they wish to engage with at any time, though no playthrough will ever allow one game type to be played exclusively... and building a good deck in either requires engagement with it, so each individual encounter must be weighed - the possibility of success and reward, vs. the possibility of failure, and set-back. The game features 3 playable characters, all with their own narrative stories, areas of the Griftlands to explore, decks, unique mechanics, and specific build options for both games, and each feels genuinely different and interesting. The first character to be played - Sal - is a recently released bounty hunter, and is probably the most mechanically "pure" (there is a reason she is the one unlocked from the get-go) - though there is still significant scope for build variety. Her Negotiation deck is primarily based around selecting between "Diplomacy" or "Intimidation", and her combat deck around either Improvising cards or causing status effects. Her story is essentially about making her way in the Griftlands, by aligning with one faction or the other... the Admiralty, (essentially cops,) or the Spree (the robbers and thieves.) The second - Rook - a retires Admiralty Captain - is based more around gambling. His decks include coin-flipping mechanics and are based more around bluffing, trickery and smarts, and his narrative is more about faking alignments and double-crossing - playing both sides of the factions of the Griftlands against one another, and flipping back and forth. The third character - Smith - the drunkard heir to a wealthy dynasty, disowned by his family - is easily the most mechanically complex character, analogous in some ways to The Watcher character in Slay the Spire, in the sense that while initially the most difficult character to play, has arguably the most scope for supreme power when played effectively. His decks are all based around drinking (indeed, he has additional mechanics involving "Drinking" and "Empty Bottles" laid over the already complex mechanics of the game, and these add additional wrinkles and nuances to his story of wanton debauchery and unpredictability. The way the game is laid out structurally, and presented to the player is interesting, in the sense that while certainly a rogue-like, the path through it is far more reminiscent of, say, Pyre, than Slay the Spire. Certainly the basic "spine" of the game - the route taken through the campaign - is, under the hood, similar to the Slay the Spire / Curse of the Dead Gods style rogue-like, with the constant progression also subject to a certain element of RNG, allowing different choices to the player about which avenue seems best for them at any given juncture, but the actual presentation of that is much closer to Pyre. The area of the Griftlands that the specific character's journey takes place in (this is different for each of the three protagonists,) is presented as a static map, around which the different possible choices of encounter / mission / event will present as icons, and the player chooses which to do from that map. That gives a slightly more involving, engaging element to the game from a narrative perspective than something like Slay the Spire does. While the result is much the same, the feeling of being genuinely "within" the world, and having true agency in it is added to by actually feeling like one is choosing not only their manner of progression, but where they go within it. There are a huge number of NPC characters - around 50 I believe - and each one has specific relationships with the protagonist in any given run. Every character, from shopkeepers, to bodyguards, to workers and barflies, can, at any given moment, either love, like, dislike, hate or be neutral to the player, and each encounter - and choice within that encounter - will have an effect on that status... and those statuses are of significant impact. A shopkeeper who likes you will charge less for their wares. One who dislikes you, will charge more. Every NPC has a "Social Boon" - a special buff you get as long as they love you (which could be anything from extra turns at the start of battle, to cheaper healing, to increased health for companions etc)... however, each also has a "Social Bane", applied if they hate you. Managing these is of great importance - even with the best deck in the world, completing a run with multiple compounding Social Banes can be very tricky! The NPC relationships are not in a vacuum either - NPCs have affiliation with one another. Killing someone (as opposed to, say, accepting their surrender,) can be beneficial - it may result in useful single-use cards, for example - however, if it is done in a crowded area, you may gain a reputation... resulting in unwanted detrimental cards being added to your deck... and other people hating you. Kill someone from a specific faction, and their comrades might Hate you. Kill someone's friend, and they might hate you. If someone dislikes or hates you, and their Social Bane is very detrimental, what to do? You could try and win them over by buying a drink... but if you don't have the cash, that's not an option. You could kill them, (a social bane is removed if the person causing it dies,)... but doing so might result in other people hating you. You could enter a "Negotiation" battle with them, to try and provoke them into attacking you first (killing someone after they draw first will not result in bad reputation,)... but they are citizens of the rough, tough Griftlands. They know what you're doing. That negotiation will be tough to pull off! These NPC relationships are the games biggest success. They work really well, make genuine differences to the game mechanically from run to run, and are a constant source of interesting variety in both the mechanical game, and the narrative. I completed around 60 runs of the game across my time with it, including at least 30 with my "main" character (Sal,) and very rarely did a run feel much the same as a previous one. The game also features both "Story" and "Brawl" modes - Brawl mode being essentially a more bare-bones, but also more "flattened", rigidly defined version of the story mode. There is still some of the same considerations along the journey, but Brawl mode removes the most flexible narrative elements, (and the map,) and feels more of a "level playing field" for competitive play. The number of encounters is fixed, and some of the more RNG elements (optional side elements, skippable encounters etc) are curtailed. The art-style of Griftlands is really fantastic - reminiscent of late 80's /early 90's cartoons, or even Dragon's Lair / Space Ace style Laserdisc games, with a really cool mix of alien races and enemy designs. The hand-drawn look of all the characters gives them significant personality, and the environments, characters and artistic details really flesh out and colourise the world of the Griftlands with style. It could be very easy to imagine an entire ongoing animated series being created within the game world, and fitting in perfectly in the Saturday Morning Cartoon landscape of the early 90's. While the game is not heavily animated, there is a significant step up from something like Slay the Spire in battle - characters move and make their unique attacks directly to the opposing players, and grimace or block as they are themselves attacked, meaning the visual palate of the combat (and the negotiations) is more akin to JRPG turn-based combat than the Slay the Spire-esque purely indicative style. Audio is good - music is fine, occasionally veering into very good territory, if never truly stand-out. There is voice work of a sort, though it is not real voice work, but rather Star-Fox / The Sims style simlish. The game posits that the Griftlands have their own language, and so the spoken words are in a made-up language, with the translations being read by the player. Overall Griftlands is a heck of a game. Two separate smart, very well worked out, genuinely variable and fun card games working well in tandem, and implemented extremely well in the wrapper of a fun and engaging set of stories, in a visually distinct and artistic landscape. It is a complicated game at first - and one can take some time to learn the nuance of - but the rewards for doing so is a rich, interesting and endlessly repeatable rogue-like that hits its tone perfectly, and always allows room for experimentation, variation... and fun. The Ranking: In ranking Griftlands, the easy way to narrow the field is with the only two other card-based games on the current ranking: Slay the Spire, and Inscryption. In terms on the actual card games, Griftlands, I think, actually ranks above both in pure deck-building variety, and the interesting nature of the game itself (or games, in Griftlands' case) - however, that is not the only factor at play. Slay the Spire is very much "pure" in terms of its card game - the gameplay is 100% reliant on the card game itself, and its ranking on the list is entirely as a result of the finesse of that game. (Indeed, the limited visual flair of the game, and its simplicity in the tertiary elements are, if anything, a bane, rather than a boon to its placement.) That virtually guarantees that Griftlands has to rank above it. It is more variable and fun in its card games, and it has many additional elements (visuals, narrative, lore etc) adding to it too. Inscryption, on the other hand, has certainly the weakest actual card game of the three... but its strengths lie in many, many other areas, and as good as Griftlands is, it cannot really compete on those elements. I was engaged by Griftlands... but consumed by Inscryption. That places Griftlands somewhere in between those two... but there is one other game in there worth noting for similarity: Pyre. As said in the review, Griftlands feels in many ways like a perfect amalgamation of Pyre, and Slay the Spire. Slay the Pyre, anyone? No? I'll let myself out... Pyre works on a similar narrative structure to Griftlands, but instead of card games, it has its strange mix of ritualism , mysticism and NBA Jam-style sports game. I prefer the card games and deck-building elements of Griftlands to the Sports drafting / NBA Jam action of Pyre... however, I do think that the writing of Pyre is significantly better. On visuals, both are very close, with the slight edge going to Pyre, and on audio, Pyre has to take it too (that soundtrack is immense!) and so I think on balance, Pyre narrowly retains its spot. That leaves a handful of great games in between Pyre and Slay the Spire. There are a few rogue-likes in there, and I won't go through all the thinking and merits of every one, but as a quick-hit: I think Curse of the Dead Gods and Returnal stay above Griftlands... but I think the first one (working down) that is an almost completely even match is Supergiant's Hades. It's a very hard call, but in the end, I think Hades JUST manages to hang on... but it's so close, that Griftlands has to rank just below it. Rollerdrome Summary: An action arcade shooter / extreme sports hybrid developed by Roll7, (developers of the OlliOlli games,) Rollerdrome is a game with a very specific, very streamlined design document: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater... with Guns! Set in a retro-future where corporations - in particular, the Matterhorn Corporation - have near total governmental control, a new bloodsport - the Rollerdrome - has risen as the most popular consumer spectacle. The player takes the role of Kara Hassan, a new challenger who has wagered her life on becoming the new champion, and follow her career, while also learning the Matterhorn's involvement with Rollerdrome, and their shady operations. I don't usually start by talking about visuals and presentation, but with Rollerdrome, it's fitting to do so - and almost a requirement. They scream out to be noticed! The visuals are tremendous - and arguably the greatest triumph of the game. It's a cell-shaded art-style, but one far more detailed, crisp, clean and gorgeous than virtually any cell-shaded game I have ever seen, (save perhaps currently non-Playstation game Sable.) The thin-pencil-line outlines and detailing and the pastel-shade colour-scheme look absolutely fantastic - and freeze framing the game at literally any point results in a single-frame work of art that wouldn't look out of place in the best comic books - or be worthy of framing and hanging on a wall. The style, as compared to other cell-shaded games, is closest to something like Frank Quietly's work - for examples, see his amazing artwork in All-Star Superman - with an attention to fine detail and crisp, clean lines that puts him in the very highest echelon of comic book artists... and capturing that style in an in-motion videogame is something quite breathtaking to see. Because Rollerdrome works with a time-slow mechanic to allow for the accurate gunplay while engaging in fast-paced trick-popping action, these visuals are often being slowed to a crawl and the full spectacle of them held up for scrutiny, yet not once in my time with the game did I ever experience any real glitchy or odd poses, any environmental clipping, or really anything mechanical or technical that could take away from the visual spectacle of the game. Explosions, gunfire, flames, even melee impacts look both great, and completely at home within the heightened comic-book aesthetic. The presentation elements of the game are not purely stylish in terms of visuals either - but across the board. If there is a space in the game to further the philosophy of clean, simple, stylish aesthetic and movement, you can bet it is made use of in Rollerdrome. The menus are simple and functional, yet artistically designed with the eye of a graphic artics. The intro sequences are stylish as hell, and work great. The story beats, when they come, allow the player to walk around the "green room" holding areas or certain places (a train for example) as during Kara's down-time, and explore some elements of the world-building of the society that has given rise to the Rollerdrome as a bloodsport. These look great too (the only game I have played that comes close to this art-style in first-person is Void Bastards, and Rollerdrome outdoes even that game,) but more than that, the way these sections shift seamlessly into the next round of the competition - with Kara simple moving through a doorway, the camera pulling out to 3rd-person, and the action beginning without so much as a scene transition is marvellously well done, and feels awesome every time. Hell, even the poster-art cover image on the game is something I'd happily hang a picture of on my wall! The soundtrack follows the visual style also - the fast paced action is over-scored with a thumping, visceral and very evocative electronic soundtrack, and foley work - the sounds of shots fired, audio UI elements such as pickups and indications of ammo generation etc - are all excellent. They work as pure audio-candy, but also provide all the necessary feedback the player needs, in the middle of chaotic action, where visual indicators are not enough. (It's also work noting, on the "Player Feedback" - the haptic implementations of the PS5 controller are exceptionally good in Rollerdrome too -probably the best implementation I've encountered since Returnal. different rumbles and pressures are used to indicate charging weapons status, or incoming damage type, and these become second nature very quickly.) Mechanically, the game functions really, really well. The controls are not as immediately intuitive as some games, with jumping more a case of holding and releasing buttons, and momentum carrying once begun, however, they do come to feel natural pretty quickly, and before long, impressive and death-defying stunts can be pulled off with aplomb. While Rollerdrome has a narrative, it is pushed fairly far in the background - it is a game that is certainly "mechanics forward" and those mechanics have been finessed to a very high level. Movement is fluid and sleek, and pulling off tricks is surprisingly simple - as is taking shots at enemies, or dodging incoming ones. Unlike games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, where pulling off tricks is the entire raison d'etre, there is not real "crash" fail-state - missing a jump, or even missing the ramp on a landing will not cause Kara to fall, or come to a dead stop, however, it does cost significant momentum... and maintaining that constant momentum is absolutely the key to success. The game works on a series of "push-pull" mechanics. Pulling off tricks replenished ammunition for her weapons, and increased her available "slowdown" (the meter that drops as she slows down time, to make tricky shots.) Killing enemies restores health, and keeps a combo going. As such, avoiding incoming fire, while pulling off tricks is key to having the ammunition required to kill enemies, but killing those enemies is key to clearing space to pull off tricks, and to increase the score gained from them. That kind of push-pull mechanic, of course, by its nature, works sublimely when the player is doing well - indeed, Rollerdrome is one of those games where good play results in a kind of "zen flow-state" where the player is fully engrossed, and constantly dealing with their meters in a continual ballet of carnage and movement - however, it does also operate like a Jenga-tower. If the player takes a direct hit, and loses all momentum, recovering can be tricky. If they find themselves without sufficient ammo to make a kill to regain health, and too boxed in to pull off the tricks required to recover that ammo, a good run can very quickly become unrecoverable. That isn't a massive issue in the early portions of the game, where enemies are less compounded, though it does become one in later levels. Having said that though, there is an argument that maintaining that flow state IS the game - and so that collapsing Jenga-tower of failure is a necessary side-effect of the design, and not a genuine issue. The real issue the game has, however, is simply that there isn't a huge amount of variety to it. While the game is certainly sticks to its "Tony Hawk's with Guns" approach - and is incredibly well made good fun - it is really taking cues from the first Tony Hawk's game. The variety of tricks available to perform is not enormous. There are around 12 grab moves, 12 grind moves and a wall-ride. That is probably roughly analogous to the early Tony Hawks games, however, there is no real "combo" mechanic to speak of. point multipliers are racked up via consistent killing of enemies, with the "base points" derived from doing tricks, but these tricks themselves do not combo together. There is no points benefit to combining multiple tricks in a string, and no obvious way to do so anyways. While the early Tony Hawk's games did have less tricks in the bag than the later ones, they also benefitted from much more elaborate level design. Because Rollerdrome requires the player to be visible to enemies at all times, all levels are necessarily quite contained. There is no scope for "gimmick" levels, (for example, the "downhill" levels of Tony Hawk's.) All levels must conform to a basic set of fairly rigid design layout rules, and as such, tend to blend into one another... a fact not helped by the fact that, despite there being 12 main levels, actual artistic and environmental palates are repeated across some. The game also misses certain seemingly obvious areas where additional points would make sense. For example, one might think that killing an enemy in slow motion during a trick would be worth more points, however, it isn't - the reality is that while doing so may look awesome (and it sure does!) it is actually detrimental to the player's score. Far more points can be accrued by doing the full trick, then killing the enemy once it is landed, and so once the player moves past the "oh my God this is so cool!" portion of the game, and is concentrating more on accruing high scores, the play becomes rather less interesting or impressive - doing tricks, and shooting are almost treated as two parallel games, rather than one singular one - two activities happening in tandem, but independent of one another. The fundamental issue is that, with only around 24 tricks, 4 weapons (two of which are massively more powerful than the other two,) and only some limited variety in level layout, the process of gaining a high score in each level feels broadly the same... and the game knows it. There are 4 or 5 different enemy types, but the only real way the game has to increase difficulty from level to level is by increasing the number and ratio of these enemies... and the result is that the later levels on the harder "Out for Blood" campaign (essentially a "hard Mode" unlocked post completion,) become wildly chaotic and brutally difficult. They are open to extreme frustration, where so many enemies are present at any one time, that a single slip up is never really able to be recovered from. That does lead into an area I think the game does well, however - its "accessibility" options. Rollerdrome has quite a suite of modifiers available to the player, to set the challenge level to their personal tastes. Everything from the game speed, to the health, to the amount of slow-down or ammo available can be adjusted - in fact, if the player so chooses, they could make themselves a completely invincible, infinite-ammo wielding killing machine! (These options do not negate trophies, BTW, and so I can only assume the developer intended for the player to use them at their discretion... and for what it's worth, I did. While I dod not make myself invincible or go too far, I did find that reducing the health lost when injured a little, and increasing ammo at times made the later levels more fun for me personally, without negating the challenge too much.) Overall, while Rollerdrome does suffer a little for a lack of variety, and seems to miss a few obvious areas where the "trick" elements of the game could be further built upon (in a sequel, perhaps?) it cannot be denied that the fundamental game is something quite original, extremely sleekly produced and finessed, and absolutely ruthlessly fun when being played well. It has some issues with its ability to apply increased difficulty (simply adding extra enemies, to the point of near total confusion feels a bit hackneyed,) but does have significant and well implemented granular control of the difficulty available to the player, alleviating some of that concern. Is it a game that can sustain hundreds of hours of play? Probably not - and there is a relatively low skill ceiling, given the genre, in the sense that adding to a score has a clear maximum... ...but it remains a game that has to be played for the mechanical finesse to be appreciated.... and has to be seen for the incredible visuals to be believed! The Ranking: There are three different games that come immediately to mind for initial comparison with Rollerdrome - all for different reasons: Void Bastards, for its excellent use of cell-shaded visuals, Sayonara Wild Hearts, for its originality, speed and excellent soundtrack, and My Friend Pedro, for its great fun combo-driven action mechanics... and slight issues around the edges of those mechanics. In terms of core gameplay, I think Rollerdrome does probably outpace My Friend Pedro. Pedro is fun for sure, and can be quite exhilarating in a good run, but it is not as tight or well finessed as Rollerdrome is, and the best moments of My Friend Pedro are not on the level of the best moments of Rollerdrome. When you couple that with Rollerdrome's visuals, style and music, My Friend Pedro can't really compete. Void Bastards doesn't quite have the core gameplay to best Rollerdrome... however, it is more variable, less prone to repetition fatigue, and unlike My Friend Pedro, it does compete on visuals. Rollerdrome still looks better, but it is a closer fight on that cell-shaded front. Rollerdrome has the music, but Void Bastards has the better gameplay loop, and meets it on presentation... and overall, I think Void Bastards retains its spot as a result. Between them then, is Sayonara Wild Hearts. While I freely admit Rollerdrome looks the better of the two, Sayonara has a very distinct and cool look itself - and on audio, Sayonara takes it. I like the music in both, but I haven't felt compelled to listen to the Rollerdrome soundtrack independent of the game. Sayonara Wild Heart's soundtrack has been on my Spotify rotation since I played it! The gameplay in Sayonara is great too - also fast paced and interesting, and while I probably think there is more scope fro Rollerdrome to have expansions or sequels with its mechanics, I think on what is there now, Sayonara Wild Hearts (just) takes it on gameplay. Looking between them then, there aren't too many directly analogous games, however, in terms of simple "is it more awesome?" factor, there is a small glut of games close together where Rollerdrome finds a spot. I think it doesn't quite have enough to outdo the merits of Statik, Gris or The Pedestrian... but I do think it does manage to outpace Manifold Garden and Unpacking, and so that settles its spot nicely! Yoku's Island Express Summary: A curious amalgam of pinball, metroidvania and light platformer, Yoku's Island Express, from Villa Gorilla, is one of those games that feels specifically born out of the kind of "Game-Jam" mentality. A "what if X, but Y?" scenario - in this case, "what if a regular platforming game was played with a pinball instead of a character?" Taking some cues from Sonic Spinball, but applying a much more physics-based, directly Pinball analogous model, The game sees the player take the role of Yoku - a little dung-beetle, who arrives on the island of Mokumana, to take on his role as the new postmaster. Arriving at a fortuitous time, Mokumana is in trouble - the benevolent deity that rules the island is under attack, and needs help in securing the safety of the island and its insect and animal inhabitants - and so Yoku must not only take care of his postal duties, delivering mail to the post-boxes and denizens of the island... he must also save it from calamity! Mechanically, Yoku's Island Express works generally very well. The Pinball is fun, and actually far more suitable to a platforming Metroidvania, and more deeply engrained, than one might expect. The game splits the island design between general "platforming with pinball elements," and more cavernous areas where the game more specifically reflects actual pinball - areas where Yoku becomes "trapped" for a while, and the layout is most obviously inspired by the "table" layout of real-life pinball, complete with a standard gutter, centralised left-right flipper trough, and looping tracks, bumpers and spinners above. Both area types work pretty well - the more "pinball" caverns are, of course, not anywhere near as complex or complicated as a full pinball tables, but they capture enough of the feeling to evoke them well. The ways in which the more "platforming" or exploratory sections incorporate pinball elements is quite impressive too. The game works using Pinball mechanics for all platforming and most movement - a colour coding (Yellow / Blue) denotes which flippers and bumpers are activated using which button (L2 / R2,) and the whole island is peppered with these. There is al light metroidvania element to the game, both via collectible fruit (the game's currency,) and abilities. some flippers in the environment will require an expenditure of fruits to unlock - these generally giving access to optional or side-mission-critical spots, while actual abilities (for example, the ability to swim, or to swing on flowers to propel Yoku to new heights,) are gained from narrative progression, and generally gate the more significant traversal from one area to the next. The game incorporates all the standard elements of a 2D Metroidvania - main and side-missions, collectibles, secret areas, devilish little puzzles to solve, and even boss fight. These take the form of unique, pinball instances, and are really good fun - often incorporating some of the best elements of real pinball - ball traps, multi-ball sections etc, and are a real highlight of the game, and home to many of its best showcase moments. The physics of the game feel good in motion. For the most part, the pinball play feels correct, though Yoku's Island Express is not trying to replicate a real pinball table, and so of course, does not need to replicate real-table physics either. There are quite a few spots where the game will visibly fudge real physics, in order to ensure Yoku and his ball do not get trapped, and go where they need to to traverse a space, but these are almost always in areas where it is welcome. For example, certain runs or troughs will be moved through no matter how low the players momentum is when they enter, with a phantom gust of wind seeming to "carry" Yoku to the end, but at no point do these "faked" physics feel detrimental to the player. For the most part, while not quite replicating the true "heaviness" of real pinball, the physics model feels consistent and good - the player can be confident in it, and that if failing to hit a mark, it is down to their play, and not the game itself. There is something of an issue in the sense that while the game is quite fast paced and fluid during pinball sections, or while using the flippers and bumpers that are liberally spread across the island, moving independent of them is quite slow. The game is heavily momentum-focussed, so getting Yoku moving from a dead stop does take a few seconds of acceleration to get going, and it can feel a little heavy at times - a point exacerbated a little by the odd physics of that movement. Because the player is controlling Yoku, Yoku himself is pushing his ball, but the ball is what carries the momentum, there is occasional issues with the movement at very low speeds feeling a tad hitchy or "sticky" as Yoku moves from one side of the ball to the other, and the momentum feels like it works against the player movement. It's not a huge deal, but common enough to notice - and there is one particular mechanic that tends to magnify it: Slugs. There are explosive slugs on the island, which Yoku gains the ability to "inhale" and detonate, and are primarily used to them blast through breakable blockages, opening up new or secret areas or shortcuts. This works well in the pinball sections, however, these slugs are also used with a secondary mechanics - lining the ball up just-right, will allow Yoku to "blast" himself up to out-of-reach ledges, or over otherwise uncrossable chasms. This requires quite finicky, careful lining up of the ball as precise angles, and because yoku can only "roll" the ball, and not directly spin it, getting it at the perfect angle, and the perfect position to make these quite precise jumps can be very fiddly... and frustrating, as the slugs are on a strict timer before they explode. Failing can mean travelling some ways back to collect another, but more than that, failing can sometimes result in Yoku blasting off in the wrong direction - potentially falling a long way down the island, and requiring a pretty significant backtrack to get to where they wanted to be. That element aside though, the game is very well made and well thought out. Collectibles are fun and well implemented, with currency fairly abundant, and only ever a few minutes of play on any of the "pinball caverns" away. Most are fairly easy to track, with collectible maps allowing them to appear on the overall island map, making clean-up all good fun. There is one collectible type - the rather well hidden "Scarabs" which can be a slight issue - there a a lot of these, and so to avoid Ubisoft-style "icon-vomit", they do not appear on the map until only 10 or less remain to be found, however, even these do not really require any kind of collectible guides to complete - just a careful eye when exploring. The characters in the game are charming and fun, and there is really pleasant tone to the whole game - it very much feel rooted in the Nintendo 64 style of charm - a kind of Banjo-Kazooie/ Donkey Kong style of winning, island hijinx that is consistently joyful and thoroughly family-friendly. The game looks great - the art-style is bright, cheery and tropical feeling, and the different areas of the island all look distinct, yet consistently part of a painterly, watercolour-esque whole, that rivals Rayman Origins / Rayman Legends in terms of visual pop and style. Audio is great - the music, again, feels plucked right out of the bright and breezy N64 era, and wouldn't sound out of place in a medley of Donkey Kong and Mario tracks. There isn't voice-over, all text is written (and often draws a smile, if not out-and-out laughs,) but foley work is absolutely great - the sounds of the pinball hitting bumpers, or the flipper swishes etc all sound just right, and really hit those Pinball-dopamine receptors! Overall, Yoku's Island Express is a pretty delightful little experience - a very well enacted implementation of a curiously under-used idea, and one that manages to be both quite original in the current gaming landscape, and be a charming, fun, visually lovely romp. It's a game obviously appealing to those who love Pinball, but despite pinball being saturated throughout it, is absent many of the more brutal aspects than can put people off pinball games generally. The metroidvania and exploratory elements are more than enough to draw in even the most pinball-averse, and quite possibly make them re-evaluate their pinball opinions along the way! The Ranking: Oddly enough, when thinking about games for comparison, the charming tone, fun originality and child-friendly aesthetic really brought to mind the Little Big Planet games. I don't think Yoku's scope and scale are anything that can seriously compete with the original LBP, or with its fantastic first sequel, (the high-watermark of that franchise,) however, I do think that it does enough to outdo the third entry - LBP3 - which suffered a little for not having quite the focus, or interesting evolutions required to keep the pace of its franchise. I do, however, think that the Sumo semi-sequel, Sackboy's Big Adventure, does still maintain its place against Yoku's Island Express. It's a bigger, more lavish game, has the co-op elements, and is more variable throughout its gameplay. As such, that places Yoku's Island Express somewhere below Sackboy's Big Adventure, and above LBP3. There's not a lot of crossover in the games that fall in that region. I think on balance, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing has to remain above it - that game is lovely to look at, and is a much more fun and exciting kart racer than it has any right to be.It probably does manage, through sheer volume of tracks and playability, to outdo Yoku's Island Express. Yoku's Island Express is more original and looks a smidge better, but there's less of it, and less replayability. In the end, working down the list, there's a lot of games I really love, and mostly they do hang onto their places for different reasons, but where I think Yoku's Island Express does manage to stand taller, is at The Solitaire Conspiracy. That game is also quite unique and n interesting spin on old mechanics, but I think Yoku manages it with a bit more flair, and the final game is more fleshed out and a little grander. As such Yoku's Island Express finds its spot! Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars Summary: A JRPG with a table-top card gaming aesthetic from Alim, and coming from veterans of the Drakenguard and Nier franchises - including Yoko Taro himself - The Isle Dragon Roars is the first of (currently) 3 titles in the Voice of Cards series. Originally conceived as a downloadable, mobile iOS/ Android series, the game minimises the animation and voice cast of a traditional JRPG, but retains most of the core elements, re-tooling them to fit a table-top gaming theme with an odd and quite unusual narrative tone and timbre. Taking the role of Ash, a young would-be-fortune-seeker, and his pet monster Mar, the player is thrust into a realm of sword and sorcery on the Island of Bliss. A dragon is terrorising the island, and Queen Nilla is offering a handsome reward to the adventurer who can slay it. Across a 20-odd hour journey, Ash teams up with various party members as he traverses the island, collecting clues as to the reason for the Dragon's appearance and its connection to the island (and to a group of do-gooders, the Ivory Order, three of whom serve as the constant foil to Ash and his friends, as they follow a parallel adventurers path in search of the dragon.) Ultimately, Ash and his party must confront the dragon and defeat it... or learn what its nature is. The game is a very strange one, in a variety of different ways - most notably, in its unique style. Card games -specifically Deck Builders - are certainly in-vogue right now, and truth be told, I actually purchased Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars assuming it was one... but it very much is not. While the aesthetic is table-top gaming, the actual mechanics are very much one-to-one with traditional turn-based JRPGs. Skills, Items, characters, enemies - there are all represented by cards, with attack and defence values much as with a deck-builder, however, the actual process of battle is not really designed around building a deck. The deck available is simply a direct version of a set of unlocked skills, items and equipment that would be available in a turn-based RPG. Where the available actions to play at any one time are tied to a pool of "action points" (crystals, in this case,) a deck-builder will always be predicated on card-synergies - on using combinations of card effects to build complex and powerful hands. In Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars, that is not the case. Combat allows for some buffs / and simple synergies of that nature, but these are really no more complex or compounding than status effects or ailments in any traditional JRPG. Setting the idea of deck-builders aside though, what is interesting is both what the table-top card concept does for the traditional JRPG, both stylistically, and mechanically. Certainly, it is clear that the style affords the developer significant leeway in terms of budget. The game is actually very nice to look at - cards animate quite nicely and in a very varied manner - they take effects / ailments, attack in different ways, and these are quite beyond the level I have seen in genuine deck-building games. While Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is certainly more simple and less labour-intensive to craft than a fully animated JRPG from which it takes its mechanics, it is clear that plenty of effort has gone in to lend the signature visual style a level of visual flair seldom seen in the card-based games from which it takes its aesthetic. This "less, but more than you'd expect" philosophy applies to the audio also. While the game saves significant effort in the sense that a large voice cast is not required, all speech, and indeed, all narration, is voiced - it is simply all voiced by one actor. The game is presented - as in a table-top game such as Dungeons and Dragons - by a "Games Master", who not only speaks directly to the player, providing all the speaking parts, and reading all narrative, but he also comments on what the player is doing, how well a battle is going, what they should do next etc. This mechanic is interesting, and really lends weight to the whole notion of the game as a D&D-type campaign... but is also key to one of the oddest factors of the game: its unusual tone. That tone is... curious. Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars doesn't feel entirely self-serious, but neither does it feel entirely irreverent. It feels neither overtly parodying, nor strictly straight-laced. It seems to fall oddly somewhere in between. It is high-fantasy, yet seemingly slightly knowing, and therefore not quite as open to ridicule or issues when something feels off or unearned (as, say, Final Fantasy, or the Tales series can occasionally stumble into.) It is, however, certainly not fully mocking or irreverent, as, say, a Deathspank-style "pure parody" game is. Because the game is presented as somewhat "at arms length" - via the descriptions and presentation of a knowing narrator, who is presenting the tale to the player, rather than purely via the eyes of the protagonist character - the game is able to be serious, yet present characters and situations who are themselves a little over the top or ridiculous, without going "fully detached" from its high-fantasy premise. It is a difficult dichotomy to articulate - however, the best analogy I can muster is that Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars feels like neither The Lord of the Rings, nor Terry Pratchett's Discworld... but closest, in tone, to The Princess Bride. That ability the game has - to be both serious, and non-serious simultaneously - comes from the same root that it does in that book and film - that while the story takes itself seriously, the person narrating it has agency, and doesn't necessarily. While reading the game broadly "straight", the narrator is still able to convey subtle tones in his delivery, which hints at comedy, without ever directly hanging a lantern on it. When a character who's house has burned down, for example, nearly losing their mother in the fire, is presented with a bill from their landlord for a million gold pieces due to their lack of foresight in not having fire-insurance, the character takes it seriously, and the narrator says so, but his tone is what indicates the player need not. When an entire village of fisherman who are all outrageously buff and muscular, all wear loincloths, and talk about naked wrestling due to their access to a wondrous semi-mystical nutritionist, the narrators tone acknowledges the ridiculousness of the situation to the player, so the characters themselves don't have to. They can play it straight, without the game feeling like it has gone to the zoo. This mechanic allows the game to walk an extreme tightrope of tone, and it actually does so to remarkably consistent effect. The result is a game that feels bizarre at times, is serious enough to engage, while also comedic enough to forgive. It's really a smart triumph of both the writing, and the amalgamation of tone and art-style, and while there is certainly little here in terms of writing that compares to some of Yoko Taro's work on, say, Nier Automata, there is still evidence of craft in the tonal consistency and tonal balancing act the game pulls off. Mechanically, the game is, it must be said, very basic as JRPGs go. In some ways, the game is actually tilling some of the same soil as retro-throwback JRPGs such as I Am Setsuna, Lost Sphear or Cosmic Star Heroine, though even as compared to them, the game is mechanically simple, and notably easy. The game is not likely to really challenge any player remotely familiar with the JRPG genre... however, its the table-top style that both sets it apart, and allows for unique interest in the way it is implemented. Everything is a card, right down to the maps being face-down cards, only unveiling the terrain when the player moves their "play piece" into the directly connecting space, to reveal a grass, or a path, or a cave, or a mountain, or an ocean card. Random events, make use of the cards in an interesting way - one, for example, where a random card can be seen very very close up, and only some small details an be seen, the player must chose whether it is a monster of an NPC card they are seeing, and act accordingly. In another, where a card shoots past the screen very quickly, and the player must identify its type for a prize. The random elements of battle in a traditional JRPG are present, but the visual aesthetic allows the "under-the-hood" elements to be brought to the forefront. Dice rolls are not a background mechanic here - the player actually rolls an actual die, and watches to see the result in real-time. While there is nothing mechanical that is out-and-out original, the implementation of the style has originality baked-in, and so the whole game feels much fresher than it would if it were simply a standard art-style JRPG. Visually, as said, the game is quite a success. The table-top style does preclude any awe-inspiring spectacle, but the look of the game is smart and fun. The artwork on the cards is stylish and lovely to look at, and the animations and overall presentation is very nice. Audio is decent - the voice work by the narrator is plentiful and very high quality, and sound effects are sparing, but well done. The actual musical score is one area that I think lets the game down a little - it is the one area of the game immune to the serious/not-serious balance, and feels a little bit grandiose and "generic-fantasy" in comparison to everything else. It is not offensive - or even bad - but I do think it is the one area of the game that feels too serious, and even within that caveat, it is not particularly rousing or interesting as fantasy scores go. Overall, Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is a genuine puzzlement to me. It is a game I bought thinking it was one thing, and found another... and exactly what the tone and style of that thing I found is an oddity in and of itself. It is a game unlikely to be for everyone - it is oddly paced, strangely told, and really quite bafflingly written at time... ... but it is whimsically winning, visually interesting, mechanically simple... and curiously compelling. I suspect I will be playing more games in the series - and that more than anything else, probably makes for an endorsement of this strange little game! The Ranking: There's really nothing like Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars on the list right now - it's somewhat incomparable to most games on the list, but in wildly stabbing around for purchase, it did occur to me that perhaps the best road was to look not at games with mechanical similarities, but rather, to look at games that had unusual or odd tones, and see how that shook out. What it resulted in, interestingly, was a very quick narrowing of the field, between two games with odd combinations of genres and tones. Peculiarly, those were two VR games: FROM Software's Déraciné, and Zoink's Ghost Giant. There's nothing mechanically linking those two to Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars, but I am sure of two things: I think Déraciné is a little bit more interesting, unique and curious, and therefore retains its place, and I think Ghost Giant is a little less so, and that Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars should rank above it. That leaves a very small number of games currently in between - again, with no real similarities - but in terms of pure "is it more awesome?", I think Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars doesn't quite have what it takes to beat out any of the three: Road 96, Stick It to the Man, or Untitled Goose Game... ...and so the best spot for it is just above Ghost Giant! Islanders Summary: A 2019 light City Builder, Puzzle Game and Rogue-like hybrid from Grizzly Games, Islanders takes a minimalist approach to both its mechanics and its aesthetic, pulling together the core elements of the standard "City Builder writ-large", and condensing them down from a hundreds-of-hours marathon to a manageable, sunny-day stroll - retaining the dopamine positive feelings such games evoke, while eschewing the hard-crunch numbers and byzantine complexities they usually carry. City Builders, at heart, generally work on a complex and intricate set of hidden parameters, all intermingling and interacting based on the layout of the city the player has made. Complexities such as income, tax, bills, city expenditure, infrastructure, zoning, traffic, access, electricity, gas, sewerage, transport - all these concepts must be understood, and independently and inter-operationally managed, to result in a delicate balance of ongoing productivity, maintenance and expansion.Islanders, on the other hand, looks at the basic theory of what gives the "feel-good factor" in playing such games: the creation of a visually appealing city layout, and the basic good layout of the area - and discards all the surrounding elements, to leave only those elements in place. Now, to be clear - I love complex City Builders. Cities Skylines, (in my opinion, the pinnacle of the genre,) is one of the best games I have played in recent years, and the breath-taking complexity and nuance baked into that game is both fascinating to me, and the source of genuinely infinite fun and playability. Having said that though, I cannot deny that starting a new game of Cities Skylines is a daunting task! Beginning a city form its humble beginnings is the first step in what is guaranteed to be an enormous endeavour, and a time-sink that cannot be treated lightly. Islanders takes some of the broadest elements that are fun about a game like Cities Skylines, but condenses them down in scope and scale by a magnitude - both in terms of complexity, and of land-mass... and removes the longevity of the game, making each little city created an ephemeral, fleeting puzzle to be solved, rather than an ongoing, gargantuan and sprawling monster to be tamed. Each time the player starts a game of Islanders, they are presented with a new, randomly generated small island (or crop of islands) with very little land mass, a few environmental details and eccentricities, and a very small batch of 4 or 5 buildings to create. Each of these buildings can be placed virtually anywhere they will fit within reason - the player need not worry about things like access, roads, electricity etc. They have, in essence, total freedom. However, what each different building does have, is set parameters in relation to other ones, or environmental elements. Buildings gain points for being within set distance of related buildings, and lose points for being placed within set distance of opposing ones. What the player will see, immediately upon looking to place a building, is two things: a "dome of influence" around the building (of different sizes and shapes, depending on the building type,) and a set of numbers appearing in the environment. In combination, the player can see - in real time as they hover over different potential areas to place the building - how many points that placement will net them. A lumber mill, for example, will show yellow (positive) numbers not only beside IT, growing larger the more trees fall within its dome of influence, but also on each individual tree, showing where the central number is generated from. If placing a Temple, they will not only see positive yellow numbers over each "household" that falls within their sphere... but also red (negative) numbers, for each tavern, or worksite, or other building that has a negative influence on its placement - all totalling the central number. This might seem very simple as a game mechanic - and it is - however, there are two elements that add complexity to the process: Firstly - the tiny landmass. Because of the very small area the player has to work with, simply "spreading" the city is not an option. The player must be very careful about which buildings go where. Laying multiple quarries, for example, all far from each other is beneficial, as they lose points for being too close together... but doing so too much may result in there being no available space to put a circus or temple further down the line - a building that will lose far more points for being near a noisy quarry than the player would lose from having two quarries close together. Given how few buildings are available at any one time, and how small the available lad-mass is, this can be the difference between successful expansion, and a game-over due to lack of compounding points, so that Push-Pull must be weighed carefully. Secondly, buildings or city elements are available in small "batches" - and each new batch is only available when a set points total milestone is reached. As such, the player does not have the burden of choice when choosing which avenue of city growth to pursue... but equally, they do not have the luxury of it either! Getting the points total required for each new batch to unlock requires careful use of every building currently available - and the risk/reward magnifies as the player progresses. Later in the game, buildings with powerful, high-points-value placements become available... however, these also come with significant negative points for poor placement - and with so little land available, boxing oneself in, with no way to place a building well become more and more of a risk. As a result, the game become more of a continual run-based high-score chaser, than a traditional City Management Simulator. It's a clever concept, and one that works remarkably well. The game is - in essence - a rogue-like, in that cities are fleeting, and failure is always a mere few bad placements away, but it also comes with that "Zen" rogue-like benefit. Because the cities are fleeting - and because the each one is primarily a stepping stone to the next - the player never tends to feel burdened or crushed by failure. The impermanence of their little living work of art lends them a fleeting nature, which could feel disposable in a lesser game, but tends to simply feel relaxing and calming here. Mistakes are impermanent, as well as success, and so the game becomes more about seeing how far one can progress through the building "tree"to see the later-stage buildings, and viewing the new, interesting island layouts, than it is about admiring ones own permanent city, as it would be in a more traditional "long-form" City Builder. This lends the whole game a very Zen, meditative quality - and Grizzly Games know this, and lean into it. The aesthetic of the game is great - it's a clean, simple iOS-style aesthetic, completely calming and tranquil looking. The buildings are all fashioned in such a way that even hap-hazard placement, or cramming together tends to look good no matter how it begins, and the layout of the game follow suit. The menus are simple and clear - the only option available upon loading Islanders is "New Game" or "Sandbox", and hitting new game simple sweeps the camera across a lovely looking ocean, in search of a new little island archipelago upon which to craft a village. When a set number of points is accrued on one, a simple hit of a button sweeps it away again, leaving that village to live on in memory, and swooshing to a new one to start building again. In fact, there is a Sandbox mode here - and in that version of the game, the Zen aspect is embraced completely. The game removes all points values, all semblance of "gamification" and essentially becomes simply an art-project. All buildings are available at the players discretion - with no cost - and they can proceed to build away to their hearts content without consequence. Personally, I found this mode less interesting - the mild gamification of the primary mode was more my speed - but I appreciate the concept, and imagine it would be very relaxing for some to simply build, and appreciate the artistry of it. Visually, as said, the game is very nice - its a very iPad-adjacent visual palate - soft pastel shades and clean, simply geometry - but more than that, the islands themselves, and the building designs are tranquil and lovely to look at. The game actually feels like a holiday - the island tones and sunny sky is as soothing as it is picturesque. Audio also is designed entirely around the calming, tranquil idea of relaxing on an island, and its gentle piano and calming tones feels like an audio massage for the brain. Overall, Islanders is a smart, simple, clever little game, taking what is a sometimes cumbersome and complexity-saturated genre, and simplifying it down to level that is both accessible to everyone, and relaxing, fun and endearing for anyone. The ways it introduces elements of puzzle game and rogue-like mechanics to offset the reduction in building complexity is clever, and "re-gamifies" some of the elements removed from traditional City Builders, but without reintroducing the overwrought complexity of them. Islanders is not a game likely to hold any gamers full attention for dozens of hours... but it isn't trying to. For the little time it does ask, it is genuinely innovative, interesting and - most importantly - relaxing and fun... and loading it up feels less like embarking on a task, and more like taking a gentle breath of fresh air. The Ranking: A very quick narrowing of the field for Islanders, as the two games that spring immediately to mind for comparison are almost right next to one another - delightful Island RPG-lite The Touryst, and also delightful Zen-silliness generator Donut County! I think The Touryst is the ceiling - as enjoyable as Islanders is, I think The Touryst takes it on visuals and gameplay, so it retains its rank. On the other hand, as fun as Donut County was, I do think I had more fun with Islander's simple mechanics, and while Islanders has no narrative, I like the look a little more, and feel like the gameplay is more involving. The only game between those two is Virginia, and while I enjoyed Islanders, I don't see it ranking above Virginia simply due to my fascination with that game's odd style and narrative... ...and so Islanders finds its spot! So there we have it folks! Hitman 3 remains as 'Current Most Awesome Game'! LA Cops stays as the worst-of-the-worst, with the title of 'Least Awesome Game' What games will be coming along next time to challenge for the top spot... or the bottom rung? That's up to randomness, me.... and YOU! Remember: SPECIAL NOTE If there are any specific games anyone wants to see get ranked sooner rather than later - drop a message, and I'll mark them for 'Priority Ranking'! The only stipulation is that they must be on my profile, at 100% (S-Rank).... and aren't already on the Rankings! 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kopite Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 6 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said: NEW SCIENTIFIC RESULTS ARE IN! Well,. didn't have to wait long for those! lol I'm going to add Yoku to my 'to buy' list (which is too long in itself but there you go lol). Definitely think I'd find it good fun and would be nice to get even a teeny amount of that Sonic Spinball vibe. I enjoy playing pinball anyways so yeah, sweet! Glad the collectible thing wasn't too much of an issue! Voice of Cards like I thought sounds right up my alley! Really interesting to see how (whenever I play it in the future) I'll react to the intriguing tone and way it is presented. Great reviews all around! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visighost Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 Great write-ups as always! I find myself disagreeing with the final rankings, but when they're so eloquently presented and substantiated, there's no way I'll embarrass myself trying to present counterpoints (which is anyhow really not the point of this exercise). Honestly, thanks for taking the time for these. Much appreciated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted October 4, 2022 Author Share Posted October 4, 2022 Just now, visighost said: Great write-ups as always! I find myself disagreeing with the final rankings, but when they're so eloquently presented and substantiated, there's no way I'll embarrass myself trying to present counterpoints (which is anyhow really not the point of this exercise). Honestly, thanks for taking the time for these. Much appreciated. Thank you sir! Oh contraire though - I like this thread the most when folks argue back on my SCURRILOUS ANTI-SCIENTIFIC rankings! ? Of course, it's all personal opinion, but all i will say is this: I need to go VERY low on the ranking to even get close to any games I don't think are worth playing... there is a tendency for people to see a game rank low, and think I didn't like it much.... but remember - these are already the games I not only bought and played - but played enough to S-Rank, so even a low ranked game is still something of an endorsement from me ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visighost Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 Just now, DrBloodmoney said: Thank you sir! Oh contraire though - I like this thread the most when folks argue back on my SCURRILOUS ANTI-SCIENTIFIC rankings! Of course, it's all personal opinion, but all i will say is this: I need to go VERY low on the ranking to even get close to any games I don't think are worth playing... there is a tendency for people to see a game rank low, and think I didn't like it much.... but remember - these are already the games I not only bought and played - but played enough to S-Rank, so even a low ranked game is still something of an endorsement from me Oh yes, I get that! I loved Yoku and what I played of Islanders and Griftlands, so it certainly feels as a bit of a jolt to see them rank so "low", but... there's certainly a lot of good games out there, so it may just be a problem of being spoiled players - my rankings could very well end up being similar (though with a long tail given the number of terrible games I play)! That being said, I WILL debate you on Fallen Order, on the value of Far Cry narratives, or on how there can be 136 games above Sayonara Wild Hearts at some point! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted October 4, 2022 Author Share Posted October 4, 2022 1 minute ago, visighost said: That being said, I WILL debate you on Fallen Order, on the value of Far Cry narratives, or on how there can be 136 games above Sayonara Wild Hearts at some point! ? Well, I'll hear no debate on the rancid monstrosity that is Jedi Fallen Order.... but on Far Cry, I know what you mean - I'd still recommend Sayonara Wild Hearts much more often than Far Cry, but there is a scope and scale argument too, and versatility of play definitely matter a lot for me. Far Cry might not be original, but it does have a repeatability and lets you approach things a lot of ways - and that's something that always gets a game pushed up the ranks for me.... there's a good reason Hitman is at the top spot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visighost Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 FC is actually my favourite series, and I do believe the narratives are undervalued (and sadly often bring out the worst in the alt-right/SJW "debates"). I need to get back to work but I'll leave you with fighting words: I've never played a Hitman game, and I would often stop in awe at the beauty of Fallen Order (I played it on PS5)! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 12 hours ago, Platinum_Vice said: Yeah agreed. I'm dead keen for all 5 of these so this should be a doubleplusgood batch. IT BETTER BE... 11 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: NEW SCIENTIFIC RESULTS ARE IN! Oh whaddayaknow, it is! 11 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: Griftlands Maybe this is really genre I just need to blindly jump into, you make it sound so fun. Especially if I could play as Smith and pretend I'm Dudley Moore in the movie Arthur's titular role? Plus if not for Supergiant, Klei would be the GoaT. Speaking of which, when am I gonna get to Pyre?? Too many games, man... 11 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: Rollerdrome Yooo from first seeing anything about this game it's had me like "okay, okay!" and this has not changed things in the slightest. Might have to make room for this one, as you are basically confirming all I've suspected. A little dull repetition towards the end... eh, that's okay! A lot of good games fall prey to that. If that's the least of my worries, count me in! 11 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: Yoku's Island Express This sounds charming! Every so often I'm in the market for something that feels bright and cute, this could do nicely! Intrigued by the whole pinball platforming concept, I mean it did wonders for Sonic. Speaking of charmers... 11 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars Nyuk nyuk nyuk. The beefcake and butt cheek emporium didn't sell me if I'm being honest, and the gameplay itself doesn't quite pull me in, but I will say that I love how you describe the game's attitude. I'll always give a chance to something that can walk the line of not taking itself too seriously or lending itself over to parody entirely. That is is a tricky dance, I respect it. 11 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: Islanders YAAAYYYY!!! There's so much I felt and thought about this game that you were far better at articulating on than myself, so this was possibly my favorite part of the batch. I'm so happy that you enjoyed this one as much as you did (or at all, really). I was a pretty big fan myself? Possibly my top rec for anyone who wants to chill out with something short, but still have to think. A fine job as always, Doc! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copanele Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 18 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars Amazing reading for all the games (as usual at the end I will see how much I've spent due to your reviews ) However THIS is the game from the batch that caught my interest the most, both because of Yoko Taro AND the cards used, which are manly af to say the least The premise also sounds good and the fact that I haven't dabbled in many card games on Playstation other than YuGiOh really makes me want to fire up this game. Or at least purchase and download it ASAP 18 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: It is a game unlikely to be for everyone - it is oddly paced, strangely told, and really quite bafflingly written at time... ... but it is whimsically winning, visually interesting, mechanically simple... and curiously compelling. I suspect I will be playing more games in the series - and that more than anything else, probably makes for an endorsement of this strange little game! It really sounds like NieR honestly. In terms of RPG-ness, it's awfully simple, but once you dive into it, it really is compelling to the max. There's a reason me and @rjkclarke go fanboy mode over Yoko Taro's work ? Now--haven't done this in a while. I would like to request one game (that I hope it wasn't requested) - Unravel Somehow I haven't noticed that you did that game before ALSO!!! no preference towards priority, you can review it in whatever batch you desire! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted October 5, 2022 Author Share Posted October 5, 2022 7 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Maybe this is really genre I just need to blindly jump into, you make it sound so fun. Especially if I could play as Smith and pretend I'm Dudley Moore in the movie Arthur's titular role Well - I did, with Slay the Spire... and it was the best gaming decision I've made in a good long time! I'd probably still recommend Slay the Spire as the best starting point with the genre - it's very "pure" as Deck Builders go, so lets you get to grips with the genre, without compounding other eccentricities onto of it. It's a bit like Rogue-likes - I'd say Dead Cells is the better game, but would probably recommend a neophyte start with Rogue Legacy, as it's the better example. It's not quite as complicated, and lets someone really see the genre in its most "uncut" form, and see how it works...then move on to the games that layer additional genres on top of it. 7 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Plus if not for Supergiant, Klei would be the GoaT. Speaking of which, when am I gonna get to Pyre?? Too many games, man... WORD! 7 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Yooo from first seeing anything about this game it's had me like "okay, okay!" and this has not changed things in the slightest. Might have to make room for this one, as you are basically confirming all I've suspected. A little dull repetition towards the end... eh, that's okay! A lot of good games fall prey to that. If that's the least of my worries, count me in! Absolutely - I ended up playing the back half of the game is small sessions while playing other games, and it really worked as that kind of "dip-in, dip-out" game, but it's a hell of a thing to see in motion, for sure! 7 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: YAAAYYYY!!! There's so much I felt and thought about this game that you were far better at articulating on than myself, so this was possibly my favorite part of the batch. I'm so happy that you enjoyed this one as much as you did (or at all, really). I was a pretty big fan myself Possibly my top rec for anyone who wants to chill out with something short, but still have to think. Absolutely - was a real pleasure this game, and an clear addition you your pool in the 2022 Backlog Gremlin Award ? 42 minutes ago, Copanele said: Amazing reading for all the games (as usual at the end I will see how much I've spent due to your reviews ) However THIS is the game from the batch that caught my interest the most, both because of Yoko Taro AND the cards used, which are manly af to say the least The premise also sounds good and the fact that I haven't dabbled in many card games on Playstation other than YuGiOh really makes me want to fire up this game. Or at least purchase and download it ASAP It really sounds like NieR honestly. In terms of RPG-ness, it's awfully simple, but once you dive into it, it really is compelling to the max. There's a reason me and @rjkclarke go fanboy mode over Yoko Taro's work That's true actually - I never really put that together, but you're right - Automata is pretty simple in terms of mechanics too - it's the tone and writing that sets it above other games there as well! Voice of Cards is definitely a totally different style, but without a doubt, the writing is key - without that weird tone, it would be pretty generic, but with it, its odd and peculiar and quite compelling! 42 minutes ago, Copanele said: Now--haven't done this in a while. I would like to request one game (that I hope it wasn't requested) - Unravel Somehow I haven't noticed that you did that game before ALSO!!! no preference towards priority, you can review it in whatever batch you desire! Absolutely - oddly, I had to double-take on this one, as I was sure I had done it already... but you're right! I think I must have seen it done in someone else's checklist (yours, quite possibly!) and was like "Done!... ....wait, that's not me..." ? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
det_gittes Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 If I may, I'd like to put in a request for Red Dead Redemption (unless the game is ineligible because of the statute of limitations - you started it 12 years ago and finished it 9 years ago!). I was looking at your list to see whether you've played RDR2, but only found the first game, so now I am curious whether RDR put you off, or there are other reasons why you've not (yet?) tackled RDR2 ? Also, I know next to nothing about the first game, but I'm enjoying the second part, so a scientific analysis of the original game would surely be a good read ? This is definitely not a priority request, btw, just whenever you feel like it. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted October 8, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 8, 2022 3 hours ago, det_gittes said: If I may, I'd like to put in a request for Red Dead Redemption (unless the game is ineligible because of the statute of limitations - you started it 12 years ago and finished it 9 years ago!). I was looking at your list to see whether you've played RDR2, but only found the first game, so now I am curious whether RDR put you off, or there are other reasons why you've not (yet?) tackled RDR2 Also, I know next to nothing about the first game, but I'm enjoying the second part, so a scientific analysis of the original game would surely be a good read This is definitely not a priority request, btw, just whenever you feel like it. Ha - bringing the big guns with that one! Absolutely - will add to the Priority Rankings list with your name ? I wouldn’t expect some massive revelation about RDR2 or crazy hot-take though - TBH, the reason I never got to it is simply that my tastes have kind of shifted away from the big open world shooting games in recent years… but never say never! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoesusHCrust Posted October 10, 2022 Share Posted October 10, 2022 On 08/10/2022 at 2:44 PM, DrBloodmoney said: RDR2…….big open world shooting games in recent years RDR2 is to other open world shooters as the taster menu at Geranium is to a Rustlers microwave beef burger. It’s such a masterpiece. You mustn’t pass over RDR2, although you might want to avoid the utterly awful trophy list! I’d also like to put in a request or two. You and I were talking about awful games and Albedo, Eyes from outer space came up. I’d like to read your review of that monstrosity and maybe some of the other short plats you have like Full Throttle remastered. finally, I want to make a really odd request, not for a review but for you to complete one of your unfinished games. You have one trophy left on Skyrim and it’s the one for getting all daedric artefacts. This trophy is a bunch of fun as there are some really quirky quests that you need to complete to get those artefacts so I’d like to challenge you to plat Skyrim! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted October 10, 2022 Author Share Posted October 10, 2022 8 minutes ago, JoesusHCrust said: RDR2 is to other open world shooters as the taster menu at Geranium is to a Rustlers microwave beef burger. It’s such a masterpiece. You mustn’t pass over RDR2, although you might want to avoid the utterly awful trophy list! I’d also like to put in a request or two. You and I were talking about awful games and Albedo, Eyes from outer space came up. I’d like to read your review of that monstrosity and maybe some of the other short plats you have like Full Throttle remastered. I will get to them, but if you like, I can add Albedo to the Priority Rankings with your name? 8 minutes ago, JoesusHCrust said: finally, I want to make a really odd request, not for a review but for you to complete one of your unfinished games. You have one trophy left on Skyrim and it’s the one for getting all daedric artefacts. This trophy is a bunch of fun as there are some really quirky quests that you need to complete to get those artefacts so I’d like to challenge you to plat Skyrim! Ha- way ahead of you! Skyrim is actually on the rankings already - I did miss the Daedric Artifacts trophy on PS4... but I have the full S-Rank on PS3, so I reviewed that one... with the caveat that anyone playing it should do so on PS4, because otherwise, the game chugs like it's got a banana in it's tailpipe.... ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrooba Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 (edited) Loved the look on Rollerdrome! I saw one of the animated cutscenes for this game, and I swear it looks to be the same studio that works on Rainbow Six Siege of all things! ? Small world, I guess! And you gotta love that cel-shaded look. That sort of aesthetic reminds me of Jet Set Radio, which falls in line with stuff like the Tony Hawk games! On 04/10/2022 at 9:57 PM, DrBloodmoney said: The menus are simple and functional, yet artistically designed with the eye of a graphic artics. The intro sequences are stylish as hell, and work great. The story beats, when they come, allow the player to walk around the "green room" holding areas or certain places (a train for example) as during Kara's down-time, and explore some elements of the world-building of the society It's kinda funny actually, when reading this entire section I could only think of Persona 5! ? From the pizazz of it's menus, to the intro of each battle being signaled with bombastic music, or heck, even the game's introduction itself. Then there's the similar downtime of exploring the local city after each venture through the Metaverse. Interesting how even though these games are completely different and convey these sorts of ideas with different intentions, we can correlate these things to other experiences. It's awesome how all this stuff comes together in games. Edited October 18, 2022 by Shrooba 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kopite Posted October 22, 2022 Share Posted October 22, 2022 On 10/5/2022 at 7:43 AM, DrBloodmoney said: Now--haven't done this in a while. I would like to request one game (that I hope it wasn't requested) - Unravel Interested to hear your thoughts on this one. I enjoyed it overall but at the same time it wasn't a game that compelled me to go for the Platinum and I always debated whether I got my (personal opinion) money's worth from it. Never bought the sequel as a result. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted November 8, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 8, 2022 (edited) !!SCIENCE UPDATE!! It's been a while! Work is getting hectic, and so some of the Priority Assignments have been piling up - partly because of time-factors, and partly because some pretty big games have been requested! Apologies to anyone who requested something ages ago, and I've still not got to it - shit happens I'm afraid, but I am endeavouring to get at least one or two Priority legacy games done each batch now, and not let things stagnate to the point where (like last time) a batch is only new games! I've not forgotten any of them, I promise - it's just that the definition of "priority" is being stretched a little ? Anyways, the next (somewhat) randomly selected games to be submitted for scientific analysis shall be: Legacy Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider Unravel New Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime Tunic Fear Effect Sedna Subject(s) in RED marked for PRIORITY ASSIGNEMENT [Care of @grayhammmer & @Copanele ] Can 'Current Most Awesome' game, Hitman 3, continue its glorious reign? Is gaming turdlet LA Cops ever going to lose the title of 'Least Awesome Game'? Let's find out, Science Chums! Edited November 8, 2022 by DrBloodmoney 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted November 10, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 10, 2022 NEW SCIENTIFIC RESULTS ARE IN! Hello Science-Captain Kirks and Science-Every-Green-Space-Ladies, as promised (and in some cases requested), here are the latest results of our great scientific endeavour! Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider Summary: 2016 / 2017 was a prodigious time for Arkane - arguably, given the hibernation of Irrational post-Bioshock Infinite, the last vanguard of the true console Immersive Sim. Within a six month period, they saw the release of both the sequel to their much lauded 2012 release Dishonoured in the excellent Dishonoured 2, and their System Shock inspired, (also excellent,) space-based Immersive Sim Prey. It had taken 4 years for them to release a game up to that point, then two came along right on top of one another, so players would have easily been forgiven for assuming any further releases would be some significant time in the oven. A surprise it was then, that a mere six months after Prey, another title was released, with players once again invited to take a bloody, supernatural and stealthy stroll through the whale-punk streets of Dishonoured, this time in Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider. Taking control of a new protagonist in the form of Billie Lurk - one-time second-in-command to Daud (the villain of the original game, who the player played as in that games excellent The Knife of Dunwall / The Brigmore Witches DLC,) Billie rescues her old mentor for the clutches of a mystic cult. Daud is dying, and has a wish he want's Billie to grant - to enact his vengeance on the entity he sees as the catalyst for his downfall: The Outsider. That chaotic, Loki-adjacent DemiGod, whose supernatural influence has been the catalyst for much of the narrative (and most of the gameplay mechanics) of the first two Dishonoured games, remains the source of much arcane trouble in the world, and Daud - and, by proxy, Billie - have had quite enough of it. Armed with a power-set of her own, Billie sets out to find a weapon capably of killing The Outsider, and on a quest to put him to his bloody end. Much like in Dishonoured 2, wherein Emily's powers shared some general similarities to Corvo's, yet operated in slightly different ways, thus slightly altering the basic play model and variety of approach, Billie Lurk's supernatural talents generally have some facsimile to Corvo's, allowing the player to feel at home with them quickly, but set themselves apart in some distinct ways, keeping the game feeling fresh and new too. Her traversal ability for example - "Displace" - is mechanically similar to Corvo's "Blink" ability in a generalised, practical sense - its basic function for traversal is roughly the same - however, it has distinct and unique elements too. "Displace" doesn't move Billie immediately, but instead, leaves a ghostly outline where it is thrown, which can then be "blinked" to at the player's discretion. In terms of pure traversal, of course, this is no great difference... but when it comes to stealth and combat, that addition opens up a whole plethora of interesting new uses - suddenly, Billie has the ability to distract guards, then immediately "blink" to a predetermined local spot. Her tactical ability, "Foresight", is again, practically similar for basic usage to Corvo's "Dark Vision" - but rather than seeing through walls, she is able to freeze time and project her mind through the level, seeing what paths or obstacles or enemies will be in her path... and allows for a Far Cry style "marking of targets". "Semblance" has some similarity to Corvo's "Possession"... but again, is slightly different in the way it works. These "variations on a theme" worked very well in Dishonoured 2, and work just as well here. It's an incredibly effective method of freshening a formula, because care has clearly been taken to strike just the right balance between similarity and distinction. The skills gained in previous games remain valid because the basic functionality of the powers is similar enough, but the game never feels like it is re-treading tired ground, because they are distinct enough to make small differences to the basics, and large differences to the more advanced, tactical usage, allowing for growth of the layer's skill base, without overwriting it. The level design and structure of Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider follows a fairly familiar path - levels are large and varied, home to numerous paths and hidden areas, and traversable in a great variety of ways, depending on play-style. There are fewer of them here though - 5 missions, as opposed to the 8 or 9 in each previous entry, and there are some fairly distinct differences in the overall game formula. For starters, Billie's powers are all given right from the get-go. There is no real "skill-tree" - all powers are obtained by Billie from mission two onwards, and so there isn't really a sense of "improvement" or growth throughout the campaign though - it comes down more to finessing and adding style and improvising with the tools the player has, rather than adding new powers to the mix. This makes sense of course - for two reasons. Firstly, in Dishonoured and Dishonoured 2, The Outsider was ostensibly the one granting Corvo and Emily their preternatural abilities. While The Outsider was always enigmatic, and never particularly trust-worthy or even tangibly "on their side", Corvo and Emily were not explicitly working against him. He served the narrative function of, say, Q in Star Trek - because of his detachment and indifference to the player character and their plight - or indeed, the plights of any mortals - he could be an antagonist or an ally, depending on whim, and how his particular (elusive) desires marry with theirs at any particular time. Billie, on the other hand, spends this game seeking a weapon with which to slay him... so his lack of willingness to help her along is understandable! The other reason is mechanically - specifically, with regards to the length of the game. In comparison to Dishonoured, and certainly to Dishonoured 2, Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider is a notably short campaign. There are, as said, only 5 missions, and far less side content than was present in either of its prequels. In fact, in terms of game content and length, Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider fairly obviously began its life, at least at some point, as a DLC for Dishonoured 2, and is as much a sequel to The Knife of Dunwall / Brigmore Witches DLC campaign for the original Dishonoured than it is to the two main games. To be clear, Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider is longer and more fleshed-out than that DLC campaign, however, the clues are fairly obvious. It is shorter, the powers-set is less varied and available form the outset, it features a continuation of the Daud storyline originated in Dishonoured's DLC... and because Dishonoured 2 did not get any DLC. Couple all that with the quick release cycle of Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider, coming only a year or so after its predecessor, the shared engine, and the lower retail price (Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider retailed for $40, as opposed to the standard $60,) and it becomes clear that Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider most comfortably belongs in a similar category of commercial product to releases like Infamous: First Light or Superhot: Mind Control Delete - stand-alone DLC content - than with the original two games that were its progenitors. Taking that commercial reality into account then, while Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider is certainly shorter and has less meat on the bone than both previous games, it still remains remarkable just how much play there is here. While there are only 5 missions, each can take multiple hours to finish successfully... and allows for dozens more if the player wishes to experiment, explore and play in the supernatural killing-sandbox that they are. Let us not forget - each release of the Hitman World of Assassination games featured only 5 or 6 primary sandbox levels also... but there can be very little argument that those games lacked content! There is no "Chaos" system this time (the karmic playthrough-length measurement of player approach, which would result in changing the world for either good or ill depending on the amount of bloodletting and chaos the player caused) - so cross-level, full-playthrough type restrictions are less burdensome. (There does remain an "undetected" full playthrough trophy, though.) That cross-level karma aspect is replaced, somewhat, by additional objectives in the form of contract side-missions. Essentially, these are optional objectives that can be tackled while playing the main missions, and can range from killing no one, to killing everyone... and because there is no cross-level karmic system, there is a freedom granted to do these without fear of affecting future elements. This change is a double-edged sword, and one a I go back and forth on. While I liked the karmic system, and the clever way in which the world was altered by the player's approach to play, I cannot deny that it did somewhat tie my hands when I played, and limited the freedom to alter my approach as the environment dictated. The removal of it allows more freedom... but also makes the individual levels feel a little less "narratively connected". It makes individual levels feel like.. well... individual levels. Interestingly, I think in this capacity, Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider can be seen as an early experimental step in what Arkane would finally get to with Deathloop. In Deathloop, they actually managed to find a narrative justification for the player having their cake, and eating it too. Because of the Groundhog Day time-loop element of that game, Arkane were able to both grant the player the freedom to do anything they wanted in any individual "loop", but still have an overall narrative that made sense, and tied everything together without it feeling tonally schizophrenic. Oddly though, despite the levels feeling more "separate" and less tied together in a mechanical sense, there is an element to which they feel more narratively cohesive here - the fact that Billie has, essentially, a single objective: kill The Outsider. She doesn't have multiple targets to kill, and in each level, there is not a specific "big-bad" to be dispatched. For the most part, each level prior to the final one is about stealing a thing, or extracting information. There are generally one or two main "villains" in each level, much as there was in the previous two games, however, they don't often need to be dispatched, disposed of or killed. As such, Billie feels, in some ways, even more single-minded and narratively strong than even Corvo - she has one thing to do and is hell-bent on doing it. She can kill people on her way - hell, she can kill EVERYONE if she pleases - but that is not the objective. They are not targets... they are collateral damage in her wake. Mechanically the game is excellent. While there is arguably less variation in terms of powers, given that Billie has no skill tree, and therefore less option to for the player to customise and build "their Billie", there is at least a secondary mode called "Original Game+", which play the game again, this time with some of Emily's powers form Dishonoured 2, rather than Billie's. This mode is fun and interesting - as with the previous games, playing with different powers has a pretty dramatic effect on the game, as paths available with one set of powers are not available with another, but new ones are, and new possibilities... ...but it is clear that the levels of Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider were created with Billie's powers primarily in mind. In fact, it might have felt a more fitting additional mode to include Emily's powers alongside Billie's original ones, though I suspect the intent was to make the game feel wholly different, and so including the original powers would tend to see players fall back on what they know works, rather than being forced to improvise using the new set. It's a good way of extending the length of the shorter game, and while it doesn't quite manage to make each level feel completely new, it does give a new lease of life to them in some really cool ways. Visually, Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider is absolutely on par with Dishonoured 2. The engine is clearly the same (giving further credence to the idea of Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider being an expanded DLC, rather than a full sequel,) and the design ethos that made the original two games distinct and interesting is still present in full force. The game is set entirely in Karnaca - the Mediterranean inspired city where around half of the second game took place, and served in that game to provide a contrast to the Dickensian London aesthetic of Dunwall - but the new locations are both interesting and distinct, yet feel thematically right at home as compared to those locations in Dishonoured 2. Audio is excellent once again - music is haunting and evocative, foley and sound effects are great, and the voice cast do a great job. All three Dishonoured games have used significant celebrity voice talent - there are fewer huge names this time around (no Susan Sarandon or Vincent D'Onofrio,) but Michael Madsen is back as Daud, Robin Lord Taylor as The Outsider, and Rosario Dawson turns in a particularly good performance as Billie Lurk. The whole cast do an excellent job of conveying the gravity and fantasy of the whale-punk world, and are helped by the pretty high standards of writing. I'm generally not fussed about "stunt-casting" - celebrity voices can be a benefit or a burden depending on the situation (we all love Michael Ironside, but his Sam Fisher had begun to sound less like a super-spy, and more like a drunken uncle as time went on!) ...but the best compliment I think that can be given to "Hollywood" celebrity voice work in games is when the performances are on par with primarily voice-only actors, and in the Dishonoured games, including this one, the celebrity casts meet that bar. Overall Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider may be the weakest of the Dishonoured games by simple virtue of being the shortest and the shallowest, but that does not by any means denigrate it. Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider runs as well as Dishonoured 2, and feels like a worthy continuation of it... which is serious praise, given how good Dishonoured 2 was. There isn't anything here that can reach the heights of The Clockwork Mansion - that's a tall order for any game to manage - but the game retains Arkane's incredible finesse and eye for world-building and interesting environments, gameplay design and visuals, and does it with style befitting the franchise it brings to closure. It caps off the Dishonoured franchise... with honour. The Ranking: Arkane's Immersive Sims do very well on the ranking - they tend to hit all the sweet-spots for me. Variability, immersive world-building, interesting power-combinations, stealth, without instant-fails, clever combat, a "why not" attitude to player improvisation... ...and while Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider is shorter and less deep than the previous two Dishonoured games - and certainly than Prey - it does still hold its own in that company. I think the original Dishonoured provides the ceiling - certainly I still believe Dishonoured is the superior game, however, slightly lower down is Deathloop, and that game provides an interesting match-up. A lot of the positives are similar - Deathloop has excellent world-building, great variety of play, and is stylish as hell. In terms of actual moment-to-moment gameplay, I do think Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider's heights are higher than Deathloop's - I think the best moments outdo Deathloop's best moments, however, Deathloop is a bigger game. It is also a more varied game. It is also a new IP, and structurally, a more interesting game. It's close, but I do think Deathloop's full package has to beat Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider. To be honest, working down from Deathloop, we are in rarified territory. these are fantastic games, and while Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider plays at that level, it is a shorter, more fleeting and less variable experience, and that does give it more trouble competing with some of the heavy hitters here. I find it consistently losing out to games either due to their supreme quality, or their richness of content and sheer size and scope, but where I think it finally reaches a game that cannot manage to fight back enough to beat it out, is with Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. That game is very good - astoundingly so for a licensed property - and has some real smart ideas in it (the Nemesis system first and foremost,) - however, I don't think the moment to moment gameplay ever reaches a point high enough to outdo Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider, even given Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider's shortness. As such, Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider finds its spot! Unravel Summary: A curious Puzzle Platformer from Coldwood Interactive, and released under one of EA's (infrequent) initiatives to spread out the scope of their portfolio, Unravel sees the player take control of a rather sweet little character spun out of red yarn - rather appropriately named "Yarny". From a level-select hub within a Swedish family home, filled with family pictures of times gone by and which are all rather blurry, (presumably half-remembered,) at the outset, Yarny begins to fill in and focus the images by delving into the areas in which the photo was taken, and traversing puzzle-filled levels, as he fills out the story of the family's life. The most striking and obvious thing about the game - apparent even in the level-select hub, but breathtakingly more so once the first level is entered - is how it looks. The visuals of Unravel are stunning. The nature of Yarny himself, being magically animated and personified yarn, tends to conjure natural comparisons to a few other games -most notably Little Big Planet, but also Yoshi's Woolly World and Kirby's Epic Yarn - but Unravel is quite distinct, even within that particularly small pool of "yarn-work" art-styles, because while Yarny himself is clearly magical and whimsical, the environments in which he exists are not. They are, to all intents and purposes, photo-realistic. They are gorgeous too. The almost photo-real environments give the impression of the game being more "stop-motion-adjacent" than the "CGI-animation-adjacent" style most whimsical games lean on. The game is particularly concerned with nature and environmentalism in its themes, and as such, the fact that realistic natural environments are rendered to such a high degree, both of fidelity, and of verisimilitude, those theme lands particularly well. While there isn't an explicit narrative, there is certainly a through-line to the tone-piece, following the family over the course of their lives, as more and more is revealed, following their detachment and displacement and loss as they move from their rural home, to a a more urban setting... primarily because the place in which they lived is being industrialised and becoming polluted and destroyed. It's a relatively simple environmental message, and while it doesn't have a lot to say beyond "nature is nice" it doesn't really need to go further than that. That's the advantage to a game in which the visuals are so striking and sumptuous - the pro-environmental credentials of the game are a virtual fait-accompli, since the levels themselves do such a good job of conveying the beauty of the natural environments in which it takes place... and the horror of the polluted, poisoned after-effects of that industrialisation. It's not just the fidelity of these environments that make Unravel as visually striking as it is though, there are multiple techniques harnessed to add flair to the visual palette. Focus-pulling and close-up camera techniques to really give the impression of scale and scope - the world feels enormous to little Yarny, and the visuals do a splendid job of evoking that. There is rarely any visible UI on screen, beyond the occasional button prompt, and so virtually every still image of the game looks like a perfect screenshot. The only real impediment to progress that could be served by a UI element is the amount of yarn remaining on Yarny, but this is actually conveyed quite nicely by Yarny himself. When there is little yarn available, and he is getting close to his limit, he will be visibly straggly and threadbare, as opposed to the plushy, cuddly look he has when "fully powered." There is a heavy Scandinavian flavour to the game - musically, visually and tonally - and that as much as the "realistic" artistic palette sets it apart from much of the similar fare on console. The combination of extreme natural beauty, harsh environments, a focus on love and family and environment, yet with a wistful, bitter-sweet tone is interesting, well placed to stand out from the crowd of puzzle platformers, and is haunting and evocative when combined with the magical realism or Yarny himself. It forms a sort of "grown-up" fairytale. Unravel does, certainly upon completion, share that Scandinavian sensibility - that use of overt sentimentalism, yet avoiding it feeling cloying, by coupling it with bleak, matter-of-fact, almost harsh objectivism. The Scandinavian culture is one who's mythos and fantasy-scape often couples the childlike and fantastical with the stark, bleak and unforgiving nature of the landscape - and of life itself - thus being able to be whimsical, without ever feeling twee. In terms of gameplay, Unravel is a difficult one to pin down, as it is one of those games that when it works, it works very well, but occasionally seems to stumble a little in trying to find a balance - for its mechanics, and its puzzles. The basic mechanics are simple - Yarny can shoot out yarn from himself to grapple or swing or scale, and can tie-yarn to set points and swing or bridge gaps, or use that bridge as a sort of trampoline to access out of reach platforms. He has, however, limited yarn, thus creating puzzles. Player must find spools of new yarn in the environment, which act as both yarn-replenishment, and checkpoints, gating progress between level areas. The puzzles are smart - not overtly complex, but nicely varied given the limited tool-set available to Yarny. In terms of complexity, Unravel probably falls somewhere between Little Nightmares, and Trine - generally the solution to a puzzle will not baffle the player for long, but actually executing on that solution will not always be simple. Some solutions will require quite tricky platforming / swinging etc. and so there are occasional times where "execution frustration" can kick in - where the player knows exactly what they need to do, but simply has to master the finesse required to follow it through. This isn't necessarily a control issue - technically, Unravel works for the most part, but as in any physics-based puzzle platformer, there is potential for jittery or unusual movement of objects when they interact together, and that can be irksome - though generally par-for-the-course in the genre. The bigger issue with some puzzles though, is environmental hazards. There are no enemies, so, to be fair, environmental hazards are the only real threat available to the developer, however, they do seem to love doing timed, consistent hazards (such as lapping waves) which can really hamper experimentation. Some puzzles where solving a solution would be simple, can take a lot of time to figure out, as they are dramatically and artificially complicated by the requirement to constantly be avoiding / running away from a consistent threat... or dying to it. That is a legitimate puzzle complication of course - games need some obstacle - but it does become frustrating when combined with more trial-and-error traversal puzzles... and that does happen fairly consistently. The controls are loose and floaty by design - the closest analogue would be Little Big Planet, and can feel a little fiddly. Physics based movement works for the most part, though can sometimes seem a little arbitrary in terms of how "heavy" Yarny feels. I do not believe there is any material difference in the "weight" of Yarny dependent on his density (determined by how much yarn he has spooled,) however, there are clear points where the game "fudges" the relative weight and/or momentum of Yarny in order to make certain solutions work... and this can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is welcome that the developer recognises where they need to take a little more control, to make a solution easier to execute, however, it also means the player can never be quite sure if something will work or not, as they don't have the cast-iron consistency of control to be certain in all cases. In a few different spots in the late-game, I dismissed a potential solution because my prior knowledge of Yarny's movement made me think it would be impossible, only for it to turn out to be the solution after all. My own mistake - sure - but the reason was that the slight inconsistency of Yarny's movements made it hard to gauge his capabilities effectively. It's not a serious issue, but it is a persistent one. The mechanics can feel slightly at odds with one another at times also - because exploring the environment is a key element, but Yarny can run out of yarn, it tends to stop the player wanting to fully explore the (amazing looking) environments, for fear of becoming "stuck" by running out. There is a "reset to main path" mechanic, which alleviates some of this, but it does rather play against the incredible strength of the visuals, when the player feels restricted from fully tinkering with them. That, in turn, works against some aspects of the game design with regards to collectibles - there are objects and memories to find in each level, and hunting for these can be fun, but again, that fun is somewhat hampered by the limited feeling of the exploration added by the limited yarn mechanic. There is no voice work in the game - or any dialogue really. Sound effects and foley work well, though they are generally limited to environmental objects interacting with one-another. Yarny himself makes little noise (of course - since wool makes little impact on a surface!) Music, however, is really fantastic - evocative, haunting - sad and wistful and longing, yet hopeful and even triumphant at times. Its somewhere between an ambient score and a neo-classical one, with the distinct Scandinavian vibes threaded through it, and is absolutely fitting to the game, and a pleasure to listen to independently. Overall, Unravel is a sweet, smart, effective puzzle platformer, that uses a small set of limited mechanics pretty well, but does sometimes stutter in terms of marrying all its component elements together. It is a visual and auditory triumph, however, and quite a charming game to see through, and so the minor elements of frustration borne of the mechanics are generally worth pushing through to see the charming, bespoke and gorgeous levels. The Ranking: The first games that came to mind for comparison were the Little Big Planet games - for relatively obvious reasons - however, while Unravel is its own beast, and certainly has its good elements, I think its smaller scope and infrequent, yet persistent issues do preclude it from ranking above even the lowest rank LBP game in LBP3. I started looking at 2D platforming games with unique visuals then, working down from LBP3, and the one that stood out was Apotheon. Apotheon actually has a lot of commonality with Unravel in how I felt bout the game - both have stunning visuals, a complete, well rounded and well implemented style and flair, but both have some distinct control issues, and some issues with game mechanics that work better as discrete entities on paper than they do in tandem, as a complete game. I do, however, think Unravel has to come out on top. It is the more impressive looking of the two, the more fun game generally, and its mechanical issues are less pronounced. Apotheon also suffered from an extra layer of technical issues (crashing etc.) that Unravel didn't. Above Apotheon, is 2D puzzle Platformer Hoa. Again, that game has a striking visual style - in this case, even more impressive than Unravel's - however, as a game, it suffers distinctly from its very short length, and lack of real variety or challenge. That was a game that felt like it ended far too abruptly - Unravel may have some issues, but it certainly feels like a good length, and does more with its mechanics. One spot above Hoa though, is Ratchet & Clank: Nexus. That game is certainly one of the weaker entries in the R&C franchise, but that is hardly an aspersion - R&C is great, even at its weaker entries. Nexus may feel lesser in its class, but it is still a great, fun game, and while I think Unravel absolutely takes it on visuals and audio, I really can't see it beating out Nexus, given its issues and infrequent frustrations. As such, Unravel finds its spot! Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime Summary: A Co-op focussed hybrid of SHMUP-lite and Plate-Spinner gameplay, the awesomely named Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime sees up to four players take control of a spaceship as members of the League Of Very Empathetic Rescue Spacenauts (or L.O.V.E.Rs.) Thier galaxy, powered by affection, has been hit by a calamity, as the forces of Anti-Love have destroyed the Ardor Reactor - the heart-shaped spaceport and centre of the civilisation of anthropomorphic space-faring animals - and has kidnapped and entrapped a large swathe of their number. The players must pilot the craft around the various procedurally-generated 2D levels, rescuing the trapped LOVERs, and defeating the forces of Anti-Love, to restore peace and tranquility to the galaxy! The game is, at its core, essentially a somewhat slow paced, rather more varied and variable version of the core gameplay of old arcade game Asteroids. played on a flat 2D plane, the players manoeuvre the large, somewhat (deliberately) unwieldy craft around procedurally generated and randomised level layouts, searching for the missing members of the L.O.V.E.Rs, and dealing with the various enemy types, and space-based hazards along the way. It's a good concept, and here, with the addition of the Overcooked-style multi-player, plate-spinning chaos via the odd controls of the vessels, it works well. Each element of the control of the vessel - various gun turrets, shielding, specialty weapons, engines and the map - must be manually walked to and interacted with to control, and so no matter how many players are playing together, the dynamic of the game changes quite considerably. If there are 4 players present, it is reasonable for one to remain exclusively the pilot, one as the shield operator, and two manning the different gun turrets, however, in a two-player game (the way I played the game in its entirety,) there is rarely ever the possibility of a single person remaining solely responsible for one element of the game. While one player might stick primarily to the engines and steering, for example, and another player concentrates more on shielding, both must be prepared to flip to any of the gun turrets as required, and there is a constant feeling of controlled chaos as the players try to divvy up the responsibilities as each new situation arises. This aspect is actually played with quite effectively with the addition of multiple spacecrafts too. While the "default" spacecraft - the "Gumball" - allows all players access to all turrets, and therefore leaves the dispersal of responsibilities entirely to the players, some of the "alternative" crafts have their own unique eccentricities. The "Banana Split" features specific uncrossable walls, meaning each player only has access to certain turrets, and the players must adapt to suit that, while the "Jelly Roll" retains the full suite of accessibility, but changes the steering method quite significantly, giving control of the ship orientation to the engine pilot, and therefore requiring the gun-operators and pilot to work together much more dynamically. This element works, though in one case I do think some lack of awareness is demonstrated on the developers part with regards to two player games - specifically, in the case of the "Banana Split" ship. Because in a 2-player situation, the same player who has exclusive access to the engines is also the player with exclusive access to the shields, it does tend to slow the (already relatively languid) pace of the game even further. The pilot must essentially let the ship come to a full stop at each combat encounter, in order to man the shields effectively. This ship, in particular, does feel more specifically suited to 3 or 4 player games. On the co-op, in fact, it's worth noting, the game is very good in 2-player, and would clearly work great with 3 or 4... but is not really suited to single player at all. The developer does - to their credit - account for the lonesome L.O.V.E.R playing: starting a single player game gives an AI companion who can be sent to different stations at the player's discretion. That AI companion is effective actually - proving useful in combat... but this mechanics slows the action of an already relatively slow-paced game down further, and does make the game feel odd and unwieldy. That is unfortunate, given that the game has no option for online play - this is a couch-co-op experience only, which does make sense, given that constant communication is the key to plate-spinning games like Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime or Overcooked... but it does lift the barrier to entry for the best experience playing the game quite a bit. The game operates in discrete "campaigns" - each featuring 4 levels then a boss, with decent variety across them. While the meat-and-potatoes of the game is the standard "find the lost L.O.V.E.Rs and escape at your leisure" type level, there a a few non-standard variants mixed in. Some of these - for example, the "warp" levels, where the ship remains centre-screen, and the shield is replaced with a mcguffin that must be defended against wave-based-hoards - are nice distractions, while some others (in particular, one very irksomely tightly timed level,) do provide a change of pace, while being perhaps a little less welcome! This timed level is, I believe, only used once, but it is genuinely frustrating, as it is the only time the good elements of the game seem to work in direct opposition to one another. Because the levels are randomly generated, the introduction of a strict time limit does mean that this level can be either easy, or brutally difficult - to the extent I question if it is even possible - simply based on luck of the draw. My co-op partner and I failed it spectacularly 3 or 4 times in a row... then managed to complete it with more than half the time remaining. That change does not represent a dramatic change in our abilities or skills (trust me!)... its was purely a result of luck-of-the-RNG-draw. Over the course of a campaign, the ships start out as their basic versions, however, there is a pretty fluid and dynamic upgrade mechanic introduced, in the form of "gems". Stations, (guns / engine / shields / special weapon,) can all be upgraded with up to two "gems" of three varieties, and each combination has different effects. Two "power" gems will give a gun turret a greatly increased rate of fire, however, adding one "metal" gem a will turn it into a ball-and-chain flail... and adding a "Power" gem to that, will turn it into a remote controlled rocket. Adding a metal gem to the engine, will leave damaging caltrops behind... but adding a "Beam" gem to it, will also have a deadly laser pointing from the stern of the ship. Combining different elements with these gems has a constant source of interest and variation to the game, and results in a very fun push-pull of figuring out which slot would best take each new gem acquired. Even deep into the later campaigns, my co-op partner and I were still discovering new combinations of gems to try out and - much like any well balanced variable upgrade path, with each new one, we would say "Oh, THIS is the best one..." only to double down when we discovered something else... "No, scratch that, THIS is the best one!" The game difficulty ramps up quite steeply in later levels, with some pretty frustrating elements being introduced - all of which have the potential to really become a challenge, depending on the whims of the RNG (White Dwarfs in particular proved an enduring menace in our playthroughs!) however, good variety keeps it feeling fun, rather than frustrating, and a wealth of difficulty levels are present in the settings, to cater to all players. Visually, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is quite the looker - its not a graphical powerhouse, but it does have a distinct and really cool style to it, a really fun, vibrant and whimsical colour palate and art-style, and its low-poly, cartoonish visuals look absolutely gorgeous in motion. The whimsical tone of the love-themed game is carried principally by the design aesthetic - a hot-pink and yellow psychedelic pastiche, and it works to a tee. The music is fun and goofy - not something I'd listen to divorced from the game experience, but it works really well in game, and during the (rather infrequent) moments where the players aren't barking frantic orders at one another, they might manage to hear some of it! Overall, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a smart, fun, well put together and endlessly charming little co-op chaos simulator, that has settings for all levels, caters to all combinations of players, and has entertainment for all, without wearing out its welcome. The Ranking: For comparisons, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is primarily a co-op game, and as such, two other games sprung to mind. One, a pure co-op experience in It Takes Two, and one a primarily single-player game but with co-op options, in Untitled Goose Game. In terms of pure co-op fun, I reckon It Takes Two does probably win - it has the variety, the length, and the size to beat out Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime. It also takes it on looks - while Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime looks great, It Takes Two looks fantastic in a much more varied, technically impressive and grandiose way. However, as anyone who read that review knows, that game had significant issues with its tone, narrative and writing, to the extent that it legitimately left a sour taste in both my, and MsBloodmoney's mouths. I cannot in good conscience allow a genuinely uplifting game like Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime to rank lower than one which - even after having some gaming fun - the common reaction we both had to completing it was to raise our middle fingers at the screen! Untitled Goose Game is a strange one - I think it also takes the win on looks - that is a really distinct and great looking art-style, and it's charming as all hell... but while gameplay I think is good in Untitled Goose Game, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime takes it with its variable RNG levels, Gem-insertion variability, and just general length, scope and mechanics. Untitled Goose Game also - crucially - works in single player, whereas Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime only really works with multiple people, and is immeasurably hampered in single-player. As such, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime ends up ranking a little lower - but not much lower. I can see strange JRPG / Table-Top Gaming hybrid Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars standing taller than it... but not VR Sandbox-Puzzler Ghost Giant, and so Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime finds its ranking! Tunic Summary: An action RPG and Puzzle Game hybrid from virtual one-man-band developer Andrew Shouldice, Tunic takes significant inspiration from 16-bit era Action RPGs - most notably The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - applies a slight Souls-like overlay to the structure and format of those games, along with a modern, sleek isometric visual style, then weaves a web of puzzle-elements into it so deep that it gives the likes of The Witness or Fez a run for their money! Taking the role of a young anthropomorphic fox, the player is thrust into a world that is already in ruin. There is little information to guide them as to what they can do - indeed, the language of the world is alien to the fox (and therefore the player,) and there are no real NPCs or civilians to be found - just the forces of some seeping evil intent on killing him, and withholding the secrets of the broken world. However, he (and the player) do have one clue as to what they might do to stop it... in the form of the game manual. Yes, that's correct - the actual game manual. Remember game manuals? You'd be forgiven if the answer is "no". It's been a while. Back in the NES / SNES days, when games - and particularly Japanese developed games - were often obtuse or lacking in overt tutorialising, and when games lacked the technical prowess to convey the gravity of their concepts through in-game art, the manual often served as the way to not only tell the player what to do, and how to play, but to build the lore of the world, and set the tone of the fiction. As games gained technical and graphical prowess though, and introduced more player-friendly on-ramps and explanatory tutorials, the necessity for the game manual as a part of the game package dwindled into virtual non-existence. All those advances were, of course, beneficial, however, the removal of game manuals did result in something of a loss... as (at their best) they were often quite beautifully crafted parts of the package, featuring artistic depictions of enemies or locations, background lore, hints, tips... and even the odd little secret hidden within their pages. Pouring over the manual for a game is something some folks remember quite fondly. I do... ...and Andrew Shouldice sure does. Essentially what Tunic does, is take that old concept - pouring over the game manual, looking for hints as to what to do in an obtuse game - and pushes so hard on the lever that it breaks off in his hands. At the outset of the game, the player finds the first in-game "manual page" collectible, containing a single sheet of the 50-odd page manual (so two pages, front-and-back,) and is given a few hints of not only their quest, but how to play. as they explore the world, learning in the more traditional "in-game" way one does when feeling out a new game world, they will come across many, many elements in the game that seem like either decoration or simple visual or audio flourishes... but also more and more of these pages - and with virtually every single one, their knowledge of how to play the game, and where to look for secrets grows and grows. In many ways what Tunic manages to do via this method of play, is to create a layer of Metroidvania gameplay. without using the actual toolset of a Metroidvania. Now to be clear - there are genuine Metroidvania elements in play in Tunic as well. Certain items, such as a lantern, a "hook shot" equivalent, a magic wand etc are used to gate progress or facilitate shortcuts and new paths, in much the same way any Metroidvania does. However, on top of that, Tunic also manages to use player knowledge as a gate to progress, in the most Metroidvania-esque way I think I have seen. For example, the player does, right from the very beginning of the game, have access to a huge amount of the world. They just don't know that they do. There are doorways with specific patterns, flowers arranged in certain ways, hidden paths obscured by nothing more than the isometric view of the game, - even an entire fast-travel system - that they could avail themselves of instantly... if only they knew what to do. But they don't. The manual pages with clues or instructions telling them the combination of buttons to press, or the action to take, or the specific movement to make to activate these are buried deep within the game. This means the game gets to weaponise player knowledge in the same way it does a traversal item like a Hook Shot - not only does the player, upon learning a secret piece of knowledge get the usual Metroidvania rush of "oh, there are so many spots I've seen where I can use this!"... but it is heightened and compounded, as they realise not only can they access somewhere they previously couldn't but that the ability was there the whole time, they just couldn't see it! It's a great concept, and one executed on exceptionally well. The actual land-mass of Tunic is not enormous - there are 7 or 8 distinct areas/ dungeons, seemingly facilitating a game length roughly analogous to the old 16-Bit RPGs to which it owes its tone and timbre, however, the combinations of, and compound nature of, the puzzle elements within every inch of that land-mass is quite simply astounding. Over the course of a blind playthrough, where puzzle elements are being solved organically, (either through pure puzzling prowess, or via the well implemented hint-system via the PS5's "Trophy Tips" features,) a player will often return to the same area 4, 5, even 6 times armed with new knowledge or ideas, and sure enough, that knowledge almost always results in something new being revealed there. That the same area that was once simply a battlefield to be fought through is now a piece of an intricate puzzle to be solved, but dollars to doughnuts, in a few hours, and with a few more pages of the manual found, or a few more of the little secrets within those pages deciphered, the player will be back there again, solving another part of an even more devious or obscure puzzle solution hidden wither within the first one, or beneath it. Tunic, in fact, uses the (genuinely difficulty to implement) "hidden in plain sight" aspect of puzzle gaming to a degree and level of success I have almost never seen, and in that regard, sits proudly alongside such pillars of that genre aspect as Outer Wilds, or The Witness... and it does it over and over and over again. The puzzles are, themselves, fantastic and extremely varied. Because they are compounded so deeply, the breadth of puzzle "types" and ways in which information can be hidden is - by necessity - varied also. The game manual is a lovely thing to look at, evoking perfectly the art-styles and layouts of the old SNES manuals, but there are little clues and hints everywhere within it. A picture denoting what each bit on on-screen UI means is useful, of course, and looks just like it would have in a real manual in 1992... but look closer at the particular screenshot chosen and the player might notice a chest in that location, that they haven't seen in its real, in-world counterpart, thus piquing their interest. They might also notice a scribble in the margins of that page, that means nothing at first... but might mean something very important, in conjunction with another scribble on another page. Look even closer, and the fact that one of the lines pointing to a piece of UI is an odd shape... and that might match something else. There are little clues, little puzzles, riddles, cyphers, spot-the-differences, combinations, shapes, colours, scribbles... but interestingly, never any red-herrings. Every single detail of that manual is serving more than one purpose, and nothing in the game is wasted. If a puzzle can fit in it, Shouldice fits four in. Then puts a fifth on, for good measure. This makes playing the game feel incredibly and genuinely rewarding, as there is virtually never an instance where something turns out to be nothing. If some part of the game feels like it might be a clue - make no mistake it is. If the player can't seem to figure it out, it's not because it isn't there, it's just because they haven't got there yet! The overall narrative of Tunic is relatively simple - as it is required to be, given that interpreting it though a (largely) indecipherable language is a core element - however, it does do exactly what it means to do, namely, to evoke the SNES ere JRPGs. The young fox the player controls is somewhat lost in the broken world, but comes to understand that some great truth about the world has been hidden and kept a secret. Hero's past have struggled to reveal it, through collection of magical crystals, and he must do the same, all the while being broadly and vaguely guided by the hand of the previous Hero to attempt the feat - an adult, female fox who appears to him as a ghostly apparition. In fact, the game plays very cleverly with its narrative concepts, to quite winning effect at the climax of the narrative. While I will not spoil anything, I will say the game has two different endings, and the ways in which these differ are significant. The "Good" ending serves as a well paced final puzzle piece in understanding the mythology hinted at in the world, and built within the manual, providing the final "ah-hah" moment to the player in a way that provides both a gameplay and emotional catharsis. The game looks and sounds fantastic - it is a simple aesthetic, a sort of hybrid of old 16-Bit era oblique-view action RPGs, and modern isometric iOS style puzzle games - and it works perfectly on two fronts. Firstly, purely aesthetically. The game feels cute and welcoming and warm, even where the world depicted is ruined and haunted, and goes some way to keeping the tone approachable, even when the narrative gets darker. Secondly though, the isometric viewpoint does a great job of allowing the developer to hide paths, objects, shortcuts etc in plain sight. Because of the fixed perspective, a completely open path can be effectively hidden simply by placing something in the foreground - and that allows clues as to the paths whereabouts to be hinted at in the in-manual map, providing subtle hints, without hanging a lantern on it. This therefore gamified elements not normally prone to gamification... and adds yet another puzzle type and layer. The score is great - it isn't on a level where I'd play it independent of the game, but it is close, and really sets the mood of the game well. The one area of the game that, unfortunately, does not live up to the high standard of the puzzles, world design and lore, is the combat, however. While it is fine, and certainly does evoke the 16-Bit era Zelda games / Secret of Mana style action JRPG, that does make it quite simplistic by modern standards, and because the game is evoking Souls-style combat in terms of the unforgiving nature and respawning enemies etc, that simplicity, combined with the fixed isometric camera can be prone to irritation when it comes to combat placement, visibility and gauging distance of sword-swings etc. There are a few boss fights in the game, and while the idea of the bosses do work and seem interesting, the game just never quite manages to make them feel great. Most boss encounters can be won through attrition, and over-provision of items, and even without that, they just don't reach the combat-puzzle level of similarly Dark Souls inspired games. In fact, I feel a comparison is worthy of being made with recent similarly isometric puzzle-RPG-souls hybrid Death's Door. While those folks who read my review of that game may recall, I was cooler on it than many, primarily due to my dissatisfaction with the puzzles, and the lore. The combat, had some issues, (particularly with balancing,) but was arguably the highlight of that game. In many ways Tunic feels like the perfect inverse of Death's Door. The games are similar in concept, but Tunic nails all aspects of puzzle, lore and narrative, yet has weaker combat. Death's Door doesn't reach its potential in the puzzles, lore or narrative, but does feature the better combat encounters and boss design. Overall, that makes Tunic the far superior game, however, the proximity of its release to Death's Door's does serve to highlight its one weaker element. Overall, Tunic is a really fascinating and clever concept, executed to a very high standard, and providing a depth of engagement through its unique puzzle mechanics that is as baffling and impressive as it is unexpected upon initial engagement with the game. It looks and sounds great, works, as both a JRPG and a puzzle game, and while the combat can be a little flat, it serves the purpose it needs to... to flesh out a game where puzzle-solving is the raison d'etre, and all else is secondary to that. The Ranking: Tunic is a fascinating game for two reasons - its clever playing with 4th-wall breaking and genre-expectations, and its fascinating puzzle depth. As such, there are two very obvious games to me that leap out for comparison: Mind-bending, genre-hopping mystery card came Inscryption, and fascinating, incredibly intricate puzzle game Return of the Obra Dinn. As compared to Inscryption, the match up is interesting. Both games very effectively toy with the players understanding of the world in which they find themselves, and descend down a rabbit-hole of complication, puzzle solving and genre expectation-defying that hooks them for dozens of hours. In terms of visuals, Tunic certainly takes it, and I think on music it does too, but as great as I think Tunic is (and it sure is!) I have to concede that the way in which it fascinated me was purely cerebral. Inscryption had me cerebrally, emotionally... hell, spiritually at times! The "Oh my God, WTF?!" element of Tunic is simply in fascination at the depth of the puzzles. In Inscryption, it is in every facet of the game. The actual experience of Tunic is great - but the experience of inscryption is one I will never forget, and so it has to outrank Tunic. With Return of the Obra Dinn though, it's more difficult. Obra Dinn represents one of the most interesting and unique puzzle games I have played - I'd argue there are no single puzzles in Tunic (even the "big" one) that measure up to Obra Dinn's... ...but Obra Dinn is just that. ONE Puzzle. One giant, fascinating and complex puzzle, to be sure, and one that looks great, sounds great and is a genuine pleasure to play, but once it is solved, it is solved. There is a reason I have not replayed Obra Dinn the way I have with The Witness, or may well with Tunic - it's because there is literally no repeatability. it is a brilliant one-and-done experience... and that is all. While Tunic is odd to play with some foreknowledge (full disclosure, I played it a full second time, just to see this!) it actually becomes almost a different but equally interesting game to play a second time. I do therefore, think Tunic's labyrinthine and fascinating genre-hybrid has to rank above Obra Dinn's incredible, but fleeting, single puzzle. There are a few games between the two, (all brilliant ones,) and all quite different genres, and incomparable really, so it comes down to instinct, and simple "was this more awesome than Tunic was?" The first (hesitant, but confirmed) "Yes", comes a few places higher, with the PS5 Demon's Souls Remake. Tunic has a lot going for it, but it is just surpassed by Demon's Souls immense playability, replayability, visuals, style and flair. As such, Tunic finds its spot! Fear Effect Sedna Summary: The revival of the dormant Fear Effect franchise in the form of an indie tactics-lite isometric RTS from French developer Sushee, Fear Effect Sedna - the third game in the franchise, and first since the original Playstation days - sees mercenaries Hana, Rain and Deke hired to steal a mysterious artefact in Paris. When they are beaten to it by another group of mercs, hired for the same job. Barely surviving the encounter, and losing the artefact in the process, they head to Greenland in pursuit, meeting up with old series character Glas, and piece together a plot involving a modern-day Inuit cult, hell bent on resurrecting Sedna - the Inuit goddess of the Sea. Now, to be clear - I did not play the original Fear Effect games on Playstation. They always appealed, and the way the were marketed - as essentially a more "grown-up" take on Resident Evil style survival 3rd person action seemed right up my alley, but for whatever reason, I simply never got around to them before the franchise dwindled off the map. What always struck me about the little I saw of the games back in those days though, was striking - and for one primary reason: the visuals. The original Fear Effect games had a great early cell-shaded art-style, and really popped off the screen - particularly at that time, 19-odd years ago, when most 3rd-person action games were in one of their, (frequent, and rather cyclical,) periods of "it's all brown and black and grimy, 'cause we're edgy teens now, man!" That visual pop and flair has, to be fair, absolutely carried over to Sushee's game. Fear Effect Sedna looks really quite great. In terms of the general gameplay, it's already a nice looking game - the isometric environments are simple but effective, nicely varied, well rendered, and actually look quite stylistically similar to Invisible Inc... (and any regular readers of mine will now instantly understand what drove me to buy this game!) More than that though, there is the cutscenes - and those look fan-fucking-tastic. Really, the cell shaded look used in the cut-scenes of Fear Effect Sedna work incredibly well. There are modern cell-shaded games (for example, Rollerdrome, or Void Bastards,) which undoubtedly look more sleek and finessed, however, Fear Effect Sedna is not quite going for that same fidelity. Instead of looking like a perfect modern-day cell-shaded style, Sedna is going for a modern take on a 20-year-old cell-shaded style - a brand new, modernised version of a style originally cemented with the first two games - and in that capacity, Sedna is a resounding success. The characters look cool, they look slick, and the animations look both old and new in just the right ways. These cut-scenes are a joy to look at, and they would be a joy to listen to as well... ...if only the dialogue wasn't atrocious. Now, I will say, the actual plot of Fear Effect Sedna - while simple and silly - is fine. Actually, it is pretty much on par with the kinds of plots that would have graced a PSOne B-Game - which Fear Effect effectively was - and in that regard, feels quite at home. The characters even, while cliches to be sure, are actually pretty fun and varied. The issue though, is that they never seem to be able to say more than two words, without it rendering the whole game laughable. The dialogue is both very poorly written, very on-the-nose, stultifyingly awkward, and, unfortunately, pretty poorly delivered. I will say, it's hard to full blame the voice cast here - they aren't great, but to be honest, given the calibre of writing they have to work with, I'd wager the greatest voice actors in the world would struggle. The issues with the dialogue range from the unnatural, to the tired, to the cringe-worthy, to the borderline problematic at times (the relationship between Hana and Rain is particularly ridiculous - not since Bound has a lesbian relationship so clearly been written as male-fantasy, as opposed to female reality.) That would be forgivable (or, at least, ignorable,) were the gameplay good, but unfortunately, the writing is the least of Fear Effect Sedna's problems. The gameplay operates as a real-time tactical experience, with the player able to flip between different characters, each of whom have different special abilities. The player can "stop the clock" at any time, and control individual characters in a sort of tactical "stasis" - moving and controlling them in real-time, but with the rest of the world frozen in time, and by doing so, is able to set "paths" and actions they will take once the clock is started again. By this method, the player can - in theory - independently control all four characters to act simultaneously, by playing each role in "stasis", then unfreezing time, and watching it all play out... ... if it worked. It does not. Because the characters are moved individually, and there is no accounting for the actions of the enemies, or each-other, this whole element of the game is largely useless. If, for example, a character is told to run to X, shoot at Y, then run back to Z, that only works if X, Y & Z remain undisturbed by anything else. If a character is told to shoot at an enemy, and then when time is started, that enemy moves, the character will simply move to where they were told to, and stop. They don't know what to do. That sounds bad, (and it is,) but what's worse is, after setting a path for one character, other characters cannot see that path during their path-setting. If controlling 4 characters during a time-stasis, the player happens to inadvertently have them bump into each-other, or stand too close together, or block each-other's shots (all very possible in the tight quarters of a gunfight,) the characters again, either revert to CPU control, or stop dead altogether. As a result, virtually all of this tactical element - arguably the primary selling point of the game - ends up being virtually impossible to use... and curiously, even when it does work, it is generally less effective than simply direct-controlling one character, and allowing the CPU to control the rest. Virtually the entire game - all gunfights, all bosses, everything can be easily completed simply by shooting a pistol at it over and over, reviving CPU characters who fall, and - if necessary - taking over a CPU character when the player falls. Because there is multiple characters, each with infinite revives of one another, all combat sections can be won through simple attrition. That combat is also, almost unbelievably flat an uninteresting. Gunfire is so limp and un-impactful that it can often be difficult to even register that gun is actually firing without looking at the enemy health-bar for confirmation. The controls are quite spongey already, and that lack of feedback really exhascerbates that issues... as does the fact that there are some technical issues, in the sense that button pushes occasionally seem to fail to register. Hit-boxing is a major issue also - not so much with gunfire, but when fighting bosses/ enemies who use melee attacks. There is a dodge-roll mechanic, but it has no invincibility frames as far as I could tell, and so the player has to simple stay out of the way... and by "out of the way", I mean out of the way by about 3-feet... because the hit-box extends that far beyond the visible enemy swipe! The game has some stealth sections too - these work modestly better than the combat does - when crouching, an un-discovered character can see vision cones of enemies, facilitating an old-school stealth style, and enemies can be instantly dispatched in this posture, providing they do not see the player - but this has two major issues as well. Firstly, the CPU controlled characters, while useful in combat, are a menace in stealth - and will happily wander right into the vision of an enemy. The player has to be careful to always tell them to stay put at the beginning of any stealth section... but of course, this means that if the player is discovered, their CPU backup is miles away, and thus they are left exposed. The only solution is a sort of "all or nothing" approach - if the player thinks they can fully stealth a section, they need to leave all backup behind... but if they think there's a chance they might get caught, then they might as well just run in, guns akimbo. There are a few decent puzzle elements to the game - actually taking some cues form Adventure games and older-style puzzle games, where there are few clues, and the player must infer solutions from the level environment, and these are pretty good. There are also a few "unique" event type sections that are simple but clever - for example, an early section where a player is disguised as a waiter in an upscale event, and must "overhear" information from chatting groups of people, while serving drinks at a pace consistent enough not to blow their cover... but even with these puzzle or unique elements, there is a major issue - instant failing. Failing a puzzle has no margin for error, and always results in a lengthly death scene, followed by a loading screen to restart the puzzle. This is fine in general, but maddening in some of the more trial-and-error puzzle types, where the player is having to deduce information and figure out how it relates to the puzzle. The final aspect to mention is the audio - as said, the voice work is pretty ropey, and unfortunately, this follows to the foley work. Gunfire sounds as limp as it feels... and man, does it feel limp. There is some decent original score in the game though, to its credit - nothing as interesting or accomplished as the visuals, but certainly on the good side of mediocre. Overall, Fear Effect Sedna is a pretty resounding belly-flop. It's a tactical game in which tactics are both under-powered, and under-developed, a visually nice game let down by the quality of its writing... and a combat, stealth and puzzle game, each element of which has some serious technical or design flaw holding it back. I went in wondering whether I should have tried to find a way to play the original games first, and worrying that I might be lost, but to be honest, I am in some ways glad I didn't play those games. From everything I know of them, they are pretty good. I'd imagine prior knowledge or affinity for the Fear Effect franchise would not have enhanced anything about Fear Effect Sedna... ...except perhaps disappointment with it. The Ranking: Unfortunately, we're near the bottom of the list with Fear Effect Sedna. It's a game that looks good, but has little else going for it, and some of its issues are so egregious and endemic to the design, that it falls in that unfortunate category of being not only a poor execution, but a fundamentally flawed concept. It's not an abject abomination like LA Cops or Space Overlords, nor it is spitefully or cynically offensive like Lost at Sea or Legends of Wrestlemania, however, it manages to squander a lot of potentially interesting ideas and concepts, time and time again, and ends up being a chore to play. It's not worth really discussing the merits of individual aspects of the games at this level - it becomes a contest to see which game failed the least hard, which is never fun, so really, I just look at the games and ask holistically "If I were forced to play one of these, which would I replay?" The first one where the answer was not Fear Effect Sedna, was dull, clunky but inoffensive early-GTA-with-Zombies game Zombie Driver HD... and so Fear Effect Sedna finds its unfortunate spot. So there we have it folks! Thanks to @grayhammmer & @Copanele for putting in a request! Hitman 3 remains as 'Current Most Awesome Game'! LA Cops stays as the worst-of-the-worst, with the title of 'Least Awesome Game' What games will be coming along next time to challenge for the top spot... or the bottom rung? That's up to randomness, me.... and YOU! Remember: SPECIAL NOTE If there are any specific games anyone wants to see get ranked sooner rather than later - drop a message, and I'll mark them for 'Priority Ranking'! The only stipulation is that they must be on my profile, at 100% (S-Rank).... and aren't already on the Rankings! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grayhammmer Posted November 11, 2022 Share Posted November 11, 2022 14 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: it becomes clear that Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider most comfortably belongs in a similar category of commercial product to releases like Infamous: First Light or Superhot: Mind Control Delete - stand-alone DLC content - than with the original two games that were its progenitors. Well, you mentioned it, so I will put in a request for Superhot: Mind Control Delete. I have platinumed this game, and I overall liked it a bit less than the original, but I would like to hear your thoughts on this game and if procedural generation really works with Superhot. Also, just because I'm curious and it isn't required for the platinum, did you ever beat Node 100 or did you decide to leave that particular challenge alone? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted November 12, 2022 Author Share Posted November 12, 2022 (edited) On 11/11/2022 at 1:58 AM, grayhammmer said: Well, you mentioned it, so I will put in a request for Superhot: Mind Control Delete. I have platinumed this game, and I overall liked it a bit less than the original, but I would like to hear your thoughts on this game and if procedural generation really works with Superhot. Also, just because I'm curious and it isn't required for the platinum, did you ever beat Node 100 or did you decide to leave that particular challenge alone? Flagged with your name for Priority Ranking ? Can't actually remember about Node 100 stuff - I do remember playing that one a bit post-platinum, but will need to see my save when I do a refresher-play to see if I ever did! Edited November 12, 2022 by DrBloodmoney 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now