2014 In Games

BB · 01-05-2015, 01:24 PM

5 days late because my internet went out!

Time once again to review the games I played over the course of the last 365-odd days. Some old stuff, some new stuff, mostly Civ. It's actually quite strange to do this as it makes me realise how poor my sense of time is- the memory of getting my xbox controller for last chistmas feels more recent than the memory of playing most of the games I used it for.

Anyway, in no particular order due to the aforementioned time sense:

Ikaruga

Well, this one's kind of a cheat since I played the Gamecube version to absolute death. But seeing one of my favourite games of all time in glorious and beautiful HD, playable on my PC... yeah, this was a day one purchase and although I'm still really bad at it, the game is so gorgeous I don't even care. As far as shooters go, this is a masterclass. It's tough, for sure, but it's never unfair, and every death comes with a feeling of “I could have done that better”, and never “that was cheap”. The PC release was self-published so Treasure were able to put the story text back, which as a fanboy made me very happy, but it doesn't really add anything to the game itself.

Fairy Bloom Freesia

A pretty fun kill-everything-with-extreme-violence 'em up, under a cutesy veneer. Knackers the thumbs but if you play in moderation it's fast and fluid.

Long Live The Queen

There's a lot of branches to this but I don't really have the stamina to explore all of them, there's a lot of repetition involved and I just keep feeling like I'd be better served playing something else. Good while it lasts though and getting to your first ending is enough of a trial in itself.

Civ V

I've only just acquired the two expansions so this is only on the base game, but the fact I lost several days to only that should tell you everything you need to know. Now... just one more turn...

Transistor

I played this hotseat with my girlfriend as it wouldn't work on her laptop so I'd want to give it another run through before reviewing it properly, but comparisons between it and Bastion are inevitable. It's a lot darker in tone than Bastion was- they're both about the end of the world, but Bastion felt more wonderous and fantastical. Transistor was also a lot stingier with its story, since the narrator was telling the story from within it rather than as an overseer. The gameplay is astonishingly customisable though and I've not even begun to skim the depth it has.

Blackwell

I wrote a pretty in-depth review for this wonderful series over here, so please read it through.

Dust

It's like playing a Disney film, I've never seen animation like it. Absolutely gorgeous to watch. It's also a pretty fun metroidvania, though the story is a bit flimsy. Combat is very satisfying. Definitely want a controller.

Skyrim

I hardly need to introduce Skyrim. I have plenty of annoyances with the game- the enemy that can disarm you is hugely frustrating and I had to reload the game a hundred times because my unique weapon fell out of the universe; the environments are all pretty dull; the intro cinematic kept breaking; fighting dragons as a stealthy character is- charitably- an exercise in patience; the characters are about as engaging as toilet paper. The fact remains, though, that I sunk 90 hours into it and still only completed two-third or three-quarters of what it had to offer- and that's the base game without any DLC. Playing through as a wizard seems like it'd be a different enough gameplay experience to almost call it a different game. If you want to lose yourself in a huge world for hours at a time, I can recommend no greater.

FF8

In fairness I played this one as a youngin, but it was released on Steam recently so I played it through again as an adult. Perhaps the standout issue for me was how forced the romance felt- there were really bizarre tonal shifts shoehorned into seemingly random places. Our team is in a high-tempo covert operation to disable an attacking enemy fortress before every one of our friends is killed in the fight that is going on all around us- lets talk about the meaning of that necklace you're wearing and have an awkward romantic moment. It felt like the game was in a mostly-finished state when someone in a suit told the team “yo, romance is in, we need a romance plot in the game too”. Very strange and jarring. Sans the romance, the game is still fun to play, but bears the hallmarks of early 3D RPGs.

Fly'N

Fly'n is a platformer with some of the most charming art and design I've ever seen. It's pretty fiendish though and there's a lot to find in each level- unfortunately some frustrating and cheap moments precluded me from ever attempting it. If you can forgive frequent one-errant-pixel deaths and the quite fiddly controls, the design of the levels themselves is still pretty good and the charm of the player characters will see you through.

Giana Sisters Owlverlord

Owlverlord is a small expansion pack to the original title adding a handful of new levels. The amiga-era pedigree is very apparent- it's an oldskool platformer at heart, with the modern sensibilities that make games more playable. It's standalone, but I would suggest not starting with this one.

Mark Of The Ninja

Mark of the Ninja sees your ninja protagonist off on a quest for revenge that involves large amounts of murder- or none at all, depending on how you play. This 2d platformer does stealth WONDERFULLY, and that’s not easy praise- sounds are visualised so you can always tell what effect your actions will have and plan accordingly. Considering Ninja’s acrobatic moveset the controls are absolutely superb too, almost reacting to your thoughts rather than button presses. It hardly ever happened that Ninja did one thing when I wanted him to do another. If a stealth game has ever made you frown, let Ninja change your mind. Huge recommendation.

Stanley Parable

Stanley is a very difficult game to give an opinion on, not least because going into it forewarned even slightly will diminish the effect. I greatly enjoyed the dark, british humour the game presents, which is about as much as I can say about it. Go and watch the trailers and if you’re intrigued or the humour resonates, give Stanley’s demo a go. I can’t promise you’ll like it, but I can say you won’t have played anything else quite like it.

Toki Tori

I’m not one for puzzle games, but something about toki tori just hit the spot. The rewind function is a tremendous part of why- it should come as standard in every puzzle game ever. The levels are cleverly designed and it’s usually clear what your aim is- though figuring out how to arrive there is another matter.

Beyond Good And Evil

I’d heard great things about this game, but sadly the camera in the PC version is awful beyond words and made me feel legitimately unwell after a play session. I imagine it’d be vastly improved with a controller, but the PC version doesn’t support them. I wasn’t able to finish it as a result.

Croixleur

Anime slash-em-up, astonishingly bare-bones and short. I wasn’t impressed with this game at all- combat is slow and clunky and it’s far too easy to get interrupted in the middle of a combo. Apparently there’s more meat in the challenge mode but honestly, I couldn’t be bothered to find out. Maybe it’s more fun if you’re into this kinda game. 100% need a controller for it, be forewarned.

RUSH

Block and tile puzzler from the same devs as toki tori, and exhibiting much the same qualities of hitting the Just-Right spot for me to enjoy. Later levels unfortunately get a bit cluttered and messy, but the early levels are smart and very satisfying to watch the completed solutions.

Superfrog HD

Nostalgia clouds this one as I was a childhood fan of the amiga original, but it feels like Mr Frog should have stayed there. The original was a platformer with a lot of charm and character, but this remake somehow loses that. Bafflingly the HD version does away with lots of the mechanics the original was iconic for- having to explore the levels to collect enough coins to open the gates is replaced with a simple time limit, and the slot machine that granted passwords (admittedly, probably not the most modern-friendly game concept) now just unlocks bonus levels.

Worms Blast

Bust-a-move with a Worms twist, it adds physics and, more importantly, explosions to the mix. I’m not a fan of bust-a-move games so I didn’t spend long here, but with a friend it’d be a............ BLAST!!!!!

Worms Revolution

Putting the worms in 2.5d takes the magic eureka formula of Worms Armageddon and makes it slow and cumbersome and fiddly. Amusing narration from IT Crowd’s Mr. Deynholm isn’t enough to save it- the added class mechanic doesn’t seem to really add much to the game, and dynamic water is impressive to watch but only slows the flow of gameplay down even more. Armageddon remains king of the Worms castle, stick with that one.

Blocks That MATTER

This is a block puzzler that would greatly benefit from Toki Tori's time rewind feature. Getting to the end of the level and realising you need a block you used earlier, with no way of knowing not to sue that block, happens frequently and is a frustrating “gotcha!” rather than smart puzzle design. If you don't mind restarting levels over and over, I'm told this is one of the better block puzzlers.

Katawa Shoujo

A western-developed visual novel that involves very little interactivity, this one tells the story of Hisao, a young man with a heart condition who is sent to a private school designed to cater for kids with disabilities. Along the way he becomes involved with one of five girls whose story then takes up the bulk of the rest of the game. I was worried going into this one that it'd be kinda gross and fetishy, or that the story would involve trying to “fix” them or have them become wholly and uterrly dependent on Hisao, but I was pleasantly surprised; the stories are well handled and the girls each have their own philosophy towards their disabilities, to which Hisao is the one to adapt. (There is one track that I played where Hisao does become overbearingly smothering, and it ends very badly for him.) The sex scenes (and please be aware these are full sex scenes, not modestly implied Dragon Age style sex) are handled differently than I expected too- the images are obviously designed to arouse but the actual scenes feel more like just stuff that is happening rather than pornography. Some of them are funny, some of them end badly (cough cough, heart condition), but they actually feel like part of the story and not just tacked on for boobs' sake. I am able-bodied myself so it's possible I've missed something eyebrow-raising, but to me it feels altogether well-handled, and I recommend it.

Touhou 10 Mountain Of Faith

I somehow never played this one so decided to change that- and it's quickly become a favourite. The game is by leaps and bounds the prettiest in the series (that waterfall stage!) and the final boss fight is brilliantly exciting.

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Wonderfully realised SRPG with remarkably likeable characters. Long-time fans of the series will have some complaints, but ignore them- this is a superb game that should be in every 3DS library. Lissa is my wifey.

Pokemon Pearl

I didn't play a pokemon game after Red until Soul Silver came out, and I only moved forward, so this was a real backwards step for me. Even disregarding the improvements that have been made to the series since, this entry just... isn't very good. The map is confusing and the battles are incredibly slow-paced. It also suffers HM bloating- don't make me carry two utility pokemon just to get to the final boss, game. Let me use my full team.

Zelda Oracle Of Ages

Still playing this one! Early opinions are that it feels very rom-hacky- which makes sense, considering that's in essence what it is. The juxtaposition of new assets alongside reused stuff from Awakening, and the reuse of assets in different ways (music being used for different purposes, eg) contribute to that feeling massively.

Professor Layton Curious Village

The story was frankly quite bizarre, but the puzzles were fun for the most part (though sliding block puzzles can go straight back to hell). Interested in the rest of the series.

Ace Attorney Dual Destinies

I don't know how to describe these games, but if you aren't averse to doing a lot of reading every one of the AA games is a recommendation. Dual Destinies presents a great jumping-on point for anyone who missed the boat- it makes reference to older games but it tells its own story.

Jetpack Joyride

It's an endless runner, and probably one of the best of its ilk. A humourous undercurrent throughout and fun upgrades, the use of a missions system kept me playing long after I would have become bored with score chasing.

Nanaca Crash

It's the flash game, made portable! As addictive as ever, and now it can make your bus journeys less boring.

Love Live School Idol Festival

Listen. The rhythm action gameplay is really well done, the songs are fun, the girls are cute, and there's loads of them to collect. It's anime as heck, I know, but whatever machismo or pride or embarrassment or whatever makes you look at it and think “shrrrr”, swallow it down and come dance with us.

01-05-2015, 01:24 PM	#1
BB >-❥ Love Arrow, Shoot! ~💖 Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 677	2014 In Games 5 days late because my internet went out! Time once again to review the games I played over the course of the last 365-odd days. Some old stuff, some new stuff, mostly Civ. It's actually quite strange to do this as it makes me realise how poor my sense of time is- the memory of getting my xbox controller for last chistmas feels more recent than the memory of playing most of the games I used it for. Anyway, in no particular order due to the aforementioned time sense: Ikaruga Well, this one's kind of a cheat since I played the Gamecube version to absolute death. But seeing one of my favourite games of all time in glorious and beautiful HD, playable on my PC... yeah, this was a day one purchase and although I'm still really bad at it, the game is so gorgeous I don't even care. As far as shooters go, this is a masterclass. It's tough, for sure, but it's never unfair, and every death comes with a feeling of “I could have done that better”, and never “that was cheap”. The PC release was self-published so Treasure were able to put the story text back, which as a fanboy made me very happy, but it doesn't really add anything to the game itself. Fairy Bloom Freesia A pretty fun kill-everything-with-extreme-violence 'em up, under a cutesy veneer. Knackers the thumbs but if you play in moderation it's fast and fluid. Long Live The Queen There's a lot of branches to this but I don't really have the stamina to explore all of them, there's a lot of repetition involved and I just keep feeling like I'd be better served playing something else. Good while it lasts though and getting to your first ending is enough of a trial in itself. Civ V I've only just acquired the two expansions so this is only on the base game, but the fact I lost several days to only that should tell you everything you need to know. Now... just one more turn... Transistor I played this hotseat with my girlfriend as it wouldn't work on her laptop so I'd want to give it another run through before reviewing it properly, but comparisons between it and Bastion are inevitable. It's a lot darker in tone than Bastion was- they're both about the end of the world, but Bastion felt more wonderous and fantastical. Transistor was also a lot stingier with its story, since the narrator was telling the story from within it rather than as an overseer. The gameplay is astonishingly customisable though and I've not even begun to skim the depth it has. Blackwell I wrote a pretty in-depth review for this wonderful series over here, so please read it through. Dust It's like playing a Disney film, I've never seen animation like it. Absolutely gorgeous to watch. It's also a pretty fun metroidvania, though the story is a bit flimsy. Combat is very satisfying. Definitely want a controller. Skyrim I hardly need to introduce Skyrim. I have plenty of annoyances with the game- the enemy that can disarm you is hugely frustrating and I had to reload the game a hundred times because my unique weapon fell out of the universe; the environments are all pretty dull; the intro cinematic kept breaking; fighting dragons as a stealthy character is- charitably- an exercise in patience; the characters are about as engaging as toilet paper. The fact remains, though, that I sunk 90 hours into it and still only completed two-third or three-quarters of what it had to offer- and that's the base game without any DLC. Playing through as a wizard seems like it'd be a different enough gameplay experience to almost call it a different game. If you want to lose yourself in a huge world for hours at a time, I can recommend no greater. FF8 In fairness I played this one as a youngin, but it was released on Steam recently so I played it through again as an adult. Perhaps the standout issue for me was how forced the romance felt- there were really bizarre tonal shifts shoehorned into seemingly random places. Our team is in a high-tempo covert operation to disable an attacking enemy fortress before every one of our friends is killed in the fight that is going on all around us- lets talk about the meaning of that necklace you're wearing and have an awkward romantic moment. It felt like the game was in a mostly-finished state when someone in a suit told the team “yo, romance is in, we need a romance plot in the game too”. Very strange and jarring. Sans the romance, the game is still fun to play, but bears the hallmarks of early 3D RPGs. Fly'N Fly'n is a platformer with some of the most charming art and design I've ever seen. It's pretty fiendish though and there's a lot to find in each level- unfortunately some frustrating and cheap moments precluded me from ever attempting it. If you can forgive frequent one-errant-pixel deaths and the quite fiddly controls, the design of the levels themselves is still pretty good and the charm of the player characters will see you through. Giana Sisters Owlverlord Owlverlord is a small expansion pack to the original title adding a handful of new levels. The amiga-era pedigree is very apparent- it's an oldskool platformer at heart, with the modern sensibilities that make games more playable. It's standalone, but I would suggest not starting with this one. Mark Of The Ninja Mark of the Ninja sees your ninja protagonist off on a quest for revenge that involves large amounts of murder- or none at all, depending on how you play. This 2d platformer does stealth WONDERFULLY, and that’s not easy praise- sounds are visualised so you can always tell what effect your actions will have and plan accordingly. Considering Ninja’s acrobatic moveset the controls are absolutely superb too, almost reacting to your thoughts rather than button presses. It hardly ever happened that Ninja did one thing when I wanted him to do another. If a stealth game has ever made you frown, let Ninja change your mind. Huge recommendation. Stanley Parable Stanley is a very difficult game to give an opinion on, not least because going into it forewarned even slightly will diminish the effect. I greatly enjoyed the dark, british humour the game presents, which is about as much as I can say about it. Go and watch the trailers and if you’re intrigued or the humour resonates, give Stanley’s demo a go. I can’t promise you’ll like it, but I can say you won’t have played anything else quite like it. Toki Tori I’m not one for puzzle games, but something about toki tori just hit the spot. The rewind function is a tremendous part of why- it should come as standard in every puzzle game ever. The levels are cleverly designed and it’s usually clear what your aim is- though figuring out how to arrive there is another matter. Beyond Good And Evil I’d heard great things about this game, but sadly the camera in the PC version is awful beyond words and made me feel legitimately unwell after a play session. I imagine it’d be vastly improved with a controller, but the PC version doesn’t support them. I wasn’t able to finish it as a result. Croixleur Anime slash-em-up, astonishingly bare-bones and short. I wasn’t impressed with this game at all- combat is slow and clunky and it’s far too easy to get interrupted in the middle of a combo. Apparently there’s more meat in the challenge mode but honestly, I couldn’t be bothered to find out. Maybe it’s more fun if you’re into this kinda game. 100% need a controller for it, be forewarned. RUSH Block and tile puzzler from the same devs as toki tori, and exhibiting much the same qualities of hitting the Just-Right spot for me to enjoy. Later levels unfortunately get a bit cluttered and messy, but the early levels are smart and very satisfying to watch the completed solutions. Superfrog HD Nostalgia clouds this one as I was a childhood fan of the amiga original, but it feels like Mr Frog should have stayed there. The original was a platformer with a lot of charm and character, but this remake somehow loses that. Bafflingly the HD version does away with lots of the mechanics the original was iconic for- having to explore the levels to collect enough coins to open the gates is replaced with a simple time limit, and the slot machine that granted passwords (admittedly, probably not the most modern-friendly game concept) now just unlocks bonus levels. Worms Blast Bust-a-move with a Worms twist, it adds physics and, more importantly, explosions to the mix. I’m not a fan of bust-a-move games so I didn’t spend long here, but with a friend it’d be a............ BLAST!!!!! Worms Revolution Putting the worms in 2.5d takes the magic eureka formula of Worms Armageddon and makes it slow and cumbersome and fiddly. Amusing narration from IT Crowd’s Mr. Deynholm isn’t enough to save it- the added class mechanic doesn’t seem to really add much to the game, and dynamic water is impressive to watch but only slows the flow of gameplay down even more. Armageddon remains king of the Worms castle, stick with that one. Blocks That MATTER This is a block puzzler that would greatly benefit from Toki Tori's time rewind feature. Getting to the end of the level and realising you need a block you used earlier, with no way of knowing not to sue that block, happens frequently and is a frustrating “gotcha!” rather than smart puzzle design. If you don't mind restarting levels over and over, I'm told this is one of the better block puzzlers. Katawa Shoujo A western-developed visual novel that involves very little interactivity, this one tells the story of Hisao, a young man with a heart condition who is sent to a private school designed to cater for kids with disabilities. Along the way he becomes involved with one of five girls whose story then takes up the bulk of the rest of the game. I was worried going into this one that it'd be kinda gross and fetishy, or that the story would involve trying to “fix” them or have them become wholly and uterrly dependent on Hisao, but I was pleasantly surprised; the stories are well handled and the girls each have their own philosophy towards their disabilities, to which Hisao is the one to adapt. (There is one track that I played where Hisao does become overbearingly smothering, and it ends very badly for him.) The sex scenes (and please be aware these are full sex scenes, not modestly implied Dragon Age style sex) are handled differently than I expected too- the images are obviously designed to arouse but the actual scenes feel more like just stuff that is happening rather than pornography. Some of them are funny, some of them end badly (cough cough, heart condition), but they actually feel like part of the story and not just tacked on for boobs' sake. I am able-bodied myself so it's possible I've missed something eyebrow-raising, but to me it feels altogether well-handled, and I recommend it. Touhou 10 Mountain Of Faith I somehow never played this one so decided to change that- and it's quickly become a favourite. The game is by leaps and bounds the prettiest in the series (that waterfall stage!) and the final boss fight is brilliantly exciting. Fire Emblem: Awakening Wonderfully realised SRPG with remarkably likeable characters. Long-time fans of the series will have some complaints, but ignore them- this is a superb game that should be in every 3DS library. Lissa is my wifey. Pokemon Pearl I didn't play a pokemon game after Red until Soul Silver came out, and I only moved forward, so this was a real backwards step for me. Even disregarding the improvements that have been made to the series since, this entry just... isn't very good. The map is confusing and the battles are incredibly slow-paced. It also suffers HM bloating- don't make me carry two utility pokemon just to get to the final boss, game. Let me use my full team. Zelda Oracle Of Ages Still playing this one! Early opinions are that it feels very rom-hacky- which makes sense, considering that's in essence what it is. The juxtaposition of new assets alongside reused stuff from Awakening, and the reuse of assets in different ways (music being used for different purposes, eg) contribute to that feeling massively. Professor Layton Curious Village The story was frankly quite bizarre, but the puzzles were fun for the most part (though sliding block puzzles can go straight back to hell). Interested in the rest of the series. Ace Attorney Dual Destinies I don't know how to describe these games, but if you aren't averse to doing a lot of reading every one of the AA games is a recommendation. Dual Destinies presents a great jumping-on point for anyone who missed the boat- it makes reference to older games but it tells its own story. Jetpack Joyride It's an endless runner, and probably one of the best of its ilk. A humourous undercurrent throughout and fun upgrades, the use of a missions system kept me playing long after I would have become bored with score chasing. Nanaca Crash It's the flash game, made portable! As addictive as ever, and now it can make your bus journeys less boring. Love Live School Idol Festival Listen. The rhythm action gameplay is really well done, the songs are fun, the girls are cute, and there's loads of them to collect. It's anime as heck, I know, but whatever machismo or pride or embarrassment or whatever makes you look at it and think “shrrrr”, swallow it down and come dance with us. __________________ Twit - Tumbl - T...Steam Last edited by BB; 01-05-2015 at 03:23 PM.