 |
|
Mixtape (PC) by dkirschner (Aug 24th, 2026 at 16:51:40) |
This immediately hooked me, has a great first chunk, kind of lulls for periods through the middle, but regularly surprises with creative segments, wonderful juxtaposition of music (huge licensed soundtrack), visuals (absolutely beautiful), and gameplay, and just a fun and nostalgic story.
The story takes place in the mid-90s and follows three teenagers on their last night together before the main character, Stacey, goes off to NYC to follow her dreams of being a film music supervisor (aka an expert in matching the perfect song to the perfect moment). The other main characters are Slater, an artistic stoner type of guy, and Cassandra, a formerly straight-A student turned rebel, who is also daughter of a local police officer. They've got great rapport together.
So, on their last night together, they plan to attend a big party. You spend the first half of the game trying to find booze to pre-game for the party. Maybe you didn't spend your teenage years full of ennui and/or rebelliousness, trying to get drunk and high and find meaning in your middle-class suburban existence. I didn't, not really, and though I was an angsty teen, I was also enamored with BEING an angsty teen, and collected associated cultural styles and practices, such as performing "the skater" (though I didn't skateboard) and "the pothead" (though I had never smoked pot), being angry about religion, wanting an eyebrow ring like the guys in Korn, and telling people I didn't anticipate living to 30. Wow, David, wow. So, these characters spoke to the teen that I imagined being.
Anyway, finding booze turns out to involve a lot of sitting around in characters' bedrooms talking about how to find booze. In so doing, though, you look at objects in the bedrooms and learn about the three friends. Picking up objects can prompt flashbacks, mostly playable sequences depicting memories they've had together. These range from straightforward cutscenes to really fun segments where you might be skateboarding, breaking and entering into a dinosaur museum (I broke and entered into so many places back then to hang out), trying to rent videos from a Blockbuster while stoned (I used to hang out on top of a Blockbuster, climbing the utility ladder on the back of the store), running from the cops in a shopping cart (my favorite sequence), and so on. Technically, in the main story, not much happens, but there is a lot of reminiscing that enriches the current plot.
Now, the game is called Mixtape. Why? Because Stacey likes to make mixtapes. In fact, she's made a mixtape for their last night together. She's mostly into alternative, grunge, post-punk, shoegaze, that kind of stuff. You'll hear Portishead, Smashing Pumpkins, Silverchair (a fun segment), and a whole lot of stuff I never heard of. She speaks directly to the player, breaking the fourth wall, introducing songs as they begin, giving the player brief lessons in music history from roughly the late-60s through the mid-90s (leaning toward the 80s and 90s). As a hopeful future film music supervisor, this is her passion. And she picks the perfect song for every moment. She has their last night planned out and her mixtape is the soundtrack. Except, the last night doesn't go as planned, and so her mixtape adapts. What you get is like a soundtrack that evolves with the narrative. It's really interesting to think about. What song does she pick in the moment when the night's plans unravel? When she learns about her older sister's legacy? When one friend gets mad at another? How does she use music to make sense of her experiences, to cope with (or construct) emotions and situations?
Given the centrality of music to give form to and shape the narrative, it makes sense that there is some magical realism. Trippy synth tracks might accompany your car floating off the road into the sky; the drum beats of a track might coincide with exploding fireworks that you can orchestrate; and so on. Really creative stuff, and really enjoyed the game. It's not long either, playable in an afternoon. Highly recommend even if you didn't hang out on top of a Blockbuster in your Jncos.
read all entries for this GameLog 
- add a comment 
|
|
Slay the Spire 2 (PC) by jp (Aug 23rd, 2026 at 09:46:33) |
Despite the long hours I've put in already, the game feels a lot less like a sequel and a lot more like...an add-on. Which feels like a mean thing to say, but still...
The first, I don't know how many hours, was basically playing the same characters as the first game. It's possible, actually probable, that there are some new cards and that the numbers might be a little different and that sort of thing. But, it feels like the same game in the fundamentals.
That would be the summary of my experience until I unlocked everything. And now, with more hours in and that sort of thing, I still feel like it's not quite a sequel even if the experience does feel somewhat different - mostly from some of the new (to me?) artifacts and how they interact.
I'll be fair, the new characters are fun and different and I've enjoyed messing around with them...but the game still feels the same? And this isn't a bad thing - I mean, I really enjoyed playing the first one for sure....
I guess there's no reason to go back to it at this point?
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
Slay the Spire 2 (PC) by jp (Aug 23rd, 2026 at 09:24:27) |
This is probably the most I've ever played a game in early access. Kind of embarrassing really, but I don't think I've been playing it all THAT much? When I first started, I wanted to complete a run with each of the main characters, especially as I unlocked them. And since then I'll occasionally play a daily run. Those have been fun, and my success rate seems pretty high?
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
Dishonored 2 (PS4) by jp (Aug 23rd, 2026 at 09:07:28) |
I've been sitting on this one for what seems like forever - more like five years - and I've enjoyed getting back in the world of Dunwall, though this game takes place in other locations too, as I soon came to know.
I'm playing it on the PS4, and you would think this would be bad/awkward given how old the game is (10 years!), but the art direction is so good (IMO) that, other than long loading times, it really does hold up. As I write this I realize I need better language for this - the idea that it's great and timeless regardless of the technological foundation underneath it. I mean, I don't think people watch Disney's Snow White and say "oh, it really holds up".
I was surprised, going in, that I had to pick a character for the rest of the game and I wonder what will happen once I beat it. Will I then be able to pick levels to play from a menu, with either character available to me? Or will this be a "play the entire game all over" kind of situation? I don't really want to play it all over again, mostly due to other games I'd rather get to, but we'll see. I guess ideally I'd like to try a few levels just to see how different the characters are?
So far my only real gameplay-related disappointment has been that I misunderstood the structure of the game. The first "real" level was one that had lots of thing to find/pick up - and I assumed that most would only be accessible once I had acquired a few powers and abilities. For example, there was a rune in the water next to the boat where you start, I went for it and died to some carnivorous fish. Oh, I'll try again later when I can turn into a fish (I though), or when I can attack them (maybe I could already, I realize in hindsight). No worries, I'll come back to this later. And, there was no later. So I missed that - and many others as well.
People who say the Clockwork Mansion was an amazing level are correct. It is. Very interesting and clever and, I'm sure, I technical nightmare to put together and test. I wonder if there are any GDC talks or such about it? I need to make a mental note to look around.
Anyways, I'm currently in the Dust District - interesting because there's a sandstorm that blows in periodically, giving you a chance to sneak past or silently take out enemies. I've been trying to be silent - rendering enemies unconscious - with the occasional "oopsie", and I've had mixed success. This mostly means that it's been taking me forever to make much progress. So, I wonder if I played more shooty-killy, could I then get back and re-play sneaky-sneaky?
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
Denshattack! (PC) by dkirschner (Aug 17th, 2026 at 10:40:12) |
This game is bananas. Do you like skateboarding games? I don’t, unless there’s something really novel about them (the recent Skate Story being one). Do you like racing games? Yes. Do you like being punk rock and sticking it to the man? Yes. Do you like fast speedrunning games and challenging platformers? Sometimes. Neon White was awesome. Do you like Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio? Sure, I like Sega-era nostalgia. Did you enjoy the style of Hi-Fi Rush? Yeah, that was a colorful, super creative game with a kickass soundtrack that came out of nowhere. If you said yes to any of those questions, or maybe to two of them, you might become obsessed with Denshattack.
Denshattack is all those things mixed into one. Except instead of a skateboard or a taxi or running, you are driving a train (and on one later track your train rides a skateboard, lol; know your inspiration). This is future Japan. An environmental catastrophe has happened. Everyone lives in secure domed cities managed by the Miraido corporation. Most everyone. Some people—rebels—live outside…in trains? No, I don’t know where they live. But they drive trains. They are Denshattackers…gangs of mostly young and always cool people (gangs are themed around baseball, cute fashion, rockabilly, goth/horror, whatever other subcultural or The Warriors-esque group) who…drive around fighting other gangs by racing them, out-tricking them, and apparently sometimes literally going to war and killing them. They also dislike Miraido, despite Miraido’s cute, funny (evil) mole mascot, and they enjoy tagging and destroying corporate property. Denshattackers and/or Miraido have laid train tracks all over the place for…reasons.
You play as Emi, a ramen delivery girl who learns about Denshattack through a random encounter with a Denshattack fan. Long story short, she becomes a pro, defeats all the gang bosses, and together they take on Miraido. The story is absurd, fun, and oddly heart-warming.
The game is broken into 9 chapters, each of which takes place in a different gang’s territory. Each chapter has a handful of tracks. Most of these involve just getting to the end, but there are also occasional races (place in the top 3), score attacks (get x score in 2 minutes), and boss fights. Each track also has additional objectives, like picking up x collectibles, doing specific tricks in specific locations, doing things to affect the environment in some way, smashing 10 opponents in a race, etc.
One thing I loved about Denshattack is that it has minimal gatekeeping. Most racing/speedrunning/platformer games gatekeep like crazy. You have to get x stars or gold medals to unlock the next area…that kind of thing. There really isn’t gatekeeping in Denshattack. The only thing that came close for me was those score attack tracks (until I learned how to rack up massive combos and easily beat them). I imagine the races are tough for some people, too, since you have to place in the top 3, which means that you can’t crash hardly at all. If you finish the track and meet its main objective, you can proceed. But if you want to strive for perfection, getting gold medals, finding all collectibles, completing additional objectives, you can go nuts replaying tracks. There are some incentives for doing this, such as buying cosmetic items for your trains, buying new trains with different abilities, and filling out Emi’s “book”, which is a fun little way of learning more about the world and Emi’s adventure. I just went straight through though.
So, in each chapter, Emi confronts a new gang, and in each chapter, she learns a new skill. Because of these constant additions, Denshattack never got old. First, you learn how to do all the regular tricks. Then it introduces rails and you learn to grind. Then it introduces tunnels and you learn to go off-track to do halfpipes. Then it introduces hanging rails and you learn to swing. Then it introduces magnets and you learn to flip upside down…and so on. The tracks are fast, and once more and more of these elements are added, the tracks become insane. I mean, that’s how I would describe the whole game—it’s insane. Tracks are fast, obstacles everywhere, you’re pulling combos, jumping, dodging, spinning, grabbing, choosing directions, switching tracks, nabbing collectibles, smashing enemies. Reacting constantly as Emi zooms around. Many tracks have big set pieces, so there might be a tsunami, kaiju, wrecking balls, a sawmill, all sorts of stuff going on around you that you can often interact with. And the boss battles are wild, multi-phased tracks oozing with creativity. You might think, “how can they do a boss battle in a skateboarding game?” That’s what I thought about Skate Story too, and it was badass the way it handled bosses. Same with Denshattack, but…insane.
The whole game is creatively stunning, the entire time. I kept thinking, “at some point, this will get repetitive” or “wow, no way they can top that,” but it never gets repetitive and nearly every track—certainly every chapter—contains awesome new things that you haven’t seen before. Finally, I appreciate how user-friendly the game is. Taking a cue from hard-as-nails platformers like Super Meat Boy, checkpoints are generous. Usually if you crash, you are set back just a few seconds, so you can fail, try again, see what you did wrong, fail, try again, fail, and succeed, and feel like you overcame something difficult. The game provides the feeling of mastery. Or if not mastery, at least solid proficiency.
This gets a strong, strong recommendation from me. So glad it was a day one release while I had a month of Game Pass!
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
|
|
|
GameLog hopes to be a site where gamers such as yourself keep track of the games that
they are currently playing. A GameLog is basically a record of a game you started playing. If it's open,
you still consider yourself to be playing the game. If it's closed, you finished playing the game. (it doesn't matter
if you got bored, frustrated,etc.) You can also attach short comments to each of your games or even maintain a diary (with more detailed entries)
for that game. Call it a weblog of game playing activity if you will.
[latest site fixes and updates]
[read more]
|
view feed xml
|
 |
|
2323 registered gamers and 3377 games. 7916 GameLogs with 13415 journal entries. 5122 games are currently being played.
More stats
|
 |
|
Zeno Clash (PC) by dkirschner |
| Really really interesting so far. The fighting is intense. ------ Incredible visual style. Really unique stuff! |
|
most recent entry: Sunday 11 September, 2011
|
Really interesting game. The first thing that struck me was its unique look. I would describe it like...Mad Max meets dinosaurs meets sci-fi alien planet meets genetic freaks of nature meets lots of punching. The game looks beautiful, and yet the style reminds me of a nightmare. Think Elephant Man or a circus or Pigsy from Manhunt. The story is bizarre too. It's quite anthropological, as in, it's about family and kinship, in a way, and about freedom and reality in another. Basically, you killed your Father-Mother, and now your family is pissed as hell, and coming to kill you. You and this girl (girlfriend?) escape before being killed. You discuss with her where you've been the last month and what led you to kill Father-Mother, and much of this explanation is played in flashback segments as the narrative bounces back and forth from flashback (getting closer to Father-Mother) to present escape (running from your brothers and sisters). It's quite interesting and flows very well, from story to fighting, back to story.
The gameplay is all about punching people. You get a nice story-embedded tutorial in the beginning that totally piques your interest in plot. The punching feels awesome. It feels like you're really hitting someone hard. You can do various combos, block, dodge, throw, counter, and so on. There are also weapons, rudimentary pistols, crossbow, shotgun, grenades, and giant mallets, all of which are pretty handy at the right time. You can't just go around shooting everyone because if you get hit hard enough, your weapon flies out of your hands. Same thing for the enemies, and they'll run for guns sometimes, which can be deadly. Much of the fighting is about control. Say there are 3 enemies and a shotgun on the ground. Maybe two of them come after you and one goes after the shotgun. If you ignore the shotgun guy, he'll just stand back and shoot at you, which hurts. So you've got to switch targets a lot and control the gun. It's pretty fun. My only real complaints with the fighting are that blocking is really difficult to do right (for me at least), and sometimes trying to cancel or switch targets is wonky and gets you beat up or killed.
Boss fights are generally easy, with the exception of the very last boss. The game itself has a pretty good difficulty level. It ramps up by tossing more, smarter enemies at you, tossing more weapons out, and on a couple fights, really giving you a disadvantage in terms of environmental layout. This one that took me a while to beat was in a narrow town street. There were two enemies with guns up in the rafters above the street, then two enemies in the street, one with dual pistols. It took a lot of patience to learn how to manage all 4 of them...keep moving, keep the pistols and other gun(s) that was laying on the ground away from the two on the ground, and kill them while trying your hardest to stay out of sight of the snipers. I finally got that far after 20 times or so. Then just take out the snipers with a gun, which was the easy part. There were def some frustrating battles, but just keep trying and you'll get them.
I'm positive the fighting would have gotten very repetitive after much longer because there are only so many moves and guns, and the game repeats enemies like crazy, like the main sister and the main brother you have to fight at least 5 times, kind of like *sigh* after the 3rd time. Same thing with this one boss. You have to beat him 3 times. So in that sense, I'm glad the game was short, like real short, just 4 hours. In the other sense, the sense that there was so much creativity packed into that 4 hours, I wish it were longer. Sequel maybe? Or another game by the same team? The credits were real short. It looked like it was basically made by 3 brothers and a handful of other people helping.
Good stuff, seriously spend $5 on this if nothing else than to look at for a couple hours.
[read this GameLog]
|
|
|
