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Smashing Bottles (PC) by jp (May 30th, 2026 at 18:16:28) |
Heard about this one recently and got stuck playing the demo on itch (though it's also available on Steam) for a few hours until I got to the final (demo) ending!
It's an incremental game with some interesting things going on - you have a bat and smash bottles, but you have a limited time to do so (in seconds, like max 25 or so after all the upgrades?). When time runs out you can go again or go to the shop to buy upgrades. As expected you want to get more money from smashing bottles and there's ways to do that - spawn golden bottles, champagne bottles (when they smash the corks fly out and can smash other things), and even molotov cocktails (that explode, smashing other things).
There's a few things I thought where nice/clever:
a. The game has two distinct phases (once you unlock molotovs, everything changes, really) - the "you smash" and the "maximize money in the time allowed". In the latter, the game mostly plays itself as the molotovs keep everything getting smashed.
b. The "you smash" has rotating bottles, and since the smashing can take a few hits, there's some interest in smashing champagne such that the cork flies in a certain direction for more damage.
c. The champagne corks are pretty clever - since it gives you a reason to, in the short time you have to smash, choose what to smash a little more carefully. Go for golden or champagne hoping for a productive chain reaction?
Of course there's also a prestige/reset mechanic - from which you can lock a separate bat that smashes.
I'm curious how far things will go once the full game is out - and what the nature of the upgrades will be. I'm really hoping for more variety in the experience beyond the simple "number go up" - in that sense the molotovs seem like they're capping the experience in a detrimental way (even as they were super fun to smash when I first unlocked them.
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Donkey Kong Bananza (NSW2) by jp (May 30th, 2026 at 18:07:32) |
Still playing!
It has an interesting structure in terms of its levels and such - the core metaphor is that you're going deeper into the planet with each level, and they're both thematic and numbered. I got to a point where there's a bifurcation - go right into what I thought was "jungle land" or left into "snow land". I went right did a few more levels, cleared the boss (it was plant/poison land) and in order to continue going deeper I was then told to go back to "snow land"! There's a fast travel/teleport system involving giant worms that can move your around, so it was easy enough to do this, but I was surprised to learn that the fork was just a "choose what order to do these" situation... and also, the entire "fork" makes little sense thematically so I'm curious to see how it's explained and communicated in the interface - will it look like a fork in the "hole" going into the planet's core?
The titular ability (bananza mode!) was a bit underwhelming - you turn into a bigger DK and can now punch things you couldn't before - it lasts a limited amount of time. But, I've since unlocked a new one - DK-bird - where you can glide around (and after paying to unlock) and drop an egg on enemies. The gilding around was important/necessary in the plant/poison levels, and I'm expecting it to be similarly required in the snowy ones. We'll see!
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Hollow Knight: Silksong (PC) by dkirschner (May 13th, 2026 at 14:58:07) |
Kicking myself for not writing an entry when I was playing this 6 months ago. I am cleaning up my wishlist, backlog, and etc., and the FEELING I get when I see Silksong "in progress" is anxiety. I had jotted a few notes in December, as follows:
"It’s true, Silksong is hard. Like, really, frustratingly hard. Like punishingly difficult. I hit a wall at the end of Act 1 trying to beat the Last Judge. The game likes to place benches far away from boss fights, such that retrying boss fights involves slogging back through tough platforming and other sections of the map."
I did kill the Last Judge and complete Act 1. I remember that took a very long time, and that after the Last Judge, I died a few more times and, probably, with shaking hands and rapid heartbeat, said, "I can't do this anymore." Actually, it may have been in one of those rooms with waves of enemies. This innovation is new and unwelcome to Silksong, rooms that lock upon entering and spill several waves of challenging enemies at you. Yeah, I think that is what got me, just being pummeled over and over in one of those rooms, getting tired of exploring the maze-like map, tired of dying, tired of corpse runs, just exhausted. The game became a chore.
Besides that, I loved it, haha. I was definitely into it for a while. It was sublime until it wasn't.
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Turnip Boy Robs a Bank (PC) by dkirschner (May 12th, 2026 at 17:20:35) |
I meant to quickly beat this back in April so I could have a "completion" for the month, but I got really busy after spending barely an hour one afternoon with Turnip Boy Robs a Bank, a bizarre little twin-stick shooter about a turnip...who robs a bank. The game builds off previous games in the series, which I have never played, in which Turnip Boy commits tax evasion and, according to this game at least, seems to have started a war. Work has slowed down for the first time in nearly two months, and while I wait for my next contract to begin, I figured I'd knock this out.
The whole game is silly. The world is populated by sentient fruits and vegetables. You are employed by a pickle / mafia gang leader to rob a bank of a garlic bulb / bad guy / killed your dad. You have a base, where you can get new weapon loadouts by bringing weapons from the bank (always try to return with something new or high-powered!), purchase progression items from the "dark web," and upgrade stuff at another vendor. You go on "runs" to the bank, which are timed (starts at 2 or 3 minutes, goes up to 5 or 6 with upgrades). Runs are over when you die or when you exit the bank. Die and you lose half the cash you accumulated in the run. Survive and you are handsomely rewarded. Upgrade stuff. Go back to the bank. It's a roguelite too.
The bank has a specific layout of rooms, but you'll encounter some randomized areas too, and enemies and treasure are somewhat randomized. Throughout the bank are tons of NPCs with little fetch quests that usually reward you with pictures (fun/ny to look at) or hats (fun/ny to equip). A blueberry might want you to find its wedding ring, a lime wants you to get divorce papers from her lemon husband, a scientist pineapple wants you to find a philosopher mango and ask it an ethical question about experimenting on fruits, etc. I had some good laughs.
In each corner of the bank is a boss. Boss fights were fun, but the most challenging were early on. Once you start upgrading stats, the game becomes easy. It definitely ends up being an "upgrade everything and go nuts on all the enemies!" type game, experience being overpowered.
I haven't played a twin-stick shooter in a while, and while this wasn't revolutionary or anything, it was fun and scratched the itch. I gotta get back to Divinity: Original Sin 2. I might have some extra time till my next gig, so maybe I can boot it up, remember what I was doing, and make some progress this week.
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Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS) by jp (Apr 27th, 2026 at 22:04:52) |
I got to that point where I hit a monster/boss that just wasn't that much fun, and then I got a bit lost in terms of where to continue making progress, and the backtracking started to get a bit tiresome...as I explored and searched for different paths. So, time to bail!
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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)
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Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS) by noopnomad |
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most recent entry: Saturday 12 January, 2008
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SUMMARY
Released over 2 years ago, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a point and click adventure that follows the career of Phoenix Wright, an aspiring lawyer and the main character that the player controls. Players present evidence and disprove false testimonies to prove that their defendant innocent.
GAMEPLAY
I admit that I am a fan of the point and click adventure – a genre that has only found a niche market in America. Yes, the genre is called “point and click” and with good reason: interaction with the characters of Ace Attorney, is mostly comprised of using the stylus to “click” choices. Ace Attorney stays very close to the norm of the genre in this aspect – an aspect that has always kept this genre dull and repetitive.
But if the interaction between the character and the player is so uninteresting, why is it that I continue playing point and click adventures? Storyline. This is one part of Ace Attorney that clearly divides itself from other games of the same genre. I often play point and click games where I must find the murderer using clues that I gather. In Ace Attorney, I am clearly shown the murderer before the trial. It is certainly different from say, Famicom Detective Club: Part II, where one must find both the murderer and the murderer’s rationale for committing the crime. Once the intro is finished, I hope that I will no longer know the murderer beforehand.
Instead of revealing the murderer, the goal of Ace Attorney is to prove that your client is innocent through questions and evidence, ultimately reconstructing the event in question before the courtroom and the player. While Ace Attorney does contain a level of uncertainty in understanding the murder’s rationale, it also shows the murderer before the case begins and therefore, lacks a feeling of reward at the end of the case. This new form of presenting the story has left me disinterested.
Regardless of this fact, there is no denial that this is a novel take on a genre that is on life support. While I am not a fan of the game, it is certainly worth considering.
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A Second Look:
I now realize that one element of most point and click adventures that I missed from Ace Attorney was the investigative element. While the trainer did not contain this element, it is refreshing to see this element reappear in all other chapters. Once again, I happily find myself snooping around and interrogating characters. As Phoenix Wright is trying to gather clues about the event to better understand the case, so am I. It makes me feel better connected with my “token” in this game and better connected with the game as a whole.
One of my biggest initial gripes with Ace Attorney was that it made no use of the DS in advancing the point and click genre’s game play. After playing this game a little more, I realize that I was wrong and I have come to appreciate this game’s use of the DS. I admit that yelling “Take that!” or “Objection!” into the DS’s microphone has become a guilty pleasure and one that adds to the game’s overall charm. Furthermore, the touch screen makes answering questions easier while making room examinations more intuitive. It is refreshing to see DS unique functionality used in point and click game.
DESIGN
Nonetheless, Ace Attorney’s continual presentation of the murderer before the trial is certainly a let down. While Phoenix is gathering clues to find the murderer, the player already knows who it is. At one point, Phoenix accepts a case because he feels that the defendant has no one else to turn to. However, the player will believe that Phoenix should accept the case because the defendant was not the murderer as illustrated by the opening scene – something that Phoenix could not have seen. Because there is no way that I could communicate this to Phoenix, there is ultimately a difference in my knowledge of the case and Phoenix’s. It separates me from my token and therefore, I feel more frustrated then emotive in playing as Phoenix Wright.
Looking at the game as a whole, I can safely say that the writing is top notch. It not only contains pop culture references, its characters are so outlandish that it becoming both charming and engrossing to read what each person has to say. With a character who’s last name is Butz, a bumbling detective known only by his last name, Gumshoe, and a girl who is literally named April May, these characters will keep the story interesting. Furthermore, their animations exaggerate their emotions so much that it is a charm to watch them move. One character’s wig flies directly up when he is shocked and when he was charged with the murder, the throws his wig and exclaims “Shutupshutupshutup! I hate you!”. These animations only highlight the personalities of each character and of the game as a whole.
While I did not enjoy this game as much as I had hoped, I recommend that people interested in this genre seriously look into this game. Ace Attorney offers a charm that is lacking in many games and the game puts a unique twist to traditional point and click games' storylines.
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