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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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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.
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2323 registered gamers and 3358 games. 7895 GameLogs with 13390 journal entries. 5126 games are currently being played.
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Star Ocean: The Last Hope (360) by jm795 |
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most recent entry: Monday 20 April, 2009
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Star Ocean: The Last Hope is a role playing game developed by tri-Ace and
published by Square-Enix. It was released in February 2009 in the U.S. and
is an XBox 360 exclusive game. The theme of the game is sci-fi, but it
also includes some fantasy elements. There have been 4 other games in the
series, not including 2 remakes for the PSP.
-Story-
You begin the game as Edge Maverick. Since this is an RPG, you are tasked
with saving the people of earth who are faced with uninhabitable surface
conditions following the nuclear fallout of World War III. To complete
this objective, you have been sent out into uncharted space to find a new
Earth.
-Game Play-
There are two main game modes: exploration and battle. I will talk about
exploration first. In exploration mode, you are free to run, walk, or ride
to any accessible areas on a particular map. Maps are the basic components
that make up the entire game world. While exploring, you are free to
interact with objects and NPCs, use gathering/mining points, and engage
enemies. There is a mini-map available on-screen, and a larger map can be
viewed at any time. Cutscenes also occur during exploration mode and are
usually done using the in-game graphics engine.
If an enemy and your character collide during exploration, the game
switches to battle mode. During battle, there can be up to 4 characters in
your party on the screen. You control one character directly, and the
other characters follow preset tactics. Battles are real-time, and your
characters have 3-D range of movement. It is also possible to switch
control to another party member during battle at any time. Furthermore, a
battle menu can be pulled up. At this time, the action pauses, and a
selection can be made. Some choices are to use an item, use a symbol, use
a special art, and switch in a non-active character. Once all enemies have
been defeated or all party characters have been defeated, the battle ends.
If all party characters are defeated, the game ends.
-The Bonus Board-
During battle, you can acquire up to 14 bonuses that will take effect after
each battle. There are 4 different bonus tiles that take up one slot each
on the bonus board. A blue tile, gained by defeating an enemy with a
critical hit, provides 10% more experience after battle. A red tile,
gained by defeating an enemy using only special attacks, provides 1% HP and
MP regeneration after battle. A yellow tile, gained by defeating 2 enemies
at the same time, provides 10% more Fol(money) after battle. A green tile,
gained by triggering an ambush, gives you 1 more SP after battle. These
bonuses stack, but the number you can have maxes out at 14. However, your
bonus board will be broken if the character you are controlling is hit with
a critical attack or is knocked unconscious. When the board is broken, you
lose all tiles unless there was more than one of the same color adjacent to
each other. In this case, you only lose half of that group of tiles.
-Blind Sides-
Another interesting part of battle is the ability to blind side an enemy.
If an enemy is targeting your character and your character is targeting
that enemy, it is possible to execute a blind side. You charge a blind
side by hold down the B button. When the enemy attempts to attack, simply
tilt the left analog stick in any direction and your character will
maneuver behind the targeted enemy. These are not guaranteed. You can be
knocked out of your blind side animation by other enemy attacks and even
running into a wall. There is also the possibility that an enemy can
counter a blind side(indicated by a red targeting reticule). When you see
a red reticule, you have to wait until it begins to flash before you start
the blind side, or you will be countered. This is a great way to get blue
tiles.
-Special Abilities/Symbology-
These are your special attacks and magic in the game. They both use MP,
but symbols have a charge time. On the other hand, special abilities are
instantaneous. Both can have elemental properties, but symbols have an
almost unlimited range. Both types must be assigned to either the right or
left triggers in order for you to use them.
-Rush-
There is a special rush meter for each character in battle. This meter
fills as the character hits and is hit by enemies. When the meter is full,
that character can enter rush mode. This can be done by pushing the X
button. Once in rush mode, the character is not stunned by attacks, cannot
be knocked back/juggled, is faster, and has a higher critical hit chance.
A rush combo can also be performed instead of entering rush mode. To do
this, you must push X and immediately use a special ability or symbol. If
done correctly, the character will perform a special and you must push a
button displayed on screen. If the button is pushed, the closest character
to the player's with perform a special. This can be repeated up to 2 more
times.
-Item Creation-
This is one of the major parts of the game. Each character has a certain
type of item that he/she is good a making. For example, Edge is good with
smithery. These are represented as skills that the character possesses. 4
groups of up to 3 characters can be put together. Each group will make new
item recipes until they run out of ideas. The recipes created depend on
character stats and the characters in the group. Also, the process of
recipe creation consumes SP. Once a recipe is made, you can create the
item it refers to if you have the necessary materials.
-BEAT-
The BEAT system allows characters to focus more on defensive or offensive
play styles. BEAT:S promotes blind side attacks and offers bonuses for
this actions. BEAT:B promotes rush and offers bonuses for it. Each
character can level these up to level 20 to obtain all bonuses. There is
also a BEAT:N that provides the stat bonuses of BEAT:S and BEAT:B but none
of the additional bonuses.
-Private Actions-
Character relationships are a big part of the Star Ocean series. They are
used mainly to further story lines and gain additional ending scenes. Most
private actions occur on the ship during flights to new planets and
typically involve Edge and another character in the party. Some require a
response from a list of choices. This response determines the rise or drop
in affinity applied to one are all characters involved.
-Graphics-
This is an XBox 360 game, so the graphics are very flashy. There are a lot
of highlights and glow effects. This is especially nice when you run
around in the desert and the glow from the sand is almost blinding. The
lighting adds a nice feel to the game overall.
-Sound-
The sound in the game is nice. It mostly consists of background music for
different areas that is meant to set the mood. Towns usually have an
upbeat tune while dungeons have a more mellow feel. You can also hear
enemies sneaking up on you which is very nice.
-Conclusion-
I really like this game, but there is a lot of stuff to do. I can
definitely understand someone not wanting to play it because of this.
There are records for everything in the game and even a dictionary. This
game really likes information and tries to provide as much as possible. On
the plus side, I spend most of my time in battle, so the game consists of a
lot of action. However, the quests and need to obtain certain item drops
can become very tedious.
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