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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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they are currently playing. A GameLog is basically a record of a game you started playing. If it's open,
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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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Katamari Damacy (PS2) by Rhibecka |
| I really like this game so far and I'm excited to play more and develop a more solid opinion. |
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most recent entry: Saturday 12 January, 2008
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GAMEPLAY
Upon playing the game a second time I have gained a better understanding of the game and have found it much more enjoyable.
First of all, one of my friends informed me that the choppy language of the King is due to unusual translations of the game into English. I'm not sure if this is true, but this would definitely make sense given his strange wording which makes he seem off his rocker. I have also found the game much more enjoyable by not focusing on details of the game I found bothersome before. I realized that I was taking the game too seriously. It is really just a fun game about rolling a ball. What the king says in between your adventures and the cut scenes are not as important as dialogs are in most other games. Not understanding every sentence the King says (something I found bothersome the first time) will not hinder my game play.
I also found this game more enjoyable once I reached larger levels with a bigger Katamari. Since I always had trouble maneuvering, I appreciated having many large areas to roam through and larger items to find (plus it is more exciting to roll over people and cows now than thumb tacs!). As the levels increase, I feel each object's designs can be more appreciated as well as the overall creativity and uniqueness of this game. This time I played around friends, and even they found the game's creativity extremely entertaining (for example, the realistic cries of terrified people as you roll them over).
I still think the story is lacking, even though I know it has little to do with the overall point of the game. I have come to find the King's twisted sense of humor amusing (even though it is extremely depressing when he demoralizes you after failing a level).
After this game play experience, I would have to declare Katamari a very good game. Despite its flaws, it's overwhelming creativity in turning the rolling of a ball into an exciting and intriguing game make it a game worth playing and recommending.
DESIGN
This game is unlike any game I have played. Most games fit into specific categories, but what I admire about this game is that it doesn't. The designers took a simple concept (the growing Katamari) which does not sounds fun or intriguing and turned it into a surprisingly engaging experience. I believe much of this game's charm is due to the interesting environments you are put it. Discovering where you can go with the Katamari and all the sorts of things you can pick up keeps the element of surprise fresh throughout the game. Watching the objects you roll over as you race the clock makes this game both competitive and intriguing (which keeps the player wanting to come back for more).
The design is good in that each level presents new and unique surprises (such as discovering you can pick up fish in the lake). Each place provides a new level of interaction and discovery within the environment you are given, which keeps the game fun and each place unique. Although some levels had frustrating missions, their design creativity can not be ignored. For example, there is a level where I had to pick up bird eggs in hopes of finding a swan. This mission did not interest me, but the level itself was full of interesting places to explore and things to discover (I found out the hard way that a mouse trap will propel me through the air if I'm small enough). The innovativeness of each level (combination of good layouts, peppy music, and interesting objects) truly added to the game's overall fun tone and credit as a well designed game.
I also felt that the game's irony and sarcasm added to the game's fun mood. It was amusing having cheerful music play as you made your path of terror and destruction across towns. The King's sense of humor also added to the game's likability factor.
Although the game excelled in creating a great interactive environment and fun tone, I feel it lacked a solid story line. I found the cut scenes involving the "box people" pointless, and it seemed that what the King said never mattered. I felt the game should have either cut down his speeches and take out the cut scene sub-plot, or developed a more dynamic storyline. (Note:I have not finished the game yet, so I am aware that there could be an amazing ending which ties it all together perfectly and completely negates my criticism.)
At first I felt the idea of the Katamari was not intriguing enough to allow for a dynamic experience. However, once I got past the introductory levels I found it more easy to find the game play experience fulfilling. I feel that a stronger storyline may have helped me get into the game earlier. Despite this game's downfalls, I found Katamari Damacy a fun and rewarding game which succeeds in taking the player through a unique gaming experience by offering them a game design different from many of the more popular games of today.
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