 |
|
Divinity: Original Sin (PS4) by jp (Jun 12th, 2019 at 19:17:38) |
I'm playing this co-op and it's REALLY neat how some of the game's co-op stuff works... So far (we're just barely ready to leave the town):
a. Sometimes the characters have a (scripted) conversation with each other - each player can often choose their response to the other character. So, there's some agency and character defining there. Cool.
b. But, sometimes characters are talking to an NPC...and, they can DISAGREE with each other! What happens then? (e.g. Being asked what to do about something, both players disagree with each other in their character responses - so what should happen?) Well, you play a version of rock-paper-scissors against each other AND it is modified based on your character stats (you play until you get X points, how many points you get for a win is possible boosted by the stat). Super neat, and super elegant AND - I really like how it doesn't force the players to agree, but it settles the player disagreement in a way that moves the game forward and also feels like a game - but not a high-stakes one. So, each player can choose whatever dialogue choices/responses they feel better represent the character they are role-playing without worrying about it de-railing the co-op experience in any significant way.
So far, I'm SUPER IMPRESSED.
read all entries for this GameLog 
- add a comment 
|
|
Pang Adventures (PS4) by jp (Jun 12th, 2019 at 19:12:11) |
Huh.
I don't think I've seen a game as simple, yet as finely polished in its presentation, controls, etc. as this one. It's been a while!
It was simple enough to get into that I played through the first 3 worlds (which each have a lot of levels! But they can go pretty fast...) before realizing that I was done.
I'm still surprised by how simple the core gameplay is: you move a character from left to right and you can fire. You only fire upwards. Pop all the bubbles before time runs out and you clear the level. That's it.
Of course, there are more types of bubbles, and you can pick up different kinds of weapons that fire/behave differently. But, you only fire upwards. There's no jumping, sliding, ducking, etc. Super simple!
As I played, here are a few things I think the team got "right"
a. There's a quick-restart button. It's super quick, so when you mess up...
b. There's all kinds of incentives to try each level again for a better score - from leaderboards to "incentives" like telling you what score you should aim to beat.
c. The boss battles were interesting. It's always the same boss. You fight it on the wing of an aeroplane of sorts (a different location than all the regular levels) BUT the boss behaves differently each time and part of the fun is figuring out what to do and when for the boss fights.
Strangely:
a. The boss fights happen "en route" to the next "world". The first one came as a surprise - because it interrupts your "travel" to the next location on the world map. After the first I was kind of expecting it. But, I think it was a neat design choice.
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
Empires & Puzzles (iPd) by jp (Jun 11th, 2019 at 13:41:25) |
Ok, I hit the goal I had set for myself and promptly deleted the game. I didn't spend any money, but I was somewhat surprised to read an article about how well the game seems to be doing commercially. I guess some people are really getting sucked in!
Playing a bit longer than I initially wanted was helpful in that I was able to gain access to another of the game's progression loops that was previously unavailable. When your hero hits max level AND has been "ascended" the maximum number of times a new tree opens up! You basically spend tokens to buy buffs for your hero - the tree is mostly linear but it does split and rejoin a few times. So, there are choices you have to make which is...uh...a little bit of choice in a game that otherwise is solely focused on more is always better and you just need the patience to get there.
So, I made as much progress along the way as I wanted though I'll admit the last week or so felt much more like a slog and progress with the building timers getting to days and more, which isn't really all that fun. In other words, I was accumulating resources faster than I could spend them in progressing other areas so it was starting to feel like I was wasting time/resources.
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
A Way Out (PS4) by jp (May 28th, 2019 at 18:41:00) |
Started playing this last night with my wife and it's been quite fun and interesting so far. I've really been enjoying it!
Perhaps the design element I'm most surprised and impressed by is the split-screening that happens. I had assumed it was/would be a split screen with both players "in the same place" kind of situation, but there are moments where there really are two different things going on that you can't pay attention to at the same time (e.g. each character having a conversation with a different NPC at the same time). Oh, and the split screen transition moments are also really smooth and well done.
It feel cinematic in a good way!
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
Thumper (PS4) by jp (May 28th, 2019 at 18:37:30) |
Oh, wow. This is really intense. (been playing in PSVR)
I can tell I'll cycle out when the difficulty level spikes and I'm not a fan of how long some of the levels are (I'm currently on level 4, at the first boss). BUT, the game really is heart-pounding and intense, and stressful.
Lets see how far I get?
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
|
 |
|
2020 registered gamers and 2444 games. 6879 GameLogs with 12304 journal entries. 5002 games are currently being played.
More stats
|
 |
|
F.E.A.R (PS3) by Davaadtron |
| No comment, yet. |
|
most recent entry: Sunday 13 January, 2008
|
Gameplay:
My emotional state while playing the game for a second time was relatively the same. The narrative didn't really progress much more; I still wandered around deserted buildings and outdoor areas with shipping containers. I saw more of the creepy little girl and some supernatural images, but it didn't tell any more about the story. I'm getting a little bit bored fighting the same enemies over and over. All of the enemies are the same, and I haven't interacted with any other NPCs that are on my side yet.
Design:
While at first the bullet-time seemed pretty cool, now it's kind of getting old. Every firefight is beginning to feel the same: see the same enemy as last time, press L1 to turn on bullet time, shoot enemy with machine gun. Repeat with varying amounts of enemies over and over. The game also seems to be reusing textures and items a lot...most of the areas look the same as other areas you've already been to.
If there were something I could change about the game, I'd probably fix the technical issues that make the PS3 version less fun than the PC version. The loading times need to be MUCH faster, the frame-rate could be improved, and I think the PS3 could handle better graphics than what is on the disc. I distinctly remember playing the PC demo at my friend's house and it looked far better.
Overall, the game definitely terrible, but it isn't the best game I've played either. I think I'll stick to my Xbox 360 First Person Shooters. (It would be interesting to see how the 360 version of F.E.A.R. is as well.)
[read this GameLog]
|
|
|
