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Phantom Abyss (PC) by jp (Apr 6th, 2025 at 19:14:27) |
I'd heard of the game's hook (or gimmick if you will) as, everyday it's a different 1st person platforming game/run, and if you die - that's it. Play a different run later.
I'm guessing stuff changed along the way, though the concept is still here - it's a reasonably challenging rogue-like 1st person platforming game. I've had fun, you have a whip to help you climb and each level has different modifiers (the whip has an ability) and you can pick up boons in your run (if you have enough coins to afford them) and hopefully make it to the end. BUT, you see a bunch of ghosts for everyone else who played this level - if someone died, you can collect their spirit or something for a small heal! During each run you collect keys you can use to buy permanent upgrades, and so you go up the progression ladder of many roguelites...
Someone described this as first person temple run, which is close enough? I mean, the levels themselves are a lot more interesting than the "mere" reaction times that temple run goes for, here you can side-step/etc. stuff - and there are different paths, and in all you can be a bit creative for how you approach stuff...I've had fun so far - unlocked all the green levels and I've started on the blue ones!
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Cuphead (Switch) by jp (Apr 6th, 2025 at 13:37:03) |
I only get to play this when my son comes around - and we play together and I realized, yeah - I need to either start practicing seriously or just give up. And, I enjoy playing it co-op, so there's not much sense in practicing, so I decided to give up.
We did make it to the 2nd island(?), and played some of the levels there - but I was clearly starting to see a steeper path to success. As in, it too us (mostly my fault) more and more tries to make less progress. He's already played it, beat it too? So, not much point for him really.
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Sonic Rush (DS) by jp (Apr 6th, 2025 at 13:34:08) |
I started playing this from the saved game - with new(?) character Blaze on "area 2" (I don't remember the exact name). And, I just could not beat the level - it was set in the casino world, and everything was moving super fast and on "automatic" - so, you just press move and the character zips along, bounces, etc.
It's actually quite boring! Because you just do this, at some point you hit an enemy (very few enemies in the game!), lose your rings, and then carry on. But, I'd lose because I'd fall into a bottomless pit, lose three lives and then out.
I'd say it wasn't so much frustrating as it was a disappointment. Yes, the point of Sonic is that it's "fast" - that's it's thing. But I find that there's little interaction to the game for most of the levels - you just "go along with the direction". It's neat when sometimes you get bounced around automatically, but for the most part I like to control the character.
So, I deleted the save file and started a new one, this time with Sonic in the equivalent of green hill zone. This level has two areas and then a boss. So, it's like 3 levels make up a level.
And, the experience was pretty similar - run on automatic for a while, lose rings suddenly or die, repeat with a bit more caution...etc. I did make it all the way to the boss fight - which I almost beat one too many times, and I just realized - ok, this is dumb - at least the boss fights have more gameplay ( you dodge, make an attack when the weak spot is open, etc.) - but it's still a pretty boring/uninteresting platforming experience.
So, off to the shelf it goes!
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Secret Files: Tunguska (DS) by jp (Apr 4th, 2025 at 19:16:25) |
I think there's a weird moment in time when everyone thought that point-and-click style adventure games were dead, but they were not. And, I think this game is an example of a game that was under the radar of "mainstream" games press at the time? Or at least under the radar of the average consumer of videogames...
This particular game is also a strange little time capsule - it's a port of what I think was a PC game...also at a time when people where porting all kinds of things to the DS. And, it works! Well, from a UI perspective at least. And it works pretty well. At least compared to another adventure game I played recently on the DS whose name I'm blanking on as I write this. I bounced on that one because it had some character/3D interactions that were awkward and unintuitive. Here, they were much smarter about it (I'm assuming they made UI "concessions" because it's on the DS). So, while you have a 3D character that navigates a static space - you don't actually have to move the character around directly in order to interact with objects/places in each scene. Press one button and all the interactive spots highlight, and you can just tap on them directly. I LOVE this solution - especially because I was never a fun of the "hunt for the pixel" approach that many games had (on PC) - and I'm super glad it didn't come across into this DS version (for all I know, the "here's all the highlights" was also possible on PC).
But, the UI triumph aside, I still kind of bounced off this. I got stuck on a puzzle (how typical!) - and what I had to do was leave a location to visit another location and then continued...this seemed really "unfair" to me - as in, unintuitive - mostly because I had assumed I could not leave the locatio in the first place. It wasn't entirely unintuitive - but it was the sort of puzzle where I was sure I should be able to (in this case) get the key out of the aquarium - but it turns out that no, I had to leave the place, do some other stuff, and then come back. At this point I was well into the tried-and-true "try all the things with all the things", except that I did not know I could leave the location I was at. Sigh.
So, from glancing at my list of DS games I still need to play...well, I wasn't THAT interested in the story so far and the puzzles didn't feel particularly interesting either..so, it was an easy game to put on the shelf.
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Shogun Showdown (PC) by dkirschner (Apr 4th, 2025 at 18:33:00) |
Clever little tactics roguelite. It reminds me of Into the Breach and other tactics games where you are given clear information about what enemies will do each turn. It's also reminiscent of Into the Breach because of the small play space. Basically, the game takes place on a 2d plane that is divided into like 8 or 9 spaces. Any given character occupies 1 space and can move left or right. You build a "deck" of "tiles" that include attacks and other special abilities, many of which involve movement (e.g., a forward dash that moves to the nearest frontal enemy and deals 1 damage). Your goal is to build up your tiles and progress stage by stage until you kill the Shogun.
During each run, you can purchase and upgrade tiles, mostly increasing their damage or decreasing their cooldowns, purchase passive abilities, use items, and other standard roguelite stuff--make yourself stronger by strategically handling whatever random things you get.
Most every action you do takes a turn, and all characters take turns at the same time. So, you move right (1 turn) and all the enemies do a thing (one might move left toward you, one might queue up an attack). Then you queue up an attack, and those two enemies might queue up an attack and attack, respectively. Actually, it also reminds me of Crypt of the Necrodancer, which works like this, where all characters act simultaneously. In that game, when you move, everything else moves. Shogun Showdown is like that. When you do something, the enemies do something.
I beat the Shogun for the first time this evening, which was maybe my fifth run or so. I had what felt like extremely overpowered weapons, a sword that I'd leveled up to deal 5 damage with only a 2-turn cooldown. I also had a bow-and-arrow with 4 damage and a 3-turn cooldown. The kicker though was a curse that doubled the next damage on an enemy. So, I'd just queue the curse, the sword, and the arrow. That took literally half the Shogun's health bar. Did it again, dead and into phase 2. No problem. Did it two more times. Dead. Easy. When you beat the Shogun, you unlock "day 2", which is the next difficulty level. You can also unlock additional characters with different skills, and you can keep unlocking new tiles and stuff. I consider it beat after taking out the Shogun once. It's a fun game, really tight, and makes you think ahead. It doesn't do much that you haven't seen before though.
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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)
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2285 registered gamers and 3255 games. 7787 GameLogs with 13264 journal entries. 5110 games are currently being played.
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most recent entry: Tuesday 29 January, 2008
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Summary:
“Playground†is a group of various sports games based off of childhood playground games. There are 7 games total that each use the Wii remote in a way that mimics the natural actions of the game itself. For example in “Paper Racers†you hold the remote as you would if you were about to throw a paper airplane with your hand under neither the remote. To launch the plane you thrust the remote forward, to turn the plane you tilt the remote left or right and to make the plane go up or town you tilt the remote forward or backwards. Also all of the games have similar “power ups†to enhance the play of the game.
Dodge ball:
In this game there are 2 teams of 3 people. It has the standard rules of dodge ball. If you get hit then you are out. If you catch a ball then a team member who was knocked out can come back in. If you get knocked then you are switched to another player. This game took some time to get used to the controls, but once I got the hang of them it easily became one of my favorite games especially when played in multiplayer mode.
Tetherball:
This is only a 2 player game were you hit the ball back and forth around a pole. The pole has a meter on it that shows who is winning in a tug-o-war fashion. When the meter starts out in the middle and shift up or down depending on who is winning. This is my least favorite game of the group. The controls are easy but it is hard to get the time right to hit the ball.
Paper racers:
In this game you control a paper airplane through a course. There are 5 types of games. The first is where you can race against other players. The second is a race against time were you can pick “clocks†to increase the time you have to complete the course. You cannot complete course without the help of the clocks. The third and fourth game you have to fly through a certain number of “starsâ€. The fifth game you have to collect a certain amount of points. The “red stars†= 25 points, the “green stars†= 50 points, and “blue stars†=100 points. This game is fun and challenging in single player mode but can get old in multiplayer mode.
Kicks:
This game has a weird concept. It is a mix between soccer and volley ball. You have to kick a ball back and forth over a net and you score by making it into your opponents’ goal. This is another great multiplayer game.
Slot car racing:
This is your typical racing game. You race around a toy car track and there are several speed boosts and ammo to hit your opponents with. This is another game that is fun but will get old after a while. Also it pales in comparison to the classic “Mario cartâ€.
Wall ball:
This is game is more like racket ball than wall ball, or at least the wall ball I used to play. It is only 2 players and you hit the ball against a wall back and forth. The first person to make the other player miss gains a point. This game is easy and can last for a long time between 2 descent players.
Dart shootout:
This is another fun game that is only for 2 players. I was disappointed that you cannot play against each other. Instead you are on a team and you shoot computer players on the playground. You share a health bar and can block darts with a shield to save health and can shoot health barrels to gain health back. In multiplayer mode you win the game by getting more points than your opponent.
Design:
“Playground†is very cartoonish in design, but this is consistent to most of the Nintendo games along with the demographic of the game. The game play is simple and is easy to pick up. There is a review of all the controls for each game before you play. The controls use only the Wii remote; this is good because there is no real need for the “nun chuck†and you can play single player mode without any additional purchases (besides the Wii console).
Single Player (Game Log 1):
In the single player mode you start out in your school yard. Your guide is the sticker king who is the best player in the playground. He will only play you once you beat everyone else in the game. He is also were you by sticker which I will explain later. The goal of the game is to walk around the playground and challenge the other kids to their particular game. The first time you play them you get a “Golden sticker†which is used to unlock other areas/playgrounds. There are a total of 4 areas all together: school yard, park, stadium, and rabble woods. Once you play a kid once you then must beat 3 or 4 challenges, depending on which area you are in, that they will give you. Each game/challenge is independent of each other and you can travel between sports or areas in any order that you wish. The whole point of these challenges is to gain marbles. These marbles are then used to purchase stickers from the sticker king. Each sticker represents a new skill that you can now use in upcoming matches. Some of the kids are locked until you play certain kids in other areas. You cannot beat all the kids in one particular area until all of the areas are unlock. It is very simple to unlock a new area all you have to do is beat three kids once. Besides beating the other kids there are also several mini games throughout the areas. There is a dribble game were you have to dribble a basket ball so many times in a certain time period. There is also basket ball game were you first have to complete the dribble game and then walk over to a basket ball net and you have to make so many baskets in a certain time limit. Also there is a game were you collect bugs in a net within a time limit. Playing gets very addicting you want to finish each game and then you want to finish all the challenges for each kid. All in all the game is fairly easy to beat but fun to play.
Multiplayer (Game Log 2):
As with Wii “Sports†this game is mainly designed for multiplayer. Only one level/area is enabled for each game until you play in single player mode and unlock the other areas. Just as in single player mode the different areas do not change the rules of the game just the look of the field. The only games that somewhat change with the different areas is the “Dart shootout†and “Paper racersâ€. Each area has its own unique obstacles/layout. Also “Slot car racing†you can choose different tracks to race on. “Tetherballâ€, “Dart shootoutâ€, and “Racket ball†can only be played in 2 player mode while the other games can have up to 4 players. I think “Kicks†and “Dodge ball†are the best of the multiplayer games mainly due to the fact the 4 players can play and they are the most interactive cause of the faster pace of the game.
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