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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
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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: Sunday 13 January, 2008
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GAMEPLAY:
I’m about seven hours into the game and although the mission structure is starting to get a bit repetitive (get to the next city, talk to a few people, gather hints, assassinate someone, escape), there are just so many things to do and places to travel to that it never gets boring. The first few hours I mostly spent my time traveling around the game world but obviously the game is not just about exploring. There is definitely a lot of fighting too. When I started the game I wasn’t really familiar with the combat system so I tried to button mash my way out of it but it didn’t really get me anywhere. I had no choice but to try to avoid getting into any sort of confrontation with the guards unless I had to. However at this point in the game, I’ve learned some new moves (dodging, countering, etc.) that make the fighting more entertaining. The finishing blows are usually in slow motion and make me look like a total bad-ass. The combat system is pretty fun but it is no God of War. There’s nothing particularly bad about the system but it feels a bit too simple especially since there is only one button used for attacking.
As for the story goes, I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who is reading this but let’s just say that it involves going back and forth in time to try to change the future. For me personally (and I know many disagree with me) the storyline can either make or break a game. I absolutely loved the Legacy of Kain games simply because of their deep storylines. On the other hand, even though Resident Evil 4 was one of the biggest games of the decade, I wasn’t pulled into it as much as I should have because the storyline was so simple and cliché. With Assassin’s Creed, the storyline has been engaging so far but I have yet to see how it all unfolds. I really hope they don’t end the game with a disappointing ending (Halo 2, I’m looking at you).
DESIGN:
In my opinion this is the first true next-gen title on the market. While games like Halo 3, Bioshock, Call of Duty 4, Ratchet & Clank Future, etc. all claim to be "next-gen", none of them really do anything to differentiate them from what I've been playing for years on my PS2 and X-Box. Sure the graphics, audio, presentation, etc. have all improved but Assassin's Creed is so far the only game that actually FEELS next-gen. from the huge size and scope of the game to the incredible amount of freedom that the player has to go anywhere he/she chooses, this game screams next-gen. The graphics are amazing especially considering the size of the game. The level of immersion is unrivaled. There are no cut-scenes and the story is told entirely in-game. The cities look so amazing and believable that I honestly have little doubt that that’s what they actually looked like centuries ago. Speaking of believability, the animations in this game are almost life-like (no I’m not exaggerating). The controls, although a bit confusing at first, are quite intuitive and the storyline is very engaging. But perhaps the best thing about Assassin's Creed is that it makes the player want to PLAY the game, not finish it. The tension that builds up before the player assassinates an important public figure and the rush to escape the city after the assassination with dozens of guards chasing after the player through the heavily populated cities make some of the most exciting and exhilarating moments in recent videogame history. Add to that the sandbox elements, the huge size and scope of the game, the simple yet engaging combat system, and the ability to climb literally anything the player sees and you have a game that easily stands above the rest of the pack and shows the true potential of next-gen gaming.
That's not to say that this game is perfect. There is definitely room for improvement. If Ubisoft decides to make a sequel, they should add more variety to the missions, more interaction between the player and the NPCs (non-playable characters) and improve the A.I. Still, in my opinion Assassin’s Creed is the best game available for the 360 and PS3 so far.
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