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Gris (PS5) by jp (Apr 20th, 2025 at 20:25:52) |
I distinctly remember Gris getting a "meh" review score in Edge magazine. So, I was expecting to be underwhelmed gameplay-wise though wowed visually.
And yes, I was wowed visually (and aurally too - playing the PS5 version that makes use of the speaker controller in a cool way)...and the gameplay was sort of meh - but, it got better and better the longer I played!
Not counting the "hub" area, the game has four zones/levels that each introduce a mechanic, as well as some in-world things to interact with. And so, the game really goes from less to more as later levels incorporate more in-world mechanics as well as require use of the character mechanics you unlock. It also all makes sense with the game's theme and story and balblabla (ludonarrative harmony is what my students brought up).
That being said, it's a pretty relaxing and flowing kind of game - nods to Journey in there as well - and there isn't really a fail state, though you can get stuck on puzzles and some dexterity-timing dependent puzzles. There's some swimming bits that are just glorious - as you dash from "water bubble" to "water bubble" (blocks of water in the air) - and I loved swimming up waterfalls.
What impressed me the most though were two things:
1. I kept on trying to "go the wrong way" and most of the time, it was the right way.
2. The onboarding and tutorials are really, really well done. You notice a thing, or do a thing, and then that's the thing you have to do later to solve puzzles and so on. It feels very natural and very normal.
So, I'm actually excited to try Neva now...
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Lost in Blue 2 (DS) by jp (Apr 18th, 2025 at 18:46:41) |
Perhaps the strangest thing for me about this game is that it's a bona fide survival game on the DS. In my mind, the genre is more recent than 2006! I'm thinking of all the indie survival games (craft stuff, gather food, don't die of hunger or thirst) and then ones on Steam..and here's this game - a sequel no less - and it's straight up THAT. Survival. And there's two characters to boot - and you can die (I did, pretty soon it turns out).
I guess I was surprised by how quickly I did die - and, from a novice perspective, it felt sudden and a bit unfair. As in, CLEARLY there was nothing I could have done differently to survive. I spent too much time exploring was probably the main problem, and I left the boy behind in a cave we found, and I'm not sure that's what you're supposed to do? You have to keep both of them feed, hydrated and energized, and I felt like I had my hands full with just the one character.
I think my biggest mistake was probably not getting the spear for fishing made sooner? But then, I'm not even sure how you're supposed to use it - and all the other food I kept scavenging wasn't really doing much. Like, you'd eat it and not see a huge effect. I'm guessing there's something I'm not understanding and it makes me wonder if a full reset makes the most sense? (instead of loading into a saved game that's already doomed/too heavily stacked against success).
Perhaps the strangest thing (for me) about the game is that there's a super simple mini-game for cooking! You collect stuff to cook and also stuff to use as spices and then need to sort of trial and error recipes - though I could set the boy (the character I was not controlling directly) to cook and he'd come up with his own stuff... it's weird.
And it's a sequel? I guess I should look up if this is a port to DS from someplace else? It would make more sense in a way - the game is also low-poly 3D as you wander around the environment. Still...I might just put it on the shelf.
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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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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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2287 registered gamers and 3258 games. 7789 GameLogs with 13266 journal entries. 5110 games are currently being played.
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most recent entry: Thursday 24 January, 2008
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2780 A.D.
THE END HAS COME FOR US ALL! Poting on all site the end has come for us! The zombies are coming, if only we had learned in the year 2008 that we could-
Bzzzztztztzt!
2008 A.D.
2nd Review of Chrono Trigger
4 and a half hours of total gameplay.
-Summary-
After four and a half hours of play on Chrono Trigger I know why it is a classic. There is never a point in the game where you aren't doing something new! Nearly every level has its own minigame and the plot-
INCOMING FROM YEAR 3008 A.D.
The mystics command you humans to disregard the statement two paragraphs up. Just keep on with your lives and everything will be fine.
-continues to entice me. The story seems to have very distinct points of stopping, but the continuation of the story seems continually necessary. The fact that as soon as you get the fourth member of the party you can attack the last boss is a major innovation, the fact that you get an ending for losing against Lavos-
INCOMING FROM YEAR 3008 A.D.
Correct the grammar of the above statement to "Great and Mighty Lavos."
-is an unexpected path that added learning curiosity and replay elements to see how many different endings I can get. The fact that nearly every boss requires a unique strategy that you must learn through practice and story is interesting in itself.
GAMEPLAY
That being said the tyrannical rain of Gandhi from the last game was stopp-
-Gameplay-
As you can see by the above messages in time travel I'm highly surprised I hadn't grabbed a copy of this game earlier. The time travel aspect is of course impossible by every scientific means, but then again with a game this fun does it need to?
YES FILTHY HUMANS EVERYTHING MUST HAVE A PURPOSE!
There's the answer I suppose. In any case where we last left off Crono had just traveled 400 years into the past and gotten lucky with Princess Marle. Since then she invited Crono over to meet the folks for dinner and one thing led to another and he was eventually thrown in jaihormation you need to defeat your first "boss monster" but nonetheless sets you up with what to expect for future fights.
After Crono Goes mdieval and aparently cuts tank armor off with his sword you get chased out by the guards... into th year 2300! (how can you not love this)
This post apocalyptic future gives you insight into what you need to stop, what the human race is becoming, and what events in history it is your duty to change. But while we're in the future... might as well pick up a robot!
The magic system is introduced as a simple concept at the End of Time and the game keeps its appeal even after I gained my first ending by losing the fight against Lavos. The wacky game mechanics, and statistics that make no sense (Rock sword is stronger then a Ray gun, no exceptions.) adds an unrealistic, but fun element that is enforced from the very beginning by the fair. This combine with a large assortment of mini games and new battle systems makes this game revolutionary from level 1!
DESIGN:
Apparently UCSC screwed up thus far in getting my e-mail correct. Thus I didn't check when the comments came in for the game log, now that I have recently fixed this issue it is time for the Design section!
Innovations in the game included an Active Time Battle System or the choice of a traditional RPG system. The story elements that allowed for many different endings or play troughs of the game. Last was the amount of mini-games which allowed the player to play completely different games inside the core mechanics of the game, while this isn't new to this game, none take it quite to the level that Chrono Trigger did. The game creates conflicts by setting a disturbance in history, rather the desire to change the future is what causes the characters to act. The gameplay keeps changing the mechanics of the game, or requires more then brute force to defeat even common enemies later. Forcing the player to think about how to defeat the opponent, rather then just clicking attack. The space within the game is intentionally limited, however what occurs there keeps shifting due to the different timezones you visit them. The actual space of the world map is somewhat small for an RPG, however the fact that you visit it over and over again in new and vibrantly different scenarios makes it seem exciting each time.
The tone, as stated above is somewhat cartoony, but serious enough to get the player involved int eh story and caring about what happens to the characters. The very beginning and sheer amount of mini-games helps create this tone. The game doesn't really do anything for social relations other then provide a fun story, and providing decisions for multiple characters, which as all RPG players know is still really 1P game.
This game did help us come up with some goofy concepts for the future game project, the amount of mini-games and very goofy characters and villains helped us conceive some of our own creations.
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