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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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Chrono Cross (PS) by Galactiger |
| This RPG by Square is another great game. With innovative story, well-developed characters, few random battles, and overall very fun gameplay, Chrono Cross is better than the original. I really like this game. |
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most recent entry: Thursday 6 March, 2008
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Gamelog #5 Session #2 for CMPS 20
Start Time: 3:00 pm
End Time: 5:00 pm
Assignment due 3/5/08
GAMEPLAY
Emotionally, this game is very satisfying. In addition to not using all standard archetypes for game characters, much of the content is pleasing to the senses. As I mentioned before, the secluded beach really relaxes me. The beach has an atmosphere not used frequently in games; when it is, it often fails to be done well enough to produce the desired effect. Though the cutscene visuals are often not wonderful, they're usually pretty good and they conform to a much better standard than does Chrono Trigger, this game's predecessor. The game's art is semi-realistic and pretty stylized, but the art is done purposefully and has a bright or dark color scheme as appropriate. I really like this game's art style and creative assets.
An additional complication to the battle mechanic is that you can execute different percentage attacks. Depending upon the percentage, which typically varies from 60 to 99 percentage points, you may attack more or less successfully with less or more damage dealt, respectively. Fortunately, it sounds a lot more complicated than it really is. In other words, this complicated-sounding addition makes the game more fun and interesting. I'm glad there are more options in this game than in Chrono Trigger.
This game was very fun to play. The battle mechanic is fun, and there is also a puzzle element to the gameplay that lends itself well to this RPG. The story was absorbing enough that I could probably tell it enthusiastically with lots of expression. Tales of Symphonia is an RPG, but its story is hugely complex and confusing. The story in Chrono Cross, in contrast, is simple but satisfying. I like the story, gameplay, and characters much more in this game than in Tales of Symphonia or in Chrono Trigger.
The game was interesting to play. I had a few frustrations, despite my overall enjoyment of this game. One major frustration was technical difficulty/unfamiliarity, as mentioned previously. Another frustration that I didn't have personally was that the game is relatively slow-paced. I thought that Chrono Cross didn't drag at all and that the pacing was deliberate. However, it's not difficult for me to understand the general frustration some people have about these aspects.
This game's flow was superb. The pacing was very good, not too fast or too slow. Character development in-game wasn't rushed. As compared to Chrono Trigger, you really care about Kid when she gets hurt in Chrono Cross, unlike how much you cared about Marle in Chrono Trigger when she vanishes. In Chrono Trigger, that story arc had a major plot hole as far as what Crono's motivations for going after Marle were. In Chrono Cross, in contrast, it's usually pretty clear what everyone's motivations and aspirations were. Even though much of this was preprogrammed, I much prefer the flow of story in this game to that of Chrono Trigger. Spatially, there are puzzles that are spaced apart very well so that the game doesn't become unnecessarily complicated but at the same time poses enough challenge to keep you hooked.
DESIGN
The battle system and story were the most innovative aspects of this game, although it was groundbreaking in other ways as well. There was innovation in the color-based battle system, the percentage-based hit success and hit damage, and the inverse relationship of hit success and hit damage. The story has the most innovative characters out of any game I've played. Their personalities vary greatly from the standard archetypes, except for Serge, maybe, who is a silent protagonist.
The levels are varied in terms of look, feel, type of related puzzle, environment interaction, and organization. In other words, there are LOTS of variations in levels. The tone of the gameworld is similar to that of Chrono Trigger: epic. The look and feel of the game varies greatly and is much improved upon Chrono Trigger. The level look and feel are not arbitrary at all; they largely depend on the climate, which vary from lush and soft, to rocky and arid, to sterile and metallic. All of the puzzles are environment-based, similar to how battles in Shadow of the Colossus are environment-based.
I didn't have social experiences with other players; this game doesn't have multiplayer options. I have a feeling that, for the most part, I had to just watch, I wouldn't enjoy it or be satisfied. Luckily, there were no bystanders to be dissatisfied. I was having a really good time playing. The game itself was very rewarding, and I didn't really notice the passage of time. I never felt lonely or isolated while playing because I was absorbed in the game. I think that's a good thing as far as game involvement goes, but I imagine it could hurt one's social life.
My game that I'm currently making isn't nearly as complex as this game is. However, on a future game project, I may have a more text-based version of this game. I don't think it would be a very good idea, though, because a text-based version of Chrono Cross is hard to imagine being done well. It would have be on some open-source game console if I were to make a game like this as a freelancer without being text-based. As is, it might be possible to make a game with a similar story with the engine from Facade at interactivestory.net (go check it out if your haven't already!) with story elements like Chrono Cross, but then it wouldn't play like Chrono Cross. I doubt I'll really be able to make a game like Chrono Cross on my own or in a pair. I would definitely need a team of four or more people. However, it would have helped this game to increase the amount of button labelling. I found myself frequently forgetting which buttons to press. I think that is one valuable lesson to take away from playing for creating my own game.
I didn't really care for the cutscenes of Chrono Cross. They served a purpose, and they served the purpose of storytelling pretty well, but they lagged a bit while playing and had bothersome textures much of the time. I much preferred non-cutscene parts of the game to the cutscenes. The non-cutscene parts were more interactive and were frequently more pleasing to all the senses. This is counterintuitive, though, and it probably would have been better to omit the cutscenes altogether. The designers clearly spent more time on most of the rest of the game instead of on the cutscenes, and to me, it shows.
That's it! If I ever come back to this site, you can expect a looser style from me, because it won't be graded! BWAHAHA! Although, I have my own standards; I won't start writing terribly.
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