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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: Saturday 26 January, 2008
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Summary:
Katamari is a single player puzzle like game. It is very unique in that it has an adventurous feeling but is more of a puzzle in that there is very little conflict. The goal is to roll the katamari around the level in order to reach a certain size. In the higher levels there is a time limit. The player can only pick up objects based on relative size.
Gameplay:
I was very annoyed with Katamari. Very Very annoyed. It was too easy to get stuck and not be able to fix the mistake in time. The player needs to feel like it’s still possible to win up until the very end otherwise there is less incentive to play. I also found the music annoying. It was a nice score but the addition of words to the music made it seem that much more repetitive. Were there no lyrics I would have really enjoyed it.
I enjoyed the story a lot. The actual storyline wasn’t extraordinary, though it was original. What I really enjoyed about it was the dialogue. There was a lot of it and I’m sure that after a couple times playing this game it would start to wear on me, but it was funny and held my interest long enough to read all of it. This definitely deserves applause as most gamers, myself included are in the game for the action, not the introduction.
I liked the animation in the game because it was simple. The characters were mainly shapes without a lot of intricate detail. Their movements were basic and predictable. Sometimes in-depth animation can be very visually aesthetic however it can get in the way of playing the game. In Katamari the characters were simple but very cute, helping the player to identify with them, but not become overwhelmed by them.
Gameplay:
I was much less frustrated this time as I played my way through a few levels. I definitely mastered the controls more and was able to steer more accurately as a result. However, now that finishing a level was actually a dim possibility it was more frustrating when I didn’t make it.
The story was less involving this time and I became more aware of the puzzle aspect of the game. In that way everything looked less foreign but also less intriguing. I still enjoyed the game but it felt as if I could have been playing any other puzzle game and it wouldn’t have made me miss Katamari.
Design:
The game has a very simple concept by design. The makers therefore made the navigation of the game easier and the actual completion of the game harder. This is a quality of a puzzle game. The effort is more mental. Remembering where certain objects are and how big you have to be to pick them up. In this way the game is more systematic than challenge requiring mastery of difficult skills very quickly and randomly. This is a very effective game design because it makes it playable for all levels of gamers. They don’t have to spend a lot of time training after which they lose interest in the game itself. Instead they can jump straight into the game and let the levels improve their skills.
What’s interesting about the game world is that like most videogames it gives the illusion of many choices and lots of open space. However they very carefully control your movement by only letting you pick up objects relatively smaller than you. So at first you spend your time in the area with the small objects and then move progressively into the areas with the bigger objects. Without even realizing it the makers are guiding you through the game. They very effectively simulated a choice for the player.
My main objection to this game is the view at which you sometimes see the game. When going under a table of behind a pole you lose sight of the katamari and the character. I know that this creates more of a challenge but I see this as unnecessary. By keeping the character and katamari in sight at all times the game makers would cut out a lot of the frustration that first time players could become discouraged by. If this were cut out it would not change the difficulty of the game drastically but it would lessen feelings of ill will by players just trying to make it through the lower levels.
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