 |
|
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!
read all entries for this GameLog 
- add a comment 
|
|
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.
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
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!
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
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.
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
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.
read all entries for this GameLog
- add a comment
|
|
|
|
|
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.
[latest site fixes and updates]
[read more]
|
view feed xml
|
 |
|
2285 registered gamers and 3255 games. 7787 GameLogs with 13264 journal entries. 5110 games are currently being played.
More stats
|
 |
|
most recent entry: Wednesday 5 March, 2008
|
GAMELOG ENTRY #1:
SUMMARY-
NFL Blitz 2000 for the Nintendo 64 console is an arcade style sports game that redefines the rules of football. It is a football game that removes the foul aspect of gameplay and allows the player to be more aggressive during the game. The objective of the game is to score more points than your opponent within the alloted time. Through offensive and defensive play, the player must limit the other team's points, while scoring as many touchdowns and fieldgoals as possible. You beat the game by defeating various teams throughout the course of the season and playoffs until you reach the superbowl. Here you face the best team in the league and must outscore them to triumph as a true champion.
GAMEPLAY FIRST SESSION-
During the first session of gameplay I started the campaign option of a regular season. The game allows you to select a team from a list of the NFL teams that exist in real life. It lists every teams' overall offensive, defensive and special teams score out of 100. This allows the player to gage how good his team will perform against other teams in the league. The best teams have a leg up in speed, performance and strength and are naturally the hardest to beat. The option of choosing your team is a great feature because the player can elect either an outstanding statistical team, or a hometown team. Since most players of football games also watch football, this option instantly develops a commradery and investment of the player's emotions in the game's outcome. This was true for me too. Being from San Francisco, I picked the 49ers. My emotional state while playing the game was energetic and aggressivly excited. What led to this was the fact that conflict is established in the game through performance. I had to outscore the other team in order to win. My emotional investment in the 49ers in real life also added to the gameplay because I wanted to lead my team to an artificial victory as well. Another thing that led to my aggressive emotional state was the fact that in NFL Blitz, the standard rules of football have been tweeked. There are no penalties or late hits, so the player is able to knock down and tackle opponents during and after the play. This restriction with penalties in real life leads to the satisfaction of illegally hitting another player in the gameworld. With no consequence, the player is able to do any late hit or dirty move that is prohibited in the real NFL. Football players and fans can live vicariously through the success of their artificial team as they try and capture the superbowl trophy.
The characters in the game are well designed and fun to play with. This is because the designers created all of the characters to be big, muscular bohemiths. Regardless of what position they play, most characters are about the same size and speed and can certaintly hit just as hard. This removes an element of strategy in the game because there are very few player mis-matches on the field for a coach, "or player" to take advantage of. This is one way that the gameplay differs from the traditional Madden style football games. There is nothing too unique about individual players in the game and it is primarily the names and teams that certain gamers will develop attachments to because of real-life affinities. The game's progression and narrative story are simple, easy to follow and effective. The game does not get caught up in any off the field issues or injury reports. It strictly sticks to the game on the field. The player must win as many games as possible to emmerge as the best team within his division. If you win the division, you make it to the playoffs and can fight your way to the superbowl. The game follows the structure of the NFL season in real-life and therefore, many of the rules for narrative progress are implicit amongst football fans and gamers. The gameplay is sensational and very fun to play because of the way that NFL Blitz re-defines the flow and style of a football game. The game is not concerned with running plays for a few yards and field position, but rather designed for big-play action. This means that running plays typically go for huge gains and hail-mary passes down the field often result in touchdowns. The high scoring outcomes of most games keeps players interested because it is easy for even a beginner to score a touchdown. As well, the turnover margin is about three times as often as a real NFL game. This means that the ball changes possession and the rate of scoring are extraordinarily high. There is never a dull momment because of this and games are frequently very close.
The lack of penalties really helps to establish the flow of this arcade style game. There are few pauses in the game, so time moves very quickly. The camera angle only changes when a turnover occurs and gets behind the team with the ball. The lack of a panoramic view adds to the de-enfasis that the game places in the background and aesthetic visuals. The game is all about the game itself that is being played. In addition, there are cut-angle images that pop up on the screen between quarters. Here a scandelously dressed cheerleader offers tips for special "juke" moves in the game and then the box closes immediately for the game to resume. The cheerleader is a nice character touch because it contributes to the game's animalistic and primal tendency for violence and competition within the gameplay. The game is catered to men and the cheerleader is effective for that reason. Flow is also established by the rules of the game. The rules for penalties are altered, but the rules of scoring in football remain the same. This maintains the objective of the game by giving the player no reason to feel confused while playing. The interactions that the player has with other individuals is highly competitive and interactive. The tendency for big plays to occur in the game keeps players and spectators on the edge of their seats. The natural hatred that some people have for certain teams keeps the atmosphere competitive and full of appropriate trash talking.
GAMELOG ENTRY #2:
GAMEPLAY SECOND SESSION-
For the second game session I invited a friend over and tried the multiplayer feature. This became very frustrating after a short while because the game is not designed well for the two player option. One player controls the quarterback while the other controls the receiver of the football. The result was a lot of mixed signals, busted plays and yelling at one another. The gameplay during this second session was much more enjoyable, however because the character became easier to manipulate as the controller became more familiar. I could now get the character to juke, spin, accelerate, jump and stiff arm. This is tremendously significant in the game because of the arcade format. Each team in the game has the same playbook, so you are working with the same offensive and defensive schemes for any team. This downplays the significance of strategy in the game and makes the execution of a pass or run dependent on the player's skills, not the strategy used. The acquisition of proficient "juke" skills becomes the main difference in the game. The outcome of a match is therefore, more dependent on a player's skills than any random outcome or play selection. The knowledge of defensive sets and play-calling is not very important in the game, which is an innovative feature that sets NFL Blitz apart from other sport games such as Madden football.
My emotional state while playing the game changed when playing against another person. The computer intelligence of the game makes the opponent rarely miss tackles or give up big plays. Against a friend, I was more excited when playing because the potential for making touchdowns increased. The games are typically offensively driven and often more than 40 or 50 points are recorded. One thing that disappointed me was the lack of character development within the game. The lack of injuries and fines/suspensions in the game made it really feel like a videogame and at times removed me from the magic circle. This can make some teams virtually unstopable because their rating is too high for most any player to overcome. The game was interesting and fun to play because every match is different. There are no two games that are played identically. Each new play involves different approaches to tackling and running and keeps the matches fresh. And of course, the late hits make it fun to play regardless of what the score is. The social interactions between me and my friend were highly competitive with a lot of trash talking. This is due to the high level of skill that it takes to beat another player, since you are both playing with the same strategy and playbook.
DESIGN-
The design of this game is certaintly unique for a football sports game and is the source of the games greatest strengths and weaknesses. The main innovative element of the game is the alteration that NFL Blitz makes to the gamerules. The lack of penalties and fouls in the game is a unique feature that differentiates the game from the Madden football series. The alteration from the standard rules of football is an innovative element because it allows for more freedom and aggression during gameplay. The lack of penalty assessment removes the restriction that most football games impose on the players that demonstrate "unsportsman like conduct." It is innovative because it allows for freedom within a structured set of rules. The ability to succeed within these guidelines and have the freedom to foul at will is a large part of the game's success. Another innovative element is the icon, slot-machine-like wheel at the bottom of the screen that allows the player to unlock cheats before each game. Dirt fields, big heads, fog, etc are some examples of avatar variations and environmental changes that the player can introduce into the gameplay. Another innovative feature is the "on fire" option that is unlocked after a certain number of sacks or completed passes. It gives the muscular avatar even greater speed and strength and makes the character super-human for a short period of time. It contributes to the arcade style flow of the game by making it less realistic and more fantastic.
The lack of character development and level variation is an example of an overlooked design element in the gameplay. All of the characters look identical in the game as large muscular avatars. The flaw to this is that they all have the same speed, catching and tackling abilities. The rating of the team at the beginning of a match is the rating that each character has, so there is no individuality for specific avatars on each team. There is no real "play maker" on offense or defense because all of the members of a team are equally skilled. This creates a degree of separation between the player and his avatar because he can not target and lock onto a specific character that he loves from real life. Jerry Rice is just another avatar in the game and no more special than any other receiver. This fact makes the game less realistic and less enjoyable for a campaign season where the player can not set records. The fields that appear in the game are all identical with the exception of whose name i written in the endzone. The stadiums have nothing original about them and the concept of home-field advantage does not exist because of this.
Something that I would change about the game would be the lack of individuality that players have. I would make the faster players appear leaner and give them greater speed. Another thing I would change would be the computer's recognition of a lop-sided game. When one team is winning by too much, the computer forces the other team to turn the ball over, which makes every game close. The down side of this is that too many forced turnovers can cause the player to lose a game he should have won because of the computer intelligence. Other than this, the game is truly fun to play because of its innovative elements and is distinctly different from all other football sports games.
[read this GameLog]
|
|
|
