SleepingSilence

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

I did pretty well this Christmas. Lots of new kitchen stuff, and even more games that I need to play.

Brok The InvestiGator was a mixed bag of entertainment. Worth playing once. (If only it wasn't a game with tons of branching paths and endings...) Its shtick is that it combines a point and click adventure and an old school brawler. But it doesn't do those elements particularly well. In that the combat is fairly simple and a bit clunky. And some of its puzzles are borderline moon logic. (So it spent a lot of time rewarding you with hints. Of varying usefulness.) The best part is probably some of its amusing dialogue and the interrogation segments. But the story has a lot of "mystery box intrigue" and quite a handful of loose ends once you finish.

So when it recommended to find "the canon ending" by "letting the two children remain kidnapped by murderous thugs". I couldn't help but question the decision to punish me after succeeding in a section.

Next game on the list is something I already downloaded, Death's Gambit Afterlife. Also going into this one pretty blind. So we'll see where it ranks...

What Are You Listening To?

Merry Christmas everyone.

Questions and Answers

*checks mirror*

If I say yes, I'm just begging for the winter storm that's supposed to happen tonight. So I'll go with I'm indifferent.

What do you want most (and expect to get) for Christmas?

Post a random fact about yourself.

My Christmas presents always seem to come down to last minute purchases. No matter how early I attempt to get on the ball. But at least I did the majority of it yesterday.

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

>Knows his hardest boss is poorly designed and let's you skip it. (Even gives you a reward for not wasting your time.)

Thanks Axiom Verge's dev. You get it. Rated: It was fine. Concluded the story well enough. 6/10. (Probably better than Headlanders. If I had to put it somewhere on a list.)

Now for something entirely different.

While secretly hoping my friend gets Elden Ring for his PS5. <.<

What shows/movies are you watching?

I decided to randomly binge a reality show called "The Traitors". Basically combining 'Werewolf' and 'The Mole' poorly. But it's still entertaining to watch a social deduction game, so I gave it a shot.

My mistake was to watch the U.K version first. Where show seems expensive, overly-produced and has a ton of obnoxious pop music in it. And nearly every character is a walking stereotype, and/or an insufferable crybaby. (Or at least, all the actors and scripted events make them all behave like grown-up children in the show.) Apparently, the modern reality show's new trick is to put several "actors" in your cast. So you don't immediately realize it's all fake and scripted. (Like Netflix's The Mole.)

But it hasn't finished its season yet. So I decided to watch the original Aussie version. And my god, the U.K just ripped off everything, but still managed to do everything worse. Because this one is actually filled with a mostly likeable cast and a better host. (Even the challenges are better.) However, it does have two crippling flaws that make it not worth recommending to those bored enough to watch reality television. 1. The editing is baffling lousy. (It is doing 'contestant and their life story' introduction crap throughout the entire show.) And it STILL manages to forget and sideline someone who almost made it to the very end. 2. The winner is incredibly unsatisfying. Because it's one of those "got a special power/returned from elimination" kind of wins' that never work for me. So all the clever actions made by everyone else, became pointless in the end. Because the winner was mostly lucky and not compelling as a person.

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

I believe that I’m almost finished. So…

Axiom Verge is a pleasant surprise. If only because I went in with some negative preconceptions. But to get one major thing out of the way; the visuals in this game are fine. There’s far more environmental changes and color variety than first impressions suggest. (And you travel to several locations fairly quickly.) Plus, there’s a variety of H.R. Giger robots, cutscenes and interesting visual changes. So yeah. It’s not actually an eyesore whatsoever. (For me)

And with that said, onto the pros and cons…

Positives

• The story is non-intrusive and far more interesting than other “plot driven” metroidvanias. And the main character is a good and likable protagonist.
• The upgrades are frequent and mostly useful.
• It has tons of good ideas that you don’t get (and want) in other metroidvanias. It gives you the ability to glitch through walls, erase and create platforms, corrupt enemies into useful tools for yourself, a power drill that’s satisfying enough to use, a small attack drone that lets you venture through small gaps and scout through the levels. There’s genuinely so much freedom in that regard, that it easily makes up for other flaws that might kill a game like this.

Neutral

• There’s a lot of weapon variety. But it’s difficult to argue that most of the options are useful.
• The map is in desperate need of more markers, and the UI could use some polish.
• A lot of enemies are obnoxious to deal with. Hidden in walls, lots of health, small and swarming, drains your health fast etc. (Probably to contrast the fact that you can break them.)
• The soundtrack is decent in places. (And has little touches like matching your low HP warning to the beat of the backing track.) But it also has an Ender Lilies “looping vocal track” that I can’t fucking stand. Combining the worst “that one ‘worldly’ vocalist wailing AAAAAAH” in all terrible modern movies, and glitch stuttering that reminds me of a much better instrumental from The Glitch Mob. And it’s a level you find yourself trapped in.
• Level design rewards curiosity and experimentation, but can often be confusing. (For reasons that are likely unintentional.) Especially at times when the game occasionally forces you down one path. But that correct path is beyond obscure.

Negatives

• The bosses are easily exploitable health sponges. Both poorly designed and not very engaging to fight. (But this almost works in the game’s favor, when it has several fake-out bosses that serve its story instead.)
• The backtracking takes quite a bit of time here. Between no fast travel, cluttered maps, two map markers, and multiple ways to unlock potential hidden passages. It’s likely you’ll grow frustrated with how much time you’ve wasted.
• Controls are the most damning flaw; in that they’re clunky and do not always work properly. For instance, the quick select button appears broken on the controller. The odd jump and slippery movement seems to make me miss jumps and fall off platforms constantly. The dash is hard to use smoothly, and can also be used accidentally. And the grapple is a pain in the ass to utilize. Among other things. That only heighten the tedious frustration the game’s backtracking provides.

Do I like it more than Grime? Eh. Grime's core gameplay is stronger. But I don't dislike Axiom Verge, and I hope it doesn't end as poorly as Ender Lilies or HAAK.

What shows/movies are you watching?

Preamble

Because my friend likes to make me suffer through awful movies. He suggested we watch "Christmas Bloody Christmas". A dumb horror movie that has a 70% movie critic reception on Rotten Tomatoes, and yet IMDB is a whole lot of 1 star reviews. Which scares me more than a shitty movie about an evil Santa ever could...

So I decided to put on "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio". Even though I didn't think I was going to enjoy it...

Because social media claimed it was good and dark. And that worked so well with Lost Ollie.

But I admit, it has a lot of heart and was well executed (for the most part). And it grew on me and my roommate, while we watched it.

Though let's be clear about one thing first. It's "darkness" is vastly overstated, and nothing comes close to the donkey transformation shit in the original Disney version. No matter how many people you kill and blow up off-screen.

But there's some impressive stop motion and nice background shots in there. So once it got past the overly twee beginning. (Where the singing is a bit painful to listen to, and I straight up couldn't understand some of the kid's lines.) I do think it comes together in the end. Even if I wish it had a few less fairy tale-esque contrivances in its script. (I'll go with a 6/10.)

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

Darkside Detective can be occasionally amusing. But there's no challenge. Nor deduction. It's a typical bad kind of point-and-click adventure. Where solutions don't always make sense, and it actually keeps you from progressing through it for arbitrary reasons. There's more "bonus cases", and I can't say I'm even engaged enough to do them.

Pokémon: The Next Hunt

@'ing the ones who didn't make it, would've been nice. But good luck folks...