Category Archives: Blog
The Two Conflicting Acts of Broken Age
I think Broken Age has got to be the game I’m most confused what to think about. Back in the day, I gave some money to its Kickstarter campaign, at the time known just as Double Fine Adventure. And when Act 1 got released, I was absolutely blown away. It was amazing. Though, because my save files were somehow lost, when Act 2 was released I didn’t play it. That is, until I got recently the final backer reward – the collector’s box for Broken Age. It prompted me to binge the full game from start to finish. And… let’s just say, Act 2 is not as good as Act 1, both narrative-wise and gameplay-wise. And that’s mildly putting.
I’m so disappointed by Act 2 that I think I’ve spent 3 or 4 days constantly complaining to everyone I know about it. Yeah, this is a matter of opinion. So this post I’m not going to talk about my thoughts on how the character arcs set up in Act 1 weren’t fulfilled, or how Act 2 jumps the shark with a bunch of strange twists or motivations. But I do want to discuss what I think are glaring design issues with the game, Act 2 specifically, and why they’re such a big problem. Be warned, there will be spoilers!
Game Opinion – Titan Souls
Titan Souls is a game that makes me excited about victories but also keeps me absolutely infuriated all the time.
On one hand, that’s the whole point. After all, the name is purposefully similar to Dark Souls, and all the mechanics in the game are based on one hit death – both for you and the bosses that have one particular weak spot that you need to get to.
The thing is, what makes me infuriated is not the one-hit death part. It’s the way you target your arrows with the stick. You don’t see the trajectory of where you’ll fire, and while one may argue that it’s part of the skill to learn how to target and I’ll certainly agree with that, I’ll also provide a counter-point that missing the mark by a couple pixels is very frustrating. And it happens very often, usually leading to death after, because as bosses start getting trickier there’s pretty much just one chance to shoot.
The MOBA Experiment, Part I: Awesomenauts
I’m not a particular fan of MOBA games. I’ve tried at different points in time: League of Legends, Dota 2, and Guardians of Middle-Earth, neither have really grabbed me. So when about a year ago I got into Awesomenauts, which I have from a bundle, I did not expect to get grabbed by it as well. By the time of writing this post I have more than 250 hours in the game.
This made me wonder: is it just a game-specific thing, i.e. I happened to like Awesomenauts but not other MOBA games, or did Awesomenauts act as a better entrance point for the genre? So if I replay other MOBA titles, will I find more enjoyment in them? This has interested me also because I have never really experienced a situation where I didn’t really like any game I tried of a particular genre, and then a game made me appreciate those more. And yet we as developers tend to talk a lot about that – creating games that could act as entry points for titles of a similar kind.
Game Opinion – Titan Attacks
I think Titan Attacks is a great example of reimagining a classic game, that being Space Invaders, to a more modern gaming era (while still keeping a retro style of the game). And I think the most important part of that is how it handles progression.
The Walking Dead, Choices, and Kenny
(Post full of spoilers)
When I first played Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season One, back when it was released, it was an amazing experience. I wasn’t familiar with The Walking Dead franchise at all then, so it was just the game, and after every episode I’d feel like shit. Really depressed. And would get back into it as soon as the next episode was released. And I knew that something awful would happen again, that there’s no way the series is gonna end in a good way, but still had this damn hope that everything is going to be alright. And then that hope would get obliterated. And I’d get back for more. And with the release of the third season I decided to replay this, and the journey was as emotional as it was on the first run, even though I knew most of the things that would happen.
Game Opinion – Luftrausers
Luftrausers is the kind of game that globally speaking does just one thing, in this case side-scrolling flying and shooting, but it does it oh so well. Controls are incredibly tight, there is lots of variety due to different customization options all affecting gameplay and how you control and shoot (and there’s a little mission tree for each customization item), and what kind of tactics and strategies to utilize depending on the loadout.
And what I really like is that each customization has a layer of music dedicated to it. So depending on how you equip your rauser, you’ll hear a different remix of the main theme. I think that’s very smart. This opinion piece is gonna be short, if you like pure fast-paced action games, then I would certainly recommend it.
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How Valiant Hearts drives you to the breaking point
Can we just talk about how amazing Valiant Hearts is? It’s absolutely freaking amazing. I mean, just on an overall design level, it somehow manages to take World War I setting, puzzle adventure gameplay, cartoon stylistic, semi-gibberish voices in gameplay, heroic ‘hell yeah’ war moments, dramatic war moments, humanizing both sides of war moments, musical vehicle levels, and put it all together in a way that works and makes you go through one hell of an emotional ride. It’s so hard not to tear up. And the dog. Probably one of the best game dogs ever. But it’s not the dog I’m going to talk about. I’m going to discuss one of the last levels in the game – Chemin des Dames, and how it drives you to the edge.
Game Opinion – Shank
Shank is a game of good concepts but some flawed executions. The core of the game is the combat system, where you enter the state of flow by combining together all the possible moves while avoiding attacks to deal with the enemies in the quickest, and visually stunning, way (the 2D graphic style really helps the ‘visually stunning’ part).
The Impact of Guacamelee’s Ending
When choosing what to write about Guacamelee!, it is natural to think of the combat system or the Metroidvania-style progression as the topics. I mean… they’re just SO well designed. Seriously, Guacamelee is a great benchmark and case study when it comes to those two things. It’s awesome. Go play it. Because what I want to discuss in this post is not one of those topics. I want to talk about the ending. Spoilers, obviously.
I don’t understand Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
When it comes to critically acclaimed and/or very popular games that I happen to not like, they’re usually divided into one of two categories. One is the category of critically acclaimed and/or very popular games that I don’t like, but fully understand why so many would find great enjoyment in them. It’s a matter of taste, after all. But then there’s games that are critically acclaimed and/or very popular, but I’m just baffled by the situation and can’t understand what people find in them, and how come they say what they say (it’s still a matter of taste, but it doesn’t make me any less confused). Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is that kind of game.
Stanislav Costiuc 