Earthbound and Dune 28.01.16

I started Life is Strange (PS4) this week, the game hadn’t really caught my attention until a few weeks back, and even then it didn’t seem like the type of game which would appeal to me. Turns out I was very wrong, usually I don’t play episodic games, and I don’t care much for adventure games either but the fact that this came packaged up neatly as all episodes on a disk really helped me get over my misgivings and my feelings on adventure games are changing as I realise a lot of the games I love take tropes from them. Anyway back to the actual game without going into too much detail, you control an 18 year old girl who goes to boarding school and flies fairly under the radar in terms of social groups. Max (the girl you play as) is a really refreshing character, in that she doesn’t fall into the stereotype girl sent away to boarding school bracket. She has a strong relationship with her family, cares for her friends and is generally a pretty cool girl. Interactions with other characters are the players choice and they tend to not be to grey in terms of a good or bad answer, for example after inflicting some revenge on a bully your given the opportunity to either pick on her or console her. Moments like this will also effect your game in some way (highlighted by a butterfly on screen) actions and choices seem to be very important. At the end of the first episode I was given a list of the actions which will effect my game going forward and thats a great touch, although with one of these things, seeing it on a list made me regret my choice. The other mechanic which is unique is Max’s superpower of sorts, being able to reverse time. Introduced early on it means that you can manipulate time to rethink your actions, the tutorial for this mechanic is great at showing you how the power can work. Personally I’m avoiding using it too much to reverse my choices, but its fantastic to use it to stop a girl having toilet roll thrown at her or whatever. The soundtrack is lovely, and I’ll got into the look of it the more I play, its sudo-realism suits the themes of the game. Above all of this the story is the most impressive thing about the game, and I don’t really want to go too much into it without saying so far its avoided most of the cliches I associate with teen dramas and there is a big mystery looming over everything which I can’t wait to unravel.

I also started The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS). I never really got into A Link to the Past or any of the top down Zelda games, I played a big chunk of The Phantom Hourglass but wasn’t feeling it at all. So I started this game with some reservations, again these where blown away almost instantly. Its really accessible from the start, the new mechanic of being able to become a drawing of Link to be able to merge into walls is great, I love the little touch of the music becoming more diluted when your in this 2D look. The dungeons are really well balanced for a portable console, I’m three dungeons in, and each one so far has been easy to drop out of and save then jump back into later in the day. It looks a lot better than in the screenshots and videos i’d seen, due at times to some great use of 3D and the world is just big enough to wander across quickly while at the same time feeling varied, and thats without any nostalgia for A Link to the Past. The new trick of being able to rent all the items from really early on makes the game feel more open, certainly to which dungeon to approach first of all but the combination of these items to other things given to you in the story (usual Zelda fare, flippers and bracelets) means there is a structure to the game which feels more familiar. I’m really enjoying it so far, I always know where I am with a Zelda game but this time a lot feels fresher about it.

Earthbound and Dune 23.01.16

I got round to playing some Pony Island (Steam) this week, a weird little puzzle game which is set in an arcade cabinet. I wasn't deterred by the cutesy cheap looking menu, which lasts mere seconds before it becomes a completely different style both visually and conceptually. Basically the devil takes control of the machine (or might always have had control) and the game then becomes me trying to outwit the devil with a number of different puzzles, and a few kind've platformy/skill based bits (which are awful on a trackpad, so I'd advise a mouse or controller). It has more narrative than I was expecting, bits where I broke out to the operating system of the "game" and spoke to another person trapped where both funny and inventive. These are refreshing little chunks of the whole experience which I've really enjoyed, and certainly more since I dug out a mouse. It looks cool, and the music is a good mixture of catchy and creepy, it doesn't look like there is much more to the game but I like it a lot.

I came off my Splatoon (WiiU) sabbatical for a few games, which turned into a healthy couple of hours of gameplay, it's still really good. The most remarkable thing about the game is how accessible it is. I've probably stated before that I never feel like I'm not good enough or am being overwhelmed by better players, and I'm only level 16 or so, I've got my gun of choice which suits my tactics and I always feel useful and decent at the game. Even games like Rocket League are starting to be swamped with people either destroying me for no reason or giving me some fruity language for not performing a miraculous save, so the fact Splatoon hasn't devolved into an exclusive club for people who've played it religiously for the last 10 months is a remarkable thing. The last couple of levels which they've added are really cool too. 

Finally I played a ton more Downwell (iOS) while commuting and sometimes in a lunch break, it's fantastic even though I'm pretty terrible at it! That it's helped me go cold turkey from Animal Crossing on a train is an added bonus.

Earthbound and Dune 13.01.16

Still in a bit of a rut with what i’m playing at the moment, I gave Hardware: Rivals (PS4) a go. It wasn’t a fun experience really, I was hoping for a Rocket League like surprise, but it was more conventional car combat and the controls a lot less intuitive. I drove about for a bit getting picked off by people who’d managed to get there cars (or tanks) onto roofs and once I’d found the fire button was bored with the whole experience. Not very memorable at all and probably won’t return to it.

I did return to another game though, Pikmin 3 (WiiU). I completed this when it came out and really enjoyed playing through it, for some unknown reason I had an urge to play some more of it. There’s a downside to playing the story again from the start, in that you have to erase all your progress (it only allows one save slot apparently) but I wasn’t too bothered about that. The only other complaint I have about the game is it came out at that time when the WiiU really didn’t know what it was, the range of controller options are overwhelming and the best I remembered was a Wiimote and Nunchuck arrangement. So after dusting off my preferred controllers, syncing the to the machine and finding AA batteries I was ready to play. From now on all i’ve got to say about the game is positive, it still looks great, especially the landscapes and fruit. The soundtrack is some of the best video game music i’ve heard and it oozes charm. I’d forgotten the integration with the gamepad where you get a call from other members of your party elsewhere on the planet and you answer a video call on the gamepad, a lovely touch. The game itself is a RTS game set within tight time constraints, a day is around 10minutes, and in that time you’ve got to get fruit for rationing to your crew (which never exceeds four) and all your Pikmin back to there ship, failing this gives a rather bleak cutscene where monsters come out at dusk and devour all the remaining Pikmin. Early on your given an introduction to core elements, rock Pikmin can smash glass, red Pikmin are stronger, blue Pikmin can swim etc. The rate of introduction to the new Pikmin is such that its never overwhelming, and its got that Metroid thing going on where you can see areas which will be accessible only once newer Pikmin types are available. I didn’t play the earlier games but I think the addition of more than one playable character is new, this allowing me to separate my Pikmin between them and moving them about the map (another good use of the gamepad). I got through a few days, and amazingly only a couple of Pikmin have died at my command. How much further i’ll get in the game I don’t know, as I’ve already completed it, but its still a lovely thing and I’d almost forgotten how much I enjoy it.

Finally I continued with Grow Home (PS4) slowly i’m growing my plant to the next level, mastering jumping from a high point, feathering the jet pack and deploying the flower to float to the red buds to get that little bit further toward my ship. Its a really relaxing experience, while also spectacular when I step back and look at the vines which I’ve manipulated toward my goal. The way the game goes from one little plant in the ground to this vast sprawling thing is amazing.

Earthbound and Dune 05.01.16

While the Playstation Network was down for some maintenance this week I took the opportunity to play a bit more of Grow Home (PS4) and while the first time I picked it up I nothing really grabbed me about it, this time I really liked it. At first glance it looks like a modern 3D platformer but in terms of gameplay the only things it seems to have taken from the likes of Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie is an occasionally erratic camera and some item collecting. The robot I was in control of is purposely loose in his movement, even on the rare occasion you find yourself on stable footing he wobbles about, it looks really charming. The big concept in the game is climbing, the shoulder buttons relating to which hand grips to the surface to ascend higher (I’m making it sound way more complicated than it is) and pretty much at the start I was given a large plant to get up (like a beanstalk) with the aim of getting back to the robots spaceship. It wasn’t long before I was at daunting heights and a mistake with my grip saw me tumbling back to the bottom. Checkpoints appear at different heights in the form of pads you can teleport too. The placement of these seem well balanced, neither too easy or hard. Soon other concepts are layered on, like growing parts of the plant to get to other platforms (and grow the main stalk of the plant), a flower which acts a consumable parachute and a jetpack, the game doesn’t seem intimidating at any point because you can always see where your aiming to get to high up in the sky. There have been some delightful touches scattered through the game so far, like finding a dodo running about in a cave. The humour has been good so far too, apart from one joke about making a .GIF of me falling, which seemed out of place. 

Once my Playstation was back online I had a chance to play a bit of the Destiny (PS4) expansions, getting through the Dark Below missions in a sitting and I’ve moved onto the House of Wolves levels. Its been interesting playing through it after all the dust as has settled, the first expansion seems really short, especially for the original price, good to have more to play of it. The second seems to be reacting to the fact that its predecessor is so limited, its much harder, with some more inventive touches. The whole package seems like good value now it comes with the third expansion as well (and it certainly seems like good value if bought with the base game) and now everything in the game seems much clearer in terms of how to level up and follow quests the proposition of a sequel or further expansions this year is really exciting.