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Category: Weekly Gaming/Media

Weekly Gaming: Refunct (PC)

I’ll tell you what, it’s been a while since I’ve gone out of my way to find an indie game. Given how much work I find myself doing these days, that’s a massive shame; it’s always good to see what’s on the market and what your fellow developers are up to. So with it being the Steam Summer sale, I saw one game that peaked my interest: Refunct.

The minimalist trailer certainly done it justice, and showed off how simplistic the game truly is, so I’m sorry if this review is a little on the short side. Regardless of length, it’s 64p pricetag interested me so much, that I immediately downloaded the game and proceeded to play through all it had to offer.

Refunct is a parkour platformer that has you jumping across many 3D cubes on water, both to turn them green and give them life, but to also press switches across the stage to make more of these blocks appear. It sounds simple, but that’s because it is. That sentence above is the game in its entirety, and it’s bloody beautiful.

Jumping around the world feels natural and seamless, more so with an xbox controller plugged in. The controls are simple to learn; simply press RB to jump, and LB to slide, and you’re basically good to go! You’ll pick up new tricks as you progress towards revealing every single cube on the map, such as wall jumping and climbing, and everything just feels well thought out and right.

It’s even more splendid that there’s no text or tutorials in Refunct – simply start running around and the platforms you need to make your way to will teach you all you need to know. It’s charming how damns simple the game is, and has even made me rethink how I approach game design – if you can have this much fun in something so simple, do I really need to be spending ages making systems users may never use?

As you progress in pressing more switches, the platforms get harder to climb, with switches moving further and further away. Refunct has a progression so to speak, but one that doesn’t exclude anyone – the game is easily completable by anyone.

When I say completable by anyone, I truly mean it: ensuring I went out of my way to collect everything the game had to offer (e.g. touch each cube, making sure the whole world was coloured in), I completed Refunct within 25 minutes. Some may complete it even faster, and news may take a little longer. Regardless of your skill level, Refunct is short, but certainly makes an impression in it’s limited time.

Graphically, the game is pretty, and has a dynamic lighting system which blends between night and day, but at the end of the day, all you’re looking at is pretty cubes. It’s nice to look at, don’t get me wrong, but you are literally just looking at cubes, and anyone can make cubes look pretty, right?

So what more is there to say? One negative that could be thrown its way is the lack of any story, as all you’re doing is running around cubes on the water. Why are the cubes there? Why are you pressing these switches? Whilst I personally feel the lack of story is that much of a big deal, it could have helped Refunct have more staying power with players, giving them a much more memorable experience with maybe a surprise ending rather than just not knowing when you actually finished.

That’s definitely one negative in my opinion; the endgame. Once I’d coloured everything in and pressed every button, I proceeded to run around the map changing the colours of all the cubes for fun. Thinking this was a new mode, or a new section of the game I ran around the environment for 5-10 minutes, wondering if anything would happen. Pressing start eventually, I found that nope, I had 100% the game, meaning my wondering around was for nothing. The end of the game could have definitely been choreographed better, that’s for certain.

So all in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Refunct. It may be simplistic, and short, but it certainly left an impression, and has made me think about how I create games myself. Should you have a spare half an hour, and want to enjoy yourself for that entire time, you can’t go wrong with Refunct.

4/5

08/09/2017
Weekly Gaming: Subsurface Circular (PC)

Hey all,

This week, I’m looking at another Mike Bithell game. This one come out of nowhere, which in turn made me push back quite a few other reviews, but for good reason. It’s a short, narrative driven game which could be considered a text-adventure game. You play as a Tek (this world’s robots), who has to investigate and get to the bottom of why Tek’s are disappearing.

Through sitting down and not moving at all, you interact with other Tek’s as they get on and off the subway cart you’re on. It’s a unique concept, and one I really enjoyed. If you want to read my full review, you can do so at the link below:

http://www.vgchartz.com/article/269115/subsurface-circular-pc/

Anyway! Until next week!

-Dan

01/09/2017
Weekly Gaming: Sonic Mania (PS4 Pro)

Hey all!

Welcome back to weekly gaming! This week, I review Sonic Mania, a game I’ve been waiting to be released for a long time. Having been raised on Sonic, Sonic Mania manages to hit all the right nostalgia notes, all whilst bring lots of new and refreshing ideas to the table.

You can read my full review at the link below, but SPOILER ALERT: I like the game, a lot.

http://www.vgchartz.com/article/269085/sonic-mania-ps4/

Anyway, until next week!

-Dan

25/08/2017
Weekly Gaming: Pokemon Moon (3DS)

Deary me has it been a while since I started playing Pokemon Moon. Having preordered the game last November, I proceeded to play the game straight for 20 hours, loving every moment of it. But for some reason, I fell off the Pokemon bandwagon and never actually got around to completing it – until now that is.

First up, you already know how Pokemon games go: As a 10 year old boy or girl, you proceed to meet the new professor of the place you’ve moved to, attaining your first pokemon, making you a newly qualified trainer. You make your way to the first gym, and proceed to take on the gym owner to gain a badge.

Except!

Not so this time round. The start’s the same in that you gain a starter pokemon, but everything from there changes. Gone are the gym’s from every other game in the series, which are instead replaced by trials across each of the 4 hawaiian islands. Once each trial has successfully been completed on a given island, you’re then able to take on that island’s “Kahuna” – the island protector so to speak. Whilst this has the same kind of layout as previous games, it changes immensely when actually partaking in the trails themselves.

You see, each trial will not only have you doing certain puzzles or taking on certain pokemon, but each trial will also conclude with a battle against a huge pokemon – one that’s stronger and bigger than the rest of it’s kind. For example, one of the first you take on within a cave ends with a battle against a Raticate; a simple enough battle you would think. Except, the battle ended up taking quite a while, not only because the Raticate was stronger than average, but also because it was able to summon other pokemon to fight at it’s side.

These trials were certainly a great mix-up to the age old pokemon formula, and even gave me quite a few challenges I didn’t think I’d be able to get out of alive thanks to the way it’s mixed things up.

The new trials aren’t the only way Pokemon has been mixed up. Now you can also ride Pokemon themselves on the overworld, allowing them to get you around a lot faster than running traditionally would. Getting around faster isn’t their only use though, as different pokemon’s abilities enable you to find new secret locations on the world map, giving you better TM’s or even better equipment.

Another fantastic new addition to the series is the Z ultra moves; moves so powerful they can kill most pokemon in one hit. Z moves can be given to any pokemon you have in your party as long as they’re holding a Z stone which matches the elemental type of one of their moves. Once activated, a brilliant cutscene of their attack unfolds, usually causing the opposing pokemon to faint. These powerful moves can only be used once per battle, so should you be taking on a team of opponents, it’s best not to use the move asap.

Aside from the new gameplay changes, there’s the age old tradition of New Pokemon adorning the land. These new pokemon range from trivial items in the environment like a ghost sandcastle pokemon, all the way up to new legendary’s that control the sun and moon. My favourite addition in all of this was the brand new “alolan” variants of some of the original 150 pokemon. These variants now only changed their features, like Raichu looking browner for example, but also changed their types. Exeggutor for example goes from being a grass type in previous games, to suddenly becoming a dragon type, able to learn amazing new moves like Hyper beam in the process. It’s a weird touch, but actually changes up the game quite a bit, making you excited to find/discover new pokemon and old.

Story-wise, the game is much the same as previous entries in the series. The biggest change is in the fact for the first time in Pokemon’s history, the main game has cutscenes. Yep, it’s strange at first, but you soon start to love the fact that it’s not all staticky talking characters anymore, with amazingly animated scenes lighting up your 3DS with all manners of joy. If anything, this addition makes the story all the more interesting, giving Pokemon a whole new layer to work with in producing new stories for people of all ages.

Additionally, Pokemon Moon had me surprised at the amount of mini-games available on the pause screen and how fun they were to keep coming back to. One of them, a bean collecting island, allowed you to place down berries to attract Pokemon, all whilst picking berries and planting them. I was surprised at how much fun I actually had with this mini-game, even going so far as to keep returning every now and then. This definitely contributed to my 30 hour play time total, but I felt it was worth it, especially when you can use the berries to make your pokemon love you, giving you extra headroom in fights when pokemon successfully dodge attacks for your love.

Section on Graphics:

Section on Disadvantages:

So all in all, I’m bloody glad I came back to Pokemon Moon. It’s formula may be similar to those games that came before it, but I cannot help but feel it’s a fantastic addition to the series, and sets up brand new precedent’s for future Pokemon titles, especially with the region variances in play. Should you own a 3DS (or 2DS!), you owe it to yourself to own Pokemon Moon – it’s guaranteed to give you dozens of hours of pleasure, and keep you coming back for more time and time again.

5/5

18/08/2017
Weekly Gaming: Tales from the Borderlands (Xbox One)

As some of you may be aware, I started Tales from the Borderlands just over 2 years ago when the game was first released. As a Borderlands fan, I couldn’t wait to see Telltale’s take on the series, especially given how much I loved other franchises Telltale took on. The issue is, the game completely forgot that I had completed the second chapter, meaning it had lost all of my choices and decisions. Whilst some would say “Just select the third chapter and let the game randomise it for you!”, I felt this was horrendous – the whole point of a telltale game is to see the consequences and results of your actions, something that would feel contrived and wrong should I not have made those decisions myself.

Alas, I gave up. For the last 2 years I’ve proceeded to ignore the game even existed, Let alone see it through to its conclusion.

…. Until this last weekend that is, where I was meant to finally sit down and play FFXV, but decided to play a shorter game so that I could at least finish it before the weekend was over.

Looking through my list of games that I’m still yet to play, Tales from the Borderlands stood out as a game I actually wanted to see the ending of, despite it’s bastarding ability to delete my saves. So, getting some cups of tea ready and proceeding to hanker down, I decided to complete the remaining game within one sitting. Here’s my thoughts.

As I said in previous reviews of the episodes, Telltale have done a fantastic job in the presentation department for Tales from the Borderlands. Everything is crisp and sharp, with each character looking splendid. The cel-shading looks tremendous, even going so far as to make the world look more distinctive than before, making it look weirdly realistic as opposed to cartoony.

The presentation does wonders given the events that unfold in each of the episodes, with many characters being on display at once, and even large vistas that play to the cel-shading aesthetic even more. Animations also seemed to improve throughout each episode, with the last episode even going so far as to have an all out battle between your heroes and the crazy Vault monster. All in all Tales from the Borderlands was an absolute delight to witness, so much so I cannot wait until Borderlands 3 is released on this generation of consoles.

As for the story – overall it’s mediocre at best. Set on the planet of pandora, with all of it’s weird monsters and inhabitants, your main players, Rhys and Fiona, make their way across the planet searching for money and riches beyond their wildest dreams, all whilst avoiding all the trouble they manage to make in their path. It’s a basic set up, which has some nifty turns throughout, but overall fell flat if not for being pretty inconsequential in regards to the “lore” of Borderlands (if you could say Borderlands even has lore).

Characters themselves were fantastic, and fairly fleshed out, but I couldn’t help but feel a lot of their interactions between them were contrived, much to the point as to make it a detriment to the game. For example, in Episode 3 there’s awkward scenes (at least for me), where the Telltale team push heavily for your main character Rhys, and a side kick Sasha to get together. The issue was it come out of nowhere – there was no forewarning, no way to make questions lead up to the romance options, it was instead entirely forced upon me as the player of my own story. I felt so annoyed by this direction that I even proceeded to google whether there was anyway out of this romance, thankfully to find there was in the final scene of the final chapter.

That last paragraph may have sounded a little silly considering it was merely a romance in a game, the issue is all options within the game forced the romance, even when it wasn’t what I wanted. I felt like there was no way around it, a terrible feeling when Telltale games are renowned for making YOU feel in control of the events that unfold – both good and bad.

As for the gameplay, it’s the same as every other Telltale game – you proceed to walk around areas, talking to other characters, learning as much about the world as possible. Then take part in Quick Time Events (QTE’s), followed by long dialogue scenes, all with the signature “[Name] will remember that”. It may be harsh to say, but man oh man is the same gameplay time and time again getting boring. I know Telltale are meant to be about telling intriguing, new stories in established universes, but you’d think they’d mix the formula up a bit after doing sooooo many new games.

Comedy wise, Tales from the Borderlands actually manages to impress. The characters are so brilliantly written (by themselves) that the things they do in situations feels organic and got more than its fair share of laughs and chuckles. Should the narrative between the characters have been just as funny, I may have enjoyed the overall story more.

Regardless of my criticisms, was it worth going back to the game after 2 years? Meh, not really. Whilst Tales from the Borderlands has some key story elements which will be canon come the next instalment in the next franchise, I feel I could have skipped this entirely and got the jist of things in a simple note at the beginning of Borderlands 3. Maybe I’m still bitter about the loss of my save file, resulting in me playing the same episode again for 2 hours, but overall I found Tales from the Borderlands mediocre at best. It’s a shame I’ve failed out of love with Telltale game’s recent forays into franchises: some of my best gaming moments of the last few years was thanks to their pushing of the medium forward. Alas, all good things must come to an end.

3/5

11/08/2017
Weekly Gaming: Valiant Hearts (Xbox One)

I know this first sentence is getting old, but I’ve been meaning to play Valiant Hearts for years. Something about the fact a games publisher like Ubisoft funded a studio to make a fairly indie-looking WW1 game that would include historical facts resonated with me in such a way that I was excited to get my hands on the beauty. Alas, 3 years after the game was originally released, I finally managed to sit down for one weekend and put the gorgeously hand-drawn puzzle platformer thorough it’s paces.

So what is Valiant Hearts? Put simply, Valiant Hearts is a 2D hand drawn puzzle platformer where you take control of 3 different characters all just trying to make their way through WW1, the “great” war as it were. You start each characters story at the start of the war, and proceed to find out how they became involved in the war, and how it affected them personally. Throughout the course of the campaign you’ll take part in many of the famous battles, and get to see, first hand, how the people of the time lived and coped with what was going on around them.

Whilst puzzle platformers aren’t usually my cup of tea (“The Cave” for example, was only played for half an hour and never touched again), something about Valiant Hearts managed to keep me so entranced that I wanted to see everything the game had to offer; so much so that I proceeded to spend so much time collecting every collectible hidden throughout the main campaign. This is rare for me, but understandable when you get down to the core mechanic of the game: It’s splendid art-style.

Every character in the world of Valiant hearts is lovingly detailed, with each animation happening so fluidly that you’d be forgiven at times for thinking you were watching a cartoon show. Hundreds/thousands of NPC’s you meet throughout the game are also just as detailed, and help to present how horrific WW1 was, with millions of dead bodies strewn throughout each stage as if they’re a part of the scenery.

The art style doesn’t stop at the lovingly detailed characters though – even the stages themselves are so marvellously hand drawn that you feel like you can relate to, and understand the world Ubisoft has created. Streets bristle with detail, with even woodland scenes having little quirks here and there to make them feel full of life.

It helps that whilst you’re making your way through this aesthetically pleasing world, the soundtrack helps to properly cement that you’re in the 1910’s, and as such, gives a fantastic range of music that would have been popular at the time.

So aesthetically, both in the visual and audio departments, Valiant Hearts truly stands out above the crowd when it comes to world building. But what about it’s actual gameplay?

This is where some of the issues start to crop up.

For the most part, you’ll make your way from left to right as each of your characters. You don’t control all characters at the same time, instead each stage that progresses the story has you taking control of one and one alone. Each character comes with their own abilities that are made use of in each stage: Freddie, the black American is able to set up explosives and cut down barbed wire, Emile, the French man, is able to control a dog to grab objects and can dig in specific areas, and finally Anna, the Belgian lady is a nurse and is able to heal people.

These random abilities may sound weird to have, but they help in pushing the story forward and making you get a feel for what life must have been like in those days.

Each stage will have you moving along until you encounter an obstacle in your way, at which point you’ll have to use your smarts to navigate past. Take for example the french man – in one of his stages, you need to infiltrate a german encampment, making sure the guards patrolling never see’s him. This stage makes heavy use of his digging and dog controlling mechanic, and as such, pushes you to look at every item in the environment as a potential solution to getting to your end destination.

The issue is, these puzzle usually detract from the world building itself. You’ll spend quite some time rushing back and forth, picking up items in a specific order just to solve a puzzle that could have not even been there in the first place. I wanted to play the game to learn more about WW1 and to observe the stunning attention to detail; not to retread the same steps over and over to overcome one obstacle.

There were also a few bugs on my travels; in one stage, the scripted moments never occurred, leaving my characters to just stand there forever, waiting for something to happen. Another stage, my character got stuck on box, and as such was never able to move, meaning I had to quit the game and come back in. Nuisances sure, but not exactly game breaking bugs.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing Valiant Hearts, and if anything, wished I’d had played the game sooner. The little titbits of historical facts strewn between great art and animations was a match made in heaven, and certainly made the war more relatable on an emotional and human level. I’d hugely recommend you pick the game up if it goes on sale, you won’t regret the time you invest into this gorgeous world.

4/5

04/08/2017
Weekly Gaming: Monument Valley 2 (iOS)

It’s been almost 3 years to the day since I reviewed Monument Valley; the fantastically gorgeous mobile indie game that absolutely blew me away, and made me look at mobile games in a whole new light. A year after that, I took on the game’s DLC, and found it evoking the same kind of feelings as the original, albeit at a much reduced price. This year I finally got my hands on the game’s secret sequel: Monument Valley 2.

To be honest, the announcement of the sequel was something of a surprise. There I was just watching Apple’s WWDC keynote, and suddenly, the app store section was showing Monument Valley 2. Rushing to the app store, I found it by searching, and immediately gave Apple (and the developers at ustwo games) four whole pounds and 99 pennies for the pleasure of owning this great game.

So first up, what is Monument Valley 2?

Put simply, it’s another story set in the Monument Valley universe, whereby you play as multiple characters that wish to put the world back together again using the weird special powers they have in their hats. In this sequel, you play as a mother and daughter as the mother goes about doing her job with her daughter in tow, only for the daughter to have to go off on her own and do this job herself. It’s a simple premise, with lots and lots of animated hugs at the end of each stage, but does a good job of adding some emotion to a series that only made you have feelings for inanimate totem polls.

The game comprises of the same puzzles you know and love from the original, with gorgeous aesthetics taking centre stage once again. The developers at ustwo games have taken things one step further in Monument Valley 2, with the landscapes being animated in new ways, as well as there being many FMV’s for you to watch in certain aspects of the game. These new environments, ideas and even cutscenes helps to make Monument Valley 2 one of the most visually appealing games on iOS today, so much so I’d go so far to say it’s probably more stunning then the vast majority of triple-A games too.

The one thing I did want to mention is the strangeness the game evokes from normal human emotions. Take for example the two main characters: despite being fairly abstract, we can tell that they’re a mother and daughter purely from the mannerisms their animations evoke, as well as the size difference between the two. I suppose it helps that the game animates the two of them hugging a lot, but even without the hugs the abstract art doesn’t stop you from making these associations. I don’t know where I’m going with this point, I just really wanted to point it out that it was a groovy little thing ustwo games managed to pull off.

Annoyingly, Monument Valley 2 was can easily be completed within an hour and a half. I say “annoyingly”, not because it’s bad value for money, but because of how much I wanted to continue playing the game. Maybe it’s because of how cynical I’m becoming in my old age, but I can’t help but feel this is so that they can sell us dlc at a later point…

There is one thing that has changed for the worst; the games difficulty. It seems like ustwo games decided that the actual puzzle that made players feel like a genius for solving things in the previous instalment got in the way of them showing us more gorgeous landscapes. As such, I didn’t have a single issue with Monument Valley 2’s difficulty throughout the entire campaign. Whilst this may be good for making the game more mainstream, I couldn’t help but feel let down – I loved that some levels in the previous game made me feel like an idiot until I finally had the “Aha!” moment that solved the issue in front of me. Just simply walking through a world is all fine and good, but there needs to be substance to keep players coming back.

Overall, Monument Valley 2 was a fantastic surprise. It’s more of the same, which can only be a good thing considering it’s one of the most visually stunning games on the market, and helps cement ustwo’s reputation as a fantastic little studio with plenty to give to the world in both art, and design.

4/5

28/07/2017
Weekly Gaming: Jotun (PC)

As with many of the games I review on this site, I’ve been meaning to play Jotun for a while. It always intrigued me on the Steam store, and even peaked my interest when I saw that the whole game was hand-drawn. Alas, many years after purchasing the game, I finally decided to sit down one afternoon and put the game through its paces. Join me as we investigate what kind of game Jotun is, and whether it has much past it’s hand drawn art style.

First up, lets get the basics out of the way. Jotun is a top-down action/boss-rush game where you play as Thora – a female viking tribe-leader who was sent to her grave in an undignified manner. Upon coming to the afterlife, she wants to seek vengeance on her terrible death, and vows to impress the gods enough to be let into Valhalla. To do so, she must collect old runes guarded by all manner of puzzles and creatures, and proceed to use these runes to kill Jotuns – massive giants that stand in her way of Valhalla.

Where Jotun stands out from other games in this tried and tested formula though is in those aforementioned graphics. From start to finish everything you see in Jotun is hand-drawn, with lovingly detailed environments and fluid animations all looking absolutely stellar throughout the main campaign. Jotuns animate with expressive styles, and even the environment stands out, especially when the camera pans out to show you the immense scale of the world Thora inhabits – a testament to how well the art stands up even when there’s loads of screen at once.

It should be noted though that there are a few inconsistencies when it comes to the hand drawn art-style. For the most part, everything is lovingly detailed, but occasionally, multiple frames in an enemies attack pattern will have them looking like a 5 year olds drawing. This stands out far more than it should, especially considering how detailed and flawless the rest of the art on display is.

Within the first hour of playing Jotun you’ll the core gameplay loop which you’ll need to participate in for the next 4 hours. Pop into a level (it’s up to you which ones you take on first – something I found to my detriment when getting slaughtered by overpowered foes early on), explore until you find power-ups, grab the rune, and proceed to go back to the hub world to take on the boss. It may sound repetitive, but was actually alright – should you get annoyed at a boss taking you down, just head off to another level and get more power-ups until you’re powered up enough to take them on again.

From the offset you realise how little control you actually have over Thora’s actions. Her basic attack (done by pressing X) is slow, and oh so weak. Her next attack, the strong attack, takes so long to wind up that it’s rare you’ll actually use it in a fight. Pressing B activates her powerups, and A allows Thora to do a dodge-roll (one which doesn’t make her invincible whilst rolling – like other games). For players familiar with action/boss rush games, you’ll note how limited this is, and how much of an issue it can be in later, harder battles.

Thankfully, for the most part, each stage is fairly easy to beat, with most of them simply being massive areas to explore. Without many hazards, this can get a little boring, but there’s a reason each stage is like this: to flesh out the world Thora inhabits. Each stage is varied in art style, and all centred around a different god – some even let you see mythological creatures in the distance should you explore enough. Each time a new art-style would be presented I’d be stunned at the amount of attention to detail the developers put into it – especially given the variety on display. Who’d have thought a team was capable of showing all different seasons/elements, especially with the same great hand-drawn art style and animations. It’s fantastic to say the least.

Hidden throughout each stage are powers for Thora herself. Some are simple, like an apple that extends you health meter, with others being full-on new abilities. These come in handy when taking on bosses, as Thora’s standard moves are either weak, or awfully slow. Each power earned is varied; one helps Thora’s speed, another fires an arrow, whilst another just heals her. They each serve their purpose, and in due time you’ll find you’ll rely on some powers more than others in boss fights – I know I relied far too heavily on the strength power-up, much to my own detriment when I ran out of uses for it.

Even with all of these abilities on hand, some of the later bosses can certainly be difficult. I found myself getting to the last 2 bosses within 3 hours, but still took another hour/ hour and a half to actually beat the game. This came as a surprise to me, and definitely got a bit irritating towards the end – the rest of the game was just so simple that this spike in difficultly felt unfair – a feeling you never want the player to experience when creating a game.

If has to also be said the narration deployed throughout is simply sublime. Whenever Thora describes a myth or her own history to the player, she does so in her native tongue – a fantastic design decision which makes the stories of this world feel all the more authentic.

Soundtrack wise, there isn’t much to talk about. I cannot for the life of me say I recall any of the music on offer in Jotun, and as such, can’t say you would either. The sound effects were alright, with some animals or Jotuns sounding ferocious, but overall you’re not here for the music.

Overall, I’m glad I picked Jotun up and finally gave it a go. Whilst it can be a bit inconsistent in the art department, and the difficulty can spike at one point, I thoroughly enjoyed my time overall, and would recommend anyone who likes the look of the art to give it a go; you won’t be left disappointed.

4/5

21/07/2017
Weekly Gaming: Get Even (PS4 Pro)

Hey all!

This week, I take a look at Bandai Namco’s new weird FPS horror game, Get Even. It was a strange game that tried to do too many different genres in my opinion, and never really mastered one. It’s ambitious, and genuinely worth a play, but man oh man does it not hit on any of the mars it attempts to.

You can read my (heavily edited) opinion on the game below:

http://www.vgchartz.com/article/268505/get-even-ps4/

Until next week!

-Dan

14/07/2017
Weekly Gaming: Tekken 7 (PS4 Pro)

Hey all!

So this week, I take a look at the latest of one of my favourite game franchises of all time: Tekken. Whilst the graphics are as gorgeous as ever, I certainly missed the old arcade mode with multiple random endings. Overall, I’m glad the game exists, but it definitely feels a bit of a hollow package considering the value of previous titles in the series.

You can read my review below:

http://www.vgchartz.com/article/268324/tekken-7-ps4/

As always, I hope you enjoy the review, and until next week, have a good one!

-Dan

07/07/2017
Weekly Gaming: Tokyo 42 (PC)

Hey all!

So this week I need to apologise: a while back I had so much work to do that I ended up reviewing Tokyo 42 for VGchartz.com, and even making a video review, but never actually linked to it. So here’s my blog post about the game! (finally!). Overall, I enjoyed Tokyo 42 quite a bit, the soundtrack rubbed me up the wrong way, but from start to finish I genuinely enjoyed the aesthetic and great gameplay. Shame it gets hard towards the end, but that may have been my own incompetence rather than the game itself.

You can read my full review below, and watch my video review at the top of this page!

http://www.vgchartz.com/article/268196/tokyo-42-pc/

As always, thank you for your continued support! ‘Til next time!

-Dan

30/06/2017
Weekly Gaming: Virginia (PS4)

Virginia (PS4)

Those of you who’ve been reading this website for a while may know how much I adored Thirty Flights of Loving; the extremely short indie game that showed you can evoke drama, emotion and story from any game, even if it has no voice acting or dialogue.

Virginia is one such game that was also heavily inspried by those weird and wonderful experiments all those years ago. Set in the town of Kingdom, Viriginia, you play as Anne Tarver, an FBI Special agent which is assigned a partner who is already working on a case of a missing teenager called Lucas.

Throughout the course of the campaign you’ll be given control of Anne as you make your way from one location to another, seeing what unfolds before you. Since there’s no dialogue, it’s up to you to determine the intention of what is happening in each scene, making the story confusing, but extremely intriguing and engrossing. This constant guessing kept me on my toes throughout Virginia’s two hour playtime, so much so that even know, I’m guessing my interpretation of the story may actually be different than the developers originally intended.

It has to be said, but the way in which your character is teleported throughout the world is genuinely stunning. Holding a piece of paper and examining it one moment in the office you’ll find the next you’re looking at the same page whilst now in a car to your next destination. The Scene transitions are sublime, so much so that at times you never notice.

If anything, the abruptness to which you’re thrown around the story adds to it’s appeal. Tension and intrigue would be lost in making the player walk from point A to point B, so to speed it all up and getting rid of the mundane, Variable State have managed to make a refined and dramatic experience, one that keeps your entranced from the moment it begins to the end.

To coincide with the amazing jumpcuts throughout, Variable State have managed to employ an absolutely amazing soundtrack, one which is so great that I’m listening to it now as I write this very review. It’s genuinely has the production values and acoustics of a Hollywood film, and is so integral to the story that the storybeats happen just as the music drops a beat, resulting in euphoric moments that push you to get more involved with the weird and wonderful world. Seriously, give the soundtrack a listen whilst you read the rest of my review; you will not be disappointed:

Story-wise, Virginia is a mixed bag. Whilst my interpretation of the story may be wrong, and I enjoy that you have to interpret it in your own way, the constant shifting of scope can also be seen as a bad thing. Unlike Thirty Flights of Loving, where there was some ambiguity, but for the most part you could figure out what was happening, Virginia goes the opposite direction, and proceeds to make the main story so ambiguous that entire threads were created just to discuss what had actually happened.

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As an actual game, Virginia could actually be considered a “Walking Simulator”. Whilst some may consider that a detriment, I find it endearing, as all I wanted was to experience the story and little more. There are opportunities to walk about in some sections of the game, but due to the simplistic graphic employed throughout, I found no reason too. I mean, what’s the point in walking over to a desk full of books when there’s no actual writing on the books themselves – they’re merely a prop to the environment, and little more.

Don’t take my “Simplistic Graphics” comment to mean that Virginia has bad graphics. Far from it. In fact, there are many times where the minimalist aesthetics work to its advantage, giving some spectacular scenes where I couldn’t press the screenshot button fast enough to show how beautiful the game is. Each character is suitably animated, to the point you can properly detect what emotion they’re meant to be portraying at that moment in time. The animations were so great and fluid that they actually helped to make the characters and world as a whole feel all the more believable, despite the minimalistic graphics seen.

Virginia is, if anything, a testament to what can be done in the “Walking Simulator” genre. Given enough time, and talent, these games are able to make an audience feel, and think, so much more than a typical medium like Television. The fact that you’re actively engaging with the world and pushing the story along helps make you more aware of every little detail, stopping you from zoning out and missing elements of the story. I managed to pick the game up in the Sony sale, and for £3.49, you really cannot go wrong. If you like mysterious games with pleasing graphics, give Virginia a go; you won’t be disappointed.

4/5

23/06/2017
Weekly Gaming: The Witness (PS4 Pro)

I’ve been wanting to play The Witness ever since Ryan Davis talked about it years ago. He, and Brad Shoemaker, managed to get a secret tour of Jonathan Blow’s studio years before the game even had a proper name. Everything the guys said about the game sounded right up my street – an entire island made up of little puzzles where they all interconnect with each other and expand on each others rules sounded amazing.

Suffice to say, after 30+ hours in the game with my other half, The witness delivered on most, if not all promises that were made in the run up to the game’s release, and in interviews afterwards.

So what is The Witness? Simply put, it’s a walking simulator whereby you walk around an island and solve line puzzles. If anything, that simplification may actually be doing something of a disservice to The Witness, because it’s so much more.

You start off in a tunnel, where the only way your player can go is forward. From the very offset, The Witness is telling you that there’ll be no hand-holding in this adventure, with everything you need to know being conveyed using the world and the environment itself. This point is pushed home not just 5 seconds later, when you come across a door which has the first puzzle you need to solve on. Before you can begin the game properly, you need to press X on the first puzzle, which is impossible to fail. On this first board/screen, you’re presented with a simple line – at one end, a circle, at the other, the end of the line. Simply pressing X within the circle at the left begins a line to wherever you direct it – pressing X again once you’ve directed the line to the end solves the puzzle. Simple right?

Well, whilst it starts off simple, this premise soon gets expanded upon no end, with other boards adding symbols or colours to represent new untold rules. These new rules will always be introduced in a nice, gentle manner; similar to the way the first ever puzzle was introduced. Once you start to get used to a new rule, the proceeding puzzles will push your knowledge of this new rule to the limit, even pushing you so far as to combine your knowledge of other puzzles too. This introduction -> expansion -> mastery loop is genuinely fantastic, and constantly makes you feel like a genius each time you master a new rule. There are times where a few guesses will successfully get you through a few puzzles, but these moments , if anything, help you to master a new rule even more – as you’re constantly looking at why your guesses succeeded, and what the difference is between new puzzles.

I seem to have gotten ahead of myself a little – as I haven’t explained why you’re solving these puzzles. The genuine answer is intrigue. As per the core gameplay loop whereby nothing is explained and it’s up to you to figure out the meaning of the puzzles, the same happens on the island you play upon. As you explore and walk around the island finding new boards, you’ll notice little structures and untold stories – all of which are, as their names imply, completely untold. It’s up to you to decide, or interpret what happened on this island, and why all these boards exist.

On top of this, there’s many hidden tapes to find throughout the island. When found and activated, the tapes go ahead and play a fantastic, and somewhat unrelated speech by a philosopher or scientist in the real world. Whilst I enjoyed finding this hidden tapes, my other half was certainly confused, and found their presence annoying, as she couldn’t make sense as to why they existed. For what it’s worth, whilst I agree they felt a little abstract, I enjoyed listening to these thought provoking statements whilst stretching my brains capacity in trying to figure out puzzle solutions.

The island you explore is huge, and the amount of variety in the puzzles you find is insane! I was about to go into detail in how they all differentiate from each other, but I feel in knowing what to look out for would ruin the surprise and satisfaction you get from learning a puzzles rule by yourself. Don’t take these words lightly; The Witness will have you feeling like an idiot, and a genius, all at the same time.

Graphically, The Witness is stunning. Minimalism is the theme here, but it’s not minimalism without detail. Everything on the island is bright and saturated to high heaven, with geometry standing out to make sure you notice subtle environment cues which could help solve puzzles. It’s not a stretch to say that any screenshot you take within The Witness is frame-able, with stunning views and amazing attention to detail even in every nook and cranny. All this stunning art on display becomes all the more vibrant on a PS4 Pro with a 4K HDR screen – so much so that when I tried to play the game again on PC I couldn’t get over how much of a difference the transition made.

There is one cause for concern – the core of the game itself. Whilst I personally loved the theme of The Witness, and lavished every moment I spent figuring out puzzles or exploring, I can see why for some people this type of game would rub them up completely the wrong way. The lack of instructions, direction, or anything to propel you along any given path can be seen as a disadvantage to some gamers. Bear this in mind if you find “walking simulators” like Dear Esther a little too dull or non-linear.

So should you go out and buy a copy of the Witness? Wholeheartedly yes. Even if it’s just to experiment with a puzzle game to see how far you can get, The Witness pushes the limit of what it means to be a puzzle game, making you as a player feel simultaneously clever, and stupid, all at once. I didn’t finish every puzzle in the game, and certainly didn’t find all the island had to offer me, but I know for a fact I’ll keep coming back to The Witness, just to chip away at it time and time again.

5/5

16/06/2017
Weekly Gaming: Killer is Dead (PC)

Growing up, I loved the concept of “weird”. I would love to describe myself as weird, and would consistently go out of my way to do weird things, both to differentiate myself in school, but also to see and feel different experiences. Being almost 30, I’ve toned down in that regard, but “weird” is the only word that comes to mind when I think of my time in Grasshopper Manufacture’s Killer is Dead.

The game, boiled down to it’s core components, is a hack and slash interlaced with a dating simulator. You play as Mondo, an emo gentleman that has a robotic arm that no one takes notice of, and who is pretty agile with a sword. Mondo works for an execution firm (as weird as that may sound) and so takes on contracts to kill nuisances in the paranormal (and normal) world. The first mission, for example, is to explore a house reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, complete with upside down stairs, rose gardens, and a blonde lady named Alice. By the end of the mission you’re taking on Spiders with human faces, and destroying all in your way, all to complete the contract.

This weird state of affairs may seem odd at first, but you soon get used to it, mainly because no one else in the world gives a shit or thinks it’s normal. This weird and wonderful premise means that the developers were able to go crazy with some ideas, like having a palace on the moon which people can visit with no issues, or skeleton monsters which nick peoples ears to listen to music more easily. Once you get immersed in the weirdness, it’s strange how little it all phases you when new things come up, so much so that I’m even now, weeks after finishing the game, thinking about some of the moments I saw, and realising how awesome they truly were.

Aestehtically, Killer is Dead’s Noiré vibe fits right at home with the paranormal and technical elements on display. I couldn’t help but get vibes of Devil May Cry, or even Cowboy Bebop throughout my whole time in the game. It felt, and looks incredible, even when some areas are so dark you find it hard to see enemies – aesthetics above all else as they say.

So whilst it’s weird on the setting and aesthetics front, how does the gameplay hold up? Well, I for one love hack and slash games, with Killer is Dead easily being on of the most stylish, and enjoyable ones I’ve played in quite a few years. The usual controls work out fine here: press the X button to attack continuously, Y to break enemies guard, and B to dodge or deflect attacks coming at you. Dodge an attack at just the right time, and you’ll have the ability to slice and dice your opponent for quite a while – a god send in boss fights and brilliant for getting your combo up.

What’s worth mentioning in this standard action affair is the absolute style pouring out of every action Mondo performs. Every movement to begin with is slow and melodic, making combo breaking all the more frustrating should it ever occur. But should you get into a rythme of dodging enemies attacks and dealing a huge amount of damage, Mondo proceeds to move around the stage in more exuberant and stylish ways, with him even going so far as to do flips and somersaults with each attack he performs. This style is stunning, and kept me well in awe even in the final moments of the game.

Music wise, the game is absolutely stellar, with Killer is Dead’s soundtrack all feeding back to the Noiré feeling. During fights and the many, many cutscenes I couldn’t help but get engrossed in the gorgeous presentation and soundtrack that all made the world of Killer is Dead feel so real. The fact that the music manages to jump between mellow noiré and action tempo’s so quickly is also commendable, and had me engrossed all the way through. One things for certain, I’m going to be listening to this soundtrack for a long time to come.

The romantic side quests are funny, and fairly entertaining, but do little to add to the game itself. My biggest annoyance with them was the fact that they were more buggy than the actual game, and as such, every time I participated in one the game froze so I had to restart the PC (couldn’t even get back to windows it crashed that hard). This may be because the romance missions are side-objectives and not actually essential to the game (so less care was given to bugs), it’s just annoying I wasn’t able to unlock every weapon (which are given as rewards for successful side quests) due to the annoying bugs present.

Overall, I’m annoyed at myself for not having played Killer is Dead sooner. Everything about the game, from it’s characters, to it’s gorgeous environments, to even the weird ways in which the world finds new ways to surprise you, talked to me on an emotional level. Weird is certainly one word for Killer is Dead, but that’s what makes it unique, and as such, a true delight to experience.

4/5

09/06/2017
Weekly Gaming: Kamiko (Nintendo Switch)

Hi all!

This week I take a look at Kamiko, a cheap-ass game for the Nintendo Switch which is fairly enjoyable and actually gives quite a lot of value for it’s money. It may be repetitive, but when you’re only spending £4.49 on a game (the equivalent of a coffee!) for your new platform, you know it’s actually a good deal.

You can read my full thoughts and opinions on the game over at VGChartz.com below:

http://www.vgchartz.com/article/268141/kamiko-ns/

Until next week guys and gals!

-Dan

26/05/2017