I love this stupid ass game, and this replay only cemented that love. This time, I also played the dlc, Reckonin' at the Gun manor, which I hadn't played before. It adds a 2-3 hours of very good content, with puzzles that actually made me think a couple of times. There is always the violence route where you can just go "fuck it" and not do a single puzzle though, which is appreciated for the replay value. The vanilla content is already excellent, however. I laughed quite a bit even though I was replaying the same stuff. The music in this game is also excellent, with very appropriate western-esque songs that are just plain catchy. Very recommended game, I had an amazing time with it and I'm thinking of replaying it again.
Zack "Jick" Johnson is an abuser. It makes me sick to think the money I spent on KoL and this game helped enable the hierarchy that Jick created within his company and circle of friends, where from his position of power he took advantage of and abused young women. This is not some big studio game with hundreds of developers. The humor and viewpoint of Asym absolutely reflect the beliefs of the several primary creators, particularly Jick. No "separating the art from the artist," okay?
It's a horrible game but I somehow enjoyed it a lot, I love RPGs and this one was shockingly good. I expected a bad flash game, I didn't expect to embark on an epic quest around the wild west hunting evil cows, spitting everywhere, earning meat and shooting aliens while doing a cartwheel the whole time. This game is really silly, but also really fun.
When I started playing, I thought "This game feels like a full version of a Flash game I would have played around 2004."
Turns out, this is the sequel to a browser-based game from 2003 that I had never heard of.
That early-internet feel and charm is present in every aspect of this game. The simple mechanics, abundance of snarky text, ridiculous characters, the stick figure art, the absurd in-game events, etc. Honestly, I didn't know if I'd like this game when I picked it up, but I ended up being a big fan. However, there are a few things you should be aware of:
1. The game isn't too difficult if you just figure out how the stats work and use temporary buffs like food or liquor to focus on specific buffs. Also, turn off the auto-leveling and make sure you're not wasting valuable XP on stats or abilities you don't care about.
2. Plan on playing the game for a little bit to figure some things out and then starting over. There are a LOT of permanent decisions in here that I wasn't aware of going in. A small mistake can completely remove your ability to encounter other events later in the game.
3. The ending just kind of... happens. When you get to the "end" town, there's a theater that's showing "The Final Cutscene", and you can view it as many times as you want, completing more things between viewings to change the ending. You just sort of play until you're done playing and then go watch the cutscene, but there's no big ending set piece or final boss or anything like that. So just be ready for an underwhelming end.
Despite those three caveats, I'd recommend West of Loathing if you enjoy funny text-driven games, because this game made me actually want to read EVERYTHING. Everything else that this game does is somewhere between Fine and Good, but you play this for how funny and unique the setting and text are.
Turns out, this is the sequel to a browser-based game from 2003 that I had never heard of.
That early-internet feel and charm is present in every aspect of this game. The simple mechanics, abundance of snarky text, ridiculous characters, the stick figure art, the absurd in-game events, etc. Honestly, I didn't know if I'd like this game when I picked it up, but I ended up being a big fan. However, there are a few things you should be aware of:
1. The game isn't too difficult if you just figure out how the stats work and use temporary buffs like food or liquor to focus on specific buffs. Also, turn off the auto-leveling and make sure you're not wasting valuable XP on stats or abilities you don't care about.
2. Plan on playing the game for a little bit to figure some things out and then starting over. There are a LOT of permanent decisions in here that I wasn't aware of going in. A small mistake can completely remove your ability to encounter other events later in the game.
3. The ending just kind of... happens. When you get to the "end" town, there's a theater that's showing "The Final Cutscene", and you can view it as many times as you want, completing more things between viewings to change the ending. You just sort of play until you're done playing and then go watch the cutscene, but there's no big ending set piece or final boss or anything like that. So just be ready for an underwhelming end.
Despite those three caveats, I'd recommend West of Loathing if you enjoy funny text-driven games, because this game made me actually want to read EVERYTHING. Everything else that this game does is somewhere between Fine and Good, but you play this for how funny and unique the setting and text are.