2013
Ibb and Obb is a fun little platformer wherein two mushroom-bodied characters must work in unison to overcome mind-boggling puzzles and continue their journey from the left side of the screen to the right.
You can play alone with both joysticks, but I don't recommend it. You're going to need the extra hands for some of the impending twitch play and pitch-perfect timing, and having an extra brain handy ought to get the job done twice as fast.
Simple and slick in presentation and easy to pick up and play, it's fair to say Ibb and Obb is an obvious choice for someone into cooperative gaming, although I wouldn't be comfortable calling it a no-brainer.
You can play alone with both joysticks, but I don't recommend it. You're going to need the extra hands for some of the impending twitch play and pitch-perfect timing, and having an extra brain handy ought to get the job done twice as fast.
Simple and slick in presentation and easy to pick up and play, it's fair to say Ibb and Obb is an obvious choice for someone into cooperative gaming, although I wouldn't be comfortable calling it a no-brainer.
2013
Over the past few years, I've heard the term "roguelike" being used to describe many upcoming fantasy-themed games. Even though practically anything with a sword has been my jam since the original Zelda, screenshots of said games failed to pique my interest. The reemerging genre was being exemplified by previously underutilized ideas like permadeath and random maps, but the big turnoff for me was the tile-based gameplay. Rogue Legacy however focuses on twitch-perfect Metroidvania action instead, which is a grind I can get behind.
There's a neat little family tree gimmick which ties it all together. A foolhardy knight storms the randomized castle with a sword drawn outward, as if charging into certain doom. It's because they are, and will surely die in a matter of minutes. You will never see them again (permadeath) but can choose one of three random heirs, each with their own often hilarious attributes. Choosing an heir with IBS won't impact your play, but there are throwaway traits like vertigo which are all but unplayable and only novel at a glance.
The chosen heir can immediately exchange the treasure found by the previous ancestor to level up the overall family so that the bloodline grows exponentially stronger. Therein lies the addictive part of Rogue Legacy: to spend the profits you just worked so hard for is to begin the cycle over with a new heir. Rinse, repeat.
I meant to give it a quick try one night but ended up playing until morning. I started discussing and researching it constantly, spreading the word to friends. I was hooked; Rogue Legacy was the real deal. I hadn't been that engrossed in grinding levels in quite some time. I was working toward collecting every achievement sans the insane trophy with a requirement to beat the game with fifteen heirs or less.
Then, at the peak of my obsession, my save file was mysteriously corrupted and erased. I was nearing level 150 and had three of the four bosses defeated. To start over at that point was beyond discouraging, although it couldn't have been much more than ten hours lost.
Now, I can tolerate the grind in only small doses, running through the castle with a few heirs per sitting as opposed to binge playing all night long. It took a corrupted file for me to regard Rogue Legacy without blinders, but the second time around, the novelty started to wear thin and I surmised that a randomized castle could never be as special as one that's fixed and familiar.
There's a neat little family tree gimmick which ties it all together. A foolhardy knight storms the randomized castle with a sword drawn outward, as if charging into certain doom. It's because they are, and will surely die in a matter of minutes. You will never see them again (permadeath) but can choose one of three random heirs, each with their own often hilarious attributes. Choosing an heir with IBS won't impact your play, but there are throwaway traits like vertigo which are all but unplayable and only novel at a glance.
The chosen heir can immediately exchange the treasure found by the previous ancestor to level up the overall family so that the bloodline grows exponentially stronger. Therein lies the addictive part of Rogue Legacy: to spend the profits you just worked so hard for is to begin the cycle over with a new heir. Rinse, repeat.
I meant to give it a quick try one night but ended up playing until morning. I started discussing and researching it constantly, spreading the word to friends. I was hooked; Rogue Legacy was the real deal. I hadn't been that engrossed in grinding levels in quite some time. I was working toward collecting every achievement sans the insane trophy with a requirement to beat the game with fifteen heirs or less.
Then, at the peak of my obsession, my save file was mysteriously corrupted and erased. I was nearing level 150 and had three of the four bosses defeated. To start over at that point was beyond discouraging, although it couldn't have been much more than ten hours lost.
Now, I can tolerate the grind in only small doses, running through the castle with a few heirs per sitting as opposed to binge playing all night long. It took a corrupted file for me to regard Rogue Legacy without blinders, but the second time around, the novelty started to wear thin and I surmised that a randomized castle could never be as special as one that's fixed and familiar.
2017
I hate this game. It's soooo stupid because I suck at it. And get this- there is a camera in the game and you have to control it. No other game makes you do that. Oh, and ewwww you have to collect things! I don't want to get anything ever in any game. Please just give me totally empty worlds- I don't want incentives to explore every corner.
And it's wayyy too long. No, I mean it's too short. It's too long and short. We should all just give a bad rating now because it will probably have DLC and all games with DLC are bad.
What's worst of all, it can't run perfectly on my computer which I just got eight years ago. OMG no, the very worst thing is that they removed an actor's voice from the game just because he was revealed to be a raving racist right before the launch of the game! Way to go you stupid democrats! I think I should've had a say in that matter. I helped fund the game on kickstarter from the very beginning, even though I hate the Banjo series and platformers in general. I thought this would be different.
And it's wayyy too long. No, I mean it's too short. It's too long and short. We should all just give a bad rating now because it will probably have DLC and all games with DLC are bad.
What's worst of all, it can't run perfectly on my computer which I just got eight years ago. OMG no, the very worst thing is that they removed an actor's voice from the game just because he was revealed to be a raving racist right before the launch of the game! Way to go you stupid democrats! I think I should've had a say in that matter. I helped fund the game on kickstarter from the very beginning, even though I hate the Banjo series and platformers in general. I thought this would be different.
2013
SPOILERS AHEAD. Not that there's any semblance of plot, but if you wish to keep your expectations in the dark.
I knew nothing about Proteus going in and intentionally stayed away from any explanation of its purpose. I was intrigued by the game's Myst-like non-direction, and wanted to figure out what I could on my own.
For a while, I wandered about this crudely pixelated and randomized island at a sluggish pace. I could sit, walk, take screenshots, and close my eyes slowly which I quickly learned was the way to quit.
I walked and walked, but didn't find much. I found what seemed like frogs that sprang musical notes with each hop. More animals that would do the same. I found one house with no entrance. That's about it.
The musical score of washy tones is decent, but I wasn't blown away by the animals trotting along with the music; we've seen music accompany actions in games like Rez and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. The bright and simplistic art direction wasn't that impressive, either. While I strolled around this tiny island, I wondered if the music and graphics would gradually improve if I hit the right triggers... Maybe that was the objective. As it were, it felt like a terribly unfinished version of Skyrim.
I walked around the same dull, but admittedly tranquil island. I saw some sweeping mist and fixed myself into its pull, and raced along with it for a few seconds until it formed a swirling ring. I sat inside of it like in Journey, which I think was unnecessary. The season changed. I had another long look around and found nothing new except the seasonal aesthetic. I repeated the mist routine once more and changed the season again. And again.
And then, for some reason I was doing something I would define as hardly flying, and then the game ended as a trophy popped along with the credits.
Afterwards, I checked the trophy list and the internet to see if there was anything deeper. The trophy list seemed to make me think there was, while all online explanations of the game remarked on its interactive simplicity and pure exploratory nature- another "soothing" experience. On the game's Wikipedia page, one of the creators admitted that he was attempting to make an Elder Scrolls type game but grew discouraged and gave up. I guess I wasn't too far off.
Should Proteus be regarded as an artsy release that challenges the classifications of a video game, or should it be considered unfinished and unworthy of the fifteen dollar price tag? I feel a bit ripped off. Let's leave daring questions like, "what is a video game?" to thatgamecompany. The hoopla around Proteus should beg a different question: can the implementation of trophies turn a hardly interactive game of nothing into an exploration game with objectives?
I knew nothing about Proteus going in and intentionally stayed away from any explanation of its purpose. I was intrigued by the game's Myst-like non-direction, and wanted to figure out what I could on my own.
For a while, I wandered about this crudely pixelated and randomized island at a sluggish pace. I could sit, walk, take screenshots, and close my eyes slowly which I quickly learned was the way to quit.
I walked and walked, but didn't find much. I found what seemed like frogs that sprang musical notes with each hop. More animals that would do the same. I found one house with no entrance. That's about it.
The musical score of washy tones is decent, but I wasn't blown away by the animals trotting along with the music; we've seen music accompany actions in games like Rez and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. The bright and simplistic art direction wasn't that impressive, either. While I strolled around this tiny island, I wondered if the music and graphics would gradually improve if I hit the right triggers... Maybe that was the objective. As it were, it felt like a terribly unfinished version of Skyrim.
I walked around the same dull, but admittedly tranquil island. I saw some sweeping mist and fixed myself into its pull, and raced along with it for a few seconds until it formed a swirling ring. I sat inside of it like in Journey, which I think was unnecessary. The season changed. I had another long look around and found nothing new except the seasonal aesthetic. I repeated the mist routine once more and changed the season again. And again.
And then, for some reason I was doing something I would define as hardly flying, and then the game ended as a trophy popped along with the credits.
Afterwards, I checked the trophy list and the internet to see if there was anything deeper. The trophy list seemed to make me think there was, while all online explanations of the game remarked on its interactive simplicity and pure exploratory nature- another "soothing" experience. On the game's Wikipedia page, one of the creators admitted that he was attempting to make an Elder Scrolls type game but grew discouraged and gave up. I guess I wasn't too far off.
Should Proteus be regarded as an artsy release that challenges the classifications of a video game, or should it be considered unfinished and unworthy of the fifteen dollar price tag? I feel a bit ripped off. Let's leave daring questions like, "what is a video game?" to thatgamecompany. The hoopla around Proteus should beg a different question: can the implementation of trophies turn a hardly interactive game of nothing into an exploration game with objectives?
2013
Telltale Games has made a name for themselves by releasing episodic "choose your own" adventure games sprinkled with quick time events. From Back to the Future to The Walking Dead to The Wolf Among Us, the engine has remained the same, but the art style and writing has improved tremendously.
The Wolf Among Us is near perfection of this template. I jumped in wanting to give it a quick look, but found I couldn't pull myself away, not for a second. I felt this way about the previous Telltale series, too, but they really hit the nail on the head when it comes to the pacing of plot and action sequences in Wolf.
Telltale has a great record when selecting source material, and this time is no different. I'm a comic book guy who mostly sticks with Marvel Superheroes and Osamu Tezuka books. I've browsed through the Fables books that Wolf is based on only to put them down after discovering they weren't as purely fantastical as the title and sometimes deceptive covers would suggest. If I wanted grit, I would read Daredevil. After playing the first episode of Wolf, my folly in not acknowledging the brilliance of the Fables world was evident.
There is an excellent cast of heavily flawed characters that make this supernatural South Bronx community come alive. The protagonist, Bigby Wolf (Big B Wolf, get it?), is put through the wringer in this episode, and you can swing him into whichever direction you wish. Some of these malicious characters deserve a beating, and you play just the right guy to give it to them. A lot of gut decisions are made under short deadlines, but sometimes your gut is outrageous and you can only see clearly after committing to horrendous actions.
If you've never played an episode of a Telltale adventure game, you owe it to yourself to give this cinematic interactivity a try. At the least, it's the future of adventure games, and it may even be the future of television and comics.
The Wolf Among Us is near perfection of this template. I jumped in wanting to give it a quick look, but found I couldn't pull myself away, not for a second. I felt this way about the previous Telltale series, too, but they really hit the nail on the head when it comes to the pacing of plot and action sequences in Wolf.
Telltale has a great record when selecting source material, and this time is no different. I'm a comic book guy who mostly sticks with Marvel Superheroes and Osamu Tezuka books. I've browsed through the Fables books that Wolf is based on only to put them down after discovering they weren't as purely fantastical as the title and sometimes deceptive covers would suggest. If I wanted grit, I would read Daredevil. After playing the first episode of Wolf, my folly in not acknowledging the brilliance of the Fables world was evident.
There is an excellent cast of heavily flawed characters that make this supernatural South Bronx community come alive. The protagonist, Bigby Wolf (Big B Wolf, get it?), is put through the wringer in this episode, and you can swing him into whichever direction you wish. Some of these malicious characters deserve a beating, and you play just the right guy to give it to them. A lot of gut decisions are made under short deadlines, but sometimes your gut is outrageous and you can only see clearly after committing to horrendous actions.
If you've never played an episode of a Telltale adventure game, you owe it to yourself to give this cinematic interactivity a try. At the least, it's the future of adventure games, and it may even be the future of television and comics.
This review contains spoilers
Starbreeze Studios teamed up with Swedish film director Josef Fares to make Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. The marriage of game and film produced a non-stop cinematic experience in which no time is spent fumbling through menus, button schematics, or overly challenging puzzles. It's a thrilling three hours for the price of a movie ticket.
The game's bubbly character models and tidbits of humor make it appear less exotic than somber influences like Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and Journey, but the solemn story is riddled with suffering and delivered in a fictional language that masks any disastrous voice acting. With its maturity in question, the last thing this game needed was a Jake Lloyd sound-alike.
Although Brothers is an amalgam of gameplay focused on simultaneous activity of two protagonists, the linear action never feels forced. All dual activities melt perfectly into plot events instead of feeling like a loosely connected series of mini-games. The slick environments also suppress the gimmick, even though there are moments when the acrobatic boys can't overcome grossly insignificant roadblocks without first solving puzzles.
Basic movement is similar to Ico but there are no customary jump or attack buttons, only one button per brother that interacts with triggerable objects or people. The brothers meet many troubled characters along the way and help them through their hardships. Some of them will assist in return, like the troll in the first chapter who can throw the boys across big gaps and position himself to be walked or climbed across.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is an instant classic that successfully combines interactivity and cinema. Those concerned about the short length should know it's absolutely worth a second play at minimum.
The game's bubbly character models and tidbits of humor make it appear less exotic than somber influences like Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and Journey, but the solemn story is riddled with suffering and delivered in a fictional language that masks any disastrous voice acting. With its maturity in question, the last thing this game needed was a Jake Lloyd sound-alike.
Although Brothers is an amalgam of gameplay focused on simultaneous activity of two protagonists, the linear action never feels forced. All dual activities melt perfectly into plot events instead of feeling like a loosely connected series of mini-games. The slick environments also suppress the gimmick, even though there are moments when the acrobatic boys can't overcome grossly insignificant roadblocks without first solving puzzles.
Basic movement is similar to Ico but there are no customary jump or attack buttons, only one button per brother that interacts with triggerable objects or people. The brothers meet many troubled characters along the way and help them through their hardships. Some of them will assist in return, like the troll in the first chapter who can throw the boys across big gaps and position himself to be walked or climbed across.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is an instant classic that successfully combines interactivity and cinema. Those concerned about the short length should know it's absolutely worth a second play at minimum.
1988
fat, medium, skinny hockey is still some of the best hockey
1985
help thomas save sylvia from mr x in this incredibly snappy version of a more clunky arcade game
david crane is a genius, i'm gonna call this one a metroidvania since you need new jelly beans to reach new places in an open world
1993
still the pinnacle of hockey games
1991
one man. one world. one desire. isolated. HIGH OCTAANE
it's called violence killer in japan
1993
backwards difficulty curve where if you learn how to beat the first level, you're rewarded with a solid action romp
the predator of video games
2004
people were mad at molyneux for creating a charming and ultimately satisfying open world experience for us