jobosno
BACKER
2020
With hand-crafted maps I would probably have a lot more positive things to say about the game, but with the randomly generated maps they all lack character as a setting and are therefore harder than you might expect to memorize.
The way I've described this to friends is that everything feels 15% off. The scale of the maps feels distorted in a different way from room to room, the prep time feels 15% too short and the round time feels 15% too long. These are little things that can easily change (the game's still in early access), but I think the main thing souring the game at this point ties into the prep time complaint - players at this point just don't know how to coordinate with the limited time they have. The fact that you've got to stock up and share materials at the beginning of every round suggests that you're meant to come up with these careful strategies, but you're not given a lot of time to coordinate with 5 internet strangers what the plan is before the action happens. Perhaps this will get better as the game approaches a full release and people begin to develop a more coherent meta, but I've played a lot of Counter-Strike, man, I know that even if you're all on the same page it takes like 15 seconds minimum so that everyone knows to rush A Long.
I think the way materials are shared/stolen is pretty cool and something I wish more games would do, but I think a little more work needs to be done to make sure all the parts fit together nicely. If they stick with the randomly generated maps I think that'll continue to be a downside, so I hope they're not married to that decision going forward, because that - to me - isn't what makes this game unique.
All things considered, I'm interested in where this goes. I think it is, in a word, "neat", but I'm probably not going to revisit it until it's either released or about to be - that way I can gauge what direction this game goes in the end. We'll see if it gets a popularity spike as that date approaches, too, since I'd argue it deserves one. I shit on the randomly generated maps but I think the game has an interesting visual identity and could really develop into something special with the right changes.
The way I've described this to friends is that everything feels 15% off. The scale of the maps feels distorted in a different way from room to room, the prep time feels 15% too short and the round time feels 15% too long. These are little things that can easily change (the game's still in early access), but I think the main thing souring the game at this point ties into the prep time complaint - players at this point just don't know how to coordinate with the limited time they have. The fact that you've got to stock up and share materials at the beginning of every round suggests that you're meant to come up with these careful strategies, but you're not given a lot of time to coordinate with 5 internet strangers what the plan is before the action happens. Perhaps this will get better as the game approaches a full release and people begin to develop a more coherent meta, but I've played a lot of Counter-Strike, man, I know that even if you're all on the same page it takes like 15 seconds minimum so that everyone knows to rush A Long.
I think the way materials are shared/stolen is pretty cool and something I wish more games would do, but I think a little more work needs to be done to make sure all the parts fit together nicely. If they stick with the randomly generated maps I think that'll continue to be a downside, so I hope they're not married to that decision going forward, because that - to me - isn't what makes this game unique.
All things considered, I'm interested in where this goes. I think it is, in a word, "neat", but I'm probably not going to revisit it until it's either released or about to be - that way I can gauge what direction this game goes in the end. We'll see if it gets a popularity spike as that date approaches, too, since I'd argue it deserves one. I shit on the randomly generated maps but I think the game has an interesting visual identity and could really develop into something special with the right changes.
TBD
Tremendously fun, the only game I've found that can really simulate being part of that action movie scene where the deal goes wrong - you've got chaotic gunfights, car chases, double-crosses, thievery, and clean deals actually do happen often enough that you can never be sure if you're being conned or not.
Some of the most fun I've had in a game recently without any of the tilt. It's actually because it's so impossible to shoot guns both rapidly and accurately that makes this game work - gunfights are chaotic, more bullets hit the environment than your target, and you can't even really be sure that numbers advantage will win you the fight. The best bet for everyone is just to make the damn deal and get out of there alive.
At its best, it's the most fun I've had with a video game in a while - I don't mean engagement, I mean actual fun. At its worst, it's just your average internet chatroom, if a little better due to the fact that most people are generally committed to the roleplaying. The controls are jank and sometimes I think the first-person perspective results in a little too much chaos, but the core idea here is fantastic and fills a niche I've wanted to see done for ages.
E: It may be worth noting that I've only truly attempted to play the round-based game mode. For one, it's the only server type that sees a population of more than 5 people at a time, and thus it's the only one where people will explain the game to you, as playing the World mode will drop you into what is effectively an unmoderated GMod server, something I can get elsewhere and have no interest in playing here.
Some of the most fun I've had in a game recently without any of the tilt. It's actually because it's so impossible to shoot guns both rapidly and accurately that makes this game work - gunfights are chaotic, more bullets hit the environment than your target, and you can't even really be sure that numbers advantage will win you the fight. The best bet for everyone is just to make the damn deal and get out of there alive.
At its best, it's the most fun I've had with a video game in a while - I don't mean engagement, I mean actual fun. At its worst, it's just your average internet chatroom, if a little better due to the fact that most people are generally committed to the roleplaying. The controls are jank and sometimes I think the first-person perspective results in a little too much chaos, but the core idea here is fantastic and fills a niche I've wanted to see done for ages.
E: It may be worth noting that I've only truly attempted to play the round-based game mode. For one, it's the only server type that sees a population of more than 5 people at a time, and thus it's the only one where people will explain the game to you, as playing the World mode will drop you into what is effectively an unmoderated GMod server, something I can get elsewhere and have no interest in playing here.
A deeply frustrating game, but I mean... that's kinda the point. My only recommendation with this one is to avoid doing what I did, which is come home from a job where I explain simple things to simple people and fire this up.
2019
The "big twist" that you'll likely run into the first playthrough is decidedly unsubtle, but your next playthroughs are where the substance really is in this experience. It is a short story, but the ability to experience it in game form and say "no, what if things were different" is where it shines.
Once I started exploring subsequent playthroughs and tried to get the best ending I found myself relating a lot to some characters (and very little to some others). I think I'm a tad fonder of the experience because I'm able to relate, and it's personal enough that I can't really say how that would differ if this experience is totally alien to you. I also think the game's quality suffers a bit due to its brevity, as getting the most common ending and seeing that you "missed messages" makes it extremely obvious where those missed messages were. I also think there's potential for some people to be put off by the very quirky dialogue, but the game is free and short, so it's worth a shot.
Once I started exploring subsequent playthroughs and tried to get the best ending I found myself relating a lot to some characters (and very little to some others). I think I'm a tad fonder of the experience because I'm able to relate, and it's personal enough that I can't really say how that would differ if this experience is totally alien to you. I also think the game's quality suffers a bit due to its brevity, as getting the most common ending and seeing that you "missed messages" makes it extremely obvious where those missed messages were. I also think there's potential for some people to be put off by the very quirky dialogue, but the game is free and short, so it's worth a shot.
A fun rhythm game that's got a lot of charm in both gameplay and presentation. I have a few gameplay related gripes in that the camera and some of the VFX make it hard to sight-read some of the tracks when you're first getting the hang of things, but it feels responsive and satisfying to hit the notes. I'm not great at determining whether things are charted well, but I can tell what I'm meant to be following in each song (which means it's better than the average osu! track).
The writing in the little vignettes we get is a little much, but I do feel like this is a silly complaint to level at a demo and I still generally like the fact that there's a story attached to each song.
Unreasonably good for a demo-slash-side story with a good variety of songs too, definitely check it out if you're interested in rhythm games.
The writing in the little vignettes we get is a little much, but I do feel like this is a silly complaint to level at a demo and I still generally like the fact that there's a story attached to each song.
Unreasonably good for a demo-slash-side story with a good variety of songs too, definitely check it out if you're interested in rhythm games.
2020
It's hardly a game in the traditional sense - the developers will tell you that much. However, it's exactly the type of thing I'm looking for when I want a super casual experience.
Sure, you're really only placing seeds and trash, but the limited space available means that you really have to think about how you're placing these objects (lest you crush a plant). By forcing you to place these objects deliberately, you're not only thinking about where there is physical space for these objects, but also where they'd make sense if you stumbled upon such a scene in the wild. You're creating these pretty, overgrown dioramas, sure, but you're also creating these scenes that feel haunted by the people that once lived there despite it all falling into place mere seconds ago.
It's a gorgeous game and a borderline meditative practice at times. Please check it out, it deserves the attention.
Sure, you're really only placing seeds and trash, but the limited space available means that you really have to think about how you're placing these objects (lest you crush a plant). By forcing you to place these objects deliberately, you're not only thinking about where there is physical space for these objects, but also where they'd make sense if you stumbled upon such a scene in the wild. You're creating these pretty, overgrown dioramas, sure, but you're also creating these scenes that feel haunted by the people that once lived there despite it all falling into place mere seconds ago.
It's a gorgeous game and a borderline meditative practice at times. Please check it out, it deserves the attention.
I want to like this game really badly because it's got a solid core, a competent enough paint-by-numbers soulslike that lacks any kind of charm. Every second I've played it I'm waiting for something to hook me - a story beat, some gameplay element, a cool weapon I unlock - but nothing ever does.
There are a number of elements present in this game that are obviously here because they feel "very Dark Souls" but are out-of-place when inserted here. Even the bonfire mechanic feels like it was put there because the devs like Dark Souls, as opposed to deciding "this is something the game needs/benefits from"
There are a number of elements present in this game that are obviously here because they feel "very Dark Souls" but are out-of-place when inserted here. Even the bonfire mechanic feels like it was put there because the devs like Dark Souls, as opposed to deciding "this is something the game needs/benefits from"
It's very easy to get lost in this game - there's lots to do and other than battles, everything takes about 30 seconds, so it's easy to get lost in the checklist. Due to the amount that you're "accomplishing" with such speed it's easy to forget that no individual task is really that satisfying and that your progress is mostly incremental. If you're playing strictly for the strategy elements, you're going to have a bad time - this is an otome game with the trappings of a strategy game.
This isn't to say I'm not enjoying myself - I've found myself surprised by how quickly time is flying by when I'm playing - but I'm able to recognize it as a turn-your-brain-off kind of fun. I'm not thinking that hard, I'm not doing anything mechanically intense - I'm talking to characters that are seemingly written specifically to avoid having a second personality trait.
Ultimately, regardless of how fun this game ends up being when I complete it, Nintendo wins. Not only do they have my money, but they have tricked me in to caring deeply about at least 2 of these one-note characters. If anything happens to Marianne I'm airmailing my Switch across the street.
This isn't to say I'm not enjoying myself - I've found myself surprised by how quickly time is flying by when I'm playing - but I'm able to recognize it as a turn-your-brain-off kind of fun. I'm not thinking that hard, I'm not doing anything mechanically intense - I'm talking to characters that are seemingly written specifically to avoid having a second personality trait.
Ultimately, regardless of how fun this game ends up being when I complete it, Nintendo wins. Not only do they have my money, but they have tricked me in to caring deeply about at least 2 of these one-note characters. If anything happens to Marianne I'm airmailing my Switch across the street.
2019
It's been a minute since I was this into the idea of a game, only to bounce off it so hard. While the game puts a lot of effort into its tutorials, I still think inadequate tutorialization is partly to blame here - when I played the game, I was left with an enduring feeling of "okay, what now?" and no easy way to find something that would draw me in and keep me playing. Exploration for exploration's sake is punishing - not in itself a problem - but I'm also not seeing any potentially cool stuff off in the distance when doing so, meaning I don't really have an incentive to go anywhere outside of quests.
The game doesn't need that much in the way of changes to become a good game, but the development cost (time/effort) those changes would require almost certainly wouldn't be worth it. If the devs learn from this I'd be interested to see what they can do in the future with a potential sequel/new IP, as that's probably the smarter option from a business standpoint.
The game doesn't need that much in the way of changes to become a good game, but the development cost (time/effort) those changes would require almost certainly wouldn't be worth it. If the devs learn from this I'd be interested to see what they can do in the future with a potential sequel/new IP, as that's probably the smarter option from a business standpoint.
2020
Hi Rez is very good at making games with a decent level of polish and absolutely zero charm. Gameplay is serviceable solely because it liberally lifts from other shooters. This game takes no risks and treads no new ground. It has no compelling story, characters, gameplay mechanics, maps, or even weapons. It's entirely possible I've played a game that's more aggressively bland than this one, and if that's the case then I'm at least lucky enough to have forgotten it.
2014
I'm nowhere near smart enough to know what's going on but I do know how to spawn some planes and have exactly 40 seconds of fun as they immediately get shot down by my opponent - a retired Belarusian military officer who served during the Cold War and has first-hand experience operating this equipment in real life
Whoever is making the DLCs for the Watch Dogs series needs to be given control of the main games. Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect - it's still built on the frame of the base game, meaning the mission structure is mostly the same, it's still largely repetitive and slightly too easy. But the things this DLC does right are fascinating to me, because it feels like it's getting closer to the place Watch Dogs wanted to be when it all started - a focus on how ordinary citizens are affected by the actions of society's bigger players.
Aiden Pearce is still far from being a fun-loving guy, but watching him try to reckon with how his actions have affected his now-adult nephew Jackson is compelling, human drama. Jackson is the one who introduces Aiden to the questgivers in the DLC, and together they paint a much different picture of what "resistance" can look like. With a single protagonist (well, two) to focus this DLC around, the contrast between Aiden's gunslinging and the compassionate mutual aid focus of the questgivers is especially prominent.
The result here is a story that cares much more for its characters and the connections they make than anything in the base game, a work that is supposedly all about random people coming together. Every mission feels like a lesson for Aiden or Wrench about the value in connecting with other people and learning to help others in a way that doesnt involve murder. It's not flawless - the presence of the black market dealer is an especially strange inclusion - but I was surprised at the way in which this DLC seems genuinely compassionate at times in a way I didn't expect from a Ubisoft game. If they were willing to be a little more brave and decouple this story about the consequences violent vigilantism can have from the gameplay about how fun violent vigilantism can be, there's a possibility we could've had something special. That's asking for a lot, though, and I think asking Ubisoft for a game without combat that isn't explicitly made for kids may as well be a pipe dream.
I'm looking forward to finishing this (it's a lengthy one) and I'm hoping I don't have to come back and revise this due to the story shooting itself in the foot. I would love for this to be a send-off for Aiden (and for Wrench, who has concerned voicemails from Marcus about the fact that Wrench is putting himself at risk again). But I'm afraid that Ubisoft's status as a AAA developer will result in them clinging to these series mascots instead of giving them a graceful, dignified exit that they probably don't deserve.
Aiden Pearce is still far from being a fun-loving guy, but watching him try to reckon with how his actions have affected his now-adult nephew Jackson is compelling, human drama. Jackson is the one who introduces Aiden to the questgivers in the DLC, and together they paint a much different picture of what "resistance" can look like. With a single protagonist (well, two) to focus this DLC around, the contrast between Aiden's gunslinging and the compassionate mutual aid focus of the questgivers is especially prominent.
The result here is a story that cares much more for its characters and the connections they make than anything in the base game, a work that is supposedly all about random people coming together. Every mission feels like a lesson for Aiden or Wrench about the value in connecting with other people and learning to help others in a way that doesnt involve murder. It's not flawless - the presence of the black market dealer is an especially strange inclusion - but I was surprised at the way in which this DLC seems genuinely compassionate at times in a way I didn't expect from a Ubisoft game. If they were willing to be a little more brave and decouple this story about the consequences violent vigilantism can have from the gameplay about how fun violent vigilantism can be, there's a possibility we could've had something special. That's asking for a lot, though, and I think asking Ubisoft for a game without combat that isn't explicitly made for kids may as well be a pipe dream.
I'm looking forward to finishing this (it's a lengthy one) and I'm hoping I don't have to come back and revise this due to the story shooting itself in the foot. I would love for this to be a send-off for Aiden (and for Wrench, who has concerned voicemails from Marcus about the fact that Wrench is putting himself at risk again). But I'm afraid that Ubisoft's status as a AAA developer will result in them clinging to these series mascots instead of giving them a graceful, dignified exit that they probably don't deserve.
2021
Initial impressions look a lot like a game that allows for skill expression through simple mechanics, but the reality of it is that the rigidity of its systems makes it tough to play. Offense players with one of the normal (non-powerup) balls can alter the timing of a throw, but in a 1v1 it'll be pretty hard to trip up a skilled defensive player. Teamwork is important primarily because defense is so easy, meaning that you'll need a teammate doing something to prevent tackle-spamming or making an easy catch (the timing window is fairly generous). This game has/had potential, but without some tweaking of timing windows, new mechanics, or new interactions with existing mechanics, I think people may tire of this one fairly quickly.
2018
It's alright. It's almost criminally easy on a controller unless you're playing on Master difficulty, given that I had FC'd 9-10 songs before even unlocking half of them (despite playing on Hard and not being the best rhythm game player).
It's got a pretty large library, which you're going to need given how much you'll have to grind if you actually care about unlocking anything. There's a Steam guide out there that suggests you can unlock all the characters within 7-8 hours if you have the XP boost from the DLC and the specific character that also boosts XP. Of course, 7-8 hours in a rhythm game feels like 40-50 in any other, and that's with the XP boosts.
There's a lot of little personal turn-offs - I don't really like the aesthetic and the music is really, really bad at times. It feels wrong to knock too many points off for these but given how simple it is mechanically, it really feels like you're meant to buy into the style and it's just... not for me.
It's got a pretty large library, which you're going to need given how much you'll have to grind if you actually care about unlocking anything. There's a Steam guide out there that suggests you can unlock all the characters within 7-8 hours if you have the XP boost from the DLC and the specific character that also boosts XP. Of course, 7-8 hours in a rhythm game feels like 40-50 in any other, and that's with the XP boosts.
There's a lot of little personal turn-offs - I don't really like the aesthetic and the music is really, really bad at times. It feels wrong to knock too many points off for these but given how simple it is mechanically, it really feels like you're meant to buy into the style and it's just... not for me.
2019
I've been putting a good bit of time into this lately, but I can't confidently say it does anything special? The format here is perfect for a mobile game - you spam-produce weapons, armor, and accessories for NPC heroes to come buy from your shop, where the only production cost is the materials used to make them. And that's…. about it? You have a limited number of production slots, a rapidly regenerating supply of materials, and an energy bar that doesn't regenerate, but also can basically be ignored.
It's got other systems tacked on too, and again, you can ignore most of these. There's a system where you hire your own heroes and send them out to collect special, non-regenerating materials. There's a system where you upgrade your townspeople for things like "higher rate of material regeneration" or… "sense of accomplishment", I guess? There's a system where you complete quests for a currency that you can probably spend on some things? I have no idea what that one does. There are still more systems I haven't mentioned, but I can't be bothered to name them, and I'm dead serious when I say you only intermittently have to interact with the first two I listed here.
I keep playing because upgrading the items you can produce hits just right - there are easy, frequent milestones, most of which are throwaways (increased chance of producing rare items, reduced material cost) but it's still relatively easy to hit those thresholds to unlock a new blueprint to produce and start the process all over. Sure, I can "ascend" these blueprints to make them even better, but I'm content to produce like 30 daggers so the big "produce" button turns gold and I can move on with my life. It's easy to hop on for 20 minutes a day, put on a YouTube video, master a blueprint, and hop off.
Shop Titans has earned the most lukewarm, flimsiest praise by being a mobile game that still relies fairly heavily on timers, but still provides enough to do that you can keep playing for as long as you want without being forced out by an energy meter (the energy meter is filled by selling and discounting items, and depleted by raising the price of items) or "watch a video ad to continue playing". There's still all kinds of real-money bullshit baked in - the "king" rolls up once every couple days to tell you that he has deemed you worthy of an Extremely Cool Guy Starter Pack for $15.99, and a couple townspeople will ask you to buy their upgrade pack to make shoulder-mounted fuck guns, but as far as mobile games go this is more of a jaywalking-level crime than a murder.
So how long will it last? I'm looking at around 30 hours in this so far and I'm starting to hit the point where the "best" items I can produce are taking around 5-7 minutes to produce (of which I can produce 5 simultaneously), instead of the 45-second-ish average that you see early on. This is just long enough that, since I'm playing on Steam, I'm probably not going to sit there and wait for those items to finish - I'm much more likely to just close it for the day. If you're playing on your phone this is probably less of an issue, but I find that returning to this game relatively infrequently has limited my attachment to the game and made me far less likely to spend money on the nearly impossible-to-earn gems. I can see the signs of a pending "difficulty" spike in the near future and could probably stall it out long enough to double my playtime in the game, but is it worth doing so? Not really. Might be about time to put this one down.
It's got other systems tacked on too, and again, you can ignore most of these. There's a system where you hire your own heroes and send them out to collect special, non-regenerating materials. There's a system where you upgrade your townspeople for things like "higher rate of material regeneration" or… "sense of accomplishment", I guess? There's a system where you complete quests for a currency that you can probably spend on some things? I have no idea what that one does. There are still more systems I haven't mentioned, but I can't be bothered to name them, and I'm dead serious when I say you only intermittently have to interact with the first two I listed here.
I keep playing because upgrading the items you can produce hits just right - there are easy, frequent milestones, most of which are throwaways (increased chance of producing rare items, reduced material cost) but it's still relatively easy to hit those thresholds to unlock a new blueprint to produce and start the process all over. Sure, I can "ascend" these blueprints to make them even better, but I'm content to produce like 30 daggers so the big "produce" button turns gold and I can move on with my life. It's easy to hop on for 20 minutes a day, put on a YouTube video, master a blueprint, and hop off.
Shop Titans has earned the most lukewarm, flimsiest praise by being a mobile game that still relies fairly heavily on timers, but still provides enough to do that you can keep playing for as long as you want without being forced out by an energy meter (the energy meter is filled by selling and discounting items, and depleted by raising the price of items) or "watch a video ad to continue playing". There's still all kinds of real-money bullshit baked in - the "king" rolls up once every couple days to tell you that he has deemed you worthy of an Extremely Cool Guy Starter Pack for $15.99, and a couple townspeople will ask you to buy their upgrade pack to make shoulder-mounted fuck guns, but as far as mobile games go this is more of a jaywalking-level crime than a murder.
So how long will it last? I'm looking at around 30 hours in this so far and I'm starting to hit the point where the "best" items I can produce are taking around 5-7 minutes to produce (of which I can produce 5 simultaneously), instead of the 45-second-ish average that you see early on. This is just long enough that, since I'm playing on Steam, I'm probably not going to sit there and wait for those items to finish - I'm much more likely to just close it for the day. If you're playing on your phone this is probably less of an issue, but I find that returning to this game relatively infrequently has limited my attachment to the game and made me far less likely to spend money on the nearly impossible-to-earn gems. I can see the signs of a pending "difficulty" spike in the near future and could probably stall it out long enough to double my playtime in the game, but is it worth doing so? Not really. Might be about time to put this one down.