lizardmwk
BACKER
Bounced off it. (Got it for free on EGS though, so...)
Smartly designed and well produced. But I feel like the game-- intentionally or otherwise-- does a poor job of keeping you informed on what the rival companies are doing, so every round ends up feeling too much like solitaire. "Here I am, just doing my own thing over here."
I got bored with it a bit too quickly.
Smartly designed and well produced. But I feel like the game-- intentionally or otherwise-- does a poor job of keeping you informed on what the rival companies are doing, so every round ends up feeling too much like solitaire. "Here I am, just doing my own thing over here."
I got bored with it a bit too quickly.
So, I played about 140 hours of AC:O before putting it on the shelf, perhaps for good.
No joke: I loved everything about the first 100 hours of this game. Here's the problem: at the pace I was playing, it probably would take me another 100 hours to finish it.
True to greek myth, this game is brought low by a tragic, hubristic flaw: It runs out of new ways to change-up the gameplay long before it runs out of map or story.
If you play half of a 5-star game, but have zero desire to play the other half, does that mean it's a 2.5? OK. Works for me.
No joke: I loved everything about the first 100 hours of this game. Here's the problem: at the pace I was playing, it probably would take me another 100 hours to finish it.
True to greek myth, this game is brought low by a tragic, hubristic flaw: It runs out of new ways to change-up the gameplay long before it runs out of map or story.
If you play half of a 5-star game, but have zero desire to play the other half, does that mean it's a 2.5? OK. Works for me.
2015
Roguelike design trait that I hate the most: The last level is orders of magnitude harder than anything else, and introduces new learn-by-dying mechanics that you couldn't possibly prepare for.
Darkest Dungeon is the poster child for this late game difficulty spike, and as a result it gives every run a cruise-into-a-brick-wall feel. This is the game that made me avoid roguelikes as a genre for years afterward, a bad taste that still lingers as I write this today.
Darkest Dungeon is the poster child for this late game difficulty spike, and as a result it gives every run a cruise-into-a-brick-wall feel. This is the game that made me avoid roguelikes as a genre for years afterward, a bad taste that still lingers as I write this today.
2019
A pretty, peaceful adventure game where you're a bird. Except the parts where you're not a bird, which are terrible.
Also, the game was released in such a buggy state that I thought the frequent crashes were going to brick my PS4. Maybe they've patched it? If so, I may give it another chance some day.
Also, the game was released in such a buggy state that I thought the frequent crashes were going to brick my PS4. Maybe they've patched it? If so, I may give it another chance some day.
2018
A game I backed on Kickstarter, so I probably came into it with my expectations set too high. Great pixel art style, but poor controls and lackluster dungeon design made it boring to play.
The best version of Lumines. Best music, best mechanics, best skins. Fight me.
2021
Hypothesis: I think I don't have all that much interest in MOBAs... But maybe it's just because the on-ramp to learn Dota or LoL is so time-consuming and fraught with toxic jerks?
Experiment: Played a few hours of Pokemon Unite. Since Unite's aim is to condense down the mechanics of a MOBA to something that's simple to pick-up-and-play on the Switch, it seems like it'd be a good way in.
Result: Ehhhh. Turns out I'm still not all that interested. I understand why I'm losing fights more often here than in League, but the fights themselves still feel unexciting compared to something more action-forward like Overwatch.
Conclusion: Oh well. I'm glad others are enjoying it, but there's 100 things on my backlog that I'd rather play.
Experiment: Played a few hours of Pokemon Unite. Since Unite's aim is to condense down the mechanics of a MOBA to something that's simple to pick-up-and-play on the Switch, it seems like it'd be a good way in.
Result: Ehhhh. Turns out I'm still not all that interested. I understand why I'm losing fights more often here than in League, but the fights themselves still feel unexciting compared to something more action-forward like Overwatch.
Conclusion: Oh well. I'm glad others are enjoying it, but there's 100 things on my backlog that I'd rather play.
1989
It's... Tetris. Who doesn't like Tetris?
Rating this a 4 only because Tetris Effect made me realize that NES Tetris is not a perfect game, but rather one that could benefit from a few smart tune-ups. When I go back to play classic Tetris now, I miss the improved mechanics that came along in later years (e.g. the infinite spin, the hold queue, scripted levels that speed up and slow down instead of just constant escalation, etc)
Rating this a 4 only because Tetris Effect made me realize that NES Tetris is not a perfect game, but rather one that could benefit from a few smart tune-ups. When I go back to play classic Tetris now, I miss the improved mechanics that came along in later years (e.g. the infinite spin, the hold queue, scripted levels that speed up and slow down instead of just constant escalation, etc)
1994
A low-key classic. Turns out the one-screen platformer was the perfect fit for the Game Boy, and the concept is sort of audacious when you think about it: A decade after the original became one of the biggest arcade hits of all-time, Nintendo created this remake that starts with the same 4 levels that everyone knows but then just keeps going... and going... all the way to level 99.
Worth emulating, or tracking down the 3DS reprint at a junk shop.
Worth emulating, or tracking down the 3DS reprint at a junk shop.
TBD
Haven't played this in 30+ years, but I remember it being one of my favorite games for the Atari 400.
It's essentially a queue-management game, like Tapper mashed up with Mini Metro. You're guiding a rowboat around a Venice-like city grid. Ducks leap from the balconies, and you have to catch them before they hit the water and deliver them to the beach. (Why can't they just fly or swim there themselves? I think that is the joke, my dude.)
My sister & I sank endless hours into it.
It's essentially a queue-management game, like Tapper mashed up with Mini Metro. You're guiding a rowboat around a Venice-like city grid. Ducks leap from the balconies, and you have to catch them before they hit the water and deliver them to the beach. (Why can't they just fly or swim there themselves? I think that is the joke, my dude.)
My sister & I sank endless hours into it.
1979
Asteroids on an o.g. vector display is a thing of startling beauty. Blazing white glyphs against a field of utter blackness.
Still fun today; I've dumped endless quarters into the one at Ground Kontrol in Portland.
Still fun today; I've dumped endless quarters into the one at Ground Kontrol in Portland.
1997
In one hundred thousand years, when our planet is long abandoned, a Nokia phone running Snake will be the last still-working video game.
3 out of 5 stars. Needs a jump button.
3 out of 5 stars. Needs a jump button.
2018
Tfw you fail a Tetris level because you’re crying too hard in VR
-2 stars for that cornball rap on level 2, but it’s a seven-out-of-five otherwise so it all works out
-2 stars for that cornball rap on level 2, but it’s a seven-out-of-five otherwise so it all works out
1972
I prefer Spacewar personally, i’m not that into sports games
1962
cigar-shaped ship is OP, still waiting on that balance patch
Goofs aside Spacewar still kind of rips. Fire it up in an emulator with a friend and you’ve got a good time on your hands. I have fond memories of playing a port of a port of a port of it, off a 5-1/4 floppy on my bestie’s mom’s Tandy back in the old timey days.
Goofs aside Spacewar still kind of rips. Fire it up in an emulator with a friend and you’ve got a good time on your hands. I have fond memories of playing a port of a port of a port of it, off a 5-1/4 floppy on my bestie’s mom’s Tandy back in the old timey days.