urbaer
2019
This game has a simple premise (you're a thing with legs and feet and no arms) but it finds interesting things to do with it.
The plot is funny and the characters are pretty goofy. In this way I feel like it's like the charming Wandersong, but with different ways of interacting with the world and less puzzles.
I'd recommend this one, but be aware it's a quicky.
The plot is funny and the characters are pretty goofy. In this way I feel like it's like the charming Wandersong, but with different ways of interacting with the world and less puzzles.
I'd recommend this one, but be aware it's a quicky.
2019
The Touryst is a 3d blocky puzzle platformer that really doesn't have too much platforming.
The game is padded out a fair bit with what would normally be side quests, little mini games and fetch quests. Which is fine, though you're required to do a certain percentage to complete the see and see the credits.
But it's got a nice atmosphere and does have a very summery feel (which is nice given that I'm in wintery cold Melbourne).
Some of the mini games though are a pain, while others are a nice distraction.
The temples tend to be interesting, implementing different mechanics. Some of the temples require you to do platforming to platforms over inky black depths, which makes life a little too tricky as it's hard to get a sense of depth.
The games not punitive though, any death just restarts you from the start of the room, but it can be frustrating all the same.
The game is padded out a fair bit with what would normally be side quests, little mini games and fetch quests. Which is fine, though you're required to do a certain percentage to complete the see and see the credits.
But it's got a nice atmosphere and does have a very summery feel (which is nice given that I'm in wintery cold Melbourne).
Some of the mini games though are a pain, while others are a nice distraction.
The temples tend to be interesting, implementing different mechanics. Some of the temples require you to do platforming to platforms over inky black depths, which makes life a little too tricky as it's hard to get a sense of depth.
The games not punitive though, any death just restarts you from the start of the room, but it can be frustrating all the same.
2017
I'm not certain about this one. On the one hand I like solving these "Learn about a person to find out their password" kind of games buuuuuut by the same token it feels a little creepy to go through someone's phone.
The artwork is nice though and the soundtrack is pleasing and the puzzles aren't too complicated.
For some reason it reminded me of Her Story where you learn about a day, then as you learn more the old information bis seen in a new light.
The artwork is nice though and the soundtrack is pleasing and the puzzles aren't too complicated.
For some reason it reminded me of Her Story where you learn about a day, then as you learn more the old information bis seen in a new light.
2019
This felt a lot like Oxenfree but with a very hopeless feel to it. The world is interesting and the drinking theme works well with both the story of what's happening in the world and it builds to something important, but I never rarely felt that it mattered what I got the characters to drink in the moment to moment. I also sucked at some of the drinking games.
By the end I was satisfied, even though in a sense it also feels short and slightly empty. I didn't feel like I needed to play it again (even though things would be different based on choices and what not).
I think Night School can do another great game, but this one missed the mark for me.
By the end I was satisfied, even though in a sense it also feels short and slightly empty. I didn't feel like I needed to play it again (even though things would be different based on choices and what not).
I think Night School can do another great game, but this one missed the mark for me.
2016
Was actually quite a nice experience just wandering sometimes and learning the lay of the land. And reporting almost everything to Delilah. Didn't mind the ending, there was enough pointing to it, though there are some issues that I guess you could explain away. But such a lovely game.
Did get stuck between two invisible walls at one point though and had to waggle out
Did get stuck between two invisible walls at one point though and had to waggle out
2015
As Rock Band Rivals is coming out very soon, figured I should finish off the Campaign mode of Rock Band 4. The end is rather unsatisfying as you get closer to it, it starts to push Nightmare difficulty songs on you all of which seem to also be very long songs. And it just ends up being a bit of a chore. And your reward is just a "hey well done for that" screen and then some credits.
There's still more to do in the campaign mode (like get more fans and money) but I almost feel like it's just more interesting to jump into quickplay.
Still when Rock Band Rivals comes out, I'll dip back in to see how the Behind the Music segments play out. Plus my daughter will probably end up signing "Happy", so that'll be nice too!
There's still more to do in the campaign mode (like get more fans and money) but I almost feel like it's just more interesting to jump into quickplay.
Still when Rock Band Rivals comes out, I'll dip back in to see how the Behind the Music segments play out. Plus my daughter will probably end up signing "Happy", so that'll be nice too!
2020
SKYE is a student project I believe and sees you flying a plane around an island. You're given tasks to complete to further the story and it's fairly fun but very chill.
And at a certain point out of nowhere you're told to go home and the game is over. Which is a shame because I'm sure there's more that I would have liked to see from the game, but it being a student project I guess they ran out of time to do more.
Oh did I mention it's free on Steam? Well it is.
So if you've got an hour to kill and you want a chill game then this is certainly one
And at a certain point out of nowhere you're told to go home and the game is over. Which is a shame because I'm sure there's more that I would have liked to see from the game, but it being a student project I guess they ran out of time to do more.
Oh did I mention it's free on Steam? Well it is.
So if you've got an hour to kill and you want a chill game then this is certainly one
This review contains spoilers
Picked this up as part of the Humble Australian Fire Relief Bundle (which is doing quite well by the looks of it, but if you haven't picked it up then I encourage you to do so not only to help out the animals, but to try out some great Australian games). Played with the daughter (almost 8 year old).
Finished the second game in the series with my daughter last year.
The first game, unsurprisingly is simpler. It has one or two trade chains and the characters are very clear about what they want.
But the dialogue is very current Australian, to the point where we were saying the next line before it came up. And there are quite a few decent jokes.
There's also a point where Grace breaks in to explain how the view The Detective expressed is not her own and is in fact 100% wrong, which was a nice gag, a little like a Pratchett footnote
But very short run time here, so your mileage may vary. But if you've picked up the bundle, you're only going to waste some of your hard drive and an hour of your time at worst, so why not give it a spin?
Finished the second game in the series with my daughter last year.
The first game, unsurprisingly is simpler. It has one or two trade chains and the characters are very clear about what they want.
But the dialogue is very current Australian, to the point where we were saying the next line before it came up. And there are quite a few decent jokes.
There's also a point where Grace breaks in to explain how the view The Detective expressed is not her own and is in fact 100% wrong, which was a nice gag, a little like a Pratchett footnote
But very short run time here, so your mileage may vary. But if you've picked up the bundle, you're only going to waste some of your hard drive and an hour of your time at worst, so why not give it a spin?
2021
Couldn't get a multiplayer session to last more than 5 minutes. It's not a great single player game from what I can see so far
2019
I'm not sure what I can say about this one.
This felt much more than Her Story, there's multiple sets, many more characters and more story threads to chase down.
And as it's set more recently than Her Story (which just uses a fixed camera in an interview room), there are different types of camera being used liked mobile phones, webcams. It makes the game feel more lively and more real. My wife wanted to know if they game had just come out as it seemed weird to her that the characters were video chatting this much (are they all in quarantine?).
The interface is more modern too, though beyond the astethics there's not too much different. You can bookmark and now tag clips. Probably the biggest difference is that you get very long clips, sometimes 8-10 minutes long versus the very quick chunks in the previous game. But weirdly you only get that person's side of the conversation (if it's a web chat) and need to find the other person's side of the conversation to understand the full clip. There's no option to play two clips at the same time, which would have been handy when you find the matching clips. Instead if one of the characters goes on a bit of a monologue you'll need to fast forward through the other character nodding and eyebrowing.
It took me a while to realise this though. I'd often hit keywords at the end of a clip and not understand that I could rewind it. It's a shamne that there's not a "Play from start" option.
I think the mystery and aha moment in Her Story was much more impactful than here. I feel like there's supposed to be a couple of twists in this one but the first one I got to maybe far to early, so it wasn't so much an "Aha" moment as "oh right, so".
But while the story isn't as clever, it feels more relevant to things that are happening now... so...
One part was quite shocking (I suppose two parts are), but the way at least that I moved through the clips I always could follow the story, so that's good right?
I dunno, I'm a sucker for these and so your mileage may vary, but if you liked Her Story, then I can't see why you wouldn't like this one too.
This felt much more than Her Story, there's multiple sets, many more characters and more story threads to chase down.
And as it's set more recently than Her Story (which just uses a fixed camera in an interview room), there are different types of camera being used liked mobile phones, webcams. It makes the game feel more lively and more real. My wife wanted to know if they game had just come out as it seemed weird to her that the characters were video chatting this much (are they all in quarantine?).
The interface is more modern too, though beyond the astethics there's not too much different. You can bookmark and now tag clips. Probably the biggest difference is that you get very long clips, sometimes 8-10 minutes long versus the very quick chunks in the previous game. But weirdly you only get that person's side of the conversation (if it's a web chat) and need to find the other person's side of the conversation to understand the full clip. There's no option to play two clips at the same time, which would have been handy when you find the matching clips. Instead if one of the characters goes on a bit of a monologue you'll need to fast forward through the other character nodding and eyebrowing.
It took me a while to realise this though. I'd often hit keywords at the end of a clip and not understand that I could rewind it. It's a shamne that there's not a "Play from start" option.
I think the mystery and aha moment in Her Story was much more impactful than here. I feel like there's supposed to be a couple of twists in this one but the first one I got to maybe far to early, so it wasn't so much an "Aha" moment as "oh right, so".
But while the story isn't as clever, it feels more relevant to things that are happening now... so...
One part was quite shocking (I suppose two parts are), but the way at least that I moved through the clips I always could follow the story, so that's good right?
I dunno, I'm a sucker for these and so your mileage may vary, but if you liked Her Story, then I can't see why you wouldn't like this one too.