Ben Plays Games

Thoughts on what I am currently playing

[benplaysgames]

Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition

G!:STCE is a game that I did not start out convinced on at all, looking at the previews.  In fact, the only reason I even checked it out is the fact that it went free for Games for Gold.

I was wrong, and I couldn't be happier about it.

The thing that stands out to me most about G!:STCE is the presentation.  This is the only game I have played based on Hispanic mythology and luchador wrestling.  Everything about the game plays into one or both of these things, and the complete package is something I am truly happy to have played through.

First off, the colors!  The colors feel like they just POP!  Everything is very bright, feels very clean, and separates the different areas of the game in a way that each is visually distinct while still having everything flow together in a way that makes sense.  All this is on top of the differences between the realms of the living and the dead.  Everything together, this is a beautiful package.

Second, the music.  Man, the music was just a whole lot of fun to listen to.  Even in moments where I would be feeling frustrated because of repeated deaths, I never had one of those mute-moments that comes from hearing the same few seconds of music over and over.

The gameplay itself is incredibly solid.  Most platforming deaths were a result of my error, and I was able to fix things through some quick adjustment.  In addition, the platforming puzzles themselves made perfect use of the different techniques picked up throughout the game.  Finally, having the combat system be a part of travel was a whole lot of fun for me as well.

Combat is probably the only stumbling block in the game for me, personally.  Some of the later combat challenges require what feels like luck on top of timing, and sometimes things didn't just break my way.  On top of that, there are some moments where things just feel incredibly cheap, and that frustrated me more than it should have.

That said, combat progressed the same way the exploration did.  Things got more varied and more crazy the more things that got added to my arsenal, and when things clicked, they just clicked.  When things finally got flowing, I just felt unstoppable.  It was glorious.

Finally, a special shoutout to the final boss.  Bullshit hard, and it almost got me to quit the game.  I got it eventually, but man does it feel overtuned.

Anyways, fun game.  Probably the best I've played in the genre in a very long time.

[benplaysgames]

Abyss Odyssey

So Atlus published Abyss Odyssey this week and I decided to give it a shot based on 1) I seem to have a pretty deep love for Atlus and the games they put out, and 2) early adopters discount.  Threw it on having no idea what to expect.

Basically, its a fighter in platformer's clothing, and that is what caused me so much grief as I struggled my way through the first couple hours of playing it.  I was approaching it like an action game, when it should have been looked at as a fighting game.  Priorities reordered, the game suddenly feels much more accessible.

That said, the controls still feel far more stiff than other fighters I've played.  There just feels like there is an input delay, and it feels very much like I've had a few cheap deaths as a result.  I don't know how much of this can be credited to me just being terrible at fighting games though.  I intend to continue playing though, since I am actually a bit curious about how the story plays out.

The story and presentation is remarkable, unlike anything I've seen before.  I like the idea that everything, including the PCs, are just figments of this all-powerful warlock's imagination.  I want to collect all the journal pages to get more information, to see where everything came from.

The music is a bit peculiar.  I honestly would not be able to tell you anything about it without it playing right in front of me, but while its playing it does a fantastic job of changing and going with the flow of the game.  On top of that, it just feels like it has a flavor (for lack of a better word) that is something I haven't heard too much of before.

It's a different package, and I'm sort of in the boat where I don't yet know how to feel about the game, but I do know that I want to play it more.  So if nothing else, it has leaned towards a positive experience.

[benplaysgames]

Destiny Alpha

So I got an invite to try out the Destiny alpha over the weekend, and I spent a good 4-5 hours sampling the different things on offer.  I want to express my excitement over the Exploration mode and what it could potentially be.

Being in the alpha, there was only one map to run around on.  That said, it is a pretty massive map (at least it feels that way) with a bunch of different environments built into it.  I never seemed to run into any bounds no matter what direction I went in, so the idea that there is a bunch of stuff that I didn't see is exciting.

The quests are standard fare (kill this, fetch that, get to this location)  but do an excellent job of directing players farther in whatever direction they are headed.  On two different characters, I saw two very different areas of the map, each providing their own set of challenges.

I like that the two enemy factions on display were openly antagonistic towards one another.  Whenever I came across both Hive and Fallen, they were attempting to blast each other into nothing.  That said, having both factions immediately stop firing at each other and start at me felt the second I got involved felt a little cheap, especially since getting involved is the only reliable way to clear out the packs of enemies.  Seriously, it feels like none of them could aim at anything other than a player character.

Some of the other game modes take place in the maps, so having a good sense of exploration feels like it will be beneficial when attempting those challenges.  For example, I found the area that houses the included Strike and was able to make my way through it with that much more knowledge of what was coming.

The Strike itself is a pain and I found it possibly overtuned for what was on challenge.  It advertised itself as a 3 man mission for levels 6-8.  Even with an appropriate group, we found ourselves stonewalled several times and resorting to tactics that feel almost cheap in hindsight to make our way past.  Challenging is good; ragequit-inducing is not.  That's just one terrible gamer's opinion though.

The rest of the alpha is pretty basic.  City felt empty and PvP felt blah, but if the rest of the planets have many areas as big and filled as Old Russia in the alpha, I don't think I'll have much reason to stay in the places I don't like anyways.

Anyways, yeah.  Destiny is starting to look sharp.

[benplaysgames]

Stick it to the Man

Ever since I saw the preview trailer for Stick it to the Man, my only real thought was Psychonauts-lite.  Everything from the art style to the subject matter to the sense of humor just smacks of Ras's Grand Summer Camp Adventure.  Playing the game, it was entirely justified.  I even managed to spot at least one direct reference to Double Fine playing the game; I wonder if there were actually any that I missed.

Anyways, the game itself is pretty unremarkable.  I won't say bland, since it does have a certain sense of style, but the gameplay itself just feels not fresh.  I understand that it can be difficult to innovate in the platforming genre, but if that isn't possible then having a tight gameplay experience is important, and Stick didn't have it.

Some of the platforming segments feel needlessly difficult simply because of the floatiness I experienced.  With the twitchiness of the guard patrols and their ability to grab you out of midair, it felt like a lot of the deaths I experienced were cheap and not my fault.

That said, the game is very good about quickly getting the player back in the game, with frequent respawn points and no load times once the level actually starts.

The biggest issue of the game to me is simply that it doesn't really seem to know what it is trying to do.  It feels like there is a good setup that gets absolutely wasted by an out of left field villian with no explained motives.  One minute he wants his experiment returned, the next he is trying to destroy Earth from his space station in orbit.

With the ending setting up a potential sequel, I can't help but wonder if the game impressed me enough to actually want to try it.  I don't know that it did, and with all the other games to play, that doesn't really do anything to make this worth it to me.

[benplaysgames]

Game of Thrones

First off, before playing this, my only exposure to A Song of Ice and Fire was reading the first book quite a few years ago.  I haven't read anything else or caught any of the show, so I have no real frame of reference to the severity of the universe.  On to the game.

So, it feels like this game was made as two different games and then thrown together.  On the one hand, there is the grand fantasy of Alestar and his quest to gain control of his family lands.  The other is Mors and his quest to protect Jeyne and to recruit for the Night's Watch.

Honestly, I couldn't tell you too much about Alestar's quest.  It just felt so generic in basically every aspect.  Even his ability to find hidden switches is just boring.  Things only felt like they mixed up when he joins Mors and they continue together.  Even that has everything to do with Mors.

It's Mors that made the game worth continuing for me.  Story wise, his quest simply feels far more personal and it felt like I could get more involved.  On top of that, the Dog played in well with his Ranger/Tracker story.  It contributed a lot to fleshing out his character into something a little less flat.

Overall, the writing feels like other low fantasy works, just taking place somewhere else.  Based on discussion, I can understand the popularity of the setting and the characters, but I feel like the game's overall story falls short of the reputation set forth by fans of the books and show.  They treat it as some fantastical thing and the game simply feels to live up to those standards.  Overall, standard and remarkable.

Combat itself is Dragon Age lite, though the energy system and ability to queue several commands do their best to set it apart.  Still, if you play one you can play the other without any big issues.

My absolute big beef with the game is the HUD map.  Dear god is it terrible.  Navigation is an absolute pain without a good map, and this is probably one of the worst I've ever played with.  It really took me out of the game to have to constantly open the menu just to see where the hell I was.  Between that and the muddy looking everything, it was just so easy to get lost.

Obligatory "and not even lost in the story."

[benplaysgames]

Binary Domain

Binary Domain was the second game to come out of my first batch of games from the GameStop sale.

Good lord does this game start slow.  Like, man.  I was so tempted to just quit until I got that first achievement.  I've done it before, most notably with Rage.  If it doesn't feel right to play, I don't really want to play it.  Once that first achievement pops, though, I'm in it to at least get a few more.  Keep that completion percentage up and stuff.

Anyways, the swimming section was such a terrible way to start the game.  It's the only time you see the mechanic, it was no fun, and as I said it almost kept me from continuing on into the game.  The second I got to that first boss (the Grand Lancer), I was hooked though.  I hadn't seen bosses of thi scale since Lost Planet 2.  Taking down building sized robots is ton of fun, it turns out.  Okay, I'm in for the long haul.  Let's play.

Difficulty wise, I thought the game was very backwards.  Because of the way the upgrades work in the game, I felt very underpowered to start the game, almost to the point of frustration.  As more upgrades came in though, the rifle you start the game with turns into an incredibly powerful gun, one that basically makes all the other one useless.  honestly, I love it.  It feels so satisfying to just kill stuff with it.

That said, the gameplay itself is nothing spectacular.  Run around the environment, kill some dudes, repeat until awesome boss fight.  Outside of the gun upgrades and the Nanomachine upgrade systems, I don't know that the game was actually trying to do anything super ambitious with the gameplay.  Instead, that effort went into trying to do something different with the story.

I think this one gets put in the Spec Ops category of games, ones where the guys who wrote it get more credit than maybe they were aiming for.  I heard a lot about 'the message' and things like that, but it felt like just another look at a different type of racism (robots instead of people hooray!).

One particular thing I feel is worth mentioning.  I went in not knowing anything about romance possibilities, so when presented with two female characters, I took a guess and said it was in there.  And since the attractive Asian woman seemed like the obvious choice, I said 'fuck it' and decided to woo the less attractive British woman.

Choo-choo, motherfucker.  I got completely railroaded into something I wouldn't have pursued for the sake of the story.  I think that is the only real reason I am okay with it.  While optional, the romance served to push the story forward and provide some dramatic tension.

I guess it IS a little nice not having to worry about big choices and instead just play the game.  And everyone even got their happy ending!  I don't know that I would purchase a sequel right away, especially with the way they teased the possibility, but in the end I am satisfied with the game experience.

[benplaysgames]

Deadpool

Gamestop was doing buy 2 get 1 on used games for cheap, so I figured why the hell not?

First game I picked up is Deadpool.

Before playing, I had only really heard very little about it.  Mediocre combat, non-existent story, absolute destruction of the fourth wall.  To the credit of the people who said those things, they are all absolutely true.  And in spite of the bad, Deadpool is some of the most fun I've had playing a game in a very very long time.

I think the biggest thing is that it doesn't even pretend to take itself seriously,  That, on top of being incredibly self-aware, makes it feel like High Moon just went fuck it and made the most ridiculous game they could come up with.

I think the moment that sold it for me more than any other was the run in with the number one fan.  Once the moment passes and you are given your choice of action, I knew I had to 'Squeeze' and I just lost it as a result.

To be honest, I can tell it is not the most technically proficient game that has been made.  The camera is frustrating, combat can occasionally feel very bullshit, and the levels (visuals too, thinking about it) are incredibly bland.  But I loved the game in spite of all that, which is why it falls as a Good Game in my book.  I had fun, I completed it, that is all that matters.

I only hope I can find another game that has me laughing out of pure dumb joy as much as Deadpool did.

[benplaysgames]

Dark Blood Deadlight Dragon Souls Rising 2/3

Lots of little thoughts on many games for today:

I happened to finish up getting all the achievements for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, having already beaten the story last week.  It felt a little grindy, but that is a bit expecting for something that involves killing X amount of the bullet-spongiest enemy in the game.  Full thoughts on the game to come later, but the basic thought is that the people behind the game had a whole lot of fun making the game, stemming from a great love of both the franchise and everything they pulled ideas from.  I am certainly intrigued with the idea of expanding the idea into a full sequel/game/franchise but I would be extremely worried that it would really overstay its welcome.  Part of the appeal is that it doesn't last too long.  Maybe expand into the 90s?

Deadlight is one of the free games for Xbox members this month, so I downloaded it overnight and fired it up today.  After playing for a couple hours and completing the first act, my reaction can be summed up as extremely 'meh.'  It just feels very generic in what it is trying to do.  Zombie game, searching for family, collecting collectables.  It just feels like things I've seen elsewhere already.  Even the black silhouette thing feels familiar (thanks limbo!).  I'll certainly finish it.  I'm a good chunk through it already and maybe there is something special hidden at the end of the game.  We will see.

Dead Rising 3 is starting to grow on me.  I'm getting slowly acclimated to the time limit thing, especially in regards to completing the side quests..  The first time it failed me for taking too long to get there was a bit of a shock, and it is now a choice between getting the blueprints and statues as I go or making sure to get the survivors.  I think it may just be a case of playing through the rest of the story and then starting over and doing things  that way.  Since it seems to be a game built around multiple playthroughs, I don't think it'll be the worst way to go about it.

As for the story itself, it again feels very overdone.  Zombie infested city, main character bitten, surprise revelation, shady characters "helping" out.  That said, I do like this particular shady character.  Very gangster friendly.  I will admit to being curious to see how the rest of this particular story arc will play out.  I guess with slick presentation, I am willing to overlook some cliches.

Finally, more Dark Souls.  I finally got a little frustrated and looked up a couple small things (how to level up and how to upgrade the Flask) and it was surprisingly simple and I honestly can't believe I missed it on my first time through the area.  But after that got solved, it was back to exploring where I left off.  Too many locked doors meant it was time to just face the music, and I went to revisit the Last Giant.  Knowing what to do made it simple as soon as I got the execution down.  I understand its the simplest of bosses in game, but it still feels like a big deal to have gotten him down.  It was a real confidence booster and I was a whole lot better until I got bent over by the Pursuer.  I think it'll be a deal where I get frustrated and look for other areas to explore before throwing myself at it for a couple hours to figure out what it does and how I beat it.  Then it will again be a matter of practicing the execution.

To be frank, my opinion of the game is still up in the air.  I am 95% certain I like the game, and part of me even wants to say I love it.  The issue is that every so often I get to a bit that makes me want to scream in frustration.  Part and parcel, I guess.  I will continue though, and I will do as much as possible without a guide.  I guess I just hate myself like that?  It'll be good for me as a gamer though.  I don't know.  More DS2 to come, when I'm not playing (or watching) other games.

[benplaysgames]

Titanfall Rising (3)

Day off means multiplayer capable internet, and THAT means Titanfall time.  Just jumped straight into an in progress campaign and got paired up on Mission 3, I think.  Outside of one game, it was a string of losses but that didn't matter.  I enjoyed myself, getting a lot of challenges and more than my fair share of giggles from the sheer ridiculous adrenaline the game makes me feel.

In particular, I fooled around with the Charge Cannon, trying to blow things up with it.  Admittedly awkward to use, I damned the torpedoes and just went for it.  The highlight of it so far didn't happen today, but I enjoyed blasting an inattentive sniper after he killed me several times from a spot that must have been such a pain to get to.  Never saw him up there again.

I've also grown dumbly attached to my auto-titan every time I drop it.  I without fail make a run for it when I die and its alive and I will prioritize anything shooting at it.  I grin every time he kills something.  I've named him Buddy.  Bros for life.

I had a Buy Two, Get One coupon from Gamestop, so I used it to grab Dead Rising 3.  Frustrating moments getting it all up and running, particularly with its mixed messages of telling me it was good to play, even midinstall and then the in game message that I would have to wait for install to complete.  Small aggravation, but I made it past that, so whatever.

The game itself I am still undecided on.  On one hand there is a certain stupid fun to just taping things together and wailing away on giant swarms of zombies.  On the other, being too used to consistent autosaves made me cocky and I lost about an hour's worth of game time.  That made me unhappy, but now I know.

Undecided what to play in the morning.  Probably a bit more Titanfall and then back to Dark Souls.  I'm excited to see where else the game will take me.  I just never really made it there today.

[benplaysgames]

Dark Souls 2 Day 2

Not much motivation to play a whole lot today, but I did take the chance to do some more running around the Forest of Giants and the connecting castle fortress thing.  I thought I had hit a dead end and would have to find another area, but right next to where I loaded in was a ladder I missed.

Lo and behold, more stuff to explore!

Random poking around earned me several deaths and areas I decided I should probably avoid for now.  In particular, a griffon dropping a bigass armored knight on top of me earned both my awe and my irritation.  That was most certainly a one time trip up that particular ladder.

Eventually I did find my way to my first real boss of the game, the Last Giant.  After watching the pretty awesome intro video, he immediately proceeded to step on me.  Another couple deaths, and I was sure that I wasn't really ready to take him on.  Instead, I decided to explore other areas.

I found myself back in what I guess is the hub town, and I looked at the different buildings I hadn't visited.  Around the church, I found some giant gerbil rat looking things.  Awkwardly cute, and they all came in for a hug!

Except then they chewed me to death.  Embarrassed, that was my stopping point for the day.

High point: finding a helmet to hide my weird zombie Ganondorf head

Low point: getting set up by the game.  Seriously, sudden ceiling protrusion stops my jump and drops me into a zombie pit.  Not cool

[benplaysgames]

Dark Souls 2 Day 1

I finally decided to give into the hype and got Dark Souls 2.  After a few days of hemming and hawing and in general being scared of the game's reputation I finally decided fuck it and threw the game in.

Quick aside, I am playing without any sort of guides or anything and only some gameplay from twitch aired in the background.  So basically I am going in blind and dumb, as the game is (I'm assuming) meant to be played.

Spent a while creeping around the deserted first parts of the game, decided on playing as a Knight, and picked the Seed of the Giants as my starting item.  Then, it was off to explore.

I think I may be the intended target of the game, even with all my hesitation after all.  There is a certain wonder to the game, for lack of a better way of putting it.  As a gamer who tends to take his time and explore every nook and cranny he comes across, the is a whole lot of interconnectivity on a small scale that really impresses me.  I could wander around an area for a while, constantly discovering new passages and ways to get back to where I came from.

I've only spent some time wandering around the first forest area and the initial loop with all the zombies that die in two hits, plus a little towards what I guess can only be called a burning fortress.  There are some things that almost got me the first time I ran by, but I know they are there now.  I also know not to mess with the fireball spitter in the mineshaft just yet, and that hitting something sitting next to a tree is a good way to get attacked.

I've actually really enjoyed myself this first bit, much more than I thought I would.  Outside of a couple falls that made me say 'really?,' I haven't raged at any of my deaths and have been careful to avoid repeating my mistakes on my next run through the area.  No bosses yet, so I imagine that opinion could change rather quickly.  I'll throw my controller off that bridge when I get there though.