- OneShot</li>
- Night In The Woods
- The Swapper
- Volume
- The Curse of Monkey Island!
- Food for thought
</ul></div>oh hai there no one will ever find me
“This place was never worth saving.”
OneShot is not only hands-down one of my favorite games, but also one of the best games I've ever had the pleasure of playing. It is an intense, edge-of-the-seat experience – like the slow-motion clip of a racing car about to crash – while simultaneously being as tender as mother's embrace before a good night's sleep. Above of all, it is innovative and creative in ways that don't fit into words – or gameplays! – and has moments reserved only for one's consciousness to judge or cowardly pass up on.
I strongly recommend OneShot for its narrative, its out-of-the-box thinking and fourth-wall smashing and its captivating characters and world. OneShot left an impression on me, a dent that was only deepened by a second playthrough.
In a few hours, on March the 20th, OneShot will receive a special update to further expand its world and better explain its story. I can barely wait.
Huge thanks to my friend – and our fellow assassin – Lion AKA Shax for giving me the pleasure of his company during my playthroughs. You've made what was already enjoyable even more so. I hope we can find out the secrets of the new update together as well.
Thanks are also, once again, in order to Jori, the one who gifted me this amazing gem in a time I didn't even know I needed it.
Niko, this one's for you:
Milky Chance - Blossom
“You have to trust in someone
Cause the truth is
All I need is to see you
Blossom out”
-
OneShot
10 hours playtime
11 of 11 achievements
Screenshots by me. The digits in the last screenshot represent a countdown set for March the 20th, the day of the big update. Screenshot taken on 18/02/17.
only that perhaps they will
“At the end of everything you can hold on to something.”
I have no idea how long I had been waiting for NITW. To me, it felt like decades. As my friend Trevor pointed out, NITW is "my kind of game world". I felt at home at Possum Springs, found a dear friend in Bea (Bea is bae weather you admit it or not), quoted NITW to death and took more classy screenshots of it than I could have ever expected – and boy, did I expect.
Some people didn't feel fulfilled by NITW. I get where they're coming from; too many people were excited for this game for it to manage to please every single one of those people. It wasn't going to and, deep down, I felt it was sort of unapologetic on that regard. Night in The Woods takes off effortlessly with great style and soars through the sky without turbulence and even sports flashy moves to compliment, but it does slip on its landing, granting it a bumpy ride in a sure-fare way to not please all those who undertake it.
I was absolutely smitten by NITW. So much so that I'm having trouble putting it into words. I'm craving a second playthrough for weeks now, and I feel like after the second or third playthroughs my brain and heart will reach some sort of an agreement on the overwhelming experience that NITW proved to be. No one's ever safe while in Possum Springs.
Thanks to my dear friend little'bird AKA adina astra for gifting me this on the day of release, when I was saving money to eat. I probably wouldn't have played NITW yet without her generosity.
The following song made me think of NITW, both vibe and lyrics, so I figured I'd share.
Stwo - Haunted ft. Sevdaliza
“We’re just humans, nothing more
I wish it wasn’t looking
‘Cause we’re haunted
For the next, and the best
And for something”
-
Night in the Woods
11 hours playtime
12 of 31 achievements
Gotta get all those achievements! Or sit and wait for the community to figure them out and then just tag along... doing it #MaeStyle
pancakes
“Why does the other mind scream inside?”
The Swapper is overwhelming. It's overwhelming because it's a story about human relationships, the unknown and the sheer beauty of life all paired up with the human need for survival in a place where one's breathing gasps are the only sounds to be heard. The Swapper is maddening because it not once offers its hand to ease your confusion, to explain puzzles, or to guide you through its backstory. The Swapper is just as hard on its truths with you as the harsh environment is with the character on-screen.
The Swapper is essentially an atmospheric story-driven puzzle game made with love, even if its story is not driven by it.</i>
I'm yet to finish this game, but please know that I didn't give it pause due to lack of interest, it was just a matter of lack of time. I can't wait to finish it.
My favorite piece from the soundtrack actually made me pause the game and just stare at the screen in sheer awe. Bellow is a link of a video in which it is played in all its magnificence by the composer himself:
Recreation – The Swapper Soundtrack – Carlo Castellano
-
The Swapper
4 hours playtime
6 of 10 achievements
“Not just beautiful, though—the stars are like the trees in the forest, alive and breathing. And they're watching me.” —Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore
cookies and pancakes
“We chose to think, we chose to study, we chose to find a new role in the world he's trying to create.”
In one word, Volume was a disappointment. In two words, it was a huge disappointment.
If you recall my last post, you know I had a little challenge going on with our fellow assassin Joe. Well, if it was a win or lose scenario, I most certainly lost. I lost my time to a game I honestly couldn't enjoy, I failed beating it because I couldn't face it and I had my completion rate dragged down by one point because of my stubbornness and anger.
I don't want this to sound like I'm attacking Joe for his suggestion – because I'm not –, I'm attacking a game for having one of the absolute worst Steam Controller "supports" I've ever seen, for filling me with humorless dialogue, for picking voice actors just because they're famous in something other than video games – a different market and medium – and for tampering with my patience by handing me half-assed tutorials dampened in a bunch of purposeless dialogue that wished me to emphasize with a being I couldn't even stand the "robotic" voice of. Oh Andy Serkis, the unexplainable forces of the cosmos know how I adore and respect you. In movies.
Well, glad to get that out of my system. Don't take my harsh judgment too seriously, however. I'm a human fueled by rage, and I know a few fellow gamers who did enjoy Volume. So, you know, eventually try it.
-
Volume
77 minutes playtime
3 of 24 achievements
Who's idea was it to make the killing machines talk? Weren't they supposed to just kill? I mean who are they talking to when they repeat, for the 100th time, "target is down"? Not me, I'm sure.
flying porpentines
“Look behind you, a three-headed monkey!”
Allow me to let you into a super tight secret I bet you didn't know because it's totally not written on my profile or anything: The Curse of Monkey Island is my favorite game ever. I played it ALL THE TIME when I was a cub. This and Heart of Darkness. However, I lost the CD some ten years ago, and not having my favorite game around broke my heart every time I was reminded of it by my nasty brain.
My birthday is in a few days, on March the 22nd. For a while now, I had been considering purchasing a physical copy of The Curse. The problem? It would cost me around USD60+ to buy it from Amazon and ship it to Brazil. In Brazil it would cost me R$250 + shipping (around USD81).
Imagine my surprise and glee when I got home absolutely exhausted one day and found some of my plushies surrounding said object on my bed. I flipped. My dad found it, by ABSOLUTE ACCIDENT, on a thrift shop. Best birthday gift ever? I think so. Only my dog was a birthday gift too, so...
Weirdest bit? My dad bought it for R$4. Yup. It is as cheap as you think. People are stupid, handing out the best game in the whole wide world just like that...
I can't wait to revisit it, in Mega Monkey difficulty. If only my college would allow me some respite.
PS: Look, Lenor! Look!!!
-
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
76 minutes playtime
no achievements
-
Monkey Island 2: Special Edition
0 minutes playtime
0 of 12 achievements
No, The Curse of Monkey Island is not available on Steam. But hey, perk up: it's roughly pointless to play it without playing the previous two installments, and those you can get, REMASTERED, on Steam! Avast, matey!
if you dislike hidden blob, use "br"
“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don't have time,’ is like saying, ‘I don't want to.’”
I don't have time for Steam and games. Actually, Lao Tzu got me with his quote. I'm just dedicating my time to more important things. Not to say games aren't important. It's just to say that my dream career of becoming a psychologist and helping those in need is a far more pressing matter in the grand scheme of things.
And it hurts my heart that it is so.
With that in mind, I've attached a few screenshots to strike my point. 0.0 hours in the last two weeks, "last online 13 days ago" (screenshot from 13.03.17 (later replaced by "last online 7 days ago")). Sigh.
I hope you guys are well; I didn't read a few texts for this week in order to do this little check-in, because I do care. You're all endlessly kind, bright, overwhelmingly fun individuals. I miss you guys.
Hey, assassins? Inhale, exhale. Chill:
Treasureseason - Exhale
Built up blues of the horizon seem to glow
Here I’ll watch the day break and the night end
See the haze form as I deeply exhale
Slowly rising, slowly falling
PS: I'm super sorry I didn't reply to some of your messages from a month ago. I was going to do that after this post, but now it's 11:11PM (jinx!) and I gotta go to bed. Dudders, I've been working on this post since... I woke up. I need help. I'll try my best to reply to all your new messages, and I do L-O-V-E hearing from you all.
Lost things tend to show up out of nowhere after some time at least in my experience so with all my being I hope that it’ll turn up one day when you least expect it and put a smile on your face :)
My quote taken from your previous post. You didn’t find the lost CD but it did turn up one day out of nowhere when you think about it :P I’m so happy that you finally have your most favourite game in physical copy, again and wow it’s really cheap too! Your dad sounds wonderful by the way.
If you loved the story of The Swapper so far (I’m totally NOT listening to that soundtrack you linked while reading your post!) you will love the ending even more. Don’t forget that there are 2 of them :) But there are no saves in the game and once you finish the game you must start from the beginning, so I checked Youtube to watch the alternative ending instead of replaying the whole game.
I already said this to you but again I’m deeply sorry that you didn’t enjoy Volume. In my opinion it’s a great game despite its shortcomings like not allowing multiple ways to approach missions and not supporting player creativity. It feels extremely linear. I don’t know about Steam controller but controls were seamless on keyboard and mouse. Oh well, I know it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s just sad to read that it is nothing but a terrible experience you regret now.
According to your screenshots “The Curse of Monkey Island!” has good graphics and first-person gameplay. I didn’t know that :3
Nice completion statistics, keep up the good work! :)
By the way, I’m sorry to hear you hated Volume that much O.o Personally, I enjoyed the game and mouse + keyboard controls felt smooth and responsive to me. I agree with Lenor on the game’s shortcomings, but all in all, I thought it was really good.
Haha thank you for the mention, it’s been so nice to see my name associated with a game you passionately hate :P No worries! A great post anyhow, I’ve added OneShot and a Night in the Woods to my wishlist and I hadn’t heard of them before you mentioned them so I’m really grateful for that, and congrats on getting that copy of Monkey Island! I’ll have to try out the other games in the series on steam :)
Night in the Woods is so high on my wishlist at the moment, it feels great to read a review like yours. Especially because you seem to have great taste, yay monkey island.
And yay for your dad’s lucky find! As for not having time for steam, sometimes life has other priorities lined up for you, that doesn’t mean they’re not great too ;)
I had same feelings for Volume, I’ve completed it but I really not enjoyed it so much. Can’t jugde the controller support since I’ve played the game with keyboard and mouse. Voice acting was good in my opinion.
Awesome gift! Have fun (re)playing it!
I loved the games! I also played them as kid though :D
AND I have a copy flying around. Actually my mom owns them but she never was that much into it, so… IT’S MINE, MY PRECIOUS!
Oh right, I’m talking about…. Three headed Monkeys!
The Swapper is a really cool thing. For me personally, the difficulty was just right. Most of the puzzles got me stumped at first, but leaving them for a while and coming back was such an effective strategy. I need to go back to find at least some of those achievements, I found none. It’s a shame there’s not the option to play the chapters separately, like Lenor described in her comment.
That copy sure is a great find from your dad, what a nice surprise. Congrats on your upcoming birthday!
puts on nerd glasses
Ah, um, technically, “a disappointment” is already two words, I say!
I knew NITW would be a great game the moment I saw it on Kickstarter ~3 years ago. But the guilt (aka my backlog) wouldn’t allow me to buy it. :(
The Swapper is an awesome game indeed. Wait until you get to the end, you’ll like it even more.
Holy shit! I didn’t know my old copy of Monkey Island was still being sold for so much o.0 Especially considering it’s one of the simplest boxes in regards to design Some like DOOM and even Warcraft. Thanks for letting me know that I might have a fortune in old game boxes. :D
Congratz on finishing all those game, btw!
i was like “hey this person has really nice tastes” and then i saw it was you :P
i really really really really need to play night in the woods, i’ve been waiting for the damn game since it first launched in kickstarter
also i am so jealous of you! you have a box copy of monkey island 1!!!! girl i need that!
cute plushies too :P
SHE LIVES!
I guess holiday fun time is over and back to studying. If it’s any comfort you’ll be able to give a psychologist angle on games in the future so we all benefit from it in a way. Go go go.