Here I am again and faster than last prophesied. That's one good outcome from when you mark a game as “finished” after just one successful playthrough, while said game was built for multiple ones. Not that I'm complaining or anything, mind you. Dodged a bullet by choosing not to commit to a general re-do of the game review format for two reasons; I'm too attached to covers on the side and because it would require more work on my end with dubious availability of the assets for each game. I at least brought the basic info section more in line with Multimedia style. Speaking of which I covered a novel decidedly out of my comfort zone.
P.S.
How are newly introduced Steam awards treating you? Kinda surprised they went and tied actual money into it, but hey. I even managed to get a few for my reviews which means someone is reading them on Steam. ;)
Skyhill ( PC (Steam) – Roguelike, Survival – 2015 ) + TRAILER
You could say there's very little to expound upon when it comes to Skyhill. Probably due to lack of general variety for a sort of game it sets out to be. Is that necessarily so bad when you observe the offering as a complete package? Well, I guess that's what we're here to find out.
Guy rents a VIP suite in a 100 floor hotel and is extremely fortunate seeing it has “the latest bio-hazard protection installed” because come tomorrow everything seems to have gone totally bonkers. Discovering the elevator system is malfunctioning he realizes there's an arduous descent awaiting him if he wants to reach the bottom floor and escape. Along the way some monsters, mutants or whatever lurk in the rooms on the lookout for their latest victim. Putting together all the resources he can muster, with only his VIP suite as safe haven, our protagonist embarks on his merry way hoping to retain fragments of sanity.
You know I'm a story kind of guy, but as far as direct plot goes that's kinda it – escape. There's a bit more in what you scrounge over the course of playing, though. Game drops stuff like New Europe info early on and you can tell this isn't exactly our world anymore. What really fleshes out Skyhill are notes you find. In fact, piecing [parts] of the bigger picture is how you get alternate endings. I actually fairly liked how different all three of those are even if the game is arbitrary about it in a sense they're independent of one another, but can be unlocked in a single run. For example, I made both alternate endings available, but one overrides the other so you don't get to choose. If you ask me the default ending is probably the most effective seeing as it's heavily hinted at if you pay attention to audio recordings protagonist comes across. I remember the initial crowdfunding pitch numbered three playable characters so maybe they would have expanded the story more had that come to fruition as intended.
Setup we're operating with here gameplay-wise is that every floor has a stairwell/elevator area + two rooms, one to each side. Moving from room-to-room costs you one unit of food, which feeds into the survival element because you have to keep your hunger in check lest you start losing health. I'll go into it later on when I talk about specific systems, but in each of these rooms are almost always containers holding everything from weapons, ingredients for all your crafting needs or consumables like low-tier food and health kits. You can move between your VIP and any floor with operational elevator access by spending two units of food which is a lifesaver when you're nearing the exit and need to craft and rest to heal. Trick is that sometimes a panel has to be fixed and you have to keep doing this whenever you see one because if the chain of working elevators is broken you won't be able to use them at all. Game does throw you a bone by not requiring a specific skill or to fix things, but rather putting a certain part requirement up OR you can improvise, spend some time and lose a random item from inventory with a chance of failure. In practical terms this was never an issue for me because you have plenty of stuff in your backpack and losing some wiring won't immediately kill you.
What just might kill you is combat, though. Rooms I talked about can also be populated by enemies you need to do away with before you can loot and they're also your main source of experience. I counted handful of enemy types, but considering how long a run takes I didn't find that terribly restrictive. Skyhill also decides to throw more dangerous enemies at you as you descend further and further while keeping in mind you CAN backtrack to the VIP room if you need a quick upgrade. You fight enemies by either simply clicking on them and letting the skill/weapon formula do its thing or you can enable the aimed attack mode where you choose three body parts to attack, each with differing percentage-to-hit and damage. Latter seems like a reasonable choice to go with as most of the time you want that fine control in order to optimize. If there was one enemy I dreaded coming across it was the toxic bloated one who would attempt to poison you if you didn't kill him fast enough. That's quite the problem as it sends your health ticking down without an antidote you must to craft. Speaking of which...
Dramatic shadows certainly function as visual flourish, but what you see is what you get.
For some reason aimed attacks are treated as optional and something game doesn't default to.
I was surprised by how effective mood and setting building was despite being conveyed merely through audio logs and leftover notes.
Crafting is a thing that I, much to my own embarrassment, didn't get the importance of while I was doing so well early on. Reaching low 20s and I understood not returning to the suite where crafting station and bed are located was a mistake. You see, you can upgrade your “home base” which lets you unlock more recipes and such. Those are key to acquiring better weapons and actually filling food because what you find as loot is just enough to get you by. Taking into account weapons depend on stat(s) you may want to plan ahead and work with those points you get with each level to put into Strength, Speed, Dexterity or Accuracy so you don't suffer handling penalties if one or more isn't up to snuff. Especially since some advanced weapons require you to have not only crafting ingredients but also other weapons. One issue that stood out was how final damage output could have been a bit more transparent. You can only see what effective damage, with skill bonuses factored in, your weapon will do once you actually equip it seeing as base damage is more of a guideline. It just leads to unnecessary back and forth until you find the best one.
While I'm on the topic of character development I should also briefly bring up active and passive Perks. Those are all locked at first, but as you play through the game they open up and can be quite the game changers. Lucky Bastard, for example, lets you one-shot anything and then goes on extensive cooldown making it something you save. Or Rampage where you always strike first, but cannot retreat from fights. Perks somewhat alleviate that absent degree of major differences across multiple runs in that they can also alter non-combat functionality like make you see through what's on other floors, start off with a strong medpack, etc.
On the production end Skyhill definitely subscribes to making good use of the chosen art style. Visual highlights peak at dramatically drawn shadows once combat is met for higher tension, but presentation also reveals mobile version as the likely baseline. Some detail work like weapon types having their own attack animations pleasantly surprised me and what is in the game certainly looks polished enough. Audio offering is sparse albeit functional, especially with creepy mutant noises. Ominous and moody exploration track is the one you'll grow accustomed to the most as it follows your every step and loops eternally.
Final Thoughts and Rating?
As you set out on a 100 floor descent in order to escape from hotel's VIP suite as the entire place is now infested with mutants of unknown origin, you quickly discover Skyhill is quite lacking in the variety department. No matter how many weapons dependent on upgradable stats you find, or how much food you gobble and cook to stay satiated, each floor is exactly the same with two rooms and stairway there for you to scavenge through. Taking turns with the uglies in combat is on the simple side as well. There's nothing really WRONG with the game so I can't fault it, but keep in mind there's little here after those initial few runs are behind you and you have a tighter grip on how to build your protagonist. This is one of those titles where you are expected to die and learn from experience.
Courtship Rite ( Drama, Romance – 1983 – 409 pages ) + QUOTE
Occasionally I aim to ambush myself and start reading a book as ignorant of what it's about as I possibly can be. Courtship Rite is one such case and I honestly don't know how to even makes the sales pitch.
Think civilization building within alien society where polyamory is default. Not to say latter is the primary focus of the novel, but when have you have a family with three husbands and two wives to start off, where they genuinely work as a unit to further their goals, it's a big part of the novel. Weirdest thing? That's the most normal aspect to come from this setting. Geta is a strange world without domesticated livestock with humans and Eight Sacred Plants serving as only familiar ties to good old Earth we know and love. Novel goes to great lengths to convey just how inhospitable Geta is to human life, in large part because there's, well, other life on it and all of it will kill you unless you know the tricks around it. What this has resulted in is perpetual food scarcity and cannibalism is not only NOT taboo, but also normal and expected at times. Bad harvest? Old will volunteer and everyone joins the Funereal Feast where the VIP prepared with plenty of meat strips to go around, bones to turn into broth and skin to be worn when tanned properly. You see, society on Geta isn't really familiar with concepts like countries and is more or less divided and ruled by priest clans. These sit on top of the food pyramid and govern in their own fashion. Two of such clans novel concerns itself with are Kaiel and Mnankrei as they inevitably come to blows in a world that does not know the meaning of war. Or even weapons.
Our aforementioned family belongs to the former clan, who cull their children all year long and do not reserve cannibalism for famine which has earned them a certain sort of reputation, and they get a specific mandate from up top - they must forsake the current woman they were pursuing to be third-wife and instead marry an unknown, so-called Gentle Heretic, in a prelude move to the upcoming clan struggle as Kaiel leadership suspects Mnanekrei leadership may be causing a famine to up the food prices or extort higher "flesh tithe" from weaker clans. It's all part of the great global picture dealing with the fact Mnankrei have big ships and Kaiel are land-bound which limits trade capacity in comparison. If that sounds kinda dull that's probably because it starts off that way and takes a backseat before you get some basic know-how regarding how this madhouse operates. Let's just say that Gentle Heretic, herself opposing cannibalism and who may have an artifact concerning God in the Sky, a star denizens of Geta can see shinning bright, has a role to play. Only for Courtship Rite to backhand you across the room dropping a rather impressive revelation, one that seems to have been spoiled in most summaries I've read after the fact. Three brothers send their loudest and wanton to test the waters with their bride to be as well as expand Kaiel influence. One of the wives is sent with him to temper his fiery nature as they masquerade to hide overt meddling.
I realize I haven't exactly told you much about the book. That's because A) can't get into it without spoilers and B) it really IS more about the world itself and reader becoming accustomed to it. There are brief pieces of fiction opening every chapter that set the mood just right for my taste. People here adore their skin with decorative scars and tattoos, and as rare form of leather it is seldom abandoned. For a technologically agnostic nature of Geta important clans seem to have access to chemistry and genetics to a mental level of proficiency. What we would procure technologically they achieve through genetic tampering. Kaiel leader, for example, is called Prime Predictor and is chosen based on how accurate his "prophecies" were when observed years later. Of course, no good leader just waits for things to happen and always nudges with just enough force to set things in motion.
Entire thing is extremely bizarre and my only complaint is that romance probably takes a good 20% of the book. I lost count how many times everyone has sex almost like saying hello to one another or just sheer dynamics of a marriage five people can have and all the drama that entails when it goes wrong. Strong recommendation despite that, though. I was taken aback by how Kaiel clan interprets discoveries that could shake their entire belief system and seemingly temper it with wisdom. Then again out of all priest clans their shtick is bargaining.
Thanks for the review, that book and its world sound fascinating, something I would be interested to read.
Give it a try. It managed to surprise me even with somewhat loose main narrative.