Progress report: February ‘21 (a.k.a. A Better Time For Games?)

I have officially passed my first uni semester! Five more to go before I can decide what to do with my life next! In the meantime and during my short break, however, I played games. And since I can’t think of anything else to say, here’s what those games were:
(Except! I’ve forgotten my ABC challenges are still running! Here they are: General, Hidden Object Games, Point and Clicks, Visual Novels)

• 7 Lives
  

  1.5 hours playtime

  5 of 5 achievements

• Alicia Quatermain 2: The Stone of Fate
  

  10.8 hours playtime

  29 of 29 achievements

• Antenna Dilemma
  

  0.7 hours playtime

  10 of 10 achievements

• D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die
  

  18.2 hours playtime

  72 of 78 achievements

• DISTRAINT 2
  

  2.1 hours playtime

  9 of 9 achievements

• Nephise Begins
  

  0.9 hours playtime

  5 of 5 achievements

• Pickers
  

  7.9 hours playtime

  34 of 40 achievements

• The Walking Dead: Michonne
  

  3.8 hours playtime

  21 of 21 achievements

• Wurroom
  

  0.2 hours playtime

  7 of 7 achievements

7 Lives - Ugh. This story might make some sense if read in the language it was originally written in… AND if you’re its original writer. What this VN offers is 90 minutes of weird time jump/travel slash alternate dimension shit (something I like, without a doubt), which is then impossible to understand due to a lack of ground rules and terrible writing (and if there doesn’t seem to be a grammar or spelling mistake in a textbox, the sentence is probably left without a period). I read through it pretty quickly, but I also wasn’t really invested at any point. Avoid.

Alicia Quatermain 2: The Stone of Fate - She’s back, with a voice provider as uncredited as ever! This time around it’s been ~11 hours, and while I’ve passed all the levels, I still haven’t managed to complete them all with three stars. It really feels like the requirements are more tight, or maybe it’s me who’s not focused enough. I do admit I played about half the game listening to other things than the game music, as it wore me down quickly. If I do feel like spending more time on perfecting this game (and it does have collectibles tied to doing so again), I probably won’t mention it in the next update post.

Antenna Dilemma - An hour-long point and click about cubes that watch TV and a sphere that doesn’t. As usual, saying anything more about such a short game would mean walking right into spoiler territory. This game, however, isn’t finished, so I’d be excited to see its continuation, if it ever comes out.

D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die - “SWERY, darling… this is a masterpiece you’ve given us here” - me thinking about D4
D4 follows David Young, the most Bostonian detective there ever was (his accent will never let you forget it), as he investigates the murder of his wife, following the only clue she left him with in her dying breath - “Look for D”. As you can imagine, one letter of the alphabet can go a long way… but just as it gets interesting, the game ends. It was never finished due to some licensing mumbo-jumbo (please correct me if I’m wrong) and it’s truly upsetting that I won’t ever get to know more. Gameplay-wise, it’s a very rich point-and-click with collectibles to be found left and right, which was both annoying and satisfying, but worth it in the end. D4 definitely goes on my list of favorites for its colorful cast of characters and an intriquing story, left to be a mystery forever.

DISTRAINT 2 - Picking up where the first game left off, the main character, Price, is now facing his inner demons. Literally. Looking back at my review for the prequel, one thing has definitely been fixed - now you will definitely be able to tell who is who and when they’re talking. However, as a horror it still didn’t work for me. Perhaps that’s because I still couldn’t get myself to care for any of the characters.

Nephise Begins - I spent an hour running around picking up mushrooms and skulls. Also, I was convinced the name was pronounced “Ne-fiss”, but it’s actually “Ne-fissy”, huh? I got this game as one of the free pandemic deals, so I can’t complain, but… I have no idea what is anything or why or how it happened. Not at all interested in the other parts of the series.

Pickers - Pawn Stars in HOG form! Who would have thought it’d be this good? I’m not even remotely skilled in haggling, but I do enjoy watching the rare items get auctioned off for twice their worth. The string of sounds recorded for the auctioneer is right on the spot, too! Oh, and it’s so good to watch the HOG scenes get emptied out day by day. I know I’ve still got a few achievements to earn, but this game might already have to go on my Favorites list.

The Walking Dead: Michonne - Man, Michonne is a freaking BADASS! …or at least that’s what I did my best to make her. It’s a shame this one’s only a miniseries, I would have loved to see what became of her later on. Also a bummer that I couldn’t see how my choices compared to the global statistics, since they’re locked beyond the TTG account-whatever-thing. Sigh. Still looking forwards to continuing the franchise some other time.

Wurroom - I got to click around and watch surreal clay animation happen for about 15 minutes. It wasn’t bad (and it is free to play), although there are moments where the next thing you’re supposed to do is just let the cursor go and it’s hard to tell when that happens.

See you next month! :)