Lotheneil vs. The Backlog Hydra, Ep. #6

ABC Challenge project is coming along nicely, elimination of targets E, F and G confirmed. And I’ve even managed to finish one more unrelated title.

A little indie game that aspires to classic isometric cRPGs like Baldur’s Gate or Divinity series. Unfortunately, and completely understandably, it’s nowhere near that league. It offers pleasant, a bit cartoony graphics, diverse locations, simple, but coherent story and interesting (and humoristic at time) dialogues.
On the other hand, the title was, at least to me, very simplistic. There is next to no character development - every level you get two points to add to 4 statistics (strength, dexterity, intellect and vitality) - and that’s all. Majority of character power comes from equipment - it gives access to three active and two passive skills. Due to that system there is no feel of development and empowerment, but at the same time inexperienced players can delve into the story without the risk of making poor character build decisions - everything is reversible. The title is a mobile port, which results in quite clunky controls with a lot of drag and drop mechanics. Inventory UI could use an overhaul as well, as currently you have a long list of items to scroll through.
This title may serve as an introduction to RPG genre, or something to pick up to catch a break between more challenging and complex games. It is not extraordinary in any aspect - predictable story, decent, but not breathtaking visuals, next to non-existent character development, poor UI and mobile-like controls and fluid, but devoid of any advanced tactics combat. One mechanics worth mentioning is crafting - you can find various ingredients scattered around the world (from ores to herbs), then use them to create food, potions, as well as several types of weapons and armours. Recipes can either be found or bought, or just discovered through experiments. Nothing you haven’t seen in other titles, but still stands out of the overall simplicity.

Verdict: neutral leaning positive The game definitely has its shortcomings, but still is a charming little indie gem worth considering - especially for the price requested.
Status: completed. All subquests finished. The title has easy achievement set - just playing the game nets you all but two, and there are no dreaded grindy ones.

I was looking forward to playing this game as it reminded me of good old Master of Magic I spent a ton of time like 20 years ago (really? geez, how does the time fly). Civilisation-like mechanics in fantasy setting where magic played a large role was a really pleasant experience - or so does my nostalgia tell me. Fallen Enchantress, while offering similar gameplay, throwing in some quests, hero development and equipment system for a good measure, did not appeal to me though.
The title offers two fabularised scenarios (one with honest plot and cutscenes, the other just with some conversation popups) as well as freeplay mode, where you can select your race, create a character and set map details (size, number of quests and monsters on map, opponents etc.). And while the story is what I tend to look for in games the most, the latter mode was much more enjoyable.
Scenarios are just awful. One takes place on a series of small areas, where you move your team from point to point doing quests and fighting monsters and the city development part is very limited. The other offers one large map with several allies and enemies as well as some kind of a main quest you need to complete in order to finish it. Apparently - as the map bugged for me and nothing decided to trigger - so I’ve just beaten all hostile races and called it a day.

Verdict: neutral leaning negative For me the title is just mediocre. Bland maps, uninspired combat mechanics offering few tactical options, that makes battles get boring really fast (fortunately there is an autobattle option), clunky equipment system and terrible scenarios. Freeplay does give quite a lot of fun, but without anything to drag the player in and keep him interested, only the most hardcore fans of this type of games stay with it for longer.
Status: beaten. First scenario completed, the second would be if not for the bug I’ve mentioned, two maps finished. Enough for me.

I thought I had a full game, guess the free first chapter got into my backlog somehow. Oh well, it was still fun, if short.
In general the title is a simple platformer. We play as Grimm, a short, ugly, disgusting being, that is strongly opposed to the cuddly and sweet worlds of fairy tales. So he walks through the scenery, transforming everything into dark and twisted versions of themselves.
And that’s what generally the game is about - walk through every corner, paint it grey, change inhabitants into zombies or other bloodthirsty beings, do some easy platforming and move on. Full version consists of 23 well known fairy tales to mess with, the first free episode features “The Story of a Boy Who Went Forth to Learn Fear”

Verdict: neutral leaning positive This game is odd. Some may argue it is more of a walking simulator than platformer, as no skill whatsoever is needed. What stands out in this title is an idea, setting and unusual, cartoony graphics. Worth playing the demo, though I’ll pass buying the full version, at least until it gets heavily discounted or bundled.
Status: complete It was really short and there is nothing much to do. I didn’t even have to explore too much to find all the collectibles.

Small casual time management game, in which you control your own restaurant - buying equipment and composing menu, but above all - serving your customers. Cooking each dish requires inputting a specific key (or gamepad) combination, proper timing (to take the pan from the fire before whatever is on it burns to cinders) - or a combination of both. As the customers are not the most patient around, the game requires both precision and speed.
What stands out is the fact, that game difficulty is highly scaled - not only the dishes wary in difficulty (and you can compose the menu as you see fit), but depending on your accuracy the number of customers arriving next day will change.
This is one of the ‘easy to learn, hard to master’ games, and it definitely has something addicting to it. Gameplay is fast and fluid, muscle memory kicks in really fast - so you learn proper combination by heart really fast and stop thinking about controls altogether. I really hate grinding and grindy achievements, yet I’ve obtained 100% of them - including ‘Serve 15k customers’ one. Recommended to all not opposed to the genre.
And no, 44h logged here were not spent this week only - I’ve been playing the game in and out for the last couple of months :)

Verdict: positive It is a specific type of game not everyone finds entertaining, but if you’ve played and liked some (mostly flash based, like ‘Papa’s’ series) games of the genre, definitely give this one a try.
Status: completed. 100% finished. This game just has something addicting to it, that invokes the famous ‘one more turn’ (here: day) syndrome.