Isn't it great when you're on leave for two weeks and can't muster enough willpower to finish a single game despite essentially not being able to do all the normal things like going outside? Well, Steam to the rescue once again this time with LudoNarraCon event where indies get to showcase what they've been up to and we get play some demos on offer. Going by name alone I expected it would be more about story-driven narratives, but I biggly underestimated just how many developers shared singular fascination with detectives. So much so I played four demos about such adventures... in a row. Demos should be up until May 1st.
Beyond that I saw a few movies in my downtime and decided to chime in on those. I've finally included links to respective trailers because those will probably get you interested more than my scribbling could. Such linking could potentially be used in the future for other purposes as well. If I ever had to provide panel samples for comics or such.
Ring of Fire had me confounded for a while. It's a first-person investigation game where you take control of a rather bitchy detective and her partner as you're called to a murder scene. Setting is a futuristic one where people wear masks as part of their jobs, but that's not really the main draw of the game. When Ring of Fire says “this game is built with you taking notes in mind” it really means that. Decision to remove a clues notebook detective might carry around was an intentional one and may pose a problem because you are REQUIRED to query the police computer with every piece of info you find so you can piece it together. Heard someone's name? Looking up where they live so you can input the address and visit them is the most basic level of involved actions. I didn't really find it engaging and game lacks feedback on whether you're making progress. Good old “try everything” kicks in quickly.
Visual Novel at its core, Solace State plays the way you'd expect one to, but the devil lies in the details. Or should I say visually appealing merger of 2D and 3D assets... even if characters sometimes look like 2D cutouts when camera shifts abruptly. We assume control of a young hacker named Chloe in media res as she's in dangerous part of town with another hacker seemingly on this politically motivated mission of sorts. I wasn't exactly impressed by its hot take on the subject, but the underlying system of making informed decisions based on choices you glimpse from hacking is great. How do you deal with an aggressive grunt? Why, you hack him and find out he's local, has a sick mother and is indentured too his company. You then use this against him even if I'm not sure whether you're stuck in linear story or if consequences are real. Let's hope characters aren't overly preachy about social justice, though.
I'm certainly glad to see Chinatown Detective Agency is keen on keeping that '90s point & click adventure game spirit alive, albeit with a spin – you are actually expected to Google solutions on your end. At least if ancient literary authors and geography aren't your thing as far as demo is concerned. Oh, there's also pattern matching and ciphers to be cracked by our attractive detective turned PI lady. Pixel art is a make-or-break deal for many and while it could be more detailed, especially on characters, I think overall aesthetic works just fine. One amusing addition is keeping track of your funds and I'm interested in seeing how that aspect is balanced against globe trotting you'll embark on as you solve cases. Said cases kinda getting abruptly and serving as appetizers to whatever story arcs they may hold. Color me impressed and CDA definitely looks like something to be on a lookout for.
Part-time VN, part-time first-person adventure I have to say Paradise Killer definitely left a conflicting impression on me. If there was a single word to describe the game it would be “bizarre”. Sprung free from her exile Lady Love Dies is back as chief investigator trying to solve a murder mystery on Perfect Island and its denizens who may have dabbled in more than they should have trying to create its 25th version. I absolutely LOVE the presentation, combining the '80s aesthetics with appropriate soundtrack. Keep in mind when I say “presentation” I'm referring primarily to 2D assets. When our protagonist is not in fixed dialog you have to contend with cobbled together 3D environments while you compile testimonies and evidence. My distinct impression is project being pulled in too many directions and now looking to graft gameplay onto what should have been a pure Visual Novel for the sake of story integrity.
If you're looking for that mellow and light on gameplay experience Coffee Talk qualifies perfectly. I haven't played any of them for myself, but from what I understand there are other “barista gets to know his customers” games out there so this may not exactly be a novel idea in the grand scheme of things. That fact doesn't exactly diminish what we have at hand, though. Gameplay itself just boils down to listening what customers want and mixing three ingredients. Visual Novel presentation is really of the essence here, though. These people have lives you hear and look up on cheekily named social network, you get news about the world as each day passes, etc. Emotive sprite work and moody jazz soundtrack fits like a glove to a game of this type where you're not really racing against the clock or having your dexterity tested. Whether that alone can carry an experience throughout is up to you.
First impression Tangle Tower left was due to insanely high production values. You might find that strange for a P&C adventure game where lead characters aren't even on screen most of the time, but effort that must've gone into stunning artwork and full voice acting has to have been considerable. Pair of investigators reaches the eponymous tower(s) to solve a murder case and game is not content to leave you toiling with “combine X with Y to guess developer logic” so much as it expands on the puzzle system. From logical deduction sequences to dialog itself it seems they're treated akin to mini-games of sorts. Our two leads come off as snarky with great chemistry between themselves, yet never fell into that annoying territory for me that I've seen modern writing try to work with. This is one [modern] point & click adventure worth checking out if you're a genre enthusiast like yours truly.
More often than not nowadays I find myself in the mood for some well-rounded games. Garden Story is one of those where action adventure is the predominant ingredient, but there's more involved. I'm talking about how outright charming it is and ticks enough boxes so it's not just full-on action all the time. In this world of, well, living vegetables you play as Concord, a village guardian. Along with going dungeon delving to discover what's the deal with Rot you'll also take requests from villagers, restore said village and overall just take your time enjoying. I would say straightforward and comparatively simple graphics hide a game that's anything but when you look under the hood. I never felt like something was missing while I played the demo or that developer was trying to get away with a simplified game simply because it visually may appeal to children. If Legend of Zelda is your jam check out Garden Story.
One thing that annoyed me while playing Over the Alps was how you can definitely tell its user interface was made with smartphones in mind. Marveling stylized backgrounds on the big screen is great, but these same big screens also have a lot more real estate to work with text displaying. Game also does very little to explain its mechanics to you so it took me a while to figure out this agent we play as would be smart to lay traps and employ workarounds so his identity is not exposed as he goes about his business in Switzerland on the cusp of WW2. This poor telegraphing of what the player can interact with means you'll have to figure some things on your own, like alternate travel routes. At the end of the day writing was solid and visuals immersive. I think it also nailed the story of WW2 espionage where you don't trust anyone rather well which leaves me wondering where they're going with further stories.
It feels odd to say that Neo Cab gets cumbersome to play before I even finished the demo, but it does. I can also pinpoint when that happened – when game introduced the Feelgrid so you start choosing based on what affects your mood. That's on top of having to carefully pick answers so as not to piss off your customers lest they give you a poor score. Bolting such mechanics on-top of CYOA doesn't work in this case and that's unfortunate because stories your passengers have seem interesting and provide a glimpse into this technological city. Some things are comically weird, like an anti-car faction objecting usage of cars on the basis of being Fucking Death Machines and this groups plays it entirely seriously, yet at its core Neo Cab seems to be buried under busy work to get to the good bits. Maybe I'm just too old and can't get into the whole “urban youth and world running on their feelings” drivel.
She Never Died ( Drama, Action, 2019, 89 minutes ) + TRAILER
I don't know what's current status of the mini series that was supposed to be released after He Never Died, but I recently saw She Never Died which is more or less the same idea except roles are gender-bent. Considering who the main character is, and who the main character from the last movie is superposed to be, they might as well exist in the same universe. Not really a movie I'd recommend because it took hindsight to realize how much Henry Rollins added as the previous lead compared to this new STRONG WOMAN protagonist who rarely comes off as more than just loudly posturing and not as someone who would've blended into society well enough to last this long. Lack of budget and personal story investment also comes through. Antagonists were despicable enough with their ludicrous snuff premise and matter a fact behavior, though.
Color Out of Space ( Horror, 2019, 111 minutes ) + TRAILER
Sat through Color out of Space yesterday. Man, this must've been one hell of a trip to watch in movie theaters, but it only emphasized what a weirdly unfilmable story they chose to adapt out of Lovecraft's entire library. This is one of those cases where advancements in digital technology certainly help in getting surreal imagery across and movie really ramps it up along the way before it overloads the visuals in the finale. Even if it boils down to "color pink started causing trouble in my neighborhood" I think movie's faults come down to uninteresting human stories and how it seemingly HAS to explain what's going on to dumb audience or they won't get it. It's not a 1:1 adaptation and there's quite a bit of expanded content here, but I have to give them credit for appropriate ending even if surprise survivor stayed sane. What a ripoff! Cage definitely brought his unsettlingly manic performance, but I couldn't really tell how much of it was acting before shit hits the fan and how much was his low energy self. I think I expected more from Color out of Space because I'd probably rate Mandy higher.
Aniara ( Science Fiction, Drama, 2018, 106 minutes ) + TRAILER
I'm not sure how a Swedish movie even got on my to-watch radar, but I saw Aniara. In a way it's exactly what I'd expect from Sweden these days: Earth's climate got screwed up and humanity embarks on massive exodus to Mars where they're making a new life for themselves. Movie follows passengers aboard the eponymous Aniara and shenanigans that ensue after a freak stellar accident leaves them without the ability to control the ship. There's a plan how to turn around, but it's expected to take two years and that's a long time for things to go wrong. Things are made even worse because there's this VR reality sort of technology called Mima that lets people relive imagery from what Earth "was like before" and people begin relying on it more and more as form of escapism which puts stress on our protagonist as she's the sole operator of said technology. There's undoubtedly some social commentary going on here and not having a female protagonist be a lesbian would have shocked me. My biggest problem with Aniara is how it manages to be on the somewhat dull side despite an interesting premise and escalating stakes. I think it's just how stoic everyone is and subdued atmosphere that only occasionally gets interjected with tense scenes. In true Nordic fashion it's more utilitarian and minimalist than anything else.
You’ve indeed been busy looking in a lot of different games for us. I’ve only glimpsed at LNC, but I was certainly impressed with all the different and lovely art styles there are. At the same time I have to admit, that the sheer number of games wa sos overwhelming that I gave up on looking into them in more detail. Definitely an interesting “event” nonetheless.
It’s handy there are these events particularly because developers have been complaining how hard it is to get your game noticed. One trend I noticed is art style and writing are much greater focus over actual gamePLAY. You get the impression a lot of teams are running with already existing software or they have a programmer friend they conned into making the framework while they’re really focused on the presentation side. Nothing really impressed me as innovative.
Understandable. With the plethora of new releases in the recent years, it’s hard to make a name for yourself. On the other hand, some of the most successful releases are from small indie developers, so it has to be possible somehow nonetheless.
I could imagine that a lot of people going into game development are not necessarily interested in doing the “boring grunt work” of coding a new framework but want to express themselves in a more creative manner. Coding a new framework is also way more time consuming. At least from my – very limited! – experience. But I’m not knowledgeable enough in this subject, so I might very well be mistaken.
For sure. I’m just surprised no programmers are trying to make their presence known. Hell, Bethesda and Obsidian both hired from modding pool of talent back in the day. Making your own game should be a step up when it comes to getting noticed. Not that you have to make next Minecraft or anything.
Quick question: according to the Steam page, the game is also part “Social Simulator.” How much of the game is focused on that compared to the action? While I do still have a fondness for the combat and dungeon exploration of traditional Zelda games, I have no interest in simulator games like Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, and not knowing the ratio between the two is part of the reason I’m hesitant to check out Rune Factory. Basically, I want to know if I can mostly ignore the town and just focus on the dungeons.
Wait, that game isn’t even out yet, and you only played the demo! I don’t know if it’s a good idea to make sweeping recommendations like that when you haven’t even played 1/4th of the game.
I honestly don’t know where they get the social simulator part. You talk to NPCs and gather some ingredients, but it’s not really “half the game is filling up reputation meters” or anything like that.
Dungeon itself was only part of the package, but rest was going through the world itself where you get to fight enemies, collect stuff and talk to occasional NPC. My impression was that dungeons are not the meat of the game.
Rune Factory is definitely balanced in that it was made for people who wanted things like combat and gear on top of managing a farm, socializing with villagers, etc. Then again even in Harvest Moon you could, essentially, ignore farming and get everything you want from mining so you had time to fool around.
If you can’t make a judgement call based on official demos you’d be hard pressed to find a better source of information. Like I said all of these impressions are based on demos. Somehow, I don’t see any of them pulling a 180.