What's next?

So to be honest I had enough of meaningful indie games and pixel art. I am longing for an off the rack triple AAA title. Enough story to keep you invested, but nothing that occupies your mind too long, normal videogame graphics and some over-the-shoulder shooting.

I've installed Resident Evil 4, Lost Planet 3 and Devil May Cry, mainly wanting to play Resident Evil and maybe work my way to Resident Evil 6 from there.

Also now using up space on my hard drive are titles from The Purge which I might look into when I feel like it.

Hope you're all doing well, fight the backlog!

Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons

A nice short little adventure with easy achievements. Really enjoyed it, although there are some minor things that bothered me, which makes the universal praise a bit confusing to me.

First off the positive aspects though. The mechanic of controlling each brother individually was definitely unique and entertaining. Sometimes I had to figure out who's who, so I always preferred having the older brother on the left and the younger one on the right, so that they align with the analog sticks they're controlled with, but once you get used to the controls it's somewhat fascinating to play two characters at once. It's somewhat surreal to look at the screen and see them move so naturally and despite being in control it disconnects you from what's happening. I felt like I'm watching a movie or something. That's not a bad thing, it only underlines how idiosyncratic the feature is.

What I didn't like was the gibberish language they were talking. Growing up in a multicultural area, and being a son of migrants myself, most words sounded familiar, but didn't make sense at all. So it really took a lot of immersion away from the game when they just sounded completely ridiculous in, what supposed to be, moving scenes.

It also felt a bit incoherent, because this game got really, really fucking dark all of a sudden. At first it was a beautiful hike through the woods, but then it was all about death, halucinations and what not. You could argue the sudden change is an artistic tool to add more weight to the events, but it just felt out of place.

Still an enjoyable experience and alone the gameplay mechanics make it worth being played.

Masochisia

I've won this game from Aurorable as part of a little event she made for people who played more than 50% of their wins from Steamgifts. Well, technically I won, but I was the only entry, so you can consider this a direct gift and despite not being part of the birthday batch I wanted to play it as soon as possible.

I don't want to say much about this game, because I feel like going into it without any knowledge is the best way to enjoy it. All I want to say is that it's an experience worth being played. That obviously also depends if you're into the stuff that Masochisia presents, because trust me, it's not for the faint of heart, but even if you don't like dark, disturbing topics and overall psychology then it's still worth it. It has a lot of elements which are rather experimental and I've never seen them used in a game before.

The store page is probably giving you enough information to tell you what to expect without spoiling any of it.

And I somehow wanted to subtly link my review of the game, but I forgot to work that in. I'm lazy and uncreative.

Superhot

By now everyone knows what this title is all about, so I won't have to tell you anything about the fun time-beding mechanic, right?

The story of the game is rather short, taking maybe 2 hours to complete, depending on how fast you clear the levels. It's trying really hard to be meta and deep, which isn't a bad thing, but it has been done before, maybe even better. So the philosophical tone is a bit overused, but it's just something that ties together each level. So I still appreciate the effort. After all it's about the gameplay here, not a story.

So is it worth the money playing a 2 hour campaign? Probably not, but you get a ridiculous amount of challenges, endless modes and other unlockables after that, which adds a lot of replayability. It also gets crazy difficult, so my initial goal to 100% Superhot isn't as easy as I thought it would be.

What I absolutely love about the game are the visuals though. It's rare to find titles that try to be visually appealing, beyond pixel art and your usual videogame realism. Everything about this is perfectly designed. From the logo to the levels. I don't say I know shit about graphic design, but I bet anyone that does will highly appreciate the looks of this game.

That's why I took a shitload of screenshots. Thumbs up pl0x.

System Shock: Enhanced Edition

I absolutely love to catch up on older games, some of which I have never properly played or only watched my cousin play when I was a wee lad. Back then I treated games as arcade titles and ignored story content. Input some cheat and wreak havoc! It's a mix of nostalgia as well as making up leeway.

And in some cases I never actually played them as a kid, never even knew of their existence. I like to get a little education on important videogame culture if you will.

And System Shock is one of them, hearing loads of praise for being a game ahead of its time and an important influence on later videogames, but the thing is that they never age that well. When I heard about the Enhanced Edition I thought it was time to catch up and luckily Quisty provided the chance for that.

Unfortunately it's not that much enhanced, really. The user interface is still confusing as fuck, the level architecture is the same labyrinth it was before and objectives are still transferred through lengthy audio logs. Don't get me wrong, it's a good game, but it's just hard to navigate through and I can't play it for more than an hour. If you die for some weird reason and have to do an hour worth of progress all over, you rather quit the game than to try again. I've put over 2 hours into it and I'd really wish to finish it, but I think I will spread a few short game sessions over the coming weeks, to make it more enjoyable for myself, rather than rushing though to the end of it.

That's why it's currently unfinished and will probably stay that way for a little while. I just feel really, really bad that I don't enjoy it as much as I expected, especially since it was a gift.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

During all of my recent backlog beating I've played Isaac every now and then and some decent progress. I am only missing 3 endings and the list of acquired items is getting fuller with each run. I don't know if I'm going after all the achievements, but I definitely want to get all endings so I can at least consider it beaten. Playing with characters like Samson and Azazel definitely helps, since they are so overpowered. At least I think they are. I'm a noob!

Speedrunners

Not knowing what to play next I picked up Speedrunners again, which has recently left Early Access. It added a whole lot of new content and achievements, so that was worth checking out. It has a completely new campaign to play and I must say that it's fucking shite, at least when you compare it to the earlier story mode this game had and apparently cut from the 1.0 version. Before you had a story told through comic panel sequences and timed levels, some boss levels even á la Super Meat Boy. Now you have simple races against the AI on the multiplayer maps you already know. Really, really awefully cheap dialogues at the beginning of each race, which propably are supposed to tell you about the mechanics of the game, but are just completely unnecessary. Even when you play on the toughest difficulty it just feels like racing against other players online. So that was a disappointment.

The Purge

No, not the movie. The purge is something I planned to do the coming weeks.

I remove games from my library every now and then. You know, bundle trash and freebies. Usually I would watch a random gameplay video on YouTube, see what it plays and looks like and decide if I want to keep a game or not, but this time I compiled a list of games that are on the edge of being removed permanently and I will play them myself to see if I remove them or not. Maybe get hooked on the game in the process or just play it for 30 minutes and deinstall it.

And because I will actually play the games this time around I even picked some games that might be good, considering the reviews they've got, because I will judge first hand if they are worth keeping.

I thought I'd list all the games here, but I'm lazy and if I play them anyway it would be worthless trying to convince me. So having a list here has no purpose really. Sorry, not sorry.

xoxo

Super Time Force Ultra

I've beaten the main story of Super Time Force Ultra, which is only a small fraction of the content, but enough for me to consider it done for now. There's still the hardcore mode and the helladeck missions, which are small puzzle levels that make most out of the main time-bending feature.

What I said about the game still stands and I would only repeat myself here, but the story was hilarious. If you liked Not A Hero you will love this one. Not that they are similar in any way, but they definitely share the same vibe and charisma.

Undertale

Over time I was doubting if the hype for this game was justified and I can confirm that it was and still is.

I've got the true pacifist ending, after some major mind-fuckery, and never has a game encouraged me to play this way. The game is so positive and fun, it was just a joyride through and through. I don't want to kill anyone in this game and usually I'm always the bad guy in videogames, except for the ones that force you to be good, because the bad route is often the wrong route and punishes you for choosing it. One of the things I hate the most about the supposed multiple choice, choose your own way bullshit these days.

Tem outta tem!

There are a few things to criticize though. Playing with a controller is wonky at times and I wouldn't recommend using it for the fights. Plus you'd think a game of this magnitude would have full controller support and give you the chance to take screenshots, but the game engine hinders you from doing that. Only minor things because I grew to take them for granted, but still an amazing game!

The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth

Put about 10 hours into Isaac and made some decent progress. I never got a win streak going, but I got the cat has my tongue challenge, killed Mom and her heart, as well as Satan, which is a shame, because he always offered me amazing deals! If Satan ever offers you something for your soul, accept it, it has no consequences, only benefits! \m/

Summer Sale

Did it help that the button's blue? I sure hope so, because I would like some advice from y'all!

So far I bought Hyper Light Drifter which was the number one on my wishlist and I just had to get it, but now I'm wondering what else I should buy or maybe not buy anything at all?

After talking to a friend on Steam I decided to keep my Steam wallet untouched and save the money for upcoming releases and there are several I am waiting for. Having a few bucks available will help out a lot and I know that I will play those right away.

I still have ~12€ on PayPal though and have someone who could get the games in New Zealand for me, but I really don't know what to purchase! Or maybe I shouldn't purchase anything at all, at least not for me, get something for upcoming birthdays (wink!) or maybe for giveaways? Maybe I shouldn't get anything from my wishlist and get something cheaper instead? Something I haven't considered yet?

Anyway, I reduced my wishlist to a few games I am considering to get

Kentucky Route Zero, Axiom Verge or one of the Resident Evil remakes.

Input is highly appreciated, so what do you think? Buy something or save the money? Be egoistic or make someone else happy? If so, what should I get?

Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons

Our amazing website creator Mandrill already congratulated me last night, but did it again along with a complimentary gift. He knows how picky I am about games, but this is actually a great choice. I've heard about this game several times, most notably in a video by Game Maker's Toolkit, a channel I can highly recommend for anyone who's interested in videogames, so... everyone on here?

I am curious to delve in and expand my horizon of nerdom!

The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth

Keohookalani didn't even know it was my birthday in the first place. He didn't see my post on here, neither did he see my thread on Steamgifts, someone we both know just told him and he spontaneously gave me this game from my wishlist. I can only reason that we're dealing with borderline insanity here, having some experience in mental disorders myself! Keo, you can always talk with me, if you want to!

Jokes aside. I have played about 2 hours already and noticed that my vanilla Binding of Isaac skills haven't forsaken me. Still a bit rusty and some of the basic mechanics have to be learned once more, but I was instantly hooked - does this still count for March's theme?

And I honestly thought Enter The Gungeon might have spoiled me in the rogue-like genre, but Binding Of Isaac is still as good as I remembered it, if not better!

System Shock: Enhanced Edition

Did you think that was already way too much to handle for one day? Me too, but it didn't stop there. I am the happiest I've ever been today, said the guy with depression.

This one is special, because it had a tiny detail that I love when receiving a gift. Quisty remembered a comment I wrote in the Steamgifts' forum when System Shock: Enhanced Edition was in a bundle. I said I'd want to get it, but I'm not buying the whole bundle for one game. She remembered that bit, which I even almost forgot.

And just recently I've seen this game being speedran in a marathon and thought to myself that I probably should've gotten that damn bundle!

Karma is real, guys.

Superhot

Oh, how long I've been trying to win this game. I had so many opportunities with entries ranging from 16 to 1000 entries, but I have never seen the spacecat grace my screen, instead it was the Steam gift notification!

Paxnit who is not in this group, but who I know from Steamgifts gave it to me and I he really shouldn't have. He's the one adding giveaways to my thread and now this.

I hope I don't seem like bragging, but I want to share the genuine happiness I experienced today. Superhot is well-known at this point, so the title would have been enough to go nuff said accompanied by a micdrop.gif

I am going to close the blinds, board up the windows and play videogames all day long. At this point I don't even care about the summer sale anymore.

Life's good.

Super Time Force Ultra

Before the clock even struck twelve, the impatient PeteOzzy made an early birthday present. Number 3 on my wishlist at the time and obviously I was blown away. I already sunk about 3 hours into the game and it's awesome. The pixel art is phenomenal, the dialogue is hilarious and the gameplay mechanics are unique.

I thought it would be a simple run 'n gun sidescroller, but the ability to rewind in a time-out and optimize the way you play makes the game stand out for me.

And when you beat a level you get a replay of how you did in real-tme, which can look like a huge clusterfuck at times when you've got a dozen characters running around and shooting at a boss.

Looking forward to beating it!

Undertale

I remember how someone in the Steamgifts forum hyped this game so, so much before the actual release and it got me excited as well. The first reviews rolled in and everyone loved it, never heard anything bad about it. Forward a few months and the game landed on several lists for being one of the best games of the year.

At that point it was a bit too much hype for my taste, but it didn't keep me from entering giveaways for it since the day I heard about it. Obviously I never won it, because let's face it, Steamgifts is a scam and SG tools is spyware. These are well-known facts by now.

And out of nowhere BluewolfCA gifted me a copy today! Didn't think the day could get any better!

I only played an hour of it, but I already feel like I should share my experience, because it got so many emotions out of me that I feel like the hype is deserved and I should feel ashamed for doubting that. It's so cute and funny, that I decided to do a pacifist run, even though I always choose to be the wrost person in videogames. I don't even want to progress in the game right now, because Toriel wants me to stay. I want to eat cinnamon-butterscotch cake and stay with her forever!

Limbo

What can I say? It's free right now and probably a must-have for everyone, so I'm glad to add this to the library! If you haven't gotten it yet, make sure to grab it, while it's free!