I was weirdly looking forward to Icewind Dale during the Baldur's Gate play-through. Perhaps because i imagined it as a more relaxing, Diablo-like game without the focused narrative - you know, something you can play while you listen to a podcast, or while (re)watching some internet video

Two problems: 2nd Edition D&D rules (and perhaps all editions, i'm not the expert) are not really designed for half-brained play - not without Story Mode at least, and even then you might find yourself occasionally hitting a wall. Secondly, they stripped out the advanced party AI from BG 1&2, which obviously means you need to do a lot more micro-management as a player

As a bonus third point, i really underappreciated how much the narrative brings to your motivation as a player. The entire party is created by you, so while you may feel a part ownership of them, they don't have any quests or personality beyond what you imagine yourself - so it feels more like carting a few of your toys on an adventure across your parent's garden

I'm not talking down to that childish sort of play - i did that a lot as a kid, and it's probably a primary driver of writers and game designers and dungeon masters towards creating their worlds - it's just that the companion characters lent a social element to the experience (even if it's simulated) that feels like it's missing here. Perhaps it was a mistake to play it after the Baldur's Gates, or perhaps i really am burning out a bit

You do fly through character levels like, well, a Diablo character, and the game is a lot shorter than either BG game, so at least my whole month wasn't killed again. Here's hoping i can play enough other things so that i'm fresh and ready for Planescape Torment next month

I definitely enjoyed my time with Immortal Redneck. A good-feeling rogue-like with barely any fluff. Just dive in and start shooting mummies

The "Redneck" part is just an excuse for guns, with you starting with the classic sawn-off, a pistol and some "fishing" dynamite. Your quest is to blast your way through the floors of three pyramids, up to the boss at its apex. "Blast" is the operative word here, as you start off rocketing around at nearly Doom/Quake levels of movement speed - sprint jumps can take you clear across some rooms. This speed can be increased, and double- or triple-jumps (or more) can be unlocked for even more air acrobatics

Between runs you have a literal skill tree that you feed with gold earned in the pyramids, unlocking character improvements and starting load-outs. These are all themed on ancient Egyptian gods, with suitable passive and active skills, and they're pretty good for trying out a new style every now and then. Everything the gods offer (and a lot more) can be found inside the pyramids, as during a run you find scrolls to add blessings (or curses) to your character, as well as the fundamental video-game offensive object type: guns

The level design is pretty good, but you do start to recognise room layouts after a while. The environmental design helps out a lot here though, with everything having that stereotypical ancient Egypt style, but with a fantastical - even cartoonish - edge. This was a good move, in my opinion, as enemies and platforms are easier to read at mach speeds, which is more important to me than realistic graphics. The setting also lends well to the fantasy of searching for hidden treasure and dodging deadly traps

Good senseless violence to close of the month with a satisfying pop

A nice short metroidvania palette-cleanser after endless hours of Baldur's Gate. Pretty much by the numbers as well, so very appropriate

Controls are a bit stiff, but that might be because it's a 3DS port, but otherwise it's solid. One small thing that irked me was putting Trevor's story after Alucard's, as the narrative climax seems to be at the end of Alucard's chapter; also, traversal abilities carry over between chapters, which just feels a bit weird when we're going back in time, and back to non-vampire form. Probably could've just swapped these chapters without much issue.. although the maps would have to be adjusted too, so maybe not so simple

Anyway, bit of comfort food after stuffing myself on the all-you-can-eat Baldur's Gate banquet. Let's see what else is in the fridge…

And so i've finally finished the sequel. Unsurprisingly, it's very similar to its predecessor - although that might be due to the Enhanced Edition's consistency overhauls

Everything is much more epic. We're now at levels 10 - 30, so we're attacking three times a round, and casting spells of literal life and death. Suitably, our foes are now liches and beholders and mind-flayers. We're a long way away (about 100 hours in my case) from killing rats in the kitchen, and you can feel the difference. As much as i don't get along with 2nd edition D&D, this sense of progression is very satisfying

We have a new nemesis to chase across the map, although this time he's far more interesting, with more human motivations, which counter-intuitively makes him easier to hate. Structurally, it's almost the inverse of the first game; there, we meandered through the wilderness towns until finally reaching Baldur's Gate, where a bunch of side quests and story threads are revealed. This time you spend a large chunk at the start solving all the problems in the city of Athkatla, before setting out on the mostly linear chase. The expansion is a kind of battle royale of demigods, where you fight the most powerful remaining children of Bhaal, for the titular Throne - content fit for your high level character

Special note should be given to the companions, as this game is where you can see Bioware solidified their style. Romance is now a prominent option for some, and each has their own personal quest to follow. These are usually given after traveling together for a while, whereas later games let you do nearly all of them through regular chats at home base. I primarily kept the returning characters from BG1, and it was quite (bitter)sweet to witness their stories evolve and eventually close

Enjoyed this one a bit more than the first; i think they're growing on me (Stockholm syndrome perhaps?), but wow do they take long to play. Decimating my monthly completion rate…

Just a nice quick remaster from an era where game mechanics were unpolished (and sometimes incoherent), but were often heaps more charming because of it

For the unfamiliar, Destroy All Humans is probably closest to something like GTA, except with about 5 separated areas instead of one giant one. It's more angled towards the "cause chaos until the cops come" side, as just your presence already causes panic (you're an alien after all). There's some mind control and disguise powers to avoid this happening, which are fun to play with. Otherwise it's your expected third-person vaporising and anal-probing, or mass destruction in your saucer

Like other open-worlds, the main story is a narrative draped over these mechanics, providing interesting challenges - or ideas for your own chaos when you eventually get back to free-roaming

Good palette cleanser before the new month starts

The basic conceit of Moon Hunters is a rogue-like (optionally co-op) game, where each run is framed as the telling of the legend of your character(s). At the end of a run, your character and their story will be assigned to a constellation that fits, effectively immortalising them in the stars

Mechanically, Moon Hunters is a top-down action game, and each run has many of the elements you'd expect from a rogue-like: randomised areas, enemies, upgrades, events, etc. Most of the moment to moment gameplay is simple enemy elimination while you clean a map of all its goodies, which is worthwhile if you have a friend or two around and maybe get a bit tipsy, but doesn't hold up in more long-form solo sessions. The first four character classes are familiar feeling archetypes, but the other (unlockable) ones are more creative in their design. The upgrades are mostly bland numerical extensions though, so you and your buddy's Spellswords will basically feel the same

Narratively, each run follows the same template: the Moon God has gone missing, and you are tasked with finding out why. The Sun Cult is rising in power - awfully coincidental - and so you have limited days to complete your mission. Each day you choose an area to go to, in the hopes that it will provide some clues to the Goddess's location. Every run ends with a confrontation with the Sun King, who you can defeat regardless, so what matters most is what you get up to along the way

The character traits and events system is probably the most unique selling point here. As you explore areas and engage in these events, your character develops traits that may help or hinder with future events. These events and traits will form the bulk of your celestial write-up at the end of the run. You also improve character attributes with your choices, but these are rarely used as checks - primarily they increase stats, like damage and health

There's a few interesting ideas in Moon Hunters, but they don't seem to be explored that much. The game is also dragged down by rough enemy and map design, that eventually made each run feel like a chore. Rather play it with some friends on a relaxed afternoon..

What do i even say about this ages old game?

It's definitely interesting to see all the Bioware quirks traced back to their roots here, and there's a certain old-school charm to the whole thing, but yeah.. you can feel the age on this one.. and 2nd edition D&D is not helping things. Perhaps i've just been spoiled by modern games, but i found myself getting irritated at all the clunky character management and world interactions - rough edges that have been smoothed out in more recent genre releases

As a side note, i'm quite glad we seem to have moved away from real-time-with-pause, like, as a society. As much as i enjoyed Pillars of Eternity and Tyranny, i'm still so puzzled why that became the digital mode for this genre for so long - table-top RPGs are essentially turn-based already, so i don't know how it took us until Larian arrived to realise that it would be a better fit for the digital versions

I'm probably being unfair though, and i should rather judge the game on it's own merits. I will say, i did enjoy the narrative quite a bit. Also, low-level adventuring is not something you see that often in games (or not like this at least), so i appreciated the stakes starting literally at "kill the rats in the cellar", and only very slowly cranking up from there. Combined with that, the narrative freedom of "go out and forge whatever path", while still leaving a few threads to follow up on is a style that always works well with games

And yeah, as much as i say i didn't enjoy the endless inventory management, eating an edible and zoning out on it (and the story and setting) was quite a good time