Higloman
1999
Genre: Platformer Collect-a-Thon
Released: November 22nd, 1999
Platform: Nintendo 64 (original), Wii U
Developer: Rare
Publisher: Nintendo
Language: English, but available in French, German, Spanish and Japanese with first party translations.
Length: 20-30 hours, but 35+ for the 101% completion (don’t do that, I beg you). I rolled credits a little after 21 hours. I will never go back.
Difficulty: Easy-Medium, but extraordinarily frustrating. You will finish it, it’s just a question of how much you are willing to take.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: No, this is a stand alone game. There are nods to the Super Nintendo and Arcade games, but no previous games are needed.
Accessibility Options: None. There are subtitles built into the game, but the player is extremely limited in what they can change. Fast responses are required, two handed play is required, full sight is required. Some collectibles and enemy attacks are primarily based on audio cues. If played via an emulator on a PC game speed can be controlled, but you may need a co-player to finish this game.
How Did You Play It: On original N64 hardware via a flashcart with a modified copy of the game that allowed me to change characters whenever I wanted to. The Mod is called DK64 - Tag Anywhere.
Is It Good: No. It’s terrible. Which is why it’s great. But bad. It’s really bad.
Just finished Donkey Kong 64 because I hate myself.
Why Donkey Kong 64 was actually the worst Nintendo Game of the 90’s
How and Why DK64 is so awful.
Bad Game Design – Donkey Kong 64
These are just the top headlines, message boards, or other modern internet musings when discussing Donkey Kong 64, the famous (or infamous) Rare developed yellow cartridge ‘collect-a-thon’ released in 1999. Stating that DK64 in not that great a game is not a particularly scalding opinion. It’s a bloated, poorly optimized, often boring, tedious, and obtusely designed game so bizarre in some of its design choices it boggled my mind. Given its notorious reputation on the internet, one could be forgiven for assuming the game was equally reviled upon its release.
“Donkey Kong 64 deserves the fanfare of being the most eagerly-awaited game since Zelda.”
“This is Rare's War and Peace, it's that simple.”
“I can ill refute the fact that the game is still remarkable. Had this title come from any other game developer in the world I'd be doing back flips raving about how great it is.”
“It's one of those Rare games that makes you remember why you liked video games so much in the first place.”
These quotes are not from some alternate mirror universe, but reviews when DK64 was originally released (although calling DK64 the ‘War and Peace’ of the gaming world is very funny to me). DK64 was critically acclaimed upon its release, praised for its graphics, art, gameplay and length.
I can certainly confirm this positive sentiment since I was a child when the game came out, and I thought DK64 was the coolest thing ever. I remember playing the demo display at McDonalds with a limp sticked, sticky N64 controller and feeling like the game was filled with endless sights and adventures. I remember going to a friend’s house who showed me a later level in the and my being astonished by just how. Much. Stuff. There was to do, to see, to collect, to play.
The game was also gorgeous, with lush jungles and creepy castles, advanced lighting effects (I remember lights moving around Donkey Kong being particularly impressive), all in a seamless world that without any obvious loading screens. But beyond its technical prowess DK64 has an strong artistic identity that is so cohesive and well executed you can still feel it’s influences today.
You can find DK64 sound effects in tiktok videos, people are STILL parodying the DK Rap, the music is loving layered in the background of youtube game discussion videos, and for such a ‘hated’ game Donkey Kong 64 has such a pernicious relevance decades later it is obviously clearly so much more than just an awful Nintendo 64 game from the 90’s.
Donkey Kong 64 is more then a game to be judged on its mechanical gameplay. Because the gameplay is bad. Just… So bad.
But DK64 is not about the gameplay, in fact: the gameplay does not matter at all.
The gameplay was not the focus of this games development, it was not the focus of the critics praise of the game, and is not why people are still playing it today.
Let’s get the gameplay discussion out of the way. In Donkey Kong 64, your goal is simple: collect enough bananas so you can feed Scoff the blue hippopotamus so he gets fat and jumps on a lever to bounce up Troff the pink pig high enough to turn a key to unlock a door so you can fight a boss to get a bigger golden key which then you can use to unlock the cage trapping K. Lumsy the giant green lizard who is locked behind 8 locks so you need to collect enough bigger golden bananas so you can show them to B. Locker to get more bananas to feed Scoff the blue hippopotamus.
…Also please remember to pick up enough weapon blueprints so you have enough time in the final level, banana coins (so you can unlock guns, abilities, musical instruments, and inventory space), a Nintendo coin, a Rare coin, and at least 4 battle crowns. Or you won’t be able to do the last level.
It’s a convoluted mess, and this design philosophy permeates nearly every aspect of the game. Levels are massive, sprawling confusing mazes. There is a car racing minigame, a mine cart minigame, a hide and seek mini game, a beaver herding mini game (which I HATED), a fly swatting mini game, and dozens more. There are two fully emulated OTHER GAMES in Donkey Kong 64 which are mandatory to play. There is an optional photography mechanic. And 3,821 collectibles to acquire.
It's staggering in its scope and suffers deeply for it. Because nearly every mechanic feels like a first draft, and incomplete idea thrown in just to make the game longer and bigger. The minigames are repeated, the bosses are repeated, the platforming is floaty and unresponsive, the levels are filled with almost identical hallways, and there are huge areas of open space with nothing to do. Most damningly a great deal of the actual collecting (arguably the point of the game) is boring and as insulting simple as walk to one place, hit a switch, walk to another, get banana.
And the crown jewel is the fact that essentially every collectable item in the game is tied to a unique Kong. There are five playable characters in the game, and each can only collect their own specific item colour.
See a red banana but are playing as Donkey Kong? You need to walk back to a barrel, swap to Diddy Kong, and walk back. This character switching becomes so extreme I though the designers were playing a joke on me. I would often have to change Kong’s more than three times just to walk down a hallway, a process that required walking all the way back to a barrel each time.
Donkey Kong 64 does so many things, but none of them well. Platforming? Acceptable at best, but a nauseating, stuttering, inaccurate mess at worst. Shooting? Barely fleshed out and clunky. Mini games? Simple, repetitive, and often infuriating (RE: herding beaver). Level Design? Occasionally brilliant, but mostly empty, boring and meandering.
Collecting, the main point the game? Dull, confusing and repetitive.
Even the developers wished they had done differently. In a Games Rader interview from 2019 the games creative director George Andrea states “There's a lot I would do differently. We would scale things down, make things look sharper, and focus on fewer things. I would have unified the banana system. That would have made it much easier for players to play through. I'd also promote more swapping between characters at regular intervals, but just having a consistent banana count, rather than multiple colours, would have improved things.”
So if even the directors lament DK64’s obtuse and unfocused design, and the gameplay lacks any real strong mechanics, why are people still playing this game? Why are there still discussion boards, YouTube videos, memes, and articles still written. Simply bad games are forgotten, and despite some grievous faults DK64 is not unplayable.
I think it’s because DK64 thrives on everything other than being, well, an interactive game. And it is exclusively because of those very flaws that DK64 remains part of the cultural zeitgeist today.
DK64 oozes charm and personality, and carries itself with such a confident artistic vision it easily differentiates itself from the games of its time and those of today. The moment the clear deep “OK!” Donkey Kong exclaims on first powering the game on, the game begins tunneling a space for itself in your brain.
Monkey chirps, cries, and hoots fill the soundscape both as digenetic environmental sounds and becoming musical instruments themselves, which blend seamlessly with the soundtrack. Then the game starts to rap at you, with lyrics such as “his coconut gun can fire in spurts, if he shoots ya it’s gonna hurt!”. It’s so joyful, fully embracing its bizarre and ridiculous nature without a hint of sarcasm.
DK64 powerfully establishes in its first 15 seconds its here to have a great time. Each tune the game throws at you bounces between is an intoxicating mix of jazz, animal sounds, tribal drums, and silly ear worms you can’t help but smile whenever you hear it. The soundtrack deserves all the praise it has received over the years, both on its competent musical composition but also how it affirms the identity of Donkey Kong 64.
Every piece of art, animation, and music feed each other into forming the wacky, colourful and strange ambiance that is uniquely its own. While having five different Kongs mechanically hurts the game, the Kongs themselves are incredibly well designed and presented. The majority of the cast made both their first and last appearance in DK64, yet are still fondly remembered and easily identifiable decades later.
The Kongs strong and clear personalities, no frame of animation or sound effect is wasted as an opportunity to demonstrate character. Just looking at Tiny Kong’s care free walk cycle is enough for one to understand who she is as a character. Or how Chunky Kong bashfully tries to point you to anyone else but him if you try to select him in the menu. Or just hearing Lanky’s hoots and hollers let you know the he has no style, and no grace.
Every pixel and sound bite are squeezed into creating a masterclass in presentation. It is an excellent example of how videos are so much more than their mechanical parts. Donkey Kong 64 is an incredible experience and holds a shared mind space so unique because there is nothing like it. It is charming, funny, strange, and utterly memorable.
Much is said about the graphics, sound, and score (which are exceptional) but I was most impressed with the animation. Not from a gameplay perspective (which again… sucks), but how flowing and expressive every piece is. Characters squash and stretch, scurry, skitter and scramble with such strong performances its impressive even compared to modern games.
The second part is the shared cultural story and experience playing Donkey Kong 64 occupies. Complaining about Donkey Kong 64 is fun. It’s fun to tell our friends how infuriating finding that last banana was, or how we almost gave up when the game asked us to complete the arcade game for a SECOND TIME!
My friends tell me about they time they tried to collect every banana in every level, despite there being no reason or in game reward to do such a terrible thing. Or how people proudly post they got the infamous 101% completion rating. Was it fun? No, they say, but I did it.
People climb Everest because it’s there.
A few house cleaning notes before closing. I played a modified Donkey Kong 64 on a Nintendo 64 via a flash cart. This mod is called ‘Donkey Kong 64 – Tag Anywhere’ and allows you to change to any Kong at any point in the game without needing to backtrack to a barrel. I HIGHLY recommend this modification, and I do not feel it distracts from the ‘vanilla’ experience in any meaningful way. Some will argue that the games backtracking and obtuseness is part of the games charm, to which I would reply ‘don’t worry, the game is still incredibly annoying with the mod’. I would even go further and suggest for first time players to play with the mod on an emulator so you can use save states, but that may be too far for some.
I do not recommend Donkey Kong 64. I did not like playing this game, and had to force myself to continue.
But I loved complaining about it with my friends who had finished it. I loved sharing screenshots and asking for hints. I loved the atmosphere, the characters, and the music.
And I am so very glad I finally finished this game, so many years later.
Please, save yourself some pain and don’t play Donkey Kong 64.
But when you do play it, make sure to write about how terrible it is on the internet.
Follow me at The Pile for more reviews (including books and films)
https://thepile.substack.com/
Released: November 22nd, 1999
Platform: Nintendo 64 (original), Wii U
Developer: Rare
Publisher: Nintendo
Language: English, but available in French, German, Spanish and Japanese with first party translations.
Length: 20-30 hours, but 35+ for the 101% completion (don’t do that, I beg you). I rolled credits a little after 21 hours. I will never go back.
Difficulty: Easy-Medium, but extraordinarily frustrating. You will finish it, it’s just a question of how much you are willing to take.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: No, this is a stand alone game. There are nods to the Super Nintendo and Arcade games, but no previous games are needed.
Accessibility Options: None. There are subtitles built into the game, but the player is extremely limited in what they can change. Fast responses are required, two handed play is required, full sight is required. Some collectibles and enemy attacks are primarily based on audio cues. If played via an emulator on a PC game speed can be controlled, but you may need a co-player to finish this game.
How Did You Play It: On original N64 hardware via a flashcart with a modified copy of the game that allowed me to change characters whenever I wanted to. The Mod is called DK64 - Tag Anywhere.
Is It Good: No. It’s terrible. Which is why it’s great. But bad. It’s really bad.
Just finished Donkey Kong 64 because I hate myself.
Why Donkey Kong 64 was actually the worst Nintendo Game of the 90’s
How and Why DK64 is so awful.
Bad Game Design – Donkey Kong 64
These are just the top headlines, message boards, or other modern internet musings when discussing Donkey Kong 64, the famous (or infamous) Rare developed yellow cartridge ‘collect-a-thon’ released in 1999. Stating that DK64 in not that great a game is not a particularly scalding opinion. It’s a bloated, poorly optimized, often boring, tedious, and obtusely designed game so bizarre in some of its design choices it boggled my mind. Given its notorious reputation on the internet, one could be forgiven for assuming the game was equally reviled upon its release.
“Donkey Kong 64 deserves the fanfare of being the most eagerly-awaited game since Zelda.”
“This is Rare's War and Peace, it's that simple.”
“I can ill refute the fact that the game is still remarkable. Had this title come from any other game developer in the world I'd be doing back flips raving about how great it is.”
“It's one of those Rare games that makes you remember why you liked video games so much in the first place.”
These quotes are not from some alternate mirror universe, but reviews when DK64 was originally released (although calling DK64 the ‘War and Peace’ of the gaming world is very funny to me). DK64 was critically acclaimed upon its release, praised for its graphics, art, gameplay and length.
I can certainly confirm this positive sentiment since I was a child when the game came out, and I thought DK64 was the coolest thing ever. I remember playing the demo display at McDonalds with a limp sticked, sticky N64 controller and feeling like the game was filled with endless sights and adventures. I remember going to a friend’s house who showed me a later level in the and my being astonished by just how. Much. Stuff. There was to do, to see, to collect, to play.
The game was also gorgeous, with lush jungles and creepy castles, advanced lighting effects (I remember lights moving around Donkey Kong being particularly impressive), all in a seamless world that without any obvious loading screens. But beyond its technical prowess DK64 has an strong artistic identity that is so cohesive and well executed you can still feel it’s influences today.
You can find DK64 sound effects in tiktok videos, people are STILL parodying the DK Rap, the music is loving layered in the background of youtube game discussion videos, and for such a ‘hated’ game Donkey Kong 64 has such a pernicious relevance decades later it is obviously clearly so much more than just an awful Nintendo 64 game from the 90’s.
Donkey Kong 64 is more then a game to be judged on its mechanical gameplay. Because the gameplay is bad. Just… So bad.
But DK64 is not about the gameplay, in fact: the gameplay does not matter at all.
The gameplay was not the focus of this games development, it was not the focus of the critics praise of the game, and is not why people are still playing it today.
Let’s get the gameplay discussion out of the way. In Donkey Kong 64, your goal is simple: collect enough bananas so you can feed Scoff the blue hippopotamus so he gets fat and jumps on a lever to bounce up Troff the pink pig high enough to turn a key to unlock a door so you can fight a boss to get a bigger golden key which then you can use to unlock the cage trapping K. Lumsy the giant green lizard who is locked behind 8 locks so you need to collect enough bigger golden bananas so you can show them to B. Locker to get more bananas to feed Scoff the blue hippopotamus.
…Also please remember to pick up enough weapon blueprints so you have enough time in the final level, banana coins (so you can unlock guns, abilities, musical instruments, and inventory space), a Nintendo coin, a Rare coin, and at least 4 battle crowns. Or you won’t be able to do the last level.
It’s a convoluted mess, and this design philosophy permeates nearly every aspect of the game. Levels are massive, sprawling confusing mazes. There is a car racing minigame, a mine cart minigame, a hide and seek mini game, a beaver herding mini game (which I HATED), a fly swatting mini game, and dozens more. There are two fully emulated OTHER GAMES in Donkey Kong 64 which are mandatory to play. There is an optional photography mechanic. And 3,821 collectibles to acquire.
It's staggering in its scope and suffers deeply for it. Because nearly every mechanic feels like a first draft, and incomplete idea thrown in just to make the game longer and bigger. The minigames are repeated, the bosses are repeated, the platforming is floaty and unresponsive, the levels are filled with almost identical hallways, and there are huge areas of open space with nothing to do. Most damningly a great deal of the actual collecting (arguably the point of the game) is boring and as insulting simple as walk to one place, hit a switch, walk to another, get banana.
And the crown jewel is the fact that essentially every collectable item in the game is tied to a unique Kong. There are five playable characters in the game, and each can only collect their own specific item colour.
See a red banana but are playing as Donkey Kong? You need to walk back to a barrel, swap to Diddy Kong, and walk back. This character switching becomes so extreme I though the designers were playing a joke on me. I would often have to change Kong’s more than three times just to walk down a hallway, a process that required walking all the way back to a barrel each time.
Donkey Kong 64 does so many things, but none of them well. Platforming? Acceptable at best, but a nauseating, stuttering, inaccurate mess at worst. Shooting? Barely fleshed out and clunky. Mini games? Simple, repetitive, and often infuriating (RE: herding beaver). Level Design? Occasionally brilliant, but mostly empty, boring and meandering.
Collecting, the main point the game? Dull, confusing and repetitive.
Even the developers wished they had done differently. In a Games Rader interview from 2019 the games creative director George Andrea states “There's a lot I would do differently. We would scale things down, make things look sharper, and focus on fewer things. I would have unified the banana system. That would have made it much easier for players to play through. I'd also promote more swapping between characters at regular intervals, but just having a consistent banana count, rather than multiple colours, would have improved things.”
So if even the directors lament DK64’s obtuse and unfocused design, and the gameplay lacks any real strong mechanics, why are people still playing this game? Why are there still discussion boards, YouTube videos, memes, and articles still written. Simply bad games are forgotten, and despite some grievous faults DK64 is not unplayable.
I think it’s because DK64 thrives on everything other than being, well, an interactive game. And it is exclusively because of those very flaws that DK64 remains part of the cultural zeitgeist today.
DK64 oozes charm and personality, and carries itself with such a confident artistic vision it easily differentiates itself from the games of its time and those of today. The moment the clear deep “OK!” Donkey Kong exclaims on first powering the game on, the game begins tunneling a space for itself in your brain.
Monkey chirps, cries, and hoots fill the soundscape both as digenetic environmental sounds and becoming musical instruments themselves, which blend seamlessly with the soundtrack. Then the game starts to rap at you, with lyrics such as “his coconut gun can fire in spurts, if he shoots ya it’s gonna hurt!”. It’s so joyful, fully embracing its bizarre and ridiculous nature without a hint of sarcasm.
DK64 powerfully establishes in its first 15 seconds its here to have a great time. Each tune the game throws at you bounces between is an intoxicating mix of jazz, animal sounds, tribal drums, and silly ear worms you can’t help but smile whenever you hear it. The soundtrack deserves all the praise it has received over the years, both on its competent musical composition but also how it affirms the identity of Donkey Kong 64.
Every piece of art, animation, and music feed each other into forming the wacky, colourful and strange ambiance that is uniquely its own. While having five different Kongs mechanically hurts the game, the Kongs themselves are incredibly well designed and presented. The majority of the cast made both their first and last appearance in DK64, yet are still fondly remembered and easily identifiable decades later.
The Kongs strong and clear personalities, no frame of animation or sound effect is wasted as an opportunity to demonstrate character. Just looking at Tiny Kong’s care free walk cycle is enough for one to understand who she is as a character. Or how Chunky Kong bashfully tries to point you to anyone else but him if you try to select him in the menu. Or just hearing Lanky’s hoots and hollers let you know the he has no style, and no grace.
Every pixel and sound bite are squeezed into creating a masterclass in presentation. It is an excellent example of how videos are so much more than their mechanical parts. Donkey Kong 64 is an incredible experience and holds a shared mind space so unique because there is nothing like it. It is charming, funny, strange, and utterly memorable.
Much is said about the graphics, sound, and score (which are exceptional) but I was most impressed with the animation. Not from a gameplay perspective (which again… sucks), but how flowing and expressive every piece is. Characters squash and stretch, scurry, skitter and scramble with such strong performances its impressive even compared to modern games.
The second part is the shared cultural story and experience playing Donkey Kong 64 occupies. Complaining about Donkey Kong 64 is fun. It’s fun to tell our friends how infuriating finding that last banana was, or how we almost gave up when the game asked us to complete the arcade game for a SECOND TIME!
My friends tell me about they time they tried to collect every banana in every level, despite there being no reason or in game reward to do such a terrible thing. Or how people proudly post they got the infamous 101% completion rating. Was it fun? No, they say, but I did it.
People climb Everest because it’s there.
A few house cleaning notes before closing. I played a modified Donkey Kong 64 on a Nintendo 64 via a flash cart. This mod is called ‘Donkey Kong 64 – Tag Anywhere’ and allows you to change to any Kong at any point in the game without needing to backtrack to a barrel. I HIGHLY recommend this modification, and I do not feel it distracts from the ‘vanilla’ experience in any meaningful way. Some will argue that the games backtracking and obtuseness is part of the games charm, to which I would reply ‘don’t worry, the game is still incredibly annoying with the mod’. I would even go further and suggest for first time players to play with the mod on an emulator so you can use save states, but that may be too far for some.
I do not recommend Donkey Kong 64. I did not like playing this game, and had to force myself to continue.
But I loved complaining about it with my friends who had finished it. I loved sharing screenshots and asking for hints. I loved the atmosphere, the characters, and the music.
And I am so very glad I finally finished this game, so many years later.
Please, save yourself some pain and don’t play Donkey Kong 64.
But when you do play it, make sure to write about how terrible it is on the internet.
Follow me at The Pile for more reviews (including books and films)
https://thepile.substack.com/
Genre: Timing Based Platformer, with collecting elements
Released: October 31, 1998
Platform: PlayStation 1 (original), PlayStation 2 (via backwards compatibility), PlayStation 3 (via backwards compatibility and PSN). Can also be played PS4, Ps5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and Switch via the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy remake (although it is a different game in very small ways).
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony
Language: English, but available in French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish via first party translations.
Length: About 6 hours, which can easily double if you are going for a completionist run. I rolled credits at 6, and have no intention of going back.
Difficulty: Easy-Medium, and most will find the game too easy compared to the first two games. I had little difficulty finishing this, and never felt challenged.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: No, but it’s not the best Crash Game. The story is so simple you don’t need to play the others, but I can’t really see why someone would pick this first.
Accessibility Options: None. Subtitles, but little else. You need complete sight to play this game, and fast reflex time with long stretches of play with no break. Button mashing and rapid button combinations are not required, however you will be unable to access much of the optional content. There did not appear to be any necessary audio cues. You may be able to play with game speed via an emulator, but you may need a co-player to complete this game.
How Did You Play It: On original hardware with a PlayStation One.
Is It Good: It’s fine. Worth your time if you’ve played the other ones, but nothing really special.
Crash Bandicoot seems embarrassed of itself.
Warped has great ambitions, every few levels we are whisked away to motorcycle races, 3d plane shooting, a rail shooter, sea-doo courses, and much more. It is clear this was intended to be the biggest, craziest Crash adventure yet. This isn’t just Crash Bandicoot 3.
It’s CRASH BANIDCOOT WARPED!!!!!
-and it’s fine.
I liked it more than Crash 1, and less than Crash 2. All three are worth playing, but only the sequel Cortex Strikes Back fall within the coveted “must play” category.
Yet for all it’s obvious budget, lavish production values, and breathless pacing it feel self-conscious. Like the game so fears being called “just a platformer” that it never feels like it knows what it wants to be.
Crash 3’s new gameplay mechanics are fun distractions, however they mostly amount to simple minigames with very little depth to them. Which is acceptable for an exciting one off, but many of these mechanics repeat in ways I began to find more dull and repetitive. I often found myself wishing to just go back to the platforming.
Crash’s PlayStation One days are excellent platformers, emphasizing great timing and small course corrections. And the series is historically difficult and was not afraid to let you die. This was an obvious goal from the start, as Crash’s elaborate death animations as he gets fried, burnt, and squashed in cartoonish ways teases the player. Death is just a part of playing. The games were never brutal or unfairly punishing.
But Warped is too easy, I had 45 lives when I finished the game, and never saw the game over screen. And I don’t think it’s because I’m experienced, because contrary to popular belief I am not very good at video games. The lack of challenge makes a short game feel even shorter, and worse that my success often felt unearned.
Crash both feels overstuffed yet unfulfilled. Yes, there are more diverse levels, but you blow threw them so quickly. There are more powers, but many actively harm the interest of the game. The tornado spin makes jumping even easier while the bazooka allows you to shoot anything from a safe distant, defeating a great deal of the point. All this added utility just gives us more options for boredom. I actively stopped using tools because they made the game worse, which is never a good feeling. Crash has a great tool kit, his slides and ducks can be chained together for a great feeling of momentum. But the game gets easier and easier the further you get, which is a pretty unsatisfying difficulty curve.
Perhaps all of the good stuff is in the collectibles and Time Trial modes, which are more emphasised then ever. Time Trials. I don’t know, as I was not interested in playing any more.
Crash 3 is a fine game, even an excellent one in many aspects. The animation is impeccable, the voice acting is great fun, and many of the levels are imaginative. I just wished it was more focused.
Follow me at The Pile for more reviews (including books and films)
https://thepile.substack.com/
Released: October 31, 1998
Platform: PlayStation 1 (original), PlayStation 2 (via backwards compatibility), PlayStation 3 (via backwards compatibility and PSN). Can also be played PS4, Ps5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and Switch via the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy remake (although it is a different game in very small ways).
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony
Language: English, but available in French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish via first party translations.
Length: About 6 hours, which can easily double if you are going for a completionist run. I rolled credits at 6, and have no intention of going back.
Difficulty: Easy-Medium, and most will find the game too easy compared to the first two games. I had little difficulty finishing this, and never felt challenged.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: No, but it’s not the best Crash Game. The story is so simple you don’t need to play the others, but I can’t really see why someone would pick this first.
Accessibility Options: None. Subtitles, but little else. You need complete sight to play this game, and fast reflex time with long stretches of play with no break. Button mashing and rapid button combinations are not required, however you will be unable to access much of the optional content. There did not appear to be any necessary audio cues. You may be able to play with game speed via an emulator, but you may need a co-player to complete this game.
How Did You Play It: On original hardware with a PlayStation One.
Is It Good: It’s fine. Worth your time if you’ve played the other ones, but nothing really special.
Crash Bandicoot seems embarrassed of itself.
Warped has great ambitions, every few levels we are whisked away to motorcycle races, 3d plane shooting, a rail shooter, sea-doo courses, and much more. It is clear this was intended to be the biggest, craziest Crash adventure yet. This isn’t just Crash Bandicoot 3.
It’s CRASH BANIDCOOT WARPED!!!!!
-and it’s fine.
I liked it more than Crash 1, and less than Crash 2. All three are worth playing, but only the sequel Cortex Strikes Back fall within the coveted “must play” category.
Yet for all it’s obvious budget, lavish production values, and breathless pacing it feel self-conscious. Like the game so fears being called “just a platformer” that it never feels like it knows what it wants to be.
Crash 3’s new gameplay mechanics are fun distractions, however they mostly amount to simple minigames with very little depth to them. Which is acceptable for an exciting one off, but many of these mechanics repeat in ways I began to find more dull and repetitive. I often found myself wishing to just go back to the platforming.
Crash’s PlayStation One days are excellent platformers, emphasizing great timing and small course corrections. And the series is historically difficult and was not afraid to let you die. This was an obvious goal from the start, as Crash’s elaborate death animations as he gets fried, burnt, and squashed in cartoonish ways teases the player. Death is just a part of playing. The games were never brutal or unfairly punishing.
But Warped is too easy, I had 45 lives when I finished the game, and never saw the game over screen. And I don’t think it’s because I’m experienced, because contrary to popular belief I am not very good at video games. The lack of challenge makes a short game feel even shorter, and worse that my success often felt unearned.
Crash both feels overstuffed yet unfulfilled. Yes, there are more diverse levels, but you blow threw them so quickly. There are more powers, but many actively harm the interest of the game. The tornado spin makes jumping even easier while the bazooka allows you to shoot anything from a safe distant, defeating a great deal of the point. All this added utility just gives us more options for boredom. I actively stopped using tools because they made the game worse, which is never a good feeling. Crash has a great tool kit, his slides and ducks can be chained together for a great feeling of momentum. But the game gets easier and easier the further you get, which is a pretty unsatisfying difficulty curve.
Perhaps all of the good stuff is in the collectibles and Time Trial modes, which are more emphasised then ever. Time Trials. I don’t know, as I was not interested in playing any more.
Crash 3 is a fine game, even an excellent one in many aspects. The animation is impeccable, the voice acting is great fun, and many of the levels are imaginative. I just wished it was more focused.
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1996
Genre: Puzzle Action Adventure
Released: July 21, 1996
Platform: Gameboy, 3DS
Developer: Pax Softnica
Publisher: Nintendo
Language: English, but available in Japanese with first party translations. There are also a few fan translation, such as Spanish.
Length: 8-10, but can be 15+ for completeness. I rolled credits after 12 hours, and may go back for a few extras.
Difficulty: Medium, most puzzles are fair and there is an item that let’s you skip a level if you are really stuck (I never ended up needing it). However, the lost boss is action heavy and tedious.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: No
Accessibility Options: None. Most of the game does not require fast reflexes, however bosses do require fast inputs. You need complete sight to play this game. There is no hint system. You may need a co-player to finish this game during the boss fights and a few puzzles, however a majority of the game can be played with limited mobility.
How Did You Play It: On an analogue pocket.
Is It Good: Yeah, I thought so. It’s charming and worth a look at.
Mole Mania is the first Game Boy game I’ve finished this year. My Game Boy is used nearly every day, for 15 minutes just to refresh my mind. As such Mole Mania is a perfect game boy game for what I am looking for. It’s simple to play, easy to put down, and designed for small play sessions. It has a charming art style, forgettable but toe tapping tunes, and enough challenge to require thought without being frustrating.
You play as a Mole trying to save his children from an evil famer. To succeed, our hero must smash a mettle ball into a concrete block. No, it doesn’t make much sense, but it makes for a fun and compelling gameplay loop.
Each level starts with the ball on one end of the stage, and you are challenged to find a way to transport the ball by rolling it around obstacles, hazards, and enemies. Mole Mania is more a puzzle game than an action game, as the game starts laying rules and twists to make the task engaging and different throughout the entire game. There are boss battles, but they rely more on planning than reflexes.
The unique mechanic the ability to dig underground, digging a maze of tunnels beneath the stage that you can use to bypass hazards. But each new place you pop out, you create a hole and thus an opportunity for the ball to fall into the earth and restarting the stage. Digging, where to dig, where to exit, and where to throw the ball all blend into an attractive loop that I enjoyed playing every day.
However, the game never grows into anything else. The ball becomes harder and harder to get to the other end, but ultimately you are performing the same task over and over again. I had a lot of fun with each level, but by the final world I was getting a little restless and ready to move on.
Being one of the last games released on the Game Boy, the graphics are clean with a strong art style, and it’s clear Nintendo was hopping to turn the titular mole into a longer lasting series. There are animated shorts at the end of each level, the bosses are well designed with great animation flair. There are secrets and bonus levels strewn about, time trials, and other secrets for those who are interested.
I had a few issues with controls. They are excellent and specific for the puzzle portions, but for the few times the game asks for quick inputs during the boss battles I felt I was fighting against them and resulted in some frustrating deaths. This is mitigated by the fact dying has no real effect. However, the vast majority of the game the controls are great for the puzzle stages.
My only real complaint is the final boss, which is part of a boss rush compilation where you fight every boss in a row. Given that combat is the worst aspect of the game, I found this overly punishing and more annoying then difficult. The final boss is unique, and thus you will die a few times before learning his patterns. It feels overly punishing to have to go through old bosses again for another chance, especially as the rest of the game is not about fighting at all.
Mole Mania is has no mean tricks, each stage takes up the Gameboy screen and the goal is always clear: move the ball. There is a great deal of delight in the trial and error required as you make plans, test them, and tweak them as you progress bit by bit.
Mole Mania is a confident game, with a great art style, short bite sized puzzles, charming characters, and fun music. I loved many of the puzzles, and the middle stages contain some clever twists and challenges. If you are looking for an often-overlooked gem, Mole Mania is an easy recommendation.
I enjoyed mulling over potential solutions throughout the day, and often found what was difficult the day before was breezed through after a good sleep. It is not a perfect game, or even an exceptional game.
But it is a perfect game boy game.
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Released: July 21, 1996
Platform: Gameboy, 3DS
Developer: Pax Softnica
Publisher: Nintendo
Language: English, but available in Japanese with first party translations. There are also a few fan translation, such as Spanish.
Length: 8-10, but can be 15+ for completeness. I rolled credits after 12 hours, and may go back for a few extras.
Difficulty: Medium, most puzzles are fair and there is an item that let’s you skip a level if you are really stuck (I never ended up needing it). However, the lost boss is action heavy and tedious.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: No
Accessibility Options: None. Most of the game does not require fast reflexes, however bosses do require fast inputs. You need complete sight to play this game. There is no hint system. You may need a co-player to finish this game during the boss fights and a few puzzles, however a majority of the game can be played with limited mobility.
How Did You Play It: On an analogue pocket.
Is It Good: Yeah, I thought so. It’s charming and worth a look at.
Mole Mania is the first Game Boy game I’ve finished this year. My Game Boy is used nearly every day, for 15 minutes just to refresh my mind. As such Mole Mania is a perfect game boy game for what I am looking for. It’s simple to play, easy to put down, and designed for small play sessions. It has a charming art style, forgettable but toe tapping tunes, and enough challenge to require thought without being frustrating.
You play as a Mole trying to save his children from an evil famer. To succeed, our hero must smash a mettle ball into a concrete block. No, it doesn’t make much sense, but it makes for a fun and compelling gameplay loop.
Each level starts with the ball on one end of the stage, and you are challenged to find a way to transport the ball by rolling it around obstacles, hazards, and enemies. Mole Mania is more a puzzle game than an action game, as the game starts laying rules and twists to make the task engaging and different throughout the entire game. There are boss battles, but they rely more on planning than reflexes.
The unique mechanic the ability to dig underground, digging a maze of tunnels beneath the stage that you can use to bypass hazards. But each new place you pop out, you create a hole and thus an opportunity for the ball to fall into the earth and restarting the stage. Digging, where to dig, where to exit, and where to throw the ball all blend into an attractive loop that I enjoyed playing every day.
However, the game never grows into anything else. The ball becomes harder and harder to get to the other end, but ultimately you are performing the same task over and over again. I had a lot of fun with each level, but by the final world I was getting a little restless and ready to move on.
Being one of the last games released on the Game Boy, the graphics are clean with a strong art style, and it’s clear Nintendo was hopping to turn the titular mole into a longer lasting series. There are animated shorts at the end of each level, the bosses are well designed with great animation flair. There are secrets and bonus levels strewn about, time trials, and other secrets for those who are interested.
I had a few issues with controls. They are excellent and specific for the puzzle portions, but for the few times the game asks for quick inputs during the boss battles I felt I was fighting against them and resulted in some frustrating deaths. This is mitigated by the fact dying has no real effect. However, the vast majority of the game the controls are great for the puzzle stages.
My only real complaint is the final boss, which is part of a boss rush compilation where you fight every boss in a row. Given that combat is the worst aspect of the game, I found this overly punishing and more annoying then difficult. The final boss is unique, and thus you will die a few times before learning his patterns. It feels overly punishing to have to go through old bosses again for another chance, especially as the rest of the game is not about fighting at all.
Mole Mania is has no mean tricks, each stage takes up the Gameboy screen and the goal is always clear: move the ball. There is a great deal of delight in the trial and error required as you make plans, test them, and tweak them as you progress bit by bit.
Mole Mania is a confident game, with a great art style, short bite sized puzzles, charming characters, and fun music. I loved many of the puzzles, and the middle stages contain some clever twists and challenges. If you are looking for an often-overlooked gem, Mole Mania is an easy recommendation.
I enjoyed mulling over potential solutions throughout the day, and often found what was difficult the day before was breezed through after a good sleep. It is not a perfect game, or even an exceptional game.
But it is a perfect game boy game.
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2021
Genre: Narrative Experience
Released: April 1st, 2021
Platforms: PC, MacOS, Android, iOS
Developer: GoodbyeWorld Games
Publisher: Skybound Games
Language: English Audio, but but text is available for French, German, Spanish (Spain), Japanese, Korean, and Simplified/Traditional Chinese.
Length: 1.5-2 hours. I rolled credits under 2 hours. About 4 hours for a completionist run.
Difficulty: None, this is a narrative expereince.
Accessibility Options: Good, see HERE for a breakdown by Family Gaming Database.
How Did You Play It: On my iPad via my Netflix subscription.
Is It Good: It’s messy and not perfect, but it can be a moving experience for many. For those looking for something different.
I found myself not enjoying the first… 75% of Before Your Eyes. The story felt more like fan fiction than professional writing, and I only kept going because the game is so short I figured I may as well finish.
The game came with my Netflix subscription, it worked on my iPad, and I had just finished God of War and was looking for a pallet cleanser, I had nothing planned that Saturday morning, and the game is a little over an hour long. Plus it’s central mechanic intrigued me.
See, Before Your Eyes is played by blinking. Like, your eyes. Your real life eyes. You point the webcam at your face, and… blink. Often time passes after you blink, it could be five seconds or five years, or you make menu selections by pointing at an object and blinking.
It’s a cool idea, but honestly, I did not get why on earth you would do something like this for most of the game. Firstly, I had technical issues, which I think was due to the game being on my iPad. Having to touch the screen sometimes I risked moving the camera, and I had to be very careful to try and keep my iPad as still as possible. I imagine this would not be as great an issue on a PC, but on my iPad I did have a few missed blinks or times the game thought I blinked but I did not.
Secondly it just seemed silly, and I wished I could just push a button instead. The mechanic seemed more annoying than anything, and an unnecessary barrier between me and making the game do what I wanted. There is as option to play without blinking, and I often considered turning the blinking off.
I am so glad I didn’t.
Because near the end I wanted to linger in the moments the story was presenting me, the plot clicking together that was much more emotional than I had anticipated. But I had to blink, and so these moments of pain, laughter, or joy must pass you by, right before your eyes.
I cried, I laughed, and I got it. I understood why the developers choose to tell this story in this way.
I don’t think they pulled it off flawlessly, and often to me it felt more like a gimmick. But when it matters, it blends interaction and story telling in a unique and powerful way that affected me and stayed with me long after the credits rolled.
Before Your Eyes is a remarkable piece of interactive fiction. There is little reason to play it again, but it if any it sounds interesting to you I suggest you try it.
It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
Wink
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Released: April 1st, 2021
Platforms: PC, MacOS, Android, iOS
Developer: GoodbyeWorld Games
Publisher: Skybound Games
Language: English Audio, but but text is available for French, German, Spanish (Spain), Japanese, Korean, and Simplified/Traditional Chinese.
Length: 1.5-2 hours. I rolled credits under 2 hours. About 4 hours for a completionist run.
Difficulty: None, this is a narrative expereince.
Accessibility Options: Good, see HERE for a breakdown by Family Gaming Database.
How Did You Play It: On my iPad via my Netflix subscription.
Is It Good: It’s messy and not perfect, but it can be a moving experience for many. For those looking for something different.
I found myself not enjoying the first… 75% of Before Your Eyes. The story felt more like fan fiction than professional writing, and I only kept going because the game is so short I figured I may as well finish.
The game came with my Netflix subscription, it worked on my iPad, and I had just finished God of War and was looking for a pallet cleanser, I had nothing planned that Saturday morning, and the game is a little over an hour long. Plus it’s central mechanic intrigued me.
See, Before Your Eyes is played by blinking. Like, your eyes. Your real life eyes. You point the webcam at your face, and… blink. Often time passes after you blink, it could be five seconds or five years, or you make menu selections by pointing at an object and blinking.
It’s a cool idea, but honestly, I did not get why on earth you would do something like this for most of the game. Firstly, I had technical issues, which I think was due to the game being on my iPad. Having to touch the screen sometimes I risked moving the camera, and I had to be very careful to try and keep my iPad as still as possible. I imagine this would not be as great an issue on a PC, but on my iPad I did have a few missed blinks or times the game thought I blinked but I did not.
Secondly it just seemed silly, and I wished I could just push a button instead. The mechanic seemed more annoying than anything, and an unnecessary barrier between me and making the game do what I wanted. There is as option to play without blinking, and I often considered turning the blinking off.
I am so glad I didn’t.
Because near the end I wanted to linger in the moments the story was presenting me, the plot clicking together that was much more emotional than I had anticipated. But I had to blink, and so these moments of pain, laughter, or joy must pass you by, right before your eyes.
I cried, I laughed, and I got it. I understood why the developers choose to tell this story in this way.
I don’t think they pulled it off flawlessly, and often to me it felt more like a gimmick. But when it matters, it blends interaction and story telling in a unique and powerful way that affected me and stayed with me long after the credits rolled.
Before Your Eyes is a remarkable piece of interactive fiction. There is little reason to play it again, but it if any it sounds interesting to you I suggest you try it.
It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
Wink
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2022
Genre: Combat Heavy Cinematic Action Adventure
Released: November 9th, 2022
Platform: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Developer: Santa Monica Studio
Publisher: Sony
Language: English, but there are extensive supported languages. See HERE for complete list.
Length: 25+ hours. I rolled credits at the 70 hour mark, and am desperate to go back and play more optional content.
Difficulty: Players choice, this game can be as easy or as difficult as you want. I played on Give Me God of War and found the game to be extremely punishing but fair.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: Absolutely, God of War (2018) is required. However the other God of War games are not needed. I have never played them, and I had a great time.
Accessibility Options: Industry leading, see HERE for a breakdown. Can I Play That calls it a “A masterclass in accessibility”.
How Did You Play It: On a PS5 set to performance mode.
Is It Good: It’s a masterpiece
Ragnarök is one of the best games I have ever played. It is a towering achievement for the team at Santa Monica Studio’s, and represents literally hundreds of best-in-class artists, designers, engineers, programmers, directors, actors, writers, musicians, and a plethora of other fields all working at the bleeding edge of their mediums to produce a masterclass in entertainment.
It’s also kinda bland.
And that’s okay! Ragnarök is 2018’s God of War, but more. More enemies, locations, characters, side quests, gear. And it really works. God of War 2018 was a revolution, a bold and risky way to change nearly everything that the series has been since 2005. I loved it, but I had some complaints: mainly I thought the side quests were bland, the enemies repetitive, and parts of the game felt rushed and unpolished.
Ragnarök is so sharp, so polished, and so laser focused on pushing every idea the first game had to its best self that it’s hard to critique it. It’s not a perfect game, but it is a perfect sequel. Unlike other sequels which can feel stuffed and bloated with unneeded features or mechanics, everything in Ragnarök is intelligently expanded and flushed out to be the best version of itself.
There are more side quests, but each side quest fleshes out the characters and world. They don’t feel like check points, they feel like opportunities to explore the incredible combat and interesting people inside the world. I often did side quests mainly to hear what my companions would say, that’s how invested I felt inside the narrative. Plus I wanted to actually PLAY more, the combat system is tuned to perfection. It’s meaty, tactical and fun, deftly balancing challenge are frustration.
Ragnarök is an incredibly hard game, but I never once felt it was unfair. The checkpoints or forgiving, you get all your health back on death, enemy attacks are clear to read, it’s visual flashy yet always easy to understand what it happening. The sceptical is incredible, but you always feel in control (barring brief story moments, which I feel are rare enough to be earned). This is the most fun I’ve had in a AAA big budget game release. I loved it.
Ragnarök also trusts you to play in the way you want to? Too hard? Turn down the difficulty and turn on midpoint boss checkpoints. The accessibility options are astounding, it’s hard to imagine a person who could not play this game. Whether you have mobility, visual, physical impairments (or are just new to video games) you can play and enjoy this game at the pace and in the way you want to. It’s abundantly clear the studio had accessibility at the forefront of development, and I am incredibly impressed by the abundance of options. Games are only better when more people can play them. Kudos to the team for making that dream a reality.
Ragnarök brings nearly nothing new to the table, but it is so confident and focused that does not matter. It really feels like the culmination of the last 10 years of AAA game design. Open world, RPG elements, set piece battles, epic stories, third person over the shoulder camera, and crafting systems galore. But instead of feeling suffocating and like a CEO mandate list of feature (it’s what the kids want, I dunno), Ragnarök’s mechanical systems are an ecosystem that feed and strengthen each other. There is nothing here that I have not seen before, but good food is good food. And mechanically, you will eat well.
The story is bland too.
I feel a great deal of it is disappointing, almost a let-down. It’s basic, not particularly complex, and easy to see what is going to happen. It does nothing interesting, at least to me.
But who cares? I love these characters, and would pay money to watch them eat dinner together. If fact they sometimes do eat dinner together in the game, and it’s wonderful. The plot does not matter. When the writing needs to pull its weight, it easily supports the entire game. The emotional moments are beautiful and poignant, the camera work is impeccable, the performances are rifting. It is so clear everyone is giving 1000%, and I just want more. I loved spending time with Kratoms, Atreus, Brock, Sindri, Freya, and Odin (especially Odin).
Sometimes I did sometimes feel like the side quest dialogue felt as though the B-tier team was writing it, veering into a quippy snarky more modern banter style I felt did not fit with the rest of the game, but it’s a small complaint and rarely bothered me. Characters talk A LOT, and sometimes they are so eager to blurt out their dialogue they’ll spoil puzzles or feel out of character.
But I still stopped every time someone said something, not wanting to miss a single word.
And while the level design is pretty simple (and often empty feeling), the art and visuals are awe inspiring. Yes, it’s technically incredible and runs like a dream, but the art direction will make this game stand the test of time. The environments are just littered with details, from paintings, plants, jewelry, and architecture. And it doesn’t just look pretty, it all tells a story. I would often stop just to stare at things. The number of assets in this game boggle the mind.
The enemy variety is exemplary, each one is fun to fight and interesting to look at. There are so many mini bosses and large scale encounters it makes other games look small. It is hard to fathom how much quality is stuffed into this video game.
Ragnarök is filled with truly awesome moments, I laughed, cried, shouted in surprise, wringed my hands in dismay and pumped my fists with joy. Any niggling issue I have is overshadowed by the sheer quality of what is presented.
Ragnarök is a better game than 2018 God of War, but only because of the phenomenal foundation laid down by the first game. And comparison is not important anyway, because you MUST play the first one before this one. You will not have a good time otherwise.
I don’t really have anything else to say. This is the best example of what a big budget, $90 should be game should be. There are no micro transactions, the mechanics make sense and strengthen the game instead of bloating it, its technologically incredible, and fabulously entertaining. It is a sequel that deserves to exist.
Ragnarök will not be remembered on the same level as the ground breaking first game (both 2018 or 2005).
But it will be remembered for being a damn fine video game.
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Released: November 9th, 2022
Platform: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Developer: Santa Monica Studio
Publisher: Sony
Language: English, but there are extensive supported languages. See HERE for complete list.
Length: 25+ hours. I rolled credits at the 70 hour mark, and am desperate to go back and play more optional content.
Difficulty: Players choice, this game can be as easy or as difficult as you want. I played on Give Me God of War and found the game to be extremely punishing but fair.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: Absolutely, God of War (2018) is required. However the other God of War games are not needed. I have never played them, and I had a great time.
Accessibility Options: Industry leading, see HERE for a breakdown. Can I Play That calls it a “A masterclass in accessibility”.
How Did You Play It: On a PS5 set to performance mode.
Is It Good: It’s a masterpiece
Ragnarök is one of the best games I have ever played. It is a towering achievement for the team at Santa Monica Studio’s, and represents literally hundreds of best-in-class artists, designers, engineers, programmers, directors, actors, writers, musicians, and a plethora of other fields all working at the bleeding edge of their mediums to produce a masterclass in entertainment.
It’s also kinda bland.
And that’s okay! Ragnarök is 2018’s God of War, but more. More enemies, locations, characters, side quests, gear. And it really works. God of War 2018 was a revolution, a bold and risky way to change nearly everything that the series has been since 2005. I loved it, but I had some complaints: mainly I thought the side quests were bland, the enemies repetitive, and parts of the game felt rushed and unpolished.
Ragnarök is so sharp, so polished, and so laser focused on pushing every idea the first game had to its best self that it’s hard to critique it. It’s not a perfect game, but it is a perfect sequel. Unlike other sequels which can feel stuffed and bloated with unneeded features or mechanics, everything in Ragnarök is intelligently expanded and flushed out to be the best version of itself.
There are more side quests, but each side quest fleshes out the characters and world. They don’t feel like check points, they feel like opportunities to explore the incredible combat and interesting people inside the world. I often did side quests mainly to hear what my companions would say, that’s how invested I felt inside the narrative. Plus I wanted to actually PLAY more, the combat system is tuned to perfection. It’s meaty, tactical and fun, deftly balancing challenge are frustration.
Ragnarök is an incredibly hard game, but I never once felt it was unfair. The checkpoints or forgiving, you get all your health back on death, enemy attacks are clear to read, it’s visual flashy yet always easy to understand what it happening. The sceptical is incredible, but you always feel in control (barring brief story moments, which I feel are rare enough to be earned). This is the most fun I’ve had in a AAA big budget game release. I loved it.
Ragnarök also trusts you to play in the way you want to? Too hard? Turn down the difficulty and turn on midpoint boss checkpoints. The accessibility options are astounding, it’s hard to imagine a person who could not play this game. Whether you have mobility, visual, physical impairments (or are just new to video games) you can play and enjoy this game at the pace and in the way you want to. It’s abundantly clear the studio had accessibility at the forefront of development, and I am incredibly impressed by the abundance of options. Games are only better when more people can play them. Kudos to the team for making that dream a reality.
Ragnarök brings nearly nothing new to the table, but it is so confident and focused that does not matter. It really feels like the culmination of the last 10 years of AAA game design. Open world, RPG elements, set piece battles, epic stories, third person over the shoulder camera, and crafting systems galore. But instead of feeling suffocating and like a CEO mandate list of feature (it’s what the kids want, I dunno), Ragnarök’s mechanical systems are an ecosystem that feed and strengthen each other. There is nothing here that I have not seen before, but good food is good food. And mechanically, you will eat well.
The story is bland too.
I feel a great deal of it is disappointing, almost a let-down. It’s basic, not particularly complex, and easy to see what is going to happen. It does nothing interesting, at least to me.
But who cares? I love these characters, and would pay money to watch them eat dinner together. If fact they sometimes do eat dinner together in the game, and it’s wonderful. The plot does not matter. When the writing needs to pull its weight, it easily supports the entire game. The emotional moments are beautiful and poignant, the camera work is impeccable, the performances are rifting. It is so clear everyone is giving 1000%, and I just want more. I loved spending time with Kratoms, Atreus, Brock, Sindri, Freya, and Odin (especially Odin).
Sometimes I did sometimes feel like the side quest dialogue felt as though the B-tier team was writing it, veering into a quippy snarky more modern banter style I felt did not fit with the rest of the game, but it’s a small complaint and rarely bothered me. Characters talk A LOT, and sometimes they are so eager to blurt out their dialogue they’ll spoil puzzles or feel out of character.
But I still stopped every time someone said something, not wanting to miss a single word.
And while the level design is pretty simple (and often empty feeling), the art and visuals are awe inspiring. Yes, it’s technically incredible and runs like a dream, but the art direction will make this game stand the test of time. The environments are just littered with details, from paintings, plants, jewelry, and architecture. And it doesn’t just look pretty, it all tells a story. I would often stop just to stare at things. The number of assets in this game boggle the mind.
The enemy variety is exemplary, each one is fun to fight and interesting to look at. There are so many mini bosses and large scale encounters it makes other games look small. It is hard to fathom how much quality is stuffed into this video game.
Ragnarök is filled with truly awesome moments, I laughed, cried, shouted in surprise, wringed my hands in dismay and pumped my fists with joy. Any niggling issue I have is overshadowed by the sheer quality of what is presented.
Ragnarök is a better game than 2018 God of War, but only because of the phenomenal foundation laid down by the first game. And comparison is not important anyway, because you MUST play the first one before this one. You will not have a good time otherwise.
I don’t really have anything else to say. This is the best example of what a big budget, $90 should be game should be. There are no micro transactions, the mechanics make sense and strengthen the game instead of bloating it, its technologically incredible, and fabulously entertaining. It is a sequel that deserves to exist.
Ragnarök will not be remembered on the same level as the ground breaking first game (both 2018 or 2005).
But it will be remembered for being a damn fine video game.
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https://thepile.substack.com/
Genre: Surreal Action-Adventure
Released: August 8th, 2017
Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One/X/S, Nintendo Switch
Developer: Ninja Theory
Language: English
Length: 7 hours, feels long. I almost stopped once or twice.
Difficulty: Medium. I died maybe twice.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: Nope.
Accessibility Options: Many. DAGER System has a great write up. https://dagersystem.com/disability-game-review-hellblade-senuas-sacrifice/
Monetization: Single purchase.
Microtransaction: None.
Gambling Elements: None.
Content Warning: Blood, extreme gore, violence, depictions of mental illness, torture, confinement, suicide, horror, shame.
Parenting Guide: This game is rated M for mature, and I agree. Mature teens only, strongly consider a co-play. However, it could be a great tool for discussing mental health.
How Did You Play It: On Xbox Series X
Did you need a guide: Nope. There are some clunky frustrating moments though. I felt the game sometimes did a poor job of explaining what it wanted me to do.
Is It Good: It’s interesting. Good art, poor game.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is:
· A fascinating art piece.
· A vulnerable and authentic depiction of psychosis and mental illness.
· Not particularly good at capturing lived experiences of mental illness.
· A bland and subpar video game
· A watermark masterpiece for the medium of games.
· Something that should have been a film, and not best served by being an interactive game.
I’m unsure how I feel about Hellblade as a whole, and while I think it has some incredible moments and intriguing ideas the game ultimately fails at both being a game and attempting to convey mental illness beyond tropes. While a great deal of depth and nuance appears at first glance, I feel in the end the game has little value in attempting to portray psychosis as a lived experience.
The fact that this is a video game muddies the discussion considerably. A great deal of the (well-earned) praise Hellblade has garnered is because as a video game, it is unmatched. Within the medium of interactive entertainment (I am unaware of anything close to Hellblade) the game is certainly peerless in the way it attempts to portray psychosis with incredible visuals and truly outstanding sound design. But if we step into other mediums, I feel Hellblade’s contributions are much more diluted.
First, a brief summary for those unaware. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice tells the story of Senua, a Celtic warrior experiencing a profound episode of psychosis after her village is destroyed by invading Norsemen. We as the player help guide Senua through her visual and audio projections as she tries to make sense of what has happened and how she can survive such grief.
The game is extremely upfront with its goal of trying to show what having psychosis is like, and the designers and studio have spent a huge amount of time speaking to experts and people with lived experiences to try and depict what some of the most difficult mental breaks are.
I have no lived experienced of psychosis. Given the interviews and writings of others with lived experience, the overwhelming consensus is that Hellblade does an exemplary job at being truthful in its depictions. The game’s depictions of visual hallucinations go much further than the ‘seeing a person who is not there’ present in other media. Walls shift and change, lights appear too bright, the darkness is unfathomable and frightening. Symbols and patterns can be seen everywhere, and it is clear Senua tries to find order and meaning in the cruel world surrounding her.
The audio design is incredible, there is a constant undertone of voices playing in the background. With headphones or a good surround sound system it feels like voices are playing in your mind. Not only are the technical elements strong, but the writing and performance of the voices are also equally matched.
‘it’s not safe’
‘you’re stupid’
‘good job’
‘what should she do?’
Whirr and spin around the soundscape, with spine-tingling whispers or room-shaking booms. It’s disorienting, unsettling, and difficult to concentrate with snippets of words and shouts constantly drilling into you.
The rest of the game’s writing is also strong, paired with excellent performances. The game mixes in live full motion video of actors to incredible success. And while the story is told in a confusing manner, as the pieces slowly come together a compelling narrative is revealed.
It all sounds really incredible, and it is. But here is my issue.
Why is this a game? The restraint of a film is you can’t live the experience. But in an interactive game, you can experience the same journey as a character. But sadly, Senua and the player are never on the same wavelength.
I am not experiencing Senua’s journey, because she and I are never on the same page. We do not experience these things together, and thus we the player become passive observers watching an interesting film interrupted by boring gameplay.
Senua knows what happened to her from the very beginning, while I don’t know what happened until the end of the game. WE are not discovering things together.
Senua is terrified of the monster chasing her, while I know it is not real. I watch Suenua experience delusions, but at no point do I the player question if what is happening is real.
I know none of this is real because the screen is fuzzy and there is literally a magical monster in front of me. A key element of psychosis is the inability to differentiate reality, and I as the player never question what is real and what is not.
The wall of grasping hands? Real to Senua, not to me.
Portals into other universes? Real to Senua, but not to me. I know she is delusional.
This weakens the point of interactive fiction. Senua and I are never confused together, we do not share fear or question our reality together. I am no different from a family member watching a loved one struggle. Which is compelling and can create empathy, but as an interactive story it is not very strong. I as the player am simply not experiencing what Senua is experiencing. I always can tell what is real, and what is not. Unlike Senua.
Lastly, we come to the game itself which is merely (and barely) competent. You fight Senua’s delusions with a simple parry and light combo system, which is not complex or meaty enough to sustain the 7 hour run time. It gets tiring FAST. The rest of the game (really the majority of it) is filled with puzzles, which revolve around shifting your perspective to make objects in the world fit into symbols. It is a cool idea, but again wears thin for 7 hours. I grew to resent the puzzles and combat before the halfway mark, and often wished I could skip a great deal of it.
It’s just not a very good game, because the ‘gameplay’ elements really don’t need to be there. It often feels like the designers are worried players may get bored, and just throw in mindless and repetitive combat to break up the repetitive puzzles. The final encounter is really the only section where the combat and story align and build on each other. Every other time they feel like annoying interruptions and time wasters.
This lack of cohesion in design harms the gameplay. The game screams the ‘see look! Games can do this too!’ vibe that reminds me of the boring ‘are games art’ debate of the early 2000’s.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is an incredible piece of art. I loved the speeches, the story, the dialogue, the sound, and the visuals. But I think it fails to truly capitalize on the interactive elements, and instead feels like watching a fantastic movie but your annoying cousin keeps interrupting you to play a game of fortnight.
I give this a hesitant recommendation, as it is an interesting game. And I am extremely curious about the announced sequel as there is something undeniably special about this team and the clear passion they have for removing the stigma surrounding mental illness. There is great bravery in exploring what it means to have a brain different from others, and why that makes you no less of a hero.
It is truly incredible art.
I just wish it was a better game.
Follow me at The Pile for more reviews (including books and films)
https://thepile.substack.com/
Released: August 8th, 2017
Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One/X/S, Nintendo Switch
Developer: Ninja Theory
Language: English
Length: 7 hours, feels long. I almost stopped once or twice.
Difficulty: Medium. I died maybe twice.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: Nope.
Accessibility Options: Many. DAGER System has a great write up. https://dagersystem.com/disability-game-review-hellblade-senuas-sacrifice/
Monetization: Single purchase.
Microtransaction: None.
Gambling Elements: None.
Content Warning: Blood, extreme gore, violence, depictions of mental illness, torture, confinement, suicide, horror, shame.
Parenting Guide: This game is rated M for mature, and I agree. Mature teens only, strongly consider a co-play. However, it could be a great tool for discussing mental health.
How Did You Play It: On Xbox Series X
Did you need a guide: Nope. There are some clunky frustrating moments though. I felt the game sometimes did a poor job of explaining what it wanted me to do.
Is It Good: It’s interesting. Good art, poor game.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is:
· A fascinating art piece.
· A vulnerable and authentic depiction of psychosis and mental illness.
· Not particularly good at capturing lived experiences of mental illness.
· A bland and subpar video game
· A watermark masterpiece for the medium of games.
· Something that should have been a film, and not best served by being an interactive game.
I’m unsure how I feel about Hellblade as a whole, and while I think it has some incredible moments and intriguing ideas the game ultimately fails at both being a game and attempting to convey mental illness beyond tropes. While a great deal of depth and nuance appears at first glance, I feel in the end the game has little value in attempting to portray psychosis as a lived experience.
The fact that this is a video game muddies the discussion considerably. A great deal of the (well-earned) praise Hellblade has garnered is because as a video game, it is unmatched. Within the medium of interactive entertainment (I am unaware of anything close to Hellblade) the game is certainly peerless in the way it attempts to portray psychosis with incredible visuals and truly outstanding sound design. But if we step into other mediums, I feel Hellblade’s contributions are much more diluted.
First, a brief summary for those unaware. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice tells the story of Senua, a Celtic warrior experiencing a profound episode of psychosis after her village is destroyed by invading Norsemen. We as the player help guide Senua through her visual and audio projections as she tries to make sense of what has happened and how she can survive such grief.
The game is extremely upfront with its goal of trying to show what having psychosis is like, and the designers and studio have spent a huge amount of time speaking to experts and people with lived experiences to try and depict what some of the most difficult mental breaks are.
I have no lived experienced of psychosis. Given the interviews and writings of others with lived experience, the overwhelming consensus is that Hellblade does an exemplary job at being truthful in its depictions. The game’s depictions of visual hallucinations go much further than the ‘seeing a person who is not there’ present in other media. Walls shift and change, lights appear too bright, the darkness is unfathomable and frightening. Symbols and patterns can be seen everywhere, and it is clear Senua tries to find order and meaning in the cruel world surrounding her.
The audio design is incredible, there is a constant undertone of voices playing in the background. With headphones or a good surround sound system it feels like voices are playing in your mind. Not only are the technical elements strong, but the writing and performance of the voices are also equally matched.
‘it’s not safe’
‘you’re stupid’
‘good job’
‘what should she do?’
Whirr and spin around the soundscape, with spine-tingling whispers or room-shaking booms. It’s disorienting, unsettling, and difficult to concentrate with snippets of words and shouts constantly drilling into you.
The rest of the game’s writing is also strong, paired with excellent performances. The game mixes in live full motion video of actors to incredible success. And while the story is told in a confusing manner, as the pieces slowly come together a compelling narrative is revealed.
It all sounds really incredible, and it is. But here is my issue.
Why is this a game? The restraint of a film is you can’t live the experience. But in an interactive game, you can experience the same journey as a character. But sadly, Senua and the player are never on the same wavelength.
I am not experiencing Senua’s journey, because she and I are never on the same page. We do not experience these things together, and thus we the player become passive observers watching an interesting film interrupted by boring gameplay.
Senua knows what happened to her from the very beginning, while I don’t know what happened until the end of the game. WE are not discovering things together.
Senua is terrified of the monster chasing her, while I know it is not real. I watch Suenua experience delusions, but at no point do I the player question if what is happening is real.
I know none of this is real because the screen is fuzzy and there is literally a magical monster in front of me. A key element of psychosis is the inability to differentiate reality, and I as the player never question what is real and what is not.
The wall of grasping hands? Real to Senua, not to me.
Portals into other universes? Real to Senua, but not to me. I know she is delusional.
This weakens the point of interactive fiction. Senua and I are never confused together, we do not share fear or question our reality together. I am no different from a family member watching a loved one struggle. Which is compelling and can create empathy, but as an interactive story it is not very strong. I as the player am simply not experiencing what Senua is experiencing. I always can tell what is real, and what is not. Unlike Senua.
Lastly, we come to the game itself which is merely (and barely) competent. You fight Senua’s delusions with a simple parry and light combo system, which is not complex or meaty enough to sustain the 7 hour run time. It gets tiring FAST. The rest of the game (really the majority of it) is filled with puzzles, which revolve around shifting your perspective to make objects in the world fit into symbols. It is a cool idea, but again wears thin for 7 hours. I grew to resent the puzzles and combat before the halfway mark, and often wished I could skip a great deal of it.
It’s just not a very good game, because the ‘gameplay’ elements really don’t need to be there. It often feels like the designers are worried players may get bored, and just throw in mindless and repetitive combat to break up the repetitive puzzles. The final encounter is really the only section where the combat and story align and build on each other. Every other time they feel like annoying interruptions and time wasters.
This lack of cohesion in design harms the gameplay. The game screams the ‘see look! Games can do this too!’ vibe that reminds me of the boring ‘are games art’ debate of the early 2000’s.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is an incredible piece of art. I loved the speeches, the story, the dialogue, the sound, and the visuals. But I think it fails to truly capitalize on the interactive elements, and instead feels like watching a fantastic movie but your annoying cousin keeps interrupting you to play a game of fortnight.
I give this a hesitant recommendation, as it is an interesting game. And I am extremely curious about the announced sequel as there is something undeniably special about this team and the clear passion they have for removing the stigma surrounding mental illness. There is great bravery in exploring what it means to have a brain different from others, and why that makes you no less of a hero.
It is truly incredible art.
I just wish it was a better game.
Follow me at The Pile for more reviews (including books and films)
https://thepile.substack.com/
1998
Genre: Light exploratory platformer
Released: March 9th, 1998
Platform: Game Boy (original), Game Boy Color, 3DS
Developer: Nintendo R&D1
Publisher: Nintendo
Original Language: Japanese
Length: 5-7 hours, easy breezy pacing. I rolled credits at 5 hours and spent another 3 looking for secrets.
Difficulty: Easy, nearly zero punishment for making mistakes.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: No, it’s stand-alone (despite the “2”). Up until now each game in the series is VERY different.
Accessibility Options: None.
Monetization: None.
Microtransaction: None.
Gambling Elements: You can wager coins to play mini-games, which are required to get treasure pieces. Spending coins make the games easier, however there is an endpoint and exploitation is minimal.
Content Warning: extremely mild cartoon violence.
Parenting Guide: Rated E for Everyone, and I agree.
How Did You Play It: I played the official English localization Game Boy version on an Analogue Pocket
Did you need a guide: Yes, twice for secrets endings. If you are willing to pixel hunt, you most likely won’t need one.
Is It Good: Yeah, it’s fun. 1 and 3 are better, IMO
Wario Land 2 is a teenager.
And adolescents is hard.
It is a period of transition, where we question who we are. What do we want? How can we distinguish ourselves from the shadow of others? During this time we experiment, try new things, and new identities. We want to be different. But often we don’t know how.
We can’t be too angry at Wario Land 2, they’re still young, you see. And trying to find themselves given their family background is going to be a struggle. They are both the 2nd game in the Wario Land series (officially), the 4th game in the Super Mario Land series (unofficially), and still learning who they want to be. I mean, look at their father Mr. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3. Of course Wario Land 2 will struggle to find themselves.
Full disclosure, Mr. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 and I are great friends. In fact, I count him as one of my closest friends and keep the handwritten copy of the speech he both made and gave at my wedding proudly displayed. I love that guy, and my appraisal of his son is strictly between you and I. He would be devasted to know I found WL2 to be pretty mid.
Now, I know Wario Land 2 will grow into the well-respected family man Wario Land 3, and that his child Wario Land 4 is well known as the greatest Prime Minister this country will ever see. But that is the future, and for now Wario Land 2 is 15 years old and acts 13.
The shadow of their father lingers, and as such there are several inconsistencies within the game design that irk. For example, Wario Land 2 is experimenting with how to make itself different from Mario (their close cousin). There is an interesting power-up mechanism in Wario Land 2, where instead of wearing hats or finding mushrooms, Wario’s physical body changes from some enemy attacks.
This is a really cool idea, and these abilities don’t make Wario faster or more powerful but instead give him different mobility options. Getting struck by a hammer turns Wario into a spring, allowing him to bounce to higher platforms. Getting squashed turns him into a paper-thin floating sheet, allowing him to haphazardly squeeze into crevices and float into new zones. My personal favorite is an enemy that turns Wario into a zombie.
This immediately turns the game into more of a Metroidvania than a strict platformer, further assisted by the games branching paths and slightly (very slightly) nonlinear design. But there are niggling issues I had that detracted from my enjoyment.
For one, sometimes it is unclear which enemies provide unique transformations, and which enemies simply do damage. The only way to tell is to let them hit you. These powers help in solving puzzles, and there are a few times when I struggled to figure out what do to as I had defeated an enemy that I was unaware would provide me with a new Wario form. Enemies come back if you leave an area so I never locked myself out of anything, so I got into the habit of letting every new enemy hit me to see what would happen. This felt less like interesting experimentation and more like a mild punishment.
Given that allowing enemies to hit Wario is a large part of the gameplay, Wario Land 2 has an interesting take on death. For the first time in the series, Wario can not die. Instead he losses coins on contact, and if he has no coins to give he simple bounces back a few feet.
This is a great idea and gives Wario Land 2 an exploratory feeling, as it encourages you to be unafraid to try things as the punishment is very minimal should you guess wrong.
The downside is that the new consequence of making a mistake is wasting time. Instead of restarting, you often have to wait for Wario to change back into his regular form, or trudge a winding path back to where you began. For example, in one level you are trying to get Wario down a series of platforms. If Wario is hit by an enemy he turns into a spring and bounces all the way back to the top of the challenge. This in itself is fine (no different from dying and restarting), but the difference is once you reach the top you then have to WAIT for the spring effect to wear off. It’s only a few seconds granted, but I still found the effects tiresome after a while of waiting impatiently for Wario to turn back to normal.
This is a very easy game in terms of mechanics. There are no deaths, no difficult platforms, and the hardest part boss encounters is walking back after they throw you off a stage (and watching their unskippable into cutscene).
The real point of the Wario Land 2 is collecting treasure, a mechanic toyed with in Mr. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3. Beelining straight to the end of the level is not particularly fun and is very easy. The true challenge is trying to find the hidden treasure in each level, which will later allow you to unlock the game’s true ending. I highly recommend playing in this manner, as nearly all the fun and interesting parts of the game are the challenges in finding secrets.
Thee game appears initially linear, however once you complete the first ‘ending’ you are heavily encouraged to go back and find alternate exits for several levels which lead to entirely new levels. I really enjoyed this aspect, and the world map easily sign posts which levels have missing treasure and which levels are worth returning to find a new path.
However, SOME of the alternative paths are hidden in annoying ‘secret’ blocks which look like everything else. I hated this and grew so frustrated I eventually used a guide for two sections. I’m really glad I did because I am an old person and I don’t have time to painstakingly try to break each block on the off chance it hides something.
However, most of the alternative endings are a great deal of fun to find. The first-level alternative ending is a personal favorite, and well worth the trial and error to find it.
It’s clear Wario Land 2 is taking great strides into becoming the modern Wario formula that 3 and 4 will later take on. Right now Wario Land 2 feels distinct, but its parts are not fully meshed together to make a cohesive mechanical package. Well put together, but some sharp corners are still present.
But while Wario Land 2’s mechanics have a few more iterations to go through, it’s presentation is fantastic. The warbling, grungy off kilter soundtrack is excellent, minus one song which every minute or so goes SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Visually and musically Wario Land 2 has a unique and strong identity, which truthfully will not change much over the next decades. Wario Land 2 is a great looking game, with great bits of animation and bursting with charm and spirit. It’s not ‘good for a gameboy’, it’s just plain excellent.
Despite the crushing technical limitations of the system, the designers manage to squeeze a performance out of the sprites, and take every opportunity to establish Wario as his own unique character. Wario has clear goals, likes and dislikes, and from a personality standpoint is now fully developed. There are small cinematics for plot points and a style that oozes polish and passion. This characterization is assisted by some truly fantastic sprite work, with the boss battles being a true standout for animation and design (although actually defeating them is dull and uninteresting most of the time).
There some performance issues (a great deal of slow down whenever multiple blocks are broken), but Wario Land 2 is a fun game and worth playing.
Wario Land 2 still lives at home with their parents, but there is no doubt they’ll grow up into something fantastic.
Follow me at The Pile for more reviews (including books and films)
https://thepile.substack.com/
Released: March 9th, 1998
Platform: Game Boy (original), Game Boy Color, 3DS
Developer: Nintendo R&D1
Publisher: Nintendo
Original Language: Japanese
Length: 5-7 hours, easy breezy pacing. I rolled credits at 5 hours and spent another 3 looking for secrets.
Difficulty: Easy, nearly zero punishment for making mistakes.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: No, it’s stand-alone (despite the “2”). Up until now each game in the series is VERY different.
Accessibility Options: None.
Monetization: None.
Microtransaction: None.
Gambling Elements: You can wager coins to play mini-games, which are required to get treasure pieces. Spending coins make the games easier, however there is an endpoint and exploitation is minimal.
Content Warning: extremely mild cartoon violence.
Parenting Guide: Rated E for Everyone, and I agree.
How Did You Play It: I played the official English localization Game Boy version on an Analogue Pocket
Did you need a guide: Yes, twice for secrets endings. If you are willing to pixel hunt, you most likely won’t need one.
Is It Good: Yeah, it’s fun. 1 and 3 are better, IMO
Wario Land 2 is a teenager.
And adolescents is hard.
It is a period of transition, where we question who we are. What do we want? How can we distinguish ourselves from the shadow of others? During this time we experiment, try new things, and new identities. We want to be different. But often we don’t know how.
We can’t be too angry at Wario Land 2, they’re still young, you see. And trying to find themselves given their family background is going to be a struggle. They are both the 2nd game in the Wario Land series (officially), the 4th game in the Super Mario Land series (unofficially), and still learning who they want to be. I mean, look at their father Mr. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3. Of course Wario Land 2 will struggle to find themselves.
Full disclosure, Mr. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 and I are great friends. In fact, I count him as one of my closest friends and keep the handwritten copy of the speech he both made and gave at my wedding proudly displayed. I love that guy, and my appraisal of his son is strictly between you and I. He would be devasted to know I found WL2 to be pretty mid.
Now, I know Wario Land 2 will grow into the well-respected family man Wario Land 3, and that his child Wario Land 4 is well known as the greatest Prime Minister this country will ever see. But that is the future, and for now Wario Land 2 is 15 years old and acts 13.
The shadow of their father lingers, and as such there are several inconsistencies within the game design that irk. For example, Wario Land 2 is experimenting with how to make itself different from Mario (their close cousin). There is an interesting power-up mechanism in Wario Land 2, where instead of wearing hats or finding mushrooms, Wario’s physical body changes from some enemy attacks.
This is a really cool idea, and these abilities don’t make Wario faster or more powerful but instead give him different mobility options. Getting struck by a hammer turns Wario into a spring, allowing him to bounce to higher platforms. Getting squashed turns him into a paper-thin floating sheet, allowing him to haphazardly squeeze into crevices and float into new zones. My personal favorite is an enemy that turns Wario into a zombie.
This immediately turns the game into more of a Metroidvania than a strict platformer, further assisted by the games branching paths and slightly (very slightly) nonlinear design. But there are niggling issues I had that detracted from my enjoyment.
For one, sometimes it is unclear which enemies provide unique transformations, and which enemies simply do damage. The only way to tell is to let them hit you. These powers help in solving puzzles, and there are a few times when I struggled to figure out what do to as I had defeated an enemy that I was unaware would provide me with a new Wario form. Enemies come back if you leave an area so I never locked myself out of anything, so I got into the habit of letting every new enemy hit me to see what would happen. This felt less like interesting experimentation and more like a mild punishment.
Given that allowing enemies to hit Wario is a large part of the gameplay, Wario Land 2 has an interesting take on death. For the first time in the series, Wario can not die. Instead he losses coins on contact, and if he has no coins to give he simple bounces back a few feet.
This is a great idea and gives Wario Land 2 an exploratory feeling, as it encourages you to be unafraid to try things as the punishment is very minimal should you guess wrong.
The downside is that the new consequence of making a mistake is wasting time. Instead of restarting, you often have to wait for Wario to change back into his regular form, or trudge a winding path back to where you began. For example, in one level you are trying to get Wario down a series of platforms. If Wario is hit by an enemy he turns into a spring and bounces all the way back to the top of the challenge. This in itself is fine (no different from dying and restarting), but the difference is once you reach the top you then have to WAIT for the spring effect to wear off. It’s only a few seconds granted, but I still found the effects tiresome after a while of waiting impatiently for Wario to turn back to normal.
This is a very easy game in terms of mechanics. There are no deaths, no difficult platforms, and the hardest part boss encounters is walking back after they throw you off a stage (and watching their unskippable into cutscene).
The real point of the Wario Land 2 is collecting treasure, a mechanic toyed with in Mr. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3. Beelining straight to the end of the level is not particularly fun and is very easy. The true challenge is trying to find the hidden treasure in each level, which will later allow you to unlock the game’s true ending. I highly recommend playing in this manner, as nearly all the fun and interesting parts of the game are the challenges in finding secrets.
Thee game appears initially linear, however once you complete the first ‘ending’ you are heavily encouraged to go back and find alternate exits for several levels which lead to entirely new levels. I really enjoyed this aspect, and the world map easily sign posts which levels have missing treasure and which levels are worth returning to find a new path.
However, SOME of the alternative paths are hidden in annoying ‘secret’ blocks which look like everything else. I hated this and grew so frustrated I eventually used a guide for two sections. I’m really glad I did because I am an old person and I don’t have time to painstakingly try to break each block on the off chance it hides something.
However, most of the alternative endings are a great deal of fun to find. The first-level alternative ending is a personal favorite, and well worth the trial and error to find it.
It’s clear Wario Land 2 is taking great strides into becoming the modern Wario formula that 3 and 4 will later take on. Right now Wario Land 2 feels distinct, but its parts are not fully meshed together to make a cohesive mechanical package. Well put together, but some sharp corners are still present.
But while Wario Land 2’s mechanics have a few more iterations to go through, it’s presentation is fantastic. The warbling, grungy off kilter soundtrack is excellent, minus one song which every minute or so goes SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Visually and musically Wario Land 2 has a unique and strong identity, which truthfully will not change much over the next decades. Wario Land 2 is a great looking game, with great bits of animation and bursting with charm and spirit. It’s not ‘good for a gameboy’, it’s just plain excellent.
Despite the crushing technical limitations of the system, the designers manage to squeeze a performance out of the sprites, and take every opportunity to establish Wario as his own unique character. Wario has clear goals, likes and dislikes, and from a personality standpoint is now fully developed. There are small cinematics for plot points and a style that oozes polish and passion. This characterization is assisted by some truly fantastic sprite work, with the boss battles being a true standout for animation and design (although actually defeating them is dull and uninteresting most of the time).
There some performance issues (a great deal of slow down whenever multiple blocks are broken), but Wario Land 2 is a fun game and worth playing.
Wario Land 2 still lives at home with their parents, but there is no doubt they’ll grow up into something fantastic.
Follow me at The Pile for more reviews (including books and films)
https://thepile.substack.com/
2022
Genre: Bouncy Bite Sized Challenging Platforming Roguelike
Released: June 9th, 2022
Platform: iOS, Android
Developer: Moppin Games
Publisher: Devolver Digital Games
Language: English, but available in French, Korean, Japanese, Dutch, Spanish Portuguese, Italian
Length: 5-7 hours, feels shorter (in a good way). I rolled credits at 6 hours and did everything. I have kept playing in small chunks for personal challenges.
Difficulty: Medium. Runs are short, and with every level gained you get new powers to make the next run easier. You will finish this game with enough time.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: Nope, this is a standalone game.
Accessibility Options: A few. Adjustable game speed, inverted controls, and the ability to turn off screen shake.
Monetization: Tied to a Netflix subscription, with no ability to for standalone purchase.
Microtransaction: None.
Gambling Elements: There is a slot machine mechanic, but it is nonexploitative. The currency you collect can only go into the machine, you can not lose, and there is a definitive end. Eventually, it can’t be used anymore.
Content Warning: extremely mild cartoon violence.
Parenting Guide: Rated 9+ on iOS and E for everyone on Android. I disagree with iOS, and feel the only barrier for children is their own motor control abilities.
How Did You Play It: iOS via an Ipad.
Did you need a guide: No.
Is It Good: It’s brilliant. Truly exceptional.
Poinpy is a funny game where you get fruits to make juice to feed an unhappy blue cat. And I loved it.
THIS is what fantastic mechanical game design is; a perfect example of simple controls allowing for complex player expression. Poinpy (the adorable titular green bird) launches themselves like a slingshot with a deft flick of your finger or immediately slams into the ground with a satisfying THWACK on a quick tap of the screen. Despite being a mobile touch screen exclusive game, Poinpy controls so effortlessly and precisely that the joy of movement alone is worth your attention. Swipe and tap, swipe, tap, swipe, tap, tap, swipe, swipe, TAP! There is a tactile delight in every action, and Poinpy controls so effortlessly that I often found myself able to play entire sections as though I WAS POINPY. WE ARE THE SAME, TOGETHER, ONE MIND, ONE THOUGHT.
So yeah, the controls are real good.
But Poinpy goes even further, slowly layering unique and interesting ways you can combine these two actions to string together breath-taking combos. It’s incredibly impressive how Poinpy is able to wring out every last ounce of fun out of these two actions, and a testament to the shining amount of polish this game possesses.
Poinpy is fun. Like, really fun. It’s zany and silly, bright and colourful with adorable music and bouncy animations. I would recommend it to anyone. Actually, I recommend it to everyone. If you have a Netflix subscription and a phone, it’s a must-play.
And unlike a great deal of other mobile games, which are only interested in taking as much time and attention away from you as possible, Poinpy actually has an ending (which is just as delightful as the rest of the game). Poinpy explores all the ideas it has to offer, pushes them to their natural limits, and then ends with a satisfying crescendo. I want more, of course, but Poinpy knows when it’s time to draw the curtains.
I can’t help but gush, as everything about Poinpy is worth remarking on. Somehow (I assume via black magic), each random level assembles in a way that feels as though there is a designer just off-screen perfectly laying down each section for you. The animation and creature design is so appealing with stretchy, squat, and fat shapes that scream so much personality and charm. There is an experience and slot machine leveling system that somehow makes the game even better instead of a chore. Each attempt at the game gives experience and later a chance to spin the wheel for a random upgrade, yet instead of feeling manipulative or exploiting your fears or darker urgings, you instead feel rewarded for every attempt and are given fun new twists to look forward to. And this system also ends, and eventually there are no more rewards. Numbers are often used to pointlessly add superficial depth and length, but Poinpy uses these mechanics in exclusively positive ways to add even more enjoyment to an already stuffed game.
Gosh, sometimes I just liked staring at the blue cat, who is such a good kitty and only wants delicious juice for his tum tum. Oh! And there is a whole puzzle mode too, which is worth completing for upgrades and BECAUSE IT’S FUN!
Oh right! There is also a whole build system where you can swap upgrades in and out, which can drastically change how you play the game. But all of it is accessible and easy to understand, and none of it distracts from the true purpose of the game: get fruits, make juice, feed cat.
My only true complaint is that as of this moment I can’t buy Poinpy outright, as it’s tied to a Netflix subscription. Because I want to own Poinpy forever. I want to play more.
I want to play it again. I want more levels, more challenges, more… everything. Not because it feels incomplete or lacking (far from it). But because Poinpy is nearly perfect, and I am only human and want more of a good thing.
Maybe… Maybe one more try.
It’s coming. The creature has been chasing me, hungry and ravenous, ever demanding and always wanting more.
I am not merely leaping away from the creature, not simply spinning higher and higher. Nay, I am an artist. A leaf in the wind. My body and my thoughts are one, mere flicks of my finger cause tumbles and deflections so beautiful, so sublime in their perfect movements it would make angels weep.
But the creature demands more. It hunts me, always hunts me, higher and higher, I fear even the stratosphere could not contain it.
The mantra is all I know. The mantra is what protects me, even now as I fear my end is near.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
The mantra is all.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
The demands are so simple.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
Yet I fear I cannot obey for much longer.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
I miss a banana.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
I begin to fall, down and down and down. Towards the monster.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
It is too late. I do not have the fruits. I have no juice.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
I cannot feed the cat.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
I touch the ground, and the creature bellows in displeasure. The cat will not be fed, and so I must burn.
Play this game.
Follow me at The Pile for more reviews (including books and films)
https://thepile.substack.com/
Released: June 9th, 2022
Platform: iOS, Android
Developer: Moppin Games
Publisher: Devolver Digital Games
Language: English, but available in French, Korean, Japanese, Dutch, Spanish Portuguese, Italian
Length: 5-7 hours, feels shorter (in a good way). I rolled credits at 6 hours and did everything. I have kept playing in small chunks for personal challenges.
Difficulty: Medium. Runs are short, and with every level gained you get new powers to make the next run easier. You will finish this game with enough time.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: Nope, this is a standalone game.
Accessibility Options: A few. Adjustable game speed, inverted controls, and the ability to turn off screen shake.
Monetization: Tied to a Netflix subscription, with no ability to for standalone purchase.
Microtransaction: None.
Gambling Elements: There is a slot machine mechanic, but it is nonexploitative. The currency you collect can only go into the machine, you can not lose, and there is a definitive end. Eventually, it can’t be used anymore.
Content Warning: extremely mild cartoon violence.
Parenting Guide: Rated 9+ on iOS and E for everyone on Android. I disagree with iOS, and feel the only barrier for children is their own motor control abilities.
How Did You Play It: iOS via an Ipad.
Did you need a guide: No.
Is It Good: It’s brilliant. Truly exceptional.
Poinpy is a funny game where you get fruits to make juice to feed an unhappy blue cat. And I loved it.
THIS is what fantastic mechanical game design is; a perfect example of simple controls allowing for complex player expression. Poinpy (the adorable titular green bird) launches themselves like a slingshot with a deft flick of your finger or immediately slams into the ground with a satisfying THWACK on a quick tap of the screen. Despite being a mobile touch screen exclusive game, Poinpy controls so effortlessly and precisely that the joy of movement alone is worth your attention. Swipe and tap, swipe, tap, swipe, tap, tap, swipe, swipe, TAP! There is a tactile delight in every action, and Poinpy controls so effortlessly that I often found myself able to play entire sections as though I WAS POINPY. WE ARE THE SAME, TOGETHER, ONE MIND, ONE THOUGHT.
So yeah, the controls are real good.
But Poinpy goes even further, slowly layering unique and interesting ways you can combine these two actions to string together breath-taking combos. It’s incredibly impressive how Poinpy is able to wring out every last ounce of fun out of these two actions, and a testament to the shining amount of polish this game possesses.
Poinpy is fun. Like, really fun. It’s zany and silly, bright and colourful with adorable music and bouncy animations. I would recommend it to anyone. Actually, I recommend it to everyone. If you have a Netflix subscription and a phone, it’s a must-play.
And unlike a great deal of other mobile games, which are only interested in taking as much time and attention away from you as possible, Poinpy actually has an ending (which is just as delightful as the rest of the game). Poinpy explores all the ideas it has to offer, pushes them to their natural limits, and then ends with a satisfying crescendo. I want more, of course, but Poinpy knows when it’s time to draw the curtains.
I can’t help but gush, as everything about Poinpy is worth remarking on. Somehow (I assume via black magic), each random level assembles in a way that feels as though there is a designer just off-screen perfectly laying down each section for you. The animation and creature design is so appealing with stretchy, squat, and fat shapes that scream so much personality and charm. There is an experience and slot machine leveling system that somehow makes the game even better instead of a chore. Each attempt at the game gives experience and later a chance to spin the wheel for a random upgrade, yet instead of feeling manipulative or exploiting your fears or darker urgings, you instead feel rewarded for every attempt and are given fun new twists to look forward to. And this system also ends, and eventually there are no more rewards. Numbers are often used to pointlessly add superficial depth and length, but Poinpy uses these mechanics in exclusively positive ways to add even more enjoyment to an already stuffed game.
Gosh, sometimes I just liked staring at the blue cat, who is such a good kitty and only wants delicious juice for his tum tum. Oh! And there is a whole puzzle mode too, which is worth completing for upgrades and BECAUSE IT’S FUN!
Oh right! There is also a whole build system where you can swap upgrades in and out, which can drastically change how you play the game. But all of it is accessible and easy to understand, and none of it distracts from the true purpose of the game: get fruits, make juice, feed cat.
My only true complaint is that as of this moment I can’t buy Poinpy outright, as it’s tied to a Netflix subscription. Because I want to own Poinpy forever. I want to play more.
I want to play it again. I want more levels, more challenges, more… everything. Not because it feels incomplete or lacking (far from it). But because Poinpy is nearly perfect, and I am only human and want more of a good thing.
Maybe… Maybe one more try.
It’s coming. The creature has been chasing me, hungry and ravenous, ever demanding and always wanting more.
I am not merely leaping away from the creature, not simply spinning higher and higher. Nay, I am an artist. A leaf in the wind. My body and my thoughts are one, mere flicks of my finger cause tumbles and deflections so beautiful, so sublime in their perfect movements it would make angels weep.
But the creature demands more. It hunts me, always hunts me, higher and higher, I fear even the stratosphere could not contain it.
The mantra is all I know. The mantra is what protects me, even now as I fear my end is near.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
The mantra is all.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
The demands are so simple.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
Yet I fear I cannot obey for much longer.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
I miss a banana.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
I begin to fall, down and down and down. Towards the monster.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
It is too late. I do not have the fruits. I have no juice.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
I cannot feed the cat.
GET FRUITS.
MAKE JUICE.
FEED CAT.
I touch the ground, and the creature bellows in displeasure. The cat will not be fed, and so I must burn.
Play this game.
Follow me at The Pile for more reviews (including books and films)
https://thepile.substack.com/
2022
Genre: Collectible Card Game and Grid Tactics
Released: August 19, 2022
Platform: PC
Developer: Dream Sloth Games
Language: English
Length: As long as you want. I’ve probably played for 40+ hours, and put a TON of time into the original.
Difficulty: Medium-Expert (if you want to be the best). For most players, this is a easy to understand game with a lower skill floor and a very high skill ceiling.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: Nope.
Accessibility Options: None, which is disappointing.
Monetization: Skins and Cards
Microtransaction: Yes. Two currencies, and annoying conversions. It feels icky, and it is. Free currency can be used to buy cards, but not cosmetics.
Gambling Elements: Yes. You get random cards when you buy a pack (which can be bought with the free currency) which leads to luck playing a large role in pushing you to buy more.
Content Warning: mild cartoon violence.
Parenting Guide: 10 years and up. Online elements, and be aware that a credit card is used to buy cards (but not necessary to play the game. However, players can only interact with each other via predetermined stickers, thus abuse is unlikely.
How Did You Play It: Via steam.
Did you need a guide: I use websites to help build my decks (and by that I mean I just copy what people say is good).
Is It Good: It’s really, really fun. It’s my favourite quick pick up game, and I plan to keep playing it for a long time.
You know what sucks? Missing.
Painstakingly moving your units into position, only for Gordo the barbarian to whiff trying to hit an enemy literally the size of a barn.
Or Charizard blasting a literal flame hurricane out of their mouth, and yet cannot hit A GOD DAMN WEEDLE THREE INCHES IN FRONT OF THEIR STUPID DROOLING MUG!
But what if life could be better?
Allow me to introduce Duelyst 2, the greatest thing since Wendy’s sliced, sliced bread. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiwD79mkLn4&ab_channel=Wendy%27s)
Look, yes, Duelyst 1 technically failed and was removed from life support by the developer in 2020. And yes, it is a collectible trading card game with micro-transactions - Hey wait come back! Wait please, listen to me!
I loved Duelyst 1, and was really sad to see it close down. I think Duelyst is something special, and I’m thrilled to find out that I’m not alone. There are dozens of us. Dozens!
See, when Duelyst was closed down, the developer took the unprecedented step of later releasing everything to the public. The art, the code, the engine, everything is in the public domain. You can even go and play the original right now in your browser, with all the cards unlocked for free hosted by fans!
https://duelyst.gg/
In an age where companies have no interest in preserving their own games, it’s really incredible for Counter Play games to release everything after they closed it down.
And because of this exemplary choice, a group of fans have banded together to make Duelyst 2, a continuation of the old game with a few minor (or major if you’re hardcore) changes. And I looovvveee it.
First the elevator pitch for those not down with the lingo, Duelyst 2 is both a collectible battle card game (like Hearthstone or Magic the Gathering) AND a tactical grid-based strategy game (like Fire Emblem… or other games like Fire Emblem). While neither the cards nor the grid-based gameplay is new, the combination of these two elements creates something not only original but better than the sum of its parts.
Genre definitions are growing less and less useful, with it being more and more common for genres to be smashed together in search of a new and refreshing take. Just look at the renaissance the rhythm/music beat genre is undergoing with all the rhythm first-person shooters, rhythm dungeon crawlers, and beat-based brawlers (alliteration is fun!). It’s exciting to see designers explore new combinations, but it can also be tiring as more and more games get extra mechanics bolted onto their sides in an effort to reinvent themselves. Remember the ‘everything must have multiplayer’ age. That was… bad. Metroid Prime 2 deathmatch anyone? How about a game of Dragon Age: Inquisition? (yes, it’s real). And lord save us from the RPG/Loot mechanics being forced into every game under the sun.
The card game is going through a similar phase, it seems every game has card-like elements, be them tower defense, RPG, strategy games, narrative adventures, first-person shooters, and the list goes on and on. So I can forgive you if you are not exactly jumping for joy at the idea of another genre but WITH CARDS. But in this case, cards make EVERYTHING better.
Why do games have stats? Why does my elite sniper in x-com have a 95% chance of hitting something? It’s to add unpredictability to the game and make things more dynamic. But missing feels awful, because you had a plan and random numbers prevented you from executing upon it. It feels like something has been taken away from you, and that’s infuriating.
Deck building fixes this. The nature of drawing cards adds enough random chance to prevent you from doing the same thing over and over again, so if you do draw the unit you wanted, got him on the board, in position, and able to attack there is no reason for some dice to roll. The random nature of the cards already added that mechanic, which means you never, ever miss. It feels so good, trust me.
Plus Duelyst 2 is incredibly forgiving, as each turn you can swap out a card for a random new card at no cost (plus you get 2 new cards at the end of each turn). This ensures at every turn, no matter what you nearly always have at least one interesting choice to make. Should you hang on to the card you have, or swap it for the chance of getting something better? Cards add luck elements without the pain of watching freaking GORDO THE DODO MISS AGAIN!
Then there’s the grid itself, which adds a fantastic dimension to playing cards. In most card games the choice is what card to play at what time. If a unit has a taunt or defense, you play it when it’s needed. But in Duelyst, choosing a card is the first half of making a choice. You also have to consider WHERE you put the unit, which leads to some incredible opportunities for synergies, strategies, and any other ‘ies you could want.
Battles are fast, dynamic, challenging, and filled with nail-baiting gambits, faints, charges, retreats, and spells flying back and forth. A round usually lasts 5 minutes, 10 at the most. And the tactical options are truly huge.
One of my favorite modes is the weekly puzzle, where you are presented a game in mid match and have to try and win in one turn. You quickly see there are so many interesting ways cards and units can interact with each other, from teleporting, buffing, morphing, egg laying, taunting, and so much more. Plus, none of it feels overwhelming, there are simple rules and each mechanic is easy to understand. If a game is supposed to be a series of interesting decisions, then Duelyst 2 is a shining example of said mantra.
It feels balanced, with lots of removal options preventing players from sweeping games, and the different hero armies feel unique from each other and fun to play. There is a great deal of fun to have with experimentation, right now I’m rocking Vetruvian and focusing on summoning obelisks that spit out low-level minions at the start of each turn. And then I can buff them and… it’s… it’s all just great stuff.
In addition to being mechanically enjoyable, the game has this really beautiful pixel art mixed with watercolor backgrounds that really sells a vision for the game. It looks very different from other card games, and the units all have fantastic crunchy animations when fighting which I love.
I am not good enough to speak to balance, or if the changes the fan team have made to the meta are either the best thing ever or the literal death of the game. I dunno. It’s fun for me…
And I have a lot of respect for the new team for trying to modernize and bring new ideas and speed to Duelyst 2.
I hear the complaints, and there are complaints. One, the microtransactions. There is annoyance at the idea of a fan team selling cards they themselves did not make (although they are changing them for balance), especially if you bought cards for the first game. And I also wish there was a way to pay for a one-time purchase of the game.
I have personally not found the need to buy any cards, but I also don’t play this as my only game. I do a few quests, buy a pack or two, and craft what I need. I’ve seen better monetization sure, but it’s certainly not a black stain on the game.
This is a small team, not some mega-corporation trying to bleed you. And live games have server costs, in addition to the team working on developing a mobile version, new cards, new skins, and working on a new ranking system.
Plus they are adding a rouglight mode! Everything must have a rouglight mode.
Now, obviously none of this (minus the balance and the new ranking system) has actually happened yet, and promises are easy to make. But the game has just released in beta, and days are early still. I’m extremely excited for the future, and just jazzed one of my favorite games is back.
My only real complaint is the new music is… mid (as the kids would say). But the team seems to recognize this, as there is a slider to just play the original music only. I clicked that and have never gone back, so no complaints here.
The community is lovely, and there is a real effort to try and make the game friendly to people. I love being able to ‘tip gold’ (the games currency) to a player you beat, just as a thank you for a great game.
This is an excellent game. Don’t sit on it (it may disappear, who knows). It deserves a seat at the table. It’s free, give it a go.
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Follow me at The Pile for more reviews (including books and films)
https://thepile.substack.com/
Released: August 19, 2022
Platform: PC
Developer: Dream Sloth Games
Language: English
Length: As long as you want. I’ve probably played for 40+ hours, and put a TON of time into the original.
Difficulty: Medium-Expert (if you want to be the best). For most players, this is a easy to understand game with a lower skill floor and a very high skill ceiling.
Do I Need To Play Anything First: Nope.
Accessibility Options: None, which is disappointing.
Monetization: Skins and Cards
Microtransaction: Yes. Two currencies, and annoying conversions. It feels icky, and it is. Free currency can be used to buy cards, but not cosmetics.
Gambling Elements: Yes. You get random cards when you buy a pack (which can be bought with the free currency) which leads to luck playing a large role in pushing you to buy more.
Content Warning: mild cartoon violence.
Parenting Guide: 10 years and up. Online elements, and be aware that a credit card is used to buy cards (but not necessary to play the game. However, players can only interact with each other via predetermined stickers, thus abuse is unlikely.
How Did You Play It: Via steam.
Did you need a guide: I use websites to help build my decks (and by that I mean I just copy what people say is good).
Is It Good: It’s really, really fun. It’s my favourite quick pick up game, and I plan to keep playing it for a long time.
You know what sucks? Missing.
Painstakingly moving your units into position, only for Gordo the barbarian to whiff trying to hit an enemy literally the size of a barn.
Or Charizard blasting a literal flame hurricane out of their mouth, and yet cannot hit A GOD DAMN WEEDLE THREE INCHES IN FRONT OF THEIR STUPID DROOLING MUG!
But what if life could be better?
Allow me to introduce Duelyst 2, the greatest thing since Wendy’s sliced, sliced bread. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiwD79mkLn4&ab_channel=Wendy%27s)
Look, yes, Duelyst 1 technically failed and was removed from life support by the developer in 2020. And yes, it is a collectible trading card game with micro-transactions - Hey wait come back! Wait please, listen to me!
I loved Duelyst 1, and was really sad to see it close down. I think Duelyst is something special, and I’m thrilled to find out that I’m not alone. There are dozens of us. Dozens!
See, when Duelyst was closed down, the developer took the unprecedented step of later releasing everything to the public. The art, the code, the engine, everything is in the public domain. You can even go and play the original right now in your browser, with all the cards unlocked for free hosted by fans!
https://duelyst.gg/
In an age where companies have no interest in preserving their own games, it’s really incredible for Counter Play games to release everything after they closed it down.
And because of this exemplary choice, a group of fans have banded together to make Duelyst 2, a continuation of the old game with a few minor (or major if you’re hardcore) changes. And I looovvveee it.
First the elevator pitch for those not down with the lingo, Duelyst 2 is both a collectible battle card game (like Hearthstone or Magic the Gathering) AND a tactical grid-based strategy game (like Fire Emblem… or other games like Fire Emblem). While neither the cards nor the grid-based gameplay is new, the combination of these two elements creates something not only original but better than the sum of its parts.
Genre definitions are growing less and less useful, with it being more and more common for genres to be smashed together in search of a new and refreshing take. Just look at the renaissance the rhythm/music beat genre is undergoing with all the rhythm first-person shooters, rhythm dungeon crawlers, and beat-based brawlers (alliteration is fun!). It’s exciting to see designers explore new combinations, but it can also be tiring as more and more games get extra mechanics bolted onto their sides in an effort to reinvent themselves. Remember the ‘everything must have multiplayer’ age. That was… bad. Metroid Prime 2 deathmatch anyone? How about a game of Dragon Age: Inquisition? (yes, it’s real). And lord save us from the RPG/Loot mechanics being forced into every game under the sun.
The card game is going through a similar phase, it seems every game has card-like elements, be them tower defense, RPG, strategy games, narrative adventures, first-person shooters, and the list goes on and on. So I can forgive you if you are not exactly jumping for joy at the idea of another genre but WITH CARDS. But in this case, cards make EVERYTHING better.
Why do games have stats? Why does my elite sniper in x-com have a 95% chance of hitting something? It’s to add unpredictability to the game and make things more dynamic. But missing feels awful, because you had a plan and random numbers prevented you from executing upon it. It feels like something has been taken away from you, and that’s infuriating.
Deck building fixes this. The nature of drawing cards adds enough random chance to prevent you from doing the same thing over and over again, so if you do draw the unit you wanted, got him on the board, in position, and able to attack there is no reason for some dice to roll. The random nature of the cards already added that mechanic, which means you never, ever miss. It feels so good, trust me.
Plus Duelyst 2 is incredibly forgiving, as each turn you can swap out a card for a random new card at no cost (plus you get 2 new cards at the end of each turn). This ensures at every turn, no matter what you nearly always have at least one interesting choice to make. Should you hang on to the card you have, or swap it for the chance of getting something better? Cards add luck elements without the pain of watching freaking GORDO THE DODO MISS AGAIN!
Then there’s the grid itself, which adds a fantastic dimension to playing cards. In most card games the choice is what card to play at what time. If a unit has a taunt or defense, you play it when it’s needed. But in Duelyst, choosing a card is the first half of making a choice. You also have to consider WHERE you put the unit, which leads to some incredible opportunities for synergies, strategies, and any other ‘ies you could want.
Battles are fast, dynamic, challenging, and filled with nail-baiting gambits, faints, charges, retreats, and spells flying back and forth. A round usually lasts 5 minutes, 10 at the most. And the tactical options are truly huge.
One of my favorite modes is the weekly puzzle, where you are presented a game in mid match and have to try and win in one turn. You quickly see there are so many interesting ways cards and units can interact with each other, from teleporting, buffing, morphing, egg laying, taunting, and so much more. Plus, none of it feels overwhelming, there are simple rules and each mechanic is easy to understand. If a game is supposed to be a series of interesting decisions, then Duelyst 2 is a shining example of said mantra.
It feels balanced, with lots of removal options preventing players from sweeping games, and the different hero armies feel unique from each other and fun to play. There is a great deal of fun to have with experimentation, right now I’m rocking Vetruvian and focusing on summoning obelisks that spit out low-level minions at the start of each turn. And then I can buff them and… it’s… it’s all just great stuff.
In addition to being mechanically enjoyable, the game has this really beautiful pixel art mixed with watercolor backgrounds that really sells a vision for the game. It looks very different from other card games, and the units all have fantastic crunchy animations when fighting which I love.
I am not good enough to speak to balance, or if the changes the fan team have made to the meta are either the best thing ever or the literal death of the game. I dunno. It’s fun for me…
And I have a lot of respect for the new team for trying to modernize and bring new ideas and speed to Duelyst 2.
I hear the complaints, and there are complaints. One, the microtransactions. There is annoyance at the idea of a fan team selling cards they themselves did not make (although they are changing them for balance), especially if you bought cards for the first game. And I also wish there was a way to pay for a one-time purchase of the game.
I have personally not found the need to buy any cards, but I also don’t play this as my only game. I do a few quests, buy a pack or two, and craft what I need. I’ve seen better monetization sure, but it’s certainly not a black stain on the game.
This is a small team, not some mega-corporation trying to bleed you. And live games have server costs, in addition to the team working on developing a mobile version, new cards, new skins, and working on a new ranking system.
Plus they are adding a rouglight mode! Everything must have a rouglight mode.
Now, obviously none of this (minus the balance and the new ranking system) has actually happened yet, and promises are easy to make. But the game has just released in beta, and days are early still. I’m extremely excited for the future, and just jazzed one of my favorite games is back.
My only real complaint is the new music is… mid (as the kids would say). But the team seems to recognize this, as there is a slider to just play the original music only. I clicked that and have never gone back, so no complaints here.
The community is lovely, and there is a real effort to try and make the game friendly to people. I love being able to ‘tip gold’ (the games currency) to a player you beat, just as a thank you for a great game.
This is an excellent game. Don’t sit on it (it may disappear, who knows). It deserves a seat at the table. It’s free, give it a go.
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Follow me at The Pile for more reviews (including books and films)
https://thepile.substack.com/
1995
I’ve been travelling quite a bit, so I’m once again grateful for God’s gift to his chosen people: The Game Boy. Which I did not use this time in the car, instead I blasphemed and played my first Sega Game Gear game.
The Game Gear (or God’s mistake) is the 1990 plastic brick that needs SIX AA batteries for 4 hours of play. I could not dirty my hands with such a thing (also I don’t own one) and thus used an Analogue Pocket to play Sylvan Tale.
Sylvan Tale is a Japanese exclusive that never came to west, and is currently only playable in English by a fan translation effort.
I love fan translations, because it means that at least one person, somewhere, REALLY like a game. And Aeon Genesis, the fan translator, really liked this game. According to them:
You know, every once in a while, Game Gear games can be pretty damn sweet. Take this here Sylvan Tale game for example. Action RPGs (such as this one) are rare, and GOOD action RPGs are rare indeed. This is just the tip of the iceberg as to why Sylvan Tale is cool. Actually it’s pretty much the entire reason; it’s a damn fine action RPG. The music is simply awesome, especially considering the system (with one small exception!), the graphics are very well done, and the gameplay’s there. It’s ALL there. There’s a plot too, but it doesn’t matter. Who cares? Swing your sword around and kill things! That’s what life’s all about goddammit!
Wow, okay, I’ll give it a go.
Sylvan Tale (シルヴァン テイル) is a 1995 Japanese exclusive Game Gear game published and developed by Sega. Think Zelda, but average in every sense of the word: something that represents a middle point.
It’s fine, short, and has enjoyable moments with a nice art style and painfully basic gameplay. I played the English fan translation by Aeon Genesis (which was seamless) on an Analogue Pocket. This is a rare action RPG, and I enjoyed playing it. It took me six hours and I used a guide twice when I got really stuck (and I’m glad I did as the answer was ridiculous).
Its ‘fun’, but there are a lot of problems. My primary complaint is around the stubby little sword I’m given. Look, the game gear screen is 3.2 inches, why is the sword so small. I often had to get so close to enemies I would bounce into them and take damage. I got used to it, but even near the end I would be swinging at things that I SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HIT UGH THIS IS SO DUMB I HATE VIDEO GAMES WHO DESIGNED THIS COME ONE.
Sylvan Tale is enjoyable in the curiosity of being a Sega Zelda clone. It never comes close to its aspirations, but I do feel like I’m being very hard on it. I enjoyed parts of what I played, and never once thought about quitting. The game is incredibly easy, although sometimes it was a bit unclear what the game wanted me to do next. I needed a guide twice.
Once because I have jello for brains, and once because the game wanted me to do something that I would have never guessed in a million years.
I personally would not recommend Sylvan Tale to anybody, and my back of the box quote would be “You could do worse”.
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The Game Gear (or God’s mistake) is the 1990 plastic brick that needs SIX AA batteries for 4 hours of play. I could not dirty my hands with such a thing (also I don’t own one) and thus used an Analogue Pocket to play Sylvan Tale.
Sylvan Tale is a Japanese exclusive that never came to west, and is currently only playable in English by a fan translation effort.
I love fan translations, because it means that at least one person, somewhere, REALLY like a game. And Aeon Genesis, the fan translator, really liked this game. According to them:
You know, every once in a while, Game Gear games can be pretty damn sweet. Take this here Sylvan Tale game for example. Action RPGs (such as this one) are rare, and GOOD action RPGs are rare indeed. This is just the tip of the iceberg as to why Sylvan Tale is cool. Actually it’s pretty much the entire reason; it’s a damn fine action RPG. The music is simply awesome, especially considering the system (with one small exception!), the graphics are very well done, and the gameplay’s there. It’s ALL there. There’s a plot too, but it doesn’t matter. Who cares? Swing your sword around and kill things! That’s what life’s all about goddammit!
Wow, okay, I’ll give it a go.
Sylvan Tale (シルヴァン テイル) is a 1995 Japanese exclusive Game Gear game published and developed by Sega. Think Zelda, but average in every sense of the word: something that represents a middle point.
It’s fine, short, and has enjoyable moments with a nice art style and painfully basic gameplay. I played the English fan translation by Aeon Genesis (which was seamless) on an Analogue Pocket. This is a rare action RPG, and I enjoyed playing it. It took me six hours and I used a guide twice when I got really stuck (and I’m glad I did as the answer was ridiculous).
Its ‘fun’, but there are a lot of problems. My primary complaint is around the stubby little sword I’m given. Look, the game gear screen is 3.2 inches, why is the sword so small. I often had to get so close to enemies I would bounce into them and take damage. I got used to it, but even near the end I would be swinging at things that I SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HIT UGH THIS IS SO DUMB I HATE VIDEO GAMES WHO DESIGNED THIS COME ONE.
Sylvan Tale is enjoyable in the curiosity of being a Sega Zelda clone. It never comes close to its aspirations, but I do feel like I’m being very hard on it. I enjoyed parts of what I played, and never once thought about quitting. The game is incredibly easy, although sometimes it was a bit unclear what the game wanted me to do next. I needed a guide twice.
Once because I have jello for brains, and once because the game wanted me to do something that I would have never guessed in a million years.
I personally would not recommend Sylvan Tale to anybody, and my back of the box quote would be “You could do worse”.
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Halo Infinite Season 3 Echoes Within: A free 2023 expansion for Halo Infinite multiplayer (Xbox, PC) developed by 343 industries and published by Microsoft. New Maps, New modes, and a great customs games browser and community playlist.
Yes, the game is dying.
Yes, behind the scenes is a burning dumpster fire. Yes, this is an embarrassment for Microsoft. BUT Infinite has fantastic gunplay, mechanical feel, art style, and is a lot of fun for short bursts. Like, A LOT of fun. I played for about 10 hours over the month and had a blast. Don’t let all the negativity prevent you from booting up and having a few fun hours. I played on Xbox series X, and the game is free to play with a battle pass and a cosmetic store. Strong accessibility options. I made no in game purchases for this season.
Absolutely worth playing.
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Yes, the game is dying.
Yes, behind the scenes is a burning dumpster fire. Yes, this is an embarrassment for Microsoft. BUT Infinite has fantastic gunplay, mechanical feel, art style, and is a lot of fun for short bursts. Like, A LOT of fun. I played for about 10 hours over the month and had a blast. Don’t let all the negativity prevent you from booting up and having a few fun hours. I played on Xbox series X, and the game is free to play with a battle pass and a cosmetic store. Strong accessibility options. I made no in game purchases for this season.
Absolutely worth playing.
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Kirby and the Rainbow Curse: A 2015 Wii U game developed by HAL Laboratory and Published by Nintendo. Draw lines with your stylus to guide a Kirby ball across beautiful claymation stages. This will probably be trapped on the Wii U forever, which is a shame because it’s delightful. I loved my time with it, it was charming and joyful.
I finished in 7 hours, and it’s appropriate for all ages. A great recommendation, glad I finally played it.
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I finished in 7 hours, and it’s appropriate for all ages. A great recommendation, glad I finally played it.
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2022
Genre: WarioWare-style microgames | Released: November 2022 | Platform: GameBoy | Developer: Various | Publisher: Bownly | Language: English | Length: 15 min | Difficulty: Easy | Do I Need To Play Anything First: No | Accessibility Options: None, fast inputs required | Monetization: Free! | Microtransaction: None | Gambling Elements: None | Content Warning: None | Parenting Guide: 6+ | How Did You Play It: Analogue Pocket| Did you need a guide: No. | Mods: None.
Is It Good: It’s a gool ol’ blip o’ fun.
Back of the Box: Got 15 minutes and a Gameboy? Play this!
Get it here: https://bownly.itch.io/microgames-jam-pak
MICROGAMES Jam Pak is a 2022 collection of micro games made by various developers during a game jam. The collection plays like a long-lost budget Warioware Gameboy game and is a blast of 15-minute fun. The games are less than 5 seconds each, incredibly simple, and I lost an entire lunch break trying to beat my high score. For something so simple and slapped together, it held my attention WAY more than it should have. It’s free on itch and you can play it on a browser, emulator, or real hardware.
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Is It Good: It’s a gool ol’ blip o’ fun.
Back of the Box: Got 15 minutes and a Gameboy? Play this!
Get it here: https://bownly.itch.io/microgames-jam-pak
MICROGAMES Jam Pak is a 2022 collection of micro games made by various developers during a game jam. The collection plays like a long-lost budget Warioware Gameboy game and is a blast of 15-minute fun. The games are less than 5 seconds each, incredibly simple, and I lost an entire lunch break trying to beat my high score. For something so simple and slapped together, it held my attention WAY more than it should have. It’s free on itch and you can play it on a browser, emulator, or real hardware.
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2022
Genre: Narrative Educational Experience | Released: 2022 | Platform: iOS and Android | Developer: Frosty Pop Games Inc. | Publisher: Netflix | Language: English | Length: 1 hour | Difficulty: None, narrative focus | Do I Need To Play Anything First: No | Accessibility Options: Subtitles, no fast movements required | Monetization: Netflix subscription needed | Microtransaction: None | Gambling Elements: None | Content Warning: Suffering, Poverty | Parenting Guide: 12+, I think it’s a great game for youth| How Did You Play It: I played it on my iPad| Did you need a guide: Oh gosh no | Mods: None
Is It Good: It’s an interesting educational experience, as a game it’s pretty bland but as a tool it’s has great strengths.
Back of the Box: 771 million people don’t have access to clean drinking water,
This is a True Story is a 2022 narrative adventure game based on real interviews about the arduous challenge of accessing clean drinking water for so many people. Less a game and more a interactive story, you guide a woman on her daily journey to the clean drinking water miles away from her home. With gorgeous hand painted backgrounds and characters mixed with strong voice over, the game often has the appearance of a moving piece of art.
The game goes into great detail on how the lack of access to safe water impacts every aspect of life. I found some of the ‘game’ elements slightly frustrating and ultimately unnecessary, but overall this is an excellent attempt of trying in some small way to demonstrate another life.
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Is It Good: It’s an interesting educational experience, as a game it’s pretty bland but as a tool it’s has great strengths.
Back of the Box: 771 million people don’t have access to clean drinking water,
This is a True Story is a 2022 narrative adventure game based on real interviews about the arduous challenge of accessing clean drinking water for so many people. Less a game and more a interactive story, you guide a woman on her daily journey to the clean drinking water miles away from her home. With gorgeous hand painted backgrounds and characters mixed with strong voice over, the game often has the appearance of a moving piece of art.
The game goes into great detail on how the lack of access to safe water impacts every aspect of life. I found some of the ‘game’ elements slightly frustrating and ultimately unnecessary, but overall this is an excellent attempt of trying in some small way to demonstrate another life.
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Genre: Narrative Puzzler | Released: January 2023 | Platform: iOS and Android | Developer: Ubisoft | Publisher: Netflix | Language: English | Length: 2-3 hours | Difficulty: Easy | Do I Need To Play Anything First: Characters and events from the first game (Valiant Hearts: The Great War) are referenced, and I assume some moments would resonate more strongly if you played the first. I did not play the first one, and I found no barrier or difficulty to enjoying or following | Accessibility Options: Subtitles, slight dexterity required | Monetization: Requires a Netflix Subscription | Microtransaction: None | Gambling Elements: None | Content Warning: cartoon blood and gore, depictions of death and war | Parenting Guide: 12+ | How Did You Play It: Ipad via Netflix | Did you need a guide: No, but the game suffers from poor signposting | Mods: None
Is It Good: I thought it was fine, but a bit underwhelming.
Back of the Box: You’ll cry at the end, and be mad you are so easily manipulated.
Valiant Hearts: Coming Home is a beautiful, poignant, labor of love and passion marred by slightly frustrating “gameplay” that I think would be much better a piece of animation. It tells personal stories from the front lines of World War 1, and you guide various characters as they struggle to survive.
This is worth playing, for sure, but more for the informational aspect. The gameplay is so boring, and it says a log that my favorite parts was reading the in-game wiki. But as an educational game, it’s peerless.
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Is It Good: I thought it was fine, but a bit underwhelming.
Back of the Box: You’ll cry at the end, and be mad you are so easily manipulated.
Valiant Hearts: Coming Home is a beautiful, poignant, labor of love and passion marred by slightly frustrating “gameplay” that I think would be much better a piece of animation. It tells personal stories from the front lines of World War 1, and you guide various characters as they struggle to survive.
This is worth playing, for sure, but more for the informational aspect. The gameplay is so boring, and it says a log that my favorite parts was reading the in-game wiki. But as an educational game, it’s peerless.
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https://thepile.substack.com/