jademonkey
2024
I think I just no-lifed SaGa Emerald Byond harder than any game I've ever played before, even as a kid on summer break. Much less as a working adult in my late 30s.
I'll get a few basics out of the way before jumping into my rants on what I like.
This is a budget game. The character models and UI design really show the lack of money. Voice acting is very sparse.
This is not a narrative tour de force. The storylines are schlocky B-movie kitchen-sink nonsense, but, if you like that type of thing, it's very fun and frequently funny. I had an absolute blast with it. I love singing robots and saving molemen and helping plant people bloom, but I can easily see people being put off.
This is not a standard JRPG with dungeons and exploration. You move from event to event on a pop-up book like map, engaging with visual novel type sections or combat. It's a stripped down experience in many ways. As with the narrative, I enjoy this and relish the change of pace, but can easily see how others might not.
Kenji Ito delivered another banger soundtrack. This might be the thing Emerald Beyond has most in common with its higher budget cousins from Square.
With that out of the way, I'll dig into the real meat of what I love about Emerald Beyond. There are two main factors: the combat and the new-game plus cycle.
The combat is absolutely excellent, and sits as my favorite JRPG combat, maybe even surpassing SaGa Scarlet Grace. Much like Scarlet Grace, it's all about timeline manipulation and features a shared action point pool for your party. The specifics of how "united attacks" work has changed and is easier to perform -- for both you and your enemies. More importantly, there's far more variety in your characters -- humans with a ton of weapon types and magic, mechs that scale off equipment and get unique abilities from it, monsters that absorb enemy skills, and ephemerals who get more powerful as they cyclically die and are reborn. The systems are so much fun. Well, except for trading, but I'll circle back to that.
The most mind-blowing thing about the game is its new-game plus structure. There are 5 characters with their own stories and 17 worlds, each also with their own story. All of these stories -- characters and worlds -- can change across successive playthroughs. You can make different choices on who to help, sometimes new options are simply available to you, sometimes you get an entirely different story. Sometimes you recruit entirely different allies. The second playthrough for some characters is almost a sequel to their initial playthrough. It's so cool to see the huge variety in ways things can possible play out as you come back for successive runs. All of the games systems are made to work over multiple 5-20 hour runs, so your overall strength and progress is moving forward even when you restart with a new character.
My biggest complaint about the game is the aforementioned trading system. Essentially, once unlocked, after each and every battle, you have the option to 'sell' items for a random choice from several items, and the option to 'buy' items in fixed deals. These deals are all based on your trading rank, which takes hundreds of trades to level up. The best way to do this is to constantly trade high level weapons for other high level weapons that you then trade for more and so on. It's nothing but tedium, and I don't even have it maxed out after 75 hours of play. The UI is slow, requires a ton of clicks, and is just overall miserable to interact with. Unfortunately, it's the best and most consistent way to get crafting materials, so if you choose to ignore it, you are putting yourself at a huge disadvantage. It wasn't enough to knock the game out of favorite territory for me, but it was extremely annoying and unnecessary -- they could have just tied the trades to your battle rank and had the interface be an option directly at the end of battle screen. I guess it wouldn't be a SaGa game without at least one terrible system, though.
So, uh, rant about trading aside, Emerald Beyond has made its way right to the top of my favorites list. I never enjoy a game for 75 hours and still have plans to come back for more after a break. That just doesn't happen for me. I'm literally considering figuring out of I can mod trading out of the game. Give the demo a try. You'll probably hate it, but you might love it as much as I do.
I'll get a few basics out of the way before jumping into my rants on what I like.
This is a budget game. The character models and UI design really show the lack of money. Voice acting is very sparse.
This is not a narrative tour de force. The storylines are schlocky B-movie kitchen-sink nonsense, but, if you like that type of thing, it's very fun and frequently funny. I had an absolute blast with it. I love singing robots and saving molemen and helping plant people bloom, but I can easily see people being put off.
This is not a standard JRPG with dungeons and exploration. You move from event to event on a pop-up book like map, engaging with visual novel type sections or combat. It's a stripped down experience in many ways. As with the narrative, I enjoy this and relish the change of pace, but can easily see how others might not.
Kenji Ito delivered another banger soundtrack. This might be the thing Emerald Beyond has most in common with its higher budget cousins from Square.
With that out of the way, I'll dig into the real meat of what I love about Emerald Beyond. There are two main factors: the combat and the new-game plus cycle.
The combat is absolutely excellent, and sits as my favorite JRPG combat, maybe even surpassing SaGa Scarlet Grace. Much like Scarlet Grace, it's all about timeline manipulation and features a shared action point pool for your party. The specifics of how "united attacks" work has changed and is easier to perform -- for both you and your enemies. More importantly, there's far more variety in your characters -- humans with a ton of weapon types and magic, mechs that scale off equipment and get unique abilities from it, monsters that absorb enemy skills, and ephemerals who get more powerful as they cyclically die and are reborn. The systems are so much fun. Well, except for trading, but I'll circle back to that.
The most mind-blowing thing about the game is its new-game plus structure. There are 5 characters with their own stories and 17 worlds, each also with their own story. All of these stories -- characters and worlds -- can change across successive playthroughs. You can make different choices on who to help, sometimes new options are simply available to you, sometimes you get an entirely different story. Sometimes you recruit entirely different allies. The second playthrough for some characters is almost a sequel to their initial playthrough. It's so cool to see the huge variety in ways things can possible play out as you come back for successive runs. All of the games systems are made to work over multiple 5-20 hour runs, so your overall strength and progress is moving forward even when you restart with a new character.
My biggest complaint about the game is the aforementioned trading system. Essentially, once unlocked, after each and every battle, you have the option to 'sell' items for a random choice from several items, and the option to 'buy' items in fixed deals. These deals are all based on your trading rank, which takes hundreds of trades to level up. The best way to do this is to constantly trade high level weapons for other high level weapons that you then trade for more and so on. It's nothing but tedium, and I don't even have it maxed out after 75 hours of play. The UI is slow, requires a ton of clicks, and is just overall miserable to interact with. Unfortunately, it's the best and most consistent way to get crafting materials, so if you choose to ignore it, you are putting yourself at a huge disadvantage. It wasn't enough to knock the game out of favorite territory for me, but it was extremely annoying and unnecessary -- they could have just tied the trades to your battle rank and had the interface be an option directly at the end of battle screen. I guess it wouldn't be a SaGa game without at least one terrible system, though.
So, uh, rant about trading aside, Emerald Beyond has made its way right to the top of my favorites list. I never enjoy a game for 75 hours and still have plans to come back for more after a break. That just doesn't happen for me. I'm literally considering figuring out of I can mod trading out of the game. Give the demo a try. You'll probably hate it, but you might love it as much as I do.
2024
I didn't play Dragon's Dogma until the PC release of Dark Arisen, but, after a rocky start, it ended up becoming one of my favorite games of all time. I came into Dragon's Dogma II with high expectations, and left with mixed feelings.
I was going to write a big review going into depth on my thoughts, but I just don't want to spend any more time on the game right now, so I'll just write out some of my thoughts off the cuff.
None of the first games problems were fixed, and the conveniences added in Dark Arisen (e.g. eternal ferrystone) are absent as well.
The story lost its fun campiness, but still failed to deliver a solid narrative. Player and NPC motivations needed way more exploration.
My favorite vocations (strider, ranger, assassin) don't really exist this time around and that was a big bummer. Augments are less effective now, which is also a bummer. Combat is still a lot of fun, though.
The exploration itself is good, but travel can be an obnoxious slog. It's a bit baffling that Itsuno was insulting games with fast travel for being uninteresting, but his idea of interesting travel is fighting the same five enemy types every 10 feet. I think a lot of my negative feelings toward the game come from built up annoyance about the travel wasting my time.
The quest design was straight up bad. More clear writing would have gone a long way, but there were some serious missed opportunities to have taverns and the fortune teller give hints for quests. I don't need map markers, but I also don't want to deal with moon logic in a game this big. Undercover quests in particular feel out of place, as they did in the first game.
To sum up my feelings, it's a fun action and exploration game, but everything outside of that is either subpar or actively frustrating. I think I had my hopes set too high. If there's a big DLC/expansion at some point, I'll come back and give it another go. I'll probably include some mods to reduce the tedium the second time around, though. I didn't play the first game before Dark Arisen, and maybe I wouldn't have liked it if I had.
I was going to write a big review going into depth on my thoughts, but I just don't want to spend any more time on the game right now, so I'll just write out some of my thoughts off the cuff.
None of the first games problems were fixed, and the conveniences added in Dark Arisen (e.g. eternal ferrystone) are absent as well.
The story lost its fun campiness, but still failed to deliver a solid narrative. Player and NPC motivations needed way more exploration.
My favorite vocations (strider, ranger, assassin) don't really exist this time around and that was a big bummer. Augments are less effective now, which is also a bummer. Combat is still a lot of fun, though.
The exploration itself is good, but travel can be an obnoxious slog. It's a bit baffling that Itsuno was insulting games with fast travel for being uninteresting, but his idea of interesting travel is fighting the same five enemy types every 10 feet. I think a lot of my negative feelings toward the game come from built up annoyance about the travel wasting my time.
The quest design was straight up bad. More clear writing would have gone a long way, but there were some serious missed opportunities to have taverns and the fortune teller give hints for quests. I don't need map markers, but I also don't want to deal with moon logic in a game this big. Undercover quests in particular feel out of place, as they did in the first game.
To sum up my feelings, it's a fun action and exploration game, but everything outside of that is either subpar or actively frustrating. I think I had my hopes set too high. If there's a big DLC/expansion at some point, I'll come back and give it another go. I'll probably include some mods to reduce the tedium the second time around, though. I didn't play the first game before Dark Arisen, and maybe I wouldn't have liked it if I had.
2007
I remember going over to a friend's dorm and watching him do a speed run of Portal when it first came out, yet somehow I forgot that I'd actually played it myself until I was over halfway through the game this time around. Weird how memory works.
Anyway, it's just as great of a game as I didn't remember it being.
Portal does a great job of teaching mechanics, has a great central conceit, and has great humor. There's only a couple of small things that keep it from five stars for me. Primarily, the game just doesn't go quite far enough with the concepts for my tastes. I'd like a bit more of a challenge and to see the ability used in a couple more ways. The only other complaint is that the portals are a bit skinny which makes some execution slightly more annoying than is necessary. That's really a nitpick, though.
A certified classic.
Anyway, it's just as great of a game as I didn't remember it being.
Portal does a great job of teaching mechanics, has a great central conceit, and has great humor. There's only a couple of small things that keep it from five stars for me. Primarily, the game just doesn't go quite far enough with the concepts for my tastes. I'd like a bit more of a challenge and to see the ability used in a couple more ways. The only other complaint is that the portals are a bit skinny which makes some execution slightly more annoying than is necessary. That's really a nitpick, though.
A certified classic.
2011
Much like the first game, the story and humor are on point in Portal 2. Wheatley is a great counterpart for GLaDOS. The mechanics are substantially expanded from the first game with the various types of goo, and I enjoyed the variety of new puzzles that provided.
The intro to the game really drags on, though, with lots of incredibly easy puzzles and loading screens. I would have preferred if it jumped into more challenging puzzles much more quickly. I liked the general idea of the non-puzzle areas, but I did get a bit tired of hunting around for the little bit of wall that I could put a portal on.
Those are just minor complaints, though. While Portal 2 isn't necessarily a personal favorite, I can see why it's generally rated among the best games of all time.
The intro to the game really drags on, though, with lots of incredibly easy puzzles and loading screens. I would have preferred if it jumped into more challenging puzzles much more quickly. I liked the general idea of the non-puzzle areas, but I did get a bit tired of hunting around for the little bit of wall that I could put a portal on.
Those are just minor complaints, though. While Portal 2 isn't necessarily a personal favorite, I can see why it's generally rated among the best games of all time.
2002
Man, I really wanted to like Unlimited SaGa. I gave it the better part of 15 hours to grow on me, going through the majority of Ventus’ scenario to my understanding, but I honestly just think it’s not a well made game.
I actually love the board game style exploration in concept. Unfortunately, the interface is just awful and really drags down the entire game. For example, chests take way too many button presses to deal with – search with the sharpeye skill, deal with the traps, then unlock, then handle the magic lock, then maybe use the fortune teller skill a few times, then open. Each of which requires multiple presses to open the action menu, select the chest, select the character, scroll to the ability, activate the ability, do the reel. Also, some basic party management isn’t even available in cities and has to be done on the adventure map, which is weird. Doubly because you can’t save outside of town.
Very nice art and music, generally speaking. Everything in battle looks great and has a lot of character – the sprite work is extremely good! I really do enjoy the character and monster designs. The dungeons themselves have almost no detail on the map, which stinks since you spend so long looking at it. There’s artwork off the side, but the interface is very intrusive and frequently blocks a portion of the art. The whole thing is just ugly and low effort. While I love the combat theme, most of the music is just kind of there.
I have negative feelings about the combat system, even discounting the barrier to entry. I absolutely do not like the implementation of HP/LP here. HP is really just a probabilistic buffer to LP damage – sometimes you’ll take an LP from a scratch and it just feels bad. Since you don’t go down at 0 HP and sometimes you take LP damage at high health, it sometimes feels like your decisions in combat don’t matter. Combat became a frustration that I wanted to avoid since there weren’t any immediate rewards, just a chance for a better tile at the end of the mission – which is crucial, so you really don’t want to avoid too much combat. The challenge is in being slowly worn down over the course of overly long dungeons, which I simply don’t find enjoyable. The majority of the tactics in fights revolves around knowing which units to move first (and thus make more likely to be targeted) and which ones to let sit out to recover HP, which is neat, but I wish the abilities were more interesting to support it. Otherwise, you’re generally just selecting which attack reels to use based on whether you need HP or LP damage more. Magic is really hard to come by, so chances are you won’t have a whole lot of choice there unless you really gun for it and know what you are doing. Many of the low level spells also just boost your ability to cast magic with that school or provide a detection spell for a certain kind of enemy, so you really have to luck out to actually get anything useful. It would also be nice to have more information visible in combat, such as how many LP an enemy has and such.
I really don’t like the growth tile system. Being forced to take a tile and replace one you already have every mission means that you’re actually making your character slightly weaker after a mission sometimes. Further, the tiles offered are randomized, and sometimes the ones you need just don’t drop, despite taking the actions that make them more likely to drop. It’s another place where the basic idea is interesting, but the actual execution ends up being more frustrating than enjoyable.
I’m not a big fan of the reel system, but I think it’s fine design-wise. Just not to my taste.
Like I said – I really wanted to like Unlimited SaGa, and I gave it more than its fair shake to grow on me. There really are a lot of neat ideas here, and there's nothing quite like it. I think a remake that fixes the interface annoyances, makes magic more available, tweaks the growth tile system in the way mentioned, and totally reworks the HP/LP system could actually be a pretty darn awesome game.
I actually love the board game style exploration in concept. Unfortunately, the interface is just awful and really drags down the entire game. For example, chests take way too many button presses to deal with – search with the sharpeye skill, deal with the traps, then unlock, then handle the magic lock, then maybe use the fortune teller skill a few times, then open. Each of which requires multiple presses to open the action menu, select the chest, select the character, scroll to the ability, activate the ability, do the reel. Also, some basic party management isn’t even available in cities and has to be done on the adventure map, which is weird. Doubly because you can’t save outside of town.
Very nice art and music, generally speaking. Everything in battle looks great and has a lot of character – the sprite work is extremely good! I really do enjoy the character and monster designs. The dungeons themselves have almost no detail on the map, which stinks since you spend so long looking at it. There’s artwork off the side, but the interface is very intrusive and frequently blocks a portion of the art. The whole thing is just ugly and low effort. While I love the combat theme, most of the music is just kind of there.
I have negative feelings about the combat system, even discounting the barrier to entry. I absolutely do not like the implementation of HP/LP here. HP is really just a probabilistic buffer to LP damage – sometimes you’ll take an LP from a scratch and it just feels bad. Since you don’t go down at 0 HP and sometimes you take LP damage at high health, it sometimes feels like your decisions in combat don’t matter. Combat became a frustration that I wanted to avoid since there weren’t any immediate rewards, just a chance for a better tile at the end of the mission – which is crucial, so you really don’t want to avoid too much combat. The challenge is in being slowly worn down over the course of overly long dungeons, which I simply don’t find enjoyable. The majority of the tactics in fights revolves around knowing which units to move first (and thus make more likely to be targeted) and which ones to let sit out to recover HP, which is neat, but I wish the abilities were more interesting to support it. Otherwise, you’re generally just selecting which attack reels to use based on whether you need HP or LP damage more. Magic is really hard to come by, so chances are you won’t have a whole lot of choice there unless you really gun for it and know what you are doing. Many of the low level spells also just boost your ability to cast magic with that school or provide a detection spell for a certain kind of enemy, so you really have to luck out to actually get anything useful. It would also be nice to have more information visible in combat, such as how many LP an enemy has and such.
I really don’t like the growth tile system. Being forced to take a tile and replace one you already have every mission means that you’re actually making your character slightly weaker after a mission sometimes. Further, the tiles offered are randomized, and sometimes the ones you need just don’t drop, despite taking the actions that make them more likely to drop. It’s another place where the basic idea is interesting, but the actual execution ends up being more frustrating than enjoyable.
I’m not a big fan of the reel system, but I think it’s fine design-wise. Just not to my taste.
Like I said – I really wanted to like Unlimited SaGa, and I gave it more than its fair shake to grow on me. There really are a lot of neat ideas here, and there's nothing quite like it. I think a remake that fixes the interface annoyances, makes magic more available, tweaks the growth tile system in the way mentioned, and totally reworks the HP/LP system could actually be a pretty darn awesome game.
2023
Bethesda's best when it comes to quests and writing as far as I'm concerned. Not the best when it comes to exploration, world building/lore, and just hanging out in the world, though. Gun play wasn't amazing, but it was more fun than what you usually get in a Bethesda joint. Still, I got more than enough enjoyment out of it and I'll be back for DLC and mods plenty of times in the future, I'm sure.
2023
Magicube is one of the simplest and hardest puzzle games I've ever played. You play a wizard who can push blocks, jump 1 tile high, and shoot a magic cube that comes into existence against whatever object it hits and replaces any previous magic cube you had made. The goal is to get the magic cube on a pedestal. There's a handful of mechanics introduced as the levels progress -- skulls that stop bricks but not you, buttons that make barriers appear while something is on top of them, etc, but that's it.
The levels are tiny and look like they'll be easy, but they almost never are. The solutions to the levels require you to understand every interaction (e.g. what happens if you're standing in a barrier when it's created?) and frequently seem impossible at first glance. It legitimately feels excellent when you finally figure it out, though!
It's taken me 12 hours to finish 34/50 puzzles, but I've started hitting the point where I'll turn on the game for half an hour and feel like I haven't achieved anything. I really like the game and plan to eventually finish it, but I'm going to at least shift the focus of my puzzle time to some easier games for now.
The levels are tiny and look like they'll be easy, but they almost never are. The solutions to the levels require you to understand every interaction (e.g. what happens if you're standing in a barrier when it's created?) and frequently seem impossible at first glance. It legitimately feels excellent when you finally figure it out, though!
It's taken me 12 hours to finish 34/50 puzzles, but I've started hitting the point where I'll turn on the game for half an hour and feel like I haven't achieved anything. I really like the game and plan to eventually finish it, but I'm going to at least shift the focus of my puzzle time to some easier games for now.
Milk Oustide... offers a very interesting look into the life and thoughts of a late-teens girl suffering from serious mental illness and trauma. You play as a sort of self-talk, inner voice of the protagonist, generally representing the more rational side of her thoughts. Sometimes you are presented with only irrational choices, though. It creates a very interesting dynamic where you're both playing as the protagonist and not; trying to help her cope but sometimes not able to. It's a clever framing that captures the hopelessness the protagonist can experience at times. I enjoyed the metatextual element of the main character viewing you as a person playing a visual novel/point and click game.
The biggest selling point is perhaps the absolutely unique atmosphere. The art does an excellent job of shifting to match the mental state of the protagonist. The color palette, detail, and even overall style change between many of the scenes in the game to create this effect. The music was similarly on point in creating the feelings of dread and joy that the protagonist could quickly bounce between. There are a couple of tracks in the game that would fight right in on an atmospheric doom metal album (e.g. Sunn O))) ), which fit the themes perfectly and was very cool to hear in a video game.
My main criticism is just that I wanted a bit more. The entire game takes place over the course of the main character getting ready for bed, and takes 1-2 hours to play, depending on how many endings you go for. Even combined with the original game and its 30 minute runtime, it's just not quite enough time to really get to get to know and empathize with the protagonist to the degree I wanted. However, that doesn't keep the Milk duology from being a worthwhile and unique way to spend an evening.
The biggest selling point is perhaps the absolutely unique atmosphere. The art does an excellent job of shifting to match the mental state of the protagonist. The color palette, detail, and even overall style change between many of the scenes in the game to create this effect. The music was similarly on point in creating the feelings of dread and joy that the protagonist could quickly bounce between. There are a couple of tracks in the game that would fight right in on an atmospheric doom metal album (e.g. Sunn O))) ), which fit the themes perfectly and was very cool to hear in a video game.
My main criticism is just that I wanted a bit more. The entire game takes place over the course of the main character getting ready for bed, and takes 1-2 hours to play, depending on how many endings you go for. Even combined with the original game and its 30 minute runtime, it's just not quite enough time to really get to get to know and empathize with the protagonist to the degree I wanted. However, that doesn't keep the Milk duology from being a worthwhile and unique way to spend an evening.
2015
Fun music and a cool surreal vibe. I'm not sure there's a whole lot to take away from the ~40 minutes I spent with Off-Peak, but I enjoyed it as a sort of experimental mood piece and the price (free) was right. I'll definitely check out Cosmo D's other games in the future.
2023
Stasis: Bone Totem is, without a doubt, my favorite horror adventure game. It nearly perfectly lands all of the important bits -- narrative, character moments, environment, and gameplay.
You play as Mac and Charlie, a husband and wife running a salvaging operation. They stumble upon a deep sea oil rig and decide to investigate, as it may give them a way out of their crippling debts. Of course, this is a sci-fi horror game, and everything on the rig is terrible, both man made and not. This set up quickly evolves into a very dense narrative with tons of well done twists and turns -- most of which are excellently foreshadowed through environmental story telling or logs that are optionally available to read.
The character development and overall characterizations in Bone Totem are a huge leap forward from the original Stasis. It's hard to talk about with avoiding spoilers, but I was very pleasantly surprised by how much the game made me care about some rather non-traditional characters. Bone Totem also grappled with quite a bit more philosophy than the original Stasis, though it's not quite as in your face about it as some of my other favorites like Primordia and The Swapper.
The environments you explore in Bone Totem are probably the best I've ever seen in an isometric game. There's excellent and disgusting detail throughout every screen of the game, with lighting that adds a ton to the mood. The sound design and music are all excellent, with the main characters having slightly different variations on the same themes for each section of the game -- a very nice touch. The voice acting is also top notch, making the big moments of the story hit that much harder. I'm very impressed with the presentation for an indie game with a team of this size.
It's tough to land the gameplay in adventure games, but Stasis: Bone Totem delivers here too. By and large, you have your expected set of environmental and item based puzzles, which, other than a small exception or two, are very well done and help you engage with the world. There are a couple of features that really push it to being at the top of the genre, though. First is the accessibility. You can always right click to 'ping' the surroundings, revealing all descriptions and interactable objects on the current screen -- no pixel hunting necessary, if you so choose. There are also optional hints available for the puzzles like many games. Each interactable object has a separate screen that pops up for the puzzle, and all items are used in these screens, which reduces the need to try each item on every object in the environment that happens in many adventure games. The second, and more important feature, is that you are playing as multiple main characters, with inventories that are connected via the 'quantum storage device'. This gives the game a very unique and fun flow, where, if you get stuck with one character, you can switch to another. Each character also has some unique way they can interact with objects or they environment -- breaking things down, combining items, or hacking. This is both nice for variety, and allowing you to have something else to do when you're getting annoyed with a particular puzzle.
Anyway, that's enough gushing about the game. If the game appeals to you at all -- give it a try. You may also come away with a new favorite.
You play as Mac and Charlie, a husband and wife running a salvaging operation. They stumble upon a deep sea oil rig and decide to investigate, as it may give them a way out of their crippling debts. Of course, this is a sci-fi horror game, and everything on the rig is terrible, both man made and not. This set up quickly evolves into a very dense narrative with tons of well done twists and turns -- most of which are excellently foreshadowed through environmental story telling or logs that are optionally available to read.
The character development and overall characterizations in Bone Totem are a huge leap forward from the original Stasis. It's hard to talk about with avoiding spoilers, but I was very pleasantly surprised by how much the game made me care about some rather non-traditional characters. Bone Totem also grappled with quite a bit more philosophy than the original Stasis, though it's not quite as in your face about it as some of my other favorites like Primordia and The Swapper.
The environments you explore in Bone Totem are probably the best I've ever seen in an isometric game. There's excellent and disgusting detail throughout every screen of the game, with lighting that adds a ton to the mood. The sound design and music are all excellent, with the main characters having slightly different variations on the same themes for each section of the game -- a very nice touch. The voice acting is also top notch, making the big moments of the story hit that much harder. I'm very impressed with the presentation for an indie game with a team of this size.
It's tough to land the gameplay in adventure games, but Stasis: Bone Totem delivers here too. By and large, you have your expected set of environmental and item based puzzles, which, other than a small exception or two, are very well done and help you engage with the world. There are a couple of features that really push it to being at the top of the genre, though. First is the accessibility. You can always right click to 'ping' the surroundings, revealing all descriptions and interactable objects on the current screen -- no pixel hunting necessary, if you so choose. There are also optional hints available for the puzzles like many games. Each interactable object has a separate screen that pops up for the puzzle, and all items are used in these screens, which reduces the need to try each item on every object in the environment that happens in many adventure games. The second, and more important feature, is that you are playing as multiple main characters, with inventories that are connected via the 'quantum storage device'. This gives the game a very unique and fun flow, where, if you get stuck with one character, you can switch to another. Each character also has some unique way they can interact with objects or they environment -- breaking things down, combining items, or hacking. This is both nice for variety, and allowing you to have something else to do when you're getting annoyed with a particular puzzle.
Anyway, that's enough gushing about the game. If the game appeals to you at all -- give it a try. You may also come away with a new favorite.
2015
My brother got upset at me last week due to a misunderstanding and bought me Citizens of Earth as an apology. Totally and completely not necessary, but the gesture was absolutely appreciated - especially since I'd been having trouble committing to a game.
Citizens of Earth is a corny, quirky indie JRPG. There's a lot of clear Earthbound inspiration and homages, but it has more of a parody feel to it. You play as the Vice President of the Earth -- an absolute boob who got the position almost entirely because of his good hair. Strange things are happening on the Earth, and with some cajoling from your Mother and Brother, you set out to figure out what's happening.
It's a very goofy romp, which is honestly what I needed with all of the stress in my life right now. There's nothing really wowing here, but it made me smile fairly consistently. There's a huge roster of character to recruit, each feeling surprisingly unique within the games standard menu-based JRPG combat. All of the characters have at least some voice-acting, which is surprisingly well done for a budget title. The character interactions are very enjoyable as well.
The soundtrack was surprisingly good. One battle theme in particular, Otherworldly Battle, hit some chilled-out synthwave vibes and really wormed its way into my brain.
Unfortunately, Citizens of Earth really suffered from having too many encounters with basic enemies. JRPG combat is simply not interesting or even engaging when you're just selecting the same ability every round. So many otherwise good games are absolutely ruined by this. I legitimately think the average JRPG would be improved by removing all combat except for boss fights, and citizens of Earth is no exception. It only hit the point of being maddening in the final couple of zones here, so I stuck it out, but it's frustrating to have an otherwise good experience tarnished.
Anyway, I'd recommend Citizens to people who want some dumb humor and don't mind a bit of repetitive JRPG combat alongside it.
Citizens of Earth is a corny, quirky indie JRPG. There's a lot of clear Earthbound inspiration and homages, but it has more of a parody feel to it. You play as the Vice President of the Earth -- an absolute boob who got the position almost entirely because of his good hair. Strange things are happening on the Earth, and with some cajoling from your Mother and Brother, you set out to figure out what's happening.
It's a very goofy romp, which is honestly what I needed with all of the stress in my life right now. There's nothing really wowing here, but it made me smile fairly consistently. There's a huge roster of character to recruit, each feeling surprisingly unique within the games standard menu-based JRPG combat. All of the characters have at least some voice-acting, which is surprisingly well done for a budget title. The character interactions are very enjoyable as well.
The soundtrack was surprisingly good. One battle theme in particular, Otherworldly Battle, hit some chilled-out synthwave vibes and really wormed its way into my brain.
Unfortunately, Citizens of Earth really suffered from having too many encounters with basic enemies. JRPG combat is simply not interesting or even engaging when you're just selecting the same ability every round. So many otherwise good games are absolutely ruined by this. I legitimately think the average JRPG would be improved by removing all combat except for boss fights, and citizens of Earth is no exception. It only hit the point of being maddening in the final couple of zones here, so I stuck it out, but it's frustrating to have an otherwise good experience tarnished.
Anyway, I'd recommend Citizens to people who want some dumb humor and don't mind a bit of repetitive JRPG combat alongside it.
2021
This is a remake of Spiderweb's 2001 cult classic Geneforge. I'd always wanted to play the game growing up, but that was a time when we were still wary of purchasing games online. I ended up playing through the free demo a few times, but never got ahold of the actual game.
The setting still feels fresh 20 years later. You're playing as an initiate "shaper" -- a magical sect with the power to create life. While travelling to your training, your ship is destroyed. You wash up on an island that has been declared barred by the shapers, on pain of death to anyone who goes there. The island, however, isn't empty. Lifeforms created by shapers prior to their barring of the island have formed their own societies on the island in the absence of their creators. Some want to be treated as equals, some want to return to being obedient, and others want revenge for being used and abandoned. Of course, the mystery of why the island was originally barred is the driving force behind the story.
You have access to the standard variety of RPG spells and weapons, but, as a shaper, you can also create lifeforms to fight for you. This is the games main mechanical differentiator. There are about 10 different types of creatures you can create and upgrade, with up to 7 joining you in combat at a time. There's a good variety of melee, ranged, magic, buffing, cursing, etc. abilities available to the creatures, so the customization is on point.
There are a couple of big issues that led to me dropping the game 30 hours in, unfortunately. The biggest being that there is simply too much meaningless combat. There is something like 80 zones to explore, and a substantial portion of those have you fighting wave after wave of enemies, for very little reward. The combat is fairly bog-standard CRPG turn based affair, so this wears thin rather quickly.
Much of the game wasn't really updated to 2021 standards. For example, the interface is still clunky with tiny little tiles in combat, leading to surprisingly easy mislicks. Battle information and ability descriptions aren't readily available. Geneforge's version of lockpicks, "Living Tools", are not widely available, leading to the old "open a chest and reload if you don't care about the contents", even if you are raising your mechanics skill to limit the amount you need to use. These issues are largely minor or even trivial issues, but they are amplified by the amount of time you have to spend dealing with them.
All in all, there's a lot of charm and a strong core of exploration and narrative. I would have absolutely loved Geneforge if I'd been able to play the full game back in 2001, when I had more time and patience for endless combat in games. As it is now, I'm going to move on to something that's a bit more of a focused experience. I'll probably read about the last 1/3 of the game, though. The lore is worth it, but the game just wasn't fun on the whole.
The setting still feels fresh 20 years later. You're playing as an initiate "shaper" -- a magical sect with the power to create life. While travelling to your training, your ship is destroyed. You wash up on an island that has been declared barred by the shapers, on pain of death to anyone who goes there. The island, however, isn't empty. Lifeforms created by shapers prior to their barring of the island have formed their own societies on the island in the absence of their creators. Some want to be treated as equals, some want to return to being obedient, and others want revenge for being used and abandoned. Of course, the mystery of why the island was originally barred is the driving force behind the story.
You have access to the standard variety of RPG spells and weapons, but, as a shaper, you can also create lifeforms to fight for you. This is the games main mechanical differentiator. There are about 10 different types of creatures you can create and upgrade, with up to 7 joining you in combat at a time. There's a good variety of melee, ranged, magic, buffing, cursing, etc. abilities available to the creatures, so the customization is on point.
There are a couple of big issues that led to me dropping the game 30 hours in, unfortunately. The biggest being that there is simply too much meaningless combat. There is something like 80 zones to explore, and a substantial portion of those have you fighting wave after wave of enemies, for very little reward. The combat is fairly bog-standard CRPG turn based affair, so this wears thin rather quickly.
Much of the game wasn't really updated to 2021 standards. For example, the interface is still clunky with tiny little tiles in combat, leading to surprisingly easy mislicks. Battle information and ability descriptions aren't readily available. Geneforge's version of lockpicks, "Living Tools", are not widely available, leading to the old "open a chest and reload if you don't care about the contents", even if you are raising your mechanics skill to limit the amount you need to use. These issues are largely minor or even trivial issues, but they are amplified by the amount of time you have to spend dealing with them.
All in all, there's a lot of charm and a strong core of exploration and narrative. I would have absolutely loved Geneforge if I'd been able to play the full game back in 2001, when I had more time and patience for endless combat in games. As it is now, I'm going to move on to something that's a bit more of a focused experience. I'll probably read about the last 1/3 of the game, though. The lore is worth it, but the game just wasn't fun on the whole.
The Secret of Varonis is a spiritual successor to the original Gameboy SaGa trilogy (aka Final Fantasy Legend), having originally grown out of a fan game. The mechanics are essentially a combination of the first two SaGa games, with a decent amount of modern quality of life thrown in. The story is very similar to the first couple of games, seeing you climb a tower, visit worlds, and fight gods, though it's more focused and fleshed out than what you'd expect from a SaGa game. I actually rather enjoyed it by the end. While there's nothing particularly new here, everything is just a bit bigger, better, and smoother to play than the old games, creating an experience that I think even modern JRPG fans without nostalgia would have a great time with.
2015
I picked this up thinking it might scratch that Legend of Mana itch -- action RPG combat with lots of systems to play with. I should have looked into it a bit more, since it's not really that. It's a fairly straightforward Secret of Mana-style action RPG with a rather normal skill tree. There is a pet system, which is why I got my hopes up for something Legend of Mana-esque, but they just function as passive bonuses. Totally my fault for not doing enough research on that end. Still, I like action RPGs, so I didn't let that deter me.
Unfortunately, I really don't enjoy the writing. It has that very referential late 2000s internet humor that simply doesn't work for me. I find it to be a bit grating regularly, and it only made me laugh in a couple of spots.
This could all still be saved for me if the gameplay was excellent, but it was just alright. Certainly not bad, but the movement felt a bit stiff and I found most of the special abilities to be awkward to use or just not that exciting. I respecced a number of times, but just couldn't find a build that excited me.
The collectathon aspect of it is enjoyable and well done, if a bit grindy (as the games name alludes to). If I liked the combat a bit more, I could see hunting down all of the loot motivating me to complete the game.
All in all, it's not a terrible game, and I can see how some people may really enjoy it. I'm just having an 'ok' time at best, so after ~7 hours, I think I'll just move on.
Unfortunately, I really don't enjoy the writing. It has that very referential late 2000s internet humor that simply doesn't work for me. I find it to be a bit grating regularly, and it only made me laugh in a couple of spots.
This could all still be saved for me if the gameplay was excellent, but it was just alright. Certainly not bad, but the movement felt a bit stiff and I found most of the special abilities to be awkward to use or just not that exciting. I respecced a number of times, but just couldn't find a build that excited me.
The collectathon aspect of it is enjoyable and well done, if a bit grindy (as the games name alludes to). If I liked the combat a bit more, I could see hunting down all of the loot motivating me to complete the game.
All in all, it's not a terrible game, and I can see how some people may really enjoy it. I'm just having an 'ok' time at best, so after ~7 hours, I think I'll just move on.
This review contains spoilers
After seeing so much negativity toward SoD over the last few years, I went in with really low expectations. I'm surprised to say, I actually like it better than Baldur's Gate 1.
For some context, I've installed a few of the larger overarching mods like Enhanced Edition Trilogy and Sword Coast Stratagems, along with a few rules tweak packs and the Unearthed Aracana series of class revision mods. This evens out a lot of the rougher edges and is much more satisfying for my love of tinkering with character builds, but otherwise shouldn't affect my review too much.
The art direction, both in terms of level design and music, is excellent. They managed to keep the feel of the old infinity engine games while bringing in modern lighting and capability to render more actors on screen. The areas of Baldur's Gate you visit at the start really feel like a bustling, seedy city in a way that the original games simply couldn't achieve, and the lighting in caves and tombs is absolutely on point. The set pieces in the levels are well done. The underground river map is a particular standout, with an almost mystic glow around the river and one portion overrun with the verdant overgrowth brought about by a shadow druid.
I generally found the encounter design to be quite good. There were several large scale battles involving dozens of allies and enemies in addition to your own party. It felt great to drop down some AoE buffs like haste and blessing and watch your army become a truly terrifying force. Their were some great ambush scenarios, especially in some random events that could pop up when travelling between locations. Fighting off a group of assassins in an anti-magic field was terrifying, and a huge step forward from Baldur's Gate's "you are suddenly surrounded by 8 archers". Of course, this is all bolstered by my enjoyment of mid-level D&D mechanics. I find the lower levels to a bit overly variable and lacking in choices, and the higher levels to dip into the overly complex. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the strength of mid-level D&D wasn't part of the design process that led to Siege of Dragonspear.
Combat was, at times, frustrating, though. While the critical story-centric large scale battles and the more hand-crafted unique scenarios felt great, the average throwaway encounter felt a bit overcrowded. I'd run into a group of spiders and think to myself "Ok, not too bad. There's about ten total with a mix of sword, wraith and phase. I should get through this with just a little bit of spell and consumable use" and suddenly a pocket plane clown car's worth of oozes would pile in from the fog of war. Now, to some degree I brought this on myself. I played on Hardcore difficulty and, as mentioned before, had installed Sword Coast Stratagems. I also didn't have a full arcane caster (Imoen i miss u) with me, so that left my priests and druid to pick up a lot of slack.
The overall story was exactly what I signed up for. It bridged the events between Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, while introducing a solid enough story to maintain its own identity. It's a D&D game telling D&D stories, so it's trope-y, and you can see the twists coming for a mile away. I don't think predictability is inherently a bad thing, and, in this case, was probably necessary, given the game's interstitial nature. Siege of Dragonspear did a very competent job at filling in the vague "circumstances much darker than anyone would have believed" mentioned in Shadow of Amn's opening movie, while also giving you a modules worth of adventure in Caelar Argent's story. Even if I had mostly guessed Argent's final fate, I still enjoyed watching the particulars of how it unfolded. Player agency was perhaps a bit stymied at times and I'm not sure how much my choices mattered, but I wasn't particularly bothered by it. Even Baldur's Gate 1 would outright insta-kill you for trying to kill Sarevok out of turn. There was much less freedom to explore between major story events than BG 1 or 2, but, again, given the interstitial nature of the game, I think this was for the best. I also greatly enjoy a focused story where you don't feel like you run off spending months on odds and ends while the world is hanging in balance.
While I liked the overall narrative structure and story beats, I found the actual writing to be a bit hamfisted. Some interactions really left me rolling my eyes. In one "side quest" you have a conversation with a soldier who struggling to cope with the fear caused by being stuck in a siege situation. He's losing his nerve as you speak with him, but quickly does a 180 when you spout a generic platitude at him. Just one platitude. And then you get 6000 experience! Subtlety was certainly not this games forte. It could be frustrating how much the game felt like it had to spell out plot points to you directly, rather than leaving some to implication. Major and minor characters did manage to have their own voices, despite falling a bit too much into tropes, such as "drunken dwarf craftsman" or "hapless gnome in over his head in the military".
I played as a female charname and pursued the romance with Corwin. Corwin was a very believable and grounded character, which was a nice change of pace from the usual "fantasy" character present in these games. Corwin is single mother, working as a Captain in the Flaming Fist, trying to make enough money to give her daughter a comfortable life, while worrying about being away so often. She's brash and in your face, but responds in a very believable way when you consider her motivations and fears. The romance itself was handled slowly and tastefully, showing two adults who become interested in each other while being forced together. It wasn't perhaps the most exciting tale, but it was a nice subplot to have. Corwin could be self-righteous at times, which built to a great scene where Dorn, the half-orc who gladly sold his soul to a devil for power, calls out her motivations for continuing to work as mercenary in her situation and compares it to his own choices. All that is to say, despite much of the dialogue writing falling a bit flat, there was a nice human element to it and they did pull off some good character drama at times.
In the end, Siege of Dragonspear was well worth my time and I'll include it in future playthroughs of the saga. It wasn't a "necessary" addition, but I think it smooths out the experience going from the first game to the second, and provides a fun "module" with Caelar Argents story. If you enjoy Infinity Engine, and don't mind a little incongruence in writing style and presentation between the Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, I'd recommend giving Dragonspear a shot.
For some context, I've installed a few of the larger overarching mods like Enhanced Edition Trilogy and Sword Coast Stratagems, along with a few rules tweak packs and the Unearthed Aracana series of class revision mods. This evens out a lot of the rougher edges and is much more satisfying for my love of tinkering with character builds, but otherwise shouldn't affect my review too much.
The art direction, both in terms of level design and music, is excellent. They managed to keep the feel of the old infinity engine games while bringing in modern lighting and capability to render more actors on screen. The areas of Baldur's Gate you visit at the start really feel like a bustling, seedy city in a way that the original games simply couldn't achieve, and the lighting in caves and tombs is absolutely on point. The set pieces in the levels are well done. The underground river map is a particular standout, with an almost mystic glow around the river and one portion overrun with the verdant overgrowth brought about by a shadow druid.
I generally found the encounter design to be quite good. There were several large scale battles involving dozens of allies and enemies in addition to your own party. It felt great to drop down some AoE buffs like haste and blessing and watch your army become a truly terrifying force. Their were some great ambush scenarios, especially in some random events that could pop up when travelling between locations. Fighting off a group of assassins in an anti-magic field was terrifying, and a huge step forward from Baldur's Gate's "you are suddenly surrounded by 8 archers". Of course, this is all bolstered by my enjoyment of mid-level D&D mechanics. I find the lower levels to a bit overly variable and lacking in choices, and the higher levels to dip into the overly complex. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the strength of mid-level D&D wasn't part of the design process that led to Siege of Dragonspear.
Combat was, at times, frustrating, though. While the critical story-centric large scale battles and the more hand-crafted unique scenarios felt great, the average throwaway encounter felt a bit overcrowded. I'd run into a group of spiders and think to myself "Ok, not too bad. There's about ten total with a mix of sword, wraith and phase. I should get through this with just a little bit of spell and consumable use" and suddenly a pocket plane clown car's worth of oozes would pile in from the fog of war. Now, to some degree I brought this on myself. I played on Hardcore difficulty and, as mentioned before, had installed Sword Coast Stratagems. I also didn't have a full arcane caster (Imoen i miss u) with me, so that left my priests and druid to pick up a lot of slack.
The overall story was exactly what I signed up for. It bridged the events between Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, while introducing a solid enough story to maintain its own identity. It's a D&D game telling D&D stories, so it's trope-y, and you can see the twists coming for a mile away. I don't think predictability is inherently a bad thing, and, in this case, was probably necessary, given the game's interstitial nature. Siege of Dragonspear did a very competent job at filling in the vague "circumstances much darker than anyone would have believed" mentioned in Shadow of Amn's opening movie, while also giving you a modules worth of adventure in Caelar Argent's story. Even if I had mostly guessed Argent's final fate, I still enjoyed watching the particulars of how it unfolded. Player agency was perhaps a bit stymied at times and I'm not sure how much my choices mattered, but I wasn't particularly bothered by it. Even Baldur's Gate 1 would outright insta-kill you for trying to kill Sarevok out of turn. There was much less freedom to explore between major story events than BG 1 or 2, but, again, given the interstitial nature of the game, I think this was for the best. I also greatly enjoy a focused story where you don't feel like you run off spending months on odds and ends while the world is hanging in balance.
While I liked the overall narrative structure and story beats, I found the actual writing to be a bit hamfisted. Some interactions really left me rolling my eyes. In one "side quest" you have a conversation with a soldier who struggling to cope with the fear caused by being stuck in a siege situation. He's losing his nerve as you speak with him, but quickly does a 180 when you spout a generic platitude at him. Just one platitude. And then you get 6000 experience! Subtlety was certainly not this games forte. It could be frustrating how much the game felt like it had to spell out plot points to you directly, rather than leaving some to implication. Major and minor characters did manage to have their own voices, despite falling a bit too much into tropes, such as "drunken dwarf craftsman" or "hapless gnome in over his head in the military".
I played as a female charname and pursued the romance with Corwin. Corwin was a very believable and grounded character, which was a nice change of pace from the usual "fantasy" character present in these games. Corwin is single mother, working as a Captain in the Flaming Fist, trying to make enough money to give her daughter a comfortable life, while worrying about being away so often. She's brash and in your face, but responds in a very believable way when you consider her motivations and fears. The romance itself was handled slowly and tastefully, showing two adults who become interested in each other while being forced together. It wasn't perhaps the most exciting tale, but it was a nice subplot to have. Corwin could be self-righteous at times, which built to a great scene where Dorn, the half-orc who gladly sold his soul to a devil for power, calls out her motivations for continuing to work as mercenary in her situation and compares it to his own choices. All that is to say, despite much of the dialogue writing falling a bit flat, there was a nice human element to it and they did pull off some good character drama at times.
In the end, Siege of Dragonspear was well worth my time and I'll include it in future playthroughs of the saga. It wasn't a "necessary" addition, but I think it smooths out the experience going from the first game to the second, and provides a fun "module" with Caelar Argents story. If you enjoy Infinity Engine, and don't mind a little incongruence in writing style and presentation between the Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, I'd recommend giving Dragonspear a shot.