tangysphere
BACKER
The Wheel of Enormous Proportions has to be one of Jackbox's biggest misfires yet, while Drawful Animate and Weapons Drawn are maybe some of the least enticing drawing games across all 8 party packs.
If it wasn't for Job Job, this was be a complete write-off. Well maybe that's a touch harsh on Poll Mine, I just wish it worked better with fewer players
If it wasn't for Job Job, this was be a complete write-off. Well maybe that's a touch harsh on Poll Mine, I just wish it worked better with fewer players
I truly appreciate remasters that allow you to switch between the original and more modernised versions, as well as ones that take the time to provide insightful and often amusing developer commentaries.
I love the world of Full Throttle - the music is still great, and the characters are given so much life by a fantastic voice cast (it's great to hear Roy Conrad sound so crisp). The humour mostly manages to stick the landing 25+ years later as well. Full Throttle diverges from other Lucasarts (and even Schafer) titles in that it's less 'obviously' funny, with more instances of dry wit and deadpan responses but it works well in this setting thanks to the imposing presence but gentle gruff voice of Ben in a world seemingly out to get him
However, the new art style really doesn't work for me. It's way too clean and seems to remove some of the grimeyness that was present in the original pixel art, while there are a few scenes that are noticeably brighter and less atmospheric as a result.
It's also a shame then that quite a few parts don't hold up too well, and for once it's for the opposite reason that point and click adventure games usually get dinged. There just isn't any challenge, and there's way too few characters that you get to interact with that are able show off the game's writing and humour.
The action sequences on bike are also pretty bland requiring long waits between destinations and rivals, and the battles you do have with other hog riders are simultaneously frustrating and too easy. You need to wait for the right rider, something that can take multiple loops of the road you're on, and then also make sure you have the right weapon which works for the specific foe (which doesn't make a load of sense half the time), but then the battle is over almost instantaneously.
I still enjoyed my playtime, drawn in by the writing, interesting characters and subtle worldbuilding but I can't help but feel a bit disappointed by how it actually plays these days, even if the remastered package is pretty good (as long as the more bold cartoon look works for you)
I love the world of Full Throttle - the music is still great, and the characters are given so much life by a fantastic voice cast (it's great to hear Roy Conrad sound so crisp). The humour mostly manages to stick the landing 25+ years later as well. Full Throttle diverges from other Lucasarts (and even Schafer) titles in that it's less 'obviously' funny, with more instances of dry wit and deadpan responses but it works well in this setting thanks to the imposing presence but gentle gruff voice of Ben in a world seemingly out to get him
However, the new art style really doesn't work for me. It's way too clean and seems to remove some of the grimeyness that was present in the original pixel art, while there are a few scenes that are noticeably brighter and less atmospheric as a result.
It's also a shame then that quite a few parts don't hold up too well, and for once it's for the opposite reason that point and click adventure games usually get dinged. There just isn't any challenge, and there's way too few characters that you get to interact with that are able show off the game's writing and humour.
The action sequences on bike are also pretty bland requiring long waits between destinations and rivals, and the battles you do have with other hog riders are simultaneously frustrating and too easy. You need to wait for the right rider, something that can take multiple loops of the road you're on, and then also make sure you have the right weapon which works for the specific foe (which doesn't make a load of sense half the time), but then the battle is over almost instantaneously.
I still enjoyed my playtime, drawn in by the writing, interesting characters and subtle worldbuilding but I can't help but feel a bit disappointed by how it actually plays these days, even if the remastered package is pretty good (as long as the more bold cartoon look works for you)
2021
A pretty darn good indie take on Pikmin, The Wild at Heart takes these mechanics and throws them in the pot with a very charming art style and a heartfelt story. Having one big connected world to explore and new areas to unlock as you received new Spritelings is a very good addition to the formula as well, something that I hope future games of this vein iterate upon.
There is however some tension between the game's relaxed aesthetic (even in more dangerous looking areas) and the day/night cycle which pretty much enforces a time limit on your adventures which can be frustrating at times. You can still venture around after dusk but you're met with severely overpowered enemies and most crucially there's very rarely any reason to do so. Maybe with a bit of tinkering that could have been remedied but as it stands it makes a lot of the light-giving items obsolete as the simplest solution in every case is to just camp and wait until morning.
Thankfully that's the only real issue. The puzzles work well and while combat is simple, I don't think it needs to be too involved here especially as you're able to skirt around some areas to avoid battling which is very welcome when you just want to trek through the visually and aurally gorgeous world for a bit.
There is however some tension between the game's relaxed aesthetic (even in more dangerous looking areas) and the day/night cycle which pretty much enforces a time limit on your adventures which can be frustrating at times. You can still venture around after dusk but you're met with severely overpowered enemies and most crucially there's very rarely any reason to do so. Maybe with a bit of tinkering that could have been remedied but as it stands it makes a lot of the light-giving items obsolete as the simplest solution in every case is to just camp and wait until morning.
Thankfully that's the only real issue. The puzzles work well and while combat is simple, I don't think it needs to be too involved here especially as you're able to skirt around some areas to avoid battling which is very welcome when you just want to trek through the visually and aurally gorgeous world for a bit.
2021
I know that awkward controls are kind of the point but even with that in mind it's a bit of a trial to get through. The different fish having their own abilities is fun (I'm a particular fan of the inflating blowfish) but every section in a sphere feels slow and awkward thanks to being a victim of momentum, while being stuck in the cylinder makes things incredibly unpredictable.
Pretty much a new version of a previous spin-off game that allows you to use new design options in the main game, which is actually a pretty decent way to do paid DLC for Animal Crossing.
It suffers slightly from AC's already pretty unwieldy menus and classic unnecessary Nintendo rigidity on how some items can and can't be placed but there's something really quite calming about taking on a new housing assignment every few days. There's good variation in the themes given to you while items and feature unlocks are doled out at a decent rate, allowing you to do your own thing and also update previous builds as you unlock more.
It suffers slightly from AC's already pretty unwieldy menus and classic unnecessary Nintendo rigidity on how some items can and can't be placed but there's something really quite calming about taking on a new housing assignment every few days. There's good variation in the themes given to you while items and feature unlocks are doled out at a decent rate, allowing you to do your own thing and also update previous builds as you unlock more.
2021
As others have said the first act is really, really good, with Inscryption managing to successfully balance roguelike deckbuilding and puzzle room mechanics. Unfortunately it doesn't manage to maintain that quality as it moves to its next stages - I appreciate the ideas and ambition involved (and there are still some interesting moments to come) but the quality of the card game suffers slightly, especially in the middle.
One of those 'if only' cases where I think something really great could have been created if the first section had been expanded upon and made the focus. This is maybe quite a negative read on a game that I still enjoyed, but I think there were different cards in Daniel Mullins' hand that he could have used to achieve an even better result.
One of those 'if only' cases where I think something really great could have been created if the first section had been expanded upon and made the focus. This is maybe quite a negative read on a game that I still enjoyed, but I think there were different cards in Daniel Mullins' hand that he could have used to achieve an even better result.
A very direct sequel to the original Ridge Racer. I do prefer the new track (and its variations depending on difficulty mode), and the music is a leap ahead but even with unlockable cars and a two player mode there's still not that much here.
Replayability is still good if you're just trying to get the best time, though I do think it's a bit easier to beat the AI this time round, not sure if this is due to them not being as fast or due to the handling being a bit more forgiving overall.
Replayability is still good if you're just trying to get the best time, though I do think it's a bit easier to beat the AI this time round, not sure if this is due to them not being as fast or due to the handling being a bit more forgiving overall.
1993
An instant-classic arcade racer on release both in the arcades (and eventually Playstation), Ridge Racer unfortunately looks positively anemic through a 2021 lens with a single track with one variation depending on difficulty and four very similar cars.
It's a decent distraction if you like time trial racing but the handling model can make playing feel more frustrating than fun these days. Can't deny the impact it made though, and thankfully Namco built upon it well for its sequels.
It's a decent distraction if you like time trial racing but the handling model can make playing feel more frustrating than fun these days. Can't deny the impact it made though, and thankfully Namco built upon it well for its sequels.
2021
A great time-loop detective game which manages to stay interesting, build on things you know in a logical fashion and provide quite a good chunk of cultural insight into classical-era customs and mythology
The writing and delivery of the dialogue really are the Maxime Pretiosum Histriones here, with every single person feeling like their own entity and the voice actors manage do a great job at giving life to each character which allows you to look past the cold dead eyes that stare back into your soul. And to be fair, any graphical hitches and animation quality issues can be forgiven when you look at the whole and realise that this started as a mod for Skyrim, with this final product being made by a dev team of three.
There are a few conversations that don't flow naturally and feel repetitive, though ironically not due to the looping mechanic - some characters just have replies which they repeat or are too similar to other things they've already said - but overall the game is pretty good at not wasting your time with things you've already learned on a previous cycle and has a handy shortcut system to get you back to where you were at the start of a new one. Really looking forward to seeing what Modern Storyteller are able to do next.
The writing and delivery of the dialogue really are the Maxime Pretiosum Histriones here, with every single person feeling like their own entity and the voice actors manage do a great job at giving life to each character which allows you to look past the cold dead eyes that stare back into your soul. And to be fair, any graphical hitches and animation quality issues can be forgiven when you look at the whole and realise that this started as a mod for Skyrim, with this final product being made by a dev team of three.
There are a few conversations that don't flow naturally and feel repetitive, though ironically not due to the looping mechanic - some characters just have replies which they repeat or are too similar to other things they've already said - but overall the game is pretty good at not wasting your time with things you've already learned on a previous cycle and has a handy shortcut system to get you back to where you were at the start of a new one. Really looking forward to seeing what Modern Storyteller are able to do next.
A cold virtual world generated by machines, sounds pretty familiar...
Not something I can really rate as it is just a tech demo, but it is a pretty impressive showcase for what's possible with Unreal 5
Not something I can really rate as it is just a tech demo, but it is a pretty impressive showcase for what's possible with Unreal 5
It's more Darkside Detective but better in almost every way.
Each case feels more fleshed out with more interesting puzzles and mini-games, and while the pixelwork in the first game wasn't exactly shabby there's a notable uptick in quality on display. The writing and dialogue is still very funny and doesn't rely as much on pop culture references as its predecessor, allowing the game to have more of its own identity and its characters to stand out a bit more.
The best improvement though is probably one of the more subtle changes. McQueen and Dooley's were very much of the straight man/wacky sidekick archetype in the first game and while this is still prevalent in the sequel, you now feel like there's relationship between them outside of being stock character types. They actually feel more like friends this time round who care about each other and their wellbeing, who just also happen to be silly people in a silly town as well. As I said, it's a very slight change but it's very welcome and adds an extra decimal point of dimension to this 2D adventure.
I do think I'd struggle a little if it were my first foray into the series - it references a lot of previous characters and events which is sometimes fine but happens so often that you could be left feeling a touch lost at times - but seeing as this isn't my first trip to the Darkside this wasn't an issue for me.
Each case feels more fleshed out with more interesting puzzles and mini-games, and while the pixelwork in the first game wasn't exactly shabby there's a notable uptick in quality on display. The writing and dialogue is still very funny and doesn't rely as much on pop culture references as its predecessor, allowing the game to have more of its own identity and its characters to stand out a bit more.
The best improvement though is probably one of the more subtle changes. McQueen and Dooley's were very much of the straight man/wacky sidekick archetype in the first game and while this is still prevalent in the sequel, you now feel like there's relationship between them outside of being stock character types. They actually feel more like friends this time round who care about each other and their wellbeing, who just also happen to be silly people in a silly town as well. As I said, it's a very slight change but it's very welcome and adds an extra decimal point of dimension to this 2D adventure.
I do think I'd struggle a little if it were my first foray into the series - it references a lot of previous characters and events which is sometimes fine but happens so often that you could be left feeling a touch lost at times - but seeing as this isn't my first trip to the Darkside this wasn't an issue for me.
I will never get tired of people's terrified screams as they become entangled in a giant sticky ball filled with sweets, cats and vending machines.
This time round I did notice that the time limits given to you are very generous and you're left with too much dead time at the end of each level where there's very little left to collect, especially the further you get into the game. But that's a relatively minor quibble, everything still holds up pretty damn well.
Now if Bandai Namco could just hurry up with We Love Katamari REROLL, that'd be great...
This time round I did notice that the time limits given to you are very generous and you're left with too much dead time at the end of each level where there's very little left to collect, especially the further you get into the game. But that's a relatively minor quibble, everything still holds up pretty damn well.
Now if Bandai Namco could just hurry up with We Love Katamari REROLL, that'd be great...
2021
Amanita Design have successfully managed to marry their point and click style from games such as Chuchel and Samorost with something a lot more sinister, providing an oppressive 90 minute experience which falters a touch towards the end but is still able to provide a satisfying experience. I also appreciate that Happy Game doesn't waste its time trying to pretend that everything is fine and normal in this world and instead just goes for it from the first minute.
2007
Beautiful Katamari has all the characters, cousins and katamari chaos you would expect from a game in the series but you can tell that it's missing a certain something.
The levels you're given are great and expand in entertaining ways but there isn't much variety on offer - you have two different smaller starting locations which eventually grow out into the same larger overworld which is a nice idea but growing out into the same wider world for every level does tend to get old a bit quickly. There's a bunch of levels stuck behind DLC which may address this, but I haven't been able to try these out yet.
The objectives too are pretty stale. The base request you'll receive is to reach - or ideally beat - a certain size while also rolling up as many objects of a particular type which is fine in theory. However, it's almost impossible to fail in collecting enough of those object types (and quite easy to get more than you need to get even the highest scores) which makes it pretty redundant, leaving you stuck with the base 'as big as possible' objective. You do get a couple of requests that are a bit different (like having to keep your katamari warm by rolling up warm things and avoiding anything cold as you try to reach 10,000 Celsius) but these are few and far between and don't match the creativity on display in the two previous PS2 games.
But the main thing that I think is lacking is purpose. I don't want to romanticise the first two games too much, but among the silliness there were interesting ideas. The first entry showed us the concept and executed it to a tee, the second developed it alongside a smart meta story about fanservice and having to do the same things again. In Beautiful Katamari, the only progress is in how nice the game looks. The story has nothing to say and is even more of a non-entity than before while its corporate nature shines through with a level about collecting 'cool' things being filled with Xbox 360s - this title of course being an Xbox 360 exclusive despite the history of the series elsewhere - along with the aforementioned locking of 7 of the game's 20 levels behind DLC
With all that said it's still a Katamari game where the simple act of rolling something up is incredibly satisfying, so much so that you're able to block out some of the weaker elements in this entry and just enjoy the ride. It's not perfect by any means but I'm super glad that this made it into the Xbox backwards compatibility program and that I've now been able to play a game I missed 14 years ago
The levels you're given are great and expand in entertaining ways but there isn't much variety on offer - you have two different smaller starting locations which eventually grow out into the same larger overworld which is a nice idea but growing out into the same wider world for every level does tend to get old a bit quickly. There's a bunch of levels stuck behind DLC which may address this, but I haven't been able to try these out yet.
The objectives too are pretty stale. The base request you'll receive is to reach - or ideally beat - a certain size while also rolling up as many objects of a particular type which is fine in theory. However, it's almost impossible to fail in collecting enough of those object types (and quite easy to get more than you need to get even the highest scores) which makes it pretty redundant, leaving you stuck with the base 'as big as possible' objective. You do get a couple of requests that are a bit different (like having to keep your katamari warm by rolling up warm things and avoiding anything cold as you try to reach 10,000 Celsius) but these are few and far between and don't match the creativity on display in the two previous PS2 games.
But the main thing that I think is lacking is purpose. I don't want to romanticise the first two games too much, but among the silliness there were interesting ideas. The first entry showed us the concept and executed it to a tee, the second developed it alongside a smart meta story about fanservice and having to do the same things again. In Beautiful Katamari, the only progress is in how nice the game looks. The story has nothing to say and is even more of a non-entity than before while its corporate nature shines through with a level about collecting 'cool' things being filled with Xbox 360s - this title of course being an Xbox 360 exclusive despite the history of the series elsewhere - along with the aforementioned locking of 7 of the game's 20 levels behind DLC
With all that said it's still a Katamari game where the simple act of rolling something up is incredibly satisfying, so much so that you're able to block out some of the weaker elements in this entry and just enjoy the ride. It's not perfect by any means but I'm super glad that this made it into the Xbox backwards compatibility program and that I've now been able to play a game I missed 14 years ago
2021
Forza Horizon 4, but in Mexico. I'd say if you enjoyed that then you'd also have a great time with this entry but for whatever reason I just can't gel with FH5 as much as I did its predecessor.
Maybe it's fatigue, maybe it's the locale not interesting me as much or maybe it's just noticing the things that didn't bother me last time as it was my first experience with the series. Every line of dialogue which seems like it's purposefully trying to ape Steve Buscemi in 30 Rock, interesting set pieces but with boring, indistinct track layouts, being constantly interrupted in the first 5-10 hours with new events being added to an already overstuffed map or having another set of numbers pop up or increase to give you a serotonin hit to keep you playing for as long as possible.
It still looks great and blasting around the world in each vehicle is still a gratifying experience as you bounce through sand dunes or jungle areas with reckless abandon. But while I think I had a decent enough time overall, at the end of my last session I couldn't help but feel that I had just spent three hours consuming content, rather than having a properly enjoyable experience.
My guess is that open-world racing might just not be for me in the long run and I just prefer games in this genre where I can properly learn specific tracks with distinguishing features and how each car will perform on them.
Maybe it's fatigue, maybe it's the locale not interesting me as much or maybe it's just noticing the things that didn't bother me last time as it was my first experience with the series. Every line of dialogue which seems like it's purposefully trying to ape Steve Buscemi in 30 Rock, interesting set pieces but with boring, indistinct track layouts, being constantly interrupted in the first 5-10 hours with new events being added to an already overstuffed map or having another set of numbers pop up or increase to give you a serotonin hit to keep you playing for as long as possible.
It still looks great and blasting around the world in each vehicle is still a gratifying experience as you bounce through sand dunes or jungle areas with reckless abandon. But while I think I had a decent enough time overall, at the end of my last session I couldn't help but feel that I had just spent three hours consuming content, rather than having a properly enjoyable experience.
My guess is that open-world racing might just not be for me in the long run and I just prefer games in this genre where I can properly learn specific tracks with distinguishing features and how each car will perform on them.