Despite playing Blaster Master on NES (well, NES-clones, as it was all we had) as a kid and distinctly remembering its amazingly catchy soundtrack, I never got particularly far in that game. Actually, I never even fully understood how it worked. So when a remake, Blaster Master Zero, was released on 3DS and Switch, I didn’t care much. As time went, however, I discovered more about the game (via the amazing Digital Foundry episode on the port, for example) and got increasingly more curious. The game had an exploration focus a slight metroidvania vibe and I love that stuff. With the PC release of the game earlier this year I no longer had any excuses to not play it. So, here we are.
Tag: game review
Thoughts on: Distance
Nitronic Rush, released about 7 years ago, remains one of the most well known student projects from DigiPen. It was a really curious “survival driving game” that mixed the early 90s arcade racing feel with very Tron-inspired visuals and some crazy car acrobatics as if one were to mix Speed Racer and TrackMania. It was also free as it still is. Fast forward several years and the mostly same team of people releases Distance – a spiritual successor to Nitronic Rush. Though, it’s also a bit of a remake of the original as well, since you can play all of the original tracks here as well. And it’s not really my cup of tea. Yet, also something that I enjoyed playing.
In love with: Katamari Damacy REROLL
Na naaaa nanana nana nanaa…
Katamari Damacy is one of those wonderful joyful toy-like experiences for all ages that don’t appear as often as I’d personally love to see. And my only huge complaint with this remaster would probably only boil down to – why not pack it with We ♥ Katamari for even more bizarre and fun ball rolling goodness?
Thoughts on: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ultimate Edition)
“It’s finally over.” This was the only thought in my head when the last DLC main story quest was done. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t like it either. I was simply tired. Because Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is just too damn long for its own good, even without factoring 2 episodic DLCs in.
Read more“Thoughts on: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ultimate Edition)”
Disapprove: Darksiders III (with DLCs)
While revisiting the first two Darksiders games late last year in their remastered editions I was planning to get into the third title the day of release. I actually had it pre-ordered, something I rarely do, back then and had high hopes for the game. Then the reviews hit and I, for the first time ever, withdrew my pre-order and decided to revisit the title after patches and DLCs hit. Well, that happened and the current version of Darksiders III is supposedly the most complete it will ever get. A game I wouldn’t recommend to anyone.
Couple of thoughts on: A Short Hike
Occasionally I stumble across the games that I find really hard to review. Sometimes, it’s because I can’t think of how to even talk about the game, no matter if I liked it or not. And sometimes, like in case of A Short Hike, it’s because I just can’t think of any definitive “verdict” to it, if I can or cannot recommend playing it.
O tempora: Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition
O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.
When I started this revisit of Infinity Engine titles I was intentionally going out of order of release. I started with the IWD series, which I never particularly cared about and then went with Baldur’s Gate games which I like a lot, but I was saving my favorite for the last. I was slightly nervous, since it has been a while since I’ve replayed Planescape: Torment. And since when I played Torment: Tides of Numenera last year I compared it quite unfavorably to its biggest inspiration. What if my memories were a bit too rosy and the game didn’t age as well as I expected?
Nah, it’s still fantastic, Enhanced Edition or not.
O tempora: Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition
O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.
Oftentimes when people reminisce about Baldur’s Gate they seem to remember the second game, Shadows of Amn, with more reverence. Not surprising, really, it was more beautiful, better balanced, far more “epic”, told a far more involved and personal story and even introduced the concept of “Romances” that BioWare would become known for in their RPG titles. It is still considered to be one of the best cRPGs, especially among the story-focused variety and rightfully so. Though, revisiting it now, in the Enhanced Edition (that includes the expansion/final part of the Trilogy Throne of Bhaal and some new content) did reveal some elements that I blissfully forgot until now.
Thoughts on: Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
For years the story of Gorion’s Ward started in Baldur’s Gate in 1998 was considered finished in Throne of Bhaal, an expansion to BG2, in 2001. At least, as far as games go. The Dark Alliance sub-series were unrelated to this story and even the recently announced Baldur’s Gate III will seemingly be a completely new plot tied to the titular city and the region, rather than the story from the original trilogy. So when Beamdog, company formed by several key ex-BioWare team members and better known for producing the Enhanced Editions of older BioWare titles, announced that they’re creating a completely new story expansion for Baldur’s Gate 1, it came as a surprise. Now that it’s been out for 3 years (and coming to consoles later this year) I decided to check it out as part of my replays of Infinity Engine games.
O tempora: Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition
O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.
Baldur’s Gate… I always considered it be the game to push the “computer RPGs” out of the strictly hardcore niche into the mainstream. Unlike so many cRPGs before it, it was extremely easy to pick up and play. It took the realtime combat and managed to make it work strategically with a party-based game via the “real time with a pause” system that let you pause the action on screen at any point and give commands, which would then proceed in real time when you unpause. It was brilliant! Tactical enough to be almost as “smart” as turn-based combat, yet quick paced enough to allow for more action focus like in an aRPG. And it was just a second project by BioWare, who has since managed to first become the go-to RPG studio and then fall from grace.
Being a game from over 20 years ago, it’s okay to expect some of it to not age well, even with the updates of the Enhanced Edition. So, just how fun Baldur’s Gate can be today? A lot. Quite a lot.