It always pains me to see games like You Will Die Here Tonight. Games that aim to do true classic survival horror with some new ideas but fail miserably. Though, at least in the case of You Will Die Here Tonight the end result is still quite serviceable and with some updates and fixes might become slightly better. Though it won’t fix any of the issues that are making this project deeply flawed on a fundamental level. And my experience with the game went from mild curiosity to genuine, though sometimes annoyed, engagement. Only to plummet into frustration as I stopped playing it right during the final sequence of the game and refuse to attempt it again, as it’s horrendously designed.
Tag: game review
Happy about: RoboCop: Rogue City
Several years ago I’ve played Terminator: Resistance, which was a really neat mid-budget title from Teyon that managed to feel more fun in many ways than the big budget titles it borrowed ideas from. Additionally, it was also neat to see the studio try to capture the mood of the first two movies and find a way to make a game that made sense in the universe. Well, this time they are doing exactly the same thing with RoboCop. And while I don’t think it works as well as it did for Terminator, it’s still a very enjoyable simple game.
Quick thoughts on: SteamWorld Build
As someone who’s usually not playing strategy games of any kind, including city builder games, I wasn’t initially planning to check SteamWorld Build. Even though I do find the universe of SteamWorld adorable, I’ve never cared about any of the titles apart from the fantastic metroidvanias of SteamWorld Dig and its even better sequel. But the demo of the game got me hooked – it felt like a perfect “introduction to the genre” kind of game. As it happens, it’s not really perfect anything, but it’s kinda nice anyway.
In love with: The Talos Principle 2
About 9 years ago Croteam surprised everyone by releasing a puzzle adventure with genuinely well written plot, instead of a mindless shooter where you kill dozens of enemies per minute. I loved the game, but by the end of the main game playthrough I got a bit tired with it and did complete the Road to Gehenna DLC. So while I was really interested in seeing Croteam revisit this idea again, I also wasn’t sure how one could make a sequel.
As it turned out, they knew exactly how to do it and it goes beyond my most optimistic expectations.
Disapprove: Diablo IV
What’s really unpleasant with the sunk-cost fallacy is when you know you’re engaging in it but is too stupid and stubborn to stop. Anyway, Diablo IV is the most miserable time I’ve had with any action RPG in my life and I’ve still wasted 55 hours on it. I really should’ve refunded it in the first hour, but… I mean, it’s “Diablo” and I have positive things to say even about the third game, as it can be very enjoyable if shallow. But this… oh boy, this was horrible.
Revisiting Diablo III: Reaper of Souls
Despite claiming that I won’t revisit Diablo III after reviewing Diablo II: Resurrected earlier this year, I did. I’m planning to play the fourth entry in the franchise, so I’ve decided that I might as well play them all. And yes, “all”, Blizzard, I don’t play games on my phone so no other entries exist. Truth of the matter is, I don’t have much to add to what I’ve said back when I first played the game in 2015, so I’ll simply focus on the most important points of what was already written, and add a few details on what I didn’t mention at the time. With the overall impression being the same – despite the hate it got, it’s not a bad game.
Ugly duckling: Alone in the Dark (2008)
Alone in the Dark from 2008 (also known as Alone in the Dark: Inferno on PS3) might be the last truly ambitious game of the last 20 years. That’s one hell of a statement to make, but I have good reasons to say it – what this game attempted to create is on a level that has not been attempted since. Possibly because the game didn’t turn out great and wasn’t positively received. I loved it back in 2008 even now for how frustrating a lot of the game is, I cannot help but love the effort and potential. While at the same time knowing well, that I can’t really recommend playing this game to the majority of people.
Happy about: Ion Fury: Aftershock
Four years ago Ion Fury became the first new commercial product in about 20 years to utilize the Build engine, best known for being used in Duke Nukem 3D, Blood and Shadow Warrior. The experience of playing the game was kinda neat, but also slightly confusing as while it was truly a classic FPS down to its engine, it also felt like a somewhat pointless exercise that didn’t really enhance the experience. Though the biggest issues of the title, as I’ve felt, were somewhat uninspired enemies and weapons and its extremely long length without as much variety in terms of levels. Aftershock is a new expansion for the game that addresses some of those flaws and leads to a result that, in my opinion, is superior to the main game itself.
In love with: Cyberpunk 2077 (2.01 with Phantom Liberty)
I suppose, Cyberpunk 2077 is the perfect example of why is it I try to avoid playing and reviewing games until they’re “complete”. Though, surprisingly, the big change that makes my old review somewhat outdated isn’t the new expansion Phantom Liberty, but rather the 2.0 patch that overhauled the game in a substantial way and all of the patches that preceded it. I loved playing the game even more than before, but this time I can also easily recommend it to others. All it took was “just” 3 extra years of development…
Read more“In love with: Cyberpunk 2077 (2.01 with Phantom Liberty)”
Quick thoughts on: the white chamber
During the early 00s most of the game developers were just figuring out how to distribute their games over the internet. The potential was clearly there, but it wasn’t until later in that decade that we will see a true boom of digital distribution and a huge boost in indie development popularity. Possibly due to that, a lot of the smaller independent games released during that period were free and often were quite open and honest about their influences. In case of the white chamber, the game originally released in 2005 as an expansion of a university project of a small team, the biggest influence was Silent Hill. The series were quite alive and well at the time and it wasn’t too long since SH4: The Room was released. So seeing a “Silent Hill in space” as a concept was really fun. But it’s been 18 years since – does the game still hold up?