great soundtrack – Page 14

Late thoughts on the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy

23/05/2019 14/03/2024

Despite following the development of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl ever since GSC set out to create “our own Ukrainian Fallout”, I wasn’t really into it when it came out. I admired the game for what it was, but I didn’t have fun. Yet, I still bought Clear Sky as soon as it got released and… never finished it. When Call of Pripyat was announced, I originally took it as a joke and then simply ignored the game altogether.

For years I wanted to give the series another go. And I finally got in the mood to do that. No mods, no enhancements, no fan patches, just the final versions of each game as they are. Let’s see how they feel in 2019.

Thoughts on: Grim Dawn (with 2 expansions)

18/05/2019 28/06/2019

Back in 2006 a studio called Iron Lore Entertainment released Titan Quest, a “Diablo-like” action RPG that didn’t break any new grounds, but felt like one of the best all-rounder aRPG experiences out there. It also used the Greek mythology as its setting, something that still remains a novelty for the genre. Unfortunately, while developing a new game pitch called “Black Legion”, the studio failed to get enough interest and had to eventually close down. Part of the team created a new studio called Crate Entertainment, bought out the rights for the pitch, acquired the license for using the same engine and continued development. Despite having a core team of just 2 people at the earliest years of development and supported by volunteers (many of whom were also from Iron Lore), the project was finally unveiled in 2010 as Grim Dawn – a spiritual successor to Titan Quest, but this time with Eldritch-themed setting.

Game went through long development, a successful Kickstarter campaign to expand the funding, and a long Early Access period before being released in 2016. Since then, there was an additional mode DLC and two expansions, Ashes of Malmouth and Forgotten Gods, the second of which has been released just a month and a half ago. And it’s at this point, I finally decided to give it a go.

Few notes on: Videogame music 2018

07/04/2019 22/02/2022

As usual, my post about the videogame music of the previous year is late due to me wanting to play some leftovers from 2018. Though, turned out, they didn’t make the list anyway. 2018 turned out to be quite surprising for the videogame music as quite a lot of the things that I want to list is here on a technicality. Though, not like we didn’t have some amazing tunes from last year. Let’s dive in.

In love with: killer7 (on PC)

14/03/2019 28/06/2019

Writing about something like killer7 new PC port is a bit weird. On one hand, this is very much a revisit of a game from 2005, originally on GameCube and PlayStation 2, that I have played (though never finished) back in the day. Making this a bit of a retrospective post, like my O tempora series. Yet at the same time, this new PC port of the game, despite not bringing big changes, can play so much differently, that it’s hard not to approach it as if it was a new game entirely. So I will try to look at the game from both perspectives – as a replay of a cult classic game from 14 years ago, and as a completely new title you might’ve never heard before and might want to check out. May the lord smile and the devil have mercy.

Happy about: The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky “Trilogy”

01/03/2019 11/03/2020

Ever since I’ve started playing games from Nihon Falcom, I’ve heard the Trails in the Sky subseries of their The Legend of Heroes franchise brought up a lot as an example of a truly amazing story-driven game with amazing character development, deep world lore and really good narrative. And since the official international PC re-release of the first game 5 years ago the talks about these games grew even harder to ignore. So I’ve finally decided to give all of the 3 games a go.

In love with: Unavowed

15/01/2019 28/06/2019

Dave Gilbert’s Wadjet Eye Games have come a very long way. Despite sticking to the Adventure Game Studio and its aged and hard to work with tools, they’ve managed to both create and help create some of the most refreshing and innovative point and click adventures over the past 12 years. And while they have published some good games, I always preferred Dave’s own approach to designing adventures, which often favored dialogue and good storytelling over puzzles. And Unavowed may be the most interesting take at adventure games I’ve seen since the “golden age”. Or ever.

Happy about: Gorogoa and Donut County

04/01/2019 28/06/2019

There’s something special about the little short games that manage to cram a lot of awesome into just an hour or two. It’s not a common thing to happen, I’d say, as most titles tend to either aim at a longer gameplay time, or are very short experiments, that don’t feel like a complete experience. Even The Room series started as feeling like a really cool first part of something bigger and not as a complete package, even if the game was fun. But that’s what’s cool about two very different games, Gorogoa and Donut County, that will take you less than 2 hours to complete on the first try, yet still feel like a complete and fun experience.

Disappointed thoughts on: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (4.x with DLCs)

30/12/2018 20/03/2023

I remember being surprised at the announcement of Project Eternity Kickstarter campaign, the working title for the original Pillars of Eternity. A surprise that quickly turned to throwing money into the monitor. Obsidian Entertainment have rarely disappointed before and they most certainly didn’t with PoE, when I eventually got around to play it. In fact, I’d say that it remains one of my absolute favorite story driven RPGs, just based on the fact how it managed to perfectly merge the simple sword and sorcery of the classic Baldur’s Gate (and older fantasy RPG titles), with a genuinely interesting and nuanced world. It was a game full of memorable ideas, characters and lots of choices that made me think hard, carefully weighting the options and bringing myself and my own morality into the game world.

So of course I backed the Pillars of Eternity II campaign as soon as it started. Obsidian Entertainment have rarely disappointed…

O tempora: Scratches: Director’s Cut

21/12/2018 28/06/2019

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

Scratches was originally released in 2006 (with updated Director’s Cut being available since 2007) at just the right time. By that point both adventure games and horror titles not focusing on action became somewhat rare, and a change was yet to come. It was far from being the first attempt at a screen-by-screen transition first person view game (like Myst) that focused on horror, but unlike a lot of its competition it was really well made and told a simple, yet genuinely engaging story. Returning to this game 12 years later certainly feels interesting.

Happy about: Assassin’s Creed Origins (Gold Edition)

15/12/2018 24/06/2023

Back in March, when talking about AC: Syndicate, I opened with “It’s been a while since I’ve genuinely enjoyed my time with an Assassin’s Creed game.” And I’m surprised to say, Origins finally changes that.