I can’t believe how much I can sometimes enjoy games that are very much “not my thing”, but Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus managed to be that rare exception. It’s a tactical turn-based strategy game mixed with RPG and choose your own adventure elements set, as the title suggests, in the Warhammer 40K universe. And I tend to absolutely suck at strategy games and tend to dislike turn-based combat. Yet, somehow, something about Mechanicus clicked and I couldn’t stop playing it until I was done.
Tag: Highly recommended
In love with: WHAT THE GOLF?
It’s very simple to make a silly game that does many things and pokes fun at different genres and mechanics. It’s very hard to make it consistently great. Luckily, WHAT THE GOLF? almost never misses.
In love with: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
I have been holding out for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for a very long time, fully expecting it to be yet another western attempt at a challenging Souls-like title that will annoy me more than entertain. Besides, the timing of the game couldn’t have been more unfortunate, being somewhat tied in with the worst Star Wars feature film, released a month later and overshadowing all Star Wars news for a while. And I’m also one that always craved for stories that distance themselves from the two original movie trilogy timelines, preferring something like the Old Republic over yet another chance to shoehorn the poor Skywalkers into a new story. But the reviews of the game were positive enough for me to be at least vaguely interested and, with low expectations, I sat down to play the game. I was most impressed.
O tempora: Dead Space
O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.
I have quite a few games I love to replay. It doesn’t happen as often as it used to, simply because nowadays we get more games that could be potentially interesting, but I can still sometimes get back to something reliable, something that will be a joy to replay. Usually, games like this simply don’t get old with replays. In some cases, I learn to appreciate them a bit more each time I replay, notice new details. And among games like these Dead Space is a bit of an oddity. I replayed it few times before, and I like doing that. But at the same time, it was never my “go to” game for replays either. Yet, every single time I replay it, my respect for it grows far more than with any other game I replay. And this time was no different. It’s like Dead Space is aging backwards and gets better with each year.
In love with: SteamWorld Dig 1 and 2
As a huge fan of “metroidvania” games when I first heard of SteamWorld Dig many years ago, I got curious. But then I saw that it focused on mining and my interest instantly evaporated. And even when SteamWorld Dig 2 got released several years later to extremely positive reviews, I continued ignoring the series. It wasn’t until very recently when I accidentally stumbled upon a playthrough of the game that I realized my initial thoughts about the gameplay were wrong and that I might enjoy the games. I love when lucky accidents happen.
In love with: The Procession to Calvary
Three years ago I’ve accidentally stumbled upon Four Last Things, a bizarre comedy point and click adventure game built entirely out of the Renaissance paintings. It was simple, yet incredibly fun and funny and reminded me of the the best elements from the 90s attempts by 7th Level to make a Monty Python game, without all of the crap that was also present in those games. It was also a solid adventure game that wasn’t just a series of funny interactions and gags, even if most of it was simple. So I’m glad to say that The Procession to Calvary, a sequel of sorts, is in many ways even better.
Late thoughts on: Life Is Strange: Before the Storm
Just like last time, I’m 3 years late to play a Life is Strange game. Just like last time, I had doubts I will enjoy it, though this time not due to trying out the first episode and not liking how it starts, rather because I just didn’t expect a side-story/prequel to a very self-contained game could be an interesting story to explore. And… *sigh* just like last time, I’m wrong.
Read more“Late thoughts on: Life Is Strange: Before the Storm”
In love with: Doom 64
I’ve never played Doom 64 before and despite hearing that it was not just a port of the original Doom or it’s sequels or expansions, I never really cared to play it either. Partially because I was never as big into id software FPS titles. Partially because, well, it’s Doom again, even if the levels are new, right? And that’s where I was somewhat wrong as Doom 64 feels different. So I’m really glad that it got officially ported to newer systems and PC.
In love with: Unheard
I know that there was talk about Unheard when it was still in development, but I’ve managed to miss on it completely. And it wasn’t until after release that I got curious about what this game is. Finally I had the time to check it out and it was most definitely time well spent.
In love with: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
I’ve had cases where I highly respected the game and could easily recommend it to others, but didn’t enjoy it myself. Or cases where I couldn’t safely recommend the game to anyone, yet liked playing it a lot myself. Sekiro, due to many unfortunate reasons, is close to the former situation, yet unlike most cases when that situation happens, I don’t just “respect” the game a lot, I genuinely like it a lot. Just didn’t enjoy it as much as I wished I would for reasons I will explore.