Recommended – Page 3

Happy about: Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

31/12/2023 31/12/2023

Weird how I seem to be playing Like a Dragon games more often than I’ve ever played the typical Ubisoft games, but the burnout is far less noticeable… Seriously, though, RGG Studio has been putting out games set in this universe not just annually lately, but often with several games coming out the same year. And in situations like with this game, I’m not sure if there was the point. Not that I disliked Like a Dragon Gaiden, quite the opposite, but it does feel almost unnecessary at points…

Happy about: Ib

25/12/2023 25/12/2023

While there is a numerous amount of horror themed adventure games made on RPG Maker, I’ve never been fond of them usually. There have been some good examples here and there, but more often than not these games leaned too hard either in pure tasteless jumpscare territory or were simply too poorly written, relying on shock value or extreme themes. Due to that, I had no knowledge of Ib when it became an extremely popular free game back in the early 2010s and would have not paid attention to this 2022 updated (and no longer free) remake, if not for catching a few streams and videos on it. I am glad, however, that other people promoted this little gem and that I got to experience it for myself.

Happy about: Lunacid

19/12/2023 19/12/2023

Until Demon’s Souls came out, I haven’t even heard of King’s Field or Shadow Tower games. And in almost 14 years since I have not found time or desire to finally play them. But, I suppose, now I kinda have played them, as Lunacid seems to be a love letter to the titles, draped in the lo-fi aesthetics and cosmic horror references. And I have quite enjoyed it.

Happy about: RoboCop: Rogue City

09/12/2023 09/12/2023

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.

Ugly duckling: Alone in the Dark (2008)

15/11/2023 15/11/2023

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

08/11/2023 08/11/2023

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.

O tempora: Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare

18/10/2023 18/10/2023

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

Now that the original trilogy is out of the way, I can talk about the Alone in the Dark game I’ve played the most – Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare. The first and so far only reboot of the storyline. You see, for all the convoluted storylines, the original trilogy and the 2008 game are actually part of the same timeline. Even the horrible and rightfully forgotten spin-off Illumination was technically part of the same world. But with The New Nightmare the series attempted a fresh start headed by Darkworks, whom I recently talked about when revisiting Cold Fear. And it did many things right and a few things very wrong.

O tempora: Alone in the Dark 1, 2, 3

08/10/2023 08/10/2023

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

It’s been a while since I’ve last played any Alone in the Dark game. I admired the original and genuinely liked the 2008 game despite all of its numerous flaws. My favorite one was the first reboot, Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare. But the original still had that “something” about it that I really liked. Not the sequels, however. But for the sake of revisiting every game, I decided against my better judgement to play all of the first three Alone in the Dark games, knowing well that I will not enjoy the two thirds of the journey.

Happy about: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

02/10/2023 02/10/2023

My whole experience with Ratchet & Clank franchise began and originally ended with playing the first 4 games on PS2. The first game was nice, but deeply flawed in several ways. But starting with Going Commando, the first sequel, the series carved its niche. And Rift Apart is still following the basics that were established and improved in 2002-2003. Playing it now, finally available on PCs 2 years since its original release, makes me miss the fact that these types of games aren’t really popular anymore.

Happy about: The Saboteur

27/09/2023 27/09/2023

There was once a game development studio called Pandemic Studios, who released a lot of projects that were either extremely critically and financially successful, like Star Wars: Battlefront and Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, or more polarizing, but still highly beloved like Full Spectrum Warrior or Destroy All Humans!. But then, after lots of delays, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames was launched to more mediocre reviews and there were reports that the game was released in a state deemed unfinished by the team. The Lord of the Rings: Conquest had even worse reviews and was relatively quickly forgotten. And the final game of the studio, The Saboteur, was launched after one of the development offices was already closed by EA and almost immediately after the game launch to relatively positive reviews, the whole studio was shut down.

Which came as a shock to me – I played The Saboteur when it was first released and considered it to be among the best and most enjoyable examples of sandbox-y open world games – games that I rarely enjoy. I remembered loving its sound design. How the parkour felt much better than what Assassin’s Creed did at the time (with only 2 first games launched). How its approach to stealth and sabotage felt like a perfect “simplified Hitman in open world”. But memories can often be incorrect, so for a while I wanted to revisit the game and give it a fresh look. Thankfully, it’s still available on GOG, and plays pretty well on modern hardware.

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