While I love good exploration focused metroidvania titles and Timespinner is one of them, I have not played it until now, more than 5 years since it was released. I don’t even remember what made me doubt it’s worth playing. Maybe reviews that mentioned really poor writing (which turned out to be true, as I’ll cover later). Maybe the amount of metroidvania titles that started going into hard combat focus and all of the still popular “souls-like” elements, something I usually dislike, and I didn’t trust this game to not go that way. Either way, it wasn’t until after the sequel to this game was announced that I’ve decided to give it another look. And wasn’t until I heard someone describe it as “indie Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia” that I got really curious. Either way, I’m glad that I did.
Tag: Recommended
Happy about: Hi-Fi Rush
Hi-Fi Rush is a curious attempt at mixing a hack and slash action adventure in the style of Devil May Cry with a rhythm game. It was surprise released at the start of 2023 by Tango Gameworks, with the game project being directed by the same director, who previously managed the wonderful The Evil Within 2. And while I love the game’s style and energy, they are the main reason I’ve enjoyed it. Often in spite of the gameplay, not because of it.
Happy about: Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
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…
Read more“Happy about: Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name”
Happy about: Ib
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
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
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)
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.
O tempora: Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
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
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.