Posted February 24, 2018
I don't post on steam forums, so I also would put a plug in if you're thinking about putting the game here at all.
bler144
μαϊμού
Registered: Dec 2013
From United States
I don't post on steam forums, so I also would put a plug in if you're thinking about putting the game here at all.
athineos
New User
Registered: Jan 2016
From United States
Posted February 25, 2018
I had only ever played Enemy Unknown (+ DLC) before playing this one. I had heard this game was hard before I played it, I thought "Enemy Unknown wasn't that difficult once you knew what you were doing, it can't be that difficult", but just in case I played the game on the easiest difficulty. Boy was I naïve. My first playthrough ended with me rage quitting after my 2nd mission, where at the end of turn 1, a grenade was thrown into the dropship killing every single 1 of my soldiers. I eventually came back to it after learning that there were remote control tanks you could send out first, which instantly improved my experience. I started with the idea of doing an ironman playthrough, this eventually changed to 'Ironman unless a grenade kills several crew in 1 shot' which then changed to 'Ironman unless one of my good soldiers got killed' which then changed to 'Ironman unless something bullshit happens'. I lost 30 of my 50 soldiers (There is no graveyard section in this game, so I manually tracked it), lost funding from the UK and France, but managed to complete the final mission within one in-game year.
Now, if you were like me, played Enemy Unknown and wanted to play the original, heres somethings you should know. All soldiers, regardless of armour, can be killed in 1 shot, armours purpose is to make sure you survive shots that graze you. Cover is also much rarer, you can get missions in the desert, which often has no cover at all. The enemies ability to know where you are is ridiculous, they can turn a corner, spot you, then know your exact position, even if you move from there, for the next 5 or so turns. This is coupled with the 'op'ness of psychic powers, which can be used from any point on the map, against any point on the map, this means if you do a mission with 10 psychic aliens, you will spend it by having your team bombarded with mind control attempts at the end of every single turn. If you enjoyed the 'base attack' mission from Enemy Unknown, well you'll have plenty of those in this game, enemies decide after every loss whether they want to get revenge on you or not, which ends up with a battleship heading towards your base. While this does make it seem like a bitch to play through, your enemy also suffers the same handicaps as you, once you research plasma weapons you too will be able to kill your enemies in 1 hit.
The gameplay and enemies haven't changed much as the series has gone on, Chryssalids look wildly different between the two games and Ethereals use guns. I found the game difficult to get a hang of, until I saw a video playthrough, by just remembering a few tips you can easily get the hang of this game, though misclicks can be frustrating. I'd recommend this to any fan of Enemy Unknown, though you better be ready for a shock once you play it.
Post edited February 25, 2018 by athineos
Leroux
Major Blockhead
Registered: Apr 2010
From Germany
Posted February 25, 2018
Life is Strange: Before the Storm
I don't have that much to say about it, only that it was really fun revisting the setting and characters in a new story, that I enjoyed making choices for rebellious Chloe instead of nice shy Max this time, that the new studio and the new voice actress for Chloe did a better job than I expected, but also that it felt mostly like fan service and at times even reminiscent of fan fiction, a lot more explicit about things that were subtle or left open in Life Is Strange - which doesn't work that well for a prequel -, quite a bit of pandering to what the audience would want to see, occasional inconsistencies in the narrative perspective. The story of how Chloe and Rachel meet and bond is pretty (bitter) sweet, but the overall plot is much less exciting than LiS, and without the rewind mechanics it plays more like your average Telltale game (minus the QTEs). Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It still has that cool indie movie vibe and some emotional moments, supported by a great new soundtrack that was partially written exclusively for the game by the band Daughter. I wouldn't consider this a must-play, but I don't regret spending my time with it and I'm looking forward to the bonus episode supposed to come out next month.
Tacoma
is another game I recently played through and enjoyed. The basic concept is still the same "learn about the story by prying into other people's personal stuff even though it's none of your business" as in their first work Gone Home, but in addition to letters, chatlogs, music, posters etc. there's now a new mechanic about playing and rewinding audiovisual recordings of crew members interacting in different places at the same time, which I thought very nice, and the space station setting was neat, too.
I don't have that much to say about it, only that it was really fun revisting the setting and characters in a new story, that I enjoyed making choices for rebellious Chloe instead of nice shy Max this time, that the new studio and the new voice actress for Chloe did a better job than I expected, but also that it felt mostly like fan service and at times even reminiscent of fan fiction, a lot more explicit about things that were subtle or left open in Life Is Strange - which doesn't work that well for a prequel -, quite a bit of pandering to what the audience would want to see, occasional inconsistencies in the narrative perspective. The story of how Chloe and Rachel meet and bond is pretty (bitter) sweet, but the overall plot is much less exciting than LiS, and without the rewind mechanics it plays more like your average Telltale game (minus the QTEs). Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It still has that cool indie movie vibe and some emotional moments, supported by a great new soundtrack that was partially written exclusively for the game by the band Daughter. I wouldn't consider this a must-play, but I don't regret spending my time with it and I'm looking forward to the bonus episode supposed to come out next month.
Tacoma
is another game I recently played through and enjoyed. The basic concept is still the same "learn about the story by prying into other people's personal stuff even though it's none of your business" as in their first work Gone Home, but in addition to letters, chatlogs, music, posters etc. there's now a new mechanic about playing and rewinding audiovisual recordings of crew members interacting in different places at the same time, which I thought very nice, and the space station setting was neat, too.
Post edited February 25, 2018 by Leroux
ciemnogrodzianin
🇵🇱
Registered: Dec 2013
From Poland
Posted February 25, 2018
Silence (2016)
It was nice sequel of Whispered World. If you played and enjoyed TWW, you should probably check this one, however there are some important differences:
✈ the graphics is probably much better, but this time is 3D and not hand-drawn 2D style some poeple love in old-school p&c games
✈ the game is quite easy and provide close to no challenge at all, no interesting puzzles; it has also a few functions making it even easier, which almost directly show you what to do and what to click (they may be turned down)
✈ it's closer to interactive story then classical point&click gameplay you know from Whispered World
✈ there are some arcade or time-limited elements (click the right moment or keep the balance with mouse moves)
✈ choices do matter here - you may both die during the game or reach one of different endings
✈ the story is sad/melancholic again, but this time it's really bittersweet and heart-wrenching
Only the last two was adventages for me, but the game is still really interesting and worth spending about 6h to complete. It's just decent story placed in beautiful world - enought to be pleasure to play.
List of all games completed in 2018.
It was nice sequel of Whispered World. If you played and enjoyed TWW, you should probably check this one, however there are some important differences:
✈ the graphics is probably much better, but this time is 3D and not hand-drawn 2D style some poeple love in old-school p&c games
✈ the game is quite easy and provide close to no challenge at all, no interesting puzzles; it has also a few functions making it even easier, which almost directly show you what to do and what to click (they may be turned down)
✈ it's closer to interactive story then classical point&click gameplay you know from Whispered World
✈ there are some arcade or time-limited elements (click the right moment or keep the balance with mouse moves)
✈ choices do matter here - you may both die during the game or reach one of different endings
✈ the story is sad/melancholic again, but this time it's really bittersweet and heart-wrenching
Only the last two was adventages for me, but the game is still really interesting and worth spending about 6h to complete. It's just decent story placed in beautiful world - enought to be pleasure to play.
List of all games completed in 2018.
ofthenexus
New User
Registered: May 2012
From United States
Posted February 25, 2018
I read the Bitsy article on RPS and gave a few of them a shot. This is probably the best example of what the engine can do.
Realm of the Dread Sorceress - an explore-o-rama inspired by old JRPGs in the Bitsy engine. There's an overworld map and you move your orb-guy around the map to interact with points of interest - towns or other areas - and talk to npcs while exploring and collecting treasures. There are hidden passages, secret doors, and lots of charming vignettes. This is (I think) the biggest Bitsy game yet, and has a lot of polish and interaction. It is not long, but longer than most of the bitsy offerings, and a good showcase of the engine. Lots of charm, an interesting diversion, and it does a lot to invoke the spirit of the influences.
Realm of the Dread Sorceress - an explore-o-rama inspired by old JRPGs in the Bitsy engine. There's an overworld map and you move your orb-guy around the map to interact with points of interest - towns or other areas - and talk to npcs while exploring and collecting treasures. There are hidden passages, secret doors, and lots of charming vignettes. This is (I think) the biggest Bitsy game yet, and has a lot of polish and interaction. It is not long, but longer than most of the bitsy offerings, and a good showcase of the engine. Lots of charm, an interesting diversion, and it does a lot to invoke the spirit of the influences.
manutoo
Indie Dev
Registered: Apr 2015
From France
Posted February 25, 2018
a) DG sales got relatively low now, but they are still not dead..! But yup, I don't expect any big surprise from now on.
So far, I got a decent salary from them, but not a big income, so DG2 (if it comes) won't be able to be more ambitious production-wise.
I gave a bit more details about this in the Post Mortem here : http://www.managames.com/DungeonGuardians/2018/01/13/post-mortem/
b) I just read the article and I agree with everything said in it, especially on sequels failing to bring as much money as the 1st game. I still want to do DG2, though, but I'll expect to get half of the income DG1 did. :-)
(again, I'm talking a bit about the market on my blog ;) )
c) GOG refused DG for being too niche
d) Doing a Linux port is heroic nowadays : nearly no extra income, very painful bugs to track down, and extra negative reviews on Steam (just got 1 this morning) are the rewards... :-(
So I'm not sure I'll keep doing the ports on Steam for my next games (I think I'll still do them for the managames.com version, though)
If you don't like Steam, there's the ManaGames.com version and its Forums... ;-)
So far, I got a decent salary from them, but not a big income, so DG2 (if it comes) won't be able to be more ambitious production-wise.
I gave a bit more details about this in the Post Mortem here : http://www.managames.com/DungeonGuardians/2018/01/13/post-mortem/
b) I just read the article and I agree with everything said in it, especially on sequels failing to bring as much money as the 1st game. I still want to do DG2, though, but I'll expect to get half of the income DG1 did. :-)
(again, I'm talking a bit about the market on my blog ;) )
c) GOG refused DG for being too niche
d) Doing a Linux port is heroic nowadays : nearly no extra income, very painful bugs to track down, and extra negative reviews on Steam (just got 1 this morning) are the rewards... :-(
So I'm not sure I'll keep doing the ports on Steam for my next games (I think I'll still do them for the managames.com version, though)
If you don't like Steam, there's the ManaGames.com version and its Forums... ;-)
Post edited February 25, 2018 by manutoo
bler144
μαϊμού
Registered: Dec 2013
From United States
Posted February 25, 2018
If you want to discuss more perhaps we can start a new thread rather than further derail this one, but the strength of the game I think you'd agree is the combat system and character customization, and the difficulty scaling lets people adjust the challenge to taste. I think you really did very well there. My only beef would be that the cast time on thunderclap feels too long ;)
But the relatively unavoidable challenge is the navigation, and there the option seems to be either auto-map off, where the difficulty really varies by level, or auto-map on, which seems kinda like defeating the point, so I haven't wanted to go there.
I actually quite enjoyed level 2, because there was a real logic to the layout, even if the 3d aspect of it made it more complex and it was definitely a big jump up from L1, it was easier for me to build a mental map of the flow as I explored. I didn't do any graphing.
By comparison I had a harder time with L3 (where you don't find the map until you get all the way through it and then come back down from L4, and the sprawl of L5 where the challenge of environmental puzzling jumps up a degree as well amidst that sprawl. L1/L4 were fairly straightforward, though since I didn't graph perhaps the challenge of 3/5 is on me.
For the 2nd I might suggest multiple potential map locations with the same sort of easy (near beginning)/mid/hard (at/after end) concept. In theory that shouldn't be too hard to code. I'd think, as a non-coder. ;)
But the relatively unavoidable challenge is the navigation, and there the option seems to be either auto-map off, where the difficulty really varies by level, or auto-map on, which seems kinda like defeating the point, so I haven't wanted to go there.
I actually quite enjoyed level 2, because there was a real logic to the layout, even if the 3d aspect of it made it more complex and it was definitely a big jump up from L1, it was easier for me to build a mental map of the flow as I explored. I didn't do any graphing.
By comparison I had a harder time with L3 (where you don't find the map until you get all the way through it and then come back down from L4, and the sprawl of L5 where the challenge of environmental puzzling jumps up a degree as well amidst that sprawl. L1/L4 were fairly straightforward, though since I didn't graph perhaps the challenge of 3/5 is on me.
For the 2nd I might suggest multiple potential map locations with the same sort of easy (near beginning)/mid/hard (at/after end) concept. In theory that shouldn't be too hard to code. I'd think, as a non-coder. ;)
Post edited February 25, 2018 by bler144
DubConqueror
proud to be a social jus- tice warrior
Registered: Jun 2010
From Netherlands
Posted February 25, 2018
Today I finished Dragon Age: Origins for the 11th time. Next I'll finish the Dragon Age Awakenings campaign that's still going, and afterwards I won't play Dragon Age no more as I want to spend time on other games, trying out games I bought but didn't come round to playing because I spend so much time in Dragon Age and Baldur's Gate.
full list
full list
ciemnogrodzianin
🇵🇱
Registered: Dec 2013
From Poland
Posted February 25, 2018
CordeliaMelody
Sorceress
Registered: Oct 2016
From Croatia
Posted February 25, 2018
Mages of Mystralia (steam) -just today I cleared entire game- I won all but two achievements, which blows big time. But it's one of rare games I actually finished, so...
Post edited February 25, 2018 by BeatriceElysia
kalirion
Future HFIL King
Registered: Apr 2009
From United States
Posted February 25, 2018
Platypus
A claymation shmup. Love the aesthetics, but found the difficulty rather high for me. Took me several attempts to beat the final boss even on Easy. Overlall, I enjoyed it less than Platypus 2, but at least unlike its sequel the sounds in this one comes out of both left and right speakers!
A claymation shmup. Love the aesthetics, but found the difficulty rather high for me. Took me several attempts to beat the final boss even on Easy. Overlall, I enjoyed it less than Platypus 2, but at least unlike its sequel the sounds in this one comes out of both left and right speakers!
user deleted
New User
Registered: Apr 2009
From Norway
Posted February 26, 2018
So far, only METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE.
Elvis is Dead
Find me in STEAM OT
Registered: Dec 2012
From Other
Posted February 26, 2018
Far out.
I'm still trying to get past this guard.
I'm hoping that eventually he "feels asleep" like the guy on the previous screen.
I'm still trying to get past this guard.
I'm hoping that eventually he "feels asleep" like the guy on the previous screen.
Post edited February 26, 2018 by tinyE
bler144
μαϊμού
Registered: Dec 2013
From United States
Posted February 26, 2018
Another nice hidden-object point&click adventure from Artifex Mundi studio. The same as always - nice graphics, boring story, simple and schematic puzzles. Nothing special, but nice game to play between more serious titles or when you're not able to play anything demanding. Nicely satisfies the need of completing something ;)
Pherim
Real Virtuality
Registered: Oct 2010
From Germany