Not sure why i suddenly decided to add Stranger's Wrath to the month's rotation, but it was different to the usual, at least. Probably due to the off-beat Oddworld style, as well as the design sensibilities of 2 (3?) video-game generations ago. Technically this (originally) came out in the 360/PS3 era, but it reminded me much more of the free-wheelin' PS2 days to be honest, in both the good (fun) and bad (jank) ways

The general loop is based around hunting down criminal bounties, and the unique selling point is the live ammo you use to nab them, either dead or alive. These live ammo - as in, living creatures, found in the wild - are a little interesting, but basically boil down to either stun damage or health damage (or a mix of the two). I feel like they could've gotten way wilder with these, although they'd probably need more varying enemies, and more interactable environments to support them

Another unique aspect is the camera, which switches between first-person (for shooting) and third-person (for platforming) at the tap of a button - another idea that's interesting at first, but starts to feel like it's pulling the game in two different directions. The platforming side in particular felt like it was a holdover from a previous design phase/idea, as i spent more and more of my time in first-person mode. Special pain is attributed to the "bounty capture" feature, which is a main source of extra income, and pulls you out of first-person mode every time, forcing you to switch back

Story and world are nicely presented, feeling like a place with a heaping of weirdness, while still having coherent themes and social fabric, done in a style that's probably a bit out of fashion for now. Some of this is undoubtedly due to the Oddworld setting and its world-building, which seems like a rich well to draw from, so i hope someone finds a way to explore that more

Nice nostalgia trip before finishing up the month, but not sure i'd easily recommend it to others, with the annoying flaws it has… and definitely pick easy mode when starting, as some areas were unnecessarily difficult - but maybe that's a "me" problem

Basically a Flash game from that era, One Finger Death Punch has a very simple mechanical hook, that it stretches out basically to infinity. It's interesting to see how they add new twists to the base mechanic, and i can see why some would get hooked into mastering it, but it started feeling a little tired for me by the end

Nice little tea-cake snack game, as a break from the main dishes i've been scoffing though - and when you get in the zone, it really does feel like being a kung-fu master (also, i doubt i'll play it, so i'll say here that they really missed an opportunity to call the sequel "2 Finger Death Punch")

The Forgotten City is another time-loop game, which immediately places it in the shadow of The Outer Wilds, and that's a minor shame, because it definitely has its own style and unique ideas

It's a smaller game too, reducing the scope to the titular city - more of a village, with around 20 inhabitants - and focusing more on dialogue with said inhabitants to move things forward. There's a bit of a Greco-Roman historical angle that appealed to the nerd in me who enjoys that stuff, and the story does go to some unexpected places, which was a good time. Very open-ended though, so your mileage may vary - pick the right character, and have a sharp brain about time-paradoxes and you could end the game after your third conversation

As referenced in the title, i did once play the mod version of this (so far back i can barely remember). I didn't play much, definitely didn't complete it, but it is interesting to compare this version to that - or even just to draw parallels to the "Skyrim" (or maybe "Bethesda" ?) style of game-play. There's a particular feel of the particular verbs there - how you talk to characters, how you interact with containers - that echoes through to here. It's almost nostalgic..

Much like State of Decay 2, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is just more of its predecessor, just improved and upgraded in areas. Perhaps a more fully-realised idea (in both cases), whether because of new tech or more resources. In some ways it's the most rational step for a sequel - incremental adjustments, safe improvements - but on the other hand, one wonders what was lost by working on an effective replacement of the first game

If you're unfamiliar with the first game, by coincidence i can refer to fernandopa's review of it, and then briskly move on to saying that almost everything described there is maintained in the sequel. Visual environments are still gorgeous, with a more 3D effect to objects; sound and music is still good but not exactly great; narrative is still mostly wordless, and works hard to tug on your tear ducts; movement still feels butter-smooth, with neat abilities that combine together into a free-flow parkour-feeling style; and combat is still slightly too sloppy to get your blood moving (but maybe it reveals its tricks more in hard mode)

An interesting set of changes is the ones that feel influenced by Hollow Knight, released between Blind Forest and Will of the Wisps. The easiest one to point to is the charms shards that you can find in the world and equip to limited slots. There are also more characters to talk to (and buy things from), and they seem to have adopted the language-shaped voices from Knight. Hell, there's just a map-seller explorer-type that you have to find in each zone to reveal unvisited areas. I'm not throwing shade, i think these are good mechanics to borrow, i just find it interesting..

I had a very good time playing Will of the Wisps (much like i did with the Blind Forest). Is it the best metroidvania? No, but is it good enough to recommend? Easily, yes

At the fundamental level, State of Decay 2 is very much just more State of Decay. Aesthetics are polished a bit, some annoyances and/or exploits are cleaned up, and there are some new features and mechanics, but this game is basically the platonic ideal of a sequel

State of Decay 1 was great though, so this isn't a bad thing (if it works, keep milking it i guess). I enjoyed the interesting blend of zombie apocalypse community management / survival action back then, and i enjoyed it here once more. There's a bit of a leaning towards playing over and over again, with characters and bonuses being (optionally) carried over, and a bunch of new maps to settle in - including the main map from the first game

Like the first game, there's two extra play modes: Daybreak, which is a defend-the-wall horde mode aimed at multiplayer, which i played once; and Heartland, which is a more narrative-focused run, set between the events of the two games. "Narrative focus" here means your base, survivors, and quests are all pre-defined (barring a few story-choice changes), leaving you to focus on keeping everyone alive, while pushing for quest progress

I'm not sure that i appreciate the skew towards the action side in the extra modes though. I do enjoy the zombie shooting and whacking here, but i don't think it's good enough to carry it the whole thing - i much prefer how it's balanced against base management in the main game. State of Decay 1 had a similar skew with its extra modes too, so i guess it's another sequel thing

Outer Wilds is another one that i took far too long to get around to, even though it came out much more recently than Undertale. Still managed to avoid too many spoilers, but that might be due to the strange code of honour that people have when talking about the game

Yeah, it's pretty much as good as people say. Basically a model solar system, with neat planetary physics, and your goal is to solve the mystery of… existence ? I'm not sure actually… i guess your mission is just exploration; investigating whatever seems interesting to you. It's almost a detective game in that way, with the "puzzles" requiring you to link two separate bits of knowledge (in your own head i mean) and deduce a new move, or otherwise just try out a little sideways experiment

I can imagine it's very tricky to design puzzles like this, as so much can get lost in interpretation, and so the game's quality is held up by some very thoughtful design. Speaking of quality, the visuals are lovely and varied. Each planet feels different to each other, both in mechanic and aesthetic - in fact Outer Wilds definitely follows the "quality over quantity" mantra, which often feels the other way round in games these days

I'm not really one to care too much about spoilers (in fact, i would say i'm annoyed with the whole culture), but this is one game where it's deserved, as with the right knowledge, you can "solve" the whole game immediately. I still have Echoes of the Eye to (buy and then) play, so some mysteries still remain…

If we scored each game in my backlog with an equation like "cultural-impact-and/or-significance" multiplied by "time-spent-waiting-for-me-to-play-it", Undertale might just come out on top (equations are for illustrative purposes only - no math has actually been done here). Which is to say, it's probably some sort of crime that i haven't played it until now

If you somehow don't know about Undertale, i'd love to know how you managed that while still clearly being on the internet (reading this). But in short, it's an adventure/RPG that tries to subvert much about those genres - lots of millennial internet humour, with post-modern writing and themes. It follows in the footsteps of strange Flash games from odd websites in the '90s

Many games have tried to capture this vibe, with a wide range of success, but somehow Undertale came out on top. My rough theory is that it clearly wants you to root for the cast of lovable monster weirdos (not derogatory), which i think a lot of people on the internet - and a lot of people in general, to be fair - can easily feel represented by. I don't know…

Good game, and an easy recommend.
I wonder what would be second on that hypothetical scored list…

A re-release of the (cult) classic game about whimsically rolling everything you can into a single wriggling ball - starting from the size of a coin, getting pushed around by rats, and growing until you can roll up whole islands. Full of whacky but charming music, visuals, and characters. I think if i'd played this in my childhood, i might've turned out slightly differently

A nice short game to start the month; on to the next