So much about going with individual game updates in hopes of leading up to faster updates, huh? I've fallen into a trap of tackling too many games at once and making little progress in all of them as a result. I also got around to playing some of the short and free projects that exist out there, like I already did once way back when, albeit at this point it risks appearing as filler content considering the update drought. Keeping it simpler this time. As usual, I've linked to where you can get more info about and download these games from by clicking on their banners.
Of the three games included I think Santa Monica by Night is probably the closest to a full-fledged game you can get and by that I mean it's a point & click adventure that has a beginning, middle and end. Needless to say, it does fall on the extremely short side of things and it took me about 20 minutes to play through, but the foundation is there. Playing the game coincided with the fact Bloodlines 2 got announced not to long ago to much hype and anticipation.
Getting down to it the game does have an interesting premise – it takes place between the original Bloodlines game and the upcoming sequel. You also play as someone who really liked the game when he played it years back and was fascinated by what he saw... only to get turned into vampire himself at some point later on. Your sire sends you to Santa Monica on a mission to find out more about another vampire and extradite him safely out of there if possible only for things to quickly complicate once you hit the ground and learn more. What I found the most appealing is this is the first foray into the new 5th Edition of the Masquerade ruleset with the accompanying lore changes. Hell, this ties intrinsically into who your character is and there's a brief snippet into the Second Inquisition and their impact on the vampire society. It goes without saying you'll also see some favorite characters making a cameo.
You would be amazed how many games there are on itch.io that have Red in the title, but make no mistake because this Red is an expanded take on the Little Red Riding Hood tale if Little Red decided to defeat the big bad wolf by combining clues.
Not to be a downer or anything, but I think this just might not be a game for me. It's not like I need story in all my games yet this game will deliver what it has in the form of an interesting cutscene where you see the big bad wolf chomping on grandma as you run away from the house with a mystery note that starts you down the path of adventure. Alongside collecting mystical stones, mushrooms, etc to progress you will also have to navigate the forest itself which is pretty damn immersive now that I think about it. Visuals are what they are, but I think setting lighting plays a major role in setting the mood – from ominous dark woods navigable by following fireflies to thorny patches. Did I forget to mention that werewolf will occasionally be on the prowl to get you? Well, now I have. Red is a game about exploration and collecting things so you can progress further through claustrophobic environments with the occasional puzzle to break it up.
From what I've gathered 7 Days in the Fire Mountain was made in under a month during the studio's “team building” exercise or whatever you call it. For what it is, it's pretty alright, but I think there also exist clear asset limitations because of such short development period that were smartly compensated for by choosing the correct setting and type of game, but does it succeed?
To put it plainly, no. At least not for me. What we have on our hands is an exploration game with survival elements taking place in a mountainous forest area. Two problems rear their ugly heads: survival and forest. There is, take a guess how many, set number of days to explore around and your health ticks down with time so you have to find means to increase it which becomes a chore and yes, you can GAME OVER if you hit zero. On the other hand the setting itself is fine. I mean, I have nothing against temperate forests personally. Problem is there's only so many different sprites and tileset variety and you'll see pretty much all of them in the first few screens so get used to disorientation which is a problem when you're timed on screen transitions. Some things also appear at different times of day so that's something to factor in.
I would also point out there's a story here about finding yourself and what happened. It's intriguing at surface level so I won't spoil it, but it sometimes comes off as pretentious in that indie way when an indie studio misunderstands what “less is more” means. That could just be me, though.
Thanks for the discoveries, I’ll definitely try to give a try to the first, it seems interesting :3 Sad that the last one doesn’t deliver as it looks kinda cute.
That could just be me. It’s not a big investment to check it out.