Bangledeschler

November

Pyre

7.7 hours, 19 of 51 achievements

Pleasantly surprised with this game, despite it being a sports game in hiding. The gameplay was enjoyable while still being quite challenging. What really made this game was the world building, character development, and illustration of the game. Every character had levels of depths you could dive into, the lore was as deep as the exiles land, and the designs were all so amazing. Jodariel having both my favorite character type and design.


Tiki Man

2.5 hours, no achievements

A very very simple game mostly comprised of hitting left or right keys to keep chopping at a never ending tiki totem pole while avoiding hazards. As you get higher scores and meet other criteria unlocking different characters (purely cosmetic). There is no other gimmick or modes, decent and cheap for killing time.


Non-Steam Games

December

Accounting+

3.0 hours, 15 of 15 achievements

(VR Game). If you have every played a Crows Crows Crows game or ever listened to a scripted Justin Roiland ramble on then you probably know what to expect by this point. A lot of very random circumstances, and a very ad lib script. This game is has quite a few funny moments and a surprising number of routes and varied situations.

However, this if you are trying to fully experience the game most of your time spent will be standing (better to be sitting) while you wait for each dialogue to be exhausted. This can not only be time consuming and exhausting. The games tutorial also caused me to be facing the opposite direction of the trackers which caused problems for picking up most movements. If you enjoy Rick and Morty or enjoy non scripted comedy then get this, preferably at a discount.


Epistory - Typing Chronicles

12.1 hours, 55 of 55 achievements

A typing game with a well developed narrative and interesting origami-esque art style. As the girl riding a giant fox you will explore a world in danger typing away enemies and obstacles with various powers and abilities.

A cooler part of this was that it generally uses words associated with the object you are typing at. Rocks/minerals have associated rock and mineral words, wind power objects use associated wind words, etc. As well as the achievements where typing 1% of a certain books total word count grants you an achievement (including Harry Potter, Lord of the RIngs, etc.)

Now for the bad. Any skills that don't directly power up an ability type can cause problems with the game (teleportation can cause an inability for inputs to work).


Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality

5.1 hours, 18 of 18 achievements

(VR Game). A self contained game that has you explore the garage of the Rick and Morty universe completing objectives or just experimenting with everything you can do. These things can include following the main story, messing with a me seeks box, powering a battery mini-game, combining various items together, listening to secret cassette tapes, play Troy, and various other things.
Overall the gameplay is short and limited. If you enjoy the Rick and Morty series, than you more than likely will enjoy this as well. Though with the limited gameplay it is much suggested wait for a discount.



Non-Steam Games

A Quick Heart to Heart
Oh my god do I love Kingdom Hearts, how can it be deep, complicated, yet so simple and clean. As I dive into another entry in the series after another I can’t help but fall deeper and deeper in love with the series and only wish I had more chances to experience them as they released. I seriously can’t wait for the third official major installment later this month. \o/
Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
Shying away from our main protagonist, Sora, it revolves around three Key-blade wielders ten years before the first game. Terra, Ven, and Aqua are the three playable characters as you play each side of their story, and unravel the secrets behind the events of the first few Kingdom Hearts games. As per usual the story is well constructed and answers a bunch of questions the series has left open. It does switch out the gameplay from two to a more customized deck building format (a sort of middle ground between Kingdom Hearts II and Re:Chain of Memories).
To fully complete the game, you will have to replay the minigames through all three routes which out of all the minigames of the series are easily the least fun and unlikeable. (Who really likes their cheap kart racing game, cheap rhythm game, or mario party/100% Orange Juice game). So be prepared for a lot of that both across each playthrough and within themselves. I definitely can see where the multiplayer had existed back in the original release, but in the final mix version it is unavailable and creates issues with entertainment for these sidegames/arena.
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded
This is a movie of the Nintendo DS entry. It’s overall purpose was to be a remaster of the original Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories, while still adding to the series with more story that follows the second game. The theme and energy follow a similar simple purity of the first game before the series started to get really deep and dark. Unfortunately it was only offered as a movie in the final mix, but will definitely find it to play through it officially.
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance
Kingdom Hearts does Pokemon is the mechanic of this game. Your partners are no longer Donald and Goofy, but rather various spirits (Dream Eaters) accompany you to fight other spirits (Nightmares). The gameplay is much like Birth By Sleep (which is a mix of KHII and Chain of Memories). It even includes a mode to pet, customize, and play with your spirits to gain more affection and abilities (Much like Pokemon Amii originating in Pokemon X and Y which released a year after Dream Drop Distance). The biggest change to this game is that your abilities aren’t permanent, but rather depend on the spirits you have equipped. This game bridges KHII and KHIII, and serious hype was built after this game.
Kingdom Hearts .2 Birth By Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-
A sort of demo of the KHIII engine while following Aquas story after Birth By Sleep. Very short, but a nice sample to help get by until the next entry! Probably my least favorite of the series just on the fact that it was so shorty and only really answered on or two very small questions with no real story progression. Still really enjoyed it though!
Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover
A movie representation of the Kingdom Hearts mobile app. I would almost suggest watching this prior to even playing the game as it gives a much better basis of the story, and enjoyable way to experience compared to its mobile counterpart. It takes place long before any of the games in the series and serves as the instance that serves as the true beginning to it all.

over 5 years ago 7 comments
tsupertsundere

Kingdom Hearts was My First Love of video games - it’s the game I got with my PS2 for Christmas as a 9 year old and the first game I finished by myself. It was perfect, amazing…

And then all this craziness with all the sequels happened, and it all got away from me. Your excitement about the series and everything warms my heart, even though you’re going where I don’t know how to follow. I hope you love Kingdom Hearts 3 when it comes out!

over 5 years ago
Bangledeschler

I got to play the original way back as well, but had been interrupted mid story and waited 10 years to play it again. Glad I ended up getting the collection of games and able to work through the series. I very much recommend the same, if you are up to it. I’m sure I will love it, and thank you kindly! ^_^

over 5 years ago
tsupertsundere

Could you tell me a little bit more about the collection?

over 5 years ago
Bangledeschler

If you own a PS4, there is a Kingdom Hearts Collection called “Kingdom Hearts: A Story So Far”. It is technically the two final mix discs of “Kingdom Hearts: 1.5 & 2.5 ReMIX and Kingdom Hearts HD II.8 Final Chapter Prologue”. It covers the Nine games in the series, three of which were converted into movies (KH 358/2, KH Re:Coded, and KH X Back Cover). The menu organizes the games it recommends to play them in (it’s not in order of release or canonically necessarily) the best way to understand the story. They all have improved graphics from the originals, and some have been re done from the ground up (Re:Chan of Memories). As well as various tweaks which generally were to improve the game overall, new harder modes, and bonus areas/bosses.
Definitely recommend getting if able, though I know you have a lot of Yakuza to get through ;)
The total list of games include:
Disc 1
Kingdom Hearts (Final Mix)
Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 (Movie)
Kingdom Hearts 2 (Final Mix)
Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep
Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded (Movie)
Disc 2
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance
Kingdom Hearts .2 Birth By Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage-
Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover (Movie)

over 5 years ago
tsupertsundere

Bruh…. that sounds… amazing.
So that’s all KH in one bundle? And it’s set out in which order you should play them in?
….
That…. ohhhh no….
After we play Yakuza… I might have to get this.

over 5 years ago
adil

Ah I thought Pyre would be longer, like 10+ hours (at least according to hltb). But it will be my next game now that I cleared my other narrative game! So I can immerse myself properly into it. And so far Jodariel also is my fav. She’s totally the kind of character I enjoy.

over 5 years ago
Bangledeschler

Pyre is techinically longer, in a way it doesn’t REALLY end, but I had set parameters for the finish. I definitely plan to keep playing more myself. Glad you enjoyed Jodariel as well. Enjoy the game! ^_^

over 5 years ago