Batch 26 is done!

Beaten: 5-Apr-2019

Click the "Steam Review" button!

Beaten: 19-Apr-2019

It seemed appropriate to play this now that the final season of GoT has arrived.

This game elaborates on the plight of a minor noble house only mentioned in passing in the novels. House Forrester of Ironwrath are Stark bannermen who control large swaths of ironwood supplies and must contend with the loss of their lord at the Red Wedding. And to make matters worse the Boltons tend to favor their arch-rivals, the Whitehills, to produce weaponry for their armies despite being inferior in their wood-working skills. This sets up a four-pronged story where you deal with politics and deadly games of rivalry between castles Ironwrath and Highpoint; the role of the dead Lord Forrester's squire, Garret, who is sent on a dangerous mission to get help from a mysterious location; King's Landing where one Forrester daughter is a handmaiden of Margaery Tyrell, trying to navigate the backbiting politics of the place to get help for her family from those in power; and lastly to Essos where one Forrester son has been exiled and is called home in hopes of bringing fighters that can help defend Ironwrath.

I give a lot of credit to the writers on this. The game is good despite not interfering with any key events of the HBO series. It draws on the likenesses (and voices!) of the show so the guest performances by GoT regulars are a nice touches during the occasion scene where you have to interact with them -- even if they mostly remind that you are playing in the wings of the theater. The script captures the harsh essence of Game of Thrones and it's often wrenching themes of honor and loss, particularly when your characters suffer for trying to do the right thing. I even had a good cry at one point over the horribleness that followed in the wake of my choices.

However some of the story threads are better than others, and it works best when not trying to be ambitious. Ironwrath and King's Landing are where the real heart of the conflict plays out in brutal power struggles. The squire, Garret, is a neat character whose story often feels too far removed from the others. Exiled son Asher is a charming sellsword whose story is more on the pure adventure side. You could say that's a good thing though, otherwise the entire game would be grim even for a seasoned GoT fan.

What's especially hard is that this season ends with a lot of dire circumstances clearly intended to set up the next game. And unfortunately for House Forrester Telltale Games no longer exists, so any plans that there might have been for another series are dead and gone. The game has also been pulled from Steam's store so it's potential audience will further dwindle.

Based on that I'd say play it if you love the series, but be warned that the ultimate fate of the family is in your imagination. It was a noble effort. Not one of Telltale's best, but engaging enough for this GoT watcher that I would have easily bought season two.

"Iron from ice!"

Beaten: 19-Mar-2019

I grew up with an Atari 2600 console and the infamous Breakout that was the classic brick-breaker game of its time. This genre has not seem many modern iterations, but Grey Cubes takes the formula and offers up some interesting variations across 60 levels. In addition to eliminating bricks you get power-ups in varying forms (not so original) but also indestructible barriers that move and hinder access to some parts of the field, roaming teleporters that move the ball in mid-flight to another part of the screen, exploding bricks that send others flying, bricks stacked on top of each other in the depth plane (knocking out the lower ones causes the stacked ones to tumble and spill across the screen. Trigger plates that when hit will affect the play-field, such as turning the bricks indestructible. Also the bricks often aren't a wall but arranged in patterns or just dumped haphazardly by a machine depositing them on the screen. One notable addition -- a magnet that you can occasionally use that will send your ball in a curved arc toward whatever bricks are left. This is really helpful for getting the last couple of bricks when the ball isn't cooperating. All in all a fun game that will keep you entertained for a few hours. There is one minor and annoying bug that sometimes will leave the last brick on the level unable to be destroyed and will force you to restart. But aside from that it's a solid game that would have been nice to have more levels.

Beaten: Acts I-IV -- 9-Apr-2019, Act V -- TBD

Marking this one as completed because it's completely linear.

Kentucky Route Zero is pure interactive fiction told through it's scenery and text dialogue -- a visual novel in the truest sense. No mini-games, puzzles or multiple endings, just a point-and-click system to move around, dialog choices, a great artistic look, and a story to tell. Like most stories, you'll either get it and be drawn in, or it won't appeal to you and you might think the game a waste of time. KRZ is not for everyone. But if the idea of a slow-simmer plot in a world of magical realism with overtones of David Lynch is your thing, you might want to give it a try.

You start the game with Conroy, an older man in a truck trying to deliver antiques to an address he can't find in rural Kentucky. As he tries to gather information about where he needs to go to finish the job, he is pointed in the direction of "the Zero" by an old man at a gas station and a young woman, Weaver Márquez, who may or may not be dead. The Zero is a mysterious road winding through the caves beneath Kentucky only some people are fortunate -- or not -- to travel on. He's eventually joined by new characters that become a loose group of traveling companions. As the narrative focus flows between them, either directly or by filling in the blanks with your own choices, you are treated to some sublime and often strange encounters and stories along the way.

The good news for fans of this kind of thing is that the game is really well done even if there are moments when the pace could be a little quicker. The bad news is that the devs are taking their sweet time churning out the chapters. The story is "A Play in Five Acts", but the first four took several years between releases with short "interludes" from the game web site you can download and play locally. The three-man dev team's last post in Oct 2018 indicated that they are really eager to show off the conclusion, but they don't have a solid delivery schedule. Thus Act V will only arrive when they deem it ready.

I've enjoyed the game so far. It's a welcome change of pace. I think I would have been annoyed if I had waited like many fans through the slow process of getting the middle chapters.

Some might not call this a game, but that's OK. It's doesn't exactly pretend to be one. It's there for you to experience and hopefully enjoy.

Beaten: 6-Apr-2019

This is a casual 2D puzzle-platformer where you play a kind of disembodied spirit traversing the world while trying to elude a darkness called "The Void". The game is only mildly challenging in normal story mode with easy to understand controls. You traverse five world segments, each one giving you a new color/power that is strategically spray-painted on the environment to help you navigate obstacles and enemies: blue for sliding, green for bouncing, brown for sticking/quiet movement, red for fire, yellow for electricity. If you want a greater challenge then a harder mode is unlocked after the conclusion that really tests your skills and quick-switching between colors to solve each section. This is a decent game, short, and the platforming element doesn't contain any surprises. The narrator's declamatory style becomes a bit annoying after awhile. But overall it's an interesting experience.

Beaten: 30-Mar-2019

Papo & Yo is a casual puzzle adventure game where you play the role of Quico who must navigate the dreamy, maze-like town of his youth along with Monster, his huge imaginary friend. But Monster is a bit of a conundrum. He's content to sleep and only pay attention when he can eat apples, but he's irresistibly drawn to eating green frogs that make him angry and a danger to Quico who then must stay out of his reach or else Monster will hurt him.

The metaphor here is fairly obvious to anyone who has a passing familiarity with the game. What sets it apart from many indie titles is its approach to sensitive subject matter, the beautiful artistry of the settings, and the perspective of the protagonist as a young boy growing up in the poor area of a small Brazilian city.

The game is easy and relatively short at about 3-4 hours with an optional second play-though to get all achievements. There's no goal other than to experience the story while engaging in light puzzle-solving along the way. Released in 2012, it is starting to show its age but is still entertaining.

Beaten: 15-Apr-2019

Click on the "Steam Review" link!