stef

June Wrap Up!

I participated in the Challenge Me! this month and it went pretty great! I completed 4 out of the 5 games. Thank you Trilled Meow for the suggestions!

 

Puzzle Agent 2

3 hours, 44 of 52 achievements

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I played this for the Challenge Me!

The first Puzzle Agent was charming. It had fun puzzles with a Twin Peaks, Fargo inspired story. The first game ended on a cliffhanger so I was curious to see how the story wrapped up.

Puzzle Agent 2 wasn't as good. The puzzles are more boring and repetitive. A couple also ask for real life knowledge or leaps of logic. The story has to much going on, and there are so many plot-holes. There is also an entire list of loose ends and unanswered questions from the first and second game that never got resolved.

Overall, the Puzzle Agent games are still short fun puzzle games. If you focus on the story, you'll be disappointed. If you want to play just for the puzzles, then it's worth a play.


Stacking

7 hours, 5 of 21 achievements

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I played this for the Challenge Me!

This game is charming as hell. In Stacking, you play a Russian stacking doll named Charlie who must rescue his family from the industrialist known as the Baron.

Stacking is a puzzle game that involves you Stacking into dolls slightly bigger then you and using their ability to solve puzzles. Charlie is the smallest doll size, so you have to keep stacking up in size to get to the biggest doll size.

Each type of doll has different abilities and the puzzles might require a specific size, gender, ability, etc.

Each puzzle has multiple solutions (up to 5) and can be solved in any way to continue with the story. You only have to find one solution to move on, but I love the different ways you can defeat each part of the game.

I love the art. Some people find it ugly, but I think it matches the tone perfectly. The animations work especially well and it just creates this nice looking world.
If I had to give this game a negative point, it would be the cutscenes. The story is told like an old-fashioned silent film. It's an interesting creative choice but there's to…. many…. cutscenes. It seems like every two seconds they are throwing another cutscene at you. If they ever make a sequel then I really hope they fix the gameplay to cutscene ratio.

Other then that; the story is good, the animations are well done, the puzzles are a lot of fun to figure out, and the amount of dolls you can stack into makes the game so much fun to explore.


Dawn's Light

19 hours, no achievements

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I played this for the Challenge Me!

I want to give an extra thanks to Trilled Meow for recommending me an rpg-maker game that was pretty decent. Unpopular opinion, but I really enjoy rpg-maker games. They are simple and nostalgic to me. They have a bad rep though so It's hard for me to find a decent one that I haven't played.

Dawn's Light was made by a developer who actually cared about his game! It's not perfect and it doesn't really stand out, but I was able to enjoy it.

You play a man named Harvey who goes on a revenge mission after his brother is kidnapped and his whole town is murdered. He gets a small team together to defeat all the demon portals on the way to fight the big villain, Mordecai.

The gameplay is simple. Turn based combat with normal attacks and then skills that use points or mana. You can't heal unless you use items or find an Inn, so it's important to search all the jars and boxes. Dawn's Light also has a lot of puzzles. They are pretty fun and aren't that hard to solve. Each area has different puzzles.

I'm very confused about how the leveling up works. I saw someone on the steam discussions mention how it seems like the game isn't "grind friendly" because the monsters always seem to be on the same level. No one has confirmed that but it does feel true. I didn't grind the entire game and I seemed on par with the enemies each time.

The characters are pretty cliché. There is the dumb goofy leader. The naïve one, and the girl who'se annoyed that she is the only competent one in this group. I didn't feel like the friendships were well established or the characters well-developed, but there was a lot of goofy dialogue and banter that made it fun. Especially towards the villains.

The game is a good length. I clocked in 20 hours but I didn't exactly complete the full game. I'll talk about that more in some spoiler text below. It felt like it dragged at times, but it wasn't to bad.
Overall, Dawn's Light doesn't break any barriers and it's pretty average. If you are looking for an rpg-maker game to blow your mind, this isn't one. If you enjoy playing these games and are just looking for another fun adventure to play, then it's not bad!

Now did I "beat" the game? (small spoilers below. I can't put a spoiler tag in the banner)

So after fighting Mordecai (who was so hard until I stacked up on potions. Then piece of cake :P) I discovered there was a final final villain. The game then tells me she is mega hard and I need every artifact in the game and to do every side mission. Basically a complete 100%

I'm not a completionist and I just took hours trying to beat Mordecai so I really wasn't in the mood for that. I decided to watch the real ending online and mark the game as beaten instead of completed. I did beat the game, the credits did roll, just not the official ones D:

Anyway, I hope that serves as a warning to anyone who wants to fully beat the game but wants to know BEFORE the end of the entire game


Grim Legends: The Forsaken Bride

7 hours, 14 of 24 achievements

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I played this for the Challenge Me!

This isn't going to be much of a review, because I don't know anything about HOGs. I could have asked for a new suggestion, but I really wanted to give this a try since I don't think I've ever beaten a HOG before. Grim Legends has good reviews and I was hoping it would be the game to draw me into the genre. I didn't really like it at all though.

The story is extremely cliche and predictable. I've seen fairytales with this story over 100 times. The voice acting wasn't great and the characters were one dimensional with no personality. I don't know if this is normal but the characters didn't react to anything at all. They said the most minimal amount of words they had to for a story to happen.

I'm convinced this isn't the game's fault but more of a "Stefani doesn't understand HOGs" problem :P

The puzzles were fine. They were pretty simple. I only really got confused when I had to backtrack a bunch. Luckily there was a casual mode for newbies like me so I could always use the hint button.

I don't like finding hidden objects much (yeah, I know the genre isn't for me!) so I found it really neat that they incorporated a dominoes game as an alternative. Every hidden object section lets you either find the items or play a game of dominoes and fill the board.

This wasn't much of a review so Instead I'd like to ask you guys some questions to help me out.

  1. What draws you into this genre? What is your favorite thing about HOGs?
  2. What is your favorite HOG ever?
  3. What HOG have you played that had the best story? Which do you think is the best one for beginners?


One Night Stand

2 hours, 27 of 27 achievements

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One Night Stand is a Visual Novel where you wake up in strange woman's bed and you have no memory of the previous night.

The gameplay involves you having small conversations with her. Every time she leaves the room you have the chance to search a couple of her items to find answers.

There are multiple endings that depend on your dialogue with the girl and what items you choose to examine. It's kind of trial and error trying to figure out how to trigger the other endings.

I really loved the art. Its visually appealing and the movements flow nicely. The dialogue is also written well. There isn't a lot of words but it feels natural.

I think the biggest negative I have about the game is that it's tedious and it doesn't pay off well in the end. Unless you used a guide, finding all the endings is difficult. I had to cheat in a lot of them. It felt worth it to finally solve the mystery and answer all your questions. That is until you get all the endings and it feels like a little bit of a letdown. There were a few unanswered questions and the reward for getting all the endings is kind of lame.

Overall, One Night Stand isn't a bad game. I'm surprised it didn't go the cliche route I expected it to. I just wish it had a better ending.


Conclusion!

0 hours, no achievements

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I took a small break from DbD and then surprise! I got stuff done :P

End of the Month Stats!

Games beaten this month: 6
Favorite game this month: Stacking
Least Favorite game this month: Grim Legends
Favorite New Edition: Dead by Daylight: Halloween and Leatherface DLC (will be buying soon)
Biggest Disappointment: Puzzle Agent 2
Biggest Surprise: Stacking


Rating System

If you are wondering why I didn't rate my games this month, it's because I'm really not feeling my rating system anymore. I stuck with it because I've changed my rating system several times and I wanted to be consistent. Who cares about that though. I want to find something fun that I like to use. I need your guys help. What kind of rating system do you like to see? Emojis, thumbs up and down, number ratings, stars? Or something I haven't mentioned. I love leaving fun ratings but I can't find a good fit. Let me know if you have a preference or think of something!


Dropping some games

I decided to drop two games I was playing this month (for now). Portal Knights was fun at first, but it got incredibly repetitive. There are several different portals to go through but only like 5 different biomes. That means you'll be seeing the same world over and over and over and over and over again (just with different layouts.) Add that to the fact that you have to keep farming for shards and unlocking more portals over and over again just felt like a nightmare. After my friend and I defeated the second boss, we got the same biome 5 times in a row. The combat is pretty bad, the building is more difficult and less rewarding then other games like minecraft. etc etc.
I think Portal Knights would be fun to play if It had more variety. but my friends and I went from loving it to hating it so fast. We did spend three days straight building an amazing castle though. At least there is that.

I'm also done with Witch It for now. I was soo incredibly excited to play it. I loved the art and hide and seek mechanic. Disappointingly It's just not well made/balanced. The hunters have unlimited ammo, so instead of thinking strategically, they literally just spam click every single item on the small map. Meanwhile Witches just possess something and sit there hoping the hunters don't spam click them or throw a chicken which tells them the Witch is there. They do have defenses but it's not worth much on a small map filled with hunters. Meanwhile I've read there are spots Witches can hide that are almost impossible for hunters to get to. Makes the whole thing a bit of a mess.
If they add more strategy to the game, it would be much less boring then waiting around or spam clicking a button everywhere. Also it's a pretty dead game atm. I can barely get in one :(


What's next?

Right now I'm starting The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. Along side the visual novel, A Hand in Darkness. I just started them though so who knows if I'll stick with them. I'm just waiting for the new monthly theme and for my humble monthlies to come out!

I hope everyone has a great week!


MouseWithBeer

Adding One Night Stand to my wishlist, looks interesenti enough. Thanks for posting about it :)

I have played an absurd amount of HOGs in my life (too lazy to count, but I am estimating the number being over 75) so I can try and answer you the questions.

What draws you into this genre? What is your favorite thing about HOGs?

I enjoy finding the hidden object and figure out how different objects interact with each other. It is also my to go genre when I wanna play something where I can relax/not have to think too much for a few hours and don’t need to tryhard in (I am also a big FPS player). What might be a bit weird is that I like that they tend to be quite short (2-5 hours usually) and I can finish them in one sitting because if I can’t the game will probably end up sitting in the pile of unfinished games for the indefinite future.

What is your favorite HOG ever?

I do not have a favorite one but the ones from Artifex Mundi (who also made the one you played) tend to be really good. As for non Artifex Mundi games the only one that comes to my mind right now that is really good is Adam Wolfe. There are definitely others, but I can’t think of any of the top of my mind right now.

What HOG have you played that had the best story? Which do you think is the best one for beginners?

Honest to god I can’t really recall the stories of any HOGs I have played except for some exceptions here and there. They generally tend to be pretty bad/cliche. I never plaid to much attention to the beginner aspect, but the genre itself its pretty casual, so I think almost any good quality HOG (I could make a list of a whole lot of shitty ones that would not be a good idea) is good for a beginner. Maybe someone else list some concrete games.

I hope my ramblings are understandable and of any use whatsoever.

stef

I hope my ramblings are understandable and of any use whatsoever.

Yes it was and I appreciate the answers! I think I’m not into the genre because I really love a good story. I’ve heard good things about Adam Wolfe before so I’m glad you reminded me. I might have to check it out if I see it getting bundled.

Yeah the one I played was pretty short. I think the extra 3 to 4 hours was it idling.

stef

I have an extra copy of One Night Stand if you’d like one!

MouseWithBeer

Thank you very much for the offer, I do appreciate it but, I don’t wanna anyone to knowingly feed my backlog of doom. :)

ZephyrusRaine

Adding One Night Stand to my VN backlog. I haven’t started playing much VN yet, but once I’m done with all the big name VNs I set on my priority list, I’ll try that one. The premise seems interesting enough. Thanks for posting about it!

How’s the level up system in Dawn’s Light? Since you mentioned it was weird, I’m interested in comparing it with FFII, an RPG with one of the most confusing level up system ever. If you haven’t played it, the second FF has a level on every skills, your endurance (getting attacked), physical attacks, etc. but surprisingly not on your character itself. It’s really awkward after getting used to all the other JRPGs imo.

I also like how you use gradients of the accent colour for the background colour of the panels! Looks great.

stef

The leveling system is super simple. When you level up it just makes your character stronger in all the categories (Strength, magic, defense, speed, evasion, critical) You can equip items and outfits that make you stronger like all rpgs/jrpgs. You don’t distribute the points to where you want, the game just does it for you.

The confusing part is they don’t give any hint on how the monsters level up. I usually farm in games like these early to be extra prepared. The monsters always seemed to be on par with me with difficulty. I’m thinking they match your skill throughout the game (although the devs have not said anything about it).

Overall it makes the game pretty easy to manage.

I didn’t know that about FFII. That would throw me off too!

I also like how you use gradients of the accent colour for the background colour of the panels! Looks great.

Thank you!

ZephyrusRaine

Wow, scaling monster levels to your party members is rare. I don’t know if that will work though. On theory people who hate grinding on JRPGs don’t need to do that on this kind of system.

I didn’t know that about FFII. That would throw me off too!

Yep, it did to me as well. The system is more akin to WRPGs than how JRPGs handle level ups. Despite that it gained a cult following and the system is used on the Romancing SaGa series.

stef

Yeah it might not be scaled and theres a good chance it’s just easy.

Formidolosus

For me the puzzle agent games are like a poor man’s professor Layton. I love that series on the DS / 3DS so much and wish they could be ported to PC or someone could make something similar, with smooth, decent animations, well voiced dialogue and a plot that is interesting. The puzzles are also much better.

stef

I’ve been told by so many people to play professor Layton, but I don’t have a handheld device :/ I also really wish they could be ported to the PC. :(

Formidolosus

I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but you can pick up second hand DS lites here really cheap (like $30 or so?). The first 4 layton games are on there, so you could at least get started. I recently got a new 3ds after my old one was stolen last year and it’s been great to catch play all the games again. They really are perfect little mobile gaming devices, much nicer than the crap you get on phones.

uguleley

Ah, it’s a shame to hear that Puzzle Agent 2 isn’t as good as the first. Does it retain at least some of that humorous charm like in PA1? If it does, that might be enough for me to give it a go.

stef

Yes you’ll be going back to the same town so there is still charm. Plus it’s short enough to just finish it off. I hope you enjoy it better then me!

Trilled Meow

I’m glad you mostly enjoyed Dawn’s Light, since it was a risky suggestion. I first played it maybe around a decade ago when I got on some RPG Maker kick. Then I played it again when it came out on Steam. I fully completed it so I didn’t realize or remember about the problem you ran into at the end, so sorry about that. If you decide to ever play more from this dev, know that Lily and Sasha is more puzzle focused – I liked the humor in that game much like this one, but I had to use a guide for several puzzles (or rather, I didn’t have the patience to not use one).

Stacking reminded me of the Lego games in a way, since you can change characters and mess around with the environment and different abilities. I really liked how it looked, plus the dark, industrial revolution-era atmosphere dealing with issues like child labor behind all the farting dolls – somehow it worked!

For HOGs, I have played a lot, but they aren’t really a genre I like that much, like RPGs are. I guess the appeal is that they are kind of like those I Spy books for kids, so there’s a nostalgia factor for me with that. I also usually play them in a language I’m learning when it’s available to help with random item vocab. The stories usually suck – those Artifex Mundi ones in particular have generic stories. I’ve recently played two Midnight Mystery HOGs that had more interesting stories based on the lives and stories of Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne – I was impressed that they actually seem to have done a lot of research for those games.

stef

I’m glad you mostly enjoyed Dawn’s Light, since it was a risky suggestion.

Yeah I’m open to rpg-maker games just because I know they are a good platform for storytelling. I think games like Oneshot, Lisa, and Rakuen are a good example. It’s just a shame that it’s also easy to make lazy games that require no effort at all. I appreciate that the dev of Dawn’s made a well made game. It’s okay about the end. There are a lot of games that have a real official ending if you put more effort in. I just didn’t expect it to be the actual ending. Like, if you don’t complete everything the world is actually not saved. But it makes sense overall so I’m not angry about it. I’m just not a completionist at all. To many games in the backlog :P

Now that you mention it, Stacking is like a Lego game. I also really like the story and the overall style of the game.

The stories usually suck

At least I know that now. I was playing while thinking, many this is as cliche as it can get! It is a nice genre to relax to and I can totally see the draw now. Maybe I’ll some other ones suggested here and see if they hook me.

Thanks again for the suggestions!