June Roundup

Whoa we're halfway there

Games I beat this month:

Beaten in June 8 games

• LEGO® Worlds
  

  92 hours playtime

  71 of 71 achievements

• Pixel Puzzles 2: RADical ROACH
  

  25 hours playtime

  26 of 26 achievements

• Batman: The Enemy Within - The Telltale Series
  

  12 hours playtime

  30 of 30 achievements

• Four Last Things
  

  3 hours playtime

  17 of 17 achievements

• Firewatch
  

  7 hours playtime

  10 of 10 achievements

• Skylar & Plux: Adventure On Clover Island
  

  6 hours playtime

  33 of 33 achievements

• All You Can Eat
  

  39 minutes playtime

  11 of 11 achievements

• Last Day of June
  

  8 hours playtime

  21 of 21 achievements

June is the month of my birth, and also the Steam sale, so that is a lethal combination. Whilst I love bundles, and have discovered many great games from them over the years, there's something great about browsing the sale and picking out some games I really want from my wishlist that have hit their magical mark of what I deem to be a good price for them. I almost always jump the backlog queue on those games, and install them. This year I notice that once again the AAA publishers aren't coming to the party like they used to, or maybe it's just that I'm so used to the incredible value that indie games offer nowadays, but $20 for a 3 or 4 year old game seems like a lot to me, especially when that same $20 could buy me a fair number of other smaller games.

So yes, I added quite a few games from the sale, finished a few of them already, which I'll get to in a bit, but I just really wanted to recommend Ghost of a tale to anyone reading this, while it's still on sale. It's always a risk buying a game without knowing fully how it plays, but I'd heard good things about it and it seemed to be something I was interested in and I'm happy to report, it's exactly the game I thought it would be, which is rare. Branded as an "rpg" but not really much in the way of combat, mostly exploring and doing quests for the characters you meet. And the animal fantasy world that's been created is perfect. It really feels like the story doesn't begin and end with you, there's all this history to the world that you discover as you explore, and it's obvious that the creator read the Redwall series. The art style and animations are also beautifully realised, and all told this is one of the most completely immersive games I've played in a long time. Anyway, you may not like it, but I'd recommend checking it out and maybe keeping an eye on it if you like the sound of that.

Back to my summary and wrap up of June. I'm now on 300 completed games on steam, and 60 total for this year, so my progress is perfectly on track. I picked up DLC for a few games in the sale, so I'll be able to also get them more 'complete' soon enough. Amongst those was Bioshock infinite, so I guess it's time to try the infamous 1999 mode run soon, now that I have no more excuses. I spent a lot of time this month playing Day of infamy, and I'm down to just 10 achievements left, although I suspect a few of them aren't working correctly, so we'll see.

MORE THOUGHTS ON THE GAMES I BEAT

LEGO® Worlds

The Almosts
71 of 71 achievements (100%)

This was one for my older son. He loves lego, and I got this way back when it was in early access. I like that they added some structure to it for the adventure mode and we enjoyed gathering gold bricks and getting items. I had to then grind out some of the irritating achievements myself, such as the one for a billion studs (with no stud multipliers!!) All told, not a bad game, but I wish they'd done some more interesting things with the building side, for example, being able to build your own vehicles.

Pixel Puzzles 2: RADical ROACH

26 of 26 achievements (100%)

My 'one per month' of easy puzzle games to play when drinking coffee.

Batman: The Enemy Within - The Telltale Series

30 of 30 achievements (100%)

I must say, that this really seemed to improve on the first batman game a lot. I know these games all basically distill down to only slight variations of the story they want to tell, but I like that you could decide where you stood on the line between "Bruce Wayne" and "Batman". I'll be interested to see where they go in a third game based on where my game ended up.

Four Last Things

17 of 17 achievements (100%)

A quick little slice of steam sale silliness. I loved the idea of a 'pythonesque' mash-up of silly humour and classical art, and this game did alright. I think it could have been a bit longer or more tricky, but it was funny, so I guess it was welcome to some of my trading card monies.

Firewatch

10 of 10 achievements (100%)

I suspect this will be in a bundle soon, but the price was too good to ignore. Yes, it's pretty much the definition of a 'walking simulator', but it's an enjoyable story. Something to discuss with others who played the game : I think Delilah is lying. She knew about the research station, and about the guy hiding out, but was covering herself as she was the one who'd allowed him to stay. I mean at the very least, surely she knows there's no such thing a 'secure' radio outside of millitary grade encryption. Certainly nothing she'd have access to in such a short space of time. Which made me think she was playing on your inexperience to try and get you off the trail. There were enough other inconsistencies to make me think that was what we were supposed to think. I also think she was genuinely suprised to hear about the boy's death though.

Skylar & Plux: Adventure On Clover Island

33 of 33 achievements (100%)

I let my kids each choose a game on the sale, and this was the younger ones choice. On one hand it was a bit too short, but on the other it was literally the perfect game for a kid of his age. Very clean and family friendly, not too difficult, and even the twist at the end was cute. I guess if it was a long game you might end up regretting the grind a bit, so at least we got to finish a game together. A great 'first platformer' game for other people with kids, just don't expect too much of a challenge as an adult.

All You Can Eat

11 of 11 achievements (100%)

Another trading card money quickie. Interesting execution of a point and click game, but horrifically short. Only 5 cents though, so whatever.

Last Day of June

21 of 21 achievements (100%)

It seemed too perfect an opportunity to ignore, so my favourite person in the world and I sat down and played this together, on the 'last day of June'. It's winter here, and Saturday was quite cold, so it was fun to cuddle up and enjoy a game together, while the kids watched netflix. The story did also make us feel sad, and talk about what would happen to each of us in the same situation. A morose conversation, but when you've built a life with another person, it's hard to avoid such thoughts. Anyway, it's a good game mostly, and the perfect one to end off June and be 300th on my list of 'perfect' games