All Good Things
I’ve been busy with school lately, but still somehow managed to play a bunch of games. Way too many, actually, so now I have neither time nor energy to write a proper review for each one, hence why I’ll mention only the ones I liked (more or less).
Deponia Doomsday, 7.5/10.
Many Deponia fans complained about the ending of the last (at that time) game in the series and as a result, Deponia Doomsday has been born. It’s an enjoyable experience for those who missed quirky characters and humour and just wanted to play yet another Deponia game, but I found it that it kind of lacks that unique charm of other Deponia games. It adds little to the story or character development, and in some way even ruins the previous impressions. Still, it’s not a bad game.
Stray Cat Crossing, 8/10.
A horror - albeit not really scary - RPGMaker game. I usually don’t play those, but SCC looked peculiar enough to lure me in. The story isn’t anything mindblowing, but I still got a little emotional in the end. The graphics are very nice, too.
Leisure Suit Larry, 6.5/10
I haven’t played the original game, but if it had the same low-effort jokes, I didn’t miss out on much I guess. An OK game to kill some time if you don’t mind mild lewdness, but I wouldn’t play this game again.
Jotun, 7.5/10.
I liked that the game was heavily based on Norse mythology and had authentic Icelandic voice-over. However, 80% of the game time is spent running from one place to another while nothing is happening around you. The only two things to do there are fighting bosses and collecting runes and powers needed to defeat said bosses. Nevertheless, the game is beautifully hand drawn, and game mechanics are nicely designed overall, with the exception of somewhat clunky controls.
Betrayer, 9/10.
I didn’t expect this game to be that good, actually. You’re shipwrecked in the New World, trying to find out what happened to the local colony. A lot of the game involved fighting which ended up becoming repetitive and tiresome, but in-between you collect little notes and items that tell you the story of people who used to live there. Amazing writing for an indie game, although some aspects of it could still be fleshed out a bit more.
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments, 9/10.
Amazing game, especially considering that it was made by a Ukranian team (besides Metro and STALKER series, Ukraine isn’t known for making good games). Great voice acting, interesting cases to solve, and gorgeous locations, although I wish it was a bit more difficult.
Contrast, 8/10.
I loved the overall noir atmosphere, but the gameplay could get a bit frustrating at times. Otherwise, it’s a decent platformer with a heartwarming story.
The Wardrobe, 8.5/10.
If you liked classic adventure games, you will like this one. Great humour, tons of pop culture and video game references, and charming characters, but a few puzzles can be hard to solve because they make no sense, and there are no hints.
The Old City: Leviathan, 9/10.
A story-driven walking simulator. The game is essentially trying to communicate one single idea, but approaches it from different angles, and towards the end it can feel a little over the top. But everything about this game is still amazing, especially the writing. If only it didn’t drag on for so long, I’d rate it a perfect 10.
The Costume Quest, 8/10
I’m guessing everyone already knows about this one, so I put it at the end. The story is average, loved the humour, but got sick of repetitive turn-based combat at the end that made me wish the game was over already.
I played a few more games but ended up removing most of them from my account (none of them being SG wins, no worries) as I prefer to only keep games I like and enjoy playing. Maybe I’ve just become spoiled, not sure, but lately I’ve been feeling like I simply have no time for “meh” games. None of us are going to live forever, so with the little time we have, I’d rather play games I really enjoy rather than the ones that are average or slightly bad. What about you?
Thanks for the update, Yeliena.
- I played the first two Deponias with my kids (starting when they were about 3). They called it “the funny man game.” I still fire Deponia sound bytes at them sometimes: “They call me Ruu-fus!” “Contact Cletus!” There’s just enough visual and auditory humor that they enjoy it and don’t realize some of the jokes are a bit off-color. ;-) I need to play Goodbye Deponia (an SG win the day I bought the game but before I activated it, so I gave away my copy. I didn’t know about requesting re-rolls back then.) I’ll probably do that solo, though.
- Betrayer has always looked interesting to me but I’m such a completionist I wasn’t sure I wanted to sink the necessary time into what seemed like an average game when I have so many great games on my Itching to play list. But your review is making me want to bump it up on the list a bit.
- I loved Contrast when I played it in my pre-SG days (Fall, 2014). Maybe I should fire it up again for fun’s sake.
- The Old City: Leviathan is on that same list I linked above. It’s one of those games I’d like to play in one sitting if possible, but I’m so doggone slow at playing this and so many other kind of game that I seldom have a chunk of uninterrupted time to play non-kid games.
- We loved Costume Quest! We played the first one when the kids were 3 1/2…the called it “the trick-or-treat game.” Then we played the next one six months later after Halloween. In fact, that game taught the kids the notion of “Dad tax” (when the Dad takes a piece of candy from each of them) which I still regularly threaten to assess.
Betrayer is a great one if you enjoy story-driven games and don’t mind them being quite dark. The combat mechanics seem underdeveloped for a game that involves this much fighting, but as long as you can get past it, it’s a hidden gem.
I know a guy whose kids love Frozen, so every time he needs some uninterrupted free time he just puts it on for them. Maybe you could try something like that. :P Bad Parenting at its finest. Kidding about “bad”, of course
P.S. You could probably play The Wardrobe with your kids as well since it’s all bright and cartoon-like, it’s a great point-n-click.
Oh and I almost forgot:
I’d rather play games I really enjoy rather than the ones that are average or slightly bad
Yes, definitely. In fact, I only start a game if I’m almost certain I’m going to enjoy it. Or I won it on Steamgifts, but it’s only some of my early wins that do not definitely fit in both categories.
I absolutely loved Betrayer. I screamed in happiness when I won it on SG (a week later the game was in a one dollar bundle which pissed me off cause I could have easily bought it if I kept losing). My only issue was that the stealth wasn’t working properly but the atmosphere and the storytelling were amazing. It’s definitely my most favourite win :)
Good job beating all those games!
The Costume Quest, 8/10
If you found combat repetitive in that one, stay far away from part 2, it makes it worse.
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments, 9/10.
Frogware did have a rough start,many of their earlier games are not very good, but recent games have been great
Leisure Suit Larry, 6.5/10
I’ve not played this version, but the original (and its VGA remake) were not that great either. Back when they were first released, I guess it was a big deal to have such “adult” (juvenile adult, but still) humor in a game, but these days, the shock factor is lost.
Just realized I’m still queuing Doomsday and have forgotten how the trilogy ended. Good job, me. Yes, planned on playing them back to back.