Report #13

Another 3 games done, another update. University had me in it’s grip during the day, but once I was home and on weekends I had plenty of time to play games. All of the games were previously started ones that remained unfinished; I adjusted the playtimes manually to reflect only the hours I put into them during the current playthroughs. Furthermore all of the games were ones where I was reluctant to begin them anew, because I somehow had a bad feeling from the last time I played them. The decision to give them another try however was a brilliant one. The lesson: Don’t hesitate, just give it a try!

• Anno 2070
  

  14 hours playtime

  no achievements

• Bastion
  

  16 hours playtime

  20 of 24 achievements

• Shadowrun Returns
  

  13 hours playtime

  no achievements

Anno 2070

I previously played Anno 1602, 1503 and 1404, so Anno 2070 was the newest iteration of the franchice I ever played. It was the only one of the three games I did not enjoy. The gameplay is the ususal, you settle small islands and get an economy going. I played through the campaign, the DLC side missions and got all UPlay trophies (or whatever they are called), so that story wise the game is done and I’m probably never going to touch it again. Which makes it ‘completed’ for me. Why did I dislike it? The story of the campaign was not that enjoyable, but mostly the setting. The Sci-Fi setting just didn’t fit for me. That’s my main problem with the game, which makes it just not worth investing more time.

Bastion

I was really really reluctant to give Bastion another try. I know it made my stomache ache the first time I played it and it’s not my genre at all (btw, what genre IS Bastion?). But I was so wrong. The game is truly great. I guess I have grown as a gamer in the last years :P I absolutely loved the way the story is told, the narrator’s deep voice is beautiful and contrasts fascinatingly with the cheerful art style. The latter was very nice as well. And I had not too much trouble with the difficulty either. It was quite easy to go through. I also enjoyed the NG+, which rarely happens. Nonetheless, it’s a bit too short for my taste and I had some problems with the controls, they sometimes were a little clunky. I also did not get all achievements, the remaining ones are just too time consuming for me to try them.

Shadowrun Returns

I tried to finish this game about 3-4 times already and gave up on each playthrough. I’m just not a fan of the Shadowrun universe (if I want dark and bleak, I read the paper or watch the news). After my success with revisiting Bastion however, I was determined to finally beat this game. And I did. And it was great as well. The graphics are maybe not everyones cup of tea, but with much love for detail. The character progression is rewarding, you have a lot of freedom to build your character up as you like. The story is ‘only’ okay, but it offers some interesting NPCs (I loved Mr Kluwe). And the tactical combat was fun, at least for the amount of hours I played the game. There is a ton of mods, I did not try out any of those, since the game is not that great from a technical aspect – which is my only grievance with the game. The controls are a little imprecise and sometimes keyboard shortcuts would not work at all! The modding scene moved on to newer iterations of the franchise and so will I, should I want to try out some of those mods. Still, apart from the technical deficits, it’s a great game, give it a try!

So long,
Vito