Viewing entries tagged
sci-fi
Fair warning, I'm very much one of those weird Blade Runner fans who loves the movie more than is reasonable for anyone to love a movie. I have multiple copies of all five different cuts of the original, as well as a collector's edition that came with lithographic prints and a model cop car from the film. So everything I have to say about this game, should probably be taken with a grain of salt.
Not going to lie, I 'm pretty happy to get back to a good old point-and-click adventure again. This is one of my favourite genres, as it has the potential to combine gameplay elements and story-telling in such a satisfying way. Besides, there's nothing that makes you feel smarter than finally hunting down the perfect pixel, or solving that maddening moon-logic puzzle once and for all.
One of the coolest aspects of modern gaming, has to be how accessible it is for everyone involved. As gamers we have the choice of so many games coming from so many different sources. Whatever your budget, there's something out there of quality to play, even if you don't want to spend anything at all.
The name David Cage comes with a fair amount of baggage these days, as he's cultivated quite a reputation for himself. Perhaps notably as the creator of some of the most divisive games in recent memory. Whether you love Quantic Dream's take on narrative cinematic video game story-telling or not, it's hard to deny the impact these games have made.
There are times when it's easy to forget how relevant the cost of a game can be when thinking about quality and enjoyment. After all, my experience with the original Destiny was quite mediocre, so I never expected to be playing the sequel anytime soon. That is until Bungie and Activision decided to discount the game heavily not long after release.
I normally wouldn't bother writing another post about a game that I've already written about, but No Man's Sky continue to be an anomaly. The free update labelled "NEXT" has changed the game in many significant ways that will change the landscape forever. Although, it's not as simple as just adding more stuff if you want to keep players happy.
Here is a game that says it's "for adults" and will respect you time with a "mutation in text-based adventure". If it weren't for the integrity of Bithell Games' track record, this would all smell a bit fishy and invite hard-nosed scepticism. Thankfully, the lame marketing speech only goes as far as the sales pitch, leaving the actual game experience to be engaging and unique.
The last month has been a bit of a wild ride, as I'm trying to complete some of the more time-heavy games from last year. I was hoping to have posted some more, but have been having too much fun finishing NieR:Automata, Divinity Original Sin 2, and today's "focus"… Horizon: Zero Dawn.
For the longest time "procedurally generated levels" was gaming blasphemy and an immediate turn off when used in a game's description. It felt like as soon as Minecraft hit it big, everyone and their mother was including procedurally generated elements in their game. The promise was millions of combinations and infinite replay-ability, which ultimately wound up meaning an endless gauntlet of bad content to slog through.
In the last decade we've seen a lot of indie darlings make a splash for being small little creative games that big studios wouldn't even bother thinking about. It's been an awesome period in gaming, as we've seen smaller games have a bit of a boom, which has introduced some truly unique experiences, and even defied traditional genre definitions. At the same time though, there's been a flood of games that piece together seemingly random elements to form another eye-rolling attempt at grabbing the hype for a few minutes of success.
I knew the day would eventually come when I'd be ready to tackle the controversial existence of No Man's Sky. I've been following the game's story and keeping up with the good and the bad, the lies and the hype. Oh, and you might be surprised to know that I've actually spent a fair bit of time playing the game as well.
Following up a huge indie success must be like trying to write a novel after publishing a best-seller. All that expectation and affection gained from success can often be a recipe for disaster, as a sequel rarely lives up to its predecessor. Of course, we remember the ones that do, but have a look at movies in particular, and you'll find that there are a hell of a lot of sequels that you've probably never heard of.
