Is it a sin to dislike a game, simply because it caters for an audience that you're not a part of. Or should we be more objective and consider its merits, somehow attempting to guess what a different gamer would think of the same game. Well, this isn't that kind of blog, and I ended up not liking Dirt Rally very much.
There's something exciting in the process of discovery that's often ruined by mass marketing and the hype machine. It's kind of impossible to be surprised by a big budget game with an even bigger advertising budget, as they tend to throw all the good stuff at you before you even make a purchase. Thankfully though, the lower end of the market is full of little surprises waiting to be discovered.
In a world where narrative gaming and visual novels are more popular than ever before, is there room for an actual comic book to enter the gaming space? I often think about how games can tell stories better, but I'm rarely asked to consider how gamification can enhance other story-telling mediums.
Okay, it's fair to start off with a statement: the last Battlefield game I actually enjoyed was the first Bad Company. I even spent many hours playing the Bad Company multiplayer, thanks to the novelty of its destruction system that seemed incredibly "next-gen" for me at the time. I'm not about to say that Battlefield 1 is better than Bad Company, but at this point it probably gets the silver medal.
This won't be the first time I get excited about an odd concept finding its place within the technical world of gaming, and I hope it won't be the last. In fact, this game has spawned so many imitators that it's hard to keep track anymore. I mean, who would have ever thought that cooking games would become their own genre.
There are some genres that I never expect to surprise me, but that's okay. When it comes to sports and racing games, there isn't a lot of room to move, as we all have some kind of understanding about what we're going to get. So when a little racing game comes along and finds a unique identity between arcade and simulation, it deserves to be noticed.
It feels a bit hypocritical to be writing this post after taking Laraan to task last time over its validity as a complete product. However, I'm going to try and justify why I think the tiny project Ophidia is a genuine and worthwhile purchase, despite its obvious limitations. This logic might get curly and take some getting used to.
Without a doubt, we are in the digital age where everything and anything will be distributed and sold online. The barriers to entry have fallen so low that just about anyone can make something and find a platform to sell it online to others. In a lot of ways this is awesome, as we get more variety and more contributors. Let's face it though, that's not always a good thing.
It seems like every Assassins' Creed game has spawned a litany of small spin-offs. Most of the time they're weird little excursions from the norm, but nothing all that notable or important in the lore. At best they show off some alternative mechanics and systems that never surfaced in the mainline games, but at best they end up being complete experiences in their own right.
Remember the good old days when the dream of kickstarting a niche game meant that you'd be supporting independent developers working on their passion projects? I do. It was years ago, before the big budget meltdowns and financial mis-management that lead to Kickstarter being a synonym for scam. Although, before I burned out on crowd funding big ideas from small game makers, I backed a local Australian family working on a game about delivering pizza, and bullying.
There once was a time between when I got my first job, and when I actually had to start paying bills. This was a time of spending money on anything at all, without responsibilities or obligation to tie you down. It was the perfect time for feeding coins into arcade cabinets, long after the arcades had gone out of fashion and jacked up the prices.
I wasn't going to say anything about this beloved 90s rhythm game for the Playstation, but then it got me thinking about how valuable nostalgia can be. In fact, after playing the train wreck that is the PaRappa The Rapper Remaster, I can only deduce that nostalgia goes a lot further than I had previously given it credit for.
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.
Originally released as a mobile companion to Assassin's Creed III exclusively on the Vita, this spin-off features some unique systems that have yet to be repeated. There are obvious limitations to starting life on a mobile system, which begs the question why some of the more interesting developments in this game never made it to mainline titles.
Enter the obligatory line about how the hottest city builder / management game right now is one about survival during a near-future ice age. Although, there's no denying that Frostpunk is one hell of a well put together game from the makers of other well put together titles like This War Of Mine.
There once was this game called Bastion, which I played to death and loved every aspect of. The story was unique and original, the graphics were gorgeous and colourful, even the gameplay was simple and compelling. I often listen to the soundtrack, just because it's a good album of music, and surely everyone saw the hype around the clever narration guiding you through the game's story.
It never ceases to amaze me just how many terrible ports are made of mobile games onto other systems. There are so many aspects of mobile design that differ immensely from desktop or console requirements, which rarely get adapted along with a port. Every now and then though, a game keeps it simple and gets it right.
Sometimes a game comes along that defies all expectations, but not in the way that will blow your mind. Instead it's the circumstances surrounding a game's existence that brings hope and potential to an otherwise ordinary experience.
It's been quite a while since I posted about any games, but it's probably because I've spent most of that time playing Factorio. Remember when we were younger and spend hours and hours playing Sim City, because the time seemed to vanish without realising? This is a time vampire if ever there was one, and it's not even finished yet.
For the longest time, any game built on the reputation of some other form of media, tends to make a big old mess of things. Often I suspect it's because some executive decided that they needed a game to sell alongside the release of their next "blockbuster" movie, and rushed one out to cash in. So why would anyone make a game based on a movie that came out 25 years ago?
