I’ve tried visual novels before. Needless to say I’m not a big fan of them. I do dig how they sometimes incorporate substantial game mechanics, as in Long Live the Queen, but they mainly seem like a poor man’s adventure game to me, especially since almost all of them are about developing a romantic relationship. This one intrigued me because it has a detective game element build around the visual novel and as far as I know detective games are rather rare.
Yes, I’m aware that the sequel to this is due to be released in a few months. I also know that this is a multiplayer-centric game and I have no intention of playing multiplayer mode for its sake. I had bought this a few months back due to three reasons: the strength of the Star Wars brand, especially its original trilogy setting, its reputedly excellent graphics and fond memories of the 2005 version of the game which I similarly only ever played single-player.
This was an impulse purchase a while back that I quickly regretted as I didn’t even like the first game all that much. My completionist instincts pushed me to play it anyway so I more or less did my best speedrush my way through it relying on online guides to solve the puzzles. Even so, it took me more than 20 hours of playing to reach the end, though I did take the extra trouble of getting the true ending. That’s enough to make this a surprisingly substantial game I think.
I’ve been a fan of the Codemasters racing games on a fairly consistent basis over the years. Between the Grid series of games and the Dirt series, I find that I even favor the rally games more. Notice however that this iteration doesn’t have a number next to it and that’s because this seems to be the start of a new series, one that is also about rallying but aims to weigh more heavily on the simulation than the videogame side of the scales. I have no experience in playing the truly hardcore racing sims so I have no idea how realistic this game is. But I can say that this is by far the hardest racing game I’ve ever played.
I’ve been messing with this game, on and off, for a long time now but I’ve come to accept that as much as I wish otherwise, there’s a certain at which a game stops being fun and feels too much like work. Due to how much I loved SpaceChem, I’ve always kept an eye out for subsequent releases by Zachtronics though I’m never smart enough to play them all the way through. For this one, I was good enough to finish almost all of the puzzles on the first page on my own but there’s no way I’m ever going to complete the advanced puzzles.
Honestly the premise for this game sounds like it could be incredibly exploitative and edgy but you have to admit that it’s original. I can’t think of anyone who has tried applying the tycoon formula to the building and running of prisons before so I had my eye on it even while it was in Early Access. Surprisingly when it was finished the game was received fairly well. It turns out to be a somber, serious and thoughtful take on what goes on in prison. I even liked the game’s story, simple as it is. I say that for very few games these days.
I’m mostly still playing small, indie games at the moment. Hopefully I can get back to AAA-productions after I buy a new computer next month. This one is a turn-based tactical game with a significant narrative component that tells its overarching story with text on an overworld map. The most unusual thing about is its Weird West theme, something I don’t believe I’ve ever experienced in game form.