Well hey, it's July already, happy independence day and all that, get ready for Christmas, understand how hot it can truly get under the burning sun, and Share a Coke with Monique.
NBA 2K14 (X360): Eleventh Appearance, Last Appearance 6/9/14
NOT AGAIN. NEVER AGAIN. DO NOT PLAY THIS AGAIN YOU ARE NOT GOOD AT IT. TRY A DIFFERENT SPORT GAME THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition (VITA): First Appearance
When I started doing these updates at the beginning of the year (back when they were on Sunday and not whenever the hell they wanted to be), I played a little game called Heart of Darkness. If you've stuck with me since then, you'll know that I enjoyed almost all of Heart of Darkness aside from the final level and the main character.
I never talked about it back then because the Sunday Update consisted of only about 3 sentences per game back in February, but I figured out what I liked about Heart of Darkness the most: Your character never really feels like they're ever that much stronger than the enemy. You have a weapon, sure, but most of the time it's unwieldy and unreliable.
Everything is trying to kill you, rather than in contemporaries like Doom, Duke Nukem, or even Super Mario 64, where often times the one making the first strike is the player. As Mario, there are many times when you feel like you're significantly stronger than your enemy, be it a Goomba or Bob-Omb or some low-level enemy of the sort. Along with that, in every game mentioned, it takes more than a couple of hits to kill you. I don't know that one single Goomba has ever killed me by itself in Super Mario 64. It may get two hits in at the most, but the player can punch the Goomba right in its fuckin face and then go get more coins if that's the case.
In Heart of Darkness, you die in one hit. You die instantly, and there's no recovery. On top of that, every enemy can kill you in one hit, and most enemies take more than one to kill. With those facts in place, you don't ever feel like your character is necessarily stronger than anything. Sure, you figure out how certain enemies work and how to defeat them easily, but even with that knowledge there's still no certainty in anything. Low level enemies will still overpower you even in later levels if you aren't putting enough effort in. That feeling is pervasive throughout the entire game: You're in over your head.
One-hit deaths aren't unheard of in games, in fact, many early games had your character perish with one hit, from the fairly innocuous Gumshoe on the NES to the infamous Transformers on the Famicom. What set Heart of Darkness apart from those was an incredibly simple tactic that I can't believe I haven't seen more: Checkpoints. Not even checkpoints that you can necessarily see, but just checkpoints where you can start getting through the next bit of the game without having to go back and replay the past 3 minutes. It works so simply, and keeps the player from wanting to quit playing. After a bit, at least for myself, running through the same 2 minute stretch to try one tricky section again is a waste of time.
Anyway, Heart of Darkness did both of those things perfectly. Another World (you'll notice I've gone through 5 paragraphs before bringing up the name of the game at hand, a new record) was created a few years before Heart of Darkness by the same man, Éric Chahi, a Frenchman. It does all of those things I talked about just as well, and features fully polygonal graphics which lend a certain style to the game that I've never seen anywhere else. It's cliché to say it, but that art style is linked with Another World and nothing else.
The remake is available for just about all major consoles, and I'd say it's a pretty solid remake. You have updated graphics and sounds, but you aren't forced to use them if you don't want, the controls are simple for modern consoles, and you can earn Trophies or Achievements if you'd like. I'm looking forward to finishing it, hopefully it doesn't disappoint like HoD did.
Showing posts with label Heart of Darkness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heart of Darkness. Show all posts
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Monday, February 10, 2014
S(monday)unday Update: 2/10/14
Well hey I'm late this week! Hooray!
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back(PS1): Third Appearance, Third Straight Week
FINISHED
So hey, this was a good game, and though it got very difficult near the end, I powered through and finished it off! The last few levels are nothing if not difficult, but the final boss isn't very difficult at all. This is the first Crash Bandicoot title that I ever owned, and I think I'll probably end up buying the third and first ones sooner than later. I completely recommend this to anyone with a PlayStation and a love of platforming games. There aren't many games like this, the camera following the protagonist around like it does in the Crash series.
Heart of Darkness (PS1): Fourth Appearance, Fourth Straight Week
This is probably going to end up being dropped. The last few screens are so hard and I don't think I'll be able to finish it. Maybe I'll try a little bit more this week, but who knows.
Final Fantasy VII (PS1): First Appearance
Here's one of those games I used to play on my old memory card that ended up being formatted after I broke it. We had a few days of class cancelled this week and I spent those nights playing this. I still like the story, and I'm going to continue with it.
College Slam (PS1): First Appearance
I finally found a PS1 copy of this game. It's like NBA Jam, but with NCAA teams. It's not quite as much fun because you're not allowed to use real names of players in college games, so I can't laugh at guys like Dan Majerle or Karl Malone like I do in NBA Jam. I bet you'd have more fun playing with other college kids- Actually, you probably wouldn't because everyone would want to be the same team, forget I said that.
Gran Turismo (PS1): First Appearance
Just call this NEW SHIT WEEK because it's our third straight game that we started this week. I was just bored on Friday and I played more of GT, a driving sim, than I thought I would. I'm no sports car driving sim fan, however, so I'll pick something else to play before this one next time. I still don't hate it, though.
So there's that, I didn't play anything modern this week, because with all the snow, I didn't have much reason to devote time to my 3DS or Vita.
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back(PS1): Third Appearance, Third Straight Week
FINISHED
So hey, this was a good game, and though it got very difficult near the end, I powered through and finished it off! The last few levels are nothing if not difficult, but the final boss isn't very difficult at all. This is the first Crash Bandicoot title that I ever owned, and I think I'll probably end up buying the third and first ones sooner than later. I completely recommend this to anyone with a PlayStation and a love of platforming games. There aren't many games like this, the camera following the protagonist around like it does in the Crash series.
Heart of Darkness (PS1): Fourth Appearance, Fourth Straight Week
This is probably going to end up being dropped. The last few screens are so hard and I don't think I'll be able to finish it. Maybe I'll try a little bit more this week, but who knows.
Final Fantasy VII (PS1): First Appearance
Here's one of those games I used to play on my old memory card that ended up being formatted after I broke it. We had a few days of class cancelled this week and I spent those nights playing this. I still like the story, and I'm going to continue with it.
College Slam (PS1): First Appearance
I finally found a PS1 copy of this game. It's like NBA Jam, but with NCAA teams. It's not quite as much fun because you're not allowed to use real names of players in college games, so I can't laugh at guys like Dan Majerle or Karl Malone like I do in NBA Jam. I bet you'd have more fun playing with other college kids- Actually, you probably wouldn't because everyone would want to be the same team, forget I said that.
Gran Turismo (PS1): First Appearance
Just call this NEW SHIT WEEK because it's our third straight game that we started this week. I was just bored on Friday and I played more of GT, a driving sim, than I thought I would. I'm no sports car driving sim fan, however, so I'll pick something else to play before this one next time. I still don't hate it, though.
So there's that, I didn't play anything modern this week, because with all the snow, I didn't have much reason to devote time to my 3DS or Vita.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Sunday Update: 2/2/14 SUPER BOWL BABY
"BOOM
BOOM
BOOOOOOOOM"
-Jon Gruden
I'm writing this during the halftime show by the way
Silent Hill: Book of Memories (PSV): Second Appearance, Second Straight Week
I'm surprised that I've stuck with this. It's a dungeon crawler that I actually like, which is almost unheard of for me. I enjoy the boss fights, and puzzle solving, while admittedly somewhat asinine in a few situations, is solid. I definitely recommend this title unless you're a real big fan of Silent Hill games in which case it's probably a huge travesty.
NBA Jam: Tournament Edition (Saturn): Second Appearance, Last 1/19/14
NBA Jam is always fun, even when you lose on a stupid half-court shot by Jamal Mashburn or somebody. I've been playing a special variant of NBA Jam called "Play as the Milwaukee Bucks and try to win a game" and I've been successful. Back when I first bought the Saturn version, I couldn't stand it compared to the Sega Genesis version I had grown up on. My biggest problem was with the scaling, but I'm over that now and I recommend this version.
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (PS1): Second Appearance, Second Straight Week
Very little to report other than the fact that I've finally started losing lives. The difficulty curve in Crash 2 is very present, but not absurd or anything like that. I have a good feeling that I can beat this by next week, actually.
Heart of Darkness (PS1): Third Appearance, Third Straight Week
HoD got really hard really quickly. It's back to being an action game, which I don't love, and the screen I'm currently on is really,
really,
really difficult to get past so I'd be surprised if I beat it anytime soon.
Mobile Suit Gundam (Saturn): First Appearance
This is a Japanese import that I've been messing around with last night. It's cool how some imports are pretty accessible to English speakers, and I'm going to cover this game in my series "Saturnday," which I just restarted yesterday with this video:
and with that, I'll leave you. Have a good week, go Vikings I guess but they're not in the Super Bowl
BOOM
BOOOOOOOOM"
-Jon Gruden
I'm writing this during the halftime show by the way
Silent Hill: Book of Memories (PSV): Second Appearance, Second Straight Week
I'm surprised that I've stuck with this. It's a dungeon crawler that I actually like, which is almost unheard of for me. I enjoy the boss fights, and puzzle solving, while admittedly somewhat asinine in a few situations, is solid. I definitely recommend this title unless you're a real big fan of Silent Hill games in which case it's probably a huge travesty.
NBA Jam: Tournament Edition (Saturn): Second Appearance, Last 1/19/14
NBA Jam is always fun, even when you lose on a stupid half-court shot by Jamal Mashburn or somebody. I've been playing a special variant of NBA Jam called "Play as the Milwaukee Bucks and try to win a game" and I've been successful. Back when I first bought the Saturn version, I couldn't stand it compared to the Sega Genesis version I had grown up on. My biggest problem was with the scaling, but I'm over that now and I recommend this version.
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (PS1): Second Appearance, Second Straight Week
Very little to report other than the fact that I've finally started losing lives. The difficulty curve in Crash 2 is very present, but not absurd or anything like that. I have a good feeling that I can beat this by next week, actually.
Heart of Darkness (PS1): Third Appearance, Third Straight Week
HoD got really hard really quickly. It's back to being an action game, which I don't love, and the screen I'm currently on is really,
really,
really difficult to get past so I'd be surprised if I beat it anytime soon.
Mobile Suit Gundam (Saturn): First Appearance
This is a Japanese import that I've been messing around with last night. It's cool how some imports are pretty accessible to English speakers, and I'm going to cover this game in my series "Saturnday," which I just restarted yesterday with this video:
and with that, I'll leave you. Have a good week, go Vikings I guess but they're not in the Super Bowl
Monday, January 27, 2014
Sunday Update: 1/26/14
SO SORRY ABOUT THIS INEVITABLY DEBUTING ON A MONDAY IT'S BEEN A WEIRD DAY
Heart of Darkness (PS1): Second straight appearance, Second all time
Last weekend, I was only a few levels into Heart of Darkness, and my feelings about the game were less than great. However, after getting through a couple more levels, I'm really starting to enjoy this game. There's a certain amount of intrigue from me regarding the art style and animation- I've never seen anything like Heart of Darkness from a platformer. The backgrounds and enemies still look great even today. (That's purely in gameplay, by the way. The CG cutscenes don't hold up today.)
I think Heart of Darkness (That or Tony Hawk 4, because I figured out a way to do that game some actual justice) could actually be a good game for an LP series from me. I have a problem with playing well and talking at the same time (if you can't tell from the video above), so a lower-paced game like Heart of Darkness that I enjoy would be a likely candidate for my triumphant re-entry into this sorta thing.
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (PS1):
I'm really sorry, everyone. Every time that Crash Bandicoot is brought up to me, I generally brush the series off. I never enjoyed my copy of Crash 2 (which I've owned since about 2004 or '05, actually), but I decided to try it again this week. To my surprise, I've been totally wrong about this series! The platforming is actually pretty tight, though not quite perfect. The level design is good, the enemies are fun to fight, the boss fights are actually pretty decent, because they're (surprise) not awful and an absurd spike in difficulty to take all of the enjoyment out of the game. No, actually, the boss levels in Crash 2 are fairly enjoyable! Looking forward to finishing this one, actually.
ModNation Racers: Road Trip (PSV): Second Straight Appearance, Second All-Time
I figured out another thing I like about this one! The "Championship" (known as "Grand Prix" in Mario Kart [and who am I kidding, of course I'm just using this like Mario Kart]) mode works much differently than in Mario Kart because there's no consistency among computer-controlled drivers between races. Much like a human would, performance of every racer fluctuates between tracks. This means that a cup win doesn't have to come from a perfect performance on every track because goddamn Dry Bones keeps getting second and there's really no breathing room if he wins this next race, but a consistently high-place (getting first doesn't hurt) will keep you in the hunt just as well. Also, you can redo individual tracks in championship mode, which is much more preferable to going back and retrying all four tracks just because you were unlucky on the third one of four.
Silent Hill: Book of Memories (PSV):
I love seeing mixed reviews of a game nowadays. With many games, there's a sort of consensus about quality, where many critics have the same general opinion on most games. In researching games, you're only going to need to see two or three reviews to have a general understanding of what everyone thinks of a certain title. This wasn't exactly the case when I first started paying attention back seven or eight years ago. My first encounter with with mixed reviews came from Pokemon Channel for the GameCube. Nintendo Power gave it like 22 stars out of 25 or so, and EGM (which I trusted a bit more at the time) was less positive, saying the game deserved a 4/10 or something like that. Due to the way games are designed now, and the way that game websites and magazines work today, you'll be pretty sure of how good something is, especially if it's a big-budget title, with only a few reviews.
Silent Hill: Book of Memories (much like a number of games on the Vita) doesn't exactly have that. I have seen some fairly favorable reviews, and I've seen the opposite. As for me, at the moment, I lean more towards the positive side. Though I've never tried a Silent Hill title before this (and I'm sure that my lack of experience with the series influences why I have a favorable opinion), I'm enjoying the story, and I like the way the gameplay "karma" system works. I'm not very far into it, so be on the look out for what I think of it in the future.
---
Well, that's all for this week. I guess it's Monday...
Heart of Darkness (PS1): Second straight appearance, Second all time
Last weekend, I was only a few levels into Heart of Darkness, and my feelings about the game were less than great. However, after getting through a couple more levels, I'm really starting to enjoy this game. There's a certain amount of intrigue from me regarding the art style and animation- I've never seen anything like Heart of Darkness from a platformer. The backgrounds and enemies still look great even today. (That's purely in gameplay, by the way. The CG cutscenes don't hold up today.)
This may seem tangential, but I've been thinking about giving "Let's Play" another shot after my classic THPS2 LP from 2011:
I think Heart of Darkness (That or Tony Hawk 4, because I figured out a way to do that game some actual justice) could actually be a good game for an LP series from me. I have a problem with playing well and talking at the same time (if you can't tell from the video above), so a lower-paced game like Heart of Darkness that I enjoy would be a likely candidate for my triumphant re-entry into this sorta thing.
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (PS1):
I'm really sorry, everyone. Every time that Crash Bandicoot is brought up to me, I generally brush the series off. I never enjoyed my copy of Crash 2 (which I've owned since about 2004 or '05, actually), but I decided to try it again this week. To my surprise, I've been totally wrong about this series! The platforming is actually pretty tight, though not quite perfect. The level design is good, the enemies are fun to fight, the boss fights are actually pretty decent, because they're (surprise) not awful and an absurd spike in difficulty to take all of the enjoyment out of the game. No, actually, the boss levels in Crash 2 are fairly enjoyable! Looking forward to finishing this one, actually.
ModNation Racers: Road Trip (PSV): Second Straight Appearance, Second All-Time
I figured out another thing I like about this one! The "Championship" (known as "Grand Prix" in Mario Kart [and who am I kidding, of course I'm just using this like Mario Kart]) mode works much differently than in Mario Kart because there's no consistency among computer-controlled drivers between races. Much like a human would, performance of every racer fluctuates between tracks. This means that a cup win doesn't have to come from a perfect performance on every track because goddamn Dry Bones keeps getting second and there's really no breathing room if he wins this next race, but a consistently high-place (getting first doesn't hurt) will keep you in the hunt just as well. Also, you can redo individual tracks in championship mode, which is much more preferable to going back and retrying all four tracks just because you were unlucky on the third one of four.
Silent Hill: Book of Memories (PSV):
I love seeing mixed reviews of a game nowadays. With many games, there's a sort of consensus about quality, where many critics have the same general opinion on most games. In researching games, you're only going to need to see two or three reviews to have a general understanding of what everyone thinks of a certain title. This wasn't exactly the case when I first started paying attention back seven or eight years ago. My first encounter with with mixed reviews came from Pokemon Channel for the GameCube. Nintendo Power gave it like 22 stars out of 25 or so, and EGM (which I trusted a bit more at the time) was less positive, saying the game deserved a 4/10 or something like that. Due to the way games are designed now, and the way that game websites and magazines work today, you'll be pretty sure of how good something is, especially if it's a big-budget title, with only a few reviews.
Silent Hill: Book of Memories (much like a number of games on the Vita) doesn't exactly have that. I have seen some fairly favorable reviews, and I've seen the opposite. As for me, at the moment, I lean more towards the positive side. Though I've never tried a Silent Hill title before this (and I'm sure that my lack of experience with the series influences why I have a favorable opinion), I'm enjoying the story, and I like the way the gameplay "karma" system works. I'm not very far into it, so be on the look out for what I think of it in the future.
---
Well, that's all for this week. I guess it's Monday...
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Sunday Update: 1/19/2014
I actually played quite a bit this week, but I only really have opinions on a few of these games so I'm going to go with conciseness rather than making you hear about the 15 minutes on Sunday night that I played "Last Gladiators: Digital Pinball" for the Saturn.
Tearaway (PSV)- For me, Tearaway stands out from most games because I was excited for it before it came out, and I wasn't disappointed in any way, and in fact, I actually ended up being pleasantly surprised. (The last two titles that I was really excited for pre-release were Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Heroes of Ruin for the 3DS, and though neither of them were of low-quality, I had some complaints with them.)
But Tearaway was just about the best game I have played in the past two or three years. I think I said the extent of what I needed to say about the quality of the game last week: if this ends up being the PS Vita's Alien Vs. Predator (That is, the best title on a console lacking much else), I'd be fine with that. Luckily...
ModNation Racers: Road Trip (PSV)- There exist other good games on the Vita, and this is one! I am and always have been in love with the Mario Kart series, and I was jealous of PS3 owners when the original ModNation Racers was released a few years back, especially after I was so underwhelmed by Mario Kart Wii in 2008. The idea of a customizable kart racer was what really sold me on this series, and it would have absolutely been a purchase that I would have made for the PS3 had I owned one.
But I have confused you enough. ModNation Racers: Road Trip has some of the best kart physics I've ever experienced. The system of items could be called "exactly the same as Lego Racers for the PlayStation" for what that's worth, but that's not an issue really, the system works well. The only aspect making me still consider Mario Kart 7 a superior experience would be the track design, which isn't anything special.
This gets a heavy recommendation from me.
Heart of Darkness (PS1)- The Horror... The Horror
ha
hahaahaha
get it
like the book
Actually the first bit of this game, a cinematic sidescroller from an era in which cinematic sidescrollers could profit, infuriated me beyond belief. Past that, though, I've actually enjoyed the sort of puzzle-platforming Heart of Darkness provides. I'm only a little bit of the way into it.
NBA Jam: Tournament Edition (Saturn)- I have started using the Suns for some reason. I don't know quite why. Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle work well together, and I have a feeling that Danny Manning's stats are increased due to the lack of Barkley (Charles Barkley's likeness couldn't be found in any NBA games after about 1992). The Saturn version takes a while to get used to, especially if you've played the SNES or Genesis versions before.
---
Well, that's about it. I've considered adding a video segment to this bit called "purchases" where I talk about purchases I've made, but I don't think I will until my ego gets even more inflated. This week I did finally find a PSone with the little flip-top screen on it, which will be great for this semester in school!
See you next weekend
Tearaway (PSV)- For me, Tearaway stands out from most games because I was excited for it before it came out, and I wasn't disappointed in any way, and in fact, I actually ended up being pleasantly surprised. (The last two titles that I was really excited for pre-release were Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Heroes of Ruin for the 3DS, and though neither of them were of low-quality, I had some complaints with them.)
But Tearaway was just about the best game I have played in the past two or three years. I think I said the extent of what I needed to say about the quality of the game last week: if this ends up being the PS Vita's Alien Vs. Predator (That is, the best title on a console lacking much else), I'd be fine with that. Luckily...
ModNation Racers: Road Trip (PSV)- There exist other good games on the Vita, and this is one! I am and always have been in love with the Mario Kart series, and I was jealous of PS3 owners when the original ModNation Racers was released a few years back, especially after I was so underwhelmed by Mario Kart Wii in 2008. The idea of a customizable kart racer was what really sold me on this series, and it would have absolutely been a purchase that I would have made for the PS3 had I owned one.
But I have confused you enough. ModNation Racers: Road Trip has some of the best kart physics I've ever experienced. The system of items could be called "exactly the same as Lego Racers for the PlayStation" for what that's worth, but that's not an issue really, the system works well. The only aspect making me still consider Mario Kart 7 a superior experience would be the track design, which isn't anything special.
This gets a heavy recommendation from me.
Heart of Darkness (PS1)- The Horror... The Horror
ha
hahaahaha
get it
like the book
Actually the first bit of this game, a cinematic sidescroller from an era in which cinematic sidescrollers could profit, infuriated me beyond belief. Past that, though, I've actually enjoyed the sort of puzzle-platforming Heart of Darkness provides. I'm only a little bit of the way into it.
NBA Jam: Tournament Edition (Saturn)- I have started using the Suns for some reason. I don't know quite why. Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle work well together, and I have a feeling that Danny Manning's stats are increased due to the lack of Barkley (Charles Barkley's likeness couldn't be found in any NBA games after about 1992). The Saturn version takes a while to get used to, especially if you've played the SNES or Genesis versions before.
---
Well, that's about it. I've considered adding a video segment to this bit called "purchases" where I talk about purchases I've made, but I don't think I will until my ego gets even more inflated. This week I did finally find a PSone with the little flip-top screen on it, which will be great for this semester in school!
See you next weekend
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