Yes it's more videogame content on this, an ostensibly videogame based blog.
For no other specific reason whatsoever here's a list of all the games I've completed thus far this year accompanied by brief thoughts respectively. As you can see it's been quite the year, one in which almost nothing of interest has happened outside of videogaming let me assure you. Don't look into it, just trust me on this one, this has been the exact opposite of a fascinating year.
Anyhow, to the games...
Bastion
Started off the year with the first part of my epic Supergiant Games marathon and a game that has been on my to-play list for an age. Truthfully I played the Steam version or the first few levels of it a few years back but never got around to completing. Playing the PlayStation 4 version (on my PlayStation 5 naturally) I was charmed by the looks and sounds of this charming little dystopia. Navigating the literal fragments of something familiar as a narrator waxes wise and witty made for a memorable experience and the gameplay was snappy and responsive too. Four exploded planets out of five!
Pyre
The second part of my Supergiant trilogy and quite possibly the highlight of the three. Pyre is what happens when you take the phrase 'fantasy sports' quite literally and commit to the idea. Lots of what appear to be fantasy RPG stylings on the surface are soon peeled away to reveal what is essentially a 3-on-3 basketball game at its core. With freedom from an eternal prison on the line (or conversely perpetual damnation) it becomes the most story-based and emotionally resonant sports game I think I may have ever played. Five magic balls out of five!
Transistor
This was a weird one. The third and final part of the Supergiant trilogy and in some ways, it ends on a flat note. As with all three games, it looked great, good soundtrack, a generally strong sense of atmosphere and place. Ultimately though it missed a little something or at least, it wasn't quite as well realised as the two other games. Strange really as I was all about the aesthetics of this game going in. The story is perhaps told a bit too sparingly and the combat system never quite connected for me with its combination of real-time and turn-based combat. Not a bad game by any means but I felt the other two really nailed it whereas this was a touch more so-so. Three talking swords out of five.
PAC-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION 2
THE COLOURS! OH MY GOD THE COLOURS! MY EYES!
That is to say this one was a caffeine-soaked sugar-rush for the brain. Even as I try to remember the experience now, I begin to doubt whether I ever actually played it. Less a game, more an experience where you are constantly reacting moment to moment as you attempt to process its torrent of audio-visual noise. If you asked me to objectively remember a specific moment I don't think I could. It's a pill powered circle with a mouth fleeing and chasing phantoms in a never-ending maze. It ticks all the boxes for a modern Pac-Man game I'll say that, I'm just not sure I have the mental equipment to give it an objective score. That said, four cosmic pills out of five.
ONRUSH
It looks like a racing game, it sounds and almost plays like one but it is not actually a racing game. It is, in short, quite a unique animal in a game genre that doesn't do new things very often. Somewhere between your typical racers and your vehicular combat games is Onrush. A game where its really all about messing up your opponents in a race-like format that isn't actually a race. It's all about the points and the combos and the death-defying stunts and whatnot. In short I had a lot of fun with this one and was dismayed to find out its basically been abandoned by Codemasters and hasn't seen much in the way of updates for quite some time. Four near-fatal near-misses out of five!
Marvel's Avengers
Now up to a certain point, this was one of the best games I played this year. A button masher brawler populated by the Avengers. It looks great, the base story was fun and the core gameplay really connected for me. I was having a grand old time with it to be sure but then an odd thing happened and it just wasn't fun anymore. The odd thing being that it just kept going past the point of its logical conclusion. Yes its an online live-service game but I'm not exactly sure why. The aforementioned gameplay was great for the duration of the base game but soon strained under the weight of having to support the extended ongoing content. Once upon a time we would have praised a game like this whilst bemoaning how short it was, but the live service era does highlight how brevity can be a good thing in some cases. Three inevitable betrayals out of five!
Red Dead Redemption 2
Another long-time resident of my to-play list. I even went so far as to write a review on this one so I won't repeat too much of that here. Suffice to say, this is a the good stuff as far as gaming goes even if its not without fault. The guys best known for pulling off juvenile anarchy in the Grand Theft Auto games managed to pull the heart-strings once more in another tale of violence, hardship and regret. A proper masterpiece by anyone's definition of the term and possibly the best game I've played this year and if it doesn't end up being the best, then I've got quite the six months to look forward to. Five lonesome pines out of five!
Furi
This was both a genuine surprise and an unforgiving challenge. A series of brightly-coloured boss fights that somehow never got too samey and never outstayed its welcome. Now I'm not the biggest Souls-like fan around, I've played some of them but only out of a sense I should at least try them. This however, felt like the closest thing to a Souls-like game that I also quite enjoyed even as I was swearing profusely at it during the later stages. There's a genuine sense of learning the game that is harsh but also rewarding. As someone who is time-poor and resents games taking any longer than they have to, this was a worthwhile experience in my view and I highly recommend it. Five sinister rabbit-men out of five!
Invisible Inc.
Switching gears, I then decided to play another long-time fixture on the old to-play list and return to one of my favourite genres, that of the humble turn-based strategy game. Now I love me some XCOM so I'm not a stranger to the more ruthless turn-based strategy games around but this took a little getting used to. Once I got into its pace and rhythm I found there was much to enjoy here. Indeed the game sort-of encourages failure and repetition by awarding you XP and unlocks for each playthrough which them gives you more starting options for the next. A fiercely difficult game to be sure but somehow I'm more tolerant of difficulty when its in a turn-based format. Four clandestine AI's out of five!
Ok, that's enough for today, more soon!
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