WingedKagouti on 27/7/2022 at 12:46
Quote Posted by Malf
Oh, and modern Lara is remarkably stupid for someone who supposedly knows so much about antiquities, and has a nasty habit of stating the blindingly obvious.
It feels a lot like she was written that way intentionally, in an effort to give less astute players a chance to follow along. Lowest common denominator, largest target audience and all that.
Thirith on 27/7/2022 at 13:53
I've not played Shadow, but I find Camilla Luddington an immensely dull actor. Keeley Hawes' Lara Croft was cheesy, but she was fun and had charisma. I understand that that performance wouldn't have worked in the reboot trilogy, but what we got instead was just a big step down in every respect.
In the meantime, I'm almost done with Firewatch, and while I'm still enjoying it, I definitely liked it better before the story really kicked in. The bits I'll remember most will be the ones where I'm alone in the woods and just having chats with this voice on the radio. As soon as it became more dramatic, it took something away from the vibe that I was really digging. But let's see what the ending is like - it may well change how I see the game as a whole.
Meanwhile, I'm almost at the end of mission 4 of Death of the Outsider, and while I'm usually quite loathe to kill in games if I don't have to, the Abbey gets me to a point where I seriously think about killing them all and letting their deity sort them out.
Harvester on 27/7/2022 at 21:17
I got 3 months of Apple Arcade with my new phone, it's mostly very casual games so I think I'll cancel it as soon as the 3 free months are over. However it did have Beyond A Steel Sky and after enjoying Beneath A Steel Sky years ago, which I've played in ScummVM after they released it as freeware, I thought it might be fun. I just finished it, and while it's not a classic, I did have a good time with it. Of course, I had to make do with lower detail graphics compared to the PC and PS5 versions, because the Apple TV I played it on (using a PS4 controller) is not nearly as powerful as a PS5 or modern PC.
But it was charming, there's some humor, a funny sarcastic sidekick (the robot Joey) who on multiple occasions actually made me laugh out loud, competent voice acting, and nice puzzles without any moon logic involved. It also has some thematic elements with real-life relevance. Like the game's dystopian world has a social credit system similar to the one in China, and there's a broader theme of people becoming complacent, lulled to sleep and not questioning power structures by a society where everything is provided for them. It's also a game suitable for younger people, there isn't as much as a drop of blood, any adult themes or even any harsh language in it, so if you have children old enough to understand the story and take a stab at solving the puzzles, there's no harm in letting them play it.
Compared to a game like Thimbleweed Park, this has a much simpler structure. In Thimbleweed Park you had multiple playable characters and multiple objectives at the same time, with long to-do lists which the game keeps track of. Here you always have a single objective at any time, you only have to concentrate on solving the one puzzle in front of you. But the puzzles are sometimes pretty clever, I liked the hacking device mechanism where you can make machinery do different stuff.
The references to the previous game went over my head though, it's been too long since I played it. But you can play Beyond just fine without having played Beneath, the game explains what you need to know. In summary, it's not bad, if you can get it for cheap you might have some fun with it.
demagogue on 28/7/2022 at 00:07
Quote Posted by Thirith
But let's see what the ending is like - it may well change how I see the game as a whole.
Famous last words if ever they were uttered...
Looking at the reviews (I'm not going to spoil anything), the ending did change how a lot of people saw the game as a whole; but they were mostly coming in from the opposite side as you, being really into the dramatic turn. So I don't think I can actually predict how you'll receive it, similarly or opposite to that trend. But it'll probably evoke something. You have something to look forward to at least.
PigLick on 28/7/2022 at 04:42
Yeh felt much the same as you Thirith regarding Firewatch. If the game had just been the first half I would have enjoyed it more I think. I still think its a very good game, but the ending..well I won't spoil anything but interested to see what you reckon.
Briareos H on 28/7/2022 at 08:24
Thirding the sentiment re. Firewatch, I was deeply invested at first and it deflated as the story took more and more space. Still not bad but wrong expectations I guess... Kind of the the opposite reaction I had to Gone Home, its charm catching me by surprise since I had started playing without knowing a damned thing about the story, expecting a run-of-the-mill spookhouse.
Quote Posted by Harvester on Beyond A Steel Sky
In summary, it's not bad, if you can get it for cheap you might have some fun with it.
Agreed! It's not groundbreaking in visual design or storytelling (the original wasn't either) but it's charming enough, I especially liked the first half of the game until
after you meet your "wife" and the city opens up a bit. All that was really well done and fun, with a functionally competent hybrid between a Telltale adventure game and a classic point & click.
After Thirith mentioned it here, I overcame my fear of choice and finally played through
Dishonored 2. I feel like I could write a lot but my arguments would end up being too personal, too subjective and wouldn't matter. All I will say is that I loved the level design and tolerated the rest, except for the sound direction which I thought was really,
really poor. I have no intention to play the DLC.
Meanwhile, I've completed
Patrick's Parabox and I will wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who likes a puzzle game. Each set of levels introduces a fresh new mechanic so it never gets stale, and some of the harder levels are challenging enough while never requiring a walkthrough (even for someone as bad at puzzle games as me).
On to RDR2!
Malf on 28/7/2022 at 18:48
Quote Posted by Briareos H
I have no intention to play the DLC.
That's a shame, because story and freedom-of-choice wise, Death of the Outsider is much better than the main game.
Yes, it suffers a bit from retreading a lot of familiar maps, but dialing back on how much morality affects the outcome allows for more expressive play.
Also, I might be biased because I have a thing for Rosario Dawson :D
Thirith on 29/7/2022 at 09:09
So, I've now finished Firewatch, and while I'd say I enjoyed the whole game, the second half definitely worked much less well for me than the first. The direction in which the plot develops doesn't really work for me; it certainly adds tension and a sense of wanting to know where the story goes, but it takes away from everything that made me fall in love with Firewatch in its first half. While I'm sure there are thematic links between where the plot goes and the main character's own predicament, these links feel tenuous. To be honest, to me it feels like the devs didn't quite trust what they had with their premise and that they felt they had to spice it up somehow. It didn't ruin Firewatch for me, but it did weaken its impact considerably. Though, having said that, I very much dig how the environment becomes more and more ominous and scary as the fire progresses. I just wish they'd used that effect to express more about the main characters.
PigLick on 29/7/2022 at 10:43
This is exactly how I felt about it, but more succintly put than I could manage. Starts off like a 10/10 game then devolves into a 8/10.
