Tomi on 23/9/2020 at 22:51
I haven't bought a game on its release day for many years, but today I made an exception with art of rally, only because it looked so damn fun!
[video=youtube;rQDq59aNRyU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQDq59aNRyU[/video]
And it is quite fun indeed! As you can see in the trailer, it's a rally racing game from a top down view. It has kind of an arcade feel, but it's still a proper rally game that isn't as easy as it looks. Easy to learn, but hard to master, as the old cliche goes. You'll be spinning around and hitting trees at first, but when you finally nail that perfect drift through a big curve, there's something extremely satisfying about it. I'm not entirely pleased with the driving physics; the gravity especially feels a bit off when my old Mini (or "the Meanie", as they can't use the official names in the game) can make insane jumps and it just kind of floats through the air, but the semi-realistic car handling at least feels good and most of all fun. There are lots of different cars and the few ones that I've tried so far have all felt a bit different, so that definitely makes things a bit more interesting.
Also, you might already have noticed that Art of Rally looks absolutely gorgeous. Seriously, just watch that trailer again. It's minimalistic and ridiculously colourful, but to me it nails the indie game look perfectly. There's a very nice photo mode and I'm totally going to snap some screenshots of some of the lovely views in the game. Normally the first thing that I'd do in a racing game would be to turn off the music, but the retro synthpop soundtrack somehow fits in very well too, and you can still hear the engine roaring underneath it. Or perhaps the other way around. The track design is top notch and it follows the simplistic trend, but some of the locations are still truly beautiful and they're all pretty fun to drive. Some random obstacles or small rocks on the side of the road might make things more exciting though.
I still have a desire to play more realistic and serious rally sims after Art of Rally, but I already know that I'll be playing this a lot when I want something a bit more relaxing and fun. :)
henke on 24/9/2020 at 05:20
Ah, thanks for playing and posting your thoughts, Tomi.
I liked the dev's last game "Absolut Drift" and I've been following this on twitter for a long time. I'd pick it up myself if I wasn't playing 6 other games at the moment.
Renzatic on 24/9/2020 at 05:31
Quote Posted by henke
Yeah, that's the problem with modern scandinavians. Not enough into raping and pilaging these days.
Have you at least been raking your forests?
I've been playing The Eyes of Ara on Switch. It's one of those point 'n click Puzzle Mansion games, a'la Myst and Riven. It was a good pick, since I got on this puzzle mansion kick, and I had to send in my joycons for repair since I finally got struck by the drift issue.
Also, I bought during the last GOG sale. I'll probably play it next.
Judith on 24/9/2020 at 18:43
Hades is finally out of early access, downloading now.
[video=youtube_share;Bz8l935Bv0Y]https://youtu.be/Bz8l935Bv0Y[/video]
Renzatic on 27/9/2020 at 17:14
I'd be playing a lot more if my damn Joycons would get shipped back to me. Everything about it seems to take freaking forever and a day. It took 10 days to reach the repair center, two week in received, another week in repair, and now it's sitting somewhere with a label created, but not actually shipped.
I AM IMPATIENT!
...should've just bought some new ones, or repaired them myself.
Starker on 27/9/2020 at 17:34
Well, it's in the name, isn't it, coming from Latin gaudium (joy) and contra (against).
WingedKagouti on 27/9/2020 at 18:50
I finished a replay of Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy today and my main complaint is that you don't get to mess with the dual or staff saber variants until you're about 2/3rd of the way through the game. There were several minor plot details I had forgotten, but the main stuff was as I remembered it from the last time I played the game several years ago.
SubJeff on 27/9/2020 at 19:43
Quote Posted by Judith
Hades is finally out of early access, downloading now.
Oooh, that looks nice. Is the combat much like Hyperlight Drifters?
Renzatic on 27/9/2020 at 20:47
Quote Posted by Starker
Well, it's in the name, isn't it, coming from Latin
gaudium (joy) and
contra (against).
That's not what the name means at all, you nerd! :mad:
Judith on 28/9/2020 at 06:54
Quote Posted by SubJeff
Oooh, that looks nice. Is the combat much like Hyperlight Drifters?
Never played this one, but sort of, judging from the videos. Dashing is everything, as on later levels combat is frantically fast, there are bosses and mini-bosses that make it more of a bullet-hell kind of thing.
Also, kind of a health warning, the amount of effects, flashing and stuff on screen is quite overwhelming later on. Maybe I'm getting old, as both my perception and reflexes probably aren't that good, while the constant flashes and so much stuff going on makes me feel tired. On one hand the gameplay is super addictive, but it's probably best to play it in short bursts. Which is also important if you ever had carpal tunnel or tendnitis - your hands will get tired after this.
