A tad more than mild babble: Year of Indie Games Part 2

Based on the list of games I've assembled, I'm starting to wonder whether I shouldn't have split it into another post. However, it IS the last day of the year so let's just be about it.

There is one game I'd like to mention that I played endlessly on my phone. It's gotten me through times that I didn't want to think this year and was a delightful distraction. And that game was 2048. The idea is relatively simple. You're given a board divided into squares.You proceed to match the same numbers together by sliding one into the other - 2 to 2 making 4; 4 to 4 making 8 and so on - until you manage to match the blocks to make up 2048. I know there's an online version of it somewhere, but that kept making me motion sick for some reason. I also have a ton of respect for the creator who refuses to charge for the game seeing as he built it up from a similar game called Threes. Not a lot of people would have the scruples these days.

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Mount & Blade gets a mention because I spent so much time on it this year, but it is a game, the first that I purchased online without receiving a disc and at that stage I was horribly worried by the thought. The game was simply too good to pass up, however. Now to see if I can describe it...

In Mount & Blade, you create a character by answering some questions on its background. These determine the initial stats you are given. Then you start off in a large country with four nations that're duking it out for domination. You're given a mount and a blade and are left to your own devices. Will you recruit an army to carve out your own little area by besieging castles in your own name? Will you work for one of the nations as a mercenary or perhaps become a lord yourself?

The answers might sometimes start off as the selection of text in a conversation, but ultimately it is determined on the battlefield. Being on a horse in their particular third-person view was a very novel experience for me and I won't deny that I pulled up my legs more than once while my mount barely scraped past a tree, or rock, or charging opponent. Simply gorgeous.

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GoG.com is the devil. It is the main reason why I suddenly have a ton of games that need playing. Another culprit is Humble Bundle, but GoG started it and Humble merely finished my demise (and that of my credit card). And in one of the evil sales GoG brought forth, I purchased Don't Starve on a complete and utter whim.

It wasn't a game I was truly convinced that I would play, but it had enough elements to have me

rather intrigued. There was the twisted Adams Family/Tim Burton-esque look and feel to the game. The fact that it got rave reviews and was a "cheap indie" also drew at me. That sounds terribly, doesn't it? But what I mean is that, at that point, my curiousity for indie games and whether I would risk my money on it was very much dependent on the price of the investment. It was very much worth it.

Still, it wasn't until my usually non-badgering friend began chucking whatsapp lines at me such as "So you'll be playing Don't Starve this afternoon, right?", "Have you played Don't Starve, yet?" that I decided to download it from my account and give it a try. That was a mistake.

In Don't Starve, you play a character (which you select beforehand and each has their own particular

perks) who wakes up in a massive island with a dude looming over you and telling you that you better get something to eat, it'll be dark soon. And that's all that's said. The rest you figure out on your own. As you explore the different biomes, you find ingredients that enable you to craft items that become crucial to your survival. It sounds terribly like Minecraft, doesn't it? Only it isn't. You actually have a goal - which is to get out of where you're stuck in - and you don't need to read a ton of stuff outside (or inside) the game to figure out what to do. It's delightfully quirky and time consuming and just wonderful... Okay now I want to go play it....

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Picture this: You're sitting in your garage. It's kind of cool, but not quite nippy with nothing but the sound of your old PC's fan whirring away and perhaps the dusty smell of concrete touches your nose every now and then. There aren't any games on that PC of yours. At least not yet. Because you haven't made them yet.

And that's where Game Dev Tycoon begins. You're pulled back about 35 years when games were only really beginning to kick off and you're ready to break into the gaming scene with your own snazzy company. It's up to you to decide which consoles you're going to focus on and what games you're going to make.

The game is quite simple in a way, but nostalgia and amusement plays a role throughout. It follows the history of games and so, while no brand is used exactly, it is something of a walk down memory lane for those who might have followed the development of games in general. I'm honestly not giving it half the justice it deserves. It was quite a lot of fun.

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From creating games, how about running your own prison? Prison Architect is an early-access indie that allows you to do just that. Get those inmates a place to stay, feed them, give them stuff to do, allow family to visit, and try to keep the riots down to a minimum. This game has taken up a great deal of my gaming time this year and threatens to do the same next year too.

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And then finally, the newest, greatest evil ever since Don't Starve was started up for the first time...

The Long Dark.

You are a survivor of a plane crash, dropped off in north Canada somewhere to try and survive with whatever you can find and manage to hunt. This game is also early access and puts you in a sandbox map (for the time being. Story mode to follow) after a natural disaster that wipes out everyone else within the vicinity. Beyond that you don't know. It's a first person survival game that pits you against the elements. You have to make sure you get clothes that are warm enough to deal with the cold, get enough food into your system, keep hydrated and explore the small fishing settlement you've been chucked into. 

So far I've lasted 8 days max. And I absolutely love it.

Well, that's that for the year. Less than 12 hours to go for me. Let's see what the next year holds. 

Babble: Skyrim by Bioware

I avoided the Dragon Age: Inquisition hype as best I could and I did so for multiple reasons. One of them being that Bioware has to hype this game and make it all nice and pretty and tell everyone how pretty it is. I believe they've mucked up enough in the past to have a lot riding on DA:I. And frankly, I wasn't interested in following that.

Another reason was that Dragon Age 2, while having a few profoundly bright lights, was actually quite terrible. Now there HAVE been games that picked up their standards at the third iteration of it - Far Cry 3 (although I was quite partial to the second one even though a few people weren't), Bioshock Infinite, and so on - but that doesn't necessarily make me inclined to spend money on them until I've been sufficiently convinced that things are looking up. Assassin's Creed 3 (which I avoided) was apparently an utter train smash and I hadn't liked the second one. Only massive the hype after the release of Blackflag brought me back to the franchise. And I wasn't disappointed at all.

Anyway, I'm digressing. Point is, I avoided DA:I because 'meh'. But Yahtzee's review of the game pulled my attention to it (warning, he's crude as all hell, so if you are going to watch his review, beware). It was mostly getting favourable reviews, but the thing that got me about what Yahtzee said was that he liked it more than the first Origins. Now, I can't say I am in sync with his tastes, but his feel of games isn't altogether off and so it made me turn my head a little. And so, against my stingy judgement, I purchased the newly released game and gave it a try.

And... it's okay... ish.

Let me say first that my review is mostly spoiler free, but I'm going to say that there are portals in the sky only you can plug because you have a glowy green thing stuck to your hand. That's the main thrust of the game.

I think my main problem of the game is that it doesn't feel like a Bioware game. I know Yahtzee called the protagonist 'Fantasy Commander Shepard' and I can see what he means, but if anything, it reminds me more of an the Elder Scrolls game (from now on referred to as TES) than anything else - and in particular of Skyrim.

You start off as a prisoner - like in TES.

You run around picking up ingredients every three steps - like in TES.

You fight randomly generated animals and foes - like in TES.

There are massive blue-ish giants - like in Skyrim. I haven't gotten close enough to them to see whether they could club me like a golf ball as is the case in Skyrim - which is a personal favourite feature of them, I have to admit.

There are random portals you need to close - like in TES: Oblivion.

There are massive dragons - like in... well, it is Dragon Age, so maybe I shouldn't harp on this one being like Skyrim.

And I am not really going to comment much on the story because... I've yet to discover exactly what it is even after having spent quite a few days on it. Kind of like Skyrim. I do have one nitpick. You don't take a prisoner and say 'Okay, you have the glowy thing on your hand so we'll let you make the decisions' within an hour of meeting him/her. That's a bit of a stretch, but anyhoo. I guess it would take too much time to have that progression of earning trust and naturally flowing into the leadership role.

Now none of these things are bad (with the exception of my previously mentioned nitpick). Just because I'm reminded of a completely different game, doesn't mean I'm against it or that Dragon Age hasn't done these things well. In fact, the game looks really good. The dragons are amazing and even more impressive in my opinion than in Skyrim. You don't go "Aha! A dragon! Let's go slay it!". You're reaction is more "Oh shhhhtttt!! Run!! Owww, oww, fireball, fireball, oww!"

The combat is good. They've brought back some of the elements they had chucked out in DA 2. I think the classes are reasonable. I love that they have given the player the option of playing a qunari - with or without horns. In terms of party AI, I think they've done a pretty good job. They've simplified tactics a bit. I would have liked to have more options pre-set, but you do have some options that enable you to strategise on the fly.

Dialogue is well done. They don't give you the introductory back story, which I sulked about, but they still have the interaction between party members that was one of the bright spots in DA 2. They've taken the 'if it's not broken then don't fix it' approach with the dialogue bar and kept the middle picture icons that give you an idea of the tone a particular dialogue option will be in. They have a ton of different party members to interact with - each with their own flavour and values. Your choices can affect their opinion of you, just like the previous DA games. Hawke has a cameo... he looks terrible. Spoiler perhaps, but yeah, unimpressive.

The scenery is delightful. The game LOOKS good and you can see they've spent a lot of time and attention on detail.

They've brought back customisation of weapons and armour and they've done it rather well. I can't say one really feels any need to use it seeing as you pick up a lot of excellent gear along the way. Unfortunately a lot of the great gear ends up being several levels above what you're allowed to use which can be a bit of a bummer. Maybe there's chest somewhere you can stick it into for future use, but I've yet to find something like that.

They now also have camps you can set up on your map. Going to these camps enables you to rest and heal up and replenish your healing potions for free (which the entire group shares... both positive and negative I think).

So I guess one can say all the elements are there and many will be quite satisfied with the game. I can't say that it is better than the first DA, but that's because I loved the story of the first. Was that not the case, then yes, DA:I is remarkably well done.

For some reason, however, those great elements just hasn't linked up for me. I'm still waiting for the moment where I'm going to be sucked in. After a week, I have yet to have it. I'm now at a point where I want to play the game merely to finish it (because it's bloody expensive as a new release) and I don't think that's ever the state you want your player to be in.

The game is also buggy - which makes me angry. Don't tell me there are patches. I am playing it on console and I don't have the kind of internet to stick onto it to get said patch. And don't tell me 'these things slip in'. Not when you have a glaring problem in your introductory scene. Random bandits, animals and the occasional plant you encounter while you're running through the country side have the odd tendency to disappear every now and then right before you reach them. It's an old argument, but don't put your product out there and then spend time fixing it. That's like selling someone a brand new car and telling them you'll fix up the engine later - and then shrug when they can't bring the bloody thing back to you to get fixed.

Let's be honest, I am biased against Bioware. I'm not going to deny it. There's this big dark black hole in my mind that I've gleefully chucked them into from time to time when it looks like they're miraculously managing to crawl back out, but I really still wanted to like this game. And I still really do.

And it's not that I don't exactly. It's just that it's average. There's no glue that makes me want to come back to it (except that Morrigan is apparently in it somewhere... hmm). It's just that the game is... 'meh'. At least to me. Maybe it's because I've always been one for story and I'm just not picking up on that element which is a core ingredient for me.

Love it or hate it, I don't think it's the hit Bioware was hoping for, but for a Skyrim model, it's not all that bad.

Mild babble: Year of Indie Games - Part 1

I don't know about anyone else, but this year has been a complete and utter bear - and not the Teddy Roosevelt kind. And I really hope 2015 won't be SSDY, because I might then just consider (for a second or two) chewing my wrists or something equally stupid.

This has really been the year of indie gaming for me. I have to admit that, with the exception of Alien: Isolation, I haven't really been blown away by any of the top releases. Okay, granted, I haven't played Farcry 4 and I am curious about Assassin's Creed: Rogue. But other than those... meh. It took me a while to realise that my very enthusiastic gaming streak was completely flooded with indies. And I have to say, I find that rather delightful.

I might spend more time on some of the games I'm going to list in the future, but I figured just to give a nod and a quick description of each.

One thing I've realised about the games I like to play is that they're time killers. Black holes that I somehow manage to escape only when I have to go to bed to function properly the next day or when my stomach is almost done consuming itself.

Triple Town is a terrible example of this. What makes the game even worse is that I can't say that I like it. It gives me no satisfaction and yet it allows me to switch my mind off for a bit. It doesn't help that I can sit and listen to audio books while playing it. Nor does it help that it is a small window on my PC and that I can sit and play it in between tasks (like sending work emails, ahem). The fact that I've discovered that it's also available as a mobile game is most distressing. I'm doing my utmost to forget this fact.

The concept is painfully simple. Match a minimum of three things together so it makes a bigger thing. Then match the bigger things together. And so on, and so on, and so on... Simple. Addictive. A pain in the ass. *resists temptation to play it*    *fails*

*some time later*

I've always loved the idea of being able to see inside large structures - looking at simple schematics or architectural layouts. I can't say exactly why. Perhaps it is the idea of possibility. Whatever the reason, I was definitely the dollhouse type person - only I hated dolls and my GI Joes looked a little awkward sitting around in their surroundings.

Games like FTL thus appeal to me quite a bit. You play a ship captain of a message courier boat who needs to travel from one point of the galaxy to another to let the goodies know that the baddies are coming. Only the baddies are always right on your tail and it takes quite a lot of effort evading them while jumping around from system to system gathering resources, upgrading your armour and doing whatever random event is generated from time to time.

You have a top-down view of your ship with certain rooms that can/should be occupied by a crew member to operate optimally. Enemy attacks can cause damage to the operations of a room, create hull breaches or set a room on fire. Dealing with that, the attacking ship and the occasional unpleasant boarders can be quite a challenge. But a fun challenge. An advanced edition of the game has been released which adds more ships, races, weapons and other things to the game.

Papers, Please has an insanely simple concept and it is very difficult to explain the element of entertainment that's involved in this game when talking about it. You play an immigration officer at a border of the imaginary country of Arstotzka. It is for you to decide whether a person gains entry to the country or not. As the game progresses, the required documents become progressively more complex and you're thrown into a balance of making ends meet, showing compassion and keeping your head down so as to avoid garnering the attention of your superiors.

The game allows for twenty possible endings. I have encountered three thus far, but have given the game (and myself) a bit of a rest. I'll probably pick it back up again later. It's one of those, I don't ever see really casting aside.

Banished is a different kind of city builder that can be both relaxing and maddening at the same time. For whatever reason, your people have been banished to make a new home for themselves in a randomly generated area. Based on what settings you choose, you're given an x-number of resources and buildings and it's up to you to make something of it by first dealing with the immediate needs of your people - food, heat, clothing, and tools - and then working forward to create a thriving settlement.

The game is constantly being tweaked and has seen some delightful updates come up to deal with some of the pesky issues a player might encounter. Overall, the game is something one can play and have running in the background while other tasks are being dealt with. It's interesting to watch the minions at work.

Going Home is a love-it-or-hate-it kind of game. It doesn't have a great amount of replay value, but there's something about it that makes me want to return to it and capture some of what I felt when I played it for the first time. The game is very strongly reliant of its narrative and puts you in the shoes of Katie, the eldest daughter of a small family who has returned after a year of touring Europe. In the time you've been gone, the family has moved to a new town and into a large house. You arrive at the house to find that your parents and younger sister aren't at home and set about exploring your surroundings to see what's happened in the year you've been gone.

I found the game to be quite profound - to the point where I've had to wipe away the occasional tear as I played it. I love the idea and the story really struck deeply for some reason, but that's both the blessing and the curse of the game. It's an exploration of what has already come to past and so might be boring to some. The story is also somewhat unconventional and might end up being abhorrent to the more traditional minds. Still, I would love to see other games like it.

I managed to grab the audio of the letters read to you throughout the game and listen to it every now and again. The voice acting is superb, in my opinion and I think that's also one of the reasons I keep listening to it. My heartstrings get thoroughly plucked every time.

Seeing as it's past midnight, I'm going to stop this here for now. I promised this post to a friend of mine and will be putting down another post before New Year which will conclude with the list of indies I've been playing - or at least the indies I can think of. I played a LOT of different games this year.

For now, all the best in this season of family feuds, overindulgence, tourists, screaming children, and the delightful knowledge that, in the next couple of days/weeks, you'll be expected to take on a new year as if you couldn't be more rested out.

I'm sure we're all looking forward to it.