Winter Break final

The last of the winter break games!

Zen Bound 2

Developer: Secret Exit Ltd.

Genre: Puzzle…?

Rundown:

You’re given a wooden object, and your objective is to wrap it in rope in order to cover it in paint. That’s essentially it, though there are variations on how wrapping the rope spreads the paint over the object. You get flowers for completion, which unlock later levels and worlds.

Completion Rate:

First few levels

Impressions:

Zen Bound 2 is presented beautifully. The visuals are gorgeous, the music fits the relaxed mood perfectly. Wrapping wood objects in rope is actually quite calming, though the perfectionist in me easily grows frustrated at a few of the more difficult objects to get 100% in. The biggest problem for the game lies in the controls, which often feel clunky and cumbersome, especially for the more complex shapes. Some way to more carefully thread the rope into the tighter niches would have been great. However, overall the controls do not greatly hinder the experience, and the experience is both calming and enjoyable.

Blue Toad Murder Files- The Mysteries of Little Riddle

Developer: Relentless Software

Genre: Adventure

Rundown:

You play as one of the detectives of the Blue Toad Detective Agency, and you’ve been sent to Little Riddle to get a well-deserved vacation. Unfortunately, fate has other plans in store, and no sooner do you arrive in town than a murder occurs. Dun dun dun… Can you solve the mystery?

Completion Rate:

Finished the first case.

Impressions:

Make sure you play with subtitles on, particularly if you’re not good at understanding accents. Blue Toad Murder Files is entirely voice acted, and the voice acting is not that good, so some of the people can be particularly hard to understand. After you get past the frustrating voice acting, the dialogue is quite funny though, and frequently pokes fun at itself. Upon finishing a puzzle with a gold rank, the narrator will sometimes remark, “Now take this next moment to look as smug as possible,” and the situations for the murders are quite ridiculous, with both murders so far taking place while the player character was in the middle of talking to the victim. The first victim, the mayor, is ironically shot while he is in the middle of describing in detail exactly how safe the town of Little Riddle is. The puzzles unfortunately tend to either be incredibly easy or frustrating, with very little in between. Some of the puzzles are also based on listening to a character talking, which tends to be a huge pain. The first case was a bit too simple, but hopefully the later cases become more difficult and interesting.

BIT.TRIP BEAT

Developer: Gaijin Games

Genre: Music?

Rundown:

It’s Pong, but the balls you have to bounce come in time with the beat of the music. There are also various types of balls to bounce to mix things up.

Completion Rate:
Died on Descent, the second of three modes. Not sure what is left after all 3 modes.

Impressions:

BIT.TRIP BEAT is one of the games where I have to remind myself to blink. The constant barrage of balls flying at your paddle and the various audial and visual effects that occur every time something happens gets a bit overwhelming. New types of balls are constantly being introduced, and it’s up to you to keep track of what color corresponds to what type of ball and predict the ball’s path accordingly. The game is really enjoyable when you get into the swing of things and are reflecting long streams of balls easily, but when you’re on the verge to death the background music cuts out and the colors switch to pure black and white until you manage to bounce the balls enough to bring it back to the usual colorful state. While a nice cosmetic touch given the game’s rainbow-y presentation, this unfortunately gets in the way in later segments, where knowing what color a ball is crucial to preparing to reflect it. Overall, BIT.TRIP BEAT is fun, but really just one of those distractions that I play for a short period of time rather than one I can sink hours into.

Machinarium

Developer: Amanita Design

Genre: Adventure

Rundown:

You control a small robot that’s been cast out of the city, and it’s up to you to find your way back and… I’m not sure what your goal is yet. The Steam store page for Machinarium says your saving your girlfriend from the Black Cap Gang, and while I have encountered the gang (they’re huge jerks) there’s been no mention of a girlfriend. It’s a pretty standard point and click adventure game.

Completion Rate:

Honestly, no clue.

Impressions:

Machinarium is beautifully presented. The art and music perfectly convey the world’s somber atmosphere. The characters communicate in speech bubbles far more clearly than any dialogue could have hoped to achieve. The world is wonderfully absorbing. As far as gameplay goes, it’s standard point and click, and the only small complaint I have is that sometimes control feels a little clunky. There was one puzzle that I have no idea how I was supposed to have figured out the answer, but the game thankfully has systems in place to prevent frustration. Many situations have a hint bubble where your character will indicate the general idea of what to do, and if you’re really stumped you can play a mini-game to unlock a book that details out the exact steps to take in order to complete the puzzle at hand.

AaAaAA!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity

Developer: Dejobaan Games, LLC

Genre: Action?

Rundown:

You’re a base jumper and you’re jumping through a floating city. Float by buildings to blow them kisses, and stay close to a building to rack up hugs for points. Please your fans, flip off protestors, all for the sake of the highest score possible. But be sure you pull off the landing.

Completion Rate:

Finished the basic tutorials and a few other levels.

Impressions:

AaAaAA!! is definitely the most unique game I’ve ever played. Sure, there have been a few other games with base jumping or parachuting segments, but none built entirely around the concept.  It is quite exhilarating to successfully pull off all the required stunts to earn a 5 star rating when you land at the bottom, though you’ll hear the cringe-inducing crunch of failure many times before then. Getting stars on a level earns you teeth, which you can trade in to unlock more levels. The game is easy to learn as the controls are simple (mouse determines where you look, WASD has you floating in the corresponding directions, space bar to deploy parachute at the bottom), but it is incredibly difficult to master. Do you attempt to make a pass by every building on the way down, to earn the maximum number of kisses possible, or do you stay close to a single very tall building racking up a huge number of hugs? Threading a careful balance between the two is the only way to get 5 stars on the level, and that’s just the basic mechanics, I haven’t even gotten to interacting with spectators yet. The thrill of the jump is addictive, and there’s an incredibly deep system behind it to make it more than just a brief flashy distraction.

Grotesque Tactics: Evil Heroes

Developer: Headup Games & Silent Dreams

Genre: Strategy RPG

Rundown:

You take the role of Drake, a depressed guy who was the only one to fail the exam to pass military academy. Just as you’re about to end your life by feeding yourself to carnivorous mushrooms, the great hero Holy Avatar walks by, informs you that all of Glory’s soldiers have been killed (Glory is the name of the country… I think) and persuades you to join him in building an army to fight back against the Dark Church. Gameplay-wise, Grotesque Tactics is a strategy RPG like Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics, but takes everything far less seriously.

Completion Rate:

I don’t know.

Impressions:

Grotesque Tactics is a pretty standard grid-based SRPG, and the presentation is quite pretty. The game pokes at the formula, and is quite funny. That said, there unfortunately are moments when the dialogue begins to be too much and gets a little annoying, plus there are numerous spelling and grammar errors in the dialogue (which is entirely text based). All control can be done with the mouse, and there are keyboard shortcuts available as well. Another minor complaint is that scrolling the map is done by moving the mouse to the edge, but it is extremely easy to scroll too far. In some cases, the camera will overshoot and end up focused on a part of the map that can’t be accessed, requiring some patience and mouse waggling in order to persuade the camera to come back to an accessible part of the map. Speaking of maps, Grotesque Tactics does things slightly differently in that rather than having a battle take place from start to finish on a single map, your party traverses a larger map freely until they encounter enemies, at which point they enter battle formation and the turn based combat begins. The system works well for the most part, but I would have liked to be able to control where each party member started each battle encounter. Grotesque Tactics has its fair share of flaws, but once you get past them the game is quite fun to play.