The Backlog Check-in Vol. 206: 12/11/21: Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth Edition

[Phaseknox]

Played: Biomutant, Scarlet Nexus, What Remains of Edith Finch

Finished (playing): Scarlet Nexus

Playing: Biomutant, What Remains of Edith Finch

Added: Nothing

I’ve played Biomutant for 10 hours now, and I’m finding it to be a bit of a mixed bag. It sort of reminds me of a PS3/Xbox 360 era game. The graphics are somewhat dated, and the game in general seems like something that would have come out years ago. It’s rather low budget lacking big production values, and polish. The game world is large, but a bit same-y looking with a cut and pasted assets look to it. The character controls and gameplay are decent, perhaps a little janky at times but not bad. The combat and world exploration are the best aspects of it, everything else is a little lacking.

The story and characters are rather meh. In terms of story you’re basically given the bare minimum to have a reason to do the quests, and the characters all lack any real personality. You play as a silent protagonist that doesn’t convey any real emotion, and feels more like an avatar than a character. NPC interaction is done via text and is dull, the writing is fairly drab too. I turned off the voiced narrator because he gets annoying constantly talking while you’re playing, but he still chimes in once in a while to explain some things which is fine. However, I would have preferred a more traditional style of storytelling and NPC interaction instead of a narrator narrating everything.

Since the game has an all cute anthropomorphic animal cast, it does seem like it’s somewhat aimed at a younger audience. Everything is fairly tame in terms of content, and has a made for all ages feel to it. I admit that I tend to like my post apocalyptic games to be a little darker and grittier meant for older audiences. I’m also not the biggest fan of playing as an anthropomorphic animal character, especially a silent one without a voice or personality.

The core gameplay of combat, exploration and getting loot has been enough to keep me playing, but I’m not sure if it will be enough to keep me playing until the end. I’ve been mostly doing side objectives and exploring the world, but since the side stuff isn’t all that engaging I’m going to start doing story quests and see if they make things more interesting. If they don’t, then I’ll most likely quit playing since I have better games waiting to be played.

Speaking of better games waiting to be played, I started playing What Remains of Edith Finch and I’m liking it. The graphics are impressive, the attention to detail and lighting are great. But I will say one thing, the Finch family really likes books, pictures and canned salmon. Walking through the Finch house is creepy, and weird. And weird this game most certainly is, but in a good way. I’m finding it really compelling, and look forward to playing it more.

Games releasing this week
Aeterna Noctis
Alfred Hitchcock: Vertigo
Ancient Cities
Aspire: Ina’s Tale
Asteroids: Recharged
Black Bird
Circus Pocus
Clid the Snail
Clockwork Aquario
Collapsed
Firegirl: Hack ‘n Splash Rescue
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach
Gear Club Unlimited 2
Greak: Memories of Azur
The Gunk
Moon
Mr. Prepper
Murder Diaries 3: Santa’s Trail of Blood
Power Pushout
Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth
Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon
Trash Quest
A Year of Springs

[isthatallyougot]

I played Little Misfortune in close to one sitting yesterday. (It's not very long.) I loved Fran Bow so much, and this has much of that same charm, albeit lacking the challenge/puzzles of Fran. But it's still well-worth a play if you have *ANY* appreciation for originality.

[Phaseknox]

I finished What Remains of Edith Finch, and was left feeling a little disappointed at the end. Most of what is on offer is really good, but there’s just not enough of it. And I didn’t like how some of the stories were obvious what happened in them, and others were ambiguous and left open to interpretation. The game told the real life tragedies in an artful, creative and whimsical way for you to decipher them, but there were a few that were left open to interpretation too much. Part of the fun of the game is putting things together to figure out what really happened, but some of the stories didn’t seem grounded in reality which went against the point of the game IMO. I enjoyed my time with it for the most part, but it had the potential to be a lot better than it was.

[isthatallyougot]

I finished What Remains of Edith Finch, and was left feeling a little disappointed at the end. Most of what is on offer is really good, but there’s just not enough of it. And I didn’t like how some of the stories were obvious what happened in them, and others were ambiguous and left open to interpretation. The game told the real life tragedies in an artful, creative and whimsical way for you to decipher them, but there were a few that were left open to interpretation too much. Part of the fun of the game is putting things together to figure out what really happened, but some of the stories didn’t seem grounded in reality which went against the point of the game IMO. I enjoyed my time with it for the most part, but it had the potential to be a lot better than it was.

Yeah, I thought the setting was pretty cool, and it was enjoyable enough exploring/investigating, but overall it was pretty mediocre for me.

[jfissel]

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Final Fantasy VII Remake, Lost Judgment PS5

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 40 games

I'm getting close to the end of Lost Judgment, so hopefully I can share some of my thoughts next week.

[Phaseknox]

I’ve played more Biomutant, and I’m enjoying it a little more now. The story quests have been alright, and there’s been some decent side quests as well. I’ve also been to some areas that look a little different in appearance as well as some indoor areas, so the world is starting to feel a bit more varied. I’ve improved my weapons with better parts and have unlocked more abilities/skills, so I’m feeling more like a badass furry. There’s pretty good enemy variety, and the combat is fairly fun. Exploring is rewarding too which I like. It’s a somewhat small budget game that’s a little rough around the edges, but it’s still a competent open world action adventure. It’s like Conker’s Bad Fur Day combined with Fallout.

[canedaddy]

Played recently: Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 21 (17 PS4, 4 Switch)


This will probably be my check-in for a while. Fell Seal is, still, a nicely done SRPG in the style of FF Tactics.

[Phaseknox]

Despite me saying that I’ve been enjoying Biomutant more, I quit playing it. While it got better and is something that I want to play through, I have other games that I would rather be playing now instead. I’m in the mood to play something that I really want to play right now, and I decided to play Far Cry 6. The update for it is installing now, and I’ll be back later with impressions. Viva la revolution!

[isthatallyougot]

I probably ought to start throwing my year-end list/reviews together if I'm going to do this thang again this year. I'm not sure what my game of the year is...probably something by David Cage...

[Phaseknox]

I played Far Cry 6 for a few hours, and I’m enjoying it. The graphics are some of the best that I’ve seen in a game, they almost look photorealistic at times. The voice acting, music and sound effects are all topnotch as well. This is a big budget game with production values. The gameplay is good too offering shooting, stealth and even some climbing/platforming. There’s also vehicles to drive, and horses to ride.

What I haven’t liked too much about the game so far is how fast things happen in it. The beginning is a somewhat fast paced linear escape scenario with no real buildup before it, and then after that you quickly join up with some guerrilla freedom fighters and are given your first mission which is a firefight and then you collect some materials/resources and get taught crafting and then get sent on another mission. At this point I already had a machete, a pistol, two automatic rifles and a sniper rifle. I got one side mission to destroy an anti-aircraft cannon, and I also overtook a checkpoint outpost. Then I did a stealth mission to steal something from a small enemy base, and then I got a flamethrower and rocket launcher backpack. All of this at basically the beginning of the game.

I usually like slow beginnings in games, and to be eased into things gradually. I like to get to know who my character is, and slowly gather a better arsenal of weapons over time. This game basically throws you into the thick of things right away without you even knowing much about who you are. There’s some story and character interaction, but for the most part it’s just putting you into the action right away without much buildup.

There’s a reason why I usually prefer adventure games and RPGs to action games, and this is a good example why. I like slow beginnings, character development and weapon/skill progression. I don’t like just pure nonstop action right away, and given a bunch of weapons to start out with. It just makes things feel too rushed, and I don’t like feeling rushed in games. I’m still having fun, but I hope that things slow down a bit and there’s a little more development to everything.

I probably ought to start throwing my year-end list/reviews together if I'm going to do this thang again this year. I'm not sure what my game of the year is...probably something by David Cage...

I look forward to it as always. I could probably make my top 10 games of the year list now as well since I won’t be finishing Far Cry 6 before the end of the year.