Izzy's 2024 gaming year in review.

[isthatallyougot]

#38 Aconcagua (PS1 - 2000) 3/5 (9 hours playtime)



Looking at some Japanese-only PS1 releases that seemed like they ought to have made it West, I happened upon Aconcagua, a point-and-click adventure released in 2000. The thing that caught my attention is that in its original form it was fully voice acted in English and had a Western theme and setting. It received an interface translation some time ago, and considering the odd mixture of elements - from a genre not common to the PS1 to a game that needed little in terms of localization -I was pretty curious. So I gave it a try in early 2024.

The premise of the story is that there is a rebellion towards the status quo in the fictional South American country of Meruza, where a leader named Pachamama is attempting to unite the people and overthrow the corrupt regime currently in power. In the opening, she is making her way somewhere via air travel on a commercial flight, and that's when everything begins to go wrong. The plane, at least part of it, explodes, which causes a crash landing in the Andes on the titular peak of Aconcagua. We begin in the shoes of a journalist named Kato who starts searching for survivors. He's found himself tossed onto the face of some spot on the snowy mountain, and, after discovering that he is unharmed, begins looking around to assess his circumstances. In the process of exploring, he eventually comes upon other survivors (as well as many who perished), and they eventually, and out of necessity, unite and try to work out their salvation from these harsh circumstances. But things are not as (relatively) simple as they seem. Despite the already long odds of these post-crash conditions, we soon discover that the central piece in this fiction is the rebel, Pachamama, and there are many (in power) who would like to see her end, along with the dissolution of her dream for a more peaceful and equitable homeland. There's mischief afoot to be sure, and the reason for the crash and the difficulties getting off the mountain will become clearly connected as we encounter the unfolding tale. Without going into specific spoiler territory, it's safe to say that just as in real life, if you try to turn over the apple cart of the status quo (corrupt or not), you best watch dat ass. The combination of the potential conspiracy along with trying to simply survive the harsh elements and accident (along with a possible mole among you) was an interesting setting overall, and the pacing and obstacles kept things moving and interesting as these survivors made their descent.

And speaking of the survivors, you'll eventually have 5 that become your central party for the bulk of the adventure. There's the aforementioned Kato and Pachamama along with Steve (an engineer), Julia, who makes the claim of having one background while evidence mounts that she has another, and Lopez, who is the final character that joins your group. The cool thing about this group is that they all have their own skills, which contribute to their goal of rescue. Kato is a climber and kind of the “hero”/leader of things; Pachamama speaks Spanish, which is crucial for some interactions and information gathering, both in terms of spoken and written communication; Julia is like Liam Neeson's character in 'Taken' - she has a particular set of “skills”; Steve is the technical and mechanical problem solver with his specialized toolbox, and Lopez is the “strong man” who comes into play when raw brute force is required. I really thought they did a good job of bringing a diverse set of characters together to make things feel like a joint effort. There was a real sense of team that developed because they all needed each other at various junctures on their journey together. And the puzzles revolved around who was the right person for the job and getting them in the position so that they could execute their specialty, often in conjunction as part of a larger group aim. This central dynamic remained interesting and drove the game throughout and was a real highlight of the experience.

In terms of presentation, I thought it looked quite good for the PS1. The cutscene character models were naturally more detailed, and the environments weren't really pushing things in a serious way, but overall, I liked the visual delivery. There was even a pretty good attempt at lip-syncing character dialogue, which really surprised and impressed. The mountain setting had a surprising variety of locations, both man-made and natural, and there were plenty of unique scenarios for the characters to show their worth. The score also deserves special mention as it really had a summer blockbuster film sort of quality. I thought it really helped carry the tone of the circumstances and made things feel tense, weighty, and appropriately epic.

I wish I could leave things here, but Aconcagua does have its fair share of missteps down the proverbial mountain as well. The voice work was mostly adequate, if a bit wooden, much of the time. But man, that whiny bitch of an engineer. I really wanted him to die. I wish I could have pushed him off the mountain myself, lol. Dude, when we get cold and hungry, we're going to cut you open and warm ourselves to your spilled essence and then eat your remains to survive! He just wouldn't stop complaining! And his delivery was lacking any sublety - just too over-the-top silly in contrast with the rest. (I actually killed him on purpose at one point, only to find out that all 5, well, ultimately 4, must survive or it's game over, lol. I'll get you, oh I'll get you - one way or another. ) I read a developer interview after the fact, and they said that he (Steve) was their favorite character. I am now following these guys to make sure I never encounter another game in which they are responsible for character creation. To be fair, he was useful and a critical team member in terms of functionality, but I would only have tolerated him until we were rescued in real life. I'm also not sure why they used a fictional South American country rather than Argentina, the setting of the real-life peak. I assume it was not to give any potential offense to a real-world nation, but it still felt a little odd in that contrast of real-world and fictional-world blending. Probably the worst problem was the sometimes awkward and imprecise controls and camera angles. You have to move a cursor to direct whatever character you chose to control - just like in PC point-and-click games with a mouse. But getting your character to follow your desired path was often troublesome. And lining them up to where the camera angle would shift for some interactions was sometimes infuriating to get just right. It's strange because I see no logical reason why you couldn't have just been given direct control via the stick and/or d-pad. There was nothing preventing that sort of technical execution, but for whatever reason we are forced to guide everything with a big green arrow that made things unnecessarily fumbly. And in terms of puzzles, they and the different scenarios were mostly fun to solve, but they were, on occasion, overly rigid in their expectations. For example, in one scenario, you needed to get a segment of pipe in order to repair a rail-switching lever that was broken. It was obvious what NEEDED to be done. However, when attempting to interact with this pipe, there was never an option to do anything with it - just an acknowledgment that it was there and sticking out. It turns out you had to use the engineer to inspect the broken track lever, then have him inspect the hanging pipe section, and then have a conversation with the “strong man” about bending it onto the tracks so it could be severed with a moving rail car. You had to do these exact things AND in the proper order, or it wouldn't trigger. I walked around that area much longer than was necessary due to utter confusion about how to trigger the utilization of the obviously necessary item. Very annoying. To be fair, there were no other cases where I felt utterly perplexed. I only consulted a walkthrough for that spot, but there were a couple others that I could see being a bit problematic depending on how you saw the situation. And, like many other point-and-clicks, there is no flexibility or creativity to solutions. In one case I needed to retrieve some gas from an (embedded) container on a vehicle, and so I needed a container of my own to transfer and carry the liquid. Well, I already had a pair of gloves on Kato's character, and so I tried, reasonably enough, I thought, to fill his gloves with the gasoline. Of course, in real life, I could have certainly done so or used a variety of other implements, but in the world of rigid game logic, it was a no-go. To be fair, this rigidity is a historical part of much of this genre, for better or worse, but it was also, as so often the case - even in the classics, frustrating here. There were also a few timed sequences that, combined with the imprecise inputs, could be problematic until you figured out what to do and executed without waste.

Overall, I would still say that Aconcagua was a good game. It was full of drama and had an interesting premise and execution. And I liked the narrative aspects of disrupting a corrupt system. And I'm certainly grateful to have gotten to experience this Japanese-only curiosity from the venerable PS1. It had a decent share of frustration mixed in with the peaks, but this mountain adventure was still a pretty decent trek. 3/5

[canedaddy]

But man, that whiny bitch of an engineer. I really wanted him to die. I wish I could have pushed him off the mountain myself, lol. Dude, when we get cold and hungry, we're going to cut you open and warm ourselves to your spilled essence and then eat your remains to survive! He just wouldn't stop complaining! And his delivery was lacking any sublety - just too over-the-top silly in contrast with the rest. (I actually killed him on purpose at one point, only to find out that all 5, well, ultimately 4, must survive or it's game over, lol. I'll get you, oh I'll get you - one way or another. ) I read a developer interview after the fact, and they said that he (Steve) was their favorite character. I am now following these guys to make sure I never encounter another game in which they are responsible for character creation.

Another example of why these are worth reading even if I'll never play the game.

[isthatallyougot]

Another example of why these are worth reading even if I'll never play the game.

But, I didn't like him.

#37 (c-12) Final Resistance (PS1 - 2002) 3/5 (11 hours playtime)



I'd like to start off this review by talking about nostalgia. We all have preferences, and those can often be colored by an affinity for a particular period of life, often a very happy or formative time that flavors our sense of things going forward. I mention this because I imagine many may accuse me of being overly nostalgic for what I'm about to say. I absolutely LOVE PS1 low-fidelity/low-poly graphics! Adore them! There is just so much room for the imaginative space to play with things. There is something about the low-definition graphics that, for me, is so harmonious with the very act of playing a game. All of this interaction is occurring within the imaginative space, within the abstract realms of thought, ultimately. And so visuals that are a bit more “related” to reality rather than close copies of what we might find in life are wonderfully suited to the idea of getting lost within such fantasy we experience while gaming. In some ways, PS1 (or other low-fidelity) visuals are my favorite of all because of this. To be clear, I do love cleaned up and “purdy” modern visuals, but that usually has more to do with art style than raw horsepower with round edges, highly detailed texture maps, ray-tracing this and that and all the other glitz in the instances I find myself particularly drawn to something of a more modern and high-end presentation. And just for reference, C-12 Final Resistance - the focus of this review - isn't anywhere near the best example of low-poly on the console, imho, but I still adore the suggestions and “whispers” of all these low-fi worlds that invite you to engage with your own imagination, an aspect that really serves to immerse me to a greater degree than presentation where there are few questions open to interpretation about the places you inhabit. Of course, one of the trade-offs, even for me, is the fact that developers were still working out how to both craft these 3-dimensional worlds as well as figure out how to impart control to the player in these more expansive spaces, and this is where many games from this era suffer, and that is no exception here. Thankfully, there are still indie devs who are continuing with their passion for this sort of limited visual canvas and its consequential and paradoxical heightened sense of engagement. (For those who feel like I do anyway) I'd be perfectly happy if PS1-era low-poly was the predominant form of visual expression in this medium still today. Can you IMAGINE the size of the worlds, the buttery smooth framerates (although that's always developer choice regardless of tech), all the interiors available to be explored, and all the potential along with the modern control sensibilities? Man, what a paradise! (I feel like some sort of vinyl fanatic before that, justifiably, became trendy again, lol.) Enough, though, with the gushing over warping textures, blurry what-is-this-anyway visual bits, and all those awesome elements that really give this console and style an unforgettable vibe...I've got a review to write!

So, C-12 Final Resistance came out towards the tail end of the PS1's life and even after the PS2 had established itself. So it was in a tough spot, I think, given those circumstances alone. I don't know what type of sales it had, but I can imagine a kid who got this for Christmas or a birthday instead of a shiny new PS2 being terribly disappointed, merits of the game itself notwithstanding. In this game you take on the role of Lieutenant Vaughan, an augmented and acknowledged “finest soldier” that has sacrificed a bit of his humanity in order to aid the cause against an alien invasion. The setting is Great Britain, but this is a global threat where the aliens are intending on milking our world for its resources while getting the pesky locals out of the way. In the course of things, we progress forward by solving some light puzzles and engaging in combat against these dastardly invaders. As for the puzzles, they are mostly simple and are resolved with a little exploration. Since Vaughan is augmented, one of his features is an imaging unit in his eye - a sensor that will give environmental detail about any important objects. When you push R2, it goes into first person, and you can look about and attempt to highlight anything that may help point you forward. (I always love when third-person games allow examination of the environment from first person as well. It's a little thing, but something I always appreciate. It just helps me ground myself in the world more fully.) There are a couple of puzzles that are the slightest bit more involved, but it's not something that is going to tax you mentally. But as simple as they are, they do serve a nice purpose of breaking up the action and giving the entire adventure a more fleshed-out and complete feel. Oh, and there's some box pushing. Given the era, OF COURSE there is some box pushing, lol. Thank you, Lara Croft. (Please don't hate me; your PS1 games are some of the greatest ever! ) In terms of combat, you start the game with some sort of a blade weapon that literally served little to no purpose. I think I had to use it once to clear out some debris in order to climb a ladder, but otherwise, you'll never have need of it, which made cycling through weapons a little annoying as it was an extra slot to pass over. Otherwise, you've got some standard military weaponry and eventually some of the sweet alien kit to fight fire with fire in the effort to save our planet and species. And there will be plenty of foes to deal with over the course of this game, so you'll be finding stashes of ammo as well as gathering those and health drops from fallen foes to aid you along the way. And one really cool feature about the weapons is that each one gets a secondary fire that you “learn” as you use the weapon more, so it serves you well to explore them all to unlock the alternate, and more powerful, modes of ammo deployment. But realistically, you'd probably do it without trying because there will likely be stretches where you'll find yourself low on ammo for your preferred gun(s) and needing to rely on your full arsenal. There was a decent tension because of this. It's not “survival horror” levels of inventory management and scarcity, but you will probably feel some stress on your available resources, which, if balanced well, is something I always enjoy, and I thought this aspect worked to C-12's advantage. There are also some boss fights in addition to the grunts and puzzle-centric progression, and they were okay. They had decent spectacle and were generally fun, but they weren't a highlight I personally look for when thinking of a “boss.” Overall, though, there was a good amount to like with C-12.

There were also naturally some casualties in this cosmic battle. First of all, the premise is decent. Saving humanity from an alien threat, while well-worn territory, certainly has the potential for intrigue and engagement. However, in truth, most stories have already been told in terms of the fundamental building blocks, so it's much more a matter of execution rather than core idea in most all cases. And the premise here is not supported by the execution of the concept. It's just not terribly interesting or very engaging in terms of delivery. A big part of the poor execution fell on the voice work. Listen, I know Brits are known for their cool and dispassionate demeanor - that's all well and good. But the voice work here doesn't suit the circumstances. These people are in the midst of an alien invasion with life and society collapsing all around them, and the tone of their vocal delivery is like they're enjoying a biscuit and a sip of tea while chatting peacefully in the gaahhden. There ought to be more emotion in the delivery than there usually was. Ironically, it was humorous and somewhat endearing in an unintended fashion as I found myself in disbelief at the expressions I was hearing. And speaking of sound work, I'll be the first to admit that I'm VERY hard to please when it comes to audio design - voice, music, and general sound work, so what irks me may not be as problematic for everyone. Having said that, I simply cannot comprehend the thought process that must go through some audio engineers' minds when working on a game. I'll get to the point. The sounds of footsteps in C-12 are SO pronounced throughout most of the experience that it's almost comical. I mean, it's clop, clop, CLOP drowning out most everything else much of the time. I'm asking myself all the while, what did the sound designer think when doing this? Did he ask himself, “When I'm in a place - this imaginary one or any other, what are the sounds that fill this aural space? What makes me understand an environment sonically? Well, OF COURSE...footsteps. That's all I ever hear wherever I go, and in this setting, I'm sure it would be the same." Absolutely mind-boggling. The level of competence just varies so WILDLY throughout the scope of any profession for sure, but some things just strike me as impossibly dim-witted. To be fair, some of the music is pretty good here, especially as we move into more alien locales later in the game, but I'm talking about the predominance of environmental noise as represented in C12. If I didn't know better, I would have to assume it to have been some sort of inside joke among the team. Perhaps budget and time played a partial role, but it can't be that hard to consider and incorporate sounds that may be present OTHER THAN loud stomping footsteps, lol. Also, the x-axis is inverted with no option to change it. I'm all for the y-inversion, but who inverts X...sickies, that's who! I can adjust to most any controller set up eventually, but I truly hate this configuration. And in general, the controls felt too slippery and loose. To be clear, it's certainly playable, but I don't know why you'd force x-inversion upon anyone without an option to switch it. And the camera had many of the frustrating hallmarks of the poorer games of the era. It was mostly fine in more open spaces, but when it was tight quarters where you might also be fighting, it would wig out and not know what to do, and it would also make locking on to enemies (not to mention locating them) even more of a challenge than it ought to have been. Highlighting buttons to press for some switch-oriented puzzles was also annoying. It was very finicky to get lined up right, and if you weren't, you'd fire your weapon since it was assigned to the same button, costing you rounds of ammo. I eventually just switched to my blade weapon every time I wanted to push some button since, at worst, I'd simply slash away like a fool instead of pressing a button. Man, this dude is dumb. “I want to push this button...OR DO I? I think I'll just fire my weapons randomly instead! Yee-haw!” There was also an instance where you'd have to push and hold a button on a rail car to either go forward or back, and even though you remained perfectly still, sometimes when you'd go around a corner, it would switch the button, propelling you in the opposite direction since the perspective must have shifted your character slightly. There were lots of little elements like this that reflected a lack of polish and attention to detail, and these things undermined the fun a fair amount. Oh, and the final boss was quite cheap and frustrating. (YAY save states!)

So overall, C-12 Final Resistance was a mixed bag for me. For some reason I was engaged just enough to persist through everything, although for a while it was only barely as I contemplated putting it down several times. It did have its charms, though, and it grew on me as the adventure unfolded and got more interesting towards the second half. In the end, this was another average game from this developer that failed to really excite. I've played Medieval, Ghost Hunter, Primal, and now C-12 from Cambridge, Guerilla, or whatever the now-defunct studio was called in its final incarnation. And all of them have been near the low end of average to subpar. They do a decent job, even sometimes very good, with the presentation aspects, but they've always been style over substance for me, and I can see why they ultimately went under. To be clear, I wouldn't call this a bad game, but it's on the lower end of the scale I would call "good" for me. But it had just enough to pull me along to the closing credits, which took me about 11 hours. I'm sure that's slow, but I always am. If you're in the mood for some PS1 goodness, you could surely do worse, but this is really a poor man's Syphon Filter or VERY poor man's Metal Gear Solid, if I were to compare somewhat similar games from the period. 3/5

[isthatallyougot]

#36 South Scrimshaw Part One (PC - 2023) 3/5 (1.5 hours playtime)



In my quest to explore life and gaming as an aspect of this “thing,” I am particularly interested in expressions that aren't driven by (obvious) base monetary concerns. They seem to be such a rarity in a world where most everything seems to be measured by most everyone in terms of the ever-so-wearisome “bottom line.” Granted, any visible “product” may have an eye cast towards those pervasive elements in one way or another. But there does seem to be a small contingent of creators in all forms of creative media that, even if they are ultimately paid for their labors, are less concerned with those aspects than the work itself - creators that create first and foremost because they love what they are doing. I always try to find those diamonds amidst the trash, and in the realm of gaming, there are some works that are offered for free, a pretty good sign that I'll be experiencing something that was a labor of love, no matter the quality.

In 2024 I picked up such a title called South Scrimshaw Part One, a visual novel offered for free on Steam. Visual novels aren't a regular staple in my gaming diet, but I have enjoyed a few over the years, and I figured I'd give this one a try. So what do we have here? Well, this is a game that is delivered in the form of a nature documentary, a documentary with a twist. Within this, we are treated to an exploration of the fictional Brillo whale and its environment, a creature that exists on an Earth-like planet and is being investigated by explorers (or settlers, perhaps) from our own planet. We aren't given the full context of the researchers, only glimpses that inform us that they are not natives to the planet for which this documentary takes place. This creature, this Brillo whale, is imagined in a very interesting way. It survives via the creation of its own little ecosystem derived from other flora and fauna. The particular whale calf we follow has a mother who has taken upon herself an ocean plant-based colony and is host to her own little microcosm of a world that she carries around upon her back. We also encounter various other whales with vastly different forms of camouflage and coexistence with their environment. I really liked how the game imparted the idea of questioning where one “thing” begins and ends. It really conveyed the idea of a “wholeness” that I found particularly well expressed and personally relatable, the vibe that all things are really one, only separated by thought and its endless labeling and arbitrary division. Granted, this philosophical element was not the overtly expressed focus, but it was nonetheless something that resonated with me. But we follow this whale through some adventures, and things are narrated by some excellent voice work that really makes this feel like a legitimate scientific research presentation from the future on another world. There is also some very nice music accompanying some scenes, and overall the presentation was very nicely done. I won't spoil all the details of the story, but I will say that I enjoyed it in the hour and a half it took to finish.

Being a visual novel, it's not very gameplay-focused as you ought to expect. And there is no actual animation; rather it's only a sequence of stills in a slideshow-style format with some brief exceptions of fairly quick scene changes to approximate “action.” But the art is really well done, and it remained engaging despite the static nature of the visuals. The only form of additional engagement beyond clicking to move things forward is some extra interactive text links that will flesh out some aspects of this little universe beyond the primary path if you choose to explore it. Your enjoyment of this would certainly depend upon how open you are to a more passive experience. But for me, it was brief enough and of a high enough quality that I was thoroughly engaged from the beginning to the end of the four chapters. It's not an earth-shattering experience, but it is surely unique, and I felt a love of the idea and its expression coming through from the creator(s), and I was very happy to have had the opportunity to play it. I'm not sure if the “Part One" in the title suggests a follow-up or is more within the realm of realistic flavor that may accompany an actual documentary series. I will say that if there is a second entry, I'd be glad to play it too. 3/5

[canedaddy]

That is a great name -- "Scrimshaw" is so evocative -- and the art is amazing.

[isthatallyougot]

#35 Sagebrush (PC - 2018) 3/5 (2 hours playtime)



I really love low-poly graphics, as I've mentioned before. Not only were they great on the PS1, but to me, they're still fantastic today. There is something wonderful within the lack of definition that ignites the imagination and creates a dreamlike otherworld, which is very conducive to my investment in a fiction. My love for this form of visual expression is part of what keeps me interested in itch.io as a gaming platform and a big reason why I have a large library there. When I was browsing that library, I came upon a game in that style that looked like it was worth trying out, a game called Sagebrush from 2018.

In Sagebrush you play the part of a character who has arrived at a secluded valley 250 miles northwest of Albuquerque. This remote location is isolated and peppered with a handful of buildings scattered across the complex, and we soon discover the nature of this place. Through the use of environmental world-building, audiotapes, and written documents as narrative delivery, this character's journey is a reliving of a period of life where she was a part of a religious cult. And this trip back in time and place is a sort of cathartic experience where she processes and exorcises some personal demons as a survivor of this abusive organization. All the typical trappings of this sort of community are present - a domineering and autocratic authority who makes his own rules, an insular culture, and loads of paranoia towards the “outside” world, including the hoarding of food and weapons stores, psychological abuse of members in addition to physical harm, both the inflicting of pain/torture and sexual abuse. It's all here and quite disturbing at times. There are some basic puzzles to solve in order to unlock new areas, and there was a nice sense of the progression of this experience as the sun shifts from dusk to late night as things move forward. You get the feeling that this setting of the sun was a parallel to this character finally putting this chapter of her life to a close, and as the new sun rises after a thorough exploration and reliving, it felt like a harmonious reflection of a person who has moved into a metaphorical “new day” in her own life. I have to say that, given what she went through, without going into major spoilers, it would have surely been difficult to ever have a full return to “normal”, both because of what she experienced and what she ultimately did (or didn't) do. There had to be some real scarring and guilt in the aftermath that wouldn't be so easy to wash away.

The whole game wasn't overly long, but it felt just right, taking about 2 hours to complete, which I did in a single sitting. If I could have changed some things, I would have used a different voice actor for the leader (Father James). He didn't have any menace or charisma, and in a cult leader there's going to be a dynamic personality. There was no sense of that narcissistic and toxic “cult of personality” in his delivery, and I found it impossible to believe that this character could have engendered such loyalty. Granted, so many people are either weak-willed or lost and just looking for someone, anyone, to tell them what to think and do, but this guy had no allure in that way. He didn't have too many lines, with most references being via text, but he did speak just enough that it did draw me out of the otherwise believable fantasy. There were also some difficulties in highlighting certain objects and documents, which could be awkward and a little annoying. I also had an instance where an opening door pinned me against the wall and forced me to reload. But despite these issues, I enjoyed Sagebrush. It painted a vivid picture of how malleable (broken and desperate) human beings can be and how willing they can be to discard reason and decency, handing over their own moral compass and responsibility to a psychopath just to belong…to something. It really emphasizes that tribalistic nature of the human condition. I felt like the representation of this cult and its trappings was generally quite believable, and this alone made the game chilling and worth playing. Overall, it was a decent game that I enjoyed playing. 3/5

[isthatallyougot]

#34 Blood Knights (PC - 2013) 3/5 (5.3 hours played)



If you really love a particular genre, it's sometimes easier to take chances within the fringes of the style. I have a real affinity for hack ‘n slash adventure games. From Bayonetta to God of War (OG series), Dante’s Inferno, and many more - both mainstream and obscure. I just really enjoy the act of tearing through hordes of foes. There's some sort of catharsis there that probably says more about me than I'm comfortable acknowledging in the unflinching light of day, but whatever the reasons, I get juiced up when I'm embodying the “one against many” motif. With that love, I picked up a fringe entry in the form of Blood Knights, developed by Deck 13 of The Surge series and the original Lords of the Fallen.

Whoa boy, where to start with this one. Well, I will say that it has an interesting premise. You are a vampire hunter who, at the beginning of the adventure, has unfortunately been turned into a vampire himself along with suffering a strange sort of physiological bonding to a female vampire. And with this involuntary connection, you both begin an adventure where you will ultimately decide if you want to side with the humans who have betrayed you due to your now-a-vampire condition while also seeking to regain your humanity or fully join the dark side and become a vampire of a more permanent kind. You get to play as both characters. The guy can use swords and has a variety of moves, from basic attacks to a spinning, dual-wielding helicopter attack, a power attack, and a few others. The girl vampire as your companion is bow-focused, and she can shoot fire arrows and grenades (if you have ammo) along with basic infinite bow projectiles. You can switch at will between the two, with a brief cooldown before switching again. There's also plenty of loot to find and upgrade your characters with armor and better weapons. But truthfully, these upgrades felt pretty inconsequential as you simply kept pace with increasingly tougher foes as the linear adventure progressed, rendering these things mostly irrelevant. Although at least they did change the appearance of each playable character when equipped, which is always a nice touch. You can also buy new gear, but you find plenty of loot to get you through this easy game without using any vendors. The combat is very basic. You simply hack and slash with a few moves or fire your bow while circling foes until they've dropped. There's no depth or nuance - just whale away until the end. If you take damage, you can feed off corpses to restore lost health or pick up blood “droplets” from fallen enemies. But overall it's just a rinse and repeat affair from beginning to end in terms of player input. Even the bosses, while having some patterns and more health, amount to the same sort of routine and require no strategy. It was pleasant enough for a fan of the genre in a mindless, turn-your-brain-off way, but it's not a good example of combat in any sense, even if still (mildly) enjoyable enough for action fans.

In terms of presentation, well, it was…interesting. Visually, while it wasn't terrible technically for its age, artistically it was pretty poor. The worlds were uninspiring, and the characters had that try-hard, edgy look without any real craft, subtlety, or personality. But what struck me the most was the incredible voice work. Oh my god! I don't know who wrote this, and I don't know where they got the voice actors, but man, was this a scene! In the first place, the dialogue often comes off incredibly silly, and the characters just say some really bizarre things oftentimes. There's so much unintentional comedy. It's in that Mystery Science Theater 3000 realm where it's so campy and poorly executed in some ways that it flips from bad to enjoyable much of the time. If you can't appreciate absurdity, this aspect won't land for you. But if you can click with the so-bad-it's-somehow-good mentality, there's a treasure trove of awesome here for you as you gawk at the literary and performance carnage. The main character even expresses, “I hate this.” at one point, which felt very on the nose and hilariously appropriate within the overall nonsensical context. I'll also never forget this line delivered by one NPC: “See the town? Seeing is done with the eyes; always remember that." (verbatim) LOL, I'll try to keep that in mind. It made zero sense in the context of the narrative to say such an absurd thing either. I truly don't know if some of this was intentional, but it doesn't feel like it was, which made it all the more funny. Although if this WAS done with purpose, the writers and directors deserve mad props for some incredibly subtle and off-kilter, not-sure-if-it's-meant-to-be-comedy...comedy. I can't believe the intent was to amuse, but man oh man, did they ever. And it wasn't just the language, but the delivery was so ridiculous. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was like the director (if there was one, which I seriously doubt) instructed the characters to embody their lines as if they were reading the most dry accounting textbook married to Ben Stein's delivery from Ferris Bueller. The voice work was BELOW bottom-of-the-barrel, and yet incredibly awesome! Simply unbelievable. I found things so entertaining in this regard that I had no choice but to press on, even if the gameplay didn't always warrant the investment.

And there were just lots of bizarre little things throughout. At one point, there's a gate that requires two buttons to be pressed simultaneously; however, you can only control one character at a time. The game has local co-op, though, so it seems that it's intended to have someone join in and press the other button for you in that mode. I cheesed it by firing arrows with the girl vampire quickly at both targets - but that's not the intended way to progress. The game even shows you a prompt with both character images on screen, indicating that this is designed to be activated by both characters. I suppose I could have plugged in a second controller, but how ridiculous would that be in a game designed primarily for single-player? There was lots of little stuff like that, which just shows an overall sloppiness and lack of craft. There was also some platforming, which was very clunky and poor. Overall, this was just the jankiest of Eurojank.

But oddly, I kept playing and enjoying it despite all its problems, primarily because of the humor and my forgiving nature towards the genre. Look, this is NOT a game I would recommend to most players. But for those who can find amusement in a particular form of train wreck, it's actually worth playing. It was only about 5 hours to complete. Oh, and at the final boss, the game completely quit recognizing my controller for some reason. Turns out my controller was dying, but I honestly felt like it may have been an intended feature, given the sloppiness of so many other elements, lol. In most cases, a game like this would fall squarely in the 2-star category, but Blood Knights offered a form of entertainment that you don't find in most subpar games. It's a true curiosity and held my fascination due to its strangeness and quirky humor, intentional or not. For me, it's a generous (in some aspects) 3/5, and if you're someone who can appreciate such oddities, you may enjoy it for those bizarre qualities as well. And hey, I only paid 89 cents for it.

[canedaddy]

That sounds like a fun five hours. I love the genre too, and the MST aspect is a plus. (Note to self: Do not forget that seeing is done with the eyes.) Apparently that's on PS3... something to look for if I ever get a new PS3 controller.

[isthatallyougot]

#33 Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery (PC - 2021) 3/5 (1 1/2 hours play time)



Looking for a quick game to knock out as a palate cleanser between games, I fired up Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery. It's a visual novel/light point-and-click game dealing with a couple of artists and, of course, love. The visuals are very Studio Ghibli, although without some of the charm and skill, with vibrant colors and a softness that is quite inviting. The audio is handled well, as the primary character has a tape deck in her starving artist loft/apartment, and she has it on her to-do list to play some music - which you must do as a part of inhabiting this role. The soundtrack is very mellow and soothing, like so much of the rest of the game. There are a smattering of light puzzles. They aren't really challenging, but at least they add a little variety. You also must virtually paint and sketch as you embody this artist's life, but this is done by selecting colors (or, in some cases, the sketch pencil) and simply mousing over the appropriate areas in relation to a reference. You don't have to be exact in any way, and it's more for flavor and the vibe of being this artist than having any need for skill, but it did a good job of conveying the life of these characters. There's a bit of a mystery surrounding things that is unraveled as you paint, read letters, and reminisce, and it is, as mentioned, a love story in principle. Everything here is very “French,” for better or worse. I have to say that the overall vibe was very pleasant, and I enjoyed that atmosphere, but the game aspect of things was minimal enough that most of the burden fell upon the narrative. And as pleasant as the mood was, the narrative wasn't super compelling for me. Plus, the game is very short. It's an hour and a half or so. I'm glad that I got it for cheap in a Humble Bundle because I would have felt shorted had I paid full price. Pleasant atmosphere and moods, again, but the game itself, all things considered, was just average overall for me. A nice, brief, change-of-pace experience, though. 3/5.

[isthatallyougot]

#32 Good Night, Knight (PC - 2021) 3/5 (17+ hours played)



In this day and age, it can get easier and easier to bounce off games that don't grab you right away. Most avid gamers, for better or worse, have enormous backlogs with plenty of games we're itching to get to, and with that comes a reduction in patience if we're not careful. So I always try to give any game I pick up a fair shake and allow it to show me its charms or lack thereof through a thorough enough inspection that I don't feel like I'm dismissing something without legitimate justification. I bring this up because a game I played in 2024 emphasized the value in allowing a work to marinate and unfold sufficiently. I had no idea I was going to play this because I used a method I developed for random selection to ultimately pull Good Night, Knight from my backlog and place it before me on-screen. (I do this sometimes when I just want a surprise.) I don't even remember when or how I acquired it, although I do remember seeing it and having the feeling that it might be decent fun. However, my enthusiasm was a bit dampened immediately when looking at things more closely. I discovered that it was still in early access and had been so for a couple of years with no updates or communication from the developer. I read several reviews, and while some liked it, there was plenty of frustration expressed, which is common for such titles, as I read ‘abandoned’ over and over again. But there was enough in the way of positives that I felt like it was worth it to go ahead and play it as it existed, especially since this may be its final state. If nothing else, I'd clear it from my backlog.

The essence of GNK is an action/stealth/roguelite, if I can place such a genre label upon it. It's a top-down 2D game with a spire you must ascend that has 5 different levels to explore. Within each level of this tower, there are multiple floors where you sneak up on enemies (or go in with abandon) and battle them with the benefit of a lock-on targeting system. The basics are simple hack ‘n slash, although there is some nuance present. You can dodge, counter, sprint out of the way, and eventually have quite a bit more tools at your disposal. The loop centers on defeating enemies who occasionally drop loot/materials. These drops are resources that are used at the base of the tower with a vendor to craft items to make you more powerful and capable. The way this works is a bit different than most games. Rather than leveling up your character, you equip these purchased items, and they all cost a certain “weight” - a pool that has a limited value. So, in theory, you would always be picking and choosing your favorite buffs and upgrades for each run at the tower. However, with use and, presumably, familiarity, the weight of these items is reduced, eventually reaching a cost of zero, meaning they have no impact on your limit, allowing you to gradually equip more and more until you are absolutely bloated with abilities. The way this worked was different, and I enjoyed focusing on enemies that had the drops I was looking for so that I could get a shiny new toy to enhance my chances at furthering progress. There’s also a cool feature where you can drop a teleporter of sorts on the floor. This temporary disc will allow you to take any foe you have grabbed (only possible via stealth) after sneaking up on them and carry them back to the extractor to guarantee you get a drop relative to that enemy. It was satisfying to sneak around and capture foes in this way, and it could be challenging due to the fact that there can often be several foes in a group or close enough to also be aware of what you're doing, and when one notices you, all nearby enemies are alerted as well. Enemy attention and focus is indicated by a revolving cone that spins around, indicating the viewpoint of everyone, so you sometimes have to wait for enemies to move and/or be really careful in your sneaking and grabbing to find that opening you're looking for. There was a measured and calculated approach to tackling a room of baddies, and the overall flow was pretty fun. Knight was also challenging. It was easy to find yourself in a situation where you got swarmed by a group, and on the higher floors, it would be curtains pretty quickly. All enemies had their patterns, though, so if you could isolate, or at least limit, active threats to one or two foes, things were usually manageable. However, there is no healing until you take an elevator back to your base camp, and if you die, you don't retain as much experience, so sometimes you'd be struggling with a sliver of health, hoping to find your next elevator back to safety. There was another feature that I found interesting. You can find ‘curses’ in various spots within the tower and equip them or not as you choose. They make the game harder, but they function as experience multipliers that allow you to ramp up how quickly you accumulate that total, which can drastically and quickly lower your equipped weight. I used them a fair bit because it made things more fun and challenging and because of the potential benefits.

In terms of presentation, the graphics were serviceable pixel work. They weren't super exciting, but they had some nice touches like the playful way Knight hopped around when sprinting, the chicken enemy (ghallo) who would feverishly peck you into oblivion, among some other touches indicating a loving hand at the helm. (Man, I hated that chicken), Overall, there were quite a few little elements that indicated a work of at least some passion. There were also some bits of humorous dialogue as well as a variety of often silly foes like that chicken and others. The soundtrack was also an upbeat, peppy, and energizing set of tunes and was one of the highlights of the experience.

In the way of negatives, the onboarding process could have been a little more user-friendly and thorough. It took me a bit to assimilate the contents of the experience before I felt like I was “in the zone” and understanding what the game WAS because of that somewhat awkward introduction to things. Things could also feel a bit grindy. It was a pretty slow process to acquire materials for upgrades and reduce their weight penalty. So I felt like I was retreading my steps a bit much as I sought to become strong enough to continue. The UI is very plain and basic and didn't add anything in terms of style. I'm all about function before form, but after you get down the fundamentals you want to express, there's benefit in taking some time to polish up the aesthetic delivery. And this is kind of a side rant, but I cannot stand the trend of devs putting out an early access title in order to see if it garners enough attention to continue development. I realize not all devs do this, and I'm not sure this one did, but there are clearly smaller developers out there that “test the waters” with early access, and if it doesn't gain enough traction, they just drop it. There is no honor in this. If you put out an EA title and describe your plan and where/when it's going, you owe it to those who purchased your “promise” to finish the job. To be fair, I know there can be extenuating circumstances sometimes, but the glut of abandoned EA games indicates that many just realize that they're not going to see the return they hoped for and just drop it (and game development altogether sometimes) and start the cycle again with a new project. I know it's a competitive and oversaturated market, but you do yourself no favors as a dev that wishes to have a future in this industry by leaving products that you have sold as unfinished just to flitter away to something else. Finish the damn job, and at least you'll have the goodwill from those who DID purchase your game. Of course, as a consumer, you know this sort of thing is possible, and I rarely even pick up EA titles unless I'm super interested or they are super cheap. It was the latter in this case. I don't remember the exact cost to me, but I'm certain it was at most a dollar or two. But to be fair to this particular work, there was enough content to qualify as a complete game from my perspective, even if the intent was to deliver more than was ultimately produced. I spent over 17 hours with the game, and it was mostly fun and had four unique bosses that were also a highlight of the experience. So, I won't say that I didn't get my money's worth, but that doesn't excuse the practice of promising without delivering. Again, however, it's on the consumer to weigh those risks when buying an early access title.

But on the whole, I was surprised at the amount of fun I had with Good Night, Knight. It was in that weird zone where it was just (barely) compelling enough to keep going for a while, and I felt like I was teetering on putting it down several times before finally sticking it out. For whatever reason, I just kept playing, even when I wasn't really feeling it completely. But there was enough there to keep me curious, and it oddly grew on me with time. That's one of the benefits of having patience with games. Sometimes you can put down a game too early that you might otherwise have enjoyed. It's no classic, to be clear, but I had good fun with it overall, and I'm glad I stuck out that period where I was wavering, in the end. For my money, it was worth playing when all was said and done, issues aside. 3/5.