[Let's Talk] Multiplayer Games

Recently I've been trying lots of turn based multiplayer games, trying to find a few ones I can play with J when we don't have time to meet up and fulfill our point & click adventure urges. I've stumbled upon two games I found very worth mentioning:

So... Elementary.

I just saw the pilot episode of the upcoming CBS show Elementary and hell, I liked it. But I won't spoil the fun for you, so here's just my first impressions on the characters and overall feel of the show:

Sound Shapes

I'm usually staying away from platformers, as I really, really suck at them. But add some creative options, like making your own levels and composing music at the same time - oh well, I can't help but get curious...

And since the Vita hasn't seen much love and since I like to support indie developers.. and the game is 20% off for PS+ users, I just couldn't resist and pre-ordered it last week. 8) (It's also for both Vita & PS3, no matter which version you buy, you'll get the other as well.)

So on Tuesday the game was finally available to download and since then I've been spending quite a bit of time with it. And not just me, the little one is rather fond of it as well - which is just awesome, since he can go and do all the jumping and running to unlock more items and sounds, so I can fiddle around even more with the level creator.. ;>

But admittingly, the stages aren't actually that hard (at least not all the time) and there's no game over, you just respawn at your last checkpoint and merely have to collect the coins you gathered after the checkpoint again - luckily you can use the checkpoints again after picking up coins, so you won't lose them any more after dying. So all in all I am actually having a lot of fun with the platforming as well - which is mainly due to the awesome artwork and music in this little gem. 

                                                                          A few of the different stages

The level creation mode

Most of the levels feel more like an artsy interactive music video than just a platformer, especially Beck's "Cities" was a lot of fun to play through since everything was so perfectly synched to the song's rythmn and even after ten minutes (I died A LOT ;>) I didn't get bored of the song.. :)

I'd recommend this to anyone who likes artsy stuff, good music and doesn't hate platformers with a passion.. the 20% discount for PS+ still lasts til Tuesday as well! :)

There will be updates

Soon.. ish.

Done with my first play through Atelier Meruru - it's fucking adorable and SO addicting. It's good I didn't play the other games, since Meruru balances the micro-management extremely well with almost no parts where I got frustrated or annoyed (except for boss battles - but that's how it should be.), I actually liked the game so much, that I would have instantly started a New Game+ after I finished the game with the Good Ending (Took me around 50 hours in total). Now I want to get all of the endings. And fully develop the kingdom! And synthesize EVERYTHING with alchemy!

... too bad my Playstation 3 times are depending on my brother's whims. And now that he moved out of our mum's place I can't even sneakily occupy his PS3 while he's out when I'm visiting mum. Damn.

But I can have it next week, he promised. ;>

Well, while I've got no PS3 around I'm using the time to (finally) finish Hexyz Force, I'm on the last chapter of Cecilia's story and should be done in a few days. (I always play before going to bed and almost always fall asleep within 30 minutes, so I'm not making that much progress per day.. XD) The game is more fun than I expected (after reading a few negative reviews), but it's not really anything special. Pretty much standard RPG formula, stereotypical anime-fantasy characters and nothing too deep gameplay and story-wise. But still fun. I especially love that you can fast-forward the battles, that way I actually don't mind grinding a little more. I wish every game would have this feature.. :> (The only other game I remember playing that allowed to fast forward battles was Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 4..)

I also finally got to buy the current Humble Indie Bundle - anyone who doesn't own these games, well, actually, even if you own them already: GET THIS BUNDLE! It's way too awesome to pass up on. You can gift it to someone else as well and make them happy! (I did that with the Botanicula-Bundle, birthday present for my mum <3) Bastion alone makes this bundle worth the money already.

Sooo then my bestie and I started playing Lone Survivor yesterday night and OMG, IT'S SUCH A FUCKING SCARY GAME! ...we kinda gave up after 45 minutes. SO CREEPY. Geez... but still, very, very awesome. I totally need to find someone who's not as easily scared as I am to play the game while I just sit next to them and ogle at the game's awesomeness. 8) Same goes for Watch Dogs, definitely my highlight of this year's otherwise extremely disappointing E3. I can't watch this trailer often enough:

(Watch it on full screen in HD!)

But I'm definitely too slow/dumb/inaccurate for the action game play sequences... 

Besides my avid gaming sessions I spent most of the past weeks working on my own game and it's slowly taking some form.

At least I've finally decided on a title for it and I hopefully will be able to officially announce the game soon. And show off some of the shit we made. Yey. :>

I'll also try and at least write up a Meruru review some time next week. :)

Ciel no Surge Patch 1.3 released

http://social.gust.co.jp/pc/support/ciel/index_p11.htm

Seems like most of the major bugs have been fixed now. :)

[review] Ciel no Surge

...or "Menu Navigation - The Game".

The awesome adventures of J & M! (part one)

Adventure games have always been a passion of mine. Back in the day, when computers were still a mystery to me, the only thing I'd touch one for were adventure games.

Games like Monkey Island, Indiana Jones, Laura Bow, Sam & Max, Day of the Tentacle and the likes were my favourite games to play after school. I'd be running over to J's place and we'd sit in front of her mother's computer for hours, trying to find a way to save Laura Bow from the evil killer and solve the crime, trying to have Indy sell leather jackets to about anyone he'd meet. Trying to save Elaine from the evil clutches of LeChuck... oh, those were the days.

But some day 3D took over and the games lost their spark. But the past couple of years the 2D point & click adventure genre had a huge come back, so J and I got back together for the sake of the good old times and our greatest (or most tiring) adventure began....