Category: Games

Working through the pile of shame.

What Remains of Edith Finch (2017)

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After the extended session that was my Batman: Arkham series experience, I figured I needed something to clear out the cobwebs a bit. A short thing that I could zoom through that was completely different to the face-punching and gliding I’d been doing.

Giant Sparrow’s What Remains of Edith Finch was what I chose. It’s not something that requires a lot of playtime – I think I completed the game and about 80 per cent of its trophies in just under two hours – but it was quite a thought-provoking experience. Some spoilers probably follow, so if you’re considering playing, maybe do that first.  Continue reading “What Remains of Edith Finch (2017)” →

MY PARENTS ARE DEEEEEAD!

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Well, after over one hundred hours of playtime, I’ve made my way through the Arkham series of Batman games. So here’s some thoughts about them. (If you want to read about my experience with Telltale’s foray into Gotham, go here.)

Undoubtedly, there’ll be spoilers aplenty, so if you haven’t played – and really, you should – proceed with caution.

First, though:

(Longer version. Originally from PVP.)

Continue reading “MY PARENTS ARE DEEEEEAD!” →

Bruce Wayne and bloody walkers: talking Telltale

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I took a break from playing through a chunk of my pile of shame – I’m on the second game of the Arkham series of Batman console reboots, though I’m playing on a PC – to play through two Telltale adventures: The Walking Dead: A New Frontier and Batman: The Telltale Series. So let’s have some thoughts about ’em both.

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Clementine has some thoughts to share with you.

Continue reading “Bruce Wayne and bloody walkers: talking Telltale” →

Asura’s Wrath (2012)

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I’ve just finished playing a game that’s one of the stranger things I’ve played. It’s essentially an episodic anime with some Nier-like battles thrown in, but the whole thing is strange as hell. It’s appealing, but I spent most of my playtime wondering what the fuck was going on. But I suppose that’s what you’d expect from a game best described as an anger simulator.

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Imagine this for pages and pages.

Oh, did I mention you punch gods to death? And occasionally have six arms? And crawl out of hell on the reg? And can somehow defeat hordes of monsters after your arms have been ripped off? And take advice from a golden spider who sounds as if he’s grooming you? And that you fight robots that look like the Buddha, have tantrums that explode spaceships and ultimately win the game by punching the earth in the face? Continue reading “Asura’s Wrath (2012)” →

Gone Home (2013/2016)

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Coming home after some period away there’s always adjustment. I lived in the UK for a couple of years, and I remember Sydney feeling very strange when I returned: the main roads seemed stupidly wide, and the town felt underpopulated. It was different – or, rather, my expectations were different. I wasn’t calibrated for the place any more, and it took time for me to gather my old despair at crowds on a local scale.

This feeling of not really belonging, of seeing things that are familiar as if they’re slightly off, is important in Fullbright’s Gone Home. As every, I’m behind the times – I’ve had this game for years, but didn’t get around to playing it until yesterday. I know that it received a lot of positive press when it came out (as well as a smattering of bro-led whuh?) but thankfully that’s dissipated now, so I was able to get through the thing without preconception.

(If you haven’t played it, it’s probably worth noting that there will likely be spoilers at some points in this review, so you might want to skip it if you haven’t played and would like to, as the plot is the game, pretty much.) Continue reading “Gone Home (2013/2016)” →

Zeus, you’re a dick: finishing with God of War

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Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been playing my way – maybe finally – through the God of War series. And it can be distilled down to this: as Kratos, you slash your way through thousands of monsters and people because you’re angry because you’re sad. 

Granted, having your wife and child killed – well, actually killing them yourself, to be more correct – is a bit of a bummer. But to foster that big a killing spree? That’s some next-level grudge-holding work there, guy. I certainly couldn’t manage it in person, and sometimes during my playthrough of the six games, I wondered if I’d manage it in by proxy.

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I HATE YOU ALL.

But I did, and I’m kind of glad, because I don’t know that I’d be able to have a run through them all. The backlog is too large, and there’s only so much time one man can spare for a bald, angry Spartan. Continue reading “Zeus, you’re a dick: finishing with God of War” →

Life is Strange (2015)

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Over the past couple of days I’ve been playing through Life Is Strange, the French-developed episodic adventure game. I’d heard good things about it.

And they’re entirely justified. Playing the game has been, a couple of niggles aside, one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I’ve had in quite a while.  Continue reading “Life is Strange (2015)” →

Treasures and testing times

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I’ve recently been playing some games – christening the PS4 in my new house, and getting some of the frankly enormous Steam backlog chipped away. So here’s a couple of thoughts about ’em, for what they’re worth.

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BLUE STEEL.

First up: Uncharted. I’d played the first three games before on my PS3, but as a PS4 kick-off I decided to play through the remastered versions as a lead-up to the latest – and apparently final – instalment. (Except it’s not now the final, because reasons.) Continue reading “Treasures and testing times” →

2016 consumption: a look at some stuff I liked

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WELL HERE IT IS. Once more it’s time for a recap on what I did during the year, stuffwise. Previous versions are here, here and here, if you need an origin story.

Once more, I’m unsure who would actually read this all the way through, given the self-indulgence herein, but don’t worry – I’ve found an image that reflects both the world’s 2016 and my thoughts on writing the thing.

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Take that, ya lousy fuckin’ year. And you too, ya lousy fuckin’ typing guy.

Continue reading “2016 consumption: a look at some stuff I liked” →