The Messenger

Back to 2D platformers. If only i were playing this right now, but instead I already did a couple of months ago and will share my thoughts posthumously, which I accept myself as a use of word now it's finished and I'll likely never engage with again (after writing this, obviously). That's not to make a comment on the quality of the game, just that once I've finished a game, normally I never returnnexcept in rare circumstances, like when I played Portal 2 for a second time a few months ago (those loading times, wow. were all 360 games like that?).

So yeah, the messenger is a retro game with pixel art to go along with, appearing in both 8 and 16 bit art styles due to it's time travelling puzzle mechanic. I say puzzle, it kind of is because they change the layout of the world to open up different path ways but you're mostly led through the portals as part of the game.

So, the gameplay. It is fantastic. It plays like a classic platformer (although one with weapons where in general I prefer a none weapon based one (see Sonic (or to be more contemporary, Celeste)). It does get really challenging towards the end of the game which is something to look out for but there is a slow build towards it (because, games) that teaches you how to play and adds new challenges and enemies frequently.

The first half, maybe a little less of the game is linear (just how I like it) that takes you onwards, through different areas and boss fights, progressing the story nicely just like most of my favourites do. Then it becomes a metroidvania, which I don't have a problem with per say, but it's the cryptic clues that bothered me. You get sent on a search around the map looking for certain items with crossword clues (not literally , just in that style) to figure out where to go. You can buy hints but these only really show you where to start. I ended up mostly having to use an online guide for this section of the game, which is a shame as I was sill enjoying the gameplay but really took me out of the experience by having to check the online map against my own every few minutes. You could claim this was me being dumb, which there is an element of, but such unclear puzzles should be left for obtuse games that I get bored of and stop playing after a couple of hours cause they're super frustrating (another dig at Observation there and no I didn't go back to it).

The Messenger does have a fun story, kind of meta in places but it's interesting and actually quite funny, for a game anyway (which granted means it's not really all that funny). This release came to (sigh) Switch last year but thankfully came out on the proper games consoles (Ps4, Xbox) a few months ago so proper people can play them (I may have mentioned before that I don't get the appeal of Switch, well that's not strictly true, I don't really play handheld games because I don't have any frequent long travels where this is a necessity. I just don't see why someone would play a handheld game at home, nor why they'd rather play a game on Switch on their TV over a ps4/ xbox one (PC gaming is also acceptable)).

It's a good addition to the platforming landscape on current generation game consoles, something I may do a list on some day, after the Sonic one I haven't even started yet (just got one more mobile game I wanna play first). If you like 2D platformers and a challenge, then in the immortal words of Richard Taylor, this is for you.

You may also like: Celeste

I am now playing through shakedown Hawaii, only an hour or so it s of now so not got much to say right now. Also, Villa got promoted. Awesome!

Team Sonic Racing

I've always enjoyed racing games, maybe due to me never being able to drive. It gives me an experience I may never have. Granted this could go for 99% of games, and it's kind if the point of games (or film, TV, literature), but it feels different as driving is something most can do and with me missing out it gives me a chance to experience something that I don't really have context of. There's a difference between this and say, FIFA. I have played football, obviously not professionally but I feel like I have a good understanding of the game and that gives me a chance to express my feelings on 'the beautiful game', in a way.

I like unrealistic driving games too, such as wipe out or Onrush but I've never been able to get in to carting games. Maybe it's because I don't have an attachment to the mascot led games. Much like my Issue with Smash bros. I have no care for the Nintendoverse with Mario kart, nor anyone but Crash himself in Crash team racing and mod nation racers didn't have any mascots and was just forgettable. It's probably no coincidence that the first carting game I really liked was Sonic and Sega all star racing transformed. The good news here was that Team Sonic racing was based on one of my favourite franchises just like that, and was even made by the same studio.

This game does play well, although not that different from the aforementioned previous Sonic carting games or indeed any other modern cart games I've tried out (eg. Mario kart 8). If you've played a carting game in the last few years you know what you're in for from a gameplay kind of view.

The big difference here is the team aspect as teams of three come together, with each of their members having different skills, albeit the slower, strong type characters (eg. knuckles) are so slow and bad to control I find them awful to play as, whereas the speed characters (eg. Sonic (obvs.)) are certainly the most fun, they play just like you'd expect any cart racer to play like. The other one with good acceleration (I think they're called the 'technical type' (dunno why) eg. Tails) are somewhere in the middle of the two.

I do have issues with the teams, and the lack of characters though. For one, not sure why they removed the other Sega characters, like Nights, Alex Kidd, Gillius and Danica Patrick... but that's a decision someone has made. With those restrictions in mind I'd move Vector in to a newly former team Chaotix (from knuckles Chaotix), the seeming random team of Blaze, Silver and the aforementioned Vector just seems to be there but you can easily put (sigh) cream the Rabbit in there as her and blaze are attached through Sonic rush. Zavok can come out of Robotics team and go in to a deadly six team and you can throw in an egg robo like from Sonic R. In another call back to the finest of all Sonic racing games, Sonic R (good news, they do make reference to it in the form of menu music) you can make a team of puppet tails, puppet knuckles and super sonic. In a nostalgic throwback (which for me there aren't enough of, which is crazy for a modern Sonic game) you can add a 'Sonic, the fighters' team and maybe, much to my chagrin (and I feel bad even suggesting this) maybe a Sonic boom team could be added. Okay, this super nerdy/ fanboy bit is over now.

So, the game has a story mode, which teaches you how to play, introduces to to the characters and tracks and plenty of racing which can be as easy, or hard as you want it to (there are also some none racing challenges, mostly optional, but unfortunately not all). The story though is both badly presented (in static cut scenes) and is total garbage, it's like Sonic colours all over again, but even that had animated cut scenes. The local multiplayer is good too, you can team up with your friends as a team or face off as teams, or one on one (on one on one). Moving on to the on line multiplayer though, sure it plays the same again, but matchmaking takes a long time, most games struggle to be a third full of real people and is filled with mostly bots. On top of this all the scoring junk it shows you at the end that you can skip offline is not skipable and seems to last forever, with an added system where you have to vote for who you think was the best player (including bots) that I don't see why anyone would care about voting in, unless you vote for yourself, but then who else would care besides yourself anyway? Totally pointless.

Overall this is a good cart racer, that stands out to me due to the attached franchise but overall it plays no better or worse that Mario kart or than Crash team racing likely will (I'll never know to find out unless maybe it comes to PS plus some day). This is a cart racing game. It does nothing extraordinary apart from the new team idea but that doesn't make much difference in the minute to minute gameplay. If Sonic is a franchise you enjoy, like myself then play this game, same too if you're a fan of carting games. Otherwise skip it. I enjoyed it fine but there's nothing mind blowing about the game.

You may also like: Mario Kart 8

For now I've skipped Rage 2 and am trying out Observation. After a couple of hours I don't like it at all. I'm not into the story that the Internet seems to be raving about, the way you move around is awful the the tasks to complete are so obtuse that it's taking me ages to get through the game. I don't know if I'll continue and am unlikely to write any more than this paragraph about it unless I magically get in to it (it is now almost 2 days later and I've still not played it again). The interesting looking game American fugitive game that seems to play like classic GTA (1 and 2) got me interested enough to do some research and realise that instead of getting that game I should but Shakedown Hawaii instead, which I did so that's up next for me.

Aaru's Awakening

Aka A.A. Aardvarks absolute adventure (or your own alphabetical order joke). Or maybe it was made as a nod to Nixon from Futurama.

There was a spare couple of days between finishing Guts, Gore and Canoli 2 and Team Sonic racing being released, so after some googling this old PS plus game seemed like a handy combo of short and something I'd be interested in so obviously yes, it's a 2D platformer. But it's got a twist. Though you can do a jump and boost the main form of movement comes in the form of firing off a ball and teleporting to it's location. At first this works out well and makes a nice combo but at the game goes on I found the controls got very finicky. There are sequences where you have to fire the ball down several narrow holes just big enough for the ball to go through then time the teleport to the millisecond before you drop in to a bed of spikes.

I know what I'm doing here is basically complaining about it's difficulty but it played to me like it was more luck that I'd make it through these sections with rather than skill. In games like Super meat Boy and Celeste (2 other very challenging platformers) you feel like you're improving with every go but for me, granted I knew what I had to do but it just seemed like random chance whether I'd get through or not. I managed to get most of the way through the game but at the start of the 4th world my controller got dashed across the room for the first time in years and I knew that was the time to stop.

There is a good game in here, or a good idea for one at least but it just hasn't been met. On the plus side though there is a nice setting through times of the day and the art style is great.

You may also like: Super meat boy.

Team Sonic racing should be here this afternoon!.

Guns, gore and cannoli 2

Back to the indie games then, but this is one I just played and in fact, paid for! £3.99! OMG! This game was on sale on Psn and I'm pretty sure it's full price again now but that's not my problem now as I already got the sweet deal. On the previous post about Days Gone I said I don't like Mafia, gangster kind of settings, yet clearly from the name this is one, which is true. It really doesn't matter though, other than that you have to fight some mobsters and you're guy talks with an over the top Italian accent the theme has little bearing on the game. I also have not played the first but they have a nice recap at the start. I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter though

This is a 2D side on run and gun twin stick shooter (think metal slug) set during the second world War where you have to fight mobsters, German soldiers (obviously) and Zombies. It can get really hectic at times, but it's fast pace is a good thing, you're always kept on your toes. The game looks great too with a fantastic art style. As you go through the game you're going between wide open spaces to wipe of hordes of enemies to small, almost Hotline Miami type bases, though from a different perspective.

What I couldn't get to grips with was L2 to jump (or was it L1? Definitely one of those), I know there's an argument to be made that using X to jump while having to use the right stick to aim might cause a problem but it seemed so unnatural to me, any time I'd go back after having a break from the game it would take me time to get used to it. My other issue is the weapon wheel. It's your standard type, but it doesn't slow or stop time to let you change weapon and in such a fast paced game that often get you killed while picking weapons.

Overall though I enjoyed it, pretty sure as I mentioned before that it's back up to £10, hard to say whether I'd pay that much for it, but if you like these kinds of games this is a good romp for a few hours

You may also like: Super Time Force

I can't help but notice there's some great games on Xbox games pass and it's currently £1 a month for your first 3 months, so when I'm done with Team Sonic racing (and Rage maybe) I might be heading over to add to my 127119 gamer score.

Days Gone

Okay, finished it. It was long but enjoyable though. For those that don't know this is the big new PS4 exclusive and just like Horizon: Zero Dawn it's a post apocalyptic open world game made by a studio that's never made anything like this before. That's where the similarities end though, as Horizon is sent many, many years after a cyber apocalypse, and Days Gone is just a couple of years after a zombie apocalypse (you're more standard kind of videogame apocalypse). In this one, you're a biker in a gang of 2 as you and you're Bam Bam B's called, they  tattoo hair replacement friend Boozer (what a mouthful) are hanging in there by doing jobs for local camps and selling them 'Freaker' (zombie) ears for credits in local camps, before returning to your hill top watch tower that would make Firewatch's Henry jealous. Instead of escaping in a helicopter though, you get yourself more involved in helping these camps as you try to track down you're surely, surely (surely) dead wife, because really what are the chances that she could possibly still be alive...? (it should be noted that this game is more afraid to kill off characters than season 7 of game of thrones).

As a modern PlayStation exclusive, this game is a third person action game. It is what Sony published games are known for now. The question is where does this game fall on the pantheon of these games. For me, pretty low, not because it's bad, but because it's a decent game surrounded by greats. It's still fun but if you go in then don't expect The last of us.

The majority of what you're doing is driving to different areas of the map to clear out areas of humans, zombies or zombie animals, maybe collect some items and rescue some hostages. It's all the standard stuff you'd expect. You get around with your heavily customisable bike, which at the start of the game is pretty trash (especially when it runs out of petrol seemingly every 30 seconds) but ends up like a bat out of hell, but still there when the morning comes (as if anyone sleeps in games anyway so you'll probably be driving it around as dawn breaks, so where's it gonna go?).

I find something inherently uninteresting in biker culture, most settings and plots in fiction I can get in to, apart from mobster type settings,which I don't find interesting at all (I will never watch the Sopranos) but these gangs seem really douschey to me (I will also never watch sons of anarchy). Deacon (the protagonist) seems like a nice enough guy but there's something 'bikery' about him I just didn't like, plus, he wears a backwards baseball cap, what is this the 90's? That all the said the story is okay, though a bit unbelievable in places (yes, I know it's based on a world full of zombies). The gameplay itself is also okay, serviceable if you will. In fact, that goes for almost everything in the game. it's decent. I do wish there was more expansion in survival in the game though like having to eat or drink or sleep (there are probably more examples) but all you really have to do is keep your bikes fuel topped up. I really think this game could have leaned a lot from State of decay 2 (or 1 as they're basically the same).

The major issue I have with this game though is its length. It goes on forever, there isn't an in game clock to measure but I feel like it was about 50 + hours, and that's with me barely doing any side missions. The last few hours of the game especially drag as you're supposed to be gearing up (get it? cause it's about bikes) for the final confrontation but instead you're funnelled through a bunch of side missions which seemed to me like advertising for the post game missions so you could mop them all up but the game was way too long for me to care about that and frankly, if the game wants to show off it's side missions it shouldn't be left until the last few hours of the game when they're trying to build tension but have to stretch the plot to fit this in. Great shame for me, slowed it right down. And yes, when you've finished the game the world is still open to you if you want to go back in, obviously.

To summarise then, this game is fine. A classic 7/10 kind of game to me. It all plays fine, the story is fine and it looks really good. My main worry is that it's just too long. It's acceptable to me as I have no need for loved ones and as such have a lot of free time, but if you're a person with things to actually do then it's really not worth investing so much time in to. Forgot to mention you operate the menus through the Dual shock 4's touch pad area, it's weird.

You may also like: State of decay 2

I tried to play Tails sky Patrol and Tails's big adventure (or whatever it's called), but having to play these games made for game gear on a giant flat screen makes them virtually unplayable so they won't be getting any ranking in my Sonic list. Bring on Team Sonic Racing!

Q.U.B.E and Q.U.B.E 2

Hands up who likes Portal? I imagine everyone said yes, if you didn't either go away and play it or just go away. As a pre-warning, I played these games about a month apart, which is now several months ago, so there is a good chance I'll get elements of the 2 games mixed up.

So, as implied with the opening line, this is a first person puzzle game, clearly inspired by portal, not that I'm saying that every first person puzzle game has to be inspired by it, but with the talking AI, the mystery, the white areas and run down behind the walls (specifically In Q.U.B.E 1), just Iike quantum conundrum, in fact maybe even more so, this comes straight from Portal.

The way the puzzles work here though is that you can fill spaces with different types of cube. a bouncy one, one that extends, one that drops a cube you can move (I think there might be another one in 2, but a very brief google wont resolve my querie). With these simple mechanics you have to figure out puzzles, ranging from simple to difficult, long, infuriating and for the most part, well crafted. There really is some fantastic design in these puzzles, as there must be in any puzzle game, specifically for a first person puzzle game in this style, which is a reason that the Turing test (The game) was such a disappointment to me (not that it was terrible, but as far as first person puzzlers go it was disappointingly mediocre).

Both play pretty much the same and they're both set in a tight space (thankfully linear games do still exist (dear game developers, please make 95% of your games linear first person games, thanks, love Andy (local multiplayer is also acceptable))) but the first game really feels tight, as you try and get you're way through a space ship (the original premise of the first game is like deep impact/ Armageddon) that has the all white walls, padded c(h)ell feel that worked so well for portal that I eluded to earlier, whereas the second has much more of an outside feel (see picture above) with plants, the moon, rocks, washing lines, BBQ's, Hot tubs, some of those heaters you get in pub gardens and grass (some of those may have been made up).
Both games have interesting plots, both with twists and even though they're no Portal, and nor are they voiced by John Delancie (Q) as a cat, they are interesting enough to keep you invested in what is happening, rather than it being a simple game of challenge rooms.

You may also like: Quantum conundrum

This last act of days gone is taking forever, no I don't want to clear another camp!

Roundabout

This is just going to be a quick one about a throw away game. I would like to note that as I go on, my plan isn't just to review loads of small games, I have other things to write about, but this is to help me get used to blogging again after 2 years away.

Roundabout is a game where you're driving a stretch limo in a crazy taxi (or for the smarter ones among you, The Simpsons: Road Rage) style set up, but from a top down view. The difference, and hence then name is that the limo is always rotating on the spot. If you're thinking this sounds stupid, you're right. They've done what they can with the idea though, like putting obstacles in the way and having dozens of collectables to extend the games length if you'd really want to do that (I did not).

The most interesting thing of note is that they have live action cut scenes where the driver (named Georgio Manos) is always turning to face the 'interesting' cast of characters. Obviously it's badly acted, but I think they're going for a so bad it's good kind  of feel, but to me it's not. It's just bad. These cut scenes come in thick and fast, every time you pick up a passenger and after about 20 minutes of the game I just had to start skipping them. By the way, this game came out a whole 8 months before quantum Break so it's pretty clear to me that Remedy stole their Idea from Round about (or maybe Night Trap).

This is very much an arcade game, in the traditional sense and the modern sense (the modern sense being XBLA). If you are interested it's okay to play in small portions or while you're listening to music, podcasts etc. Whatever's you poison. This game is okay.

You may also like: Flock!

BTW, Sonic Dash, actually quite fun.