For the week of July 8 to 14
Check out what I played last week
Writing up creative intros to these blogs is always a challenge. I want to get right into what I played the week prior and not go into a whole spiel about my thought process. With that, let me share what I played this week.
July 8 – Guncho
Guncho is a weird one. This is a tactical shooter, where you play as a wild-west gunslinger. The goal is to take out your enemies on the map before they can do the same to you. I love the tactical side of things, but this one is super difficult. I can’t get past the fifth stage without dying and losing all my retries.
For me, I like the simplicity but the randomization is frustrating. You can sometimes get to a stage where regardless of your first move, the enemies will kill you. You try to figure out an alternative, but there is nothing you can do; someone will kill you. The randomization makes each stage exciting. I want to look around to see what I can do to maximize my chances of success. I also want to see if there is any way to get the enemy characters to kill each other so I can have more breathing room.
Guncho isn’t for everyone. I can see people getting turned off by the randomization. Especially when it feels like the game is “cheating”. For a $7 game on both PC and Mobile (I’m playing it on iPad), the cost of entry is well worth it. I want to see if I can reach the end of the normal mode. Then, I’ll pay the seven dollars to unlock the extra content that’s also available.
July 9 – Galacticare
Games like Galacticare are not something I play often. I’m not quite sure how to classify it. It’s a building/economy game but it’s all confined to one location. This is like Two Point Hospital and the different Tycoon-style games. I’ve never played those, so I can’t give a fair comparison. Yet, after hearing good things about this one, and its availability on Game Pass, I wanted to check it out.
The pacing is slower than I was expecting. The game goes heavy on the tutorial and early objectives to get you used to building a space hospital. I didn’t quite mind it at first, but I prefer the sandbox approach. I’d rather build at my own pace and see what crazy stuff happens. It’s part of why I loved the Sim City games when I was younger. I didn’t care if my city wasn’t prosperous, I wanted to see what crazy designs I could pull off.
After fooling around for a bit, I have my fill of the game. Even though I didn’t get too far into the first hospital you can build, I saw enough. This game won’t be for everyone. I can appreciate that it’s a nice change of scenery from the games I’ve been playing recently. If anything else, I am curious about looking for more of these ‘economy-focused’ games.
July 10 – WWE 2K24
It’s been a long time since I last played a WWE game, on any platform. I used to play these a lot when I was younger. But my interest in the sport/spectacle has waned over the years. I would watch Wrestlemania and other highlights when possible. The rest was watching people post the goofy glitches of past WWE 2K games. With WWE 2K24 available to sample through a 2-hour trial through PlayStation+, I wanted to check it out.
I didn’t go too deep. I played a few matches, including attempting to win a Royal Rumble. The spectacle of matching a WWE broadcast is incredible. Trying to maximize my time with the trial, I had to skip those intros. But the work done to mirror the real thing is commendable.
For a relative newcomer, there is a lot to learn with the game’s controls and commands. I only went through half of the tutorial before I wanted to get into a real match. But for the basics, it’s easy enough to grasp and have some fun. To master the more difficult moves, it’s best to go through the tutorial.
July 11 – Floppy Knights
On paper, Floppy Knights should be a game I love. It’s a card-based tactical game. In the past, I’ve shown my appreciation for deck builders like this. Unfortunately, I can’t find the joy and don’t want to play any more of it.
The reason for my sour impression of the game early on is its gameplay. I find that the first few stages are unbalanced. Enemies are higher rated than my units, so they always have an advantage. In the fourth stage, there are two 10+ HP characters. They can also continue to spawn more units onto the battlefield, which continues to give them an edge.
To complete the stage in question, you can either kill all the foes or take control of the enemy’s flag. The flag is in a corner surrounded by “mountains”. I can’t attack through the mountains with any of my characters, but the enemy can. So. I get to the spot and while the enemy should have to move around. Instead, they attack over these rocks and defeat my character, ending the stage for me.
This wouldn’t be so frustrating if I wasn’t already dying from getting killed elsewhere. It feels like they are padding the difficulty because otherwise, this game would be too easy. I don’t want to feel cheated when playing a game, so for my sanity, I’m done playing Floppy Knights.
July 12 – Weird West
I collect a lot of free games. Because of that, I have plenty of options when I’m not sure what to play. The latest game to try is Weird West, which is currently free through Prime Gaming. I remember hearing about the game when it was released in 2022 but I completely skipped it. But, after spending the first hour or so with it, this is my kind of action RPG.
I’m not too keen on the story. It’s a supernatural western that I’m sure is going to have its fair share of twists and turns. But what I like is the action. I love the combat as I try to figure out ways of approaching each quest. In one early mission, I was trying my best to sneak around to avoid as much conflict as possible.
It’s too bad that I missed out on this one in 2022. As someone who enjoys action RPGs, this is hitting all the notes. The combat is fun, the random encounters as I wander the game’s world are interesting, and I suspect there is a lot more. I don’t know if I’ll go back to this, but I can recommend it to anyone craving this style of game.
July 13 – Once Human
I first heard about Once Human while talking to a recruiter about a potential job with NetEase Games. Of course, I didn’t get that job (nor did I get an interview, but I digress). That didn’t stop me from keeping my eye on the game and wanting to see how it would turn out. I avoided the Beta because I wanted to enter the game fresh. After the first hour or so of the game, I’m unsure how I feel about it.
Once Human tries to be many different things all at the same time. There are heavy sci-fi elements. We got a bit of combat, but it’s clear that crafting is the main gameplay hook thus far. If you’re looking for a sci-fi action game, then the first hour of the game will disappoint. Sure, there are unworldly enemies and your fair share of zombies, but they are few and far between. You’ll be spending a good chunk of time scrounging for materials and crafting items.
At first, this kind of threw me off. I’m not a big fan of crafting. I could never get into Minecraft because of it. The crafting in Fallout games is my least favorite thing that Bethesda introduced. Here though, I’m not hating the crafting. It’s easy enough to do. After a while, I was enjoying trying to find materials to upgrade my gear.
If you go on Twitch and see what those deep into the game are doing, you start seeing more action. You also see some creative stuff people are building in the game. This first hour doesn’t set you up for what to expect for the rest of the game. I’ll put more time into Once Human. For now, I don’t hate what I’m experiencing.
July 14 – Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb
This week ends with me playing the other 3D Indiana Jones game. Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb performed much better than the first game did. I still had hurdles to overcome, but at least no game crashes. This does have controller support, but the more recent Xbox controllers don’t work that well. For some odd reason, certain buttons are not recognized (specifically the triggers). Because of that, this is better played with the keyboard and mouse.
This one throws you right into the action but there isn’t a lot of plot to start the game. I played through the first three levels of Ceylon. There are nine sections/levels, so I am only skimming the surface of this one. There is very little action in those first sections. You spend a good chunk of it jumping from ledge to ledge and a bit of swimming. There are no puzzles and I’m having a hard time finding any secret artifacts outside of the first obvious one.
I don’t know if I’ll get back to this one. I only wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, there isn’t much of a story to start the game. I haven’t come across any meaningful characters or had Indy interact with an ally. This doesn’t hinder my anticipation of the new game. It does show why we haven’t had many Indiana Jones games in recent years.
