For the week of July 29 to August 4
Not much to share in my intro. I did play one incredible game this week, so I hope you can tell which one it is.
Check out what I played last week
July 29 – Magical Delicacy
When it comes to writing these posts, I do one of two things. I’ll either write something immediately after playing the game. Otherwise, I wait until Sunday night and do it then. For Magical Delicacy, I did the latter. Unfortunately for me, I shouldn’t have waited. This was such a forgettable experience.
Magical Delicacy focuses on a main character who “inherits” a restaurant. You’re tasked with creating dishes for the townfolks. It starts by creating any dish for your “roommate”. Then, as you interact with other residents, they’ll ask you to cook for them.
Unfortunately, everything about this game is boring and poorly paced. You have a few recipes to start but you have none of the ingredients to make them. You can build standard dishes with what you’ve got but that’s about it. You can’t even find the ingredients early on. I was able to “harvest” some stuff around town but it’s limited. I did plant some seeds in my garden to grow more, but I’ll never play long enough to use them.
This might be a better game as you progress through these first few days. There isn’t enough for me to do early on to encourage me to keep playing. I’m left wondering who the audience for this game is. At the same time, if this wasn’t available on Game Pass, I would not have played it otherwise.
July 30 – Fable II
I’m old enough to remember the hype around the first Fable game. All the hype around it was incredible. The claim that everything you did in the game changed how you progressed was what got me most excited. Unfortunately, what I played was far from those claims. That disappointment meant that I never bothered playing any of the follow-ups.
I’m excited to see how the Fable reboot in 2025 (or whenever) turns out. So, I decided to finally try Fable II. Since it’s been so long, I can’t and won’t compare it to the first game. So far, I’m enjoying myself. The start of the game is okay but linear. I was expecting more freedom. Instead, it keeps it very restrictive in the tutorial sense of things.
The combat is fun, but I’m surprised there is no jump action. This is such a standard for adventure games. Not having it crazy. I like the skills I’ve unlocked thus far and am curious how much more crazy it will get. The story is slowly revealing itself but I still have more to go.
Unfortunately, I don’t see myself playing after this. I got my fill and can finally say that I played another Fable game. I’m not sure I’ll try Fable III but now I’m even more curious about the reboot.
July 31 – Racing Lagoon
I came across Racing Lagoon by accident. While browsing for PlayStation ROMs to add to my Miyoo Mini+, I noticed the game and saw the Squaresoft logo. Being a huge fan of Squaresoft’s PlayStation era of games, I didn’t know about this one. This is a racing-themed RPG. I like racing games and RPGs, so this should be my kind of game. This was never released in North America. Thankfully, someone released a fan translation a few years ago and now I’m getting to try it out.
This is a very 1990s story. This came out around the height of Initial D’s popularity in Japan. This takes homage to that series. You drive the same Levin as the main character in Initial D. This isn’t focused on downhill racing. Instead, you’re driving on short courses around Yokohama. Your character is a low-level driver looking to establish himself. There is a vibrant racing community in town, and you’ve got a lot to prove.
I’m finding the racing to be a bit difficult. I can’t say if it’s due to the handling or the controls of the Miyoo Mini+. All races are at night, and the draw distance for seeing upcoming corners is small. I’ve hit walls plenty of times, taking me out of contention. You don’t get to restart races, so the story continues regardless of how well you do. I’m finding the plot-specific races are the most challenging.
Sure, racing games have RPG elements to them, but nothing quite like this. At the same time, I do see how this would have niche appeal, even in the late 90s. The racing is fine but nothing special. There are only a handful of courses, so I’m sure it gets repetitive. It is cool to drive around my favorite Japanese city, Yokohama. This might be a game I play again for a bit. But, I don’t see myself sticking it through to the end.
August 1 – Platform 8
The very first game I featured in this project was The Exit 8. It was a puzzle game that had you pay attention to your surroundings. You needed to notice anomalies as you attempted to find the exit of a Subway station. The developer of that game released their follow-up, Platform 8, recently. It has a similar but different approach to reaching an exit. This time you’re trying to get off the train by paying attention and noticing anomalies. Without question, this is an incredible follow-up.
The key difference here is that you can’t go back. The key to progressing is avoiding the anomaly when there is one. Some train cars might be normal, while others might have subtle issues you need to figure out to get through.
There are two kinds of anomalies: those you can ignore and those you must engage with. If the handrails start randomly swinging, you can ignore it and move to the next car. But, if the train doors open, you better be on alert. Failing to avoid the potential hazard will result in you restarting your run.
I found Platform 8 to be easier than The Exit 8. The anomalies are more evident and following the rules set forth are clear. If you pay attention, you can reach the game’s conclusion in about 30-45 minutes. I played through it a few times because I wanted to see all the different anomalies, of which there are around 30 or so. The short playtime and favorable price point make this an easy recommendation. I cannot wait to see what the developer comes up with next.
August 2 – Rawmen: Food Fighters
Rawmen: Food Fighters is an Epic Game Store exclusive, free-to-play brawler centered around food. There isn’t too much to talk about this one. I played a few matches and didn’t see the appeal. There is a “tutorial” of sorts, but all it amounts to is a practice match against bots. You’re better served just jumping into a game and start playing.
You’re throwing “soup” at opponents. You can charge up your ladle so you toss a larger portion, but that’s about it. there are other food items you can equip, including bomb donuts that can do AOE attacks. In one match, we had to find the meatball, control it, and get it to a certain part of the map to get points. This was fun as our team dominated. The second was a standard deathmatch. Again, my team won it easily. I’m not sure if both matches were primarily played with bots. I don’t suspect there is a large community playing this right now, so it’s possible matches feature some bots.
I don’t know if this one will have legs in the long term. There isn’t much here to excite me. I did like that if your team wins you have a split or steal scenario for the bonus. If your team agrees to split the prize, then the game ends. But, if someone tries to steal it, it launches a sudden death mode where the last player to survive gets it all.
August 3 – The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story
Over the last few years, I’ve become more interested in the “visual novel” genre. Sure, these games lack regular gameplay, but they often have a solid story that keeps me engaged. The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story isn’t a visual novel. This is a live-action game that’s also a miniseries. The first chapter does a great job of keeping you engaged in its mystery and I’m curious how this progresses.
The story focuses on a special fruit that some claim offers eternal life. The core plot of the game focuses on different eras and events related to this fruit. The gameplay, at least in the first chapter, focuses on gathering information. Someone has died and you need to figure out the cause of death and the murderer. As the scenes play out, data is “collected” automatically. Once all the scenes play out, you piece together the evidence to determine what happened. It’s pretty straightforward. As the first put the pieces together, you get the ability to accuse someone of a crime.
I quite enjoyed the first chapter’s scenario. It had an interesting set-up and conclusion. I don’t see too many people struggling with the murder. The game is very forgiving. If you get something wrong, they let you go back to reassess your information and try again. I’m not sure if that’s still the case for later chapters, but hopefully it is.
August 4 – LumbearJack
The main free game from the Epic Game Store this week is LumbearJack. I know I repeat myself with these posts, but I went into this one not knowing a thing about the game. This is an adventure/puzzle game where you’re a bear who is “cleaning” up the forest. You’re destroying the industry garbage that’s all over the place.
In one of the early stages, there is a bulldozer ready to destroy a tree that’s also the home of some forest critters. Your standard axe isn’t good enough to take it down. You need to destroy other things and collect enough recycling so that you can upgrade it. Once upgraded, that bulldozer is yours for the taking.
This isn’t a bad game but it’s nothing special. It’s a novelty that I feel runs its course after the first couple of stages. There are some puzzle aspects, but nothing that feels challenging. After playing through a couple of stages, I had enough and won’t be returning.
