For the week of September 23 – 29
Check out what I played last week
September 23 – Shogun Showdown
I first heard about Shogun Showdown through the Rebel FM Podcast. Based on their game description, it sounded right up my alley. So, I picked it up without playing the demo and was immediately overwhelmed by its difficulty. But, even with its challenging gameplay, I’m having a hard time putting it down and want to get better at it.
This is a turn-based, card battler where your character must fend off waves of foes. You can only attack with the attacks you have, and only when they appear. Runs begin with two attacks. As you progress, you unlock more attacks. You can also upgrade attacks. If you go this route, you can make them have shorter cooldowns or improve their attack strength.
The difficult part is around timing. Maximizing your attacks is important so you’re not left in a position where enemies can attack you. Your character only has 10 HP, so that can quickly go if you’re smart. That’s why I was dying so much. It’s so important to avoid hits just as much as it is to do the most damage.
I’ve gotten past the first “boss” on the map, but haven’t progressed much further than that. It’s nice that runs to unlock new attacks, but I wish my character’s HP would go up. You may increase their defense later in the game, I just haven’t reached it yet.
September 24 – Frostpunk 2
Earlier this year, I got to try the well-received Frostpunk. I quickly fell in love with its 4X experience. Knowing that a sequel, Frostpunk 2, was coming out later in the year, I couldn’t wait to play it. Now that it’s finally out, I’ve been spending some time with it and I’m enjoying my dire attempt to manage society.
Based on my limited time with the first game, the sequel feels more approachable. I remember that, in my playthrough of the first game, I struggled early on to keep the power running. Here, I’m spending more time expanding my society and venturing into far-off regions. I suspect that won’t last forever. In any case, I’m hooked.
I’m still early in the game, but I can’t wait to see when the chaos of managing a society begins to fall apart. Whenever that does happen, I can’t wait to experience it. Frostpunk 2 is easy to recommend and I plan on spending more time with it throughout the rest of the year.
September 25 – Boomeroad
I came across Boomeroad when someone on our work’s Gaming Slack Channel mentioned it was free. Reading the description, it was something I thought could be fun to try. To be fair, I had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, this is more of a technical demo than a full game.
The game features two main areas and the tutorial stage. The goal is to find and activate these moonlight structures. To get around, you throw a boomerang which creates a rail that you can ride. You don’t have infinite access to these rails, so there is a strategy involved with how you use them.
This is a cool gameplay concept. The only downside with the game is that there isn’t a lot of open space to get creative. While there is some puzzle-solving to get around some sections, it still feels limited. Some late-game obstacles change the formula, but you’ll crave more.
Finishing the game unlocks a trial mode. I can see some people trying to get fast times on each level. It took me only 20 minutes to go through the entire game. If they released Boomeroad to gauge interest, I’m sold. At the same time, the story ends on a cliffhanger, so here’s hoping we get more in the future.
September 26 – Metaphor: ReFantazio
Technically, I played the “Prologue Demo” of Metaphor: ReFantazio. Thankfully, the progress from this carries over to the main game. Although I’ve kept away from most of the game’s marketing, it’s one I’ve been eager to play for a while now. The idea of a fantasy-based Persona game sounds like fun. From what I’ve experienced so far, I don’t see the connections. Yet, I am loving so much of what this game has to offer.
In the first couple of hours of the prologue, a lot happens. An ailing king is murdered in his bed. Your character has a connection to the king’s son, the prince. While the world thinks the prince died a while ago, they are very much alive but under a spell. Our hero has the task of trying to save the prince. This just barely scraping what we learn and experience the first two hours of the game.
I haven’t finished the prologue demo. So far, I’m about three hours into it but have gotten close to what I suspect is the conclusion. This demo has sold me on the game. I love the characters. The combat is easy to grasp but still offers a nice challenge. The story hooked me from the beginning and I need to see how this all pans out.
September 27 – All You Need is Help
Announced and released during the Toyko Game Show, I wanted to see what Q-Game’s All You Need is Help was all about. I went in knowing this was a co-op experience. At the same time, I was hoping there would be a way to play on your own. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Because of that, it ends up hurting the game from being enjoyable.
So far, I’ve struggled to have consistent online matches. The matchmaking process appears fast but it’s not. If you don’t have a friend code to join someone’s match, the game will add you to someone else’s lobby. In every situation, we had to wait for the room to fill up. Because you need four players, there might be times when you’re waiting for a third or fourth player. If it takes too long, someone else leaves prolonging the process.
When you get into a match, it’s a lot of fun. The concept here is that all four characters become random Tetris pieces. You then need to work together to complete a puzzle. In one stage, we had to work together to roll a ball into a section so we could proceed. In another, we had to attach a heater to our pieces so we could melt ice. Once it’s all melted, it reveals the block puzzle we needed to solve.
There is a lot of potential here. But the matchmaking process hurts the fun. Stages are short, so if you have to return to a lobby after every match, it’s not doing enough to keep people engaged. If they fix the lobbies and allow for a better single-player experience, I’d like to come back and play more. This is hard to recommend unless you have a group to play with regularly.
September 28 – Mister Mosquito
I have yet to play Astro Bot, but I do want to at some point before the year ends. Yet, I have heard a lot about the various Sony properties that make cameo appearances in the game. One such character is the titular character from Mister Mosquito. I never played it back on the PlayStation 2. Sony recently made it available through the PS Classics Catalog, and I wanted to give it a go.
This is very much a 2005 game. You need an instruction manual to understand this game. Because I didn’t go through the controls, I struggled. Because I didn’t know how to do anything, including sting people, I went online to find info on the controls. It was only after I learned the basics through a walkthrough on GameFAQs that was I able to start having fun.
So far, I’ve reached the third stage. These missions all take place in the home of the Yamata family. The first features the daughter, the second with the mom, and the third is with the dad. Each one has been in a different part of the home. While the goal of sucking enough blood is the same, the environments of each stage are part of the challenge. You can only suck blood from specific parts of their bodies. These areas only become available at certain points, so you have to pay attention.
I had fun but I’m not sure I’ll play through any more. It’s nice to finally try this “cult classic” PlayStation game. At the same time, I know there are many more PlayStation games from the PSOne through the PS3 era that I missed out on. If there is an easy way to play them, I’d love to give them a shot before the year ends.
September 29 – Sonic Dream Team
I’ve had a “free” Apple Arcade account for a couple of months and I haven’t spent too much time with it. Other than Retro Bowl 25, there aren’t enough games that interest me. For today, I wanted to play something light to wrap up the week, so I thought I would find something of value here. So, I gave Sonic Dream Team a try and I’m a bit conflicted.
Sonic Dream Team isn’t a bad game. I quite like the short stages and am enjoying the fact that they’ve added different requirements. The problem is that I don’t care about the story. I am not paying attention to the “plot”. This is all about the gameplay. For the most part, the gameplay works.
I like the fast movement and the stage sizes are good. Not too long and not too short. The only gripe is with the game’s camera. There are sections where the camera can get stuck in spots or is unable to keep pace. In parts where you need to do a lot, I noticed the camera was unable to stay with my Sonic. This causes me to mess up the final action and I have to start again. While this doesn’t ruin the experience, it does get annoying.
