For the week of November 25 – December 1
Check out what I played last week
November 25 – Armored Warriors
While browsing some arcade ROMS, I came across the game Armored Warriors. I hadn’t heard of the game but I was curious and wanted to check it out. Later, I found out that it’s also part of the Capcom Arcade Stadium collection. I ended up playing both versions (the ROM is in English, while on CAS, they only have the Japanese version. This is a pretty fun beat-up.
There isn’t too much to say. You can pick from one of four characters who each control a mech. The mechs are all different in their base attacks. As you play through a stage, you swap weapons dropped from fallen foes. This includes both melee and long-range weapons. I regularly swapped between my “Vulcan” machine gun and the missiles and flame thrower. Then, I would use the drill melee weapon. On top of that, you can even swap your legs. I came across a few that add an extra attack while jumping.
Because I decided to play the Japanese version, I’m unable to follow the story. We’re shifting between two planets, but I can’t tell what’s happening. Also, this game has a three-player option, but since I’m solo, I can’t say how much the game differs with more people. In all, this was a nice discovery. I also discovered that this was spun off into the fighter, Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness. It looks cool, so I wouldn’t mind trying it out in the future.
November 26 – Astro Bot
As soon as I started playing Astro Bot, I could see why this game was getting all the praise. When I started playing, I could not put down the controller because of how much fun I was having. This is the kind of platformer I enjoy. Not too hard at the beginning with a ton of cool mechanics introduced at a steady pace. I just need to make time to help rescue the 200 Bots I still need to find.
A few things stand out for me. For starters, even with the lack of dialogue, the story flows in a great way. You need to recover Bots so you can fix your spaceship and return home. Bots are scattered throughout this universe. Finding them might be as easy as reaching up to a tree and interacting with them. Or, it might be as difficult as finding secret sections in a level and performing a series of actions.
Knowing the PlayStation fan service, I was expecting a bit more. Other than Bots of classic characters, I haven’t come across much else. Other than the character, the Ape Escape level I unlocked didn’t remind me of that franchise. It’s been about 20 years since I played that PSOne game so that I might be forgetting things.
The last thing that stood early on was more of a gripe. I’m not a fan of some of the Dual Sense-specific actions. There is one section where you need to use the controller to “hammer” nails into something. This requires you to swing the controller in a hammering motion. But it’s not fun to do. This is unavoidable and I should expect more sections like that. Other than that, I love this game and I want to blast through the main campaign before the year closes out.
November 27 – Five Hearts Under One Roof
Yes, I played the “meme” game that’s been popular on Twitch and YouTube. After catching highlights of Five Hearts Under One Roof, I wanted to try it out for myself. I began only intending on playing the first chapter trial. But, I found the highlights so funny I just had to see it all through to the end. Even with its obvious problem, if you don’t focus on them too much, this is a fun game.
The subject matter is pretty tame. Your character is a 30-year-old who still lives at home. Your parents are leaving for a couple of months, so they want you to rent out the home as a temporary “boarding home”. This is how the girls get involved in your life. From there, you interact with them in different scenarios.
While this is marketed as a choose-your-own-adventure game, it’s not quite. Each chapter ends and your interactions with the girls dictate your progression. If you don’t reach a specific marker, you can’t advance. Because of that, when I finished the third chapter, I didn’t have enough “points” to unlock the fourth. This forced me to go back and replay sections so I could have enough good points to proceed.
Even with the comedic nature of the story, there are some clear problems. Most of the plot and dialogue don’t make a lot of sense. It’s pointless trying to comprehend how the events in the game can happen. My biggest gripe is the poor translations. There are some obvious spelling and grammar mistakes with the subtitles. It would be nice if they patched the game in the future to fix some of those mistakes. It might not address the plot, but it will at least make more sense when reading it.
November 28 – Duck Detective: The Secret Salami
After having fun with the “Golden Idol” series of games, I found another mystery game worth trying. In Duck Detective: The Secret Salami, you’re on the case to solve who stole someone’s lunch. The unravels a much larger mystery with plenty of hijinx along the way.
The story starts off focusing on who stole the lunch. But, as you learn more about the events that lead to the sandwich being stolen, you uncover an even larger crime. You go from missing a sandwich to uncovering an import smuggling scheme.
Like Golden Idol, you progress the story by solving “deducktions”. While interviewing people and investigating evidence, you unlock keywords. Then, using those words, you fill in the gaps of phrases that explain what has taken place. As you solve these, you unlock more of the plot and the next set of phrases to solve. Since the events take place in location, a Bus Station office, you will do a lot of backtracking.
This game feels like a proof of concept. Yes, there is a full game here, one that lasts about 90 minutes. I have the feeling that based on its success, we could see more of these games in the future. Although I was hoping for more locations to visit, this doesn’t prolong the story. It’s clear when the end is near, and the conclusion is satisfying. If we get another Duck Detective game in the future, I can’t wait.
November 29 – Nine Sols
Nine Sols is a Game Pass release that looks incredible but it didn’t leave me with much of an impression. I played for about an hour and I couldn’t explain the story if someone asked me to. This is an action platformer that focuses on parrying and dodging. Sure, I can’t explain the plot, but that’s not to say that I thought the game was bad. It just didn’t leave me with anything worth sharing here.
I’m a little miffed about the combat. When it comes to timing-based attacks, I often struggle to get it right. So many action-platform games rely on hitting commands and exact moments to progress. Here, the combat relies on it so much. Enemies make it obvious when they’re going to strike, so it’s not that hard to parry or dodge to avoid a strike. My problem is when there are many enemies. You might be able to avoid one attack but that second one will get you.
What’s crazy, I found the first boss you faced was too easy. You can see when it will attack. I was able to dodge its series of three attacks. It was a little too choreographed that seasoned players might find it too easy. On the flip side, all enemies are sponges, so expect to take many swings before taking them down.
November 30 – Acecraft
While watching a YouTube video on my phone, I got an ad for the game Acecraft. It was unlike most of the gaming ads I see. This reminds me of Cuphead, the 2017 game inspired by the cartoons of the early 20th century. If the developers of that game were making a mobile game, we would have heard about it. Instead, this comes from a Chinese studio and was released in North America a few months ago.
This is a shoot-em-up that uses the same cartoon aesthetics. It’s simple to grasp: hold the screen to move and fire your weapon. Then, they throw in rogue-like upgrades and focus on replaying. Although easy to play, this does have those standard mobile gameplay tactics. The first two stages were straightforward. Go through waves of foes until you get to the big boss.
Every stage has a timer, so you need to complete it before the time runs out. Early on, I had no problems completing the stage and going through the game’s onboarding process. But after that, the challenge ramps up and you start to see where the game leans on pay-to-win mechanics.
But by Stage 1-3, I was either dying or running out of time. It was always on the last wave against the boss. You’re fighting against the close, so you have to be more aggressive. But, being more aggressive makes you more likely to lose health. Your two options are to grind the stages to earn XP, or, spend money to get those upgrades faster. Since I’m going the grinding route, I haven’t been able to progress past Stage 1-4.
December 1 – Closer the Distance
Heading up to The Game Awards, there are only a handful of nominated games outside of VR that I haven’t played this year. One of the smaller categories is the game Closer the Distance. I had never heard of this game until its announcement, so I tracked it down on Steam and decided to try it. While I can see why it was nominated for its category, this isn’t the kind of game that would appeal to a wider audience.
You play as Conny, whose sister is tragically killed in a motor vehicle accident. The game starts with police visiting the home to reveal the news to your parents. While her sister is gone, her spirit remains. Your character is the only one who can hear the spirit. So the focus is on Conny dealing with her sister’s spirit and how her death impacts the community.
The game’s gameplay hook is the ability to watch the lives of the other people in the village. While Conny is the main character and her actions move the story, you can switch to other folk to see what they’re up to. At times, there will be moments when you should check in on other people. There are a few of these, including one in which Conny’s parents leave for town to visit a funeral home (or the morgue).
While I like the concept, this feels a bit odd. I get the feeling that this started as a project by someone roleplaying characters from The Sims. Also, the pacing is slow. One of Conny’s objectives on the first day is to check in on a half-dozen people from around the village. This takes the entire day to complete and I still wasn’t able to visit everyone. Because of that, I’m not sure most people are willing to invest the time to advance the story.
