I mostly did other things with my spare time, but I still managed to play a handful of games this week.
I played a bit more of The Tartarus Key after a break. Unfortunately I had saved mid-puzzle. And while the game is still great, Jumping in mid-puzzle where you've forgotten the gimmick (This one involved dates and the confusion between formats) is probably the worst way to experience it.
I played a small narrative management game called Kingsim, which is one of those games where you are an absolute monarch presented with choices over and over. This one seemed fine, but it also seemed to be the same choices every time, and one of the early ones normally involves you being murdered by a thieves guild.
I got about 90 minutes into Conscript A 2D survival horror game set in the trenches of Verdun in World War 1. I'm generally positive about it, The mood and atmosphere are incredible so far. But I'm also finding it very awkward to play. Much of this has to do with a relatively action heavy first chapter, and even more to do with the game making you commit to gameplay modes before you can realise how incredibly stupid the choice you made was. I also returned to the game to show it to a friend at one point, and the relatively complex plot goal was reduced to "Find Pierre", and now I have NFI where I go to do that. Still, the vibes will carry me through for now.
But for whatever reason, the thing that kept its hooks in me is Dungeons of Hinterberg. I am enjoying the game a lot more now that the dungeons are larger and more creative. But Most of what I've criticised the game for before still holds true, It's very much a game that hates its own premise, and is hyper-aggressive in preventing you playing it wrong (At one point the player character takes an automatic running 5m jump into an abyss and dies, rather than step on a platform that isn't part of the intended solution.) And most damning of all, every time I save and quit the game I wish I'd been able to do so 10 minutes earlier.
But the big thing, weirdly enough, is that there is just enough of a plot hook about 10 in-game days into Dungeons of Hinterberg the story to keep a spark of interest. I don't think it's an amazing story, but I do want to see how it plays out at least.
I also played a bunch of DOOM mods:
Bring Your own Class adds a ton of classes (most based on other video game characters) to doom, each with various gameplay variations and special powers. I like to run demons over in my car as Tony Soprano.
GZ Chaos for GZDoom adds random effects to Doom every 30 seconds or so. They are wide and varied, and almost all of them quickly render the game unplayable. It's great
But both of these just made me want to play Reelism 2 again. Which is mostly battle arenas, with random modifications/enemy sets/weapons. With an incredibly elaborate hub map you can visit in between. It's still probably my favourite Doom modification ever. Pleased to report that it's still fun.
Rating Note
I'll add a note to mods that change gameplay, but mostly leave the underlying flow of the game unchanged.
All Games Played
- Cosmic Collapse: Good
- The Tartarus Key: Great
- Dungeons of Hinterberg: Good
- Kingsim: OK
- Conscript: Good
- (Doom Wad) Bring Your Own Class: Great
- (Doom Wad) GZ Chaos: Good
- Reelism 2: Great