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[twillight]

Butcher is a 2D-platformer Doom clone. Sounds weird? Whatever. The "Normal" fiddiculty is "hard mode", and for a reason. This game is for hardcore jumping-around enemies and giant chainsaws.
It reminds me of a flashgame, what had much better graphic, and less of this modern arena-shooter feeling, but whatever.
There is an "easy" mode, what substantialy buffs the player, but the whole design of it is totaly disheartening, so if you are not "hardcore" from the start, you don't want to play this through, because the game successfully ridicules you on such level it would just feel shameful.


Sunblaze is ... Well, cutsy-looking 2D plaformer. The problem is, it starts hard, and has more level just in "Chapter 1" than your regular platformer in its entire length. During which nothing happens, so I get the feeling like for Atomix: sure, I see I'm progressing, but this is a marathon, while I just wanna have fun.
And I don't even know where the save function is.
And there are way not enough stroy-chit-chat happenning.
If you are good in these Hollow Knight randomised survival modern stuff, you'll likely like this, as it's not even roguelike randomized level but progressing through a fixed set of settings, but I got bored/tired after what was in a let's play 5 minutes, and that was only halfway of "chapter 1", what is supposed to be the tutorial.
If I had nothing else, or there'd be a pretty good reward waiting, I'd maybe attempt a playthrough, but this way I'm dropping out.

[twillight]

Alder's Blood is some Darkest Dungeon knockoff, some high-mortality roguelike high-stratfluctuation thing I just never got used to.


The Prologue, which is like a demo-chapter is a 1 character fixed story, probabléy mainly teaching the mechanics of a hunt itself, or stealthing, or whatever.
Problem is, the whole thing falls back to try-until-succeed, because despite you trying your best doing what the game/tutorial tells you to do, the game will screw you over and over and over with hidden enemies, unexpected mechanics, so the whole thing is just irritating.


No wonder I stopped claiming GoG's giveaways. You are better off paying for something you maybe will like than picking up these "lucky bags", which 99% turn out not worth your investment.

[twillight]

This says on its page is a rogue-like, but it surprisingly lacks enemies.
What it also lacks, as usual, to tell what equipment is worth carrying around. So if you seriously want to bother, find a guide or something, because eventualy, you'll run out of equipment.


90% of the rooms for me were empty on the first floor (or what), found no new character.
The special moves make the controls a problem, or at least will on the later stages, because I just shotgunned everything not really bothering.


That the first floor's boss was Cthulhu itels was a letdown.


The game has some nasty trick, namely: the spikes in the floor which make you bleeding make walking around the map a hassle.
The boss-room started in a very narrow corridor for me, so it could do some cheap potshot on me.
Lastly, there was a room with enemies, so instant instinct made me shoot. Well, in the damage area was an explosive barrel that killed me. I had an ankh to not loose my game, but that's a rare thing, and either way, it's a rogue-like, so you should know about this.


Mys problem is, it's not very interresting. As it is a rogue-like the lore-pieces are like Binding of Isaac: worth nothing; and the enemies being scarce does not help either.


So I say the game is mid. If you know what items will be needed to collect, and are ready to sink in your time, it's not a bad experience, I just can play something more exciting.

[twillight]

I thought this will be a short, flimsy free, nostalgiabait adventure-game.
How I was mistaken.


For the like half of the game it was fine. I could solve things with a bit of trial and error, though I suspected the game is trolling me in one puzzle, so despite things being logical it was suspicious the dev are just trolling, but I could pass it for 1 such puzzle, ok? I mean finding woof for making fire with magnifying glass in the only place it even hints the possibility, making everything prepared, just not need the firewood there at all in the end - a simple bit of semi-obvious trolling, right?


Then there was that repeated-action puzzle, and that part where you have to dismantle your ingenious crafted device - now that's some Sierra-level crap.


But what I'll never forgive, is the animal-food ingerdient measuring.
The labels on the sacks? Irrelevant. The label at the hamster-wheel? Irrelevant. Recipes in the cooking-books? Irrelevant. As far as I can tell, you just have to pull the numbers out of your arse.


F this game.

[twillight]

This was an oldschool walk around shooter for Amiga, Sega Genesis and such.
So I thought, a simple game from simpler times, what can go wrong.
Well, what COULD go wrong is: the lack of direction where you are supposed to be heading.


You see, the levels have a time-limit by some rising - obviously lethal - waterlevel. So you obviously try to go up.


But you can't just jump on the platforms above you, oh no.
Yiou need to find the spots that let you upward either by placing the platforms very close at level, or by some weird 90 degree angle platforms you just walk like it's nothing surprising.
The bad part is, many times you got like 5 screens in a direction, and the only way to go that way - is down!


So I ssume you should "learn the level", in what is a fast-paced envirnomnent, and that's where I say no.


Kontra, and Castlevania were obvious coin-eaters, but this - this is somehow even worse.

[twillight]

Poland made an adventure-game. Classic Point&Click style.
There is an action-selection bar, but it's not inconvenient, and that you only get 1-2 puzzles the same time, and are limited to 9 items by design (meaning you simply can't get more, so your inventory won't be flooded with useless red herrings) is an advantage.
Otherwise you clearly see they knew some western games, like Discworld, or Broken Sword and such.
Unfortunately they also knew Sierra's game-design, so you have all the hated tropes of adventure games: pixel-hunting, necessary to repeat actions without warning, quicktime events, moon-logic - they even manage to lead you in one quest, then leave you hang around with no clues that you must do this other puzzle to catch up with this so you can solve the dragon task...


But all in all, everything in this game is familiar adventure game design, so I rate it 4 out of 5, with a warning.


PS: it's an annoying feture that your inventory pops up if you bring the cursor to the top of the screen. And yes, that's how you access it.


PPS: I waited 20+ years to play this game, and I like the world, the style, the humor - I just don't like the puzzles.

[twillight]

Or I dunno, but this became absolutely ridiculous.
You start a game - and turns out it is incompatible with your hardware.
What even is this?
And no, you can NOT know this BEFORE trying the software out.
And I'm fed up with this.


Another issue is: where to get controllers for PC? I bought once, brought back to the shop the same day because it was incompatible. Not sure if with the system, or the particular game... I don't even care about it anymore. I refuse trying to play controller-based games, because controllers are inaccessible, and there is this compatibility-issue.
Seriously.
Not to mention, I'm small, and everything is designed for 6 feet / 180 cm males. It's a miracle if I find a controller that fits my hands.
So just no.
and what was that? The production-company said their controllers regularly break during transport to the shops selling them? Like a third of their controllers won't work because of their transportation to the shop? What are these made of? Nintendo Switch controllers?
I had enough of this nonsense.


One of the controller-based games I've just tried out was Steam World Dig 2 or whatever, it started the character going from left to right. For unexplained reasons a chasm opened, and now we are diggin down. Why? there's no explanation. Don't ask questions. Just consume product. And be excited for new product.
I'm fed up with this nonsense.

[twillight]

I'm beating my backlog at a pretty good speed, and while doing it I decided I want to re-play some of the adventure-game titles along, as there are some new games I want to play which are adventure-games too, and I'll try to beat them without a walktrough.

So my first game was Discworld (1995), and it went not so good. I got stuck despite already played the game 2-3 times through 23 times despite my best efforts.
The reasons were pixelhunting, not trying enough random items, or just the game lacking any clues provided what I am supposed to do.

On the plus side this game has a pretty good pacing, cute graphic, good gumour, and does not want to literaly kill you.

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Some of the titles I'll never revisit:
- Zak McKracken: even just the memory of the maze-puzzle makes me not even starting it.
- "classic Sierra Titles": eg. Leisure Suit Larry. I remember trying that one, and it was horrible experience. Branching pathes, one true path, nonsense scoring...
- any text-based adventure: Hitchehiker's Guide to the Galaxy with its Babel Fish Puzzle took my will ever touching anything like that ever again
- Maniac Mansion: sure, the character-based branching of the story is fun on paper, but in practice just annoyance. And especialy in its original for - without saving - has plenty of deathtraps built in, so big no from me.
- Tormentum, Dark Seed, and company: these are nonsense. I'm not interrested anymore. Very style over substance, and horrid gameplay.
- Deponia, Toonstruck, Full Throtle: these games are middle of the road execution with pretty frustrating puzzles. I just can't be bothered to touch them again, even WITH a walkthrough. Without that, they'd be nightmarish

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There are a coule titles that get honourable mentions, because they can be played through without too much problem w/o a walkthrough even for the first time:
- Phamtasmagoria 2: this was an FMV-game, and eventualy, with some trial&error, you'll be able to pass it. Great stuff, plenty of spooky thing happenning.
- The Darkside Detecive + A Fumble in the Dark: these are in reality one game, one story. You start with very easy mini-adventures, and you progress pretty far tbh, but without the insanity-inducing adventure-game tropes ever killing your mood (because they don1t show up). Pretty cool experience. If you want someone to have feeling of success while playing adventure game, this is the perfect game for them. Seriously: if you only play 1 adventure game, pick these.
- Pikuniku: more of a platformer combined with adventure game storyline and mechanics, which is seemingly designed for 5-yearsers, but do rpovide challange for grownups even with its minigames mostly. I recently played it through, and fully recommend it, it's lighthearted fun, very refreshing.

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the titles I plan on playing:

prisoner of ice

day of the tentacle

galador

broken sword 1-2

monkey island 1-5(-6?)

dscworld noir

the night of the rabbit

grim fandango

flight of the amazon queen

[twillight]

Pixelhunting during timed events in a game where the graphic does everything to hide the items from you.


And from certain events (finding the man in the box, finding the file of Parker) you expect more (like being able to read the file, report the body to someone).


There are also a couple of "try every item until succeed" puzzles, but given the limited number of items, it's ok.


Oh, and don't rely on the autosave. It is very obvious the game has this function, but it doesn't happen where you'd really want (meaning right before every quicktime event), so do manual saves.


I still like the atmosphere though. The music, the story, the cutscene graphics elevates this. Solid 4/5.

[twillight]

Not the hardest game per se, but shouldn't be your first either, because the puzzles, stuff to do and humour is a bit on the abstract side already.
I mean knifing the toy-clown? And that's not the only such thing to commit.


Then there are the "real knowledge tests". It's not Shadow of the Comet, which demands you knowing in real life how to develop photos with chemicals in a lab - because the game is not telling you that. No idea why they did not include a book about photography in the library there...
Here you need to make vinnegar from wine by time-travel. Not the most obscure knowledge, but neither is everyday street-stuff.


Finaly i had problem with making Fred sign that bloody contract, because all the sudden the player is expected to go through a very specific line of conversation. Not the depth of Galador, but c'mon!