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In 2010, one of the fastest rising games in terms of popularity on the planet was Minecraft. Ten years later and one of the biggest games on Earth is... still Minecraft. An insane number of people have bought and played this game since its days in early alpha, and now its had well over a decade of continuous development. Minecraft continues to get some major updates long after its official 1.0 release that brought it out of its beta. So, what are some of the changes that have come over the years? And how have these updates and continuous development kept both a large number of long time players interested, and continued to bring in new players?
Continue reading Minecraft in 2020
Join me for the stream of conciseness that is Neo's "A Brief Look At" series!
This month, we check out Dead Cells, a Metroidvania combat/exploration game with the heart of a Dark Souls entry!
Check out more of Neo, and the rest of the RFGeneration stream team at http://Twitch.tv/RFGeneration
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Every once in a while, a title comes along and really surprises you...really makes you want to play it start to finish. Golf Story on the Nintendo Switch somehow became one of those games. Golf Story is a golf/RPG hybrid game done in a pixel art style, but that barely starts to describe the adventure you are about to go on.
Continue reading Golf Story
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Many modern, first person adventure games are labelled as "walking simulators," particularly the ones with a narrative focus. This term refers to a game in which players walk throughout the in-game environment without doing much else like engaging in combat or finding collectibles. It's a label that, while superficially accurate, is often applied to a game because players can't decipher much more beyond the surface characters or stories. However, more often than not that couldn't be further from the truth of what these games offer. Take, for example, Dear Esther; it features the final fleeting thoughts of its narrator as his life fades away. It's true that the gameplay only involves walking from one set piece to the next, but what makes the game substantial is the emotions and memories the narrator presents. The walking simulator is the most effective at allowing players to really get into the head of a game's character.
Firewatch, the first game from Campo Santo, is the latest inclusion in the walking simulator category. The fact is that this game offers much depth of character, narrative interactivity, and even some role-playing which can only be achieved by utilizing this unconventional and divisive genre.
MAJOR SPOILERS FOR FIREWATCH CONTINUE
READING AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
Continue reading Firewatch: Not Just a Walking Simulator
[img width=700 height=393]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IF5krWHMARI/VjiQsmj5QUI/AAAAAAAAAHM/F4yGBit1uWE/s800-Ic42/lucanor_poster_02.jpg[/img] PC, Mac, Linux
The Count Lucanor, from Baroque Decay Games, is the result of blending The Legend of Zelda and survival horror. It's a combination that's intriguing enough to support the core gameplay, but its execution is only effective for a couple of hours.
Continue reading The Count Lucanor Review
Everyone has something to hide. Sometimes it is just more obvious than others...
Enter Octodad!
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Octodad is pretty straight forward game. You are a husband/father who goes about his day completing tasks like any other husband/father would. Such activities include grilling, grocery shopping, taking care of yard work, and spending time with your kids. These simple tasks turn into a comedic struggle when you have no bones.... For example, imagine flailing about the house and sloshing milk everywhere while pouring your daughter a glass.
Continue reading Octodad: Dadliest Catch Xbox One Review
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Video games are expensive products to make. The multi-million dollar project is not uncommon in the modern game development industry, in fact it's become the standard. It's like proclaiming the cost of production is some kind of bragging right owed to the developer. But now it's become popular to discuss how minuscule a game's team was or how it was made of a six figure budget.
Continue reading Indie is Indie
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Jump scares and gore have become commonplace in modern horror games and films, but Home: A Unique Horror Adventure avoids all of that to create a creepy journey full of revelations.
Continue reading Indie Review: Home: A Unique Horror Adventure
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The sun heads west and the world spins as you make your journey through the desert to Mount Distant.
Sandstorm is a small game for the PC developed by Daniel Linssen with a simple premise. You play a wandering traveler on his pilgrimage to Mount Distant. Nothing is known of your destination, just that you must arrive safely and brave the treacherous sandstorm that obscures your vision.
Continue reading Indie Review: Sandstorm
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There's something eerily wrong in Red Creek Valley and it's your job to piece things together in this atmospheric "weird fiction" detective game.
Continue reading Review: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
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Escape Goat 2
2014, Magical Time Bean
There's a really popular indie game about goats that came out this year. It's a glitchy, open-world mess of a game. And Escape Goat 2 isn't it. Instead, Escape Goat 2 is an amazing puzzle-platformer with tight controls, excellent level design, an old school sensibility, and gorgeous HD visuals. Also, it has a mouse that wears a hat. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's slow down and take a look at this excellent game.
Continue reading Review: Escape Goat 2
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There's a current trend in the video games scene to abandon the strict conditions synonymous with large-scale major name development studios in favor of smaller teams that focus on projects they are highly passionate about. This one of the major shifts that's currently changing the way we look at RPGs.
Once role playing games were associated with developers like Square, Atlus, or BioWare, but now smaller teams, some the size of a household family, are making names for themselves. They are the new trailblazers who are defying today's RPG status quo. They are the passionate creators who work on projects that are labours of love. Whether the game is the result of artistic expression or love of the bygone golden era of RPGs, these new names in the gaming market are generating a lot of buzz.
Continue reading IRPG?: RPGs and the Indie Scene, Plus Four You Should Keep Your Eye On
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When it comes to my collection list of wants I have two RPGs for the major 16 bit systems up very high on this list. Shadowrun for the SNES and the completely different game of the same name for the Sega Genesis. These games are examples of the very few Western developed RPGs released for these systems, at least ones that weren't ported from the PC that is. Both versions are considered good games, with the SNES game widely being considered ahead of its time with its noir style narrative and tactical gameplay. It was a critical darling when it released, but commercially flopped.
Fast forward two decades and we have Kickstarter. This is one of the best tools for a small team to completely fund and develop a game from the ground up. I'm sure most of us are aware of what it is and does for developers. They basically pitch their game to their final customers while development is either very early, or still in the planning stages. Customers then throw money at the project, if the developers make their goal then they can start development. If they surpass their goal then they implement 'stretch goals' which basically add ideas or staff to the process of development. The Kings of Kickstarter, at least in the video game world, are Tim Schafer and Brian Fargo, the latter of which has two massively successful projects.
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Good ol' Jake Armitage even returns for the Ripper investigation!
Harebrained Schemes also had a very successful Kickstarter with their project, Shadowrun Returns. This project ended with over $1.8 million of funding. So now the game has been out for awhile and I picked it up while it was on sale. Shadowrun is one of my absolute favorite tabletop settings. It takes our real world and completely flips it upside down with an event called the 'Awakening'. Earth is now covered with humans, elves, dwarves, orks, and trolls in various quantities. At its heart it is cyberpunk with the ability to use technological enhancements as well as magic to build stronger characters, and the Deckers' ability to physically jack into the internet (or as the game calls it, The Matrix).
Anyway, as of this review there are two different official campaigns to choose from, the original one Dead Man's Switch, and the latest one released as DLC, Dragonfall. Dead Man's Switch takes place in the Free City of Seattle, while Dragonfall takes place in Berlin. The game is presented in an isometric perspective reminiscent of the SNES Shadowrun as well as Interplay and Bioware RPGs around the turn of the century.
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The game is easy to control, click where you want to go and who you want to talk to. Combat is actually more in the style of XCOM than other RPGs. There are various items and decorations to use as cover, there's even Overwatch in the game. To keep with its RPG roots your stats influence your chance to hit as a percentage, get close to the enemy and the percentage increases, use buffs to get that even higher. I rolled as a shaman with Eagle Totem, so I could buff everybody's chance to hit in a small radius, as well as cast Haste on my various party members. By the end of the game this meant that at any one time half the party had double the Action Points, and could easily have over 85% chance to hit as long as they were close to my PC. Combine all this with a spirit that shamans can summon for an extra party member and its easy to see why this support class is completely awesome.
I have beaten Dead Man's Switch, and its set up as a murder mystery. You get a message from one of your fellow Shadowrunners Sam Watts, your main character is down on his/her luck at this moment but this message promises a huge payout for you to find your friend's killer. He's already dead by the time the message gets to you, hence the name Dead Man's Switch. You go on a long journey through the city of Seattle's underbelly in the 2050's. This story ends up tying in with the events that lead to the downfall of Chicago in the novel Burning Bright and sourcebook Bug City. You also get to have the completely awesome immortal elf Harlequin in your group during the end game, as well as meet a representative of the Dragon Lofwyr who hails from Berlin, tying Dead Man's Switch into Dragonfall.
While the game is simple to play and fun when it works I did run into crippling, near game breaking problems. There were times when my main character would just get frozen in combat. She couldn't move, but she could still cast spells, heal, and control her spirit. When I tried to move the game completely froze for a few minutes. I could still control the rest of my team though. I ran into this problem in 2nd half of this campaign, even the final battle. But, with Harlequin and Coyote I managed to win and brought justice to Sam's killer.
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Dead Man's Switch was not long, even with this problem I managed to beat it in about 16 hours. It was just incredibly annoying to have the game lock up, freeze, and then have to find workarounds to still win said game. If you decide to try this game and do not run into the problem I did (which a majority seem to not run into) then you might be able to shave an hour or two off of my completion time. I also missed a couple side quests when I went back to check walkthroughs for what I missed.
If you're interested in science fiction and want a different, near future take on the genre, mixed with heaping doses of fantasy and warped reality then Shadowrun might scratch that itch. Your chances of running into the problems I had are quite low after all the forum research I did to find a solution. If you're already familiar with some of the lore from Shadowrun this should fit in quite nicely, especially if you're familiar with the tie ins I already mentioned. If you're skeptical then you might want to wait until it goes on sale again.
Looking to get into digital PC gaming? You are? Well well well then, let me tell you: Steam's a great place to start. Valve's digital distribution giant has an easy-to-use client that houses all your games, a huge selection of titles to buy, and the famous Steam sales where you can pick up new games for criminally low prices of as little as one or two bucks. A lot of my favorite games on there are indie titles, made by individuals or really small teams. Indie devs typically have no tyrannical management to worry about, and they also tend to have a true passion for what they make. As a result, it's very common for fresh ideas and unbridled creativity to shine through their work!
Whether you're unfamiliar with this side of gaming or you just want something new to play, Steam happens to be running a huge sale at the moment: The Indie Spring Sale, going through March 29th. Countless indie games on Steam (if not all of them) are discounted, many at 75%+ off. It is absolute madness - thankfully, a wonderful kind. And hey, maybe you need a little guidance? A recommendation or two? Well, here are a few of my personal favorites that you can pick up on the cheap.
Note: Steam features a decent offline mode that works if you've signed in on your current computer before. But if you want to know which games are DRM-free, so that you can back them up wherever you want and play without an Internet connection, check out this handy list.
Gravitron 2
You pilot a space lander with thrust controls, similar to Gravitar or Oids. Gorgeous neon vector (!) graphics, combined with great flight & shooting controls make it an instant arcade-style classic. Every time you finish your mission exploring the underground depths of an alien planet, a countdown begins and intense music plays as you must escape to the atmosphere before the planet itself blows up. Exhilarating.
Thomas Was Alone
Excellent puzzle platformer: Graphics are slick but minimalist, and the story is told through an awesome narration. Gets pretty emotional. Even though you play as squares and rectangles!
Swarm Arena
VERY fresh, unique fast-paced action game with hints of strategy. As a glowing ball, you move around the arena to pick up little blips of light called drones that will swarm around you. Taking out your opponent - human or AI, offline or online - requires building up your army and swinging them using momentum to break through the other army, to strike the other colored ball. Tons of fun and something that's never quite been done before, to the best of my knowledge. You can get a better idea of the gameplay by watching a trailer.
Super Hexagon
An action game in the purest sense, Super Hexagon is an example of a simple design executed to perfection. You are a tiny triangle rotating around the middle of the screen to dodge incoming walls. That's it. And it's really difficult. But with practice you get a better feel for movement and you learn the patterns of the incoming walls, and it's really satisfying once you can survive for longer than five seconds. Also: The chiptune music is absolutely jammin, and the whole game pulses to the beat. Man, it's great.
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
Take a stroll through the most beautiful pixel-forest ever imagined, use the ancient magical powers of sworcery, battle horrible beasts, gaze at the moon. A modern adventure game, and it also has a bizarre-but-excellent sense of humor.
Ben There, Dan That! / Time Gentlemen, Please!
Two hilarious point & click adventures, bundled together. Almost any item combination you can think of will yield funny dialogue! And a lot of the humor actually comes from poking fun at quirks of the genre, so if you're a fan of these kinds of games, the Dan & Ben collection is a must.
The Polynomial
Explore the space of the music. Pop in your own tunes or listen to what's already there, and fly around incredible visual feasts as the lights pulse to the beat. There are enemies to shoot if you really want something to do, but you can turn them off. There are a LOT of settings you can play with - it's a gigantic visual music sandbox.
Super Laser Racer
A top-down racer with neon vector graphics, not quite as slick as Gravitron 2. But the racing can be a lot of fun, and the soundtrack is killer.
Data Jammers: FastForward
An action game that has you zooming down digital highways, racking up as many points as possible. All the different ways to squeeze points out of the level really make it interesting - there are collectibles, but then there are enemies. You can slam into enemies for more points, but that takes away some of your life, which regenerates over time. So it becomes a game of balancing your life bar while weaving in and out of the different lanes, exploiting every little opportunity for a higher score.
And Yet It Moves
A unique papery visual style combined with a strange ambient soundtrack and the ability to rotate the entire world make this a very interesting platformer indeed.
The Path
A dark, creepy, stunningly beautiful adventure inspired by Little Red Riding Hood. It blurs the line between videogame and notgame, and some traditional gamers are turned off because it's too "artsy". But if you're okay with a change of pace, and you can enjoy something that breaks the mold, I wholeheartedly recommend The Path. (just remember, it is seriously creepy)
I-Fluid
You are a drop of water, and there's a whole house out there to explore. Slick graphics, and some really cool 3D platforming. Just watch out for paper, stove tops, etc.!
Criminy, and it just goes on and on. There are many more I could mention. I could continue heaping praise onto the games I love forever and ever, on and on until the end of time. Or close to it. And then there are the bunches of indie games I haven't played and look great. But I'll cut it off here so this post isn't too too long. In summary: There is an enumerable amount of quality titles out there, and if you feel like giving a few a go, now's a good time to do just that!
Alright, so as many of you know, I go around saying how much I hate Indie Games. Well, guess what?
I was wrong.
Now, breathe for a minute...Alright then.
As odd as it may sound coming from me, I've been sampling a lot of Indie Games lately, and I gotta say, there's some good stuff here. Terraria, Castle Miner Z, etc. I mostly play them on my 360. They're cheaper than regular games, and many of them have great concepts, and they execute those concepts well. Honestly, I don't know why I didn't give them a chance earlier. Granted, Terraria and Castle Miner Z are just like Minecraft in some ways, but in other ways, they're unique. Terraria, for example, is a 2D-Game, a Side-Scroller to be specific. Castle Miner Z has Guns and more fearsome creatures. There's also plenty more to check out. All of the ones I've played so far were worth the MS Points I spent on them.
So what the hell are you waiting for?! The Bat Sign?! Go download some Indie Games today! RFGeneration's local Power Glover commands you! 
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