Sword of the Black Stone has to be one of my favorite games of all time. It's a true masterpiece, a classic of its era, perfect in every way. I don't praise games like this often, but I will vouch for the quality of this game until the day I die- it is possibly the greatest piece of media ever created, across all forms of entertainment.
This game truly is for everyone. If you enjoy an engaging and deep story with unique and heart-wrenching characters, this game is for you. If you like deep and complex combat systems, with a sort of easy to learn but difficult to master mentality to it, this game is for you. If you simply play games to experience cutting-edge graphics and see just how far technology has come, Sword of the Black Stone is for you. The game's story is so complex that even I cannot begin to grasp it in its infinite complexity. So much of its symbolism and dialogue goes over my head that I am simply left bewildered with every character encounter I have. I am simply left to assume that the human mind is simply incapable of grasping the sheer perfection of the story. In a similar way, the graphics and artstyle of the game goes over my head as well. The avant-garde, cutting-edge graphics are so powerful that my lowly PC cannot render them in full, and can only manage a low-detail mess of what must be the most graphically impressive piece of media ever made. The game is perfect in so many ways. There are so many things that I cannot even touch upon, because the game is so good that I cannot get past the first area without utilizing a technique used only by the most daring speedrunners. My lowly human mind simply cannot grasp this game's sheer perfection. 10/10, 5 stars, play this game. Plus, it's only $1.99 on steam.
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Noita is a 2D roguelike platformer with a twist: every single pixel is simulated. Dirt and sand fall, water drips, etc. It's like all those mobile games where you tap to drop individual particles of water or acid, and then shake your phone to mix them all up. It's all made to simulate real life physics and chemistry, like where water neutralizes toxic sludge, or where oil is denser than water, so when the two mix, they separate and oil falls to the bottom of the container. There's all sorts of little things like that, which make the attention to detail almost as impressive as the developer's programming abilities. Speaking of the developers, Noita is being made by the same people who made games like Baba is You, so they have experience making great games.
The simulation gimmick isn't all that Noita has going for it. It's only in early access, but it's polished and optimized about as much as it can be. The core gameplay of it consists of flying around, collecting wands and spells that completely alter how you play the game, and ultimately reaching the bottom of your current floor, so you can replenish your health and spells, and get new items and perks. The game's hard- really hard. There's so much crammed in and hidden that I've probably only seen 10% of what the game has to offer, after a good few hours playing it. Music and the sound effects are top-notch as well. Noita is a great game, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a challenging, obtuse game. It's original enough to set it apart from all the other rogue-likes and rogue-lites in my mind, and it's always fun to pop in for a quick ten-minute run every now and then. The best part is that it's being updated regularly, each update coming with new content and improvements. I can't wait to see where it goes. I'm not usually a fan of top-down RPGs- I usually don't play tactical games like them, but lately, I've been getting into them more and more, playing games like Darkest Dungeon, and more recently, Divinity 2: Original Sin.
From start to finish, Celeste is a joy to play.
The game is a difficult, but fun, platformer, following the adventures of a little girl who is trying to climb a mountain- a thinly veiled metaphor for the game's story. Along the way, you meet a variety of characters, encounter a number of varied and creative mechanics, and quite literally confront your inner demons. The game has a cute, retro aesthetic, reminiscent of older games, but with revamped animations and particle effects- but don't let it's good looks fool you. The game itself is one of the hardest platformers I've ever played- yet one of the best. The game presents a unique mechanic per level- be it bouncy clouds, traffic light blocks that sling you forward, or even a feather that allows you to fly. From my understanding, this is a pretty common tactic in most platformers, but where Celeste shines is when it ramps up the challenge slowly, but steadily, until, at the end of the level, you're in this lightning fast gauntlet of challenges that have built up over the course of the level. Each level culminates in this spectacle of massively challenging jumps and dashes, each more challenging than the last, until you finally finish the level, heart pounding in your chest. It's an amazing feeling. A few more things to note: The game's music and sound are superb, really helping to set in the mood and immersion. The controls are tight, with a focus on mid-air movement, which really sets this apart from many other titles. Another thing I liked, though didn't use, was the game's assist mode. It makes the game infinitely easier if you find a particular level too hard. Overall, I cannot find much wrong with this game. If you enjoy difficult games, or even just fun, tight platformers, Celeste is a must-have for you. 10/10 Cave story was published a year after I was born, and people apparently have a lot of nostalgia for it. I myself never actually played it until recently, and so I can safely say with an unbiased opinion, the game is good, even now, 15 years later. I played the original, freeware version, not the remaster. The art, progression, story and mechanics are all solid, and I can't think of anything I don't necessarily like. I played through it ~1.75 times (Still haven't finished the second playthrough).
The game is all about running around and shooting things, trying to escape an island while also uncovering the mysterious events that took place 10 years ago. Along the way, you collect upgrades for your guns, meet new friends, and do whatever it takes to escape. The game, being freeware, is kind of short, but has 3 different endings and even a secret level and boss. The writing is fairly good, and I found no problems with it. I personally really enjoyed Cave Story. I've been aware of its existence for a little while now, but didn't know it was freeware. Once I found out, I downloaded it and played it immediately. There were no problems running it on my Windows PC, even though it's so old. I know that there are countless versions on other consoles, (There's even a WiiWare version, of all things) so not having a PC is no excuse not to play this game. I recommend it to anyone who likes video games, and my one wish is that I found out about it years ago. Haha funny title.
Smash Bros Ultimate lives up to its excessive amounts of hype through its fast-paced gameplay and overall fun experience. It's faster than 4, and I find it perfect- I love it. The game's enormous cast gives a ridiculous amount of variety- I still find new things even after over a month of playtime. The online is ridiculously terrible. Players can cheese their way to Elite with rulesets designed to upset and exploit others, and it doesn't help that the matchmaking is terrible. The online games are still peer-to-peer, so if even one player has a bad internet connection, both suffer. Some games are unplayable. Luckily, 75% of the games online are fair and fun- I've had countless moments where I just laughed at something that had just happened. The game remains fresh and exciting even now. The campaign is around 20 hours long. The few story cutscenes were fun to watch, but the novelty wore off after the first few hours. Buy the last few fights make it all worth it, to the point where I wish I could replay the last 30 minutes (I might start New Game+). Smash Ultimate is the epitome of party games- It's fun, fast, skill-based, and I love it. Sure the campaign is a drag, and the online is terrible, but I love the game all the same. In Dead Cells, you're a dead prisoner possessed by a pile of goo, running around a giant island littered with hordes of dark revenants infected with a mysterious disease called the "Malaise." You do battle with them using a variety of swords, bows, hammers, traps, and even grenades and turrets. Rolling and jumping between intimidating monsters is exhilarating, and is fun in a way that few games can be. But however deep and exciting Dead Cell's combat is, that's not the main draw of the game. Dead Cell's claim to fame is it's ingenious mixture of two incompatible genres. If you know what metroidvanias and roguelikes are, you'll know that they're virtually polar opposites. And yet, Dead Cells manages to combine the randomly-generated levels and gear of roguelikes, and the vast, interconnected worlds of metroidvanias. Although it's far from a perfect mixture, it provides unique and varied gameplay every time I boot it up. I almost never have even similar level layouts, but each level has a kind of theme, or level design kept constant throughout the game. There are four runes I unlocked within the first five hours. These enabled me to reach items I couldn't get to before, gave me new ways to move and attack, and even entirely new levels to explore. Dead Cells didn't mix the two genres perfectly, but they still did an amazing job. The game clearly puts gameplay first. The story is intriguing and told in an interesting way, yet takes a backseat to Dead Cells' fast and furious combat. Even so often, you encounter special rooms or areas that contain a special item(s) that you can inspect. Although some give you a slightly weak weapon or some gold to spend at the shop, all these rooms contain various bits of lore. Exploring every area carefully, and piecing together random bits of narrative rewarded me with a genuinely interesting story. The lore is often punctuated with a joke or punchline to keep the mood somewhat "light." These little jokes or references (There's a ton of those- just look at the background every once in a while) only fall short once or twice. I found them refreshing, and some even gave me a little chuckle. All in all, Dead Cells is a masterpiece of a game. I love every bit of it. It surprised me at every turn with fun new mechanics and strategies. I still remember the ecstasy I felt when finally beat that hard-as-nails final boss. (Buyers beware- the last two areas are less of a difficulty curve and more of a difficulty wall...) Dead Cells is a masterpiece of a game, with few flaws or places to improve in. And with potential DLC (Or DLC-sized updates, à la Hollow Knight), I think I'll be playing Dead Cells for a while. Image reference: Figueroa, Jorge. “Dead Cells.” Flickr, Yahoo!, 22 Aug. 2018, www.flickr.com/photos/jiff01/30321017848. |
AuthorHi! I'm Thomas MacDougall, a sophomore at DSA. Here you can check out my thoughts and recent activities. Please note that the views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public Schools. Archives
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