Review - Dust: An Elysian Tail

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Humble Hearts

PC (reviewed), Xbox Live Arcade

Action, Adventure, RPG, Platformer

August 15, 2012 (XBLA)
May 24, 2013 (PC)

The Preamble

Here's one I left off of my "I'm Back!" post. Which is strange since it's actually the one I finished most recently. At any rate, after so much shooting (Last of Us, Metro: Last Light, Saints Row: The Third) I needed some RPG goodness, and why not throw some platforming in there.

Dust: An Elysian Tale is an action-RPG, originally released back in August 2012 as a Xbox Live Arcade exclusive. I heard loads of good things at the time, but for one reason or another, didn't get a chance to play. Luckily, the developers have been hard at work porting it to PC, which was released in May of this year.

The Overview

Dust: An Elysian Tail takes place in a world called Falana, inhabited by a plethora of anthropomorphic animals and monsters. You awake as Dust, a blue animal (fox?) out in the middle of the forest, accompanied by a living, floating sword, as well as a small wombat by the name of Fidget. Dust has no recollection of who he is, how he got here, and what his purpose is. So, of course, your quest leads you along that path of self discovery and unraveling of the past.

It's not a bad story, but it's nothing extraordinary. The mix of the strange anthropomorphic creatures and, at times, obnoxious voice acting, makes for a fairly cringe worthy storytelling experience. On the upside, the combat is pretty fun, at least for a while. And the developers kept it kid friendly, so gamers of all ages will be able to safely enjoy the game.

As for the game itself, Dust is a mix of action RPG, beat-em-up, and metroidvania all clumped up into a single game. While the RPG elements lack a bit, and the combat can get old after a while, it's still a well made game in a lot of respects.

The Good

• The game is really beautiful. Vibrant colors and fluid animations make for one of the more aesthetically pleasing indie experiences I've had in quite some time.

• There's a surprising amount of content. I spent 15 hours with the game and didn't really even near 100% completion. There's a lot to explore, and many hidden treasures to find.

• While the voices got on my nerves a bit, the writing and voicing overall is well done. It's not the most compelling or unpredictable of stories, but it's also not bad. Assuming it's aimed at a somewhat younger audience, which I think it is, I was impressed by the story arc.

The Bad

• While the gameplay elements that are present are good, there simply isn't enough here to keep you interested for the entire game. You learn a few abilities initially that end up being your bread and butter for the entire game. 

• While new abilities are unlocked throughout the game, they are purely used for accessing different areas of the map (e.g. sliding, climbing walls, etc). There isn't a single modification to the combat mechanics after the first 30 minutes of the game, making combat extremely repetitive.

• The RPG elements are very weak. Outside of the levels and stats, there's no skill progression and loot is extremely basic. If they could have added some combat skills to learn as you go, it would have improved this game a ton. I mentioned above that there's a lot of exploration and treasure to find, which is true, but the treasure is almost entirely gold and food (to restore health), which makes the hunt far less interesting. Where are the phat lootz!?

This is about the extent of character customization.

• I allude to it in The Good, but the voice acting leaves something to be desired, to say the least. Some of the voices are fine, but others are annoying almost at a Claptrap level. This is a good example of a time to go the Nintendo route, and make the characters mumble, with accompanied text for the player to read.

Fidget... One of the most obnoxious characters I've encountered in a while.

The Conclusion

If you're looking for a game with exceptional art, Dust is a game you should check out. If you're looking for a unique action RPG experience, that will keep you engaged for the entire game, I would look elsewhere. The game has a ton of potential, but falls flat in too many aspects. Hopefully we'll see some improvement if sequel comes along.

Review - The Walking Dead: 400 Days

The Walking Dead: 400 Days

Telltale Games

PC, OS X, PS3, Xbox 360, iOS, PS Vita, Ouya

Survival, Horror, Adventure

July 3, 2013

The Preamble

I just want to start out by saying I think The Walking Dead series that came out last year from Telltale Games was not only one of the best games I played last year, but one of the best games I've played period.

Before playing The Walking Dead, I don't think I'd ever played a game that affected me so much. Not only is the writing immaculate, resulting in awesomely relatable characters, but the tough choices I was forced to make and the consequences I had to endure went so far as to conjure up a gaming experience unlike any I had ever encountered.

So, obviously, I'm super pumped for Season 2 coming out, which is said to be released before the end of 2013. But until then, Telltale has decided to whet our pallet a bit, and ease us into the next season with a transition episode, 400 Days. And it goes without saying, the choices you make in 400 Days will affect your story in Season 2 (along with the choices you made in Season 1).

The Overview

The Walking Dead begins with the story of a zombie outbreak, which you witness from the point of view of Lee. Season 2 is proposed to start 400 days after this initial outbreak, and this transition episode is meant to give us a smattering of what's going on during this period.

You play through five mini-stories, each from the perspective of new characters, more or less independent of one another (there is some cross-over with the stories, though). You can play the mini-stories in any order you please, and each one has it's own unique decisions that you'll have to make that will shape your version of the story. 

To go into any more detail with the story would be a disservice to the game, and the experience you'll get when playing it, so I'll leave it at that.

The Good

• 400 Days is a great showcase of non-linear story telling. The Walking Dead did this itself a bit, but in this transition episode it's front and center. While each character has their own story, you can begin to see how they will become intertwined, and how choices for one character may end up affecting another character in a significant way.

• One of the big hooks of The Walking Dead was how relatable the characters were, allowing you to see things from their point of view, sympathize with them, and make decisions based on what you think that character would really do. 400 Days carries the torch nicely in this respect, with great writing and voice acting.

• Honestly, the episode is short (1-2 hours), so there's not a whole lot else to say here except that, for the most part, 400 Days is more of the same. While that may sound lame, for those that have already played through The Walking Dead, you know it's the best praise I could give.

The Bad

• Difficult decisions for the sake of having difficult decisions. I said it myself, one of my favorite things about The Walking Dead was the plethora of tough decisions you had to make, most of which had a significant shock factor to them. Similarly, in 400 Days, there are tough decisions for each character to make, and the shock factor is there, but I wonder if they aren't forcing it a bit too much. There doesn't need to be a horrifying decision to make every 15 minutes, only if it makes sense. For the most part it does make sense in 400 Days, but I started getting the feeling that some of these decisions were somewhat contrived. This is less of a knock on the game, and more of a realization of a fear, which is that Telltale will try to force what people like so much about the first season into the next, rather than let it come naturally.

The Conclusion

The Walking Dead: 400 Days sets out to give us a launchpad from Season 1 to Season 2, and in my opinion, does a damn good job of it. I was already pumped for Season 2, and playing through 400 Days pumps me up even more. If you were a fan of The Walking Dead, pick this up and play it, I guarantee you will like it (and it's only $5!). If you haven't played The Walking Dead... you shouldn't be reading this, you should be playing The Walking Dead! (But seriously, thanks for reading =D)

Review - The Last of Us

The Last of Us

Naughty Dog

Playstation 3

Survival, Horror, Stealth, Action

June 14, 2013

The Preamble

Well, I want to start this one out by apologizing to the console gaming audience out there. As I was just looking back through the blog archive, it seems as though, outside of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney, I've reviewed and discussed nothing but PC games on this blog.

Well, today we're venturing into the depths of the PS3 exclusive space, taking a look at The Last of Us. This title comes to us from developer Naughty Dog, famous for their work on the Uncharted series.

Unfortunately, I haven't played any of the Uncharted series, so I won't be able to make any comparisons there. What I can say is that The Last of Us is an extremely well-made game, wrought with emotional struggle, intense stealth-driven gameplay, and a narrative that you will not soon forget.

The Overview

I went into this game knowing virtually nothing about it. I knew that it was going to be survival horror type of game, with strong focus on characters and story and I was excited about this. I had of course seen the critical acclaim for the game, but outside of that, I really didn't know much.

I think that's maybe the best way to play this game, so I'm not going to be very descriptive in the overview of the story here. 

After a brief introduction of how the outbreak occurs, you travel forward in time 20 years after the infection, where society has been decimated and left to various sects of survivors that have declared their independence in some way or another. You play as Joel, a smuggler, devoid of almost all of his emotion as a result of enduring the last 20 years, watching civilization crumble. Through a series of events which I'll leave unsaid, Joel embarks on a journey that will lead him all over the country, forcing him to resolve unforgettable situations and pull him in emotional directions he didn't think he'd ever have to encounter.

The Good

• The story is top notch. From the unforgettable introduction to the thought provoking conclusion, The Last of Us remains good until the last drop. You are constantly excited, yet terrified, to see what happens next. While there are some typical zombie apocalypse tropes, there is a lot of uncertainty throughout the game.

• The character development is immaculate. Well written, well voiced, well animated; you feel like you know them, both the good and bad things about them. The arcs that each character take are compelling and keep you guessing about each decision.

• As far as the survival-horror-action genre goes, I don't think I've come across a game that conveys the true feeling of being a survivor as well as The Last of Us. You have to work your ass off to scavenge supplies, and even if you're good, you are never left feeling comfortable about the quantity of resources that you have. You are constantly tasked with rationing out your supplies and weighing your options every time you encounter an enemy.

• For a console game, the visuals are great. You aren't stuck with the same old grey, bleak, zombie setting. There is a surprising amount of variety in the weather and environment, which makes for a more diverse and interesting experience.

The Bad

• This may be the RPG fanboy in me peaking out, but the low number of skills, and the mundane nature of the ones that are present is pretty bleak. I would have loved a larger variety to play around with, at least some that actually influenced your play style somehow, which seems to be completely absent.

• Maybe it's just me and my lack of interest in stealth games anymore, but there are a lot of segments in this game that are downright infuriating. Retry after retry of tedious stealth gameplay. This wore on me in a big way after a while. Take a look at the 'Extra Note' below for more on this.

• There are some serious issues with checkpoint saving in this game. The game is not very clear about where the checkpoints are and the inclusion of what seems to be 'save anywhere' function always left me very confused when trying to load. There were numerous times I restarted from a checkpoint to find out that half of my ammo was gone and twice as many enemies were present. While this didn't happen every time, it happened enough for me to notice and get very frustrated on occasion. Also, saving is incredibly slow.

The Conclusion

The Last of Us is really quite groundbreaking on a storytelling level. It might be the most cinematic, immersive video game experience I've had the pleasure of consuming. That said, unless you are a huge fan of stealth gameplay, I don't feel like the game offers a lot more than that fantastic storytelling experience.

So I think there are a couple groups of people that would be interested in this game. 

• If you're interested in seeing one of the finest executions of storytelling in gaming, absolutely give this game a go (also, read the Extra Note below). Even if you are sort of zombied out (trust me, I'm right there with you), I still think it's well worth taking a look at.
• If you love tough stealth games, whether you care about story or not, this is worth taking a look at. 

An Extra Note

If you're not a gamer who is a huge stealth fan, and are more interested in the narrative part of the game, I would highly recommend playing on Normal or Easy difficulty settings. I made it through on Hard, but boy was it frustrating at times. If I had to do it over, I would have probably gone with Normal. Anyway, just my two cents on that subject.

The Thomp is Back!

As some of you may have noticed, The Thomplog has been pretty quiet lately.

The long and the short of it is, the Thomp has permanently departed the hot, arid Phoenix heat, and will hereby be delivering opinions on gaming via a new home in Kirkland, WA, outside of Seattle. It feels good to be back up North, with the water, the cool air, the cloud cover... all perfect ingredients to get in the mood for gaming!

That said, while I've been away, I've still managed to reserve some time to play. In fact, I've finished quite a few games since last posting, and look forward to writing some thoughts about them soon.

Until then, here's a quick look at what I've been playing.

The Last of Us

Status: Finished. Review coming soon.

This game was really quite an experience. Some of the most compelling character development I've seen in a game. Expect to see a review of this soon.

Metro: Last Light

Status: Finished. Review coming soon.

  Another dark, intense, story driven FPS from the team that brought us Metro 2033. I thoroughly enjoyed this game, perhaps even more than it's predecessor. Expect a review soon.

The Walking Dead: 400 Days

Status: Finished. Review coming soon.

Season 2 of Telltale's The Walking Dead will take place 400 days after the end of Season 1. This special transition episode is here to give us an idea of the happenings during this time, from the eyes of 5 separate protagonists. Expect a review soon.

Saint's Row: The Third

Status: Finished. Review coming soon.

In preparation for Saints Row 4, I decided I would give the highly acclaimed "Third" a try. Turns out it is insanely fun, and insanely ridiculous. Expect a full review soon.

Rogue Legacy

Status: Reallllly close to finished. Damn you last boss!

This game has damn near taken over my life since it came out. Super fun and super addicting. Looking forward to talking more about this game!

League of Legends

Status: It never ennnnnnds!

I'm ashamed to really say anything right here. Yes, I've been playing this game. Yes, I've been playing it a lot. Let's leave it at that for now.

Grand Theft Auto V

Status: Not started. Ready and raring for midnight release!

Super-duper stoked for this. There are 27 hours and counting until the release as I write this. This one looks bigger and better than ever with tons of new features and THREE main protagonists! Review will come eventually.

There have, of course, been other games I've been playing on and off, but none enough to mention here really. I've got a bit of catching up to do with these, but am happy to be back on the horse again. 

Until next time, Thomp out!

Review - Call of Juarez Gunslinger

Call of Juarez Gunslinger

Techland
Ubisoft

Windows (reviewed), PSN, XBLA

Western, FPS, Arcade

May 21, 2013

The Preamble

I love westerns. Western movies, western comics, and the few and far between western video games. The Western video game is a rare beast, one that we have seen very few of over the years. Outside of Gun, the Call of Juarez series, and Red Dead Redemption, we've seen virtually no western games this generation.

And then here comes Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, out of nowhere. This seems to be happening more and more frequently: I wake up, open Steam, see a AAA quality game staring me in the face for $14.99. Not only does this game breath some life into a setting that is not seen very often, it presents it to the consumer at a smokin' price! 

More than ever before, we seem to be consistently getting these sleeper 15-20 dollar games, and the best thing is, they're damned good! Mars: War Logs, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, Dust: An Elysian Tale; while these games aren't perfect, they are surprisingly up to snuff with the latest AAA titles. It's an interesting trend, and one that I'm particularly fond, especially when it produces games like Call of Juarez: Gunslinger!

The Overview

The narrative of the game is relayed in an interesting manner. As the game starts, you watch a cinematic of an old gunslinger sitting down in a saloon for a drink. Before long, people notice that he is the legendary bounty hunter, Silas Greaves, and ask him to tell some stories about his adventures. You listen to Silas tell the stories to the patrons (and their reactions) as you play through his tale.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is set up more like an arcade game than it's predecessors. It's very linear and the FPS action is all of the shooting gallery sort. This ends up fitting with the style of storytelling very well in that each segment of the story Silas tells is its own chapter of the game. It all ties together very nicely into a snug 5-6 hour game. With the addition of a New Game Plus mode and a $14.99 price point, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a prime example of a Grade A middle tier game.

The Good

• Gunslinger isn't the first game to use a flashback-narration storytelling style (Bastion, ahem), but man does it do it well. The way that Silas gets carried away on tangents and misremembers facts throughout his tale makes for cool dynamic level redesigns and wacky happenings throughout the game. This was one of the most refreshing parts of this game.

• The guns look and feel amazing. When you're playing a Wesern game you really want to feel the weight of those two revolvers, or that double barrel shotgun. Gunslinger does a great job in bringing you some highly detailed, weighty guns, that feel great while you're shooting them.

• Duels are tense and truly test your reflexes. It's tough to make a good dueling mechanic, but Gunslinger has done a fine job. There's tons of tension building up to the draw, and to effectively win, you really have to be on top of your game.

• Silas' story is a rip roaring good time for any Western fan. You encounter Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Wyatt Earp, and plenty of others. Silas supposedly knew all these folks, which means you get to play through the story of his adventures with them. Being a huge fan of all the movies involving these guys, it's an absolute blast playing through parts of the game with them by your side.

The Bad

• The game is pretty darn short. I can't complain too much about this because of the price, but if I have to gripe about something, I definitely wish there was more.
• It's a linear game. Again, for the style of game that this is (shooting gallery FPS) and the price point, I really can't legitimately complain about this. But I have to come up with something, don't I?

The Verdict

I'm sure I've made this clear by now, but this game is a beautiful orgy of Western lore conglomerated into a cohesive, fast-paced, blast of a shooter. If you are a Western fan of any kind, or just in the mood for a quirky, over the top shooter, I'd highly recommend picking this up. 

The Extras

Here's a playthrough of the first level. Keep in mind, this is New Game Plus, and also on the hardest difficulty, True West.

Review - Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider

Crystal Dynamics

Windows (reviewed), PS3, Xbox 360

Action-Adventure, Survival, Platformer

March 5, 2013




The Preamble

My introduction to the Tomb Raider games was on the original Playstation, fighting bears and doing cartwheels through massive caves and tombs. I played the first two Tomb Raider games when I was young and absolutely loved them. Since then, I've dabbled with some of the interim Tomb Raider games (Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light), but wasn't sucked in like I had been what I was younger.

I wasn't able to get around to playing the game until now due to the number of big releases during March. But I've finally gotten around to it, and since I waited, I was able to get the game for just about $15. This just goes to show, unless you really need to play a game at release, you're likely much better off waiting for a month or two after the release date to pick up PC games, you can often save a ton of cash.

The Overview

Crystal Dynamics has taken the reins in bringing us a brand new reboot of this classic series keeping the same name as the original: Tomb Raider. A lot has changed since our busty friend was raiding tombs back in 1996. The 2013 Tomb Raider gives us a different look at Lara Croft, as a person, and how she stumbled into this tomb raiding life.

The game begins on an exploratory vessel, the Endurance, where Lara and a group of colleagues are in search of the lost kingdom of Yamatai. After much deliberation with her crew, Lara convinces the group that they should head toward the Dragon's Triangle. As they venture into this mysterious place, they are thrown into a violent storm by unexpected weather, forcing them to crash land on a stray island in the triangle.

This is where the real adventure begins. Lara must find her lost comrades, survive the tumultuous island, and find a way home. You'll utilize Lara's innate survival skills, climbing expertise, and weapon handling to accomplish this task, all the while uncovering the secret that the island holds within.

The Good

• A Lara Croft you care about. While Lara's story arc doesn't provide a whole lot of realism, with the help of spectacular graphics fidelity and voice acting, we're able to see and relate to a much more human Lara Croft than we saw in previous games.

• The graphics are spectacular. Crystal Dynamics' Crystal Engine is downright beautiful. Lara and the environments with all the different particle effects look spectacular. Like BioShock Infinite or Far Cry 3, this was yet another game where I was constantly snapping screenshots for desktop wallpapers. The first thing that popped into my mind every time I started this game up was: "God damn, this looks great."

• A big part of what makes the graphics shine so much are the masterfully executed animations. Lara's movement is as fluid as can be. You can literally see the effect of every change in the environment on her actions. This type of polish and precision with characters and environment animation definitely makes this title shine.

• The voice acting is flawless. The voice acting for Lara is done by Camilla Luddington. While this beauty doesn't resemble a cart wheeling, rock climbing, bow wielding badass like Lara in real life (to me, at least), she does a great job of voicing her character.

Complete and utter badass.

Voice of... complete and utter badass?!

            

• Crystal Dynamics did a great job with the environment and set pieces in this game. Walking out into a brand new area of the map and seeing a great landscape of old structures and ruins to scale and explore is a great feeling. You will definitely appreciate the level design in this game.

• What's a Tomb Raider game without Lara's signature double pistols?? Well, those pistols aren't as prevalent in this iteration of the series, but with the addition of the bow, combat is better than ever. Bow and arrows seem to be extremely popular now for some reason (Far Cry 3, Crysis 3) and Tomb Raider aims to carry that torch a little further. They accomplish it with flying colors in this release. While the double pistols and various other firepower is available for Lara to use throughout the game, the bow is by far the most satisfying, and makes every combat experience a joy to jump into.

• As I mentioned before, the environments are massive and very well designed. There are often times numerous paths to an objective, and the openness of the areas make for a great feeling of true exploration. While most of the exploration isn't necessary unless you want to find the plethora of collectibles that are made available to you, traversing the environment alone is enough fun to compel you to explore every inch of the map.

• So what about the actual tombs?! Well, they're awesome. Just like the large, open areas of the game, the more confined tombs that contain intricate puzzles are an absolute blast to figure out. I just wish there were more of them!

• Minimal HUD and intuitive controls. Tomb Raider properly introduces you to controls by flashing the button indicators on your screen at first, but after a while, they disappear. While this may sound annoying, it's actually not. Less 'gamey' stuff on the screen makes for a far more immersive experience, and you are trained in such a way that the first button you go for in these situations is more often than not, the correct button. Great design in this respect!

The Bad

• What happened to hunting?? In the first mission, you are introduced to your bow by being tasked to take down some deer that are roaming the area. Outside of a couple scripted wolf encounters, you are basically never threatened by an animal again. One of my favorite parts of the old Tomb Raider games is having to deal with bears, moutain lions, cougars, and the like. Unfortunately, there is far more human killing than animal killing in this game.

• Tomb Raider has been transformed more into a third person shooter than a puzzle platformer. While the combat, especially with a bow, is really well done in this game, there's an awful lot of it for a Tomb Raider title. While combat sort of took the back burner in a lot of former titles, for better or worse, it's much more in the forefront in this release. This is fine with me, except for the fact that I was craving more puzzle content (see below).
• The puzzle tombs were great, but there needs to be more of them. These were one of my favorite parts of the game, but there were not nearly enough of them in this release. I remember there being countless platforming puzzles in prior Tomb Raider releases and in this game you can probably count all of the puzzle tombs on your two hands.

The Verdict

Tomb Raider is one of the best games that I've played this year. If I had to pick a GOTY right now, it would be a tough pick between BioShock Infinite and Tomb Raider. Even with it's flaws, this reboot is a must play for any fan of the franchise, or even the third person/platforming genre in general.

To set the hook even further, the price of picking up Tomb Raider on PC has dropped significantly since release. Keep an eye on Steam sales and sites like Green Man Gaming for amazing deals (in the past week I've seen it on sale for less than $20!).

All in all, if you want to see one of the more impressive games of this generation, do yourself a favor and pick up this game!