gayars
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Post by gayars on Jun 16, 2015 1:57:59 GMT
I liked the demo but it was more than 5 dollars at the time and all my money was going to the Sims... I may have to break down and get it!
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Post by [PP] blueasbutterfly on Jun 16, 2015 19:22:39 GMT
FarSky
Developed and published by FarSky Interactive Release Date: Apr 24, 2014 Cost on Steam: $14.99 FarSky is listed under the tags "adventure," "survival," "open world," and "sandbox," primarily, so I thought it would be a good candidate for review. The story goes that your submarine crashed, and you need to survive in this underwater world while you collect the pieces to repair it, thus enabling you to return to the surface to be rescued. (Note, I'm talking about "adventure mode," you have to complete it in order to unlock "survival mode." I have not, so this review will be based on adventure mode. There is also a "sandbox mode," but to get supplies to start with, you need coins, and my adventure mode has not yet yielded enough coins to feel good about my chances in sandbox mode. So I haven't tried it yet.) Everything about the game is fairly simple and straightforward, there aren't very many "extra" options. You have what you need, and not much else. But then, this isn't the sort of game that claims to be frilly. Unlike the other games I've reviewed so far, I'm pretty sure I can do a fair review based off my usual 3 hours of playing. Let's take a look. You begin this game with a drill to gather resources, and access to a base, which contains a basic crafting table, a cooker, a small chest, and several plant pots that have potatoes growing in them. You get to the base, replenish your oxygen, and go back out to collect tons of iron, which you will use to craft other crafting tables, and then eventually, better equipment. You explore, collect items from chests, hunt fish to survive (watch out for predators that are attracted by the spill of blood) and the better your gear gets, the more distance you can cover before having to return "home," thus enabling you to gather more and more parts of your submarine. When you're first starting out, short communications tell you the very basics of how to play. It's quite difficult at first, getting established, unless you really enjoy hunting fish and then having to run back into your base until all the sharks go away. That's a pretty good illustration of why I'm on the fence about this game. I enjoyed it, but there were lots of things that could have been thought out better, in my opinion. For example, why do you *have* to kill fish with a knife? You can gather seaweed with the knife, giving you bandage materials and fertilizer to make plant pots with. Why couldn't you weave the seaweed into nets instead? And why is it that a shark shows up every single time you kill a fish, and why so fast? And why on Earth, if you kill a fish and leave the area, does the shark still somehow manage to come nipping at your heels? "Features" like this get annoying very fast. I do understand the concept of a survival game, and that adventure games often involve pressuring situations. It just gets to be a bit much when it's constant, and when it's the same thing over and over. The fighting aspects are also really cumbersome, I find myself slashing at nothing most of the time because being underwater, aim and coordination is a bit difficult. So what's to like about this game? For one thing, it's pretty. The sand, the rocks full of iron (shown by the shiny streaks, as seen above,) the schools of fish, seaweed forests - it's very calming. You get the sounds of the water without the annoying drill noise, the occasional music that comes on suits the environment well and creates a nice little seafloor ambiance. You can basically hop around exploring, looking for treasure (yay, green beans!), finding dirt deposits, and making your own giant indoor potato farm. Guess what's for dinner!I actually enjoy exploring and wandering, I don't mind repetitive resource gathering or the fact that there just aren't that many objects to craft, or even that there's very little customization (but you might). I had fun finding places to stick my extractors, gathering the parts, and even found a drone to fix, which follows me around like a puppy, and apparently will attack anything that attacks me, according to guides. I've found a secondary base, and after many, many attempts, managed to repair it, so it's currently draining itself of water, and I can use it as a jumping off point for deeper exploration into the depths of the sea. oOoOo. It's also huge, and looks awesome. So I'm definitely not complaining about that. I do wish that there was actually a reason to build tables and chairs, that you could actually... I dunno... *combine* potatoes and green beans and fish into an actual meal. As it is, you have two choices for walls - either the plain ones that appear automatically when you extend the floor with floor tiles (which erase any preexisting windows, by the way, which is unfortunate,) or the glass windows, which cost copper and glass to build (neither of which I have in any great quantity as yet.) So the good thing is, the style of the buildings really goes well with the game, and for what it is, it doesn't make a ton of sense to have, say, an underground replica of the Louvre. The customization isn't necessary. But it does take a bit of the fun out of building or conquering an impressively large structure if there's really nothing to do with it except fill it with potatoes. I also find the ladders really cumbersome, if you're even walking past one, your character will get "stuck" on it, like they're trying to climb it sideways - but being unable to, you have to detach from the ladder and go the long way. So many ways this gets annoying. You also have to latch onto the ladder when trying to pull out of the water, which is particularly irritating when there's a shark on your tail or you're low on oxygen. Personally, I fall through all the floors of my new mansion quite often, and have to climb all the way back up. On the other hand, you'll find that you spend a lot of time indoors, so having a giant area to wander in isn't such a bad thing. The water gets really dangerous at night, and there's really no good way to protect yourself when you can't see what's hitting you and it keeps taking bites out of you on the fly, disappearing before you can even swipe at it with your knife. I guess this provides an opportunity to watch your potatoes grow, and you can sit at the cooker watching your stacks of green beans cook, if that floats your boat. It also gives you time to expand your domain by creating stacks and stacks of floor tiles and really showing that ocean who's boss, but eventually, I would grab my book and read until it was light out. (I do notice that in sandbox mode, you can adjust the length of days and nights, which is a BIG plus, can't wait to try that out.) My poorly renovated home base: And my mansion, as the water drains out (funny how that works, you repair the leaks and the water realizes it's not welcome and just... leaves. What a curious technological advancement.) I was trying to get a photo of how the giant holes in the floor all line up, hence me constantly falling all the way to the bottom, but... every time I got that close, I fell in, so.... :3 (please don't ask how many times I tried, either. It was a lot, okay?) The outside of my newly-drained domain, complete with my pet droidThe bottom line is, I do like the game. There are no zombies, the fact that it's underwater is interesting, and eventually I hope to have the right equipment to dive down far enough to meet the monster of the deep and steal his crystal. I did not enjoy the time that I got killed by a shark and all my items were dropped. Had to close without saving because that was when I happened to be transporting most of my plant pots to my new house. Grr. That being said, I will almost certainly go back and play some more at some point, if only to hop around and stare at shiny stuff. Ooooh shiny stuff. So if it sounds like your sort of thing, I'd suggest getting it on sale (honestly I couldn't tell you how much I paid for it, since I did snag it when it was on a really large sale - I feel it was worth the few dollars I paid for it, but I wouldn't have paid $15.) Edited to add - there is no Steam Workshop mod support for this game, though there may be elsewhere. A tweet from one of the devs soon after its release stated that while people have asked for more things to be added and for a multiplayer option, that no updates should be expected any time soon. There have not been any subsequent announcements or plans made, as far as I could find with internet searches.
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mortia
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Post by mortia on Jun 16, 2015 22:21:02 GMT
Wow, thanks for these reviews [PP] blueasbutterfly! I keep seeing things I never would have known about otherwise, this underwater one looks very unique. And @jules as well for that game dev one! I should spend more time browsing on Steam.
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Post by [PP] blueasbutterfly on Jun 16, 2015 22:32:13 GMT
Wow, thanks for these reviews [PP] blueasbutterfly! I keep seeing things I never would have known about otherwise, this underwater one looks very unique. And @jules as well for that game dev one! I should spend more time browsing on Steam. There is another under water game that looks quite similar called Sub Nautica, currently in early access, I'm watching it there are tons of games I've picked up for a few dollars or in bundles that have been well worthwhile, and I will start reviewing less relevant games when I run out of them or if I get side tracked. Let me know if anything in particular strikes you as interesting and I'll review it early if I have it. Definitely check out Steam flash sales and Humble Bundle. Both have games for cheap, and you can test stuff out. I've found so much stuff that I ended up liking!
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gayars
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Post by gayars on Jun 16, 2015 23:09:53 GMT
Gog is a really good site too.
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Post by [PP] blueasbutterfly on Jun 16, 2015 23:35:56 GMT
@jules just saw your review, technical difficulties <3 well done and it looks awesome!! Definitely going to check it out! gayars I'm afraid of gog, I've got too many temptations already... but I am going to have to peek...
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gayars
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Post by gayars on Jun 17, 2015 14:07:55 GMT
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Post by [PP] blueasbutterfly on Jun 17, 2015 15:06:07 GMT
Unholy Heights
Developer: Petit Depotto Publisher: AGM Playism Release Date: August 16, 2013 Cost on Steam: $3.99 (currently $1.99 through June 22, 50% off) Today I thought I'd tackle a smaller, more casual game, in case you guys were looking for something to kill a few minutes with. This review won't be long or exhaustive, since the game itself is simple and doesn't require a lot of feature discussion. This game's primary tags are Strategy, Indie, Tower Defense, Simulation, 2D. You play as the Devil, who has purchased this little shabby hotel. Your master plan is to lure monsters to rent your rooms, and in turn, defend them. Meanwhile, you earn cash, buy furniture to keep your tenants happy, expand your "empire," and ... ^ This... basically. This game is a little bit slow at the start, it takes awhile to start earning money and get your defense up enough that you can actually complete more of the quests. Definitely not graphics-intense, not a lot of animation or diversity, and the music gets a little repetitive (but it's like elevator music, I barely noticed it was going at all.) Your tenants go to work, and you can monitor what they're doing throughout the day. The happier they are, the higher their stats go, and different things "impress" different types of monsters, which leads to the Devil's reputation going up or down. You can check all your stats by clicking on the Devil's house at the top of the building - here you can find information on each type of monster, what makes them happy, and how to get them to like you more. You can always mouse over your tenants' homes to see what they're up to, whether you want to know or not... activities range from twirling pens to reading *cough* inappropriate fanfiction to "engaging in pillow talk," which as you can see from the next photo, can result in children! YES! This teeny tiny game has generational play! Your tenants can also get promoted, and if they don't pay their rent, you can either evict them... or they may "steal away" in the night. Lots of funny little touches are included, I really did get sucked in, even though there's not an awful lot to this game. I'm not that good at games like this, nor am I deterred by a slow-starting game or one that I have to save and re-load a few times to get the hang of battles. This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're looking for something cute and low-key with some silly bits thrown in, this game just might fit the bill.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2015 16:00:17 GMT
Great reviews [PP] blueasbutterfly! I think I will stay away from the submarine one, gosh I hate first person perspective! That little monster one looks cute though. I saw a couple games that raised a eyebrow on steam, haven't desided yet which ones to pick up, but I will let you guys know.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2015 18:46:38 GMT
My second game review will be on Dead Hungry Diner. Steam $6.99 summer sale price $1.39 If you have ever played Diner Dash, then you pretty much know about this game. Same concept, except instead of different types of people, you have different types of monsters. There is a story mode, sandbox, and challenge mode. Thus far I have only played the story mode, to get a grasp on the different characters. The game starts with the town constantly being invaded by zombies. A hero comes along and puts the zombies in their place. One day the hero doesn't come, to busy sleeping (some hero) and 2 kids figure out the zombies are only hungry. Thus start a place to feed zombies berries (I don't remember the exact name) You start in a graveyard, like most games level one is a basic tutorial. There are 10 sections in every level. 1-1, 1-2 ect. At level 2 you move into a church. You also get access to magic power ups, a Frankenstein guy that helps break up fights...Werewolves and Vampires hate each other. At 3 you move into a abandoned mansion. Along the way you get a shady guy that sells you more powerful power-ups. Such as faster shoes, turning any monster into a neutral zombie, switching tables around, happiness spell. Monsters seen thus far are, zombies, angry zombies, vampires, werewolves, skeleton chic (the werewolves love her), and banshees. Eventually the "hero" will come and start to attack the monsters, wwhich you must then defend, it just happens out of the blue, so stay on your toes. All in all it is a fun game to play, nothing to be taken seriously, but a good time killer for sure.
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gayars
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Post by gayars on Jun 18, 2015 21:47:35 GMT
That one sounds fun! I always liked diner dash.
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bekkasan
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Post by bekkasan on Jun 19, 2015 12:26:01 GMT
Looks cute.
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Post by [PP] blueasbutterfly on Jun 20, 2015 18:19:11 GMT
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments
Developer: Frogwares Publisher: Focus Home Interactive Release Date: September 29, 2014 Price on Steam: $29.99 ($20.09 through June 22, 33% off) I thought I'd bring in something a little different today, in part because I've been working through it gradually and have been enjoying it, and also because I think some of the elements would be nice to see in other games. This is a detective game, definitely not for the weak of stomach, for reasons I'll explain later, but don't worry, the photos are all G rated This game is listed under the tags Adventure, Mystery, Detective, and Atmospheric. It is all of those things. It has exploration elements, small puzzles (one could call them mini games,) and in the end, your clue finding and clue linking leads you to a conclusion - but with more than one possible solution, and with two "moral choices" for each of your conclusions, what kind of detective will you be? The setting is also fabulous - it's set, of course, back in the good old days of Sherlock Holmes, the places of interest are marked on a map of London, and the loading screens (genius!!!!!) show Holmes (and whatever companion he's traveling with, be it Watson or his faithful dog, Toby,) in a carriage, doing different carriage ride activities, such as smoking his pipe or reading a book. Having read the entirety of the original Sherlock Holmes stories, I have been extremely impressed with how faithful the characters are to their original versions. There are even little jokes inserted that refer to the original views expressed by those stories, which we would find rather shocking today - for example, ignorance about other cultures, mistrust of "foreigners," and plenty of damsels in distress who are incapable of doing anything for themselves. Not that I condone that, but the original stories were very much of their time, and as a writer, I believe strongly in maintaining the integrity of the original author's vision of his characters (I wouldn't want my characters twisted and altered into some unrecognizable form, personally, so I'm a bit biased). They even use details about Holmes that most other renditions have overlooked - his extensive knowledge of tobacco, for example, and his tendency toward reckless, dangerous behavior. This whole dialogue was absolutely ridiculous, half hilarious and half "oh please tell me you're joking" (which I'm quite sure they were). But the scenery and the area to explore was absolutely lovely, as always - each one is totally different from the next, but they're beautiful, and really fun to poke around in. In any case, the world is immersive. It uses WASD movement, not point and click, which is really neat - 360 degree views of some really stunning scenery, freedom to interact with objects that might be useful to your investigation, and the ability to change to other relevant maps and re-interview persons of interest as you learn more and more about the case at hand. The case shown above, with the big house, allows you to explore various rooms, as well as the garden. There are forensic experiments to do, which are performed at Baker Street (which was exactly how I would have pictured it,) where you can also change Holmes's appearance and pick up Toby, the dog - "Brave Toby," Holmes says, "Best nose in the British empire!" When you are in need of Toby's help, you actually get to play as Toby and follow scent trails! Seriously, the attention to detail is absolutely stunning. And speaking of attention to detail, look at the way they do character design: For each person you interview, you get a chance to scan over them and find out more about them - remember in the original Holmes stories when he would make deductions based on small details like a wrinkled shirt or dirt under fingernails? Well, now it's your turn to find those little details. You are helped by being told when a profile is complete, so it's not that difficult, and you can always skip ahead without penalty if a puzzle or minigame is frustrating. All three of these people I've photographed were from the same case - look at how different they are from each other, and how well-styled they are to match their personalities! This might be too photo-realistic for The Sims, but making characters that look as unique as these do would be amazing beyond belief. You can actually see the texture of their clothing, the stitches in their shirt collars - no stone was left unturned here. It's not the first time I've seen amazing graphics, but in this case, they were put to excellent use. And look at the scenery - those houses, even the different types of stones along the pathways. I'd love to get my hands on design tools like this for a simulator - any simulator - just gimme! This game also uses some elements that I haven't seen in other detective games (not that I've played them all). You actually perform examinations of the victims, including at least one autopsy. Some of it gets a bit "icky," but they do tone down the realism for some of it. My favorite puzzles so far have been the different types of lock picking puzzles. Some of them are mostly the same, although the difficulty increases in later cases, but there are at least 3 different types of lock puzzles that I've seen so far. The variety of puzzles keeps things interesting. There is only one minigame that I've skipped. And as for solving the mysteries themselves? Clues are stored in Sherlock's brain, where you choose between options to link them together and form a solid hypothesis. (You do this by linking up two clues, which then form conclusions in the shape of a brain cell - I love it!) The clues, thus far, have always pointed in the right direction - there's always something, even a small thing, that makes one suspect more obvious than the others, though some things are subtle, so it requires a certain amount of attention. However, if you get it wrong, you can always go back and choose a different ending, or see how the incorrect endings would have played out, or make a different moral choice. If you want to review evidence, all the facts, and even conversations, are well-organized. You go through, and usually by the end, something will stand out that rules someone out or in. A few other notes. The sounds fit the scenes very well, the voice acting is pretty good (aside from a few characters,) and the ability to shift between first and third person is nice. There are also different "modes" that you can use to find clues, and when one of his senses tingles you'll get a notice to shift, it basically adds a filter to help you see details or possibilities that you hadn't before. I have a total of 16 hours on record for this game (though I have had to AFK a few times, and I do like to wander around lol), but I haven't even finished it yet. I think I have one more case to solve after this one (there are a total of six). While you already know the outcomes after you've played through, diminishing the replay value for some people, I believe this will be more like a good book, where reading it again can be just as interesting. I picked it up on a Daily Deal sale, since (as I've said before) I'm a cheapskate when it comes to games, but if you find it on a decent sale (or even if you're an enthusiast and just decide to pick it up,) this is definitely a game that has earned its place in my library and deserved every penny it got from my wallet, hands down. I actually wish they'd come out with some super-expensive DLC to add more cases to the game, but so far, there hasn't been any news beyond the initial release information and the times it has been on sale. But perhaps someday, there will be a sequel, and when that happens, somebody hide my wallet, please...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2015 19:15:37 GMT
Awesome review Blue! That looks so beautiful! The screen shots are just gorgeous! That looks very interesting, I do love love a good mystery.
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bekkasan
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Post by bekkasan on Jun 20, 2015 19:24:31 GMT
This one sounds like fun. I've done some other mystery games in the past, but, the pics you are showing look much better. I love Sherlock Holmes and have all the books in my library. They are the kind I can read over and over and enjoy as if brand new. I already mentioned this one to hubby. He is really good at finding deals.
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