General Gaming Snap judging pixel art indies: Spooky month 🕸

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 20 min

Rating: *½

 

This one seems to be cut from the same cloth as the Kingdoms series.  But with hands on combat (that sucks), more stats, an even more bewildering lack of direction, it’s somehow less fun.  The art style could be worse, but that's probably the best I can say about it.  It's a sandbox of blandness and nothingness, at least in the opening minutes.  And text for ants unless you change the resolution.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 20 min

Rating: *½

 

I really hoped to like this one, given how much I enjoy the Half Minute Hero games, and this seems on the surface to be cut from the same cloth.  A RPG where you can only progress right and diagonally, given that the world will scroll forward with every action you take.  Neat concept, but its dreadfully dull in execution.  The UI is messy, the graphics suck, combat basically amounts to stick around and fight or run away and live.  There might be something redeemable here, but it's buried underneath a game that's severely lacking tutorial or basic fun.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 20 min

Rating: **½

 

A very lightweight adventure game split into individual cases.  It tries the thread the needle between murder mystery and comical writing, but falls flat compared to games like Thimbleweed Park or Ace Attorney.  I've played a lot of detective games so far this year (seems to be a trope with pixel art stuff), and this doesn't really hang with the best.  It's good they added some post processing shadows, because the pixel art is far too zoomed in looking otherwise.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 20 min

Rating: **

 

Essentially the same game as New Lands, with some minor differences.  Kingdoms Classic is free however, so if you think you'd like to give it a try, this is the way to do it.  Still somewhat good art in a bland tower defense game.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 1 hour

Rating: ***½

 

I was not expecting to like it this much after trying This Way Madness Lies (their next game).  Combat feels more streamlined and not as bogged down, the art is more cohesive, the music fits the setting better, the environments are more fun to explore.  I even feel on some level the production values could be higher.  My only major qualm with it is that the story and writing aren't hooking me.  It's not offputting per say, but there are a few too many in jokes.  And I don't really like main characters in JRPGs to be cocky from the onset unless they're the butt of the joke themselves.

[dualhunter]

Cthulhu Saves Christmas came out between Cosmic Star Heroine and This Way Madness Lies. I remember being annoyed by some bugs at launch. The game had been delayed, delaying a game to fix the bugs is fine, but delaying it and not fixing the bugs is annoying. They couldn't have been that bad since I don't remember what the issues were and I enjoyed the game. I think it's the only Zeboyd Games game I played more than once, though I think it was for a beat the game on a higher difficulty achievement.

[crispy4000]

4 hours ago, dualhunter said:

Cthulhu Saves Christmas came out between Cosmic Star Heroine and This Way Madness Lies. I remember being annoyed by some bugs at launch. The game had been delayed, delaying a game to fix the bugs is fine, but delaying it and not fixing the bugs is annoying. They couldn't have been that bad since I don't remember what the issues were and I enjoyed the game. I think it's the only Zeboyd Games game I played more than once, though I think it was for a beat the game on a higher difficulty achievement.

 

Huh, I didn't even know about that game.  Looks like a sort of in between of their older games (which I don't own) and Cosmic Star Heroine.

 

Something about putting all 8 action icons in a row bothers me in This Way Madness Lies.  It feels harder to parse for some reason than the 4x2 grid.

[dualhunter]

Yeah, I didn't know about it beforehand, but I saw it when it released during a Steam Winter Holiday Sale. It had some sort of NPC affinity system to encourage multiple play throughs but I only played it once. One of the tracks is based on the Carol of the Bells.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 40 minutes

Rating: ***½

 

Another detective game, but I think this one stands out from most of the rest.  Much like the Walking Dead games your answers are permanent and can even be on a timer (which you can turn off in the options).  There's also a notable sci-fi setting, with planet hoping and preventing galactic war.  You can tell they were trying to channel Blade Runner a bit, just not quite as cool.  The pixels are a bit chunky unfortunately, but that's made up to some degree by the fluid presentation in general, full of lighting effects as you walk by points of interest.  There's occasional voice narration as well, I only wish the game had more of it.

 

There's a pretty imposing hint menu for keeping track of everything, and there is quite a bit of reading, so be warned.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 1 hour

Rating: ***

 

Another one I played several years ago.  As a game I can dig it, a lite RTS where your cursor/character can take damage.  There's some light building and resource gathering mechanics to take your units into the fray.  This is the kind of experiences the genre could really use to reach new audiences.  It just hasn't aged well visually at all.  The washed out filters and bloom are offensive, they actively work against the raw pixel art, which I think would hold up quite well otherwise.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 30 min

Rating: ***

 

Co-op roguelike dungeon crawler.  It actually controls a bit more like a platform fighter, as you might surmise from the UI.  But I definitely have my biases in that subgenre: the less your moveset gels in a game lite this, the less fun it is.  And sadly that's the case here.  Walking is too slow, jumping feels too floaty and slightly too unwieldy, and you either get short stubby swings, hurdling forward dashing attacks, or projectiles.  The powerups end up trying to make up for that lack of cohesion in the basic attacks.  Visuals aren't half bad, but the 3D and zoom effects get a little off with their pixel scaling at times, it doesn't quite look as clean as it should.  All that said, it still is pretty fun and goofy at times, and I'm sure it'd be even better with friends.

 

I still could recommend checking this out if you have it, but Souldiers is probably a better version of this.  It's more basic, but also feels and looks a little better.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 30 minutes

Rating: ***

 

Sci-fi adventure game that hits all the same highs as Lacuna, and maybe even higher ones in some ways.  I like the SCUMM looking text, it's an immediate throwback.  There's a lot of choice here, you visit planets and have different drop off zones.  But you can't visit them all apparently in the time frame the game gives you, so instead you prioritize what you want to and can reach different endings.  Plus the choices here seem to have real consequences, such as an early decision to leave someone stranded with or without a suicide pill, or have them chopped up in a meat grinder. (seriously!)

 

I have to take off a little bit more off for the seemingly-terrible turn based ship battle system.  It's based on some sort of overheating system which I just can't be bothered with in an adventure game.  At least it says you don't have to fight anyone to win, technically.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 30 minutes

Rating: **½

 

Pretty basic point & click with some odd looking art and dynamic soundtrack focus.  The pixels here are as chunky as they get, especially on the characters, but when the world zooms out there is some beauty that gets lost otherwise.  I'm not a fan of any of its individual elements really, but the overall effect of the presentation still comes across as inspired, as its vibe is its own.  But that's what you'd play it for, certainly not the terrible Punchout combat mini-game with mouse controls for a sword and shield.

 

I might be interested to see more, but it's not that high up on the list unfortunately.

[crispy4000]

I'll be tackling a list of spooky games next for October.  Or just a couple that are more M-rated than I'd typically gravitate to.  Here's what's on the docket:

 

Quote

9 Witches
Dead Cells
Death's Gambit: Afterlife
Eldest Souls
Hell is Others
Lone Survivor: The Director's Cut
Lovecraft's Untold Stories
Monster Harvest
Moonscars
Mother Russia Bleeds
Pony Island
Rain World
Rising Hell
Hotline Miami

Hotline Miami 2
Blasphemous
Crawl
Police Stories
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow
Finding Teddy
The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark
Astronarch

If I can write up these, that leaves a dozen or two left.  At that point I might try a few here and there, as opposed to the rhythm I have going now.  A lot of what's left beyond this list are strategy/sim games, which feel like they take more for me to get into.  Or some bigger names like Stardew Valley or Into the Breach that I'd be revisiting.

 

I'm through most of the adventure games now, which also feel like a larger commitment generally.  The To the Moon sequels are still in the larger list, but those are ones I might just want to play through instead of jumping in and out of for initial takes.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 30 minutes

Rating: ***½

 

Boss guantlet game with great controls and a pretty good visual style.  It's nothing earth shattering on the whole, but it's much better than Titan Souls beacuse the combat system here is more fun.  Aggression is rewarded: by charging up an attack you activate a temporary HP leech effect for subsequent hits.  I really love how the enemies take up such a large amount of the screen as well, you can tell a lot of work went into the art and animation as a result.  This isn't totally my type of game, but I could see this being a 4-star title for someone else.  It's neat.

 

 

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 20 minutes

Rating: ***

 

Rogue-like which is a reverse Downwell, you only ever go up.  I think the combat feels good, with huge hitboxes on your attacks, and a repertoire of vertical oriented attacks and combos that feels platform-fighter esque.  But I think the game on a basic level doesn't let you move horizontally quite fast enough.  And you pretty much have to kill every enemy if you want to be able to afford powerups along the way, which stunts the pacing.  Still, it gets the vibe right.  If you like Castlevania and the concept sounds appealing, you'd probably enjoy booting it up for a time (you might already have it through EGS).  It's also definitely better than Super House of the Dead Ninjas.

 

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 45 minutes

Rating: ***½

 

Death's Gambit: Afterlife is apparently a redo of the original Death's Gambit, taking it from a slower moving Souls-like to a more fleshed out Metroidvania.  I can't speak to the differences personally, but good on them for what this game is now.  It's super atmospheric, kind of a darker version of Astral Ascent with an equally compelling soundtrack.  There's a half dozen different classes to pick at, and while most of the weapons feel slow it fits the style of game they were hoping to create.  One cool twist is that if you die in boss fights (which like Eldest Souls are the highlight here), you'll retain a portion of XP from them based on how close you were to finishing the job.

 

I suppose my biggest gripes with the game are the somewhat poorly designed UI and abundance of loot drops.  It's pretty imposing at first as to where to apply skill points, stat points, what items to equip, etc.  Basically if you like your metroidvanias streamlined and light on number juggling, this is not for you.  Oh, and its protagonist lacks voice acting for no apparent reason.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 60 minutes

Rating: ***½

 

I knew the general schitck before starting, but it still manages to suprise on some level.  It's pretty fun and intriguing, but I could see there being room for improvement in some aspects of the puzzles.  But they don't overstay their welcome either.  Leaving it there so people experience it for themselves, it's not worth spoiling.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 60 minutes

Rating: ****

 

Adventure game where you explore an English country town searching for a certain gravesite to excavate.  The locals all hate you, nothing is quite what it seems, etc.  But what you need to know is that this game is both visually stunning and has the makings of an all time adventure game classic.  There's these short pixel art scenes they'll throw in occasionally to punctuate things, it's expertly directed and crafted.  There's also atmospheric effects like rain and mist that feel perfectly attuned to the art, without feeling overdone.  I might be a little biased, given that I vacationed in the English countryside a year ago, but let me say that this just nails the atmosphere of it.  Voice acting is stellar.  Horror elements are subtle. If you like Sherlock Homes anything, chances are you'd love this game.  I might need to finish it this month.

 

Because it's easier to show than tell:

 

 

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 30 minutes

Rating: ***

 

2d action platformer RPG with a few interesting ideas, namely losing and gaining abilities between each save point.  The animation here is also superb, some of the best I've seen yet, and the game feel isn't bad either.  Where it dissapoints me a little is the level design, which is both linear and a bit dull.  A lot of the challenge comes from vertically dropping between floors and killing enemies, judging spacing properly.  While the swipes generally feel good, hitting air enemies feels a bit more troubling than it should be.  Your attacks are so focused on being side-to-side that the diagonals are tougher to deal with.

 

Other than that, there's a pretty nonsensical plot, and atmospheric music that just, is.  It's a really stunning looking game, even with its limited color palette, and perhaps could be great for someone who could dig a beat'em up platformer with RPG elements.  I don't think its as middling as the critical reviews suggest, at least not on a surface level.  I think people just prefer these types of games to be Metroidvanias, as the appearance suggests.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 45 minutes

Rating: ***

 

Adventure game about stopping occult Nazis from casting a curse and creating an eclispe to win World War II.  I can dig that premise.  The game plays a lot smoother than a lot of the other adventure games on the list, being controller centric.  You can switch between two characters, one that can interact with things directly hands-on, and another who can channel a ghost form to investigate new places and highlight interactables.

 

Unfortunately the humor and quirkiness here hurts a bit more than it helps.  The worst of it is low brow, the best of it is just kind of meh.  It's not up to the same standard as Thimbleweed Park or the Monkey Island games, though the game's aesthetic does channel them at times, even if the pixel art is also a bit chunky.  At least the larger diorama's still look cohesive in spite of it.

[Keyser_Soze]

1 minute ago, Jason said:

I'll spare my thoughts on the whole "spooky season" phenomenon but, uh, why was a "spooky month" thread posted in December?

 

Because he edited the thread title on October 1st to reflect he would be playing spooky games in October.

[Jason]

12 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Because he edited the thread title on October 1st to reflect he would be playing spooky games in October.

 

God damn you're fast, I deleted that almost immediately. But note that there isn't the usual "X changed topic title to Y on Z date" indicator.

[Keyser_Soze]

8 hours ago, Jason said:

 

God damn you're fast, I deleted that almost immediately. But note that there isn't the usual "X changed topic title to Y on Z date" indicator.

 

I left it up so you could feel the shame

 

Also, that indicator is there, on the post on October 1st.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 20 minutes

Rating: **

 

Thoroughly 'eh.'  It's a straightforward rogue-like twin stick shooter with the veneer of a survival horror game, which it isn't.  The vibes are there, and it doesn't look or animate badly.  But the gameplay is so average it hurts.  Your character moves a bit too slow, but more unforgivably can only be controlled with the analog stick yet is limited to 8-directions.  Why, just why?  The inventory menu just seems too much for how straightforward a game it seems to be.  Same with the multitude of healing items types.  Did I mention that everything that hurts you inflicts bleed status?  I was leaning a bit higher at first, but skip it.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 40 minutes

Rating: ***

 

This turned out much better than I expected.  It's a simple Harvest Moon-like, only where you can turn your crops into monsters to fight through dungeons in the evening.  I was legitimately surprised when the Pokemon-like battle system emerged about a half hour in, even more so since I had just attacked a slime in real time with a sword.  I thought the Monster Harvest moniker had more to do with some slight goth to the NPC design or raising monsters like cows.

 

Its systems certainly aren't anywhere near as fleshed out as Stardew Valley, the battle system is very rudimentary, and I can see where completionists might be a little underwhelmed.  But as someone who enjoys the simplicity of the very first Harvest Moon, this might not be a bad thing in my book.  I also really enjoy the visuals.  It's HD-2D in a subtle sense, not focused on depth so much as the smoother scrolling feel a 3D presentation allows for.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 30 minutes

Rating: ***

 

Adventure / survival horror game that deals with mental illness, developed by the same team as Nine Witches.  The NPCs you'll get to know are a bunch of ex-circus rejects.  It seems more interested in the story its telling than your basic adventure game tropes, which is both a good and bad thing.  There is a sort of santity meter at play, representing a health bar of sorts.  Inventory is limited, which kind of sucks for a game that tries to have it both ways (adventure game puzzles, weapons for fighting things off).

 

Overall, it's a better presentation and a smoother package than Nine Witches, but it doesn't feel like as fun of a time due to its subject matter.  The game warns you that you'll see some distrubing things.  And even though I think pixel art horror is a bit eh, the topics it touches on seem strong enough to warrant that label.

[crispy4000]

 

Time Spent: 20 minutes

Rating: ***

 

In what might be a first, I beat this in 20 minutes.  It's a match based party brawler, granted.  You level up by killing monsters controlled by other players/CPUs.  If you die, you get a turn as ghosts that can spawn enemies or control traps.  At level 10 you can take on the final boss, which has attacks that are also controlled by rival players.  There's other systems at play that pertain to gold, XP, monster evolving that seem reasonably balanced.

 

It's an ugly looking game in stills, but it actually animates quite well in spite of its chunky appearance.  Someone who enjoyed Nidhogg could appreciate the aesthetic I think.  I'm not itching to play it again, but I could see it being fun with some friends.