Waking

This game is hot garbage. Story-wise it feels like it's done by a 14yr old trying to be philosophical. Gameplay-wise it's jank af, like *really* jank af. None of the movement feels good, the combat is boring, repetitive, melee attacks of all things require "ammunition" and none of it deals very much damange at all. Visually it's bloomed-out to hell and looks like an early, bad 360 game, which would be more forgivable due to being indie if the story and/or gameplay were anywhere close to good. Even then, all of that might be okay to put up with were it a tight experience, but it has the gall to be over 20hrs long. Imagine putting up with all of that for 20+ hrs.

I really tried to love this game, since the setting is kinda unique. It really feels that you fight for your own life. But the worst part is the fighting system. It´s annoying when you´re out of neurons and getting enough of them is too hard to manage. Plus, the controls are arkward at best. Oh and try not to get hit once, you´re getting stun locked for a brief moment. Wich isn´t bad when fighting one enemy at a time. But against multiple enemies. They will drain your life faster then you will start the game. Also the easiest difficulty level means absolutly nothing when you make it past chapter one. It gets harder and harder. And you can do nothing about it. Really, is it so hard to make normal games? Without beeing forced to cheat or wasting time to collect items i don´t want nor i think they would be necessary. I hate wasting my time, with doing optimal stuff. But here you´re forced to do it. If you want to see the end. So i can only recommend this game to either very persistent or lucky gamers.

There is a keyboard rebind screen, but you can't use Shift as a key. It has the ability to select resolution, but no ability to configure graphical effects. It looks horribly blurry all the time, taking away from my ability to actually enjoy the environment. The combat is needlessly convoluted. It's trying to be an emotional story, but it just annoyed me.... because unlike Senua's Sacrifice and others which tell a cohesive story, this one just misses the mark. You can't make me associate with a character just because I pick a couple traits that I vaguely associate with! All things together just irritate me, so I quit playing after the first few areas and a couple boss fights. I do not recommend!

I've started playing Waking on Steam (sorry GOG, just got it there first). Previously, I've played Skrillex Quest on either Oda's website or another (it's web based) as well as Continue?9876543210. Once again Oda is trying to speak about his perspective on life, death, and what it means to have consciousness. If "I think, therefore I am", and the world is material, how do I come to terms with my ultimate and (in the grand scheme of things) all-too-soon end? In Continue you were placed into the role of a video game character desperate to survive, and trying to cling on to a little more existence while being pursued by an almost Shiva-like system cleaning process. The goal from the outset was clearly not so much to survive deletion, as to come to terms with death before it happens. It's truly brilliant: a gut punch, reminding you that you are mortal, and that the world has its own order. Skrillex Quest was similar. So having only gotten the slightest bit in, I think Oda's still trying to continue and expand on the theme from Continue, but at least from the outset death seems less certain. The style of game is very different too, described as Souls-like. I haven't played enough Souls games to confirm, but it is a more modern-style 3D platformer with punishing consequences for errors that remind me of the Arkham Horror board game as much as anything. The structure of the game is secondary to the purpose of the game, which is self-reflection. So if you're not interested in guided meditation, reflecting on your past loves, your beliefs about the afterlife, your values, or your place in the universe, pick up Demon Souls or something, I don't know. But if exploring those questions sounds interesting to you, and you can half-way hack it in a modern 3D platformer, pick this little indie gem up.