I came into Trails of Cold Steel after having finished the Trails in the Sky series. Overall, I found the change in gameplay to be interesting. You actually have to earn your S-Crafts this time, and some characters won't earn theirs until near the end of the story. The number of available crafts is a bit lower as well, although their effects are generally more diverse. The orbal system has been reworked, with the need to link certain orbments to earn more powerful arts having been completely eliminated. This was, for me at least, less fun than in Sky, but to each their own. You can expect a solid sixty hours of gameplay, assuming you're a completionist and you're following the story. It's good for most of that time. However, over the length of the game, there are points where things feel like they're dragging. I bought Steel because I had fun with the quirky dialog and behavior in Sky, and there was quite a bit of that here... however, at times it felt like there were random elements being introduced to pad the play time. The frequent practical exams, the exam questions, and whatnot distracted me from the main story, as did the need to speak to everyone three times a day to ensure you don't miss anything. Even then, you don't really get answers to every question you have. [SPOILERS] Also, right away, I was stricken by just how much darker this game was compared to the earlier series. In Sky, no human characters are said/shown to be killed until the third game, while in Steel you'll see and hear of hundreds of violent deaths by the end of the game. This, I think, was part of the reason I didn't like the story as much. There was less space for humor, with the last few chapters being doom and gloom everywhere. [END SPOILERS] Nonetheless, it's definitely worth a play. Hopefully SEED can get the rights to parts III and IV so that the story can be carried through to the end. With Japanese audio as well, perhaps?
Having never played the first two Saints Row games, I decided to leap directly into "The Third" as I had read that this edition was where the series really shed its GTA-clone roots. Designed my character, bemoaned the fact that there was no "Asian" voice for her, and... found myself robbing a bank where tellers were armed with submachine guns, out of nowhere. The banter between the crew during that mission, and the subsequent one (in which you manage to jump out of one airplane, fall through another airplane to steal a parachute, and catch someone who is falling, all in time to parachute to safety), really set the tone for the rest of the game. Its quirky, raunchy, and downright rude at times, and I found myself laughing throughout the main scenario and the two mission packs. However, the make busy work -- writ, capturing the city of Steelport -- was not nearly as fun, despite some of the dialog being no less wacky, and so I have to dock a star for that. Nonetheless, I'd still say it was thirty hours well used.
When I was playing through "Highway Blossoms", I was reminded somewhat of Nina LaCour's novel "We Are Okay". Amber, the main character, is a teenager who has recently lost her grandfather, the man who raised her and with whom pretty much all her memories are shared. However, rather than cutting off all ties to her hometown and flying off to college, Amber decides to take her grandfather's motorhome and attend a concert several states away. It is this background that sets the stage for "Highway Blossoms", for on her journey Amber meets another teenager, the always-excited and innocent Marina. The two are forced together after Marina's care is stolen, and they are swept up in the gold rush. Without spoiling too much, as they hunt for the treasure and compete with a trio of anime stereotypes, Amber and Marina become friends, and then more. As stated in the description, "Highway Blossoms" is a yuri visual novel. The version available here is censored, with the two H scenes excised, but a free patch is available from the developer for those who feel it necessary. It is rather short, maybe about 6 to 7 hours, with no branching paths, but I think that's about right for the story it's trying to tell. I'm giving this four stars because, although the story is rather good (if predictable), the music is -- as mentioned in other reviews -- not particularly memorable, even though the eclectic taste of the main character is a key driver of the story. Overall, though, I'd definitely recommend getting this on sale.
I was a proud owner of a purple lunchbox back in high school, and yet somehow I always passed over this whenever I saw it at the local pawn shop. After seeing it here, I decided to give it a go. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. Beyond Good and Evil is a nice action-adventure game with elements of Starfox Adventures, Pokemon Snap, and Legend of Zelda. You control an intrepid photojournalist who, after her home planet is attacked by aliens, joins the resistance and ultimately finds herself fighting not only against the aliens but also her erstwhile protectors. The humor is kooky at times, the action quite fast paced (if at times repetetive), and the puzzles generally fun. The only shortcomings I saw were that the game is rather short, something in the ten-hours range, and the planet outside what you can initially access is rather empty. Overall, however, it's definitely worth a buy, especially on sale.
When "My Memory of Us" was first announced on GOG, I immediately decided to pre-order based on the aesthetic and the fact that they had gotten Patrick Stewart to provide the voice over for the game. About a month later, when I was finally able to sit down with the game, I found it was exactly what I was hoping for. It follows the occupation of Poland and the Warsaw Ghetto through the eyes of two children, presented using the extended metaphor of the Nazis as robots and the Jews as "persons of colour" in a black-and-white world. Your goal, as you control these children, is to solve somewhat simple puzzles and simply survive the Ghetto and the Final Solution. As you dodge Nazi patrols and help the inhabitants of the Ghetto, you collect cards that present stories of different people involved in the resistance (as well as the Evil King himself). The controls are smooth, the mechanics work, and the gameplay is diverse. If you buy the collector's edition, you also get a nice artbook and a pretty darn good soundtrack. The only thing I think might take away from the game for some players is the length; my run was only about five and a half hours. But, given how heavy this material is, I think the game is just as long as it needs to be.
I bought Stardew Valley, at least at first, for my son to play. We got through the first stages of setting up a farm (leave it to him to pick the one with monsters), started farming for a few in-game days, then he... asked to play a racing game. A few weeks passed, and my wife and I were out of town and I wanted to play something relaxing. Before I knew it, I'd spent twenty hours on Stardew Valley, and grown from a tiny operation to a serious farm pulling in 10,000 g a day. Now, forty hours in, I'm nowhere near done building my farm or expanding my business, let alone exploring the various relationship possibilities available, delving into the caves, or unlocking the end-game content. The game just sucks you in, and more often than not you'll forget the time while constantly trying to go "one more day". Yes, the fishing mechanic can be tricky, and yes, the harder monsters late in the game can result in frustrating cases where you lose important equipment, but overall the game is a great way to relax. Easy five stars; I'd give it six out of five if it had achievement support here on GOG.
I bought Inked on launch based on its visual style alone. For the first hour, I was rather pleased with the game. The visuals in-game are just as gorgeous as they look in the trailer, and complement the gameplay well. However, as I got further into the game, it began to get tedious. The unnamed hero walks slowly, and I dreaded going back to a puzzle or other sequence after dying. Now, after finishing the game, I don't want to go back to rescue the birds for 100% completion. It would be too much of a chore. Furthermore, after a point, the game became unplayable with my controller; I couldn't place blocks as quickly as I needed to solve some puzzles. Just placing the pieces needed to solve these puzzles was sometimes a problem, as they would lock somewhere else. This was a big problem in one end-game section, which I ultimately abandoned. The game is short; my play through was just under eight hours, and that was with considerable time wasted on certain timed puzzles. It's up to you whether this much play time justifies the cost. Overall, however, I'd recommend just watching a Let's Play on YouTube.
Hollow Knight, quite simply put, is a gorgeous hand-drawn game that sucks you into its mysterious narrative and offers challenging -- yet fair -- platforming sessions. I came to Hollow Knight having read rave reviews, including here on GOG, and as such I entered the game with high expectations. When the character first fell to the ground and the story started up, I was stricken by the beauty of the backgrounds and characters. As the game continued, I enjoyed the various settings, particularly the beautiful yet deadly White Palace. Even the dankest abyss had its beauty, and this was only complemented by the music. Gameplay, similarly, was great. Controls are responsive and intuitive, with your knight fighting like a beast when you want it to. It was challenging, but at no point did I feel it was unfair. Every time I missed a jump or crashed into an enemy -- and there were many -- I knew it was my fault. I was able to persevere, learning the ropes of the game and eventually a few tactics, until I finally finished it. It took a good forty hours to reach that point, but it was worth it. I strongly recommend getting Hollow Knight, and taking a trek into Hallownest.
