West of Loathing is a spinoff of the memorable browser game Kingdom of Loathing. It's a light, easy RPG with a cute and silly art style and a totally unique style of old time Internet humor. There's also a lot of character customization and exploration that build upon the artistic choices which I found very entertaining. The Achievements to be found in the game are in on the joke and they'll come at you in unexpected ways. I was also surprised by the relative amount of lore and secrets for such a little game. On its own merits, if you go in expecting a game that absolutely revels in its own casualness and refuses to take itself seriously, I'd say it's a 4/5 for what it is. Awesome! However, Buyer Beware: I am writing this review to point out that the GOG version is several patches behind the Steam version. In February 2019, they released a DLC called Reckonin' at Gun Manor which isn't available on the GOG storefront at all, and we are also lacking the soundtrack DLC. This is very unfortunate, because it's such a cute little game, but I don't actually recommend buying it here until the developers get this sorted out. There hasn't been much in the way of communication on the GOG Forums, but they haven't gone completely radio silent either, so make sure you do your due diligence before you decide to purchase. In my opinion, you should be forewarned that if you purchase West of Loathing from GOG it seems you'll probably be getting an inferior version than what's on Steam. That said, what is available on GOG kept me very entertained in its own right, and if the patches and DLC weren't an issue, I'd give it a full recommendation.
Hooray. Independent video games programming has been around longer than Personal Computers have been around, but Braid helped popularize the specific "Indie Game" genre throughout the modern digital distribution platforms. Maybe it just opened the floodgates to a loooot of low end crap and Important(tm) software-like objects, I don't know, but there are some pretty nice personal favorite outliers that probably? wouldn't have been seen otherwise without this codified Indie Games trend. So, credit where credit was due, Braid was popular, had a compelling price point, and for better or worse, it changed the market! (until that market ate itself in 2015 rofl chaos reigns) The game itself is mostly ok, but there's some clever time travel features that make it stand out. Maybe I'm just old, but to me, it seemed like essentially a riff on/ripoff of/homage to the original Super Mario Bros. 1, but with none of the expressive personality and wit that made it so remarkable for its time. It also subverts your narrative expectations, because that's what all great art ever in the history of the world does, right? RIGHT? Jeez Louise. The graphics and music are patently inoffensive but pretty relaxing. I found the platforming puzzles to be extremely engaging! However, I did hit the wall and got stumped a few times. Again, I love the do-over mechanics and manipulating the flow of events in real time. I feel these things could be utilized in more games even today. As far any sort of artistic statement on the part of the author? Meh. It's some phony baloney deconstructionist screed. It's pretty dated too, a decade later. Just let people enjoy things at face value, my dude. It's not that deep. I'd give Braid a 3/5 because I think the specific time travel platforming game mechanics are actually very worthwhile but it takes its own navel gazings about repackaging the stuff we already know about video games a little too too seriously.
This is a collection of King's Quest 1, 2 and 3. Be forewarned, these are OLD. However, I believe they have much to offer people who are interested in narrative video games from the mid-1980's. Some personal experiences: To me, PC gaming was a drastically different place back in the 80's. PC's typically cost several thousands of dollars before inflation, and typically went into the hands of the most tech inclined. Buying a new computer game or obtaining an illicit floppy usually was a big deal. These King's Quest games presented here are made to be played slowly. You are intended to take many notes to see what works and what does not work. READ THE MANUALS. Do not be afraid to look up hints. It is cool to puzzle out the solutions yourself, however, these games really were made with hint book sales in mind. You see, the developers made more money off of royalties of book publishing than the video games themselves, and piracy was just as popular then as it is today. King's Quest 1 is the AGI version, copyright 1987. It does not include the SCI version. I recommend checking out is the King's Quest 1: Quest for the Crown remake by AGD Interactive. It's a pretty respectable fan game, but you'll get the most of it if you have played the original. King's Quest 2 is also from 1987. I'll admit, I never beat this one. This is the one singular King's Quest that gave me the most amount of grief. King's Quest 3 is probably my second fav KQ title, after 6. READ THE MANUAL, expect to come up with creative uses of spells, and expect to fall a lot if you're not paying attention. There are many horrific and entertaining ways to die in this game. All in all, it's three extremely antiquated games that were brilliant for their time. I feel the full price of $10 USD is too much for what you get, however, so definitely wait for a sale. Free of nostalgia, but a big fan of adventure games, I feel this is a 3/5 package if and only if you get it on sale.
If you like the most traditional of the Roguelike genre, TOME is top class! There's no messing around with interpretation here, no "Roguelite elements," it's just a straight up grid-based Roguelike that lets you think each and every turn before you make an action. I love it! A lot of people who get paid to write about video games complain that games are too just tooooo hard these days because they require twitch reflexes, stress management, blah, blah. This is a counterpoint. The game is hard, but it accommodates literally anybody patient enough and thoughtful enough. The game rewards exploration and system mastery with a bevy of absolutely wonderful unlockables. Seriously, there are so many unlockables. You can monkey around with difficulty, though I don't recommend it. A Wiki is available, as well as in game chat, but I recommend you avoid those until you're more familiar with the game. Everything has a solution. If it's possible, it's probably been done. However, you WILL be blindsided by deaths that will make you go, "...What just happened?" Take these as genre appropriate learning experiences. However, you can even turn off Permadeath, if you so desire. As a wise man once said, "If you can't slam with the best, then jam with the rest." You want the DLC's. They add a metric ton of content to the game. I got the whole deal for a little less than $14 USD when it was on sale. That's quite the bargain for the sheer amount of hours you can sink into this beast. The dev is also super cool, and has put his heart and soul into this game. TOME is a 5/5 top class Roguelike experience, and is one of the genre's best.
As a pen and paper RPG, I like playing around in Numenera's setting but the game mechanics are pretty flimsy and low stakes. That's basically all you'll get here out of Torment: Tides of Numenera. The premise of Torment is that you fall out of the sky one day, with no memory of who you are, and with only a broken mystery device that'll give you any clue as to who you really were. You are presented with two potential companions, who hate each other. Like all companions in the game, they start off very promisingly, but ultimately they're pretty inconsequential. You then go to town to solve a variety of different side quests, to get you closer to fixing The Holy MacGuffin. I played the game under the assumption that it'd be fixed nearly right away, and then the plot would kick off, but NOPE! That's the whole game! You chase after this mystery device. Each subsequent area you move to gets more and more constrained, until a tiny little railroad track of plot takes you directly to the Big Bad's doorstop. "Join me or die." Etc. One major difference than in PNP is an extremely broad wealth of character building options. That's not the case here. Your options are: Fighter, Mage, Thief. If you don't intend to play the game more than once, pick Mage. They are psychic and they can read thoughts, and this adds character depth to the people you interact with. Skill checks in this game are beyond useless. Just spend your Fudge Tokens and you'll nail each one. Combat is a mere afterthought. Supposedly, this game raises philosophical questions, as its namesake Planescape: Torment does. Nah. Just enjoy the scenery and flavor. I want to say this though, this game has the absolutely without question the best descriptions of vendor trash and worthless junk I have ever seen in any video game ever. That's something, I guess? The game is fine, if you like reading. I beat it, which is more than most games I've played. 2.5/5 for being wholy mediocre with a little bit of fun writing.
