My eyes are particularly weak, but i've played a lot of games, and not even the most visually intensive and dynamic ones can come close to how fast Chronicon tires me out. The safe area has jarring tiling and painfully bright flickering lights. The levels are so dark, i have to squint to tell what's going on. When you pause the game, it puts up a torturous motion-blur-like filter on the screen. I like the skill tree and the gameplay itself feels great, but the eye strain is just not worth it.
Ran on Aspire V3-372. The only problem was that the screen is stretched out from 4:3 to 16:9, but it's not a big deal. Find the language configuration .bat in the game's directory to set it to english. Oh yeah, also it can randomly start in a small borderless window, solved with a restart (or by clicking on it before it loads? not sure). As for the game itself - well, no wonder i remembered it. Great art direction, both in graphics and music. The balls get finicky on rails, that's about the only complaint i have about the gameplay.
I was expecting more of a resource-management game, but SWD2 is very limited in this regard. Mining is really simplistic, and you can't really focus on it, since important tools are hidden away in platforming challenge caves. Not to mention, it's pretty jarring that you can't dig diagonally or in mid-air. There's no way to create footholds when digging straight up, either; not until you get a late-game unlock. The same restrictions apply to combat, and it's terrible. Only tolerable thanks to sticky bombs, but definitely not enjoyable. You'll take a lot of unavoidable damage in cramped corridors and on narrow platforms. However, movement is AMAZING. It's smooth, fast, precise, there are wall jumps, and the hook, despite being locked to a single axis, is immensely fun to use. Not to mention, usable for minor sequence breaks. I'd just get rid of the jetpack altogether and design the levels around grapple boosting.
The title says everything. Considering the high reviews, i expected this one to do a genre subversion, or something. But it didn't. It's yet another generic roguelike, with EVEN LESS gameplay than the other ones have, and even more randomized bullshit. And, you know, nothing says horror like trying to optimize my goddamn mana curve. Ignore the reviews; DO NOT go in blind! This is not an adventure game, it's not plot-driven, it isn't horror - it's a grind!
Anodyne 1 has a symbolic plot that's simple to understand, but fun nonetheless, and played out in an interesting way. Most of the difficulty comes from exploration and navigation. There is no "world map", and the local maps are really sparse on the details. This comes up in mazes and multi-level stages. Combat is not challenging at all, especially if you look around for health-ups. The post-game is not as good as people may lead you to believe. It's pretty dull, actually, but most of the fun is in the main game, anyway. Overall, it's good stuff!
Plot & writing are excellent. The gamey-ness of the game is always heavily emphasized, but it never takes away from emotional moments and never overplayed. Depending on your sense of humor, some dialogues and locations may be hilarious. The humor is sometimes very subtle, for example, repeating an oddly specific thing that an optional NPC says elsewhere. Doesn't feel like it's trying too hard. The gameplay segments are generally easy, with the exception of some 2d puzzles later in the game. Also, navigation may be confusing and it will require you to memorize a lot of places. It's rewarding if you do, because there is a whole lot of shortcuts. Not really comparable to super metroid, but there's a similar feel. I STRONGLY advise everyone to play Anodyne 1 first. It puts you in the right mood for the second game.
SoR is a game where you dig through a dumpster. You need to carefully inspect every tiny piece, open every bag, every box. You'll drink drops of leftover booze from empty bottles just to stay warm through the night. And then you'll turn them in for pennies. If you learn how to dumpster dive well, maybe you'll get enough to survive for a week. 1$ or 10$, either way you're a hobo. And those 10$ might cost you something else... Don't get the wrong impression, the marketing is wrong, this is not a top down shooter. Maybe there is something else in the chaotic multiplayer, but as a singleplayer roguelike, this is a puzzle game. Combat is simple and kinda dull, but most importantly, it is PUNISHED. Careless attacks can and will lead to a deadly chain reaction of violence and persecution, turning the current level more and more dangerous. Even the "combat" classes will quickly run out of health and ammo. Instead, it rewards efficient use and "acquisition" of items. The more shit you scavenge and steal, the stronger you become, regardless of your character class. The mechanics are simplistic, but there are many. The most enjoyable thing is remembering what you can do and where, in order to avoid combat. As you play more, items, NPCs and props will keep surprising you with their newfound usefulness. Don't expect too much from stealth. The detection and alignment system is useful, omnipresent, and has many interesting interactions, but this is not truly a stealth title. This game went through a massive development cycle. It didn't just include bugfixes and the odd piece of new content; the overall balance actually improved and became very comfortable, both difficult and rewarding. There is almost always a way to get through any given situation quietly (not necessarily with stealth) and with minimal losses.
