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Broken Age (PS4): COMPLETED!

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Broken Age_20151026162213I like point and click adventure games, and it was only a matter of time before I went and bought Broken Age anyway. Then, of course, it appeared on PS+ so I didn’t need to. I sort of feel like I should do anyway, because I enjoyed it a lot and PS+ always feels like renting and renting is Bad. Probably.

Without giving too much away, Broken Age is a game of two halves played out as two seemingly separate stories. On one side, there’s Vella – a young girl chosen to be sacrificed to the monster Mog Chothra in order to protect her village in a ceremony that happens in every village every 14 years. On the other side, there’s Shay – a young boy who lives apparently alone on a spaceship and does nothing but terrible and childish “simulations” where he rescues woollen creatures from fake harm every day.

Broken Age_20151104204202Naturally, their two stories are not only linked, but become one later on. That’s not really a spoiler as it’s pretty obvious; otherwise why not just have two separate games, eh?

I assumed that you had to play one story then the other, but it became apparent that you can actually flit between both at will. In fact, in Act 2, you have to do this in order to solve some puzzles (and it’s at this point I realised you could). Near the start of the game I guessed what the end of Act 2 twist (and the reveal about Shay’s spaceship) would be, although maybe I got lucky.

Broken Age_20151107220309As far as the gameplay goes, it’s a streamlined point and click game. Streamlined in that gone are the days of choosing “give”, “go”, “use” etc., instead everything is context sensitive and this reduces annoyance greatly. I know Broken Age isn’t the first to do this, but it’s appreciated anyway. The puzzles are mostly straightforward, with actual simple logic to them, meaning they’re generally not frustrating as they can often be in these games. However, in the final half an hour or so of the game (or almost two hours as I played it…) there are some real head scratchers: It was too easy to seemingly get things right but them not actually work. Also, the less said about the hexapal wiring puzzles the better. Oh god did they annoy me.

Click to view slideshow.

Broken Age was funny just as you’d expect from Tim Schafer, had a wonderful story and a cast of great characters (almost all with some excellent voice acting too). It was pretty long for a game of this type too, not accounting for my lack of skill in the latter part, it was well over 8 hours. I can definitely recommend it to fans of the genre too.

Here’s my entire playthrough. If you’ve the stamina!

The post Broken Age (PS4): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Pix the Cat (PS4): COMPLETED!

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Pix the Cat_20151004143154

Well, completed one of the modes anyway. The main mode, Arcade, seems to be just a score attack and as a result, can’t be completed. However, there’s a pretty large (70 level!) mode called Nostalgia, which certainly is completable. I know this, because I did it.

Unlike Arcade mode, Nostalgia Mode in Pix the Cat is more a set of puzzle and reaction based challenges. In each level, presented in awesome black and white old-timey animation visuals, you have to collect a number of eggs without trapping yourself in a corner or hitting spikes or a baddie. Sometimes you have 90+ chicks all following you, so route planning is important!

Pix the Cat_20151004141202

There are a few gimmicks to help or hinder you – owls that collect up then spit out your chicks essentially resetting your tail, mushrooms that reverse your chain so you’re warped to the back, and so on. Some levels have multiple cats, adding to the confusion. It’s a lot of fun, and I actually prefer it to Arcade Mode.

After struggling with a level around the 50-odd mark for aaaaaages, I managed to beat it today, and then went on to complete the rest of the 70 missions. Woo! I’d recommend Pix the Cat just for this one mode, actually. It’s the best of all of them.

Oh, and here’s a video of me finishing the impossible level (at the start) then mopping up the rest:

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Lego The Hobbit (Wii U): COMPLETED!

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Nasty_hobbitsesAnd that’s another Lego game done. Not 100%, yet, but the story is complete. Like Lego Marvel Super Heroes, I completed it in co-op with my daughter, but we found it somewhat shorter than that game. There’s obviously a lot to do still, not least with the new mechanic of finding “loot” (like ingots and wood) with which to make stuff. This time round, there’s even more reason to smash all the things.

The plot was sort of how I remember the book to be (I’ve not seen either Hobbit film), but sadly ended abruptly at the point where I assume the second film finishes. Since there’s no third film yet, it’s not included in the game – and I’ve heard they’re not making another Lego title to continue it even when it’s out. Shame.

Up_on_the_roofSimilar to Lego Marvel, Lego The Hobbit has a massive overworld to explore with lots of errands to run and characters to help. Unlike Lego Marvel, none of your characters can fly (at least, none I have yet) so it’s not as much fun to get around. You can use warps where birds carry you to set points, but it’s still often a trek – higgledy piggledy o’er hill and dale – to get to where you want to be. There’s clearly a lot of characters, but a tiny amount in comparison to Lego Marvel. They’re all easily confused too, with SO MANY DWARVES all with different skills but they all look the same. Gah!

All that said, and the bugs taken into account (It’s a Lego game – of course it has bugs), it was still a lot of fun. I think we’re down to just three Lego games now – Lord of the Rings, Jurassic World, and Dimensions. Best get on them, then.

The post Lego The Hobbit (Wii U): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Lifeline (iOS): COMPLETED!

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tumblr_nws6j822qc1svmpf2o1_1280Look at this. I have not only completed a telephone game, but it was a telephone game that I had to buy with actual money. How rare. So rare, in fact, I don’t think I’ve done that in years. I gave up on the whole iOS game market ages ago as it was full of clones, IAPs and rubbish. Lifeline was recommended by the Midnight Resistance podcast, and sounded interesting. So I bought it.

Remember text adventures? It’s a simple one of those, but integrates into your phone. It starts with you getting a notification (a real actual app notification too) from Taylor, a student scientist onboard a spaceship. Well, they were onboard. It crashed and somehow you’re the person Taylor’s communication device contacted.

They tell you whats happening, and periodically they ask for advice or a decision. Sometimes they’ll disappear for (real life) hours at a time while they’re busy, for example hiking or sleeping, and then you’ll get another notification when they’re ready for another conversation.

tumblr_nws6k14r8y1svmpf2o1_1280Your aim is to keep Taylor alive by choosing the best option for them (I keep saying them and they – Taylor’s gender is never given) and ultimately leading them to rescue. They can be directed to explore the not-as-barren-as-first-thought moon, and decisions are as simple as go east or west, or as stressful as fight or run. Yeah, they’re not exactly alone. Minor spoiler.

I managed to kill Taylor a couple of times, but bar that it took maybe three days to beat the game and get them rescued. There’s not a huge amount of game there, but it’s spaced out (no pun intended) and somehow feels more real due to the phone integration and the way in-game things take real actual time to complete. An interesting diversion with an original concept, if not as great as I was hoping for. The writing is OK (and the story is right out of the sci-fi books I’d read as a kid), but Taylor’s humour doesn’t really fit with their situation. Still, you can spend 79p on much worse.

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Gone Home (PC): COMPLETED!

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2015-10-26_00007Gone Home, the game I kept writing “Grow Home” as over and over again, was in my Steam wishlist ever since I completed Dear Esther. Then, one day not so long ago, it was on sale and when I went to buy it, I discovered I’d owned it for months. Tch, eh?

Like Dear Esther, you walk around and discover what’s going on by reading things and looking at things. Gone Home includes minor puzzle elements, but for the most part, you’re exploring a slightly spooky house during a thunderstorm reading notes and letters left strewn around the rooms. The plot goes that you’re returning home after a backpacking trip round Europe, to a house left to your father by his “psychopath” Uncle. Only your family have vanished.

2015-10-26_00010Reading journal scraps and messages left by your sister, you uncover secret rooms and compartments in the house; catching up with her explorations through her kept record of what she’s found. There’s a suggestion Uncle Oscar is haunting the house, and all was not well in the bedroom between your father and mother. No doubt her new job, with long hours, and his failed novels have contributed to this.

2015-10-26_00020Eventually, you discover what has happened to your sister, but nothing conclusive about the rest of your family is shown. At least, I couldn’t find it if there was something. It’s a massive spoiler, but here’s what I think has happened:

Spoiler Inside SelectShow

Anyway. It wasn’t as good as Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (but then, very little is), it was perhaps on a par with Dear Esther, and waaay better than Proteus.

Here’s my full (and so spoiler-filled) complete playthrough:

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