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Paw Patrol on a Roll (Steam Deck): COMPLETED!

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No, I’m serious. I really did play and complete Paw Patrol on a Roll. For Science?

You see, one of the ugvm people bought a charity bundle of games and one of those was Paw Patrol on a Roll. As they were clearly above playing it (or even claiming the code) themselves, it was offered up and naturally I took it. Beholden to play it, I did.

It’s a bad game. I don’t think anyone was expecting anything else, what with the source material, the fact it’s a licenced game, and it’s aimed at four year olds. It’s solid, it looks OK, and if you’re a four year old fan of Dogs Pretending To Be Emergency Services I expect this is great, but otherwise? No.

The main issues revolve around the repetitive nature of the levels and – worse – the soundbites. Every five seconds, some kid with an annoying voice exclaims that “You got the pup treats!” or “I detect a gold paw print!” or other stuff you only need to hear once – if at all. Every level is basically the same: Some really, really simple platforming, with the occasional need to call a different dog to come and clear a path. How these dogs manage to drive their truck or fly their helicopter to the point they’re needed when the only way to reach them is on foot (otherwise why wouldn’t you just drive/fly there?) isn’t made clear. In fact, almost every level could be easily completed with just the pink dog and her helicopter flying directly to the point you need to reach, and all that rubbish platforming could be avoided and the game would be over much more quickly.

Am I sad it’s now all over? No. Was it worth the Zero Pence I paid for it? No. Would I recommend this game to anyone? No.

I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1 (Steam Deck): COMPLETED!

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Once upon a time, in a different era, this game was a viral hit on the Xbox Live Arcade Indie Games service. It was that platform within a platform that let pretty much anyone publish games for the Xbox 360 and sell them for peanuts.

Well, I recently discovered it still exists – for free on Steam! And here we are, after I’ve completed it.

In some way, IMAGWZII is a precursor to the modern phenomenon of “survivors” games. It has a lot in common with twin-stick shooters like Geometry Wars or Smash TV, but it feels “primitive” in the same way Vampire Survivors et al do, what with the graphic style and rough edges. And, of course, it has the REALLY LOUD and VERY BAD theme tune that sings over the top of all the shooting, which is the main reason the game went viral in the first place, I’m sure.

Fear for your eyes when this bit gets going.

Completing it was a surprise, as I don’t think I ever did on the Xbox and, actually, I thought it was the sort of game that just went on forever, but apparently not!

Golden Sun (Switch): COMPLETED!

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Many years ago, so long ago that my Gaming Diary didn’t even exist, I played Golden Sun on my Game Boy Advance. It was great. At least, I remember it being great, but I remember very little about the actual events in the game. I recall the catastrophe at the start, and the village you’re in, and that your friend goes missing and it turns out later on he’s working with (under duress) the bad guys. I remember there was a lighthouse. And I remember the djinn – sort of like little dragons – you can find and add to your character to buff your stats, give you new moves, and unleash on baddies. Mainly I remember them because they were in Shining The Holy Ark on the Sega Saturn though, not that they were in Golden Sun.

With very little remembered of the game, it was almost like playing an entirely new Camelot RPG just with the odd sensation that it was all a bit familiar. But being able to replay a great RPG, especially one from the likes of Camelot (who were the late 90s/early 2000s kings of the genre) without knowing everything is a Fine Thing Indeed.

Off I went then, with my guy Isaac and his chums, through the usual overworlds and dungeons and towns and, yes, lighthouses (there are two, or three, sort of) fighting random battles and watching the numbers go up as a charming story unfolds.

Being a GBA game with really detailed 32 bit sprite graphics (with loads of Mode-7 type backgrounds and maps), it looks amazing on a tiny handheld screen but blown up to fifty imperial inches it feels really messy. Older games, like those on the SNES and earlier, seem to come out OK at that size, probably due to less cluttered backgrounds and more obvious sprite edge definition, but here there are too many colours and too few pixels and it becomes hard to see what things are. Until, for some reason, it doesn’t. I struggled for a while, trying the (limited) screen rendering options, but got used to it and actually, it’s fine.

I don’t remember how hard the game was when I played it before, but I found it very easy this time through. Well, in terms of the actual fights and so on, anyway. Perhaps it’s because I did plenty of levelling up, or maybe I was just cautious, or I completed most of the side quests or something. The final boss battle was a walkover. What was difficult, however, was knowing what to do next. Even chatting to everyone in the towns (as is de rigour for JRPGs) didn’t always make it clear where I was supposed to go next, at least in terms of direction. I was nudged towards a new town or dungeon via the dialogue, but very rarely was it made clear where I might find such a place, so much wandering ensued. Perhaps another reason why I levelled up a lot, I suppose.

What I’d also forgotten about the game is how it ends. Because, well, it sort of doesn’t. You beat the boss, there’s an event, and then it’s straight into the sequel to actually finish off the story. Only two of the four lighthouses the game tells you need to be (or shouldn’t be, depending who you ask) lighting are in Golden Sun. A bit of an anti-climax and seemingly hurried end, if you were not aware of the follow-up title, Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Which, luckily, appeared on the Switch Game Boy Advance service at the same time as Golden Sun. Phew, eh?

Interaction Isn’t Explicit (PS5): COMPLETED!

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This game is both a game, and not a game. And also, but mainly, an exploration of games and game mechanics. In some ways, it’s a bit like a serious version of something like The Beginner’s Guide, presented in the form of a third person action game through the lens of a university project about video game interactivity.

The goal is just to get to the end, but the purpose is to explain to the player how there are different types of interaction (like, explicit and not-explicit) in games and how these affect both the style of game and the gameplay mechanics therein. It directly references how these are used in other games, like Elden Ring or Assassin’s Creed, and presents the same functions only via different methods. For example, a platformer where you can jump wherever you want, or an action game (like The Last of Us) where you can only do so where the game dictates you can. Similarly, it shows how button prompts can work on-screen, or other techniques of telling you what to do without actually telling you with a big “PRESS THIS” arrow.

There’s obviously some game here, shooting things in the head and scrambling over stuff, but they’re there to explain, by use of example, what the writer’s point is rather than as a direct game. I’d never played a lecture before, but that’s what it felt like.

An interesting curio, especially if you’re into the reasons behind game development choices rather than the hows or technical stuff. There’s also some nice use of the feedback and rumble effects of the PS5 controller. It’s free too, and very short, so you’ve no excuse not to “play” it.

Interaction Isn’t Explicit (PS5): COMPLETED!

Posted on Written by

This game is both a game, and not a game. And also, but mainly, an exploration of games and game mechanics. In some ways, it’s a bit like a serious version of something like The Beginner’s Guide, presented in the form of a third person action game through the lens of a university project about video game interactivity.

The goal is just to get to the end, but the purpose is to explain to the player how there are different types of interaction (like, explicit and not-explicit) in games and how these affect both the style of game and the gameplay mechanics therein. It directly references how these are used in other games, like Elden Ring or Assassin’s Creed, and presents the same functions only via different methods. For example, a platformer where you can jump wherever you want, or an action game (like The Last of Us) where you can only do so where the game dictates you can. Similarly, it shows how button prompts can work on-screen, or other techniques of telling you what to do without actually telling you with a big “PRESS THIS” arrow.

There’s obviously some game here, shooting things in the head and scrambling over stuff, but they’re there to explain, by use of example, what the writer’s point is rather than as a direct game. I’d never played a lecture before, but that’s what it felt like.

An interesting curio, especially if you’re into the reasons behind game development choices rather than the hows or technical stuff. There’s also some nice use of the feedback and rumble effects of the PS5 controller. It’s free too, and very short, so you’ve no excuse not to “play” it.