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Heaven’s Vault (Steam Deck): COMPLETED!

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What an unusual game. I don’t mean that in a bad way, it’s just not really like anything I’ve played before. Heaven’s Vault has the feel of a point and click adventure game (albeit with direct control of your character), but it’s also mostly a visual novel. Except, it has “driving” sections. And, perhaps most interesting and unusual, there’s an entire language you have to slowly translate as the game progresses. Then there’s the animation style, which is like a flickbook with static frames rather than fluid animation – again, not something you see often.

All these quirky features are before you even get into the world (or rather, worlds), the lore, the story and the characters.

In the universe you inhabit, there are a number of moons. Some are huge, with cities of people living on them, and some are not much bigger than a house. Some are very technologically advanced, some are farmers, and some have slums. Water is an asset, and the richer moons have lots of it. Religion and history play a big part across the moons, with the main concept being The Loop, where everyone that dies is restored and history is cyclical, but as Aliya (you) discovers on her travels, it’s not quite that simple. Or true.

As an archaeologist, she’s interested in the artefacts found on all these moons, on wrecks of ships that once travelled the “waters” between moons, and books and inscriptions with the ancient language I mentioned previously. Slowly, with the help of Six (definitely not Johnny Five), a robot from times past who was reactivated, you discover the true history of the universe: The gods, the robots, the reason why it declined, and the nature of The Loop itself.

Heaven’s Vault has probably the most compelling and deep story I’ve found in any game for a long, long time. There’s just so much to find out, piece together, and draw your own conclusions from. So many questions, not all of which are answered (at least, not in a single playthrough). The basic mechanics of the game aren’t perfect, with the navigating from moon to moon being somewhat dull and boring (although you do unlock some fast travel later) and a lot of to-and-fro to take items to various people, but the world building is top notch and has to be experienced.

Moving Out (PS5): COMPLETED!

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This is one of those intentionally obstructive co-op arcade games like Overcooked, and it has a similar art style and sense of humour to that game too. But, it’s a lot easier and I (well, we – daughter was on controller 2) had more fun with it.

The aim is to clear a house of (mostly) furniture, by carrying it to the waiting lorry and packing it all in so it fits. Smaller items, like toasters and boxes, can be carried (and thrown) by a single player, but others (like sofas and fridges) require two people to carry as they’re so big or heavy, and these are impossible to move without both players turning into Paul and Barry Chuckle with full on to me, to you-ing.

Things are made trickier when you have buttons that open or close doors, you can’t get a L-shaped desk down a corridor, or actual ghosts are haunting the house you’re clearing. Then, just as the game has got as silly as you can think, of course you jet off into space because story-based-spoilers.

There are a lot of these sorts of games, but this is one of the good ones. And, it was “free” on PS+, so why not, eh?

Stray (PS5): COMPLETED!

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The first game to be “free” with the new higher tiers of PlayStation Plus on the day of release, Stray was a lovely surprise. I knew it existed, so I don’t mean like that, and it was announced to be coming to the service a while back. No, what I’m referring to is the gameplay, the setting, and just how good it is.

Until downloading it, my interested was “ooh, a cat game? That might be fun”. But it’s so much more than that. It’s a post-apocalyptic platform adventure game with robots and mutant things that can eat metal, and a story of freeing the oppressed. But it’s also about curling up into a purring ball of fluff, scratching doors to be let in, and knocking bottles off of shelves.

Of course, I can’t go into too much detail because of spoilers, but the game follows you, a cat separated from his catty friends, who ends up in a run down town locked under a dome and populated with robots who act like humans. You’re tasked with finding a number of robots who had previously left the town to find the outside but not returned, and in the process you have to outrun headcrabs, reroute power cables, sail a raft and help some rebels.

The world is amazingly well realised, with some beautiful, neon-lit locations and plenty of robots with diverse personalities. There are stealth sections, puzzle sections, chase sequences and lots of jumping up onto ledges, pipes and air-conditioning units. And, best of all, there’s a dedicated “meow” button. It’s brilliant.

  • Cats be cats

Aperture Desk Job (Steam Deck): COMPLETED!

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Yes, I have a Steam Deck. And you know what? It’s actually great. I was sure it’d be horrible and clunky and just a bit wrong, but actually, it isn’t. Well, OK, it is still a bit clunky.

To show off the ten trillion different sticks, buttons, pads, flaps, twiddles, surfaces and touchybits that the Steam Deck packs to ensure there’s a workable control method for just about every game you can throw at it, Valve created a free game in the Portal universe. Aperture Desk Job puts you in the shoes of a new worker at Aperture Science, testing a never ending supply of toilets for their ability to flush and accept a bottom.

Quickly this turns into something else entirely with turrettoilets and a slightly unhinged robot (in a Portal game? Never!) and a thinly disguised tutorial on how to use all those ten trillion inputs I just mentioned. Some point the guns. Some point the toilet. Some fire rockets.

Toileturret or Turretoilet?

It’s very short and not going to win any GOTY awards, but in Portal fashion it’s funny and a bit silly and is certainly great as a freebie. And! Lots of toilets!