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Last Window: The Secret of Cape West (DS)

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tumblr_n26u4tssfx1svmpf2o1_1280Super Backlog Fighter! I’ve had this for almost a year now, but, like many things, it’s sat on the Pile of Shame (TM). But now I have saved it from that pile, and am playing it! On an actual DS Lite too, for added retro authenticity. Not that the game, or the DS Lite is actually that old, but you know what I mean.

Many moons ago, I played Hotel Dusk: Room 101. It was a point-and-click interactive story adventure puzzle detective novel noir game. This is also a point-and-click interactive story adventure puzzle detective novel noir game. Not surprisingly as it’s the sequel.

Now, I recall many of the events in the first game, and the basic plot and so on, but everything else has long since fallen out of my head. Through playing Last Window, some has returned, but I feel I really should re-read the novel that came with the original to refamiliarise myself with what went down.

Last Window is plainly a continuation of the original game in more than just plot. The controls and graphical styles are the same, the sort of dialogue and puzzles wouldn’t be out of place in Hotel Dusk, and you’re even (essentially) in another hotel – only this time in Room 202 rather than 101. If only developers Cing were still around so we could find out what mystery surrounds Room 303. Sadly, 404 is not found. Oho.

Are_you_offeringLike the first game, there are some boggling coincidences in the characters and locations, almost as if the Hotel Cape West is the receiving area for some sort of alien kidnapping where people who have linked pasts (not all knowingly) are plucked out of their lives and made to stay in the hotel until they figure out what they all have in common. And not just links to each other, but also links to the events of 13 years before the game takes place (which is 1980), and a further 12 years before that. And murder. Or possibly murders.

Currently, I’ve played up to part way through Chapter 5. I’ve gained access to the out-of-bounds (probably due to said murder) fourth floor of the Cape West, found more questions than answers, and poor lonely Kyle Hyde (the protagonist) has completely failed to score with, or, in fact, even notice the rampant flirting of the resident Filthy Minxes (TM) Claire and Betty.  He’s too busy being down about the death of his dad, being evicted from his apartment, and losing his job. Poor guy.

Knytt Underground (Wii U)

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LasersHow can a game which looks so lovely, with its giant alien flowers and plants in the background, and mysterious silhouetted machinery and dwellings in the foreground, all fantastically lit and darkened with lanterns, lasers, mist and smoke, also look so terrible with its woeful character portraits? It’s like the game’s amazing scenery artist got his 8 year old daughter to draw them.

Thankfully, that doesn’t matter, as Knytt Underground is a great Jet Set Willy clone for a more modern game player. There’s nimble platforming and wall climbing, a turn-into-a-ball mechanic which you can use to bounce higher and further (losing some control in the process). There’s also several sparkly things you can collect that temporarily turn you into a glowing light that can, depending on the colour, shoot upwards like a star, do a sort of double jump, or shoot enemies. There are timed switches, doors to find keys for, and fetch quests aplenty.

Knytt_time.And a MASSIVE map. Not only is each screen pretty large, with your character being just a few pixels tall, there are supposedly 1800 of them to navigate. The map on the gamepad has tiny, tiny squares for each room. Chapters 1 and 2 start you off with few abilities and a small map, but Chapter 3, where I am now is immense. I can see several locations on the map where I have to pick up some sort of set of artefacts, but the route is blind and with so many dead ends and diversions I’ve hardly come close to any of them yet.

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy (3DS): COMPLETED!

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tumblr_n1llh6vugn1svmpf2o1_400Well, this is it. Not only is the final game in the trilogy complete, but officially, it’s all over for Professor Layton now. Sure, there’s the Layton vs Wright game out in just a few weeks, but that’s not really a Professor Layton game, so doesn’t count.

I’d be amazed if Level 5 didn’t come up with another game though. Even if it’s just a continuation of the series but without Layton in it.

Anyway. Here be spoilers. Read ahead at your own risk!

tumblr_n1tta9mxsa1svmpf2o1_400Quite near the start of the game, I’d pegged Raymond as a bad guy. As the game progressed, I realised he was almost certainly part of Targent. I’d also begun to suspect Sycamore had a sinister motive too, but I certainly didn’t imagine the reality of them both.

More twist-tastically, I definitely didn’t see the Emmy reveal coming. I was convinced, due to her never appearing or being mentioned in the original three games in the series, that she was going to be killed off – and, near the end of The Azran Legacy, that definitely seemed likely. But no, the character was something else entirely.

Not only that, but the actual Sycamore, Bronev and Layton triple whammy? Off the loon charts. Astounding.

tumblr_n1tt9p3bcv1svmpf2o1_400As for the actual game, it was the usual fare. Shorter than previous chapters in the series (I clocked it at under 15 hours, and several of them were doing the downloadable puzzled), although I’ve not 100%ed it, and almost certainly the easiest; The lack of 75 and 99 Picarat puzzles on the final straight made the ending of the game appear sudden, and there were virtually no slide puzzles (my Achilles heel) to speak of. Having said that, for the first time in any Layton title I reached one of the “you must have solved X many puzzles to progress” points, and came up short. I only needed a quick trip to Keats to solve three missed puzzles to fix that, though.

tumblr_n1ttbgtoel1svmpf2o1_400I’m not sure I like the idea of a Laytonless future now. You could argue the formula has run its course, and 6 consecutive years of puzzling with a man in a top hat is enough, but still… end of an era.

Streetpass Quest II (3DS): COMPLETED!

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tumblr_n1mhc27fhw1svmpf2o1_1280Right now let me just explain something. I technically reached the end of Streetpass Quest II ages ago, but I didn’t mention it. I don’t know why. However, it was just as well – there was more to do as it turns out there’s a Secret Quest! Which is like the normal one only harder. There are something like 6 playthroughs of that before you have taken every path, opened up every route, and obtained every hat, so I’ve been doing that.

And let me tell you this: entering a room with 10 powerful heroes, only to have them turn and walk away because you don’t have two red ones to “warm the room up” in a team, never gets annoying.

Oh wait, I mean it’s the most annoying thing ever. Ever.

Retro City Rampage (360): COMPLETED!

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tumblr_n1g9w6sqt41svmpf2o1_1280What a totally nuts game. So many ideas, parodies and play styles all thrown together, seemingly randomly, with intentionally terrible (well, great retro but terrible modern) graphics 1 and sound and garnished with groan-worthy puns and not-so-subtle innuendo.

And it’s brilliant.

One minute you’re in the sewers beating up ninja turtles, the next you’re a Ghostbuster, before taking part in a clone of Smash TV (where at one point you end up in the wrong TV studio and interrupt Phil Fish being interviewed), all via some Solid Snake Inna Box and pretending to be Batman. Not to mention Paperboy, Super Hang On, ‘Splosion Man and so many more. And GTA, which the main game overworld apes so obviously.

There are references to retro and modern games, TV and films everywhere. The developer pokes fun at terrible practices at large gaming companies at every turn. Games programmers, reviewers, PR people and “celebrities” pop up all over the place. There’s so much fun to be had before you even play the game.

Thankfully, the game still stands up as a game worth playing. Somehow, stitching these tropes and parodies together actually works. The game even riffs on itself by apologising for the tedious bits, using some deus ex machina to skip some sections that are obviously going to bore you (one fetch quest is cut short with a never used again warp whirlwind, a-la Mario 3). In fact, even some of the more difficult stages give you the option of skipping them, or you’re loaded up with better weapons to make things a bit easier. Add to this instant restarts and pretty frequent checkpoints and it’s clear the developer doesn’t want you to get bored.

Unfortunately, some of the stages are still a bit on the hard side (especially the final few), but that’s to be expected, I suppose. I did put some of the deaths down to a bizarre problem my 360 pad has developed where it moves to the left by itself. Odd.

Overall, well recommended. And other off my Pile of Shame. Phew!

Notes:

  1. Which you can change to make look even worse! Like it’s a C64 game or it’s running on a Game Boy! ↩