- Nov 16, 2006
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Ok so I went through a spate of shorty little sub 10 hour games and didn't feel like making a post for each one, so I'll spend a paragraph on each here (its also a gloriously slow Friday so far, knock on wood).
Super Meat Boy - Loved it. Pure 2D platforming heaven, super short 2-3 minute levels (that can occasionally take two dozen failed runs to actually complete), the whole concept is sort of ridiculous but tons of fun. I considered the game "beat" after achieving the light world ending and completing a number of Cotton Alley levels, but honestly there is still roughly 100% more game left thanks to the dark world levels but after the last couple light world level and some of the Cotton Alley levels I think I'd effectively hit my skill and enjoyment cap and decided to gracefully bow out of further play. At first I felt the controls were a bit too floaty but as my brain slowly adjusted to account for Meat Boy's acceleration, slippyness, and jump arcs it almost felt possible to get through an entire level in a near meditative state of oneness with the game, the less you think the better you do. That said, I'm pretty sure I got to experience what an 80 year old arthritic man's hands feel like after 30 minutes of playing this game.
Gris - The polar opposite kind of 2D platformer from Super Meat Boy. Meditative in its own way, Gris is all about presentation, thoughtfulness, and presence. Barely a notch above 2d walking sim, Gris tells the story of a girl mourning and coming to terms with loss. An absolutely stunning watercolor style, melancholic soundtrack, ticklish but never infuriating puzzles it made a fantastic respite from some of the more mainstream action forward games. If it were a movie, you'd be watching it in a little Parisian art house independently owned theater and leave feeling like you learned something and grew as a person while not really being sure what you learned and how you grew.
Dishonored: Death of the Outsider - A stand alone expansion of the Dishonored 2 story and game, you play as Billie Lurk on a quest to... well... to kill the Outsider. If you played and liked Dishonored 2, this is essentially the "b-side" compilation of that game. Levels are competently designed, some are recycled from Dishonored 2, but none even approach the highs of the preceding game. Billie Lurk's powers are rather limited, most or sort of shadows/less useful alternatives to powers you've already used before. Character customization is entirely handled by Bonecharms, as Billie's powers are entirely gated behind story content. The entire Chaos system is gone, be as violent as you like and the story doesn't change one whit outside of some achievements. I admit I would have actually liked to have a "clean sweep" achievement for killing EVERYONE in a level because thanks to no longer having to play nice to get a certain kind of ending I definitely did not hold back (with the new ability to "telefrag" the game seems to really promote the shock and awe approach to encounters). When all is said and done I enjoyed DOTO although it did not grip me quite like prior entries, it did provide a solid narrative capstone on the franchise which seems to have gone into a deep freeze at this point.
Super Meat Boy - Loved it. Pure 2D platforming heaven, super short 2-3 minute levels (that can occasionally take two dozen failed runs to actually complete), the whole concept is sort of ridiculous but tons of fun. I considered the game "beat" after achieving the light world ending and completing a number of Cotton Alley levels, but honestly there is still roughly 100% more game left thanks to the dark world levels but after the last couple light world level and some of the Cotton Alley levels I think I'd effectively hit my skill and enjoyment cap and decided to gracefully bow out of further play. At first I felt the controls were a bit too floaty but as my brain slowly adjusted to account for Meat Boy's acceleration, slippyness, and jump arcs it almost felt possible to get through an entire level in a near meditative state of oneness with the game, the less you think the better you do. That said, I'm pretty sure I got to experience what an 80 year old arthritic man's hands feel like after 30 minutes of playing this game.
Gris - The polar opposite kind of 2D platformer from Super Meat Boy. Meditative in its own way, Gris is all about presentation, thoughtfulness, and presence. Barely a notch above 2d walking sim, Gris tells the story of a girl mourning and coming to terms with loss. An absolutely stunning watercolor style, melancholic soundtrack, ticklish but never infuriating puzzles it made a fantastic respite from some of the more mainstream action forward games. If it were a movie, you'd be watching it in a little Parisian art house independently owned theater and leave feeling like you learned something and grew as a person while not really being sure what you learned and how you grew.
Dishonored: Death of the Outsider - A stand alone expansion of the Dishonored 2 story and game, you play as Billie Lurk on a quest to... well... to kill the Outsider. If you played and liked Dishonored 2, this is essentially the "b-side" compilation of that game. Levels are competently designed, some are recycled from Dishonored 2, but none even approach the highs of the preceding game. Billie Lurk's powers are rather limited, most or sort of shadows/less useful alternatives to powers you've already used before. Character customization is entirely handled by Bonecharms, as Billie's powers are entirely gated behind story content. The entire Chaos system is gone, be as violent as you like and the story doesn't change one whit outside of some achievements. I admit I would have actually liked to have a "clean sweep" achievement for killing EVERYONE in a level because thanks to no longer having to play nice to get a certain kind of ending I definitely did not hold back (with the new ability to "telefrag" the game seems to really promote the shock and awe approach to encounters). When all is said and done I enjoyed DOTO although it did not grip me quite like prior entries, it did provide a solid narrative capstone on the franchise which seems to have gone into a deep freeze at this point.
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