Recent reviews by Acierocolotl

I don't like to downvote things as a matter of general principle. I respect the effort it takes to make a game. It pains me a bit to hit "no". But I did refund this game, because both my wife and I experienced really poor performance on our respective computers.

It might be an AMD hardware thing, it might be a LAN thing, I didn't troubleshoot it much. That said, both computers ran Cyberpunk 2077 decently, so our hardware should be more than adequate. But, considering how stuttery the opening area was, both in caves and outdoors, for how comparatively few polygons it was pushing, we elected to quit while we were ahead and throw this figurative fish back into the figurative pond.

She may come back to this later, especially if there's talk of performance improvements, so this no is not a *final* no. The themes were appealing. It's worth a revisit in the future.

Imagine, if you will, a game that's one part side-scrolling brawler and one part puzzle game.

That's what this is. Well, except it's not a brawler. You need to fight with great care and precision. Flailing on the controls will get you pummelled quite easily. Most foes are knocked out with just a few hits, and yourself no exception. You will have a lot of fights, you absolutely need to not get hit, because you do not heal. At all.

Now, the enemies are polite, they won't come after you until you're good and ready. So take your time, examine your opponents. There is nothing random about the fights - enemies move in predictable ways and have predictable attacks. For instance, a drunkard with a bottle will throw it at you, and he'll wind up his throw as soon as he gets a clean shot at you. You need to be able to predict, because your punch has a ~.1 second windup, your kick has as much as half a second. You can easily get the stuffing knocked out of you before you throw that kick. On the other hand, two punches knocks most anybody out cold, and just one kick does the job. Your dude is deadly. Thing is, that also applies to your enemies. You can't eat more than a few punches.

You do also have a dodge, mind you. You can only use it once a fight, but if you dodge, any single attack that would have hit, within the next second, will absolutely miss. Moving foes just blunder on past you, and this opens up a chance to counter attack.

Some enemies can also dodge, though. And other enemies have even more tricks. The challenge here is to turn their predictability against them. For instance: On your left, at some distance, is a drunk with a bottle. On the right is a fighter who can dodge. Start the fight by throwing a quick punch at the dodger; he rolls around your blow and comes up behind you. The drunk has just thrown the bottle, it hits his friend in the back of the head and stuns him. One more punch cleans his clock. Walk up and slap the drunk silly, he's nearly harmless without his thrown bottle.

You've got one trick up your sleeve the enemies don't: You can use "foresight" and imagine how the fight will go. The enemies do all the things they will do, so you can figure out the sequence of attacks and such you need to do, unravelling the puzzle bit by bit. Try a different sequence of attacks, experiment with the timing, rehearse it a few times to see if you get it right. The only "cost" is your patience. Once you feel you have it right, you can do the fight for "real". For better or worse, the real fight counts.

The timing can be critical, and that's where I struggled for awhile. And that can still get you; no matter how many times you've "imagined" the fight going perfectly, you still have to do it "for real", and like I said before, damage is lingering. You only have three hitpoints. You really can't afford to mess up.

Fortunately, it does a roguelike sort of thing where you could gain more moves as you go along. Automatically avoiding the first weapon hit or spinning opponents around on your first connecting punch, for instance. Just having one of these can make a lot of difference considering how short the fights are.

So I spent awhile at this, because I wanted to be able to beat the first boss with a flawless fight. He's annoying because unlike the mooks, he's got three dodge "charges", sprint attacks, and can move while his dodge is active. Yet, I still did it and I'm quite pleased with myself. Yes, parts of this were quite frustrating, but kind of in the way that a good puzzle can be frustrating, and the satisfaction of getting it right is measurable. I tried new things, I overcame, and now I'm writing about it.

Am I getting this game on launch? Yeah. Absolutely.

This is going to be something of an evergreen review, as I expect to revise it over time. Right now, the game is very, very basic; you are very much not buying a game, but more buying a promise of a game. But to be clear, Bugbear (the company) was pretty open about this. There's content to come. This is the process they followed for the original Wreckfest, and their previous games have all been pretty sound. I think they're good for it.

Just a couple points for now to tide you over:

Content (the biggest complaint it seems): Well, several "areas", a small number of tracks, four cars to choose from to drive. Not much, but enough to whet your apetite.
Performance: Well, it's demanding more of my computer. Running a 24-player server on my PC while also participating did kind of kill my framerates when a lot of cars were on screen. Reducing the load made it smooth. I'll probably run a server on a separate computer later on.
Cool features: Replay saving, even in MP games. That's the business. Relive the time you shoved somebody into a boulder. Enjoy that moment when you snuck a win in. Make a quick video clip of somebody eating a steel sandwich and ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ out a car pretzel.

As for the game itself, well, if you've played the original Wreckfest, nothing will surprise you. You go full Finnish jokies, you do something that's one part racing and one part the roughhousing of hockey without any of that boring puck business. You race cars, you get points for hitting other cars. Metal bends up with soft-body deformation, dynamically calculated. Your car eventually starts breaking down as you abuse it. The driver, in replays, is very animated, looking around at other cars nearby, leaning into corners, hand moving the gearshift. There's a serious attention to detail right there.

And the price is shockingly low considering how many hours I sunk into the original Wreckfest.

I'll be streaming racing events when I can lock my server down a little. Come on by, I'm on a very regular schedule for streaming anyway. https://www.twitch.tv/fdejeuner

And, of course, get this game.

Dr. Acierocolotl prescribes you 50cc of uppercutting people a storey into the air, bizarre Australian references and dishing out more concussions than Gordie Howe.

Oh wait, you're not in my doctor's office. You wanted a game review.

So, like, how about a GTA-style game? GTA, like Grand Theft Auto? Yeah, that's what you're getting here. It's lightweight, it won't tax your computer much, there's a solid coop implementation and there's scarce few bugs. You should get it.

Since you wanted the review, now you get the rambling. I don't know what "short" means.

The only non-coop thing in this game is the profit from the only business in game that generates money passively. That business isn't even worth investing in unless you've the presence of mind to check up on it often, so it's very much a no big deal situation. Plus the game host has a handful of optional expenditures that other players don't need to trouble themselves with.

There's not a lot that separates this from GTA or Saints Row: art, tone, and size, really. Take a look at a screenhot or something, I can't be arsed to write a paragraph about the art. It's there. Do it! You should have anyway. Why are you reading this if you don't know what the game even looks like?

The game's tone is kind of absurd. The game's set in an Australian's idea of the US. Nobody has a gun. Everybody hates it there. Australian spy balloons are made out of pith helmets, and there's more than one reference to the Emu Wars. Not a single dong reference or cuss, nobody dies, and the only drugs are energy drinks and whole liters of whiskey. You do, however, hand out concussions like business cards at an employment fair, but I'm reliably informed that strong drink and fisticuffs are just another Tuesday in Australia.

Like other games in this genre, it doesn't shy away from social commentary but it's not jamming it in your face either. Compared to real life insanity going on right now, the chief villain of this game has a little restraint. And that's all I'll say on the matter.

For what the game's selling for, and the amusement I've had, it was a fine purchase. Not being given over to cheevo hunting, I got... however many hours it says up top. You could probably double that doing every last thing possible until it was complete. Just remember to buy Steezy a bit of sauerkraut when you do, so his heart can sing.

You should buy this, yes. Just know you're not getting a game. You're buying a story.

That story is a really unflinching look on a handful of themes, told with the medium of video games; the story is the figurative milkshake that brings the boys to your figurative computer yard.

Did I say it wasn't a game? I wasn't kidding. There's a light dusting of a puzzle in a few of the game's chapters, but the the interactivity in the game is you walking around a map and talking to various NPCs or other interactables. The greatest challenge in the game is navigating your way through the interior of "The Orchard", the primary setting of the game.

I did say it was unflinching. I'd love to tell you about it. But since the story is the whole point, telling you much of anything is just spoilery. I'm streaming this as I play it and I'm glad I schedule only two-hour sessions, because I've appreciated being able to take breaks from it. It's kind of overbearing in places, and I do mean that in a good way. I find it chilling and disturbing and I quip wise on occasion because it's really me easing a bit of the tension.

I bought this thing fairly early on, but waited this long to play it. I regret I sat on the purchase, I really do. I'll be keeping on eye on what the developers, Sunset Traveller, does in the future. Links to my streaming are in my profile, because this time, it kinda feels a bit crass.

This is a wildly off-kilter game. If you've gone straight to the reviews without looking at the promotional material, seriously, stop reading and go watch the video. Then come back. I mean, most people do this but there's some small fraction who don't. I don't know why either.

There's a category of intentionally weird games. "What the Car?" comes to mind readily here. It's sort of the same deal--take something inherently predictable (road racing time trials, or playing pool) and then twist it all up with non-sequitor humour. Here, you are sinking balls into pockets, all billiards/pool styles. It's just each and every scenario is a vignette that obfuscates how you'll beat the level.

I called them vignettes, because every scenario is a tiny little story, a little scene if you will. Why is the cue ball in a biker bar? Why is he in a farm? Why is he in an factory? Well, respectively, to beat up other bikers, to herd sheep, to get the machinery running. You do all that by sinking balls into pockets. Where the pocket is and how to do it varies, and that's the challenge: Finding out what the gimmick of that specific vignette is, finding out where the pockets are or what actions you need to do, find out what the balls are and what their logic is (sometimes the balls move around under their own volition), and then sink those balls. Sink all the balls, without fouling (whatever that is, which can also vary), within a tight time limit, with a limited number of strokes, and get trophies. The trophies lead to achievements. If you're not wired for trophies or awards, then you move on.

If you are the sort who needs to gold medal everything, who has to get all the achievements, this game will keep you busy, I tell you what. It may drive you nuts, though I guess you could find some videos online that break everything down or something. That's not my cup of tea but vive la difference, eh?

Now, all that aside, the game itself has got a lot of character to it, and the balls are expressive. It's kinda fun. That said, some levels are a bit aggravating and opaque, and I find myself stopping out of annoyance. I've come back to it later, after a break. You can, if all else fails, just keep hammering at it and eventually win, with no harm other than fewer trophies. And, sometimes, they spring out something a bit different to make it novel. I've played a round of Qix in the guise of rooting tigers out of wheat fields. I've had a wild west shootout. I've played something very, very loosely Discs of Tron-esque.

And, finally, you can play this with others. No idea how that'd even work, and I bet it'd be really aggravating. But that's also the nature of this game. You could do a whole lot worse with those $18 Canadian dollars (or less when it's on discount); that doesn't even cover the cost of a decent burger and fries anymore. So you might as well support something indie AF with some good style.

Let's get to it: If you're a big ol' Tolkien nerd, there's a lot in here for you. Heaps and heaps, mountains of little snippets, bits of dwarftalk, and a whack of singin' dwarf songs. You need one in your online session. Let them marvel at all the stuff that you come across and tell you excitedly what's going on.

If you're not a Tolkien nerd, such as myself*, it's a fine game. It upends a few of the usual craft/survival tropes. Some few are going to annoy some people like how you can only dig in certain spots of the map, and those digs are limited. This limitation makes a bit of sense in the context of Moria, or so my Tolkien nerd partymember (also my wife, who knows where I sleep) says. Even still, there's sort of a narrative to the events that unfold in the game, a story being told as you work your way through Moria, sometimes folding in and around other, previous narratives told in the books.

The game plays as journey, a key Tolkien trope. Rather than just digging in and making the one base, you steadily make your way through Moria, maybe making sub-bases along the way, or setting up your own teleport** stones to help cut the walking distance down. Dwarves got munchkin-cat legs, little stumpy things, they don't move around quite that fast. They're faster than you think, but none of them are about to be winning Olympic medals in sprints.

As for combat, the basic moves aren't complex, but there's some intricacy in how those are used. You have a few attacks that, when combined with enchantments, can help give you space in combat. That space is vital as most combats have you outnumbered and your health (and armour) does not regenerate on its own. Many of these attacks burn stamina so you need to use them intelligently as well. So my own tactics involve isolating individual opponents for quick punishment, and/or keeping opponents off the missus' back while she issues them tickets to board the pain train. Flailingly wildly leads to getting dunked on by orcs.

This is the only time I found the use of imperial units kind of charming. For the rest of the world, a "yard" is a discount meter (~90 cm really) and a "fathom" is two discount meters. I don't know why they couldn't use yards for fathoms, but they got rules. Fathoms only for depth, yards only for horizontal distances, and I have no clue why. Rules, maaan. But it's kind of rustic which suits the world.

You can build yourself up a base, if you wish, and you can do it pretty much anywhere. Though the game also provides some places hither and thither you can clean up and use, with a handful of equipment simply needing repairs. We settled down fairly early, making use of the teleport** stones to get around the map. You can place your own down whereever you will, and while they're spendy, uprooting them returns all the materials so it sort of doesn't matter.

Anyway, to close this off: it feels like a fine enough game. It punches above its weight with Tolkien lore, which has been keeping my wife the Tolkien nerd pretty happy and having her tell me all sorts of tidbits about this guy or that dwarf or what a frazakker*** plant really is. Combat tests a person--weapon reach is a big issue, as is situational awareness. This game also carries much more narrative than others of its ilk, and while it feels a little compressed, it also doesn't feel like its stretching out its content either.

We'll get through it yet, and we've been streaming our adventures. There's another couple weeks left, I expect. If you're still here with me, then you're exactly the sort of person I'd like to see. I'm at http://www.twitch.tv/fdejeuner, and heck, there's even a schedule. Hope to see you. And to conclude, some footnotes:

* I mean, I read Lord of the Rings when I was a teenager. Didn't see the movies. I have strong powers of recall, though, so I still recall various tidbits as I go along.

** I think they're called "map stones" or somesuch, and using them makes your li'l dwarf all hongry. But they basically whip you across the map instantly. Thus, as far as I'm concerned, teleportation.

*** The missus is going to hate that joke. Dwarfspeak seems to involve mostly facerolling k, z and r a lot, with circumflex accents on random vowels. Then she'll get over it later but she'll probably chide me for not remembering it's lily of the laser sword plant or something similar.

Okay, first, if you're anything like me, and I know I am, you have to get this game.

I'm usually quick to write my thoughts down before completing a game. I've actually waited to complete a playthrough (and started a second in an online stream session) before writing this. Not sure what you should make of that. But overall, I was pretty deeply satisfied by this, this game was a whole lot better than I expected it would.

I mean, as a game itself, it's fine. It's a sort of puzzle game with a lot of different solutions in the guise of a tactical combat game, really. With a lot of really good user experience (UX) choices that make this a whole lot more fun, and a whole lot less punishing, to actually play through. I will go on about that, but I wanted to talk about the writing.

For me, a game is much more than its raw gameplay. All the extra stuff totally makes or breaks it. As a *game*, I didn't care greatly for Control, for instance, but I enjoyed absolutely everything else about it. And this? As a game it's quite fine. But the story, the themes, the writing in general, elevate this from "enjoyable" to "you gotta get this thing." I was going to write "highly reccommended" but that's such a sterile bit of corporate-speak review-writing that the thought made my skin crawl.

Anyway, why's this "you gotta get it?" The game is ostensibly about a handful of highly talented individuals who storm interior spaces and "deal with" the inhabitants inside. In Clancy-speak, each map is a breach-and-clear operation. It would be so very easy to devolve into Clancyisms, with gruff, hardened soldiers using vaguely euphemistic military jargon as they go about their extremely euphemistic military business. THIS GAME DOES NOT, AND THAT IS GOOD.

I imagine that wizards are a pretty... quirky bunch to begin with, but apart from soulless, hardened killers, most people have personality traits, who react to situations in peculiar ways, and quite a few people will always find a bit of time to crack a joke here or there. They found me receptive. These were individuals who, by and large, did things and had thoughts and had character depths beyond what I'd come in expecting. So the plot kept me going, easily, and my wife laughs aloud at parts of it and that's always worth it.

The UX was thoughtful and the other half of the equation. A lot of these sorts of tactical games will force you to commit to moves. If it's a hard game or you're in a pickle, you might start quick-saving and re-re-re-re-reloading to navigate around a difficult bit. That won't work here, and isn't needed: there's no random factors at all, everything is completely predictable. AND, better, there's a means to controllably undo some or all of a given round's actions, in a manner that's actually in-character if you will. (When you have a Navy Seer on your side, it's quite helpful.)

Some of the most difficult challenges in the game will have hints provided, which you can optionally look or try to work out on your own. It does also mean that these challenges weren't watered down so they were immediately obvious, and you can torment yourself trying to solve them for as long as you care, or get as much of a hint as you need. You have no idea how much I appreciate this.

And finally, the combat revolves more around movement and displacing enemies, rather than just bleeding off hitpoints with direct attacks. Setting up various combinations can yield big payoffs, so it's much more rewarding from a creative standpoint.

So, to sum up: I liked the writing and thought it funny, pleasing and characterful; a welcome change from what could have easily been a dour experience. The UX is mindful of many common annoyances of the genre and fixes them. The combat itself is interesting and amusing. And I'm streaming at 7 PM (EST) most weekdays at https://www.twitch.com/fdejeuner. If you're down here, you're my kind of person. Stop by and chat a bit.

I'm normally given over to writing a lot, mostly for my own amusement. This experience--it is not a game--does not need it. What Remains of Edith Finch is not a long experience, and it doesn't need to be. Like this review. Unqualified thumbs up.

There's a discussion about video games and art. Some are more on the game side, and this is very art and not at all a game. It tells a story. It experiments with presentation. It leaves a lot unanswered. Fill in your own blanks if you want.

I thought it was beautiful as a visual experience, and as a story, I was powerfully moved by it. I'll be there with my wife if she elects to play it. There'll be a lot to talk about.

LOOK AT THAT ROAST, MAAAAAN.