This year has been a slow one for outstanding games for me. It started strong with Subnautica but until this last month their hasn't been a super stand out game since then. There have been some good ones but nothing amazing, till now.
I am not going to start there though, let us work our way up to it :)
Mad Max
I talked about starting Mad Max last month. Inspired to play some to that I could listen to the Waypoint 101 podcast talk about it in July. I liked the movie a whole hell of a lot and figured as a game with Very Positive review score what is there to lose?
Turns out time is what you lose when playing Mad Max. Not in a bad way though, just that this is a huge open world monstrosity. Big story line, tons of of side missions, two progression trees (one for you and one for you car) there is a lot here.
Mad Max looks great, sounds good and plays nice. The driving is fun and feels just right which is really important in a game about a car. I have only played about 6 hours and I'm barely into the story or progression, there is just so much to do and see. This will be one I revisit once a week or so for months to come.
Stellaris
Another doozy of a game inspired by the folks over at Waypoint doing a play through on Twitch. I am not a big 4X game guy, not since the days of Civ 3 and Civ4 but seeing and reading so much about this game finally got me to play it. Much like Mad Max after 6ish hours I have barely scratched the surface and can see just how deep it goes.
Stellaris is huge beautiful space empire game with tons of variety and detail. It had a user interface that doesn't make me crazy (unlike most 4X games) and the systems are clean and not the baroque nightmare I would expect from something like this. Managing your empire, diplomacy, wars, story events and more wrapped up in a really good presentation are going to keep me coming back and playing more. Much like Mad Max this is a slow burn that I will revisit for probably the rest of the year. I do need to restart my empire, these slave owning scientist mushroom aliens I started as are just not cutting it.
No Man's Sky
Don't Starve Together
I'd played an enjoyed some standard Don't Starve but always thought that the game would be better as a co-op experience. Getting two copies for under $10 on the Steam sale meant me and my partner could get to to not starving quick and easy. Unfortunately I had also forgotten most of the survival skills needed to play Don't Starve as well.
This game is real hard. We made some progress but died a whole lot. It really rides the line between fun and frustrating. It's a lot like Minecraft, if Minecraft actively hated you.
We've just really tapped the beginning of Don't Starve but will definitely play more.
Cuisine Royal
Sigh. What are you even doing Chris? Well you see I wanted to play Totally Accurate Battleground but the servers were being wonkey and this was in the suggestion list and...why did't I just load up PUBG? Lord knows. Anyways this is a battle royal game that is just barely not an asset flip mashup between WW2 and kitchen utensils. I will give it credit that it does work and doesn't feel bad to play.
Forestation
I always like to have one of these bit sized puzzle games on the go that I can play for 5 minutes here and there while waiting for something else and for a buck Forestation fits the bill. Clearly a phone port but working fine on the PC this little guy is all about growing trees by drawing a path. Casual and relaxing but pretty and holding a few secrets Forestation is doing exactly what I ask of it.
CHUCHEL
I've always liked Amanita's games even though I am pretty bad at them. I've dabbled in the many Samorost's, enjoyed Machinarium and loved Botanicula. CHUCHEL is different than those old-school adventure game designs that they have made in the past. This game is a bunch of bite sized single screen "puzzles" that exist mostly to make you feel joy when you play through them. It's a bit hard to describe exactly what this game is about but watch the trailer here and you will get the picture. While no where near as long (CHUCHEL is about a 2 hour experience) or hard as their other games it never failed to make me smile and I enjoyed every minute.
Yoku's Island Express
Okay here we go!!! I had briefly heard about this game about 6 months ago, bookmarked it and then promptly forgot. When Steam sent me a reminder that it had been released I said why not. And so glad I did!
Yoku's Island Express is a pinball metroidvania. Yes you heard me right. You're a small beetle pushing around a ball and delivering mail but also trying to find out who is killing the old gods of this otherwise peaceful island? What? Yup.
The majority of the game is either you rolling exploring and navigating the island or solving puzzles in a pinball table layout. As you progress you get new abilities that open up the world further, allowing you do go and do things that you had to pass over earlier in the game. New routes, new ways to solve puzzles, etc. There is even a load of secrets to find.
It all looks and feels really good. Yoku's Island Express is super pretty and the controls are sharp and responsive. The pinball games are good and both hearken to common pinball table tropes as well as throwing all sorts of new stuff in there. Add a great soundtrack (seriously, even the title screen tune is amazing!) and I had a delightful time. This surprise hit is so far one of the best game I have played this year by far.
Also...
With E3 being this month I spent a lot of the time that I would normally be playing games, watching and reading about games that I am going to play sometime in the future. Lots of cool stuff previewed there. Next month? Battle Chasers? Infinifactory? More Mad Max? Who knows! Maybe I will get distracted and end up playing something I didn't even notice. More likely though I play another dozen hours of No Man's Sky...
I am not going to start there though, let us work our way up to it :)
Mad Max
I talked about starting Mad Max last month. Inspired to play some to that I could listen to the Waypoint 101 podcast talk about it in July. I liked the movie a whole hell of a lot and figured as a game with Very Positive review score what is there to lose?
Turns out time is what you lose when playing Mad Max. Not in a bad way though, just that this is a huge open world monstrosity. Big story line, tons of of side missions, two progression trees (one for you and one for you car) there is a lot here.
Mad Max looks great, sounds good and plays nice. The driving is fun and feels just right which is really important in a game about a car. I have only played about 6 hours and I'm barely into the story or progression, there is just so much to do and see. This will be one I revisit once a week or so for months to come.
Stellaris
Another doozy of a game inspired by the folks over at Waypoint doing a play through on Twitch. I am not a big 4X game guy, not since the days of Civ 3 and Civ4 but seeing and reading so much about this game finally got me to play it. Much like Mad Max after 6ish hours I have barely scratched the surface and can see just how deep it goes.
Stellaris is huge beautiful space empire game with tons of variety and detail. It had a user interface that doesn't make me crazy (unlike most 4X games) and the systems are clean and not the baroque nightmare I would expect from something like this. Managing your empire, diplomacy, wars, story events and more wrapped up in a really good presentation are going to keep me coming back and playing more. Much like Mad Max this is a slow burn that I will revisit for probably the rest of the year. I do need to restart my empire, these slave owning scientist mushroom aliens I started as are just not cutting it.
No Man's Sky
Uhhhh Chris didn't you already write about this one ages ago? Yes I did but I am back in it! I never really gave the Atlas story mode they released a fair shake (other games got in they way) so decided to start fresh and go from the beginning again. No Man's Sky is still a very enjoyable light space sim but now has nice progression quest line that fills in the universe and story. Sure bits of it are a grind and it is a lot of fetch this/build this work but I just got a new space ship with 30 slots and better hyperdrive so woohoo!
I'd played an enjoyed some standard Don't Starve but always thought that the game would be better as a co-op experience. Getting two copies for under $10 on the Steam sale meant me and my partner could get to to not starving quick and easy. Unfortunately I had also forgotten most of the survival skills needed to play Don't Starve as well.
This game is real hard. We made some progress but died a whole lot. It really rides the line between fun and frustrating. It's a lot like Minecraft, if Minecraft actively hated you.
We've just really tapped the beginning of Don't Starve but will definitely play more.
Cuisine Royal
Sigh. What are you even doing Chris? Well you see I wanted to play Totally Accurate Battleground but the servers were being wonkey and this was in the suggestion list and...why did't I just load up PUBG? Lord knows. Anyways this is a battle royal game that is just barely not an asset flip mashup between WW2 and kitchen utensils. I will give it credit that it does work and doesn't feel bad to play.
Forestation
I always like to have one of these bit sized puzzle games on the go that I can play for 5 minutes here and there while waiting for something else and for a buck Forestation fits the bill. Clearly a phone port but working fine on the PC this little guy is all about growing trees by drawing a path. Casual and relaxing but pretty and holding a few secrets Forestation is doing exactly what I ask of it.
CHUCHEL
I've always liked Amanita's games even though I am pretty bad at them. I've dabbled in the many Samorost's, enjoyed Machinarium and loved Botanicula. CHUCHEL is different than those old-school adventure game designs that they have made in the past. This game is a bunch of bite sized single screen "puzzles" that exist mostly to make you feel joy when you play through them. It's a bit hard to describe exactly what this game is about but watch the trailer here and you will get the picture. While no where near as long (CHUCHEL is about a 2 hour experience) or hard as their other games it never failed to make me smile and I enjoyed every minute.
Yoku's Island Express
Okay here we go!!! I had briefly heard about this game about 6 months ago, bookmarked it and then promptly forgot. When Steam sent me a reminder that it had been released I said why not. And so glad I did!
Yoku's Island Express is a pinball metroidvania. Yes you heard me right. You're a small beetle pushing around a ball and delivering mail but also trying to find out who is killing the old gods of this otherwise peaceful island? What? Yup.
The majority of the game is either you rolling exploring and navigating the island or solving puzzles in a pinball table layout. As you progress you get new abilities that open up the world further, allowing you do go and do things that you had to pass over earlier in the game. New routes, new ways to solve puzzles, etc. There is even a load of secrets to find.
It all looks and feels really good. Yoku's Island Express is super pretty and the controls are sharp and responsive. The pinball games are good and both hearken to common pinball table tropes as well as throwing all sorts of new stuff in there. Add a great soundtrack (seriously, even the title screen tune is amazing!) and I had a delightful time. This surprise hit is so far one of the best game I have played this year by far.
Also...
With E3 being this month I spent a lot of the time that I would normally be playing games, watching and reading about games that I am going to play sometime in the future. Lots of cool stuff previewed there. Next month? Battle Chasers? Infinifactory? More Mad Max? Who knows! Maybe I will get distracted and end up playing something I didn't even notice. More likely though I play another dozen hours of No Man's Sky...
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