Dead Island 2 (XSX Game Pass)

For a game that, reportedly, had a long and torturous development cycle, this one turned out really good. The first game, for me, is something of a cult classic- a far better game than most people give it credit for. Basically, it's Zombie Apocalypse Borderlands, just like Redfall is Vampire Apocalypse Borderlands.

The main difference from the first game (and Riptide I suppose), is that Dead Island 2 isn't set on an island- it's set in L.A....called Hell-A in the game. Instead of three or 4 really large open maps like the first game, this time you play across 8 smaller, linked maps. The smaller maps result in tighter designed pathways through the story, including unlocking shortcuts something like in From Software games.

Combat is primarily melee focused, though guns are quite useful against some of the Apex variants of the zombies. The combat and missions are even more over the top than earlier games, and that's really saying something. A lot of people don't like the first-person perspective for melee focused games, but here it works for me- requiring timing of heavy attacks and blocking as zombies rush you.

Very fun game, in a B-Grade Zombie movie sort of way. The Xbox version worked really well. This is a game made for last generation consoles, so runs well on current consoles and PC's.

Under The Moon

So what do you play when you don't have a new game? In my case the answer is to start tackling you GOG backlog, preferably a shorter game.

This is a game that once given away as a part of Good Old Games Week from 28-30 April 2023. And why GOG decided to gift this one away as a part of that particular promotion I have Idea as this game is neither Good nor Old.

The premise is "A Hidden Object Game in 3D with riddles as clue". Which is fine if the execution is good. But this game, built with Unreal Engine is just bad. The graphic is laggy and glitchy, the riddles are dull. The environment is boring, sometimes I have a hard time to differentiate items. And the worst of all the use of AI voice actor, like in those clickbait Youtube shorts and their ilk.

I have no idea why this game pass the GOG curation, if that even exists nowadays. If this game is for a school project made by kids then its fine. But not as a product to sale.

But hey at least an additional 1 game in my GOG library now tagged as Completed.

Lust from Beyond: Scarlet (Steam)

The other free game that leads into the full game. This game feels much more like a demo or sampler of gameplay, whereas Prologue was its own stand-alone short story in its own right. Both are free though, so no reason not to play them between the two full games in the series.

Countess in Crimson (Steam)

Played it twice to get two of the 4 endings. The endings are vastly different too. It's a short (5 hours for a first play) hybrid between VN and point and click adventure. The story is sort of like the Hostel movies, you get trapped in an out of the way area in what seems to be Romania, where there is an uneasy truce between two factions- neither of them is what you would call good guys.

It most definitely contains sexual content, though you can skip it all as well- though you would be better off just buying a different game entirely if you were going to skip. The overall story is actually quite decent, and playing multiple times to get other endings is quick, due to being able to just skip the bits you've already seen. The 3D rendering is some of the best in the genre, and because it's all pre-rendered, can be played on even low ends PC's. I got it on sale, and it was worth the price, since I'm always looking for short games that don't need much brain power for relaxing between bigger and harder games.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (XSX Game Pass)

This is not the new remake, but the older Xbox One version that is just a direct port of the 360 version at higher settings and resolution. I played the original 360 version long ago. I'm not really sure if this needed a remake, as it still looks timeless to me with the original style of graphics.

Anyway, it's still a game that I really like. I know some people despise the dual character control scheme, especially playing on PC with mouse and keyboard. Personally, I find that it controls just fine, and the single player co-op style of game is quite unique. Anyway, it's only 3 hours long and that's even including taking the time to get all of the achievements (they are all miss able btw). Just like classic fairy tales, the story looks kid friendly but has very dark undertones.

Finished a few ones since last time:

- DeadCore: A nice 3D platformer with interesting gameplay elements. I hated the level with the gravity changes and some sections were incredibly difficult for me. I liked it though.
- Prey: A really great game, a bit stressful at times. Story, levels, gameplay, art... everything is great.
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: A classic that is still fun to play even though the camera is really awful and combat is a bit messy.
- DeathSpank: A fun hack-and-slash with some humor and not too long. I enjoyed it but it is a bit repetitive and the final boss is awful.

Full list here

Include me , pretty please thank you very much ^_^

Reverse order:

Mortal Kombat X
Dredge
Arcanium: Rise of Akhan
Sludge Life 2
Super Mutant Alien Assault
Sludge Life
Far Cry 5
Chop Goblins
Rogue Warrior (PC, had already beaten PS3 version)
Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition (PC, ditto)

How did Sludge Life 2 compare to the first game? Did you like it?

Some 114 hours later, I've finally finished BG3... what a game!

Murder Izt Game Over
(Murder Is Game Over)

Ever play the Xbox game Retribution and think "Gee, i'd love to be a cop solving crimes with my dog in some other genres!"? Well now you can! Simply load up a copy of this RPGMaker game and blaze through a murder mystery whodunnit in short order(and I do mean short. While a nice little game, it is quite terse...even if you do everything you can probably finish the game in under 2 hours) :)

Protips: you can only find clues and the like while using Cleo(the dog), so make sure to keep them as lead(press S to switch characters) unless you're questioning someone.

!!Notice!!
There was a bug I noticed when playing, where the game would 'crash'(screen would freeze, but pressing buttons to open the menu and etc seemed to still have an effect) every now and then while playing. I 'alleviated' this by saving every so often, but one should keep this in mind when deciding whether to purchase.

Pros

Nice murder mystery-ish atmosphere
Some nice moments, like [spoilers] the arcade game sequence and playing the organ [/spoilers]
Perfect game for when you don't want something bigger and more involved

Cons
A bit short(one interested in purchasing might want to wait for a sale)
A major bug(listed above in the notice section)

Misc
There is a cat in this game(*waves to CatV* :))

-----------------

Overall Score: 6.5/10
Would be higher if not for the bug and short length...a nice little game that leaves me
wanting more(so i'll probably eventually get the other games in the series someday) :)

Any spoiler free recommendations for some who just finished the run quest?

Bear With Me: The Complete Collection

This is a part of Maximum Entertainment Bundle donated by Doc0075 in the Community GA 2 days ago

A point-and-click game influenced by Noir Cinemas with plenty subtle pop culture reference. It's in black and white obviously and I must say the grayscale is really good for aging weary eyes like mine. It''s nice to play a game without having exposed to unnecessary bright scenes. But one of the drawback is sometimes the items needed for your inventory is blended a little too much with the environment, making me 2/3 times feels dumb for not noticing stuff earlier.

The story is solid, with the girl and its plushies solving crimes. But the 3rd part is taking a darker tone. But the story-writer putting the seeds of it in the 1st episodes if you really paying attention with its dialogue. The p-n-c stuff is fair and I really enjoy the puzzle minigames like the wire socket and the vault. And the characters are well written, even the minor ones

Overall a good experience for me and I got a good chuckle from pics attached. Yes Croatian game developer, we Indonesian do have a film industry.

Broken Sword 4

Total lenght about 20 hours.
Pros
- Story
- Main characters
- Music and voices are good
- Puzzles are ok
- No bugs

Cons
- Graphics are uninspired.