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Archives for July 2019

Game Review: She Remembered Caterpillars

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Nothing that I love more than a good puzzle game, and She Remembered Caterpillars is one, and even more. Yes, there isn’t a lot of action going on in the game, or is there?

I say that because the game isn’t really much, at least on the surface. I’ll do my best to describe the gameplay as best as I can. In each level, the player takes the command of these bugs that look like the sections of caterpillars. You can toggle between these sections, and their color determines where they will go.

If you look in the illustration above, you will see bridges on the pathways. If you are a red bug-section, you can cross a red bridge. If you try and cross a bridge of another color, the bridge will become a drawbridge that will not allow you to cross. There are also gates that will block you if you are a certain color. The object is to get the bug sections to those white circular platforms so you can move on to the next level.

Of course, it is easy, at first. Then suddenly, and I forget what level where this happens, but things get very complicated. Especially when the bridges become secondary colors like purple and orange, and this is when you have to merge sections to become fusions like something out of Steven Universe.

She Remembered Caterpillars feels very familiar, and maybe it is because other puzzle games follow its format. The solution to these games is always figuring out what moves to make before you do them, sort of like a complex Tower of Hanoi puzzle.

Remember at the beginning of this review when I said there might be more going on with this puzzle game? Well, at the beginning of each level, there is this bit of texted story that sounds very tragic. It sounds like the dialogue you would say if someone were about to die, or some kind of tragedy.

I am guessing that this story is what is supposed to keep you invested in solving the puzzles, and even though it is not needed, it does succeed at making the game better.

On the whole, I’m going to give She Remembered Caterpillars four out of five stars. If you love these types of puzzle games, it will be much higher, and lower if you do not. Such is subjectivity of the genre.

Game Review: Valley

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Valley is one of those games that follows a model that I wish all video games would follow. That is, make your story first, make it interesting and complicated, then build around that. I’ve spent the past few months playing Horizon Zero Dawn, and it is great to play a game that is all about exploring a very unique world and discovering the wonder therein.

I’m not certain where Valley takes place, but it’s pretty clear that it is set sometime before the end of World War II, when America was seeking the weapon of mass destruction that would help them win the war. Fortunately, there is this mysterious valley in the heart of…not certain…where and ancient and lost race developed this Lifeseed capable of emitting tremendous energy.

You the player are put in a first-person POV, and you have been given the gift of L.E.A.F.. I honestly forget what that stands for, but they are these robotic legs that make you capable of superhuman stunts like jumping higher than normal.

The first parts of the game are all about learning what is going on, not to mention how getting a running start can make you leap farther. A major part of this game is just following the road ahead so you get further, and I am pretty impressed at how big this world is. Yes, it is just leaping and discovering, but once you start, you won’t stop until you have too.

The mythos of Valley is also very intriguing, and in the place of lives, the player has some energy that he/she absorbs from random orbs lying about. If the player runs out of energy or falls to their doom, this causes the energy in the valley to run out. This is represented by a branch with leaves that fall, but you can give the valley more energy by giving life to the plants around you. You can also suck the life from plants or animals to give you energy.

I’m not doing a good job of explaining it, but it is a very unique way of having life in the game. The game has a look that is reminiscent of Bioshock, with a lot of natural forest as an outdoor frame. There are times where you go inside buildings, along with some clues so you can figure out what the story is. I don’t think I’m going to hint what it is, but it is interesting enough to suck you in.

I’m going to give this game four and a half out of five stars. I would rate it higher, but the save feature isn’t as accurate as it should be. I had to redo a section that I saw a “saving” prompt from.

Game Review: Claybook

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Just for the sake of honesty, I usually do reviews of games that I believe that I will like. I don’t like Real-time strategy games or turn-based games or deck-building games. When I heard about Claybook, I felt that I had to at least try it.

After all, I do like puzzle games, and the format for Claybook is like that of a puzzle game. You know, where you go to one level, do some things, all just to make it to the next level. The big difference with Claybook is that you have…feet of clay. Sorry, it was a little too easy to make that particular crack.

Essentially, you get to play as a clay shape in the midst of a clay world. Actually, who you are in the game is this kid who is apparently playing with clay, and if you adjust your camera view, you can see the kid that you see in the image. Yeah, he’s there, working a joystick, with a real uncanny valley look on his face.

Playing here is not very addictive, and yes, that isn’t a good thing to say about any game, which is why I am not giving it a high review. It is highly unusual as your clay shape has to take in clay in order to make clay stuff happen. For example, there is one level in which you have to fill up some holes with water from a weird water tower, also made of clay. Yes, I’m doing a terrible job describing this, but the way to drain the “water” from this container is to use your clay self to punch holes in it. You can do this by essentially spinning and this drills into anything made of clay, even the floor.

The issue that i had with this game was that I kept wanting my clay to somehow jump, but it is impossible to do so. I guess it is a video game habit, really. You can change your shape with the touch of a button, and that is really different.

Of course, different isn’t always good, but I’m going to praise this game for attempting something that I have never really seen before in any video game. By the way, there is a level creator, if you are interested in playing in a video game clay world. I am surprised that this is the first time I’m seeing a game like this, really. For that, I’ll give Claybook two stars out of five.

Game Review: Rad Rodgers Radical Edition

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I keep feeling that the title of this game should be Rad Rodgers and the…something. I mean, if you are going to reference what would appear to be Buck Rodgers, you should end with some kind of joke like “and the 24th and a 1/2 century”. Anyway, Rad Rodgers is essentially an average game, and if it wasn’t for the modern-day graphics, it would have been pretty average if it was released in the time it was satirizing: the nineties.

Rad Rodgers starts out with a cutscene that describes the main character who lives in the nineties, and he is playing video games until his mother tells him to go to bed. Then he pretty much gets sucked into a video game like Captain N or something. Yeah, I don’t know how many will get that reference, but you have to be a nineties kid to get it.

Well I am not a nineties kid, but I will have to say that I can’t stand the intro to this, because the voice of the narrator. He just really cheers on the kid mouthing off to his mom and welcoming him into the video game world, conceivably forever. The narrator is this weird backpack while the main character runs, and the game is about platforms.

So you get to shoot things in the game, and the backpack can also smash things as well. You can also get yourself into new characters like Duke Nukem and others that you can see in the group photo above.

Yeah, there isn’t much to Rad Rodgers Radical Edition than a nostalgic plaforming feel, but honestly, it is still fun for that. I’ll go ahead and give it three out of five stars.

Game Review: Pode

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Pode is one of those games that is simply relaxing. Heck, I am told that even Captain Marvel herself, Brie Larsson, plays this game. However, don’t just take the word of a celebrity, but the word of this writer: I love this game.

Whenever I am watching a good movie or playing a good game, I talk about the “all in” moment. That is, there is something about this that just sucks you in. I’m not certain when this takes place during Pode, but it happens.

The set-up for Pode is quite unusual, but it is a co-op game with two main characters. The first is a cubical rock character known as the builder, and the other is a fallen star named Glo. The two of them go into this magical mountain and go from room to room. The main goal appears to be restoring the vegetation of what appears to be a dead world.

Going from room to room is very difficult, but each of the characters has special powers. Glo has the ability to grow plants, and the Builder has the ability to alter rock. Together, these two need to use their powers together to restore their world. At least that is what I think is going on in the grand scheme of things, but the challenges of the game are really great.

The look of the game is also wonderful, as the appearance of green in this rocky terrain really works. The music really compliments it, and these types of relaxing games are the ones that I really like. Best of all, if you play it with a friend, it is even more fun.

If going to give Pode four and a half stars out of five. I would give it a perfect rating, but I thought the puzzles were a bit too easy to solve.