Pike Plays Literally Every Game on Her Steam List (Current Game: Blood Bowl)

[Pike]

Beyond Good and Evil
Action/Adventure
Steam Link

This is a game that I unfortunately was not able to put much time into because it was chock full of distracting graphical glitches which I'm assuming are due to running an older game on my system or something. I say unfortunately because what little I played of the game was a load of fun.

BGE 2015-01-02 15-08-30-45.jpg

Pretty much right away you're flung right into the action and an interesting world and story that has you really curious to learn more about it.

BGE 2015-01-02 15-10-45-54.jpg

KILL IT, KILL IT

BGE 2015-01-02 15-11-07-89.jpg

AUUUUUGGGHHH

Anyways, this game has a sci-fi setting but it certainly feels different from other sci-fi games, which is another neat feature of the game. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why, but maybe it's the personality of the characters (such as a dashing holographic Spaniard.)

BGE 2015-01-02 15-20-28-24.jpg

Now it turns out that you are broke and can't pay the power company, so you get a camera and can go around taking pictures of the native wildlife on your planet. You can then upload these to the museum and get money.

BGE 2015-01-02 15-17-56-93.jpg

I really wish I could do that in real life!

I stopped playing not long after that because the graphical glitches were intensifying and they were getting really irritating. I was sad to have to stop because I would have gladly played more - the world was quite interesting and engaging. Maybe I can mess with the settings later and see if I can fix it.

THE VERDICT:

• Neato world
• Fun
• Controls and camera are slightly awkward
• Great music
• Story is shaping up to be interesting
• Doesn't play nicely with my computer

[Vyk]

Oh man one of my favorite games ever. I'm so sad they never brought the HD version to the PC. I've looked into it and all the elitist fans are like "Why? It supports HD resolution already". But game mechanics have changed. And obviously the game just doesn't run very well on newer systems. Glad to know that before I bought it off of GOG. But the main reason I didn't buy it sooner is it doesn't have native controller support. Which I'm sure would come with the HD version. Augh. I'm sorry it didn't work well for you. It truly is a fantastic game. I need to add it to the thread Wolf made about thought provoking games. And Beyond Good and Evil is definitely one of those stellar experiences for me. I was so mesmerized by that game and absolutely enjoyed it from beginning to end. Highly suggest anyone curious about it gets it on PSN and XBLA if they can

[Pike]

The Binding of Isaac
Action/"Rogue-Like"/Zelda-Like, to be honest
Steam Link

Like many of the other games on this list, this is one that I've put a lot of time into in the past. It's a pretty well known game by this point, but for those who haven't played it, the gist of the game is that you're a naked child who crawls around in muck and basements, fighting monsters, because your mom is terrible.

isaac1.JPG

The controls are relatively simple, as can be seen in the above screenshot, and along the way you collect a wide assortment of items to help you on your quest.

isaac2.JPG

There are also a lot of horrifying bosses to fight.

isaac3.jpg

A lot of people call this game a roguelike due to the permadeath and randomly generated dungeons. Personally, I see this game as being like The Legend of Zelda more than anything. Between the idea of fighting monsters room-by-room (or screen-by-screen), the fact that keys and bombs make up the bulk of your inventory, and pretty blatant shoutouts like the shop design, this is basically the original Legend of Zelda with a little bit of roguelike spice thrown in for flavor.

And because the original Legend of Zelda is genius, this is, of course, all a good thing.

isaac4.png

Along the way our hero Isaac has little flashbacks to horrifying moments in his life. Such as this one, which we can all relate to.

isaac5.png

I feel like there's a lot to say about this game despite the fact that the basic gist of it can be conveyed in just a few screenshots. But basically, between the weird and grim artstyle and story and the solid mechanics, there are a lot of hours of gameplay to be had here. This is frequently regarded to be one of the best indie games to hit the market in the last few years and I have to agree. If you enjoy a challenge and a lot of action, and you're fine with a vaguely disturbing setting, then this game is for you.

NOTE: The game has since been remade with a new engine and various other changes. I have yet to play the remake, so this review is based on the original game.

THE VERDICT:

• Challenging
• Addictive
• It's "The Legend of Zelda" with permadeath and random dungeons
• Weird, squicky artstyle/story might be off-putting to some people
• Plays solidly, good game design
• Basically a must-have if you like this type of top-down action game

[Madame Adequate]

BoI is a really, really, really good game that I can't stand because the art is so offputting xD

[Loony BoB]

Interesting that the biggest draw card for me is something that isn't mentioned on your list: It looks hilarious. Not art style wise (although that helps) but definitely the general concept, and the nightmares etc.

[Pike]

It's definitely funny if you like morbid or dark humor. It's certainly not for everyone but if you like that sort of style you'll probably love the game.

[Loony BoB]

Danielle likes that kind of comedy more than I do, but I do like it in small doses, and this looks like a smallish game.

[Levian]

Binding of isaac is amazing. I never get tired of that game. My boyfriend gets tired of the soundtrack consisting of just one song, though.

[Vyk]

And now there is ReBirth which I believe adds controller-friendliness~

[Tasura]

And now there is ReBirth which I believe adds controller-friendliness~

Yep Rebirth adds native controller support, so you don't need something like Joy2Key to play, which in my eyes makes Rebirth a far better game (other than the fact that it is already an all around better game)

[Pike]

I'd definitely like to play Rebirth at some time.

I also want to say thanks to everyone for still following this thread! I'm surprised (and glad) that there's still interest in this

[Ergroilnin]

So wait, Rebirth is just a little expanded and polished BoI? Not a new game?

[Pike]

From what I understand Rebirth made a lot of pretty substantial changes, but I haven't played it so I can't say for sure.

[Dr Unne]

Rebirth added:

150 new items
4 new playable characters
New levels
New bosses
New enemy types
New endings
New challenges
New level curses
New graphics
New music
Savegames
Local co-op

The game now runs at steady 60fps, compared to ~30fps on the old one (which seemed to drop to to ~2fps when a lot of stuff is happening).

Tons of bugs are fixed, caps for number of familiars / bullets on-screen are gone, enemy AI is better... There are a lot more items that interact with other items to make awesome synergies, and the physics engine for projectiles is a lot more complex and robust. And so on.

I put 200 hours into BOI:R in the past 2 months, and yesterday I tried to play the original BOI and as good as it is (which is very very good), it's total crap compared to Rebirth. Rebirth is amazing. Also an expansion is in the works.

[Pike]

For the record, I am working on the next game, but it's a "larger" title so I want to put a little bit of time into it before my assessment goes live. Sorry for any delay!