[Game Journal] The upward spiral of videogames

I haven't fully updated my Travel Journal thread of it, but I finished Pokémon Shield before Gen IX games got released.

Pokémon Shield
For some time, I thought I would put a completely normal review with my thoughts in here. The game is exceptionally bad, but I talked about bad games here. But then, something broke in me and I decided not to give this game any more attention. Game Freak doesn't care about these games, so why would I? 1/10.

I had almost no time for gaming in December so far, but I managed to beat Pokémon Violet. It's so much better than Gen VIII. But it's still awful.

Pokémon Violet
It's really hard for me to talk about Pokémon games. I love them, but I would never say they are good. I think they have fun gameplay loop and monster designs. That's it. But the rest of each game is riddled with problems and barely evolved from GameBoy days. So I'll keep this short, because there isn't really much to talk about. And to be honest, I don't want to talk about this excuse of a game.

Pokémon Violet does introduce some changes to the classic formula. And almost none of these ideas is developed well. For example, you can now challenge Gyms in any order. But they all have only one team with set levels, so it doesn't make sense. Or, you can choose your own adventure. But you have to clear all of them in set order, otherwise you'll be underleveled/overleveled. You can take on a new evil team in a new game mode, but all you have to do is spam one button to beat them. You don't even have to initiate a formal battle with them until the very end. And so on...

Overall, classic Game Freak experience. One good idea, thousands of bad ideas and the result being light years behind any game on the market right now. 3/10.

With the year coming slowly to an end, I don't think I'll finish any more games. I'm still playing Super Mario Odyssey, which would otherwise be strong contender for the Game of the year. I'm also playing Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, which is fun. But I think it's time to end the year here. I'll now get try to rank each game just like last year. See you soon.

EDIT: Actually, I forgot on Pentiment. I beat it few days ago and completely forgot to post about it. Which is weird, because if one game this year wasn't forgettable, it was Pentiment.

Pentiment
Pentiment is medieval murder mystery that spans several years and follows a (sad) life of Andreas Maler.

It has quite unique art style that tries to copy the style of the medieval paintings. And it looks so great. Plus, all text is written in cursive or fancy fonts (for the lack of better word), and it's written in "real time" by a narrator, who sometimes makes a mistake that they have to correct, like swapping letters. It adds so much to the soul of the game. And soundtrack is on the same level as the art style.

Gameplay-wise, the game puts you in a shoes of Andreas Maler, who is a travelling artist, currently doing a commision in Tassing. He gets caught up in a conspiracy, when visiting baron is found dead. And I love the approach the game takes with our investigation. You have only a limited time to conduct your investigation by visiting people from Tassing, talking to them and figuring out where to go next. The twist is, some events only occurs at the certain times. And some events take more time that you would expect. And the game never really tells you if you were successful in your investigation. It let's you build some parts of the story on your own.

There is another layer to the story. Andreas is burned out of his passion to draw and always question and doubt himself. And the game really nails the feeling of you feeling you could do more, while everyone around you telling you you've done all you could. This feeling of uncertainty and doubt is present even after you beat the game.

I think one of the major factor for this are believable characters of Tassing residents. They remember your actions. And not in a TellTale fasion, but really remember and it will usually come back to kick your ass, when you least expect it. Not all characters have direct connection to the investigation, but you can still interact with them and affect their lives. For example, there is a Tassing smith, who have no role in any of the acts, but you can still talk with him and influence him to start looking for his love. And since the game takes place over 20+ years, you can see how the whole town changes over time.

But even this game isn't without problems. The biggest for me was the last act. It's the opposite of previous two acts. It's linear, you barely explore the town and the story takes a steep fall down. The final reveal is disappointing. I guess it makes sense, but it just left me feeling like there is more. This can't be the grand revelation to this whole conspiracy. Also I found more bugs in this act, as if it was rushed out in the last minute.

Overall, this was well-crafted game. I enjoyed my time in Tassing and this is truly a great way to end my gaming year. But the final act of the game is weak and for few moments, I was considering dropping the game, because how boring and repetitive it was. 9/10.

Year in Review
This year was weird. For some months, I wasn't really feeling it. I wouldn't say I was burned out of gaming, but there was something different about this year in comparison with previous year. I couldn't really remember what I've played this year. So maybe the games I've played this year were weaker than in previous years? Or maybe the adult life finally caught up with me and I had other stuff to care about.

At the start of the year, I've made a list of games I want to play on 2022. I have barely touched any of the games on the list. I did look at the list often, but usually just said: "Yeah, I really want to play these games, but I'll do it later." And then lamented, because I didn't know what to play. I don't think I'll make a similar list for the next year.

Before I get to the games I've played, let's talk about games I haven't finish this year.
Octopath Traveler - This game looked like I would enjoy it. But I lost interest in it after about 5 hours of playing it. The dialogues were boring, the story was boring, the grinding was boring... Probably the only game I started and then dropped this year because I didn't like it.
Super Mario 3D All-Stars - Unlike Octopath Traveler, I enjoyed this collection. I beat Super Mario Galaxy and Sunshine, but didn't really feel like replaying 64 after doing 100% run two years ago. So I officially didn't beat it. I have to say that Galaxy was great. Sunshine on the other hand was okay. Probably my least favourite 3D Mario game.
Super Mario Odyssey - Another Mario game that I didn't finish this year. I started it, but then Gen IX of Pokémon games were released, so I switched to them. From what I've played, I loved it. Just like Galaxy, this could easily get to my TOP5 of this year.
New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe - I've started so many Mario games this year and didn't finish any of them. I'm playing this game with my girlfriend, so we turn it on maybe once every few months. Classic 2D Mario experience that is enchanced by the fact that I'm playing it with my girlfriend.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - I started this game in the middle of December and couldn't finish it on time. I'm having fun with it so far.
Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls - I beat the first game and enjoyed it. Had no time to start the second one yet.


And now, let's talk about games I've actually beat...


For the next year, I'll one again continue with my journal. My goal is the same as this year.

And... it didn't took that long again for me to start my gaming year. I beat Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order. But first, let's talk about my gaming plans for 2023.

Last year, I've created a list of games I wanted to play. There were quite a few older games and RPGs. That's because I was really feeling like playing this type of games. But throughout the year, this feeling went away and I opted to pick different kind of games. I'm not sure what happened, I never really felt like it's the right time to play these games. For example, I was eyeing M&M 2 pretty much each month, but always told myself I'll wait for better time to play it. But I never got around to do this.

This year, my goal is to play some games from the list, since my whole backlog is there (and since I've started doing this, it'is almost nonexistent), but I would also like to try more modern AAA games. To be honest, I haven't played modern AAA games that much, if at all since I've started doing this. And even before. Maybe that's because quite a few of them rely on mechanics I don't look for in games like forced cinematic linear experience and open-worlds. Well, Jedi Fallen Order has both and I quite enjoyed it. So maybe it won't hurt to play AAA game from time to time. Other than that, I'll continue my journey to the depths of indie games scene and will continue to look for extraordinary once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Now, let's talk about Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order...

Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order
This is my 3rd year I'm doing this challenge. This is 2nd year I'm starting with a Star Wars game. With another great Star Wars game!

I've talked a little bit throughout the years about how I'm not really a fan the modern action adventure genre that started with Last of Us. While I can see how it can attract people, I feel like it was so overdone and barely brings anything new to the gaming.

So it might be a little bit surprising, when I say I enjoyed this game from start to finish. It was nice to follow a line of the story and having relaxing experience, even on Jedi Master difficulty. Fallen Order knows what it wants to be and doesn't try to hide it under a "profound" story or trying to sell you that it's the most innovative game ever made. It tells pretty simple story with some spectacle thrown here and there from time to time. It was nice to take a backseat and let the game entertainment me.

I loved the battle system. This is the most fun I've had with battle system in Star Wars game since Jedi Academy. Well, maybe since The Force Unleashed. It took me some time to get used to it, but it was so satisfying to parry and deflect everything afterwards. I wish there were more human enemies, because the system didn't really work against most animal/monster-like enemies. And I would also like to see bigger variety of enemies. Because for most part, I was just facing Stormtroopers from start to finish and they barely got an upgrade. Purge Stormtroopers were nice addition, but most of them could be dealt with by force pushing them out of a platform they were standing on. I don't think there was a single Purge Stormtrooper in the early game that couldn't be pushed down.

I also wish there were more lightsaber duels. I kinda get it for story reasons, but if I recall correctly, there are 6 lightsaber duels in total. with 4 of them against the same enemy (and you're forced to lose 3 times against them), another one against weaker version of that enemy and one against a character that appears for like 5 minutes in total. That was really disappointing roster. It's a shame because I would enjoy the hell out of all these fights. And it didn't help that I beat all, but the final encounter, on my first try.

Another problem I had with the game was how it tried acting like you have a choice of where to go next. After the tutorial, the game gives you 2 planets and tells you you can go and continue the story how you want. I picked one. I picked the wrong one. The planet I went was meant to be visited during mid-to-end game. But since I've played on harder difficulty I thought the sudden increase in the difficulty was intentional and the game will only be harder from here. And so I learned to parry and to fight strong opponents. Only to find that I can't actually do anything on the planet and I have to go to the other one. And enemies there were nothing. Not only that, but I also broke the game in another regard. I got one of the late game upgrades early and it made me so angry,because how it's obtained. There are benches you can find on all planets that will givr your droid an upgrade, usually with a comment from the main character. But bench on this planet gives you double-bladed lightsaber with no comment from Cal. I hated it. I wanted to use regular sword, which I still could, but this completely broke my immersion in the game. The double-blade was still there. And some cutscenes didn't make sense because of this upgrade. It only really started making sense in the final hour or so.

Overall, I really enjoyed this journey. It looked good, it sounded good and played good for most parts. 8.5/10.

Next up, I'll probably tackle few shorter games, because I should have more free time in January. I got some games from Sami from Secret Santa and I feel like playing some boomer shooter. And I still have to finish Final Fantasy 2.

Okay, I barely played whole month and then beat 2 games in one day today. I beat DUSK, which is really cool boomer shooter with lovecraftian themes and Lil Gator Game, which is an indie game most similar to A Short Hike. So, let's talk about them...

DUSK
DUSK is an incredible first-person shooter that takes players on a nostalgic journey through a terrifying world. The game is a throwback to the classic FPS games of the 90s, and it pays homage to the genre in all the right ways. From the moment you start playing, you'll be immediately drawn into the game's eerie and unsettling atmosphere.

One of the standout features of DUSK is its graphics and sound effects. The game's visuals are absolutely stunning, with a unique art style that perfectly captures the game's retro feel. The attention to detail is impressive, with every environment and character being well-designed and carefully crafted. The sound effects are equally impressive, with each shot, scream and explosion sounding just as you'd expect them to. The game's sound design is truly a masterpiece and it definitely contributes to the overall eerie atmosphere of the game.

Another aspect of the game that stands out is its movement and gunplay. The game's controls are smooth and responsive, making it easy to navigate through the game's various environments. The movement mechanics are also well-designed, with players able to run, jump, and slide with ease. The gunplay is equally impressive, with a wide variety of weapons to choose from, each with their own unique feel and characteristics. The game also features a variety of enemies, each with their own unique design, which keeps the gameplay fresh and exciting.

The game is divided into three episodes, with each episode having its own set of levels. The first episode takes place in a rural area, the second in a industrial complex and the third in a different dimension. First episode is the closest to the classic boomer shooters, while the second and third introduces few gimmicks. The second episode introduces climbing, and I wasn't really a fan of it. It felt clunky and it usually completely messed up my camera angle. But it was still okay in comparison with third episode. Third episode introduced a sword and silent takedowns. And they didn't really fit the game at all. Then, there is one mission in episode three that introduced gimmick of turning whole level upside down and it gave me huge headache. It was bugged for me. My character was falling in the different direction. I was so frustrated with this level and had no idea how to beat, so I watched a walkthrough and noticed my character isn't doing the same thing. So I had to restart the game and it got fixed. But it certainly left a negative impression. And it didn't help that the third episode loses some of the steam that the first two episodes built up. One of the final levels is just empty arena with several waves of enemies.

Overall, DUSK is a fantastic game, despite these shortcomings. The game's retro feel, incredible graphics and sound effects, smooth movement and gunplay, and unique enemy design make for an unforgettable experience. The game's nostalgic nods to the classic FPS games of the 90s reminded me so much of DOOM. 8.5/10.

Lil Gator Game
Lil Gator Game is a charming indie game that offers a unique and relaxing experience.

It is one of the games that has one fairly opened area and is packed with great content. I love that the game allows players to explore everywhere from the start. Well, the tutorial island first, but even that island is huge in the context of this game. You can explore the islands at your own pace, and the game does not impose any sense of urgency. This chill nature of the game is refreshing and allows players to fully immerse themselves in the experience.

The characters are great. I love the childlike innocence of the main cast. I think it fits the overall atmosphere of the game and adds so much soul to the game. Especially the cute running of the main character. I couldn't get enough of that animation. The setting of the story adds to the game's charm and make it stand out from other games. I can't think of any other game that would take place at a playground at this scale.

One of the things I love about this game is the lack of a health bar and sense of urgency. This allows you to take your time and explore the islands without feeling rushed. It adds to the overall chill nature of the game and makes it a great option for players looking for a relaxing and stress-free experience. I was surprised by how well I cleared the islands before getting items that reveal the location of treasures, enemies and sidequests I missed. I either cleared the location perfectly clean or I completely missed it. This actually happened qutie a lot. I completely missed 3 main hubs with main quests on my first stroll around the main island. I had no idea I was doing it, but I cleared everything around them, but missed them. I got so confused because of this few times. Like I knew there is suppose to be main quest in this location, but I couldn't find it. Speaking of these hubs, it was a shame that all of them had the same structure - you go there, 3 characters talk to you and you finisht heir quests to finish that given questline.

Overall, this is a fantastic game that offers a unique and enjoyable experience. The chill nature of the game with no HP bar or sense of urgency is a refreshing change of pace, especially after other games I've played this month. 9/10.

Now, another game I started this month is Sekiro and I think I'm about halfway through that game, but to be honest, it didn't caught me attention as much as Dark Souls or Elden Ring did.

Sekiro: Shadows die twice
The last FS Souls-like game that I had to beat. It was a lot different than DS and Elden Ring.

I loved the battle system. It was harder to master than DS battle system, but felt somewhat more rewarding. Especially the 1on1 battles with human enemies were great. It felt so good to deflect some nasty attacks and counter with my own attacks.

On the other hand, while the system is build around 1on1 human fights, quite a few bosses are the polar opposite and they feel like something build around DS combat. And that's a shame, because while human fights are one of the best in FS games, this type of bosses are one of the worst.

It doesn't really help that there isn't that big bosses' variety. Sekiro takes the same approach as DS2 - quantity over quality. At some points, you could fight a miniboss, move through a short passage and fight the same miniboss with different colour scheme. This problem even plagues the main bosses. There are several Genichiro bossfights, Owl bossfights, Guardian Ape bossfights and it gets old very quickly. I get that you're suppose to master their combos, but I think I would rather fight different opponents.

I wasn't also that fond of stealth. You are suppose to use stealth to your advantage, but the AI wasn't really build around it. Sometimes, enemies noticed me across the whole map, sometimes the stealth kill isn't stealth and enemies are alerted after it, sometimes I could just waltz my way in front of the enemy and they wouldn't notice me. Enemy placement also made these locations feel artificial, because they are placed exactly, where you can stealth kill them.

Parkur wasn't also my piece of cake. It worked only in certain moments and felt clunky. The game also teaches you that if you see an anchor point just out of reach, you can jump towards it and it will appear. You usually have to make a leap of faith in these situations. But then, there are several moments, where you can see an anchor point, you can jump, but that point is still out of reach.

The locations' design is great. Especially later locations are majestic. And they are accompanied by awesome music. I think I still like DS dark fantasy world better tho. I also prefer DS approach towards story and world building. Since there are not that many items to collect, the lore isn't that prominent.

Overall, I can't say this is a bad game. There are loads of things done right, but this didn't felt like Souls-like game. I also didn't like new addition to gameplay like stealth and parkur. 8/10.

Okay, I once again finished more games at once, so let's talk about them.

Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator
This is a weird game. In a good sense. Your goal is to trade organs on a space market and get rich.

When I first started the game, I was overwhelmed by the market. The game doesn't really tell you much about how it works, but I think it took me two in-game days to understand how it all works. And ever since that moment, the line went up. There are three ways to get money - play the stock market, buy organs low and sell them high or complete requests. I pretty much did only the last thing and can't imagine getting somewhere without it. The stock is unreliable and shares cost a lot of money, so I usually just boght one or two and checked it every few days. Buying organs wasn't also reliable way to get money, because your inventory is small and organs decay each day, so you usually won't make profit. Requests on the other hand... Firsthand, some of them serve as a story quests, so if you want to finish the game, you have to do requests. Then, some requests are straight up broken. For example, request for a Heart, which costs about 500, will reward you 3000. There are also requests that will do the opposite, giving you less money for rare organs, but you can easily deny them. You'll lose some reputation, but the overall reputation gains from a day were still far bigger.

Each day is only few minutes long, so I usually didn't pay enough attention to the story, because I didn't want to waste my time with reading and most requests had generic fluff. I usually just located what organ they wanted, which quality and quantity and that was it. So, you can imagine my surprise, when the game ended and I read in the final cutscene that I ordered an assassination of my boss. I had to go back and check some of the characters retrospectively, and there is a kid with their parent's credit card, a sentient dog that is organising a birthday party, bunch of necromancers and actually pretty colourful set of characters.

Overall, for a game that can be beaten in an hour, this was fun. I think I can return to it and get another ending in the future. 8/10.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
My very first 2D Zelda game. And actually one of the first games I got for GBA back in the day. I even played it on original hardware. If I knew it would be released on Switch, I think I would wait few days and play it on Switch.

I don't even know where to start with this game. It's just as great as it was when I've played it for the first time. The Zelda formula is brought to perfection in this game. But it doesn't stop there. It builds upon the formula and introduces a gimmick of getting small and exploring the world from the whole new perspective. I can't even describe how I love the idea of using regular enemies as bosses, when you are small.

The game also features beautiful graphics and a charming, whimsical art style that perfectly captures the spirit of the Zelda game. The world is full of colorful characters and locations, each with their own distinct personality and flavor. I love this era of videogames. I should probably play more GBA games, because this style is my favourite.

I mostly ignored kinstone system this time, because it usually gives out rupees or shells that I had no use for. Because of that, I also missed majority of bottles and ended the game with only one of them. Not that it would be a problem. But it's a little sad that the main game was short. I think I beat it in under 8 hours. I didn't want this adventure to end so quickly.

Overall, this is my favourite 2D Zelda game (not that I've played many of them). Now that I think about it, the last Zelda game I've played was Breath of the Wild and I didn't like that game. I would like to finish more Zelda games before I get disappointed with BotW sequel. 9.5/10.

Now, I'm playing The Witness and I encountered a problem that the game isn't working properly on Nvidia cards. It starts normal, but starts lagging after few minutes. But I'm adamant on beating it, because puzzles are fun. Then I think I'll finish Final Fantasy II, but I'm not really a fond of the leveling system, so I'm having a hard time playing it. I'll most likely play another RPG or different GBA game. Also, I just beat Super Mario Odyssey, but I want to 100% it before being really done with it.

Okay, February is slowly ending and I'm finding out it was one of the best month when it comes to gaming. I had most of my work-related stuff done, so there was loads of opportunities to play some games. I finished The Witness, despite the game doing everything it could to not run properly. I also think I'm done with Super Mario Odyssey. I didn't 100% it in the end, but I was close. I just don't feel like mastering some of the mini games like jumping over a rope. I got to around 40 jumps, then it's just way too hard and not fun enough for me to try to get 100 jumps. So, let's talk about it.

The Witness
You could notice that I like puzzle games. The Witness was on top of my wishlist for a long time (I think ever since it was released), but I never got around to actually buy it and play it. Until now. And I have to say that it was pleasant surprise. Well, a surprise, to be more precise.

The game was barely playable for me. It started just fine. But after about 10 minutes, the game started stuttering and turned into PowerPoint presentation in another 5 minutes. Apparently, the game has a problem with Nvidia cards and there was no working fix for this problem. In a way, this was the most hardcore puzzle that I never solved.

But I was charmed by the game, so I decided to put up with this bullshit and finish the game. And I'm glad I did. The island the game takes place was a fun place to explore. There were puzzles to solve every few steps and it always felt like I'm uncovering a mystery. The story itself was so-so, nothing spectacular and it felt like it tries to be way too fancy pansy for my liking.

It doesn't help that the game's puzzles were a little bit disappoiting. All of them were some variation on maze puzzles. I enjoyed these variantions, but I feel like there could have been bigger variety of puzzles. All maze puzzles followed simple patterns and when I discovered them, I barely spent more than a minute on each puzzle. I like how enviroment was combined with some puzzles and that you had to sometimes change your surroundings to solve the puzzle. On the other hand, I feel like the game doesn't explain some mechanics well, which resulted in me getting some misconceptions about few mechanics. For example, I didn't understand the white and black dots correctly at first, because the "tutorial" section allowed for me to solve these puzzles without properly understanding the mechanic.

Overall, I still enjoyed my stay with the game. The technical difficulties were annoying and certainly affected my final score, but the game was fine otherwise. 7.5/10.

Super Mario Odyssey
Unlike the other Switch launch title - BotW, I agree with general consensus about this game. One of the best platformer I've ever played. And since I don't think I can add anything to this discussion and I already talked quite a lot about games this month, let's called it a day. 9.5/10.

For March, I want to finish Divinity: Original Sin 2 that I started last week, since I wasn't feeling like finishing Final Fantasy 2 and I think I'm halfway through it. Then, I have no idea what to play. I feel like playing some kind of strategy game. And Game-Along game of course.

Yesterday, I decided to do a short horror gaming night and played horror fishing games I've talked about in Game-Along thread. Each game was short, beatable in about 10 minutes, so it was nice change of pace with other games I'm currently playing - Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Divinity: Original Sin 2. Well, let's talk about these horror games.

A Wonderful Day for Fishing
The first game that got me to the genre, but to be honest, it wasn't really that great in comparison to the rest of the games in this post. It's a cool concept. You're fishing progressively weirder and weirder fishes, which you can either eat or release. I don't think releasing them does anything at all. Eating them sometimes gives you weird effect like your eyes being replaced by dark voids, your mouth growing big and so on, but I rarely got these effects and when they appeared, they only made me giggle a little bit by how comical they were. I spent the most time in this game, because it has no ending, which I had no idea about. So I kept fishing, even getting all different fish and waited for something to happed. It also didn't help that the gameplay is not that engaging. You're just waiting for a prompt to appear, look at a fish, read its desription and then either eat it or release it.

Overall, I think this game shows really cool idea that could be worked into a great horror game. But as it is right now, it was pretty weak. 6.5/10.

The Thing in The Lake
Suprisingly wholesome horror game. I liked the minimalistic art style and colour palette. It' short, I think I got both endings (which require playing the game twice) in about 5 minutes in total. There is no fishing mechanic, which si understandable with how the game presents itself. The writing is okay and especially the ending is somewhat surprising, wholesome from one perspective, but quite creepy in the other.

Overall, it was the second game I've played yesterday and it was great after the not-so-good start. But it falls behind the rest games in this post. 7/10.

lure
This game made me laugh so much at the end. I know it's a horror game, but the ending was just so unexpected and... actually original. The game itself once again took me about 5 minutes to beat. I enjoyed the PS1 aesthetics. The fishing part was simple - you cjust click a mouse and wait. This was also the first game, in which I was feeling uneasy and had to check my (in-game) surroundings every time I got a fish to make sure nothing is creeping up on me. And even after this, the ending came unexpected and actually made me jump a little bit.

Overall, the third game and the bar went up once again. And once again, I wish this was made into bigger game. 7.5/10.

GONE FISHING
Another PS1-like game and the one that is probably the most complete and offers the most content. It offers so much content that I managed to completely break it. The moment I started playing, I wanted to test how controls work and somehow opened a secret area. I was taken by surprise, but continued on and after few minutes of exploring, I unlocked a true ending. You can imagine how confused I was. So, I started the game again and accidentally opened another secret area. I unlocked another 2 endings in this area. And only on my third attempt, I actually got to the "main" storyline and the fishing. And it was fun. The fishing minigame worked well and I got quite good at it after a while. I don't know why, but some of the areas in the game reminded me of DUSK I've played earlier this year. The story was a little bit confusing, but that's probably on me for getting the information out of order. Also, I'm not sure how, but I missed the "final" jumpscares in 3 out of 5 endings. I was either looking somewhere else or didn't notice it at all until it was over.

Overall, this was the best game I've played yesterday. It had the best fishing mechanic and the most horror elements in it. It also worked as a game and not just as a concept. 8/10.

Now, I really liked this themed night. I think I'll be doing it more often and with more indie games, because itch.io has so many interesting games to play. Now, I think I'll focus on finishing Divinity: Original Sin 2. After that, I'll play a new Frog Detective game. I was looking forward to it and somehoiw missed that it was released in October last year. I have to play it soon.

Divinity: Original Sin 2
I was never a fan of CRPGs. I was afraid of them, when I was younger (and most of the famous CRPGs were new), because they felt too complex and hard for me. Last year, I've played Baldur's Gate and wasn't really a fan of it. It felt outdated, boring and nothing like people made me think CRPGs are supposed to be. So, it might be a huge surprise that I enjoyed Divinity and couldn't get enough of it to the point that I considered second playthrougth right after the first one.

The game reminded me of original Dragon's Age. Which is one of my favourite RPG of all time. Not just with the art style, but you could pick several different playable characters with different story beats and the story somehow reminded me of Grey Warden's journey. I picked Fane as my main character, which I think was the best decision I could have make. First, playing as undead added a whole new dimension to the game, with reverted healing and poisoning and the need to cover your face. Second, Fane's story was the most interesting out of all available characters' stories. Most of them were just a variation of "you're X and your goal is to kill Y" motivation. Fane's story was nice change. And it ties nicely to the main story. I also decided to do a small challenge and played solo, instead in a group. This made a game even more enjoyable for me. There was small difficulty spike at the final location, but I still managed to solo the game.

The story was okay. I was never fan of "chosen one" storylines, but this was somehow manageable. And it makes sense for the most time. I didn't like the huge story exposition at the end, which was made worse by my choice to play as Fane. Also, I think Lucian's plan made no sense. He faked his death and locked himself in a tomb made out of material that blocks magic so gods can't find him, yet he's able to use magic to drain gods' power. And why did he fake his death anyway? He's popular and quite a few people don't like gods anyway. The ending felt rushed. Which is a shame, because it left a sour taste in my mouth.

I was glad there was turn-based battle system. One problem I had with original Baldur's Gate was early game combat. It took so much time to hit something. Divinity solved this problem and made the whole combat feel more like D&D. The amount of skills felt overwhelming to the point that I had to check some builds to get an idea on how to build my Fane. In the end, I went with 2H weapons and bunch of Warfare and Polymorph skills that gave me bunch of options to quickly move around the battlefield and deal damage to more enemies at once. And I got Barbar tag later in the game, which had no effect on battles, it just added more flavour to my build. When I got to Arx, this strategy wasn't enough. I had to find better strategy. And found out some Necromancy spells scaled with my stats and dealt physical damage. And it had one of the best AoE spells in the whole game.

Overall, I enjoyed this game more than I expected. And I mean it. It easily got to my RPG TOP10. And it made me consider buying Baldur's Gate 3 in August. 9.5/10.

Now, I started playing Hero's Hour. I thought it would be short homage to Heroes of Might & Magic. I quickly found out it has no campaign, so I'll have to finish all 40 maps to claim this one as finished. This little maneuver is gonna cost us 51 years. I already beat about 6 maps and it's fun. I feel like at home, because it takes so much from Heroes 3 and 4. I also finally got back to Final Fantasy II, so I think I might beat it.

Heidi: The Game writeup when? :shifty-eyed:

Jbsundown said:

Heidi: The Game writeup when? :shifty-eyed:

Click to expand...

I'm currently on level 7, so soon.

But before that, I finally found time to write up my thought about Hero's Hour.

Hero's Hour
Well, this journey finally ended. I had to make it my secondary go-for game to break a gameplay stereotype a little bit, but I think I'm finally done with it.

I appreciate what the devs decided to do. A Heroes clone that combines stuff from 3rd and 4th entry sounds crazy, but it works. I felt like at home right from the start. The inspiration is sometimes way too obvious, for example there are structures with 1:1 design taken straight from Heroes. I don't mind it that much, I took it as a nod to the legendary series. I would say the inspiration helped me get "in" the game and understand some of the deeper mechanics faster.

The fractions in this game are a combination of Heroes 3 and 4 fractions mixed with something new. Each fraction had its own gimmick that made it unique. For example undead fraction could rise dead enemies, the barbarians could only level up their units by combat, sea fraction could dig up pearls and trade them for more units, lovecraftian fraction had powerful heroes, who could be on multiple places at once, but had to sacrifice some cultists to be able to recruit stronger units and so on... I've played about a half of maps with random fraction to try them all, but later rotated between 3-4 fractions based on my current mood. I think my favourites were undeads and seafolks.

Each fractions had multiple heroes, each one with unique skill tree. But some skills were shared by multiple characters. And with it comes one of my biggest gripes with the game. These skill trees are so unbalanced. There is OP skill that let's you fill a bar after each battle and when you fill it up, it will spawn a Red Dragon on your team. Red Dragon is one of the strongest units in the game. And that is not all. When level up, this skill also let's you upgrade Red Dragons into Black Dragons, who are even more broken than their Heroes 4 counterpart. And some characters can get this skill as early as level 2. Meaning that you can get extreme push in power within first few turns of the game and can completely steamroll your opponents. But it's not the only skill that is unbalanced. While heroes take active part in the battle, their damage is minimal and there are barely any skills that would make them better. Meaning that heroes' main purpose is to cast spells. And the problem is that some heroes only get spell skills at the top of their skill tree. While there are some good pasive skills, the ability to completely wreck your enemies with spells is just better. I mean there are spells that will basically take your opponent's units and make them yours. And once again, some characters can get these spells super early in the game or even start with them.

Which slowly brings me to battles. I had love-hate relationship with them throughout the whole game. Your units move and attack on their own and your only interaction with the battlefield are your heroes' spells. Well, you can also tell your units to retreat or move somewhere else, but it usually had no effect on the battle. So your only way to affect the battle stands on the ability of your hero to cast spells. And having enough mana to do so. As I said, some spells were crazy. There were multiple times, when I got in the battle with just my hero and small army of troops against huge army. And I won just because my hero could cast overpowered spells the whole time. Be it summoning spells or spells that make some of your opponent's unit instantly disappear or change the team or just good old meteorite rain. On the other hand, when my hero had no spells or couldn't cast them, I had to sit through multiple minutes of automatic battle, which got boring pretty fast, because each unit has one animation for movement and one for attack. Because the battlemaps were flat with nothing interesting on them, I also could strategize in any meaningful way. And it was the worst during battles I knew I'll win, just based on power and numbers of my units, but still had to sit through them. Also in most games, there was usually one huge clash with each opponent, after which my opponent could never get enough momentum again to be any threat.

Final point I would to gather my thoughts on are maps themselves. There is no campaign, only few skirmishes. Well, there are over 40 of them. Each map is randomly generated, but you always see the general skeleton the map will follow. It will show you if you and your enemies are connected by land or sea and if there are any neutral towns. But while each map was randomly generated, most of them felt the same. All of them was divided into same areas. Your starting area, where you could get the starting resources. This area was locked away from the neutral area and your opponents by either a guarded tunnel or guarded fortress. This made most of the maps look the same. I was also missing some better motivation than just "beat all of your enemies." I think a campaign would be fun.

Overall, it was unbalanced fun. It was nice watching my army completely wrecks my opponent. But I wish there was more to it. It felt a little bit shallow. 6.5/10.

Now,I'm slowly getting through Pathfinder: Kingmaker, but I don't think I'll finish it this month. It feels like it will be long ride that I'll probably have to put it don't and play something else from time to time.

And I'm still not done with Heidi or Pathfinder. But I beat A Vampyre Story.

A Vampyre Story
It's crazy and a little bit eerie, how many games, good games, get forgotten so quickly. Especially today, when we get hundreds upon hundreds of games daily. It's sad that there isn't enough time to play every interesting title. Or that some cool series never really sees an ending. It wouldn't happen to games I play, right? There is no way. I'm denying any possibility that this could happen to me.

Which is exactly what happened to A Vampyre Story. This P&C adventure game was planned as a whole trilogy. And they really wanted to make you want it. So you can imagine my surprise, when the game just suddenly ended with a cliffhanger. And when I wanted to get the closure the game owned me, I found out the sequel never came out. There is a prequel, but I want to know what happened to Mona! I need to know! It's my right to know! That makes me angry!

I just spent 4 hours getting to know all the characters. I wish I could do anything to experience at least a bit of what happens next. There is even a trailer for a sequel still available on YouTube. Maybe we could bargain a deal?

Is there even a point in playing games anymore? If all we get is uncertainty after enjoying a good game, isn't it depressing that there will never be a sequel?

Bur it's all gone, isn't it? I'll never meet A Vampyre Story's characters again. They will forever be locked in a cycle of escaping that cursed castle again and again. They will always end up on their way to a crazy scientist. Poor Mona. It's depressing.

But you know what? I had fun with it. I loved its art style and humour. I enjoyed exploring the castle and the town and solving the puzzles. I liked that you could use your bat companion as an item, which meant you could combine him with other items. In the end, nothing can take my enjoyment back. So, I think the only thing to do is to accept that this was one-off experience and move on.

Overall, I hope you enjoyed my stages of grief review of A Vampyre Story. 8/10.

Wait, it's already the end of the month? I almost missed it. While I played quite a lot, I only finished handful of games. I spent quite a few hours playing Pathfinder: Kingmaker and I'm still not done. I barely touched anything else. I played Xenoblade Chronicles 3 for like 30 minutes, but I'm not really feeling it. The characters, the story and even the gameplay just seem boring so far. It all lost the charm of the first game. On the other hand, I finished Heidi: The Game. So let's talk about it.

Heidi: The Game
It's strange. I got this game alongside my Game Boy Micro and bunch of other (and arguably better) games, but this one stayed in my mind and from time to time, I noticed I'm thinking about it. So it's only natural for me to pick it up again and play it.

It's a game based on a children book. I remember I read the book in primary school during classes. And I was lucky to be familiar with the story, because the game barely tell you anything about it. It don't even bother to be consistent. For example Heidi mentions Klara once out of nowhere at the end of the game, while completely ignoring her existence up until that point. Other characters are pretty much non-existing, only one of them has dialogue and that's only at the start of the game.

The gameplay is simple. It's 2D platformer, where you go from left to right. And about 70 % of the levels really felt like I was just holding a forward button and just beat the level by jumping at the right time to avoid pits and enemies. The rest had me sometimes going up or down and very rarely (in like 2 levels), I actually had to navigate through a complex layout. It's a game for small kids, I get it, but some levels could be finished in under a minute with minimal input.

Overall, for a game that lasted me for about an hour, it was fun and quick, but didn't really leave an impression. It would be cool flash game. Nothing more, nothing less. 6/10.

For May, I'll hopefully finish first Pathfinder game. I'm not sure if I want to start the second one straight away. I'll probably play some shorter action game. Maybe I'll finally play Doom 2016 or replay Mafia. Or I could play some relaxing games for a change. We will see.

Phew, another behometh of a game is down. Pathfinder: Kingmaker is great game that is just way too long for its own good. I decided to do something different again and hid a small rant on game pacing, time and value in my thoughts of this game.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker
"It takes 500 hours to complete, " that was an ad for a game I was a little bit interested in. Up until that moment. After I read this ad, I moved the game to the "probably will never play" category. "An epic adventure that will take you 100s of hours to finish, " says another ad for another game. But it fails to address that that game has enough content for about 20 hours and the rest is just a boring filler.

One view, when it comes to value of games is how long it is. And it's honestly something I can't really understand. Time spent in the game is weird variable to measure the value of the game with. For example, when I finally decided to play The Witcher 3 (as someone, who played previous entries on launch, I was turned down by the switch to more traditional open-world and the promise of 100s of hours of content), I spent over 100 hours in it on one playthrougth. But, and also because of this, I think it's mediocre game with great dialogues and cinematography. I experienced everything the game has to offer in about 20 hours. But the game never built up on that, so the final 80 hours of my gameplay were really bland and boring and felt like a filler for most parts. I really only kept up playing because the general consensus about it is that it's one of the best RPG of all time and I just didn't get to the good parts yet. Which is a lot weirder, since it isn't really a RPG, but that's probably a topic for another time. On the other hand, Smile For Me is a game I've finished in one sitting one evening. It knew exactly what it wants to do, executed it perfectly and ended right when it was suppose to. And it's a game I still fondly remember to this day. The art of ending the game at the right time is really hard to master and it doesn't always apply that longer games don't know when to end. For example, Divinity: Original Sin 2, that I've played last month is long game. But it's exactly as long as it needs to be. It barely has any filler in it and leaves me wanting more. On the other side, SUPERHOT is about 2 hours long, but even that is way too much and feels like a slog and just doesn't know when to end.

Which slowly gets me to Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Kingmaker puts you in a shoes of a (future) monarch. As you progress the game, you gain the ability to manage your kingdom. And with it comes the biggest problem. The game has awful pacing. It starts good. Kill a bandit king and claim good lands. You have few days to do it. But then, you quickly get another, more personal quest. And suddenly, you have to choose. Which one will your pursue first. Will you take out your competitor and risk that the only trail you have to the bandit king will go cold? It adds so much to the game and you question whatever you've done the right thing.

But as the game goes on and you get your kingdom, these choices slowly disappear and all you're left with is "you have X days to finish this quest," which the game sometimes doesn't even tell you and then will just say you failed the objective after some time. While this adds to the overall feeling of alive world, it also introduces few more problems.

But let's talk about the kingdom management for now. You get special quests that can be resolved by you or your advisors and take some time. You basically just click, who will solve which quest and then wait. Some of the quests will lock-in your character for few in-game days. Which means if you don't finish all your personal quests first, you risk failing them. It's really a weird design choice, especially since you still can use you companions normally, while they are solving a kingdom quest, just not your main character.

Then, there is the pacing issue. When you finish a chapter, you have some time to manage your kingdom and explore. Exploring is, like in many exploring-focused games, useful only at the start. After that, you'll encounter the same looking maps, same enemies and same loot. The loot was so weirdly distributed that I've used some weapons all the way from the first dungeon to the end of the game, because there just weren't better weapons of that kind for my characters. After a while, I didn't even bother with exploring everything, because what I got during the main game was enough. So, that's one part of the game that I don't really want to participate in during this time. The second is kingdom management. As I said before, there isn't really much substance to it too. You just click and wait. Sometimes, you don't have anything to click on. So you'll have to click "Skip a day" button. Yeah, there is a button that will skip one in-game day. That's just an atrocious idea. Instead of giving you any meaningful activities to spend your time in, the game let's you click one button until it allows you to continue. And it really is an issue. In one instance, I had to skip over 400 days until the game let me continue with the main story. For the final two chapters, I had to turn kingdom management on auto, because I would have to spend another in-game year clicking skipping button.

It's really a shame, because I think the story was fun. Not something world breaking, but nice little tabletop adventure. Same goes for characters, which I enjoyed quite a lot. I even managed to swap my party members a lot, not really having a set team of 6. I was afraid some of them will be annoying, like overly optimistic Linzi or her polar opposite Jaethal. But even them managed to convince me to like them. My favourites are Harrim, Valerie and Nok-Nok. Harrim had nice twist on the typical dwarf character, Nok-Nok was fun comedic relief and Valerie was one of the best Lawful Neutral character I've ever seen. The final dungeon forced me to shuffle the party one more time, so there was no time for stereotype to settle in. I've played as Wizard, an illusionist, and it worked fairly well. Illusionists are usually RP-heavy characters and doesn't work well in these linear environments, but I had fun with it. Especially illusions on higher levels were something I never tried before.

Which brings me to the pacing issue #2. The battle system. I hate the real-time-with-pause system of cRPGs. Who's idea was it? Who likes to watch two parties missing each other for 10 minutes, while they as player has 0 input in the game? It's not how battles in tabletop RPGs work. Luckily, I was able to switch to turn-based system and it was a little bit better, but I still encountered moment, where no hit would land for 10+ rounds. And especially by the end of the game, it was tiresome to fight low-level enemies in this mode, so I kept switching in and out of it. I'm the end, it was the best idea. I let the game solve easy fights for me, while I kept the harder fights and bossfights for myself. And it was great. I enjoyed most of the chapters and their respective bosses. The final bosses were a little bit predictable, but I don't think the game was aiming at some big shocking revelation, when it comes to them.

Overall, this game has a lot of good ideas and mechanics. But it will shove them down your throat to the point that you'll actively avoid them. When I turned down/ignored all side activities, I had a lot of fun with the game. Which is weird, but it's the result of your 25 hours long game taking 70 hours to finish. 8/10.

One thing I didn't mention above was that after playing and discussing Divinity 2 on Discord with my friends, and mentioning that I'm going to play Pathfinder, they decided to (re)play Pathfinder games too. So I also got motivation from this side. We discussed our characters and choices we made, what loot we found and where, what characters we like and so much more. The discussion is alive even now, when I'm done with the game. Well, I'm the first one to finish it, so... I think I'll play some short indies while everyone else is busy with finishing their journeys.

And it didn't take long for me to return here. Who would have guess that short indie games are in fact... short.

Fridge Floppers
Fridge Floppers is a 15 minutes physics-based game made in 48 hours. Which is impressive. The main goal is to move a fridge to a van, while controlling two movers carrying it. You can move them both at the same time or let one of them jump. But the fridge can't fall off.

There were about 5 levels of varying difficulty, just scratching the edge of all the possibilities. You barely get to experience the pain of climbing up and down a set of stairs before the game ends.

And there isn't really anything else to say. The art style is simple, yet nice and feels like a good fit for this game. The controls are easy to understand and hard(-ish) to master.

Overall, I wish there were more levels added to the game, because as I already said, I love the concept. 8/10.

Frog Detective 3
You might remember me excitingly talking about the previous two entries in this series. Ever since then, I was eagerly waiting for the final part of the trilogy. Only to completely miss the release. I only recently learned about it, while browsing Itch.io. I have no idea how could I miss it, but made sure to play it as soon as possible.

Frog Detective is the worthy finale of the series. It picks up exactly where the previous entry ended, but you're also served quick recap of previous games. The game plays exactly like the previous two games. You're let loose in a small area and have to solve a crime. This time, you're in Wild West-themed town and you're trying to find everyone's stolen hats. You're aided by Lobster Cop, who is supposedly #1 detective in this world. But is he really? The story is extremely silly and full of plot twists and surprises. I would never expect this game to surprise with its story.

The gameplay is simple and follows the same structure as the previous games. You talk with characters, find out what they need and what can they offer and then you start exchanging items with them until you get what you need. It's always clear what to do and especially after you talk with all characters, you're just following a linear path.

Overall, this is great way to end the series. I'll be looking forward next game from these devs. 9/10.

Since Frog Detective 3 was linear with only one ending, I have to find another game for this month's Game-Along. I picked Five Dates, which is interactive movie-type of game. I also started playing Mafia Remake. I grew up with the original game and I still play it from time to time (okay, last time was about 10 years ago, but I watched some other people play it since then). I'm having fun with the remake so far. I just beat the infamous racing mission, which was really watered down in the remake.

Okay, I finished both Mafia Remake and Five Dates back to back and enjoyed both, so let's talk about them a little bit.

Mafia: Definitive Edition
While I've played the original Mafia (and its sequel) when I was younger, I never really joined in the cult that worship this game and its creator as second coming of christ. It was a great game, but the fanbase and its creator are a little bit crazy. And I think that's what turned me off the series for so long. I think the last time I've played Mafia was 10 years ago and it took me so long to get to this remake. Now, while I'm writing this, I know I had some kind of point to make in this paragraph, but I forgot what it was...

So, let's move on to the actual remake. I think it does a lot of things right. I like the re-imagining of the cutscenes, the added details and dialogues. The city looks amazing. It looks like it did in my imagination back in 2002. But it also introduced some not so great changes. It completely kills "Just for Relaxation" mission. It was one of the best mission in the original game, which let you tackle the problem your own way. It also made sense from narrative perspective and was grounded in reality like the rest of the game. Now, it's stupid boring forced linear stealth mission, that betrays Salieri's character and just makes everyone so unlikable and makes them act out of character. Plus, for some reason, there is still dialogue from the original that doesn't make sense in this new scenario. Luckily it's almost final mission of the game and it has no consequences on the rest of the missions.

The gameplay is pretty much the same as the original, only tweaked a little bit to match the modern standard. I like it. The original had more opened areas and let you handle missions your own way, but I didn't mind the more linear approach. It was annoying few times, because I was so used to completing certain mission certain way, but nothing to be mad about. Unlike the mission I talked above.

Overall, I think this remake is nice alternative to the original, but scratches completely different itches, so I don't think it's something to replace the original. 7.5/10.

Five Dates
Five Dates is interactive movie about dating during the time of corona.

And to be honest, there isn't really much to talk about. The gameplay is simple. You watch a movie and sometimes pick, where to take the story. There are 5 woman to date and each of them has really captivating personality and story. They didn't feel one-dimensional at all. I didn't expect it, but the game had great writing and was full of surprises. I decided to first tackle Saffron's storyline and when the credits started to roll, I was left with my mouth opened. I had to take few minutes to really grasp what just happened in the last few minutes. It was fun and it left me wanting more, so I returned and finish all storylines. The acting was enjoyable and I'll make sure to check more games from this studio. I've actually played their Late Shift back in 2017 and it's amazing how much they improved since then. I think it was from them.

And... that's pretty much it. It was cool short game, the acting was great, the dialogues, the characters and writing was fun, there was really big attention to details, despite each shot being just a character standing/sitting in front of webcam. 8/10.

Now, I have some options on what to play. The full version of HROT, Czech Boomer Shooter, was released. I also feel like contiuning on with second Pathfinder game. I already have my character ready. Then, I'm not sure. I'm currently playing LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga on Switch, but it's really mediocre game. It has a cool opened universe, but the missions themselves are really hit and miss. And hits don't really live up to the original LEGO games and misses are straight up unplayable trash. I also still haven't really made progress in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. I know it's one of those "it gets better after 80 hours" games, but I don't know if I want to wait that long.

Well, it's almost the end of the month and I barely finished anything. Well, to be honest, I've spend more time gaming hours-wise this month than any of the previous once this year, but barely finished anything. I tackled the second Pathfinder game, which was a weird bunch. Gameplay-wise, it was better than the first game, story-wise, it was disaster. I also played TOTAL WAR: Three Kingdoms for quite a while and actually finished several playthroughs, but I don't feel like I'm done with the game yet. I think I'll spend more time with it int he following month before I can check it as finished. I also made some progress on Switch. I beat LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, but let's talk about it later. Spoiler alert, it was bad. Other than that, I kinda dropped Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in favor of Fire Emblem: Engage. I'm currently on chapter 7 and so far it feels like a Fire Emblem game. Generic plot, boring characters, over-the-top anime cliché everywhere and really fun and engaging gameplay. I love it! On the other hand, I still haven't touch Project Warlock, which is my Game-Along game for this month. Luckily, it should be short, so I think I can still beat it in time.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
The original LEGO Star Wars games were among the many games I grew up with. And I kept up with LEGO games before and after that, up until, I think, Harry Potter or Pirates of the Caribbean, and I still have some LEGO games released after them in my library. So, seeing The Skywalker Saga getting released, I was quite excited to try it. I was looking forward to seeing how LEGO games evolved. And after finishing (well, forcing myself to finish) this game, can we please go back?

This game has the really cool concept of offering you huge open areas on each planet that you can explore. It's crazy how much content they managed to get into the game. And that's where all the positives end. While there are lots of planets and stuff to collect on them, they still feel empty. Like there are huge empty areas you only move through, and they look awful. The mix of realistic graphics and LEGO bricks just doesn't mash well together. Most puzzles are also trivial and can be solved in a matter of seconds. Not only that, but they also repeat quite often. Usually, you'll just have to pick the right class, solve a brain-dead minigame, and that's it. Speaking of classes, there are several of them, and each contains a huge number of characters. These characters don't differ in any way. All Jedi have the same moveset and can do the same thing. All Sith have the same moveset and can do the same thing. All Rebels have the same moveset and can do the same thing... You get the point. So, other than unlocking them for the sake of unlocking them, there is no purpose to unlocking additional characters. Which is really weak motivation for me. It was an okay waste of time to explore one planet, but once I got to another, I realized that I didn't want to do it all over again. And again and again...

But there are also missions. Well, "mission". I don't think I would call "go straight on this linear line for 5 seconds while dialogue plays" a mission. Luckily, this is just one type of mission you'll encounter. There is also "kill X enemies to progress" or "just watch a cutscene" types of missions. There are like 3 or 4 missions that feel like something from the previous LEGO games, but they are still really weak. And finally, there are bossfights. Which are, with 2 exceptions, just a reskin of the same bossfight. I'm not kidding. Darth Maul has the same moveset as General Grievous or Darth Sidious. Speaking of Sidious, the final battle with him, the ultimate conclusion to the whole story, is just a 5-second quick-time event.

Overall, this game doesn't respect your time or your abilities as a player. Anything it does, other games just do better. It feels like a cash-grab title. 4/10.

While writing this, I also managed to beat the second Pathfinder, so let's talk about it...

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
I'll try to keep this short, since the game is similar to Kingmaker and you already know my opinion on Kingmaker.
When it comes to game mechanics, this is nice expansion of Kingmaker. There are more classes, more spells and more abilities, and it feels really cool. I already knew what I was getting at with the battle system, meaning I left the game on the real-time system for trash mobs and only switched to turn-based on important story battles or strong enemies. I think it worked really well like this. But I would still prefer if the game was more balanced in this regard, like Divinity was. Less battles would be nice.

Actually, the game solves the pacing issue of Kingmaker really well. I still took around 60 hours to beat the game, but it never felt like I was just waiting and doing nothing for extended portions of time. The map felt a lot smaller, and there weren't that many side locations to go through. Which was great. On the other hand, there was a new side game, similar to kingdom management. And I can't talk about it, because it was so awful that I turned it off immediately. It was a strategy game like Heroes 3, but in a few moments I've played it, it completely killed the pacing of the game and felt like it didn't really belong in this game. But the game didn't let me off the hook so easily. Since I refused to play this part of the game and clear enemy fortresses by myself, the game locked them up with a timer. Meaning I had to wait a few times for the game to unlock the fortress and let me continue on. This sometimes meant I had to postpone finishing some side quests, but it wasn't that big of a problem for me.

This time, I spent a whole month slowly crafting my character. I wanted to play as an Evil character, and in the end I decided to go with Lawful Evil character. My idea was to have a cold and calculating pragmatic that has a strong sense of justice, but that would slowly corrupt into a more selfish person that uses justice and laws for their own benefit. I wanted to make a mixed character of melee and magic and decided to start with the Monk Scaled Fist subclass. I really liked the idea behind Oracles, so I decided that the Possessed Oracle subclass would be the second class and the reason for the corruption. I also picked Fire Oracle Mystery, tying it to Scaled Fist's dragon abilities. Then I learned about Mythic classes. And it's like they knew I would like to play this type of character because there are Aeons, who are cosmic beings with a strong sense of justice. And they can later switch to the Devil Mythic class. And Devils are the definition of Lawful Evil characters. I couldn't believe it worked so well. Mythic classes themselves made the story more interesting, and it was something that I would consider replaying this game for. I also played a little bit with my companions and their builds. In Kingmaker, I just let them have their original classes or pre-made builds. This time, I really tried my best to make them interesting and fun.

But, this game had a little bit of a different problem. The story was really weak. The premise is okay, but for most of the game, it felt like my character doesn't really have any personal stakes in the fight against Demons and is just there for some reason. I also had no idea, who the main villain was or why I should care, for most of the game. And when this revelation finally came, I was like "That's it? Really?". Getting Areelu after Nyrissa and the Lantern King is really an insult. There are stronger and more interesting unnamed Demons than Areelu. But it's not just Areelu. The whole story is uninteresting and starts crumbling midway through the game. Like the Queen's decision to send my character to the Abyss, which came out of nowhere, the Abyss itself was a pretty meh experience, but the biggest insult was the final act. It closed most of the new areas (where I needed to go) behind fortresses with 100s of days of waiting. So it killed the otherwise fine pacing.

Overall, I'm not really sure about this game. It's not bad. But it's not good either. It did excel in some areas, but really lacked in others, when compared to Kingmaker. I think I enjoyed Kingmaker more. 7.5/10.