[Game Journal] gimmegaming 2024

[gimmepie]

Gimmegaming 2024​

With the fifth Game-Along well and truly underway, it's probably about time I got this year's gaming journal up-and-running. Here I'll be keep track of the games I complete throughout 2024 and sharing my thoughts and feelings about them.

Unlike previous entries though, I'm only going to add entries for games as I finish them. It started to get to be a bit of a hassle to manufacture entries for each play session after a while, especially for games that didn't have a lot to talk about. If you want to see my journal for last year, here's a link.

Goal: Complete fifteen games
Completed: 16/15
Currently Playing: Final Fantasy XIV (Stormblood), Genshin Impact

Inside

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC - Teal Mask, Indigo Disc and Mochi Mayhem

Thief

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Genshin Impact - Fontaine

System Goose Overload

Refind Self

Figment

Omori

Beholder

FFXIV: Heavensward

Tchia

 

[gimmepie]

Inside

Inside is a disturbing puzzle-platformer brought to us by the same lunatics that came up with the idea for Limbo. Although Inside goes much harder on it's more gruesome and bizarre horror elements than Limbo.

Narratively, you mostly have to work with what you see in Inside. There's a story implied but it's largely subtext and not much is really spelled out. The general gist is that you play as a young boy who is making his way through a place controlled by some sort of shady, militant organisation and trying to avoid capture. As you progress through various locales, you get to see more and more of the sick experimentation this organisation has been working on - various forms of highly unethical human and animal experiments involving mind control and body modification/mutation. It's never really stated why the boy is "free" or what drives him - unlike Limbo which at least makes it eventually clear you are searching for your sibling. Ultimately, the game leaves it up to you to come to your own conclusions for the most part. This frustrates me in a way, because I really would like answers about things. But even still, I admire the worldbuilding on display and skill with subtextual storytelling. But god damn I really want to know. I'd love to tell you more about the story, but it's something you really have to see for yourself o understand any of it. As much as any of it can be understood.

Gameplay-wise, the mechanics are very similar to Limbo. You have only really got three controls - move, interact and jump. However, those simple controls are used to move through a variety of different environments and complete a wide range of different puzzles. It's impressive how much Inside does with so little, much like Limbo. The puzzles were never overly difficult, but they did require some actual thinking to piece together sometimes - probably more so than with Limbo. There were also a lot of hidden things that could easily be missed that are needed to unlock the alternate ending and get all the achievements if you're into that.

Visually, as expected, Inside is stunning. Although it also uses faux-3D, or 2.5D if we're calling it that, it does look very different to Limbo as far as the aesthetic. It's less greyscale - even if the palette is still very muted, and the world is a lot more vibrant and visceral. Everything from the player to plants is a mot more detailed. It has a vibe that's less eerie as a result, but much gritter.

The sound design is also on point. There's not much to say for the minimalist OST other than it doing it's job, it's everything else that is really good. Not just the use of sound effects that you can feel in places, but the game knows when and how to use silence well also.

Over all, I had a good time with Inside. It's simple, fun and very compelling even if you have to figure out the story for yourself. Even though I would kill to have the devs explain the exact nature of everything to me. I don't think there is anything this game does poorly. It's pretty much impossible to talk critically of Inside without mentioning Limbo since they're made by the same people and cut from the same cloth - especially with how good Limbo is. Honestly though, I'd say Inside compares favourably to its predecessor.

Inside is a great game that I highly recommend. Be warned though, it is very gruesome and gets very messed up in places.

Writing: 7/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Visuals: 8/10
Sound: 7/10
Total: 30/40

 

[gimmepie]

Pokemon Scarlet and Violent DLC - Teal Mask, Indigo Disk and Mochi Mayhem

I actually finished this a while back, but I might as well put an update for it here.

Going into the DLC, I had some concern. While there is no denying that the base game - especially prior to patching - had some very real technical difficulties and made some odd choices with how the open world was structured, I genuinely really liked how it handled its story and characters. So when I saw that the DLC largely focused on new characters, I was apprehensive. Now, I do wish the old gang got to be more involved in the DLC. That being said, Kieran and Carmine are solid characters and Kieran is a rival pretty different than any other we've had so far. I like that it's losing out to us that causes his downfall and it was cool to see him go through his whole character arc. Carmine was a little less interesting and didn't grow very much, but she was fun enough. The Blueberry E4 also didn't get a lot of spotlight but they were nice enough and I enjoyed Ogrepon's personality.

As far as the actual plot goes, I liked it overall. It was primarily centred around Kieran's arc which was fine, honestly. I enjoyed the story behind Ogrepon a lot and it was nice to see how the conclusion of the Indigo Disc brought us right back around to the mysteries of Area 0. I wouldn't say I enjoyed the narrative or characters as much as the base game, but I had a good time. It was also nice that to wrap things up they brought the Paldea Gang and DLC kids together, but it would have been nice to get to spend more on-screen time with them all rather than have most of their interaction happen off-screen.

Mechanically, I don't have any real complaints. Kitakami doesn't really up the difficulty overly much or do anything too wild outside of the boss battles, but it's a good time. The first part of the Indigo Disc at the academy is really fun though. The focus on double battles makes things different and opponents at Blueberry are both a little more challenging and also more strategic than is typical. I enjoyed that a lot. Similarly, the Terapagos boss fight wasn't exactly hard but the type changing mechanic was neat. It's aso very cool that it's quite easy to build new teams for each section of the game on top of being able to do that for the three routes in the base game. I realy enjoyed that about both the base game and the DLC.

Graphically I don't have much to say. There's not really any huge steps up or down compared to the base game. Although the additional parts of Area 0 are spectacular, I have to admit that. Audio-wise is much the same. There's a few standout tracks like the Loyal 3 and Terapagos boss music or Kieran's champion music although the overworlds weren't anything too amazing for the most part.

Over all, I d recommend the DLC. I know a lot of people had doubts about it - especially after the dodgy launch Scarlet and Violet had. I know that they aren't exactly cheap. The games aren't perfect. But they are a lot of fun and continue the recent trend towards more character-driven storytelling in the Pokemon games nicely. It's worth it.

Writing: 7/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Visuals: 6/10
Sound: 7/10
Total: 29/40

 

[gimmepie]

Thief

So, for this month's theme, I need to complete a stealth game. I didn't actually have a lot of options for this, but I had picked up Thief (2014) a while back and had been intrigued by the gritty Victorian setting and general vibe of the game.

Narratively, Thief actually ended up being a lot more supernatural than expected. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I definitely don't remember this being advertised. Truthfully though, the concept wasn't that bad even if the nature of Primal wasn't well-explained. The base plotline was simple and nothing special, but it wasn't exactly bad either and had a few neat moments. That being said though, it wasn't great either. The twists were mostly predictable and the characters were pretty flat.

Mechanically... I won't lie to you, it fell flat. Conceptually, while the stealth mechanic are pretty standard, they are still cool. I like the different options you can take towards how you play, the variety of tools at your disposal and the lockpicking mechanic. I'm less fond of how the game doesn't tell you which tools are essential to certain parts of the game, how some mechanics were almost never worthwhile or just the general jankiness of things. This is especially true playing on keyboard and mouse since there's about a million different inputs to keep track of. I wouldn't want to play with small hands. This wouldn't be an issue if you played with controller but despite claiming to have controller compatibility, the game did not actually recognise having a controller plugged in and forced me to stick to keyboard and mouse anyway. Apparently, this has been a problem with the game since launch and the devs just never fixed it.

Visually, guards and other enemies often glitched out and the characters themselves didn't have particularly inspired designs or quality models. It wasn't enough to make anyone's eyes bleed but even factoring in that the game is ten years old they don't look great. To its credit though, the games environments do look pretty good. The atmosphere was definitely there and the general design of locations wasn't original by any means, but enjoyable.

Audio-wise the music was barely there mostly until things got dramatic at which point it was decent. The sound design was hit-and-miss with some dubious volume levels in laces but some highlights too like with the vocalisations made by the freaks, as they're called. The voice acting was also bad to middling with no real standouts other than maybe Basso's VA. He wasn't exactly world-shatteringly good either, but stood out by comparison.

So, Thief. Do I recommend it? Ehhhhhhh. It's an okay game if you can get past its issues. I wouldn't suggest paying full price for it, but if you want to play a stealth game and it's on sale, it's hardly the worst game in existence either. However, for basically the same price you can also get Aragami which has similar design but looks better, has better sound design and voice acting and none of the jank. So... you know.

Writing: 4/10
Gameplay: 2/10
Visuals: 5/10
Sound: 4/10
Total: 15/40

 

[gimmepie]

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

People have been bugging me to try Ace Attorney for years, so back in December when the first three games went on sale, I decided to grab them. Then, with April's theme being Visual Novels, I finally had a good reason to play it. I only did the base game, because of time constraints, but I'll likely try the rest at a later date.

So, story-wise, I was pleasantly surprised by Ace Attorney. I only really knew it was kind of zany going into it, so I did not anticipate how tight the writing was going into it. The cases and mysteries were generally really well thought out and the central characters ended up having a lot more depth to them than expected. Especially in the cases of Maya, Edgeworth and Gumshoe. Phoenix himself was comparatively a little more bland, but he was still an endearing protagonist. My only real frustrations with the storytelling were the semi-frequent Mia-ex-machina moments and the tendency for the game to sometimes force you to ignore evidence during a trial that would blow a false testimony wide open immediately in exchange for something that causes a more drawn out scenario. Although given the nature of the game, you could argue that the latter is more of a mechanical thing.

Speaking of mechanics, being a combination of visual novel and point-and-click game, there's not really a lot to say. It's mechanically very simple but that works for it. At no point did looking for clues in the point-and-click segments feel boring and the unique puzzle aspect that was the trials was really engaging. My only issue here is a minor one, but it did get a bit tedious to navigate between the various locations since you often had to click your way through several scenes to get to where you actually wanted to go. Hardly the end of the world, but I do hope later games improve the travel aspect.

Visually I haven't got a lot to say about things. The character designs are iconic for a reason, admittedly. However, the court backdrop and the various scenes elsewhere are pretty average. Not bad. The work is quality. But they don't have anything that makes them particularly standout. The music however, is wild. The music does not need to go as hard as it does. It's dynamic, intense, engaging and often emotional. What the fuck? Did nobody tell the composer they were working on a game with characters called Frank Sahwit, Lotta Hart and Will Powers. The music is ridiculously good.

So, to wrap this one up, I had a great time with this game. I was rushing through it a bit by the end because of time constraints, but I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and story - getting much more invested than I thought I would and the soundtrack slaps disproportionately hard. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a great game and I'm looking forward to trying more of the franchise.

Writing: 8/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Visuals: 5/10
Sound: 9/10
Total: 29/40

 

[bobandbill]

Was interested to see what you thought of it! Do play the others when you have the time imo. Agreed that sometimes there are parts you feel should be right to present certain evidence, but I would also put it down to mechanics to an extent.

Visuals... idk how the Switch version compares too much but it was originally a GBA title I suppose! The later games move to a more 3D style. And agreed, the music is great, and remains consistently good (but some games do have stronger OSTs than others I feel).

 

[gimmepie]

Was interested to see what you thought of it! Do play the others when you have the time imo. Agreed that sometimes there are parts you feel should be right to present certain evidence, but I would also put it down to mechanics to an extent.

Visuals... idk how the Switch version compares too much but it was originally a GBA title I suppose! The later games move to a more 3D style. And agreed, the music is great, and remains consistently good (but some games do have stronger OSTs than others I feel).

I played on Steam not Switch, but I think they're probably about the same. How do you feel about the more 3D style compared to the original?

 

[bobandbill]

Ah, fair.

3D model style is fine - I think the second game that had it did a better job using it. I also played them on the 3DS though, so a) smaller screen and b) if I wanted I could use the 3D effect. Still nothing amazing, but it's also just not a focus of the series, sans maybe some animations of characters being standout moments.

I haven't played TGAA games though, so not sure how it comes across there.

 

[Cherrim]

I think the visual updates of the remasters, while necessary given that the originals were pixel art made for a 240x160 resolution are fine but... they lost a lot of the charm in the upscale/redrawing of all the sprites and backgrounds. :') Personally I think the later 3D titles landed pretty well given they had to take the exaggerated several-frame pixel art characters and make them work in a smoother 3D version, but I do also think it lacks a bit of the charm that the pixel art had.

Although TGAA was much better imo because they could design for 3D from the start rather than having to also deal with the sort of uncanny valley you get when trying to appeal to people who only knew a set of characters in 2D before the switch to 3D models.

 

[gimmepie]

Interesting. I'm curious to see how I end up feeling about them when I get to them.

 

[bobandbill]

Curious to hear what you think of specific cases as you go through the games! There's some pretty neat parts to see.

 

[gimmepie]

Genshin Impact - Fontaine

I actually finished all of Fontaine's main story a while ago, but it's taken me a bit to get to doing the write-up. Health problems and all that. Woo.

Anyway, as far as the writing goes, I have continued to thoroughly enjoy the story, worldbuilding and characters of Genshin. The game gets a bit of a bad reputation in a lot of circles because it's a gacha, but it's legitimately a fantastically written game with an incredibly in-depth world. Fontaine is no exception. Despite being the fifth nation of the game so far, the story has not gotten even remotely stale nor has it done anything particularly repetitive with its vibe or execution. While Sumeru was also largely built around mysteries - both surrounding characters and the world - Fontaine's mysteries feel more in line with crime or political thrillers. Which is fitting given how much of the story is built around the court house and legal battles. The Ace Attorney comparisons people have made with Fontaine are not unfounded. This made for another fresh experience both mechanically and narratively that I found genuinely quite engaging. Admittedly, compared to previous segments, the story did feel a little disjointed at times, but in the end they were all interlinking and it was interesting seeing how it all came together to reveal the big secrets of everything in the end. My only real complaint about the execution is that the pacing with the finale involving the Narwhal felt very abrupt without enough proper build-up or exploration beforehand. It still tied-in to the story fine, but it could have been better. A mostly small blip in the grand scheme of things though and it did come with some very intriguing lore stuff.

The big highlights of the story though were of course Furina's story which is engaging, mysterious and tragic in equal measure but not at all in the ways you might expect and the Fatui involvement. The Fatui are a really interesting presence in the story in a lot of ways. They're usually antagonists and most of them are clearly some flavour of evil, but sometimes they fall into a much more morally ambiguous place - the goals of the organisation itself and the Tsaritsa certainly do - and this time around they were straight up allies despite the reputation they have earned. It was quite interesting to see how they were portrayed this time around.

Mechanically, the game continues to be what it always is. The core mechanics of the combat and exploration systems are simple but very fun and very effective and even though some character's now are starting to have similar kits (Keqing, Alhaitham and Chiori, Hu Tao and Arlecchino as examples) they're generally not boring mechanically and still manage to have subtle differences that keep them interesting. Every new region always introduces some new stuff too though. Fontaine characters (and Hydro Traveller) being aspected in different ways (pneuma and ousia) and how that interacts with combat and the environment was an interesting development and the introduction of the underwater parts of the world is really well done. There's always so much you can do in Genshin and even if some parts aren't your favourite thing (I'm not big on exploration for example) there's always many more things that will be. It continues to be mechanically very satisfying for me.

Visually, the character design is always top tier and the world is always gorgeous. I don't have too much more to say on that. I'm particularly fond of Furina, Arlecchino, Neuvilette and Wriothesley's designs this time around. The overworld in Fontaine is pretty, but it does kind of feel like "Mondstadt but better" compared to how stand out parts of Liyue, Inazuma and Sumeru are. That being said though, it completely makes up for it with how gorgeous the underwater environments are.

As for the sound, the voice acting is solid at worst and great at best as well. Big props especially go to Furina's VA this time around. She absolutely nails her performance. Musically Fontaine doesn't have quite as many stand-outs tracks as Sumeru or Liyue do for me, but I really enjoy the character themes for Neuvilette, Wriothesly and Arlecchino and the Narwhal's boss music is excellent as well.

So, how is things overall? Genshin continues to be a great game. The gacha element always means it's got a bit of a bad reputation, but all the positives dramatically outweigh that somewhat-overstated negative. Fontaine, its characters and its gameplay have been a largely excellent addition to the game overall. Story-wise, Sumeru is still my favourite part of the game so far. That being said though, Fontaine was very good and probably edges out Inazuma for second.

Writing: 8/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Visuals: 8/10
Sound: 7/10
Total: 32/40

 

[gimmepie]

System Goose Overload

So, I got this game a ways back because it looked ridiculous. As it turns out, it was. It was also a lot more fun than expected.

The first surprise is that there was actually a story. The general gist of the game is you play as the last surviving goose, pursued by humanity. You later learn the situation is a little bit more complex, being able unravel how the world came to be as it is and the origins of goosekind. Some of this is told to you explicitly, but a lot of it you need to put together yourself based on hints in dialogue or in the overworld. In the end, after learning all of this, it's on you to decide the fate of geese and humanity both. The story is wild, as expected, and the execution isn't perfect. But it's much more than I thought I was going to get going into the game.

Mechanically, the game is very simple. There are only really two controls other than walking - hide and interact. You walk from place to place solving puzzles as you go. These puzzles are mostly search lights that you avoid by pressing hide - which hilariously just makes you hunker down and shut your eyes somehow making you invisible to the lights. The goal is to time it right to avoid being seen. The puzzles do get a little bit more complex as you progress, but other than a few small parts of the game, always amount to the same thing. The game does well with the limited toolkit it applies to players, but it's not going to blow anyone's minds.

The pixel art is solid. It's very obviously a homage to Undertale, and if you've played Undertale or Deltarune (but especially the former) you'll definitely notice it, but I don't have much to complain about. It looks fine. I will say though, the chalk section was a step up from other parts of the game. No notes on that one.

Audio wise other than some very minor ambient noise like cicadas or crickets in places, the sound is mostly just the music. The music has no right being as good as it is. I feel like the developers here went to the Ace Attorney school of composition. That is to say, they went stupidly hard given how ludicrous this game is. It's called System Goose Overload, what the hell? Why is the soundtrack such a bop. Not a complaint, mind you. But I was definitely surprised.

So... I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually do recommend this game. It's very short and nothing groundbreaking. But it was genuinely pretty fun and it's a good way to kill a few hours.

Writing: 4/10
Gameplay: 5/10
Visuals: 5/10
Sound: 7/10
Total: 21/40

 

[gimmepie]

Refind Self

Refind Self is a curious game. It's essentially a Myers-Briggs-esque personality test disguised as a game. The idea is essentially to put you in the shoes of the character and make you do some introspection. It's an interesting concept for a game.

Narratively, you are playing a game in-universe with the intend being to figure yourself out. It's kind of a digital journey of self-discovery. The in-universe game sees you taking on the roll of a robot programmed with "Emotional AI" - basically a very advanced AI that mimics humanity. The robot is finding their footing after the death of their creator, someone very important to them. Your actions going forward determine the personality of the machine and the decisions she makes in the end.

This means that the narrative is very loose and freeform, and you're left to figure a lot of the context and lore out on your own and make your own inferences. Although, the game does inform you that there's only ever really one ending. It's more about the destination than the journey. It only takes about an hour, but it has a really strong emotional atmosphere and is filled with intriguing characters and a world you can't help but want to know more about.

Mechanically, the game is simple enough. You can move around the world as you please, choosing to interact or not interact with various things within the game. Sometimes your actions will trigger various mini games. All through the game, you have a limited time to do things so have to choose wisely as most of what you do will gradually fill a progress bar to trigger the end of the game. The game chooses the personality of the robot you control based on your actions and assigns you a personality archetype at the end based on the personality your actions give the robot. It's pretty simple, but it's effective.

The pixel graphics in the game are gorgeous to look at. Mostly they're nothing too crazily intricate, but everything still looks great. The sepia colour palette adds a melancholic and moody vibe fitting of the premise of the in-universe game (which is implied to be a true story) and this is only enhanced by the piano music that accompanies most of the game.

In the end, I was given Sage as my primary archetype. Essentially, it described me as someone who is risk-averse, cautious and analytical. The secondary type it gave me was Leader, marking me (a bit contradictorily maybe) as someone proactive who places a big importance on promises and commitments. And, credit to the game, that is actually a pretty good simplistic description of me I'd say. Apparently, with further playthroughs, it builds a more accurate and complex profile of you, so I'm interested in trying another run through or two to see what comes of it.

I'd say this is a fun game with an intriguing world, premise and characters. I picked it up fairly cheap and I'd say if you have like $10 spare, it could be an interesting experience for you too if you don't mind something slower and introspective. I find this one tricky to score, but I'll do my best.


Writing: 6/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Visuals: 7/10
Sound: 5/10
Total: 25/40

 

[gimmepie]

Figment

Figment was my game for August's theme of puzzles. I picked it up for free a while back and, I have to say, I'm glad I did.

The story of Figment is like Inside Out but it's a bit darker and you fight stuff. You play as Dusty, the mind's courage and essentially an old, washed-up hero who hasn't been needed for a long time. However, when the person whose mind he is a part of ends up unconscious after a car crash, he is needed once more to help him obtain the courage to face the results of the accident. It's a pretty cute story honestly and the few characters that are present are compelling. The Fear of Loss makes for a great overarching villain while the Spider Queen and Plague Nightmare are a lot of fun as lesser antagonists. Dusty and Piper (his companion) are also solid characters and it's cool watching them gradually rebuild their friendship as the story goes on. Dusty's subtle character development throughout the game is very much a highlight for me. It's a simple story, but executed well.

Mechanically, the game is also really good. It's predominately a puzzle game with each level being built around a handful of puzzle types. The puzzles then increase in complexity while sticking to the general types and themes of the level. The puzzles aren't particularly hard or anything, but I think they are well designed. Some of them did at least take me a little bit to figure out in the sleep deprived state I played this game in. The combat is less interesting, but it's not terrible either. You just stay out the danger zones that appear on screen and whack enemies until they die. There's only one attack (unless you count charging it as a second) and there's no jumping or anything. Very simple stuff but it does break up the puzzle sections nicely. However, the boss fights are a different deal. The game does something really cool with the boss fights by integrating puzzles into them. So you're not just fighting enemies, you have to solve the puzzle to both properly move around the arena and to defeat the boss. I think this was a really cool design choice.

Visually, the game is really pretty to look at. The environments have a painted, storybook feel to them and convey a lot about the mind you inhabit. Each level is gorgeous. The character designs are less impressive, but they aren't unappealing either.

Now, the sound. The voice acting is decent. The Plague Nightmare and Fear of Loss' VAs give the most compelling performances but aren't shattering any minds or anything. Everyone else ranges from mediocre to solid. However, the music in the game is really good. The standard level music is a good listen in and of itself, but Figment is also a musical. That means that every boss sings their own boss music and those songs are bangers. Piper's interlude song is good too. Definitely cannot fault the music. The environmental sounds are also really good. A lot of effort clearly went into the sound design for Figment.

I would have happily paid for Figment. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece or anything like that, but it's a good quick game that a lot of love and effort clearly went into. I highly recommend it and I'm going to add Figment 2 to the list of games I need to try.

Writing: 6/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Visuals: 7/10
Sound: 8/10
Total: 28/40

 

[gimmepie]

Omori

Omori is a psychological horror RPG made with RPG maker. It's a game that I've had sitting there waiting for the right time to be played for a while and it was once described to me as "the best game I can't recommend to someone in good conscience" - which naturally made me even more curious to try it. With this month's Game Along theme being horror, I figured now was the right time to give it a try. I'm going to do my best not to spoil too much in this write-up, but it's going to be really hard. Fair warning.

Omori is a game about a lot of the hardest things in life. It's about grief, depression and trauma, and it's about the unhealthy ways we cope with these negative feelings and experiences and the effects they have on us and the people around us. The story of the game is split primarily across a vibrant, fantastical dream world and the real world with the ominous limbo of White Space acting as the crossover point between the two. Most of the story takes place in this dreamscape - called Headspace - where we take control of our silent protagonist, Omori and his party of friends Kel, Hero and Aubrey. The characters of Basil and Mari (Omori/Sunny's sister) are also a part of this group with the search for the missing Basil making up much of the narrative in the dream world and Mari acting as the group's save point/hint giver. In the real world, we play primarily as Sunny - who is Omori's true self - who is a few years older than his other version, a shut-in who is moving away from Faraway Town in three days. He is primarily accompanied by the real Kel (also older, they all are in reality), who is determined to reconnect with his old friend before the move but also interacts with Aubrey, Hero and Basil. Mari is notably absent, having died in reality in the years prior. It quickly becomes clear that Headspace and Sunny's alter-ego are his unhealthy coping mechanism of dissociation and repression - a brightly coloured, fantastical world where all loved ones are still together as he wished to remember them and he is shielded from real life tragedy and sadness. Fittingly enough, the dream world plays largely like an upbeat oldschool JRPG (other than the horror stuff sprinkled in) while gameplay in the real world revolves primarily on completing simple tasks for people and social interaction. This explanation was largely required for context.

This story of Omori is very dark and deals with some extremely heavy topics, typically represented through the horror elements of the game, character drama or sometimes by the mechanics of the split worlds. Despite how grim and heavy the story is, I think that the subject matter is handled in a way that is both tasteful and impactful both. I also think that the way this subject matter is written is very believable - which is extremely important - even when represented in more fantastical ways. The narrative of the game is very well-executed and well-constructed with both the fantastical JRPG style dreamscape and more grounded reality segments both being essential to understanding the truth of the tragedy the characters experienced and how they are (not) coping with their feelings over it, the picture gradually coming together as you play on. Where the game really shines though is the characters. Sunny - and even more so Omori - is a silent protagonist not because of gameplay choices but because it is a representation of his mental state. All of the characters are written in ways that make them very compelling. We come to really like the dream world versions of the characters and their beautiful friendships, a representation of who they used to be. Because of this, we care a lot about their older, sadder real life counterparts and deeply want to see the group process their issues and come together again. Side characters are also really well done either because of their zany, quirky nature in the dream world or well-developed personalities and lives in reality. The writing in Omori really is some of the best I have seen from a game in a while. It also has multiple endings (good, bad and a few "neutral" ones). So there's a fair bit to unpack there too. I completed got the good ending then looked up the others.

Writing aside, Omori also just works really well as a game. The mechanics lend themselves well to the narrative, but are also just a lot of fun to engage with. This is especially true of the JRPG-like dream world portions. The turn-based combat system is simple but effective. The four playable characters all have their own roles to play (with some overlap) as normal, but the real strength comes from the combination attacks and emotions mechanic. Throughout a battle, as they take damage or use certain skills, the characters collectively build up energy which can be spent on friendly follow-up moves after they take basic attacks. These primarily take the form of additional attacks but can also apply additional affects like healing HP or Juice (MP in this game), applying an emotion to a character or doing bonus damage on the attack (the interactions are also just cute). The only exception to this is Omori whose follow-ups are more selfish in nature, but he also gets the extra option to spend a full energy bar to unleash a huge team attack with the party to make up for this. The emotions are my favourite addition though. They are simultaneously a balanced status system with each of the three primary emotions (and their advanced forms) giving both buffs and debuffs to a character and an elemental triangle where characters experiencing different emotions are either strong or weak to each other. A lot of skills also interact different with various emotions. This makes for a simple combat system that is engaging and surprisingly strategic letting you build your load-outs to the strategy you wish to employ. My preferred strategy was to make my enemies Angry. I could then use Aubry, Kel and Confetti to easily get the party to Ecstatic/Manic (the elevated versions of Happy) for a type advantage and to capitalise on abilities that like Angry enemies and Happy allies. It wasn't the most optimal strategy for damage, but it was very fun and very effective. Each party member also has unique overworld skills as well which are necessary to navigate various environments, puzzles and social situations. These mechanics are technically at play in the real world too but are much less relevant and more watered down since in reality the fights are street brawls not JRPG-style power fantasies and are few and far between. Gameplay in the real world is mostly based around social interactions and fetch quests (which manage not to be boring because of the great writing). It's still very well done and makes a lot of sense, but there's less to say about it.

Visually Omori is also fantastic. The different worlds are visually distinct but all are appealing and interesting - and in ways that hint to their nature. The real world has a fairly ordinary colour palette and a realistic design. Comparatively, in Headspace, colours are vibrant and the world is zany, nonsensical and populated by strange creatures and whacky individuals inspired by Sunny's childhood. White Space is a symbolically empty void while Black and Red Space are creepy and unnerving. The art in general is also just great. The pixel work is excellent but I really love the fully drawn portraits, stills and animations. The art style is simplistic but really appealing to look at. The music and sound design of Omori are perhaps not quite as stand out as the writing, mechanics or art but are still at a high standard as well. The music does a great job of setting the mood and the sound design is great at selling the horror elements, making them hit much harder.

Over all, this has been my longest post-game write-up in a while and that is for good reason. If I wasn't being so careful to avoid spoiling too many major plot elements, I would be able to write pages more. Omori is a fantastic game. It's dark and heavy but also feel-good and whimsical. It's weighty and crushingly sad, but also has the potential to be cathartic and uplifting. I think it very much deserves to be remembered as a modern classic and an example of how video games can be genuinely poignant pieces of art. Just about every trigger warning you can think of is in effect during this game but, that weight is essential to its plot. If you are able to manage the heavy subject matter, I highly recommend this game. It has definitely become a favourite.

Writing: 10/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Visuals: 8/10
Sound: 7/10
Total: 35/40

 

[gimmepie]

Beholder

So, Beholder. I played this for last month's theme, probably time to write about it.

Story-wise Beholder is kind of weird. It doesn't really have a story, but it doesn't not have a story either. The overarching plot is just you trying to do your job and seeing how the moral choices you make affect you, your loved ones and the tenants in the building. To that end, all the characters have pretty rich personal lives even if there's not much in the way of a plotline. It's an approach that works really well for this game which is mostly aiming to show the difficulties of living in an authoritarian regime.

Speaking of, the mechanics! The basic idea of this game is that you need to build up both money and reputation so you can survive and thrive. You can do this by helping the residents of your building with their problems, by blackmailing them or by reporting their violations of the increasingly ridiculous laws to the government. If you don't have enough reputation or can't pay your bills, you get the bad ending where you're dragged off to a gulag and your family eventually die without your support. That's the ending I got ha... whoops. But I really like that the game emphasizes how hard it is to do the right thing in a society that favours doing wrong. It's much harder to keep your funds and reputation up while trying to help everyone. Hell, I was still actively blackmailing people I didn't like and it was hard because I wasn't cruel to everyone. It's a really good blend of mechanics and storytelling.

I will say though, that constantly bouncing around the game map could be a little annoying at times. Especially if people were overlapping with things I wanted to click. Also, for some reason, despite me selecting new game, it first skipped the tutorial level for no apparent reason and I had to restart. That was weird.

The aesthetic of the game with everything being greatly desaturated and people being almost featureless (showcasing their identities being stripped away) really adds to the weight of it all too. Everything feels oppressive, lifeless and morose. It's great art direction. The audio stuff was fine too, but there was less to write home about.

This game is pretty unforgiving, but I enjoy it a lot - in part because of that. It does a great job of achieving what it wants to achieve.

Writing: 7/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Visuals: 7/10
Sound: 5/10
Total: 27/40

 

[gimmepie]

Final Fantasy XIV - Heavensward

Finally, I finished the first expansion of FFXIV (last week but shhh). After the absolute slog that was A Realm Reborn with only like 10% of it being better than "meh," I was actually cautiously optimistic going into Heavensward. Firstly, I had been told often by people with tastes I trust that it was much better. Secondly, the last couple of quests in ARR were actually pretty damn good. Finally, Heavensward is about politics and dragons. It was basically made with me in mind.

Story-wise, the main plot of Heavensward is essentially built around discovering the true history of Ishgard and the origins of its war with dragonkind, and putting an end to that conflict. The B-plot then is resolving the situation of the coup attempt in Uldah. The patch quests then build on this, being about bringing the scions back together and uncovering more of the lore about the Warrior of Light and the multiverse of the game through a conflict with the Warriors of Darkness who appear in the player's world. This was all exciting stuff that both built on and expanded the world building and lore of the world without becoming dull while also putting a much stronger focus on the characters experiencing it and giving us reason to actually care about characters and their fates, something ARR sorely lacked. The writing quality in Heavensward is just a massive step up from what came before and I am curious to see why Stormblood is so much more divisive.

Gameplay-wise, I honestly don't have much more to say. Heavensward does still suffer from being a near-endless loop of fetch quests and dialogues at points, but it's definitely much better about this than ARR. It certainly doesn't derail the gravity of a situation with random trivial questlines. The dungeons and trials also step things up in terms of the experience. The combats were engaging and dynamic and rarely felt samey. The Summoner skills I'm starting to get into now are also really fun. It's very satisfying to drop a bahamut-themed magical nuke on a guy and watch his HP evaporate. The only fight I genuinely didn't enjoy was the one from the patch-quests where halfway through you switch to piloting a walker instead of engaging in regular combat. This was, admittedly, mostly a skill issue though. I have a habit of keeping the triggers held down during combat so I can constantly access the skills I'm trying to use which kept preventing the walker's weapons from firing properly. Whoops.

Visually, the game has some cool looking dungeons and some parts of the overworld are very pretty. Although I don't think any of the newer locations fill me with the same sense of awe that the crystalised section of Mor Dhona does or that places in games like FFX or FFXIII do. The music though? The Heavensward leitmotif is excellent and you hear it a lot in a lot of different contexts and tones. It does some heavy lifting. That said though, the music in general continues to be excellent. Is it the best in the Final Fantasy franchise? No. It's not even close, really. But this is a franchise that sets the bar so stupidly high that this still puts it leagues above a lot of other video game music.

I am so glad that Heavensward actually was as good as friends told me because I could not have pushed through another billion hours of ARR level content. If you're playing ARR and feel like bailing, I wouldn't blame you for doing it. But all the people telling you it gets much better in Heavensward aren't lying to you.

Writing: 8/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Visuals: 6/10
Sound: 8/10
Total: 29/40

 

[gimmepie]

Tchia

Tchia is a game that was not on my radar. In fact, it was never on my radar. I had never heard of it. Then it got mentioned in a random video I was watching and I couldn't help but be intrigued. With the final theme of 2024 being action adventure games, it was the perfect opportunity to try it out.

The story of Tchia is simple enough. You play as Tchia, a young girl with a supernatural gift to possess certain objects and animals on a quest to save her father from an evil priest/shaman and the murderous god he worships. Along the way you learn more about the past of the island nation she lives in, as well as the history of her family. The story takes some interesting turns and goes to some surprisingly dark places at times, but it is reasonably well-written and never loses its charm in the face of those dark turns. A lot of that charm coming from the love that was poured into it by the developers who were deeply inspired by the culture and mythology of New Caledonia. In fact, those influences are so important to the game that its subtitle is literally "A Game Inspired by New Caledonia". The characters you come across aren't super fleshed out, but they are all as likable or unlikable as they should be and have distinct personalities that are easy to get invested in.

Mechanically the game is a lot of fun. Although she can also use music (to influence the world or even summon creatures to then possess), as well as use more mundane tools like a slingshot or glider, Tchia's ability to possess things is the main ability at your disposal. It can be used to aid in traversing the overworld, solve puzzles and also defeat the Maano that serve your antagonists - by finding various ways to set them on fire. Hilariously, you can also summon animals and then store them in your inventory for later. That's not mechanically needed but it's hilarious. I liked the mechanics of the game a lot.

Visually, Tchia is a bit of a mixed bag but mostly trends towards being gorgeous. Up close some of the models for people, animals and scenery can look a bit goofy. But they're mostly fine and the stuff that's good more than makes up for it. There's a lot of (mechanically relevant) cosmetic items for Tchia herself that are all really well-designed. But where the visuals really shine is the scenery and lighting. This is especially true of the water. All the scenery looks amazing (especially at a distance) but the water is incredible. The load screen art is always great.

The sound design is also really solid. Mostly it's just simple atmospheric ambient sounds and music. But when the emotions or vibes are being dialled up, the music matches it. There's some really pretty music in Tchia. It's a great OST. Admittedly though, in places it's a bit too loud by default. So fair warning. Something I really want to draw attention to is the voice acting. Not because it's god-tier, but because it's as good as it is. This is a game by a small studio who absolutely did not have access to big names or anything like that. More impressively though, there were no professional VAs and likely very few people with acting training or experience who also speak Drehu, a traditional New Caledonian language. With the game being mostly spoken in French and Drehu (because New Caledonia) that means a lot of the voice talent for the game were amateurs with little to no experience. Despite this though, they did a really solid job. That deserves a lot of praise.

I will admit, Tchia isn't perfect. It sometimes had some clunk or lag or chugged a bit (I blame that gorgeous lighting lol). Some of the story also felt a bit rushed or characters lacking the depth they could have been giving. But none of it was bad enough to really hurt the experience for me. I really enjoyed Tchia and I'm glad I stumbled across it. It was a wonderful game to close off the year with. If you're like me and had no idea this existed, I highly recommend looking into it.

Writing: 7/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Visuals: 8/10
Sound: 6/10
Total: 30/40