radinagames2020

[radinagames2020]

Journey + some other stuff

Quick post for a game I DNFed. I started this game a few months ago but just couldn't get into it. I know the "secret" of the game, but while it is cute, it wasn't enough to make me really enjoy the experience. I didn't really understand what was going on with the "puzzles" we were solving, and a giant vast blank expanse for me to just endlessly fly through wasn't appealing to me. So I put it down!

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I also played Monument Valley III recently, although IDK if it deserves its own post, but I really liked it! Still easy puzzles, but cute story, and killer sound and visual design.

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Not sure what's next - I've been eyeing Bastion, but I might play some modern games instead of my "retro list". TBD!

[radinagames2020]

Blue Prince

5/5⭐ | Steam | insanely deep puzzle game with fun roguelike mechanics

I actually finished this about a month ago, but like some other games I became obsessed with for months, I find it hard to review. I spent 100 hours exactly playing this game, and as far as I can tell, solved all the puzzles that people can find in it. And I wish I could keep playing it!

Blue Prince is exactly my kind of puzzle game - one that encourages tons of detailed notes and lateral thinking. Someone online compared its puzzles to cryptic crossword clues in terms of the type of thinking required, and I think that's a very apt comparison. I love cryptic crosswords, so this was my jam.

I also loved the roguelike aspect. I know a lot of people complained about the RNG in this game, but I enjoyed the easiness of just starting a new day if the current one wasn't working out. And the game actually gives you a lot of ways to overcome any RNG or resource limitations as time goes on. By the end of the game, I felt nearly godlike in terms of my resources, so I think that complaint does not bear out.

And the game kept me wanting to play "just one more run" for hours! I love the clean and simple art style, and the use of color and light in the game is superb. The soundtrack is extremely simple, but I enjoyed the way it interacted with the rooms you opened. And the depth of puzzling and mystery were so intriguing and rewarding. I also loved the worldbuilding - as one of my friends said, it was amusing how much we all learned about these countries that don't exist.

I think Orindia and its princes will stay in my mind for many years yet. If you like complex puzzles, you can't give this one a miss.

[radinagames2020]

The Camp

[radinagames2020]

hint 1: hey here's an idea! try looking at the puzzle from a different perspective! woah, i know, crazy!

super hint: oh my god you dumbass the answer is A

[radinagames2020]

Monument Valley

4/5⭐ | Steam | ➕ gorgeous visuals, immersive sound | ➖ Very easy puzzles

I played this game and its sequel back-to-back because each is only an hour or two long. I'm excited #3 is coming out this year, because these games are gorgeous! You guide a character through a series of bizarre, escher-esque worlds, clicking on buttons and moving platforms to navigate to the goal.

The puzzles in this game are very easy - often there's only one thing to do, so you do it, and if you keep doing that, you will solve the puzzle. The second game was a bit trickier and I had to think at times, but never very hard.

However, it's fine, because the games are so soothing and relaxing to play. The worlds are gorgeous, and the sound design is stellar. The music is lovely, lush and ambient. And interacting with the world causes it to play sounds that blend seamlessly into the soundtrack, making the game itself feel magically musical. Also, many of the worlds provide delightful surprises as you interact with them. Overall, it was a joy to play, and I'm eagerly anticipating the sequel!

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Still behind, but I have a couple more short games before I dive into another series.

[radinagames2020]

Psychonauts 2

Rating: 5/5. A great story and writing, beautiful modern graphics, better controls. And Jack Black!

Not sure I have much more to say about this one, aside from just that it was great! Just like the first one, it had wonderful Double Fine writing and humor. All my favorite characters from the previous game were here, in beautiful, modern 3d graphics. Also a bunch of great new characters!

The story was fun, and I loved the more updated controls. Also some mechanics changes, such as replacing limited ammo with a cooldown, that brought the game into the 21st century.

The visuals were gorgeous, and the voice acting continued to be stellar. Basically everything about it was great. And it was challenging without actually being too hard - perfect for me, who's not great at twin stick action games.

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Still behind, but I think it's achieveable!

[radinagames2020]

I'm still working on my 2025 challenge (probably finishing psychonauts 2 tonight!!), but also while on vacation this past weekend we played the new Rise of the Golden Idol DLC - The Sins of New Wells! It was great - a bit trickier than the original sequel, which is good because I found that a bit too easy. So I'm glad these seem to be slightly harder and I hope they keep increasing the difficulty over the remaining 3 DLCs!

[radinagames2020]

Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin

Rating: 4/5. Clever and fun point and click which made decade-old VR controls still enjoyable, although not perfect.

I was a bit uncertain going into this game, because I had heard it was very limited for a VR game and somewhat boring. But I was happily surprised! Rhombus of Ruin puts you inside Raz's brain, and gives you a series of point-and-click-esque puzzles to save your teammates and the kidnapped leader of the Psychonauts.

Despite not letting you move around or giving you a body at all, the game didn't feel limiting. I had access to 5 different powers, and using them in creative ways to solve puzzles was really fun! I even got stuck a few times, so it's not like the game was boringly easy. The controls for TK specifically did somewhat annoy me, but I can't blame the game too much for showing its age.

And the story, characters, and writing continue to shine with that familiar Double Fine Psychonauts humor and charm. It was fun to feel like I was hanging out with them and working together. I even got a little spooked at the end, which shows how immersive this game was! I'm glad I spent a couple hours with it. Now on to Psychonauts 2!!

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0.6 game / week still feels doable?

[radinagames2020]

Psychonauts

It took me soooo long to play this game, so now I'm way behind on my goals, but whatever! One down!

4/5. The controls were often very irritating, but I loved the story and writing so much that it was still very enjoyable.

This game definitely showed its age - I spent so many frustrating minutes yelling at the TV because of bugs in the controls, and I really missed modern platformer features like coyote time. 😭

But honestly I still really loved the game! Double Fine has such bizarre and hilarious writing, and this is no exception. I love how wholeheartedly they commit to the extremely weird world. The art only adds to the wacky vibes, and I loved all the characters and the story. It's goofy while still managing to have stakes I cared about. I also loved the sheer variety of levels and scenarios, from running around inside a tabletop game, to being godzilla in a city of tiny fish, to roleplaying as a normal citizen inside Escher World. The ending was surprisingly sweet, and set up an exciting sequel. I'm so ready to dive into psychonauts 2!

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[radinagames2020]

2025 gaming goal

I sort of mentioned doing this back in 2023 and never did, so I'm officially making 2025 the year of "play all those games I've been meaning to but never did"

The games basically fall into 3 categories, so I'll split them up that way. Here's the list:

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A) Classic games I've always wanted to play but haven't yet

Final Fantasy (one or many of them? not sure)

Secret of Monkey Island

Ace Attorney Trilogy

Myst* (+ its 3 sequels)

Journey

Bastion

Transistor

Psychonauts (1 and 2, and the VR* minigame)

Ori (both games)

Hollow Knight (and its sequel... maybe)

Monument Valley

B) Games I own and haven't gotten around to trying (2020 redux - all VR)

Obduction*

Virtual Virtual Reality*

Waltz of the Wizard*

Space Pirate Trainer*

Allumette*

C) Games that came out somewhat recently but I haven't played yet

Hades

Cocoon

Disco Elysium

Animal Well

*These are VR games, or I will be trying them in VR. I also want to branch out and try more VR stuff besides just beat saber and VRChat!

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Counting various sequels and games in the series, this is 27 games, so I'll make that my goal for the year. TBD if I get through all of these, but I'm gonna try!

[radinagames2020]

Great God Grove

Rating: 4/5. Great story, fun art and sounds, cheesy but cute ending.

This game is a follow-up to Smile For Me, and it has the same delightfully bonkers aesthetic. I liked it a similar amount! Actually, I think I maybe liked the previous one a bit more - this one had a bit more boring/2d art, and only one ending (afaik). But otherwise, similarly delightful.

In terms of mechanics, this game did much reduce the nodding/head shaking mechanic which i so disliked in SFM, which is great. But I HATED the 5-item inventory limit. Having to guess ahead of time which speech items you'll need, and having to wrack your brain trying to remember where you saw one you need now, was so frustrating. I actually think I preferred the infinite inventory of SFM even if it was a bit of a pain to scroll through. But, it wasn't such a huge deal as to seriously impact my enjoyment.

The story in this is fun, and the characters are all really fun. There's a lot of queerness in this game which is a plus in my book! The puzzles are mostly clever. Some of them I found pretty annoying, in the "who would ever think of that" eye-rolling realm. But there's a system where the gods can give you hints, so I was never actually stuck.

I also loved the way that, once again, the various characters had weird speech styles and sounds they made instead of voice acting. It makes the game really immersive in its weirdness. And the weirdness of the setting and characters is what carries this game!

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Accidentally went way past my goal here, but not bad! I think for 2025 I'm going to make a list of games I want to play but have been putting off for some reason, and make myself play them all, so keep an eye out for that.

[radinagames2020]

From my steam replay haha. I think this is mostly accurate, although Cryptmaster is the only reason "typing" will ever be on there. I think "Cats" must be from Little Kitty Big City but tbh I play a lot of games with cats in them.... time for a "cat" tag?

[radinagames2020]

A Little to the Left

Rating: 4/5. Super relaxing and enjoyable game that is a bit tricky at times.

I got this game to play on my Thanksgiving break and it was absolutely perfect. It was a great little game to play while chilling with my family. I'm a super type A nerd who loves organizing things, so this game was basically designed for me. Putting everything in its place was so satisfying, even if I did sometimes have thoughts like "what kind of psychopath has special compartments shaped like their folded sticky notes???"

Aside from putting things neatly in drawers, the game also asks you to sort and arrange items in specific ways you have to guess (height? color? pattern?). This lends a bit more of a puzzle aspect to an otherwise mindless game. I enjoyed both, but honestly I didn't get this game to think hard, so I made liberal use of the hint system, which I'm glad it has!

The game's art is soft and delightful. The music is a fun background bop (although repetitive at times). And - there are cats!! I enjoyed this enough to get and play through both DLCs, and I hope more will come out for future vacations!

[radinagames2020]

LUNA: The Shadow Dust

Rating: 4/5. This game was pretty simple, but the art and music were gorgeous, and the setting was lush and delightful.

Unlike a game I looked at a few weeks ago, I feel like this game truly reminds me of Machinarium. It has everything I loved about it - a warm, cozy, and intriguing setting; lovely art; wonderful soundtrack, and fun puzzles.

LUNA's puzzles were on the whole very easy - I could usually figure out pretty quickly what to do. But they were fun, and there were some very clever moments. The story was a bit thin, and I didn't really understand it much until the very end. But it didn't matter because I loved the characters and inhabiting the cozy, hand-drawn world with them!

[radinagames2020]

Storyteller

(I played this game back in June, but somehow forgot to push post on this until now?)

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4/5. Very easy, but such a fun and cute concept with a delightful ending "twist".

Here is yet another Annapurna game, and ofc I loved it. It wasn't a *perfect* game, only because it was very easy.

It's hard not to be - the premise is that you put people and events on a timeline to cause a scenario that matches the title of the story (or to hit a certain achievement). But with that much freedom, it's relatively easy to accomplish most goals. We did have to look up a few hints, but I still finished the entire thing in a couple hours.

However, even though it wasn't a huge challenge, the game was still extremely fun. The voice acting is stellar, the characters and scenarios are cute, and it's really fun playing around in a manuscript sandbox and seeing what you can cause to happen.

The ending also has a fun little surprise which I quite enjoyed. So overall, definitely worth grabbing for a quick weekend game!

[radinagames2020]

Rise of the Golden Idol

Rating: 4/5. Fun story, setting, and art, but a lot easier than its predecessor.

The Case of the Golden Idol is one of my all time favorite games, so I was very excited to play the sequel! And on the whole, it didn't really disappoint. It's got similarly wacky characters, both sympathetic and evil. The art is newly painter-like instead of pixel art, but still the unique and evocative style from the first game. The story is great, and it's fun to see the idol legend continue into a more modern setting (the 70s). The world it's set in is similar to ours, but a bit weirder, and it's fun to see the similarities and differences. This game also features a much-improved UI, IMO, with a lot less annoying hunting and clicking, and more tools to help you solve.

My only real complaint is the game felt a lot easier! The puzzles were still fun, and we did have to think at times, but many of the scenarios felt obvious. Even the more challenging ones were pretty easy to figure out after a minute or two. One of the best parts of the first game was how tricky it could be, and I missed that here. Still, a fun game!

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I've officially completed this year's challenge - time to start thinking about 2025!

[radinagames2020]

Mind Over Magnet

Rating: 2/5. Well polished, but nothing to write home about.

I wanted to like this game - I've been following Mark's journey making it over the past few years on his GMTK youtube channel, and I was excited to see the result. But in the end, while very polished and pretty, the game just didn't thrill me. The characters were cute, but the story was very thin, and ended super abruptly. The puzzles were fun but mostly very easy. And the game itself was pretty short (I finished in under 2 hours). Overall, it felt like a nice demo or game jam product, but not a $10 game. I'm not exactly annoyed I played it, but the only appeal is the creator and seeing the end result of his process, not the game itself unfortunately!