Monday, August 4, 2008

Some tidying up: So long Jericho... Hello Ticket to Ride

I did some tidying up of my lists today.

New games I'm evaluating:

  • Go! Go! Break Steady: This is a game that I want to like. It's a rhythm game like Parapa that has a Match-3 component as well. Unfortunately the initial experience (and especially the tutorial) were sub par and the visceral feel of the game is sub par when compared to other games (the explosions should feel meatier; the button presses during the rhythm game should provide more satisfying audio and rumble feedback). I'm going to try it again and jot down some more in depth thoughts in the future.
  • Ticket to Ride: A fun German board game that I hadn't played yet. Tutorial and initial experience left a little to be desired and the board is somewhat hard to read even on a big screen. But the basic mechanics are fun and it had a strong enough achievement point tease to make me purchase the full version. I'm sure I'll get 10 or so hours out of it.
Demos I tried and rejected:
  • Arkadian Warriors: It was an insanely fun hack and slash RPG. However, I really only wanted to play it co-op and I never had a chance to get a group of us together so I gave up on it.
  • Geometry Wars Evolved 2: I always liked the idea of Geometry Wars, but found the achievements to be too hard core. Achievements seem similarly hard core for the newest version. Moreover, even though a bunch of game variants have been added, you don't get to try any of them as a part of the try-before-you-buy experience. Can't try it, won't buy it.
Games I'm done with:
  • Clive Barker's Jericho: I liked the demo, but the game just isn't exciting enough and the game play is rather mediocre. If the story was a little deeper and stronger I might have been able to hack my way through it (like I did with Darkness).
  • Eternal Sonata: The new combat mechanics were kind of interesting (if inscrutable at first). However, the story and characters turned me off in ways that made the game hard for me to enjoy.

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