Speeding things up somewhat after a relatively slow couple of months, a pleasing 11 games beaten in May takes my total to 34 for the year so far.
Master post here.
24.
Kirby's Adventure (NES via Nintendo Switch Online) | 1 May 2022 | 8/10
100% in-game completion, VS Boss mode beaten. My first time with this early game in the Kirby franchise,
Kirby's Adventure is really very impressive for an NES game and holds up well to this day, a very playable game and an enjoyable few hours. Graphics are colourful and expressive throughout, while some of the classic musical themes of the franchise show up here and are just as catchy as they always have been. The gameplay is where the game shines, though, particularly with the highly innovative introduction of the copy ability system, where Kirby absorbs the powers of enemies who he swallows to provide him with a wide range of different attacks - and which also serve as the means to explore many of the game's rewardingly-hidden secrets.
Despite the generally quite low difficulty level, there are still come decently challenging segments. Even without those, the boss encounters that conclude each of the game's seven worlds are particularly great fun to play through, being just as innovative as the ability system - while a bonus unlockable "VS boss" mode (one of several available) allows each access to these and greater replayability.
25.
TOEM (PC - Steam) | 2 May 2022 | 8/10
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked. Delightful.
TOEM is a photography-themed 'adventure' game, played from a (fully rotatable and zoomable) pseudo-isometric perspective as the player explores a series of environments and solving the problems/requests of each area's inhabitants through the use of a camera to capture images that fulfil the request. While this sounds simple, there's often a puzzle aspect to these, such as how to take a photo of a 'monster' that hides as you approach, or simply an observation challenge from well-hidden items.
With no combat element, a gentle musical theme and appealing hand-drawn monochrome graphics, playing
TOEM is a very relaxing experience, while highly satisfying as you 'tick off' the completion of 'missions' from a list to progress through each of four primary areas. Photo-taking switches to a first-person perspective, and for the more creative players, a persistent album allows snaps to be captured longer-term. A checklist of animals inhabiting each area adds a "collect 'em up" aspect, once again highly compelling, at just the right level of challenge in how well-hidden these tend to be.
26.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch) | 7 May 2022 | 9/10
100% in-game completion; par times met on all Treasure Road challenges. Turning out better than I think most people would have hoped,
Kirby and the Forgotten Land sees Kirby making the transition to 3D in style. Kirby controls perfectly as he explores the meticulously-designed levels - and while reaching the end is each is generally fairly straightforward, a little exploration pays off handsomely, with secrets generously populated throughout. Most significantly, each level has five separate objectives - there's always the simple "reach the end", but then there are a number of hidden waddle-dee allies to rescue each time, alongside three further hidden objectives - which the player may discover naturally, but failing that, successfully beating a level then reveals one of the unmet objectives, immediately tempting a further replay and bringing natural longevity to the game.
Bright, colourful graphics and a charming, memorable soundtrack impact a sense of joyous fun throughout, which really is the overwhelming feeling coming away from
Kirby and the Forgotten Land. A generally lower level of difficulty and complexity means that the game can't quite match the heights of Mario's best, but that isn't to take much away from the merits of this excellent first outing - which bodes well for the surely inevitable sequels!
27.
Arise: A Simple Story (PS4) | 10 May 2022 | 7/10
Completed with platinum trophy earned. It starts a little slowly, but
Arise: A Simple Story grew on me as I progressed further into it, introducing greater diversity to its originally simple gameplay mechanics - all primarily based around time manipulation, bringing some complexity to otherwise fairly straightforward 3D platforming. Undeniably graphically stunning (my main reason for buying on PS4 rather than Switch), there's also a beautiful musical score throughout, perfectly fitting with the game's simple but touching, emotional story of love and loss.
28.
Beneath a Steel Sky (PC - Steam) | 14 May 2022 | 6/10
Complete playthrough. While clearly graphically impressive for its time, as my first time playing
Beneath a Steel Sky it didn't really hold up as well as I'd hoped, not quite capturing the same 'magic' as so many LucasArts classics. The puzzles often feel unintuitive in their solutions - particularly on the occasion when there's a timing based element to them - and without the comedic element that serves to counter the potential for similar criticism in the case of, say, the
Monkey Island or
Sam & Max games. That said, the sci-fi story is compelling, alongside a strong cast of well-written characters, so I can see why the game is held up by many as a classic of the point-and-click adventure genre - and it raises my interest in trying out the recently-released sequel.
29.
Star Trek: Borg (PC) | 21 May 2022 | 5/10
Complete playthrough.
Star Trek: Borg is a mid-1990s FMV game ("interactive movie"), playing out what effectively comprises a first-person
Star Trek episode, in the
The Next Generation era - when the titular nemesis, the Borg, were a popular theme of the show. The story that plays out here isn't anything particularly notable, but it's a decently enjoyable way for a fan of the franchise (of which I count myself among) to spend the hour or so that it takes to play through - depending on the level of success in solving the ocassional puzzles that punctuate the video sequences. Those puzzles are frankly a little poor, typically requiring either guesswork or being completely trivial, at least after the use of a scanner that spells out the answer - but do at least serve to maintain a degree of focus. I'd recommend playing with a guide to hand to minimise any potential frustrations!
While most of the game's cast are little-known, the game's greatest comes from the acting of John de Lancie, reprising his role from the TV series as the omnipotent Q. Serving as the core driver behind the plot, Q pulls a cadet (from whose view the game plays out) into the midst of a front-line encounter with the Borg, and we get several excellently-acted sequences for the benefit only of said cadet. There's some great humour in several of the fail sequences in particular, which serve to lift the overall experience and leave a positive feeling in the end, despite the game's shortcomings.
30.
F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch (PS5) | 22 May 2022 | 9/10
Platinum trophy earned, 100% complete.
F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch is genuinely one of the best 'Metroidvania' games that I've played in recent memory, really nailing the satisfying exploration -> upgrade -> further exploration gameplay loop. Alongside this, there's an impressively deep melee combat system, well balanced with frequently quite challenging - but manageable - enemy encounters.
Also impressive are the game's detailed '2.5D' graphics, making good use of the PS5's power, and strong musical score, ranging suitably from relaxing to energetic as the situation and setting demand.
The accompanying storyline is serviceable enough, but pairs nicely with an unusual world design, where we have a city populated by anthropomorphic animals (the games' protagonist is a battle-hardened rabbit, wielding a huge mechanical fist) in a 'diesel-punk' era - all played with a satisfying seriousness. Although the game seems to be receiving disappointing low levels of publicity, it's definitely deserving of the attention of any fans of the genre.
31.
The Corridor (PC - Steam) | 23 May 2022 | 7/10
Completed with 100% of achievements unlocked.
The Corridor is a short 'experience' game, based around the idea that the game doesn't *want* to be played. The player is initially presented with a featureless white corridor, empty save for a red button at the end, which upon being pressed, closes the game. Relaunching, the button is then moved/recontextualised, with a further plea from the game for you to leave. This approach repeats throughout, with the core appeal coming from the humourous voiceover and range of approaches to trying to deceive the player - from a simple corner 'hiding' the button, to turning the player around, starting the game with a black window to make it seem that the game is hanging, and much more. It's all very simple, but enjoyable to see what the game comes up with for each successive attempt - and at 20-30 minutes for a complete playthrough, the perfect length to explore this concept without becoming stale. Good fun.
32.
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards | 27 May 2022 | 7/10
100% in-game collection, all enemy info cards collected. In
The Crystal Shards, we see Kirby's first "3D" outing, albeit here just with 3D graphics and 2D gameplay. Still, there's some good use of this "2.5D" approach to provide an effective sense of depth to what would otherwise be very basic environments, due to the very early stages of 3D graphic evolution that we're seeing here. Gameplay is typical of the series, being generally very easy, but still maintaining the player's interest with variations on the core platforming - including minecart rides and interludes with King Dedede as an alternative protagonist, to give a couple of examples. I've mixed feelings about
Kirby 64's implementation of the series' trademark copy abilities - only six are on offer here, but these come with the potential to pair each with any other to offer an ability that combines features of the two. In reality there are only a few that are particularly useful, but the experimentation that this offers will in itself appeal to many players.
Overall, I feel that the drive to apply a 3D presentation that was such a focus of most N64 games doesn't really serve
Kirby 64's best interests, which seems to be supported the subsequent return to much more polished 2D games. Still a decent enough game overall, but far from the series' peak.
33.
Congo's Caper (SNES) | 29 May 2022 | 5/10
Complete playthrough. A thoroughly 'okay' 2D platformer that's over very quickly (a full playthrough takes roughly 1-2 hours),
Congo's Caper is enjoyable enough, but feels very generic and doesn't really excel in any particular areas. On a platform featuring a lot of games in this style - some still at the very peak of their genre - it needs to do much more to leave a lasting positive impression.
34.
Rival Turf! (SNES) | 29 May 2022 | 4/10
Complete playthrough. I'm no fighting game afficionado, but 2D brawler
Rival Turf! felt at best very generic, but overall pretty poor. A very bland plot doesn't exactly give a strong first impression and while in terms of presentation the game is serviceable enough, gameplay really is key in this genre - and here is where the game succeeds least. A choice of two characters provides some variety, but neither has much in the way of fighting move variety - for the most part, we're just dealing here with a basic punch combo, a throw and a couple of kicks. A very unforgiving difficulty level doesn't help matters either, with the protagonist's approach draining very quickly from enemy attacks, and boss encounters that can feel downright unfair - were it not for the benefits of rewind and save states via emulation.
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