Author: Zach Davis

  • Here’s Every Game I Played In 2019

    Here’s Every Game I Played In 2019

    Alright, so maybe there’s significantly less stuff here than usual. Maybe it’s because 2019 was a, uh, challenging year. And maybe we’re gonna have to make 2020 better ourselves.

    Expect more coverage than you’ve ever seen on the site in 2020. Things are coming! Hooray! And expect the Game of the Year 2019 post to be dropping very, VERY, soon!

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    Released in December 2019:

    What I’ve played:

    Wattam – PS4, Win

    Released in November 2019

    What I’ve played:

    New Super Lucky’s Tale – Switch
    The Legend of Bum-Bo – Win
    Superliminal – Win
    Pokemon Shield – Switch
    Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – PS4, XBO, Win

    Released in October 2019

    What I’ve played:

    Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair – Switch, PS4, XBO, Win
    Manifold Garden – PS4, Apple Arcade, Win, Mac, Linux
    The Outer Worlds – PS4, XBO, Win
    Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – PS4, XBO, Win
    Luigi’s Mansion 3 – Switch
    Disco Elysium – Win
    Leave House – HTML5
    Lonely Mountains: Downhill – PS4, XBO, Win, Mac

    Released in September 2019

    What I’ve played:

    Monster Hunter World: Iceborne – PS4, XBO, Win
    Celeste – Chapter 9: Farewell – Switch, PS4, XBO, Win, Mac, Linux
    Blasphemous – Switch, PS4, XBO, Win, Mac, Linux
    Borderlands 3 – PS4, XBO, Win
    Exit the Gungeon – Apple Arcade
    Sayonara Wild Hearts – Switch, PS4, Apple Arcade
    WHAT THE GOLF? – Apple Arcade
    Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm – Apple Arcade
    Bleak Sword – Apple Arcade
    Overland – Switch, PS4, XBO, Apple Arcade, Win, Mac, Linux
    Assemble with Care – Apple Arcade
    AI: The Somnium Files – Switch, PS4, Win

    Released in August 2019

    What I’ve played:

    Only One Minute Before Restart – Win, HTML5
    Guardian Sphere – Win, Mac, Linux
    Anodyne 2: Return to Dust – Win, Mac, Linux
    Dicey Dungeons – Win, Mac, Linux
    GOREBALL – Win, HTML5
    Word of the Day – Win, Linux
    Intercom – Win
    Ion Fury – Switch, PS4, Win, Linux
    ZIGZAG – Win
    Witcheye – iOS, Android
    Remnant: From the Ashes – PS4, XBO, Win
    Telling Lies – Win, Mac
    Control – PS4, XBO, Win
    Astral Chain – Switch
    The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan – PS4, XBO, Win

    Released in July 2019

    What I’ve played:

    Dr. Mario World – iOS, Android
    Eagle Island – Switch, Win, Mac, Linux
    Blazing Chrome – Switch, PS4, XBO, Win
    Dragon Quest Builders 2 – Switch, PS4
    The Messenger: Picnic Panic – Switch, PS4, Win
    Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order – Switch
    Fire Emblem: Three Houses – Switch
    Nugget & Penny’s Adventure Machine – Win, Mac
    Wild Woods – Win, Mac

    Released in June 2019

    What I’ve played:

    Cadence of Hyrule – Switch
    Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night – Switch, PS4, XBO, Win
    Judgment – PS4
    Super Mario Maker 2 – Switch
    QT – Win, Mac
    Milk Run – HTML5
    My Friend Pedro – Switch, Win
    Amid Evil – Win
    Reventure – Win

    Released in May 2019

    What I’ve played:

    Wobble Jump – HTML5
    Paralysis – HTML5
    Genesis Noir (demo) – Win, Mac
    Rage 2 – PS4, XBO, Win
    Gato Roboto – Switch, Win
    Void Bastards – XBO, Win, Mac
    Outer Wilds – XBO, Win
    Coin-Op Kid – HTML5
    Adam – Lost Memories (Early Access) – Win
    Crystal Crisis – Switch, PS4, Win
    BirdGut – Win, Mac

    Released in April 2019

    What I’ve played:

    Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 04: VR Kit – Switch
    Katana ZERO – Switch, Win, Mac
    Forager – Win, Linux
    fish fish – Win, Mac
    Up-Nest – Flash
    BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! – Switch
    Talk to Strangers – Win, Mac, Linux
    Mortal Kombat 11 – Switch, PS4, XBO, Win
    safecrack – Win, HTML5
    Dia – Win
    Die Back – Win, Mac, Linux, HTML5
    SACRIFIGHTS – Win, HTML5
    Death Alley – Win, Mac, Linux, HTML5
    Idle Idol – Win, HTML5
    Bloodletter – Win, Linux
    utsvulten – HTML5
    This is your life now – Win, Mac, HTML5
    Knock Knock Traveling soulsman – HTML5
    Post Hello – Win, Mac, Linux
    DEVOUR THE FLESH – Win, HTML5
    Spooktective – Win
    Supraland – Win, Linux
    A Short Hike – Win, Mac, Linux

    Released in March 2019

    What I’ve played:

    Devil May Cry V – PS4, XBO, Win
    Baba Is You – Switch, Win, Mac, Linux
    One Minute to Die – HTML5, Win
    Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – PS4, XBO, Win
    Yoshi’s Crafted World – Switch
    Espectro City – Win
    Risk of Rain 2 (Early Access) – Win
    Hypnospace Outlaw – Win, Mac, Linux

    Released in February 2019

    What I’ve played:

    JUMPGRID – Win, Mac, Linux
    Wargroove – Switch, XBO, Win
    Apex Legends – PS4, XBO, Win
    Tetris 99 – Switch
    Eastshade – Win
    Trials Rising (Open Beta) – Switch, PS4, XBO, Win
    Nymphiad – HTML5, Win, Mac, Linux
    PENUMBRA – Win, Mac, Linux
    Trials Rising – Switch, PS4, XBO, Win
    Mobius – Win
    Moncage (demo) – Win
    Forgiveness: Escape Room – Win, Mac, Linux
    APE OUT – Switch, Win
    Touhou Luna Nights – Win

    Released in January 2019

    What I’ve played:

    New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – Switch
    Suite Snake – Win, HTML5
    Pink Marmalade 2 – Win
    Goodbye BURGER CITY – HTML5
    Slay the Spire – Win, Mac, Linux
    Resident Evil 2 – PS4, XBO, Win

  • Guest Post: Amanda James’ (@drawswithpaws) Games of the Decade

    Guest Post: Amanda James’ (@drawswithpaws) Games of the Decade

    Amanda is a local artist and friend, and was kind enough to write up her ten favorite games of the decade! Check her work out on https://www.instagram.com/NauticalFoxC/ and then commission some of your own here: https://www.facebook.com/NauticalFoxCreations/. (more…)

  • I Had No Idea Spyro Ruled This Whole Time

    I Had No Idea Spyro Ruled This Whole Time

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    I have a very vague recollection of playing the Spyro games back on PS1 in the late 90s. I remember, uhh… some wizard looking guy running around taunting me with an egg, a purple dragon, and well, that’s about it. I didn’t realize how much of a blind spot it was for me until I picked up the newly released trilogy for Switch and booted up the first game a couple days ago. After about an hour or so I was stricken with a revelation: “Whoa, is this actually super good?”

    After having never played a Crash game and trying the Crash trilogy to less than steller results, I assumed Spyro would be more of the same. Nope! Turns out, Spyro is a huge hub and spoke 3D platformer (of which I’ve been on a kick of lately between Poi and Yooka-Laykee) with plenty of worlds, collectables, and charm. There’s a ton of hub worlds so far and each have a varied selection of small platforming courses to explore around in. Each even has its own unique set of enemies that could have easily been the same reused generic orcs or whatever, making it an absolute joy to hop through a portal never knowing what I’m going to encounter next. Even all of the many collectable dragons have unique, usually charming dialogue with our sweet little purple boy. I’d be super interested to see if this attention to detail was present in the original 1998 release, and might find myself booting up the old modded Playstation Classic to see for myself.

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    I’m well aware collectathons aren’t for everyone, but having been a huge fan of Banjo-Kazooie throughout most of my formative years, picking up a million bits to achieve a 100% “explored every nook and cranny” rate has been a love I’ve never lost. Enter Spyro with more nooks and more crannys than I can shake a handful of multi-colored gems at, and I’m absolutely on board. If only the aforementioned enemies and the not-yet-mentioned bottomless pits didn’t kill me and send me to a surprisingly long loading screen so often, I’d have very little to knock an unquestioned recommendation. As it stands, the first game at least is an extremely good time if you can put up with one or two questionable design decisions from twenty years ago.

    After a cursory search on the series after falling hard for the first game, I’ve noticed that the second and third seem to hold and even higher reputation than this one. If Spyro 2 and 3 are somehow even better than this, I may find myself breaking some personal Game of the Year rules to have some games from the early 2000s on my best-of list this year. Here’s hoping!

  • Only One Minute Before Restart – Racing the Reboot

    Only One Minute Before Restart – Racing the Reboot

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    You know how irritating it is when your computer keeps popping up a prompt to restart and update while you have absolutely no intention of doing so? You’re gonna turn the computer off eventually, right? And it’s only 2am, there’s still stuff to do!

    What if… wait for it… it was gonna restart whether you wanted it to or not?

    Enter: Only One Minute Before Restart.

    Made by Levi More for the Game Maker’s Toolkit Game Jam, you’re tasked with completing a quick series of puzzles/games in order to finish sending an important email before it’s erased. Playing like an extremely fast round of WarioWare, you’re given 60 seconds to figure out how to stop the reboot process.

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    You’ll fire arrows, play arcade classics, and scan through menus as the clock keeps ticking. As much as I wish there was more to see and do, it makes sense that the game is over nearly as soon as it starts. Additions of a few extra mini games and randomizing the order could go a long way in making this feel less like a one and done, but for a Game Jam its a perfectly enjoyable snack of an experience.

    If you’re quick enough to beat a frustrating computer, check out the game on its itch.io page.

  • Guardian Sphere – Healthy, Wealthy, or Die

    Guardian Sphere – Healthy, Wealthy, or Die

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    Are traditional bullet hells not punishing enough for you? Would you like them to be even more hectic, so that you and your co-op partner scream for, let’s say, thirty minutes straight? Pixel-boy and AAA’s latest Ludum Dare entry might have made just the thing for you!

    Guardian Sphere is one of the most frantic and fun shmups I’ve played. Each of you pick a character, fly through and shoot bug creatures, and keep a close eye on your health. Health is typically prety important in things like these, but when the Ludum Dare theme is “Your life is currency” things get a bit more out of hand. See, the only way to afford upgrades is to spend what remaining HP you have by the time you find a shop. Things got a little too wild and you missed the enemies’ HP drops? No money for upgrades. Took a couple too many hits from that laser mantis? Whoops, that new ability costs 5 hp and you’re down to 4.

    gs2

    The risk/rewards comes into play even moreso when managing health as currency, especially when you’re down to 5 hp but that upgrade costs…wait for it, 5 hp. Do you sink down to 0 and hope that you don’t take another hit before killing a few baddies? That’s up to you! Though the problem of the rich getting richer is definitely at play here, the game is short enough that if you’ve missed several upgrades due to poor play, you’re only out 15ish minutes to restart and use your new knowledge to play better.

    Everything feels incredibly polished, and the art and music on display here goes well past what I’d expect from a traditional game jam entry, though the version I played had a few patches since the initial jam ended. The only “real” issue to find is a mistranslation from French to English where “buy” and “bye” are swapped. There’s even a robust character select menu with characters who all have unique abilities (which are, frustratingly, never explained to the player!!) that’s totally cool and unnecessary for a game like this.

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    If you’re down to blast some aliens and trade your life for new toys, check out Guardian Sphere on its itch.io page.

  • HippoChippies’ Favorite Games of 2019… So Far!

    HippoChippies’ Favorite Games of 2019… So Far!

    2019 has already been pretty nuts, and with a slew of new releases just around the corner, it’s about to get even nutser. Man of Medan, Control, Astral Chain, and Minoria are this month!! Though I still have roughly a dozen games in my backlog from this year that seem like they’ll be incredible, I’ve spent enough time with the following handful of standouts to know that they’ll almost certainly end up on my end-of-year best-of. Yes, I should probably have finished Outer Wilds and Judgment by now to be able to toss them up here, too, but… Super Mario Maker 2 is out. Fire Emblem and Dragon Quest Builders 2 are out. I… I started replaying Dark Souls 2. I’m only human.

    Bloodstained

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    After Hollow Knight, I wasn’t sure that a pseudo-sequel to Symphony of the Night was going to be enough to stand out in 2019. I won’t doubt Koji Igarashi again. A brilliant return to form for 2D Castlevanias after a couple of console generations without one, Bloodstained is everything I wanted and then a little extra love sprinkled on top. Bloodstained combines the best parts of the portable Sorrow games with the sprawling, dense castle of Symphony to make one of the most memorable Metroidvanias of the decade. Iga’s back.

    Sekiro

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    Though Sekiro has plenty of issues (it’s much too punishing, there’s a surprising lack of variety in the environments and bosses) the highs are higher than many other FromSoft action RPGs. The combat is fluid and taking down mobs has never been more satisfying. The grappling hook and abilities to jump and swim drastically change the way any Soulslike has felt in the past. If only there was a bit more to see, and if the game actively didn’t try to stop you from seeing all of it, I’d have more praise to heap upon it. As it stands, it’s my least favorite FromSoft RPG. As I’ve said before, though, the worst FromSoft output still shines above most other games I have on my shelf. Maybe they’ll pull a Bloodborne and vastly improve the game with some incredible DLC. Here’s hoping.

    Apex Legends

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    Apex feels like kind of a fad that’s already passed by this point, just as a handful of other battle royales have come and gone. But those first few months after Apex launched? The most satisfying multiplayer experience I’ve had in a long time. Taking the best parts of PUBG, Call of Duty’s Blackout, and tossing in a dash of hero shooter, Apex Legends is my favorite battle royale to date. Each character’s unique abilities along with the genre defining ping system

    Super Mario Maker 2

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    Super Mario Maker 2 takes everything from some of the greatest video games of all time and just makes them a little better. After spending…gosh… maybe 500 hours with the original Super Mario Maker since its release four years ago, I was still somehow ready to hop back in for more. Turns out, having Mario Maker on a system that people actually own makes it even better! Whoa! With the myriad of additions that come with Mario Maker 2, like new enemies and items, new ways to structure levels, a new theme from Super Mario 3D World (the second best video game ever made) I’ve already put more hours into the game than I care to admit. And there will be many more on the way.