Category: PC

The House Abandon Makes Text Adventures Modern (And Scary)

I’ve never been a huge fan of text adventures. I didn’t grow up with them, and I end up getting frustrated after I feel like all of my options are exhausted. Hell, I didn’t finish Frog Fractions (A game that I adore) for the longest time simply because I couldn’t force myself through the text section. The House Abandon is different.

Admittedly, I don’t play a ton of this kind of thing, so I’m sure something like it has done before. The House Abandon feels surprisingly modern in comparison to staring at a black and white screen inputting WEST and EAST over and over. The text adventure game itself resides on a desk inside The House Abandon, and you’re playing a game within that game. And no, the potential of this idea does not go untapped.

As an Interactive Fiction newbie, I appreciated the limited range of actions you’re forced to take throughout the adventure. The House Abandon pretty clearly lays out what you need to do so you’re not tossing a dozen things into a parser just to get a result. The flow isn’t broken after getting stuck on a puzzle for so long that you forget you’re wandering a dimly lit abode. And as a game created by an Alien Isolation designer and Co., this team knows how to keep the tension going. You’ll just need to see for yourself how they do it.

The game ends with a promise of the No Code team making more short stories like this, and that’s a promise I want to hold them to. Hopefully we’ll see another one of these around Halloween time…please?

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If you’re curious about The House Abandon, check out the game’s wonderful trailer…

…and go play it here, because there’s no way you don’t want to after watching that.

September 5, 2016
Games of the Month – July 2016

I’m over a month deep into Pokemon GO and still enjoying it quite a bit. BUT: There were actually other games that came out in July! Granted, I may not have played as many of them as usual, but when a worldwide phenomenon is going on I think I can be excused. Just this once.

1. Pokemon GO

Duh. I’m not sure what else I need to say about this one. I’ve met so many cool people just from playing it, and my friends and I go out several times a week to hunt down virtual creatures. The hype has died down a bit, but I still see people playing every single day. It’s great!

2. Monster Hunter Generations

More of the same, but that same is still real, real neat. There’s a few quality of life changes here and there, but this is mostly more of what I loved so much about last year’s Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. This is my favorite series to zone out and watch TV shows to, which may not seem like the best compliment…but sometimes that’s exactly what I’m looking for. My only gripe is that all of the towns are unlocked from the beginning rather than being unlocked through progression like in last year’s game, but it makes sense since these are all places players of the rest of the series have seen before. And also that I’m not playing right now. (UPDATE: My internet has been out for two weeks so I’ve played so, so much more of this. I think I like it better than MH4U now. Just the added variety of environments and movesets early on have spiced this one up a lot. I’m not how to rate this up against wholly fresh experiences come GOTY time, but just know that this is one to play, even if you’re a series vet.)

3. SEUM: Speedrunners From Hell

I’ll be bringing this one up a lot during Game of the Year talk, I’m sure. I wrote about the free demo last month, and this is just a more polished, much more fleshed out version of that. A fast-paced, first-person speedrunning game about quickly solving a demon obstacle course? Uhhhhhh, yes please.

Honorable Mentions:

Kentucky Route Zero: Act IV – I kind of fell off the KRZ hype train halfway through the 3rd Act. This one’s good from what I played, but still doesn’t hit the highs that I felt as I drove through Kentucky back roads in the first couple of entries. The writing is still top notch, and those entries alone made such a huge impression on me that I’ll definitely play through the series again in time.

Furi – Seems super neat at first, but restarting long-ass fights a dozen times didn’t do a lot to keep me begging for more.

SKULL CHAINZ – THIS SHIT IS RAAAAAWWWWW.

Super Stickman Golf 3 – This game is out. It exists and I wanted you to know. It’s a sequel to the best multiplayer game of all time. Bye.

August 18, 2016
THERE IS A VIDEO GAME CALLED “SKULL CHAINZ”

THE NAME OF THIS VIDEO GAME IS SKULL CHAINZ.

(more…)

July 22, 2016
Black Gold is a Tiny Taste of Kentucky Route Zero

Can I please have some more?

I love Kentucky Route Zero. The series so far is one of my favorite things to happen to video games in the past decade, and the wait between episodes is excruciating. There’s just not much else that captures the tone of KRZ, a tone that series somehow seems to maintain effortlessly. There isn’t anything like it… but Black Gold comes pretty close. (more…)

July 5, 2016
There You Go is the Lighter Side of Room Escape

After playing hours upon hours of Zero Time Dilemma, There You Go gave me the room escaping that I’ve been craving… with significantly fewer murders along the way. (more…)

July 5, 2016
2016 Mid-Year Wrap Up – What’s Left?

We’re halfway through 2016 and my Game of the Year prediction list is already in the trash. Surprise! Four of them aren’t even coming out this year and two of them weren’t that good. Dark Souls and The Witness were pretty sweet, and the verdict’s still out on Zero Time Dilemma and No Man’s Sky. We’ve had a few great releases this year like Salt and Sanctuary, SUPERHOT and Pony Island, but so far I’m feeling a bit down on 2016’s game output.

HOWEVER: We’re far from sending this baby off just yet.

There’s a load of cool games still coming this year, and *hopefully* some of them will actually be good. Let’s run through the ones I’m most excited about.

Zero Time Dilemma:

I’m finally getting to play Zero Time Dilemma, a game I’ve been hoping would actually get made since 2012’s incredible Virtue’s Last Reward.

Inside:

The follow-up to Limbo, Inside, is also on its way. I’ve got some very high hopes for this one, especially after hearing some early thoughts on it during E3.

BoxBoxBoy!:

The sequel to one of the best games nobody played last year. Nintendo’s best puzzle game in a long time, and one of my favorite things HAL Laboratory has done.

Song of the Deep:

Song of the Deep looks like a promising Metroidvania, and Insomniac tends to not make anything that’s outright bad.

No Man’s Sky:

You’ve probably heard enough about No Man’s Sky by now, but I don’t know how anyone can write it off yet. There’s no way this thing can deliver on all of its promises, but even if it manages to be a decent version of what Hello Games’ is envisioning… it’s going to be something very special.

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2:

Gunvolt 2 is nearly topping my most anticipated games right now. After finishing Mighty No. 9 and well, not thinking about it much anymore, I’m ready for a good action platformer that can deliver the goods. The first Gunvolt was sooooo cool. Please don’t mess this one up.

Final Fantasy XV:

Final Fantasy XV is somehow just a few months away and I still don’t have any idea what kind of beast it’s gonna be. It seems like such a mishmash of so many disparate ideas that I can’t fathom how any of it is going to work together. And maybe it won’t. But, wow…what if it does?

The Last Guardian:

The Last Guardian is finally, really, truly coming out. The follow up to one of my favorite games of all time, Ueda’s next game has a lot to live up to.

Dishonored 2:

I never finished Dishonored. I never even got halfway through it. But a lot of people I respect seem to love it, and I’m willing to give the series another chance.

Below:

Below is a mysterious adventure game that I’ve heard whispered of in the same breath as Dark Souls, and that’s about enough for me.

Cuphead:

Cuphead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2D platformer. Cool boss battles. Wonderfully drawn art style. Cuphead!!!!!!!

Nioh:

I have no idea if Nioh is actually going to make it out this year with all of the changes they’ve been making to it, but that alpha demo was promising. It definitely needed a tweak or two, but there are neat ideas there that I want to see more of.

The Intruder:

The Intruder has been talked about in hushed tones for what feels like a decade now. It’s an indie Slender-like thing, but supposedly has way more going on than your average “get chased by spooky man” game.

We Happy Few:

We Happy Few reminds me of BioShock at its prime. Terrible world that’s totally fallen apart but a subset of the population seems cool with it? Sign me up.

The Pedestrian:

The Pedestrian is a simple platformer with a cool aesthetic, and sometimes that’s all I need, ya dig?

DARK SOULS III DLC (at some point)! Yay.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided:

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is the sequel to a game I love, in a series I should probably play more of. Human Revolution was my introduction to Deus Ex, but what a wonderful, memorable introduction it was.

Pokemon Sun and Moon:

Also Pokemon Sun and Moon is coming and if you don’t know why someone might be excited about that I don’t know what else to tell you. Rowlet 4 lyfe.

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And I’m sure there’s more stuff coming, too. I always get blindsided by some cool indie thing that comes out of nowhere, so don’t take this as the law of everything cool coming out for the rest of the year. And, yeah, there are other games I plan on playing, like Infinite Warfare (yes, space shooty will probably be fun), but those just didn’t feel special enough to make the “excited about” list. 2017 is already looking ridiculous with all of the currently announced games, consoles, delays, etc, but there’s still plenty to occupy our time until then.

Here’s to a good rest of the year. And please let most of these actually come out in 2016. Please.

June 29, 2016