What Are You Playing (Spring 2013)?

Bastion (PC) From the Humble Bundle weekly sale, Bioshock Infinite (360), and Infinity Blade (iOS).

Jak II

I could do without the constant shuttling between the two main mission dispensaries. Other than that, I'm way into it. Refreshingly difficult for a mascot platformer.

Tropico 4, actually! I got kinda excited about SimCity, but amidst all the DRM shit, decided to try something else and tell EA to fuck off. As it turns out, all four people in my house purchased Tropico on the same day. :-O It's fun! A little too easy, but fun. I don't think it will hold my attention for too long, but then again, most games don't.

I really enjoyed Proteus. I waited until my friends were sufficiently stoned to show it to them, and the time must have been right because they loved it as well. It was a joy to play, and a joy to watch others play, too.

Anodyne: started it yesterday. Really digging that.

Grabbed Jet Set Radio for like two dollars on steam. I played the Dreamcast version to completion, as well as its sequel, so I'm not in much of a rush to play it but I do love the style and the music. I can't figure out how to get the analog control to work, though.

Bit behind the times here, but I recently watched all of the Double Fine Fortnight Amnesia, and that was an excellent series. I did try out the prototypes, and meh; but, ya know, prototypes. Kinda curious about Brutal Legend, though I know it has its ups and downs.

Yes. Jak 2​ was great.

Started up Demon's Crest and I beat it by accident. Never got any other form but the earth one =[ Got the chaotic demon realm ending, which didn't sound too good.

Ewps.

Donkey Kong Country 2 is kind of... Hard?

I saw a fucking game over screen. ME.

The terrible designs and pre-rendered graphics would've blinded me as well.

Bientôt l’été - Feels like the missing half to Proteus. It's too disjointed and limited to really explore the intended idea, but the atmosphere is good and the approach to a love story is very interesting. If these two games were merged and maybe even expanded a little bit more it would be phenomenal, but as is they each feel half-baked and unfinished. A definite shame because if followed through there's a real potential to create an interactive version of the kind of cyclical and cynical relationship styling of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Maybe next time.

DOTA2 - I accidently turned this on so I played the tutorial. I really like the visual style.

Wake - It was really nice that even though the point was to escape the water the flooding could help as much as hinder progress, allowing me to swim through areas that I couldn't normally get through or was having trouble with the platforming. Not really great but was a neat little thing to play through. It wasn't really precise enough that I'd want to do the harder difficulties, but maybe at some point I'll try them out.

Against my better judgment, I've started playing Silent Hill: Downpour. It's...weird. Even for Silent Hill it's weird. As far as story goes, this is the most confused I've been by these games since Silent Hill 2. The combat is fucking awful and it's pretty rough around the edges, but it's also oddly compelling. Very non-linear and sandboxy once you get into town. Most doors you come across can actually be opened (no mysteriously broken locks) and lead to rooms that often serve no purpose other than housing items or unnerving you with strange sounds or grisly sights. Even Yamaoka's departure as composer somehow works in Downpour's favor, as Daniel Licht's soundtrack is surprisingly effective. There's also tons of nods to previous games, often implemented in clever ways. Looking forward to playing it some more tonight.

I started playing Earthbound for a few little bit for the very first time last night. The first thing I noticed is it is very strange. Just some of the interactions between Ness and his parents were odd. I'll keep playing but I'm thinking this is a game I would have enjoyed more when it was originally released.