I used to play games like a machine, but I had such a long wishlist that I never had money for. Now I put more into my career and have increased my pay and have the money for what I want, but I have no time to play any of it =( I used to put a lot of time into WoW, my consoles, and old PC games that I modded like crazy, but now I'm lucky to get a chance to read about a game I would like to play. A good example is Homeworld... I bought it the day of release on GoG and have at least three mods I would spend weeks on, but I haven't even downloaded it yet. Then there's the whole family thing... my wife and kid are OK, so I like to see them once in a while... usually the small amount of free time I have. My wife is not interested in video games at all and my kid only plays mario, so that's a bust.

Being old sucks, having money for games you want sucks, just don't be an over-achiever and punch motivators in teh face.

Rogue Legacy. Damn that took a long time. Barbarians ftw!

Personally, I think it wasn't better, but put the best parts of the other games and concentrated them in a short expansion. I liked it, especially for the new Assault Rifle and the Night Crawler b******s.
I'd say it's peer to the main game, while extraction point let me a bit down.
Yes. Never managed to win without a Barbarian.

Ah, finally beat Persona 3. Looks like it took me about 80 hours. I had a weird relationship with this game in that when I started I was excited by its sense of style and the fast-moving, exploitative combat system, and then I got bored because the routine of school/town segments followed by dungeon grinding got monotonous, but I kept playing diligently, mostly because every part of the game is small enough that even when you're kind of bored it's easy to do "just one more thing...." Then when I got near the end, things picked up a bit because by that point I was done with most of the busy work and could relax and enjoy the last few hours of getting to the end of the dungeon and beating up the final boss.

Despite the third person view, randomized floor layouts, and all the social link stuff, this game feels more than anything like a grandchild of Wizardry. You have a town which is basically just a really fancy-looking menu that lets you buy new equipment or do certain character-building activities, and then there's a huge dungeon where you wander around and beat up randomly generating monsters, trying to just get another floor deeper (or higher in this case) before turning back and saving your progress. I guess that makes sense since the SMT games basically were very much influenced by Wizardry from their start.

The story isn't anything remarkable (does just enough to justify why modern teenagers would be fighting monsters every night) but the characters are a likable bunch - I'm an easy mark for a game with a super-powered dog who wears a vest with angel wings and a red armband - and it all reminded me of what I liked about X-Men before it went to crap - young good-looking people using their secret powers to fight evil while having their little soap operas on the side.

I initially thought I'd go straight into playing The Answer but now I'm thinking I'll hold off for a bit and play a few other things first. The end of The Journey felt okay to me without having to immediately rush into an epilogue that was probably not truly necessary.

<span class="bold">The Vanishing of Ethan Carter</span>

This very brief games sees you, Paul Prospero, Detective of the paranormal, traveling to Red Creek Valley, Wisconsin, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the kid Ethan Carter. Strange thing is, he is asking to be rescued by sending you letters. This become even stranger when, arrived in the valley, you meet a series of paranormal events that slowly unfolds a complex plot of malevolent spirits and of Ethan's troubled family, all with the aid of Prospero's “special medium sight” that can connect present and past, reality and thought.
I'll say no more to avoid spoilers, but what you have to do is simply walk into the valley and connect clues to understand what happened, reconstruct the series of events and thus find Ethan after a series of disturbing and -sometimes- mind twisting revelations.

You can take all the time you need and explore at your own pace; many have labeled this game as a walking simulator, and its lack of real difficulty may enforce the opinion, yet under this impression the Vanishing of Ethan Carter offers much, much more. See it as an interactive narrative experience, rather than as a videogame.

Important to say, the graphic department is magnificent, and you can waste hour by simply admiring the panorama. Each detail of the hand crafted small world has been shaped with a precise purpose in mind, and every vista is incredibly evocative (see a bit of screenshots).

Keeping things short for the sake of the enjoyment (I need to avoid revealing too much), know that this game is very well worth playing and its mysteries won't disappoint a player who is seeking a relaxing but interesting adventure. I recommend it to everyone.

Caesar IV

A wonderful gift from Grargar and Judas, thanks a lot guys!

Another great city builder game that I’ve finished! Apparently it follows the rule "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" as it is basically the same game with just a few new features, some enhancements and improved visuals (frankly, I don’t care about it at all so it was not anything good for me). I don’t complain but perhaps changing the historic background is not enough? Maybe it’s time to implement something totally fresh in the series? Oh well…

I had a feeling that the game improved the stability of your city. I’m sure every Caesar III/Pharaoh/Zeus player experienced a mass reduction of houses even though all needed resources were available just badly distributed. Caesar IV is by far less chaotic and thus it requires less of tedious micro-managing. This way you can use more time to develop your city which is good…

…or not so good because sadly building in 3D environment is more difficult and tedious. It’s the biggest drawback of the game IMHO. Building good fortifications was especially dreadful and in many scenarios I didn’t build any walls at all because, as it was implemented in Zeus, in most cases you can bribe your opponents and avoid fighting at all. This was something I didn’t like in Zeus and I still don’t like it here. Sure, I get it, it’s a city-building game not war-oriented RTS but still… it doesn’t sound realistic. Furthermore managing your armies is the most tedious task of them all. They move slowly, get stuck behind some buildings etc. What’s even worse out of four different types of troops you only need one heavy infantry and if you get attacked early maybe light infantry. Sure, they added some nice features like xp gained from battle > xp gained from training but what’s the point of it if overall the whole fighting part is essentially broken? I’ve chosen non-military missions because of it…

…because managing your city is still the best part of the game and it’s very rewarding to see how your little village thrives and becomes a major city. Oh yeah! So if you like city-building genres Caesar IV is for you. Nothing spectacular here but a solid entertainment. Recommended.


Full list

Finished Type:Rider. A somewhat casual platform game even though I had trouble finished the last level. There are documents to learn the story of typography. Nice and short.

Full list here.

Prince of Persia

Whilst the Sultan is out fighting, the evil Jafarr has taken over his kingdom, locked away the princess and thrown you (her lover) into the Sultans maze of dungeons. He has given the princess 60 minutes to decide her fate, be his bride or die. You must escape the dungeons and rescue the princess before time runs out. For anyone whose played Sands of Time, the prince is a lot more agile in that game than this one, no running on walls for you, it's carefully timed running jumps. I would recommend reading the manual before playing it though, otherwise you end up like me banging against a mirror repeatedly. Overall it's a good game, precision is key when trying to play this game and it can be very rage inducing at points. I'd recommend it, it came out on about a dozen different consoles and PC's and you can probably find it somewhere.

<span class="bold">DROD: The City Beneath</span>

I will send you to my review of the first chapter to give you an idea of what the main -unchanged- mechanics are.
Now, The City Beneath is largely the same game, but enriched by tens and tens of little new details that will give the game a major boost in complexity: not only there are many new enemies and traps that further enrich an already glorious and complex game, but now the developing team has also added an enticing story that will give to Beethro's world context and meaning, forming a surprisingly good and different storyline that will keep you entertained between puzzle and puzzle.
The environment also opens up, allowing Beethro to travel from area to area and from country to country, not anymore going underground level after level, thus changing the art style with many new environments and adding generally more variety in every single aspect of the game.

Among the first three installments DROD 3 is by far the hardest: the game is meant to be played only by those who completed King Dugan's Dungeon and Journey to Rooted Hold, it never holds your hand and needs a real puzzle mastermind to be beaten without checking some hints.

Imo, DROD: The City Beneath is by far the greatest Puzzle game I have ever played. You cannot understand until you try it! ;)

Braveland: Pirate (android)

"It's ok" is the only thing that comes to mind, it's easier and therefore, for me, more enjoyable than other games of the genre, the fact that i didn't had to backtrack and purchase units was one of the best features of this game.
But on the other hand, it was getting repetitive, it didn't had much content so the battles were almost the same, still worth for the 1€ that i paid for it.

You can't go wrong with steampunk unless you really try, but then again you can't always go right with it, which I think is the case with Clockwork Tales: Of Glass and Ink. All of the necessary elements are here: high fantasy, maniac evildoers, pipes and leathers and conspicuous gearing, airships and monocles and florid facial hair, evil robots and mechanical tinkery. What's missing is the kind of lucid, engrossing gameplay I like to see from Artifex Mundi. Instead, this game feels forced and vague.

It's not bad. I just like my Artifex games to stand tall over the competition, and this one is more of a shoulder-to-shoulder proposition. I hit all of the achievements here in a single play-through, and didn't find much in the way of detail and nuance. The various mechanical insects to spot and collect are barely concealed at all, the hidden object scenes are pretty but blunt, and the mini-games are on the bland, simple side. The main challenges are pretty much announced as flat tasks - "I need to paint this room blue before I'll be allowed to leave," that sort of thing. "Where have I seen blue paint? Maybe I should make some." I don't necessarily love game-stopping difficulty levels, but slipping too far in the other direction doesn't make for engaging play.

Maybe I'm just burning out on the genre; certainly most HOGs are cast from similar molds, and perhaps I'm just overwhelmed by the constant selection of games right now. Recommended, because it's good - but this is one to play on the way to a better one.

My year of small games list

Adventures of Bertram Fiddle, Episode 1: A Dreadly Business (Steam)

This is a fun point-and-click adventure. The graphics and voice-overs are very nice, and the game is quite funny.

However, it’s also very easy and linear (more like an interactive story almost), and very short (it can be completed in a couple hours or so). Plus it ends in the middle of the story (Episode 2 is currently being made).

Overall I would still recommend it though, it’s jolly good!

Super Mario Bros

I really missed being able to move left.

Teslagrad

I loved this little and charming platformer, but I must warn you: If you don't have the stomach for a real, sometimes even frustrating challenge, stay away from it.

Teslagrad puts you in a steampunk world entirely drawn by hand, nothing short of beautiful and unique in its art style; your city is assaulted by red soldiers, and your mother orders you to flee to the giant central tower. There, you will have to find your way to the top, discovering what has happened and why some citizens have been persecuted. In between the various electricity and physics based puzzles, you can find 36 batteries with attached hand drawn cards that describe the story of Teslagrad and why everything has become as it is.
The puzzles are very intelligent, all based on the positive/negative poles and their effects on metal and on you. By advancing in the game, you will progressively gain access to special items that will grant you new powers, like charging metal pieces, teleporting to nearby areas in a flash or being covered by an electric aura. Problem is, even if they are fun many of them require surgical precision, especially in the rare but extremely difficult boss fights. The tower hides many different areas, and all of them have a sad story to tell to help you understand how things where and why they have changed leading to the present day. An appropriate soundtrack also enhances the experience, unifying art and gameplay to evoke precise feelings, most of the times moving from a sense of mystery to melancholy or even loss – all without ever hearing a word spoken. Teslagrad is able to let you see war, ruin and corruption both under your own view and under that of a potential child living in the middle of it. Taking back a bit of hope is up to you.

It is incredible how a game so simple in its mechanics and style can be so deep and engrossing; Teslagrad is surely worth your time, but remember: to reach the end, especially the best one, you will have to work hard.

Race Driver: Grid - This game has become my one of my favorite racing games for a couple of reasons. The career mode is more just unlocking a chain of events as it is some other racing games; the season mode and competition to both increase your reputation and your team's earnings add more flavor to this. The driving is also excellent, more than just an arcade handling but not quite a simulator either. The in-cockpit view is a big improvement over the bonnet camera that most games have. Overall, an excellent racing game with lots of event variety, a large selection of cars, and an enjoyable career mode.

Tom Clancy's HAWX - I wasn't expecting much out of this arcade combat flight game; however, once I got through a few missions and discovered there a cockpit view I enjoyed the game much more. The story is pretty thin, as most of the Tom Clancy games tend to be, but it didn't rely on Russians being the aggressor which was a nice change. The game has a nice mix of mission settings; however, they don't really affect how they play out too much. The missions vary between escorting (quite a bit) planes, stealth missions (flying below a certain altitude), and straight out air combat mixed with ground support. It's a good bit of fun. Overall, recommended for a game that doesn't require too much investment into learning an entire control scheme.