It’s tough balancing an independent games blog, a full time job, and raising a puppy, which is where I am at in my life right now. But I still enjoy writing and sharing about the different games I’ve been playing, so I’m starting up this periodic game journal. This will be a short, review-like-but-not-exactly-reviews look into the different games that I’m playing at the time. I hope you enjoy, and maybe find a new game to enjoy!
Kingdom Come: Deliverance (PC, PS4, Xbox One) – While it was released more than 9 months ago, I always thought that this game would be my big RPG that I would play during the busy holiday season. With a lot of time off around the holidays, it makes it easier to dive deep into a RPG instead of being limited to a few hours a week during the busy season.
I’m about five hours into this massive game already, and I feel overwhelmed, intrigued, excited, frustrated, and I’m excited to see what is next. It’s a bit refreshing to play a game where you’re not some overpowered character in a fantasy world. You’re the son of a blacksmith, and your village is destroyed by an invading force. Before your father died, you promised you would deliver a Sword that was stolen by bandits in the aftermath of the attach on your village, so your goal is to train to be a soldier and chase down the bandits to retrieve the sword.
The combat takes a while to get used to, and it is humbling at times. The other day I was rescuing a member of my party from two Cumans that kidnapped him. One of the soldiers was using a sword, the other a bow and arrow. I easily killed the soldier with the sword, so I ran up to the bow and arrow wielding Cuman to take him out. When I got close, the enemy knotted an arrow and took me down with one shot. I went to feeling like a badass to remembering the combat prides itself on being realistic, and while frustrating, it was humbling and humorous.
The game is made by independent developer Warhorse Studios from the Czech Republic, and the game is set in 1400s Bohemia. It is an incredibly ambitious title, but so far I think I found the right RPG to play through the holiday season.
Surviving Mars (PC, PS4, Xbox One) – This is another game I’ve had my eye on for a while. Developed my Haemimot Games (Tropico series), Surviving Mars is part resource gathering, part city building on the red planet. Your goal is to build a habitat and colonize Mars by sending humans to the red planet. I’ve also seen some hint at some fantastical elements in the game, but haven’t played enough to see the fantasy aspects.
You start out with a bunch of drones that build up the infrastructure, which includes electricity, water, oxygen, and habitat domes to house your colonists. Once you have enough supplies to house some humans, you select the humans you want to be the first to step foot on an alien planet, and after that you must manage different jobs for your colonists, along with leisure activities to keep them happy. The reviews on the Steam are mixed, which kept me away for a long time, but that is a shame because it is such a fun game and I can’t wait to play more.
Path of Exile (PC, Xbox One, PS4 in Dec. 2018) – With a bunch of focus on the Diablo series with the release of Diablo III on Switch and Diablo Immortal being announced, I started hearing about this game called Path of Exile. It was described as a spiritual successor to Diablo II and Diablo III, and while I don’t have much affinity for the Diablo series, I have always wanted to check it out as I’m a newer PC gamer. So far the game seems to feature a lot of mouse clicks, and I enjoy the top down angle. For a free-to-play game, I’m pretty impressed with the look of it as well. I don’t have full impressions yet, but I’ve liked what I’ve played so far, and I look forward to playing more.
The post Brandon’s Game Journal – 11/19/2018 appeared first on OnPause.
