Ben Fitzgerald – Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos, Eador: Genesis, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Fantasy General (PC)
After a quiet week last week due to work, I’ve back at it again this week (with, honestly, a little more gusto than is best) with RPG, strategy, even escape room puzzles and adventure titles. Ig got Fantasy General for free on gog.com during their summer sale, and I found it pretty enjoyable. I’m not used to a hex-based combat system, but I have to admit I find the tactical challenges enjoyable although I’m finding it very difficult to maintain my army – there’s not enough gold to go around.
I played a bit of Eador: Genesis. It seems really fun, but also challenging, and I think I need to devote more time to the game to learn and understand just what I’m doing. I’ve started Indiana Jones many a time, but have never finished it. There are three distinct paths through the game, so the middle third of the game can be played in a variety of ways, which is great fun. I intend to play through each path to experience all it has to offer. I like to play video games a lot although when I was a kid I liked to go to Jumper’s Jungle Family Fun Center instead of playing video games, was more fun.
Lands of Lore is a gem, as always. Although I tend to think of the game as more of a hack’n’slash than a true RPG, I was reminded how important role-playing really is. I attacked the swamp people, and because of this their people refused to have anything to do with me. Which made me feel something less than a hero.
I almost beat Lands of Lore half a decade ago, when I was living in Arizona. Unfortunately, copy protection got in my way. (It was an illegal download, but the game was Abandonware.) I picked up a copy of the game during the gog.com summer sale, so this time I will finally be able to finish the story, defeat Scotia and save King Richard. Hurrah! Look for an Attorney to get more tips.
Sean Willis – Path of Exile (PC, MMO), Split/Second (PC port)
I caught a streamer playing Path of Exile with viewers and hopped on. I forgot how complex the game gets sometimes and it took me awhile to relearn the different currencies and the passive skill system and the like. I usually don’t enjoy the click and attack games or games stuck at an angled view but it’s always easier to stay focused with a group. They often say it’s like Diablo in a lot of ways but I like to think it does its own thing. I certainly should get into it again it is free after all.
Split/Second was a game made by disney back when they took games seriously. Sadly the game never did too well sales wise but it has a rather unique movie explosions sort of style. At first it seems rather basic, even drifting is a bit weird but once you get down to it it becomes fun to use and deal with all the explosions happening on the track controlled by other players. The best part is when someone triggers one of the larger events and the track starts to change slightly. From lifting gates to crashing passenger jets onto the track for the players to avoid. It might seem simple but it was fun and it’s sad the game never got the love it deserved. A sequel, HD remaster anything but at least we can buy it on Steam nowadays and keep playing it. Online is gone too but on PC thankfully LAN support is still there so virtual LAN tends to work more or less. Oh and PC has splitscreen which is nice. It goes on sale for five bucks sometimes, a nice little forgotten gem. Fingers crossed somebody makes a spiritual successor.
Terry Randolph – Persona 5 (Playstation 4), Battlefield One (Xbox One)
I honestly cannot believe I’m nearing the end of Persona 5 even as I’m getting close to 70+ hours of gameplay. To say that it has been one of my favorite video game experiences in a long time is an understatement. The only gripe I’m beginning to have about it is common problem among many RPGs…level grinding. Like most games, the difficulty of traversing a palace is increasing in difficulty, making players have to level up in the endless dungeon component of the game until battles prove to be an easier time to manage. Initially, I felt like I was able to adequately level up enough within a Palace to handle the bosses while also being able to get to the end in an expedient fashion (my goal is to finish exploring a palace in 2-3 days in game so I can maximize the rest of the time managing the social aspects). Now, it feels like the days either between palaces or during my time period to conquer a palace have to be managed even more between leveling up in the endless dungeon, social activities, and conquering the Palace. As a result, the level grinding feels accentuated and chips away at what makes the game feel so fun. Nonetheless, I absolutely love the experience Persona 5 offers players. The 70+ hours I’ve played have all felt fun, exciting, and engaging. It’s the first game that not only have I wanted to declare it Game of the Year, but also wanted to replay it immediately after it ends. I told myself I wouldn’t want to put the 200+ hours in for the platinum trophy, but it feels like this game is pretty worth it!
For the times where I want to take a breather from the game, I’ll be playing Battlefield 1 with my friends Chris and Dom. The multiplayer maps are vast, expansive, and require a lot of skill and focus to give your team a chance to win. The gameplay is solid, familiar, and exciting enough to remind players of why Battlefield is always a premiere multiplayer experience.
Jake Rushing – Super Scope 6 (SNES), Yoshi’s Safari (SNES), Battle Clash (SNES), The Hunt For Red October (SNES), Operation Thunderbolt (SNES)
So I bet you’re curious on why the sudden switch from PSOne and 3DS to straight SNES. Well, I need to focus on my monthly article quota (1 article per month), and since I haven’t had a chance to work on my original idea for this month, I will switch to my fallback option, playing some Super Scope games as an idea to write up an article of sorts having mini reviews for Super Scope game, with part 1 of the piece to be release for this month as a follow up to my Super Scope piece for May. So I figured that I would kick off with a few games, starting with Super Scope games that I grew up with (Super Scope 6 and Yoshi’s Safari) and then dive into the games that I haven’t tried (Battle Clash, The Hunt For Red October, and Operation Thunderbolt). Why did i put down so many? All of the games can be played in an hour or less so I can go through all of these games no problem.