Bug Butcher - When you cannot squash them you shoot them

Before I start this review I want to say that Triangle Studios were so nice to give me a key for Bug Butcher after I approached them. I did my best to stay objective but I believe it is good practice to state if you gotten a game from the developer/publisher for free.

Bug Butcher is 2D scrolling shoot em up with enemies coming(mostly) from above. In the game you get in the role of Harry, your friendly (badass) neighbourhood bug exterminator. You are hired by a group of desperate scientists who are almost over run by giants insects. The game is composed of 30 levels with 5 bossfights each of which will test your ability to adapt, kill and survive to the maximum in the dangers which Bug Butcher has prepared for you. 

The Beauty of the small things

The sentence above pretty much sums up the whole Bug Butcher, but here I want to mention few things beside game mechanics and gameplay. First of all the look of the game. I have never imagined that something so cartoony can be so horrifying. Graphically Awfully Nice have achieved great combination between funny and cartoony and bizarre and gruesome.
And only one more thing between continuing with the fun stuff. Bug Butcher is action/chaos packed game in which you will run left and right non-stop and in such games controls are really important. Thankfully they are not overlooked and are tight and responsive. The game supports game pads and while I am not fan of them most of the time here I will suggest you to use one as it is simply more comfortable than the keyboard.  

"I am defenseless, you must protect me..."

On each level you are accompanied by a scientist from the base and while he is not involved directly in combat, he will spawn power ups for you and in co-op he is even more important as you will be able to buy powers up from him. The problem is that there is this one kind of spiders who reaaally likes smart brains and will go always after the scientist. And if he dies you will soon follow. Managing to keep him save is the smaller problem though, the bigger one is that...

They bounce in from all sides!

Usually in shoot em up enemies come always from one side and do not have complicated movement patterns(there are some exceptions). This is not true with the case of Bug Butcher. At the start the insects will always drop from the ceiling but with levels passing they will start appearing from the floor and walls. And they will not only fly in, they will start to bounce all around the place! This will force you to be on the move constantly calculating where they will drop if you do not want to be the one who is squashed. The problem won't be the huge amount of enemy projectiles, but the amount of enemies on the screen. Speaking about the enemies Bug Butcher offers ridiculous amount of different all horrible bugs which try to kill you. They split in smaller ones, puke smaller bugs, shoot lasers, follow you around, stomp you, burn you and many more horrible things. Each new bug has its own unique design and model. I personally quickly started to give them names and hate most of them for in different combinations they are absurdly deadly and unleash unspeakable chaos on the screen. This combined with the ever becoming more hazardous levels will test your skills to the maximum.

Oh yeah!

Now that you know how horrible are the enemies it is time to see how awesome are the weapons. Harry(you) like two things the most - killing bugs and killing bugs with devastating guns! After every few levels you will unlock new power ups for the scientist to spawn for you including mini guns, rocket launchers, devastating, zapping guns and more. Aside from those the bugs will occasionally drop life, bonus damage or movement speed buffs which will often give the little you need to survive the last two or three nasty hoppers.

Conclusion

Behind Awfully Nice Studios and Bug Butcher stand two veterans from the industry and this is obvious from the start. Bug Butcher stinks of finished and polished product. The developers did not only had great idea what they want to make but they also executed it perfectly! If you are into shoot em ups then Bug Butcher is a 100% for you. It has everything you might be looking for from the nasty enemies through the chaos caused by huge amounts of enemies and hazards to the badass, over the top weapons and cheeky humour. And if you think its not chaotic and crazy enough when you play alone you can jump in the co-op and enjoy double the amount of bugs!

Where to find:

Awfully Nice Studios 

Steam

Triangle Studios

Pankapu - Jumping to you in episodes

After my disappointment from Seasons after Fall I went into Pankapu without any expectations. I just did not dare to have any. What attracted me was the interesting idea of episodic platformer and the colorful graphics. 

Pankapu is a 2D action platformer made by Too Kind Studio. The game revolves around the fairy tale told to the traumatized boy Djaha’rell. The story follows both the brave savior of the Dream world Pankapu and the boy Djaha’rell. The developers from Too Kind promise that the story will play big role in this attempt for episodic game, but so far I have not seen any heavy story telling or interesting dialogues. 

Oh there are a lot of them for sure and some are too long for a platformer game, but I cannot say that they have made the story of the game more interesting for me. We will see how this will develop as this is only the first episode and it is early to scratch the story from the picture. But do not expect atmospheric experience from the sort of Valiant Hearts for example.

Despite the story Pankapu pretty much excels in every other aspect. The game looks great with bright colors, thought out mechanics, responsive controls, well designed platforming action and secret areas to find. Yes, your guess is right you will have to replay levels after each gain of new powers. And new powers you will gain fairly quickly as this first episode is not very long and unfolds with satisfying tempo as the levels are usually short, but packed with action and you rarely run more than few meters without jumping, slashing or dodging something. 

But I mentioned new powers and did not said anything more about them. There are three powers which you will be able to switch between in real time if need be. Your default starting one - Bravery which will give you a sharp sword and a shield. Ardor which will make you nimble and dodgy to hit  while at the same time allowing you to strike from distance. And the Faith which will allow you to be a mighty wizard smashing your nightmarish opponents in mass. In your venturing through the world of Omnia you will also have the chance to upgrade different aspects of your character like his health and damage. 

Conclusion

Pankapu is great, short (because of its episodic nature) platformer done with great deal of understanding how a game in the genre should function, look and feel. At the same time Too Kind Studio have decided to make their game in episodes which I see no reason for. Platformers never been known or played for their deep story and great writing or dialogues. So far I have not seen Too Kind changing that. I am not saying that story is bad it is decent may be for a bit younger audience than me, but is nothing revolutionary. If you like platformers you will probably have fun with Pankapu - I did and my curiosity what they will manage to do with the whole episodic thing makes me keep an eye on them.

Where to find:

Official site

Steam

Quick Opinion: Samorost 3, The Curious expedition, Everspace, Seasons After Fall

I do not have an excuse anymore other than the ridiculous amount of games which catch my attention and the opposite in amount time I have. So this will be fairly regular format for smaller games.

Today we will take a look at Samorost 3 ( old favorite series of mine ) a crazy adventure game, The Curious Expedition which is similar to Renowned Explorers International Society, Everspace a FTL like game with a twist and last Seasons after Fall a cute platformer  for which I had certain hopes which it may or may not have fulfilled. First is...

Everspace

Everspace is a sci-fi roguelike, similar to FTL, created by ROCKFISH Games. But here you control a small fighter and try to reach the center of the Universe(mhmm, familiar I know) for unknown even to you reason, but pushed by the AI of your ship. The other big and may be the main difference is that Everpsace is not turn-based, instead is a dogfight/exploration game where you mine, fight, collect money, find equipment for your ship and run when needed(often at the beginning) from bigger ships. In similar to FTL way you will jump from system to system when you are done with each one.
After each try(read after each death) you can modify your ship with the collected money trying to make it better. Strange fact storywise - your pilot remembers his previous attempts which rise some questions like is this real, are you revived somewhere after each dead? 

With your progress you will learn form the AI more and more about not only your mission but also about the few factions and the story of the game in general. The AI will also occasionally mock you or urge you to do this and that which brings strange humorous note to the otherwise kind of grim and lonely space around you.
Sadly as most roguelikes Everspace have the specific for the genre slow start and steep learning curve which may easily put you off from this otherwise great looking space dogfight/roguelike game.

Oh, oh the game is in early access so you might want to wait a little.

Where to find:

Official site

Steam

GoG

Seasons after Fall

I have great amount of love for Ori and The Blind Forest, a game which is not only great in very aspect but also a title which rekindled my attraction to platformers. So when I saw the first shots from Seasons after Fall I was immediately reminded of Ori and got excited...may be too much. In Seasons after Fall you are small "seed" which by a mysterious voice is given the task to gather the powers of the Seasons by meeting their Guardians. Seasons after Fall is very beautiful game with charming characters and interesting idea - solving puzzles by controlling the weather. BUT it is repetitive, there is a ton of backtracking and not in the sense of metroidvania, no, there is only one way. So when you acquire new power and need to return back you can go only the way you came. Which is boring to say the least... This together with the fact that you do the same over and over again, which is going, getting the power from the Guardian and going back makes for one not very interesting or exciting game. Which is sad as it does has potential and it does look great.

...or may be I expected too much of it...

Where to find:

Official site

Steam

The Curious Expedition

Because I have started with the disappointing games and I want to end this post in good spirit I will tell you about another title which sadly did not meet my expectations. May be, again, because I compared it to something else and expected more. The game is The Curious Expedition by  Maschinen-Mensch where you will take the role of a famous person( like Lovecraft, Tesla, Alister Crowley, Charles Darwin etc.) who, for some reason, has decided to explore what seems like the jungles of South America. During your adventures you will collect loot which you can sell for honor or money. At the beginning of this post I have stated the game to be similar to Renowned Explorers International Society and while both games share some similar mechanics like the honor cost of items, choose your own adventure aspects and the whole expedition theme Curious Expedition is a lot lighter, simpler and sadly repetitive game where you will always look for the Golden Pyramid. Granted Renowned Explorers had its repetitive moments and you always tried to beat the most famous explorer but it had unique battle system, genuine feeling for exploration and adventure and a lot more interaction between the different characters which all together managed to make you feel invested in the game. While CE I have the feeling is targeted more to the people who like to jump in a game, make a short session or two and be on their way. Which for exploration game like this one it does not really work for me.

Where to find:

Official site

Steam

Samorost 3

And last but by no means least an old favorite of mine with its third installment - Samorost. For those of you aware of the series I can only say more of the same which we so much loved in the previous games. Interesting puzzles, quirky characters, beautiful and very detailed environments. For those of you who have not heard of Samorost ( and I will not be surprised if there are such among you ) this is an adventure exploration puzzle game where you will have to solve some really original puzzles if you manage to undestand what is wanted from you only from the gestures and pictures provided by other characters as there is no speech in the game. Samorost is work of Amanita Design the creators of Machinarium and will easily charm you with its amazing aesthetic, music and bizarre characters. And the story is pretty decent too...if you manage to figure it out.

Where to find:

Official site

Steam

GoG

    

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain - Some things never get old

I remember at some point in my childhood how I read choose your own adventure books and fail at them all the time. I was not able to finish even one. I mean successfully. At some point later I have forgotten about them ( As it happens with a lot of things.) until few years ago when mainly with the help of Sorcery by Steve Jackson(not to be mistaken with the designer of Munchkin) my interest in the genre was revived to such extends that I even tried to write two stories - one is still unfinished, the second was not liked by the publisher, but enough about me. Today I will tell you about my adventures in the Firetop Mountain which is also created by Steve Jackson (and Ian Livingstone). And no I am not starting to review books on the blog, Firetop has received its own digital port much in the spirit of Sorcery.

 In this adventure you will brave the Firetop Mountain at the top of which powerful Warlock resides. Based on the character you choose at the start your mission in the mountain will be different but it will involve some interaction with the Warlock for sure.

Once Upon a time there was a Warlock...

TWoFM tells the story in the same original way Sorcery did - by small snippets of text which chain together after each of your choices. This time you also have a figurine of your character which wanders around while exploring the vast dungeons of the mountain. Essentially it is a tabletop RPG now. 

After I finished both Sorcery books I have given it to Mr. Jackson that he is a good writer and for this story he have worked with Ian Livingstone. That said there a lot of ways to ruin a good story when you make it into a game, this is not an example of one thankfully as the visual style and mechanics only complement the feeling of a tabletop game.

When you start the game you will have to choose between several characters which not only have different stats and abilities but also have their own distinctive backstory which will affect many of the encounters you have in your adventure. For example you might recognize a famous adventurer who has been locked in the mountain for long time and he will give you useful information or you might even find fans of yours among the goblins and orcs guarding the dungeon. Or you might smack the old men and kill all the greenskins...it all depends on who you are. The character you choose will also determine the objective you have. Giving such unique choices based on the character choice gives the game great amount of replayability ( as it did not have enough by the lone fact that it is a choose your own adventure )

Swords and Grids

There are more than few series in the choose your adventure genre and The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is proud representative of Fighting Fantasy therefore as the name suggests, there is a good amount of fighting in the game and I was curious how it is done and was half expecting the same "powerbluff" system as in Sorcery and I was kind of correct on the bluffing part. This time fights take place on a grid and each turn you and your enemies choose one action when both are done actions resolve simultaneously. 

Tin Man Games have called it GridBluff system, but it is a lot like the action programming mechanic in board games. The name of the mechanic does not matter that much actually and what is important is that it makes the battles really strategic and often puts you in situations where you will think more than few minutes on what to do on your turn. Also with the ascension of the mountain you will encounter harder and harder enemies with intricate battle mechanics related to them. Giant statues will smash everything in front of them, stone palms will come to life and grab you from few squares distance and stone statues will push each other around making standing in front of them deadly. 

Conclusion

If you have gotten this far you are probably already downloading the game. I mean Fighting Fantasy, Steve Jackson, Ian Livingstone, choose your own adventure, Tin Man Games...there is hardly a better combination you can wish for if you are a fan of tabletop and/or adventure books? But even if you are (still) not a fan but have wondered will you like such books the digital version of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is good place to start as it has all the charms of the books and at the same time it comes powered up by digital technology which only adds to the experience and immersion. But the game has something to offer even to the experienced gamers as this version adds new characters, enemies and areas to explore. Must try!

Where to find:

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

Steam

Humble Bundle

Tin Man Games

Epistory Typing Chronicles - The keyboard is mightier than the sword

Through the long years of gaming I have tried various genres of games. Some I have played more, some less. Some have become my favourite and some I almost have not played. Typing games is one of the later. I have played few and while I can say that they have some educational value I saw little value in them as a gamer. This changed after I played Epistory Typing Chronicles.

Made by Fishing Cactus Epistory is a game about a fox riding muse which has to do her job and inspire a writer. Thematic enough you start on a blank page and as it happens often with books whole new world opens little by little before you. While you explore you will see different objects which will have words above them and you will need to type those words if you want to interact with these objects. Objects will vary from wood trunks to treasure chests and even enemies. Oh yes you will fight here, but more about that later.

The game looks amazing with its "origami-like" art style, charming characters and interesting, open for interpretation story. And while this together with its "book" theme grabbed me as I am a proud bookw(y)orm what impressed me is how the guys from Fishing Cactus combined the charming look and theme with few things from other genres(this seems to be THE THING now) to attract broader public, but at the same time kept the focus of the game on the words.

The first of those things are the simple RPG mechanics. The first part is there - you are (role)playing a muse, the second part is character development. Through the game you will learn new skills which will allow you to type easier, to run faster, to sense objects of interest, to burn words(do not tell the dwarves, they will throw you in jail.) and more.

The second is the battle system. You will encounter many enemies in the depths of the writer's mind and you will have to defend yourself. Some will be simple, one word small fries which you will easily type out. But others will be huge never-heard-before three words monsters and you will have to use your whole typing skills acquired in the chats to beat them before they reach you. Because even single touch is enough to kill the muse of a writer. At the end of each zone you will have to survive few waves of enemies, which will come at you from all sides.

I mentioned that they focus on the words and you might wonder what exactly I meant. Let me explain. In Epistory you will type...a lot. This is a game about typing. But you will not have to type "trunk" every time you see a trunk. You will type something wood related. This goes for everything you interact with. This game will expand your vocabulary. Also in the game there will be barred areas and you will not be able to understand the language of the words for those barriers until you travel to certain other places where you will literally learn new "language" so you can read the words you need to progress.

Conclusion

Epistory Typing Chronicles is an interesting pick up on a genre in which we rarely see something new. But here instead of only typing you will explore interesting and mystical, beautiful world filled with treasures, monsters and puzzles. You will learn new "languages", learn new real words and explore one charming and beautiful world. As every typing game this one also will try to teach you something new, but at the same time borrows some mechanics from RPG games which makes it only more interesting. Great game! Niche and not for everybody, but a real hidden gem. 

Where to find:

Official site

Steam

Fishing Cactus

Quick Opinion - Eisenhorn: XENOS; Reigns; Inside; Mandagon

Because you read it before I decided to do it again. This is a post in which I will write short reviews of the games mentioned in the title. The point of this is to tell you about more games in shorter time, because I do not have the time to write about all of them or some of them are too short and there is not much to say about. Writing for a game in this format does not mean the game is bad or I did not like it. SPOILER: One of these games even may be in the TOP REVIEWED GAMES for this year so yeah... Let us begin:

Eisenhorn: XENOS

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS MY OPINION ABOUT THE PC VERSION

As you may already guessed the first title is set in the grimdark universe of Warhammer 40 000. Unlike most 40k games here you are not commanding a great army or squad of marines but instead you take on the role of Gregor Eisinhorn. Young Inquisitor at the time of the game Eisenhorn finds himself  knee deep in a conspiracy which endangers the Emperium so as every loyal subject of the Emperor he jumps head first into it trying to get to its roots and punish all the heretics who stand there. 

The world of Warhammer is rich and vast setting in which you have a lot of freedom but you should also be careful as it has very zealous community and if you screw up your game you will be destroyed by them. Sadly the case with Eisenhorn is exactly this. The game has only one strong side and it’s the story but that is probably because the game is made following the newly published book having the same title. But even this is hardly doing any good to the game as it is literally on rails and you have no saying in what is happening. Everything else is basic and hardly capable of grabbing your interest for long. The battle system is taken from the Arkham games but you barely will do anything else than chop people with your sword and roll aside from time to time. For a game set in universe where everything is massive and glorious Eisenhorn looks a bit dull as when it is ported to PC someone has forgotten to upgrade its graphics. It looks aged, like it’s made in 2005. The voice-acting is generic, animations are low quality, the battle and stealth systems are generic and basic at best. It is just another bad port sadly...as it could have been amazing game. Better go and read the book.

Official Site

Steam

Reigns

I have not reviewed mobile games in really long time, but this is mainly because I have not found anything really worth mentioning( Yeah, yeah there was Clash Royal but I did not managed to get into it for some reason). Until recently when Reigns came out. It easily was crowned as a hit and conquered everyone who played it. The simple and clean design combined with the hidden depth of the game easily made it a must try if you are wondering what new to get on your phone for those long trips to work.
In Reigns you are a king who wants to rule for as long as he can. To achieve this you should carefully balance between the four forces - nobles(money), church, army and the people. Any of this may lead to your end or you yourself may find it...in the dungeon for example. As the King you will have to cope with all kind of questions and requests from your subjects, advisors and enemies. You will go on crusades, meet the Devil, marry, have affairs, wage war...and everything else you can think of. All that you will do only by swiping left or right when presented with a choice. But when you die this is not the end. If you have ruled well you will leave something for the Kings after you, with time you will also meet new characters which will unlock new cards and make even harder for you to survive for long. In this game...your decisions really matter.

Official site

Steam

Google Play

iTunes Store

Inside

Have you played Limbo? Did you like it? But didn't you feel there is something missing, that it still can be better? If the answer to all those questions is "yes" then this is the game for you.

Inside is the straight upgrade of Limbo. In every aspect. It looks better, the story is better, it is more creepy, more intriguing, better atmosphere. It is the next logical step in the genre, after Limbo.

If somehow you have missed all the noise around Inside and you have not played Limbo (where do you live?!) then let me explain. Inside is atmospheric adventure game where you are boy who witnesses strange experiments with animals and human bodies. Why you are there, what experiments, who, how you got there - all those are questions to which you will find answers while progressing through the game, but you should be observent as the story is passively told to you in the background while you are solving jump and logical puzzles.

But this game is not for the faint of heart as you will often get shot down, eaten by dogs, electrocuted to death or fall to your end. Death is waiting behind every corner.

Very creepy and grim game, but excellently done!

Official site

Steam

Mandagon

And last for a finish I want to present you this little platformer called Mandagon. It’s a little adventure of a little stone totem. Inspired by Tibetan theology and philosophy the game tries to show you what means to make a true sacrifice. In it you are in Limbo (or Barbo if you prefer the Tibetan term) but to learn what and why brought you there you will have to ascend the mountain. Mandagon is small but surprisingly atmospheric game with some interesting philosophical ideas. A little adventure made with a lot of love by the small studio Blind Sky. I recommend it to you as it is short, but amazing!

Official site

Steam


That's it! Four games and my quick opinion about them. Sorry for the short post but time is something I did not have in last few days. Should return to normal reviews for the next time. 

Elder Scrolls: Legends - Bethesda gives it a try too

This review should have been done last week and I even said publicly in the Something podcast that I will write it for last week. Problem is that I really struggled with this review. What to say, how to make it useful on what to accent. After all it is just another digital CCG, but then again when I played it I felt it is worth it to tell you about it so...In the end I decided to just do the same I did with some of the previous CCG reviews which I did. I will keep it short and accent on the things which make it different. As in previous reviews games for comparison will be Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering. Here we go...

As you can guess from the title this is Bethesda's card game and it takes place in the Elder Scrolls universe. I was not overly excited when I heard about it as I am not really a fan of Elder Scrolls, but my love for CCG games prevailed and I subscribed for the beta. I will kind of spoil the review but after I played it I actually like it and think it is really good and interesting CCG. 

First ESL have tutorial merged with an interesting and well done, for a CCG, story which will give you not only cards but few whole decks and bunch of crystals to craft cards with if you so desire. In other words - really great way to learn and start the game is to play the story. Always a nice thing to have.

The core gameplay differs from other CCGs too. You still play on board against your opponent (being player or AI) but here the board is separated in two lanes and each can have certain passive effects which affect it. For example most of the times left lane will be normal, while the right will be Shadow lane, in which every minion played cannot be target by another creature for one turn. In the solo campaign you will see other effects too. The two lanes really change things and you will have to constantly think where what to play, to focus one or to try and play on both etc. It takes some time to get used to it, but it makes the game deeper and more strategic. This deep and strategic gameplay gives a more of a Magic feeling to the game. You know I heavier card game. To some degree the rich lore which can be felt from the story and even from the cards contribute also for this "Magic" feeling.

Another interesting innovation is that ESL has two Arena modes - one solo and one versus other players. This again shows some deep understanding of how card games work and how hard is to learn when you start. The solo arena costs the same as the other variant, but you play against AIs which become more and more powerful the more wins you get. In the end you fight a boss AI at the end of the Arena. 

Elder Scrolls: Legends use the same class system as Hearthstone, but here they are races instead. By playing different races you unlock different cards depending on the colours this race use mainly. The big difference is that some cards (marked with green arrow in the top right corner) you can level up when you level up. When you level a card you will get two possible choices and will have to choose one. The differences can range from stats to abilities. Getting one of the two variances of a card does not stop you from getting the other from packs so you can end up with both variants.

And last but by all means not least is probably the most unique mechanic Legends has and that is the runes. When you fight around the portrait of your character you will see blue runes. For every 5 health which you lose one rune breaks and you draw a card. Affected by this are two types of cards - ones which tells if a rune was broken this game somethings happens and the more interesting ones are the ones having the keyword "Prophecy". If you draw a "Prophecy" card from broken rune you may play it immediately for zero mana. 

Speaking about keywords something else which made me feel like playing Magic are the amount of keywords and subtypes. Every race from Elder Scrolls is present in the game and then some more like beasts and certain animals. This opens the possibilities for a lot of decks built around those subtypes and new keywords. 

And while on the subject of deckbuilding there are some things which should be mentioned. ESL's decks are bigger than those in Hearthstone - they can go as far as 70 cards. Also they can contain two colours of cards (should I even mention Magic here?). The colours determine to some degree the style of play the cards tend to be. For example red are aggressive and purple are more control oriented etc. 

Conclusion

I went in a bit more details than I intended but that is why conclusions exist. Elder Scrolls: Legends is a sibling of Magic: The Gathering for players who look for something faster and more casual but at the same time caring the same feeling and depth which MTG have. At the same time it brings a lot of new things to the table as well as some improved mechanics which have stood the test of time. You will find everything you like in a CCG and then some more. Try it, it is free and at the time of this review it should be already in open beta.

  

Where to find:

Official site