#PS4
#PS4
by Amr (@siegarettes)
The Momodora Diaries are a chronicle through Momodora Under the Moonlight.
I found the new way. A strange underwater prison area. Its real dark, and can only be illuminated but a small item. Seems like a mostly meaningless gimmick but does add to the atmosphere. There’s a weird use of the water to let you use infinite jumps for exploration. It leads to an interesting area with instant death spikes that require careful timing. I’m glad I have the air dash otherwise this would be a lot harder.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
The Momodora Diaries are a chronicle through Momodora Under the Moonlight.
I’m lost. I’m hopelessly lost. I knew this would happen it always does. somehow I’ve explored all the available map and haven’t been able to get to any of the obstacles. It’s nothing but dead ends and frustration. I must have run through the three or four available areas seven times trying to figure out what I’m missing.
I’m missing something right? There’s always something obvious you’re missing. something that isn’t telegraphed and is part of the cool mystique but goddammit this is exactly why I can’t deal with this backtracking nonsense. I swear I must have spent over an hour being lost. Give me a damn waypoint. Metroid Fusion had it right all along.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
The Momodora Diaries are a chronicle through Momodora Under the Moonlight.
I’m gonna try it. I’m gonna try my damnedest to finish Momodora this time. I’m basically allergic to Metroidvania games. I’m hopeless with directions and I don’t enjoy getting lost. I need a GPS to get to my own house sometimes. So I don’t consider it entertainment to do that in a game.
But Momodora has a cute art style and the combat seems fun, even if there’s some gross hints of ~dark souls~ in it. So I’m gonna make a real effort to finish it this time before I fall into the inevitable Metroidvania cycle of getting lost, taking a break and then having to restart because I don’t remember what the hell I was doing.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
The island of Pipe Push Paradise has an infrastructure problem. They have a single plumber, and he’s been asleep for about a week. And of course every pipe seems to have come undone since then. That’s where I enter, on a lonely sailboat, coming to fix the plumbing problems of a town that seems almost indifferent to my existence.
Out of sheer indignance and stubbornness I’d like to say that I’ll complete all of Pipe Push Paradise’s puzzles. But sometimes you’ve got admit when you’re over your head, and I am waaaaay over my head with these problems. The flat shaded, Golden Books-esque aesthetic might seem inviting, but it quickly became clear that this island’s plumbing problems are mind bending nightmares.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Before I even began Mutant Year Zero it was broken. Starting a new game greeted me with a bizarre “Do you want to continue without saving?” prompt which didn’t allow me to continue unless I said yes. It was only after I played a session without dialogue or area transitions triggering, dying to enemies I obviously wasn’t supposed to fight, that I was able to play the game intact. Even then it was clear that this game was going to be a rough ride. This is a harsh game that made it clear it would beat me down every step of the way, sometimes with exhilarating, but often frustrating, results.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
It took a lot of reprogramming for me to get into Override: Mech City Brawl. Out of the gate it reminded me of other arena fighters like Gundam Versus or ARMS. Override is slower paced, focused more on physicality than speed. If other arena fighters present their characters as nimble fighter jets, then Override’s mechs are thrashing heavyweight boxers, crushing the city underfoot as they battle. It’s awkward to start with, but as I adapted to it the game started to show promise.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
It’s winter in Chicago. As I return to Mudrunner for the first time since last year, I can’t help but think of the way it reminds me of driving through a Midwest snowstorm. There’s a different vibe, but the physicality of it, the emotional content, it’s the same. Mudrunner is all the frustration and triumph of parallel parking on a snowed out street. It’s a translation of the way the tires crest and crush the waves of wet earth. The way the suspension tries to push back, until it can’t. The grinding of the wheels as they steer back and forth trying to clear a path.
Mudrunner is ostensibly a game simply about driving piles of logs between destinations, but it is also a game about the journey and the struggle between you and its primary character: the ever changing muddy terrain.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Born of a daughter’s request to have a version of Ghosts ‘N Goblins with a playable girl, Battle Princess Madelyn carries both the spirit of that childhood desire and the series it pays homage to. This results in a game that both challenged and charmed me, bringing spooky character designs with a sense of cuteness, alongside familiar chaotic action.
It leaves a good first impression. I was drawn into the world and simple joy of warding of the assault of the undead. Changing the damsel into a pup that needed to be avenged (and watches over you as a spirit) was a cute, if sad, touch. But as I went on it slowly dawned on me that it wasn’t the game I wanted. The levels were unfocused, too often full of sprawling areas that felt barren and tedious to navigate. Alternate paths and secret areas seemed promising but often led to…dead ends? Or side quests with no tangible reward.
I felt pretty down on it. Until I was met with the realization that Battle Princess Madelyn was actually two totally different games.