#nintendo switch
#nintendo switch
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Sky Gamblers gets by a lot on the sheer appeal of its concept. Let me get this out of the way here–this game is a mess, with plenty of bugs, inconsistent performance, long load times, strange controls and a laughable story. Despite that, I finished it in a single day on the strength of the sheer novelty of engaging in aerial dogfights. None of the planes or weapon options felt meaningfully different, but the there’s no luster lost for the process of tracking down an enemy through the air.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
With so many retro-inspired titles out there, terms like “8-bit” or “NES style” have become muddled. Few of them attempt to match the limitations of the era’s hardware, more often using it as a shorthand for games with pixel art or bad CRT filters. Oniken definitely still has that bad CRT filter, but makes a serious effort to recapture the era’s spirit, in both art direction and combat flow. At the same time its enthusiasm for the hardcore philosophy now associated with the era blinds it to problems that undercut the overall experience.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
I’ve made it out of the seaweed forests. The new chainsaw has allowed me to cut through the thick weeds, and uncover more of the history left behind. There are more of those holograms, and even this far in there are massive screens still running news broadcasts. Did they really discover a truly sustainable energy source while I was gone?
Maybe not. At the least there seems to have been a lot of infighting here. Numerous journals describe eco-terrorists taking radical action to stop the development of these cities. What could have been so awful that it was worth fighting the last remains of humanity?
Well, maybe I’m starting to get a sense of it myself. While investigating it I stumbled into the den of the largest octopus I’ve seen. The creatures so far have been massive, but this one was beyond comprehension. The suckers on its tentacles alone dwarfed me. The sea has seemed so vast, terrifying in the way it seemed to continue on. This beast is the first being I’ve met that seems large enough to live comfortably in that vastness.
Our meeting didn’t go well.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Life in Desert Child was simple when I started. Spend the day racing, sell the extra power cells I didn’t need to make money and fund repairs, and finish the day off with some ramen. It wasn’t a great life, and if you thought the ramen at those hipster shops here were a rip off, wait until you eat this $15 ramen that doesn’t even fill you up. Still it was easygoing, and there wasn’t much to worry about.
Then I got it in my head that I was gonna make it big on Mars, and enter the Grand Prix. So things got complicated.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
The Momodora Diaries are a chronicle through Momodora Under the Moonlight.
I finished the final boss only to be greeted with this. It turns out that I needed to obtain two items in order to be able to properly purify the final boss and lift the curse on this blighted city.
So I trekked back, realized that an item I had found basically useless after I found it was really the key for unlocking the final item, in a place I’d long forgotten I had to unlock.
I’m so glad I’m playing this game long after the FAQs have been written for it.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
The Momodora Diaries are a chronicle through Momodora Under the Moonlight.
Turned off one of the defensive items. Mostly because I wanted one of the additional passive abilities and there’s only two slots for passive, but it’s also helped me get a better feel for the combat rhythm. Not that I didn’t before, but being forced to be more careful does change up the space a bit and makes me more aware of the arrows’ utility.
I’ve also found out that the poison clouds that my arrows now make can also poison me. Rude. Though I do appreciate when effects and environmental dangers have the same rules applied to both the player and the enemy. It doesn’t happen often, but every time I interrupt an enemy attack or knock them into spikes I get a big kick out of it.
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.
