#switch
#switch
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)
Good hand drawn art always gets to me. Despite how impressive games look now, with all the variety of art styles, there’s a certain warmth to hand drawn art and the effort put into them that never fails to charm me. Nairi: Tower of Shirin is one of those charming entries, and it takes full advantage of that warmth with a strong storybook vibe.
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.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Marble It Up! is at once familiar and strange. It’s a ball rolling puzzle platformer that alternates between open ended puzzle levels and fast paced time trials. While it might initially bring to mind to mind SEGA’s Monkey Ball series, it follows directly from the Marble Blast series, a PC series which shares some developers with Marble It Up! The devs’ experience comes through here, making it clear they know how to make a good momentum based platformer.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
In terms of shooter homage, Super Hydorah is definitely one of the top players. Its blend of arcade influences and tributes to games like Gradius, R-Type and Turrican is as meticulous as it was in the original Hydorah release, and it continues play as well after its move to the Switch. What’s new in the Switch version is the addition of some quality of life features, like boss health bars, and the Rookie Pilot difficulty mode (both of which have been patched into the PC version now). These are small changes, but they make a huge difference in enjoying Super Hydorah.
