Category: First Impression

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Here is a simple game with a neat idea. In Hieroglyphika, aside from the letters in the title, you’ll find not a single recognizable English alphabet character in the game. All the information that you’ll need to uncover on how to play the game, weapon stats, armor resistances, movement and actions are all communicated to the player via some symbol or another. It’s surprising how quickly you’ll pick up on it all once you start to figure it out and while concept isn’t mind blowing (or entirely the main focus of the game) it’s a neat little trick that adds some fun and uniqueness to this title.

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Trine 2. Okay, is that 3+3, 3(2), 3^2 or… I mean, I’m trying here.

I’m… not against Trine 2 but… it just feels like more of Trine 1. I simply don’t have anything interesting to say beyond that point. You still play as the same 3 from the first game; a thief with a grappling hook, a wizard that creates boxes and a warrior that smashes things. You still obtain exp potions to gain new abilities. You still solve well-made puzzles and fight simple battles.

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The age-old tale of the legendary triangle that builds the foundation of every fantasy–the fighter, the wizard and the thief.

Trine is a lot better than I thought it would be. Ever since the game’s release I’ve avoided it because of the masses that heralded it as amazing. I simply assumed that the fools had no perspective. Turns out, they were right; Trine is a pretty nice game–and not just for its visuals. Trine is a bedtime story. It’s a fantasy tale of a mystical world of beautiful things populated quickly by three simple heroes. There is no grand backstory or deep character motivation for any of the big three. They are who they simply are, as is needed by the tale that is told around them.

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Ahh… the classic tale of a girl and her fishing pole. And bipedal fish.

 …I’m guessing that says Umihara Kawase by the way. I actually have no idea. I can’t read Kanji.

The SNES era was a realm of trying out cute and simple ideas. Finally, we could display more than 12 different colors at once for our sprites, and likewise our levels could be quite a bit more dynamic. There were armfuls of stinkers, but there was also a wealth of really interesting designs that made absolutely no sense–but they never had to. (Ninja Baseball Bat Man is a perfect example of this, and yes I know it came out as an arcade machine, but it was still the same era.)  Umihara Kawase is exactly that kind of game. It makes no sense when you think about it, is filled with images and ideas that you would relate with a stoner’s dream but works in such a snappy cute and fun way that you can’t help but enjoy it.

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Tower Defense games SUCK! Except for Bloons. And Gemcraft. Oh, and especially…

Defender’s Quest is a tower defense game with high energy. The world is infested with an incurable plague. Without much ado, you are introduced to the main character–a girl who is dying. Before she expires, she’s carried off and thrown into the pit of dead and dying bodies where all the sick get cast. Upon running into a fellow infested, the infested goes berserk, forcing the girl to fight back. Summoning strength from an untapped part of her spirit, she summons herself to the “halfway place,” a realm between the dead and the living. Calling with her mind to the nearest hero, she summons a sarcastic berserker to her side to protect her.

Continue reading “Defender’s Quest: Valley of the Forgotten” →