Daikatana (Finished)

I’m starting to think that there are actually a very small number of games worth playing… for me. Obviously, everyone’s tastes are different, so what is appealing to some may be repulsive to another, but sadly, I must add Daikatana to the same dredge pool that Divine Divinity fell to–a game that was a first impression Tier 1, lowered to a final impression Tier 3.

 

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Divine Divinity (Finished)

Divine Divinity will be the first game ever that I have put on the Tier 1 list, that not only am I not going to finish, but I am going to drop down to Tier 3. This is done with a heavy heart, as I’ve invested 16 hours into the game but I can only conclude that it simply isn’t worth anyone’s time, in spite of it possessing what feels like should be great merit.

 

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Neon Drive

Even if it is pretty, Neon Drive is just a prettier version of BIT.TRIP Runner.  It has a few improvements – you get one free mistake and only rewind to the last checkpoint (of which there are more).  But in the end, it’s just another game requiring perfection and no human creativity.  Which is sad, because it has a fantastic aesthetic.

Steam link

Too Many Games

I have too many games, and even trying all of them is turning out to be infeasible.  Therefore, I am putting everything with a “Mixed” review or lower on Steam into Tier Three, sight unseen.  Here is the list, in case I ever decide to come back to them to give them a fair shot:

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Illuminascii

The promise of this game is pretty good: you are slowly waking up to a global conspiracy of some sort, in a 3D ASCII-inspired world.  Unfortunately – unless I’m missing something – waking up consists of finding floating purple things and right-clicking on them.  It’s…less than entertaining – just the same few pieces randomly placed again and again.  I wanted to like this, but there just isn’t anything there.  Tier Three.

Steam link

Girls Like Robots

In Girls Like Robots, you must place girls, robots, nerds, cows, and more on a grid while keeping them happy on average.  Girls like robots (as you might expect) and dislike nerds.  Nerds dislike nerds, but like corners and girls.  Robots like girls but no more than three at a time.  Cows…have their own thing.

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SimplePlanes

I can see why this game attracted my attention.  You design a plane and then fly it.  Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough “simulator” to this plane simulator for my taste.  It feels just a little too simple.  Maybe that’s okay – but coming from X-Plane, it feels lacking, so it must go to Tier Three.

Steam link

…oh.  It’s a mobile game.  Never mind – it would be great on a mobile device.

Secrets of Rætikon

In Secrets of Rætikon, you play a bird.  I’m not actually sure of the plot beyond that, other than you fly about collecting triangles.  The trouble is, I’m just not sure what this game is supposed to accomplish – other than sounding suspiciously like “retcon”.  I mean, it’s kinda pretty… but there’s no plot, no beautiful soundtrack, no difficult to master mechanics – just flying and triangle-collecting.  It’s not bad (though the “you can’t fly above this point” line is annoying), it’s just entirely mediocre.  Tier Three – play William and Sly or its sequel for free instead.

Steam link

Battlefield 2

I’m in an awkward position – I’m reviewing a highly acclaimed first person shooter 12 years after it was first released.  The trouble here is that there have been dozens of AAA games that have been trying to fill the exact same role every year since then.  It’s a good concept – two teams trying to capture rally points and slowly take over the map.  But genre saturation is a thing, and we’ve passed that point by about a decade.

I say all this because Battlefield 2 is a good game.  But it is far from original, and there are any number of other, better games that will scratch the exact same itch with better graphics and without having to install Punkbuster and GameSpy Comrade (I’ve lost count how often I’ve uninstalled those programs).  Honestly, there isn’t a whole lot to say about Battlefield 2 – it was successful enough that you see the same aspects repeated again and again in every other US Armed Forces FPS since then.  My conclusion is this: when it came out, it was fantastic and it deserves its place in history.  But there isn’t really a reason to play it now (especially since you’ll only be playing on LAN).  To Tier Three it goes.