Category: Tier Two

Nioh is in an interesting spot and in a difficult position.  It’s very much a Souls-like (it even uses practically the same door opening animation) with missions instead of an open world.  The mechanics seem solid and I very much anticipate finishing it at some point.  During my hour, my biggest issue was learning the slightly different controls (it was ported from PS4 instead of XBox) and getting in to the weirdly different flow of combat.  My only real complaints were the very dark levels (as above) and a few badly placed enemies.

The real trouble is that Nioh is very much under the shadow of its older brother, Dark Souls.  At least so far, there isn’t much motivation for me to play Nioh until I’ve squeezed every last drop of enjoyment out of all the Dark Souls.  Even once I’m done with them, I’ll probably drop in to Sekiro before heading to Nioh.  On its own, I’m sure it would be a Tier One game – but with Dark Souls in the mix, it’ll have to go in to Tier Two until further notice.

Steam link

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BotW for short) is a game of extremes.  At times, it can be an incredibly fun and polished trek through a fantastic open world.  But also at times, it can be an incredibly frustrating experience.  It’s never frustrating for very long, but the moments of frustration are the many small bits of gristle in an otherwise well-cooked and seasoned steak.

Continue reading “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” →

Anodyne is a difficult to pin down game.  Honestly, I’m not even sure if I’m going to put it into Tier One or Two yet.  It has taught me that I may be a bit of a sucker for good audio design and soundtracks, since I ended up playing it longer than I expected based on that alone.  On its face, I found it quite reminiscent of classic Zelda – I was happy to learn that I was correct in this assessment when I visited the Steam page.  You wander about, exploring a strange world with strange creatures and caves, all the time feeling rather lost and alone.  You’re told you have a great destiny, but (and this is where it differs) it doesn’t really seem like that’s actually the case.  Perhaps if I hear something about this game elsewhere, I’ll pick it up again – but for now, I think it goes to Tier Two.  I certainly don’t regret my time, but I also wasn’t particularly engaged except by the mechanics – just the audio and art direction.

Steam link

This is a fun game – it feels a bit simple, but it is certainly challenging.  I would put this game in Tier One, except for one thing – I’ve played Thumper.  I’m not suggesting that these are the same games – but they’re the same type of rhythm avoidance game, and Thumper is the far more enjoyable one.  Still, I will likely pick this up after playing out Thumper, and there are far worse things you can spend $3 on.  Unless you get motion sick – in which case, this is probably the worst thing to spend money on.  See that screenshot?  Everything is spinning and you’re the triangle.

Steam link

It’s pedantic, I know, but the thing that bothered me the most in my first five minutes of the Turing Test was that the AI on the spacecraft said “100 degrees Kelvin.”  It should have said 100 Kelvin, since the Kelvin scale is absolute and not measured in degrees.  There was another issue I had, but I can’t actually tell you what it was without ruining a twist that happens in the fifth chapter.  As for its mechanics, the RPS article said it best by saying that “in a world that had never seen Portal nor The Talos Principle, it would be lauded, famous beyond belief.”

In about three hours, I got roughly 80% of the way through this game.  At that point, my motivation tanked and I’m not sure why.  I only have about three puzzles left, but I just can’t bring myself to try finishing them – perhaps because it feels so much like Portal and The Talos Principal.  So as strange as it seems, I think this game will have to go to Tier Two for now.

Steam link

While this game seems interesting (Minecraft but with planets), I’m just not motivated enough to play it.  Perhaps if it were a bit more like Starbound is to Terraria – which it may eventually be when it leaves Early Access.  For now, it’ll have to stay in Tier Two.

Steam link