Blood, Bananas, Bullets--My Friend Pedro

Every once in awhile a really random game surprises the heck out of you.  For me, that game was My Friend Pedro.  I had seen some very positive exclamation about it, but hadn't looked into it at all.  I was looking for something short-ish to play from the Game Pass library and decided to try it out.

I think the best way to introduce My Friend Pedro is to imagine this line from a classic Eminem song--"hi kids, do you like violence?"--and then just leave it there.  If you said yes, My Friend Pedro is the perfect fit.  There's a bit of a story, but the absolute highlight is the extremely entertaining gameplay.  There's some light platforming but the main feature is the ability to slow time, perform wicked flips and tricks, and to be rewarded for the unique way that you mow down a wide array of enemies.  There's also a strange banana who gives you tips and is your friend (kind of....).

One of the unique levels--falling, shooting, fun!

Pros:
+ Extremely addictive gameplay.  The goal of the game is to rack up a high score by performing tricks, avoiding damage, and creatively killing as many bad guys as you can.  There is a time slowing mechanic that allows you to position your character perfectly so you can perform flips and wall jumps--all while spraying a steady stream of lead into geriatric gangsters or Christmas sweater bedecked bounty hunters.

+Levels are short.  If you're looking for a game where you can just hop on for under 30 minutes and have fun, Pedro is perfect.  These short levels also are perfect for replay--one of the main goals is to improve your score on each level and it's very nice to be able to go straight back into a level to try to beat your score.

+Variety of levels with unique features that add to the fun.  Some levels feature zip lines and ropes to swing from (all while slowing time and blasting the bejeezus out of everything); other levels feature bouncy trampolines which are perfect for flips; others feature glass windows to dramatically smash through like some sort of deranged action hero.

+Creative kills are rewarded.  Kick a gas can into a group of enemies and slow time so you can shoot it right above their heads--the resulting explosion will take them all out!  Stand on barrels and roll them into enemies to rack up special kills.  Hop onto a skateboard and kick-flip your way across levels while gunning down baddies.  It's just so fun.

+Boss levels and challenges.  Certain levels feature a unique fight against a powerful enemy.  You have to use all your time slowing and trick performing prowess to take them down.

+Rating system contributes to great replayability.  Your performance is scored on each level and you are given a rating at the end of the level.  This rating is based on how creatively you kill enemies (extra points are rewarded for performing flips, wall jumps, or using items--higher scores result from keeping the action flowing and earning kill streaks on top of your creativity score).  It's a lot of fun to replay levels to earn a higher score.  There are also collectible modifiers hidden on certain levels which can be activated when you replay a level or start a new game--things like keeping all your weapons.

Surreal and bouncy.

+Highlight gifs provided that the end of each level.  These gifs are super cool and make you seem like you're way better than you actually are.

+Variety of weapons to choose from.  Pistols, machine pistols, twin pistols or machine pistols, shotguns, or an assault rifle.  Each weapon has its own strength or weakness.  Wielding twin weapons allows you to split your aim and take out two enemies at a time.  Shotguns are great for getting up close and personal in a very gory, explosive kind of way.

+Humor.  It's ridiculous and whacky.  It's definitely not meant to be taken extremely seriously.

Cons:
+- Depending on how you feel about violence in video games, you might want to avoid Pedro.  It's over-the-top violent and that might turn off a certain group of people.  If you don't mind the over-the-top aspect of the game, you'll love it.

Recommendation:
My Friend Pedro is so much fun.  I absolutely loved it and am thinking about purchasing it because it is the kind of game that you can just randomly pick up and have a good time.  It's whacky, unique, and way over-the-top...and that's what makes it a blast.

Dark and Disturbing--Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

I'm still not 100% sold on the subscription model in Microsoft's Gamepass, but it has given me the opportunity to play some indies that I wanted to experience, but not pay for.  One game that sat on my Steam wishlist for several years was Hellblade:  Senua's Sacrifice.  It looked interesting, but it felt a little bit like it was outside my normal gaming tastes.  I finally decided to check it out on Gamepass and it was actually a cool, but very dark game.

Senua is on a quest to restore the soul of her lost love.

Hellblade:  Senua's Sacrifice tells the story of Senua, a Pictish warrior who is on a quest to rescue the soul of her deceased love from the depths of hell.  The story itself isn't directly presented and instead you have to piece it together throughout the game.  The most interesting part of Hellblade is the fact that Senua suffers from mental illness and the experience is meant to reflect how psychosis and related mental issues can impact people.  The entire experience is very dark and disturbing, but it does tell an intriguing story and give a glimpse into the reality of people living with mental illness.

Pros:
+ Great graphics.  The game looks amazing--the environments can be both beautiful and hauntingly freaky.  I was impressed with the animation for Senua--she is extremely emotive and the game manages to capture her face and expressions in a way that feels very realistic.  Even though the game is 2+ years old, it looks fabulous.

+ Unique audio design that helps players experience the voices inside Senua's head.  The game uses binaural audio that gives the sound a 360 degree feeling.  The audio design is also used in combat and some fights completely blind the player and are reliant of locating the direction of sounds.

+ Voice acting is great.  The voices inside Senua's head can be helpful or hurtful.  They represent the internal struggle that Senua is constantly experiencing.  The other characters all have their own unique voices and they are all very well acted.

+ Norse mythology.  The game is set in a world that is very Norse inspired and there are runestones scattered throughout the game which provide short voice-acted stories.  The enemies you fight are characters from Norse mythology.

+ Visual puzzles.  Many of the challenges in the game are presented as visual puzzles.  You have to really analyze the surroundings to find the right patterns.  This can be quite easy or oddly frustrating.  I found it to be an interesting way to represent Senua's internal struggle.

+ Thought provoking depiction of mental illness.  The world is distorted and disorienting in a way that is meant to represent the actual experiences of people living with psychosis and other mental disorders.  Many games try to touch on issues like mental illness and don't quite hit the mark--this game really makes you think about what it is like for people living daily with these issues.

+ Features a "making of" video that explains how the game was designed.  I usually don't watch the "extra" stuff that's included with many games, but I found this one to be particularly interesting.  The designers did a ton of research and worked with groups and people who have experienced mental illness.  It was obvious from the behind-the-scenes stuff that they were very dedicated to making an experience that accurately represented mental illness.  It also went into more detail about the story and was useful in trying to figure out exactly what the story in the game is (you really have to work to piece it all together).

Cons:
- Controls, game mechanics aren't explained well.  I kept expecting some sort of tutorial messages to pop-up, but they never really did.  The voices in Senua's head will prompt you to do something, but then there's no message that says something like "press E to focus."  I had to stop and look at the control menu a couple of different times because I couldn't figure something out.  I also had to Google a few things because I couldn't figure out how to get them to work.

+- No HUD/not much info displayed.  The game is largely cinematic, but there was a part of me that would have liked to have more information displayed--there are no enemy health bars, no personal health bar, no map, no handy compass tool to guide you.  There are visual cues that are helpful--enemies will look more beat up the closer they are to death or your mirror will flash when you have charges of focus available--but, again, very little of this is actually explained.  In some ways it's kind of nice not to have this info constantly in your face.  In others, it's a bit annoying.  Depending on how you feel about this particular issue, it could be a pro or con.

+- The entire game is very dark and disturbing.  If you're looking for a happy story, this is not it.  The settings and experiences that are represented in the game are intentionally unsettling--they're meant to represent a journey into Norse hell.  If you're easily disturbed by dark content in games, this might be one that you want to skip.  I will admit that I had some weird dreams after playing this game.  The game is also very literally dark--many areas are intentionally unlit.  This can be annoying and I would recommend not setting your darkness to very dark.

- Combat is uncomplicated, but can be frustrating.  Many enemies confront Senua on her journey and most of the challenge lies in mastering the pattern of attacks that each type of enemy uses.  It can take a little while to figure out each enemy and boss.  There are also no explanations about the mechanics in combat--for example, if Senua takes too much damage she will get knocked down.  The voices will urge her to get up, but there is never an explanation about how to do that (you mash spacebar repeatedly--I had to look it up).

- Some puzzles/areas within the game can be quite frustrating.  There are portions of the game where Senua has to navigate blindly through dark areas.  There are cues to help you, but it is a mechanic that had me frustrated at times.

- Some boss battles are quite frustrating.  There is a battle with one enemy who will almost completely blind you and requires you to just mash the dodge button with correct timing.  I don't know if I would call that experience fun, but it is novel.

Verdict:
If you're willing to overlook parts of the game that can feel quite frustrating, Hellblade is actually a unique game trying to represent intense, real-life issues.  Its strength lies in representing those issues in a thought provoking way.  I would recommend Hellblade:  Senua's Sacrifice to anyone who is looking for a unique experience and who is willing to delve into the dark world of the game.

A Quirky Adventure

My time on Gamepass has been spent playing some games with easily recognizable titles and also spending some time checking out indies.  After my genuine enjoyment of Va11-HALL-A:  A Cyberpunk Bartender Action, I was looking for my next cyberpunk bartending fix--The Red Strings Club looked to be a nice fit for this bizarrely specific genre.  The reviews for TRSC were all positive, but mentioned how short the game was.  Rather than purchase the game, it's perfect for a playthrough on Gamepass.

The Red Strings Club is set in a futuristic, cyberpunk city--glowing neon, rainy skies, androids, ominously powerful corporate entities--it checks off the entire cyberpunk must-have list.  Donovan is the bartender in the Red Strings club and possesses the unique ability of being able to read the emotions of patrons and can fix special drinks to tap into those emotions.  Tapping into emotions is important because it can influence the way someone reacts during discussions.  Donovan's boyfriend, Brandeis, is a hacker and associates with some rebellious types who are looking to take down the big evil corporations that run the world.  The story begins when a battered android stumbles through the front door of the club.  Brandeis has a special chip implant which allows him to connect to and tap into the memories of the android to discover its history and how it came to be in the club.  As Brandeis unlocks the memories, he stumbles upon a potentially world altering secret plot by one of the corporations--most people in this futuristic world have implants and a certain corporation is looking to upload a new program that can control the emotions that users experience.  It seems ominously like mind control.

The rest of the story involves coming up with a plan to foil the plot of the corporation.  Part of the gameplay involves Donovan gathering information at the club through his useful talent of reading emotions and prepping drinks.  The other part involves playing as Brandeis as he works to hack into the corporation and derail their plans.

A full playthrough of the story can be accomplished in probably 5-7 hours.  It is short.

Bartender Donovan possesses some supernatural skills.

Pros:
+Drink mixing mechanic is oddly enjoyable.  Each patron that comes into the club has emotions that appear as differently sized circles on or near their body.  There's another small, circular indicator that represents the drink that Donovan is fixing.  Each type of alcohol has a different effect on how the circular drink indicator moves--a little bit of tequila might make the indicator move one direction, adding a different alcohol might make it move up or down, adding ice will shrink the size of the circle--the ultimate goal is to mix a drink that matches up with the emotion of the patron.

+Dialogue is interesting.  Once a drink has been mixed and an emotion has been tapped into, Donovan can have discussions with the patrons in the club.  The goal of these discussions is generally to learn some sort of information that is related to the corporate plot.  Choosing the right emotion for a discussion seems to be key.  One interesting part of the dialogue is that there are some deeply philosophical questions that are tied directly to the ending of the game--much of it has to do with human behavior and what is appropriate.

+Gameplay is varied and unique.  You play as Donovan mixing drinks, an android who molds implants (there's an interesting "lathe" where you shape these implants...it's very strange), or as Brandeis as he uses his voice modulation skill and an old-school landline phone to ferret out information from people who work at the evil corporation.

+Great soundtrack.  I really dig the music in the game, it has a nice electronic vibe and gives it that perfect cyberpunk feeling.

+Much replayability.  One of the interesting parts of the game is that you can look at the "red string" that represents the path you've chosen by your gameplay and dialogue choices.  There are many potential paths and it would take several playthroughs to see them all.

+Story is chocked full of deep questions and choices.

Cons:
-It's short.  You're looking at a few hours of gameplay max.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed The Red Strings Club.  The story and gameplay are very unique and are perfect for anyone who enjoys cyberpunk or is just looking for a cool indie.  It's a great game if you just want to come home and relax, but it's also thought provoking enough that your grey matter can get a bit of a workout.

Pretty Okay--The Outer Worlds

I recently finished a full playthrough of the space RPG The Outer Worlds.  I love a good RPG and had read many positive comments about it having a few small slices of Mass Effect-like and Fallout-esque elements.  It definitely played off elements in both games, but I found that it fell short of the greatness of both of those franchises.

Marauders are a constant threat in The Outer Worlds.

The character I built was my usual sneaky, stealthy type, but this time I decided to also put a few extra points in dialogue related skills.  If I can have my character talk her way out of bad situations, I would much prefer that to killing everything in sight.  I completed all the sidequests that I found (I doubt I found all of them, because quest givers are not marked) and tried to explore as much of each area as I could.  The Xbox launcher doesn't keep gameplay stats and display them the way that Steam does, but I would estimate that my playthrough clocked in at somewhere between 50-60 hours.

Pros:
+ Vibrant, beautiful worlds to explore.  Many space-themed games can feel very samey, but I felt like the design of the zones were colorful and unique.  The flora in particular is well designed and gives each area a specific vibe.

+ The blend of steampunk/old-timey aesthetic with futuristic space worked surprisingly well.  I particularly enjoyed the many consumable items and their retro look.

+ Cast of unique crewmates to recruit.  This was one of the Mass Effect-like elements and I enjoyed building my crew and learning about their individual stories.  One feature that I really liked was the fact that as you completed crewmate sidequests, the bunk of each would change with items you found (or stole, in my case) that fit their personalities.

+ Choices.  There are multiple ways to solve the many problems that make up the main storyline and many sidequests.  Where there might be a choice that presents itself as a choice between two outcomes, there is usually a compromise option lurking somewhere under the surface.  I particularly like that these choices weren't your stock good choice/bad choice and each generally had some sort of drawback which made choosing that much more difficult.


Cons:
- Main storyline is weirdly paced and oddly uneven.  Your character is rescued from cryogenic containment on a derelict ship and then ends up on a mission to find chemicals that are needed to thaw out the rest of the people who remain frozen on the ship.  That's basically all the background that is given to you for much of the game.  The parts of the story that stand out are more related to the struggles of the individual colonies in the galaxy.  There's no information given about who the people on the derelict ship really are and why this search for chemicals is so dire until you are about 90% of the way through the game!  It's then that you learn about the major crisis facing the many colonies.  Even the ending of the game didn't feel particularly satisfying--you pick a side and then are basically told "now let's get to work to fix this big problem," and then you get an epilogue cutscene based on your choices that explains how the crisis gets fixed (or possibly not fixed, I suppose).  It feels a bit half-baked.

-No detailed character stats for companions.  Each companion has a set of skills and provides a unique skill buff to your character.  The companion detail panel only displays their highest skill and doesn't provide any detail about weapon skills--this was something that bugged the crap out of me.  In a way it is a good thing because it means that you can outfit any companion with any weapon type.  I suppose their overall weapon skill doesn't really matter, but it still bothered me.  I wanted to know which weapons they were skilled with and make choices aligned with those stats.  Maybe I'm being picky, but it bugged me.

- Armor selection is particularly thin.  There are quite a few unique weapons to choose from, but finding good armor is the real challenge.  I kept waiting to find something outstanding and never really came across anything good.

- Companions are a bit bland.  Each companion has their own unique backstory and eventually will request that you aid them on a personal set of sidequests.  I felt like with the exception of Parvati, most of the companions were half-baked.  You can talk to them and get info on their backgrounds, but it feels flimsy.

If I had to give The Outer Worlds  a letter grade, I would opt for a C/C+.  It's nice to see that there are still developers making singleplayer RPG's, but the weird pacing of the story made it feel a bit half-finished--like there could have potentially been another 50 hours of gameplay where you work to solve the major crisis that is presented in the story.  I think most fans of RPG's will be able to find something they enjoy about the game.  It was worth playing on Gamepass, but I wouldn't pay full price for it and am glad that I didn't buy it.  I can't say that I am planning on replaying it.

I Gave in to Gamepass

Shortly after I was feeling very good about my ability to control my impulses and just play one of the numerous games in my vast library, I caved and signed up for XBox Gamepass for PC.  I'm viewing it as a bit of an experiment since I haven't used a gaming subscription service before.  One nice aspect of the service is that you can cancel it at any time.  Plus, the PC version of the service is currently in Beta, so there's a special where the first three months are only $1.  In order to use the service you (of course) have to download another launcher (and, most likely, agree to allow Microsoft to monitor all your actions...I mean, not like that isn't already happening, right?).

I decided to start my Gamepass adventures with The Outer Worlds.  I've had my eye on it for awhile and wanted to play it, but it didn't really feel like a game that I would pay $59.99 for.  I kept seeing people post that it has some Mass Effect and, of course, Fallout vibes (being that Obsidian was involved with New Vegas that is not at all surprising).  There are definitely hints of both--the Mass Effect vibe can be felt in the fact that you do have your own ship and crew of diverse companions.  Your companions do banter with each other while you're out and about exploring and they also have their own sidequests that revolve around their background stories.

The Fallout feeling comes from the skill and dialogue system and also combat.  The featured combat ability is something called "tactical time dilation" and feels like a miniaturized version of VATS (it's not a total pause of combat the way VATS is, but like VATS, you can line up a shot aimed at a specific body part to yield a debilitating debuff).  There's also a ton of stuff to loot, which feels very much like Fallout.

Like both Fallout and Mass Effect, there are serious choices to be made about the varying factions in the game world.  The Outer Worlds is based in a galaxy of colony worlds that are run by a group of powerful corporations.  The corporations rule with an iron-fist of ridiculous corporate-overlordiness--everything is regulated, workers are treated like disposable cogs in a giant machine, and the people in the colonies are completely beholden to the corporations for their very lives.  On the surface, the whole system seems rotten, but the corporations also bring security and stability to the dangerous worlds where the colonies are based.  Without the support of the corporations, these colonies would fall victim to bands of roving marauders or dangerous native wildlife in the snap of your fingers.  At the same time, many of the residents of the colonies chafe at the restrictions placed on them by the corporations and yearn to live freely away from corporate control...even despite the many dangers.

Overall, I'm feeling fairly ambivalent about The Outer Worlds.  Yes, it's Mass Effect-like in the fact that you have companions, but so far, those companions are nowhere near as well-written or interesting as the ME crew(s).  The combat feels so familiar to Fallout that it's not unique at all.  I've messed around quite a bit with sidequests, but so far the main storyline hasn't captured my attention at all--I am supposed to be seeking out a person who can help my character locate some special chemicals that a somewhat-sketchy, mad scientist needs to thaw out the rest of the people stuck in cryogenic containment on the Hope.  Why should I even care about the rest of the people left frozen on the Hope?  There hasn't been any explanation about who they are--are they the family of the character you play?  Friends?  I'm finding that I don't really care and that I would rather solve the problems on the many planets that I am exploring.

I'm not feeling completely negative about The Outer Worlds and there are parts of it that I do like.  I an really enjoying the spacey feeling of the colony planets--they are vibrantly colored, have a beautiful array of funky looking space flora, and each one has its own vibe.  I also like the mashup of the sort of old-timey advertisements and products with the futuristic space flavor.  I'm also enjoying the fact that the major choices that you are forced to make are difficult and don't really seem to have an ideal outcome.

The first major choice I had to make was on the colony world of Terra-2.  The colony of Edgewater is a struggling Spacer's Choice town that has been barely limping along due to a variety of factors--illness seems to spread easily throughout the colony (the colonists call it the "plague," but my character had enough medical skill to puzzle out that it seems like the flu) and many people have succumbed to the illness.  The worst part is that Spacer's Choice won't supply enough "plague" medicine for the colonists and instead only sends enough for workers who are deemed "valuable."  Even worse, the economy in the colony is barely squeaking by and if things don't get better, there's a chance that Spacer's Choice could decide to pull out and leave the colonists hanging.

As you explore and learn more about Edgewater, you find out that there are many reasons for the woes of this small colony.  The colony's economy is built around a saltuna (it's like it sounds, a fish product) cannery that is barely functioning.  Upon investigating the cannery and meeting the manager, you learn that a large group of people have deserted the colony and are living independently.  These are valuable workers who the manager wants brought back into the fold so that the saltuna cannery can start working more efficiently.  Your first major task is to convince these workers to return to Edgewater and their lives under the thumb of Spacer's Choice.  This "convincing" is a bit shady--the manager wants you to cut off the power supply to the deserters so that they will be forced to return.

So, I headed out to meet up with the deserters and hear their side of the story.  Upon meeting them they very convincingly explained that they were tired of their lives as faceless tools in the corporate machine.  They are led by a brilliant botanist/scientist named Abigail who has managed to figure out how to successfully grow food on Terra-2...something that the colony of Edgewater hasn't figured out.  All they really want is freedom and they are happy even though their lives are decidedly more dangerous outside of Edgewater.  Rather than cut off the power to the deserter's base, Abigail wants you to cut off the power to Edgewater--this would leave the city high and dry and force its residents to join the deserters.

There's a bunch of fighting to be done in a geothermal power plant and plenty of time to think about who to support.  The deserters just want their freedom, which is very understandable given the oppressive nature of the corporations.  On the other hand, the people living in the cities will be left completely defenseless and be forced to leave Edgewater to live in the dangerous wilds with the deserters--those people didn't ask for that!  They might not be happy with their lives, but at least they are safe.  It's a very tough decision.

I decided to shut off the power to the deserter camp and force them to go back.  Why?  Well...even though their camp had food and shelter, it really seemed like they were struggling to survive in the wilds.  The main guard at the camp, Grace, felt like she was constantly fending off attacks from marauders or wild canids.  Adding even more people into the mix seemed like a bad idea.  The mission has you head back to the deserter camp after you've shut the power off...and it feels bad.  Abigail is very unhappy and refuses to leave--the rest of the camp is willing to go back and sees no other option, but they don't want to leave Abigail.  You have to convince her to return to Edgewater.  She tells you that she will only return if you get rid of the current manager at the saltuna cannery.  ("Get rid of" gives you many options...some violent, and some not.)  She also informs you that she knows how to grow food and produce medicine and could definitely do that if she converted the saltuna factory into an agricultural plot.

There's no other option but to head back into Edgewater and confront Reed Tobson, the manager of the saltuna cannery.  Of course, he doesn't want to leave!  I didn't really want to kill him (he hadn't really done anything wrong--yes, the treatment of the people in the colony was bad, but he was following the will of his corporate overlords) so I looked for an alternative--I did feel like he needed to go because Edgewater seemed extremely mismanaged.  The "saltuna" cannery was built on a planet that doesn't even have fish and the "saltuna" it was producing was actually being made out of sprats (a native creature) flavored to taste like actual saltuna.  Maybe it wasn't Reed's fault that the corporation built the cannery in a horrible location, but it felt like Abigail would be a better choice to lead the colony.  Fortunately, my character had enough persuasion skills to convince Reed to leave (even that felt bad, because Reed states that he doesn't know what to do or where to go and indicates that he would probably wander into the wilds and die).

In the end, the entire Edgewater decision felt like a lose-win type of situation.  The deserters lost their newly found freedom and were forced back into a corporate system that they despise, but the colony of Edgewater would now be able to produce its own crops (*it's probably worth mentioning here that Abigail reveals that she is able to grow crops due to her "special" fertilizer...which is made with human corpses.  There seems to be a surplus of available corpses due to the "plague" and dead marauders, but what happens when the corpse supply grows thin?) and medicine.   Life under Abigail should be better for the colonists....hopefully.