Leapfrogging

Sometimes I just can't decide what I want to play and find myself bouncing back and forth between a few different games.  That's where I'm at right now, doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  Other than my inability to settle on one game, I've also been feeling a bit sad about the sudden demise of TellTale Studios.

Bouncing!

After I finished Two Point Hospital, I felt the inevitable crushiness of the "game hole."  "What do I play now?" as I stare at my Steam library and try to make a decision.  I don't know about other people, but I usually have at least one really weird period of time where I just stare at my giant list of games AND CANNOT MAKE UP MY MIND!  I decided to take to the store page and see if anything looked good--there's a new Tomb Raider game (but I usually wait till those go on sale for super cheap, because they inevitably will), there's a new Valkyria Chronicles game (also, a game that I will wait for a sale for)--the store page looked like kind of a bust, but one game did make a strange appearance on the top sellers list--CrossCode.  I decided to check it out and was intrigued by what it offered; a pixel graphics, SNES-inspired, ARPG-like, with a strong story.  The best part of the whole packages is that it was $16.99--a relative bargain!

Lea, the main character of CrossCode, meets many engaging characters.

I snatched up CrossCode like a delicious waffle on a Sunday morning.  CrossCode starts off with an unnamed character who is apparently trying to rescue someone who is important to her.  After a brief combat tutorial, your character finds who they are looking for, but something unexpected happens and all of a sudden this character wakes up in a completely different place--a ship that happens to be part of a huge, virtual MMO.  Your original character is now an avatar and is introduced to the mechanics of this new world through a series of tutorials.  At the end of the tutorial, the ship is attacked by a mysterious villain-like character who seems to have it out for you.  The crew of the ship helps defend you and you are transported to the beginners zone of the game world.  Your goal is to participate in the MMO and to work to unlock your memories to discover who you really are (the mysterious character at the beginning of the game).  Recovering your memories is complicated by the fact that your avatar's voice function is defective and you can only say "Hi!"  (A tech character named Sergey is working to recover your communication abilities and more one word responses get slowly added in).

So far, I've been mostly enjoying CrossCode.  Since the story is taking place in a virtual MMO, there are a lot of aspects of MMO's and MMO humor built into it.  The other characters that are part of the story are similar to many people you actually find playing MMO's--one of your initial encounters is with a character of your same class who decides that he needs to show you he is superior and challenges you to a duel.  The guy keeps randomly popping up and talking smack until you finally agree to duel him.  Yup, that's about right.  You also encounter helpful characters who end up becoming your pals and who will team up with you.

The gameplay is ARPG-like and you can face off against groups of enemies throughout many zones.  Unlike ARPG's, CrossCode also features a large amount of puzzles or puzzle-like features.  Simply navigating the map is a little bit like solving a puzzle--maps are made of of tiered features that can be navigated by finding certain places where your character can climb up and then figuring out how to get back to specific areas.  The puzzles themselves are fairly straightforward, but I am a little worried that many of them seem to be built around quick reflexes (like performing one action and very quickly having to move to another or manipulating 2 things very quickly).  I don't think my reflexes are what they once were and that I might struggle with some of the more difficult reflex puzzles.  I'm also a fool for knowing that games with a lot of clicking tend to make my wrist sore.

Trailer ownership allows you to add many customizable features to your trailers.

My other bounce between game has been EuroTruck Simulator 2.  I was excited by the most recent big content patch which added in several new and fun features.  The feature that people seem to be the most excited about is the ability to buy and modify your own trailers.  I am still not completely certain what the benefit is of owning your own trailers (maybe jobs pay more because you're using your own equipment?), but I do know that you can add unique paint jobs and other cosmetic features.  If personalization is your thing, owning your own trailers offers you another chance to make your trucks feel like your own.  A new DLC pack which offers new Krone trailers also dropped (for me, ETS2 DLC is usually a sale item).

The latest patch also offered an overhaul to the management UI as well as some graphical upgrades to some German cities.  I decided to scoop up the Italia DLC because it was on sale and am looking forward to some peaceful drives through the sunny Mediterranean.  It's really great that they continue to add content into ETS2 and that there is a large community of players who enjoy a truck driving sim.

Sad News

The sad news this week was that TellTale Games, makers of choice-based story games like The Walking Dead, suddenly closed.  This is particularly sad for players of The Walking Dead series who have been devotedly following the story of Clementine, and who had been looking forward to the latest (and what was to be the last) installment of her story.  Since the news of the studio closing, the newest season has been pulled from Steam and other digital platforms.  Originally it sounded like they were going to try to finish rolling out the series, but now it looks like it won't happen.

Group hug to remember TellTale Games.

Probably the worst part of the whole TellTale debacle is that the studio closed with virtually no notice--employees were basically told that they didn't have a job any more and were let go with no severance pay.  It's a sad end for a studio that had niched itself a unique place in the gaming spectrum.

I really enjoyed the storytelling and difficult moral choices in The Walking Dead and the ability to see what choices other players made.  Tales From the Borderlands is another of my favorites and I was surprised that the game could be so humorous but also still be strongly choice based--plus, it had some of the best musically scored moments.  This isn't to say that the games were perfect; there was much criticism that the games hinged strongly on the illusion of choice and anyone who had ever decided to buy a series at release knows how horrible those releases actually were--games were released that were full of bugs and it became completely normal to expect that release dates were more like soft targets that would inevitably be pushed back by weeks (or even months).  It got to the point where I wouldn't buy any TellTale games until the full series had been released--it just wasn't worth the frustration anymore.

I'm no expert and don't have any in-depth knowledge about why TellTale collapsed, but it really felt like after The Walking Dead became such a success that they went CRAZY.  There were so many new series and many of them seemed like really strange choices (Minecraft?).  Part of me feels like they bit off way more than they could chew.  Maybe they would still be around if they decided to focus on improving their successful products rather than trying to branch out in a million different directions?  I read something that mentioned that they stubbornly kept using their proprietary engine even though it was really difficult to program certain things.  

But who knows, I'm definitely not someone who understands game development or the gaming industry.  I hope all the employees who worked for TellTale land on their feet and thank them for the stories and great moments that they did create.

"The Wolf Among Us" Gives Fairytales a Second Take

The Wolf Among Us features a wide array of characters from fables,
nursery rhymes, mythology, and popular stories.

Time off is the best.  Over spring break I was able to dip into my back log and finally play a couple of games that I had purchased in one of the Steam sales.  My first adventure took place in TellTale's comic book spin-off series The Wolf Among Us.  I have to say that I was impressed and continue to enjoy the signature TellTale style of storytelling.

The Wolf Among Us is based off of a DC Comics series known as Fables.  I had never heard of the series before playing the game.  The basic premise of the game/comic is that many of the heroes and villains from popular fairytales and mythology have been forced to live in the same world as everyday humans.  There's a very Harry Potter-esque difference between the magical beings and the regular humans known as "mundies."  In order to live among humans these characters, especially the less human appearing, are forced to use powerful and expensive spells to disguise themselves as regular people.  Life isn't easy for these fairytale characters who find themselves struggling to blend in and make a living in the modern world.

In order to protect and uphold the laws for these magical beings a sheriff is appointed.  That sheriff happens to be the main character in the games, Bigby Wolf.  As the name implies, this is the Big Bad Wolf of "The Three Little Pigs" fame.  Bigby reminds me of a film noir style of detective--a brooding, hard drinking and smoking hero who has a tough life but still manages to get the job done.

The series centers around the investigation into the serial murders of several women from the fairytale community.  As Bigby investigates he learns that there is a wide ranging conspiracy that involves some of the more well-known fairytale characters.  Part of the challenge is simply trying to connect the dots to figure out who has actually murdered the women.  Players have to search for evidence, find clues, and interrogate suspects to unravel the mystery.  I don't want to go into too much detail and ruin the story for anyone.

Georgie.  Owner of the "Pudding and Pie"

For me the best part of the game was seeing how some of the most well-known fairytale creatures were incorporated into the world.  Characters like Ichabod Crane, Snow White, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Grendel, The Woodsman, Beauty and the Beast, and so many others are much different than their fairytale beginnings.  Georgie Porgie of the nursery rhyme, runs a strip club called the "Pudding and Pie" in the game.  He's a tattooed pimp who caters to the exotic tastes of the fairytale community.  Tweedledee and Tweedledum are private investigators and thugs who do the bidding of the rich and powerful.  Yeah, these ain't your sweet, innocent nursery rhyme characters....

Bigby is an interesting character because players are able to make choices that shape his personality.  He can be the rough, gruff, tough-talking and scary "Big Bad Wolf" or the kinder, gentler, reasoning authority.  You can choose to have Bigby rough up a suspect or to simply interrogate them.  There are times where Bigby can't ignore his true nature and is forced to revert to his wolfish self--mostly during action-packed fight sequences.

Unlike other episodic story games, I had purchased this entire series at one time.  I found that I actually prefer the binge-playing option over the one chunk at a time option.  It was nice to be able to finish up one episode and have the story fresh in my mind as I moved onto the next part.  It took me a few days to play through the entire series, but I didn't feel as confused about what was happening due to large gaps between episodes.  In the future I am going to try to buy my episodic games on sale and all at one time.

The Wolf Among Us is another great episodic story game from TellTale.  I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys TellTale's games or to fans of the comic books.  You can pick it up on Steam (I would wait until a sale--you can get it much more cheaply) for $24.99 or on other mobile devices.

Ridiculous Frustration

I am here to admit that I often make the same stupid mistakes over and over--this is completely applicable to real-life and gaming.  Maybe it's slight insanity, who knows.  My latest gaming related mistake has been rabidly following the release date of episode two of the TellTale series Tales From the Borderlands.  If you've been following it and have experience with the previous TellTale games then you're probably kicking yourself.

My brain told me not to buy Tales from the Borderlands until the entire series had been released but my heart jumped after I saw a trailer and it looked really funny.  Then my brain realized that the whole series was currently on sale!  I snapped it up like a hobo snaps up a slimy wine bottle from a dumpster.  I wish my monkey brain had waited.  TellTale has a less than stellar record of releasing things when they promise and that those things will actually function the way that they are supposed to.  If you are deluding yourself, much like I did, you should read this enlightening article about TellTale's non-impressive record through several very popular series ("A Chronicle of Buggy, Broken Telltale Games 2012-2015").

Why did I jump in only to spend way too much time searching for theoretical possible release dates?  How did I not learn?  I was really excited a couple of weeks ago because I had read one of those possible dates and was looking forward to spending a couple of hours guiding Rhys and Fiona through their next set of adventures.  Steam booted up and I expected to see an update happening...but lo and behold, no update.  Ruined!  A release date that was originally in January was pushed back to mid-February, then late February, and now sometime in March.  It makes me wonder if TellTale has their hands in one too many cookie jars.  You have the Game of Thrones series and Tales from the Borderlands both demanding their time.

I know this is sheerly psychological and stupid.  People fill message boards with rants like "OMG RELEASE EP2!!!RAAAGE" and it's silly.  One poster on the game's Steam forum brought up a great point to all the whiners (me included)--if you're unhappy you should just wise up and buy the whole series after all the episodes have been released.  That way you don't have to wait for release dates that seem to be vague estimates of general game readiness and most of the horrible, game breaking bugs that seem to pollute many TellTale games have been fixed.

If I was even remotely smart and stopped behaving like a five year-old on Christmas morning, I wouldn't be staring forlornly at my computer and silently cursing TellTale.  Now excuse me while I go look for a release date.

Tales from the Borderlands

Yesterday I made my one major purchase of the Steam winter sale in the form of Telltale's Tales from the Borderlands.  I think it is the only thing I bought that cost over $10--gotta love the Steam sale.  Telltale has been branching out thanks to the success of it's hit adaptation of The Walking Dead.   The narrative driven point-and-click games might not be for everyone, but I enjoy them.  If you're a fan of the Borderlands series and any of the Telltale story games (The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Game of Thrones) then you will want to check out Tales from the Borderlands.

Firstly, let me re-establish my fandom of Borderlands.  I am a fan mostly due to the quirky style and sense of humor that is infused throughout the games.  I wouldn't really place them on my top ten list, but I appreciate them.  So last night I decided to see how Telltale had taken the humor and style of Borderlands and made it into a new point-and-click adventure.  I have to say that I am impressed and was not disappointed at all.  In fact I am now anticipating the release of the second part of this episodic series.

Tales of the Borderlands is a complete departure from the heavy, emotional story depicted in The Walking Dead.  The story takes place after the demise of Handsome Jack in Borderlands 2 and follows two different characters.  One of the characters is an ambitious Hyperion suit named Rhys who is looking to climb to the top of the corporate ladder.  Unfortunately for Rhys his trip to the top is derailed by an even more ambitious corporate douchebag named Vasquez.  Rhys winds up being demoted and seeking revenge on his new enemy Vasquez.  He over hears Vasquez making a deal to purchase a vault key and as an act of revenge decides he is going to land on Pandora and buy the key himself...using money stolen from Hyperion by his friend Vaughn, a nerdy accountant type.  Of course once they get to Pandora they learn that they are in no way prepared to navigate the violent landscape.

Something I am enjoying about this series is how they decided to split the narrative between two characters.  You also follow the story of Fiona, a Pandoran native who crosses paths with Rhys.  For the sake of not spoiling anything let's just say she's adapted well to life on Pandora and has the street smarts to survive.

Part one of this episodic series was action packed and had many humorous moments.  As a fan of the Borderlands series I was excited to see several characters make appearances--Zer0, the haiku spewing assassin and Shade, the weirdo from Oasis who turns dead bodies into his own strange puppet show.  I noticed that many of the voice actors from Borderlands are providing voices for characters like Marcus and Moxxi.  I didn't pay enough attention to the credits but I think Fiona is voiced by the same actress as Lillith.

The Steam sale is winding down but you still have a chance to grab this series for a discounted price.