It's Game Review Time! Long story short, after the two breaks that we've had lately, I wanted a way to disconnect from reality, so I returned to a game that I used to play: Awesomenauts, a 2D multiplayer online battle arena by Ronimo. My brother and I got this game during a steam sale a few years back, but it has since become free to play, which is really exciting because it means more players which means quicker match ups to be able to play. It's a really fun game that's pretty easy to learn, and I just really enjoy the way that it looks. Basically though it's "2D League of Legends" (credit to Sam for such a good summary), so there isn't a ton to talk about gameplay-wise, so I'm just gonna talk about some of the characters I like and how the games sort of play out. [All pictures included come from the game's official website] The Basic Game Structure So basically, each team has 3 players who are trying to defend their own base, and the destroy the other team's base. However, there are also turrets, which act as a strong defense (the big mech machine gun looking thing above) and droids (the two little guys on the left with buzz saw arms) who function as meat shields when fighting against the turrets. It's pretty simple over all, but there's a variety of different characters who all play a little differently, and there's a lot of strategy that goes into it. It also really requires full engagement on the part of all 3 team members, or it really will be a struggle to have a fighting chance (basically it's really frustrating when someone goes inactive). One thing I really love about this game is that it's not about the kills. While yes, these stats are recorded, and it is helpful to kill others and not die, there's so much more to the game than attacking other people. A lot of it comes down to defending and attacking other turrets, and following waves of droids in order to be able to do so effectively. I'm not very good at any PvP game, but I've gotten a lot better at this one than at any other and even gotten a kill streak a few times, because I can actually use other strategy and skills to still help out my team, especially using characters that fulfill a more defensive or support role. Which brings me to... The Characters Awesomenauts has over 20 characters, and they all feel really unique, which I think is really impressive. A few of them do play a little similarly, but the character designs are all so vastly different, and they do have slight differences move-wise that set them apart. They all have their own theme music and voices too. The characters fall into a few different categories, some of them being fighter, tank, support, harasser, and assassin. I haven't unlocked all of the characters, so I'm only going to talk about a few of them who I've had fun with lately (2 of which are starter characters, but they're honestly still my favorites).
So, that's about all I have to say about Awesomenauts! I can foresee myself wasting hours on it over the summer, and I encourage you to try it out if you want! It's free to play and matches usually are less than 20 minutes long, and it's just such a charming game.
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This is an older game, but I played it for the first time recently, and since it's slated to get a sequel this year, I decided, why not. Full disclosure, I have not yet completed the game, but I feel that I've played enough of it to make an initial review - but maybe if I have time this summer I will follow this up with a post reflecting on the end. Rad. That's the one word I would use to describe this game. The music is this really cool loop that, even after playing the game for quite a while, I never got tired of, and I would totally recommend listening to for fun. The characters have a little dialogue at the beginning, and it's very simple, but also adds a lot of charm to the game because the characters are very lovable and give off a very Spongebob and Squidward but if they were bffs kind of vibe. The art is not what I would consider very good, but considering the console the game is for - the sega genesis - it's not terrible. Despite my claims that it's not great art, I absolutely love it. Yes it's kind of bad, but it seems like that's the look they were going for and they executed it really well. Just look, and read the text next to the health bars: This game doesn't take itself too seriously artistically and that results in some great, goofy dialogue, some fun music, and a really unique visual style.
As for the gameplay itself, you're aliens stranded on Earth trying to get home. This Earth is set up in layers, and you have to explore the map to find an elevator to get up a level. You can also be killed by drowning or hazards, or just have your progress slowed by being pushed off of the edge of a level down to a lower one. Along the way you can find friendly NPCs as well as power ups that are shaped like presents, and telephones that will reveal some of the map. The game is, at least because of the chaos, challenging, but also really unique and pretty enjoyable. When you first play the game, you aren't given any sort of tutorial, but this is actually something beautiful. It fits completely with the story of being stuck on a planet that you know nothing about. You aren't exactly sure who or what is a hazard or a helper, you really have to explore to see. Even the powerups have unknown abilities, and you have to use one in order to figure out what that kind of present does, which can be good - healing you completely or letting you fly - or terrible - a lightning cloud that kills you instantly. Once you've tried a present of that kind, it becomes labelled from then on, so it really feels like you're in a new world just trying to make sense of everything. For the most part, the game is also very forgiving to allow for this sort of experimentation, which is very nice. Overall, I think I appreciate this game more than most people since especially nowadays we want games that are a little more intuitive. It also really lacks much substance in its storyline, so I could see that as another criticism. However, I really love it for just being such a goofball of a game and having such a unique feeling to it. It's really inspired me to try to make more art that is less serious while still being honest and reflecting real life feelings like confusion, even in such a silly way. This is a game that I had been very excited about since I first heard about it. Despite this, I had no idea what it was going to be like going into it, and I didn't do any research on it. I love the Animal Crossing series and I have a lot of great memories playing it, so I may be a bit biased towards this game, but overall I would say it has definitely met my expectations in most areas, and I have really enjoyed it so far. For a mobile game especially, I would say it's pretty great.
In case you don't know, the Animal Crossing series is a game series where you basically get a house to live in in a cute little town where you're trying to do chores and odd jobs to earn money to decorate your house and get clothes, and in some games, improve the town. Pocket Camp is somewhat similar except you don't have a house, but instead a campsite that you have to decorate to appease your guests, but once again, you are doing chores to get money in order to do this. You also do have a camper that you can decorate without consequence, which I think is a nice trade off. Another big difference is that in the main series, you have a set of neighbors that doesn't change very frequently, but in this game, which animals are hanging around different camp areas varies every three hours. Overall it feels very consistent with the rest of the series, keeping the cutesy style and general gameplay structure, though it is a little simplified since it is a free mobile game. I'd say that there are a few flaws with the game though. It's very difficult to design a campsite layout that is easy to move through. With all of the items that you have to make in order to invite new neighbors to your campsite, it's easy to suddenly have a very cluttered layout that can be hard to move through. This may just be a me thing though as I am earning how to have better, more open layouts. Also, though I understand why they did it, I'm a little disappointed in the lack of variety in fish and bugs (which are not neighbors but things that you catch). In the main games, a huge motivator is finding rare fish and bugs to fill your encyclopedia. However, it Pocket Camp, fishing and bug catching just becomes a way to farm for money or rewards from neighbors because you basically always know what you're going to get. Everything feels a lot less self motivated and more motivated by what the neighbors want, which is unfortunate because it detracts from that feeling of freedom that is so appealing in the main line of animal crossing games. I'm hoping that as I move further in the game that I will be more free to customize my camp the way I want rather than trying to appeal to the neighbors. Obviously, the game is doing very well for just being released, already being on the recommended page in the app store, as well as being played by a majority of my friends. I think it will probably lose popularity much like Pokemon Go did, but still be the kind of game that you can visit when you just want a fun little relaxing game to play. |
AuthorHi, I'm Abi, a DSA student who likes games, drawing, writing, and acting. Archives
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