RPS fell hard for Devil Daggers, naming it our game of the year back when, but one of the most common criticisms from the "not for me" crowd was that it lacks a sense of progress.
Try Boomberang X, then. It's a first-person arena shooter with escalating waves of greebly enemies and a focus on a single weapon, but you unlock new abilities and move to new areas in between fights. There's a demo available now.
When done poorly, swinging your arms in a videogame feels like nothing at all. Fists phase through opponents, swords smack like dull sticks, and it's all a little too much like making a health points withdrawl at the NPC ATM.
Thankfully there are lots of games which do it wonderfully - so, which game does it best?
I haven't been back to Genshin Impact since a few weeks after launch, when it entranced me with brightly coloured grass and the ability to climb tall things. Since then the action RPG has added several new regions and new characters to unlock or buy, but nothing to pull me back in.
The next update, 1.5, adds magic teapots though, so maybe this time I'll return.
I keep hearing that 'no games are coming out this year', thanks to the pandemic holding everyone up. I can see that if you focus on the huge games made by hundreds of people but man, this year is filled with so many great smaller games. People could stop releasing new games for the year today and I still wouldn't have time to play everything which has caught my eye before 2022 rolls round. Disappointing if you're after those huge games but sheesh, count your blessings. So: what are you playing this weekend? Here's what we're clicking on.
Social struggles media simulator Emily Is Away <3 has officially launched some more teen drama for you to live through. Like the previous Emily Is Away games, it ferries you back to the days of social media past. It's Facebook circa 2008 this time, where you'll navigate the trials and tribulations of your senior year through "Facenook" messenger and wall posts and pokes and playlists and more. It's an excellent recreation. Is it warm in here or was I actually sweating while talking to my fake friends?
Greetings, Commanders. Here's your regular status report on the Elite Dangerous: Odyssey alpha. After gradually expanding the capabilitties of alpha players from their initial walkabouts to some FPS games, Frontier Developments are now sending players off to explore new planets again. The latest alpha phase, focused on exploration, turns players into exobiologists with genetic scanners.
Last time, you decided NPCs saying your custom name is better than fruits. I hope you enjoy NPCs commenting on your digital scurvy. Alright, here's a tricky one, a question of mastering an environment by breaking the rules, or having an environment painstakingly planned for your enjoyment. What's better: rocket jumping, or fiddling with objects?
When Larian Studios introduced the Druid class to their early access Baldur's Gate 3 in February, they also added an optional "loaded dice" feature. It was meant to smooth out the experince for exceptionally lucky and unlucky players. Their latest hotfix makes loaded dice extra loaded by only bending the rules in your favor now. It's an interesting feature for Larian to continue tweaking, and one that could make Baldur's Gate 3 feel just a little more like there's a forgiving human dungeon master behind the screen making sure you're having fun.
The Rangers are going back on duty this summer and things are scheduled to heat up. Apocalyptic RPG Wasteland 3 is launching its first big story expansion in June. Factory hub Steeltown is having some internal conflicts that could shut down the rest of Colorado if someone doesn't set them straight. That'll be where you come in to fight some bandit baddies and choose how to shove the town back on course. You can catch a look at the upcoming crisis in the new announcement trailer for The Battle Of Steeltown.
Last time I did one of these (which was a few weeks ago because I've been away, whaddaya want from me?) I said I was going to go and poke around on Itch.io, because they have as much - indeed, probably more> - porn than Steam, but they don't try and surprise me with it by pretending it's something else. And I did go poke around on Itch!
None of these game are porn, though. They're a collection of fun Pico-8 games you can play in browser, and my other abitrary way of linking them this time is that I really liked the what-it-says-on-the-tin approach to naming that the developers have employed for all of them. Makes me think they're fun, devil-may-care jaunty types of people.