Holiday Gift Guide: Video Games

Mike - For the gamer who just wants to have fun

 

Super Mario Odyssey by Nintendo - Nintendo Switch

 

It may not provide the most in-depth gaming experience, but Mario Odyssey is the most entertaining game I played in 2017. It brings back the magic that Mario 64 had an is a platforming masterpiece. Loaded with Easter Eggs, intuitive gameplay, and a wedding, Odyssey more than lives up to the hype and makes me a very happy Switch owner.

 

 

brian - For the gamer questioning the meaning of life

 

NieR: Automata by Square-Enix - Playstation 4, Microsoft Windows

 

NieR: Automata asks a lot of questions. It'll start with "can an android be alive?" and goes from there. You'll have to get over spending most of the game as a sexy anime lady, but NieR: Automata will go places that games don't go. Even if you're no good at games, you can dial down the difficulty and automate the combat. The game won't hinder or judge you. It just wants you to play and experience what it has to offer. It's a desolate, sometimes grim, sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking game that has few equals.

Zhaoyun - For the gamer who wants to get a little weird

Torment: Tides of Numenera by Techland Publishing - Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Xbox One, Playstation 4

Everyone loved Planescape: Torment, and if the game-obsessed in your life don't already own this loose sequel (or at least, a similar and quite fun game with very similar rules), chances are good that they'll like it as well! Is it as good as Planescape: Torment? Probably not...but then, what is? On second thought, why not just get the gamers in your life another copy of Torment!

 

 

brian - For the gamer with great headphones

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice by Ninja Theory - Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4

Hellblade does a lot of things right, but the thing it does right the most is the sound. A great pair of a headphones goes a long way as Senua battles the Norse men and the demons that haunt her as she seeks revenge for the death of her lover. Hellblade won't break your bank account either, as it's only $30 and well worth every dollar. 

The G - For the gamer who can't get enough Stranger Things

Stranger Things: The Game by BonusXP - iOS, Android

Did you love Stranger Things? How about The Legend of Zelda? If you answers were "yes" and "hell yes," as they should be, then Stranger Things: The Game is your dreams come true. It is, after all, an 8-bit Zelda clone set in Hawkins, Indiana. You play as Hopper, Nancy, Lucas, Mike, Will, Dustin and Eleven, each with their own peculiar strengths and weaknesses. Hopper has a super punch; Lucas has his slingshot; Nancy's bat with nails on it can bash through fallen tree trunks; Mike can ride his bike to escape various baddies; and so forth. The game is reasonably difficult, but never cheap; and it's oozing with old school retro charm. Oh, did I mention it's also free? 

brian - For the gamer who wants to solve space mysteries

Tacoma by Fullbright - Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Xbox One

You could spend all of Tacoma watching a loading bar fill up. Instead, why not watch scenes from the past as the crew of Lunar Transfer Station Tacoma try to survive imminent death and learn why they abandoned the station? These scenes play out in an innovative AR interface which allows for rewinding, following particular characters, and getting more insight into the events than your typical cutscenes. It's an evolution of the "walking simulator" genre that shouldn't be missed by anyone.

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POSTED BY: brian, sci-fi/fantasy/video game dork and contributor since 2014

Microreview [video game]: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice by Ninja Theory (developer)

High Production in Low Cost Package

If Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is anything other than an enjoyable video game, it's a value proposition. Developers Ninja Theory are no stranger to big budgets; they made Heavenly Sword for Sony, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West for just about every platform, and the most recent Devil May Cry game for Capcom. They know how to spend money, so it's interesting that they've separated from big publishers to develop and publish Hellblade at a $30 price. The end product is mostly good.

In Hellblade, you play as titular Senua, traveling deep into Nordic territory to rescue the soul of your murdered lover. In the vein of what Ninja Theory does best, it's a third person character action game. What makes Hellblade unique is that Senua suffers from hearing disembodied voices and seeing things that don't exist.

A lot of the marketing around the game has to do with the challenge in trying to portray a character with mental illness. Plenty of games have tried and it's almost always a flat portrayal of someone who's zany or unpredictable without a lot of nuance. With the help of consultants in the neurological sciences, Ninja Theory has crafted a tortured, sympathetic character in Senua.

Another aspect of the game that reflects Ninja Theory's experience and skill is in the look of it. It's a beautiful game with some really incredible motion capture, particularly in the faces. They don't look like video game faces; they're expressive and emotional every time you see them. This really helps with connecting to the characters and feeling what they feel.

While they nailed the characters and look of the game, the game parts are kind of lacking. Each level of the game will have you doing one of two things: finding hidden objects in the environment, or fighting. The hidden object stuff is mostly clever, but it's almost always boiled down to aligning objects in the right perspective to find the symbol you're looking for. It doesn't change much from beginning to end.

The combat is also not very robust. There are five enemies, excluding bosses, that you will encounter in small groups. The challenge is to keep them away from your back as they'll try to flank you to attack. With infinite ability to dodge, and most attacks blockable, the only thing that has to be figured out is reading attacks to time blocks (or dodge), and how many whacks it's going to take to kill the enemy. It's fun for a while, but it really wore me down by the end. You've got one weapon, so once you've figured out how to use it, combat loses its shine.

But the thin combat and environment puzzles couldn't keep me from seeing it through to the end. Senua and the darkness that haunts her was compelling enough on her own to keep me playing. What Ninja Theory set out to do, make a high quality game at an indie price point, is successful as long as you keep your expectations at the sub-blockbuster level.

The Math

Baseline Assessment: 7/10

Bonuses: +1 Great development of a sympathetic character in an action game

Penalties: -1 Low amount of variety in gameplay

Nerd Coefficient: 7/10 (an enjoyable experience, but not without its flaws)

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POSTED BY: brian, sci-fi/fantasy/video game dork and contributor since 2014

Reference: Ninja Theory (developer). Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice [Ninja Theory, 2017]