Video Game Disappointments

As a second part to my video game highlights post, here are some of the video games I played in the last few years that I wanted to love but just couldn't for various reasons. This is noticeably shorter, mostly because if I don't like a game, I bounce off way too fast to find them disappointing. It's the games I wanted to enjoy that sting the most.

1. Balatro: An interesting play on poker, with all sorts of crazy jokers that give you insane combos to score points. It's very well done for what it is — a deck-building rogue-lite, through and through, where you keep fighting against (and manipulating if you can) RNG while getting the most out of every run. Rogue-lites are very much like gambling, so it makes sense that a poker game would be the epitome of this design philosophy, right? However, it is also the game that made me realise I'm actually not super fond of rogue-lites.
2. Blood West: An atmospheric stealth shooter game set in the weird west. You are unnamed gunslinger brought back to life by local spirits and tasked with cleansing the land of the undead and their corrupting influence. The graphics are old-school, the music is nice, the grid-based inventory is fun to interact with, and you need to keep your eye out for precious loot. My main issue isn't really the largely empty landscape, but the lack of interactivity. I was under the impression that this was going to be an immersive sim, but it ended up being "just" a stealth shooter. Not necessarily a bad game, just not the game I was expecting.
3. Chants of Sennaar: In this game you're supposed to decipher a number of languages (actually, only constructed writing systems as there are no spoken words in the game) to figure out what people and old tablets are saying to solve puzzles and ultimately reunite the peoples of the mysterious Tower. I generally liked the music and atmosphere. The way the camera didn't always follow the character immediately felt really annoying at times. The puzzles were okay but not too difficult. In fact, my main problem with this game is that the "languages" only have about 40 characters each and the "grammar" is very rudimentary in all cases. I loved how I could note my own interpretation of a word/character in my notebook, but then comes a point in the game when it checks whether you have figured out the meaning of a few words, and if so, it gives you the "proper" translation of them. If you haven't played this one, I suggest you first try it without using the illustrated journal; it'll be tougher but probably more immersive.
4. Cloudpunk: I really wanted to like this game. The map is pretty big, the graphics are alright (if you're into voxel art), and it's got good cyberpunk vibes. However, walking about and driving the hovercar quickly lost its charm. All you can do is walk and sometimes talk to people (by which I mean listen to the dialogue). The cyberpunk themes the game touches on are okay, but they only scratch the surface. With more things to do and more options to influence the story, I could see myself play this game again. Basically, I think I wanted a more open sandbox set in the same hand-crafted world.
5. Defender's Quest 2: Mists of Ruin: This one's a travesty. I really, really liked the original Defender's Quest (heck, I even replayed it a few times while waiting for the second instalment), and then this is what we get? The story is very simple (not that it was overly complicated in the first game), the characters are boring, the art is way too busy for not much gain, and the gameplay worst in almost all respects. I like how skill trees have been simplified (as they looked more complex in the first game than they really needed to be), but why do we only have one instance of each character? It's supposed to be a tower defence game, yet we only have like five "towers"...
6. Shadows of Doubt: Another one I really enjoyed for a while. The premise is rather interesting: you're a private detective solving all sorts of crimes in a city with detailed inhabitants and establishments. Everything is procedurally generated, so the possibilities are limitless. You keep gathering clues and pin them on a clue board, manually discovering connections (and noting them using a cord) — it's all brilliant. But then, out of the blue, it was out of early access, and the game just feels... repetitive, buggy, and poorly optimised. Don't get me wrong, it's a great experience while it's fresh, but once you start to see the patterns, it becomes tedious to play. Which is a shame, because it was going to be my new favourite game at one point. As it stands now? It's a very expensive demo.

Reworked THW Yes/No Oracle

If you're unfamiliar with the term, in solo gaming circles an oracle is just a random method to generate an answer to a question. The simplest and most universal form is the yes/no oracle—exactly what it sounds like. You ask a question, and the oracle gives you a yes or no answer.

For example, if your character wakes up in an unfamiliar room, you might ask the oracle "Is the door locked?". Then you assess the odds based on context. If the previous encounter was a fight, it's likely your character is being held prisoner, but if it was just a night spent carousing... probably not.

Note that this is not new technology (just formalised terminology); GMs have been doing this in "regular" RPGs for a long time:

Player: "Is there a balcony close enough to jump to?
GM who hadn't prepped for this: "Hm, there probably is. Let's say, on a 3 or higher. (rolls a 3) Yep, but it'll be a tough jump."

Second thing, Two Hour Wargames. They're a small publisher most famous for their Chain Reaction system and the various wargames it powers. They have been doing solo and co-op miniature wargames and RPG-lite games (now sometimes termed adventure wargames) before it was cool. In fact, Ivan Sørensen was an avid 5150 player before he designed his own solo sci-fi games.

THW games often already straddle the line between RPG and miniature game, but with the inclusion of a universal oracle, it becomes even easier to play it like a "proper" solo RPG. Someone posted one on the THW forum, although I learnt of it in this actual play report (which you might prefer as PDFs can only be downloaded by members).

I figured I could restate it in a more concise way while putting my own spin on it, so here it goes. If you don't know any THW titles, keep in mind that "pass Xd6" means how many dice are lower than or equal to the target number.

Any time you have a yes/no question, you may ask the oracle. Figure out the odds, then roll 2d6 against the target number (4 for likely, 3 for 50/50, and 2 for unlikely).

• pass 2d6 with doubles: Extreme Yes!
• pass 2d6: Yes
• pass 1d6 with even: Yes, but...
• pass 1d6 with odd: No, but...
• pass 0d6: No
• pass 06 with doubles: Extreme No!

Okay, so I replaced "Yes, and..." and "No, and..." results with Extreme Yes and No. This is largely just a terminology thing; I am quite comfortable with the Mythic GM Emulator's Fate Chart, and it happens to use these words.

Second, I changed the pass 1d6 result so that no re-roll is necessary. Of course, now the chances of Yes, but and No, but results aren't equal, but I personally see no problem with it. For an unlikely yes answer, 1 is a "No, but" and a 2 is a "Yes, but". A 50/50 increases this with one possible "No, but" on a 3 (which is still an improvement as the "but" part offers a consolation, and likely adds yet another "Yes, but" on a 4.

You could add "extremely likely" odds with a target number of 5 and nigh impossible with 1, but they would almost never surprise you anyway. Of course, I almost included them above just because I like symmetry.

Video Game Highlights

I've been writing annual retrospectives about the video games I played, briefly describing my experiences — but I've never actually shared them before. Instead of letting them gather dust, I decided to publish them in two parts: one for my highlights and one for my disappointments.

I've listed these games alphabetically for a change (even though I have an unnatural fascination with detailed scoring systems). Also note that not all of them are "new" games. I don't really keep up with the video game industry and often end up replaying games that I once enjoyed (Max Payne 2 being an absolute mainstay in my gaming library).

• Bombe: It's a very interesting variant of Minesweeper where you don't actually solve the puzzles but construct a number of rules that would algorithmically do it for you (30,000 of them in total). There are variations regarding tile set (hexagonal, square, triangular, etc.), tile size, and clue types (like "2 or less", "4 or more", or "an odd number"). It's incredibly minimalistic in its presentation, and it doesn't explain itself too well, but once you get it, it's really good. It also works really well with a tight gaming schedule; you just incrementally add or modify rules to solve even more stages.
• Firewatch: A walking sim taking place within a national park where you're on lookout for fires. The gameplay is simple (you walk around, notice things, report them on the radio, and chat with the nice lady on the other end); most of the time you're either looking at things or listening to the dialogue. I tried it simply for the atmosphere: being tucked away in the wilderness, isolated from other people... I think we can all relate to it sometimes. The game is centred around a mystery that gradually presents itself, but it's not really an investigative game. It's also gets pretty emotional at times. It's nicely done overall, although the resource usage was subpar the last time I played it (lagging and jittering at places where it really shouldn't have), and of course it's got fairly low interactivity. If you're a fan of games like Dear Esther, Tacoma, or Gone Home, you should definitely give this one a try.
• GemCraft - Frostborn Wrath: One of the best tower defence games out there. There are more than 100 fields (each with three game modes) and a number of battle traits to customise your runs (and to get juicy XP multipliers). It can get a little grindy at times (particularly to farm currency and talisman fragments), but at least XP cannot really be farmed as you only gain the highest amount you've been able to achieve on any given stage. It's a real gem is all I'm saying.
• Graveyard Keeper: A sort of life sim with a grim setting and dark humour. You find yourself in a quasi-medieval place as the newly appointed graveyard keeper. You do the usual life sim stuff (collect, craft, farm), but your main job is to maintain the church graveyard (and after a while the church itself), while figuring out how to get back to the real world.
• Hollow Knight: This game caught my eye back when it was on Kickstarter, but I only pulled the trigger much later. In general I tend to skip hype trains and check out the product (whether a game, movie, or something else) when the buzz has considerably calmed down. In this case, I think the hype was justified. The sounds and visuals are beautiful, the movement fluid, the controls responsive, the obstacles challenging, and the secrets bountiful. It's a metroidvania with excellent non-linear design centred on exploration and defeating bosses. This latter aspect is one I am not a huge fan of, but it didn't bother me too much.
• Kindergarten: An irreverent game where you replay the same day in kindergarten as the new kid over and over again, solving various puzzles and collecting items. It's rather minimalistic in terms of graphics and controls, but the dark humour is top notch. Mind you, there's a lot of violence. A lot.
• Knytt Underground: This was my first metroidvania game, and it's still my favourite. It's one of the few games where I really just want to walk around and see where a particular path leads me. The map is enormous, packed with secrets; seriously, I cannot overstate how huge and atmospheric it is. The story's nice, too, but I really played for the moments when a curious detour took me to completely unexpected places.
• Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk: A Wizardry-like game of the Japanese tradition. I'm not too fond of the graphic style of JRPGs (or anime, FWIW), but I can't argue with good design. The beginning of the game is rough (almost explaining the same things twice for some reason), and one of the main character's voice is annoying enough that I almost didn't continue playing. It would've been a huge mistake as the game itself is otherwise one of the best in the genre. The gameplay loop is as expected: recruit characters, equip them, go down, explore the dungeon, fight monsters, gather loot, return, sell loot, heal/revive as necessary, then go down again — with every aspect being rather polished. I loved exploring the various dungeon levels and uncovering their secrets. Just remember that it's a Japanese game, so expect at least some grinding to be necessary (and probably a lot if you want to 100% it).
• Outer Wilds: You're an astronaut exploring a solar system equipped with a translator device so that you can gather as much knowledge about an extinct (and much more advanced) civilisation as possible. You're trapped in a time loop, though: every time the sun explodes, you find yourself waking up next to your spaceship back at home base. It's a mystery game with a fully simulated (albeit miniature) solar system with very interesting planets (seriously, the level design is incredible). You're given some pointers, but otherwise you get to explore freely. There are a few difficult parts (a little platformer experience can go a long way), but apart from those, it's all about uncovering secrets and applying what you've learnt. A truly amazing experience.
• Postal 2: An oldie but goodie. I just love this game. Basically, you're a crazy dude trying to get by in a society on the verge of madness. You can decide how big of an asshole you'll be, but everyone else is definitely going mental around you. You play through five days (or a week with the expansion), each day having a to-do list with rather innocent items like "get milk" and "pick up pay cheque". You get to explore the town (each day with new zones available for you), and you're always rewarded for it (with ammo, weapons, armour, health, etc.). Also, different groups react in different ways to each other and to you — a real open world experience.
• Stardew Valley: An amazing true indie game; it's a farming sim (or life sim) where you manage your grandpa's old farm. It can be very relaxing (or not, depending on how much you want to optimise your time and profits), and even emotional (as some of the villagers' stories feature all sorts of troubles related to relationships and the human condition). The visuals and music are rather charming. Best of all, the creator occasionally drops massive updates for the game (with slight tweaks and a lot of new content) — and these are not DLCs you need to purchase separately, but genuine updates to the base game.
• Streets of Rogue: You join the (shady) resistance to overthrow the (genuinely) evil mayor. You start at the bottom of the megacity and work your way up one procedurally generated level at a time. You pick a class that gives you some abilities, unique ways to earn XP, and an optional goal beyond just fucking up the mayor. There are all sorts of ways you can achieve your objectives on each level, relying on all sorts of items (a boombox that compels nearby NPCs to dance, a cardboard box that lets you sneak into anywhere provided no one actually sees the box moving, or the Necronomicon that wakes up the dead in the graveyard) and predictable behaviour patterns of the NPCs. It's fast, wacky, and furious — and insanely replayable as you figure out new strategies and unlock new classes (jock? mobster? gorilla? vampire? all of those and more), not to mention mutators that change the rules of the game in often major ways.
• Supraland: It's a 3D metroidvania in a literal sandbox. The story is kept to a minimum; the focus is on exploration and solving puzzles. There are a number of unlockable abilities that allow you to overcome challenges in obvious and delightfully non-obvious ways ("wait, can I do that?"). There's some fighting and coin-collecting there, too, but it's mostly about solving environmental puzzles and figuring out if and how you can get up there.
• The Stanley Parable: Another walking sim, but this time with an existential philosophical bent. You play as Stanley who realises there's no one else in the office, so you go looking for your co-workers. Everything "interesting" you do is beautifully (and hilariously) narrated... and I can't really say anything else without going into spoilers. If you haven't played it yet, and you don't mind games making fun of themselves, developers, and players equally, then do yourself a favour and check it out.
• Train Valley 2: A charming little puzzle game where you build railways to move materials, workforce, and products to their destination. I found the graphics and music fairly relaxing. The game's not too difficult; it's perfect for winding down after a long day.

Review: What Lies Beneath

Disclaimer: I was provided a review copy of the game. Also, some of the links below are affiliate links (meaning I get a small percentage of the sale without extra cost to you or the publisher).

Written by Chris Scaffidi and published in 2023 by Fervent Workshop, What Lies Beneath is described as "a solo dungeon-crawler of dice, decisions and death" that is "structured as a branching narrative". We all know what this really means: it's a gamebook!

In case it needs explanation, a gamebook is a form of interactive fiction delivered in book format. The text is arranged into numbered paragraphs (or sections) that you don't read linearly. Instead, at the end of each section you are given a number of choices that direct you to different paragraphs, leading to different outcomes in the story. Some gamebooks are literally just this (like the Choose Your Own Adventure series), while others also have detailed game mechanics.

While a lot of modern gamebooks strive to be epic in scale (often having a thousand or more sections), WLB is relatively short even compared to the classics (241 sections vs. the standard 400 of Fighting Fantasy). What it may lack in size, it makes up for in depth and mechanics.

Let's start at the beginning. There's no detailed backstory; you are thrown right into the game. You wake up in a dungeon with no memories or equipment and an apparently infected arm. Then the game describes how you are supposed to use the book, and you get to make your character (just a few stats, really).

The next few sections introduce the various game mechanics by example (e.g. you are taught how Hit tests work by having you encounter a giant rat). This sort of tutorial and teaching only what's relevant at a time reminded me of Metal Heroes and the Fate of Rock — and I loved it there as well.

I found it really interesting how WLB handles testing the three stats differently:

• Hit tests are the most straightforward. You roll as many dice as your Hit stat, and you need at least one of them to meet or beat the target number.
• Wit tests are about dice manipulation. You roll a number of dice equal to the difficulty then try to arrange them into a sequence (or run). For each point of Wit you have, you can either re-roll a die, flip it, or increase/decrease its value by one.
• Testing Dex involves physical dexterity. You place two dice on each other to form a tower. You need to flick a third die at the tower from a distance in inches equal to the difficulty so that it touches the tower without knocking it over. (There is an alternative system provided in an Appendix in case you don't have room for or don't want to flick dice around.)
  

On the one hand, these mechanics often got me out of immersion. It's hard to retain the gritty atmosphere built up by the text when you have to handle dice to such a degree. However, engaging the mechanics has never been this much fun for me with a gamebook (not even The Sword of the Bastard Elf with its simple but elegant resource management or DestinyQuest and its gazillion combat abilities). Or perhaps I just like dexterity games.

Let's talk about the atmosphere. This is gritty fantasy through and through. You wake up behind enemy lines, and your only concern (at least at the beginning) is survival. You must balance risk and reward, because the game doesn't pull its punches (but you're never thrown into more trouble than you really ask for either). Descriptive texts are brief and evocative. Illustrations are plenty, but they're fairly small.

Getting out of the dungeon also works as a checkpoint in the game. You get to save your current stats and also spend your XP to improve your character a bit. When you die, you don't have to start over from the beginning (although you might still want to). From then on, the game focusses on overland exploration — this is where the low number of sections is felt the most. Since you can go in any cardinal direction, you essentially have four different stories, and not all of them felt particularly satisfying.

For gamebooks, I like to use a different scoring method largely based on the Lindenbaum Prize judging criteria (it just makes more sense for these games). Note that I don't weigh all the categories equally, and I score on a 1 to 10 scale:

• Literary Ability (20%) Well-written and evocative with good grammar and spelling. The narrative is minimal (it's mostly concerned with survival and getting back your memories), but it's not an issue. A solid 7 out of 10.
  
• Game System (30%) The mechanics are simple but varied. Beyond the three main test types described above, there are a handful of unique situations with even more dice manipulation or different dexterity-based challenges. It's all reasonably difficult. There is an interesting connection between Wit and dice manipulation, and in turn Dex and flicking dice, even if the mechanics can disrupt immersion at times. Never boring, though. And it's all explained succinctly and unambiguously (apart from how the distance is measured for Dex tests). Equipment tags and story keywords are also competently used. I'm giving it 9 out of 10.
  
• Story (30%): The narrative you experience is overall satisfying, but it's mostly to do with overcoming challenges. WLB is very much limited in scope, for better or for worse. Getting your memories back can be interesting. There are many different endings, and the consequences of your choices are meaningful. 5 out of 10.
  
• Technical Ability (10%) The section links never lead to a dead end. Everything is hyperlinked in the PDF. There is no ambiguity when it comes to resolving the mechanics (although measuring from the middle point of dice is annoying), and all outcomes are accounted for in the text. 9 out of 10.
  
• Miscellaneous (10%) WLB weaves a lot interesting concepts together into a coherent whole: tags and keywords, checkpoints, varied dice mechanics, dexterity-based tests, etc. None of them are unique to WLB in the realm of gamebooks (except maybe for the dexterity stuff), but the way they all work together makes it great. The layout is clear and easy on the eyes, and the illustrations are charming. 8 out of 10.
  

This comes out to a respectable total of 73 (it would've been 76 if all categories weighed the same). Although a fairly short affair, WLB is a fun romp with lots of replayability packed into its small package.

What Lies Beneath is available on Amazon, itch, and DriveThruRPG. You can also check out a preview on itch or DriveThru. You can also check out the preview of an upcoming prequel, Dwarfdom (again, on itch or DriveThru) — it looks just as interesting mechanically without being a repeat of WLB.