Dealing with backlog: Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

This game had been on my to play list for ages, but I had been wary of it entirely due to the 80s style. To me that could either be hilariously awesome or cringeworthy bad. I had heard it was amazing but my opinion tends to differ from the general public's so I still had my doubts. But in any case I bought it as part of the Far Cry bundle I got years ago, and decided that now was the time to play it.

It starts off hilariously macho, like GI Joe meets the Terminator, and I chuckled/giggled my way through the intro and basically every story cutscene sequence afterwards. And I groaned and/or facepalmed to every single one-liner Rex said throughout the game - and they were many.

But if I looked past the fancy futuristic laser furnish it was still Far Cry with outposts to take over and areas to liberate and animals to hunt. The game was a lot more linear than the previous Far Cry I've played and I really, really missed the RPG elements of skill points and crafting.

The further you got in the main quest the more epic the game becomes especially when you start to go through the trial to get the Killstar (which is probably the most badass weapon I've ever seen) and then the reward for getting the Killstar which is an amazing armoured battle dragon shooting lasers (can it get anymore badass?!)

I went into this game a sceptic and, although there were a lot of disbelieving groaning facepalming moments, came out loving it. This game is amazing and I will definitely play it again some time.

And due to the nature of the game I had this song on my head for the whole time I was playing it:

Dealing with backlog: Alan Wake

I bought this game and the sequel after it was announced that they'd be taken off Steam due to the music license running out. People had told me how great the game was so ofc I wanted a chance to play it.

In general I liked the game and it had some really epic moments, like fighting a big bunch of taken while the radio station was playing War by Poets of the Fall, or the moment on the stage of the Andersons' farm. That was awesome! Or running from the Dark Presence along the bridge, or fighting against a possessed Harvester. So many epic moments!

But there were some things that sometimes made the game annoying, like the fact that Alan always moved a little bit to the left even when I had the camera straight and only pressed the forward button. Interestingly I figured out I had to angle the camera to the right to actually jump straight forward. Alan was also crap at climbing and running (not being able to climb practically at all and gettting tired from running short distances).

The story was intriguing and even when I thought I had figured it out there was a well-placed twist thrown in my face and I had to reevaluate what I knew. The manuscript pages were a nice touch (though the writing made it waaaay too obvious that Stephen King was the inspiration for Alan Wake, I knew that already, but come on, can't you try to be less in your face about it?)

The many Twin Peaks hints were hilarious. The crazy Agent Nightingale didn't remind me so much of Dale Cooper as of his bitter/angry partner, and the Night Springs episodes that you could catch on the TV sets in-game felt like a nod both to Twin Peaks and to The Twilight Zone

The ending was epic and unexpected, but I felt that it was left a bit too open, which is why I made the mistake of starting up the two DLC episodes. I wanted something more after the ending. I wanted more closure. Instead I got more of the same, and tbh too much of the same. I only played the first DLC episode for about an hour but for that hour it felt like I didn't get anywhere, the world just got more and more fragmented and broken while the Taken became more and more numerous. Needless to say I didn't complete the DLC episodes but contented myself with the ending of the base game. It would have to do.

Alan Wake is one of those games that you love when you're playing them, but when you stop playing and the story is over you realise just how done you are with the whole thing. I have some amazing memories from that game, but do I feel like going back to that world and fighting with a flashlight again any time soon? Not really. Which is a shame, because I did love this game when I was playing it. I really did.

 Left). A suspiciously Lovecraftian reference in the beginning of the game that turns out to have been entirely intentional later in the game (Yay me for spotting it). Right). A rare daytime shot.

 Left). The game enjoys to go all Hitchcock on everyone. Why avoid a horror reference when it's so readily available? ;) Right). First hint at the tornado stuff to come - a boat that fell right out of the sky.

Dealing with backlog: Betrayer

This is an indie game that I've been excited about for ages and I'm really happy that I liked it as much as I did :D

You arrive on the shore of a new colony settlement in North America in the early 17th century. But there's nobody to be found, the colony is deserted and completely empty (the game draws from the legend of Roanoke here). You soon meet a girl in a red hood and she seems to be the only other living person there. You've seen what remains of the conquistadores and they aren't human anymore. The girl in red can't remember much about what happened before or why the colony is empty, she doesn't even know her own name.

Looking around the first part of the settlement you find human-shaped ash statues (which totally creeped me out) and on the map you can make sure to mark all important items for the story or collectables. I made sure to collect everything before moving on to the next area.

The trailer for the video uses "wield early 17th century weapons" as a point of charm for the game, but having to reload after every single shot (historically accurate, I'll give you that) soon seemed annoying and frankly time-consuming and in the end I only ever used the bow. The game also lets you choose whether to play the game in full colour or in monochromatic grey with important items marked by splashes of red. I chose to play in colour.

The story that unfolded before my eyes during the six hours I played this game was incredibly sad. The girl's sister was in love with a Native boy and she got pregnant. Her father chased her into a part of the forest that the Natives claimed to be haunted and there he killed her and the boy. Her sister found her corpse strapped onto a cross. She set it on fire to help free her spirit. But the supernatural energy of that forest is only strengthened by her rage and it stretches out over the land corrupting the people and the earth.

The end was a major wtf moment and I actually had to read what other people thought about it before I made up my mind about it myself. The ending was fitting and surprising, and you actually have to pay attention really closely to get the ending. It felt like an abrupt end when I played it, but after letting some time pass and I thought about it I can say that I liked the ending. I just wish that there'd been a Betrayer 2.

The main thing I liked about Betrayer was the atmosphere. It was creepy as hell which I enjoyed even though it made my skin crawl. I also absolutely loved the mystery-solving part, picking up clues and piecing them together... It was a lot of fun and I wish it could've been longer.

Dealing with backlog: Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper

Because I loved The Testament of Sherlock Holmes and really enjoyed Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles I decided to also give this one a try. This is by far the oldest of the three of them, and it's very noticeable. Most noticeable is the lack of a hint button. I always try not to use the hint button, but if your attention wanders and you miss a part then you'll have no idea what to do without that or a quest log, and this game has neither. The only thing that might help you if you lose the thread is to read through an old dialogue. But because both Holmes and Watson have the tendency to talk to themselves an old dialogue might not help you.

Second noticeable is the lack of explanations. The first time the deduction board popped onto my screen I had no idea what to do with it, and the game didn't explain how it worked. When you were supposed to add pieces of evidence into the deduction or timeline the game didn't explain that either and I was just sat there wondering why I seemed to have a puzzle with half the pieces missing. Because the game didn't tell me that I'd have to find and add them myself.

Suffice to say I used a guide for a lot of this game.

About halfway through I got bored with it and took a small break from it, but then decided to complete it anyway. The first half is mostly just walking around Whitechapel as Watson and talking to people, and barely anything happens (apart from the first confusing deduction board). Not until Holmes dresses up and starts figuring things out for himself rather than using Watson the puzzles truly start and the game starts to shine a little bit.

The game is old and there's no getting away from it. It hasn't aged gracefully, but I find that I can actually look past that and say that I did enjoy the game - once I understood how everything worked.

Also Holmes' aqcuired pronunciation is terribly hard to listen to for long.

Rollspel: Mutant År Noll - del 4

De jobbar på projektet. En liten grupp mutanter närmar sig Arken. De säger sig komma från en annan bosättning och vill ha en allians. De vill att några från Folket ska följa med dem och möta deras ledare. Gruppen är fyra personer; tre av dem är kvinnor och den enda mannen i gruppen är en slav. De i gruppen är Dink, Krin, Rebeth och Nafta.

RP blir insläppta i den andra Arken och det första de lägger märke till är att den här Arken har en massa barn. Nafta erbjuder sig att laga Dankos vapen. Rebeth försvinner iväg. Jony frågar vart Rebeth tog vägen. Krin svarar att Rebeth är väldigt lojal mot Ordföranden och vill passa upp på honom. Jony frågar om de hatar män. Krin svarar att Ordföranden är deras källa till liv och den enda som kan få barn på kvinnorna. Männen är dömda till att vara slavar och "givare". RP säger att de vill träffa Ordföranden. Krin och Dink går iväg för att fixa en audiens.

Jony ska precis manipulera en slav för att få männens version, men innan han hinner kommer en blodig slav springande med allt vad han har ut genom utgången och blir genast skjuten från palissaden. Danko frågar varför han blev skjuten och för till svar att "givare ska inte fly". Danko frågar varför han var blodig och Nafta svarar att han var givare. När Index frågar vad en givare är får de inget svar.

Krin och Dink kommer tillbaka och tar med dem att möta Ordföranden. När de kommer upp hälsar Ordföranden på Index, men de andra låtsas  han inte ens om. Index lägger märke till att han inte är en mutant, men inte heller från tiden innan mutationerna som Den Gamle. Han är en zongast. Index försöker få fram vad en allians skulle ge Folket. Ordföranden har för avsikt att göra Arken till samma grej som han har där. Han tar sedan ner dem i källarens artefaktrum och visar deras tre bepansrade stridsbussar. Han lämnar dem sedan i källaren med Rebeth, Krin och Dink för att låta dem diskutera sina möjligheter. De får reda på att Krin är revolutionär och att Nafta skulle kunna ha likasinnade tankar. De ber Krin gå och hämta henne. Dink visar dem givarna och Kvark undersöker bussarna och får reda på att de fungerar. De hittar artefakter i rummet. Däribland en kassettradio. Krin och Nafta kommer tillbaka och de går med på att oskadliggöra Rebeth och Dink. Nafta går med på att försöka rekrytera fler likasinnade. Det blir strid mellan gruppen och Rebeth/Dink men båda blir dödade. Rebeth av Kvarks och Jonys mutationer och Dink av Index mutation.

Nafta kommer tillbaka med en handfull revolutionärer. Jony och Krin går och släpper ut givarna. Gruppen lootar döingarna och får nycklarna till bussarna. De lastar bussarna med givare och kör mot Arken. På vägen tillbaka återfår Index 3 poäng Känsla genom två snabbisar i baksätet med Kvark och Jony och lite mys med Jonys hund.

De kommer tillbaka till den nya Arken med ny mankraft. Index, jony, Danko, Kvark, Krin och Nafta tar hissen upp till Ordföranden. Källaren fortifieras av Folkets mankraft. Ordföranden är lugn och säger: "Jag vet vad ni har gjort." Sedan tar han upp sin revolver och skjuter Krin point blank i huvudet och säger "Förrädare". Danko slår in Ordförandens huvud med sin nya spikklubba. På skrivbordet ligger en gammal dagbok. Jony läser högt. Den har tillhört någon som kommit från Eden.

Nafta samlar allt folk i en stor sal och berättar att Ordföranden är död och kannibalismen avskaffad och en allians med Folket upprättad. Nafta utropar sig till ledare men gör sig fredligt utbytbar. Alla som vill är fria att flytta till Arken. Ark 2 vill ha kvar en stridsbuss eftersom de fortfarande har ett pågående krig med zongastarna. Tillbaka i Arken lyssnar de på kassettradion där ett meddelande spelats på repeat i sekler, som ber alla med säkerhetsklass 5 eller högre att ta sig till en av fem ledningsplatser. Jony förstår sig på meddelandet och sätter ut den gamla tidens koordinater på zonkartan.

Index adopterade en unge från Ark 2: Miri.