Odlingen blir klar och fokus läggs på att bygga försvarsverk. Under natten flyter en oljerigg på grund utanför Arken. De tar en av Arkens livbåtar och åker ut till oljeriggen. De ser skrotkråkor flyga runt den tillsammans med en stor skrädesvråk. De tar sig upp till en av de lägre walkwaysen. Index ser att de kan välja på att gå in eller klättra upp. Index väljer att gå in. Mohamin klättrar upp med Sixter. Jony och Danko följer med Index.
Danko hittar en strålkastare men den har inget batteri. Index och Jony lägger märke till ett blött, kladdigt ljud. Index hittar en handgranat. Danko går in i rummet bredvid och hittar ett batteri. När han tänder strålkastaren ser han ett myller av svarta varelser som flyttar sig från ljuset (zoniglar). Index går in till Danko och lägger märke till att iglarna börjat flytta sig mot rummet de kom ifrån eftersom det fortfarande är mörkt. Jony joinar dem.
Mohamin och Sixter kommer upp på övre plan. Mohamin hittar en bensindunk.
Danko, Jony och Index tar sig ut på walkwayen igen.
Mohamin spejar och upptäcker att skrotkråkorna håller på med rovfågelsbeteende. De dyker ner i ett rum med raserat tak och varje gång de kommer ut så har de något i näbben. Mohamin öppnar dörren till den raserade byggnaden och får tre iglar i huvudet. Kråkorna har ätit iglar.
Jony kommer upp och bestämmer sig för att attackera Sixter (fiender), men han missar och när Danko kommer upp så hjälper han sin bästa kompis Jony genom att skjuta Sixter som dör. Index, Jony och Danko hjälps åt att få bort iglarna. Fåglarna har upptäckt dem efter allt oväsen. Fåglarna gör sig redo för attack. Jony hittar en signalpistol. Index tappar granaten. Mohamin fumlar bensindunken. Jony och Danko förstår den tappade granaten. Fåglarna gör två skada på Mohamin. Index boostar Jony och får två MP + två tvivel. Mohamin käkar och helar en skada. Jony fumlar granaten. Danko använder MP och gör två skada på fåglarna. Fåglarna gör en skada på Jony. Index använder MP och dödar skrotkråkorna. Skrädesvråken är inte glad. Mohamin och Jony käkar. Danko skjuter mot vråken och gör fyra skada. Vråken dyker mot Index men missar. Index försöker skjuta mot vråken men missar. Mohamin missar. Danko laddar om. Vråken dyker igen och gör fyra skada på Danko. Danko blir bruten. Index vårdar Danko och räddar honom. Mohamin lucillar Danko (Sixter var hans bästa vän) men missar. Jony försöker hoppa (MP) upp till vråken och döda den, men snedtänder och utvecklar en ny mutation (Likätare). Danko skjuter Mohamin som blir bruten. Index misslyckas med att vårda honom och Mohamin dör. Jony tar sig tillbaka till båten. Danko dricker läsk och lootar Mohamin. Danko och Index går tillbaka till båten och de åker tillbaka till Arken. Danko ger sin luftmadrass till Index (istället för att ligga med henne för att hela hennes tvivel). Alla käkar.
Sunday 25 February 2018
Tuesday 20 February 2018
Dealing with backlog: Bioshock 2 Remastered
Just as with the remastered original I played the original Bioshock 2 years ago. I remember I liked it back then, but this time it felt completely flat. The story wasn't engaging and it seemed more like an excuse to get back to Rapture than anything else. The whole city was falling apart and being flooded (doesn't help that they keep flooding areas and breaking protective glasses on purpose) and it's completely insane that any sane people at all remained or even came back to Rapture. (Maybe the sanity of even the sane people there can be discussed).
In any case the game worked fine for me until I arrived at the lab where Gil Alexander is stuck in a tank. That session had lasted for 1½-2 hours and then the game crashed for the first time for me. When I restarted it I was back to the point where I had started my session and after that I just didn't feel like playing. I just lost up to 2 hours worth of playing! Really didn't feel like going through all of that again. I hadn't thought of manually saving or quicksaving while I played because it's a new game and new games generally autosave all the time. Pausing at the menu, bringing up the map, changing locations... New games usually autosave.
So after two weeks of just not feeling like playing this game anymore, due to having to do so many things all over again, I've now decided to just drop it. I know the story anyway. I know how it ends, and there's no incentive for me to continue playing it.
In any case the game worked fine for me until I arrived at the lab where Gil Alexander is stuck in a tank. That session had lasted for 1½-2 hours and then the game crashed for the first time for me. When I restarted it I was back to the point where I had started my session and after that I just didn't feel like playing. I just lost up to 2 hours worth of playing! Really didn't feel like going through all of that again. I hadn't thought of manually saving or quicksaving while I played because it's a new game and new games generally autosave all the time. Pausing at the menu, bringing up the map, changing locations... New games usually autosave.
So after two weeks of just not feeling like playing this game anymore, due to having to do so many things all over again, I've now decided to just drop it. I know the story anyway. I know how it ends, and there's no incentive for me to continue playing it.
Sunday 11 February 2018
Rollspel: Mutan År Noll - del 2
Zonstrykaren Jonats har samlat hela Folket och berättar att han hittat en mystisk ruin som han hittat ute under sin senaste färd. Kanske finns det användbara saker där. Bossen Marlotte vill genast organisera ett expedition. RP arbetar på projektet. Marlotte vill inte ha med Mohamin på sin expedition eftersom han också är en boss. Mohamin genomskådar Marlotte och avslöjar att hennes slutgiltiga mål är att ta över Den gamles plats när han dör och hon hoppas att om den här expeditionen lyckas så kommer hennes förtroende bland Folket ökas. Jony manipulerar Marlotte och får henne att gå med på att Mohamin följer med - på det villkor att han överlämnar allt han hittar till henne. Alla RP följer med på expeditionen + Marlotte och Jonats. Mohamin genomskådar Jonats och får veta att Jonats fortfarande vill döda honom. Han hade sett varelser vid ruinerna och hoppades att Mohamin skulle leda expeditionen så att Jonats kunde fått honom dödad där. Index förstår att ruinen har varit en polisstation. Danko ser en humanoid skugga i ett fönster. Jony manipulerar Jonats att gå in först. Jonats går med på det men bara om Jony följer med. De ser skräp i ljuset från fönstren och hör ljud av någon som springer iväg, längre in i byggnaden.
Index och Mohamin går till tornet bredvid. Marlotte följer med dem eftersom hon inte litar på att Mohamin kommer ge henne allt. Index ser att tornets dörr är nästan helt nedsjunken, men det finns en stege längs väggen och hon ser något glänsa högst upp. Mohamin klättrar upp och ser en tidning.
Danko skriker in i mörkret att de ska visa sig. Flera röster skriker tillbaka men de förstår inte varandra.
Index klättrar upp till Mohamin. Mohamin upptäcker ett halshugget skelett och en katana.
Danko går in i mörkret och längst bort upptäcker han ljus från lamport och två dussin zongastar. De verkar inte aggressiva. Jony försöker prata med dem. De vill inte dela med sig av något de har och vill inte ha något med omvärlden att göra. Danko kommer dit och frågar om det finns något de kan hjälpa dem med. De säger igen att de inte vill ha något med omvärlden att göra och två zongastar till ställer sig upp.
Index klättrar ner och går tillbaka till polishuset. Mohamin klättrar ner.
Danko manipulerar och frågar om de kan få krubb i utbyte mot att de går därifrån. Ledaren säger att om de dödar monstret som lagt sitt revir på deras odling så kan RP få hälften av vad zongastarna har.
Monstret är en raggbest. RP samlas och diskuterar. Berättar inte något för Jonats + Marlotte. Danko manipulerar Jonats att gå in på odlingen. Jonats fastnar omedelbart i raggbestens käftar. RP börjar slåss mot raggbesten. Index gör två skada med sin katana. Mohamin gör fyra skada med "Lucille". Danko gör två skada med skrotgevär. Raggbesten dör men Jonats är också död. Marlotte såg vad Jony manipulerade Jonats och försöker skjuta honom men Jony använder sin mutation (grodben) till att hoppa i säkerhet. Index använder sin katana till att döda Marlotte med ett slag. Jony går tillbaka till zongastarna och säger att odlingen är fri. De tackar för hjälpen, ger RP hälften och ber dem gå. 65 krubb + 21 patroner. De tar sig tillbaka till Arken och sänder ut ett gäng med folk att hämta allt krubb från polisstationen.
Index och Mohamin går till tornet bredvid. Marlotte följer med dem eftersom hon inte litar på att Mohamin kommer ge henne allt. Index ser att tornets dörr är nästan helt nedsjunken, men det finns en stege längs väggen och hon ser något glänsa högst upp. Mohamin klättrar upp och ser en tidning.
Danko skriker in i mörkret att de ska visa sig. Flera röster skriker tillbaka men de förstår inte varandra.
Index klättrar upp till Mohamin. Mohamin upptäcker ett halshugget skelett och en katana.
Danko går in i mörkret och längst bort upptäcker han ljus från lamport och två dussin zongastar. De verkar inte aggressiva. Jony försöker prata med dem. De vill inte dela med sig av något de har och vill inte ha något med omvärlden att göra. Danko kommer dit och frågar om det finns något de kan hjälpa dem med. De säger igen att de inte vill ha något med omvärlden att göra och två zongastar till ställer sig upp.
Index klättrar ner och går tillbaka till polishuset. Mohamin klättrar ner.
Danko manipulerar och frågar om de kan få krubb i utbyte mot att de går därifrån. Ledaren säger att om de dödar monstret som lagt sitt revir på deras odling så kan RP få hälften av vad zongastarna har.
Monstret är en raggbest. RP samlas och diskuterar. Berättar inte något för Jonats + Marlotte. Danko manipulerar Jonats att gå in på odlingen. Jonats fastnar omedelbart i raggbestens käftar. RP börjar slåss mot raggbesten. Index gör två skada med sin katana. Mohamin gör fyra skada med "Lucille". Danko gör två skada med skrotgevär. Raggbesten dör men Jonats är också död. Marlotte såg vad Jony manipulerade Jonats och försöker skjuta honom men Jony använder sin mutation (grodben) till att hoppa i säkerhet. Index använder sin katana till att döda Marlotte med ett slag. Jony går tillbaka till zongastarna och säger att odlingen är fri. De tackar för hjälpen, ger RP hälften och ber dem gå. 65 krubb + 21 patroner. De tar sig tillbaka till Arken och sänder ut ett gäng med folk att hämta allt krubb från polisstationen.
Monday 5 February 2018
Dealing with backlog: Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles
The next game on my backlog list was this Sherlock Holmes point-and-click game. After only playing Nightmares from the Deep for 1½ days, this slightly more serious and less cartoony point-and-click felt slightly odd. And after being used to BBC Sherlock's Watson and Sherlock this old style classic Sherlock and Watson seemed even more odd. However any sense of oddity passed within the first 30 minutes when I got to completely bury myself in investigative puzzles and hidden object scenes.
I knew the story of the Hound of the Baskervilles before. Who doesn't? But it was still pretty fun to play. The one thing that was jarring to me though were the trips into the past, I'm pretty sure they made it like that for the game because otherwise it's just Sherlock mentally reconstructing the image of what it might've looked like. This actual trip into time and the odd amulet thing that gave them superpowers just felt jarring in the logical-explanation world of Sherlock Holmes.
But the atmosphere took me in anyway and even though I knew it was a point-and-click and I 100% wouldn't need to fight anything in the end I still had to remind myself of the fact when the time came to summon the dog.
When the game finished I got the same feeling as when I have just finished reading a really good book; sad that it's over but really happy how it turned out.
I knew the story of the Hound of the Baskervilles before. Who doesn't? But it was still pretty fun to play. The one thing that was jarring to me though were the trips into the past, I'm pretty sure they made it like that for the game because otherwise it's just Sherlock mentally reconstructing the image of what it might've looked like. This actual trip into time and the odd amulet thing that gave them superpowers just felt jarring in the logical-explanation world of Sherlock Holmes.
But the atmosphere took me in anyway and even though I knew it was a point-and-click and I 100% wouldn't need to fight anything in the end I still had to remind myself of the fact when the time came to summon the dog.
When the game finished I got the same feeling as when I have just finished reading a really good book; sad that it's over but really happy how it turned out.
Sunday 4 February 2018
Dealing with backlog: Pirate-y point-and-click trilogy
Next up on my backlog list was Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart. It's a point-and-click hidden objects game from Artifex Mundi so I knew it would be decent. But I ended up enjoying the story far too much. The voice-acting could've been better but the story was good and the puzzles were nice and I loved the hidden objects scenes.
The story is about a female curator at a naval museum. She's putting together an exhibition on the infamous pirate captain Remington and has actually managed to get his corpse fished out of the ocean. A corpse that's remarkably well-preserved. All his depictions show him with three very specific accessories and as you put them on him he's awoken. He calls his ship which crashes into the museum and kidnaps the curator's daughter. The curator sneaks on board. The ship is full of undead pirates and as she tries to find her daughter and rescue her she slowly uncovers the story that leads up to captain Remington's untimely death and also discovers his motives for kidnapping her daughter. Now she has to stop Remington and save all the pirates from one of Davy Jones' curses!
~*~
Because I liked the first game so much I decided to buy the other two in the bundle on Steam. The second game is calle Nightmares from the Deep: The Siren's Call. In this the voice-acting has improved slightly, but the story has degenerated somewhat and some of the puzzles were more annoying than fun. I still loved the hidden objects scenes though!
The story this time starts when a man knocks on the door to the museum saying that it's vitally important that the curator gets his delivery tonight. The package is discovered to include a statuette. But when the package is opened a ship crashes into the museum again and the statuette is stolen. The curator and the man chase after the ship in a row boat, and the man reveals his identity. He's part man, part fish! They arrive in Kingsmouth where the curator just has time to meet Calliope the Siren before she's taken prisoner by the mayor. What follows is a quest to save the mermaid from the mayor and return her power to her by breaking another of Davy Jones' curses. The curse envelopes the entire island of Kingsmouth and is the reason why the population have started to look fishy (literally). During this quest she discovers the story of Kingsmouth and how it came to be the way it is.
~*~
The third game was probably the best one in many ways. The voice-acting had definitely improved. The story was also great and this time didn't include a sappy romantic love-story, and it seemed to me as the whole game was more detailed than the previous two.
This story starts at the museum. The curator and her daughter is giving a presentation on Davy Jones. The curator found a book about him in her previous adventure and now suspects he's more than a mere legend and actually a historical figure. When the presentation has only just begun the power goes out and then a great big tidal wave crashes down on the museum (you really ought to build this museum somewhere else) and Davy Jones himself appears and kidnaps both the curator and her daughter. They escape from the cell and try to flee from Jones' ship, but are caught. To save her mother's life the daughter agrees to sign pact with Jones, but Jones tries to kill the curator anyway claiming that it was the ocean that would kill her, not him. The curator survives and follows the ship to a mysterious island. There she has to save her daughter from Davy Jones' pact, but in order to break a pact she must figure out Jones' own story and free him from himself.
The story is about a female curator at a naval museum. She's putting together an exhibition on the infamous pirate captain Remington and has actually managed to get his corpse fished out of the ocean. A corpse that's remarkably well-preserved. All his depictions show him with three very specific accessories and as you put them on him he's awoken. He calls his ship which crashes into the museum and kidnaps the curator's daughter. The curator sneaks on board. The ship is full of undead pirates and as she tries to find her daughter and rescue her she slowly uncovers the story that leads up to captain Remington's untimely death and also discovers his motives for kidnapping her daughter. Now she has to stop Remington and save all the pirates from one of Davy Jones' curses!
Because I liked the first game so much I decided to buy the other two in the bundle on Steam. The second game is calle Nightmares from the Deep: The Siren's Call. In this the voice-acting has improved slightly, but the story has degenerated somewhat and some of the puzzles were more annoying than fun. I still loved the hidden objects scenes though!
The story this time starts when a man knocks on the door to the museum saying that it's vitally important that the curator gets his delivery tonight. The package is discovered to include a statuette. But when the package is opened a ship crashes into the museum again and the statuette is stolen. The curator and the man chase after the ship in a row boat, and the man reveals his identity. He's part man, part fish! They arrive in Kingsmouth where the curator just has time to meet Calliope the Siren before she's taken prisoner by the mayor. What follows is a quest to save the mermaid from the mayor and return her power to her by breaking another of Davy Jones' curses. The curse envelopes the entire island of Kingsmouth and is the reason why the population have started to look fishy (literally). During this quest she discovers the story of Kingsmouth and how it came to be the way it is.
The third game was probably the best one in many ways. The voice-acting had definitely improved. The story was also great and this time didn't include a sappy romantic love-story, and it seemed to me as the whole game was more detailed than the previous two.
This story starts at the museum. The curator and her daughter is giving a presentation on Davy Jones. The curator found a book about him in her previous adventure and now suspects he's more than a mere legend and actually a historical figure. When the presentation has only just begun the power goes out and then a great big tidal wave crashes down on the museum (you really ought to build this museum somewhere else) and Davy Jones himself appears and kidnaps both the curator and her daughter. They escape from the cell and try to flee from Jones' ship, but are caught. To save her mother's life the daughter agrees to sign pact with Jones, but Jones tries to kill the curator anyway claiming that it was the ocean that would kill her, not him. The curator survives and follows the ship to a mysterious island. There she has to save her daughter from Davy Jones' pact, but in order to break a pact she must figure out Jones' own story and free him from himself.
Friday 2 February 2018
Dealing with backlog: Two old shooters
Last month I decided to slowly start working on my backlog again. First up was the original Far Cry. I really liked Far Cry 3 and I loved Far Cry Primal, so I was hoping I would like the original too. The reviews on Steam were pretty divided between "This game has aged so badly omg don't buy it" and "I love this game! I played it when it was new and omg the memories ♥♥♥" and I wasn't sure which "faction" I'd end up in. Would I hate it or love it?
I played the game for a little over one hour before I gave up and placed myself in "This game has aged so badly omg don't buy it". I appreciate that the new Far Cry titles respect their heritage and I can see a lot of similarities between the new games and the original, however it really has aged badly. The first thing I noticed was the voice-acting. Every line was delivered completely flat and whoever voiced Jack Carver tried to make him sound like a very macho man. Think G.I Joe meets the Terminator. The second thing I noticed was that the "armour" I get is just a vest that can take about two hits and then it's gone. Character health is about 5 hits until dead. The third thing I noticed was that the sneak mechanics are so broken that I wonder why they even implemented them into the game. You know in the newer Far Cry if the crosshair tells you that the enemies are starting to notice you - you hide in the bushes or behind a large rock until the crosshair goes down? Doesn't work in the original. If the enemies spot you, you're spotted - no use hiding. You can't sneak up to enemies and silently take them out by choking them because Jack Carver seems about as skilled at sneaking as a great big bear, so the enemies will see you before you even get close enough to poke them. All the enemies carry AKs so your petty armour means absolutely nothing - I might as well not have had it. Also the enemies can shoot through trees (without harming the tree) while I cannot.
I got as far as the stranded navy ship base. Which isn't very far at all. There I tried to pick off the enemies from the distance (with an AK because sniper rifles either hadn't shown up yet or they weren't in this game), but the game is so old that you can't see very far into the distance. Mostly I was aiming at whatever black dots I could see against the sky. I got through the first part on the inside of the ship pretty well, but then whenever I got to the outside I got swamped no matter what tactic I tried. First I tried sneaking around but the weapons don't have silencers so sneaking isn't very good - also the enemies are hawk-eyed. Then I tried "fuck it guns blazing" and ofc that didn't work out. Then I tried to lure them into a tight passageway so they'd have to go at me one at a time, but every time I had to reload my weapon they gunned me down (I assume Carver's head is visible above any and all cover so that the enemies can shoot him either way). I tried learning from my deaths where the shots had come from and take out the enemies one by one that way, but there was always one more somewhere who hadn't shot at me last time who took me out this time as if they were neverending or just immortal and kept getting up again after I gunned them down.
Also there was no map whatsoever so I had to guess where I was going. There also didn't seem to be any levelling or experience gained so no way to improve upon the player character.
So I gave up.
~*~
The next old shooter was Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi from 2003. I bought it because vampires. However I couldn't complete it, mainly I think because it was too roguelike for me (without actually being a roguelike). The castle you play in is randomised every time you start a new game. That's fine. But the game drops you in there without any hint on what to do and how to do things. It's like here's a game go play it. So I did what I usually do. Explored the area. I got a nice sword and then I started picking up all the health packs in the courtyard thinking they were saved in my inventory because the game didn't say otherwise. Then discovered that they weren't a realised I had probably messed up already less than 15 minutes in. Got a quest from a half-dead priest. But there's no questlog and after running around the castle in as many directions as I could I had soon forgotten who I was supposed to bring to this half-dead guy so I could save him. Because the game throws like ten names at you in a moment without anything to really remember them by.
Then I realise that the sword only works on ghouls, not on vampires. I found a text about shadow vampires which said that only the crucifix could banish them so when I found a shadow vampire I held the cross up against it using it as I would a weapon. The shadow vampire recoiled from it but it still kept attacking and took half my health before it died from the cross. I came across a portal spewing ghouls but I couldn't figure out how to close it so I just ran past it. Then I found this old lady in a room with a coffin. I talk to her (though first I considered shooting her because she looked like a vampire and the game made no indication that she wasn't) and she asks me to bring her back to the courtyard where she will give me a revolver. Shiny! I need a better gun that this centuries old one-bullet-at-a-time thing. When I agree to help her the coffin lid flies open and I see a vampire lying in it staring at me. I equip a stake and try to stake him, but no matter how I do it it doesn't work. Vampire gets up and starts attacking me and I try to stab him with the stake. Doesn't work. I hit him with my sword until he stops moving and then try to stake him again. Doesn't work. What am I doing wrong?!??! Then the vampire glitches through a wall and disappears. I bring the old lady with me to the courtyard (so very happy that enemies don't respawn) and she gives me a revolver. But the only way still open to me is the wing I just came from. So I had to go back in there. I knew where there were enemies but at this point I had like 25/100 health and I knew I had used up all the health packs in that wing leading to the enemies. I virtually had no chance to survive any longer. I didn't want to start over. So I quit the game and gave up. One thing I specifically didn't like was the weapons wheel which was very clunky and not at all a practical way to change weapons mid-fight
The main thing that got me and made me make mistakes over and over was the game's complete lack of information. Which is what makes it sort of kind of roguelike in my book, but maybe it really just makes it old.
I played the game for a little over one hour before I gave up and placed myself in "This game has aged so badly omg don't buy it". I appreciate that the new Far Cry titles respect their heritage and I can see a lot of similarities between the new games and the original, however it really has aged badly. The first thing I noticed was the voice-acting. Every line was delivered completely flat and whoever voiced Jack Carver tried to make him sound like a very macho man. Think G.I Joe meets the Terminator. The second thing I noticed was that the "armour" I get is just a vest that can take about two hits and then it's gone. Character health is about 5 hits until dead. The third thing I noticed was that the sneak mechanics are so broken that I wonder why they even implemented them into the game. You know in the newer Far Cry if the crosshair tells you that the enemies are starting to notice you - you hide in the bushes or behind a large rock until the crosshair goes down? Doesn't work in the original. If the enemies spot you, you're spotted - no use hiding. You can't sneak up to enemies and silently take them out by choking them because Jack Carver seems about as skilled at sneaking as a great big bear, so the enemies will see you before you even get close enough to poke them. All the enemies carry AKs so your petty armour means absolutely nothing - I might as well not have had it. Also the enemies can shoot through trees (without harming the tree) while I cannot.
I got as far as the stranded navy ship base. Which isn't very far at all. There I tried to pick off the enemies from the distance (with an AK because sniper rifles either hadn't shown up yet or they weren't in this game), but the game is so old that you can't see very far into the distance. Mostly I was aiming at whatever black dots I could see against the sky. I got through the first part on the inside of the ship pretty well, but then whenever I got to the outside I got swamped no matter what tactic I tried. First I tried sneaking around but the weapons don't have silencers so sneaking isn't very good - also the enemies are hawk-eyed. Then I tried "fuck it guns blazing" and ofc that didn't work out. Then I tried to lure them into a tight passageway so they'd have to go at me one at a time, but every time I had to reload my weapon they gunned me down (I assume Carver's head is visible above any and all cover so that the enemies can shoot him either way). I tried learning from my deaths where the shots had come from and take out the enemies one by one that way, but there was always one more somewhere who hadn't shot at me last time who took me out this time as if they were neverending or just immortal and kept getting up again after I gunned them down.
Also there was no map whatsoever so I had to guess where I was going. There also didn't seem to be any levelling or experience gained so no way to improve upon the player character.
So I gave up.
The next old shooter was Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi from 2003. I bought it because vampires. However I couldn't complete it, mainly I think because it was too roguelike for me (without actually being a roguelike). The castle you play in is randomised every time you start a new game. That's fine. But the game drops you in there without any hint on what to do and how to do things. It's like here's a game go play it. So I did what I usually do. Explored the area. I got a nice sword and then I started picking up all the health packs in the courtyard thinking they were saved in my inventory because the game didn't say otherwise. Then discovered that they weren't a realised I had probably messed up already less than 15 minutes in. Got a quest from a half-dead priest. But there's no questlog and after running around the castle in as many directions as I could I had soon forgotten who I was supposed to bring to this half-dead guy so I could save him. Because the game throws like ten names at you in a moment without anything to really remember them by.
Then I realise that the sword only works on ghouls, not on vampires. I found a text about shadow vampires which said that only the crucifix could banish them so when I found a shadow vampire I held the cross up against it using it as I would a weapon. The shadow vampire recoiled from it but it still kept attacking and took half my health before it died from the cross. I came across a portal spewing ghouls but I couldn't figure out how to close it so I just ran past it. Then I found this old lady in a room with a coffin. I talk to her (though first I considered shooting her because she looked like a vampire and the game made no indication that she wasn't) and she asks me to bring her back to the courtyard where she will give me a revolver. Shiny! I need a better gun that this centuries old one-bullet-at-a-time thing. When I agree to help her the coffin lid flies open and I see a vampire lying in it staring at me. I equip a stake and try to stake him, but no matter how I do it it doesn't work. Vampire gets up and starts attacking me and I try to stab him with the stake. Doesn't work. I hit him with my sword until he stops moving and then try to stake him again. Doesn't work. What am I doing wrong?!??! Then the vampire glitches through a wall and disappears. I bring the old lady with me to the courtyard (so very happy that enemies don't respawn) and she gives me a revolver. But the only way still open to me is the wing I just came from. So I had to go back in there. I knew where there were enemies but at this point I had like 25/100 health and I knew I had used up all the health packs in that wing leading to the enemies. I virtually had no chance to survive any longer. I didn't want to start over. So I quit the game and gave up. One thing I specifically didn't like was the weapons wheel which was very clunky and not at all a practical way to change weapons mid-fight
The main thing that got me and made me make mistakes over and over was the game's complete lack of information. Which is what makes it sort of kind of roguelike in my book, but maybe it really just makes it old.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)