The Cat Lady - Halloween Special Review (PC game)

Susan is no longer with us; she’s gone to the world and, even before her suicide, she’s been gone a long time from society’s apathetic eye. But even after taking copious amount of sleeping pills Susan is still unable to escape her miserable existence as she awakens in a field, unsure of whether this is life, death, or somewhere in between you take control of her life and guide her staggering footsteps through the world, searching for a way out; of where, neither you nor Susan truly knows. Whereas death is supposed to be the end of a story for Susan Ashworth, it’s the beginning.

Developer: Harvester Games

Genre: Adventure/Horror/Point and Click
Release date: December 1st 2012
Platforms: Microsoft Windows
ESRB: M - Mature

‘The Cat Lady’ follows Susan’s journey back to life after she meets an old woman who wants to strike a deal with Susan to allow her the peace she longs for. Susan is instructed to seek out and destroy several monsters that lurk in the world of the living on behalf of the old woman. Despite Susan’s misgivings she finds herself powerless to resist and, after a brutal and bloody way of sealing the deal, finds herself transported back to ‘life’ but with a catch; she’s now temporarily immortal. For many, this would be a wondrous gift but for an exhausted, suicidal woman it’s an ironic curse that points and laughs in Susan’s face as she treks on with her journey and seeks to complete her task just so she can rest her weary soul and finally be allowed to die. 

It’s a cryptic, surreal and often disturbing journey that encourages you to lose yourself in the darkness of depression before guiding you out of it again. This is a game where the monsters are not aliens with guns or gloomy figures lurking down the other end of a corridor, this is a game where you are the monster in the dark as Susan is flung between anger, doubt, regret, fear and anxiety as she longing for death yet craves revenge. The creatures you encounter are reflective of the demons of Susan’s soul that, as anybody who has suffered from depression will tell you, are not easily vanquished. There will be a blood, and not just a little bit, the game is unashamedly macabre and Susan is forced to undergo several brutal deaths only to be cruelly resurrected again. The imagery of the game is morbid as well and at least every single chapter has a way in which the player may allow, or actively encourage, Susan to kill herself. There’s plenty of black humour in the game as well which I found appealing as, though this game touches on very serious subjects, it’s easy to become jaded to the horrific nature of things when you’ve lived with them for so long. Whilst the game has some extreme scenes of gore these tend to be offset by slower, storyline focused cutscenes so it’s not just a blood-fest, it’s a very well written and intelligently explored blood-fest. If anything, I would describe this as a game that is beautifully horrific. 

Whilst the narrative is by far its strongest point the puzzles are actually fairly good, though not extremely difficult, if anything they are there to provide you with a means to an end rather than as something to frustrate you and slow your progression. Since the game is mostly about atmosphere and storyline I didn’t mind that the puzzles were a little easy but, saying that, they were no walk in the park either and I had several moments of backtracking and getting confused as to what I had to do next. Importantly, the puzzles didn’t feel repetitive and the constant switching of environments helped in this aspect as nothing ever felt like a chore to proceed and it was all very much necessary and interesting. Some puzzles feature some obscure clues about how to complete them that are not just restricted to visual ones, there’s a fair few aural cues which are great for the atmosphere of the game. Generally, I found the audio very good even though the voice acting came across as a little stiff now and then and there’s a very irritating sort of static noise that’s quite loud and intrusive yet entirely intentional. I would have preferred that to have been either non-existent or with the option of turning it off as it was distracting and often made the characters hard to hear. The musical score is brilliant and I have no complaints there and, whilst I said the voice acting could be a little wooden at times, it occasionally did suit the atmosphere and I get the feeling that the developers wanted everything to be very drab and unemotional. Unfortunately at times this style did not suit the on-screen events. 

The beautiful horror of this game is wrapped up in its storyline but enhanced by the unique art style that is a cross between animated newspaper cuttings and old Polaroid photographs giving the entire game a gloomy yet striking appearance. Just like Susan’s life, everything feels a little pasted together but despite this the animations are smooth, the facial expressions are detailed and everything just flows so perfectly. Visually, the game feels very much like a 1990s game which for a point and click puzzle game is just the perfect era for me, especially with it being a horror game as it reminds me strongly of much beloved games such as ‘I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream’, ‘Sanitarium’ and ‘Phantasmagoria’. Amusingly, the game also feels quite 1990s due to the very low resolution that it plays in but this doesn’t bother me so much. There are a couple more problems with ‘The Cat Lady’ though that does tend to spoil the experience a little; the controls for instance are fairly unresponsive, especially during dialogue when you’re trying to skip lines you’ve already read. Susan also does walk incredibly slowly and at one point I was quite sure I had time to go make a cup of coffee in the time she walked from one side of the screen to the other. When you’re lost and backtracking to find things, this is extremely irritating though it may just be my own impatience. Simply, a ‘double clicking to skip to the next screen you clicked on’ feature may be good as I recall several point and clicks doing this in the past. 

Complaints aside, I was utterly entranced by this game and it’s by far one of my favourite point and click adventure games, even with the huge spattering of horror and gore that’s been slapped all over the place. It’s a brilliant example of mature themes that have been done right in a way which is thoughtful, sensitive and intelligently where it doesn’t shy away from controversial issues yet doesn’t make a mockery of them either. If themes such as suicide, mental illness, depression and death offend you then this is not a game you’re going to get on well with as it is utterly unashamed in its approach to the reality of how some people want to die and will go to any length to do so. Whilst the gore side of things can be sometimes a little over the top I found it shocking yet, oddly, refreshing as there have been plenty of these sorts of games that never go too far and tend to pull back before things go too far. ‘The Cat Lady’ never pulls back, it’s in it to win it and I love that about it. The story is fantastic, full of emotion, suspense and drama that will keep you on the edge of your seat and second guessing yourself the entire way through. Susan herself is a brilliant character with genuine character development as you see her go from shy, meek and weary to a woman with a purpose, confidence and strength and quite simply it’s a pleasure to guide her through these changes. If there’s one game you play this Halloweeen, make it ‘The Cat Lady’, you won’t regret it.

The Good: 

• Strong character development
• Interesting, captivating storyline that keeps you guessing
• Mature themes done right
• Striking yet low-key appearance is very appealing
• Decent inventory/dialogue puzzles that challenge but don't frustrate
• Very surreal and disturbing atmosphere

The Bad:

• Some audio issues such as hit and miss voice acting/distracting static
• Some may find the use of gore over the top
• Controls can sometimes be unresponsive, Susan walks too slowly

The Score: 9/10 

Final thoughts: "This has definitely become one of my most beloved point and click games, everything about it feels a bit 90s adventure game which I love and frankly it's been too long since I played something this surreal and this creepy."

Broken Age, Act 1 - Full Review (PC/Linux/Mac, Android and iOS Game)

'Broken Age' seemed like the perfect game for me to play but, upon completing Act 1 in its entirety, I was left with a confused, almost guilty, feeling of disappointment and frustration. What made it worse was that reputable, professional websites had glazed the game with sickly sweet praise and admiration, hailing it as a fantastic example of point and click adventure games. I rather strongly disagree, as you’re about to find out, and though I admit the storyline is fantastic there are far too many basic elements missed out for this game to be considered as ‘one of the greats’. That said, this game is certainly a steal at its low price and overall the game is very good value. 
 

Developer: Double Fine Productions 
Genre: Point and click adventure 
Release date: 26th January 2014
Platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and iOS
ESRB: Not rated (some mild threat, no blood/gore)

The backstory behind the development of this game is far from ordinary. To begin with, 'Broken Age' is one of the most crowdfunded video game projects as it acquired a whopping $3.45 million from more than 87,000 backers. The project began in 2012 and the game marked Tim Schafer’s return to the point and click genre after his fantastic game, Grim Fandango which is being re-released for PS4 and Xbox One and which was originally released in 1998. Despite its extreme backing though it appeared that this may have actually lessened the quality of the game. The end result is, whilst visually polished, wrongly suited to the originally intentioned audience and, quite simply, an inadequate addition to Schafer’s portfolio. As a standalone indie game this would be fantastic but unfortunately it failed to live up to the hype.

Gameplay and storyline

'Broken Age' Act 1 is made up of two different stories, that of a girl named Vella and of a boy named Shay and each story has vastly different settings. Regardless of which character you start with you’ll likely find that the game comes across as very cutesy and perhaps even a little too sickly sweet but this is simply a façade. Without going too far into the storylines the characters have in common a desire to break traditions in their lives that have, up until now, gone unquestioned. The gruesome realities of what is actually occurring strips away that initial sweet demeanour and instead the cheerful nature of the characters and environments take on a whole new form, one that is much darker and much, much more unnerving. 
 

It’s here where 'Broken Age' truly excels as the storyline is quite fascinating and will draw you in with its twisting story and cheerfully disturbing atmosphere. The ever present, in your face, indication that something is wrong but nobody else seeming to notice it is a constant source of fascination and you will desperately want to find out what’s going in in the two strange realms that you’ll inhabit. The characters too are likeable though, admittedly, quite unemotional and rather bland despite the famous voice actors. Whilst the storyline is interesting enough and with brilliant twists there are some key issues with the game that are very difficult to ignore. To begin with, it feels as though it’s being aimed at a much younger audience and not at those who would have previously enjoyed classic graphic adventures such as Grim Fandango and the Monkey Island series, both of which Tim wrote for previously. The complex puzzles, standard ‘pick up everything you can find’ mentality, vast environments and wry sense of humour that typically lift a standard point and click to a successful one have all been stripped away leaving something quite superficial in its wake.

Overall there’s a genuine lack of content and substance as characters have very few dialogue options and the environments are very limiting so there’s simply not much to discover in what could have been sprawling worlds of characters, places and puzzles. The few characters that are present are quirky and interesting but you can never just chat to them and waste away a couple of hours getting to know their unique personalities so, in this sense, the game feels a little sparse. There’s this strange, unfinished feel about the game that’s reflected in not only the lack of character development but the small, limited environments. These rather simplistic environments quickly become a problem when you’re faced with one of the many puzzles in the game. Often, a point and click adventure game would have you picking up random bits of, seemingly pointless, tack with plenty of red herrings thrown in there just to screw you up. Large locations or, in the very least, a broad variety of areas where the solution to your puzzle may lurk is key to making a puzzle difficult as often you’ll be searching doggedly for more items, racking your brains to figure out what kind of obscure combination you need to come up with. Broken Age lacks this, entirely so. At one point I had to find a particular, very important, item that had been lost but I found it sitting out in plain sight on just the next screen. Another puzzle simply consisted of getting to end of a conversation. It’s almost as though the developers didn’t trust their players to continue playing if they found the puzzles too challenging and this lack of faith in players is evident in the huge amount of hand-holding that takes place

  
When important plot elements have been stripped away of challenge it’s not just frustrating, it’s disappointing. I find it hard to imagine this game ever becoming ‘one of the greats’ and instead it sits as something which is nice, different, but nothing special. The lack of puzzles and choices meant that the length of play was disastrously short and far too easy for seasoned graphic adventure gamers and, whilst some hail this as a return to the 'nostalgic' era of point and clicks, it feels painfully modern with a strong focus on visuals and not enough on actual, substantial, gameplay.

Graphics and audio

The artwork of the game may not be to everybody’s taste but it truly is quite beautiful with a strong hand painted, fantasy appeal. The style and design of the worlds and its inhabitants does nothing for its childish feel however and overall it’s all a little bit too cute and quaint. Despite this, the worlds are gorgeous with a stunning array of colours and details that make each and every area feel bursting with life. The contrast between the two storylines is very apparent, not only in its gameplay content but in the design of the environments. The differences between the smokey oranges and dreamy pinks of Vella’s world to the moody blues and vibrant preschool colours of Shay’s world simply add layers onto the, already distinctive, atmosphere. A curious feature present within the game is its ability to be played in a ‘retro’ graphical mode which makes the game appear in an slightly pixelated, pre-renovated 'Monkey Island' 1 and 2 type design. Whilst usually I would have been extremely interested in this it’s clear that the game was not designed to be played in this format so it comes across as a very low quality conversion. If anything, it looks as though you’re just squinting at the HD version. 

The audio is, overall, very good and I liked almost all of the voice acting except for several occasions where I found the protagonists to have a lack of emotion. Despite pushing the budget out and employing the talents of very talented actors including Elijah Wood as Shay I felt as though Shay’s emotion was completely out of context with what was occurring in the scene. When his dialogue was supposed to indicate frustration the voice came across as depressed, when he was supposed to be confused he sounded passive. Though this is partily intentional as Shay is fairly a depressed character this uninterested tone persists even in moments of great peril where what he is saying suggests he's feeling emotion. The voice of Vella too had some inconsistencies between script and the voice acting and overall I felt there to be a lack of emotion when faced with action packed, highly distressing scenes and this tended to ruin the scene’s atmosphere. Aside from this, the game sounded as good as it looked and there was plenty of general chit-chatter in the background and little comments from the protagonist which gave you a better insight into their character.

Overall

It would be easy to simply look at the game, its history and its origin and stamp it with the mark of ‘fantastic’, ‘ushering in a new era’ and things of the such but upon closer examination, Broken Age does none of these things. It’s boringly simplistic, painfully unemotional and with very, very little build up to anything that happens. I found the storyline enjoyable, gripping even. My attention was constantly drawn to what was going on on the screen and Shay's story in particular was a mixture of fascinating and hilarious. My desire to find out more about the strange world I’d been dropped into was what primarily kept me going however as the gameplay was rather simplistic and, generally, the more I progressed the more let down I felt. 

The game had a lack of depth, a lack of real challenge and, also, a lack of something else, something I can’t put my finger on, it’s as if it very much lacked the heart, soul and dedication you’d have expected from a game with so many backers, so much time poured into it and so many people working with it. I don’t know what happened to render this game so disappointing and it’s a great shame to say that about what could have been one of the greatest modern age point and clicks. I hope wherever Tim Schafer is now that he looks on this game and thinks to himself, ‘I could have done better’ because if he doesn’t then I’m not sure what happened to his creativity in that sixteen year hiatus. Whilst my disappointment is evident I’d like to finish by saying that I will play the upcoming Act 2 to 'Broken Age' but, truly, it’s only to find out what happens in the end. I can only hope it presents something more appealing to lovers of classic point and click adventure games.

The Good: 

• Different, original storyline
• Attention grabbing with its odd premise
• Beautiful, hand painted graphics
• Lovely animations
• Nice variation of environments
• Likeable, personality filled characters
• Great cliff hanger

The Bad:

• Far too easy, a lot of hand-holding
• Not enough puzzles
• Voice acting can be off in places
• Limited, small environments
• Not much to explore or discover
• Very little to no item combination
• Feels superficial and focused on its graphics

The Score: 6/10

Final thoughts: "I'm looking forward to playing the next part of this but only because of its storyline. The game is far too easy with limited environments and, generally, it just doesn't feel like a traditional point and click."

Evil Twin, Cyprien's Chronicles - Full Review (PS2, PC and Dreamcast game)

It’s probably for the best that this game is largely unheard of. It feels clumsy, looks rushed and unkempt and has the strangest dialogue I’ve ever experienced, barring ‘Two Worlds’. I’m not sure what I expected for £2 when I picked this up from Cex but I know I wasn’t expecting beautiful, though rather intrusive, music, surreal but fascinating boss monsters and the most obnoxious teenager in dungarees ever to grace my PlayStation. This game was released in 2001 for the PS2 and 2002 for the PC and Dreamcast by Ubisoft and is perhaps one of Ubisoft's better kept secrets.

I was really hopeful when the game booted up because the opening cutscene was genuinely lovely, it had this beautifully soft piano music, cinematic thunderstorms and panning over the lonely, dark looking orphanage. When it entered the orphanage itself the camera gracefully showcased the rusty showers, dripping taps, grotty water pipes and overall the horribly dirty and neglected bathroom that these children had to endure. It was all so eerie, so sad, so beautifully melancholy… then the camera focused on a boy at the sink, staring at his reflection and my word, he was hideous. Blocky, choppy, strange spoon shaped hands and though he looked like an 8 year old he spoke as though he’d not only hit puberty but it had hit him, repeatedly. Needless to say, I was not only disappointed but I was actually a little pained as what followed was the most headache inducing game I have ever played. And I’ve played ‘Two Worlds’.

Gameplay and plot

The general plotline of 'Evil Twin, Cyprien's Chronicles' is that you play Cyprien, a young boy living in an orphanage who’s feeling rather down and depressed because it’s his birthday and also the day his parents died. His friends throw a surprise party but Cyprien becomes furious at their constant attempts to make him feel better, goddamn them, and storms away from the party. In his bedroom he hops on the bed and starts talking to a talking teddy bear wearing a full length purple coat called Lenny who apparently, Cyprien gave life to. Cyprien rants and raves about his friends, banishing Lenny, condemning his world to oblivion then weighing up whether that would mean he was dead or not. Then he begins to laugh manically, during all of this drama the room darkens and we see shots of the boys at the party being dragged away by dark tendrils and Lenny disappearing behind Cyprien. By the time Cyprien’s come down from his gleeful high he realizes Lenny is gone and starts to panic before he himself fades away. When he awakens he’s in a drowned world with floating crates and muddy islands. What the hell have I gotten myself into this time, is all I could think, still trying to work out what exactly had just happened and why there had been a talking bear. Cyprien must now try and find his lost bear and friends who have become trapped in this world, along the way he will meet many strange creatures and learn the history of this bizarre place. 

The game plays like a 3D platformer similar to what you’d get from 'Croc' or 'Vexx' and once you’ve gotten used to the temperamental camera controls it’s a fairly easy ride. You jump between ledges, rocks and platforms to navigate your way through the world and, though there is no real indication where you’re supposed to go, you will easily find your way. Initially the world looks quite repulsive because it’s all muddy platforms and garish green water that hurts you a little when you fall into it. That’s not to say the rest of the game looks stunning but as an opening level they sure did pick an ugly one. As you jump between platforms you will find some items along the way, usually in the form of tiny floating bear heads that, after you’ve collected 100 of them, will give you an extra life. 

After the initial level you gain access to SuperCyp; Cyprien’s alter-ego who’s basically some kind of super hero with the ability to jump higher, shoot fire balls and glide a little. You activate SuperCyp by grabbing tiny floating SuperCyp heads which fill a meter up, once the meter is full you can transform into him and maintain that form by grabbing more of the heads. You can also pick up extra lives which are few and far between though you probably won’t need them as the game is painfully easy. Whilst SuperCyp uses his fire missiles to destroy enemies regular Cyprien has a slingshot which you can use by either zooming in for more accurate aiming or just mashing the fire button which is almost guaranteed to hit the enemy, provided you’re pointed towards him. The enemies are incredibly easy to kill and have terrible AI, quite often I was able to stand a few feet away and just continually fire at them with my slingshot without them even responding. If you’re looking for at least some form of challenge, you will be disappointed with the regular enemies. 

I was generally disappointed with the entire game because there are some genuinely brilliant elements like the dark surrealism and the unique storyline that’s just ruined by shoddy craftsmanship. The lore too is quite curious and the world that Lenny came from, and the one you’re now trapped in, really has the potential to be something very interesting but it just all feels a bit rushed and underappreciated. The dark surrealism and the gothic fantasy entwine perfectly and if nothing else the game is atmospheric but from a mechanical standpoint it’s simply awful. I was constantly getting stuck in bits of floor and between objects and sometimes the collision detection is simply non-existent. All of these mechanical problems coupled with terrible lip synching, an awful camera and frustrating controls means you’ll be lucky to see this game through to the point where things start to get good.

Graphics and audio

I’m not one to usually talk much about the audio of a game but the voice acting of this game is really quite horrendous. I don’t know why but every time Cyprien talks to another character it sounds as though they’re in some terrible comedy sketch because everything is just so forced and sarcastic. Cyprien is voiced by an adult and, considering he looks about ten years old, this is extremely off putting and a little disturbing. What’s even stranger is he keeps swearing and then at one point accused a guard of being racist, so I was left with little clue as to how old he actually was. Cyprien is generally very obnoxious which would be manageable if it was well acted but all it really does is give me a headache. There’s also a lot of dialogue too and I kept finding myself laughing at what they were saying, in a bad way. That said, the music of the game is very nice. It’s creepily reminiscent of a haunted fairground and, considering there’s a lot of child themes like buttons and toys in the game, this is likely intentional. The music is very overbearing during dialogue however as it does not stop but seems to get louder, making it very difficult to hear what’s being said. If the subtitles hadn’t been on I’m not sure I’d have been able to grasp anything that was being said to me due to the insistently loud and invasive background music.

The graphics are fairly bi-polar as sometimes you get some rather interesting areas that are detailed, quirky and exploring. Most of these nicer areas come a lot later on in the game and what you’re given in the early stages of the game are fairly hideous. Usually though it’s the interiors that are the nicest places to be as there is no shortage of decoration and objects to pad everything out. The exteriors are a huge let down however and a lot of the game is unfortunately spent running around outside. Generally the exteriors are bland, empty, badly designed and just plain boring really. Almost everything is smeared brown, greys or orange so if it wasn’t bad enough that there’s nothing to look at in the first place, what you’re left looking at is ugly and uninteresting. The game is split into different islands and, at one point, a boat so there’s a fair bit of diversity with where you get to explore. It’s only when the game really gets into the swing of it that you’re treated to the interesting surrealist environments, bosses and creatures that the game actually does well.

The characters are extremely blocky and choppy and to be fair this is on the PlayStation 2 so a lot of that is to be expected and for what they are, the characters could be worse. Mostly I’m just confused as to why the hands are shaped like warped spoons with no fingers and why the characters all have huge anime eyes. The characters are all very well designed however and there are some particularly memorable and disturbing looking boss monsters that are perfectly suited to the bizarre, dreamlike fantasy world that they inhabit.

Overall

I found this game very hard to grasp at the beginning because everything feels under-explained and there are some incredibly strange and bizarre moments. The whole thing feels as though it had an amazing premise and someone who really cared about it that was then ruined by half-assed mechanics, awful voice acting and some terrible level design. The strong points are the graphics and character design, as well as the music even if it was a bit loud, and I was quite intrigued at some of the characters I met along the way. I found Cyprien to be an extremely irritating protagonist and would never want to play him again, his ability to turn into SuperCyp felt pointless and more like an attempt to make the game more action orientated when truly it wasn’t necessary. The controls are diabolical, aiming with the slingshot is frustrating and awkward and the camera’s unpredictable nature made me want to throw the controller away and go play something else. By sticking around for several hours I found myself enjoying the places I was visiting and the things I was seeing but it took a lot of persistence to stomach the terrible game far enough into the storyline for things to start happening . You’ll get around about ten hours to fifteen hours of play out of this game so at least it’s not too short and there’s plenty of build-up, if only they’d tried a bit harder and fleshed it out more. Frankly, I think this game would have been better suited as an RPG.

Score: 5/10

Note: If you're thinking of playing this game then feel free to check out the cheats for it, here. 

Flower - Quick Review (PS3 and PS4 game)

If I told you that this was a game where you play as a single petal on the wind, gradually gathering more and more petals, you’d probably laugh at me for suggesting it’s a fantastic game. Well, go ahead and laugh at me because Flower is a fantastic game. I admit, the concept is odd, absurd even, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that this is a subtly emotional, beautifully depicted piece of art with enrapturing music and a sense of majesty that is difficult to escape.  

Flower is a game with no words, no written objectives and no living creatures present in the entire game, except flowers. The use of the PlayStation Move controller makes it quite hard to get used to at first because it feels so overly sensitive but, after a little practice you and the controller become one. You soar through the hilly landscapes, dipping and diving and riding on the wind with such utter freedom of movement that it’s a truly satisfying experience and a beautiful sight to behold. The game is slightly puzzle based but mostly an expression of freedom that is completely without restriction. You begin as a couple of petals, bumbling across the wind until you knock into a flower, the petals from that flower join onto you and you become larger, a mass of petals that are different coloured as you plummet and soar into different types of flowers. There’s very little challenge and it’s all reward with no frustration which is a lovely way to relax and spend some time away from traditional, heavily action or story orientated games. 

There are six levels and each level has a little mystery to find within it though generally you’ll be spending your time finding and opening up the buds of flowers that usually form rings or patterns. By opening up all the flowers you’ll watch as the grass around you flutters with life and takes on a new colour, completing that area of the map. It’s a little tactical; you’ll need to catch the wind to reach new heights and by pushing it too hard and too fast you’ll end up swirling out of control, well away from your objective flower. Too slow and you won’t get enough speed to continue moving forward smoothly and you’ll spend a lot of time slowly turning on the spot. The flowers and grasses in this game are like finely shredded paper and they rustle with utter perfection as you breeze them through. Everything is very responsive to your touch and it’s an immense thrill to be thrown into an open world with no goals, no direction and to find things out for yourself with wondrous results.

Playing this game is an almost dreamy experience that’s incredibly calming and almost therapeutic, but at the same time it’s enjoyable and rewarding. This is likely to be a love it or hate it type of game but the combination of stunning graphics, a deeply expressive soundtrack and the sad underlying storyline makes this game a wonderful piece of interactive artwork. Overall, you can get a good few hours of gameplay out of this if you don’t rush it and it’s such a great source of escapism that I’m sure I’ll be playing it for years to come.

Score: 8/10

Rugrats: Search for Reptar - Full Review (PS1 game)

Note: This was my April Fools Day post.The rest of the review is overly positive but does contain real info :D

Rugrats, Search for Reptar is a gem among all the other PS1 games of its time. If you love the television show or watched one of the films then I’m sure you’re familiar with the characters; this game brings back all that childhood charm into a well formulated little puzzle game with three great game modes and numerous storylines that will keep you entranced. Ok so the camera is a little odd and it doesn’t recognize the analog sticks on my PS2 controller but who needs forward facing vision and working fingers anyway? Years of retro gaming have deformed my hands to that of extreme double jointed-ness and partial muscle damage anyway so I barely feel the strain of mashing on the D-pad to navigate difficult terrains in this incredibly clever game.

Gameplay and plot

So the game starts out with Tommy, chief baby guy, losing all his Reptar puzzle pieces out of his Reptar shaped puzzle holder. Oh no! You have to find all the puzzle pieces by completing a series of mini-games and earning them back. There are other game modes though and the puzzle piece main storyline makes up a large chunk of gameplay. The main game includes the storyline, side storylines and the occasional mini-game type activity. This is the game mode you want to play because, let’s face it, you just can’t wait to play so you don’t want to waste time on the mini-games. The other two game modes include a training level which is a mish-mash of some of the episodes along with advice on dealing with things like ice and lobsters, essential information as the game is really difficult in some parts and you need all the help you can get. The final game mode is the mini-games which I mentioned above, these are four bonus levels that are technically available in the main game and includes modes like an Easter egg hunt, a race against Angelica and two types of game that’s like playing piggy in the middle with chocolate milk or cookies.

Incredibly realistic Pickles house makes you feel as though you're a part of the episode.

You start the main game in your play pen in the Pickles house and from that point on you have free run of the house and garden. You can only open the doors to the garden but any closed doors only like that temporarily and open up when the side stories are taking place. All around the house are some sparkling items and by interacting with them you can start an episode which is what the side stories are called. There’s quite a few of them, one for every room of the hosue so approximately 12 episodes to play through as that’s how many puzzle pieces you need. After the puzzle is complete you get a special level where you play Reptar himself, destroying a city in a Godzilla type fashion. During the episodes you will control different characters including the dog, at one point you’re able to ride Spike like some kind of stubby horse and, in another episode, you will float through a space station so the variety is good and I like how you’re not restricted to just playing Tommy.

The game takes a decidedly weird twist when you’re in the episodes as they are very surreal. At one point I had been transported into an upside down version of the house and had to traverse the ceiling and climb up the stairs to go to the ground floor. The episodes vary in difficulty and some of the harder ones include floating about through a space station with creepy talking aliens, chasing down a goose that’s stolen Grandpa’s teeth in a weird hedge maze as Tommy and trying to avoid a creepy robot doll who wants to be your friend. Easier episodes includes a game of hide and seek, playing Chuckie who had his glasses stolen and a golf course that is toy and sweet themed, aptly named ‘Ice Cream Mountain' because when you win the gold tournament you win an actual geological wonder, I never knew people took Crazy Golf so seriously until this game!

It looks as though they're trying to decide which mount is more efficient.

The interactivity in the game is brilliant! You can pick up and throw a variety of items and all of them make an appropriate noise like the guitar or the ball bouncing. If you’re not feeling so agile you can also just put stuff down again without throwing it, essential skills for a baby to learn. If you’re feeling particularly creative you can play a miniature piano or if you feel quite athletic play fetch with Spike in the back garden. There’s a couple of curious things in the Pickles’ house like an overactive popcorn machine and a weird bubble maker in the garden. Wandering around the place Tommy usually has a fair bit to say about his surroundings but the Pickles house is just kind of the menu in between the games. Just like the television series the missions of the game are pleasantly set from a child’s point of view where you, as an adult, can see what’s really going on that makes the game so enjoyable. Any game can string together a few mini-games and call it a game but this one has such a weird perspective and series of storylines that it’s pretty intriguing, if not plain trippy. The ghosts in the house are just Tommy being afraid of the dark and, as he desperately searches for the light in the fridge, his kiddies flashlight is the only thing that will make them disappear. Fail to get rid of them and your health will deplete until Tommy gets too scared and starts crying; forcing you to restart the level.

Graphics and environment

This game is for the PS1 and though the Rugrats doesn’t exactly stretch it to its capabilities it’s still amazing to look at. The areas are all designed in perfect correlation with the original 1991 – 1999 television show, even the starting cutscene is the same, and the house is as close as you’re going to get to being in the actual TV series. The colours are great; playful, fun and accurate and all the characters look just like the real thing so the transition between watching the show to playing this game is absolutely seamless. It's basically as though they made the TV program interactive with a controller it's so realistic.

I never thought I'd see a flying fish, this game makes fantasy reality!

The game takes place in several different areas depending on which side storyline you’re playing. Whilst a lot of the game is set in the Pickles house and garden you’ll also visit the supermarket, a toy shop, the park, a space station, an upside down version of Tommy’s house after going into ‘mirror land’, a golf course and a sort of sewage plant where you play Spike, the dog. The environments are pretty varied and even though several side quests are set in the Pickles house they’re all under completely different circumstances. In one instance you’ll be exploring the house at night whilst ghosts roam the hallways, in another you’re confined to the basement where Tommy’s inventor father has accidentally created lots and lots of Mr Friend toys who just want to befriend Tommy.

For some reason, Tommy doesn't seem keen on the idea.

Overall

The game sounds great; the theme music is the same and the voice actors are the same as the television series and the films so everything will be just the way you remembered it; only with edges so sharp you could cut yourself on them. All in all though it’s a fun, silly and weird game that will give you many, many hours of entertainment and frankly I’m still working on it because some of the levels are too hard for me to get past! Even though it’s really frustrating trying to kill those ghosts I keep playing because the storyline is so appealing to me and quite complicated that, by skipping a level, I’m sure I’d lose track of what was happening. This game deserves much more attention than it’s been getting and for that reason, I highly recommend you play this right now.

Score: 4/10

Eternal Sonata - Full Review (Xbox 360 and PS3 game)

Eternal Sonata is a truly majestic RPG game with a strong focus on music. The game follows the last moments of a dying Frédéric Chopin as he dreams up a fictional world where he himself features. As this new world starts to become Frederic's reality we follow the journey of many individuals, thrown together as allies, in their bid to find the answers to their questions.

This is one of the first areas you go to, and it looks incredible.

Storyline and plot

The premise of Eternal Sonata is nothing if not original. The game developers wanted players to learn more about the life of FrédéricChopin, a famous composer and romantic pianist, but by telling his story in a sort of game format. It’s hard not to spoil too much of the storyline but the game flips continuously between two worlds; the real world and a fictional dream world. Within the real world, Chopin is lying on his death bed with his doctor, lover and sister all there, sometimes talking to one another. The playable part of Eternal Sonata isnot actually real; it’s simply a fictional world envisioned by a dreaming Chopin in the last hours of his life.

The world of Eternal Sonata is where you’ll be playing and despite the fact that Chopin does exist in this world as a playable character called Frédéric he’s not really the main character and, though he starts out being insistent that this is all a dream, as time goes by he becomes less and less sure of himself. The story starts by following the journeys of Polka and Allegretto, who tend to feel like the main characters since they are kind of the party ringleaders. Polka is a 14 year old flower girl who suffers from a condition that she will soon die from as a result of her magical healing powers. Unfortunately, the population of this world view this power of Polka’s with a deep suspicion which has left this good natured girl feeling isolated and tainted. Allegretto meanwhile is a 16 year old homeless boy who steals for a living and who looks after an 8 year old called Beat.

"It could also mean he's dead." Worst doctor, ever.

 

The plot of the game follows closely behind the real world events that helped shape Chopin’s life. In 1830 a group of Polish rebels rose up and fought back against the suppression of the Russian government during the November Uprising.  Similarly, within the game world you’ll soon discover that a rebel group called Adantino is fighting back against a fascist government that may or may not invade a friendly and prosperous nation. Sometimes the connections between the game world and the real world are vague and difficult to realize but after each chapter of the game there’s a little interlude of photographs and the telling of Chopin’s rather sad life story. These clips of his life are squashed between the far more action and story orientated game world cutscenes and the goings on of the rebel group Andantino and the personal journeys of Polka and Allegretto as they uncover an epidemic caused by constant use of ‘mineral powder’; a healing substance that may have some dire side effects.

Battle system and levelling

The battle system is unique with attacks changing depending on whether you stand in light or darkness, the ability to build up ‘echoes’ and release stronger attacks or combine up to six different attacks from all characters using ‘harmony chains’ adds devastating combos to the mix. As you might have noticed there’s a bit of a musical theme to the entire game and the battle system is no different.

Teamwork is a big part of the battle system if you want to achieve maximum damage.

Levelling up includes a lot of grinding, especially if you’re playing through ‘encore mode’ which is when you replay the game. There are moments of almost non-stop fighting in some periods of the game which is frustrating when, truly, you don’t want to have another creature throw itself at you when you’re just trying to squeeze yourself through a narrow passageway. However, by avoiding enemies, like many RPG games, you’ll just find yourself too weak to survive against later enemies. In particular, the bosses are frequent and brutal. This is certainly a game where you can tell a boss from a regular enemy as they are 

gloriously designed and vicious in their attacks. Some enemies, and bosses, are noticeably fast in their attack speeds and trying to block against them by tapping a button is extremely difficult. You’ll find it much easier to block against the slower, more lumbering enemies though they tend to hit harder as though wielding a warhammer rather than a couple of stilettos. To counteract against the incredibly dangerous creatures you’ll want to frequently upgrade your equipment; weapons, accessories and armour. Weapons and upgrades are supplied in generous quantities provided you properly explore and they make a noticeable difference to a character’s strength or defensive abilities so it’s highly recommended to keep bang up to date with what you're using.

Graphics and environments

The actual areas that you visit are all pretty linear where you have to stay on a set path, though there are some vast and open areas like grassy plains though in one, large area you’re only likely to find one or two treasures.  The graphics themselves though are genuinely beautiful, original, varied and intriguing. It’s obvious from the start that you’re in for a real treat as you’re met with luscious greens, bountiful fields of flowers and mysterious, dark forests with colourful sparking shots of colour to highlight just how gorgeous they can make a magical forest look. The game will take you through forests, vast open plains, abandoned forts, lava filled caverns, medieval style towns and then into the very afterlife itself. It’s easy to become desensitised to how beautiful everything is because you’re just spoilt rotten with detailed, clear, bright and smooth visuals. Even when you’re taken out of this magical kingdom and brought back to the real world of an exquisitely adorned bedroom you’ll be stunned by the environment. How the creators of this game managed to make something so ordinary look so spectacular is beyond me. The characters, too, look great with unique and personality-driven outfits that would look at home in any Final Fantasy game. 

Warning: Bridges may be more fragile than they appear.

Characters

The characters are a mixture of irritating and awesome. It’s great to have such a diverse array of characters that feature strong, female leads who are not overly sexualized and who have some of the strongest personalities out of the trope. Jazz, the leader of a revolutionary group, does appear to have his own point of gravity however; at least, judging by the fact that all the female adult characters are perpetually trying to get him to notice them. There’s quite a bit of crushes going on in the game, two main characters have an unspoken teenage love thing going on and one of the little boys has a crush on a loudmouth elf girl. Perhaps the most interesting character however is Polka who is arguably the main character despite the fact this game is all based in Frederic Chopin’s dream and that he is actually a party member. By the end of the game you’ll be left intrigued and confused at Polka’s story and endeared to her innocent, but doomed, character who so closely resembled Chopin's late younger sister. 

Awkward silences are... awkward.

There are a great deal of characters in the game though you only control them on the battlefield, depending on which 3 party members you prefer. At times during the game your party will be separated and added to, often changing up who you will get to use though by the late game you'll have access to everybody. For the exploring parts of the game you'll control either Polka or Allegretto for the majority of the time. All the characters make frequent appearances in cutscenes and everybody has a defined existence in the game so even though you're not necessarily playing them it doesn't really matter. The PlayStation 3 version of the game, along with other features, comes with additional characters who are some of the strongest in the game. The characters are all designed very well and have unique, interesting personalities and backgrounds that tend to coincide with the ‘real world’ revolution. All the characters are notably named after various instruments or terms in music such as ‘Salsa’, ‘Crescendo’ and ‘Viola’ which is a nice touch.

By this point I'm just putting pictures in because the game is so pretty.

One of the drawbacks of the characters tend to be what they’re actually saying. Dialogue, especially in cutscenes, often includes preachy, pseudo-philosophical observations on the human race that tend to be repetitive and depressing. The attempts at humour are also quite often childish and can fall a little flat on adult audiences. In all fairness however, the comic relief of the game is usually provided by in-game children like Beat, who is 8 years old, and Salsa, also 8 years old though not technically a human.

Music and sound

For a game that starts with a musical premise it certainly does not disappoint. Some of the game’s music are Chopin’s original compositions played by pianist Stanislav Bunin but a lot of music are different pieces written instead by Motoi Sakuraba. It’s all very atmospheric and majestic and changes depending on which location you are in, the music is non-intrusive to the gameplay and never gets boring because it’s just so well-orchestrated. The battle music is quite possibly the only thing that will start to grate on your nerves but this is mostly due by how often you’ll be flung into battle due to the need to level up all the time.

Music aside, the game itself also sounds nice, the voice acting in the frequent cutscenes is superb though a lot of dialogue is also text based so you’re not listening to them chat all the time. Each character has a voice that suits their personality perfectly and whereas some are airy and girly you’ll also get people who are serious and down to earth so there’s a good mixture. You’ll often hear the characters shout phrases in battle when finishing up a combo attack and when starting and finishing the fight. Their comments are taken from a list of several and it can admittedly get repetitive after several battles, though it’s not exactly a game breaking issue. 

Ok one last picture, because... pirates!

Conclusion

Eternal Sonata is a game that you just have to complete due to the incredible but saddening ending scenes that provide a feeling of deep satisfaction. It is beautifully designed with a captivating storyline and a highly engaging atmosphere. Even if you're not a fan of turn based JRPG games you'll still find it a great deal of fun. The battle system is unique and interesting with a lot of different attacks, the tactical use of time and the light/shadows of the battle area. It’s not an easy game if you don’t keep levelled up but it’s not boring or hard enough to ever stop playing. There's plenty of chests and things to find in the environments and a great deal of NPCs and dialogue plus hidden features and encounters that true explorers will track down so the environments never feel empty or undernourished.The ability to ‘learn’ how to read sheet music by playing score pieces with NPCs is a strange but nice feature and the emphasis on music as a whole is pretty successful. If you enjoy battling, exploring and plenty of introspective storyline then you’ll thoroughly enjoy this game.

Score: 8/10