Back(log) to the Front: Week 3

This week would prove to be a bad week for my attempt to play games. We received official diagnosis that my three year old son is autistic, so my mind has been too scrambled to give games an honest shot.

It wasn’t a total failure though! I did get a couple things off the backlog and I think I’m getting the itch to start a larger game that will probably take up the majority of my gaming time. I haven’t decided what exactly I’m going to play, but I have plenty of longer titles at my disposal.

As for what I did play this week:

To The Moon

This one will be hard to leave impressions on without potential spoilers. The game is almost entirely story-based, practically a visual novel of sorts. There is gameplay in the idea of moving around areas with things to find and small puzzles to solve, but the main reason to play this is for its story.

Even knowing the premise of To the Moon and hearing how emotional it would be, I still found myself surprised at the twists and turns with the story. Yes, it is incredibly touching in many ways and it has a nice contrast with some good humored characters to carry the plot as it progresses. One of my favorite movies of all time has a very similar story to it, but even saying what that would be spoils expectations for this game.

Surprisingly, I didn’t realize there was a sequel to this game called Finding Paradise that released in 2017. I’m eager to give it a try and see if it can succeed to be as emotionally evocative as To the Moon is, though it is certainly a hard act to follow.

This is one of two indie games that were story heavy that I wanted to try. The other being That Dragon, Cancer which I can only imagine is far more depressing than this title after hearing about it. Anyone looking for a good story and doesn’t mind very little game involved, To the Moon is a fantastic one to try. Not particularly long either!

STEEP

I had very low expectations going into Steep seeing how it came and went with very little recognition by any gaming press. I remember enjoying the old SSX games (that should receive a more honest revival) but was uncertain how Steep played. Yes it’s open world and featured some other ways to get around the map, but in the end, I just wasn’t sure if I would like the feel of the game very much.

After several hours with it, I get the same vibe with Steep as I do with Trackmania Turbo. It’s a very easy game to hop in for a quick activity or two whether it snowboard tricks, rocket wingsuit races, or a “follow the expert” mission.

It could also be just me, but trying to perfect the jumps, landings, turns, and tricks were difficult to pull off. Too often I found myself landing sloppy and coming close to wiping out or passing the goal which basically results in you needing to start over since it’s nigh impossible to go back.

Some of the most fun I had did involve crashing though. The ragdoll is somewhat enjoyable, although stiff, and I found myself making a game about how far down the mountain I could tumble. In fact because of how quick you can get going in the game, some of the wipeouts are especially hilarious such as using the rocket propelled wingsuit to go headfirst into a rock. I found myself doing this frequently during challenges, and it was hard to be annoyed because of the joy I received from seeing it happen.

Steep is not SSX, and that’s okay. It goes for something different and does it well while keeping it fun with a variety of activities to partake in. The world itself is huge and allows for so many options on how to tackle both the missions or personal challenges involving the terrain while providing the option to group up with other members. It’s not a complete arcade experience, but it’s part of the way there which might be good enough for some. If there’s even the slightest interest in giving it a try, hop on in and give it a try for a little bit. It might surprise you.

Call of Duty: Blackout

Free trial week! So of course I’ll give it a shot.

Psyche. Keep getting errors when trying to register an account. Oh well.

A few big games coming up for 2019 that I know people are excited for such as the Resident Evil 2 remake and the conclusion to what sounds like an overly convoluted story-line in Kingdom Hearts 3. Neither series ever really blew up my skirt in excitement, so these are two games I won’t have a hard time passing up.

I know good and well though that while I’m working my way through some old games these next few weeks, you all will be blasting zombies in the head or going on an adventure with Donald Duck. Even if that’s the case, hopefully you’ll come and see what I’ll be playing!