So the last few months were busy: we were employed by new clients, I started rearranging and rationalizing my schedule (quite successfully), there were new Google Updates and yeaaah, I did a lot of gaming.
Speaking of gaming, I was kinda lost for a while a few weeks or months ago.
I also enjoyed the two Episodes from Liberty City games, too. The Lost and the Damned was fun but I found The Ballad of Gay Tony more intriguing because of its calm, relatable main character, Luis Lopez.
After the long, rewarding single player story in GTA 5 and a couple hundred hours of utter megalomania in GTA Online Grand Theft Auto IV offered me a great change of pace. I liked the greyish, depressive atmosphere, the much more serious tone and the grounded gameplay. Everything ran on a smaller scale than in Los Santos in a much slower, thoughtful pace. Oh, and that out of control, uncertain car handling is just fun, really.
However, that horrible optimization of GTA 4 and the never-ending flow of calls from Cousin Roman wasn’t that great… although GTA Online has become much, much worse with its constant spam calling endorsing you to spend all that hard earned money for more grindy, boring stuff.
It was also interesting to see the early signs of that later megalomia from Rockstar Games in The Ballad of Gay Tony. You know: the heli missions, stealing the train, skydiving, Yusuf Amir and his mentality. “The greed for more” I’d say. Putting the low-key, almost everyday-like Luis Lopez in the center of this story was a really nice touch from the writers.
I’ve never really been into platformers until now. But the beautiful aesthetics here, the utterly perfect musical score,the wonderful atmosphere and that pure love you can feel while playing it makes it a true experience... even times when the level of difficulty makes you wanna smash that keyboard into pieces. It’s a way to make you emotionally invested.
The downside…: the engine is not great:
I enjoyed it, I will finish it but I needed something else, something more emotionally rewarding. There came a longer hiatus… until I spotted a true masterpiece in my collection I should’ve played long time ago:
Speaking of gaming, I was kinda lost for a while a few weeks or months ago.
GTA IV and Episodes from Liberty City
GTA IV caught me off guard: its tormented, hesitant protagonist brought up a lot of personal stuff from my past. I’m Hungarian but I was born in Serbia (Yugoslavia) in the late eighties; my family had to flee because of the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s. Personally I’ve never seen combat, only after-effects but I still carry and will carry forever the influences of that horrible-horrible period of human depravity. The story of Niko Bellic and that whole resigned atmoshpere had a great effect on me, to say the least. |
| Niko Bellic, probably my favourite protagonist in video gaming. |
I also enjoyed the two Episodes from Liberty City games, too. The Lost and the Damned was fun but I found The Ballad of Gay Tony more intriguing because of its calm, relatable main character, Luis Lopez.
After the long, rewarding single player story in GTA 5 and a couple hundred hours of utter megalomania in GTA Online Grand Theft Auto IV offered me a great change of pace. I liked the greyish, depressive atmosphere, the much more serious tone and the grounded gameplay. Everything ran on a smaller scale than in Los Santos in a much slower, thoughtful pace. Oh, and that out of control, uncertain car handling is just fun, really.
 |
| The immersive atmosphere of Liberty City. |
However, that horrible optimization of GTA 4 and the never-ending flow of calls from Cousin Roman wasn’t that great… although GTA Online has become much, much worse with its constant spam calling endorsing you to spend all that hard earned money for more grindy, boring stuff.
It was also interesting to see the early signs of that later megalomia from Rockstar Games in The Ballad of Gay Tony. You know: the heli missions, stealing the train, skydiving, Yusuf Amir and his mentality. “The greed for more” I’d say. Putting the low-key, almost everyday-like Luis Lopez in the center of this story was a really nice touch from the writers.
Heart Warming Beauty: The Purring Quest
...and then came The Purring Quest. Now that IS a true masterpiece. My strong willed, nasty-but-lovely black tomcat passed away a couple month ago, and I dearly miss him; this game helped me a lot about the grief I felt. As a cat lover, I’d give this one a true 10/10 without a doubt.I’ve never really been into platformers until now. But the beautiful aesthetics here, the utterly perfect musical score,the wonderful atmosphere and that pure love you can feel while playing it makes it a true experience... even times when the level of difficulty makes you wanna smash that keyboard into pieces. It’s a way to make you emotionally invested.
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| It's just gorgeus. |
Unfinished Business: Two Worlds Epic Edition
After a short hiatus I started Two Worlds: Epic Edition. Boy, it did pull me in. It’s by no means perfect but I had great fun with it: it has a really vast world, a great variety of locales, nice atmosphere, a lot of customization, a crapload of quests, the game system is okay for complete RPG rookies, too. |
| Exploring and hiking in the vast forests felt awesome. |
The downside…: the engine is not great:
- I had some FPS drops and some bugs
- control sometimes feels clunky
- even though the world is vast with different scenery everywhere, it’s not that memorable
- it can really get repetitive at times,
- can’t choose female character.
I enjoyed it, I will finish it but I needed something else, something more emotionally rewarding. There came a longer hiatus… until I spotted a true masterpiece in my collection I should’ve played long time ago:
Medal of Honor Allied Assault War Chest.
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