Tag: Software

What’s a good end for Geralt of Rivia? Is there a version of his world where his end doesn’t involve human or monster violence? Maybe he could end up retired, content to read rather than swing a sword, allowing the world around him to change without his meddling. Or maybe he, once again, succumbs to pitchforks as angry humans discover he hasn’t been receptive enough to their requests. I was trying to speak truth to power and befriend more creatures. I even met Triss and got to pet a cat. But the cards were unkind, and I found no way to gain reputation with the human faction without triggering another Geralt death. Still, the audience delivers a smattering of applause. Dandelion gains a fame level, which leads to a new inspiration. He can now sing about a Witcher who’s ready to get a tattoo. Unfortunately, I don’t draw that card for my next run, and Geralt dies after a big magic party while trying to make friends with as many cats as possible. Reigns: The Witcher i...

My four heroes are preparing to kill the Pale Apostle, who stands in their way as they seek to clean their hive. Galahad, Vladimir, Hercules, and Cupcake don’t have much equipment but do have complementary skills. The challenge now is to set them up for success in the coming battle, avoiding enemies with spikes while targeting the mini-boss. I win relatively easily, although Hercules takes more damage than I would like. My reward is a new trinket, and I choose one that poisons all opponents when starting a battle. It should help with crowd control during the tougher fights. I hit a trader next to pick up extra weapons to boost my damage dealing. I have three more battles until the end boss, and the challenge now is to conserve as much health as possible. Hive Blight is developed and published by OptizOnion. I played the Early Access version of the title on Steam. The video game uses easily understood auto-battler concepts to tell a story of resilience and cooperati...

I enjoyed Railroad Corporation when it was released in 2019, and I felt it was quite an exciting approach towards train tycoons. Railroad Corporation 2 tries to build upon that framework, while adding some interesting new ideas in an effort to bring us one of the best train tycoons in recent years. And while it certainly has its issues, Railroad Corporation 2 manages to deliver a more polished railroad business simulator than its predecessor, along with some interesting surprises. Your main goal when playing Railroad Corporation 2 is to have a successful train business. However, in order to do that, you will need train stations, trains and ways to fulfill the needs of local residents. Needless to say, creating a railroad company is very costly, and you see that right off the bat. There is a plethora of expenses at first, and your focus will be to try and recoup your money fast. The tutorial in Railroad Corporation 2 does a great job at helping you learn the ropes. ...

Originally named Crosswinds and with a PvPvE focus, Windrose has shifted course and now it’s a full-on PvE game that you can play alone and with friends. The premise is very intriguing, you are a pirate stranded on an island after a ship attack, and you need to do everything you can in order to survive. The game’s demo has quite a bit of content, ranging from the first 3 islands in the archipelago to the early-game quests, but also your first ship, boarding and combat. Additionally, you can play in coop if you want, which in my opinion is the best way to experience the game. But even if you want to play alone, there’s a lot of content to uncover and ways to improve on your own. At first, it will be very difficult to stay alive, but you slowly need to gather the stuff necessary to upgrade/craft items. The crafting system in Windrose is intuitive, and simpler when compared to other survival games. It’s easy to access, and switching between items to build is a breeze....

Banished Stone is one of those titles that you look at, and it seems very basic. While it’s not an AAA or even an AA game by any means, it manages to capture your imagination, and it takes that to the next level. That’s because graphics are not the only thing that matters here. Instead, they focus a lot on the story and on the idea of bringing you different places to explore, enemies to battle and loot to increase your power. At its core, the game’s story is not very complex, since you go on various quests, with the main purpose being to save your land. Reviving your ancestral home is not easy, it requires a lot of focus, sacrifice and challenges. Then again, it also makes the gameplay more important here, because every single enemy you defeat gets you one step closer to your goal. Since Banished Stone is a side scroller, they did a nice job at bringing the old school gameplay from that niche. The downside, at least for me, is that controls are quite weird and not ...

After battling the Soviets in both a dynamic and a linear campaign, I’ve decided it’s time for some old-fashioned blue-on-blue action. Call it a training exercise designed to assess how the Swedes and the Danes operate. So far, my Swedish infantry is holding its ground, after a quick dash for two of the three objectives. My right flank, which is made up of recon units and six tanks, is under pressure from a tank push supported by air strikes. I don’t want to weaken the center, but my scouts on the right show limited enemy numbers there, so I plan to shift some infantry squads. But that will take time, giving the Danes a chance to push. Still, I’m confident of winning this friendly battle. Armored Brigade II: Scandinavia is developed by Veitikka Studios and published by Matrix Games Ltd. This is the first downloadable content for the strategy game, which adds new units as well as a new set of impressively accurate maps from which to create a battlefield. If the Col...

The electric tiger sharks really want to eat everything they see. I understand why they are interested in the smallish but somewhat piranha-like fish that I get to control, but they also quickly target and stun Lana herself. So now Mui is hypnotizing a constant stream of these creatures as I try to find the right moment to deploy the ink. At least the fish are more interesting than the robots that we used to shuffle boxes around, which in turn activated a power circuit. Flying around is fun, but moving around items feels like a chore, especially when some are somewhat hidden. Plenty of other creatures are willing to be controlled in the name of puzzle-solving, even if finding the solution means that they’ll have to die in pretty horrible ways. Timing was everything in Planet of Lana, especially when engaging with the longer puzzles that required careful planning and execution. Our heroine has learned a few tricks when it comes to traversal, but she still needs to a...

We’ve seen a plethora of survival games over the past decade, and while they all try something new, they end up with something similar. Nested Lands strives to be different, since it brings us a ruthless survival experience that seamlessly combines village building with combat and large-scale social management. Not only do you need to create your own village, but you also try to expand it, all while dealing with raiders and a variety of attackers. It’s not easy to create your own village, especially when you are starting all on your own. However, once you accumulate some resources, you will be able to slowly build stuff and start recruiting people to your village. What started with a small building can easily become a thriving and beautiful village, provided that you take the time to do it properly. For me, the start of the game felt the most challenging, because the game has a day/night system and during the night you barely see anything. The survival instincts ki...

We’ve seen a lot of simulators trying to help us experience different professions, but this is the first time we actually get to manage heavy machinery in a part and all the various operations. The interesting thing is that Docked isn’t just a simulator, instead it has a narrative and some characters that we encounter along the way. It’s exciting, because we actually get to follow instructions, focus on tasks, meet various people and, of course, do our job which consists of handling various heavy machines. In Docked, you will play as Tommy, and you are working in Port Wake. You need to prepare the port of Storm Wendy, which is set to be extremely dangerous. One of your first tasks is to use the STS crane to move the damaged shipping containers. I like that Docked keeps a lot of detail, and it covers even menial things like getting to the cockpit, which is a challenge onto itself. Thankfully, even if these tasks are quite challenging to do, the game offers a proper ...

It’s sometimes hard to tell what’s an enemy that’s actually threatening and who is actually an opportunity to use my healing ability. A pillow fort might seem inviting, but the projectiles the man hidden inside launches can make it harder to deal with the caged humans that prowl the level. It gets worse when mold-spewing plants are involved. So I make sure to look around before pushing toward a new area. I attack the walls, hoping to reveal a secret. I scan for extra lore. Only once I form a clear plan do I move through danger, making sure I know which enemies are easier to take down in case I need to use my special pencil healing attack. The Perfect Pencil is developed by Studio Cima, with publishing handled by Studio Cima and Doyoyo Games. I played it on the PC using Steam, with the title also on the Nintendo Switch. The video game mixes exploration and combat with a weirdly engaging universe. Our hero is John, and he seems to be severely depressed. The world is...