Tag: Software

The United Kingdom and France are taking their sweet time to really get into World War II. The Czechs man their fortified line, having decided that losing the Sudetenland isn’t acceptable. The Nazis tried to break through for a few months, lost a lot of people and equipment, and are now no longer interested in attacking. The problem is that the Western Allies are not doing anything to move on the Germans, while the soft underbelly of our own Little Entente, meaning Yugoslavia, is unable to deal with the Fascist Italians. It would have been nice to be able to build some forts to help them out. Without them, I hope my armor and mountain troops are enough to stop the assault. And I would love a way to prod the UK and France into action. Hearts of Iron IV: Peace for Our Time is developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. This downloadable content pack is labeled as a Focus Pack, designed to create a unique experience for one of the gra...

Games that have an alternative version of society are always fascinating, because we’re always questioning ourselves “what if” quite often. And in a title like REPLACED, you get to see that brought to life. In this game, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought a nuclear war between Russia and the US, and the Phoenix Corporation is the one focused on resurrecting the nation. It’s an interesting setting, since the 1980s US has a beautiful, yet rather dark cyberpunk theme. We play the role of REACH, which is an AI who melded with the mind of Warren Marsh, its creator. The Phoenix Corporation ordered an attack on Marsh, which leads to an explosion. The AI Reach was programmed to think that the corporation was the be all, end all, but throughout the story, it changes its perspectives. That’s where REPLACED manages to serve as a great social commentary tool, reminiscing of today’s society in many ways. The original purpose of Reach was to calculate compatibility between recipie...

It’s good that these crazed creatures have trouble with stairs. This means my gunslinger character can often safely use them to execute a tactical retreat, which is great when a group is attacking at the same time. A bit of time allows me to re-evaluate the combat scenario, hack a few of them, gain more bullets, shoot one or two, and then finish the rest without taking damage. Dashing at the right time helps. Learning the patterns for all enemy types is even better. And, when no foes have appeared in a while, it helps to be on the lookout for a ranged surprise attack. Dash, preferably avoiding pits, to learn their rhythm and then counter with a bullet or move in for a melee kill. And try to avoid using any precious health items, including the flasks. Tombwater is developed by Moth Atlas and published by Midwest Games. I played using Steam on the PC, the only hardware platform on which it is offered. The video game combines melee, spells, and ranged combat, with sou...

Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel has quickly become one of my go-to survivor games because it has close to Diablo-like graphics, amazing visual design, and some really cool characters. Now they added Conan into the mix, an affordable DLC that brings the legendary Conan as a playable character, along with a new realm called Stygia. I am quite fond of this DLC because Conan is a melee powerhouse, and his abilities are nothing short of impressive. He’s powerful to begin with, his abilities related to swords, and even a bouncing shield which can deal quite a bit of damage to his own. Conan also has passives, which work with triumphs, and these stack after you meet certain conditions. Triumps are interesting because they negate an incoming blow, which makes Conan more of a tank when compared to the other heroes. It is overpowered at first, but as you ramp up the difficulty, you will find the new map to be quite challenging. Stygia, the new realm, has quickly become one of my...

I made Asterion dig in the wrong place. I focused on resources when I should have been thinking in terms of available trap spots. Now I have two mechanical death devices that will sit in Daedalus’ magical inventory rather than deal damage to the angry Greeks that are coming for the Minotaur. He might have to engage in some hand-to-hand combat. I get through the round unscathed, and I fill the blood vessel that adds more trap options. I also use my energy to make sure all traps are open. Then it takes five minutes to discover the perfect route for the incoming adventurers. In Minos, perfect means the route where they will be spiked, burned, moved around by my magical power, and generally suffer before they die. The video game is developed by Artificer and published by Devolver Digital. I played via Steam on the PC, with the title only offered on this hardware. The video game combines trap construction and maze shaping with a rogue-lite core. The tale of the Minotau...

These days, there are a lot of hybrids genres, so learning about titles that try to blend FPS and action RPGs is not that far-fetched. Second Sun is a title that tries to bring us such a blend, and I think it succeeds for the most part. In Second Sun, you are a soldier of the Sun Empire, which is a militaristic monarchy battling the order of the Second Sun. That order brought a cataclysm into the mix, and naturally, demon creatures are spread all over the land. Your focus is to figure out what happened, bring order back into the world, and also stay alive in the process. It’s interesting to see that Second Sun doesn’t borrow story ideas from other games, instead it focuses on having its own identity. You will see some cyberpunk and magic-focused ideas, but at the same time, it’s still a wonderful open world experience with dungeons and everything you would expect from this genre. Second Sun is more of a boomer shooter. However, it has some great RPG elements and it...

Constance is a young woman, a digital creative as an artist who is constantly dealing with stress in life, and mental health challenges. She receives a brush that she needs to take with her, and soon she embarks on a journey of self-discovery, while also tackling a variety of interesting missions. Constance is quite similar to Hollow Knight, since it offers a more open-world approach to platforming, instead of being a linear adventure. And that’s both a good and a bad thing. Instead, you have an entire world to explore and plenty of bosses to encounter. That being said, you will also end up finding many bosses that are a delight to play against, but also some that are truly difficult to deal with. An interesting thing about Constance is the fact that our titular character will encounter many characters that help them on her journey. Those characters have side quests, which will deepen your connection with them. For me, Constance’s story was interesting, but as you ...

It takes a solid build to deal with the version of Death that has more than 1,000 health. For my first run, I focused on healing, trying to outlast my enemy. I went well for the first few battles; with the relics I chose constantly delivering items that gave me a boost and made my opponent extra vulnerable. But I lost the final battle after failing to find at least a poker pair when rolling four dice. Now, I’ve picked the poison path, trying to make sure I can stack enough of it to destroy Death before my own health goes under 200. A dice that adds armor helps a lot, more so if I can create solid poker hands without it and get to reroll to gain its effect again. Unfortunately, Death is stealing my own dice for its own turns and has a fumble protection that really works well with its ability to throw extra lucky dice. Dice with Death is developed and published by Sea Glass Games. I played it on Steam, with the title only offered on the PC. The video game combines di...

WAR RATS: The Rat em Up is a game that brings you the old-school gameplay we enjoyed in side-scrollers, but also some neat new ideas that make the gameplay feel fresh. It’s an exciting approach towards the genre, because it’s more than killing everything from left to right and going to the next phase. Instead, it focuses a lot on intensity, and it continually pushes the boundaries in more ways than expected. As someone who enjoys tower defense games, I was glad to hear that WAR RATS adds some tower defense elements. Those are not very complex, but you will be able to have some companions and helpers as you try to eliminate the enemies. Speaking of that, the story in WAR RATS is interesting, as it focuses on the TechnoRats and the fact that they are trying to conquer your home base. There are some dialogs and a little story, but that usually takes place before you enter a level. Your boss briefs you on the mission, and he will tell you what the main objective is. Af...

The huge pigeons are watching me. I might not be able to prove their small and beady eyes are tracking my hero, but I can feel their weird stare moving across this train station. I could try to deal with them physically, but I don’t quite have the dice or the modifiers to feel confident about success. So I move around them and think about other objectives. I’ve already dealt with some screens and aced a few conversations. I have solid dice for both cooking and music, and I could pick some items with my 45 bucks. I’m tempted to boost my Deception and then attempt to pickpocket anyone I can, just to see what I steal and how their conversations change. Moves of the Diamond Hand is developed and published by Cosmo D Studios. I played the game on Steam, where it is in Early Access. The title continues the tradition of titles like Betrayal at Club Low by combining hot dice rolling action with a weird universe and intriguing narrative beats. Players get to name their cha...