A Green Mushroom

The release of Armello snuck by me earlier this month.  Granted, my month has been crazy busy.  I was looking through my current Steam games the other night and saw that Armello was no longer listed as early access. Since then, I've jumped in and played a bunch of games.  I thought it had potential when I bought it in Early Access and it's definitely come a long way.  Things are much more clear and make more sense at a glance now.  They done a lot to improve how information is displayed to the player and it goes a long way toward making this a great game. It's still an interesting blend of board game and video game with a unique aesthetic style.  It feels the way that a tabletop/videogame hybrid should feel.  It's very cool. I even branched out from the AI and played a few games with real people online.  Those were actually much more compelling than any of the AI games I had played.  The AI seems overly smart and vindictive against ...

I have liked Call of Duty games in the past.  These days it's extremely hit or miss for me.  That's why I typically wait until they get cheap to try them out. Black Ops II fell to under $20 on Steam sale and I picked it up to try it. Unfortunately, what I found was just another Call of Duty.  Nothing interesting or special going on here.  It didn't grab me or make me excited to play at all.  I know some people love the Black Ops series of Call of Duty games but I should probably come to the conclusion that they simply aren't for me. After playing it for around half an hour I knew that I was completely done with the game.  This is where Steam Refunds come in. Have I mentioned how much I love Steam Refunds?  I love them!  Now I can actually try out games that I'm unsure about.  As long as you play less than 2 hours of the game you can return it and get a refund no problem. And that's what I did.  I refunded Black Ops II and n...

This is one of the games I was referring to the other day when I said I needed to catch up on Steam games. Star Command Galaxies is a game I Kickstarted.  It just released in early access to backers so I grabbed my key and jumped in. The premise of the game is great.  You're the captain of a starship and you get to explore the galaxy doing whatever you want. The execution of the game leaves a lot to be desired.  The tutorial is mostly broken, and super boring.  But jumping into the main game without being able to do the tutorial means that nothing quite makes sense.  It just feels clunky and broken. I know that it's still early days for this game.  It even says Alpha right on the info on Steam.  I hope it gets better, because my short time with the game was nothing but frustration. Star Command Galaxies is going way onto the backburner until it gets itself figured out.  Hopefully this game will be interesting eventually.  For no...

I finally got around to checking out the Rainbow Six Siege Beta.  I've had access since earlier this week but today was the first day I got to sit down and play it for awhile. The main mode of the game feels a lot like Counter-Strike.  It's a 5v5 setup with terrorists and counter-terrorists.  The defenders are trying to protect an objective while the attackers are trying to find it and disarm it or gain control of it. That being said, the pacing is slower than CS and the environmental interaction is cooler.  You don't move as fast in this game and that leads to movement throughout the environment that is more thoughtful.  But the most fun part is the interaction with the environment.  As a defender you can construct barricades and re-enforce walls/floor/ceiling.  As the attacker you can use weapons or breach charges to blow open walls, doors, windows, floors, ceilings, really almost anything you can see.  It makes for some dynamic gameplay...

The Magic Circle is a game that keeps popping up on my radar.  I haven't seen anything about it from major publications but there are bloggers and podcasters that I trust who have said it's worth checking out. And it is! The Magic Circle puts you into an incomplete game where the developers are fighting over what should happen in the world.  You quickly break out of the shackles of the pre-scripted game stuff and start messing with the game under their noses. But it's not just one game.  It has all the assets they ever created for the game... and you can find them.  And exploit them. It's a fascinating look at game development from inside a game still under development.  It's hard to talk about this game within a game but also outside of a game... but that's kinda what it is. Ultimately, The Magic Circle was worth checking out... but then I got bored.  I logged out as soon as boredom started to creep in and Steam said I had played for 62 minut...

Dungeon Defenders II is an Early Access game that I picked up on a Steam sale sometime in the last few months. I kept seeing a couple of my friends pour hours and hours into this game even though it's only in alpha.  I figured there must be something worthwhile here if they're playing it that much. And there is!  It's a fun tower defense and third-person shooter hybrid of a game.  It's much improved over the first Dungeon Defenders.  It's easier to play and more fun in the moment to moment gameplay. Right now my main problem is that it's ok with random matchmaking but it would shine with a premade group of four friends over voice chat.  And no one else I know owns the game. I'm guessing hype will rise for this game when it enters beta and then finally releases.  This is going to be one that I let sit on the backburner until I see more of my friends pick it up.  I can tell that it'll be a lot of fun with a premade group once more people are ...

After having a crazy busy September all the way until now I thought it would be a good time to check in on my gaming to-do list that I started for Blaugust last month.  Let's see how progress is going: Persona 4 Golden - I really need to make time for this game.  I loved playing it.  It's just been on hold.  I must make time for it! Hearthstone - Still doing my dailies and playing enough to get weekly/monthly rewards . Fire Emblem Awakening - I want to get back to this eventually, but with new Fall releases coming out I don't know when that will be. FFX-2 - This is right up there with Persona 4 Golden.  I need to start carving out time for RPGs before all the Fall game releases drop! Super Mario Maker  - Almost all my gaming time (which has been very limited) has gone into this game lately.  I don't regret it at all.  This might be my game of the year! [adding to list] Star Wars Uprising  - This mobile Star Wars game came out e...