HLV | Hugh J. O'Donnell

Hugh Likes Video Games: Pokemon Sword

December 5, 2019

hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Video Games, Review, Uncategorized HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, My Trainer is named Liz and she has Six Yampers, Nintendo Switch, Pokemon, Team Yell Leave a comment

Pokemon Sword
Published by Nintendo
Developed by Game Freak
Played on Nintendo Switch

The Skinny: Pokemon’s eight generation is a mix of familiar mechanics and exciting new ideas in a charming Pseudo-British region.

It’s another holiday season, which means another Pokemon game has descended from the from the Heights of Mt. Nintendo. This year’s is Pokemon Sword and Shield, the second Pokemon game for the Nintendo Switch, and the first non-spinoff entry on the system.
Set in the new Galar region, a charming, fully 3D rendered world based on The British Isles. Starting with Pokemon Black and White, the series has leaned far in to the cultural associations of each region, and this game is no exception. From catching Teapot ghosts to Team Yell, a team of hooligan antagonists, to enjoying a nice curry with your pokemon, the game feels very British. Or at least, reflective of how the Japanese developers view British culture. You play as a young trainer just starting out, chasing the footsteps of your neighbor, Galar champion Leon. Other rivals include the champion’s cheerful kid brother Hop, A goth trainer supported by Team Yell, and a stylish orphan working for a shadowy businessman. All in all, the plot is very familiar. Collect eight gym badges, do some unpaid cataloging work for a local scientist, and battle your way to the championship. The added spice is in the way the gym challenge plays out. Instead of fighting Gym Leaders One-on-One in some thematically decorated room, you take take them on in packed arenas in front of crowds of screaming fans. The gyms themselves are a mix of old school trainer battles and Sun and Moons unique missions, which strikes the perfect balance when topped with a dramatic battle on the pitch.
While Pokemon Sword and Shield does a lot right, let’s get to the nitpicks, and they’re probably not the one’s you’re expecting if you paid any attention to fan grumbles before launch. The game does a good job of letting players discover mechanics, such as Camping, Cooking, and the Poke Jobs system at their own pace, but the gym challenge is totally on rails. You have to visit towns in a certain order, and can only explore more of the map once you’ve collected the requisite badges. With the vast wilderness of the Wild Area to explore to explore, it feels a bit of a throwback when you are forced onto a lockstep path of Routes and Caves. Also, there isn’t as much customization in your party as I would have liked. Every pokemon in your party gains experience, which is great if you’re grinding to take on a gym, but not so great if you are trying to evolve a difficult Eeveelotion at low level.
The other problem is the online functionality. Mystery trade works great, but any other form suffers from a complete lack of communication. You can see other trainers running around the Wild Area, but they essentially become NPCs with canned dialogue. This can be somewhat overlooked. It is a game meant for all-ages, and Nintendo tends towards caution when it comes to protecting minors online. But without any way to communicate, trading becomes a frustrating process of laboriously showing a pokemon to your trade partner and hoping they somehow pull out one you’re looking for and don’t cancel the trade. Even a rudimentary system like in the DS games would’ve been more useful here.
With a mix of new and old systems, Pokemon Sword and Shield are a great little pair of RPGs full of monsters to collect and secrets to uncover in a charming new 3D setting. You can download the game from the Switch eshop, or buy the physical cartridge from your local game store.

Hugh Likes Video Games: Dragon Quest XI S

November 14, 2019

hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Video Games, Review, Uncategorized Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest XI, HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, LGBTQ, Nintendo Switch, Square Enix Leave a comment

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition
Published and Developed by Square Enix
Played on Nintendo Switch

The Skinny: Dragon Quest returns with a massive JRPG in the classic style.

While technically the PS4 version of this game came out in the U.S. last year, Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age is probably one of my top games of 2019. I gave the original a pass because I just don’t have that much time to sit down in front of my television. But the portable version has been a delight.
The game follows the familiar tropes of the OGJRPG of a young man being chosen by a great force to leave his remote village and confront evil, recruiting a troupe of companions along the way. But like the other modern iterations of the series, it does a great job interrogating the tropes and cliches of the genre.
Particularly interesting is Sylvando, who is a powerful fighter, and an openly gay character in a genre of game that gets a lot of traction on AO3 but is somewhat lacking in official representation. And while the game does play him for laughs (he is a jester, after all) it also goes out of its way to portray him as strong, brave and chivalrous as well. It’s rare to see something so well done in a space where representation usually boils down to male-gaze lesbians and that time Cloud Strife wore a dress in FFVII.
Combat is fun, a little on the easy side, and about what you’ve come to expect from Dragon Quest over the past 30 years. The 3D mode has an option to let you move the characters around in battle, but it is more for aesthetics than a gameplay feature. Mini-games also make a return, from the ubiquitous Dragon Quest casino to a horse-racing mini-game and a portable forge for making weapons and armor from recipes.
Another nice feature is that while the default is to play in 3D mode, the game also includes the 3DS 2D version, which was previously unavailable in the US, as well as a massive sidequest that was unique to that version. You can even switch back and forth between the two if you want, although progress is gated to certain story chapters that aren’t so clearly delivered.
While the game looks and plays great, there are a few compromises in the animation and display. Some character animations feel jerky and off. Objects, particularly complex ones like trees, pop in as you get close to them. My Switch audibly chugged when it had to render too much in handheld mode. And like most Dragon Quest games, it is entertaining but long. I have already put in over 40 hours and from what I understand I’ve barely scratched the game’s surface. Also like modern localizations of the series, it’s full of puns. So many puns. If you aren’t onboard for a hundred hours of dad jokes, this is not the game for you.
Dragon Quest XI S is a delightful return to form for Square Enix, crammed full of exciting quests, memorable characters and a surprising story. Just be sure to set aside some time to play it, because this game is long.

Hugh Likes Video Games: Untitled Goose Game

October 21, 2019

hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Video Games, Uncategorized HLV, Honk, Hugh Likes Video Games, Indie Game, Untitled Goose Game Leave a comment

Untitled Goose Game
Developed by House House
Published by Panic
Played on Nintendo Switch

Untitled Goose

The Skinny: A small game about small acts

Some games let you fly spaceships. Some games let you fight hordes of monsters. Some games let you build and destroy your own worlds. Untitled Goose Game isn’t one of those games. But you can honk.
Initially begun as a joke project, the short stealth/puzzle game puts you in the webbed feet of a horrible goose and lets you loose on an unsuspecting peasant village. But unlike real geese, who are violent and terrifying, you can only cause mischief.
As you traverse four areas of the town, you must sneak your way past a crew of irritable villagers in order to carry out a to do list of pranks. Lacking hands, your only available options are snatching things with your beak, flapping your wings, and your honk.
Untitled Goose Game is a game about non-violently unravelling systems. The literally faceless townspeople go about their day in lock step, and it is your job to disrupt them. The game isn’t in and of itself political, but there is a tiny thrill of sticking it to The Man when you lock the gardener out of his own plot, or sneak past the shopkeeper to get your face on a wall of TVs in a high street shop. It’s a game that rewards patience, observation and creativity, and it’s suitable for younger kids, too.
The main game is relatively short. You can clear the whole game in a couple of hours. Once you do, however, the game unlocks a set of new challenges and time trials for you to unlock, giving you the run of the village. It also gives you a couple other satisfying rewards that I won’t spoil here.
Untitled Goose Game is available now for Nintendo Switch and for PC and Mac through the Epic Games Store. I honkingly recommend it.

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Hugh Likes Video Games: Sayonara Wild Hearts

October 2, 2019

hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Video Games, Review, Uncategorized Anapurna Interactive, HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, Indie Game, Sayonara Wild Hearts, Simogo Leave a comment

Sayonara Wild Hearts

Sayonara Wild Hearts
Developed by Simogo
Published by Annapurna Interactive
Played on Nintendo Switch

The Skinny: A fast-paced racing quest against Magical Girl Motorcycle Gangs.

Sayonara Wild Hearts is an unexpected gem of an indie game. Terms like ‘unique’ and ‘original’ get thrown around a lot in the gaming press, but SWH pushes against the tide of gaming trends and is all the more incredible for it.
You play as The Fool, the alter ego of a broken-hearted girl tasked with restoring harmony to a magical kingdom by racing against a series of girl gang street racers. Each level is a mixture of Synth Pop, Neon, and blazing speed. The combination of magical girl aesthetics and arcade racing style flow as smooth as silk, and the bite-sized level keep the action rolling at an exciting clip.
Each of the twenty-three levels embraces new mechanics as you race to catch your opponents. You’ll start out on a skateboard, but soon find yourself on not just the game’s signature chopper, but flying through the air on a magical sword, racing through a haunted forest on a giant stag, and even crossing a roiling sea on a boat. The game constantly introduces new mechanics, and this helps the pacing feel blazing fast.
The other thing that sets Sayonara Wild Hearts apart, if you haven’t already guessed, is its unapologetic embrace of feminine and queer aesthetics. In a space dominated by often toxic depictions of masculinity it is a breath of fresh air. The Fool is not an object of male gaze, and she isn’t a hyper-roided Space Marine killing a planet full of aliens. She is an altogether different sort of cool. This game came out alongside a few other games that have been gaining more attention, but I hope that SWH’s themes strike a chord with game designers and we see more games like it in the future.
Sayonara Wild Hearts is available now for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Apple Arcade service. It’s a highly polished indie gem, and well worth your time. I heartily recommend it.
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Hugh Likes Video Games: Dicey Dungeons

August 26, 2019

hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Video Games, Podcast, Uncategorized Dicey Dungeons, HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, Mac, Steam, Terry Cavanagh Leave a comment

Dicey Dungeons
Designed and Published by Terry Cavanagh
Played on Steam

The Skinny: A fun little dungeon explorer that will keep you clicking through just one more run.

Dicey Dungeons is a small, super-indie rouge-like deck-building dungeon crawler. Which is a heck of a mouthful, but it’s a great little game. Trapped on the sadistic game show of Lady Luck herself, six adventurers must fight their way through six levels of random dungeons and turn-based battles in order to win their hearts’ desires, or be stuck as a hapless dice for all eternity.
Dicey Dungeons is a fun little dungeon crawler that really embraces the RNG. Each character, as portrayed by an adorable anthropomorphic die, has six slots worth of equipment and a special ability. These are all powered by random dice rolls. As players progress through the dungeons, they level up to gain HP and extra dice. It’s not too complex, but it feels quite well balanced. The goal is to stay ahead of your enemies, including Lady Luck herself, as the dice will eventually betray you.
And the game can be quite challenging, but music by Chipzel and art by Marlowe Dobbe are both engaging and charming enough that it never feels too frustrating. The show is structured as a set of Episodes of Lady Luck’s show, each running about half an hour long, so I never felt as though I lost too much progress, even if I was almost done when I came up against a fight I couldn’t win.
And it’s just dang fun to play. Every character has their own unique abilities and style. The Robot rolls in a press-your-luck style game, for example, while The Witch prepares her abilities from a spell book. Even the act of clicking and dragging a dice into a slot for an attack just feels fun. While there isn’t the sort of intensity or stakes as in other dungeon crawlers or deck builders like Slay the Spire, it kept me reaching for the mouse of just one more round.
Dicey Dungeons is available for Mac and PC through Steam and itch.io.

Hugh Likes Video Games: SteamWorld Quest

June 26, 2019

hughjodonnell Gaming, Hugh Likes Video Games, Review, Uncategorized HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, Nintendo Switch, RPG, Steampunk, SteamWorld Quest Leave a comment

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Steamworld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech
Developed by Image and Form Games
Published by Thunderful
Played on Nintendo Switch

The Skinny: A lighthearted but mechanically deep card-RPG sort of set in the SteamWorld Universe.

Each SteamWorld title is a little different. From the dungeon diving of SteamWorld Dig to the Tactical gunplay of SteamWorld Heist, each is a charming and innovative little gem of a game. The latest game in the series, SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech, builds on that reputation.
A fantasy RPG, SteamWorld Quest is framed as a storybook being read in the main SteamWorld post-post-apocalypse setting. Like its predecessors, this game is short but deeply engaging. The hand-drawn art style and the snarky writing work well. There are lots of little sight gags and clever bits that only really work if as a fantasy story told in a world of steampunk robots. This seems counter intuitive until you meet the first mini-boss, a black knight with a birdcage for a head.
The card-based RPG combat, which are stylized punchcards, naturally, has a good balance of randomness as strategy. Each character has a deck of eight cards which represent attacks, spells, buffs, and healing. Characters also manage items, weapons, and equipment. In combat, you have a hand of cards pulled from all three decks, and play three cards a turn. Three cards from the same character creates a combo, with a variety of special effects. During combat, you have to build up steam by playing low level cards. More powerful abilities cost steam, so you have to balance your decks to be able to play better cards. As a veteran RPG player, I found it pretty intuitive, with a lot of depth and options over the five playable characters.
At around twenty hours, the game isn’t very long for an RPG but you can go back to previous chapters to grind for items, experience, and money, or to find hidden secrets. The story isn’t very complicated, but it is filled with charm and clever little references to games like Final Fantasy IV and other old-school RPGs.
SteamWorld Quest is a lighthearted but perfectly executed take on the card RPG. It’s available for PC and from the Nintendo Switch eshop.
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Hugh Likes Video Games: Gato Roboto

June 5, 2019

hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Video Games, Uncategorized Devolver Digital, HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, Indie Game, Metroidvania, Nintendo Switch Leave a comment

Gato Roboto
Published by Devolver Digital
Developed by Doinksoft
Played on Nintendo Switch

steamart

The Skinny: More Like Meowtroid, am I right?

Gato Roboto is an indie Metroid clone that lets you play as a cat in power armor. That is really all there is to it, and all you need to know to know if this is a game for you or not. The graphics have a black and white game boy-style look reminiscent of rouge-like shooter Downwell. This extends to the collectables, which are simply either health pickups or swappable palates for the visuals. The animations are quite cute and expressive, though. I love the way main character Kiki hops out of her humanoid mech and perches on its gun arm.
The game controls well, with a pleasant sensation of weigh when in the mech, and an option to explore tighter passages by getting out of the suit. Kiki the cat can also climb walls and reach places on her own that she can’t in the suit, with the tradeoff being that she can’t attack or defend herself, giving the game a nice mix of action and stealth gameplay.
The game doesn’t make you keep track of ammunition and save spots are rather generous, which streamlines the game. Traversal is pretty easy once you get the hang of the mechanics, but that’s balanced by some punishing boss encounters.
All in all, Gato Roboto is a short but satisfying little metroidvania with memorable and adorable characters. It’s available from Steam or Nintendo Switch eShop.
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Hugh Likes Video Games: Castlevania Anniversary Collection

May 29, 2019

hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Video Games, Review, Uncategorized Castlevania, Dracula Season, HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, Konami Leave a comment

Castlevania Anniversary Collection
Published by Konami
Played on Nintendo Switch

castlevania

The Skinny: A bare-bones but cheap and well-emulated collection of vampire-slaying classics.

Regular readers of Hugh Likes Video Games will know that I like me some vampire killing, and I was saddened by Konami’s decision to move away from making new games. This collection of eight retro games isn’t a full reverse course, but it’s still a welcome development.
The $20 digital-only collection is a grab bag of the first eight games of the series, from the ubiquitous NES titles to the obscure Kid Dracula, which was never released in the U.S. The collection features games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Gameboy, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis.
This digital collection is pretty bare-bones compared to a lot of recent collections and retro devices like the NES Classic. While it does have a single save state for each game and a playback feature, along with a few different display options, that’s about it. There’s no rewind function, and the menu is very basic.
The emulation itself feels spot-on, and is as just as smooth, and in the case of the two Game Boy entries, just as clunky as you remember. The games look and feel great on the Switch in handheld mode. It also includes a digital book that serves as a manual, but has few interesting production art and interviews.
The Castlevania Anniversary Collection is a mixed bag of titles that is a bit ephemeral, but the low price point makes this greatest hits collection a steal for classic Castlevania fans. The collection is available from the PS4, X-Box One, and Switch online stores, as well as Steam.
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Hugh Likes Video Games: Final Fantasy X Remaster

May 16, 2019

hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Video Games, Review, Uncategorized Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy X, HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, Nintendo Switch 1 Comment

Final Fantasy X Remaster
Published by Square Enix
Played on the Nintendo Switch

The Skinny: The classic PS2 JRPG returns for the Switch, packaged with its quirky sequel

Final Fantasy X is one of the big high watermark JRPGs, the sort of game that doesn’t get made anymore, but is consistently being remastered and made available for digital rerelease. So when it came out for the Switch packaged with its sequel, I picked up a copy, to see how well it holds up nearly twenty years later.
Final Fantasy X is the story of Tidus, a star athlete magically transported from his utopian city of Zanarkand, and Yuna, a young summoner embarking on a pilgrimage. Ten years ago, Yuna and Tidus’s fathers fought and defeated a giant monster called ‘Sin,’ which constantly destroys the world, and cannot be killed by conventional means. Sin has returned, and the two youths find themselves on the same path their father’s took ten years before. Can they find a way to break the cycle, or will they be just another sacrifice?
The game plays without problems on the Switch, and looks gorgeous. I noticed some slowdown during cutscenes, and the sharp HD display makes the transition between pre-rendered and real-time rendered graphics more pronounced an jarring. I played almost exclusively in handheld mode, and it worked great.
The gameplay is just as strategic and engaging as I remembered, and while some of the voice acting and animation have noticeably aged, It’s still notable as the first steps Square took with this level of production.
The game also includes a code for the complete edition of Final Fantasy X-2, the games goofy, power-pop inspired sequel. I may review it later in a second blog post, but for now, I’ll say that it loads fine, and plays about as well as I remember, but after pouring eighty hours into the first installment, I am ready for a break.
You can find Final Fantasy X / X-2 Remaster from your local electronics shop, or digitally from the Playstation, Switch or X-Box online stores.

Hugh Likes Video Games: Wargroove

April 3, 2019

hughjodonnell Hugh Likes Video Games, Review, Uncategorized Chucklefish, Gaming, HLV, Nintendo Switch, review, Strategy, Wargroove Leave a comment

Wargroove
Developed and Published by Chucklefish
Played on Nintendo Switch
https://wargroove.com

The Skinny: A turn-based strategy game with retro style and retro difficulty to match, but with some interesting innovations under the hood.

Wargroove is a strategy game with old school charm, and gameplay to match. On the surface, it takes most of its design and style from Nintendo’s ‘Wars’ series of games. These only came to the US as the Advance Wars titles, and have been absent for a decade, but they made a big impression on developer Chucklefish. If that name is familiar, they also published ConcernedApe’s well-loved Harvest Moon update, Stardew Valley.
Gameplay works like Advance Wars. Players take turns moving their units and capturing buildings to provide income, which lets them buy new units. The goal of each match is to either the enemy stronghold or defeat the enemy Commander, powerful units that each has a unique special ability, called a ‘groove.’ These each do something a bit different, from healing allies in a range, to creating new units, to attacks that do extra damage. They are a fun addition to the Wars formula, and are one of the ways the game really stands out. Also, one of the commanders is an adorable golden retriever, who is a very good boy.
The other way Wargroove differentiates itself is in its plethora of content and game modes. In addition to the standard single-player Campaign and multiplayer battles, the game offers an Arcade mode in which you can take each Commander through a series of five quick battles, a Puzzle mode, and even an impressive set of creation tools. The game lets players not just create maps, but also entire campaigns and cutscenes, and trade them freely through the game’s online modes. I haven’t been able to dive too deeply into it yet, but it is very cool and is supporting a new creative community.
Wargroove faithfully recreates the best of the turn-based strategy genre, but it also has the same flaws. Matches are long, and with two armies starting at opposite ends of a map and slowly building, they can take a while to get going. Also, this game is difficult. Updates have created more options for novice players, but you can still sink a lot of time into a map only to have to start all over again when the last wave of enemies gets a shot in on your Commander.
Wargroove is a charming and occasionally frustrating strategy game with old school feel and old school difficulty. If you’re up for the challenge, you can snag a copy from Steam or your choice of major console eshops.

Hugh J. O'Donnell