My Thoughts on The Big Con

Picture: Steam

One of my favourite gaming experiences from 2022 was this little game called The Big Con. I saw it on Steam store and colourful 90's aesthetics really drag me in. And to be honest, game is really fun! It is very short, took me about 5 hours, but that's fine - too many games nowadays are so long that I just get bored or overwhelmed at half way through. 

The Big Con is a story of Ali, who is on a mission to save their mother's video store by... stealing money. Game revolves around this theme and sends Ali on a journey through the country, meeting new people and exploring topics like what’s right or wrong. I don’t want to spoil too much, but I personally enjoyed game’s dry humour and little stories you’ll encounter while trying to rob people. Everyone seems to have their own problems, and while doing your not so legal tasks you can help many of them… or just take their money. In the end, it’s up to you.

Gameplay is simple enough. You walk around and trigger a simple mini game (which you can also skip entirely if you just want to enjoy the story) and sometimes progress through dialogue. Nothing too hard and as game is just short enough it doesn’t get too repeative. There were some game-breaking bugs like sometimes dialogue screen would just stay up with no way to exit, which was kinda irritating but restarting fixed that. Sometimes several restarts but what can you do. Other bugs were so minor that they didn’t bother me - or I just don’t remember them as it’s been few months since I played The Big Con. 

Overall The Big Con is memorable little experience that I would recommend to everyone. It’s simple enough for casual players and fun enough for everyone else - except if you don’t have any nostalgia towards 90s. Then I don’t know what to say. 

Alien: Isolation + Steam Deck Experience So Far

Photo: Steam

I'm stuck.

I hear heavy footsteps getting closer. There's only one way out of this little room I'm in, and something`s behind the door, waiting. I'll hide under the table, hoping it would pass. Door opens, creature walks in. 

Door closes. Everything is silent.

And suddenly Alien grabs me and kills me. Game over.

I`m not really into whole survival horror genre of games. I like to shoot and run, fight the threats I’m facing in. I remember when original Amnesia came out and it was the hottest thing… and then I tried it and I was so disappointed. You just hide in the closets all of the time? Yeah, I’ll go back to play Half-Life.

At the same time I’m a big horror movie fan, Alien movies being my favourites. So, as I heard that Alien: Isolation is pretty good, I wanted to give it a try. And I am happy I did, as it’s fantastic game - maybe one of the best ones I’ve played for years. Game really captures the atmosphere of the original movies, and as I already know the lore, it’s easier to accept the fact that you cannot really fight Alien. Or of course you can, but it will end badly.

I think Alien: Isolation is how I enjoy survival horror: you have clear objectives, there’s chance to fight and it takes place in space. Why’s that important? Well, many games that take place on ”familiar places” have this problem for me that I’d question why I wouldn’t escape by just running to the forest for example. In space you can’t do this, and claustrophobic hallways of space ship Nostradamus really make it more scarier. This is one of the rare games that made me feel scared at the times, to be honest. That was fun.

I played Alien: Isolation on my brand new and shiny Steam Deck, which is fantastic little thing. As Nintendo Switch has been one of my favourite gaming devices of all time it’s only natural that I’d updated to Deck. After all, I’ve always been PC gamer but haven’t really had powerful enough computer to play latest games. Steam Deck has been perfect to catch up on some games that been forgotten on Steam library.

Other games I’ve been playing on Deck have been RimWorld, Fallout New Vegas, Mars: War Logs, Deep Rock Derelicts and The Elders Scrolls Online - I’m probably forgetting some games I’ve tried. I also finally tried The Witcher 2 but gameplay wasn’t for me and controls on Deck were kinda weird.

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth

Digimon is probably the most dear cartoon for me from my childhood. It was different, dealt with difficult themes (though six years old me understood none of that), had great soundtrack and monsters and plots were something that I still remember after all these years. There's something special about the original anime series from the late 90's that nothing has quite captured since. Adventure Time came close, but as much I love that cartoon it doesn't have the nostalgia for me that digital monsters have. 

With that said, it's weird that I haven't ever played any Digimon games. Maybe some web ones, but I don't really remember. So when I saw Cyber Sleuth on Nintendo Store, looked at the trailer and realized how crazy it looked, I decided to give it a go. And honestly, it was time for me to complete another JRPG after Xenoblade Chronicles 2. 

I had zero expectations, and thus I got myself a pretty addictive monster collecting simulator with very stupid anime clichés everywhere. And a lot of bare skin. Digimon has sure grown adult too during these years.

Story

Well, as you may expect, the plot is crazy and goes to weird places. There is this general story of Eden syndrome, caused by this digital world where people spend times and later big bad Digimon's attack and try to destroy the world. Or at least that's what I got out of this game - to be honest, I didn't follow the story too intensively. Overall it served game well, but I would be fine with little bit less talking and more exploring. And I would love to see more of the anime style cutscenes as they were beautiful but used very sparing. 

There are lot of side missions too, but most of them don't have too interesting story lines going on. There was this one longer story line about ghost hunting and cult stuff, but I'm not still sure if that was part of the main game. I didn't do the DLC missions that were unlocked late in the game as in that point I just wanted to finish it, but might check those later.

Gameplay

Gameplay is a hybrid between adventure, visual novel, pet raising simulator and (J)RPG, having elements from all of those genres. Missions are pretty usual stuff: go to place x, fight some enemies, fetch a thing... There are some attempts to add some puzzle elements but to honest those were little bit boring. And stupid. There are so many other ways to force player spend time on game than make them run around and collect data. Main focus is clearly on the Digimon battles, and even those after a while become pretty easy, so thank Digi-gods for auto battle! That saved a lot of time - and I could play the game while watching a movie or something, 

Some boss battles required more tactical approach, but mostly it was just finding good balance with supporting and more aggressive Digimon's on your team. I played on normal difficulty, so I can't say if battles are more challenging on hard. Probably.

One thing about gameplay. In the late game dungeons became these massive mazes which I hated. I don't want to spend my time running aimlessly around the same corners. It felt like a forced attempt to lengthen the game, and to be honest, it failed. I admit that I used a guide to run through those mazes as quickly as possible.

Digimons!

I don't know if I would have played through this game if it wasn't for Digimon's. I love those silly things, and even though human characters were funny at the time, collecting Digimon's, raising and evolving them and just reading through their descriptions was something I really enjoyed. I know mostly ones from seasons 1 & 2 of anime, so there was lot of familiar faces but many new ones too, which kept game interesting for a good while. Evolving was the best part for me, and trying to get right stats for different evolutions was an interesting concept. Take away the battles and story, I would love to have a Digimon simulation game similar to Animal Crossing or The Sims. I wouldn't play anything else ever again. Well, not really, but it would take over my life for a while.

In conclusion, Digimon: Cyber Sleuth is pretty okay JRPG with some translation errors in some places. But would I recommend it to someone who has no clue about Digimon's at all or nostalgy for them? Probably not. But for everyone else, seeing your first baby Digimon's evolve is magical moment that you'll remember for some time.

Solution for Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Chapter 10 Copy/Paste Puzzle

Here’s a gaming tip for you! In Digimon: Cyber Sleuth (which I'm playing right now!) if you'll get stuck in this puzzle in Chapter 10 Valhalla server area with four copy/paste things like I did, solution is this pattern:

Green - Blue

Yellow - Green

Why, I don't know. Maybe (probably) I am just stupid and couldn't make out this from the hint boxes.

I'll credit this one to Tethealla from GameFAQs forum. 

Playing a Detective in The Outer Worlds: Murder on Eridanos

The Outer Worlds is one of my favourite games from recent years. It has that very familiar Obsidian dark humor going on and it was set on the space - what more could you wish from an open-world RPG? Well, a murder mystery DLC, of course.

I've always been a fan of murder mysteries in Fallout-styled games. Why, I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with searching for the clues in a clunky game world with mechanics that are not meant to be used for that kind of gameplay, maybe I just happen to like the humor these missions have. Whatever the reason is, Murder on Eridanos delivers that experience.

Plot is very simple: famous actor has been murdered and you have been asked to find the murderer. You go through this whole new playable area with a hotel, a factory that remains a lot of Nuka-Cola factories from Fallout games, and a little town for an example. There's a lot to see and many secrets to be found, and the main plot takes you through the all main areas so you'll get pretty familiar with them. And as good detective story should have, there's plot twists! Which you certainly didn't expect!

Snek.

Most of the missions are searching for clues with your new weapon Discrepancy Amplifier, which is this ''thing'' that analyzes and comments your actions in funny ways. Other missions are mostly shoot the bad guys or animals in the face or search for items. Nothing fancy, but they work and to be honest, I never got bored. That's a good sign, right?

Characters are pretty memorable, especially all the actors you meet though there could have been more interactions with many of them. With most you just speak once or twice and then they start repeating themselves. That's the problem with The Outer Worlds in a big picture, and I'm hoping that the upcoming sequel changes that. My favourite NPC was this little bit crazy medical professional, Dr. Goodnight. They made me giggle a lot with all the weird and fucked up things they kept saying.

And that's my thoughts on The Outer Worlds' second DLC. It was fun, and I can't wait to continue my adventure on Peril on Gorgon! What might that mysterious package be that's waiting on my ship? 

Some Thoughts on Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion

Image: Steam

Open-world Adventure Time game starring characters from the TV-series? Sign me up!

Well, let's start from the positive things. Most of the time I really liked Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion. It had some great moments, good jokes and familiar faces. Battles are easy yet still have some deepness, and sailing on OOo which is underwater is fun. Unfortunately game also has a lot of problems, like bad framerates while sailing, lots of bugs and some weird design choices. As much I liked Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion, at the times this game was a chore to get through. 

I played Nintendo Switch version which, as stated, had some problems with framerates. Loading times, for example when entering to battle, where long which got a bit irritating when I got to the point where many enemies could be defeated with one or two hits. At one point game got stuck after defeating a boss and I had to restart that particular battle two or three times. Not fun.

Image: Steam

World was enjoyable. You'll go through some familiar places like Candy Kingdom, and running around Adventure Time's world is something that I enjoyed, especially after Jake learned to turn into a bike. Yes. Sailing part was also fun (when the frames were not freezing) though I would love to have more interactions on the sea. Now there's only some junk to collect and pirate ships to defeat.

Story and missions are not anything special, but it was nice to hear familiar voice actors delivering dialogue. Unfortunately sound mixing was weird at times and volume levels didn't make sense - sometimes when character spoke you hear it very silently while everything else is loud. Side missions were... Well, I completed all of them though mostly you just need to find a thing or destroy a thing. Can't see a reason for completing those unless you are a big Adventure Time fan like me. There was also an interrogation minigame which seemed promising but was forgotten pretty soon - it didn't really have anything to add to game.

Image: Steam

Mostly Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion made me want a good, polished open-world Adventure Time game. There's so much potential for something like that and it makes me a little bit angry that this game is so rushed and buggy. It could have been so much more! Would I recommend it? For Adventure Time fans, maybe - if you have patience to deal with all the broken things (thanks to Fallout-series I see bugs almost as a feature at this point!). For anyone else? I don't know. It's a great first turn-based RPG if you never have played one as it teaches all the important mechanics, but I guess there are more polished games that do the same thing better. I guess?

Anyway, that's what I thought about Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion. Not the best game, but I till enjoyed some of it.

Rage(quit)

I remember seeing Rage for the first time in the gaming magazine back when it was released. It looked so cool! Unfortunately I never got to play it back then, and I just kept wondering how great game it had to be. And then I forget the whole thing for a while. 

Until some time ago Rage was on a sale on Steam and I got it. And forget it again until the beginning of 2022. Finally, after almost a decade, I was ready to play this game that made so big impact on me years ago even though I never even tried it. And it was awesome, is what I would love to say. Unfortunately, Rage isn't awesome. Its not even okay. This game is... missed opportunity. Mediocre looter shooter. And so on. 

It's painfully clear that this game is over 10 years old now. Gameplay is kinda clunky, and in-game menus for example are straight from the early 2000s. But at least the story and world are passable?

Nah. Story is pretty straight-forward copy of Half-Life 2's campaign but without all the charm and depth that HL2 has. And characters... Well, they are your typical and stereotypic FPS ones. Lots of muscle mans machoing and women that are clearly written (and modeled) by men. Especially main character of the games The Scorchers DLC, Sarah, is something from 90s media that we didn't need back. 

But yeah, even though characters and story are not Rages strengths, they do their job. Somehow.

Rage is a hybrid of open-world sections and more traditional straight-forward maps, which is both its biggest strength and weakness. Open-world parts are boring, you'll be driving a car from one place to an another in a canyons, so open-world aspect isn't even so open-worldly. There's some fighting, but most of the time I just drove away from enemies to get to the next mission. World is your typical apocalyptic wasteland, so there's not even anything to look at. On-foot sections at least are little bit better mostly because a big arsenal of weapons, which make fighting fun. Unfortunately too many times enemies just became bullet-sponges, which is okay in some games, but when you can headshot most of the enemies and not others, it's... not fair. At least in my opinion. And yeah, most of the places you visit are pretty generic.

I almost stopped playing Rage for these reasons. I was about halfway through and didn't touch the game for about a month, and when I returned it was still as bland as before. And then begun the second act and I found myself in Subway City, which looked shiny and interesting. But after exploring it for a while I realized that it's just more of the same, just in a little bit more interesting casing.

I accidentally became a boundary breaker.

Yeah. This is not a great game. But you wanna know what I really, really liked in Rage? Nail gun with rebar as an ammo. That might just be one of my favourite weapons ever on video games. Its so powerful and fun, though slow, which forces you to aim your shots perfectly and do some sneaky tactics to not die while reloading. Most of the other weapons are pretty good too, but I found myself using nail gun almost all of the time. 

*SPOILER ALERT*

I fought my way through the campaign, just because I wanted to see what kind of mysteries where waiting. Maybe there would even be a big and epic boss fight! But no. Last level of Rage is a sci-fi tower (Citadel, anyone?) with previously mentioned bullet-sponge enemies, and the climax is.... pressing few buttons, short cutscene and fade in black. And then you are thrown back to the wasteland with a little congratulations message and opportunity to finish any (very boring) side missions. 

I have never felt so angry after finishing game. Like, what just happened? Was this all for... that? Did my actions matter? WHAT IS HAPPENING?

And that is why I'm so negative about this game. It forces you through repeative missions with a promise of something interesting happening at the end, but it never delivers. It's a slap on face.

I had to Google if this could be really that. And yes, unfortunately it is. In Reddit players have said it's the worst ending ever in any video game and share many of opinions I shared in this blog. Even Polygon wrote an article about Rages ending. It feels that developers ran out of the time, or spend so much time on the visuals (which still hold up pretty good) that they forget to finish the most important part of the single player game: the campaign.

I really wanted to like this game. Unfortunately it's a shallow Borderlands wannabe without the charm that game has. It tries, but in the end, it really doesn't matter. 

I wonder if Rage 2 is any good?