Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0. Update & Happy Home Planning DLC

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was already pretty great game for what it is, but it got sometimes a little bit dull especially when playing a lot. That's why I was very interested when Nintendo announced 2.0. Update and new paid DLC for the game, both with many new features. Would these be enough to refresh Animal Crossing experience or are they just more of the same? Well, I think both answers are right.

2.0. Update

This big update came with a long changelog of stuff that's been added. For me the most interesting thing was the café, The Rooster, that was added to museum, but after about two weeks of playing it has been kinda disappointing place. Yeah, you can drink coffee, but I was waiting for more. I know that you can get villagers to visit you with Amiibo cards, but unfortunately I don't have any (yet), so I'm just sitting there, all alone, sipping my pigeon milk coffee...

Kapp'n boat tours on the other hand are a very cool addition. The islands where Kapp'n takes you are interesting, and you can find some cool stuff there. Gyroids for example are very cute and now I'm filling little forest on my island with them! It brings some liveness to the place, which I always thought that ACNH is somehow missing. I don't really know how to explain that, but sometimes it feels that you are just stuck in a loop in that game... And somehow little dancing things help. 

New home decorating options are welcomed, though I haven't yet had time to mess with them more (except on the DLC, but more about that later). Vegetables and food is fine, I guess, but I don't really want to spend my time making food in a game where it's not needed. This is not Fallout 76 where you must eat all of the time.

Harv's Island also got a lot going on now, which is probably one of the best parts of this update. Possibility have centered hub for all the shopping and other stuff is something I've been missing since I started playing this game, as Redd for example didn't seem to visit my island ever! I just want all that yummy, I mean beautiful art! (I guess I've been spending too much time with Cube cause now I want to taste everything. I mean everything.)

But the best part of this update is easily group stretching. End of discussion.

Happy Home Planning

I wasn't expecting ACNH getting any major DLC's but thankfully Nintendo proved me wrong. Happy Home Planning is probably best thing that could be added to this game because it fits the theme of faraway island life so well. I haven't yet learned or tried all the things on this DLC as I'm playing it very slowly, doing a vacation home or two in a day, but so far it has opened so much new ways to play this game. It gives you freedom to do almost anything you want without messing your own island too much - if you find out something you really like in Happy Home Planning you can recreate it on your own island without the hassle of that fear of not getting it right. This DLC is perfect dollhouse.

But it's not just a dollhouse. There's new interesting characters (I love Wardell the Walrus) and the chance to meet villagers that are not living on your island is exciting and makes the game more living experience in my opinion. Even though building up the vacation homes is the main focus, I really enjoy just running around the Paradise Planning island and see what villagers are doing. Building up cafes and restaurants are something that I missed in the main game so this addition is very welcoming.

And that's my two cents on the new ACNH content. Overall 2.0. update and DLC are great, though there are still some quality of life stuff that Nintendo should add, like a way to skip dialogs that you must repeat over and over again for just buying few things, but then again would Animal Crossing be what it is without those, however irritating they would be. I don't know, I'm just babbling.

I've been a little bit lazy with blogs lately. but there's many interesting texts waiting... I just need to finish them!

Revisiting Half-Life: Uplink

Photo: halflifeuplink.com

It's been over a decade since I last played Half-Life: Uplink and even then I didn't finish it. Times were different - I still remember being scared as hell in a dim lighted room, playing on old monitor and bad speakers. There's something that made the experience so terrifying for younger version of me. If I remember right this demo came on a CD with few other demos for games like Turok, Worms and maybe even Beyond Good & Evil, though I'm not really sure about the last one. Anyway, this game was my introduction to PC gaming and FPS genre in general. And to Half-Life, of course, which led me to the road I'm still walking on.

I think Uplink is still a great demo though it didn't have the same magic as it use to. But that's how nostalgy works in the end! It's still pretty challenging at the times (but that could be all because my HL skills are rusty) and atmosphere is what you'd expect from Half-life experience. Especially old-schools sounds made this revisit feel like coming home after a long, long journey - there's something special about those sound effects in original Half-Life. And the soda machine can still kill you!

I remember how scared I was of the first zombie you encounter because I had never in my life experienced anything like that. Now, as I'm older and played a lot of HL and zombie games in general, that spooky feeling wasn't unfortunately there anymore. I knew what to do and how to fight those things now too well. And that's sad in a way. There are only a few games that can give that brand new feeling of unknown, at least for me, and the fact that I'm pretty familiar with the engine and game making in general also has a big impact on how I approach games and enemies. 13-15 years ago I had no idea what I was doing on FPS games - now they are hardwired into my blood (hey, I'm using words!). 

And that's why I almost hope that I didn't revisit Uplink. I loved that hazy memory of my time with it. Is it ruined now or do I appreciate it more? We'll see.

Ps. I also recorded a gameplay video with my commentary while playing Uplink, but I don't know if that will ever become public. You'll just have to wait and see...

Why I Don't Play Horror Games

I love horror. Aesthetics, movies, books... you name it. But for some reason I really dislike horror games - not because they would be scary because I don't get scared of fiction easily but because they are kinda boring. Yes, person who would love to live in a world of continuous Halloween doesn't like spooky games.

I think it's a lot to do with how I enjoy my horror media. There's not really many scary movies that get me scared even a little bit because I know they're not true - for me the real horror comes from romantic comedies or scenes where there are social awkwardness. I just can't watch those moments in movies or series! But with horror I just want to see every single gory detail and hear all the fantastic sound effects. 

In games that doesn't work for me. I'm yet to find a horror game that would give me a spook. Half-Life: Uplink did a good job when I was young, but then again that was one of my first touches with the whole sci-fi and horror stuff. I replayed it a while ago and unfortunately the first zombie wasn't so scary anymore. But I remember the fear of unknown that made me scare as a teen. Why can't any other game do that?

I remember when Amnesia came out and everybody freaked out. I tried it and got bored at hiding in closets. That game was a disappointment. Outlast had an okay atmosphere but once again, gameplay loop was not for me. I tried some ''bad'' horror games like Granny and DreadOut, which both were not too interesting, though I got some good laughs. And Five Nights at Freddy's... That's one of the worst games I've ever tried. 

Yeah, I know that there's so many good and even great horror games in the world, but I can't make myself to even try them. Even though the story or atmosphere would be interesting the gameplay usually kills the fun for me. I want to shoot, not run! Or shoot and run. I think the best horror experiences I've got are from games like Fallout, where the real horror comes from knowing what might be waiting for you and you know that you're not ready to face it. And still you try to sneak and pickpocket that scary enemy. 

Resident Evil 2 is a game I would love to try if I can find it for my Playstation 2. It looks like a great hybrid between things I hate and love about horror media. But then again, after getting familiar with the gameplay loop and mechanics of the game is there any horror left when you know how to tackle it?

I know that I would enjoy exploring a abandoned places in VR, that would make me somewhat uneasy - and not only because of I have never used a real VR headset. The fact that you can't take your eyes out of the screen when scary thing are happening would keep the immersion and I would maybe even get some chills on my bones. Maybe. At least I can dream of that. But the truth is that I have no VR available and I don't even know if my head could take it, so... Yeah. 

Maybe I just need to take deep dive on itch.io and search for the most fucked up and disturbing games I can find - or just keep on playing Minecraft. On hardcore. Which I will not do because that creeps me out - I'm having troubles even on easy difficulty!

Oh. At least something makes me scared. Yay!

Going Through My Old Steam Reviews (Part 3)

Back in the day I used to write these short and silly reviews on Steam - now after several years I'm going through them and taking a look at what kind of weird things I've said. Don't forget to check out Part 1 and Part 2!

''Great looking FPS in which playing with fire and explosions is especially fun. You can blow up enemy bases, eliminate them with sniper rifle before they even notice you and watch the sunset on the savannah. Or you can hunt some zebras.'' Well, if we leave the last sentence out I still pretty much agree with these words. Far Cry 2 is easily the best Far Cry game and one of the most iconic open world adventures - there's just nothing that captures the same atmosphere.

But seriously, don't hunt zebras. They're cute. What was wrong with me back then? I remember playing Far Cry 3 and getting physically uneasy when the game made you skin animals. That's just not right.

''MMO in which you can be a superhero? And it's free-to-play? This must be every gamers dream, right? On it's core Champions Online is your typical MMO but the fact that you can play as a a superhero and beat down bad guys is very fun. And the character editor allows you to create your own dream superhero, if you take your time with it.'' I remember Champions Online vaguely - it's like a dream that haunts in the corners of your brain. Game was fun, though it was little bit rough on the edges and as with any other MMO, I got bored pretty quickly because grinding isn't really my thing. I should revisit this game at some point and see if there's still active community or something.

''Worst Source engine version of any game ever made. Valve didn't even bother to change the character models. But because it's Half-Life, all will be forgiven. You should play the original version. You can at least understand why it's such old-school...'' So, about this ''review''. I guess I was reading a lot of negative comments about this version of HL and wanted to jump into the bandwagon - I'm pretty sure that I didn't see any difference between HL:S and original HL back then. But then again, you don't need to play this version, there's for example Black Mesa: Source, which is complete remake of the original Half-Life if you prefer more modern approach. 

I like the first HL. Yes, it's kinda old and clunky but still at the same time it has such a great atmosphere and certain charm that any other game haven't really achieved ever since. I'm in fact planning to replay it at some point and maybe even upload a playthrough on my Youtube channel, so stay tuned.

''Fun assassination's in the past. Game suffers from the repetitive missions. It would have needed a little bit more content. Also the ending doesn't make any sense. Great game anyway.'' This is my favourite double-ass game - in fact I prefer the repetitive nature of it over the sequels, which added so much useless stuff (like keeping up shops and so on). Story is what it is, it tried that scifi-ish approach and on some level it works. But no-one plays these games for story, right? Right?

''Same as always. Still addictive...'' I got nothing more to add, though I haven't played any Call of Duty game since. Are they still rail shooters with minimal player interactivity?

Let's end this part with Borderlands: ''Just fighting. But it doesn't matter when it's done as good as it is Borderlands. One of the best FPS/RPG's of recent years, thanks to addictive gun collecting and crazy enemy designs.'' I recently replayed some of the original Borderlands and even though I agree with everything I wrote nine years ago, I would add that the game is so much more fun with other player - it's still enjoyable as a single player but co-op makes the action so much... I'll use word headless. Yes. That's a perfect word for this game. 

The zombie DLC is still one of my favourite add-on to any game ever.

So that's it for Part 3. I'll return with more old reviews in November, so prepare yourself. They're getting worse and worse.

By the way, I have given up on publishing a new blog post every Sunday for now, and the posts will come when I get them ready, at least for now. 

First Impressions of Civilization VI on Switch

Photo: Steam

I got Sid Meier's Civilization VI on Switch a few days ago. Previous installment is one of my favourite games, and after seeing that I can have Civilization game on my Switch to play whenever and wherever I am seemed a dream come true. I was little worried how the game works on controller setup but surprisingly it has been enjoyable so far. 

Civilization VI plays like your ordinary Civilization game with some new and interesting mechanics which I need to spend some time learning and I’m happy that at the same it feels familiar yet new and mysterious. Graphics look good, though being a console version the UI resolution is a little bit big for my preferences but maybe there’s a way to change that? Though I couldn’t see smaller elements from my TV so maybe big UI is all good in this case.

Controls seemed weird at first glance but I got hang of them pretty quickly. Civilization VI uses controller buttons wisely and though there’s nothing like that precision you’ll get with mouse, it’s not needed in slow-paced game like this too much. Of course I’d prefer using mouse anytime, but the fact that this allows me to take game with me all around is a price I’m willing to pay for the controls.

And that’s that. I enjoyed Civilization VI and I’m pretty sure it’s gonna take FIFA’s place as my new addiction. You should give it a try too!

Oblivion: Horse Riding Simulator 2006

What can I say about The Elders Scrolls IV: Oblivion that haven't been said million times before? Probably nothing, but at least I can tell how I felt about this classic RPG as a fan of Bethesda’s newer games like Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4. 

First of all, I personally liked this game more than Skyrim. I think this is pretty usual opinion within The Elders Scrolls fans, but I never really understood why. Oblivion looked so... outdated. Skyrim on the other hand is still pretty cool looking game and especially the character graphics are so much better. But then again, when you're playing Oblivion these are not the things you are focusing on - especially in 2020s when there's so many great looking character overhaul mods available. And there is certain charm in Oblivion's stupid looking character models in my opinion. In general I really love the artistic style that is goin on with Bethesda's RPGs as they are somewhat realistic looking but still have clear and specific look.

But I don't really think that graphics are thing that I want to focus on game that's released in 2006. Not at all though Oblivion looks sometimes stunning. For me the gameplay and the feel of controls is more important. Oblivion unfortunately is pretty janky (but then again all the Bethesda games are). Movement was what you expect, pretty old-school, but aiming and sword swinging on the other hand was pretty unresponsive - there was not really too much weight on weapons. And as the ragdolls go crazy when enemies die this illusion of weight didn't hold up at all, though it was pretty entertaining.

Oblivion's story is not anything special, it's your typical fantasy script: save the world, help peoples, fight monsters. There was many interesting and funny side quests though. I especially liked the Dark Brotherhood storyline and Shivering Isles DLC, which I would say has one of the best environments in TES games ever. Overall I enjoyed doing the little side quests with weird plot lines more than the main story. And yes, I'm avoiding spoilers so I don't describe none of them.

Main focus of Oblivion seemed to be caves and Oblivion gates, which are you typical - and boring - dungeons. I enjoyed few of the early-game dungeons as I was approaching them like Indiana Jones, but pretty soon dungeons turned repetitive and I really didn't want to spend time to complete them to find some rewards that I wouldn't ever use. And Planes of Oblivion themselves... well, they looked cool. But not fun to go through at all. 

For me the best part of Oblivion was traveling, as I told in my earlier blog post. I decided to not fast travel at all, and riding my horse to new and interesting places was hypnotizing. Running away from wolfs, killing robbers who tried to stop you and finding secrets is all fun and games, but I truly liked travelling to new town, learning about its history and residents and maybe doing some quests for them too. Oblivion makes travelling fun even though for some it's the most boring part of the game - for me it brought some calming moment in this hectic modern world, and those moments I will treasure - even more than my water walking boots or night vision helmets.

Oblivion has an odd charm which makes you return it again and again. Yeah, it's janky at times and A.I. isn't really smart, but at the same time the world has that magic that makes you wanna be there no matter what. Saying it's one of the best RPGs ever made? Sure. 

Revisiting Dishonored

After watching some of Noclip's excellent documents about Arkane Studios games my interest towards them has been awaken so I decided to replay Dishonored, which I completed years ago. But now it feels like a whole different experience.

I wrote a review of Dishonored in 2015 in which I praised the level design and graphics, said some nasty thing about A.I. and about how sneaking is sometimes impossible, and kept comparing it to Half-Life 2 - maybe too much. In general I remember enjoying the game but at the same time I didn't gave it a chance as its own entity - for years Dishonored was just an attempt to copy Half-Life 2's atmosphere.

Comparing Dunwall to City 17

Yes, Dishonored reminds a lot of Half-Life 2. Especially Dunwall as a place is very close to City 17 with its colour schemes, weird technical roadblocks and miserable citizens, but at the same time it's very much its own thing. Dunwall is more open and allows different paths - you can go up, down, and everywhere between. That's not what's really going on City 17 which is more linear which works great in the context of Half-Life 2 but wouldn't work in Dishonored. And that's why now years later when I'm sneaking around the streets of Dunwall it feels so great. 

There's a lot of replayability going on, and you can attempt the levels again and again in different ways. That was something I didn't understand back in the day when I just run straight to the target. I didn't care as much about alternative ways to complete the missions, I just wanted to rush through the game. That's probably why I thought it was too short. Now that I'm trying to approach my targets from different ways and at the same time I'm trying to complete all of the side quests and find all the hidden stuff game feels so much better. Sure, it's still short but I've understand that there's no rush - I can keep exploring the levels if I want or tease the guards in different ways. And that's fun!

Little stories make all the difference

I don't have anything new to say about games story as I'm still in the middle of it, but at least it's coherent. Maybe not the most interesting one, but game like this doesn't need one - it's better to have clear objectives than Rick And Morty styled story with too much going on. But now I've come to realize what's the most interesting part of the game story wise - it's the citizens you meet along the way. Like in Half-Life 2, many of them have their own little stories and problems, and helping them or just listening gives a lot depth to the world. I love the dark and dystopian setting of Dishonored, and using the heart to learn more about people you meet on your adventures is one of my favourite game mechanics ever in any game.

Living game world

And finally, about darkness and dystopias. I love how Dishonored's world reacts to your action. This once again was a thing that I did not appreciate on my first playthrough, but now after learning more about Arkane's games it's a huge deal for me. The fact that Dunwall becomes more plagued or in the other hand not because of what you have done and who you have killed makes your own playthrough special - you're not just going through a story, you're making it as you go as well.

And that's it. I'm happy that I decided to play this game again. It's fun, it's dark and it makes me appreciate game development even more.