Game 2 - Awaken Astral Blade
Game 3 - Ghost Trick - PS4
Awaken: Astral Blade - PS5
Retired 15th April
I seldom buy games as an impulse purchase, but Awaken was very much that kind of purchase and I must admit that I regret buying the game and not waiting for more information on the title. It just looked like a cool metroidvania type of game.
When I first started the game it seemed fun at first, but the further I went through the less and less I enjoyed the game. While not a terrible title, it just felt like it was unfinished and I was not having fun exploring the environment (which is the best part I enjoy in the metroidvania genre).
The last game I completed was Metroid Dread, and while I thought the pacing of the game could have been better, I had a much more enjoyable time with Dread. While playing Awaken I was also thinking about the Ori games, which have a similar art style, and I just felt like a would rather return to those games than continue with Awaken.
I'm sure that some metroidvania fans would enjoy Awaken, but the game is just not for me. After some time with Awaken I decided to retire the game.
Ghost Trick - PS4
Put on Hiatus 19th April
Ghost Trick is a game that was originally released on the Nintendo DS many years ago and it is a game I have heard many collectors talk about highly. For a long time Ghost Trick was on my Nintendo DS wishlist, but I never did end up buying it. I am not the biggest fan of handhelds as I prefer to play games on a nice sized monitor, so I was very happy to see that the game was released for a non handheld console.
I have played a little of the demo (and I played some of the IOS release) and I enjoyed my time, so I decided to purchase the game.
Preferring to have physical versions rather than digital I bought the game from Play Asia and imported the game from Japan (as it only had a digital release in the West and a physical release in Eastern countries).
I bought the Korean version from Play Asia as it was cheaper than the Japanese release and I just thought it would be interesting to own a game with a Korean release to go alongside the few Japanese and American imports I have.
Ghost Trick has an interesting concept - you play as a spirit that has to save the living from an assassin, by using your 'Ghost 'Tricks' to solve environmental puzzles. The first chapter really captivated me and I wanted to play more.
However, I have decided to put the game on hiatus for now. You can tell that the game was originally designed for a handheld system as each chapter feels like it can be completed during a daily train journey. I think this game is better played in bytesized fashion rather than played the way I prefer to play, which is in the evening for a couple of hours - similar to how I would watch a film or a couple of episodes of a TV show.
I will return to Ghost Trick every so often and play a chapter here or there, but I will not prioritise it amongst the rest of the backlog, hence why I have chosen to mark the game as being on hiatus.