Islets - PC (Epic)
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Retired 23rd April
Islets is another game that I claimed for free on the Epic games store. The game is a metroidvania style of genre, rather than set on one map there are multiple islands that the title is set on.
Each island seems to have a small map that can be explored in the style of metroidvania games. There is a hub world inbetween travel to each of the islands where you can fly a small airship around and explore - it is an interesting premise.
I completed the first island and explored some of the hub area as I decided to retire the game for two main reasons.
- In the hub area there are some 2D schmup areas that require avoiding bullets and I am terrible at those types of games and not really a fan.
- The on foot gameplay seemed commendable enough, but my mind just kept going to the two Ori games. It shared some similarity to the Ori titles, but I just felt I would be rather playing those titles - as they are two of my favourite games ever created.
Overall, it seemed like a good game and maybe I would have played it for longer had I never played the incredible Ori games, but I felt like I would be just wasting time if I longer on it.
Deliver At All Costs - PC (Epic)
Retired 23rd April
Deliver At All Costs is yet another game I have claimed from the Epic Store for free and it seemed promising at first. It is a whimsical top down view sort of sandbox GTA type of game, but rather than MAFIA content you are a delivery driver.
Playing a game where you drive and deliver parcels may seem a little dull, but the hook of the title is that you drive around in a very classic 'arcadey' way. At first, it is fun and comical, but after a while the game feels rather repetitive.
I just did not find myself invested in the main story and the delivery after delivery, no matter how over the top, just became stale so I thought it was best just to retire the game. I found it more fun just to ignore the missions and drive around the map - but, even that can only be fun for so long until I found myself feel like my time was being wasted.
Endling: Extinction is Forever - PC (Amazon)
Retired 23rd April
Yet again Endling is a game I claimed for free - this time with Amazon as I had a free trial at the time. Endling starts off interesting enough as you play as a fox that has to look after their cubs. I like the idea of the game, but it I seem to find it rather tedious in the manner in which the game plays - so I decided to retire the title.
Captain Blood - PC (GOG)
Retired 24th April
I actually played a demo of Captain Blood a while ago on GOG.com and what I played seemed promising. I had my eye on the game as it was originally meant to be released on the Xbox 360 era of consoles - it was once a cancelled and unreleased game.
I have always had an interest in games that were cancelled in the middle of development and never released. There is something fascinating about what could have been and learning about games that were cancelled, in fact I own two books on the subject matter: The Games That Weren't and Games You Will Never Play. Captain Blood was one of those games that looked to be lost to time, but somehow it saw an eventual release and I added it to my wishlist.
Fast forward and Amazon offered me Prime for 1 week if I spent 99p with my order instead of paying £4.99 for delivery. I took them up on their offer and when I saw that Captain Blood was one of the games on offer, through GOG.com, I immediately claimed it.
Playing Captain Blood felt like it was trying to be like the classic Greek trilogy God of War games, and it felt fun for a while, but after a little bit of time had passed I could not escape the feeling that I would rather be playing the Greek God of War games.
On paper the idea seems interesting - the classic God of War games with Pirates in place of the Greek settings and mythological creatures - but while character movement felt smooth the combat just seemed restrictive compared to GOW.
Maybe, if the game had been released in the Xbox 360 era I would have been more forgiving, but I cannot help but think even then it still would not be as satisfying as the PS2 era GOW games and that is the reason I have decided to retire the game.
I am glad that I was able to try a new release of a X360 era game, even if that was just for a little while.
Amnesia: Rebirth - PC (Epic)
Retired 25th April
I played the original Amnesia game, way back, when it was first released and it became one of my favourite games. I also played the sequel, Machine for Pigs, but I never really gravitated towards it like I did with the original. It has been a while since I have played an Amnesia title, so when Rebirth was offered on Epic Games for free I decided to claim it.
Well, disappointingly I decided to retire the game. My experience started off well and for around the first 2 hours I was enjoying my time and was intrigued by the story, but after a while I was perplexed as the actual horror element seemed rather non existent. The first Amnesia had an incredible atmosphere and kept me on the edge of my seat, but Rebirth's environments, for the most part, felt rather dull and I was just waiting for something to actually happen. I never felt like I was in any danger in Rebirth.
The story of the game did have me interested, so while I no longer wanted to play the game I did watch a video to learn about how the story plays out and also I watched the different endings of the title.
The next game, Amnesia: The Bunker, is also in my 'games I have claimed for free' playlist and I have heard that it has more of a horror atmosphere than Rebirth did - so I am excited to play the next Amnesia game in the franchise soon to find out for myself.
SIFU - PC (Epic)
Completed 26th April
Yes, SIFU is another game I claimed for free on Epic Games - ever since I heard about the game I had it in my wishlist for my PlaySation 4 console, but I just have not bought it yet as there were other games that I was more interested in playing first. So, when I saw it available for free I just decided to claim it whilst I still could.
SIFU is an odd Kung Fu game in that if you fail your character grows older - you start at the age of 20 and every time you fail your character advances in age by one year. The more you fail the older the character becomes and with that your overall health will drop the further and further as the years go on - I suppose to balance the character's depleting health the game will actually make the character deal an increase in damage. If you reach a certain age then the game will end, but you will not lose your progress, but you will lose any non permanent upgrades.
I enjoyed my time with SIFU, eventhough it is a short game with only five levels there is replay value in the levels giving the player the opportunity for the character to stay as young as possible and there is also a bonus 'arena' mode that you can play outside the story mode and allows the player to just focus on the combat of the game.
SIFU has a fun Kung Fu fighting system with moves that seem to be inspired by Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movies - it feels quite unique even if there are many games with martial art gameplay.
I am not big roguelite fan and SIFU does qualify as one of those games, which does frustrate me a little, as the combat is so compelling I feel that the roguelite elements weigh down the enjoyment level for me, but I know to some people they will think that that is the best part of the game. I did not have a huge amount of trouble with the system until the final boss and I was surprised I even managed to reach that point of the game.
Overall, for me personally, I would probably score the game higher if it was just an old fashioned beat em up with out the roguelite elements. I just do not want to spend the time that most roguelite games require.