Goty 2015 list Part 2: Return of the text walls
FIVE. Axiom Verge
oh crap
A recurring reaction of our rather plain protagonist Trace as he encounters yet another screen filling abomination that seems to undersell the deathly alien peril, Im not going to lie and pretend that Axiom Verge is a game that bursts with character, indeed in the early stages I wondered if it was ever going to find its footing in this department.
There was more than just a whiff of Metroid lurking in these alien depths, as per my experience with most games influenced by it I started labelling inaccessible paths in ways like thatll be for the morph ball equivalent because Im conditioned to expect such things.
Perhaps this was Axiom Verges plan all along, it set up my expectations of adhering too close to the tried and true powerups of that series only to deliver a series of swerves as it dares to be different.
One of the joys of Axiom Verge is how it handles its ever expanding tool set in ways that are in fact unfamiliar, I can safely say at no point did Trace ever contort himself up into a spine shattering sphere to fit through tight tunnels, instead I sent a remote controlled drone off to do some scouting.
Wondering which weapon will blast through that wall? Heres a better idea, lets just phase through it instead.
And thus Axiom Verge succeeded it nailing down an always appreciated aspect of this sub genre, the mystery of the unknown and feeling of discovery not just in its world map but in its items.
Really Id love to expand more on the abilities of a fully kitted out Trace but dare I say that would spoil the fun for those going into it mostly blind like I did, I feel bad enough having already let slip of a few tidbits.
Its these things that give Axiom Verge an identity of its own, the hostile environment is well realized and is certainly out of this world, while it could link up a bit better as a whole for traversal needs and the plot side of things went in one ear and out the other with me its impressive to see how this one man development mission played out and it stands out at a time where it feels like the genre is getting another indie entry every other week (not complaining, I lap this up).
Plus I instinctively input Justin Bailey on the password screen and my nerd knowledge was suitably rewarded, put the biggest grin on my face that did.
FOUR. Bloodborne
Slowly but surely as the deaths mount up my ability to refer to the games main currency as blood echoes diminishes as force of habit instead has me lament my lost souls, if Bloodborne itself has its own nightmare to try and awaken from its shaking the off Souls series handles that arguably forms its lifeblood in the first place.
I find that Bloodborne effectively comes off like something of a spiritual successor to the Souls games in a world where the actual sequels still exist which lands it in an odd middle ground, where its very much like them yet simultaneously its own thing. While I feel like it shouldve taken the opportunity to diversify itself further theres nothing wrong with sharing that DNA that From Software know so well, after all it leads to a cracking game.
So what is it that makes Bloodborne stand out by comparison within the looming shadow of souls? Well Id say that it focuses on streamlining the RPG elements and emphasizing the action side of things, its much more to the point and aggressive. The flow of combat is faster and more exhilarating, shields cant save you now and in turn the dodging and attacking abilities are increased to compensate for this. The offensive side is ramped up further through the transforming trick weapons and ability to recover some health after taking damage by laying into your foes in the brief window before it depletes as opposed to being reduced to frantically rolling away to chug an estus (or instead well dash backwards to slam in a blood vial).
Surprisingly this small shift in combat direction took a while for me to click with, while you still need to encounter foes with caution theres also a benefit here to diving in full force and taking greater risks, its what took me from a more passive player to one that emerges from a brawl bathed in the blood of my enemies.
The atmosphere of Yarnham is so thick you could cut it with a holy blade, From outdid themselves with the environments this time around, an oppressive city of beasts and madmen dripping in fine details. Some players walk through these worlds because of caution, half the time Im walking because Im taking in the excellent architecture and losing myself in the mood. While the areas dont diversify themselves as much as the souls games you get something a lot more cohesive in its place, a tightly designed marvel that pulls off the joy/relief of finding a shortcut that makes you realize hey Im back here again!.
To think my favorite setting of them all is completely optional with Castle Cainhurst bringing that ghoulish and gothic goodness to a visual peak (though the final area of the DLC is right on its tail, I was in awe first stepping into the windswept fishing hamlet). And how about those bosses? menacing monstrosities walling my progression accompanied by a powerful musical score and the extra dynamic of switching up their attack patterns and becoming even more horrifying as the fight goes on.
In truth I didnt fully get into the game until my second run in preparation for the stellar Old Hunters DLC, the reaction to the game among my Souls loving friends was mostly indifference and initially I shared similar sentiments. On round 2 though, well it was like I finally had enough insight to see the truth, my mind reeled at the revelation before me yet it was always there, I just had to grasp the truth and that is that Bloodborne is bloody great.
THREE. Splatoon
A popular bit of squid slang around the Splatoon streets is stay fresh and in a way that term encapsulates Splatoon in both its urban youth vibe that gives the game its character but also how the game itself feels. Its a fresh take on the genre as well as a new IP to come out the bowels of Nintendo which in itself feels as fresh as a daisy as the non squid kids say
.do the kids still say that? (no).
It seems so typically Nintendo to design an online focused team third person shooter the way they did here, like I can see them all thinking of how to create that elusive mass appeal for all types of player criteria that drives numerous Nintendo franchises and they figured out a way that inaccurate firing and wanderlust could still aid a team of players. Its not about a death toll but about which team has covered the most turf in their colourfully inky goop, all of a sudden youve got another dynamic in play from just splatting your opponents, like sneaking around the map evading foes and adding to your territory which is way more fun than it may sound, really theres nothing that tickles quite like following an opposing inlkings roller with your own with them being none the wiser like something out of looney tunes, of course when they finally check the map to see that their paintjob has amounted to little but the area they currently stand its all too late and they get splatted under your roller.
Despite the initially anemic content at launch Splatoon has slowly but surely rolled out a ton of free content that went from rounding up the package with the Summer update to generous extras galore here at the years end, not only is this a great way to keep me checking in to see whats new on the regular but it does so without fragmenting the player base and whilst eliminating its main flaw from its release period. I have to say, I never wouldve thought Id be choosing to celebrate a gradual release of content yet here I am about to trumpet how the initial limitations in weapons, maps and modes helped ease me into the online experience, nail down my weapon preferences and get to grips with its unique mechanics, a controversial gamble that I personally found paid off.
Lurking within Splatoon (almost literally due to its manhole placement in the main hub) is a short but sweet single player mode that brings Super Mario Galaxy of all things to mind. Launching from one 3D Action platforming challenge to another in an abstract floating world will certainly do that, it similarly follows the same style of gimmick progression and the rule of three boss battles. This mode plays around further with ink based mechanisms that dont appear elsewhere in the game, as such it doesnt come across like an afterthought and manages to give me the 3D platforming fix I so often crave, when the inevitable sequel that may or may not be named Spla2oon makes its entrance Im actually most excited to see how much further they can take the single player content because this is a great base of fun and straight to the point gameplay that in turn teaches the player the finer points about being a kid now and a squid now.
Really one of the understated great points about Splatoon is just how damn good it feels to play, the way alternating between the two forms and ink spraying lend to traversal feels so smooth and novel, be it lurking on a wall ready to bust out of your ink for a surprise assault or simply the satisfying ker-sploosh of leaping and making a dramatic descent into your own ink, they got the feel on point here. Oh and it has me make amends with my old foe of gyro controls, when it clicks it feels so natural.
With its colourful cast, distinctive soundtrack and novel gameplay Splatoon makes a huge splash to already cement itself as a Nintendo mainstay, now if they would just open up the map selection to at least three options per cycle thatd be golden, well it wouldnt be a Nintendo game without strange decisions like that.
PS: Inkbrush4lyfe
TWO. Super Mario Maker
context: I thought there may have been a secret here, there wasn't...
It wasnt uncommon for me as a wee lad to doodle out some naff level designs for a made up game into a sketchpad and of course platforming was the genre of choice, granted I was more influenced by the early 3D era like Banjo-Kazooie and Super Mario 64 in my scribbles but I also still remember that it was Super Mario World that truly sucked me into this hobby which at times now involves more talking about games than playing them (what did you do to me GAF?).
Effectively what we have here is a dream game for myself as a child with the chance to create my very own Super Mario World stages as well as a dream game for myself now who is older and more critical, which is to say I want to make Mario World stages that push its particular mechanics further than the actual game itself did. Younger me pays tribute, present me attempts to push the boundaries within the limitations and either way I approach it this game has been a joy to experience.
Mario Maker is a canvas brings out different art styles depending on the player, from the GAF community alone youll find those who make straight up classic Mario platforming, those that create storytelling stages, those that try to confound you with puzzle like structures and some that pay homage to other games within the Mario template (Mariotroid? Mario Ware Micro Games? Yep Ive played them). Then youve got seemingly the entirety of Japan who just want to watch you suffer through cheap deaths and nigh on impossible scenarios, Kaizo/Asshole Mario is officially a bad influence people.
Of course with a plethora of Mario platformers in existence alone trying to create something truly unique is a tall order, fortunately Mario Maker has a number of tricks up its sleeves for veterans of the series, the ability to rewrite the rules. Within the creation tool are possibilities the main games never indulged in, Lakitu swapping out spinies for bob-ombs, wigglers on rail tracks instead of a standard moving platform, rideable monty mole with a cannon on his head, swimming goombas, springs with wings, you get the idea. Put it this way, my first stage was based around doing a fast autoscrolling underwater stage (the horror!) requiring taking a P block from the start to the end simply because I could and it was something that would understandably not make the cut in a standard Mario game.
Of course some use these tools for evil, Giant totems of stacked Bowsers greet you upon starting a stage and the only question mark block nearby just has a Sledge Brother pop out, that simple jump has an invisible block placed over it and that one door just leads you into a pit of lava. Almost makes me think that Mario Maker is a better example of a moral choice system than some other games, choosing the cliché red sentence of villainous deeds on a dialogue wheel has nothing on someone who creates a stage where a thwomp crushes you if you arent immediately moving to the right, thats a much better measure of dickery.
Fortunately this world still has people fighting for whats right, true heroes who create levels both challenging and easy within the style that the game yearns for. 30 years of Mario represented wonderfully through the various tilesets, funnily enough Mario Maker may house the best 2D Mario control of them all, the core momentum and jump height have to be shared across styles regardless and in doing so they created physics that manage to feel right no matter what style I go for.
The ultimate victory with Mario Maker is the ease of building stages, I didnt need to watch hours of videos narrated by Stephen Fry to even begin getting started here, the basics are taught simply and swiftly with plenty left to discover for yourself and the gamepad gets to show its worth offering a pleasant interface to create with.
In conclusion this game screwed up my sleeping pattern more than anything else this year by having me tweaking block placements into the early hours of the morning.
ONE. Ori and The Blind Forest
It was a rocky road for me finally getting to play this game fully, a journey unto itself that began with the wait for a 360 version of the game that would never arrive which led to me forcing my increasingly aged laptop to just try and play the thing only to be trapped in perpetual slow motion.
Sometimes the mind works in mysterious ways as late in the year my brother (who Id failed to convince upgrade his 360 to an XBONE, another part of my Ori playing plans there) would hop off abroad for a weekend away and the dastard took one of my coats, specifically the one best worn in late autumn. Seemingly this injustice is what triggered my mind to realize the solution right in front of me, you take my coat? Fine, Ill be borrowing that newfangled laptop of yours while youre away to see if I can finally play Ori.
I may have needed to fiddle with some settings and was playing with a less than optimal screen size but that didnt matter, I was finally going to play Ori and the Blind Forest and it was damn well worth it. Oh and my brother lost that coat of mine by the way, well it wouldnt be a gripping tale without some heartbreak and thats something Ori knows as well.
Ori and the Blind Forest is another foray into the Metroidvania style format of game design with a huge helping of gorgeous visuals, to strike the balance between a feast for the eyes and a readable environment is a precise act and while not always perfect its impressive how it keeps up its commitment to artistic splendor alongside stellar platforming setups.
Ori himself is an interesting character to control, the forest spirit is rather diminutive in stature which in turn leads to traversal across the game world nailing this nimble scampering style akin to watching the way a squirrel bounds across undergrowth and shoots up a tree trunk. This helps give the game its own feel in character control as well an environment design which you could say emphasizes the nature element of things where a stump jutting out the ground is something to leap onto as opposed to step over. The forest of Nibel itself is one of the most naturally flowing landscapes Ive traversed in a game, the shifting of the surroundings happens with a lot more subtly than other games in the genre, no elevators or loading corridors, I just tended to notice for instance that all of a sudden the forest had got bleaker and squelchy and Id taken my first steps into a swampy area without being taken out of immersion with the game world.
As the game progresses the platforming challenge ramps up alongside Oris ability to laugh in the face of gravity, the power up progression is heavily platforming focused which is a joy for me, even if its not breaking new ground its making sure to do something more important, to be fun and compelling. The sum of its parts come together to create a memorable title, I cant have anything but love for a game that includes a giant shadowy Owl nemesis in Kuro and whatever adorable Bear like thing Naru is. Incredibly picturesque leading to a wonderful union of art and gameplay and its only going to get better with the definitive edition, now hopefully I'll have a better means of playing the game on that time around.
For the parser...
1. Ori and the Blind Forest ; Kuro the Owl is on the prowl
2. Super Mario Maker ; In one hand tools for a master and in others tools for disaster
3. Splatoon ; something something squid now, something something kid now
4. Bloodborne ; Prepare to stockpile many a blood vial
5. Axiom Verge ; Time for a scrap...."oh crap"
6. Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate ; jumping of a ledge is innovation on the cutting edge
7. Yoshi's Wooly World ; Stage 2-S, I've reached the goal and now I hate Monty Mole
8. Undertale ; Exposition on the walls is really kind of balls
9. Super Time Force: Ultra ; fortunately this time it's an easy rhyme
10. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt ; Getting killed by a drowner for a whole minute to reload downer
Honorable Mentions
x. Until Dawn ; Horror provides a perfect genre of which to add the videogame element to a movie like experience, butterfly effect elements could still be stronger but it's on the right track at least
x. Rocket League ; Only missing out because I already played this before it was cool and had a sillier name, nice example of how right place at the right time can make a difference
