Creators of adult cartoons make weirdly fun video games. The Simpsons arcade game is iconic. I genuinely enjoyed the exploration and gameplay of The Fractured But Whole (unfortunately I never got around to The Stick of Truth). And I might have had more fun pooping on my friends in South Park on N64 than I ever did playing Goldeneye.

So, when I heard about a new game coming out by the creators of Rick and Morty, I was immediately intrigued. I played through that one — unfortunately before this blog existed (well, technically, between iterations) — and really enjoyed the references, meta jokes, and humor. It’s a bit crass and gross, sure, but that’s to be expected.

If you like the Rick and Morty style of comedy; with the stammered speech and jokes that make you both laugh and feel existential dread, this will be right up your alley. I do tend to enjoy it, so I was happy to hear that a sequel was made; and knew I wanted to spend more time with Gus, Sweezy, and reluctantly, Creature. I downloaded it, and dove in.

The Premise

In the first game, you learn that an interplanetary cartel plans on capturing the entire human race, because we apparently make for a pretty great recreational drug. You team up with a different race of aliens and become bounty hunters, in order to take down the cartel and save your planet. The aliens you team up with are Gatlians, from the planet Gatlus. And they take the form of various firearms.

Yep, alive, sentient guns, each with their own personalities and abilities (and voices you may recognize). They’re also the primary speakers in the game, talking to any NPCs you interact with; and giving information and telling jokes to the player.

If you missed the first game, there’s a bit of an intro montage that catches you up to speed, and a museum right outside your house that you can explore that’ll explain everything if you interact with each eccentric exhibit.

After taking down the cartel, it turns out some extremely wealthy and powerful people have taken an interest in the consumption of humans. They’ve decided to go the “legal” route, though, getting humans approved for medicinal use through the “proper” channels.

So now, you’re on the run from bounty hunters (for breaking the code) and the police/paramilitary robots (for helping a “terrorist”), all while you’re trying to stop a major pharmaceutical company from turning your species into drugs (technically becoming a terrorists yourself, and gaining a huge bounty on your own head).

Gameplay

The second game plays very similarly to the first one, save for the fact that now you can traverse the world on a skateboard. Which, honestly, feels a little shoehorned in.

Sure, you can get around a lot more quickly, and it makes for some interesting side quests. Not to mention giving height to the world and additional areas to explore. But all of that is just sandbox fun stuff, has nothing to do with aliens, or guns, or saving the race or anything like that.

That said, the game built in some additional content to take advantage of it. It’s pretty fun to ride, and you can attack with it too; launching it at an enemy as you skate toward them. The game also has random skate parks scattered throughout the worlds and levels, with (after a certain point in the game) teenaged aliens challenging you to obtain a high score.

Your score is based on collecting letters around the park within a certain amount of time, spelling various “dirty words” the kids want you to spell. And you can take those letters to Reptical’s secret store to get some pretty powerful upgrades for the skateboard.

So, while it’s not just a gimmick; it does seem like the effort spent here could have been spent fleshing out the world and ironing out the kinks.

Exosuits

Something else I don’t really remember from the first game — maybe it was in the DLC so I missed it — is the Gatlians’ “exosuits”. I guess robotic versions of the “hand-horses” from their home planet.

When you’re back at your base, the guns are all largely in those things (seemingly) able to move independently. Though, they never do.

I thought maybe there’d be a mission or something where the guns are acting on their own, and I’m just using Knifey or something. But they were only visual, when at the base. It’s small, but it was one of the first things I noticed that was new, because, again, I thought they would actually come into play later.

I guess technically, there was one mission where a Gatlian was seemingly moving around in their exosuit, but I don’t really count it. Overall, though, there’s a lot more of the same here from the first game, executed in a slightly worse way.

Hilarity Ensues

One of the primary factors driving the enjoyment of this game is the random events, humor, and meta-ness throughout. Maybe it’s nostalgia, but I feel like all of this wasn’t executed as well as the first game. This one definitely feels rushed. But I still found myself laughing out loud at various times.

Like the first game, the “tutorial” is unique and hilarious. In this one, you’re flashing through various points in the characters life over the last few years. Sometimes you’re fighting (learning those mechanics), sometimes you’re being interviewed (showing what’s been happening between games), and at one point you find yourself on a wipeout-style gameshow where you learn how to jump and maneuver.

I love wipeout and thought that was great. Honestly, I wish I could’ve played through a whole episode…. It was a disappointingly quick bit.

Another example of the zaniness this game has to offer was finding the subversion of the “press a button to gain money but someone, somewhere dies” trope. I was a little disappointed to find out it wasjust for comedic effect; and I didn’t get to keep the pesos. But it was hilarious and I’m not sure where else — outside of maybe GTA or Saints Row* — you’d find something like this. And even those lean slightly more into realism than this, so…. Only here.

And the game definitely got me with their fourth-wall-breaking achievements. They 100% accurately called me out when I signed up for Murder Con (if you know you know). And I just hope that there’s nobody browsing my trophies in the future who doesn’t understand (or remember) this game. I may get some confused looks.

*Well, GTA anyway

Slight Let-Downs

That said, there were a few moments that stood out not just because they were comical (and they largely were), but because they felt unfinished.

A couple of these fairly funny fiascos that stand out are when you find the guy trapped in the Party City in the mall, and when you find the father-son bounty hunting duo. The former talks about how he needs help getting out, and how he’s a real person and not a mannequin. All while Knifey makes comments about how he’s the most realistic mannequin he’s ever seen.

In the latter, you come across a father and son who are both descending on your sister with the rest of the bounty hunters. They both comment about how it’s probably irresponsible for the kid to be there. Absolute tom-foolery.

In both instances, though, there’s no payoff. There’s nothing you can do to open the Party City or let the guy out. And when you come back, he just might not be there anymore. Except sometimes he will be there, but there’s no more dialogue. It’s seemingly done and he just… looks at you. It’s strange.

And it seemed like a gaping oversight to have the father-son bounty-hunting duo be in a place where you’re ultimately taking out all of the bounty hunters in the area, just to… not show up again. At the very least they could’ve been hiding in a corner, or maybe they’re at the beach later talking about how that whole situation was scary or something. I don’t know.

They both just seemed like such obvious setups for gags later with no payoffs. And really added to the unfinished/rushed feeling of this game.

Overall though, it is fun to just explore, see what you can find, and what’ll happen if you try different things. There are all sorts of jokes, references, and ridiculous situations to stumble upon. You just never know what this game is going to throw at you next.

Weapons/Gatlians

Like I mentioned earlier, your weaponry is an arsenal of talking guns each with their own firing methods and special abilities. The abilities not only aid you in combat; each one is used in various ways to solve puzzles, getting you further along in your mission. Or even to find a hidden area with a collectible or upgrade.

If there’s an area that’s a bit too high to reach, the saw blades can be embedded into certain walls to act as a platform to jump on. And his “sucking” ability can be used to reveal spots to embed saws (as well as hidden items).

You should remember those two from the last game.

As for something new, one of the new guns, Sheath (who technically isn’t a Gatlian) can launch an electric needle that will kabob 2 – 3 enemies, and explode when you shoot it. I’ve been having a lot of fun with that. And outside of battle, he can combine nodes of electricity with wires in order to power doors to unlock new areas and create zip-lines.

There are several different weapons and Gatlians, each with their own abilities; and each more absurd than the last. I really love puzzles, and figuring out how to use each gun’s special abilities to progress through levels and unlock hidden items and areas has been a lot of fun.

It’s worth it, too. At first, I thought that the hidden areas were only giving collectibles (like comic book panels) or cosmetic changes for the guns. But as I kept exploring, I ended up finding modules that made actual improvements to your weapons. Keep your eyes peeled, I couldn’t find all of them.

I can’t say that any one Gatlian is better than another, combat-wise, I liked them all. I actually tended to cycle between them, slowing down a couple enemies at a time with Sweezy, then taking them out with one of Gus’ sawblades or shotgun blasts for example. And stunning, then brutally stabbing an enemy with Knifey is sadistically fun.

There are defensive measures you can take, too. Primarily, you’ll be dodging attacks. But you’re also able to return rockets and grenades to their launchers and throwers by timing your Knifey attack correctly.

And to further shake things up, some areas have creatures you can pick up and actually use as weapons. There are “Flint Turtles” that are fire-breathing snapping turtles that you can wield and flamethrow people with. And Hammerbirds — birds with mallet-shaped craniums you can use to bonk enemies on the head.

That said, this was another gimmick that didn’t add much more to the game. I don’t remember specifically needing to use a Flint Turtle or a Hammerbird to advance to another area or solve a puzzle or anything. Either way, they were fun additions that you can use to shake combat up a bit.

And I will say there was one gag that was paid off, when the kid who was super into the flint turtles when you first get on the cruise ship went crazy watching you use them against some bounty hunters.

Enemies

There are a variety of enemies in the game. The two biggest being the bounty hunters, who show up periodically during the story, and the law enforcement bots (or private paramilitary platoon, depending on the situation) ironically named the “Good Guys”.

Bossfights themselves come in pretty unique styles, too. You may not always simply be shooting at a bullet sponge, dodging telegraphed attacks. I won’t say much more than that, though. You’ll have to play yourself to see what I mean.

Bugginess

I couldn’t talk about this game in good faith without mentioning that it is quite buggy as of this writing. First off, this game has one of my biggest pet peeves in all of gaming. When you’re in the settings, the back button goes from the submenu you’re currently in all the way back to the pause menu; rather than simply going back a menu.

Like, if I want to adjust my audio settings, and then change my video settings, I can’t simply go from one to the other when I press the back button. The back button goes back to the main pause screen, where I have to select “settings” again, then I can pick which setting I want to change next

It becomes especially egregious when you’re not 100% sure what setting you’re looking for, or if you’re simply trying to see what can be changed. Granted, I’m not a game developer. I don’t know what goes into this. But I can’t imagine anybody at Squanch played this, and thought that was acceptable. It’s not.

Later, I spent entirely too long (nearly 30 minutes) at the end of the Muppy Doo fight, which had a lot of potential to be fun and relatively one-of-a-kind, but it took time to work out for me. Spoilers Ahead

When Muppy Doo infiltrated my suit and I had to “fight” him in the settings menu, I couldn’t. Suit-O was talking and moving around. And some of the items on-screen were moving when I hit them; but otherwise, nothing was happening.

It seemed like maybe I was supposed to find him by searching through the various settings, but the menu wasn’t switching or anything. I ended up restarting the save a couple of times even, but I still couldn’t progress. At one point, I thought i was supposed to hit those orbs floating around the “S” in the middle of the pause menu, I was basically going crazy.

I really like to figure things out. And if there was something I was missing, I wanted to figure it out myself. So I was hesitant to google anything. But eventually, I had to.

Turns out, I wasn’t missing anything. The game was supposed to do what I thought/was trying to make it do. It just wasn’t doing it. I closed the entire game, and when I opened it back up and got back to that part, everything finally worked fine. That was super frustrating.

Another time, I stumbled upon a speed dating game. I didn’t know how it worked, so I tried to temper my answers (turns out I could’ve matched with all of them ). And when I finished talking to all of the potential matches, I was stuck. The game wouldn’t let me get out of the chair. I could turn and interact with things around the room, but nothing I pressed allowed me to actually get up.

So naturally, I restarted the game (again). When I came back, though, it was as though I had gone through the whole speed dating scene. When I walked back up to the clerk, they said to “give it some time before coming back” or something like that. So that was something I just…. Didn’t get to experience.

I mentioned it feeling unfinshed earlier. There’s more…

Something that was a bit more comical was a side mission where I had to guard a guy’s vehicle. Earlier in the game you find this guy and he asks you to watch his bike. You may recognize him from the first game.

This time, though, some guys start to mess with the bike, and you… kill them. Naturally (this game doesn’t have a “stun” option). He comes back and of course freaks out like “wtf, you didn’t have to kill them. It’s just a bike, it wasn’t that serious”. Then the bike disappears anyway. It’s an alright callback.

Later in the game, you find the guy again. But this time he asks you to watch his car. You ask if he remembers you, but he doesn’t seem to at the time. You shrug and say ok, and the guy walks off.

Inevitably the car starts to get attacked, but this time I wanted to see what would happen if I didn’t kill the guys. The Gatlians even implied I could let the vandalism happen, saying something along the lines of “hey, do what you want”.

I just ran away from them when they came after me, and waited until they were done. When the car owner came back, though, he still freaked out about me killing them. He again said I should have just let them scratch it, it wasn’t that serious etc. etc. (and, of course, afterwards the car disappears).

I did let them scratch it! Why are you yelling at me? If they weren’t going to change the dialogue, they shouldn’t have given the option.

Not for nothing

Also, this is nit-picky, but when you’re talking to different people and Gatlians back at the base and they run out of dialogue options, they’ll let you know. Eventually, they’ll say something like “I don’t have anything else to talk about” or something. But if you walk away as they’re saying that, get offended if the player walks away during a conversation triggers and they’ll be like “what the hell” or “fine, just walk away then”.

Mfer You’re the one that said you had no more to talk about! I have to imagine that came up frequently in testing. Feels like an oversight for that to happen. And now that I’m typing this and thinking about it, that may have been the case last game, too.

I was also really disappointed to find out that I wasn’t able to ride/fly one of those creatures that Tiffany, Kreg, and the Buttons Gluttons Gang rides. I thought for sure when the game showed us those early on, there would be a case where we rode/flew them, too.

No dice, though, unfortunately. More of the teasing/underwhelming feel that seems to be the hallmark of this game.

Conclusion

All in all, I’m mixed on this game. I have to say that most of the “pros” of it is the humor and references; but gameplay left a lot to be desired. And while I realize the game is bigger than I experienced, I didn’t really feel motivated to seek out much of that content. It was either irrelevant to the overall game (like with skateboard/skate parks), not all that worth it (like with the underground fight club); and at the end of the day, I wasn’t even 100% sure I’d be able to actually experience the whole gag (like with speed dating)

So, like I said, even if I was aware of the other things I could’ve explored and experienced, the bugginess of the game really made me not want to even try. Which is disappointing, because I’m sure I missed some quite hilarious stuff. But given the inside jokes, meta humor, references, and relatively short time to beat; I can’t say I’m disappointed at all to have played this to the end. And there’s always YouTube to catch me up on anything I missed.

Thanks for reading! Let me know over on YouTube or Threads what you thought of High on Life 2. And be sure to check back for more awesome gaming content!

The post High on Life 2 appeared first on I Talk Games.

A few days ago, though, I noticed a familiar looking title in the “new on GamePass” section of my Xbox. I watched the trailer and it was nothing like what I had in mind. It gave similar vibes to Dead Cells; and I knew that it would have to be pretty in-depth to be so hyped as a 2-D side-scroller.

I decided to give it a shot and see what all the fuss was about.

A Bug’s Life

You play as a bug named Hornet (though, she doesn’t seem to actually be a hornet?), in a world inhabited by other bugs and small creatures. Most of them are enemies, but some are friendly and will trade with you, give you information or advice, or have tasks they want you to complete. Rather than being “quests” or “missions”, though; you “promise” to complete a character’s “wish”. It strikes me as weird, but I guess I don’t know why. Just seems kind of… intense.

In the opening sequence, we find Hornet as a prisoner being transported in a cage that seems to have some sort of enchantment, blocking her abilities. Mysteriously, a spectral bird-type creature touches the cage, removing the enchantment, allowing Hornet to use her Silk to break free from the cage.

Breaking out caused quite the fall, though, and Hornet found herself waking up in an unknown land called Pharloom*. Equipped with your trusty needle along with thread (a Silk meter that’s used for stronger attacks and healing) you’re tasked with ascending to the peak of this world to figure out what Pharloom is, and why you’ve been brought here.

Pharloom is an eerily aesthetic place, set across several different environments — with enemies often taking the characteristics of their surroundings. “A world ruled by silk and song”, you can often find other characters singing; and the songs can be hauntingly beautiful. I’m especially partial to Shakra’s.

There are also many hidden areas to find, and shortcuts between worlds to unlock. Sometimes this requires simply breaking a barrier that otherwise looks benign. But other times you have to gain access to an area with an attack or ability that you unlock while playing. If you’re playing and an area seems inaccessible, or a boss seems too difficult, you may just need to find a new tool or ability to help.

Trials and Tribulations

Right off the bat, I have to say that this game is difficult and unforgiving. Enemies hit pretty hard, and take several hits to defeat. Starting out, you’ve got one button for a melee attack, and you can jump to avoid enemies and their attacks. That’s it. You’re able to acquire additional attacks and abilities as you progress through the game though, which make things slightly easier. But you’re going to be challenged throughout the game.

And that leads me to my next point — there’s almost no information. You’re constantly inferring what things mean and need to have a bit of a sense of direction to understand where you are and where you’re going. There are maps you can buy, eventually, but until you do, you’ll have to rely on instinct (or just wandering around aimlessly until you find what you’re looking for).

Even once you get the maps, you’re still left a bit in the dark. They don’t seem to be 1:1 with the actual world, and without a (purchasable) compass, you can’t even see your location on the map. There are some landmarks visible on the maps, like the giant triangular altars where you unlock abilities, that you can use to try to get your bearings; but you have to (again) infer where you might be for the most part.

On the bright side, the world is fixed. Not procedurally generated. And you can eventually get items that will permanently show landmarks on your maps (they’ll mark all of the benches in that area, for example) and help you keep track of where you are and where you want to go. But I have to admit that I was boiling over with frustration at times looking for a specific area or character, and constantly finding myself in the same not-where-I-wanted-to-be places over and over again.

Bravely Battling Brutal Bosses

Bosses are relentless, and there’s no button-mashing here. It takes dedication, patience, and definitely a little bit of luck in order to take them down. They’ll kill you in one-or two hits, and have no qualms hitting you in the middle of your combos.

Figuring out their attack patterns, doing a lot of jumping and dashing, finding my spots and only attacking within them, and maintaining a balance between using silk for stronger attacks and keeping my health up is how I’ve been getting through so far. And even then, there will be things out of your control that will cause you to die.

For example, be sure not to find yourself all the way to one side when dodging falling bells fighting Bell Beast. If the Beast starts to burst from underground where you’re standing, you aren’t fast enough and can’t jump high enough to get away.

Or Lace, who has an attack where she jumps in the air then dives down, forward, onto you. But every once-in-a-while, when you run under her to avoid that attack; she’ll turn around in the air somehow and still hit you. Those types of frustrating indefensible attacks are fraught throughout this game.

Seriously, Try Not to Die

And, possibly the worst part, is that respawns are only at specific spots — benches — you have to find and rest at. Some of which you have to buy with your hard-earned rosary beads* that could be spent on other important things. Whenever you die, you respawn at the last bench you sat on, and you have to navigate back to where you were if you want the stuff you dropped. And if you die along the way, that stuff is gone.

Binding Your Abilities

Speaking of being stronger, yes, there are ways to make getting around and being attacked a bit more manageable. As you play, you’ll be able to increase your overall health and silk levels, you’ll unlock new attacks — hell, you’ll unlock entire new playstyles — and you’ll find additional tools and other items to help you along your journey.

The tools come in the form of finite throwable weapons or traps. You can have pins that you throw, that will run out after a while, shards that you leave in the world that will damage enemies that run into them, or even stronger spikes that are destroyed after use. Each one only has so many uses, too, and you refill them using your shards when you rest at benches (a process that happens automatically).

Since in one way or another you can run out of these items, they don’t use any silk, which is nice. You’re able to attack enemies from afar, or slow them down for a bit, while saving your precious thread to get those masks back up.

There are also trinkets you can equip that will help as well. In addition to increasing your life or making silk regenerative, trinkets may also help deal more damage or allow you to attract all of the dropped rosary beads so you don’t lose any or have to pick them up.

Poshanka!a

Hollow Knight: Silksong is an incredibly difficult yet incredibly satisfying game that I’m glad I took a risk on. For someone new to the series, it’s size and depth are incredible. The infuriating difficulty makes it ecstatically satisfying when you finally overcome a challenge. And when you think you’re starting to figure things out, they throw another twist at you.

If you like games that test your patience, definitely give this one a shot.

Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments what you thought of Silksong, if you’ve played it. And be sure to check back for more!

The post Hollow Knight: Silksong | Edges Sharp, and Senses Keen appeared first on I Talk Games.

Truthfully, I’m not sure where I got that idea. It’s less an RPG and more of a Star Wars story about an outlaw that you get to play as. It’s relatively linear.

Given the misconception, there were a few moments, especially early on, that seemed strange. Like being forced to shoot my way out of a situation when I initially tried to do more of a stealth/stun playstyle. But otherwise, once I realized what I was actually getting myself in to, I really started enjoying this game.

Kay & Nix Beginnings

You play as Kay Vess a young woman who makes her living stealing and scheming with her adorable pet alien Nix (who’s like the Abu to her Aladdin). From what I can tell (and in doing a bit of research for this post) the Death Star has recently been destroyed, so The Empire is on it’s heels and criminals are working with relative impunity.

She is able to get away for now, though, and crash-lands the ship on a nearby planet. Now she has to find a way to avoid the dangerous people who are after her, clear her name (or at least pay them back), and still hope to get that big score that just might solve all of her problems.

The Underworld & Reputation

After crash-landing, you’re found by a mechanic named Waka (no Flaka) who recognizes the ship as a classic and says he can help you repair it. You need parts and, more importantly, money to buy those parts; so Waka directs you to talk to an underworld boss, Gorak, for work.

Gorak isn’t actually a big fan of Wakas, so when you drop his name Gorak has you thrown out of his base. It’s at this point that you meet Danka, a broker, who tells you how the underworld works. Brokers (like Danka) facilitate the relationship between people like Kay who need work, and the factions providing it. So you’ll have to talk to them to get jobs.

There are 5 factions in all, four of which you can work with. Danka introduces the Pikes, Hutts, and Crimson Dawn. And later, you’re able to work with the Ashiga. The last group is Zerek Besh, but they’re led by the guy you stole the ship from, and they’re hunting you.

The game also shows you that there’s a reputation system where your choices will affect how the different factions feel about you. It’ll increase and decrease throughout the game as you help or harm each faction. If your reputation is low enough, they’ll attack on-site; and if it’s high enough, you’ll be able to walk around their bases largely without being bothered.

There are additional benefits to having high reputations with the factions — like higher-paying jobs, and unlocking merchants with access to rare parts. And, like I mentioned earlier, this is where the consequences of a lot of your choices lie. A lot of the missions involve breaking into another faction’s facility; and with a high enough reputation with the faction you’re breaking in to you can walk through the proverbial front door.

It’s a pretty cool mechanic, and gives you stakes when completing missions. Instead of simply rewarding you with money and reputation, you’re often given a choice whether to help out one clan or another; or sometimes yourself. You can give the information to the people you’re initially stealing for, or you can cross them and tell the people you just stole from who hired you and why. Sometimes, you can even keep something for yourself; gaining something material but losing reputation.

It also gives you reasons to check in with brokers to see what’s available, in case you want to raise your reputation back up with a certain faction after betraying them.

Gameplay Variety

I had a great time exploring the worlds, sneaking through bases and imperial strongholds, and playing all sides so I could (hopefully) come out on top. Gameplay is quite varied, the puzzles are fun, and there were genuine moments of delight — like when Nix and I had a snack for the first time.

There’s also a lot to do outside of the main story line. There are some quick little arcade games you can play; and the one-off contracts that you can do for factions for credits and reputation. There’s treasure hunts which were a lot of fun — you can find datapads or eavesdrop on conversations that give clues to where valuables may be stashed. And you can go out and try to acquire them for yourself. I spent a lot of time just traveling around the worlds and around space trying to find some really cool items.

There’s also the Fathier races which is similar to a horse-race. In nearly every city you go, there are tables broadcasting these races holographically and you can test your luck. Or, if you’ve had your eye out, you might not have to rely on luck.

We also get to play Kessel Sabacc, which is kind of a card game, where you try to get better pairs than your opponents — using tricks and special cards to do so. This was right up my alley (I loved Gwent in The Witcher), and I loved testing my mettle against (and attempting to pull one over on) some of the Core Worlds’ slickest card sharks.

Movement and Exploration (& the speeder)

Traversing the world felt pretty familiar on foot. As a third-person game, running, jumping and climbing were straight-forward and intuitive. In fact, the climbing mechanics were similar to Jedi Survivor. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

The worlds are relatively big, too, and in order to get between towns, there’s a Speeder you can use. Which is essentially a hover-cycle.

The speeder was a bit underwhelming, but still pretty fun. I will say that that I was disappointed in the races when I came across them. I thought they were a great idea, and thought it was a cool addition when someone flagged me down to race. But racing itself felt a little sluggish. There were upgrades to make the speeder faster, but it never blew me away.

Space Travel

In addition to the worlds you get to explore, once it’s repaired, you can also take your (stolen) ship into space. There are space stations based around the planets that you occasionally have to visit, cargo that can be discovered, and more.

There’s a cool animation after you board your ship and opt to launch, showing the takeoff and ascent into space. It’s not really interactive — you’re not leaving and landing on planets yourself. But it’s much better than simply having a loading screen.

Landing the ship is similar. You aim the ship toward the planet you want to land on, initiate the landing sequence, and select the landing pad/location you want to land on/at. From there, you watch the ship zoom toward the planet and the landing pad. Unfortunately, you don’t get any visuals of the scale of the planet as you approach.

The game kind of cheats it’s way through that part by having you descend through clouds. But you do get to see yourself come in over the city and ultimately make the landing. Again, it could be better, but it’s not as bad as having a loading screen each time you take off and land.

Since stealing the ship, you’ve essentially adopted it as your own. And so, you’re able to upgrade it throughout the game. Cosmetically, you largely can only change the color, but there are a few different weapon types and shield options that you can upgrade to.

Yes, enemies patrol space, too, so you’ll have to be prepared to fight. Dogfighting was pretty challenging, and it was quite satisfying taking out enemy ships. Especially the Imperial ships that were launching the TIE Fighters I was battling.

It was also really cool watching the scale change as you flew closer to those ships while fighting them and space stations as you approached them. And I had some genuine anxiety flying through the Kijimi Nebula knowing there were giant asteroids just out of sight.

You could also try to avoid fights, and there were upgrades that let you be a bit more stealthy in your ship; but I found it easier to just upgrade my weapons and take out any would-be interrupters.

It’s not as in-depth as, say, Starfield. And I was a bit disappointed that the ship reorients itself after a bit (there’s no “up” in space…). But it was a fun and satisfying experience that kept me looking forward to the next space missions.

Combat

Working with various criminal organizations (not to mention being hunted by one for stealing their leaders ship) naturally, Kay is going to come across some enemies. On top of that, our fearless femme frequently finds herself in places where she isn’t supposed to be. So she has to defend herself.

Your primary weapon is your blaster, which is the typical Han Solo style shooter that should be familiar to anyone with any knowledge of Star Wars. And throughout the game you’ll be able to modify it to perform differently or have new functionality altogether.

For example, you can upgrade the gun to burst fire instead of single-shot. And there’s also an alternative firing mode you have to unlock — the ion cannon — that works better against droids; and can power nodes to solve puzzles and open doors.

There are various weapons around the world, too, that Kay can pick up and use. There’s fully automatic blaster rifles, sniper rifles, and even the cool rotary cannons with the shields on the front. You can’t keep these weapons — you’ll drop them when they run out of ammo, or you need to climb or something. But they’re cool additions, and add a new element to combat. Also, you can have Nix grab a gun and bring it to you, so you don’t have to expose yourself to get one.

Kay also has an “Adrenaline Rush” ability I alluded to earlier. Time slows down, you select the enemies you want to take out; then she’ll do so one-by-one. This is also an entertaining addition, and kind of made me feel like a badass gun-slinging outlaw.

Stealth

While there are certainly instance where you’re forced to shoot, there’s also a pretty heavy emphasis on stealth in Star Wars Outlaws. You’re often tasked with sneaking through an area, usually failing the mission if you get caught.

The game provides pretty plentiful opportunities to conceal yourself, with things like vents that you can walk through undetected. But it’s not like they lead directly to your destination. You still need to figure out how to find what you’re looking for, and get around guards and through doors.

Guard presence is quite heavy, and maybe I’m just not good at sneaking around, but I had a hard time separating groups of guards so I could take them down quietly. I often found myself standing around trying to figure out movement patterns and find windows of opportunity to get to the next safe spot.

Your only take-down options while trying to remain stealth are a melee takedown if you’re hidden and a stun-gun option on your blaster. The stun option has an incredibly long cooldown, though. I never actually timed it, but it felt like a full minute˚. You can also use Nix to distract guards so you can run up and take them down, or run past them. But he couldn’t actually do any takedowns himself.

Puzzles and Hacking

Gaining access into new areas isn’t always as simple as interacting with a door. There were a few different puzzle mechanics that kept the game feeling fresh. Sometimes you had to figure out how to make yourself a makeshift bridge to cross a gap. Sometimes you had to use Nix to press a button, or open a panel so you can kill the power source. And the ion blaster I talked about earlier.

There are also minigames that I had a lot of fun playing and solving — and I don’t mean the arcade game. Theres a Data Spike, which is essentially this game’s lock pick; and with it there are audio cues you have to listen for to unlock the lock.

It’s a bit strange, to be sure, but definitely unique. Personally, I really enjoy music and rhythm, so I actually liked using the Data Spike.

My favorite, though, was the wordle-style puzzles that you occasionally come across. There’s a bank of a bunch of symbols, and you have to get them in the right order.

After selecting your initial symbols, you’re shown whether you have any correct and if so, if they’re in the right spot. From there, you deduce the correct order and symbols. Wordle is actually derived from a board game called Mastermind that I loved to play as a kid; and I loved Outlaws’ take on it.

There were also “tricks” you could use in order to make this puzzle easier, by, say, eliminating tiles in the bank or giving you more chances. I was initially confused, because I upgraded my energy levels a couple of times before I could use any of the “tricks”, though. For a long time, I wondered why I was told about them so early when they took so long to actually use.

I realize now that the ability to see which tiles are “connected” and when a group of them is eliminated is the initial trick. You don’t have to do anything, it’s always active. I didn’t realize they counted that as the first trick at first, though.

This was typically how you hacked in to various computers and terminals — and I had fun with that as well. Often you had to hack in to these to acquire the information you needed; but they also would sometimes control the cameras and automated weapons in the area. You can turn the tides swiftly in your favor by finding the right terminal.

Items and Cosmetics

Sliro’s old forgotten about jacket (which is somehow a perfectly fitting cropped jacket on Kay? Maybe an “ex” left it behind…?) isn’t the only thing that Kay is stuck wearing. There are different cosmetic pieces that can be bought from vendors or found in the world.

They’re not always just visual upgrades, either. Some items come with bonuses, such as increased focus generation or additional health vial slots. And there are also sets that you can try to complete for even more powerful upgrades.

You also have a few lucky charms that Kay likes to keep around that grant bonuses as well. You can have two minor and a major one equipped at any given time, and can swap them out at will. They my decrease your detection level from droids, increase the amount of adrenaline that you gain, or allow you to automatically recover a health vial or grenade when used. There are a decent amount out there, so keep your eyes peeled. They can be very helpful.

Star Wars Outlaws handles the skills that you can acquire in a different way than a lot of games. There’s no skill tree, and you don’t really gain experience points and level up in order to acquire an upgrade. As you meet influential and well-versed people in the world and accomplish tasks for them, they then become available to acquire skills from. You can upgrade your skills in the pause menu, though, you don’t have to physically travel between the experts.

Unlocking skills is as simple as spending a resources you were probably gathering anyway; that can only be spent on said upgrades. Occasionally you have to find a more-rare item in order to unlock the skill, but when that’s the case unlocking that technique is the only thing that item can be used for. There’s no sacrificing an item to select one skill over an other.

There were a few skills that you could only upgrade after completing tasks, too — such as having a certain amount of stealth takedowns or solving puzzles within the allotted tries. I loved this aspect of the game, it gives you reasons to vary your playstyle and made additional challenges more meaningful than simply giving an achievement.

Overall…

Despite my initial misunderstandings with what this game was, I had a ton of fun with Star Wars Outlaws. The gameplay is fun and varied, the puzzles were unique and challenging, space travel and combat is enjoyable, and all-in-all, I had a great time exploring Kay and Nix’s story.

I completed the main storyline, but there’s still a lot of treasure out there I can find. And I’m excited to do so.

Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments what you thought of Star Wars Outlaws, if you’ve played it. And be sure to check back for more!

The post Star Wars Outlaws | An Exciting Underworld Adventure — No Force Necessary appeared first on I Talk Games.

A while back I was scrolling through GamePass, as I often do, and I came across this game Robin Hood: Sherwood Builders. At the time, I was playing a lot of PalWorld, and when I read the description, it sounded like it had some similar vibes — like a building and resource gathering-type game, but as Robin Hood. Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, rather than hunting and catching Pals. It sounded dope.

I don’t know why, because now that I think about it I don’t really have any strong memories of watching Robin Hood content when I was a kit. Maybe that cartoon with the fox as Robin, but even with that I can’t say I remember many details. I never saw Men in Tights (forgive me, I’ll put it on the list).

Still, for some reason I thought it sounded dope to play as Robert of Loxleyª, so I installed the game. I didn’t play it right away — it sat for several months — but recently I had a few hours to kill and wanted to try something new. So I fired this up.

Why are We Gathering Resources & Building?

The area that will become the town, from what I can tell, looks pretty sizable. And there even seems to be the bones for other types of buildings that will come, possibly after I reach certain parts in the game. There’s a section near a river that I just know is going to be some sort of sawmill.

Maintaining food and water levels for yourself is important in this game, too. There’s meters you have to keep an eye on and the meat that you gather can be used for Robin as well. There’s a place at your camp where you can cook the meat, and there’s a well where you can fill up water bottles. Yes, you need to have empty water bottles. It’s all plentiful, though, and it takes a while for the levels to deplete. So far I haven’t been affected by them yet.

I even tried deliberately to go hungry and thirsty to see what would happen. I chopped down trees, took on enemies, and ran around with empty food and water levels, but nothing ever actually happened. Eventually I got impatient, and moved on to an actual mission, and replenished my levels, so I’m still unsure (with the way the game saves, I didn’t want to find out what happens in the middle of a mission, and find myself reloading to a point hours in the past).

There’s also a kitchen that can be built that will give better-quality foods with more helpful properties. And of course there’s the furnace where you refine your raw materials, the blacksmith for your weapons, and the tailor for your armor. As well as training grounds to improve your abilities and even taverns for your townsfolk to enjoy.

Creating a better society for people requires, well, infrastructure. And as Robin, you’re building better infrastructure for the people of Sherwood Forest and beyond.

Issues & Frustrations

Movement and Combat

Right off the bat, I want to say this is a strange experience because the mechanics are, frankly, dogshit. Movement is clunky and inconsistent, and the crosshairs might as well not exist. You often jump when trying to dodge, and you’ll never be in the correct spot on the first try when mining or chopping down trees — which is a pretty big part of the game. If you do happen to get it on the first try, you’ll inevitably end up moving anyway because you’ll assume you hadn’t.

I’ve got some qualms about fighting that I think might be fixed by upgrading my skills in the tree, but one thing that I can’t upgrade is how it’s super inconsistent with dodging. Dodge, on Xbox, is “A”, but so is jump. When I’m sword-fighting a group of baddies, sometimes when I try to dodge an attack, I’ll instead jump kind of in the direction I was trying to dodge and I’ll still get hit. It’s incredibly frustrating.

Stealth is also an option in Robin Hood. There’s armor that decreases your visibility and movement sounds, and there’s skills in the skill tree that can be unlocked to do the same. That said, I haven’t fount it very useful — at least not yet.

In the very early-game, before you can unlock upgraded armor sets, you get spotted pretty easily. There’s tall grass to hide in, but as soon as you pop out, you’re often seen. On top of that, the game has done a pretty good job of having guards within eyeshot of other guards, so they’re not often completely isolated. And on top of that, you can only stealth takedown enemies that are the same level or lower than you; which they often are not.

Some areas I’ve noticed have birds you can use to get a slightly better view of the area. They’re glowing and if you look at them you can look through them to see where enemies are. It’s better than nothing, I suppose, but it doesn’t help all that much. The view is kind of blurry and distorted and it’s tough to tell the enemies from the other people just walking around. And Robin has a “Hunter Vision” that allows you to highlight enemies through walls (among other things) which works way better. It’s a cool idea, but is pretty meh in execution.

Once you are able to craft your first new set of armor, you’ve got two options: one geared more toward stealth and one toward health. But by the time I was able to unlock them, the difference in stealth applied by the “stealth” armor wasn’t much more than what I had anyway. And with the other set’s ability to regenerate my health outside of battle, it was a no-brainer.

Building

The Build Mode’s only real redeeming factor is that buildings are pre-built and just need to be placed. You don’t place individual walls and floors at all like in some other games. But even simply placing them isn’t super straight-forward. When playing with a controller on Xbox, the left stick controls the mouse cursor, the right stick pans around the space, and the triggers zoom in and out. So, in order to move, you have to use a mix of the right stick for direction and triggers for motion. It’s extremely counter-intuitive. And that’s before you decide on which building you want to place.

When you select a building the left stick, as the mouse cursor, moves the building around. But now, the right stick rotates it — the stick no longer looks around the space. So if you’re not already looking at where you want to put a building before you select it, you can’t move to that spot. You have to back out, move to the space you want (using the weird controls), and try again. If you end up not liking the new placement, you have to deselect the building and do it again.

I’ve largely gotten used to it by now, and (for the most part) think about where I’m going to place a new building before I build it. But since I can’t see the size of the building beforehand, I kind of have to guess. Luckily, buildings aren’t too big and clearing space is easy. You simply have to select a tree to knock it down and make a clearing, and you get the wood from the tree as well.

Village Gathering

When you build your village and have workers mining and logging for you, gathering those resources is also kind of weird and inconsistent. There are some workers that show up in a menu on the left side of the screen in the build mode, and certain resources can be gathered from there.

Some resources, though, can only be gathered once you build a particular building. But once you do that, you have to go to, and select the building in order to gather the resource. And by that, I mean with your cursor within the build menu. Walking up to the buildings actually does nothing.

And the most confusing part? They’re the same types of materials that have to be gathered in different ways. If you want to gather ore — like copper, stone, or iron — you have to check different places. Copper, for example, can be found in the left-hand menu while in build mode; but Stone can only be gathered from the Quarry which you have to go to and select with your mouse cursor.

I understand needing different buildings and different upgrades in order to gather the various resources as I progress through the game, but make it make sense. Why do I need a quarry to get some of the ore, but I didn’t need a quarry to get the others? Why, once I do build the quarry, can’t I just select the Stones from the same menu as selecting the Copper? They’re the same type!

Other Strange Quirks

Ladders aren’t real/aren’t usable. They’re in places that makes sense for a ladder to be — In some cases seemingly required — but you can’t use it. If you have to get up on something, the ledge is low enough to climb, or it’s a small hop up. And for the most part, if you can climb on it, it’s got yellow markings. Sometimes you have to make longer jumps which can be frustrating with the previously-mentioned movement issues, but no climbing ladders.

Resource harvesting is just weird; but I guess it’s not horrible. You have to be in a pretty precise position for it to register what you’re trying to chop/mine, which can be very frustrating. It’s mostly fine once you’re lined up correctly, just make sure not to move again. It’s the worst with Copper, Stone, Iron etc. nodes because they break apart and you often have to reposition yourself in order to actually register hits again.

When you are in the right spot and are consistently hitting the thing you’re trying to harvest, you get a bit of a minigame, which is cool. There’s a little popup that happens at the point of impact, and if you press the trigger to hit again right as that popup happens, you’ll swing your tool faster, while using less stamina.

When you go to use any materials you’ve gathered/mined/logged etc. you just have to wait until whatever you’re crafting completes before you can do anything else. You go to the building where you’re able to make whatever it is your’e trying to craft (yes, these ones you actually walk up to and interact with), and once you select what you want to make, you just have to stay in that menu until it’s done.

I haven’t timed it, but some things feel like they take a couple of minutes, time where you can’t do anything else. There’s no way to have my Ingot’s being made while I run over and cook some Hare. I just have to wait.

Here’s the thing…

But the crazy thing is, I can’t stop playing! I don’t know if it’s the vague familiarity or maybe because of some weird parallels to today’s political climate, I’m really enjoying playing this game.

Reputation

In the beginning, as you see people walking around, when you’re prompted to talk to them, they’re largely dismissive. But as you build up the town and complete quests for the people in the world, you become more well-known. And when you go back and talk to people, they thank you for what you’ve done.

When you start missions, they say “you’re robin hood, I’ve heard what you’ve been doing around here” and I even had an enemy say he heard of me and wondered if it would’ve been different had I shown up earlier.

Other games will give you “reputation points” for completing missions, but rarely do I ever feel like the characters reputation actually improved. Or, it’s forced, like after a particular cutscene that didn’t actually change anything as far as the “public” is aware, but the NPC’s dialogue is different afterward. But so far, I haven’t felt either of those things, and it feels well-executed. It’s pretty obviously percentage-based (occasionally, cutscenes about the main story jut in in the middle of after-mission conversations as soon as the percentage is reached, but before the conversation is over), but I think that’s a very good thing.

As Robin gains more and more reputation, he also becomes more and more wanted by the King. Nearly everywhere there’s wanted posters calling for the capture of Hood, and a really cool detail is that the amount has been steadily increasing as I’ve been playing.

Something that takes me out of it a little is the fact that nobody seems to care about me being wanted, though. I’ll have conversations with people directly next to a Wanted sign with my name on it.

I mean, I understand that I’m helping them out and that they’re against the king, too; but you’d think there’d be a couple of opportunists that would try to turn me in for the reward money (it’s at a point where it’s more than I’ve ever had at any one time), or at the very least in fear of defying the king. But nobody seems to care, and that’s kind of weird.

Reactions, Other Than Dialogue

In some instances, you’re tasked with sneaking around an area that’s occupied by both enemies and regular people. I mentioned earlier that things can be done stealthily, but you can also just kill all the guards in the area and find what you need.

While you’re doing this, though — the “regular” people are simply going about their business around you. It’s strange. I understand not liking the rule that the one is under, but it’s weird that there’s literally no reaction to killing guards right in front of people. That would be a crazy thing to watch! Are the times that bad that they’re this desensitized to death?

Also, I do wish that your reputation instilled fear in lower-level enemies. Given that you’re supposed to be becoming well known, and it’s talked about how you’ve gained reputation frequently, you’d think that some enemies wouldn’t want the smoke.

Even something like having a lower-level enemy run away after you’ve taken out a couple of his comrades would be better than nothing. But so far, there’s none of that. Even if you’re 10+ levels ahead, and have a high percentage of reputation in the area, they still charge on.

Other than those couple of small things, it seems as though each character was deliberately made, and that’s refreshing. Instead of towns populated by randomly generated filler-people. Each person has a name, and with a couple of exceptions, I could talk to everyone. They’re talked about and referenced as though they’re real people, too. And you might see a person you helped pop up back at the homestead.

Overall, while there’s room for improvement, I think the choices that they made with the NPCs and how they react to you were great. I’m looking forward to continuing my adventure and meeting new people, and honestly a lot of the kinks could be ironed out with an update.

…Something Keeps Pulling Me Back

I mentioned earlier that some of the movement complications that I have could potentially be solved with unlocking skills in the skill tree, and I think that’s another thing that’s pulling me back. Eventually, I’ll be the ultimate assassin, invisible in the bushes, attacking from above, not missing any shots, and just feeling like an all-around badass with the people backing me up. Not quite being there yet, though, but seeing the path is keeping me locked in to the grind.

Speaking of, I’m also enjoying saving the townsfolk and fighting against the tyranny plaguing this land. I was awed when I found myself in a new town and found a woman about to be hanged. I had to save her by shooting the rope with my bow, and taking out the people trying to kill her. It was awesome, and I actually felt like I was making a difference in this world.

Funny side story — the first time I completed this mission was early-enough on that I hadn’t quite figured out when and how the game saved. I died shortly after and unfortunately it had saved at a point before I saved this woman. So I had to do it again. The second time, though, I missed and accidentally hit her and failed! I wasn’t sure if the game would allow that because the spot where you have to hit the rope is pretty tight; but it did, and I appreciated the realism. Of course, I reloaded the save, I couldn’t kill that poor woman.

Another pleasant surprise in this game was when I came across my first puzzle. Sprinkled throughout the world are various puzzles that you can solve for some pretty rare rewards. There’s not explanations for the puzzles, you just have to figure them out. Though, there’s often clues nearby to help you solve them.

There’s a few different types of puzzle types, too. From pressing buttons in a certain sequence, to finding which symbols go in the correct places. There’s even a music-based puzzle, which is pretty cool and unique. I never expected these types of puzzles when I first started the game, and it’s another thing that’s keeping this game fun, refreshing and keeping me playing.

Overall, despite the quite frustrating mechanics, I’m genuinely enjoying Robin Hood: Sherwood Builders. I really feel like I’m helping the people, and I can’t wait to see what else is in store. There’s posters about some sort of arena, and I came across a Blood Cairn where apparently I’ll be fighting for money. And who knows what else is out there that I haven’t come across yet!

Have any of you played it? Let me know in the comments what you think about it, and if you’re enjoying it as much as I am. Peace out, I’m about to go play right now.

The post Robin Hood: Sherwood Builders | A Frustrating Experience That I Can’t Put Down appeared first on I Talk Games.

Throwback Thursday! Enjoy this old clip of me playing some Sunset Overdrive. I remember that being a wild game

This is a remnant from the original Italkgames.com. Back in 2014, I originally started this site. But due to life circumstances, I left it on the back-burner. Unfortunately, it ended up getting bought when I accidentally let the domain renewal lapse.

Fortunately, I was able to recover the domain. But unfortunately, I wasn’t able to recover much of the content itself. I was able to get some of it, though, and clip is one of those. Hope you enjoy!

We’re back in full force now, too. So look forward to a lot of awesome (and new) gaming content!

The post Sunset Overdrive — Craziness appeared first on I Talk Games.