 | One Legacy of Kain game down, four to go |
I wish I could say that my weekend was more eventful than it was, gaming-wise. I did, however, polish off another game, but not one from my backlog.
I also picked up Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood for $15 from Hastings, as well as the newest (or close to the newest) NECA Godzilla figure (inspired by the mid-'80s Big G). Once I'm done with Assassin's Creed II, I'll probably get started on Brotherhood.
I also aim to start the indie game Botanicula within the week here. I actually didn't read any of the reviews for this game, and resisting buying it for a while. After finding it super cheap on a Steam sale, I figured why the hell not? Hopefully it doesn't suck...
Anyway...
---
Wizorb (PC)
I decided to pick this game back up, taking it from the top. I wasn't that far into it before, and I don't feel I gave the game a fair shake before writing it off last time. All I've done so far is basic stuff: I completed the single level prologue, then kicked werewolf ass in the first world.
For those not familiar with the game, it's basically an Arkanoid clone, your standard brick-and-ball title, except that there are relatively few upgrades that you can snag. What little you can secure doesn't manifest while playing, but must be purchased from shops during your travels. A typical world is twelve stages long, and terminates in a boss battle. There really isn't much more to the game than that, other than the fact that its presentation smacks of 8-bit.
Upon completing a stage, you're free to move about the world map and either revisit older levels to farm cash or return to the hub town. There you could donate money, if you feel so inclined, to rebuild some of the houses. The spoils include powerups and the establishment of helpful locales, like shops.
All in all, I think I'm going to dig this game. Once I'm done, I aim to review it here.
---
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
****SPOILERS****
In. Your. Face. Mortanius.
In just a few days, I successfully killed Bane and Dejoule, nabbed the Soul Reaver, offed the matron in the cathedral, sliced up the doll maker, and sent William the Just to his grave. Along the way, I explored quite a bit and made some discoveries...
Until this playthrough, I had never been to the Lost City. Oh, what a place! 28 secrets and boatloads of consumables. Thanks to this venture, and a few other secret doors that I made my way through, I ended the game with over sixty Hearts of Darkness. The final bosses never stood a chance!
I also discovered the location of the Heart of Darkness Spirit Forge, which is a temple that allows you to trade HP for some Hearts. Expecting to receive a fat payout, I entered and shed my blood.......for two flippin' Hearts! I guess I shouldn't have expected much, since entering this place could have easily broken the remainder of the campaign by giving you more Hearts than you could ever need. Still, I was able to amass quite the collection and didn't use very many of them. Blood Omen is the kind of game that becomes ridiculously easy once you get far enough, mostly thanks to the combination of force field spell and the large number of upgrades that increase your max. mana, not to mention a trio of special blood fountains that permanently boost your mana regeneration speed (of which I found all three). Basically, with all of these in place, you can put up a force field (called Repel, if I remember correctly), which cancels melee damage and reflects projectiles back at foes. Early on, it's a costly spell. By the end of the game and with all of the bonuses, though, casting it is of little consequence.
The final shebang, despite being so easy, was still awesome. Watching Kain decapitate Moebius with dated CG visuals was great, as was taking on the central antagonist Mortanius. Unfortunately, he morphs into a pathetic, anticlimactic final form that plays out more like a first boss, not to mention that he looks like Diablo with less spikes. He has one pattern: he rises up from the ground and attempts to fall on you. His attack couldn't be easier to dodge, since it's very slow. All you end up doing is waiting, side stepping, and repeatedly slashing. Eventually, he falls. Still, I love how the game played up the final showdown, as Legacy of Kain games tend to do.
It's a shame Square Enix doesn't respect this brand more than it seems to. According to what I read, they canned the next LoK game, which was supposed to be called Dead Sun, and are instead working on a free-to-play MMO called Nosgoth that takes place in the same universe, but is regarded as its own brand, separate from Blood Omen, Soul Reaver, or Defiance. Meh. Call me when you decide to take this more seriously, Squeenix.
| Most recent blog posts from Joseph Shaffer... | |
| Feedback | |
 |
honestgamer - February 23, 2015 (11:06 PM) Wizorb looks pretty decent. I'm glad you're having fun with it after giving it a second chance. Sometimes, even good games just aren't the right games for us because of outside factors. The best thing we can do is set them on a shelf and return later. Of course, sometimes things work out the opposite and games we thought were awesome turn out to be... not so awesome after all. ;-) |
|
JoeTheDestroyer - February 25, 2015 (12:10 AM) I know the feeling. Now and then, though, I come across something that I rue playing, even though I keep reminding myself that I've had some other pleasant surprises that I similarly didn't feel like playing. When I finally get around to these games, lo and behold, I was right to rue them. |
|
© 1998-2024 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors. |