With the current semester picking up in pace, I haven’t quite had the time to write any posts, evident by the fact that I neither got to write my usual Humble Choice post for November nor December yet.
I mean, I don’t have to do it… but once you get out of the habit, you kinda never pick it up again. It happens frequently. You drop a game and can’t get back into it because all your muscle memory is gone… or you stopped going to the gym and can’t get yourself to go back there.
Hence, since I have a little bit of time on my hands right now (and since I can’t seem to focus on my studies at the moment here at the library), I figured I could write my usual Humble Choice post… for both of the months I haven’t covered yet.
Hey, look, it’s a 2-for-1!
Frankly, I didn’t grab last month’s Choice since I already owned plenty of titles from it… and the ones that I showed interest in have been gifted to me… Prodeus and Friends vs Friends. I’m really thankful for those keys but I don’t have internet at my flat, so I can’t download them onto my PC, sadly.
And well, this month there are quite a few intriguing titles in the mix, so I definitely want people to grab it. The only reason why I won’t grab this month’s Choice is the fact that I’m flat broke. If I could, I would grab it… but I won’t be able to… More than anything, I wouldn’t be able to play any of them either way anytime soon, so perhaps they’ll be on sale eventually, right?
Now, technically my thoughts on November’s Choice are redundant since it’s December already… but the games there were really good, for the most part… just stuff I already owned and perhaps my thoughts on them may incline one reader or another to add these games to their wishlist.
So, you’ll get my thoughts on November’s Choice either way! (unless of course you just skip to the December section)
November
November’s Choice featured an array of interesting titles, many of which I’ve covered myself, actually! Hence, here’s my ranking of the games here… and anyone who’s followed my blog for a while may not actually be surprised at all by my ranking here.
Of course, this ranking doesn’t mean anything in particular and isn’t incredibly important. I just like making them and I simply stole it took inspiration from Naithin. By this I mean that Naithin did it and I thought it was a cool idea. The ranking, so to speak, essentially just shows how interested I am in the titles or how much I like them.
Titles marked with an asterisk are titles I own already. Titles on the same rank are simply similarly interesting to me which is why I didn’t want to put one over another. At the same time, the last ranks don’t signify “bad games” but just games I’m not incredibly interested in.
I’ll also link to the Steam page for the games in question.
That said, if you wanna read some more elaborate words on November’s Humble Choice… may I interest you in this phenomenal post by Krikket over here, featuring a bunch of reviews by a bunch of cool people? :)
| Rank | Game | Developer | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hardspace Shipbreaker* | Blackbird Interactive | Space, Sci-Fi, Simulation |
| 2 | Friends vs Friends* (currently 50% off) | Brainwash Gang | Indie, 3D, FPS, Precision Platformer, Multiplayer, Deckbuilding |
| 3 | Unpacking* | Witch Beam | Indie, Casual, Puzzle |
| 4 | The Legend of Tianding* | Creative Games Computer Graphics Corporation, Neon Doctrine | Martial Arts, Indie, Action, RPG, Platformer |
| 5 | Prodeus* | Bounding Box Software Inc. | Indie, Retro, FPS, Boomer Shooter |
| 6 | Souldiers | Retro Forge | Indie, Metroidvania |
| 7 | SCP: Secret Files | GameZoo Studios | Atmospheric, Mystery, Adventure, Horror? |
| 10 | WWE 2k23 | Visual Concepts | Wrestling Simulation |
Hardspace Shipbreaker
So, I love Hardspace Shipbreaker. I’ve gotten incredibly excited about any and all updates that came out during Early Access and at some point I even started writing about it. It’s truly one of my favourite games… period.
I highly recommend it to fans of Sci-Fi and more chill experiences.
In Hardspace, you have to pay off a huge debt by working on spaceships that need to get dismantled. You’ve signed a contract at LYNX, a huge space company, and get to work for free while chugging away at your big debt… The game has a great story, an amazing soundtrack, and phenomenal graphics.
It is my go-to game to play whenever I get overwhelmed IRL or whenever anxiety and depression are too hard to deal with.
If you wanna learn more about the game, check out my review over here. It’s truly among my favourite games, although I do have to say that it may not be that enjoyable for anyone struggling with motion sickness.
Friends vs Friends
Friends vs Friends is a bit hard to describe. I did an interview with the devs and they essentially explained it by saying that it’s a shooter you play against friends… and you each have a deck of cards and build your deck on the fly to then duke it out, using all sorts of wild and fun mechanics.
It was among my highlights at the Gamescom a while back… I really should work on transcribing that interview we did back then but hey, time is finite and so is motivation!
FvF was an incredible experience at the time when I played the demo, and thus, I do recommend grabbing it to anyone that wants to duke it out with pals, fellas and frens alike.
Also, it’s currently 50% off on Steam until December 15th!
Unpacking
Unpacking is a title I have less to say about, to be honest. I wrote a review on it a while back when it was on GamePass. Technically, I don’t own it but I did play through it and it’s one of those titles that aren’t really all that enjoyable to me once I’ve played through them once already.
It’s a game about unpacking boxes as a person moves from one place to another. By sorting through objects and slowly putting all the things in the “right” places, you learn more about the person and the stage in their life they’re at which is really beautiful in terms of environmental storytelling… I’m a sucker for environmental storytelling.
More than anything, it’s quite a lot of fun to put objects where you think they belong, and it does hit the right buttons for people, from what I’ve heard. I did enjoy it a fair bit but I was annoyed that the game sometimes wanted specific objects in specific places.
It bothered me not a small amount, actually. At times, I was very confused, actually.
There’s a fun little Polygon article that talks about how people put a GameCube into the kitchen thinking it’s a kitchen appliance, which is actually quite cute and funny… but I personally was bothered by how you’re supposed to put towels in specific places or other clothing. Here and there, I questioned whether I’m the weird one, even. Oh well.
Unpacking is a lot of fun, though. The game, I mean, not the act of putting stuff out of boxes and finding space for it… that stuff was actually a lot less fun than I thought when I recently moved. Jeez.
The Legend of Tianding
This one is a pretty darn cool fighting game with platforming aspects retelling the story of a Taiwanese Folk Hero. To tell the story, it utilizes comics that look incredibly well-made in-game. At the same time, you get to fight baddies with kicks, sticks and a whole lot of style.
Truly, when I first played it, The Legend of Tianding was amazing!
You can steal people’s weapons from them and use them against them. You can jump around and solve platforming sections using high kicks and other cool maneuvers.
It’s a very stylish and interesting game, especially with the Early-20th-Century setting and the story centred around a part of the world that I barely know anything about. Definitely worth checking out!
Prodeus
Prodeus promises to re-imagine old-school FPS gameplay with modern rendering techniques and technology. It looks really cool and reminds me of DOOM, even if it’s not DOOM.
Now, that said, I know nothing else about it but it definitely looks really cool in terms of boomer-shooter gameplay (judging by the trailers) and it sounds great based on the very positive Steam Reviews.
I’m looking forward to playing this once I have a working internet connection that would enable me to download this game.
Souldiers, SCP: Secret Files and WWE2k23
Honestly, I have even less to say about these games.
Souldiers looks really cool but the reviews are mixed on it. SCP is probably a good pick-up if you’re into SCP stuff but some reviews on Steam state that it was abandoned.
And well, I have no clue what to make of WWE games or soccer games or other sports games… When I was younger, I wasn’t particularly sporty but I still preferred playing soccer (badly) with friends over playing FIFA on a console at a friend’s place.
Duking it out in a scripted fight IRL seems more fun than WWE2k23 to me… and by “more fun” I mean “perhaps more productive”.
I genuinely don’t care enough about this game and it’s 60 bucks, apparently, which made that Choice Bundle a steal if you’re into wrestling… but I genuinely don’t care… at all. I just don’t see the appeal, personally, and if anyone likes wrestling, I’m sure this game was a good pick-up!
December
December features a wide array of games from across the spectrum of genres and honestly, there are so many cool ones in the mix… it’s a shame that I’m not able to buy them – but I got a key for Midnight Fight Express from a friend who was not interested in it at all, so that’s really kind of them!
| Rank | Game | Developer | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Midnight Fight Express* | Jacob Dzwinel | Indie, Isometric, Action, Beat ‘Em Up |
| 2 | The Gunk (currently 60% off) | Image & Form Games | Adventure, Exploration |
| 3 | Nobody Saves The World | DrinkBox Studios | Indie, 2D, Action, Hack ‘n Slash, RPG |
| 4 | Last Call BBS | Zachtronics | Indie, Retro, Puzzle, Automation |
| 5 | The Pale Beyond | Bellular Studios | Indie, 2D, Survival, Simulation |
| 6 | Expeditions: Rome | Logic Artists | CRPG, Strategy |
| 7 | From Space | Triangle Studios | Indie, Action Shooter, Co-Op |
| 8 | ELEX II | Piranha Bytes | Open World, Action, Adventure |
Midnight Fight Express
Midnight Fight Express is simply put plain stupid Beat ‘Em Up goodness. It’s over the top and features a lot of cool systems and I had a blast playing the demo a good while ago. You can read up on my first impressions of it over here.
You step into the shoes of a former member of the underworld who is lured back in when a mysterious drone flies over and tells them that they only have until midnight before the whole city falls victim to a criminal takeover.
The great music, fluid combat, and incredibly sick animations had me encaptured back then during the Steam Next Fest which is why I’ve been waiting to eventually play this. I marked the game with an asterisk due to a friend gifting me a key to it from this month’s Choice and frankly, I’m excited to play it once I have a working internet connection.
Huzzah!
The Gunk
As already mentioned, The Gunk is currently 60% off until the 21st of December, so if you’re only interested in that, there’s an option for ya.
The Gunk lets you step into the shoes of scavengers discovering a new untapped planet full of riches… and dangers… and it looks incredibly cool.
Originally, I mistook this title for one of the games announced at 2022’s Game Awards which I didn’t talk about because I wasn’t interested in it. There was a person there with a snailheaded person with a gun… or something? I don’t remember it well but I didn’t like it, I think.
Either way, The Gunk isn’t that. It looks incredibly atmospheric and Krikket said that it is fun but has difficulty spikes at times. She also wrote a lovely review that I highly recommend checking out!
Nobody Saves the World
This one is a hack-n-slash Action RPG by DrinkBox Studios who are known for the Guacamelee games. Anyone who knows of Guacamelee will know how fun and creative the studio’s work is with many clever and just plain fun jokes dotted throughout their titles.
That said, Nobody Saves the World is a game I was rather excited about for quite some time but I just never had the opportunity to grab, install and play it, myself.
The core premise has you transform from a featureless “nobody” into various different forms, acquired throughout the game, mixing and matching their abilities and traits to create unique builds to mash your way through hordes of enemies.
Procedurally generated dungeons increasing in difficulty based on your skills, optional co-op, a fun and unique art style, and many weird and wonky interactions are just my cup of tea, honestly, so I really wanna play this… eventually. Shame I can’t grab this month’s Choice.
Last Call BBS
This one got me a bit emotional, to be honest – I mean, Zachtronics announced their closure a while ago and Last Call BBS was their last game. One of the first games I purchased and played on Steam was SpaceChem which is a game about “programming” assembly lines that transport, put together and tear apart molecules in space. A lot of fun, and despite its age, it’s still a game I really enjoy returning to.
But yeah, Zachtronics made Last Call BBS and it’s less of a game and more of a compilation of minigames that feature Zachtronics’ charm and their trademark automation puzzles… but also many other interesting gimmicks and minigames, including a Gundam-building Sim!?
Like, that’s really hecking cool.
If you like puzzle games and automation, there’s no way around Zachtronics. They’re great. Last Call BBS is probably equally amazing, if you wanna try out many different puzzles packed into a virtual Retro Computer.
The Pale Beyond
Brought to you by Bellular Studios, The Pale Beyond has you assume leadership after the original captain on your expedition went missing with your ships stuck in the ice, far away from civilisation, with resources dwindling as we speak.
Make tough choices, manage your resources, and balance safety… and morale.
The Pale Beyond is bound to be a ride, and I’ve been incredibly excited for it ever since I saw the first few trailers, and ever since it was released in February of this year. There’s a demo for it on Steam if you wanna check it out. I’m sure that fans of Frostpunk will love this one!
That said, I haven’t played it.
My laptop can barely handle my blog editor, and I can’t download the demo since I have no internet at my place… but what I can say is that Fellow Traveler, the publisher of this title as well as Beacon Pines and In Other Waters, is known for publishing intriguing and compelling indie gems that have wonderful stories to tell.
I’m sure fans of narrative-driven games will sink their teeth right into this one.
Note/Addendum: (Dec 22nd, 21:57 PM) So, a few other bloggers have let me know that this game apparently features a lot of content between save points, which is a downside, obviously. But it also has a few iffy unavoidable decisions that don’t add too much, so beware of that. If possible, take a look at content warnings online somewhere, too, if you’re worried about certain topics appearing.
Expeditions: Rome, From Space and ELEX II
So, at last, I’m not all that excited about these games. To start with the last, I haven’t played ELEX, so I’m unsure how much I’d enjoy ELEX II – or whether I’d need to play the first game to understand the second game. It’s a hurdle I placed upon myself and it kinda stops me from getting into sequels before I played the previous titles… but also, I heard bad things about ELEX and I’m unsure how much time (and how many spoons) I have to get into a new open world title… So, there’s that.
Recent reviews state that the game is still very janky with bugs and softlocks at a lot of the corners you approach as you start up the game… not to mention, actually getting into it. Woof.
From Space looks fun but I really dislike the art style. It’s a preference thing. It looks kind of childish if that makes sense but that’s just me.
Frankly, I’m not entirely sure if I wanna play another Top-Down Shooter with Endless Dungeon waiting to be installed and binged. Like, genuinely, so excited about that one, so I can’t really get all that excited about this one. I have two braincells and both are occupied with hyping up Endless Dungeon!
And well, Expeditions: Rome looks fun, perhaps? I like Strategy games after all but I also get easily overwhelmed with a lot of the more recent releases, so I find it to be sort of hit or miss, personally, and am unsure about this one…
Not to mention that I don’t actually think about the Roman Empire all that often, personally, even if a lot of other people do. Perhaps, that’s why I put it into the bottom three here.
Humble Choice – 2023
So, that’s one year of Humble Choice posts done, and I thank everyone who reads these. I hope you enjoy reading these posts as much as I enjoy writing them.
Lately, motivation and time have been quite rough on my end with the move, university, and upcoming exams, so I haven’t really gotten to write these posts on time all that often… but I wanna try to do a better job at that in the next year once I’m finally online at my flat.
Either way, I haven’t been able to afford a lot of things, so just sharing my thoughts on these games has been pretty fun despite not being able to grab any recent Choices.
That said, I hope I can continue to write these posts in the months to come. Cheers to 2024!
This post was originally written by Dan Dicere from Indiecator.
If you see this article anywhere other than Indiecator.org then this article has been scraped. Please let me know about this via E-Mail.
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