So, another month has nearly passed and I just haven’t had quite the time to take care of all the posts I wanted to continue writing on. University is keeping me busy and I just had to figure out what hobbies I’ll continue to pursue this month and which I won’t… this doesn’t mean that I’ll stop blogging altogether, of course… it just means that I’ll have to manage my time a bit better and see when I can squeeze in some time to write a post or a few.
Anyhow, I found some time but it’s not quite enough to work on those unfinished posts I need to work on, so instead we’re taking a look at April’s Humble Choice. Yay.
With that in mind, I won’t rank the games this time around and will instead just share my overall thoughts on these titles in order of appearance… I figured this would keep the post possibly a bit more interesting. What do you think? Let me know!
Victoria 3
"Build your ideal society during an era that transformed mankind in Victoria 3, the latest instalment in Paradox Entertainment’s majestic grand strategy series. You’re invited to lead dozens of 19th-century world nations, choosing its path as you see fit.
Will you build a peaceful agrarian society or an expansionist industrial powerhouse?
To succeed as a nation, you’ll have to balance the needs and desires of your people amidst the ever-changing tide of innovation while navigating the global web of alliances and rivalries and the ever-present threat of war. Do you have what it takes to be a true leader?"
So, I love Strategy and Simulation Games, and I’m a fan of Paradox… but I’m not too excited about this one. The setting is great, the graphics look neat and the possibilities are nigh endless, so why am I not interested in it?
Well,… it’s for one part the initial hurdle of heading into these types of games. You know those CK2s and UE4s and, well, historical simulations with lots of management and choices and dynasties and all of that. It’s just too much. I’ve spent a few hours playing tutorials for some of these games in the past and I just never felt like I could now finally play the game but heading into a game without the full tutorial resulted in me being overwhelmed and a lot of the time frustrated.
I remember one time in CK2 when the Pope wanted us to mobilize our armies for a holy war and I figured “sure, let’s go!” but didn’t know how to do that. Suddenly, the Pope was upset at me for not mobilizing my armies in time… but then I finally figured it out and started moving them to the place where we were sending our crusaders and the Pope all of a sudden declared war on my country, too!
I’m not sure if the Victoria games are similar but I just find the entry hurdle to be too big and hence I’m unsure if I’ll ever get into them properly on my own. I’d need a lot of help, probably, and a lot of time… which I don’t have, frankly.
But from what I’ve heard it’s an amazing game! I just personally find the steep learning curve and the lengthy tutorials (as well as the hours upon hours of trial and error) to be rather intimidating.
The Callisto Protocol
"From the twisted mind behind the seminal Dead Space, this third-person narrative survival horror game thrusts you straight into Hell in space—namely, the Black Iron Prison, a maximum security penitentiary on Jupiter’s moon Callisto. The inmates are transforming into unspeakably horrific monstrosities, bent on your annihilation.
To survive, you must scavenge what you can to bolster your arsenal of weapons, gear, and abilities, and master the brutal and brilliantly designed combat, which incorporates gunplay, close-quarters combat, and a sick gravity weapon that’ll come in handy in Jupiter’s dead moon, where all the odds are stacked against you."
I didn’t know this game existed and I’ve heard reviews are kinda bad for it. Technical issues, game design issues, etc. Weird stuff!
Honestly, I’m just not too interested in this title. I still have other games that are similar to play, like Dead Space and Prey and a lot of other titles in my backlog whose names I forgot (oops), so I am not really feeling this one whatsoever.
HUMANKIND
"Rewrite the saga of human history in your image in HUMANKIND. In this sweeping, innovative strategy game, you’ll guide a Neolithic tribe at the dawn of human history and on through the ages, blending real-world human cultures to mold a civilization that’s uniquely yours.
From ancient Egypt to contemporary America, HUMANKIND offers a vast palette of cultures to pick from as your civilization evolves.
Steer scientific breakthroughs, culture-defining choices, and more as you work to outmaneuver your rivals over the course of history and write a narrative that will echo through the ages."
I actually wrote a review on this one! Also, apparently, I wrote two other posts on the Closed Beta for HUMANKIND, Part 1 and Part 2. I was very hyped for this release!
HUMANKIND is a game similar to Civilisations but with its own unique twists from it. Not having played the Civ games, I don’t know how good or bad those are (heard great things, tho!) but HUMANKIND felt like a rather beginner-friendly 4X title that allowed you to experiment and create your own canon of sorts.
I played a lot of the Closed Beta and pre-ordered the full release as an early birthday present at the time… and then I played a lot but eventually stopped again. With this month’s choice, we’re getting the “Definitive Edition” which is a lot of DLCs that just come with the game now… so, I’m pretty excited about that.
Either way, you essentially start out in the Mesopotamian era and explore the map with your settlers, eventually creating a base somewhere which eventually turns into a city and states and city states. You know, explore, expand, and so on, right?
Eventually, as you research and develop and explore and all that, you move on to a new era where you get to select a specific culture which you then in turn can evolve into another specific culture from a different time or era.
The big thing is that you can mix and mash different cultures, so you can have the Mongols in your ancestry but also Aztec stuff and Feudal Japanese stuff and Germany or whatever.
There are some pretty strong combinations there and I found the idea behind that super intriguing, and it lends itself to a lot of theory crafting and mish-mashing to find the strongest thing for your play style.
Oh, and I love AMPLITUDE, personally. DotE and TED were great, I really enjoyed Endless Space 1 (gotta play 2 at some point?) and I fell in love with Endless Legend more recently… So, HUMANKIND didn’t disappoint me there in terms of its design and attention to detail but apparently, a lot of people who liked the Civ games were disappointed with it, no idea.
I think a lot of the hype leading up to Humankind created this impression that this “will be the Civ Killer” but nobody stopped asking the question of whether you need some sort of game killer in the first place. Can’t games just coexist? Idk. I’ll have to play the Civ games eventually but I really liked Humankind and if it’s anything like the Civ games, I’m sure I’d enjoy the Civ games, too. I believe that you can like multiple things at once but I’ve been digressing for way too long, haven’t I? lol
Fashion Police Squad
"Embark on a sartorial adventure with Fashion Police Squad, where fashion faux pas are the enemy, and style is your weapon.
In this vivid old-school FPS, your job is to purge the city of Trendopolis from the likes of socks in sandals and other fashion crimes. Your toolkit includes essential tools for correcting style violations, from the dye shotgun for neutralizing dull colors, to the sewing needle machine gun for dealing with loose suits.
You’ll navigate the urban jungle with a swinging mechanic that’ll make Spider-Man jealous in your mission to confront the fashion world's fiercest bosses."
Oh, look, it’s an Indie game. I like the idea of it but I dislike the notion that there are objective “fashion crimes” and whatnot. Yes, some stuff doesn’t look great and others doesn’t look great but can’t we just let people wear whatever they wanna wear?
But I’m overthinking this, of course, and I am aware of it. :P
As it stands, this seems to be an retro-inspired shooter with a lot of humour. It has a whip mechanic that lets you swing from place to place which seems like a lot of fun! Aside from that, I like the graphics. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m a sucker for 2D Sprites in 3D Environments.
Anyhow, this one looks pretty fun and I’d love to play it eventually.
Terraformers
"Turn the red planet into a green and idyllic nexus of civilization in this slick and cleverly designed turn-based colony builder.
Success in this planetary endeavor depends on numerous factors: playing to the strengths of the leader you choose, making smart use of Mars’ natural resources, and some good old luck.
Every run in Terraformers is randomly generated, so the planet’s layout will always be a surprise. So too are the projects you can construct every turn, which encourages experimentation and adaptability. From nuking the poles to geo-engineer the atmosphere to planting plane-wide forests, it’s all on the table!"
Terraformers seems like a really cool title where you terraform (duh) Mars for the sake of colonization. Woo! The “random generation” seems like a unique twist on the setting and formula but, between Surviving Mars and Per Aspera, I kinda don’t feel like adding another similar title to the backlog just yet. I gotta hunt for those achievos in the other terraforming-Mars games first!
On a more serious note, I love the idea and setting, I’m just not in the market for more similar games at the moment, so I’ll add it to my wishlist and play it eventually when I feel more like it.
Symphony of War
"If you’re a fan of series like Fire Emblem and Tactics Ogre, this hidden gem is for you. 2D turn-based strategy is the name of the game, with deep mechanics, fine degrees of customization, and a stirring, epic narrative designed with replayability in mind. Grandness is the key theme here.
You control an army composed of numerous squads, each member of which can be customized from among over 50 classes. Battles take place on the sprawling world map, so you have to take into account variables like terrain and strategic resources.
Can you bring peace to this war-torn land?"
Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga is a 2D turn-based tactics game that very much pays homage to Fire Emblem. I’ve had this one on my wishlist for ages now, so it’s cool to see it here.
The part that really hooked me was the fact that there are 50+ classes and that you can create highly customized squads and armies. I loved the original Fire Emblem games but I just didn’t really like all units in that game, so this degree of customization in a very similar game… sounds amazing!
Coromon
"Monster tamers, your next adventure awaits! As a newly minted Battle Researcher, your job is to catch and tame the eponymous Coromon that roam the world of Velua.
There are over 100 of these charming critters to collect and form into squads, with varying elemental affinities, special skills, and traits. Every action you take with your monsters costs stamina, so battling with your rivals will require canny resource management and knowledge of specific match-ups.
Get ready to build your stable, brave the secrets and hazards of this lush hand-drawn pixel world, and take on all comers!"
I played Coromon a while ago and really enjoyed it. In that post I linked, I – for whatever reason – had to specify multiple times that I mean “it’s basically Pokémon” in a positive way to really make clear that it’s not just a clone but a good one or something. IDK
Anyway, Coromon is essentially a more customizable Pokémon clone that lets you tame monsters, train and evolve them, and unlock a bunch of gadgets and tools that help you conquer the world live in peace alongside your coromon. The game has its fair share of options to increase or lower the difficulty with an option to turn it into basically a Nuzlocke, which is quite interesting
Aside from that, the aesthetic is cute, the different mons are adorable, and it seemed like an interesting take on the formula with some RPG mechanics and humour. Pretty good game if you want something that is “like Pokémon but on PC” without having to resort to emulators.
The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow
"Prepare to get whisked away to Victorian England for a spot of folk horror in The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow.
You play as the learned Thomasina Bateman, an antiquarian writing a book on the barrows of England. Summoned to a sleepy village, you arrive only to find yourself surrounded by unfriendly locals with your host mysteriously absent. Before long, things take a turn for the Lovecraftian—the less said, the better.
If you’re partial to lavish 2D graphics, point and click adventures, rich casts of characters and evolving storylines, then you should be very excited about your trip to the cozy village of Belway."
Out of the games that I didn’t know of until now, The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow is perhaps the most intriguing with a enigmatic setting, a sense of eeriness inspired by cosmic horror and English folklore, and just a lot of mysteries to dive into.
I’m not too fond of Point ‘n Click games personally but I’d imagine that this one could pretty a great pickup, so I’ll add it to my wishlist!
Will I grab this month’s Choice?
Honestly… I don’t think so.
You might have guessed so yourself given how often I said I’d add stuff to the wishlist but I’m not exactly too thrilled about this month’s Choice.
I’m not exactly interested in The Calisto Protocol which is one of the headliners and I already own Humankind. The DLCs for the latter that come with the Definitive Edition are quite tempting, though, and so are, of course, a few of the other titles, but I just think that pausing this month might be for the best, especially when I consider how little time I’ve had to write these days, let alone play games outside of streams.
Don’t get me wrong, I do think this month is great. Fashion Police Squad, Symphony of War, Coromon, Terraformers, Humankind and Hob’s Barrow are really interesting titles, after all. Victoria 3 and The Calisto Protocol are probably really amazing titles based on who you ask…
But I just don’t think I need to add more to my unending backlog, especially when I only really get to play games on my streams these days.
So, pausing this month, probably, and hoping for something better next month!
On another note, how did you like this “format”. No “ranking” of my own interest in a bunch of different titles, the order of the titles was not really sorted, and I included a little blurb about the games from their descriptions before adding my thoughts to the different titles.
Genuinely would be intrigued to hear feedback on this “style”.
Aside from that, what did you think about this month’s Choice? Did you grab it, did you pause it? Again, there isn’t really much of a Choice besides “collect games” and “pause month” but a rebrand is a bit annoying. I wish they’d give me the option to select 8 out of 10 games, again. I genuinely found that to be rather interesting in terms of design.
This post was originally written by Dan Dicere from Indiecator.
If you see this article anywhere else other than Indiecator.org… then this article has been stolen. Please let me know of this via E-Mail. Other than that, feel free to stop by my Twitch streams!
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