I was going to try out Horizon Zero Dawn but it turned out I hadn't downloaded it. So while I was checking if I had enough disk space and if there was anything I should delete, I discovered that a good chunk of space was being taken up by Shadow of Mordor. I'd played a little bit of that, about half an hour or so, a while back, but never gotten back to it. So I played that instead. Then I tried out a few other games I hadn't gotten around to yet.
Also in this post, a review for Seen that I wrote a while ago but was holding onto for another one of these multi-game posts.
Seen
Someone recommended this to me as something like INSIDE and LIMBO, and I can see why. There's a similarity to the visual style. The gameplay is very different though. Whereas those games are pretty standard platformers, with some pursuit sections that prevent you from stopping or slowing down, this game just doesn't let you stop or slow down ever. It's more like Audiosurf - except you can die so it doesn't have that game's relaxing quality. I guess it's also kind of similar to those mobile/web games where you just run from left to right, jumping obstacles, until you fall in a pit and then you try again. I'm not really into it. Super cheap though if you want to give it a try.
Middle Earth™: Shadow of Mordor™
This game really wants me to care abut its story and I do not at all. I have absolutely no patience for made-up fantasy words and there are so many of them. Some of them I recognise from the Lord of the Rings, but most are just random elvish bullshit. Don't care.
The gameplay isn't bad though. Stabbin' orcs. Kickin' orcs. Shootin' orcs with arrows. Sneaking up behind orcs to stab them when they're not looking. I can get behind that - like I got behind that orc (to stab him). seems like it might get a bit repetitive though. I've played two hours of it, and if it's just more of the same then I don't know how long that's going to hold my attention.
If I do play much more of it, I may have to remap the controls because Space to sprint and Shift to crouch is psychotic. I think they're always going to be a little awkward though, because they how clear signs of having been designed for consoles and not fundamentally altered in any way for PC.
Aragami
You're a teleporting ninja ghost. There's a reason why you're flitting around, stabbing people, but it's not important. This was fun enough, but I suspect it gets much more difficult fairly quickly, so I can't see myself getting too far into it. Still, if you like stealth-murder games, this seems like a decent one. The teleportation power makes it more approachable to someone like me who's bad at stealth since it makes it easier to get away when you're inevitably spotted.
The Call of Karen
You're a 1950s housewife doing housework, but weird stuff is happening. Presumably it gets weirder as it goes on. Twenty minutes in, not a lot's happened so far, but I'm assuming. Seems like a game designed for streaming rather than enjoying on your own.
Dogfighter
Controlling this with a mouse and keyboard was awful. "Obviously," I thought, "it's designed for a controller. I'll try that." Nope. It does sort of work better, but you can't use the menus properly or close popups - or quit the game - without using the mouse. Dogfighter? More like dogshit.
Echo
I saw Ross Scott review this and he hated it. It's really unfortunate. This game looks amazing. The visual design and the sense of scale are staggering. But it's fucking awful. The characters are unpleasant and the gameplay is incredibly slow, and the whole thing feels directionless. Everything looks amazing, but it also all looks the same. There's no clear goal or any sense of progress. I spent almost 40 minutes walking around a gigantic, stunningly decorated but empty world, listening to a conversation between two people who hated each other even more than I hated them.
Experience 112
This is a really neat concept. You're controlling the cameras, lights, doors and some other stuff to guide the protagonist around instead of controlling her directly. It's very awkward though. I immediately want to customise the interface and use more monitors. It could be really cool, but it feels so dated it's hard to believe it came out in 2007 and not 1997. I want to like it, but I don't think I can get past the UX. Also the voice acting is really bad.
Ghost of a Tale
Too much sneak for me. I'm no good at sneaking and this isn't the kind of game where you can get caught and just fight your way out of it. Plus, I felt like I couldn't see properly; like my field of view was too narrow or something. I wanted to zoom the camera out so I could tell what was going on.
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