Indie Game Spotlight: World of Goo

World of Goo is by far one of the most interesting games I've seen. It's got a quirky atmosphere and well done gameplay.

I like World of Goo because it has gameplay that you don't see a lot and has charm to it's little goo-ball characters. In World of Goo the goal is to build your goo tower/structure to reach the pipe and then the pipe collects your extra goo-balls and counts 'em up and if you have enough it lets you progress. The game is fun for anybody who is creative or likes a good puzzle. Sometimes you will find yourself in a level where you have balloons to keep your bridge structure from falling into a pit and another you just gotta build skywards. The game is uncomplicated at a glance, but when you get to the meat and potatoes you really gotta think about having a good foundation for your structure and you gotta keep it's balance. Sometimes you'll use special goo balls, some just hang and some you can take apart. Be careful, if you place a goo ball you cannot take it off, so make 'em count.

I really like the quirkiness the game has, the little goo balls make funny sounds when you place them, the music is good and the graphics are well done. Overall the game is good, just remember the time bugs if ya screw up. 

Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas.

Indie Game Spotlight: Aquaria

Okay, time to talk indie games. One of my favorites is Aquaria. It takes a fresh new take on the exploration games by putting almost the whole game underwater and having a deep story that's about as deep as the seas of Aquaria itself.

You can see the 8 note song wheel which you can play songs
with, it's fun to play around with and try to replicate the
title song.

Aquaria is an amazing indie game where you play as the curious mermaid-like Naija trying to find answers about why is she the only one of her kind left. Aquaria plays kinda like Metroid with some puzzle stuff. The name of the game is explore, find and use, over the course of the game you will find a collection of 3-5 note songs which you play on an eight note song wheel, the songs are easy to memorize and have all sorts of effects, such as picking up rocks, creating a shield or even transformation. The art in the game is amazing, the hand-drawn sprites all animate well and have unique designs. The world in which you explore, Aquaria is huge, from the Open Waters, The Veil to the Abyss. The world is open and kinda scary, actually. Another notable mechanic is the cooking system, every food item has an effect ranging from healing to speed boosts, you can find raw materials such as leaves or fish oil and etc and combine them to make new foods that can have even greater effects. The game has tons of little goodies from finding a pot that, in your little home has a constant supply of meat for you to cook with to costumes which have effects and even a giant black pearl. Naija, the lone protagonist is a very well made character and she also has a great voice actor behind her. The game also has one thing that most computer games have, mods. The mods in this game are pretty good, some have large arenas to fight in, there's a map editor and a jukebox to listen to the music in the game. The controls in the game are super simple and really good, you use the left mouse button to do a dash-like movement and swim and the right mouse button interacts with things and uses special abilities, the game is also Xbox 360 controller compatible to an extent. The game is rather boring until you get your first transformation song which lets you shoot at stuff, then you can go around without having to run away from the larger monsters, killing some of the creatures also drops ingredients for cooking. I really appreciate music in games and Aquaria has beautiful music that fits it's atmosphere perfectly, music in some games is just there but in Aquaria you really notice it and you WILL find yourself humming these tunes, guaranteed. Aquaria is one of my favorite indie games and if you like exploration games or if you wanna try something new you should at download the demo here. Naija is also a character in another indie game: Super Meat Boy. Fun.

Thanks for reading!

Hidden Gem: The World Ends With You

It's time to talk about a game that few people have played or even heard about, The World Ends With You, or TWEWY. This is my favorite DS game. And I will MAKE you listen to my rantings!

This game is LOADED with style, and it's got a sweet cast of characters

Pretty much everything about this game is godlike compared to other action RPG games. Reasons why this game kicks so much trash.

1. The art stile is amazing, it's got an edgy look to it while still being anime.
2. The enemy designs are so freaking awesome, they have a cool tribal tattoo style. Sadly I can't find any pictures of them, sadness.
3. The story is so crazy I never figured it out until the end, and even then theres still stuff to figure out and with careful observation and some snooping around you can get secret reports which fill in those gaps, the plot is perfect.
4. The characters are some of the best I've seen in any game, I actually was really depressed when one of the characters died.
5. There is over 300 different pin/psyches (attacks)
6. it has the best Soundtrack ever, with J-pop, J-rock and a bit of rap here and there.

This game just emanates style, it's undeniable. The game takes place in the shopping district of Tokyo, Shibuya. Neku (the game's protagonist) wakes up on the sidewalk, confused and nobody taking notice of him like he's invisible, he finds a pin with a skull design that allows him to read minds and is soon under attack by psychic creatures known as 'Noise'. He then teams up with Shiki, a girl who perpetually carries around a stuffed cat (named Mr. Mew) to defeat the Noise using Psyches, the only form of combat the works on Noise. Neku then finds himself in the "Reapers game" a test that if won comes with great rewards, at a price of course.

What's goin' on!?!?

The combat in the game is called the "Cross-stride system", where on one screen you control Neku with the touch screen and on the top screen you have Shiki (or any other partner you may have) who is controlled with the face buttons or the D-pad. They fight simultaneously and you have to control both of your characters, although you do have an auto pilot for the top screen which helps if you're still getting used to it. The main feature with the battle system is the light puck, a lime green ball of light that is passed between the players when a combo is performed, and with each consecutive pass it gets stronger and when it is held by a character it gives them a damage boost reaching up to 5X power. The action may look like a mess of explosions and crap but it actually does take some thinking if you wanna get good rewards.

       

All in all the game is a beast and has TONS of replay value, I've beaten the game 3 times and i still haven't gotten everything. Only two things wrong with it, no real multiplayer (all it has is a mini game and player shops) and tons of text that you can't skip unless you've beaten the game once.

See ya next time!

Underrated game: Blur

It has come to my attention that Blur, one of the greatest racers I have ever played is disliked by people. what da  fudge

Why do people hate a game with this awesome of box art!?

This game is too great for my face to handle.

Why it's awesome:

1. The game looks BEAUTIFUL, The cars are super fun to look at and the power ups look gorgeously awesome.
2. The driving is a perfect balance between a realistic racer and a mario kart kinda thing. 
3. 20, yes, 20 player races and deathmatches.
4. it's made by Bizzare Creations, the guys who made Geometry wars and Project Gotham Racing, so they know how to make a super pretty game and a good racing game.
5. The power ups include, Nitro (boost), Shunt (homing missile), Bolt (3 shot attack), Barge (shockave), Min, repair, shield and Shock (which places multiple lightning things in front of your competition.). That's a sweet selection.
6. SWEET wrecks, like your car does double front flips whilst going a-kaboom.
7. The music is kickin'

Why would you hate his game!? It's so good! It's so pretty! It's so underrated!

...OH! I know why everyone doesn't like it! It's not Call of duty!

Next up is a hidden gem!