Tropico 4

Tropico 4 is a city-building and political simulation game developed by Bulgarian developers Haemimont Games and published by Kalypso Media, based in Germany. Released back in 2011 for Microsoft Windows and the Xbox 360, Tropico 4 saw a Mac OS X release in 2013.

Summer has begun! It's officially time to plan your perfect island paradise getaway. But what if that perfect island doesn't exist? Sure, you could go to Hawaii, Jamaica, or even Cuba now, but will it be the island experience you've imagined it to be? Even so, maybe you'll finally realize that the rent and utility bills actually won't even make your plans possible. You're behind on your mortgage, you've lost your job, and the love of your life has left you for some snob with his own island. You might as well unpack everything and sit down and sulk, staring at the posters of far-off lands you've collected over your youth. Take that bucket list and throw it away- it won't happen! But the good news is, you can simulate everything that could've been with Tropico 4!

my son left for tropico: now he's a sugar farmer and only eats 1 meal a day

City building has a relaxing charm to it; it's fun to watch your city slowly progress through time, slowly sculpting itself into your vision from scratch. Tropico 4 has the player taking on the role of the customizable, illustrious and industrious "El Presidente" to guide the nation of Tropico to glory, whether it be a Communist utopia nightmare dimension or a Capitalist industrial nightmare dimension. Hey, at least the zoos and aqua parks offer your unyieldingly loyal Tropicans some respite!

healthcare is terrible and his friends are dead

Set to the tune of a handful of dazzling and energetic Caribbean soundtracks, the game offers a campaign storyline and a sandbox mode, both similar in gameplay. The backbone of Tropico 4's gameplay has the player developing a nascent island economy by harvesting and exporting raw materials such as ore, farm foods, salt, and logs. As time goes on, industry and service sectors become primary forms of income. However, this must all be done while juggling favor among Tropico's multiple factions. El Presidente, the Communists are raving for adequate housing and better healthcare again; the Environmentalists are demanding more gardens and a demolition of every lumber mill on the island; the Militarists just want more soldiers in their petition- the list goes on and on. It is up to the player as to which factions will hold priority, but beware: unhappy Tropicans are likely to protest, stalling production, and ultimately may end up as rebels!

The buildings and structures available in Tropico 4 are vibrant and demonstrate great attention to detail. The camera level can range from omniscient Tropican god to street level plebeian where you can watch your people go about their daily activities. Tropican lifestyle is ultimately dictated by the player, but a variety of life comforts must be available: food quality, job quality, religious satisfaction, entertainment, etc. Again, if these requirements are not met, Tropicans may defect and rebel. Perhaps you've created a religious police state where any heathen against the personality of El Presidente is arrested? Maybe a tourist paradise, juxtaposed with the poor and ragged toiling away in chemical and weapons factories just the next block over? Although the threat of rebellion from Tropicans demanding freedom of speech and increased liberty sounds pretty scary, the actual consequences of a rebellion are rather low.

there's no fire department; only 6 casinos and a zoo

In the event that the rebels do decide to launch an attack on one of your buildings, your army will be called in to deal with them. Even if the rebel threat isn't dealt with, the worst I've seen in 30 hours of gameplay is simply a single building destroyed. Although Tropico 4 is a kind of laid back, relaxing city builder, the sense of agency it attempts to create with its political system (for example, if relations with the US or USSR get too low, they may invade your island, ending the game) isn't quite all there. Foreign relations are relatively simple to juggle; completing two or three objectives lands you in a pretty spot with world powers. This leads to much of the game's more intricate features being somewhat wasted: options to interact with citizens or bribe faction leaders will mostly go unused. More often, I will find myself in an awkward position where my economy is shot down the pipes, leaving me unable to spend anymore capital as my treasure descends into the nether world where the debts pile up. My island would still run and there wouldn't be any serious repercussion; even being down tens of thousands of dollars did not lead to any losing condition.

Micromanagement of buildings can also be a hassle as the game's interface only allows for a single building to be selected at once. This leads to a problematic late-game scenario where you'll want to adjust wages for all of a certain type of building and then having to hunt them down, one-by-one. User interface issues are extended in the event of natural disasters: tsunamis, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, etc. can damage or destroy buildings, leaving a small indicator as to where the building is (or was). Again, if you've gotten far enough into the game and are managing a rather well-to-do island, it can be frustrating trying to find every little building that was destroyed in your urban sprawl.

tropico's top selling book: the naughty toucan

Despite suffering from a rather underdeveloped political game and annoying interface issues, being able to create your own story and vision for how your island develops is at the core of what makes Tropico 4 so addicting and rewarding. Strategy games often have that "Just one more turn!" feeling where even after you've won, you just want to keep going. City building sims also exude that satisfaction of a planned and elaborate cityscape. Even after you've beaten the campaign and its various challenges, player made levels are also available, tacking on more content for the player to explore and share. Tropico 4 also boasts a great sense of humor; it's characters and voice-acting satirize real world counterparts and archetypes, fleshing out the entire experience and adding a great sense of aesthetic pleasure.

Take that bucket list out of the trash- your dreams come true in Tropico! Now get off the game and find a job.

Transistor

Supergiant Games' second title, Transistor is a sci-fi themed action RPG that carries over the core spirit of what made Bastion great all while innovating new mechanics without leaving narrative behind. The game was released for the Windows and PS4 on May 20, 2014, but also saw a Mac OS X release on October 30, 2014. 

everyone has a voice in cloudbank

If you've read my thoughts on Bastion, you might remember me writing about how much I enjoyed the game. It's been awhile since Transistor came out, but I've finally had the chance to experience playing the game.

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music, linguistics

From the devs: "Note: We highly recommend playing through the game before listening to the soundtrack, since the soundtrack is deeply connected to the game's story."

Red, a citizen and influential artist of Cloudbank, finds herself with a mysterious sword-like artifact and namesake of the game, the Transistor, after an attempt on her life. People are disappearing from Cloudbank and the digital custodians of the city, the Process, are beginning to wipe the city back to a white void. With the Transistor in her possession, Red will piece together what is happening to the people and city by tracing the Transistor's previous owners. Players will take on the role of Red as she traverses through the various locations in Cloudbank in a linear fashion, combat encounter after combat encounter.

Combat is based around four active abilities that Red can use called functions- these can include simple melee attacks like Crash() and Cull() or more utility based like Jaunt() (a blink) and Mask() (invisibility). Functions can be used in one of three ways: active, upgrade, or passive. Active abilities are the primary abilities you use in combat. Functions being used in an upgrade slot can augment active abilities. For example, I can upgrade Crash() with Mask() to give Crash() a bonus to backstabbing enemies. Finally, functions can be placed in a passive slot to give Red various effects depending on the theme of the function. Transistor has 16 different functions for players to experiment with and any function can be combined with another. You'll also unlock slots for additional upgrade, more memory to hold stronger functions, and extra passive slots as you level up.

"you always have a plan"

Transistor also features a mechanic called Turn(). Instead of fighting real time, you can also freeze combat with Turn() to plan your next set of moves. You only have a limited amount of actions you can spend on movement and using your abilities that you "program." After you're satisfied with your sequence, end Turn() to have Red execute the sequence at blinding speeds. The Turn() mechanic adds a healthy degree of strategy and opens up another option for players to alter their gameplay if they so choose to. By no means do you have to use Turn(), but it sure is nice to have, especially in convoluted fights to plan every move to get everything out of your abilities.

Red has a traditional health bar, but once that hits zero, you aren't done. Instead, your Transistor will overload, causing one of your actives to be disabled until you hit a certain number of checkpoints called Access Points. Once all four abilities are overloaded, you're out. Luckily, Access Points are plentiful but just right in scarcity to encourage you to swap out broken functions and experiment with different abilities, upgrades, and passives. Additionally, each function is actually the consciousness of a person trapped inside the Transistor. A full bio of the person can be explored by using the different functions in the three slots to unlock more information.

mask() and cull()

Similar to Bastion's shrine system of customizable difficulty, Transistor features Limiters that can be toggled from Access Points. Limiters allow you to increase the difficulty of the game but offers a small experience boost in return. Some are simple whereas others are huge game changers. Keeping up the encouragement of exploration, each Limiter also features a file on an enemy type for you to unlock and read up about once you have completed an encounter with the Limiter active. You'll most likely be turning on a couple of these at least, for Transistor suffers from Bastion's problem of end game balance- combat without the Limiters becomes absolutely trivial once several devastating function combinations are discovered; I'm talking two-shotting bosses kind of devastating.

One of my most favorite features of Transistor was the Sandbox, a kind of hub area that Red can retreat to from several backdoor access areas. Here you can listen to the Transistor's thoughts and unlock musical tracks through a variety of different challenges that are sure to offer you different gameplay experiences. Given a preset of abilities, you must then satisfy each test's conditions to win. They start off easy, but will provide a fair challenge in no time.

"you have something more"

This all amounts to what I absolutely love about Transistor: instead of simply crafting an experience for players, the developers of Transistor have provided the tools for players to craft their own experience. I thought that gaming commentator and critic John "TotalBiscuit" Bain put it well when he said in his review of Transistor that the game "respects the player." Transistor does not force exposition or train you onto a "this-is-what-you-need-to-do" kind of hand-holding and instead allows the player to explore the game's deep mechanics and narrative at his or her own pace.

With regards to pacing, however, I do have a complaint that the first thirty minutes of gameplay was pretty confusing to me. Figuring out how the function system worked and navigating a fairly clunky user interface to swap abilities was a bit of a frustrating struggle.

spine of the world

I just want to emphasize how well meshed Transistor's mechanics and narrative are. Digital consciousness is a hallmark motif of Transistor and it is reflected in the game's atmosphere, presentation, and gameplay. Transistor's visuals, sound design, and soundtrack are all beautifully and masterfully done. Once again, the narrator plays a role, albeit a smaller one this time, proving that Supergiant Games don't have to rely on a simple gimmick to propel their games forward. The world of Cloudbank is interactive: terminals and observation points provide tidbits about the world and if the player plays detective for a little bit and place the puzzle pieces together, nuances and fine details about Cloudbank become clear. Isolation is also a theme in Transistor as only fledgling contact with peoples in Cloudbank and other players are also subtly felt and seen if you pay attention.

The attention to detail and direction all point to how much love and passion has gone into the development of Transistor. Without giving away too much, the story is satisfying and explores ideas such as transcendence and voter efficacy. Bastion set a grand standard of excellence for Supergiant Games and sure enough they deliver once more with Transistor.

Braid

Created by indie developer Jonathan Blow featuring art from webcomic artist David Hellman, Braid is a puzzle platformer that has been met with multiple industry awards with many critics considering the game a masterpiece. Released for XBLA in 2008, Braid has since been released for the PlayStation 3 console and Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. Check it out on Steam!

  
I've had Braid sitting in my Steam library for a long time now, half completed. I remember getting the game in a bundle, completing the first couple worlds with ease, and then being frustrated with some of the later puzzles. I don't really know why I decided to pick it back up. For the sake of completion I guess; it's sort of akin to finishing a half-read book, I suppose.

If you're even only remotely connected to the indie game facet of the video game culture, you've probably heard of Braid- one of the indie games featured in Indie Game: The Movie. This game has been met with pretty much universal acclaim.

a variety of mechanics to play around with

What is Braid about? Think Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, but with an infinite ability to rewind time and you've got the baseline mechanic for Braid. The game allows you to initially just correct mistakes in your platforming adventures, but the game quickly fans out to explore variations on the rewind mechanic. There are six worlds in total, each with its own theme and twist. For example, time may sit still until you move or you may be introduced to the ability to slow time around a small area. The intricacies of the different mechanics are all explored with only a minor amount of instruction as players work them out for themselves.

this screenshot on steam is heinously misleading

It's this ease of players learning the initial mechanics that seems to contradict the difficulty that I discovered in trying to find new ways to exploit the mechanics. For the most part, I didn't have too much trouble with the six worlds, but there were just some puzzles that I had to look up a video guide on how to complete. These puzzles usually contained moments of "Oh, I didn't know I could do that," so in ways, the puzzles are only limited by your imagination to a degree.

Out of the entire Braid experience, the most curious thing was probably the story- its contents and presentation. Braid storytelling is broken down in chunks. As you unlock more worlds more of the story becomes available. The tidbits you read before entering a world coincides with the theme of the world, but for the most part everything is going to be vague and convoluted until you reach the epilogue in a kind of Memento-like presentation.

the atomic bomb conspiracy

Although Braid's story is pretty much up to the eye of the beholder, here is one interesting  interpretation. In retrospect, I wish I knew some interpretations behind Braid's story before playing through the game to be able to better appreciate the minor nuances and intricate hints in the storyline. After finishing the game, I only had a shallow interpretation that I had played through a romance story when there was so much more. I originally thought that Braid had small replay value, but I'm thinking that replaying the game with someone else's interpretation in mind may offer a new experience.

With Braid you don't really know what you're looking at until the end, in which a lot of things start falling into place. Braid's intertwining of mechanics and storytelling is paramount, but hidden and at the same time ever present. The game has been criticized for being overpriced and I'm going to have to agree. You'll get around three to five hours of gameplay from Braid. Unless you're a a diehard supporter of indie development, you're probably better off purchasing Braid from a bundle or when it's on sale. Whatever the price, Braid is a sure indie game classic- just remember that you don't have to like the classics to be a fan of the genre. 

Take a look at Jonathan Blow's upcoming 3D puzzle game, The Witness!

Bastion

In lieu of indie developers Supergiant Games' latest release Transistor, let's take a look back at their original hit Bastion: an action RPG that tells the story of a kid surviving in the aftermath of the Calamity. Originally released for the XBOX Live Arcade, Bastion has since been ported to various platforms including PC, mobile phones, and web browser.

kids reads this in rucks' voice

The first things you'll notice upon starting up Bastion are the vivid colors, the rustic tune playing in the background, and the polished nature of the starting menu. These characteristics are present throughout the entire game and come with appropriate and impressive shifts in tone in certain areas and levels. 

Bastion tells the story of a kid who wakes up to find his entire world shattered by an event referred to as the Calamity. Buildings, people, and the very ground itself was ripped away into some kind of freak void. The people of Caelondia built the Bastion at the highest point of the city in the event any kind of catastrophe occurred. Now it's your turn to guide the kid to the Bastion, fix it up, and figure out what caused the Calamity. 

Of course, no talk about the game's narrative presentation is complete without talking about the game's "euphemistic and keen-eyed" narrator Rucks, voiced by Logan Cunningham (no, really). The game's reactive narrative holds hundreds of voice lines that can be triggered by various actions in various areas for a natural and fleshed out feeling. 

you can click to enlarge images

I've talked about games that build cultures and Bastion is definitely one of them. Bastion explores cultural themes like ethnic strife and even genocide alongside themes of forgiveness and rebuilding. Everything in the game gives you a glimpse at what life was like in Caelondia and the surrounding areas before the Calamity hit. The folk songs, clothing, and building styles presented to you convinces you that the Cael culture was strong. Cael customs and beliefs are revealed as the story goes on and Rucks explains various areas' history and purposes. Soon enough, the Bastion universe becomes so much bigger and livelier than it looks. 

The gameplay behind Bastion is smooth and chalk-full of different options you can choose from. New zones unlock new weapons and as you level up, you can upgrade those weapons to custom tailor them to your liking. The Distillery allows you to unlock and utilize all kinds of passive effects. You carry two weapons and a special ability, all of which can be swapped out at an armor found in various places in the game, lending itself to a flexible and dynamic combat system.

is that...?

Integrating Cael culture into gameplay, difficulty level is determined by the number of gods worshiped in the Cael pantheon. Gods are portrayed as retributive and malevolent in Bastion and only makes the game harder for the player. Simple idols give simple buffs: enemies hit harder, enemies are faster, etc. The more interesting idols give exotic effects: enemies become invulnerable for short amounts of time, enemies explode on death, etc. You are rewarded with more experience points and eventually you'll need to use the shrines if you're going to maintain a consistent difficulty level: your weapon upgrades become insanely powerful towards the late game.

Bastion is a game that has won numerous industry awards and for good reason. Everything from the menu to the ending is finely refined and tuned. The visuals and audio effects brings the world to life like never before. The talented and dedicated team at Supergiant Games gives players a chance to explore a unique world. Supergiant Games have witnessed incredible success out of their hard work and I wish them only the best in their future games. Besides, we're all expecting it at this point: Bastion is where it all began.

the start of something great

You can also download Bastion's rustic soundtrack straight from Supergiant Games' merchandise store! Check it out!

Dead Island: Epidemic- Early access

Dead Island: Epidemic is an upcoming free-to-play, self-proclaimed "ZOMBA" (Zombie Online Multiplayer Battle Arena) developed by Stunlock Studios, currently in an early access phase. You can check the game out on its Steam page.

die! get it? die! marketing!

Once upon a time, someone at Stunlock Studios ("We make innovative and competitive online games. It's pretty cool") said "People love MOBAS! People love zombies! Let's make a MOBA with zombies in it and call it a ZOMBA!" and everyone cheered and hugged each other as the best idea for a game rang forth. Another MOBA to compete along with League of Legends, Dota 2, Heroes of the Storm, etc.? It doesn't matter, silly! Adding zombies to the mix makes a whole new genre! ZOMBAS! The new way of the future! ZOMFPS! ZOMTS! MMOZOMPG! The possibilities are endless!
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So after I got over the fact that the developers or someone in marketing wanted to call Dead Island: Epidemic a "ZOMBA," I decided to take a look at the game. My good friend Hongda sent beta keys (Thanks!) and I'll admit, the game looked pretty interesting at first. That view soured quickly in the first hour of gameplay.

I've never played Dead Island myself, but I can deduce several things: it was a shooter, had zombies in it, and from what I hear, was mediocre at best. Playable? Sure. Enjoyable? Not so much. This same pattern is repeated in its ZOMBA manifestation. The game has you going through the basics of a MOBA: movement, attacking, skills, etc. but at the same time, the game has done so much to distance its self away from a MOBA. Keyboard movement, no last hitting, no concept of mana- the game feels more on par with an Action-RPG more than anything.

The first hour felt like the biggest waste of time I've encountered in a video game in a long time. The introductory mission and subsequent co-op mode is such a tedious grind. 

the game looks pretty at least

You pick a hero, party up with some people, head into the game; okay fair enough. Now bash everything by clicking on things over and over again. Skills don't use mana, so you might as well use them as soon as you can to maximize DPS, which is all that the co-op mode cares about. The supposedly unique PvPvPvE mode doesn't become unlocked until you grind yourself through a slow and uninspired set of levels. Also, there are no shops to buy any items because there's no last hitting- just bash away at zombies over and over again. After you figure out the level boss' pattern and bash him to death by clicking on him over and over again, you are rewarded with various materials that you use to craft weapons which carry over throughout your games. 

It becomes immediately apparent that Stunlock was hoping to involve a bigger audience by watering down traditional MOBA characteristics. League of Legends did this very well with the original Dota, but Dead Island: Epidemic is just a shell of a game. The claims that the game is unique and innovative are just plain wrong. The game has high production values and the game is playable- heck, you might even enjoy the first twenty or so minutes- but after that, the game has very little in store. There is little incentive for players to actually get further involved in the game as any strategy and cooperation requirements are burned to a minimum.

sort of like a wow raid boss

Dead Island: Epidemic tries to be everything at once and ends up being mediocre at everything. The game claims to be some kind of MOBA, but in reality it plays more like a shoddy ARPG reinterpretation of a Left 4 Dead game or Alien Swarm, both of which deliver team cooperation, strategy, action, and overall enjoyment much better. The first hour is a crucial period in which you have to hook the players in, not repel them. If the game can't do that, it's failed its purpose. After playing three co-op matches, I had no desire of learning strategy or theory crafting compositions or anything of the sort. I just wanted to be done with the co-op mode.

The game is going to be released as a free-to-play, so expect microtransactions. Lot's of it. I wasn't sure if they were headed the right direction the second I saw that you had to purchase consumable health kits with in-game currency coupled with the option to buy more of the in-game currency with real world money. One can only hope that they handle it well in the future. 

press the same keys over and over again

Dead Island: Epidemic is a finger-numbing and mediocre experience which offers little to the table in terms of gameplay. Everything the game tries to hype up with fanfare ends up becoming a tedious grind to some arbitrary reward with you sitting and thinking "was this really worth my time." But it's okay: Stunlock has their target audience figured out very well. They don't need to take $1,000 from one person; they only need to take $1 from 1000 people.

Of course, none of this is set in stone- this is only a beta after all. Major changes and tweaks can happen, but this beta alone has convinced me that Dead Island: Epidemic is not worth anyone's time. If you're looking for a game to play every once in awhile, maybe look at this game. However, I feel that any long-term investment in this game is going to be tragic and regretful in the future. The game might have gotten off the hook easier (and compete in an easier market) if it wasn't so bombastic in stating to the world that it shall be forever known as a "ZOMBA." Fuck that.

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Dust: An Elysian Tail is an action RPG fighting game developed by indie studio Humble Hearts and published by Microsoft Studios. Originally for the Xbox Live Arcade, the game has since then been released for Windows, OS X, and Linux and is available through digital distributors GoG (DRM free) and Steam.

dust to dust, get it? get it? themes!

This is a game that came out way back in August 2012 on the Xbox Live Arcade and in May 2013 for Windows and wow is it a pretty game. 

You play as Dust, an amnesia wrecked half-past hero who wields ultimate powers of beat-the-shit-out-of-everything granted by his sentient sword Ahrah. Accompanying Dust and Ahrah is a nimbat (a quick Google search yielding not too much) named Fidget. Together, you'll traverse the world of Falana and help or beat up anthropomorphic animals and monsters of various convictions, slowly unraveling just who you are and just what kind of horrible things you did in the past.

i'm glad they had full voice acting

The gameplay of Dust: An Elysian Tail is solid. The game's combat meshes well with the RPG elements in the game: chain combos together to yield more experience, use experience to progress your character. Attributes include max health, damage, defense, luck, the usual. The game doesn't go out of its way to innovate in the traditional RPG mix, rather relying on what has worked- it's simple and effectively executed in Dust: An Elysian Tail.

Dust: An Elysian Tail beholds a picturesque aesthetic that reminded me of Bastion. The post processing effects of the game add a new dimension to the presentation: wind, water, and weather effects all seem to jump into life. The world also boasts healthy amount of variety: Dust, Fidget and Ahrah will traverse large plains and mountains, ominous underground caverns, and dark forests, all complete with their own themes and styles.

vwooshzheeooshzoozoosh

Sound design for the game also compounds the the painterly graphics. The amount of detail in the sound work was astonishing- Dust's footsteps echoed as he stepped in puddles in caves and smoothly transitioned as he exited. The game also displays the work of HyperDuck Soundworks and Alexander Brandon in a fitting soundtrack that mirrors moments of peace and action. The game's overarching aesthetics combines elements of eastern and western fantasy to provide a vivid and rich experience.

that guy is australian

How combat plays out reflects the aesthetics of the game marvelously- I would argue they are the crown jewels of the game. Combat is sleek and fast, heavy hits and explosions are mirrored by crescendos in the music, and the animations are gorgeous and responsive. I also enjoyed the ARPG component of the game where some levels would pit Dust against many enemies at once- it is so satisfying to chain over 300 hits together and blow everything up. Dust's combos are easy to pick up but have a high skill ceiling if you plan to use them all in a devastating combination, but for the most part you'll be fine using maybe two or three. 

 hud can be moved and scaled

Puzzle elements are also present in the game. There are many hidden secrets and treasures marked on the map for players to find and some of them can prove to be challenging. The game utilizes puzzle elements to seal off areas for until Dust has unlocked a certain ability and manages to pace the game well and prevent the player from being overwhelmed. They also provide a reason to go back to completed areas to seek out those treasures usually consisting of money, items, and sometimes even better.

If I had to pan the game for any reason, it'd most likely be the writing. Dust: An Elysian Tail explores redemption and mercy as well as undertones discussing racism and genocide and I think the script did a good job of keeping things fair and representative. The game even talks about how at times, even one's best cannot avert disaster, but it only matters that one gives one's best, even if only to inspire others. So where's the problem? you may ask. 

let me play the game fidget

I felt the script held some awkward, unfitting fourth wall breaking moments. Fidget also will stop all gameplay just to say things like "What is that?" or "Ahhh! Scary monster!" It interrupts the flow of combat and I'd much rather prefer the dialog to play in-game instead of having to stop everything for two lines of Fidget talking. The characters in the game are many and varied and for the most part you're going to love them or you'll hate them. Some are just horrendously awkward but you'll get the chance to get to know everyone as Dust travels across the land and some will grow on you.

Dust: An Elysian Tail is masterfully crafted and wonderfully presented. It's sleek and fast while being paced and tempered at the same time. I wholeheartedly recommend this game.