Its beginning to look a lot like GOTY

[marblize]

Desert Golfing is the answer and the truth.

[Ozzie]

You know, I just remembered that I also played Blackwell Epiphany this year. How could I forget? It was an excellent conclusion to a series that got better with each new installment. It was more than I hoped for and plenty lengthy, too. So I guess it's my GOTY 2014.

[Bjorn]

I just remembered that FTL: Advanced Edition came out this year. That definitely makes it on my list, considering I put as much time into it as I did the original.

 

I totally forgot about that.  It would definitely be my best DLC/Expansion winner.

[SecretAsianMan]

I forgot about FTL: AE as well.  That was pretty great.  I even sent a reader mail to [email protected] about it telling my goofy story of my one human crewmember (with the given name Breckon) on the good ship Lanius repeatedly asphyxiating in the vacuum of space only to be resurrected by the cloning bay and start asphyxiating all over again just so I could get an achievement.  Good times.

[Bjorn]

I forgot all about playing Capsule this year, how could I forget about that. Technically it got its Steam release, though it's been available from some other places for a couple of years. It's my survival horror game of the year.

[chummer]

Welp, still on my first playthrough of 80 Days, but I think it might be a tie with Bernband. The reason I loved Bernband was at how well it created a sense of place. I loved exploring the various places and taking the multiple paths around it. I feel 80 Days impresses me equally with that exact same feeling of being in a living place, albeit through text and wonderful illustrations instead of blocky graphics. I'm in love with both of these games and would recommend them without hesitation.

[tegan]

My GOTY by volume is "bicycling in a circle around the Battle Resort" in Pokémon Alpha Sapphire.

[GraysonEvans]

man all this pokemon talk is making me want to buy a 3ds and pokemon 

[clyde]

Welp, still on my first playthrough of 80 Days, but I think it might be a tie with Bernband. The reason I loved Bernband was at how well it created a sense of place. I loved exploring the various places and taking the multiple paths around it. I feel 80 Days impresses me equally with that exact same feeling of being in a living place, albeit through text and wonderful illustrations instead of blocky graphics. I'm in love with both of these games and would recommend them without hesitation.

As I've been thinking of my GOTY, I tend to want to include Bernband and Hernhand as some sort of dual-release. I love both of them individually, but the reason I consider them for my GOTY is that their symbiosis is so interesting; they are bizarro versions of each other for comparison, contrasting, and they were developed along side each other. I've never seen anything like it.

[chummer]

As I've been thinking of my GOTY, I tend to want to include Bernband and Hernhand as some sort of dual-release. I love both of them individually, but the reason I consider them for my GOTY is that their symbiosis is so interesting; they are bizarro versions of each other for comparison, contrasting, and they were developed along side each other. I've never seen anything like it.

 

I would argue that Bernband is the stronger game of the two, but I wonder if part of that is because I played Hernhand much later. Consequently the latter feels like a weak cover song of Bernband, which drew me in with it's aesthetic, sound design, and world construction.

[clyde]

I would argue that Bernband is the stronger game of the two, but I wonder if part of that is because I played Hernhand much later. Consequently the latter feels like a weak cover song of Bernband, which drew me in with it's aesthetic, sound design, and world construction.

Regardless of how your personal circumstances have brought you to that perception, I would really enjoy hearing about what aspects of Hernhand you consider weaker. I've been dying to have this conversation for months.

[chummer]

Regardless of how your personal circumstances have brought you to that perception, I would really enjoy hearing about what aspects of Hernhand you consider weaker. I've been dying to have this conversation for months.

 

 

So I'm thinking about these games with the assumption that they're both going for different goals, though both seem to be drawing from the Mos Eisley cantina scene in Star Wars. Bernband feels like it's trying to be a welcoming world made for exploration while Hernhand is trying to alienate the player. With that in mind, I think Bernband does a better job at accomplishing its goal than Hernhand.

 

When I think about Hernhand's visuals- for instance- I'm more put-off by their aesthetic than alienated. The creatures and hands done in that paper cut-out style are actually quite charming, but the way textures and some 3D objects give me a feeling that I'm looking at something that was slapped together by a developer instead of a thing that existed inside that world. But now that I've written that thought out, it has made me consider that maybe the feel of a diorama- of a human-made display- is what Clover was going for? Hmm.

 

The most distinctive event of Hernhand's sound design is when you stand near certain aliens, an incredibly loud white noise starts playing. I can think of way more instances in Bernband where the sound worked wonderfully though. The buzz of that first club; the low rumble of hip-hop music in the parking garage that grew as you approached it; the piercing of solo trumpet. I also think Bernband's clopping footsteps are better than Hernhand's. Both games use the contrast of loud and quiet, but I think that the rhythmic way you encounter that contrast in Bernband is better because once I knew that proximity to the alien in Hernhand caused the loud noise, I just stayed away. With Bernband I was forced to encounter that contrast various times because it happened across various scenes that I wanted to explore.

 

I have a few more thoughts, but just wanted to throw the few out that struck me the most.

[Erkki]

I haven't played much this year, but I still hope to play more games this Christmas. So far Shadow of Mordor is in the lead. If Sleeping Dogs DE counts as this year, then I liked that even more, though. I'll make a real GOTY post later.

[clyde]

I don't disagree with what you are saying. I might disagree about the sound, I played Bernband again last night, I'll likely play Hernhand tonight and get back to you on my thoughts of how the sounds compare. I do love Bernband's use of sound, pointing out the rhythmic nature of how you arrive in new soundscapes after going through a door and the shrillness of horn-playing room are really good examples.

So I'm thinking about these games with the assumption that they're both going for different goals, though both seem to be drawing from the Mos Eisley cantina scene in Star Wars. Bernband feels like it's trying to be a welcoming world made for exploration while Hernhand is trying to alienate the player. With that in mind, I think Bernband does a better job at accomplishing its goal than Hernhand.

I love both games, but like I mentioned earlier, it's the way they relate to each other that makes the pair extraordinary for me. They feel like simulations of the same world with drastically different priorities. Those priorities are highlighted so well when in direct comparison to an other that relates so strongly.

I absolutely agree that Bernband does a much better job of welcoming the player; the pacing of discovery and the way that getting lost is quickly and reliably rewarded is incredibly strong accessibility design.

I don't think that Hernhand prioritizes alienating the player though, though it does alienate the player, I believe it's more of a side-effect of another priority; that priority being simulation of a certain kind of space.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun just put a piece up about Bernband and in it they link a youtube-video of walking around Tokyo. Everything is so dense that you just get a feeling that so much potential is in each cranny. Restaraunts that are laid out in aisles stacked on each side of an alley-way, and you wonder "Which of these places would I end up frequenting if I lived there?" Bernband is simulating one of these places.

Hernhand is simulating docking at a more sparse atmosphere. There is no substantial night-life in Hernhand's world. It gives me the feeling that we are just docking for the night near these sky-scrapers in the middle of a desert and I have some time to kill. Much of that time is spent wandering across barren landscape. I think this is the priority, the sense that you have very little feedback to determine whether or not leaving the ship will even be worthwhile. Just some buildings in the distance and a herd of grazing animals in the other direction. That priority leads to long periods of not being sure what you are doing.

When I think about Hernhand's visuals- for instance- I'm more put-off by their aesthetic than alienated. The creatures and hands done in that paper cut-out style are actually quite charming, but the way textures and some 3D objects give me a feeling that I'm looking at something that was slapped together by a developer instead of a thing that existed inside that world. But now that I've written that thought out, it has made me consider that maybe the feel of a diorama- of a human-made display- is what Clover was going for? Hmm.

I am coming into Hernhand with a thick amount of context. I have been playing a lot of Jake Clover games and enjoy them more than most. For me, Hernhand is largely a movement from 2D, MSpaint games into three-dimensional space. Not only am I accustomed to and hopeful for Clover's outsider-art garish designs, but Hernhand is a unique opportunity to see how the path-design sensibility that Clover has developed exclusively in 2D space initially translates into a 3D space. The clearest example of this is the oddity which is a large plane floating in 3D space with an optimal path lying in one straight line across its center. Until you go underground, its as if Clover has taken one of their 2D games , rotated the camera to look straight down the intended path and then added in the ability to turn and wander from that line without providing content to keep your from falling off this stretched 2D game.

Bernband is doing similar negotiations between two-dimensional and three-dimensional utilities, but path-design is incredibly considerate of three dimensional space in Bernband. This is the type of thing that makes the tandem-quality of this pair so exciting for me.

[tegan]

man all this pokemon talk is making me want to buy a 3ds and pokemon 

 

Jooiiiin ussss.

[GraysonEvans]

Jooiiiin ussss.

 

ughhhhh and the only pokemon game I ever beat was Ruby, but video games are expensive and I need to eat I thinkkkk

[N1njaSquirrel]

Persona Q: I've only been playing this for about a week but it's easily the most engrossing thing I've played in a long time. For whatever reason, the Etrian Odyssey games never really clicked for me before, but this feels slightly more accessible because of the way you can swap characters' personas around at will, so if the party you created isn't working out, there's a lot of room for tweaking it without having to leave the dungeon. Plus, the "boost" mechanic that lets you change the turn order and cast your next spell for free if you exploit an enemy's weakness opens up a lot of possibilities for interesting tactical decisions. My only real complaint is that some of the characterizations feel a little lazy (did you know that Chie likes steak and Teddie likes to hit on girls? You will.), but it's still fun to hang out with these characters again and see them interact in a "Jetsons Meet the Flintstones" sort of way. This is a game that when I'm not playing it, I'm having a hard time concentrating on other things because I'm thinking about playing it, which doesn't happen very often anymore.

 

I've also been playing this a ton too. I posted some initial (rather long) thoughts on the 3DS thread, and I also love this game so much. The initial feeling of 'back with the ol' gang' has slightly died, and I agree that their personalities has been stripped down somewhat to just referencial humor, but there is a lot of dialouge in this game, more than I was initially expecting, as I have played a fair bit of Etrian Odessey. I think what makes PQ better than EO is that there are actual charachters, instead of just placeholder images, and the combat system has improved due to it mostly being based on Persona's attack elements/magic, instead of EO's, which is better i think. Like seriously, when have you ever wanted to bind down some arms?

 

Also the lack of overworld, just labrynths and a main menu really makes the selling-questing loop fucking compelling.

[clyde]

I've decided. I considered some alternatives, but it is always 50 Short Games that I am considering alternatives to. 

I touch on what I think is so special about 50 Short Games here.

[chummer]

I don't think that Hernhand prioritizes alienating the player though, though it does alienate the player, I believe it's more of a side-effect of another priority; that priority being simulation of a certain kind of space.

Hernhand is simulating docking at a more sparse atmosphere. There is no substantial night-life in Hernhand's world. It gives me the feeling that we are just docking for the night near these sky-scrapers in the middle of a desert and I have some time to kill. Much of that time is spent wandering across barren landscape. I think this is the priority, the sense that you have very little feedback to determine whether or not leaving the ship will even be worthwhile. Just some buildings in the distance and a herd of grazing animals in the other direction. That priority leads to long periods of not being sure what you are doing.

 

I have a few scattered thoughts that I'm not finding a good way of organizing, so this may read jumbled b/c it's coming out that way.

 

Is the starting area of the game inside a starship then? I didn't read it as such and I think one of reasons I didn't is because I played Bernband, which starts out almost identically with the player looking out a window (or window-like thing in Hernhand's case). It seemed more like a club to me. Looking back on it, the fall from the ship onto the planet didn't signal to me "Hey, you were on a ship" because- again- Bernband uses a similar trick, which just led me to think "Oh, I fell down just like that hole in Bernband."

 

The other reason I may not have read it as a starship is because of the art. When I was first writing about the art, I didn't want to call it "ugly" because I think there's value in "ugliness" and it's related to the fact that I enjoy outsider musicians like Lil' B and Daniel Johnston, whose music is often called ugly. I think maybe the word I was looking for was "obtuse," which is what made it hard for me to read the environment. Not just the ship though, but the distance between me and the desert animals, the odd dip in the desert next to the subway ? sewer? entrance, the narrowness of alleys. The spatial and visual stuff often made me confused more than intrigued, which is why I posited that alienation was the game's goal.

[Ozzie]

Coming out on Top (homepage) is certainly the end of year surprise for me. I missed its Kickstarter, but I doubt I would have backed it anyway. I'm long past bothering with Kickstarter. I really would love to play this gay dating sim in its entirety, but sadly BMT Micro is too much of a data hoarder, so I can't buy it without totally unnecessarily telling them where I live and what my phone number is. Or maybe I should learn to better fake information...

What I played of the demo gave me a great impression so far. It's witty, well judged, self-aware, charming, light,...throw all the yaoi trash in the can, this is the gay dating sim you've been waiting for!

 

Is it a serious contender for goatee, though? Dunno, but I think it could be!

[clyde]

Is the starting area of the game inside a starship then? 

 

That's how I see it. I think of those globes as navigation tools.

 

The other reason I may not have read it as a starship is because of the art. When I was first writing about the art, I didn't want to call it "ugly" because I think there's value in "ugliness" and it's related to the fact that I enjoy outsider musicians like Lil' B and Daniel Johnston, whose music is often called ugly. I think maybe the word I was looking for was "obtuse," which is what made it hard for me to read the environment. Not just the ship though, but the distance between me and the desert animals, the odd dip in the desert next to the subway ? sewer? entrance, the narrowness of alleys. The spatial and visual stuff often made me confused more than intrigued, which is why I posited that alienation was the game's goal.

 

I think I get what you are saying. I struggle to explain how the high artificiality is appealing to me. Or maybe the problem is that I'm having a hard time reliably predicting when I switch gears from believing an illusion and investigating craft. I am preoccupied with the obtuse intentionality of Hernhand for over half the time I spend in it. I really like that.

 

I'd just like to take a moment to thank you all for being members of this fine forum because I can't imagine being able to pretend like anyone would care about what I'm about to say anywhere else.

 

So it's weird, and I need to restate that I can't say that Hernhand is better than Bernband or vice-versa; I'm fascinated by what happens when you compare these twins. Where my descriptions and generalities usually distinguish between two works, I have to provide extra effort to examine what makes one of these so different from the other. Bernband is exquisite in its ability unify its parts and create a tight, closed loop that feels free and exciting, and whole. Here is the paradox: Bernband is seemingly convincing in it's illusion and Hernhand's appeal is partly the transparency of the way it is put together; but Bernband feels fully designed while Hernhand feels representational of real experiences. Maybe it's because of my personal experiences and the particular places I've been, but Hernhand feels like exploring a strange city whie Bernband feels like I'm in a super cool amusement-park. The pace and pay-off of discovery is often similar, but Hernhand feels real in the level of specificity it suggests. Bernband certainly has some specificity, walking past a recital-rooms is totally a valid experience that is neat to see in a game and one I've had the pleasure of awkwarding, but for some reason I identify so much more with listening to a pond gurgle, walking past three figures drinking while listening to a broadcast in a foriegn language, and then finding a mediocre sax-player giving it their all for an audience of rodents. It's not better, it's just different and something that has more resonance with me. 

 

There is a lot more to be said about the way the two games compare; bothe have portions that could easily be mistaken for walking toward a game of lazer-tag, but one has campy blacklit geometric designs on the wall paper, while the other has monumental architecture fit for a legendary arena battle. The amount that the bar-atmospheres variate in Hernhand compared to the level of variation in Bernband is also worth discussion. Bernband is more of a college town where the regulars crawl whereas Hernhand is a place where the bar you frequent is a notable part of your identity. 

 

One things I really disagree with you on is the quality of Hernhand's sound-design. The ambient sounds provide me with a lot of enjoyment. 

[Roderick]

Continuing my streak of never playing games when they come out, by and far the most interesting and wonderful experience I had was playing Bioshock Infinite. It was super-duper.

 

 

Here's something I wrote after playing it (spoilers):

 

At its core, Bioshock Infinite's story is not about cross-dimensional tears, floating cities and time-travelling pop songs. It's about the lengths a desperate father will go to in order to protect his child. Spurred by a past mistake, DeWitt becomes Comstock and Comstock takes back the child that he lost - steals it back, in fact, from himself. For all the megalomaniacal schemes of siphoning her power and guiding her fate towards the destruction of New York, what actually matters is that he locks her up in a tower and does everything in his power to keep the world away from her. This is called projection: the evil within himself, he sees in all the rest of the world. And beneath all the quarantines, the locked doors, the mechanical guardians meant to keep Elizabeth secure - rests a simple motivation: unutterable guilt and love, no matter how warped. Bioshock Infinite is a modern day version of Rapunzel, of every fairytale where a king locked away his daughter for her own protection, and set up a dragon at her feet. It's an ancient story, eternally entertaining.

 

By and far the most miserable time I had with Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon. It was soul-crushingly bad.

 

 

(Yes, I finished it. And yes, I posted the worst screenshot I could find, but that wasn't a difficult job.)

[Synnah]

(Yes, I finished it. And yes, I posted the worst screenshot I could find, but that wasn't a difficult job.)

 

Love that skybox.

 

After playing through Forgotten Shores recently, Monument Valley has slid right up my GOTY list. The original game is lovely, but the expansion is so, so clever. The last three levels in particular all wowed me in very different ways. I've been playing Hohokum recently too, and it's been giving me a similar feeling. It's one of those games where the mechanics are stripped down but the interactions are often surprising and delightful.

 

On the other hand I went back to Bayonetta 2 recently and got little except frustration from it. I guess it's what I get for trying to get good scores, but I feel that for a game with such a fantastic combat system it works pretty hard to make the combat unenjoyable with some of its level and boss design.

[Dewar]

Reply to that Bioshock Spoiler

 

Except, Comstock never had a kid, having become sterile from (I think) being to close to Lutece's experiments. So the only thing he really cares about (at least at first) is ensuring an heir for Columbia.

[eot]

I hadn't heard about Hernhand until now. I really liked Bernband, so I'll have to check it out.

 

Also, while on the topic of that game, I thought the pictures of the troll dolls were super out of place and it bummed me out a little. Make some fake alien art, cmon.

 

PS. The number of "Hernhand" and "Bernband" on this page makes you all look like crazy people. It's like a nonsense conversation inside Bernband.