- Joined
- Sep 1, 2020
- Messages
- 1,076
A.I.M. Artificial Intelligence Machines - Russian game where you fly around in an airship in an alien planet. The world is populated by many other AI ships, most of which are simply interested in trading, while others will attack you on sight, depending on their faction. You can join one of the factions that suit your style of gameplay and obtain different benefits from it. There don't seem to be any drawbacks in quitting, rejoining, etc. Progression comes from obtaining credits by finishing missions, trading, destroying other ships. This enables you to upgrade your ship in many different ways and exchange it with other models that are suited for different tasks. Some are better for transporting cargo, others for attacking; there's one attack ship made from organic materials that regenerates on its own, for example. Money is really tight as you spend lots of money repairing and upgrades are very expensive. Fighting outnumbered gets you shredded in seconds, so you'll spend most of the time running away or finding alternative routes.
What I like about it: biggish world with interesting features, exploration and free roam. After learning how to use the boost/jump button, you can take big detours by using the mountains and avoid trouble. Need to pick your fights carefully and learn how to maneuver. It's clearly a low budget game and some things could take a bit more work, but all in all seems good for what it is. I haven't explored the different areas after the rock planet, so there might be some things I'm missing. I can't play it for very long as the entire game is FPP and I get motion sickness.
Morrowind - Never gave this one any attention, I don't know why. I have a PC Gamer DVD with the main title plus the expansions, which on the cover tells me it got a magnificent score of 83%. Seems like a good deal given how much I paid for it, so why not? The first 5 minutes I was laughing at how stupid the characters look and reading the skills descriptions wondering how broken they'll turn out to be. The world seemed interesting, though, some really scenic landscapes... and the interiors... I'm a sucker for RPGs with tasteful interiors. After putting it down I wasn't sure whether to continue playing, but the world pulls you in. I'm playing an Argonian as I really like the concept of an amphibian character and after finding my first secret water cave I was sold. I'll play any game with good exploration, so I'm likely to continue on to the end.
Alisia Dragoon (Mega Drive) - Childhood game, which I gave away then reacquired much later. I don't have enough time or patience to finish old-school action games the legit way, so I usually first finish them with emulators and save states even when I have a physical copy. This is one of the most beautiful of its generation. Some of the music is fantastic, too. The game is a sidescroller action-platformer/SHMUP/ARPG hybrid where you control a girl with magical powers who jumps around and shoots energy beams from her hands. This can be upgraded as you progress, together with your pets. You have 4 pets, who get stronger as they go up to level 3 (sadly not higher than that). Switching pets to deal with specific dangers and enemies is the most original aspects of the game. Exploration is necessary to get all the upgrades, as some goodies are hidden behind tunnels and invisible entrances. The SHMUP heritage is manifested in getting hit from every direction at once, often without time to react. There were cases where I found it impossible not to get hit, but maybe I'm just too slow. Not the best game ever, but should be interesting to many.
Geneforge - Played this some time ago and got the urge to replay it, hopefully the entire series. My views are similar to what has been said already elsewhere. Let me just tell this is probably my favorite fictional setting in any RPG besides Fallout. Since I've recently learned Jeff Vogel is "remaking" it (I don't keep up with the news), I intend to play both and compare them... eventually.
What I like about it: biggish world with interesting features, exploration and free roam. After learning how to use the boost/jump button, you can take big detours by using the mountains and avoid trouble. Need to pick your fights carefully and learn how to maneuver. It's clearly a low budget game and some things could take a bit more work, but all in all seems good for what it is. I haven't explored the different areas after the rock planet, so there might be some things I'm missing. I can't play it for very long as the entire game is FPP and I get motion sickness.
Morrowind - Never gave this one any attention, I don't know why. I have a PC Gamer DVD with the main title plus the expansions, which on the cover tells me it got a magnificent score of 83%. Seems like a good deal given how much I paid for it, so why not? The first 5 minutes I was laughing at how stupid the characters look and reading the skills descriptions wondering how broken they'll turn out to be. The world seemed interesting, though, some really scenic landscapes... and the interiors... I'm a sucker for RPGs with tasteful interiors. After putting it down I wasn't sure whether to continue playing, but the world pulls you in. I'm playing an Argonian as I really like the concept of an amphibian character and after finding my first secret water cave I was sold. I'll play any game with good exploration, so I'm likely to continue on to the end.
Alisia Dragoon (Mega Drive) - Childhood game, which I gave away then reacquired much later. I don't have enough time or patience to finish old-school action games the legit way, so I usually first finish them with emulators and save states even when I have a physical copy. This is one of the most beautiful of its generation. Some of the music is fantastic, too. The game is a sidescroller action-platformer/SHMUP/ARPG hybrid where you control a girl with magical powers who jumps around and shoots energy beams from her hands. This can be upgraded as you progress, together with your pets. You have 4 pets, who get stronger as they go up to level 3 (sadly not higher than that). Switching pets to deal with specific dangers and enemies is the most original aspects of the game. Exploration is necessary to get all the upgrades, as some goodies are hidden behind tunnels and invisible entrances. The SHMUP heritage is manifested in getting hit from every direction at once, often without time to react. There were cases where I found it impossible not to get hit, but maybe I'm just too slow. Not the best game ever, but should be interesting to many.
Geneforge - Played this some time ago and got the urge to replay it, hopefully the entire series. My views are similar to what has been said already elsewhere. Let me just tell this is probably my favorite fictional setting in any RPG besides Fallout. Since I've recently learned Jeff Vogel is "remaking" it (I don't keep up with the news), I intend to play both and compare them... eventually.
)
