Starting a new Shantae adventure! I have Shantae and the Seven Sirens up and running on my Steam Deck!
I’ve gathered up most of the genies before calling it a night – just wanted to whet my appetite a little until the next time I get to play!
Indie
It’s Been Another Unreal Weekend With Kena!
Back during the Steam Lunar New Year Sale I picked up Kena: Bridge of Spirits. I saw gameplay for it over the holidays and it immediately caught my attention. So far this game has managed to suck about four hours out of me, and what a glorious four hours it was! It features beautiful cinematic visuals that could compare to a Pixar film, a beautiful soundtrack, and top notch voice acting. I played this on my TV today and it felt like controlling a movie.
Kena (pronounced Kay-nuh)is a young Spirit Guide, who makes use of her magic to help souls that are unable to pass on. She’s on a journey to find a sacred mountain shrine, and befriends creatures known as “Rot” along her travels. Her little friends can aid her in purifying the forests of evil, and are strong enough to lift objects for Kena.
The game features a giant world to explore, souls in need of saving and a forest in need of magical intervention. When exploring it feels like a modern Tomb Raider game, but when fighting it feels like Dark Souls without all the cursing if you die in battle. Then it finishes off with a touch of Okami, thanks to the Rot aiding your spiritual power to cleanse the forest of evil.
In some areas you can unlock what are called “Forest Tears”. Forest Tears enable the Rot to unlock their full potential – allowing you to clean up the area and uncover areas you couldn’t access before.
I might play a bit more on Steam Deck before bed; it was nice to play it on the couch earlier, though. And even nicer, the cloud saves going between the two. 😀
Cozy Dungeon Is Cozy
For tonight’s little bit of play I decided to play Trine on my desktop. As old as this game is – it’s graphics are beyond gorgeous, even in 4K. At the rate I’m actually finishing games I might actually finish this one! I did come close at one point, but something in the level messed up and I couldn’t continue. Of course I’ve had plenty of other games to wander around in since then, and now I can work towards completing another adventure, and even more adventures to come!
Daughter Of The Genies
The last bit of Shantae: Half Genie Hero was a true test of my patience. At one point it was like playing a lava infested Flappy Bird game, and the boss battles were pretty brutal, but not as brutal as the ride out. But the challenge is what makes it fun! Now all that’s left is to go back and plink away at the other achievements in my spare time. There is also additional DLC for this game, but the reviews don’t make it look very promising. If they ever choose to put it on a sale or put it into a bundle I’ll consider it.
But for now I can happily add this to my list of finished games!
All You Need Is Love… and Starfish
Finally began my journey to the hideout of Risky Boots! The water level kinda reminds me of the scrolling Mario levels, but with added mermaid power! Which is excellent because there was a lot going on the screen. I picked up some friends along the way, and they helped me destroy my obstacles to help me get to the next area:
Now it all comes down to using everything I’ve learned in all the other levels. As the end draws closer, I’m relishing every moment drawing closer to it! I’ll have to leave off in the lava underground… running tonight’s SteamOS update kinda took away from my playtime.
From Horizon Zero Dawn to Dusk
It’s been a few years since I last touched this game, not because it’s a bad game… it isn’t! I just have a really large distracting collection to sift through, and it fell into the cracks. Something about the rainy weather and chai made me want to pick back up on it again, and it didn’t disappoint!
For today’s boss battle: I fought Chomper; the swimming demon anus. I have to admit, it almost killed me… not because of how tough it is, no… I couldn’t stop laughing at the sound it made:
It’s more funny than scary to me for some reason. It’s just not the noise I was expecting! It sounds like he’s looking for someone named Bob. Why is a demon anus looking for Bob? Inquiring minds, etc.
Much like with AMID EVIL I really enjoy the level design. There’s just something cool about flooding a castle for a swim date with murderous demons and cultists. I’m just a few levels away from beating the third campaign, and I still need to finish the first two! :v For some reason I have saves for all three episodes. My next goal will be practicing playing this on Steam Deck. I’ve already mastered it on Steam Controller, the only way I play FPS on the couch…
Squidly Diddly
What started off as a small bit of gameplay ended up turning into an achievement hunt! I scored six achievements! I just have one thing left to grab in Cape Crustacean, and then I can go after some Risky Booty the next time I decide to play.
I have a different adventure planned for tomorrow night, and it isn’t Commander Keen! 🙂
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Adding Kena: Bridge of Spirits to my list of new games to try, and so far I really like it! It’s like a mix of souls like, Tomb Raider and Okami to it. You play as a young Spirit Guide named Kena, and you’re on a journey seeking a mountain shrine.
You discover these creatures called Rot, dark creatures that are as powerful as they are adorable. Once you collect enough Rot you can harness their power to free trapped souls in the forest, and restore tainted areas.
I didn’t have time to get that far into it, but I’m already liking the visual style, the music, and the gameplay. So far I’m liking what I see! Going to have to look into this one again soon!
Viva la Voxels
Spent the day continuing my exploration of Nevalis. Grabbed even more achievements, met more colorful characters, and found more colorful clothes!
I was searching for batteries to power a lift, and I kept finding trendy outfits instead. There’s still quite a bit for me to find, but I’m thinking a playthrough or two from now – and I’ll start on the City Of Ghosts DLC. It feels weird completing quite a few of these games, and it’s still February!
Aaaaaaaaaand Another One Completed!
Finished my first playthrough of Cloudpunk! I’ll have to play through it again to get missed achievements and to see what happens if I make other choices.
Cloudpunk takes place in a dystopian cyberpunk world made entirely out of voxels. You play as a delivery driver for the company Cloudpunk. It’s quite simple: Make your deliveries, and don’t ask questions.
Cloudpunk has a beautiful city-scape with tons of areas to explore, even after finishing the game. There are also a lot of interesting characters you meet along the way, and well written dialogue that is surprisingly relatable. You also have chances to make your own decisions during your travels, giving it replay value. My only complaint is with some of the voice acting, and that’s only for a couple of the NPC’s you meet during your quests. For the most part it’s actually well done.
I’ve played this all in between my Steam Deck, Desktop and TV, and it looks stunning on all of them. It also remembers your screen resolution on each device! I can play it on a handheld without it changing the resolution on my other systems.
I give it a 4.5 out of 3.