Road Not Taken

Developer: Spry Fox LLC
Publisher: Spry Fox LLC
Release: 2014
Platform: PC (played), PS4, iOS, Android
Genre: Puzzle/Roguelike

Road Not Taken puts a hard emphasis on the NOT when it crams its 8x6 single-screen dungeon rooms with an unmanageable myriad of enemies, NPCs, materials and hindrances rubbing shoulders. Puzzles can be solved by mashing stuff together to create new units, and the smart premise of doing everything (saving children, defeating foes, unblocking paths) through this “dynamic crafting” system would be a killer one if actually feasible–navigating the mazes, per se, gets seriously impractical over time–let alone doing it within the min-maxer mindset the game demands.

Quirky--and a bit nasty at times.

Elsewhere it manages to be compelling enough though. Building relationships back at the village (à la Harvest Moon) unlocks both perks for the current run and secrets that carry over to the next ones, potentially lending meaning even to trips headed south. Presentation here is charming and cohesive overall too.

Above (or behind, as a pervasive mood) everything else, Road Not Taken’s quirkiness may be its biggest strength. Its interactions, lore and twists always stray away from predictability (every now and then throwing in a note of eeriness as well) and the genuine pleasure and awe in uncovering such mysteries can make it worth the trouble if that’s what tickles a player’s “one more try” trope.

Primal Light

Developer: Fat Gem
Publisher: Fat Gem
Release: 2020
Platform: PC (played), Switch, XOne, Mac, Linux
Genre: Action

Being Primal Light a game so deeply rooted in the past, it’s baffling to see gameplay mechanics elegantly nailed 30 years ago being convolutedly (unnecessarily so too) implemented in it: dashing, slipping down ladders, hanging from hooks, all need additional d-pad inputs here--never required in their original forms (e.g. Mega Man X, Aero the Acrobat, Darkwing Duck respectively); even sliding can get you stuck middle-action--despite its original flawless implementation in 1990’s Mega Man III setting the standard right off the bat. The aggravating fact that such moves can’t be canceled into others pile up against the game’s overall light-metroidvania feel too, and hidden passive charms aren’t game changers either--to the point they would’ve off-put exploration if extra lives and health/cure upgrades weren’t worth the trouble.

Getting stuck in ladders like it's 1986.

Besides the beautiful (even if uneven and not cohesive at times) pixel art, the game shines when it comes to boss battles though. The contained arenas make for a better opportunity for such custom movesets being fully explored, and the puzzle patterns emerging from that mix pose a decent challenge without being unfair or feeling like a slog.

Primal Light can be a good 16-bit retro fix for some players, but it works best as a reminder that aesthetics alone can only scratch the surface of what's frequently overlooked as a deeper nostalgia itch.

The Nightmare Cooperative

Developer: Lucky Frame
Publisher: Blazing Griffin
Release: 2014
Platform: PC
Genre: Roguelike

The Nightmare Cooperative is one of the rare cases of a modern game that could be labelled “retro-hard” for the right reason: it’s tough for longevity’s sake, just like old times. Rather than being a compliment that just speaks volumes about the (apparently) deliberate imbalance of the odds against the player, especially in a genre in which making the most of every run tends to be vital: enemies usually take more than one hit to die, don’t drop loot or lend XP and ultimately defeat the purpose of reaching for treasure chests altogether--opening one with 2 coins will bring an equivalent number of enemies to the playfield, and such meagre rewards are rarely worth the trouble. Even growing the party by enlisting soldiers along the way makes it harder, since manoeuvring a bunch of heroes sharing the same inputs within such a crowded 9x9 grid is a recipe for frustration.

Art direction overall ups the game a couple notches.

So, fittingly enough, the fact that it’s on the short side plays in favour of the game since it never reaches the point of overstaying its welcome. The clean, polished art style makes it for awakening the completionist in the player and raises the “one more play” factor--even if it’s just for unlocking yet another new character (with a particular playstyle and neat flavour description of their own) before calling it a day. The controls and scene flows are just as slick as the art and doesn’t hurt the experience a bit either.

The Nightmare Cooperative may not be the best “value” proposition for such a potential buyer--even if the Steam Trading Cards can mitigate that a good bit--but it’s a solid product, the result of an interesting enough premise that’s well-executed enough to be worth being checked out.

Dig Dog

Developer: Rusty Moyher, Matt Grimm
Publisher: Wild Rooster
Release: 2016
Platform: PC, Switch
Genre: Roguelike

True to the modern “I-understood-that-reference-pun-premise” trope, Dig Dog is still fun and competent while at it.

Just like with most rogue-lites out there it has its share of balancing issues, making descents raggier than desired: the 2-hit-death base stats coupled with meager invincibility frames rendering good runs prone to be smashed into pieces under some fickle RNG-god’s (dog’s?) paws, for instance; or getting a favorable “supply x demand” seed (meaning a) finding shops with b) good items while c) having enough money to afford ‘em) being rarer than digging random gold down the way; or procedural level design being cruelly nasty at times; and so on.

None of those are game breaking though; but one structural design decision hurts the experience on a… deeper level. Unfortunately mapping all main actions (jumping, digging, dashing) to the same button makes the controls feel clumsy instead of elegant as intended, and may pile a couple extra frustrating deaths to the ever-growing counter.

Digging all night along.

Despite all that, a player will most likely jump back right away without batting an eye--a testament to the game’s compelling and accessible “one more try” factor.

Donut County

Developer: Ben Esposito
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Release: 2018
Platform: iOS, PC (played), PS4, XOne, Android
Genre: Puzzle

At first Donut County feels like a Windosill--i.e. a pleasant tactile experience--that lacks the courage to stay in its wordless standalone toy-ish sandbox form: the story bits feel intrusive and the player will often spend more time reading than actually playing the amusing levels.

It’s a good thing then that both characters and plot are engaging enough for the player to care about them--to the point the levels act like a “pleasure delayer” and ultimately make the comebacks even more enjoyable.

Deliciously inviting.

The short campaign (around 2 hours) per se doesn’t pose a problem; but the game would benefit immensely from some Free Play, Sandbox or Level Maker modes of sorts since the mechanics--nailed so gracefully--are there already, begging to be played with more often.

KNIGHTS

Developer: Arzola's
Publisher: Arzola's
Release: 2016
Platform: PC
Genre: Puzzle

Veteran Chess players could, at first glance, dismiss dropping money in a game built upon the mechanics of a single piece--specially when "full real deal" versions are so abundant (and frequently free); in the opposite corner of the board some Queen's Gambit-fueled newcomer, eager to dive below the waterline, could get to the same conclusion for completely different reasons. Both groups wouldn't do themselves any favours in doing so though.

In fact the knights that lend the game its title easily make up for a dozen hours worthy of puzzle cracking--and then some more--entirely on their own.

Second-naturing "L"s

By tackling those puzzles at a comfortable pace--the game not only allows that but also encourages the player to do so with its "light unlock" system--fresh apprentices will be able to start glimpsing through the most erratic and unpredictable strategies in the game through focusing solely on the piece that usually carries them out; and growing capable of making their movement patterns second nature as the game progresses can be rewarding enough per se.

Seasoned players will be able to improve just as much by solving the final Level Packs--or even by taking advantage of specific scenarios that always have the potential of tricking players that are yet to experience such situations in real-life matches.

The elegant presentation (both graphics and sound wise) and the infinitely expandable "Daily" mode that comes after the curated campaign puzzles--all under a low price tag--make KNIGHTS a no brainer for any player (regardless of their experience) interested in the game.

FTL: Faster Than Light

Developer: Subset Games
Publisher: Subset Games
Release: 2012
Platform: PC (played), iOS
Genre: Roguelike

It took me some time to realize The Kestrel (the very first ship available in the game) could only get me so far. After dabbling with a cautious approach (and most of the times becoming a dry floating coffin, waiting for the wave of enemies to find and finish us), an aggressive approach (only to be rewarded less often and less profusely than desired for the aggressive stance to pay off) and a case-by-case mix of both (eventually getting sucked down in an uncontrollable spiral of bad events after the inevitable unlucky strike) I decided to step back and check the game’s options before jumping straight into it. Only then I got to the screen that displays the list of ships the game would be playable with, and only then it hit me that The Kestrel was only the first of eight in a linear tree of unlockable (under particular circumstances) vessels.

Acknowledging that I didn’t even start to scratch the game’s surface and armed with (besides the experience of failing in several ways--“dying is funny”, one of the in-game random hot tips say) the knowledge that a new ship would be unlocked if I could at least reach level 5 I went for a confident “coward” run: sneak through the less-dangerous path towards the next less-dangerous sector, focusing on surviving enough to escape, escaping enough to repair at stores and that was it. Of course, as with everything in the game playing against the odds is the norm; so once I got a favorable chain of green (the theoretically more friendly) sectors I managed to open that can--alongside one of those 1.8% achievements, “I don’t need no stinkin’ upgrades!”, for reaching level 5 without any of them.

Another whole round of defeats ensued aboard The Torus (the Engi Cruiser), but many more things were learned in the process: the advantages of Ion devices (and lighter/faster weapons) and the reliability of drones were among them, but the most important one by far was becoming more aware of the biological/political environment around me. Being a human in the game (“common and uninteresting” according to the game’s lore) bears much resemblance to being one in real life: ditching anthropocentrism (or even more mundane selfishness for that matter) requires work and it’s not simply there by design.

So I started to actively seek a more diverse crew to learn about and play to their strengths/weaknesses. Using Engi as remote hackers (besides their everyday knack for fixing local wares) proved an invaluable way of avoiding blowing stuff up, for instance. I also learned to love the Zoltan for their natural energy flow--even making up for a power source within the room they’re deployed to in case of a lack of a proper resource to get the job done. The slow but impervious-to-fire Rockmen could be useful when fighting flames within the ship, for instance. But one of my gameplay sessions unexpectedly morphed into a proper piece of plot through a Mantis addition to my crew.

I’ve got the insect-like soldier as a tribute from a slave seller (I happened to shoot such ships down before, but that kills everyone in the ship--slaves included--so I figured I should try saving at least one living being this time) and (coincidentally or not) ran into a Zoltan peaceful ship right after. The Zoltan captain started a philosophical chat about being part of the Federation or being a rebel, and I went down that path alongside him. By the end of the exchange they offered me an augmentation (a kind of item that works as a passive buffer regardless of the ship’s available resources) called the Zoltan Shield--an “impenetrable shield” created by “an unexplained technology”--that was a game changer, allowing me to survive enough to repair the hull of my ship and advance further towards the next sector--which happened to be controlled by the (hostile) Mantis.

Still recovering from the unexpected “enlightenment” encounter, I ran into a ship described as having “dozens of layers of armor-plating added over what must have been a hundred year career” and led by the legendary thief KazaaakplethKilik. My crew freaks out, and everything derails badly after a clumsy attempt of contact by my Mantis soldier. I promptly decide to run, but even to do so we have to buy time for the FTL (“Faster Than Light”, which lends the game its name) module to charge before doing so; and trying to pull it off we started using our Ion equipment to slowly paralyze the enemy ship--without ever having a fight in mind, let alone a victory. The thing is, we get some early lucky strikes on, our miraculous Zoltan Shield holds up pretty well and our drones start making significant damage. By the time the FTL was charged we were more inclined to win the battle than to lose, so… we press on. And, absurdly, their ship starts to crumble before us. The game mumbles something about “a mystery” after his demise and I’m still incredulous about what just happened. I can’t even tell if it was the “right” thing to do or not, erasing such a huge part of the system’s history without having any previous knowledge of it or ever wanting to do so.

As we head into the next level, everything in pretty bad shape after the singular event, we’re massacred by a regular pirate ship. I know we can do nothing about it, so I simply watch the crew desperately trying to put the spreading fire down until we finally explode in slow fashion… with a lasting sense of having accomplished something.

(Disclaimer: this is the first time I write a post as a piece of chronicle in this blog; and also the first game I write something about without beating it first.)