20131228:
Today Michael came over and while waiting to get Project M working, we tried playing Sin & Punishment.
Regarding Two-Player Mode:
For some strange reason, upon booting up the game, the player two controller would cease to be recognized. Various experiments were done to try to get it recognized and eventually the solution was simply to start the two-player mode.
Gameplay:
For the two-player mode, player one chooses one of two characters to play, Isa Jo or Kachi. In short, the player moves the character around the screen using the analog stick (Nunchuk) and attacks with the Wiimote, pointing the attack cursor (independent of character position) for long ranged attacks (I later learned the classic/GameCube controllers are also valid inputs, but I have yet to try them). Player two only has to worry about firing a basic attack. While this may seem boring, there's so much going on (at least in the two-player mode) that player two is often the one dealing consistent damage to the boss, while player one deals with dodging attacks.
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (Wii) (2010)
Relevant Links:
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (Wikipedia.org)
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (IGN.com)
Sin & Punishment (Wikipedia.org)
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Thursday, December 26, 2013
The Cave (PC) (2013)
 |
| Character selection. The Knight (offscreen), The Hillbilly (offscreen), The Time Traveler, The Scientist, The Adventure, The Twins, and The Monk. |
20131226:
After breaking the bridge inside the cave, it became apparent that I, the player, would be using exactly three characters inside the cave. It was also at that point that I remembered the game had local co-op. Fundamentally, the main game mechanic involves switching between the three characters to solve puzzles, much like the game mechanic in The Lost Vikings.
 |
| The Knight, The Twins, and The Adventurer plummet after exceeding the weight of the bridge and breaking it. |
Today, I only got as far as navigating to the soda and hot dog machines, which is to say, not that far at all.
General Comments:
It turns out you only bring three of the seven characters (the twins are a single character) into the cave.
 |
| A terrible monster blocks our way. |
[20140104]
20140103:
Today, Josh, Michael, and I got together and played a bit of The Cave. As they haven't played before, I restarted the game from the beginning. Picking first, I chose the Time Traveler. Next, Michael chose the Scientist and Josh chose the Adventurer. While picking characters was a confusing process due to an unfamiliarity with the controls, we eventually got the characters we wanted and entered the cave.
 |
| Claiming a trinket. |
Today, we managed to recover two of the miner's three mine carts. Before saving the game, we were working on figuring out what needs to go into the last mine cart.
The great thing about playing with three people is that three minds are better than one. In particular, each of us had an equal share of solutions to the puzzles we encountered. While we could have certainly solved the puzzles on our own, it would have undoubtedly taken more time. Hooray for teamwork!
 |
| The Adventurer pulls the mine cart as The Scientist lazily stands inside it. |
General Comments:
Spread throughout the cave are details about the different characters you brought into the game. Note, however, that any of the three characters can recover the piece of information.
One complaint we had was the amount of backtracking we had to do to find the mine carts. Spoiler Alert. In hindsight, I think we could have each held a stick of dynamite to avoid the backtracking.
You cannot die in The Cave.
[20140104]
The Cave (PC) (2013)
 |
| I like the game introduction. |
Relevant Links:
The Cave Website
The Cave (PC) (IGN.com)
The Cave (PS3) (IGN.com)
The Cave (video game) (Wikipedia.org)
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Bastion (PC) (2011)
20120718 Comments:
I must have played the first level to this game at least 4 times by now. The first time I simply played the demo on Steam. The second time, I helped my friend play the demo on someone's Xbox (Xbox Live Arcade). I next played through the first level when I purchased the game. And finally, for the Steam Winter Sale, I had to play the first level again in order to complete an achievement.
On multiple occasions, when trying to move my Steam install, I lost my progress. Thankfully I had played no more than the first level. This happened most recently when I wanted to move my Steam files from my laptop to my PC in Maryland (20120207).
On the bright side, the loss of progress isn't a big deal. I love the narration of the game a lot. Moving about the world was a little difficult with a keyboard, because the game uses an isometric camera. One should have much better luck with a gamepad.
The art is also good, but I am going to repeat myself and emphasize how much I love the narration. It brings so much life to the concept of games and story telling.
I look forward to playing more.
Steam Game Time: 54 minutes
[20190113 Edit]
20130203:
Unknown progress.
20131225:
Due to moving the steam folder around, I've had to play the first level of the game several times now and only once before today did I play one level beyond the first. I've tried reading about the save file location before, but had no luck finding a helpful answer. As of 20131228, I both found a solution and started usingGameSave Manager. See the Save File Locations section below for more information.
In any case, today (20131225) I started the game and, as many times before, played the first level of the game again. Unlike my previous playthroughs, today I played multiple levels. According to Steam, I played for about 3.9 hours, over three times the cumulative time spent with the game before today (1.2 hours).
Overall, losing a save file is a huge discouragement to continuing a game. Now that I think about it, that's the main reason I haven't been playing Orcs Must Die. However, I absolutely love the narration of Bastion and I never minded playing this particular game from the beginning, because it feels like I'm just watching a movie.
The narration in this game is awesome and I believe that's already a good enough reason to play this action RPG. Of course, the game mechanics and upgrade system are solid as well.
I do, however, have two minor dislikes which come to mind. The first minor dislike is the ability to fall off the level by walking off. I personally find this an unnecessary element of realism and/or difficulty. The second minor dislike is how the Kid (player character) keeps landing flat on his face at the entry of every level. Come on now, doesn't he learn how to gracefully land after a couple of tries?
Personal Preferences:
I tried using the Bolt Burst on the repeater but didn't like it compared to the Whirl Wind or Dancing Shot.
General Tips/Comments:
Charge your Breaker Bow and let go immediately as you flash for a Power Shot.
: If you can manage, let go the moment you hear a whoosh sound. No hesitation here. The slightest start to the whoosh and you release the bow for a guaranteed Power Shot.
Press Q to use your special attack. Don't be afraid to use it often, because vials to replenish it are often readily available.
Press R to reload the repeater manually.
Press Shift for shield at the right moment for a counter attack.
Press Space often for extra mobility.
Don't be afraid to just move on, don't need to backtrack to get health, at least in any situation I've encountered thus far.
You can conveniently restart a challenge level by going to the restart level button. Any lower level prizes you have claimed will be recorded.
Gameplay Log:
Breaker Barracks
: The level only lets you use the bow provided to you in the center of the level.
: For first prize, you have to land five Power Shots.
Windbag Ranch
: The key as the tool tip says is to stand where the green ones spawn and kill them right away. Otherwise they run away from you and you'll have to probably waste time throwing the machete at them.
: I made use of the Werewolf
[20131225 Assumed Post Date][20190113 Edit]
20131228:
I played the level Trapper Shingle today.
Gameplay Log:
Trapper Shingle
: I made use of the first repeater upgrade: Double Clip.
: Also crucial is to press shift to have the player character automatically lock onto the targets.
Bastion (PC) (2011)
Relevant Links:
Bastion (Supergiant Games Website)
Bastion (video game) (Wikipedia.org)
Bastion Wiki (bastion.wikia.com)
Save File Locations:
The game's save file location is different depending on whether you run the game executable from inside or outside of Steam. However, I would recommend using GameSave Manager instead of backing up save files manually (see the next section, Personal Experience on Saving the Game).
See [1], [2], [3], and [4] below.
[1]
...\steamapps\common\bastion\Content\Saves
: Automatic saved games made on a per level basis.
: Example Contents:
: Save File Location = either [2] or [3].
: Caution! Make sure you store a backup in a different location, there may be a chance that Steam Cloud may not behave the way you want.
: When copying to [3], restart Steam to let it synchronize with Steam Cloud. See also "Personal Experience on Saving the Game" below.
[2]
...Users\[COMPUTERUSERNAME]\Saved Games\Bastion\
: This should be the game's save file location when running the game executable from outside Steam.
[3]
...\Program Files\Steam\userdata\[STEAMUSERID]\107100\remote\
: This folder should contain the save files as Steam Cloud sees them.
: Example Contents:
...\Program Files\Steam\userdata\[STEAMUSERID]\107100\local\
: I suspect the contents of this folder are just local configuration settings like Screen Resolution and Control Configuration.
: Example Contents:
Personal Experience on Saving the Game:
On 20131228, I avoided the issue of backing up my save files altogether by running GameSave Manager. This is something I should have done a long time ago, because manually backing up save files was both risky and time consuming. This was especially true due to number of times I moved my Steam Game installations around (whether between multiple computers or just from one hard drive to the next).
I also realized that creating a new profile in the Bastion menu isn't just for the settings. It's actually the method for creating a new game save. Checking both Profile 1 and Profile 2 (dated 20120209 and 20130203, respectively), I found that they both only went up to the completion of the introductory level ("Now the Kid sees something stranger still. His mind races. Did anyone else survive? Sure enough he finds another. He finds me.")
Simply deleting them isn't an option. Upon starting the game, Steam Cloud replaces them with existing copies in the Cloud.
Solution:
20240127 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 8.3 hours (cumulative game time) / 8h 17m (Playnite)
Last Played: 20231229
I must have played the first level to this game at least 4 times by now. The first time I simply played the demo on Steam. The second time, I helped my friend play the demo on someone's Xbox (Xbox Live Arcade). I next played through the first level when I purchased the game. And finally, for the Steam Winter Sale, I had to play the first level again in order to complete an achievement.
 |
| The Kid charges the Breaker's Bow. |
On multiple occasions, when trying to move my Steam install, I lost my progress. Thankfully I had played no more than the first level. This happened most recently when I wanted to move my Steam files from my laptop to my PC in Maryland (20120207).
On the bright side, the loss of progress isn't a big deal. I love the narration of the game a lot. Moving about the world was a little difficult with a keyboard, because the game uses an isometric camera. One should have much better luck with a gamepad.
The art is also good, but I am going to repeat myself and emphasize how much I love the narration. It brings so much life to the concept of games and story telling.
I look forward to playing more.
Steam Game Time: 54 minutes
 |
| The Arsenal |
[20190113 Edit]
20130203:
Unknown progress.
20131225:
Due to moving the steam folder around, I've had to play the first level of the game several times now and only once before today did I play one level beyond the first. I've tried reading about the save file location before, but had no luck finding a helpful answer. As of 20131228, I both found a solution and started usingGameSave Manager. See the Save File Locations section below for more information.
In any case, today (20131225) I started the game and, as many times before, played the first level of the game again. Unlike my previous playthroughs, today I played multiple levels. According to Steam, I played for about 3.9 hours, over three times the cumulative time spent with the game before today (1.2 hours).
Overall, losing a save file is a huge discouragement to continuing a game. Now that I think about it, that's the main reason I haven't been playing Orcs Must Die. However, I absolutely love the narration of Bastion and I never minded playing this particular game from the beginning, because it feels like I'm just watching a movie.
 |
| The Kid (player character) swings the Cael Hammer. |
The narration in this game is awesome and I believe that's already a good enough reason to play this action RPG. Of course, the game mechanics and upgrade system are solid as well.
I do, however, have two minor dislikes which come to mind. The first minor dislike is the ability to fall off the level by walking off. I personally find this an unnecessary element of realism and/or difficulty. The second minor dislike is how the Kid (player character) keeps landing flat on his face at the entry of every level. Come on now, doesn't he learn how to gracefully land after a couple of tries?
Personal Preferences:
I tried using the Bolt Burst on the repeater but didn't like it compared to the Whirl Wind or Dancing Shot.
General Tips/Comments:
Charge your Breaker Bow and let go immediately as you flash for a Power Shot.
: If you can manage, let go the moment you hear a whoosh sound. No hesitation here. The slightest start to the whoosh and you release the bow for a guaranteed Power Shot.
Press Q to use your special attack. Don't be afraid to use it often, because vials to replenish it are often readily available.
Press R to reload the repeater manually.
 |
| The Kid with the War Machete. |
Press Shift for shield at the right moment for a counter attack.
Press Space often for extra mobility.
Don't be afraid to just move on, don't need to backtrack to get health, at least in any situation I've encountered thus far.
You can conveniently restart a challenge level by going to the restart level button. Any lower level prizes you have claimed will be recorded.
Gameplay Log:
Breaker Barracks
: The level only lets you use the bow provided to you in the center of the level.
: For first prize, you have to land five Power Shots.
Windbag Ranch
: The key as the tool tip says is to stand where the green ones spawn and kill them right away. Otherwise they run away from you and you'll have to probably waste time throwing the machete at them.
: I made use of the Werewolf
[20131225 Assumed Post Date][20190113 Edit]
20131228:
I played the level Trapper Shingle today.
 |
| The Distillery. |
Gameplay Log:
Trapper Shingle
: I made use of the first repeater upgrade: Double Clip.
: Also crucial is to press shift to have the player character automatically lock onto the targets.
Bastion (PC) (2011)
Relevant Links:
Bastion (Supergiant Games Website)
Bastion (video game) (Wikipedia.org)
Bastion Wiki (bastion.wikia.com)
Save File Locations:
The game's save file location is different depending on whether you run the game executable from inside or outside of Steam. However, I would recommend using GameSave Manager instead of backing up save files manually (see the next section, Personal Experience on Saving the Game).
See [1], [2], [3], and [4] below.
 |
| Proving Grounds: Trapper Shingle |
[1]
...\steamapps\common\bastion\Content\Saves
: Automatic saved games made on a per level basis.
: Example Contents:
[HOSTNAME1]-PC_ProtoIntro01a: "To use any of them, rename the file to 'Profile1.sav' and copy it to your save game location." (source)
[HOSTNAME1]-PC_ProtoIntro01b
[HOSTNAME1]-PC_ProtoTown03
[HOSTNAME2]-PC_Challenge01
[HOSTNAME2]-PC_Challenge03
[HOSTNAME2]-PC_Crossroads01
[HOSTNAME2]-PC_Falling01
[HOSTNAME2]-PC_Holdout01
[HOSTNAME2]-PC_ProtoIntro01a
[HOSTNAME2]-PC_ProtoIntro01b
[HOSTNAME2]-PC_ProtoTown03
: Save File Location = either [2] or [3].
: Caution! Make sure you store a backup in a different location, there may be a chance that Steam Cloud may not behave the way you want.
: When copying to [3], restart Steam to let it synchronize with Steam Cloud. See also "Personal Experience on Saving the Game" below.
 |
| The Forge |
[2]
...Users\[COMPUTERUSERNAME]\Saved Games\Bastion\
: This should be the game's save file location when running the game executable from outside Steam.
[3]
...\Program Files\Steam\userdata\[STEAMUSERID]\107100\remote\
: This folder should contain the save files as Steam Cloud sees them.
: Example Contents:
profile1.sav (20120209 12:18AM)[4]
profile2.keyctrls (20130203 11:59PM)
profile2.mousectrls (20130203 11:59PM)
profile2.sav (20130203 11:59PM)
profile3.keyctrls (20131225 6:43PM)
profile3.mousectrls (20131225 6:43PM)
profile3.sav (20131225 8:25PM)
...\Program Files\Steam\userdata\[STEAMUSERID]\107100\local\
: I suspect the contents of this folder are just local configuration settings like Screen Resolution and Control Configuration.
: Example Contents:
activeProfile (20131225 6:42PM): I opened the "activeProfile" file with Notepad and it simply says "*Profile3," where * is some unknown character. Indeed I am currently using Profile 3 among the possible configuration settings. The timestamps also match the moment I switched from using Profile 2 to Profile 3.
Profile1.profile (20111231 8:55PM)
Profile2.profile (20131225 6:41PM)
Profile3.profile (20131225 8:25PM)
 |
| Level Select |
Personal Experience on Saving the Game:
On 20131228, I avoided the issue of backing up my save files altogether by running GameSave Manager. This is something I should have done a long time ago, because manually backing up save files was both risky and time consuming. This was especially true due to number of times I moved my Steam Game installations around (whether between multiple computers or just from one hard drive to the next).
I also realized that creating a new profile in the Bastion menu isn't just for the settings. It's actually the method for creating a new game save. Checking both Profile 1 and Profile 2 (dated 20120209 and 20130203, respectively), I found that they both only went up to the completion of the introductory level ("Now the Kid sees something stranger still. His mind races. Did anyone else survive? Sure enough he finds another. He finds me.")
Simply deleting them isn't an option. Upon starting the game, Steam Cloud replaces them with existing copies in the Cloud.
Solution:
1) Exit Steam.
2) Copy out the files I wanted to keep. In this case "profile3.keyctrls", "profile3.mousectrls", and "profile3.sav".
3) Corrupt the files in "Steam\userdata\[STEAMUSERID]\107100\remote":
: Proceed with caution.4) Delete remotecashe.vdf in "Steam\userdata\[STEAMUSERID]\107100\"
: Run command prompt.
: Type "powershell", enter.
: Type "clc C:\Program` Files` `(x86`)\Steam\userdata\[STEAMUSERID]\107100\remote\*", enter.
5) Start Steam. Start Bastion. The sync conflict dialog appears.
6) Delete all the corrupted files and then put the files I wanted to keep back.
7) Return to the sync conflict dialog and click "Upload to the Steam Cloud".
(source)
 |
| The Kid, Zulf, Zia, and Rucks. |
20240127 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 8.3 hours (cumulative game time) / 8h 17m (Playnite)
Last Played: 20231229
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
The Ball (PC) (2010)
The Ball (PC) (2010)
Relevant Links:
The Ball Website
The Ball (video game) (Wikipedia.org)
20131224:
Today I played through the first level (Pehua) and it was a decent introduction to the game. In the level I learned that I can pull the ball from any distance, but the ball will only attempt to take a straight path towards me. I also learned that (at least with the first level) I could never ever lose the ball. Thus, if it looks trap, then its really not.
Time Taken 33:21
Monsters Killed 0
Monkeys Killed 0
Secrets Found 2 of 4
Times Killed 0
Overall, I enjoyed the game's visuals. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy interacting with the ball. In particular, I found it strange that the ball can only be pulled, but not pushed, only hammered. It was, however, good that the developers added the ability to make the ball transparent (default key: Q; automatically happens when pulling the ball and it is touching the character).
There were also these small blocks in the game that couldn't be picked up, only hit. Hitting them to where I wanted them to go was a bigger dissatisfaction than the inability to push the ball.
Gameplay Log:
The voice acting and narration sounded good.
I walked towards the monkey and it screeched, giving me quite a scare.
So far the game is fun due to the unique game mechanic. However, as far as first impressions go, it isn't nearly as fun as Portal (2007).
 |
| Oh no! The ball's been caught by a magnet! |
Relevant Links:
The Ball Website
The Ball (video game) (Wikipedia.org)
20131224:
Today I played through the first level (Pehua) and it was a decent introduction to the game. In the level I learned that I can pull the ball from any distance, but the ball will only attempt to take a straight path towards me. I also learned that (at least with the first level) I could never ever lose the ball. Thus, if it looks trap, then its really not.
 |
| Press Q to see temporarily see through the ball. |
Time Taken 33:21
Monsters Killed 0
Monkeys Killed 0
Secrets Found 2 of 4
Times Killed 0
Overall, I enjoyed the game's visuals. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy interacting with the ball. In particular, I found it strange that the ball can only be pulled, but not pushed, only hammered. It was, however, good that the developers added the ability to make the ball transparent (default key: Q; automatically happens when pulling the ball and it is touching the character).
There were also these small blocks in the game that couldn't be picked up, only hit. Hitting them to where I wanted them to go was a bigger dissatisfaction than the inability to push the ball.
Gameplay Log:
The voice acting and narration sounded good.
I walked towards the monkey and it screeched, giving me quite a scare.
So far the game is fun due to the unique game mechanic. However, as far as first impressions go, it isn't nearly as fun as Portal (2007).
 |
| Achievements (20131224). |