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The Tetris Effect *OT* (Off-Topic)

by cheapLEY @, Sunday, November 11, 2018, 21:25 (1964 days ago)

Iplayed The Tetris Effect for like three hours tonight. It is really, really good. It is the best version of Tetris I've ever played. It's great looking, and the sound design is really captivating. I've said before, but a good soundtrack can make a game for me. While Tetris is and always will be good on its own merits, the soundtrack is the thing that really makes The Tetris Effect a standout game for me. Think Lumines meets Tetris.

It's simultaneously very relaxing and calming, but also gets just exhilarating as the speed ramps up and the music swells.

I cannot adequately articulate how cool this game is, so I'll let the game speak for itself.

Giant Bomb did a look at the game last week with the developers, and it's the video that sold me on buying the game.

Here's their regular Quick Look they did when the game launched:

And the launch trailer:

It's currently only on PS4 (I really want to try this with PSVR!), but I hope it makes its way to other platforms.

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The Forest *OT*

by Korny @, Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Monday, November 12, 2018, 11:41 (1963 days ago) @ cheapLEY
edited by Korny, Monday, November 12, 2018, 11:53

I'm curious about Tetris Effect, but games like that seem more fit for something like Couch competition, or the Vita, or mobile, none of which it supports (seriously, not even same-screen?).

One game that we did pick up in the past week, though, is The Forest, a $20 4-player co-op survival game with an actual story.

I'm not a huge fan of survival games (especially not those with warmth/thirst/sanity meters), but since it's co-op, and doesn't have the niche artstyle of "Don't Starve", I've been following its development for a while, and I am happy to report that this is the least annoying survival game that I've ever played.


The premise is that your plane crashes on an island, and your son is taken by a cannibal. You, the father (or fathers in co-op, because it's 2018), are tasked with finding him, and the truth about why your plane crashed in the first place. Oh, and there are a bunch of different cannibal tribes on the island who want to eat you, and something much, much worse that lurks in the dark.

Although you can play it with up to three friends, it feels at its best when you play with just one other person. I played about four hours with Sammy, and six or so with my brother, and while the constant need to feed does get annoying at times, you can craft things such as food drying racks and animal traps to make the routine less intrusive. Playing with just one other person makes it more fun to coordinate your resources, goals, and fights (there is friendly fire), whereas larger groups are more fun if you want to assign roles and team efforts.

The key thing that separates this game from any other run of the mill survival game, though, is the cannibal AI. They don't mindlessly rush you. Sometimes they just watch you from a distance, hoping you'll lure them back to your camp. Sometimes they'll test your defenses, and sometimes they run away when you run into their camps. So in that sense, you never quite know what you're in for when they come along, and we've seen behaviors all over the place (we once saw a pack running across a large open field on all fours, with the lead man on fire). It's a rush at times, terrifying at others, and at one point, my brother and I became the monsters, heading into a cave while blasting 80s rock to murder the inhabitants and take their bodies so that we could make some decorations for our camp.
It's... fun.

The only downsides of the game are how painfully indie it is/feels. There is a pretty substantial lack of polish everywhere, from movement, animations, audio, build variety, animal AI, gameplay depth... Though fortunately the visuals are above what I had expected. Nature is beautiful, and creature design can be genuinely disturbing. And some of the cheapness of the game is charming/amusing, such as when you're trying to land a slingshot round on a monitor lizard as it runs in circles...

The most relatable review that I've watched so far is this one, though he criticizes the weak light provided by your lighter, without mentioning that you can make torches (and there is a flashlight in the game, but you have to find it).

Anyway, it's a fun game to play with one or two friends, or four friends if you're more eager to take on larger swarms of enemies (the enemies come in bigger groups the more your presence in the region is felt).

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The Forest *OT*

by cheapLEY @, Monday, November 12, 2018, 13:34 (1963 days ago) @ Korny

Thanks for posting that. I might check it out. I always like the idea of survival games more than I end up liking actually playing them though. State of Decay 2 wore thin after just a few hours. Even Subnautica, which I think is really interesting and fun, mostly due to its setting, gets stale more quickly than I would have thought. Subnsutica is a standout in that it does have an interesting story to follow, but I got lost in the tedium at a certain point and got bored. Most survival games feel even more aimless than that.

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The Forest *OT*

by Korny @, Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Monday, November 12, 2018, 14:11 (1963 days ago) @ cheapLEY
edited by Korny, Monday, November 12, 2018, 14:47

Thanks for posting that. I might check it out. I always like the idea of survival games more than I end up liking actually playing them though. State of Decay 2 wore thin after just a few hours. Even Subnautica, which I think is really interesting and fun, mostly due to its setting, gets stale more quickly than I would have thought. Subnsutica is a standout in that it does have an interesting story to follow, but I got lost in the tedium at a certain point and got bored. Most survival games feel even more aimless than that.

Yeah, I don't know what it is. State of Decay has co-op, but it just didn't feel fun, or like it added to the experience.
The thing about the Forest is that Co-op feels necessary.
There are very few co-op survival games (Minecraft technically being the most well-known), and the fact that the Forest feels built around it really helps. Solo, you won't make it very long, and like all solo survival games, progress is frustrating, because you're juggling the need to feed, explore, build, and fight all over the course of a couple dozen precious minutes of daylight, and you will never have enough time to really get into the base-building, because it's just not worth investing time into it.

In co-op, though, dividing workloads helps a lot, and feels like you're really able to pick and choose what you'd like to work towards for the day. My brother and I have had quite literal watercooler moments this past week where we talk about the events and shenanigans that unfolded the night before. Maybe I'll stream a bit soon.

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The Forest *OT*

by MacAddictXIV @, Seattle WA, Tuesday, November 13, 2018, 05:46 (1962 days ago) @ Korny

You have any recommendations for Xbox people for this genre?

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The Forest *OT*

by Korny @, Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Tuesday, November 13, 2018, 09:02 (1962 days ago) @ MacAddictXIV

You have any recommendations for Xbox people for this genre?

The one on Xbox that I enjoyed the most was Conan Exiles. But while it has far more depth and variety, it is far less polished and focused as a result, and it does have some PvP elements where anyone can just show up, rather than being strictly co-op.

But once you learn the convoluted UI and get into the base-building, it's definitely fun. But not $50 fun. Not sure if it's still available, but it was one of those "Try free with Gold" games.

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Streaming some of The Forest now!

by Korny @, Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Thursday, November 15, 2018, 19:01 (1960 days ago) @ Korny

Doing a three-player run with Sammy and Ivan.

Also, today was Barkbox day, so there may be more annoying squeaks than usual in the background. Sorry!

The Forest

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Streaming some of The Forest now!

by Korny @, Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Friday, November 23, 2018, 18:32 (1952 days ago) @ Korny

So after spending some solid time with The Forest, I think it's one of my favorite games this year. I was wrong when I said that it's at its best with two people, because having a third has made it even better.

Since The Forest is one of those games that takes a while to build up speed, I'm streaming again tonight, showcasing some of the more mid-game content. Watch as we bring the fight to the cannibals and mutants!

Streaming here!

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Tetris Effect--Now in VR *OT*

by cheapLEY @, Thursday, November 15, 2018, 18:58 (1960 days ago) @ cheapLEY

For some reason, I bought a PSVR from a friend that was looking to get rid of it. It seems really neat! Tried a bunch of demos, and also have a copy of Astrobot and Moss.

I, of course, already owned Tetris Effect, which is VR compatible. It's neat. The board just hovers in front of you, with those cool backgrounds and effects going on around you. It actually adds quite a bit to that game. The effects and sounds and VR all combine to really make a cool experience.

I still cannot recommend Tetris Effect enough. If anyone would have told me I'd spend $40 on freaking Tetris, I'd have called that person an idiot, but damn, it is so worth it. It's been eating my game time in big way.

Anyone have an good PSVR game recommendations? I didn't get Move controllers, but might look into it pretty soon.

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