So I've decided to start a series of quick blog updates as I try to clear my backlog from 2016 before games start happening again. It's worth noting that the first week's worth of updates will include what I've actually been playing the past two weeks. It's also worth noting I've been spending more time with two of my favorite games from 2016: Hitman and Overwatch.

As a quick Hitman update, I managed to beat Elusive Target 17 and have been working on my mastery level on a couple of maps. That game is still really good, and I wish I had gotten into it a little earlier now. And of course, I'll probably be playing Overwatch until the end of time. A couple of friends I purchased alternate accounts during the Christmas sale, and I've finally got my alternate up to level 25. So over the weekend, I'll probably do some comp placements on it.

On to the actual backlog games:

Obduction

While I won't say Myst was one of my favorite series of the era, I had played through Myst I through IV back in the day. I also was a big fan of The Witness, the modern day spiritual Myst, last year. With that being said, I thought the story and setting of The Witness were kind of bad. Sure, the island initially seemed like it might be interesting, but that potential was done in by a bunch of silly philosophical ramblings that ultimately said little. While I respect the world view of Jonathan Blow, the execution of what he wanted to present left a lot to be desired.

That brings me to Obduction, which simultaneously is offering that type of interesting exploration while perhaps not offering as interesting puzzle solving. I'm not terribly far into the game, but it does certainly scratch that Myst itch of exploring an alien world at my own leisure and getting lost in it. Much like Myst, the story is conveyed through a mix of diaries/books/papers and scenery. Without spoiling anything, this portion of the game is pretty fantastic and shows that the old Cyan team still excels at world building like few other teams can.

With that said, so far the game's puzzle solving hasn't been as captivating as other recent games such as The Witness or The Talos Principle. Some of the puzzles are rather basic and simply involve wandering about, pressing buttons, and moving the mouse about trying to locate something to click on. Others have been extremely clever and reward the player for carefully examining scenery and putting things together. With that said, the game might turn some people off with the way its puzzles lack a cohesive theme or style like say the Witness and instead reflect more of an old-school design philosophy.

So far, I'm enjoying my time with the game, but I'll admit it's not the best game to play after work, so it could take a bit to finish it.

Glittermitten Grove

I think everyone knows what this game is by this point. Thus far, I'm not too far into the actual meat of the Frog Fractions 2 section. I will say the actual Glittermitten Grove wrapper game was a bit more interesting than I thought it would be, though nothing I would want to play beyond the 45-60 minutes it took to find Frog Fractions 2 in it. There are definitely elements to the game that show it was a much smaller game in scope and thus perhaps not balanced the best way.

So far, the actual Frog Fractions 2 portion of the game is a lot of what you'd expect from Frog Fractions. And by that I mean a lot of referential humor mixed with offbeat riffs on various video games and a constant shift in gameplay style. I won't spoil anything about it other than to say if you liked Frog Fractions, you should probably play this at some point. And if you didn't play Frog Fractions, you should probably play that one first as it's free.

Owlboy

Now this is a game I had a lot of regrets about not getting to in 2016. I am a sucker for old-school Metroidvanias with unique designs. I could spend a couple paragraphs extolling the virtues of Owlboy: it looks amazing, the music is amazing, the story is whimsical, the humor hits the right notes, etc. Unfortunately, as I hit about the two-thirds mark in the game, one aspect of the game continues to weigh heavily on me: the gameplay.

I'm not really sure what Owlboy wants to be. In a lot of ways, it feels like the developers are guilty of trying to be too many things. For the most part, Owlboy plays like a mix between 2D action/adventure games and SHMOOPs. Otus has the ability to fly, thus the traditional platforming elements of these types of games are largely not present. In addition, Otus himself carries a second character with him during combat. Based on which character you select, you get different weapons at your disposal. This takes the place of say different beam weapons in a Metroid game.

In practice though, combat feels just all together off. Because Otus is holding on to a second character model, the SHMOOP sections feel cramped. In addition, Otus himself feels too floaty to carefully navigate any kind of cramped confines. Enemy design feels a little lackluster, and there isn't much variety to it in any given area. Early sections of the game seem to be designed around Otus having to ram or melee hit an enemy and then you having to switch to one of your teammates to finish them. These encounters feel clunky, and are thankfully less seen in the next two sections of the game I completed last night.

There are also a number of fairly basic stealth sections to the game. They're about what you'd expect from the better examples of a non-stealth game trying to insert stealth gameplay in that they're serviceable and inoffensive. The game's bosses thus far have been about the same as the rest of the game: perfectly fine, though nothing world-changing.

If I had to score this game right now, I'd begrudgingly call it 4/5 with the caveat the gameplay is closer to 3/5. I'll probably finish it over the weekend and be able to offer my final thoughts on it next week.

That's it for this week. Assuming I finish Owlboy and Glittermitten over the weekend, I plan on starting Headlander next.