January to May 2024: A Retrospective Regarding Past, Present and Future on a Deck

Even though life-support had been turned off on Big Boy E3 2.0, the yearly exhibition’s ghost still haunts video game industry. For example, Sony Interactive Entertainment does not have much worthwhile to show, yet they put together a State of Play just so that they are not left out of “E3 season”, 2024. Cannot really blame them since that spirit of so-called “Gamer Christmas” rubbed off on yours truly as well. I made 3 new purchases in May, after stubbornly refusing to buy any new game since Persona 3 Reloaded. Reviewing them separately is not possible for more than one reason right now, so here is semi-yearly retrospective. All played on Steam Deck.

Weight of the Past

If you ask me about the difference between being in one’s 20s and 30s, I would say that one can feel the weight of the past during the latter. One would not be full of piss and vinegar thinking they can change world. Instead, one truly feels that it had all happened before, and it will all happen again (Just not necessarily in the same way, mind you!). Well, let’s start with the one reminding me how Microsoft not learning its lessons, shall we?

Persona 3 Reload

The “technically a 2024 release” of this list. As I started in my ten thousand words long rumbling about this game, the original and this remake both marked the death of Big Boy E3. Those 2 games’ launch windows also see some, shall we say, questionable choices are made by Microsoft or Xbox.

Back in 2006, the small “ma and pa” shop called Atlus was still doing its “one game for one platform” policy, surely they would take the money from Microsoft and make something exclusive for Xbox 360. But no, their anime appearance was too niche for Peter Moore’s “billion users” ambition. Instead someone named Sakaguchi, who got fired from Square Soft for costing the company much for his cinematic ambition, got some cheques to make 2 forgotten Xbox 360 RPG.

Forward to 2024, Atlus became a multi-platform developer and proudly so announcing how fast their games shipped in millions. Even on their Japanese language Youtube channel, the Xbox logo would welcome viewers at the start of trailers. Xbox would shut down Tango Game Works, about the only studio put out worthwhile polygonal games for them in the recent years. Also, many Japanese speakers worked there. History sure rhymes a lot with Microsoft wasting money elsewhere, when the more economic option was staring down its throat.

Scarlet Nexus

The definitely not a 2024 release of this list, but it’s worth mentioning as an addendum for this dumb thing I called Platinum Melt-off. I played this game before I got my hands on any of Platinum’s whack’m up, so it’s time to look back at this about all those up and downs. Conclusion: ain’t Platinum so overrated, their best does not hold up too well, and their worst, is mopped instead of mopping.

The comparison between Astral Chain and Scarlet Nexus is one of those something better mopping the ground with Platinum’s worst examples. The former’s mimics Okami by programming collision into every non-player character while the latter has followed the conventional wisdom of many Japanese polygonal “extravaganza”: non-interactive NPCs are just window dress one can walk through. It appeared that this difference manage to give the latter an edge to focus on action and drama, while the former’s experiment is the hair-pulling kind of baffling.

Playing Scarlet Nexus again this is also part of refusing to purchase something new for this year. Namely, I took a look at a character action game titled Granblue Fantasy Relink and thought I got half of this perfectly fine game titled Scarlet Nexus to play. Turns out, this Bandai Namco production scratched 2 itches. As a voice in the back of my head known as “a wanking consumer’s impulse” whispered “You want to buy a PS5 for Stellar Blade just out of curiosity, don’t you?”, I looked up the Japanese voice for Eve in that one, who turns out to be Asami Seto. Ms. Seto voiced one of the player characters in Scarlet Nexus and IGN Japan did spend words on her performance. Comparing that to IGN Japan’s review of Stellar Blade where no words were spent on characters, I managed to snap myself out of buying the console, preventing a “PS3 for the Last of Us, all over again”.

Intermission

There are times when only the past feels like reality while present and future are merely illusions. Like this current “indie game boom” many on Youtube sing praise of. It just feels like people spent years to recreate what they remember about the Nintendo Entertainment System days. Then I made the following 3 purchases because they remind me of PC games in the last couple of years of the 1990s. The first one even presents its digital manual as big paper boxes PC games used to come in with.

Lightness of the Present

Mullet Madjack

Ah, yes, the all-new for 2024 with none of that Early Access bullshit release also happens to be the shortest one on this list. 5 hours on the Steam Clock to go through the game twice. It’s a lighter and more entertaining experience than I excepted.

In this game, one plays as the titular character ascending a tower to save a chick. Ah, yes, there are a lot to robots to destroy on the way up. This is a first-person shooter with randomly generated level lay-out. Unlike many rogue-like FPS, this one rewards aggression. Madjack only have 10 to 15 seconds, depends on difficulties, to live unless he kills a robot. Other than an arsenal of firearms, he can kick and pick up melee weapons for one-time uses.

This game, at least with story mode, is not exactly rogue. Every 10 floors there is a boss and a checkpoint. One does not go to first floor of the tower when killed, just the checkpoints every 10 floors. The game is designed with keyboard and mouse in mind since one does not stand a chance with the standard difficulty’s 10 second playing with gamepad. An Endless Mode is when the rogue-like elements come in.

The lowest difficulty takes away the timer but it does not necessarily make the game too easy. With the timer, every kill is a glory to keep one going. Without the timer, only one-time melee kills restore health. Overall, this is a very entertaining shooter that must be played to be appreciated. To find out whether it’s for you or not, I’d recommend checking out the demo first. I did, enjoyed it before made the purchase.

Familiarity of the Future

Familiarity certainly breeds condemn, but that negative feeling is not the only thing comes from it. Fondness can come from familiarity as well. Take a 1978 flick titled the Driver (Thanks to the late J W Rinzler and his making of Alien movies books informing me of it.) for example. It was considered a flop on both commercial and critical front back then because it appeared similar to many films back then. Watching it in 2024 is certainly a “remember when movies were good?” moment. The texture of film, done-on-camera car stunts and traditionally attractive people appear cool. Cinema! Not to mention its influence on the likes of early James Cameron flick.

Anyway, I label those 2 “future” because they are currently in Early Access on Steam. One is a high-anticipated sequel while the other is clearly a throwback. Personally, I consider them at least on good side. But recommending them would come with caveats. I ain’t no IGN. Both are akin to late 1990s PC games, namely isometric real-time combat game and old-school first-person shooter. So if you are not into those, the following 2 just might not be for you.

Hade II

For May, 2024’s indie darling with plenty of production value packed in, I cannot add much. However it’s something running interestingly parallel to it, Netflix’s Greek Myth animated series titled Blood of Zeus. The first season came out about a month after Hades hit 1.0 while the second came out the same week as the sequel’s Early Access. The son and daughter of Hades and Persephone made cameo appearance in the show, but the similarity between the show and the game is in their bones.

Unlike God of War series’ angry man causing bloodbath in the pantheon approach, Supergiant’s games and the Netflix show both focus on the family drama among gods. Striking 2D art is the strong suit of both as well. Then since it’s Netflix with not much restrain, Blood of Zeus is, well, bloody. It’s in the name. To paraphrase a Call of Duty review I once read, just swapping out WII among a few other things: even after Disney’s exploitation wears out people’s interest in Marvel superheroes and Star Wars, Greek Myth would still be a gift that keeps on giving. An indie darling among video games and an endangered animated drama are living proof.

Selaco

I do enjoy the 9 hours I spent to see the cliffhanger end of chapter 1 and credits in Selaco but I can’t recommend it to all. If you had played Half-life up to 4 in the morning like yours truly had, you would be right at home playing this. If not, you need to ask yourself how long can you stand “not finding a way out” in video games. Other things you might consider include but not limited to manual save scum your wary through firefights.

Powered by gzDoom, Selaco does not play like an id game. Instead, it reminds me more of Monolith’ Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, with its personality mostly coming of its 2D art. It’s fast-pace affair in which even on the second lowest difficulty the player character Captain Dwan is fast to die. There is a slide. The game does follow some real-life logic when it comes to some simple puzzles. See a fire blocking the way forward and a fire extinguisher on the wall? Well, pick up that can, throw it into fire and you can move on.

The developer of Selaco proudly claim that they make a lot of contents into a file size of 1.1 GB. My mind automatically went back to the last couple of years of 1990s. Back then, an installment size above one single gigabyte means the developer and publisher can write their own ticket, namely more than four As.