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29 Jun 2020
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The FG Games

I’ve spent the last two months hosting a minigame competition on my Animal Crossing island! It’s been a very busy time, but a lot of fun too!

I first posted the edited videos just for the participants to see, but eventually made them public as the production got more ambitious, and I think this grand finale is quite a solid piece of entertainment, and I hope you’ll enjoy! :)

If you want to sign up for possible future episodes, or just chat with me and others, check out my FreddeGredde discord server!

22 May 2020
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Super Mario 64

Super Mario 64 | 22nd May, 2020 | 5:35hrs | rating: 3.5/5

Mario’s first step into 3D, and they got so much right from the very beginning.

GAMEPLAY: While you’re running, the controls are incredibly fun to this day. Only while walking slowly, Mario does this half circle turning which isn’t great. The camera would be extremely frustrating to a new-comer, but I’m so used to it that it’s not a big deal.
AUDIOVISUALLY: Simple but timeless. The music is alright but among the weakest in the series.
STORY/PRESENTATION: Collect stars to open doors in Peach’s castle until you reach Bowser. Doesn’t need to be more than that. Some levels are better than others though. I got frustrated by the ghost house and the water levels, as I didn’t have the patience for slow-paced exploration. The more straight-forward ones are easily the most fun, like the lava level and the Bowser levels.

Hadn’t played this since the DS version in 2004, but it was a lot of fun! It’s so focused, no waiting times, just straight to the point. Now I’m updated with my view on Mario64, and I can’t wait to try the rumored remaster/remake, and all the other 3D Mario games.

07 May 2020
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Murder by Numbers

Murder by Numbers | 7th May, 2020 | 20:00hrs | rating: 2.5/5

Solve murder mysteries with picross puzzles.

GAMEPLAY: The picross gameplay is as you’d expect, and what’s in-between is mostly dialog trees and occasionally presenting evidence. Sort of satisfying, but mostly plain.
AUDIOVISUALLY: I don’t like the paper cut-out style of the characters, but the music is VERY catchy!
STORY/PRESENTATION: I like the characters quite a bit, but the four chapters all feel like uneventful filler episodes. The very ending is where it picks up, but I felt kind of done at that point.

To me it’s okay as a relaxing time-waster, but far from making a real impression on me. Not much replayability either, because it’s way too easy to get an S rank. They should have given speed bonuses or something!

19 Apr 2020
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Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons | 19th Apr, 2020 | 150:00hrs | rating: 4/5

Express yourself like in no other game, this time not just with clothes and interior design, but an entire island!

GAMEPLAY: You move to a deserted island where you fish, craft, collect, furnish and spend time with friends. A lot of text, slow one-thing-at-a-time pace and movement (to help you from making mistakes), and it results in slightly lacking gameplay feel. Still extremely polished and enjoyable, especially if you have a creative mind.
AUDIOVISUALLY: Simple but beautiful visuals, impressive how the framerate can stay solid when you place hundreds of various items on screen. There are some nice songs too (6pm!), but some are surprisingly annoying too. I would have liked more variation in the end. Maybe winter has other songs?
STORY/PRESENTATION: From my perspective, the progress isn’t slow enough. In previous games you were “out of things to do” after just an hour or so per day, but this time you can marathon things, and reach what is essentially “the end” in just 10 days. It’s a good ride, and it opens up the minecraft-like terraforming, but there aren’t many new things unlocking after that. For the first time in a video game, I’m craving DLC, and a lot of it.
MULTIPLAYER: Couch-co-op is a fun distraction a couple of times but is too limited. The online experience is amazing though, except for the long loading times. It’s a lot of fun to regularly visit your friends to trade things and see what they’ve made. Sharing island (a requirement if you share your Switch with someone) is also a great experience as long as you can collaborate.

It’s hard to compare this to other games. It’s more of a virtual reality, one where you can spend hours and hours just designing signs and floor tiles, or hanging out with visitors. The biggest flaw for me is the limited amount of custom patterns. Please Nintendo, give me twice the pattern inventory in an update so I can keep creating unique visuals!

I will keep checking in for a bit every day, but 150 hours in, I’m out of island space to build more things, and it’s time to start playing other games again.

18 Apr 2020
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Dandara

Dandara | 18th Apr, 2020 | 9:24hrs | rating: 2.5/5

A very special “platformer” where you can’t run, only jump between designated spots.

GAMEPLAY: The controls are snappy and feel fresh and fun, and within minutes I was zapping between walls, taking out enemies and traversing the hallways. Unfortunately there isn’t much variation at all (the weapon upgrades don’t change up the gameplay), so the game loses steam and excitement pretty quickly. The level design is initially more about spatial awareness than most other metroidvanias, but gets more plain later on.
AUDIOVISUALLY: The pixelart is above average, with smooth zooming and rotation effects. The audio is even better, with punchy effects and cool if unmemorable music.
STORY/PRESENTATION: The story and lore was fascinating at first, especially the unusual environment/character design, but like the rest of the game, the first hour is much more interesting than the rest.

It started so promising, but the levels got blander and the gameplay didn’t change things up enough. It’s a very difficult game too, and not in a very satisfying way! I had more fun selecting unlimited energy in the “cheat menu”, so I could blast away with the more enjoyable weapon upgrades without worrying. All in all, great concept but needed more ideas.

02 Apr 2020
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Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons | 2nd Apr, 2020 | 3:00hrs | rating: 1.5/5

Two brothers set out to find a cure to save their dying father.

GAMEPLAY: All you do is move your character around and occasionally press the action button to activate an animation to climb, talk or interact with various elements. Despite this, the wonky physics and controls are nothing less than hilariously bad, and we often laughed at the random clipping and errors. This game is not played for its gameplay.
AUDIOVISUALLY: It looks like what I imagine Gamecube/PS2 games to look like in HD. It’s very basic, and the music is basically nonexistent.
STORY/PRESENTATION: The story is the strength. Can’t say it moved me at the end or anything, but there are some really cool and freaky scenarios on your adventure.
MULTIPLAYER: The whole game can be co-oped with a friend, and it certainly makes it a lot more fun, maybe partly because it caused even more bugs than when playing alone!

This feels like it wasn’t made by people with video game experience, but if gameplay isn’t very important to you, it’s a short but fascinating journey through a few environments and events.

19 Mar 2020
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Wuppo

Wuppo | 19th Mar, 2020 | 7:20hrs | rating: 2/5

You’re a small ball who gets kicked out of your hotel, and now you have to find your way back!

GAMEPLAY: The main mechanic is aiming your various guns with the right analog stick, but mostly you explore the world, do some light platforming and read a lot of (humorous) dialog.
AUDIOVISUALLY: I find it pretty ugly, like it’s made in classic Paint with modern effects on top. The music is very nice though, the best aspect of the game!
STORY/PRESENTATION: It starts interesting, but you get back to the hotel pretty quickly and after that it seems like they just made things up without any planning or structure. It’s just too aimless for this kind of game.
MULTIPLAYER: After a few minutes, a second player can join in as a bird buddy, but since most of the game is slow and eventless, it doesn’t really add anything.

I’m sure a lot of love was put into this, but it’s just too unfocused for me. Uncaptivating (though at least occasionally silly) plot, long empty corridors especially if you don’t know where to go next, lots of shops and areas that turned out to be useless in order to progress, regular slowdown and more than a few bugs like getting stuck in walls. I’d definitely recommend Wandersong instead, which is a similar adventure platformer but superior in every single way.

17 Mar 2020
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Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night | 17th Mar, 2020 | 19:12hrs | rating: 4/5

Basically it’s as metroidvania as a game can get.

GAMEPLAY: Extremely satisfying game loop from start to finish, killing enemies, getting new weapons and abilities and exploring new corners of the map. It does get very easy too quickly (the first boss was easily the hardest for me), but it doesn’t matter as there’s always new things to see and do, and the customization is very satisfying.
AUDIOVISUALLY: Played it on Switch, and this is a pretty ugly and blurry game! Some areas have serious slowdown, but at least I never encountered any bugs or crashes, so honestly I didn’t mind. The music is catchy!
STORY/PRESENTATION: The plot is forgettable but not in the way. The loading-times are a little too long, and in general it just doesn’t run well.

I gotta say I enjoyed this one more than Hollow Knight in many ways. Especially the insane amount of weapons, abilities and equipment kept things constantly interesting for me, even when backtracking.

12 Mar 2020
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Mega Man 11

Mega Man 11 | Mar 12, 2020 | 7:40hrs | rating: 3/5

Mega Man is back to face eight new robot bosses and their stages.

GAMEPLAY: It’s classic Mega Man and it’s still fun to play, but the new “double gear” system (which lets you slow down time or increase power for a short time) doesn’t really add much for me. I just prefer not using it. Equipping the right weapons is way more crucial to make things easier, because this is a challenging game!
AUDIOVISUALLY: Most levels look generic, but a couple of backgrounds stand out at least. The music does not work for me at all compared to the 8-bit tracks of the franchise. It’s a shame you can’t toggle from this lame dance-style music to ROCK if you so choose to. Would have been awesome!
STORY/PRESENTATION: They really need to try new things rather than “remaking” the first games’ structure every time. In this day and age, it’s too light on content, and it’s way too predictable. The useless sprinkled in dialog certainly doesn’t add anything.

It’s retro in a way that isn’t common anymore: You lose LIVES and you’re meant to replay the levels/game to improve and feel good about it. Some insta-kill traps/pits are annoying, but retrying bosses to find their weaknesses and patterns is still fun. Just stock up on lives from the store, and remember that the second playthrough is more fun! (If I didn’t have other stuff to play, I would have played it more than just twice!)

10 Mar 2020
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Untitled Goose Game

Untitled Goose Game | Mar 10, 2020 | 2:30hrs | rating: 1.5/5

You’re a goose, and you have to annoy the humans to cross off a checklist of goals.

GAMEPLAY: You grab items in order to lure the humans to or away from stuff. It’s mostly trial-and-error to achieve things like “make the man spit out his tea” or “dress the statue”, and it gets tiresome quickly. I just wish there was a more logical way of progressing that didn’t require a random to-do list.
AUDIOVISUALLY: Some of the most authentic clean cartoon graphics I’ve seen, it’s kind of perfect. The music is just some adaptive piano stuff that isn’t memorable at all. The game is too quiet!
STORY/PRESENTATION: You’re just dropped into this little village and start doing things. There is an end goal, but it’s not explained or hinted at until you’ve reached it. I suppose it encourages fun and freedom, but for me it made the game too aimless.
MULTIPLAYER: None. There should have been! How hard can it be to add a second goose.

Although there’s a lot of charm, silliness and fun animations, it’s very short, mostly tedious and just not fun to play.