Slant community chat on DiscourseCon Fair amount of grinding
There is a good amount of grinding that will need to take place for players to be able to advance past certain bosses.
Pro Individualistic levels
Each level in the game has its own look and design which can keep the gameplay varied thanks to creating a need to explore in order to see what comes next. Ranging from deserts to ice filler terrain, there is no level that looks the same.
Pro Gameplay with a sense of humour
There are several jokes and silly moments throughout the game. All done without speaking any word. This keeps the game lighthearted and amusing thanks to the humor of the creators and how they infused it into the game itself.
Pro Great story
The game uses an interesting way of telling the story through a narrator, which has an exceptional effect. Has an odd universe, something like a post-apocalyptic "Alice In Wonderland" during the cowboy era.
Con Combat is mundane
Like a lot of hack and slash titles, the combat itself can be pretty repetitive and Bastion is no different here. There is a lot of button mashing going on in this game, which can get boring pretty quick.
Pro Fun, varied gameplay
The RPG elements combined with the battle mechanics make the core gameplay fun and varied as the weapons/items/abilities/upgrades play out very differently from each other.
Bastion is a two dimensional, isometric action RPG available on Steam and for OSX, Linux and Windows. The gameplay consists of fighting ones way through each level by using one of their two equipped weapons or a limited special attack. As the player progresses there are health potions to be found which can heal the player as their health falls lower and lower from enemy attacks. In between levels the player can upgrade and equip different weapons which allows them to fight stronger and stronger enemies.
Pro Encourages creativity for all ages
Terraria is like a 2D Minecraft, so you can alter the world around you and craft things, which teaches creativity and critical thinking skills. This is great for children who enjoy building and discovering new ways to tackle ideas just as it is great for adults who enjoy the same things. It also m...
Pro 2D retro-platformer style
Instead of building a deliberate feeling of suspense, Terraria uses bright palettes and arcade action to provide a fun experience outside of the survival elements. When those elements gradually appear one by one, each is all the more shocking from the contrast.
Pro Extensive crafting system
The vast majority of items in Terraria can be used to create other items, often requiring specific crafting stations (which themselves must be crafted). This is the core of character advancement, since gear defines nearly everything about your character.
Pro Unique black and white aesthetic
Limbo uses (what was once) a very unique monochromatic color scheme to give an atmospheric feel.
Con Keyboard controls not that good
Movement is locked to the arrow keys instead of wasd.
Pro Artistic puzzle
Limbo has very unique environment with highly creative puzzles that offer a great experience with monochrome, b/w and other dim colors.
Con Art could be better
Much of the game is plain looking with simple graphics, and some with downright bad looking graphics. While it can be appreciated this was all created by one person, the graphics could use some polish in order to really make the game shine.
Pro True choices
In-game choices have lasting consequences.
Con Can be frustruating
The battles can be upsetting
Pro Co-op adds a completely new element to the gameplay
There is a modified co-op campaign in the game where players must coordinate their actions to succeed. This makes for a fun couch co-op game due to the communication one must have with their partner as well as how fun it is to grief them in person.
Pro Well thought out presentation
From the witty humor, enjoyable songs or the theater cutscenes, BattleBlock shows a high level of consideration for its design.
Pro All around great game!
Battle Block Theater is an awesome game which I believe is only on Console like Xbox and Playstation. It is for players who love jumping around in a 2D world and it adds a little bit of silliness and defiantly a well worth buy!
Battle Block Theater is a puzzle adventure game that can be played single player as well as co-op or PVP that costs $14.99. The core gameplay consists of 2D puzzle platforming where the player must collect gems in a level and then reach the exit. For what sounds simple enough can at times be excruciatingly difficult.
Pro Nice comic style look
Has Cel-Shaded graphics which displays this games graphics with smooth animations and has lots of attention to detail.
Pro Has enjoyable co-op
The game has a worthwhile multiplayer mode that is great to play with friends. it is separate from the main campaign (which would make the campaign too easy most likely) in that the players will face off against waves of enemies through coordination.
Con Story is pretty bland
The story does not really stand out and is a weak point of the game, though being a side scrolling platforming shooter/brawler the story is not really integral to the gameplay itself. Shank 2 takes on some heavy storied elements but sadly does not really take advantage of them and instead tends to...
Pro Brilliant puzzles
Fez has some deviously hard puzzles and mysteries that will require gathering clues from around the world to solve them.
Pro Clever 2D rotation game mechanic
The core mechanic of FEZ is the ability to spin the world around in 3D, and then traverse and interact with the resulting terrain in 2D.
Pro Mysterious world with lots of depth
FEZ goes beyond just being a great puzzle platformer. It also has a very clever storyline and game world with a mysterious bygone civilization that fits perfectly with the mysterious puzzles of the game.
Pro Invisibility cloak
Players get an invisibility cloak in the game as a main mechanic where it is used to sneak around. Of course movement is limited when in use which makes for some great puzzle aspects to the game when trying to figure out how to best sneak around.
Con Difficult
This is a game made to be extremely difficult, in the vein of Super Meat Boy or N+ the player will die and die a lot. This can be frustrating a time goes on and the further one gets as the game really increases difficulty.
Pro Over 30 minutes of pixel video cutscens
Reminiscent of 2d pixel games from the past Master Spy implements a variety of video cutscenes to further flesh out the story, completely done in 2D pixel art.
Pro Tons of fun and unique weapons
In cave story you have access to tons of upgradable weapons with unique properties for different situations.
Pro Incredibly challenging, with hard mode for veterans
Cave Story is hard and the hard mode even harder, which makes this game great for players looking for a new challenge.
Pro Great storyline
Cave Story offers a pretty deep storyline, more than one would think by just taking a quick glance at the game. There is a reason this game is still so popular after being around for so many years and it's story is it.
Con Some puzzles can be difficult
Here an there are a few really tough puzzles in the game which can be frustrating, luckily they are few and far between as the gameplay does not tend to repeat itself too often.
Pro Polished ethereal soundtrack
Haunting guitar strums mixed with beautiful piano chords and bits of chiptune creates a very fitting soundtrack that allows for an experience of polish not often found.
Pro Great story
For what is a pretty simplistic looking game, Thomas Was Alone offers a truly great story that actually gets the player to care about what are basically squares and rectangles.
Thomas Was Alone is a minimalist indie puzzle platformer that costs $9.99. The mechanics of the game are quite simple where the player takes control of different sized squares/rectangles characters in a 2D environment. Each character is able to jump a certain height, which limits where they are able to traverse. by combining the characters abilities though swapping out control of each character the player is able to advance through the level.
Con Story is depressing
There is a definite sense of melancholy while playing this game which can make for a depressing experience while playing the game, which may reduce the amount of time played.
Pro Clever game mechanics
Braid utilizes a rewind mechanic where in the player can rewind the action in the game at any time. This is coupled with puzzle layouts to each lever where the player has to use the rewind mechanics to reach certain spots in a level.
Pro Wonderfully challenging
On the outset Braid looks like any other platformer but once any time is spent with the game users soon find that the puzzles are deviously difficult forcing users to think outside of the box and even time itself.
Braid is a cross platform puzzle platformer that uses time manipulation as a core game mechanic that costs $9.99. The gameplay consists of basic platforming but with a twist of time control, where the player can reverse time in order to redo a mistake as well as use it to solve puzzles. It is through this time mechanic that the majority of obstacles will be overcome.
Pro Old-school arcade-like design
Makes for fun interesting scenarios, as there is a portal on each side of the screen that allows arrows flying off the left side to come in on the right. It also allows for trick shots by utilizing one side of the screen to shoot enemies on the other. This adds to the challenge, as you need to be...
Pro Simple to learn, hard to master
Anyone can pick up the game and be playing competently in a minute but there is a lot of technique and strategy to lean to keep players engaged. While the gameplay keeping itself pretty basic and easy to grasp, there is a level of skill needed here that can be learned through repeated gameplay, as...
Pro More powerups and arenas
TowerFall Ascension features more powerups and arenas than its previous title as the game has been refined as well as expanded making for a better experience in this newest offering.
Pro High quality
The game plays great, sounds great and is faithful to the original franchise.
Con Local co-op only
There is no online co-op meaning players will have to play at the same location on the same PC in order to play co-op.
Pro Combination of the best gameplay elements of retro pixel games of the NES era
Combining elements from Mega Man, Mario 3, Duck Tales, Zelda II and Castelvania Shovel Knight excels over the rest of the games trying to cash in on the 2D pixel art revival of recent years.
Pro Risk reward system
Players can risk destroying checkpoints for loot, which means if one does die after destroying their checkpoints they will have to start from the beginning of the stage. Basically this is a gambling system that can pay off or cause a crushing blow.
Con Enemy design is not always great
Some of the more recurring enemies often have just a pallet swap in order to differentiate them, which comes off as a bit lazy and uninspired.
Pro Play through iteration is fast
When you die, you spawn quickly to try again. Many games draw out the death, and have to reload. Super Meat Boy immediately re-spawns you so you waste no time.
Pro Unique visual style
As is typical of Ed McMillen's games, it looks like nothing else out there. The art style is 2D based but heavily unique with a vector graphics cartoony look.
Pro Forgivingly tight controls
The addition of a "run" button adds a lot of depth to levels, keeping the run-jump-repeat loop more interesting. The characters have acceleration as well, which demands finesse.
Super Meat Boy is an indie platforming game that focuses on difficulty. The gameplay consists of controlling a 2D meat blob and platforming ones way to their mate.. As the levels progress so does the difficulty. Often the player is going to die over and over again to finally be able to complete a level.
Pro Movement is precise and empowering
Movement is very fluid in the game and works very well, which is needed for a platformer. It is fun jumping around and there are no consequences when falling too far, so it allows for plenty of experimenting on where one can travel in a level.
Con Extremely short
The man story can be beaten in under 3 hours, which makes for a pretty short game.
Pro Stealth is not forced
Players can choose how they play as stealth is not a prerequisite, players can run and gun if they feel like or even go around setting traps.
Pro Keeps player coming back for more
In order to perfect a level there needs to be a lot of abuse beforehand, a lot of deaths. But once it all falls into place there is no better feeling of mastering a level.
Pro Concise tutorial
Dustforce has a very detailed tutorial that teaches the player all of the ins and outs of the gameplay.
Con Only local multiplayer
Sadly the multiplayer aspect of Dustforce is local only. For PC gaming to exclude online multiplayer (when there are multiplayer modes) is an odd choice as the platform lends itself better to online play more so than sharing a single monitor.
Dustforce DX is a cross platform platformer where a janitor is tasked with cleaning up the city that costs $9.99. Dustforce is a 2D platforming game where fast response times are necessary with gameplay that consists the player choosing one of four characters on the Dustforce team, each with their own abilities and maneuvers. It is through using these characters in the right situations that the player will progress in the game.
Pro Pixel artwork and sound design are well done
The pixel artwork done by Cappy as well as the chiptune sound design done by musician 6955 both complement each other quite well by both being reminiscent of 8 bit style games as well as more modern by taking advantage of newer technology that allows for more sounds at once as well as more detailed
Pro Humorous story
The story for Super Time Force Ultra consists of the main characters going back in time to alter events in history, the twist being that most of the reasons to do so are petty and selfish. This give the game a pretty light hearted tone that is laugh out loud funny at times.
Pro Single player co-op
The co-op in Super Time Force Ultra is actually only single player where in the player co-ops with themself by rewinding time and then playing that time over with what are now two players on the screen.
Pro Not just a normal beat 'em up
There are a few additions that make these games more than just a regular beat 'em up. Branching paths, item shops with usable inventory and special player abilities create a game that is more like an action RPG than a side scrolling beat 'em up.
Pro Allows for 4-Player co-op (online and local) just as in the arcades
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara has 4 player local and online co-op play which is the same scenario that the arcade allowed with up to four players at the same time.
Pro Challenges and trophies
Newly added into the game are challenges and earn-able trophies which extends the gameplay by allowing those to seek out these tasks. It also allows for some bragging rights for those that have completed certain ones.
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