Strange Flesh - Review

Some time ago I made a list of all the games I remembered playing.  Since then I have continued to add to it and I have just hit the seven-hundred mark.  There are highs and lows within that list, good games and bad.  But there are few games that so are so different they are in a league of their own, games like Catherine, Shadows of the Damned, Lollipop Chainsaw, Project Rub, and The Rub Rabbits.  Each of them is quite different from any other games I have played, and I'm now adding Strange Flesh to that list.


I love sausages, more so as I have gotten older, perhaps it is due to the huge variety of shapes, sizes, and flavors available.  They can be simple or diverse and can be a great snack or a meal.  I guess what I am saying is no matter what there is a sausage for everyone.  Playing Strange Flesh I found myself asking was this too much sausage for me?

Story


The focus of the story is Joe, a guy working in an office who is clearly unhappy with his life.  On one fateful night, he finds himself wandering the streets looking for a bar to drink in.  It seems like he won't find one but then out of nowhere a bar appears, the name reads 'Strange Flesh Bar'.  Joe enters and immediately feels uncomfortable as it turns out Strange Flesh is more than just a bar, it's a sex club for men.  Despite feeling perturbed he stays and is silently beckoned over by the bartender.  After receiving a drink on the house Joe starts to divulge his woes while enjoying the aroma of the bartender's cigar smoke.  Shortly after Joe blacks out and the bartender takes over.


The game has you play as the bartender whose role is to help free Joe's mind from all that is holding him back.  In the beginning, things are tame and depict a generally stressed and worn-out man, but as you delve deeper into his mind the true nature of his unhappiness becomes apparent - the repression of his true sexual self, as a gay man. While the deepest levels are inundated with sexually explicit imagery, this simply serves to illustrate how much his repression is negatively affecting Joe.


While it would be easy to dismiss the game as a being a purely sex-fueled game it is about more than that, it's about someone who is unhappy not only because of his job but also because he has repressed and denied himself happiness.


Overall a really interesting story, that isn't afraid to let it all hang out there and take risks.

Visuals


The artwork in Strange Flesh is really cool and it reminded me of Streets of Rage 3.  It's very colorful and over the top, but in a good way.  The bartender himself looks like a cross between The Hulk and the Terminator, which is an interesting look that works well. There are crazy-looking character designs including Columbian Joe, who is Joe crossed with a coffee pot, and fister who is mostly comprised of fists, one of which sticks out of its butt and is used to attack you.


Strange Flesh is never afraid of showing sex of a graphic nature, this is particularly notable in the Den of Lust section.  The background shows different versions of Joe carrying out a variety of sex acts.


Overall the visuals are impressive and while there is no shortage of sex both in the background and foreground it rarely felt overly crass.


Music 


The soundtrack is pretty awesome and has a very electronic sound.  The music is created and composed by Fann, unfortunately, I couldn't find any other information on this person so I am unsure as to what they may have worked on before.

The soundtrack runs a little over thirty minutes and is made up of fourteen tracks.  My favorite tracks included 'Six Six Sixty-Nine', 'Bartender Lure', and 'Coffee Break'.

Overall an awesome soundtrack that works really well with the game,  so much so that I download it from SoundCloud.

Gameplay

Strange Flesh was created by Greatest Bear Studios, which is comprised of a team of three, Blazing Cheeks, Ursa Maximus, and Fann.  The gameplay goes for an old school beat em' up style which is a lot of fun.  There are your basic attacks, you can jump, grab and then there are the special moves.


The bartender is able to use his cigar smoke in many interesting ways.  One way is to blow smoke at the figments and apparitions of Joe's mind which gets them to fight for you.  If you grab two of them and blow smoke in their mouth they become horny and will eventually get off with each other.  Once your gauge is high enough you can pull off an area attack that downs all enemies.  On occasion, it is possible to dominate the downed enemies and have sex with them.  Each of these actions gives you more submission points.


Joe's mind is filled with many different versions of himself, from simple Disinterested Joe to muscle-bound Fiery Joe.  Everything you encounter is another part of Joe's subconscious, some of them will be easier to defeat than others and the final boss is a little challenging.


Overall the game offers some really fun gameplay, while it is more intense than I would expect in a video game, I can appreciate its relevance and meaning within the context of the story.

Final Thoughts

So after nearly three hours of playing how did I feel?  Good, really good.  The story was interesting, and the artwork was awesome as was the music.  The gameplay was a lot of fun and as a whole, the game was not afraid to take risks and be unabashed.  This one gets a solid 4 out of 5

Guns, Gore and Cannoli 2 - Review

It feels like an age since I have written a review, it turns out it has only been two weeks.  I started replaying Persona 4 Golden Week and I am struggling to put it down.  Sometimes though you need to take a break from playing a game so you can play another one.  Recently myself and my Nollsy played Guns, Gore and Cannoli and we had a lot of fun, so when we saw a sequel had just been released we thought hells yeah let play it.


I like cannoli, they work really well with coffee. Wait? What?  I know what you are thinking  I said this only recently.  I did, but this time it's a little different.  Have you ever eaten a stale cannoli?  It looks okay from the outside but on the inside, it's barely filled and is dried out.  Playing Guns, Gore and Cannoli 2 I found myself asking was this worthy of the name cannoli?

Story

Vinnie Cannoli is back in the fray and this time it's personal, well it was personal last time, this time it's extra personal.  This time the game is set in 1944, and the event of the first installment has been swept under the rug.  Vinnie ends up getting dragged back to Thugtown and takes a trip to Europe during World War II.

The story is all over the place and not in a comical weird kind of way but just nonsensical. The story has the feeling that you are constantly being set up, which is a little derivative as this was the plot of the first game.  But in honesty it's more than that, everyone wants you dead even though they actually want you alive?!  Vinnie's dialogue is similar to the first game and one of his standout lines was 'some turds are just too big to flush'.

Overall the story is similar to the first game with two exceptions, it doesn't make any sense and also it doesn't make any sense.

Visuals

I have to give props for the visuals they are fun and quite comical for such a dark backdrop.  There is more attention to detail and some of the level designs look great.  My favorites being the Normandy beach landing, the Theater and the Secret Research Base in the woods.

Overall the visuals are improved and only suffer one issue, for some reason this time the camera is panned out quite far.  Great for enjoying the view, not always great when trying to see where you are.

Music 

The score is pretty similar to the first game focusing on a twenties sound.  The score is once again is created by Belgium composer Matthias Claeys who worked on the music for Empire, Siegebreaker, and Coin Army.

The score runs a little over twenty minutes, my favorite tracks being 'Tank Boss Theme',  'Normandie'

and 'Storage Radio Mix'.  

Overall the soundtrack isn't bad but no risks were taken and you would be forgiven for thinking it was the same as the music from the original game.

Gameplay

Sooo, the gameplay.  The first game had a number of issues with the gameplay, it seems like the developer realised this too.  Instead of making minor tweaks they instead ended up doing a 360, you read that right.

The first issue is that it looks like your character is far away, it helps show off the visuals but it is also quite easy to lose track of where you are.  There is now a menu wheel for your weapons, this takes up a large section of the screen and becomes really awkward if both of you are trying to change your weapons.  It's okay in theory but the game is fast paced and having a wheel taking over such a large portion of the screen is crazy.  The game now allows you to shoot and aim upwards, yay!  The only problem is you have one analog stick for movement and another for aiming.   I know what you might be thinking, what's the big deal?  Well for you average release no problem, but for a 2D side-scroller it is needless fiddley and hampers the gameplay.

There are now cars featured in the game that try and run you down, they are kind of fun and add a new element.

Boss battles...boss battles are...they are...a little frustrating.  They are generally quite long and have too many parts to them.  I like a challenge, it's fun but the bosses in this game are just annoying.  In Cuphead, for example, they were tough but they were doable there was a pattern to it, but in Guns, Gore and Cannoli 2 they were just a pain.

Unusually the game silences all swears and even removes it from the on-screen text.  Except for crap, crap apparently is not a swear word which seems to me like a load of $#*!

Final Thoughts

After what felts like twelve hours but was only about five hours how did I feel?  Disappointed.  The sequel had the chance to really improve on the first game, but it didn't and in many ways went backward.  The story was all over the place, the visuals were good, the music was okay but no great changes and the gameplay, oh the gameplay.  Overall this one gets 2 out of 5

Past Cure - Review

Earlier this year Past Cure was released, which is a third-person psychological thriller.  It caught my interest due to the story.  It got slatted quite badly when it came out, but rarely does something like that stop me playing a game.  I saw it pre-owned the other day and thought to myself, why not take the risk?


I like spare ribs done in most styles.  There is one though that does not really do it for me, which Peking Style.  I like Peking Duck but for some reason, it just does not quite do it for me, even though in theory it should.  Playing Past Cure I found myself asking was this just not a tasty style?

Story

The story sees you follow ex-soldier Ian who has can't remember the last three years of his life.  His brother Marcus has put him up in his swanky beach house to help him recover.  Ian wants nothing more than to remember, mostly because he is having scary ass nightmares and hopes that if he remembers what happened he might be able to get rid of them. The worst thing for Ian is that sometimes the dreams start becoming real and trying to keep sane is a full-time struggle.  Luckily he has magic blue pills to keep things in control.


It sounds like an interesting story, right?  It is but it's told poorly, and it was hard to get invested in Ian.  The ending semi-pays off but in honesty, it's all pig and no bacon (I just made that up, not sure if it works).  Overall it is not the worst story but could use a lot more development.

Visuals 


At first glance, the visuals look reasonable but I quickly realised I was mistaken.  Most of the buildings and locations you enter have a very modern look and feel, very minimalist.  However, playing the game I could see this was less to do with an intended design and more to do with possible budget restrictions.  It looks like a game that was released on the XBOX 360 or PlayStation 3, which would be fine if it wasn't 2018.  The nightmare sequences seem interesting at first but very quickly look dull.


Overall not a very exciting visual experience and is in need of more development.



Music


The score is purely backing music and there is not anything engaging or exciting about it, with the exception of the closing credits song.  The composers are Roman Duda, Charlotte Jacobs, and Jen Paeyeneers.  I was unable to find any real information on the composers or their previous works.


The score has eight tracks and runs at just over forty minutes, the only tracks that really stood out were the 'Atmos Fight' and the ending song.  Overall very underwhelming.

Gameplay


Past Cure is a third-person psychological thriller, which sounds exciting, unfortunately, it is not.  Even basic movement feels clunky and awkward, melee combat isn't fun at all, and the cover system is almost non-existent.  The weapons in the game are not very accurate, often shooting an enemy in the head who was only ten feet away would end up missing him altogether.


Early on we learn that Ian has been experimented on and this has granted him certain abilities.  Time Manipulation, Astral Projection and Mind Blast.  Most of the time these abilities will be used to solve puzzles.  The puzzles themselves feel clunky, but most of the time this comes down to the ability being awkward to control.


The thing that scares me is that Past Cure was released this year and got really negative reviews.  Since then Phantom 8 Studio has released patch 1.05, which makes improvements to story and gameplay.  So the version I played is the improved one?  I'm curious what it was like before then.


Overall some disappointing gameplay that could have been so much better.




Final Thoughts

So, after six-plus hours of playing how did I feel?  Disappointed.  The story had some interesting parts to it but just never quite reaches its full potential.  The visuals, music, and gameplay all feel bland and underdeveloped.  This one gets a low 1 out of 5