Forgotten Anne - Review

Forgotten Anne by Throughline Games is a game I managed to miss when it first came out. This unusual because I'm a sucker for well-animated visual games like Cuphead, Sundered, and Dust An Elysian Tail. It was on sale this week and downloaded it straight away excited to see what the game had to offer.


Not everyone into nuts and granola but I am, at least on occasion. I don't always eat cereal but when I do it is normally the nuts and granola variety, likes Tesco's Honey Nut Clusters.  There is something wholesome about it, topped with warm milk and it is perfect. Playing Forgotten Anne I found myself asking was this a warm, nutty, granola tasty surprise, or was it simply dried out and tasteless?

Story


Ever wonder why you can't find one of your socks, or can't find something at home that you knew you had? Yep, me too. These objects go to the Forgotten Lands and become Forgotlings, once they arrive there they are assigned jobs. Think of it as a job centre, only you have no choice on the job and some jobs really suck. Naturally not all Forgotlings are happy about this arrangement and a rebel movement has started led by Mr Fig.  This obviously causes chaos and this is where Master Bonku and Anne enter to keep control.  Anne is an Enforcer and can distill any Forgotlings, essentially this removes their soul, for lack of a better word, and kills them.


At the start of the game, I really felt bad for the Forgotlings and was not a fan of Anne or Master Bonku. As the game progresses my feelings changed and there are a few twists and turns along the way. Anne can choose to be good or bad, not only by who she distills but also by dialogue options presented to you throughout the game.


Overall the story is really good and apart from looking like an anime it also has the story and feel of one.

Visuals


The visuals are to die for in the game, they are hand-drawn and animated so well. There is no separation between the movement and actions of Anne and the world she is in, making for an immersive experience. It is genuinely hard for me to pick out my favorite sections, the train station, and being on the train was probably one of my favorites. It feels like you are on a train and feels real, in an animated way.


Overall the animated visuals in Forgotten Anne are probably one of the best I have seen in some time. It was a pleasure getting to explore the world and often I forgot I was playing a game and was actually watching an anime.


Music


The music feels so epic and intense in a really good way, it also feels like the composer loves and is influenced by anime as it has that feel to it. The music was composed by Peter Due, who has worked on a slew on games, movies, tv-series and short films including; Kinisa, Mafia Planet, Journal 64, Natural Disorder, and Shrouded Destiny to name but a few.  Peter Due is accompanied by the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra.


The soundtrack is just over ninety-minutes long and is a spectacular ninety minutes of music! My favorite tracks include; 'Train Ride', 'The Return', 'Ether Bridge', 'The Last Outpost', 'The Workshop'
'The Chase' and 'Lost Pieces'.


Overall a brilliant soundtrack that has as much importance and the story, visuals, and gameplay.

Gameplay


A big concern for me with well-animated games is that while they look good sometimes they lack substance. Perhaps they look good but the story is bad, the music is it so-so or the gameplay is boring or underdeveloped, this is not the case with Forgotten Anne.


The gameplay straddles the line between being a puzzle game and a platformer. Sometimes mixing two ideas or more together does not work, but this isn't true of Forgotten Anne. Anne can run, jump, and glide (once you get her wings), when she isn't doing this she is trying to overcome an obstacle. Most puzzles provide a simple to medium challenge, and rarely did I find myself getting frustrated.


There are enemies of a sort in the game but they don't interact with you - well not in the traditional manner anyway. They will ask questions and it's up to you how to answer, essentially it can be a good or bad/evil answer.  As a whole, I played the game as a good guy but after completing the game I would be curious to play it through as a bad/evil guy.


Overall the gameplay manages to expertly navigate between being a platformer and a puzzler offering a fun challenge.




Final Thoughts

So, after ten hours how did I feel? Awesome! The story I was unsure to start with but came into its own and ended up having me hooked. The visuals are gorgeous and made we want to watch anime. The music is reminiscent of old Disney movies and of course anime. The gameplay managed to stay interesting throughout my time playing and blended two ideas together well. Overall this one gets a solid 4 out of 5

Dear Esther Landmark Edition - Review

Dear Esther was originally released back in 2008, it was a game that passed by me but had some curiosity about it. It was later re-released in 2012, with an upgrade to the visuals, and now with an added commentary mode while playing the game by the creators. After just finishing the Vanishing of Ethan Carter and having enjoyed the Chinese Room's Everybody's Gone to the Rapture I thought Dear Esther would a perfect next game.


I like Jacob's Cream Crackers - to be fair I like most crackers, add a little cheese, a little meat, maybe even some chives or salad. It's a great snack and goes perfectly with wine and some grapes. If you can envision all of this then image a cracker without cheese, or meat or anything, would it still be enjoyable or just really dry and relatively tasteless?  Playing Dear Esther I found myself asking was this a brave and bold endeavor to risk and try something different?  Did it hit the mark or was it just dry and underwhelming?

Story


The story has you follow a faceless, nameless man who is talking about his wife, Esther. It is clear within the opening few minutes that she has passed away. He wanders around a Hebridean island, that seems uninhabited but over the years has had some visitors. The story is all about Esther, the man's feelings towards her, what happened to her, and as a consequence what has happened to him. It could almost be interpreted as a love letter of sorts.


The English language is incredible, it helps us create sentences and stories by lining up words together, and the combinations of those words are almost infinite. There is a reason I specifically mentioned that is throughout the game, the words and sentences used are never simple.  Each piece of dialogue sounds overly poetic to the point where it feels that is more important than telling the actual story. Flowery language, Nolls describes it as when she reads it in novels.


Overall the game is design to be interruptive, which can be a good thing or simply away to avoid good storytelling. If you play the game multiple times more story is told. Unlike the story and stories in Everyones Gone to the Rapture, I was left feeling disconnected and never felt a real pull towards the narrator and his woes.

Visuals


While Dear Esther has many shortcomings the visuals are not one of them. The island you wander is beautiful, everything from the overgrown grass and wildflowers to the long-forgotten ships that beached on the island, to the skies above. They all look so real and it is easy to truly imagine the island is real.


Overall the visuals are beautiful and can feel how much work was put into them and by far is the strongest part of the game.



Music


The music provides a constant feeling of melancholy, which considering the narrator is talking about his deceased wife and how that has affected him suits it perfectly. The composer is English composer Jessica Curry who not only was the co-head of the Chinese Room but also created the music for Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and Amenisa A Machine for Warpigs.


The soundtrack is just under an hour and while short is certainly memorable and haunting. The music style used in Everybody's Gone to the Rapture can certainly be felt in Dear Esther.


Overall like the visuals the music is one of the most standout parts of the game.

Gameplay


When I first heard about Telltale Games The Walking Dead I wasn't really interested. I want a game to be interactive, to pull me, to be part of it all.  Of course, I was wrong about it, when I sat down to play it I was hooked and it is up there as one of my favorite video game series. The reason I note this is that I had misgivings about Dear Esther, but after playing Everybody's Gone to the Rapture I thought it can't be that bad.


Unfortunately, it is bad.  The game, and I am using that term lightly, is a walking simulator from a first-person perspective. There is no interaction with objects and is a linear experience traversing an island until you reach its summit. The game is like certain people, they can be attractive looking but if that is all they have going for them I am going to get bored real quick.


Overall the gameplay is lacking and felt more like a dull indie movie than a game.





Final Thoughts

So, after just under two hours how did I feel. Underwhelmed and disappointed.  The story didn't really pull me and the overly convoluted way of writing everything seemed like a way to make something mundane sound more interesting and sadly failing. The visuals and soundtrack are amazing and to me is the only saving grace for Dear Esther. The gameplay did not exist and was purely a walking simulator.  This one manages to just about scrape a 3 out of 5

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - Review

About two Christmases ago I purchased The Vanishing of Ethan Carther along with Dear Esther. This weekend I was scrolling through my PlayStation Store purchases and noticed them both. I decided not to hold off playing it any longer.


Hotdogs, almost indefinable meat put into the shape of a sausage, load it up with some onions, ketchup, or whatever condiments you prefer and stuff into a soft bread roll.  Despite its perhaps sounding unappealing once you have tried one it's hard to stop eating them. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a combination of many different ideas put together, but does it work?

Story


The game is set in 1973 and you take on the role of Paul Prospero, a paranormal investigator. He has been sent a letter by Ethan Carter, a fan of his, but this in itself is not unusual. The unusual part is that things Ethan talks about no child should be aware of them, and this is what prompts Prospero to go to Red Creek Valley and find Ethan.


The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is all about the story so I won't spoil too much, basically if you like things like X-Files, Millenium, and general paranormal sleuthing you will enjoy this game.


Overall the story is put together pretty well, the only downside for me was the ending. It felt almost unfinished making the ending not hugely satisfying. 

Visuals


The visual spectacle created by Polish game developer The Astronauts is amazing.  Exploring the beautiful countryside, the lush woods, and the old visual history of Red Creek Valley was a lot of fun. There was many a time when I just had to stop and take in the full visual glory around me.


Overall The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a beautiful and visually impressive game, that offers varied environments and kept my focus throughout my journey.



Music


The music creates an eerie atmosphere that intensifies both the story and gameplay. The creator of this sound is Polish Composer Mikolai Stroinski. He helped add his talents to Witcher 3 Wild Hunt and The Witcher Thronebreaker.


The soundtrack is just shy of being an hour and features some memorable tracks including; 'What do the ghosts say?', 'Lonely Planet', 'Carter's House' and 'Ethan's Theme'.


Overall an interesting soundtrack and while present it often is done subtly to not disturb or break the overall experience of the player.

Gameplay


The game is played from the first-person perspective, which works well and allows you to fully take in everything around you.  The games let you know as you start that it is not looking to hold your hand, and they mean it, kind of. The game features a number of small puzzles that help in explaining what has happened in the world recently. It easy to miss them so exploring the world is a must. When you do come across a puzzle or their pieces they are generally easy to spot, and while this may come across as being slightly linear the most important part of the game is the story.  That all being said I did enjoy working them out and liked that they had added to the story rather than being a roadblock.


Overall the game mechanics are simple, but as I have noted in previous reviews that is not necessarily a bad thing. The game allows you to enjoy the world you are in and fully engage with the story with only a few distractions that add more to it.





Final Thoughts


So, after almost five hours how did I feel. Pretty good. The story was engaging throughout my journey and while the ending left me feeling a little unsatisfied I still enjoyed it as a whole. The visuals are amazing and easy to see how passions the developers had when creating it.  The music manages to be subtle and important and helps add to the environment and overall feel of the game. The game mechanics are simples, not out of laziness but you can stay constantly focused on the story. This one slides in with a 4 out of 5

Observer - Review

I have played in excess of eight-hundred games in my life, that's not be bragging (it sort of is). I have tried all genres and played more than a few horror games, so believe me when I tell you that Observer is once of the most intense psychological horror games I have ever played.  In was released in 2017 and for many people (myself included), it flew under the radar. That being said it got an overwhelmingly positive score by most reviewers. I was curious and recently saw it on sale so I thought why not?


Bolognese looks kind of messy at first glance,  meat, sauce, vegetables slopped on top of pasta.  Despite this, the individual ingredients help pull it together and make it a tasty dish, even if it does look a little crude.  Playing Observer I found myself asking was this a tasty mess or just a mess?

Story


The story is set in the future in a world where the East and West have destroyed each other and out of the ashes one corporation has taken over everything, Chiron.  The game is set in Poland and follows Daniel Lararksi (played by Rutger Hauer), a member of the KPD, and an Observer.  His body is augmented, and one of these augmentations allows him to hack into people's minds.   He gets a call from his estranged son Adam, desperate to reconnect with him he tracks down his son to an apartment complex in the slums of Krakow.


The story all plays out in the apartment complex and while this seemed restrictive to me at first my mind was quickly changed.  There are side cases to deal with which you can investigate or ignore but personally, I would recommend looking into them all.


Overall the story intense and like nothing I have quite played before, not only that but the world you move through is far removed from our own and is often quite horrific, not only visually but psychologically.

Visuals


Like every part of the game, the visuals are intense.  The apartment complex you are in is a slum, sometimes the room is laid beside each other times you will have to get through sections of broken walls to find the next few.  There are a number of floors and the basement itself is extremely claustrophobic and made me fight between my desire to explore and my desire to get out of there as quickly as possible.


Daniel is able to use a bio-scanner and an electro-scanner which changes the look of the world and can feel harsh on the eyes at times. This does not feel down to a low budget, or oversight but part of the design to keep you feeling uncomfortable. Even when you are not using one of the scanners or night vision it all feels a little jarring.


Overall the visuals are intense, jarring and the only point I felt even mildly comfortable is when I was communicating with the other tenants through closed doors.



Music


I was asked today what the music in the game like and I noted that it did not feel very present and was in the background. Listening to the soundtrack again I realized how wrong I was. The music is
palpable and permeates every inch of my experience and did so without me fully registering it, which for someone like me who really enjoys video games soundtracks is a feat.  The composer for the interesting and psychological experience is Arkadiusz Reikowski.  He is credited for a lot of video game music; Layers of Fear, Husk, and Kholat to name but a few.


The soundtrack clocks in at around forty minutes, while exceptionally short for a game of around ten hours it never felt like any of it was repeated over and over again.  All of the tracks help to create discomfort in the world you are in and each track is as potent and as important as the next.

Gameplay


The game has you play from a first-person perspective which helps you really take in the world around you.  There are no weapons, only tools. There is bio-scanner that allows you to find blood trails and other nastiness. Then there is the electro-scanner that allows you to find electronic devices including those in people. While this may seem like very little it is actually more than enough to get everything you need.


There is a user interface in the form of a wrist band that you can use to track cases and take pills when needed.  The pills in way help you keep connected to reality, and even then there was rarely a time I wasn't asking is this real?


Being a Detective you can ask questions to the tenants in the building, all of which you have very distinct personalities. Some want to help, others are scared, some are insane and others you would cross the street to avoid.


The game was clearly created for PC, the reason I say this is that there is a little dot you use to interact with objects which can be a little awkward with a controller but would be more straightforward with a mouse.  Outside of this, there were one or two small glitches and sometimes I would get stuck on objects.


Overall though the gameplay was really solid with very little room for improvement. Nolls also played Observer, and her only qualm with it was the aforementioned glitches, which had her frustratedly resorting to walkthroughs to figure out was she being stupid (her words, not mine), or had the game actually glitched. There are times in the game when you can die, and she also found these parts of the gameplay to be a bit contrived compared with the rest of the gameplay, rather than actually effective or scary. Especially because she kept dying when she just wanted to get on with the game, which otherwise flowed naturally as an interactive story should.





Final Thoughts


So, after around ten hours how did I feel?  Glad to be out of the nightmare that was the Observer. Don't construe that as me saying the game was bad, far from it, but was an intense psychological experience that few horror movies could match. The story felt like falling down a rabbit hole that when in directions I could not have foreseen.  The visuals offered insight into the dark world controlled by the mega-corporation Chiron. The music crept out of everywhere being both subtle and loud.  The gameplay intensified an already intense experience and I am not sure I could take living in a world like that. This one gets a solid 4 out of 5 and make excited and nervous to play Bloober Teams other game Layers of Fear. (Nolls reckons 4.5 as it's a superb game that could only be improved with slightly revised gameplay, and more/more-developed stories/cases/endings. But she loved it anyway.)

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered - Review

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 was originally released back in 2009, and the weeks leading up to its release I was pumped.  The first installment of Modern Warfare had an engaging story, the campaign did not feel like an afterthought, unlike some first-person shooters whose focus is purely on the multiplayer experience but fear backlash for having no single-player campaign and tack it on. When it was released I played the hell out of it and once that Modern Warfare arc came to close I dreamed of a day when Modern Warfare 2 would be remastered. The day finally came earlier this month.


I like peanut butter, I like chocolate, so naturally putting them together for me is like heaven. Enter Reese's Chocolate Eggs, they are the best example of this and right now I am already thinking how I will be devouring a few at the weekend. This combination of peanut butter and chocolate works well but not all combinations do.  Playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered (henceforth will be shortened to CODMW2CR (even the abbreviation is long)) I wondered did it combine things I love into something heavenly or was is reaching to be something it could never be?

Story


What makes the Modern Warfare series so interesting is that you don't just follow one character but a number of them, each is doing their own missions but they all tie together. The story sees Russia go to war with the US after an incident that occurred in Russia.


When starting the game I was asked did I want to remove myself from playing this mission? Why? Well at the time and now even it is seen as controversial.  The mission is called 'No Russian', your character is a US soldier who is undercover working for a very bad guy (understatement).  The mission has you walk into an airport with the very bad guy and his team and watch every person you lays eyes on be slaughtered. There are two options; engage in helping them kill everyone or simply watch the horror unfold.  Right at the end of the mission you are shot by the villain and left to die when it is discovered who you are it leads to Russia to invade the US. With a tense history between the two nations, it is not unfathomable that this would be the straw that finally broke the camels back and gave them the reason they needed to go to war with the US.


When I watch a horror movie I don't get the option to opt-out of the blood, gore, or possible violence, because I know going in this is likely to be part of the movie.  So why would it be done with a game, a first-person shooter that involves you killing people throughout it?  Sometimes scenes are put into movies just to cause outrage, it does not add or drive the plot and is just there for the sake of gratuity. Playing the mission 'No Russia' it adds to and drives the overall plot.  It establishes how bad this person, how if you were a Russian (or anyone with a heart) how it would hurt you to know this had happened to your people, and even how it might be conceivable that they would be justified in wanting revenge.  So with that all being said why should there be a choice to opt-out of the mission? If people are aware of it and don't like it, don't play the game, if they are aware of it they should have the knowledge and sense that there will be a lot of violence in the game.


When you break it down my point or rather my question is why censor or attempt to censor something that was already in the game from day one?  Killing hundreds of people in a game no one bats an eye, kill a load of civilians and everyone loses their mind. I guess what I am saying is if I go into a bar and have a drink and then see people drunk out of the mind getting angry, shouting, falling about the place, or throwing up should I accept it?  Maybe not. Should I be aware this might happen if I go into a bar? Yes.


Overall the story still holds up and is the best modern warfare story to date.

Visuals


The visuals are fantastic! Everything has been upgraded, the character models are more detailed, giving a more realistic look. The levels themselves are more defined, in some cases extra parts added to provide a more organic look. It is one of the best visual remasters I have seen as it is not just a simple 1080p to 4K upscale but a complete redesign of the entire game. It is clear that real-time and effort was put into the visuals and the results speak for themselves.  The game deserved a fresh coat of paint but ended up getting a lot more than that and really shows how come visuals in games have come.


Overall the visuals are all they could be and only hope they round it by remastering Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3.



Music


The soundtrack has stayed the same with the exception of a small fine-tuning to give a clearer sound.
The score for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is simply epic, it has the feel of an excellent pulse-pounding action movie, and it really creates an intense atmosphere.  The two people responsible for this are:


Hans Zimmer created the Main Themes in Modern Warfare 2.  The man needs no introduction and has worked on and created musical masterpieces for many films, TV series, and games.  Some of his works include; Gladiator, Inception,  Black Hawk Down, The Rock,  Lion King, and The Darknight Returns.

Lorne Balfe is a Scottish born composer and created the main score for Modern Warfare 2.  He has a varied background, some of his works include: Terminator Genisys, Assassins Creed 3, Crysis 2
and Ghost in The Shell (2017)


The soundtrack runs at just under at over three hours which I found to be a great length considering how long the campaign is.  There were many great pieces, my favorites were; 'Ordinance', 'Extraction Point', 'Guerrilla Tactics', 'Onwards', and 'Safeguard'.


Overall the music still hits hard and works well and helps add more depth to the game as a whole.

Gameplay 


Similar to the visuals the gameplay has had quite the overhaul. One of the first things I noted was how you could examine your weapons, it's a small thing but looks really cool.  The weapons feel more balanced helping to provide a more immersive experience.


The enemies seem tougher and smarter, while I did play the game on hardened difficulty this far from my first rodeo and I only played the original Modern Warfare 2 last year and it did not feel anywhere near as hard.  This was welcomed though and added a new level of challenge to the game.


Something I always enjoyed about the game was the diversity of areas, some of which see you fighting through a gulag, on a snowmobile doing all you can to make a speedy escape while not being killed, traveling through different areas of Afghanistan, through caves and traveling down rapids. The game likes to keep you on your toes and does it well.


Often with first-person shooters, one of the biggest complaints from players and critics is how short the campaign is, this is not the case with CODMW2CR. The campaign is a good length and never feels too short or like it is dragging on too long.


Overall the gameplay is a lot of fun, it has revamped and adds a new challenge while still keeping its original charm.





Final Thoughts


So, after ten hours (yeah I got that long out of it) how did I feel? I feel a renewed love for the game. The story holds up well, the visuals are something else, the music is the same but if it ain't broke why fix it, and the gameplay is polished and more well balanced as a whole. This one did not leave me having to decide for long, this one gets a solid 5 out of 5, roll on CODMW3CR!