Indie Games

I Have Been Playing Divinity Original Sin (Enhanced Edition)

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I didn’t expect to play Divinity Original Sin Enhanced Edition, developed by Larian Studios, and I did not know it was part of a successful Kickstarter project (Yes, I do live in a cave). I bought a digital copy from Steam’s sales two years ago during the pandemic. However, I heard about the game around the time it was released when a gaming friend pointed out that it’s Co-Op. For that reason, I declined from investing in such a quality game, knowing I’d get addicted to it. Indeed, now in December of 2023 when most people are probably playing Balder Gate 3, I am finally enjoying my solo adventure in Cyseal hunting for the source of evil. More than 60 hours into the game, I am nowhere to beating it! I jumped into the game blindly and learned how to play the game through trial and error (I did the same thing with Elden Ring). Let’s just say, I enjoy figuring things out for myself. Like most people, I ended up restarting the game because I messed up with the skill points and missed certain dialogues with a certain character. On my 2nd play-through, I found it easier to piece the story together while familiarizing myself with the game-play, which to my surprise there’s not a lot of grinding. To gain experience level, the players would have to complete side quests apart from defeating enemies, which is a good way to make players pay attention to the storyline. It’s an ingenious idea to kill two birds with one stone.

Now in terms of game-play, this game doesn’t hold your hand. According to the game, you start out picking two characters: Roderick and Scarlett. You can change their names and even their gender. I think a balance between male and female is fine the way it is. When I initially started the game, I didn’t even bother to change their names. So, yes you are not locked into the default characters. There is some level of customization but there’s no real point to it. Yes, you can zoom in for a closer look but the entire time, it’s better to be in the bird-eye view. Plus, the selected icon pictures that display your characters are limited. This can be quite the eye-sore when you are trying to distinguish your character from others.

character sitting
Couldn’t find an icon picture that matched my character creation so I chose closest one…
I chose blue hair for the female character because it bothers me very much when the icon picture doesn’t match the character on the screen.

This brings me to the topic of building characters. It’s not important about what class you choose in the beginning because you can change class, although it’s wise to reallocate your skill points in the beginning to your liking because you will mess up. I have been addicted to the strategic game-play. I am not sure if I am enjoying the game-play more than the story. I think there is a good balance. Good sense humor is always appreciated. Plus, the soundtrack to this game is superb. It is what reeled me into the game in the first place.

The theme in character creation menu

Listening to the soundtrack Memories of the Future, makes me feel as if I am romantically drifting to a faraway land called Cyseal where I lie down on a nice white sand beach. It’s a great escape from the winter here because most trees and grass are brown for months. I have yet to feel like it’s home where it’s always evergreen.

3 “light games” I am currently playing

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The featured image is from Shenmue III, although this blog post has nothing to do with the game. I just thought the quote is funny. If you can’t read the caption it says, “You really got a lot of free time, huh.” I know the statement is aimed indirectly toward the gamer and it made me laugh. How fitting for this post!

It’s not that I got lazy with writing, but I have gotten more laid back when it comes to managing this blog. So let’s talk about my low-culture favorite pastime hobby! I am just kidding. I don’t think it’s a shameful pastime. Gaming can be as enlightening as going to an art museum even more so sometimes, although I know I could be more social hehe. Blogging is the most social I will get because I love to think before I speak. 🙂 So what have I been playing?

Gone Home

I heard that Gone Home is relatively short. It’s more of a walking simulator than a traditional game. So, far I enjoyed the atmosphere but I am having a hard time engaging with the game. I should like it because it’s takes place in the Pacific Northwest, the region I grew up in. Oddly, I find it kind of boring because I am still waiting for something exciting to happen. I even went online to look up some reviews and came across spoilers. So now I don’t know why I am playing it. But I do wonder…what’s so appealing about the game other than its 90s aesthetic? Once I finish the game, I can give it a fair assessment. So, that’s my thoughts so far with the game.

Root Film

I enjoyed Root Letters, a visual novel game that explored the Shimane prefecture. It is a mystery visual novel game by KADOKAWA. So I decided to pick up Root Film. So far I played a bit here and there when I can, so my experience with the game is a bit fragmented. I don’t have much thoughts about the game so far other than that I prefer the art in Root Letter more. The art in that game is just more beautiful and calming. Did I ever mention I don’t really like the color red in games? That’s why I dislike the menu screen, but silly me…it’s a game about solving a murder case! There is blood involved. I am going to keep an open mind since I have not finished the game yet. I wonder if my opinions will change once I complete it.

Whispers of Machine

As I am writing this blog post, I have finished Whispers of Machine for the 2nd time, a game I had for a while in my backlog. It was one of those games I thought I’d get to eventually. After playing an intense game (Elden Ring), I decided to give Whispers of Machine a shot after reading a review over at Ty’s Game Archive. To my surprise, I enjoyed it because I normally don’t play point-and-click games. Not sure if I will write a full-blown review for the game, but I do want to mention briefly that it’s definitely one of those thought-provoking games that will make you think. Not only did it brings up some valid arguments about artificial intelligence but it also question humanity as a whole. Do we continue to live as fearful predators or do we continue to evolve and progress? Also, I like that the story doesn’t try to impose any political ideas onto the audience. They let us think for ourselves and that to me is considered good storytelling. On top of that, the voice acting and the music soundtrack, indeed are very good! I remember I purchased the game based on the trailer alone. So do not underestimate the power of trailers! Before then, I didn’t know much about the developers and the type of games they make.

Well, I hope you enjoy my list. There are many more cool looking games out there but little time to play them! Other games I am interested in playing are:

Goetia Review (PC): I’m A Nice Ghost

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Old habits are hard to die. Like black coffee, video game is one of the things that get me out of bed. Here I am talking about it when I said I will keep the hobby to myself. One nice thing though is that I did not rush to write a thoughtful review after I finished the game. Instead, I took my time to write here and there when I can without feeling the pressure to meet deadlines. This blog is supposed to be fun, and fun it should be.

Someone once told me a decade ago, if I want to play games for the story then I should sign up for Steam. And so, I did. However, I can’t say I played enough indie titles to abandon AAA Games entirely. While I enjoyed games such as Cat Lady, I wish I could say the same about Goetia. The story wasn’t all that interesting enough to keep me on my toes. If you were to ask me to summarize it, it would require some painful backtracking because putting the story together feels like a chore. I didn’t think it was necessary to throw in some excerpts from books to help flesh out the story. Most of the time I asked myself what am I reading? How does this item tie in with the story? On top of this minor annoyance, the font style in some letters made it hard to read.

My eyesight is not bad, but typically I do wear glasses when I play games. There’s a problem with the font if I have to squint to read the pretty letters.
Does this book have something to do with the actual story other than just a place to hide a clue?

This brings me to gameplay: The puzzles were difficult but not in a good way. For instance, if the character is not good with music theory why include a music puzzle? There’s a difference between being challenging and being sadistic. It rubbed me the wrong way. All in all, I had to follow a guide for this game. And I learned that I am not the only one who felt this way! Talk about incohesive gaming experience. Not good. On the positive side, the game excels at atmosphere, although I can’t say I was scared playing as a ghost named Abigail! Should I be frightened of myself?

floating orb near scary statues
I am the floating orb in the game…

It’s a shame I wasn’t demonic. Instead, I was a nice ghost, which made me realize even if you were a demon or a ghost, you will always be in the right! That means smashing the dishes, slamming doors, and screaming are all justified (I hope I am not the only one who thought this was funny). On a serious note, the sound production in this game is soothing. I can see how this helps those who suffer from anxiety. This game is great with a cup of tea. You can check out my short playthrough to know what I mean.

Overall, it was a relaxing game. The greatest part about this game is learning a new vocabulary. I guess I am not demonic or gothic enough because I didn’t know what Goetia is before I played the game. Well, now I do! I noticed there is part II, but I didn’t like the game enough to want a sequel so I am going to pass. An explorative horror game with a lot of free agencies to roam is just not my cup of tea, but I sure love the ambient, horror theme!

Detention: An Indie Horror Game

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After feeling disappointed with Evil Within 2, I decided to look for a new horror game to forget that horrid game.   I found Detention, watching a Youtube video clip, and so I gave it a shot.  I am not going to lie: survival horror/horror is my favorite video game genre and there is a good reason why.  But let’s not talk about that–leave it for another time. Let’s talk about the game.

This game is indeed creepy without the flashy stuff we see in AAA games.  You play a female protagonist, a teenage girl who is undergoing personal hardship.  Like the protagonist, I can recall experiencing that familiar overwhelming sadness when I was a teenager. I think it was so bad that the counselor and the school nurse had to check my wrists to see if I cut myself. Looking back, I think it was a typical thing for a teenage girl to go through (damn you hormones!).  So yeah, it’s kind of nice to play a character that I can relate to and a realistically feminine one.  A lot of games I’ve enjoyed in the past were largely male-based.  I have my reasons–that too, I will tell you, readers, at a later time.

I won’t say much more about this game because I encourage you to check it out for yourself. Oh, and one last thing I do want to point out about the game: the storytelling is ambiguous but not overly complex. The game has enough suspense and plenty of symbolic meanings, which I like very much.  There are 4 chapters and it didn’t take long to beat (around 2-5 hours). I think there are multiple endings, so replay value is good.