HIGH The supremely challenging boss missions.
LOW The horrendously out-of-place "stealth" missions.
WTF Some inexplicable actions by the main character that I can't reveal without spoiling everything.
HIGH Pulling off the dual-sword finishing combo that turns your opponent into the second-best thing since sliced bread.
LOW Stupid, pointless fetch-quests.
WTF Big-boobed sidekick gets her own helicopter and a bazooka, while I get little throwing stars and arrows.
First off, allow me to introduce myself as this is my first "official" blog post. The name is Richard, and I've been here about two months and it's been fantastic so far. I think that's enough about me for now, so let's talk about something that's actually cool.
Recently I reviewed Aquaria, a fantastic title from indie developer Bit-Blot and winner of top honors at the 2007 IGF awards.
Aquaria is currently available only on the PC and Mac, through both their website and Steam download. The minds behind the game, Alec Holowka and Derek Yu, were kind enough to speak with me about their work and their company.
HIGH The dreamlike charm that permeates the entire game.
LOW Having to stop in the middle of the action to sing.
WTF Underwater fire?
HIGH The frenzy of a tank battle in versus mode.
LOW When players quit in the middle of a match and I'm forced to deal with the CPU players.
WTF Since when is it healthy to chug an entire bottle of pills?
HIGH Wonderful narrative from beginning to end.
LOW Inventory management.
WTF Twenty minutes into the game where I accidentally chose the dialog option to punch out a hapless NPC.
HIGH Teen Girl Squad choose-your-own adventure mini-games.
LOW Metal detector use gets a little tedious.
WTF All the WTFs are acknowledged and made fun of by Strong Bad at some point.
HIGH Effortlessly running, jumping, and climbing across the entire game world.
LOW Lightseed collection gets extremely monotonous.
WTF The final "battle" where your opponent is apparently a drunk Pokémon on steroids.
HIGH Wonderful art style & environment.
LOW Game feels too easy at points.
WTF I didn't realize so many people in the 50s kept audio diaries and left them laying around in random boxes, air vents, and dead bodies.
HIGH Force-throwing and crushing things is a blast.
LOW Camera severely hampers you in several areas, especially in small spaces.
WTF How does a stormtrooper with a stick block a lightsaber?