If you’re looking for a gift for your gaming relative this holiday season, you can’t go wrong with these three classics in glorious HD.
Tsioque: A Princess Led 2D Adventure
Sometimes a girl just has to save herself
Now, I know what you’re probably thinking… How the hell do I pronounce Tsioque? Well rather than butcher it in text, just watch the trailer and listen real carefully at the end.
Chi yok? Whatever, name aside the game looks cute right? Tsioque is a 2-D animated adventure game available now on Steam. It seems to have started several years ago on Kickstarter (2015) and is finally available in its full version, released on Steam on Nov 7 this year.
You play as a young lady, Tsioque, who had to defend her cattle from the evil court wizard that took it over and threw her in the dungeon. Her mom, the queen, and her army are of fighting so it’s up to Tsioque alone. The goal, of course, is to kick his butt out and reclaim your home. The game is a point and click story adventure with good voice over work and music score.
The puzzles throughout the game aren’t exceedingly difficult. You’ll have to do some trial and error with some things and some of the mini-games are very precise timing, which can be aggravating. The game is dark but fun, so I would say Tsioque would probably be good for preteen and up if not a little younger.
Overall, the game is pretty and the dialogue can be amusing. It was nice seeing a female lead character. The only real downside is the length of the game, about 3.5 hours, and an odd shift in story. But I definitely enjoyed it regardless.
If you’re into this style of game and fantasy settings you’ll want to pick it up and give it a go. And hey, it’s on Steam – so if you’re on the fence, just throw it on your wishlist and snag it during a sale!
Any horror fan will tell you that there are very few great survival horror games out there. Indie development has over saturated the market with cheap imitations and games rely on nothing but jump scares and tired tactics.
It’s often said, “If you want something done right, you have got to do it yourself.” I think that after seeing so many copycats and subpar products, that Frictional Games said “NO MORE!” and decided to remaster what is hailed as classic horror – Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
Now I will come right out and admit that I never played any of the Amnesia games. Mainly because I have never really PC gamed and when I finally bought a beefy machine back in 2007, I bought a Mac for video editing. So games were sparse. I have, however, heard of Amnesia games and know that it’s favored amongst many horror fans for its gameplay. While it didn’t invent the survival horror genre, it did some things that made these games stand out and deliver some truly terrifying experiences.
Almost 10 years later Xbox One users finally can play the Amnesia: The Dark Descent, it’s DLC – Justine, and the sequel, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. After hearing so much about these games I was excited to finally give them a try and wooooooooo was I not ready for this.
I’m not going to focus much on the stories of the games because they are all little strange and each game can offer multiple endings depending on the players’ actions. What I am going to focus on is the gameplay as well as how the looks and feels on the Xbox One.
The nice thing about the Amnesia games is that they aren’t all connected. So you have the option to play whichever game you’d like. In each game, players take on the role of a protagonist with (surprise) Amnesia. From there they must solve puzzles and avoid monsters to keep their sanity while also trying to piece together parts of their own story. Unlike other survival horror games, these games are built on puzzle solving and running away. A unique aspect is that fact that player characters slowly start to lose their minds by entering dark places or looking at monsters. It is such a well-done game mechanic that at times I was left with a feeling of unease.
The controls are decent. For being such an old game (and previously ported to the PS4) the controls hold up. There are a few times when the controls get a little clunky but not everything can be perfect. While the game does all it can to update the visuals, they still aren’t quite up to the level that you would come to expect on an Xbox One (or Xbox One X) console.
When it comes down to it, the Amnesia: Collection is an absolute must-have for any horror fans. You’re getting some amazing games at one hell of a price. The games aren’t tremendously long and you can see where more recent games gained their inspiration from.
Lose your mind and dive deep into the world of Amnesia. You’ll be glad you did.
The author was provided a code for review purposes.
Wait.. Hell is Green?
Welcome to Green Hell! How long will you survive?
Green Hell is an open world survival simulator set in the Amazonian rain-forest. It’s produced by a company called Creepy Jar, a relatively new organization comprised of industry vets that have worked on some other dark titles like Dying Light, Dead Island, and Silent Hill.
A Glimpse Into Story Mode
The tutorial for Green Hell walks you through the basics while introducing you to the two characters that will be present in the story mode that is coming later on. While you’re there to document the wildlife and flora, your partner is trying to infiltrate and learn about the local tribe that is extremely secretive and wary of strangers.
You gain a very basic understanding of the controls during this pretty quick tutorial. You’re left with a pretty chilling cliffhanger at the end as well, so prepare your heart. Story mode is not slotted to be out until late 2018/early 2019. CreepyJar has outlined a pretty generous timeline for the game as you can see here.
Welcome to the Junnnngggllleee
We’ve got leaves and twigs? Not so exciting maybe but shelter is important! Welcome to the sandbox mode. Here you’ll be learning more of how the game mechanics really work and build more than a fire and bandage.
For a lot of us interested in this genre of games we’ll be reminded of The Forest. A lot of the crafting is similar enough that if you played it you’ll have a better idea of what to do in Green Hell. During the first hour of game play I still had not run into anything hostile so you get plenty of time to ease into the game if you are a beginner. Though I could have just gotten lucky!
The only objective in this mode is to see how long you can survive. There are poisonous plants, territorial animals, and hostile persons out to kill you. You’ll have to learn what’s safe and not by trial and error. And you will probably die a lot to start with. Don’t give up!
As always, the internet is full of tutorials, wikis, and helpful videos to help you if you get stuck or just want to make things easier on yourself and just enjoy the game without all the dying.
Recommend: Yes or No?
If you like survival games then yes, definitely. Especially if you enjoyed games like The Forest or The Long Dark. Jump on board during early access and enjoy the ability to go back over the coming months to updates that keep the game feeling new. You can find it on Steam for $20.
A Special Note
To those like myself who get simulation sickness when playing games I have but one recommendation – do not run unless absolutely necessary in this game. I learned my lesson after getting ill twice while playing. Now I only run if I have to do it to survive through a fight.
8-Bit Hordes Game Trailer PS4 & Xbox One
8-Bit Hordes is storming PS4™ and Xbox One on the first of February 2019
