Play Want Travel (PWBE 30 Dec 2024)

[Kendrick Kerwin Chua]

I suppose a little perspective is in order because anybody who might be
experiencing travel delays right now ought also to be grateful that
their aeroplanes are landing safely when they do.

Play:
--=--

Undernauts Labyrinth of Yomi (PS5) - Nuclear power as an illustrative
metaphor for human overreach? Check. Workaday people who failed at their
regular jobs taking a chance at risky employment to get back on top?
Check. Consumerism decorating the edges of a fantasy adventure and
hanging a lampshade on all the item collection and equipment min/maxing?
Check. We've got a whole 30 percent of the JPN-region RPG tropes right
here in the first two hours. This is turning out to be a lovely Wizardry
clone and exactly what I needed to get through my rough weekend, and I'm
glad I bought it on a whim. The puzzle I'm working on now is suitably
gory, collecting a pile of body parts in order to get a reaction out of
a boss monster. I like that the game doesn't insult your intelligence,
but is also not willing to leave you lost just because you might not be
as clever as you think you are. All dungeon crawls should prioritise the
experience this way, with the fun just ahead of the challenge.

Want:
--=--

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord: Remaster (PS5) - So the
shop in New York I'd usually buy imports from is updating their website
for the first time in 20 years. That'd be great except that they lost
track of all the orders I put in in *October* and I'm not willing to
wait for this any more. Also, the US-region disc is being sold by
Limited Run, and that's just not an acceptable organisation to do
business with. So I'm importing the EU-region disc through Play-Asia,
because I'd rather give my money to China than to crooks in the
Carolinas.

Bin:
-==-

Nothing game-related.

-KKC, who should get more sleep than he has.

[Russell Marks]

Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force (PC) - I think in some ways the more
sandboxy (if limited) Virtual Voyager add-on is more interesting than
the game proper. But I suppose the game isn't too bad, given that it's
a pretty old FPS. Aside from a rather misjudged "look how alien we can
make this" section early on, it mostly has you fighting various
familiar Trek baddies. The optional little shooty holodeck bits are a
nice touch, too.

Epic Pinball (PC) - for an old 2D pinball game the physics and
gameplay are relatively decent in this, though the graphics are
arguably a bit lacking somehow.
To try various other recent buys, including the Elite Force sequel.

Post by Kendrick Kerwin Chua
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord

I'm still not quite sure if this is a Tony Hawk crossover or not.
Not getting the full Epic Pinball sooner, having liked the
one-table-only shareware/demo version in the 90s.

-Rus.