The credits are rolling on a really fun first-person puzzle game with a science fiction motif in which advanced AI-turned-fully-sentient machines have caused problems and humans have to use their uniquely capable human brains to save themselves, ultimately encouraging the player to ask “what’s really the difference between people and robots?” Though the game traffics in themes, genres, and styles that plenty of other games have trafficked in before (Portal, Portal 2, Q.U.B.E, Q.U.B.E 2, The Talos Principle), I happily jumped into The Turing Test with the same amount of vigor and excitement I will continue to do so for every one of the inevitable forthcoming games that do this exact same thing. I like narrative games. Story in games is often the glue that holds the pieces together and keeps the single-player gamer invested. I like puzzle games. They are slow-paced and they make me feel really smart. But…
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Gris is a game I've been wanting to play for a while. I held off, because it felt like a game that was inevitably going to be released in a physical format (I like stuff on shelves). The game was worth the wait. Gris is beautiful to look at, only mildly frustrating to play at times, and only about 3 hours long. I played the Special Revserve version on the Nintendo Switch.
I went into Death Stranding with some hesitation. Would it be a game I'd actually appreciate, considering I haven't played a Hideo Kojima game since the first hour of Metal Gear Solid 2? Would I be aware enough of Kojima's crazy style to really understand Death Stranding? Well, no, I don't think I'll ever understand Death Stranding, but I did love playing the game. And who would have thought I'd ever play a multiplayer game (if this can truly be called a multiplayer game).
Yes, yes, it’s Fallout in Space. But just how much Fallout is it, and does it contain the parts of Fallout that made Fallout Fallout?
I love a side-scrolling platformer video game. I love the first Yooka-Laylee game. I love Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair...or, at least all but the last 10 minutes I played of it.
Yakuza Kiwami isn't exactly a fun game. It's a game that leverages many different things, in small amounts, to pull the player through. It's a bit funny, its combat is a bit good, its narrative is a bit engaging, and its cutscenes are a bit long (this last "bit" is sarcastic; the cut-scenes are very long). Yes, I finished the game, so it has to have some merits. But I won't be playing any of the other Yakuza games.
Untitled Goose Game is my favorite type of game. It's a video game that takes a small number of mechanics and stretches them in increasingly chaotic ways. Here, you play as a goose with the ability to waddle, honk, and pick things up. Your mission: sew the seeds of confusion among the citizens of a small town. You know, goose stuff. Here's the essay I mentioned: https://calebjross.com/being-a-ninja-is-easy-in-a-world-full-of-idiots/
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