Games

Festive Feature #2 – Five Games You Might Have Missed in 2024

BBG News

As a seasoned gamer with over three decades of experience under my belt, I must say that this year has been a veritable treasure trove of hidden gems. From the retro-inspired action of “Rogue Flight” and “Crow Country,” to the challenging roguelike gameplay of “Rogue Flight” and the immersive survival horror experience of “Crow Country,” it seems that developers are finally starting to tap into the rich veins of inspiration from our collective gaming past.

2024 saw the long-development and turbulent release of Skull and Bones, much like the ill-fated ship Demeter stranded at Whitby. Similarly, Star Wars Outlaws by Ubisoft, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth didn’t meet their publishers’ sales expectations. However, it’s not all bad news in gaming this year as there have been several big-budget disappointments. But fear not! Here are five games that might have flown under your radar this year.

In 2022, Striking Distance Studios introduced us to “The Callisto Protocol”, a thrilling blend of action and horror set within a prison on Callisto, surrounded by a gritty atmosphere. There was dirt, slime, rust, dampness, and shadows, along with various grotesque creatures. I found the game captivating, but unfortunately, it didn’t meet its publisher’s sales targets. As a consequence, they decided to create a spin-off game with a Roguelike structure, featuring quick development, an isometric perspective, and vibrant comic book-inspired colors. The outcome is fast-paced, fun, and fulfilling. You enhance your character’s abilities and battle hordes of the undead while making your way to an escape pod. If you perish, you respawn as a new character. Interestingly, you can also encounter the remains of your previous attempt and engage in combat with it for a generous reward. It seems like this might have been a similar experience for the developers – a fresh start, pushing through the disheartening remnants of a less successful project, toward what lies ahead.

Unique Adventure – Paper Trail stands out among the best games due to its captivating premise: a stunning world rendered on flexible parchment pages, which players can fold in various directions. The protagonist, Paige, embarks on a rite-of-passage journey, where much of the gameplay revolves around manipulating objects, determining routes across a page, and solving intricately designed challenges by simply curling the edge of the paper. This type of puzzle game experience is particularly satisfying as it provides just enough mental challenge to stretch your brain, yet still leaves you feeling intelligent upon solving the puzzle. There’s no other game quite like Paper Trail, making it an intriguing choice for anyone seeking a unique gaming experience. In essence, it’s a page-turning adventure that keeps you engaged from start to finish.

Pepper Grinder – An Unexpected Tale of Adventure

Rogue Flight – Rogue Flight stands out as an exceptional space shooter, reminiscent of the classic game Space Harrier. It boasts an eye-catching ’80s/’90s anime-inspired visual style, complete with VHS-like scanlines during cutscenes. You assume the role of skilled pilot Nadia Siwas, whose flying skills are crucial in preventing the malevolent ARGUS faction from wiping out humanity. The narrative is intense and fast-paced, and the gameplay is designed to make you feel like a third-person combat fighter, with your agile Arrow spacecraft capable of rolling to deflect projectiles and performing graceful strafes and pirouettes across the screen in slow motion, leaving a trail of devastation behind. Rogue Flight can be quite challenging, particularly when playing its unlockable Rogueflite mode, where you have only one life to complete the entire game from start to finish. However, like any good roguelike, each failed attempt presents an opportunity to return with a new arsenal of weapons, and the addictive nature of Rogue Flight ensures that you’ll keep coming back for more. And more. And more.

In “Crow Country,” when someone asks who she is, her name is revealed as Mara. This intriguing tribute to pre-millennium survival horror finds our protagonist, whatever her true identity may be, racing along a dusty road towards the desolate theme park of the same name. Equipped with a gun, curiosity, and a vibrant purple hairpiece, she embarks on a quest for answers. The game developers, SFB Games, have given this gritty story a nostalgic filter through pixelated graphics, making it seem as if Mara’s adventure unfolds hazy and distorted on an old television screen, behind a layer of frosted glass. This vintage aesthetic is becoming increasingly popular, with numerous shaky PlayStation “demakes” available on YouTube, but “Crow Country” transcends this trend. It’s not just visually stylish; it’s genuinely terrifying, filled with tension that keeps you on edge. You constantly worry about ammunition, health kits, keys, and the accuracy of your red laser sight isn’t always as precise as desired. The unique aspect of the character models – featuring cylindrical limbs, ball-joint elbows, and blocky hands – is that they resemble the animatronic machines found within the park. And that’s exactly what they are. The nineties survival horror genre may have appeared to fade away, but with a simple power restoration, it springs back to life, glowing and jerking ominously.

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2024-12-27 15:12

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