There have been so many games released of late and embargos are up on many of them. So this week will be a bit of a bumper whistle stop tour of a few releases fropm the past couple of weeks. So without further ado!
Été
It may be all action in Paris for the Olympic Games, but we’re going to French Canada, more specifically Montreal to relax and sell some art! Été is just the time out needed in this mad mad world we are living in right now.
You are a painter who has travelled to Montreal and has taken an apartment which needs paying for and sprucing up. You have no money, so why not put your artistic talents to good use and sell your art.
Whilst there is a lovely story on Été, it doesn’t feel like it is the main pull of the game. Yes you will be guided to creating and selling your artworks, but the real game for me, was just spending time in the world and appreciating the beauty of it all.
Which I think is actually kind of the whole point of Été. You literally start the game with a blank canvas, before gradually painting the world in as you move through it. Giving everything a beautiful watercolour look and a dreamlike feel.
With headphones on, it is very very easy to get lost in the moment, forgetting to even bother with the tasks at hand. However when you do, you are given as much guidance, or as much freedom as you want to create your art.
You can use collected stamps to use on your canvas, resizing, moving, colouring, positioning however you see fit. Creating wonderful compositions. Which will allow the more creative types to be just that… creative. The only issue is that there doesn’t seem to be a way to just paint on the canvas using a brush. It means you do need to use the various stamps to create, but they are so plentiful, it doesn’t feel like you are really restricted.
Another thing to note, the performance is a bit all over the place. Oddly running better on my Steam Deck compared to my more powerful desktop PC. So hopefully some optimisation to come.
Arranger
Sometimes a game makes you feel clever, other times it makes you feel incredibly dumb. Arranger manages to do both. Because the game design is very clever, but you feel very dumb.
The brilliance comes in how the game introduces you to the game mechanics before you even get into the game. The titles screen itself is a puzzle and instantly tells you how the soloban like game will play out.
The story sees you taking on the role of Jemma, as your person who is on a self-discovery journey who is about to venture out into the big wide world. Which to be honest I stopped caring about, because there is lot of exposition and talking early in the game. So much so I kind of phased out until I could actually play.
Because the gameplay itself is what sells the game. Everything is on a conveyer of sorts. So if you move left, the whole row a path is on moves with you. Down, then the the whole column. So on and so forth. However this is a magical world. so when a path and even any objects on it reach and edge, they wrap round to the opposite side.
Whilst it may sound a bit confusing and awkward being described, it is actually really simple and intuitive. What it also does is lead to some really well thought out puzzles that have solutions that are a mix of simple logical answers, mixed with a ton of thinking outside the box.
My main fear was how quickly I would tire of the game and the mechanics. Yet the game is really well paced (aside from the dialogue) and personally I felt like it finished at the perfect time. I wasn’t desperate for more, but at the same time, I was fed up and just slogging through to the end.
A wonderful game to have on the Deck.
Thank Goodness You’re Here
Thank Goodness You’re Here is quite simply the most feel good and funniest game of the year. From the very opening moments I grinned from ear to ear and throughout my time with the game I laughed more times than I can remember.
At it’s core the game is a point-and-click type adventure, where you need to solve the most basic of tasks in a fictional town in Yorkshire. I won’t ruin any of the story for you, because you really need to experience everything it has to offer as fresh as possible.
The jokes hit hard and fast. Imagine if you will your favourite comedy movie of all time and multiply it. The hits just never stop coming and any fears I had of the comedy maybe waring a bit thin were completely allayed.
Even the mechanic of interacting fits into the comedy, where you just hit everything you see to make something happen. Some of it might be crusical to the game, others maybe not. But it is in the dialogue where this shines.
The Yorkshire accent is one of the finest in the UK (along with Northern Irish and Scouse) and you won’t help but just like everyone in Barnsworth, wanting them to talk with you as much as possible. The accent, the dialect and even the humour itself fits Yorkshire perfectly.
I went from playing this to some other game that had voice acting and I was dissapinted it wasn’t fully voiced by a few Yorkshire locals. Every game needs a Thank Goodness You’re Here DLC voice pack. Many many games would also benefit by learning from the writing in this. Everything about Thank Goodness You’re Here is just exceptional.
Galactic Glitch
Imagine if you will taking Geometry Wars and adding a roguelite twist and what you get is Galactic Glitch. A game I was expecting to only slightly enjoy, but ended up having a great time with.
The game is essentially a twin-stick shooter with rogue progression added in. You move through mini arenas where you need to clear the enemy before going through portal/black holes to move to the next mine arena and so on and so forth.
You can head back to a base where you can use collected resources to level up and get stronger for your next run. You will also collect various powerups on your run, that will be lost when you die. It all pretty standard.
Honestly, there is nothing exactly groundbreaking here, but what Galactic Glitch does, it does well. The combat is satisfying and the enemies are really varied, as it mixes up easier minion type enemies with larger ones who need to be taken down in parts.
The important thing with roguelites is that runs feel different enough from each other and that you feel like you are making progression. This balances everything really well. Runs generally last a few minutes but can go on for longer, which makes Galactic Glitch and ideal game to have on the Steam Deck for a lunch break run, or then for an evening of killing enemies.
This won’t be the best game you’ll play all year, far from it. But it is a game that is worth having around foir when you feel the need to shoot things inj space!
