1 Jan 2019

Florence Review

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Florence isn’t a co-op game by any means but the fiancée and I played through it like it was. We took turns placing puzzle pieces, remarked on the story beats, and admired the wonderful presentation together. 

Florence Yeoh’s story of young love was familiar to the both of us. We found the behaviours of the characters both relatable and bewildering. We connected with Florence but felt very little for Krish; I believe we came to the conclusion that boys are stupid.

Categorizations are silly compulsions. People will find Florence under the games section of the App Store but it’s important to heed the game’s descriptor as interactive story. The challenge wasn’t found in the gameplay. It leveraged light game mechanics to convey emotional and mental states. The challenge was whether or not we could relate and identify with Florence’s experiences through those gameplay moments. I believe we did.

We played the game on an iPad Pro (2017). It was a bit awkward to hold up the tablet for the 30 or so minutes to complete the tale, we both found it was an effective use of the platform. It was a genuinely beautiful experience for the two of us to enjoy and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who has ever experienced young love.

Verdict:
We liked it

Ratings Guide

14 Oct 2015

LTTP: Hitman Sniper

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After playing Hitman: Sniper, Square Enix Montreal resides on my list of top tier development studios. I loved Hitman Go but I didn’t immediately dive into Hitman: Sniper because it looked like the lame Silent Scope knock offs that litter the Apple App Store. However, when I got the game for free (or very cheap, I don’t recall which), I was proven wrong. Hitman: Sniper was brilliant.

The game was not about sniping a target or two and then moving onto the next locale because there’s only one locale to play with. I was taken aback at first but as I was unlocking missions, weapons and abilities, I slowly realized that this was about climbing the leaderboards. The missions were there to teach me how to play the game and what was possible with just a sniper rifle.

I learned how to setup accidents and triggered explosions with well placed shots. I was trained in the importance of body disposals and luring unsuspecting guards away from the targets they were protecting.

Hitman: Sniper was a game of surprising depth and demonstrated to me that it’s possible to create a score challenge game like this on mobile. I’m not a fan of the Facebook integration but I love the idea of sharing replays. I learned from others to improve my own score without having to head over to Youtube. However, try as I might, I’m stuck in the low end of the top 100 at the time of writing. Still, they successfully infected me with the score hunting bug and that’s no easy feat.

Verdict:
I like it

Ratings Guide

9 Sep 2015

Apple’s Fall 2015 Announcements

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It’s Apple Fall 2015 media day. Here are some of my thoughts on the newest products. It was a solid lineup of new products that I doubt I’ll partake but it’s nice to see Apple march on.

iPad Pro

It’s a larger, faster and more productivity oriented tablet. You want a keyboard cover? It’s got one. You want a digital pen? Apple Pencil has you covered. It sounds a lot like a Microsoft Surface Pro 3. So why would one choose one over the other?

The Surface has a wider array of support thanks to its x86 Intel processors but the iPad Pro has the edge on portability with its thinner and lighter profile. Microsoft’s on-stage support of the iPad Pro is a nice gesture but the Surface Pro still has the edge for full Office suite support.

The starting price of $799 USD for the 32GB model was a legitimate surprise to me. This places it right there with the Microsoft Surface Pro 3’s cheapest model. I doubt anyone would actually live with the 32GB model if they’re trying to be productive but it’s nice to see a relatively affordable model.

Oh and they squeezed in the existence of the iPad Mini 4 as well.

Apple TV

The new Apple TV with its touch and voice enabled remote reminds me of Kinect and the Xbox One. As expected, it has robust Siri integration and all the small luxury touches that Apple is known for. It’s essentially all the niceties of iOS brought to the Apple TV which includes iOS apps such as games like Crossy Road to the big screen. But thanks to the more capable hardware, previously console and PC oriented titles like the new Guitar Hero and Disney Infinity 3.0 are making its way to the new Apple TV as well.

The ability to pair a game controller will also enable light but more sophisticated games akin to the console. Games like Transistor will be playable on the new Apple TV which makes it quite an attractive proposition for Indie games. Curiously, it only sports an A8 processor unlike the iPad Pro and iPhone 6S.

It’ll be available in late October for $149 USD for the 32GB and $199 USD for the 64GB.

iPhone 6S & 6S Plus

An improved 12MP camera with 4K capabilities, improved LTE Advanced support and the new A9 processor were to be expected but what’s the hook? Well apparently that’s 3D Touch.

3D Touch enables the pressure sensitivity that was found in the Force Touch trackpad on the iPhone 6S. Unfortunately for Apple, demonstrating 3D Touch is difficult. From the viewer’s perspective, 3D Touch (like Force Touch) is best experienced in person. 3D Touch demonstrations simply look like people are holding their finger on something for a brief period of time which is already something that multi-touch displays already do.

Other little Apple touches like using the Retina display as a giant flash for selfies and the “Live Photos” (aka animated GIFs) for their cameras.

It’s an S revision. Solid but not Earth shattering.

5 Aug 2015

Contradiction (iOS)

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I never owned a full motion video (FMV) game until Contradiction. I played a few including Cyberia and Microcosm when I was younger but I don’t recall much of it. Giant Bomb’s Quick Look of the PC version brought this game to my attention but it was the investigation angle that convinced me to to buy it. It reminded me of a British take on Ace Attorney with live actors instead of Japanese sprites.

Just like Ace Attorney, the game is filled with exaggerated characters. Inspector Jenks pushes the limit on exaggerated gestures and emotes to ensure the audience doesn’t misinterpret his thoughts. Paul Rand (played by Paul Darrow) plays the sinister father and puppet master that rivals the likes of Charles Dance’s Game of Thrones performance. Then there’s the disinterested James who Inspector Jenks catches numerous times with various drugs and is unusually fixated on his fireplace.

It was up to Inspector Jenks and I to uncover the truth behind Kate Vine’s death. Everyone in town is guilty of something and they would often lie about things. I had to point out those contradictions to move the story forward and in half a dozen hours or so Kate Vine’s murder was solved. Unfortunately, that was just the tip of the iceberg and many loose threads will require a sequel to tie up.

I enjoyed stitching together the facts and evidence to unravel lies but the inventory and user interface was a chore to navigate. I missed obvious clues due a combination of impatience and cumbersome U.I design. I resorted to a walkthrough and discovered answers were right under my nose but were buried behind scroll bars. It was frustrating but I didn’t let it deter me.

The most glaring issue with Contradiction (outside of the obvious typos) is with the contradictions themselves. There are numerous contradictions that should be acknowledged as such but they overlooked it and I’m stuck exclaiming “C’mon! That’s totally one!”. I hope they handle it better in the sequel because that’s a bummer to think you have one over the characters only to have it yield nothing.

Contradiction is exactly what I wanted from a full motion video game. It has exaggerated acting, a wide array of little scenes that transitions from scene to scene without becoming annoying. My only gripe against is are logistical and the lack of polish in the user interface. With those issues in mind, I still enjoyed my time with Jenks and gang and hope to see them return in a sequel. I just hope the recent GiantBomb exposure doesn’t ruin the magic.

Verdict:
I like it

 

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