QC Done

Author: A.K.H.

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Gameplay Impressions

    After pushing through numerous delays and controversies, Assassin’s Creed Shadows has finally come out. This short video talks about the first three hours of the game, which is not even close to scratching the surface, but gives you an initial idea of what to expect, without going too deep into spoiler territory. But there are a few spoilers here from the early hours, so do proceed with some caution.

    Just like many other fans of the franchise, I have been quite eager to see an AC game set in Japan, and yes, even after the release of Ghost of Tsushima. That was a really good game on its own merit, but what a lot of us really wanted was to do a leap of faith as a Ninja. 

  • 33 Immortals (Game Preview): Gameplay Impressions

    After exploring the afterlife in a slightly relaxing fashion with the management sim game Spiritfarer, developer Thunder Lotus Games is returning to the action genre with “33 Immortals”, a co-op roguelike game that promises to provide a pick-up and raid experience. The focus on the afterlife is still present here, because you play a character who has just died, and must join a rebellion against the forces of hell. For those who want to go deeper into the story, this is a game based on the Divine Comedy. 

    Similar to the famous poem, the game is structured into three parts – Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. This video is based on an early access build, and the third part is still in development, and I didn’t have the courage to try the second part, because the first part itself is quite long and challenging to conquer.

    For those who don’t want to watch the entire video, here’s a summary: the game has a really interesting premise, and the promise of getting to a raid boss fight within 30 minutes instead of having to sit through several hours of grinding, is exciting. However, you soon realise that you only reach the boss fight within 30 minutes, and to actually defeat the boss, you still have to do quite a bit of grinding. 

    Also, I never really managed to fight the boss with 32 other players as intended, because the game has a steep learning curve, and an unforgiving respawn system, which meant I was fighting a losing battle with less than 20 players.

    After spending two hours with the game, I do have somewhat of an interest to go back and get powerful enough to actually beat the boss, but the game’s structure being designed around working with other players means that my chances of success are kind of random, and depends on the skill levels of the other players in my session. For game pass subscribers, this is definitely worth checking out for a couple of sessions at least. If you’re thinking of buying the game though, it may be worth waiting a bit until the early access version gets a few more updates.

  • 5 Games From The Steam “Next Fest” Worth Checking Out

    The February edition of the Steam Next Fest had thousands of demos on offer. Naturally, it is a difficult task to take a look closely at each and every game. In this video, I have highlighted five games that participated in the Next Fest, which I feel are worth your attention. They each belong to different genres, and collectively they offer a snapshot of the varied landscape of modern gaming. 

    By the time this video goes out, the demos for these games may or may not  be available, but I will leave the steam store page links for all the games in this post, so that you can check them out yourself and wishlist the games.

    Here they are, in alphabetical order.

    1. Cozy Desktop Konbini
    2. Descenders Next
    3. Despelote
    4. Is This Seat Taken?
    5. Lushfoil Photography Sim

  • Bao Bao’s Cozy Laundromat: Review

    Bao Bao’s Cozy Laundromat is the latest game from solo developer Destroyer Doggo, and it is an idler game, which is something that you leave running on the side while you do other work, such as writing a review for Bao Bao’s Cozy Laundromat. 

    There is a rapidly growing playerbase around Idler games these days, thanks to the indie hit Rusty’s Retirement, which came out in April 2024. Since then, quite a few developers have tried to bring their own spin to this subgenre of games that sit on your desktop and let you do other things in the background, while still making progress in the game due to automated gameplay.

    Idler games are not to be confused with Idle games, which function in a similar fashion, but offer complete automation. You can close idle games and still see progress when you open them up again. Idler games on the other hand, require you to keep the game open in order to see progress, but the core concept of automatic gameplay still applies here. These definitions are not set in stone, and even some developers use these two terms interchangeably, but this is just me trying to differentiate between the two subgenres. 

    If you’re not going to watch the entire video, here’s a summary: Bao Bao’s Cozy Laundromat is a charming introduction to the idler game subgenre. Featuring a visually pleasing pixel art style and soothing lo-fi music tracks, this is a game that invites you to leave it open on your desktop while you work. The game controls being limited to a menu instead of being tied to the items can feel a bit strange and make the gameplay slower, and the inclusion of limited time events introduces a sense of FOMO in an otherwise relaxing game, but these things are not a dealbreaker, and you can completely ignore the limited time events to avoid FOMO anyway. If you have never played an idler game, then this one is a great place to start. 

  • Monster Hunter Wilds: Campaign Review

    This is a review of the base campaign for Monster Hunter Wilds. It doesn’t talk about the endgame or any other content that takes place after the credits roll. This video is targeted at players who are new to the franchise.

    After hitting more than 1.3 million concurrent players on steam in the first few hours of its release, Monster Hunter Wilds is now a monstrous hit for Capcom. That doesn’t mean the game isn’t without a few issues. In fact, on day one, the game received a mixed review rating on steam, primarily due to its poor performance on PC. We’ll get to that later. 

    The game itself has been receiving mostly good reviews, as it lives up to the standards of the 20-year old franchise, while also being accessible enough to welcome new players.

    For those who don’t want to watch the full video, here’s the summary: The base campaign is short, enjoyable, and quite easy, at least compared to the previous two games in the series. These games are meant to be played for a long time, so finishing the campaign is only step one towards experiencing the game. I’m currently not aware of what is included in the endgame, but media outlets have suggested that it has content worth another 15-20 hours.

    If you’re playing on PC during the launch window, do make sure you will actually be able to run the game smoothly, or else wait for some performance patches. Apart from the PC performance hiccups, there is little to complain about Monster Hunter Wilds. It is an excellent introduction to the series for new players, and offers many quality of life improvements to returning players. On the whole I enjoyed the 12-13 hours I spent on the campaign.

  • Wheel World: Gameplay Preview

    If I had to describe Wheel World in one sentence, it would be, “Forza Horizon, but with a bicycle.” 

    Originally titled “Ghost Bike”, this is an open world adventure, with a sci-fi narrative layered on top. You play as Kat, a young cyclist, with a huge responsibility: save your universe using your bike. 

    I’m not too sure about how the story will land, but let’s not judge it based on a 15-minute demo. The set-up is that you find a bike which has a skull attached to it, and that skull guides you on a journey to fulfill your destiny. 

    The primary goal seems to be gathering some legendary parts for your bike, so that you become eligible for a huge ritual of some sort, which will somehow save the universe. Anyway, let’s forget the story for a bit, and focus on the cycling.

  • Lost Records: Bloom & Rage – Tape 1: Review

    Lost Records: Bloom and Rage is a narrative adventure from Don’t Nod studio, the folks who made the very first Life is Strange game. After handing over that franchise to Deck Nine, Don’t Nod branched off into different genres. 

    Now they have returned to their roots, with an episodic narrative game. Unlike their earlier games, there are only two parts to this one, and the wait between each release isn’t too long – the second part is set to come out in mid-April, which isn’t a bad wait.

    Alright, so first, the summary of the review for those who don’t want to watch the entire video. This game targets a niche audience, specifically those who loved the early Life is Strange games. It follows a very similar formula, although with much less supernatural stuff going on. 

    Also, your enjoyment of this game is going to depend a lot on how old you are, and whether or not you can relate to around six hours of cultural references from the 90s.

    It’s a story narrated across two separate years, with the adult characters reminiscing over the incidents that took place in the summer of 1995.

    If you don’t have the patience to do a lot of basic exploration and listen to a lot of dialogue with not much else going on, you’re probably not going to like this game.

    However, for those who go in knowing what to expect, the story is off to a good start, with the obligatory cliffhanger at the end so that you are eager to play the next part. 

    The visuals, voice performances and heartfelt moments in the story are all top notch. However, the overall pacing of the story is a bit slow, and it takes a while for things to really get going. Also, while the story is fine, the dialogues are a bit tough to relate to, since we are following the story of four teenagers. Again, this depends on your own age, I guess. 

  • Detective Dotson: Gameplay Preview

    A story driven adventure game set in modern day India. That’s how Detective Dotson describes itself, and those following the gamedev scene in India will know that this is a risky concept that not a lot of Indian studios would be willing to take up. 

    Masala Games, the studio behind Detective Dotson, is not afraid to put its Indian roots on full display. In fact, the star of the game is not Dotson, but the Indian city that he is living in. I wasn’t able to catch the name of the city, and was able to see signboards in three different Indian languages, but seeing how Dotson’s ambition is to become a Bollywood star, it’s safe to assume that the city is inspired by Mumbai. 

    As the name of the game suggests, you play as a detective, who has to go around the city and solve various cases.

  • Kabuto Park: Gameplay Preview

    When I first saw the trailer for Kabuto Park, I wasn’t really sold on the idea. Catching bugs and then entering them in sumo wrestling style tournaments. But I’m very glad that I actually started playing the demo, because I was hooked within a couple of minutes. 

    Kabuto Park is an upcoming game from Doot, who specialises in making tiny games. The idea is that you enjoy an engaging gameplay loop and finish the game really fast, so that you don’t have to sit through any filler or pointless grinding, just so that the game can justify a higher price point.

    Kabuto Park is going to priced around $5, and after playing the demo I can confidently say it is worth much more than that. At it’s core, it is a game about catching creatures and then using them to battle against other creatures.

  • Let’s Build A Dungeon: Preview

    Let’s Build A Dungeon is an ambitious simulation game that promises a lot of interesting features, provided you are willing to invest a bit of time to get past the learning curve.

    This game is made up of two parts – the first is that it offers you a simulation of building and playing your own MMO, complete with quests and whatnot. The second part is building and running your own gamedev studio, which is in fact running that MMO you were building earlier.

    This multilayered approach to gameplay can get a bit confusing in the beginning, but the 30-minute demo showed promise that the formula can maybe work quite well.