Try-It Tuesday: ROLLERS OF THE REALM

Posted on February 1, 2018 by J.L. Hilton

I bought ROLLERS OF THE REALM on sale for $2.99 because the artwork reminded me a little of fantasy artist James C. Christensen, and the idea of a “pinball role-playing game” intrigued me.

“Persevere through the hands of tyranny; use your brains, your reflexes, and your balls…” says the Playstation game overview. By “balls” they mean pinballs, which represent the various members of your party. You start out with the Rogue and eventually manage a group of up to ten, along with bonus balls for falcons and a dog.

Click here to buy for PS4

Created by Canadian indie developer Phantom Compass on a reported $700K budget and published by Atlus USA, this 2014 game is available on PS4, PS Vita and PC. It’s currently $9.99 on Steam, where it has a “very positive” rating.

ROLLERS OF THE REALM was a lot of fun. Some online reviewers knocked it for bad voice acting and lack of story depth. Well, no, it’s not Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings, but it’s cute and clever. I enjoyed the characters, from the sassy Rogue who says “yoink!” when she pickpockets villagers, to the drunken Knight trying to retain a shred of honor, to (my favorite) the Huntsman who declares he’s taking a “dirt nap” when his green leafy ball is lost.

I do indeed intend to “persevere” and continue this adventure. Check my YouTube channel for more ROLLERS OF THE REALM videos.

Rated “T” for teens, for fantasy violence and alcohol use.

~ J.L. Hilton

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Try-It Tuesday: LEGO Marvel’s Avengers

Posted on January 17, 2018 by J.L. Hilton

There are tons of scary, horror, creepy, supernatural and monster games to play for Halloween, but it’s not as easy to find games to play during Christmas. I tried Overcooked: The Festive Seasoning in December and figured, why not Lego? Legos are toys, toys are part of Christmas, right?

But then the holidays got really busy, so my Try-It Tuesday date with the 2016 LEGO MARVEL’S AVENGERS video game got postponed to the new year.

Lego games, in my experience, are simple and easy to play, with lots of bashing, looting and clever cutscenes. This PS4 demo was no different, though I did struggle to progress while switching back and forth between Hawkeye, Black Widow, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America. There’s a big focus on puzzles and cooperative actions. Single-player is possible but I recommend enjoying LEGO MARVEL’S AVENGERS with a friend or family member.

It’s rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and older. Though the demo is limited, I’ve read that there are potentially 100 playable characters to unlock and scenes from Marvel’s The Avengers, Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. 

Avengers assemble! Hulk smash!

~ J.L. Hilton

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Illogicon schedule Jan 12-14, 2018

Posted on January 11, 2018 by J.L. Hilton

ILLOGICON is a community based convention dedicated to Science Fiction & Fantasy in TV, movies, animation, comics, visual arts, pod casts, and video games. This year, I’ll be a participant in the following panels:

The Art and Music in Science Fiction – FRIDAY – 3PM – Spaceships are cool, but so are costumes that reflect a culture, in-universe cantina music, and sprawling space-murals that tell the story of a people. But in space. Join out panel talk about those human details that make a world a home, even when it’s alien. Moderator: Michael G. Williams. Panelists: Darin Kennedy, Andrew Greeson, J.L. Hilton.

Sex in Other Worlds (18+) – FRIDAY – 11PM – How do aliens… do it? Moderator: J.L. Hilton. Panelists: Julie Steinbacher, Natania Barron, James Maxey, Jim McDonald.

Fanfiction: Fun and Fundamentals – SATURDAY – 5PM – Fanfic! What it is, why we love it, where to find it, how to do it. Moderator: J.L. Hilton. Panelists: Stacey Lantagne (GoH), Alyssa Wong (GoH), Tracy Walker, Gerty McHenry.

Living the Dream and Getting Paid – SUNDAY – 2PM – So you’re ready to turn that hobby into a career (or a least a decent side hustle)? We gotta talk shop on financial planning and the business side of creativity. Moderator: Ian Malone. Panelists: Jim McDonald, Ada Milenkovic Brown, Fraser Sherman, J.L. Hilton.

~ J.L. Hilton

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Try-It Tuesday: NIER:AUTOMATA

Posted on January 10, 2018 by J.L. Hilton

I played NIER:AUTOMATA for three reasons:

1) There’s a free demo for PS4

2) Viewer requests

3) Jim Sterling included the game in his “Game of the Year Awards 2017” video

The music and gameplay gave me a warm fuzzy flashback to Kingdom Hearts on the old PS2, but third-person button-combo games aren’t really my thing any more. I prefer first-person games, and NIER:AUTOMATA constantly shifted between over-the-shoulder, side-scroller and top-down camera angles, which made it frustrating for me.

I’m not into anime, and I’m not a fan of the anime tropes such as teenage characters (or characters that look like teens, even if they’re old and/or androids), soft-spoken emo dudes who have to discuss their feels in the first three minutes you meet them, and fighting giant machines while wearing stiletto hip boots and flashing your panties at everyone.

But that’s what Try-It Tuesday is all about — having new experiences and trying games I wouldn’t usually play.

NIER:AUTOMATA is rated “M” for mature audiences, for blood, partial nudity, strong language, and violence. It’s available for PS4, Xbox One and PC.

~ J.L. Hilton

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Try-It Tuesday: EVENTIDE Slavic Fable

Posted on January 9, 2018 by J.L. Hilton

After playing Clockwork Tales: Of Glass and Ink, I wanted to do another Artifex Mundi demo so this week I tried EVENTIDE: SLAVIC FABLE.

Try the PS4 demo

Clockwork Tales was inspired by steampunk, and EVENTIDE by Slavic myth. You are a botanist, Dr. Mary Gilbert, whose grandmother, Baba, is the caretaker of a heritage park that turns out to be a kind of magical preserve.

After grandma is captured by a gargoyle (called a “moth” in the game), Mary sets out to rescue her. On her adventure, she makes an herbal poultice to heal a magical boy, solves puzzles, and meets some mythical creatures.

Like other games published by Artifex Mundi, EVENTIDE is a point-and-click puzzle-solving adventure story. It’s rated “T” for teens, for fantasy violence, mild blood and mild language.

I enjoyed it so much, I bought the full game and streamed it all, including the bonus “Midsummer Night” adventure, unlocked after completing the main story.

~ J.L. Hilton

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Try-It Tuesday: 7 DAYS TO DIE

Posted on December 27, 2017 by J.L. Hilton

7 DAYS TO DIE is a survival horror sandbox game developed by The Fun Pimps. Alpha 1.0 released on PC in December 2013. The most recent version, Alpha 16, released in June 2017. The game became available for PS4 and Xbox One in June 2016.

With a post-apocalyptic theme, combat, scavenging, crafting and building, 7 DAYS TO DIE is a bit like Minecraft, Don’t Starve, and Fallout 4. You can fight monsters, farm, hunt, mine, dig, and build anywhere. You start the game with nothing but underwear, a can of chili and a bottle of water. The main challenge is that every seven days, you’re attacked by a zombie hoard.

My husband’s loved this game for a few years. I’ve watched him play, and watched him watch other people play, but I never played until now.

7 DAYS TO DIE is rated “M” for mature audiences, for blood and gore, strong language and violence.

~ J.L. Hilton

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MacCready’s 12 Days of Christmas

Posted on December 23, 2017 by J.L. Hilton

Sung to the tune of the classic “12 Days of Christmas”

On the twelfth day of Christmas, MacCready sniped for me…
Twelve Gunners gunning
Eleven raiders raiding
Ten super mutants
Nine sentry robots
Eight mongrels growling
Seven bloatflies flying
Six shaggy yao guai
Five radroaches
Four mirelurks
Three molerats
Two feral ghouls
And a deathclaw in the glowing sea

~ J.L. Hilton

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Try-It Tuesday: OVERCOOKED The Festive Seasoning DLC

Posted on December 20, 2017 by J.L. Hilton

Trying to find a Christmas-themed video game is not easy! Halloween offers a variety of spooky, monster and madness games like Amnesia, Murdered: Soul Suspect, The Deadly Tower of Monsters, The Town of Light, and Until Dawn: Rush of Blood. All I could find for December was “The Festive Seasoning,” an expansion of the game OVERCOOKED.

OVERCOOKED is a chaotic cooperative cooking game for 1-4 players, developed by Ghost Town Games and released for PC, PS4 and Xbox One in 2016. It won the Best New IP, Best Debut Game, Best British Game and Best Family Game awards, among others.

Our entire family — mom, dad and two teens — loves OVERCOOKED. But it is challenging. While rated “E” for “everyone,” younger players may find it too difficult and should be teamed with older players.

“The Festive Seasoning” adds eight new levels, a turkey dinner recipe, and two new chefs — reindeer and snowman — all free on PS4 if you already have the main game. Or look for the OVERCOOKED “holiday bundle,” currently on sale for $6.79 for PS+ members, which includes the main game and both Lost Morsel and Festive Seasoning expansions. Absolutely worth every penny of the full $19.99 price if you’re not a member, for hours of family fun.

~ J.L. Hilton

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UPDATE: The sequel OVERCOOKED 2 is coming August 7, 2018, to PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC!

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Try-It Tuesday: SOUTH PARK The Fractured But Whole

Posted on December 6, 2017 by J.L. Hilton

SOUTH PARK: THE FRACTURED BUT WHOLE just came out in October and there’s a free demo on Playstation 4. I didn’t play Stick of Truth, but I’ve been watching South Park since I first saw Mr. Hanky in 1997, so I thought I’d give it a whirl.

Similar to a previous Try-It Tuesday title, Adventure Time: Finn & Jake Investigations, SOUTH PARK: THE FRACTURED BUT WHOLE is “2.5D,” which means a 3rd person side-scroller — left and right — with limited depth of movement — forward and back. I explored the world by watching for icons and pushing the corresponding controller buttons to interact with people and objects.

But, unlike Adventure Time, this game is absolutely NOT for children and probably not for a lot of adults, either. Finn never found a butt plug and personal lubricant next to Jake’s bed, or had to flip through a notebook of pornographic drawings to find the secret password “Fuck You Mom.”

SOUTH PARK: THE FRACTURED BUT WHOLE was developed by Ubisoft San Francisco and published by Ubisoft in collaboration with South Park Digital Studios. It’s available for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC, and is rated “M” for mature audiences, for Blood and Gore, Mature Humor, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, and Violence.

There are toilet-based mini-games, a turn-based combat system with powerful fart attacks, and in-game social media “Coonstagram” for taking selfies with other characters and boosting popularity. Based on the items I found in the game, there appears to be a crafting component, but I didn’t get to make anything before my one hour of demo time ended.

Visually, SOUTH PARK: THE FRACTURED BUT WHOLE looks just like the TV show, so playing the game feels a lot like being right in the middle of a new episode. I can handle South Park’s irreverent, rude, crude and offensive humor in 22-minute chunks, but I don’t know if I can handle hours and hours of a video game. I’ll stick with BioShock and Fallout 4 for now.

~ J.L. Hilton

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Try-It Tuesday: THIEF

Posted on November 29, 2017 by J.L. Hilton

I typically try out games I’ve never played before, but this week was a “Try-It AGAIN Tuesday” with THIEF, the reboot developed by Eidos Montreal and published by Square Enix.

I played this game on Playstation 3 and wrote about it back in March 2014. Since then, I’ve played Dishonored, Dishonored 2, Death of the Outsider, Fallout 4 and many more games. I wanted to revisit THIEF with the free demo available on PS4, to see if it was as good — and as bad — as I thought it was three years ago.

The graphics were as beautiful and Garrett just as sexy as I remembered. The demo does not delve into the story of THIEF but does give a good sampling of gameplay, the majority of which is spent sneaking, stealing and avoiding the city watch in narrow alleys of a Victorian-style city.

I managed to fight two jewelry store guards at the same time, without dying, but this game is really about observation, stealth, agility, and patience, not brute force.

The audio is still problematic, with voices that seem to be in the same room when they’re actually outside, and repetitive prattle from the guards. The world still feels cramped and restrictive, and the game mechanics clunky, though perhaps not as bad as before, as I’m a more experienced gamer now. I would have preferred something more akin to Assassin’s Creed or inFAMOUS, and less searching for bird poo to indicate a rare climbable ledge.

As one of my viewers said during the livestream, there’s something endearing about THIEF, in spite of its faults, and I enjoyed playing it again.

THIEF is rated “M” for mature audiences, for blood, nudity, strong language, strong sexual content, drug use, and violence.

~ J.L. Hilton

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