SallyNasty's Game Club - Never Alone! We did it(spoilers open)!!! Let's do the DLC!

Hey gang, life has been crazy - sorry this is so late to go up!

These are the guidelines for these playthroughs -

1. Games should be at least 1 calendar year old. That makes it easy to find games that are either a) on most people's piles or b) cheap to pick up(I am thinking 10-15 bucks max).
2. Games should be either episodic or broken up into easily agreed upon stopping points (i.e. achievement for ch.1 or reaching certain checkpoint). I would like it to be about an hour to an hour and a half for each "assigned" session, no more than 5-6 hours a week needed to participate.
3. Games shouldn't be more than 20 hours.
4. No console exclusives. Has to be on Microsoft/Playstation/PC platforms.

For December we are going to change play a really neat game that I have been excited about for a while. With 1000 achievement points to be had(as well as an interesting story), I just can't say no to this unique game - Never Alone. This is a really short game(about 3-4 hours) so my idea is to play the entire game one week, and then open spoilered discussion up the next week. I will be playing the DLC the 2nd week, but spoilers will be opened immediately. Please discuss as you play through together, but keep spoilers tagged/undiscussed until we get to the right part of the story.

Once we get through the holidays we will open up for some meatier(as in longer) games, but for right now it has been great having short games that don't require a lot of time(also the winter release schedule is about through).

I am really excited to get a dose of some non-western storytelling as well as playing as an non-traditional character. I really hope you will play along with us!

I started this last night and have to say, as much as some people would argue that the cultural insights really take away from being 'in the story' it actually helps a lot. Makes you care more about the obstacles or characters you're meeting.

The gameplay isn't my favorite thing ever at times, but it's not really taking away from the experience yet. I have a feeling that may change since I'm horrible at aiming the bola.

Ooh. I think I got this free from ps+

I've had this on my list already too! I noticed in a review that you can play couch co-op, and I'm going to try to talk my (non-gamer) spouse into joining me...

Beepo - for that, it's nice because if there's a section you're struggling with, all it takes is a pause and an option switch for you to take control of both characters and clear the section, then they just have to press X to jump back in.

Yay!

Finished this today, and the DLC. The game is decent. The gameplay gets very bad about 2/3 of the way through. Mechanically, it's a mess, and the AI is unresponsive and unpredictable..

However, the story, cutscenes, environment, and art style are all nice.

Just brace yourself for a lot of needless accidental deaths.

Slow down and wait for us next month!

Haha, I always forget about the start date. I have a busy December so I wanted to make sure I didn't fall behind.

Starts today! Here is a collectible guide, just to be sassy. All other achievements/trophies are story based:)

I played through the first 5 chapters and I really really am enjoying the game. The gameplay is incredibly basic(you jump, duck, and can throw an item - that is about it), but it is just dripping with charm. My wife watched me play and really got into it. I cannot recommend highly enough watching the Cultural Insights(the collectibles unlock little videos about the first people's lives and culture - incredibly interesting and all HD video footage).

Really glad we are playing this one. Buy this game and support the dev!

Are you including the foxtales DLC in your play throughs? Although I found it quite a bit more difficult than the core (had some frustration with timing the various environmental elements in parts) it's a worthwhile addition.

Yes! Next week we will do the DLC. How long did it take when you played it(the dlc specifically)?

Finished the base game last night (about 4 hours)! I really enjoyed the idea of it, but the last 1/3rd (you were right, RNG) really kinda soured me on the game.

Things I loved! -
-Style. It was absolutely charming!
-The Cultural insights. I just adored the HD video and the conversations reagading the culture. Really neat.
-The narration. I liked the way it was really just a big story that was being told largely in real time as you played.

Things I meh'd. -
-The final third of the game becomes a challenging platformer, and the controls just don't keep pace with what is expected of you. Had some really unfun deaths and sequences I had to repeat.

I still recommend the game and am happy I purchases, so as to support the dev/this type of story being told.

Anyone else playing?

Also, thoughts for next month? I am getting some IRC cabal feedback about DMC for next month. I can dig that one! Also thrown out there is Sleeping Dogs - but really we can do anything!

I'm up for whatever, pretty much! Advance notice for DMC would be nice in case it goes on sale. Thanks!

SallyNasty wrote:

Yes! Next week we will do the DLC. How long did it take when you played it(the dlc specifically)?

probably about 25% longer than the core because as mentioned I found the platform aspects more difficult in the dlc than I did in most of the core. However I found I still cared enough about the story elements to push through retries until I managed to get it right, at some point I also mentally changed how I viewed the difficulty of the game - life in that environment is really friggin hard and so the game's difficulty reflects those challenges, I think that change of perspective was important in further appreciating the game.

Would it blow your minds if I suggested Asura's wrath?

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/XWOuu8G.gif)

Also,

IMAGE(http://images.gameskinny.com/gameskinny/e09f542f8b085009ee4b3a7254904f4a.jpg)

My suggestions in IRC:

  • Metro 2033 or Last Light Redux
  • Child of Light
  • Valiant Hearts
  • Brothers
  • Resident Evil Revelations 2
  • Shovel Knight
  • Transistor
  • Dishonored

But please not Dishonored.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

My suggestions in IRC:

  • Metro 2033 or Last Light Redux
  • Child of Light
  • Valiant Hearts
  • Resident Evil Revelations 2
  • Shovel Knight
  • Transistor

This list (removed 2) works for me.

I'd also be okay with:

South Park: The Stick of Truth
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Tomb Raider
Fez
Saints Row IV
Rogue Legacy
Thief
The Swapper
Octodad: Dadliest Catch
Contrast
Battlefield: Hardline
Stick it to the Man!
Apotheon

I like Valiant Hearts, Mordor, SR4 and Thief! Valiant Hearts is a short game - might be nice to save that for a month with a lot of releases, so we can still fit one in.

Of those, I like Thief best, if only because I already have a copy.

There's a lot of choice in the pot, and I'm good with pretty much anything. Still slapping myself for not grabbing Valiant Hearts on the PS+ monthly. I grabbed everything else, why did I miss it?! Oh well. From what I hear, it's worth the money.

For some point in the future I recommend adding To the Moon to your queue, on steam sales it gets pretty cheap.

So, Never Alone. What am I missing? Other than having a theme that's off the beaten track, I can't understand why anyone would be excited about this game. It's a frustratingly imprecise platformer that tries for the kind of measured unfolding of events that characterized the first half of Limbo but then spoils the timing of almost everything by pegging it to the advancement of both characters, one of whom is always lagging slightly behind if controlled by the AI. For anything more complicated than running across a field, there's an annoying start-stop rhythm as you either swap partners or edge slightly forward on a platform so that your AI partner catches up and triggers the next event. But don't fall off, because everything is an instant kill and checkpoints can be far apart.

I love the setting and the theme and the focus on an underrepresented group, but the gameplay is just bad. I stopped playing early on when I got stuck on some kind of seesaw puzzle with a goblin throwing rocks. I'll circle back to the game because it's short, but I wasn't impressed.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

So, Never Alone. What am I missing?

A soul.

There's no doubt that there are frustrating platforming elements in play, RoughneckGeek may be on to something in his note about playing co-op instead of solo.

I really liked the game - but yes, the platforming sucked. It was really bad. That said, it was a neat little game with fun graphic/sound design and I really liked the narrator.

Also, here are the finalists for next month (please pipe up - will decide soon!) -

Thief
Saint's Row: IV (My vote)
Valiant Hearts

Thief!

I'll go Thief as well!