Enigmatis: Ghosts of Maple Creek Collector’s Edition

December 31, 2023 Filed in: Video Games

I finished my last game of 2023 on the final day of the year. It was Enigmatis: Ghosts of Maple Creek Collector’s Edition, a hidden object puzzle adventure game from Polish developer Artifex Mundi. In Enigmatis, you play a detective trying to solve a mystery in a small town in Vermont. You move from place to place gathering useful items to add to your inventory. Items are usually obtained by solving a variety of puzzles. The most predominant type of puzzle by far is hidden object. I hadn't played a hidden object game in a while so it was fun to return to this style of game. Thankfully, Enigmatis had a handy hint button which I used frequently to go from one puzzle to the next. I was more interested in solving puzzles than I was wandering around town wasting time. After several hours, I completed the game. It ended with "To be continued," however, because Enigmatis is actually a trilogy. It is followed by Enigmatis 2: The Mists of Ravenwood and Enigmatis 3: The Shadow of Karkhala. Because I have the collector's edition, there was a bonus adventure to play as well. It was a prequel entitled The Ghosts of the Past. I finished the bonus adventure but I'm not motivated to play the sequels yet. I will save them for sometime down the road.

Tropico 4

December 20, 2023 Filed in: Video Games

I've previously played Tropico and Tropico 3. The first game impressed me with its entertaining take on city building. Its setting was presented with a sense of humor and some great latin music. I played Tropico 3 many years later and it was every bit as fun. As expected, the graphics were improved but the gameplay was updated as well. This month, I've been playing the next installment in the series, Tropico 4. From what I've read, it is frequently chosen as the best of the six Tropico games. So far, I have to agree it is very good. It plays a lot like Tropico 3 with updated graphics and some evolutionary game tweaks. Foreign relations are no longer limited to the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. It now includes Europe and China. There are more options but it plays very similarly to its predecessor. For whatever reason, however, I haven't been as enthused with it as I was with the other Tropico games I played. I've experienced this with other game series in the past. The Grand Theft Auto III trilogy comes to mind. I loved GTA III and I loved Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. By the time I got around to playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andeas, however, I wasn't into it nearly as much. The quality of the game was just as good but I had become jaded after investing so many hours into the GTA III series. I think the same thing applies to the Tropico series. There are 20 missions but I currently don't plan on completing them all.

Bastion

December 03, 2023 Filed in: Video Games

The latest computer game on my playlist was Bastion, which I finished yesterday. It is an action RPG with a vibrant isometric art style and nice music. I enjoyed it a lot. It had a nice mix of arcade combat with RPG elements such as experience points, skills, and a variety of upgradable weapons. You control the story's protagonist, known as "The Kid." He can be configured with two weapons and a special attack. I enjoyed experimenting with various combinations and also deciding on which upgrades to spend my resources on. There were traditional levels to complete, which advanced the story. There were also proving grounds, places to test and reward your proficiency with the numerous weapons. It took me a bit over 10 hours to complete the game. If I hadn't spent so much time trying to get first place in all of the proving grounds, I could have shaved a couple of hours off that time. All in all, it was one of the best games I played this year. I look forward to playing other offerings from Supergiant Games.