Recent reviews by mad cuz bad

Have you played any games in the Trine series? If not, maybe Magicka or the sequel, Magicka 2? Nine Parchments has a lot in common with those. It is an action adventure game, designed for cooperation. You can play alone or with random internet strangers, but having a friend to play with is recommended. A foe will do as well in a pinch, as long as they can use some voice communication. Couch multiplayer is possible, but I didn’t test it.

Nine Parchments is set in the world of Trine. Veterans of the Trine series will feel at home: the game is full of familiar and strange views. Some heroes and locations from Trine appear again here, although only as flavor, rather inconsequential to the story. Similarities to Magicka series are all in the gameplay: we fight enemies in top-down view, progressing linearly forward. Spells are not as flexible, but interesting and balanced. Each can change the fight for better or worse.

Settings, characters and effects are beautifully colorful and detailed. It is possible to get lost in the crowd, especially when you are slow to kill the opponents, but gameplay visuals are clear: just don’t get swarmed. Throughout the story you will not reach maximum level or unlock all the available spells, characters and outfits. Nine Parchments is clearly designed for very extensive replaying. Between starting the story again with high level character
or grinding challenge arenas, there’s a lot to do.

“Lots to do” is a curse and a blessing. A completionist will have to replay the entire storyline to try all the characters or retry missed achievements. Unlike in Trine, there is no chapter select feature. Freshly unlocked characters start as level 1 baby wizards, and the only way to level them up is… playing the story again, since arenas are too challenging. It might be fun with an already proficient team, but leveling was not a sufficient motivation for me.

Unfortunately there are no other motivations to play again. Spells, even though interesting, have rather few viable combinations. Absurd humor and interesting secrets from Magicka are missing. It’s hard to tell if the characters are likable, because we don’t get to know them at all. There is no suspense, no happy or horrible events. Extremely limited cutscenes do not develop any interesting lore. Even though the setting could be a good start, the art and level design barely tell any story.

Actually, nothing in Nine Parchments tells an interesting story. We learn why we have to undertake the quest and what happens to our characters after it ends – but there are almost no motivations, conflicts or drama. At least not until we reach the last fight, but that’s a bit late to grab our attention. Characters interact with each other when entering new areas; these conversations and an occasional (but optional) side quest provide the bare minimum to keep some interest burning.

The game is very well executed in technical aspects. Unlike many otherwise excellent cooperative games (check my reviews), Nine Parchments will not frustrate you with annoying bugs. Connecting over the internet is quick, easy and reliable. Story progress counted for both players on the team. Some achievements count only for whoever actually performed them, which is reasonable – but might frustrate some achievement hunters. I only tried playing with a gamepad (Steam controller), which probably best fits the type of gameplay here.

There are way too few games in this genre, so you might end up here some time later. Nine Parchments should not be your first co-op game. I still do recommend it, but under some conditions.
Have you already played other games designed for co-op?
Do you miss the top-down action type of gameplay?
Are you okay with just a little story development?
Do you like improving your character by replaying content?
Do you have a reliable partner for a teammate?

If all of that sounds just fine to you, Nine Parchments is going to fit the bill well – but the Trine and Magicka series do everything better!
By the way, not just parchments come in nines.
Professor Butternut has nine letters in both his names.
Anastasia the Lich is not a coincidence, believe me.
The first character, Cornelius; nine playable characters in total…
you might even count the words, sentences and paragraphs.
Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…

Long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

It is a time of a global pandemic. Emboldened by their recent success in other LEGO games, two players reach for another legoification – Star Wars: The Complete Saga. Using Remote Play, a mysterious force that binds distant living beings together, they set out to bring peace and security to their new empire...

The saga is complete… as long as you don’t count episodes VII-IX. The game combines two previous games, each depicting three movies, into one. If you are eager to smash, break and deconstruct bricks as Rey, Poe Dameron or Kylo Ren, you will have to wait for the upcoming LEGO Skywalker Saga.

No matter how well Obi-Wan has taught you, you will not succeed alone. Although the game has rather few character-specific mechanics, two players need to cooperate to solve most of the puzzles or succeed in fights. Their roles feel different enough to reinforce the feeling of teamwork. Some of the players are only in it for the money – collecting studs while others fight for the freedom of the Galaxy – but like Han Solo, they always come round.

...and the game feels the same way. While LEGO adaptations of Harry Potter movies feel like they are going on forever, we almost breezed through this one. This is not a fault by itself – most iconic locations, events and fights from the movies are there. I did not feel any disappointing lacks. However, there are very few Star Wars specific gameplay mechanics, and they aren’t used as often as in these other games. While in later LEGO games players spend more time interacting with mechanics, in The Complete Saga a much greater part of time is spent fighting or simply passing through locations while solving puzzles. Of course that applies only to the initial completion of the storyline: like other LEGO games, it is almost infinitely replayable. There are a number of characters and minikits to unlock, and you definitely won’t run out of LEGO constructions to smash to pieces and turn to in-game currency.

This combination of two trilogies came out in 2007, years before LEGO LotR, LEGO Hobbit and LEGO Harry Potter games, but miraculously it feels more feature-complete in many ways. Two cooperating players can swap control of two characters – something that is inexcusably missing from most other LEGO games! Saving preferences, keybinds, joining as a second player in the middle of a session – are all working much better than in later games. The journey from Naboo to the Battle of Endor is much smoother than the average space trip in the movies.

Flying is one exception: it is one of the most clumsy coop mechanics I have ever encountered. When two players are each flying a ship or speeder, camera angle and some part of the controls are tied to their relative position. Sometimes they can’t both turn or accelerate at the same time; sometimes an unexpected movement of one player ruins the other one’s move. The pod race felt as if it would have been easier in single player. Luckily, at least one of the players is among the best pilots in the Galaxy!

If you have played any other LEGO games, don’t expect any innovation or uniqueness from this one. Don’t let it stop you from enjoying yourself though – you can revisit the distant galaxy, remember the best quotes, build again the itch to watch the original trilogy. LEGO Star Wars The Complete Saga will not disappoint even the veterans of LEGO games. And if you haven’t played many of them yet, get this one on a sale and jump to hyperspace!

TL;DR: If you liked the original Overcooked, play this one – it is better in every way. If you didn’t, probably All You Can Eat (content of both games rolled into one) is a better buy.

The Onion Kingdom, still ruled by the wise and competent Onion King, is in trouble yet again. The Onion King’s camping trip, beachside vacation and circus festival (which are parts of separately bought DLCs) are also a mess, which is surely a coincidence and has nothing to do with the royal person… Fortunately you are going to help, and you can be much better at it now than in the original Overcooked, for a few reasons.

Overcooked 2 includes real online multiplayer apart from couch multiplayer and streaming via Remote Play Together. This is a very welcome improvement – of course the game can be played comfortably via streaming, and your team only needs one copy of the game that way, but online multiplayer provides the best latency and responsiveness. When you are chasing the highest scores, or when one or more participants don’t enjoy a fast and stable internet connection, this is invaluable.

Game mechanics are vastly changed, because cooks can now throw raw ingredients. Throw things into pots, throw them to your teammate, throw them at your teammate or just throw in desperation – the possibilities will make you wonder how did you manage to play Overcooked without this skill. Throwing changes the dynamic of the game a lot, but mechanics are overall still easy to grasp and execute even for casual gamers.

If you have a perfectionist streak, prepare for a harrowing experience. After beating the game you can replay kitchens for an attempt at reaching an even higher, 4-star score threshold. Even the 3-star thresholds are badly chosen on some levels played in a 2-person group, and some of the 4-stars seem to be straight up impossible. Luckily – if you buy the story-based DLCs – there are tons of new kitchens, ingredients and recipes to explore. That, plus an arcade mode which provides a ton of randomly chosen kitchens, make for a lot of replayability. A great portion of full priced AAA games are much shorter. I did not enjoy 2-person versus mode much: controlling two characters was a lot more troublesome to me (and it's the same when you play solo).

I strongly recommend playing on a controller. Throwing at other than right angles is hard or impossible with keyboard and mouse; you can play and enjoy the game, but you won’t be a fully armed and operational battle station.

TL;DR: Essential co-op title. Buy the game on sale, spend the money you saved on a controller.

Both are acceptable, but the title of the game is not. Overcooked is a game about cooking. If you overcook something, it’s a failure that will usually prevent you from getting a good score, or even make you fail the level.

Oh wait, the levels aren’t really what they are called, either: they are kitchens, and many of them aren’t level at all. They have chasms, icy water rivers, lava pools and other impediments to walking. You can’t run with a knife, but that doesn’t make kitchens much safer….

Playing Overcooked you will probably use more names for a single dish than you will use buttons. There are only three buttons to press (and only two of them are required to win), but the depth of strategy and the magnitude of possible failures are surprisingly big. Success requires some long-term planning, quick-witted reactions and some dexterity. Misclicks or fat-fingering something will cost you a good score, but I imagine the game can be satisfying to play even if you are not chasing perfection.

Communicating with your teammate is essential. You will have a chance to find out if they are a perfectionist, how persistent, patient, calm under pressure or forgiving they are. In that way Overcooked cooperation has something in common with raiding in an MMO.

Neither, you needed one more carrot! Now the dish is ruined! But don’t give up. Almost every kitchen has to be replayed a few (or a great many) times until you learn to plan your movements and activities. There are different ways of dividing labor between players. Depending on difficulty of the level, current mood and general temperaments you will have a chance to explore many styles of cooperation. One that I haven’t had experience with is sharing one controller with another player. Yes – not only this game has a local coop mode, itself a great rarity these days, you don’t even need extra controllers for it! I imagine pulling on the controller your teammate is holding adds an extra dimension to the gameplay.

Don’t do it, just don’t. Or try it – I’m not your chef de cuisine – but you will realize how unfun and boring it is after just a few kitchens.

This brings me to the biggest (and perhaps the only) lack of Overcooked: online multiplayer. Overcooked is a couch multiplayer game. Usually it would require in-person socializing, which is very limited in current times. The only saving grace is Steam Remote Play Together – it works very well and allows you to play with someone else using just one copy of the game. Guest players don’t need to install or run the game, they just need to be able to reliably receive a video stream.

Overcooked is not a long game: it took my teammate and me 20 hours to complete all kitchens of the main campaign and the Christmas campaign (free for everyone - not the paid expansion) with 3-star scores. Perhaps you can extend replayability indefinitely by introducing new players and inviting them to be your teammates. It’s very quick to learn and understand the basics. Unfortunately, competitive kitchens with just 2 players are relatively boring and unfun.

Disclaimer: I have only played 2-player cooperation. Completed the game 3 times with 2 classes, reached slightly above level 80.

My experience in ARPG games is limited to Diablo 3, Diablo 2 and Path of Exile. Did I say limited? That list is ordered by increasing time spent, and I’d rather not know what fraction of my life went into them all. I played and completed the first Torchlight, but since I don’t remember much of it, I have no point of reference.

Torchlight 2 is unlike them all: it’s the only light-hearted ARPG I know. Environments are bright and colorful, most characters are positive, and even the grand theme of the story has more to do with saving than with destroying. Unlike POE and Diablo, Torchlight doesn’t deal with themes of corruption, decay, perfidy, treachery; doesn’t show disfiguration or deformity. This doesn’t mean it’s all flowers and rainbows: there is mass slaughter of monsters and some cartoony gore, making combat satisfying and rewarding.

I’ll openly admit that the story didn’t catch my ear most of the time. I skimmed through the conversation screens. Very few of them have voice lines, and exposition of the story suffers for it a bit. It doesn’t feature saving the entire world (like Diablo) or multiverse (like POE), but it doesn’t mean the players can see slices of the world in greater detail, or that they get more emotionally involved in the story. Much like other ARPGs, the variety of quests reduces to “travel - kill - bring item”. Nothing else is expected in this genre, and that’s a feature.

Build depth and variety
After spending >50 hours in Torchlight 2 I didn’t feel like the game had much more to explore. I could try more classes and push into level 100 endgame, but nothing in the skill design, level progression or map names hinted at any great reward at the end. I recommend exploring at least 2 classes, trying mapping, or better yet - New Game Plus. NG+ serves a similar purpose to the difficulty levels of Diablo 2. Itemization system did not drive me to play more on its own. It involves mostly numerical increases, and unique or legendary items have little influence on gameplay.

Unfortunately, 4 classes and few gameplay differences between builds is just very little compared to mentioned ARPGs. There is very little interaction between players. Aura builds don’t feature here, but playing in a team is extremely convenient and a bit easier than solo gameplay. 2-person team can have two town portals leading to different places and can teleport to each other at nearly any time (which has a side effect of nullifying death penalties: you only lose a few seconds, but no gold or experience).

Is it similar to…?
In comparison to Diablo 3, Torchlight lacks the weight of Diablo world and storyline. The story feels much smaller in scope, not involving the fate of the entire world. Class and build variety is a lot smaller, but since Diablo 3 itself was very uninspired in this, this isn’t a step back.

Where Path of Exile is a kilometer-high burger of tasty things, but assembled in wrong order and with half of the ingredients being strange or repulsive foods, Torchlight is a delicious, simple meal that mostly anyone can enjoy.

Smaller is sometimes better
The comparison with POE summarizes Torchlight well. Do you long for some satisfying monster-slaying, picking up loot and exploring some new environments, without worrying too much about skill trees, synergistic builds, and carrying on your shoulders the weight of Sanctuary or whatever new level of world of worlds POE is currently at? Only Torchlight can satisfy this.

The game is designed in a modern way, is not burdened with unintuitive restrictions, is technically near perfect and has removed almost all the tedium from ARPGs. The only minor technical frustration is related to the “duplicate login” issue (check the Steam discussions for workarounds). Unfortunately, the original developer has shut down and there is no hope of fixes or expansions.

This also makes it a perfect game to introduce someone new to the ARPG genre – just don’t overdo it, at risk of making an impression that this genre is just simple and boring.

TL;DR: Play this game if you are human and have a soul. You are allowed to skip it if you are sad or overwhelmed with drama.

This was a game unlike any other that I have played. I usually enjoy completely different genres, but unexpectedly, Life is Strange was… No, actually it was not enjoyable. Captivating, engaging, gripping, and I don’t regret any minute spent playing it – but this work of art was not made to bring joy. There is no escapism involved, or any repetitive, calming routine that makes some action games relaxing. Very often in my life I looked to games to silence and damp some thoughts. Life is Strange has a completely opposite effect.

Life is Strange has something in common with all good speculative fiction. It presents situations that most of us don’t face in real life. In a game of this kind, like in spec-fi book, we can explore problems and decisions – of course in neutered, simplified versions – but also without real-life consequences. In this way art is like vaccination or tempering. I believe I am better prepared for the rest of my life thanks to it.

The art style of Life is Strange is a mix of realism and cartoon-like simplicity. It serves the game well – flashy visuals didn’t distract me. Much of the simpilicity looks like a concession from developers who realized they have no resources or expertise to create more realistic visuals. Fortunately, nothing sticks out in a bad way. Nothing that had to be pretty and polished for story purposes has been neglected.

The game is not nearly perfect. There are (very few and very small) plot holes. The plot and setting are grounded in very specific place, culture and community. Nearly all of my own experiences have been very different. People from other places or even same place but current time will find some parts of college life hard to believe. I felt very little similarity or commonality with most of the characters presented in the game, even the ones most similar to me in moral, religious and social backgrounds. But all of the imperfections don’t matter: the premise of the game works despite them. You are most likely very different from me, but I believe you would be similarly engaged. Life is Strange should affect people from all walks of life: it is universal for probably all humans and all times.

If you decide to play this game, please take a few hints. Plan your times to play: don’t just hop into Life is Strange after a tiring day or when you expect interruptions. Use a controller, preferably one with two analog sticks (default configuration of Steam Controller blocks some gameplay elements). Don’t hesitate to rewind often or to fast forward through conversations you have already heard.

By the way, you shouldn’t have read a long review like this before playing :)

TL;DR: An excellent game to play with a friend: funny, with satisfying gameplay and many opportunities to support… or blow apart each other.

Disclaimer: I have only played in 2-player remote co-op mode.

Storyline is not a strong point of Magicka 2. If conflict is at the core of any engaging story, this game has perhaps too many conflicts. However, any tensions between all the races and tribes are nothing compared to the universal dislike, fear or hatred the inhabitants of Midgård feel toward the wizards.

After a few minutes spent in the company of even just one wizard you will understand these feelings. Wizards seem friendly and loyal not just to each other, but to the common folk living in their land. That’s an illusion. Under the guise of saving the world, or even just protecting a village festival, they blindly blast away innocents, ruin livelyhoods and upset any order created since the ancient Wizard Wars.

Fortunately, you play as one of the wizards – you can burn, shock, freeze, bonk, disintegrate and generally destroy with impunity. Even on normal difficulty level you and your partner are the biggest danger to yourselves. Which is lucky again, because killing wizards is just as satisfying as killing goblins. While goblins just stay dead, you can revive your partner to have another try – and they will even thank you for it!

If you have played Magicka 1, you will enjoy this game too. If you haven’t – definitely start with the first one. Despite being more polished and closer to modern game design standards - or maybe because of it - Magicka 2 has lost some of the silly and absurd soul of its predecessor. Veterans of Magicka will find more of the nonsensical humor, but it won’t be as surprising and will catch you off-guard much less frequently. Spells and Magicks and the ability to quick-cast some Magicks are balanced to make the gameplay smoother, less frustrating and less likely to give you repetitive strain injury from pressing QFASA over and over again. If you think that’s less interesting or easier than Magicka 1, you will have to try higher difficulty modes. Fun (and your self-kill count) will skyrocket on bananas mode!

All these differences pale next to the technical improvement Magicka 2 makes over the first game. Magicka 2 is vastly superior in almost every technical aspect, to the point where you can actually complete the game in the first try, most of the time without crashes or disconnects! After completing both games twice, I still wish the content and mechanics of Magicka 1 were playable on Magicka 2’s technical foundation – with no random disconnects or crashes.

Highly recommended sequel to Magicka 1, now with 99% less bugs and 100% more self-kills!

TL;DR: Looking for a noncompetitive game for two? This one is perfect.
Disclaimer: I only played online 2-player coop mode.

Trine 4 is one of the best online cooperation games you can play. It's a light-hearted story combined with beautiful, picturesque environments. Gameplay consists mostly of puzzles and exploration, with just a bit of combat (against dream-creatures - no sentient beings). Most puzzles except a few secrets can be solved by players of any level of dexterity or familiarity with game mechanics. Mechanics offer the perfect opportunities both to help and impede the other player - there is a lot of fun to be had in interacting with your partner.

If you liked Trine 1 and Trine 2, you will love Trine 4 too. It's not just more of the same - Trine 4 is different enough to be fresh and interesting for veterans. Story is still light-hearted, but more educational. Heroes have changed a bit: they are the same characters, but a bit more matured. Combat is a bit harder, but at the same time - except the boss fights - it's the only weak and unnecessary part of gameplay. Puzzles are more engaging and satisfying to solve, and thanks to the grater variety of mechanics many of them have more than one solution. Music and visuals are even better and more enchanting than in Trine 1 and 2 - it is the perfect sequel in that regard.

In technical aspects the game is near perfect. It's not demanding, so most players should have a PC capable of playing. It's easy to track progress, interrupt and resume the game at any point or come back to previous chapters to explore and complete missed secrets. Multiplayer is easy to connect to, but some parts of progress are tracked only for the host player, which can be disappointing.

TL;DR: Perfect game to play in online co-op. Buy two copies and gift one to someone you want to spend time with!

Story is serious enough, but not gritty and there is no combat against humans. Storyline is understandable for people unfamiliar with Tomb Raider, but can be readily ignored. Puzzles require cooperation, but "dexterity tasks" and combat don't - they can be carried by one of the players. Two characters with distinct abilities create a good division of tasks and two different roles that players can start identifying with. Party can easily choose which optional gameplay elements (achievements, gathering diamonds and items) they want to engage in.

Online multiplayer is technically near perfect. The only limitation is that two characters must stay within certain distance to keep full freedom of movement, but it's a worthy tradeoff for always being able to see what the other player is doing. Local multiplayer is a little more limiting - each player must use a different input method, ie one on controller, one on keyboard and mouse. The game is old enough that nearly any partner you choose will be able to run it.