Oh boy. It’s a long ‘un today… but it’s worthwhile. We finally clear Whisperwind Cove, and with it, the Soul of Chaos dungeons are complete!
Well, except for going back and fighting all the bosses we didn’t see before, obviously. But I’ll spare you that for now, as we’re getting ever-closer to the end of this first game in the series.
Pack a lunch, there’s a long journey ahead.
The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards I’ve devised in collaboration with the community to celebrate the sorts of things that never get celebrated in end-of-year roundups! Find out more here — and feel free to leave a suggestion on that post if you have any good ideas!
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In 2017, the Second Chance award related to a game that I initially bounced off, but later came back to and found myself having a great deal of fun with. This year, it’s something a little different.
In the last few years, we’ve seen huge growth in the fields of remasters, remakes and re-releases of classic games — attempts to give games from years gone by a second chance at success. Sometimes these are a welcome sight; at other times, they feel like a cynical cash-grab.
Did anything fall into the former category this year? Well, yes, as it happens…
And the winner is…
Continue reading The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: The Second Chance Award
A few of you have been asking for full playthroughs of adventure games after the episodes on Uninvited and Borrowed Time — so here you go!
Today’s game is an all-time classic that probably needs very little introduction. It’s Roberta Williams’ King’s Quest for Sierra, a fairytale adventure with a penchant for killing off its protagonist in a variety of unpleasant ways.
I remember getting stuck for months on these games as a kid. Turns out you can clear them in a couple of hours if you know (mostly) what you’re doing…
Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.
The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards I’ve devised in collaboration with the community to celebrate the sorts of things that never get celebrated in end-of-year roundups! Find out more here — and feel free to leave a suggestion on that post if you have any good ideas!
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Last week, we celebrated the Least “Retro” Retro Game, a title that, despite being quite old at this point, still remains fun and solid to this day. Today, we take a slightly different angle.
Over the course of the last few years, independent developers in particular have been very keen to adopt a retro-inspired look and feel to their games. And some pull it off better than others.
It’s a lot more than just using pixelated graphics and chiptune music, you know, so today’s award celebrates the modern game that most clearly understands, appreciates and pays homage to older titles while simultaneously being something that is downright desirable to play in 2019. If you’ve listened to a particular recent podcast, the choice here will be obvious, but let’s do the thing anyway…
And the winner is…
Continue reading The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: The Most “Retro” Modern Game
One of my favourite things about Warriors All-Stars is, to be honest, its main selling point: the fact it brings together characters from disparate franchises to fight alongside one another.
So far, our recruits have pretty much exclusively been cute girls with varying degrees of terrifyingness about them, but today we bring on a big ol’ hairy man to shake things up a bit. It’s William from Nioh.
At the time of writing, I haven’t played Nioh, but William seems like a likeable enough chap… and he’s very good at understanding Japanese people despite resolutely speaking English at all times!
The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards I’ve devised in collaboration with the community to celebrate the sorts of things that never get celebrated in end-of-year roundups! Find out more here — and feel free to leave a suggestion on that post if you have any good ideas!
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Structured fun is all very well and good. Everyone likes completing stages, scoring points, levelling up, that sort of thing. But sometimes all you want to do is do your own thing, making use of the tools a game provides without any real “goal” in mind.
This sort of activity is typically associated with “open world” games — and indeed that kind of game is very good for just dicking around, seeing how the different systems interact with one another and working out exactly how much chaos you are able to cause within the constraints of the game’s ostensible “rules”.
But it’s not just open world games that are good at this. Today’s award, suggested by riobravo79, celebrates a game in which it’s fun — and relaxing — to just dick around and see what happens. And not a bandit encampment in sight.
And the winner is…
Continue reading The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: The Best Dicking Around Award
What does Q*Bert say when he loses a life? That’s a question that’s plagued gamers for many years now… and part of the fun is that everyone’s answer will probably be a little different.
Q*Bert originated in the arcades, but it had a number of ports to 8-bit computer platforms — some better than others. The Atari 8-bit version by Parker Brothers actually ended up being pretty true to the arcade original — albeit lacking a couple of features to squeeze the experience into the limited space a ROM cartridge provided.
It may take a bit of getting used to if you’re not used to isometric controls, but once you get that part nailed there are many hours of addictive fun to be had with Q*Bert and his friends.
Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.
The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards I’ve devised in collaboration with the community to celebrate the sorts of things that never get celebrated in end-of-year roundups! Find out more here — and feel free to leave a suggestion on that post if you have any good ideas!
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I love a good “vanishing point” racer, as is doubtless evidenced by our podcast episode on this very subject. But have any in particular caught my attention this year?
For the uninitiated, a vanishing point racer is an arcade-style driving game that, rather than unfolding in true 3D, makes use of graphical trickery involving converging lines to simulate driving “into” the screen. As a result, in a vanishing point racer, you tend to move from side to side rather than actually turning, and the emphasis is on skilfully avoiding obstacles rather than handling your car in a realistic manner.
For this award, I’m deliberately celebrating a less obvious choice, despite having covered the excellent Switch version of OutRun earlier this year. Not that OutRun doesn’t deserve love, mind you — but because everyone already knows OutRun is good. With that in mind…
And the winner is…
Continue reading The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: The Vanishing Point Award
With a few occasional exceptions, sports games these days tend to be limited to a few “safe” options.
You’ve got your football, you’ve got your American football, sometimes you have your golf; very occasionally you have your Olympics. But ten-pin bowling? I can’t remember the last time I saw a game based around that for a modern computer.
Back in 1978, however, developers were still working out what kinds of sporting rules and structure worked and didn’t work in the electronic space. I’ll leave it to you to decide whether or not Bowling for Atari 2600 does the noble pursuit of hurling heavy things at skittles justice!
Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.
The Warriors of Light are about to take on their longest, most significant challenge yet: the 40-floor Whisperwind Cove!
Thankfully, the boss fights in here aren’t quite as brutal as the devastating foes who lurked at the base of Lifespring Grotto, but 40 floors is certainly a lot to get through. Thankfully, there are plenty of places to rest and regroup along the way… including a village full of absolutely fabulous-looking mages.
I have no idea how long this is going to take, so if I manage to get enough episodes recorded in advance, there may be two episodes a week just while we clear out this monstrosity. And then we have the Labyrinth of Time to clear after this, too… why did I start this again…?
