PixlBit

Well then skip Beyond is all I have to say.

I still have yet to find an interactive novel with a health bar. PW just has a few too many gamey things for me to see it as anything other than a game even if it has the same draw that an interactive novel does.

Yeah, I wasn't a huge fan of Journey. Felt mostly like an interactive screensaver to me.

I'm not a fan of the anime artstyle, but the amount of expressions it's allowed does add a lot even if they do repeat a little too often.

Well I actually did acknowledge that a game could remain engaging with the illusion of challenge (and never hinted that it couldn't be a game without it). Uncharted for example does a fantastic job presenting the illusion of risk as Nathan Drake will lose his grip on an object or something will come crumbling down. Is it challenging? Absolutely not. But without these little bits Uncharted would be worse as it would only make you focus on how basic it is. 

Beyond just does nothing to hide that there is no challenge or risk. It makes it clear early on that even if you fail the outcome will remain the same. Heavy Rain bypassed the story goes on conundrum very well by having the character stay dead. Beyond, no matter what you fail at the story remains largely the same, there's next to nothing that keeps it a game.

Persona 4 is an exception however. Yet it made social links engaging thanks to sharp writing and knowing to balance seriousness and lightheartedness. Beyond lacks both of these without anything compelling to make up for it.

Challenge never got in the way for me on hard mode. Wasn't the toughest game, but I'm regularly losing 4-5 Skylanders per level and am excited to try crushing. Gotta disagree on the variety too, I think it's one of the biggest strengths, but I did get some good deals on Swap figures so I've been able to do most of the bonus levels. It's really a game where you get out as much as you put in so I understand why other people don't want to spend so much, but by being frugal with getting figures, you can get a great amount of content without spending too much.

It looks a lot better than 3, but that game just killed the series for me. Don't think I'll ever touch any AC except 2 in the future.

I love this game. One of my favorites on the Genesis.

I smiled when I saw the title of this blog. I'm just going to pretend I didn't read that last paragraph.

It's mostly an action adventure game. There's some light RPG elements too, collecting orbs from beating enemies gives you experience for levels (mainly increases health/damage/defense) while money can be spent on new attacks and abilities. There's also a few puzzles which are pretty simple and Swap Force adds some light platforming. Structure gives you a hub world with a few, but not too many things to do where you pick your missions, which have a lot of hidden paths to collect stuff.

You do have to put some kind of investment in to get the most out of it though. Play with what the game gives you and it's alright. Snag a Skylander of each element with a bit of variety between playstyles (especially if they're all Swap ones, they have their own special bonus mini levels depending on their bottom halves) and it's able to stay fresh for a while.

I'll Twitch a regular level sometime this weekend if you want a better idea of what it is.