"The Outlast Trials"
The Outlast games do an amazing job of building a horrific atmosphere; with truly twisted sound/graphic design (and writing) - the world building is really something else. The latest entry (The Outlast Trials) borrows quite a few elements from the Saw movies - and ends up being one of the most disturbing games I've played in my 40 odd years of gaming. This was the first game where, after encountering a living naked man nailed to a crucifix, I had to saw his legs off as he screams in agony and begs you to stop - all while the poor fellow's naked penis dangles in front of you. Pretty next level depravity there; if you're into some grotesque horror, this might be a good series to get into...
...or so I would think if I didn't find the core gameplay loop so *dull*. It's a genre I called a "hide'm up" - which is essentially a walking simulator, mixed with moments where you have to hide from unkillable roaming monsters. I find this genre incredibly uninteresting.
While I know the genre has lots of its fans - I personally just find it boring. Once you get over the initial shock of the sheer disturbing nature of the setting, the gameplay becomes rather rote; explore a level looking for the next objective while trying to avoid being "discovered" by one of the many roaming bad psychos; if one of them catches you, it takes off a small amount off your health before leaving you to run away, trying to find a place to hide until the psycho loses sight of you. Rinse/repeat.
In The Outlast Trials, restorative items are plentiful - and you can even purchase items (like recharging medkits) that make finding such items almost useless. Basically, the tension of being caught fades away quite a bit once you realize that being caught isn't that much of a detriment to the game. There are also items that help slow down the roaming psychos, or allow you to temporarily stun them - but most of the time, they just aren't worth the effort of using.
The core challenge of the game, then simply becomes reduced to trying to learn where the objectives are on each level (which may require quite a bit of searching/backtracking); while occasionally running and hiding from psychos that do almost inconsequential amounts of damage. From my perspective as a player, the initial sense of fear quickly turns to a sense of boredom - before turning into irritation. The Outlast Trials features a fully co-op mode (1-4 players) - but I didn't find it made much of a difference to the experience. Two people getting lost and annoyed isn't much more fun than a single player getting lost and annoyed.
So, from an atmosphere/graphics/sound/writing perspective - the game is top-notch! But from an actual gameplay perspective ... well, I just didn't enjoy it. Still, sawing a living naked man's legs off while he screams is a pretty unique gaming experience.
64 - 0
"Shantae" (2002)
While the Game Boy Color's library is usually viewed as a small distraction between the original Game Boy and Bame Boy Advance libraries, there are a few gems in there. This is a great example!
Developer WayForward was mostly known for picking up work-for-hire projects (e.g. ports of existing games, or other licensed fare); Shantae was one of their first big "independent" projects, and it was a great one! Featuring attractive graphics, and solid platforming action - it was a perfect fit for the GBC.
Unfortunately, the game didn't sell very well; Shantae was released a year *after* the follow up Game Boy Advance was released. Since then, it has become a bit of a cult classic for the GBC.
Fortunately, the series managed to get another attention to turn into a full-on franchise, spanning multiple platforms - all of which are very entertaining for fans of retro-style gaming! Special attention is due to the art design of the series - Wayforward's 2D artists are some of the best in the business, and Shantae graphics are simply beautiful and full of character.
The franchise is still going today, and there are rumors of a full 3D entry series on the way...
133 - 6
Appropriate attire for ... getting skills ready.
"Psionic Sentry Infinite"
115 - 3
"Black Crypt"
Another fixed-step scrolling dungeon crawler! This one is a bit on the obscure side since it remained exclusive to the Amiga.
Still, it's a decent if unspectacular foray into the genre. What makes it interesting, however, is that it was the first game by Raven Software...
119 - 3
"Mortal Coil: Adrenaline Intelligence"
Our new video is now live! More obscure 90s PC games --- https://youtu.be/Imok92eTuEk
The game pictured here is an obscure, but pretty cool 3rd person (with optional 1st person) shooter from the mid-90s. One of the earlier action games to offer basic squad planning/control - in a planning phase or in real time - several years before Rainbow Six did it!
Criticized at the time of its release for it's chunky voxel-ish graphics and overall lack-of-polished presentation - which is a shame, because there are some really interesting game design ideas here. The game didn't make much of a splash (seemingly released in Europe only) - and so sunk into obscurity.
I was pretty big into PC gaming at the time, but I had never heard of it. I've spoken to people who have, and they insist it's a great and severely underrated experience. A PC hidden gem?
157 - 4
"Madshot"
A decent roguelite twin-stick shooter, with some neat Cthulu-inspired art. It's cartoony and fun. And I posted a short of this last week...
...which was then promptly flagged by Youtube as being restricted for "Limited Advertising". What does that mean? Simple: it means that Youtube's automated detection algorithm found something "controversial" in the video (violence or nudity) and "flagged" it.
Being flagged means it generally doesn't get shown in anyone's suggestion feed, except for my subscribers; what's worse is that Youtube then seems to "punish" the channel by *severely* throttling traffic flow to my channel.
And that is precisely seems to be what has happened. Traffic this week has been literally about 50% of what it usually is around this time of year. Any new content I have posted this week has received a fraction of the traffic it ordinarily does, as Youtube simply stopped suggesting this channel's content. The term "shadow ban" may be applicable here.
The worst part of all this is that this was clearly a mistake on Youtube's part. I actually appealed the flagging right after it was posted, and the appeal was successful - but by then, the damage was done, and there is nothing I can do about this except simply *hope* that the suggestions algorithm will un-blacklist us.
As someone who posts content to the platform, I understand and appreciate and respect the policies towards controversial content - but there is nothing controversial about Madshot - and this channel taking a big hit because of a mistaken automated process is ... super frustrating.
93 - 3
"The Devil Inside"
A forgotten survival horror game - that wasn't even particularly popular on its original release. It's not great, but its not terrible either. It has some really interesting ideas: your character is a demon hunter in a reality show, (complete with trailing cameraman) and can also switch forms to that of a succubus...but the gameplay is pretty standard 3rd-person action with some light puzzle solving.
While it received generally favorable reviews from critics, it didn't make much of a splash with gamers. A bit of a shame, because the "reality show" wrapper was pretty novel at the time. I don't think many people would consider this a "hidden gem" - but it's definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of obscure survival horror games of the early 2000s.
176 - 10
"Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 4"
The "Crazy Castle" games are a long running series that graced the earlier Nintendo consoles (NES/GB/GBC/GBA).
Where it gets interesting is that different entries star different characters (e.g. Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Woody Woodpecker etc) - but for different characters in different regions.
As an example, the first entry was released in Japan as a licensed tie-in to the Who Framed Roger Rabbit movie - but when it was brought to North America, it was re-skinned as the first Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle game . Another example: one of the Gameboy entries was released as a Mickey Mouse in Japan; in North America, it was reskinned as a Real Ghostbusters title ... and in Europe, it was released as a Garfield licensed game!
The game play is a pretty simple platformer...but without a jump button - so it becomes more of a trial of learning and exploring the levels, avoiding the monsters and picking up weapons and keys. Very simple, but with bright and attractive graphics, it's harmless fun for fans of the various licenses...
143 - 7
"Boulder Dash 40th Anniversary"
Another classic 80s franchise gets a modern do-over. As with the others, the revamped art-style is going to be controversial with fans of the series. For me...I didn't dislike it as much as some other ones - but I don't love it either. Fortunately, the core puzzle gameplay is still highly addictive 40 years later, so maybe this is one for the fans!
Fun fact: when I was a child in the 80s, I went thinking that Boulder Dash was just a home port of the arcade game Mr. Do.
100 - 4
"Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days"
IO Interactive tries to take the 3rd person shooter in a more artistic direction! A 2010 sequel to the 2007 original, this game focused on creating a unique visual/auditory experience. Using techniques such as shaky-hand held cams and pixelated violence, combined with some really good voice acting - the presentation of the game was really something special.
However, take away the artistic presentation, and what you have left is a fairly generic 3rd person shooter - of which there were plenty at the time. Combine that with a very short single player campaign and the critics were not kind to it - and neither were gamers.
When it was released in 2010, I completely ignored it. However, when I had to play a little bit of it for a video a few years back (in 2019), I was actually pretty impressed with the visual styling. Yeah, the gameplay was still pretty basic - but I was able to appreciate that it was trying to do something different - and I actually really liked the art presentation. Of course, I didn't pay very much for it in 2019 (I believe I got it in an Eidos bundle of a dozen games that was dirt cheap) - and maybe if I had paid full price for it in 2010, I would have been a little less impressed.
I don't think it would qualify as a hidden gem, but it's definitely worth an honorable mention for being a bit unappreciated for what it was trying to deliver.
126 - 10
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