Monument Valley Review: Journey Meets M.C. Escher

Monument Valley is a beautiful game.

The mobile gaming industry has pretty much gained the universal destain of the mainstream video game culture. Where once the mobile gaming sector showed great promise with fun and fresh games like Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja, now is almost completely consumed by greedy exploitative “free to play” games like Dungeon Keeper and Final Fantasy: All the Bravest. Games whose sole goal is to psychologically manipulate the player into giving them as much money as possible with as little actual game to play as possible. It’s so bad now that freaking South Park devoted an episode making fun of it. However, in spite of all the crap in the mobile gaming market it is still possible to find gold. Monument Valley is one of those pieces of gold.

The mysterious crow people often act as obstacles.

Monument Valley is a simple, yet deviously brilliant little game that tells the story of a silent princess named Ida as she travels across the ruins of a long forgotten civilization. Aside from the text introductions of each of the ten chapters and the dialogue of a mysterious ghost character the story never spills the beans on what exactly is going on leaving much of the story up to interpretation. That is perfectly fine with me as I feel that more vague stories help the player feel more connected with the world as they are not being told what to think or what to feel and are aloud to create their own little stories.

Well...that's a little strange.

Anyway, the goal of the game is to get to the end of each of the levels and revive each monument you explore. Sounds simple enough and for the first few levels it is, but the thing that Monument Valley does brilliantly is slowly introduce it’s non-Euclidean puzzle designs in a way that does not overwhelm first time players. Later levels can get extremely mind bending with some very complex M.C. Escher inspired levels, but the answer is never more than a few taps of the screen away and will leave you feeling very satisfied when you get the solution. All in all, Monument Valley is a game best experienced as blind as possible and all you have to know is that you are in for a mind bending treat.

How will Ida reach the top?

My only real problems with the game is that it’s a little too short barely clocking in at an hour and the really meaty puzzles are only really found in the expansion Forgotten Shores, but frankly the game is very cheap and so is the expansion and quite frankly six bucks(counting Forgotten Shores) is a fair price for a high quality game, which is much less than so called “free to play” games would have you pay in the long run. Much less. Monument Valley is available on the iTunes, Android, and Amazon app store and can be played on most mobile devices.

6 Games To Keep An Eye On In 2015

I have already gone into detail about how 2014 was a generally crappy year for video games in my first blog post. Thus for this one I decided to take a look at what 2015 has in store for games. This is not meant to build up any hype for these games, I merely think that these games look interesting to me. It is not out of the realm of possibility that these games will suck when they are released. Also keep in mind that my taste in games is different than yours. If I don't put a certain game on my list it likely because it doesn't personally appeal to me as much as it does to you. Another thing is that I want to do put the spotlight on games that for the most part haven't had any real attention so you won't be seeing any big budget or high profile indie games like Batman Arkham Knight and No Man's Sky on this list. Now that I got the formalities out of the way let's get on with it.

SOMA
The next game from Frictional Games, the creators of Amnesia The Dark Descent, SOMA is looking to be quite a follow up to the game the revived the survival horror genre. It is a science fiction narrative driven horror experience set in an underwater research facility dealing with themes of consciousness and existentialism. Early previews have shown people within the game world getting trapped in mechanical bodies and mechanical horrors hunting the player in the flooded parts of the facility. SOMA is looking good and is due out sometime this year on PC and PS4.

Severed
A dungeon crawler role playing game that is exclusive to the PlayStation Vita and made by Drinkbox Studios, the ones behind the fantastic Guacamelee. Severed tells the story of a girl that has had everything taken from her, including one of her hands. She now must travel across a surreal and dangerous world to get revenge. So far, Severed looks likes exactly what the PlayStation Vita needs right now. A new, unique game made by a talented studio making use of everything the Vita has to offer. Definitely look out for this one when it comes out later this year.

Ori and The Blind Forest
The debut title of Moon Studios. This platform adventure game is looking to combine the gameplay Metroid and Castlevania with the somber artistry found in Team ICO games. You play as a guardian spirit named Ori that finds his simple life shattered by an unknown evil. Very little is known about this game outside a few details and quite frankly that a good thing. The less you know about something the more it can surprise you. Let's just hope my gut feeling is right about this game. Ori and The Blind Forest is coming out on PC and Xbox One on March 11th.

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
Personally I feel that people hate on The Chinese Room a little too much. Yeah Dear Esther was really pretentious and Amnesia A Machine for Pigs had some pretty big faults, but I like The Chinese Room's aesthetics and their music, composed by Jessica Curry, is some of the best I have ever heard in a video game. If only they could take their strengths and iron out their weaknesses and craft an experience that took advantage of their somber, minimalist style. Well that is what Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is seeking to do. Not much is known about this game outside the fact it is open world
and set during the last hour of the world. Let's hope that The Chinese Room can finally deliver on their potential. This game will be exclusively for PS4.

Volume
From Mike Bithell,the man who made the minimal, but brilliant Thomas Was Alone, is about ready to release his new game. A science fiction take on the classic tale of Robin Hood, players take the role of Rob Locksley,a petty thief that somehow comes into the possession of device called "Volume" which contains simulations of how the corrupt Gisborne Industries took over England. Using the data and a helper program within the device, Locksley reenacts the crimes in an effort to show the people what happened in hopes of sparking a revolution. The game is shaping up to be a fantastic experience and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Volume is due out this year of PC, PS4, and PSVita.

The Witness
Another game made by an auteur designer. Jonathan Blow was the first put in the limelight with his time bending platformer Braid which deconstructed the traditional hero save princess from monster cliche that dominates gaming. His next game is an open world first person puzzler set on an abandoned island as a sort of spiritual successor to Myst. However, Jonathan's goal with this project is to communicate the puzzles solutions in ways that can only be done by a video game. It's a ambitious goal to say the least, but only time will tell if it pays off. The Witness is coming out sometime this year on PC, iOS, and PS4.

Those are the games I wanted to talk about. There are a lot of great games out there that fall under the radar because of big budget behemoths hogging all the attention. I hope I have brought to light games that fall outside the mainstream to at least a few people. Because games like these really need to be covered more.

My Top Five Games of 2014

One year has ended and another one has begun and I for one am very happy for that. 2014 was for the most part a really crappy year for video games. Lots of disappointments from big budget publishers, lots of immaturity from independent developers, and what can only be described as the collapse of traditional gaming culture surrounding the twitter hashtag that shall not be named. Regardless of all that 2014 did have quite a few good games came out this year it’s just that most of them flew under the radar with everything bad happening in the industry. This list is made up of games I have personally played this year so if you see a game that you like that isn’t on the list, either I haven’t played it yet, finished it, or liked it as much as you. I will try and cover those games in my honorable mentions, but I can’t promise that everything will be addressed. So without further delay here of my top five games of the year.

5. Octodad: Dadliest Catch

This was a really funny little game with a hilarious premise. You are a loving husband and father trying to hide that fact that you are actually an octopus. With deliberately awkward controls meant to simulate being an octopus trying to act like a person turning simple tasks like shopping for groceries into a very difficult task, Octodad manages to be fun lighthearted game that people of all ages and walks of life can enjoy.

4. Dragon Age: Inquisition

BioWare, once one of the most beloved of Role Playing Game developers in the industry, has a lot to make up for after several years of disappointing their audience with underwhelming games like Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3. However, I’m happy to say that the new Dragon Age game shows that they are getting back on track. With a large world to explore, rich characters to get to know, and a great combat system that manages to strike a balance between the tactics of Dragon Age: Origins and the action of Dragon Age 2. It just a damn fine game that RPG fans will defiantly enjoy.

3. BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea

Irrational Games took all the criticism towards the original BioShock Infinite and used it to make a much richer experience both from a gameplay and narrative perspective in the two part Burial at Sea expansion. Giving the player more options on how to explore the environments and take care of enemies and obstacles, a chance to play as the now iconic character Elizabeth, and bringing the narratives of BioShock and BioShock Infinite full circle. This game is the swan song of Irrational Games which was forced close down after the production of this expansion, and all I have to say is thank you guys for creating such a wonderful world with rich characters to get to know.

2. Alien Isolation

Big budget publishers would like you to believe that survival horror is dead and no one wants to play games where you get scared, but the last few years have shown just how wrong that assumption was with the success of games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Outlast on the independent scene. Now we have a truly great big budget horror game in the form Alien Isolation which gives us a dangerous and richly detailed environment to explore, an unkillable, omnipotent threat to hide from, and just a great example of a great horror game.

                                                                              1. Transistor

This game is a masterpiece and shows that Supergiant Games’s first game Bastion was not simply beginners luck. These people know how to create a great game with an equally rich story to compliant it. I tried to write a simple review of this game many times last year, but I simply could not find the words to describe how much I love this game. I love the unique strategic combat, the wonderful setting, the rich characters, the sense of mystery, and most of all the soundtrack. Transistor has the best soundtrack I have ever heard in a game and how the music links with the game world is just the icing on the cake. This game is amazing and would recommend it to anyone.

Honorable Mentions

Games made by Ubisoft this year have pretty much universally sucked, but they did sneak a few good games like Valiant Hearts, Child of Light, and Far Cry 4. Bungie’s new game Destiny, while lacking much of what was promised is still a great game to play with friends online. South Park: The Stick of Truth was good, though it lacks replayability and is somewhat short. Wolfenstein: The New Order was a great shooter that I would recommend if you are tired of boring military shooters. Shovel Knight has been getting a lot of attention so I recommend checking that out if you can. Sunset Overdrive for Xbox One is also worth looking into. Nintendo has had a really good year with games for both the Wii U and the 3DS like Mario Cart 8, Super Smash Bros., Bayonetta 2, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, and Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Some other games I have played on PlayStation Network were pretty good like Velocity 2X, Steamworld Dig, and The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. Finally, on PC we have The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Wasteland 2, and Divinity: Original Sin. You know, given all the games I have recommended maybe 2014 wasn’t that bad after all; it just got drowned in all the bad stuff that happened this year. Here’s to hoping the 2015 is nowhere near as negative as this year.