Keep living that BestNerdLife!
On this episode of Nerdy Thrifts I find celebrate the Platinum Jubilee by heading to charity shops, a nerdy event and other places too!
In this series, I go around different charity shops looking for video games, and other related items. At the end of the video I show you what I find.
Keep living that BestNerdLife!
Lumote: The Mastermote Chronicles is a puzzle platformer published by Wired Productions and developed by Luminawesome Games Ltd. Having said that, thanks to both for providing me with a review code.
It features a cute and squishy little creature named Lumote, who is on a quest to overthrow a being called Mastermote. Think the Brain Slugs from Futurama but more adorable and glowy.
Almost immediately after creating a new game on the title screen, the player is dropped straight in without much story or context to begin with. The main goal of the game is to head to the bottom of the map, solving puzzles to progress. What is the purpose of doing that? Unless a trailer has been seen, or a review has been read, the answer is probably unknown. I don’t think puzzle games need ingame commentary, so that’s fine.
The biggest draw to this game for me is the gloriously bright bioluminescent world. This is mainly red lighting to start with, but as the player progresses this steadily changes to blue. After each puzzle is solved a flower-esque door opens up, more blue light takes over from the red, and the player can move on. The red light represents Mastermote, and the blue represents Lumote.
The controls to accomplish Lumote’s task are devilishly simple. The left analogue stick to move, a button to jump and double-jump, and a button to possess. What can be possessed? The various inhabitants of the world, called Motes. The powers of these inhabitants can either help or hinder progress so plenty of thinking must be applied to take advantage of them. Lumote is well animated, and movement is fluid. There’s no dialogue in the game, but Lumote and the aforementioned motes do communicate with lovely hums and squeaks. Some nice synthy music compliments the atmosphere too. Lumote itself is a very endearing protagonist despite being a amorphous blob.
The entire game is made of one gigantic continuous and connected series of 50 smaller puzzles. Right at the start, the player can tilt the fully movable camera and gaze down into the abyss. Hazy red light can be seen coming up from below, teasing the mysterious power of Mastermote. Each time a tower that marks the mastery of a specific Mote is reached, the camera pulls back to show off a much wider view of the world. It really is rather impressive.
There is plenty of variety when it comes to the puzzle, and the Motes that are used to solve them. I felt like there were some red herrings thrown into the puzzles, making them feel harder than they actually were. I spent some time messing about with a few contraptions for a while only to realise a much easier way of solving the puzzle. Maybe I was just overthinking it. I also felt like I solved a few of the puzzles by complete fluke, so throwing random solutions head first at the obstacles and cheeesing them can also work, if the player does get stuck. Although it was fun to move Lumote about, it was frustrating to accidentally get knocked off or fall off a ledge only to have to restart the puzzle.
Overall Lumote: The Mastermote Chronicles is a beautiful looking puzzle game, with an impressive scale. I played this on my PlayStation 5 through backwards compatibility and it looked gorgeous. For fans of games that engage the brain, I would definitely pick this up.
Welcome to my channel! On this episode of Nerdy Thrifts I find another absolutely massive haul, including a TV, a handheld games console and a bit of Starlink merchandise.
In this series, I go around different charity shops looking for video games, and other related items. At the end of the video I show you what I find.
Keep living that BestNerdLife!
WASD Live is a brand new gaming expo event set in London that started in April 2022. I was lucky enough to get a three day content creator pass that enabled me to walk around the event, take video and generally check it all out. I went to all three days of WASD Live and this video breaks down each of those days, and features games that I played, people that I talked to, and talks I attended. Check it out!
Keep living that Best Nerd Life!
Before we start, a super quick shout out to Gagex for providing the review code for The Kids We Were through Woovit.
Several things drew me towards this game, to the point where I requested a review code. One of the biggest factors that drew me to it is that it’s a game set in Japan. I very much enjoy engaging with media that features a narrative or a viewpoint far removed from my own.
Even though I feel like I’m quite well travelled, having lived in a country other than the one I was born in and visited a few others, Japan is a place I’ve never been to. It’s on my bucket list for sure but until I have the opportunity to go, I have games such as this to allow a chance to see the world from another perspective. I have very limited experience with Japan, mostly through the more fantastical examples of Manga and Anime, so any game, film or TV show that exhibits a mundane side in a relatively modern time-period is always welcome. As this game deals with nostalgia somewhat, I was a little worried I might miss some significant cultural details though. Did this cultural blindness detract from the experience, or did it enhance it? Let’s find out.
The Kids We Were is a nostalgic tale based in a recent part of Japanese history. Mainly set in the 1980’s, in the last few years of the Showa era, this game follows young Minato, as he arrives in Kagami. From this starting point in 2020, in a sleepy suburb of Tokyo, Minato ventures out with one goal – to find his missing father. This fairly simple quest quickly transforms into a mysterious time-travelling adventure, featuring a notebook that offers a window into his father’s past.
And so begins the plot of this cute looking adventure that was initially released on smartphones back in February 2020. Since then, it has won a multitude of smartphone related gaming awards, including being selected as one of the top 3 titles at the Google Play Indie Games Festival 2020.
Don’t be fooled by the inherent cuteness though. Whilst the game does use some beautifully blocky voxel art, it tells a mature and, at times, sobering tale. I was genuinely surprised at the twists and turns of the story. I won’t go into it too much in case I inadvertently spoil something but for all the sunny rose-tinted nostalgia contained within, this is a game focusing on dysfunctional families, unsettling pasts and broken dreams.
Aside from the story and the setting, The Kids We Were has two other strengths. First is the art style. The aforementioned use of voxels to create the world is used to great effect. Seeing unique and traditional Japanese architecture recreated in this style was weirdly satisfying, as if someone had built an entire intricate toy town from building blocks. The same can also be said of the items populating the various locations, and the collectible items Minato can find. All rendered in loving low-poly 3D detail. Sadly, I don’t think much about the character designs. I found many of them bland and it was difficult to tell which characters were which. Although I think this is an inherent problem with voxel art. It can be hard to translate living things like humans, dogs and cats into low-poly voxel forms.
The other defining strength is the pop-culture references. With over 90 retro objects to collect, there’s probably something someone is going to recognise, even if you aren’t intimately familiar with Japan, like me. As previously mentioned, I was worried some of the references would go over my head. While some of them did, I just saw this as a light and fun opportunity to learn more about a foreign culture, at least in a small way.
That isn’t to say that the game is flawless. The review copy I played through did have some bugs and glitches. Parts of the character model such as his hat would go through the geometry. I also noticed that the in-game timer would keep running even when my Switch was on standby, so by the end I had spent about 60 hours total “playing” the game. I also noticed some text hasn’t been updated for the Switch version. As an example, the dialogue keeps mentioning touching the screen, even though the game isn’t touchscreen anymore. There’s also a few glaring spelling and grammar mistakes but otherwise it has been localised very well.
Another annoying feature was the capsule machines. For some reason the game cites that they cost just 1 coin to use, but actually take 3 coins each time. Judging by the fact that I discovered enough coins to safely empty all the machines of their capsules, I assume this is just a number mixup? Not sure what that was all about.
Since release on Switch, the game has received numerous updates. I haven’t specifically looked to see if all these flaws have been ironed out, but i’m fairly confident that the majority will have. At the very least, I didn’t discover any game-breaking bugs, and it runs well throughout.
In summary, this Complete Edition of The Kids We Were includes all the content that can possibly be experienced. The player can look forward to additional collectible items, and a bonus episode set after the events of the main game. It’s fairly short, with each chapter varying in length somewhat. Within the hour, I was already entering into the 4th one, and that was with a little bit of exploration on the side. Anyone who wants to experience a blast of nostalgia, or is interested in Japanese culture should definitely pick this up. I found this to be an entertaining little game with a dash of easy-going cultural discovery. Although be warned. It could make you feel a bit old. The time jump of 33 years into the past might make it sound like the game is set in the 60’s or 70’s but really, it’s set in 1987, which is just a few years before I was born. And that makes me just a little bit too old for my liking.
First off, a quick shout out to Future Friends Games for hooking me up with a review code for the early access version of Festival Simulator through Woovit.
I don’t know about you, but I adore business management games. Ever since playing the likes of Theme Hospital as a child, the idea of setting up customer facing establishments to entice digital denizens to part with their cash has always managed to hook me.
When I first saw the simple low-poly graphics, I was a little underwhelmed. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this style, it’s just that after seeing so many games trying to pull this off, i’m getting a little burnout on seeing this. However, as each festival is set on its own piece of land, floating around in the void, I actually started to appreciate the cute, simple and interactive little diorama unfolding before my eyes. Something I can absolutely commend is the style of the marketing images. It includes some bold colours and some dynamic artwork. I particularly like the logo.
A nice little touch is the fact that all the music featured in Festival Tycoon is made specifically for the game. This is reflected in the menu screen and also whilst the bands are playing. A small thing, but it does make sense, seeing as this is a game centered around the music industry.
In short, the game looks and sounds good. There’s a decent gameplay loop a player can get into. It is tailored to promote experimentation and creativity. This is a double-edged sword though. Trying to optimize the layout of a festival is engaging, especially when working with the smaller spaces, but there’s only so much gameplay that can be derived from this. An objective based career mode would be nice. Maybe some kind of overarching narrative? I get that the overall goal is to build my company, but some other direction would help engage me further. Something outside of just the difficulty options would be good. Maybe acquiring a prebuilt festival site that is struggling to attract visitors, and is in need of better management (the player)?
Luckily, as this game is still in development, there’s plenty of opportunity to improve the player experience. In fact, between the launch and the recording of this video, there’s already been several patches and updates. Settings have been tweaked, bugs have been squashed and certain themed items have been added too. All promising stuff. I’m personally hoping for more festival sites and more cosmetic items. The existing ones are a treat to play with but having more sites to play on, and more objects to customize said sites would be wonderful.
Overall, the early access version of Festival Simulator is a great little business management package. There is enough depth and customization as-is to keep me busy, and it is solid enough mechanically for me to recommend it. As with many early access games, if you go into the experience with tempered expectations, I think you will have a good time. I personally didn’t find any game-breaking bugs, although the visitors did have a nasty habit of bunching together and getting caught on decorations. I would recommend not building any Deer Stands near to a stage.
I am a big fan of supporting indie devs in their efforts to create a game, especially first-timers. I hope that this game is worked on, and becomes an even better one. There’s nothing more satisfying to me than logging back onto a game to see that additional scenarios or items have been added.
Starting life as a Ludum Dare competition entry back in April 2017, oOo Ascension (otherwise known as ‘Triple O’) is a game tailormade for speedrunners and other people who want to spend all their time getting good at a particular game. I actually got the review code for the Nintendo Switch version from Kenny at Extra Mile Studios back in February 2020, so apologies for the absolutely massive delay in reviewing this game. I’m usually quick off the mark at releasing videos, and I always try to follow up on a review code, especially when i’m the one who requests it.
One of the main reasons why I requested a review code for this game is because i’m a huge fan of both bright neon visuals and a thumping electronic soundtrack and, happily, I can say that this game does deliver those things. I think the music is a tad generic and not as heavy or frantic as it could have been, but its still some good background noise to listen to as you play, especially with some headphones on. The gameplay is pretty hectic, especially on some of the more obstiable-filled levels, and I just don’t think the music reflects that as much as it could.
With 90 levels split into 9 sectors, there’s plenty of challenges on offer. Whilst each level is confined to a small spherical play area, the abundance of obstacles like spinning blades, moving platforms or just the walls themselves all contribute to the task of getting the ship from point A to point B all that much harder. Sure, that might seem like a pretty easy task, but when trying to get through things that can potentially one hit kill in the shortest amount of time possible, things can get hard (and pretty frustrating) real fast.
oOo Ascension follows that tried and true style of the quick restart. Yes, the player might die 100’s if not 1000’s of times as they play through the game, but there’s hardly any delay to get back into the action. A split second after dying, a new ship is ready to go. This let me quickly and easily experiment with ways to get through the levels, something I feel is extremely important in these types of games. If I wasn’t happy with my current run, I could also restart it at the press of a button. The challenge and frustration surrounding this game isn’t from waiting an ice-age or two for each additional chance to run through the course again. It’s from that old-school style of having extremely punishing level design, that could theoretically be navigated in a few seconds or so, if only the player was skilled enough to get through them efficiently.
The ship that has to be navigated around the levels handles great. It’s swift and responsive and its speed can be increased and decreased with the press of a button to wind between objects. As there are no obstacles to get around by jumping like in a 2d platformer, this variation of speed really helps to bring some variety to how the ship can be controlled.
Outside of the bog-standard single-player mode, there’s also a local co-op mode playable with or against another player. There’s even ghosts of previous attempts by the player for each level, which is a nice visual reference when trying to shave extra seconds off.
Whilst there is an abundance of levels as previously mentioned, it’s definitely not a game I can play for hours on end. It’s not that the game is boring, I just don’t tend to gel with games where you have to do things over and over again, with sometimes very little progress made. I also definitely had to put my Switch down every so often to calm down. This may actually be a positive for the game though, especially with the portable nature of the Switch. For someone who just wants short bits of challenging gameplay, and likes to perfect a game before moving on to the next, I think this is a good fit. It’s a game where the player can pop some decent headphones on for the music and chip away at the levels and have an enjoyable yet frustrating gaming session.
So yeah, those were my thoughts on oOo Ascension. If you enjoyed this video then by all means, like comment and subscribe, all that social media goodness, and always keep living that best nerd life.
A quick shout out to pineappleworks for providing me with a review code for this game.
As we’re now in the spooky month of October, I thought it fitting to talk about the Nintendo Switch release of Death and Taxes. This short indie title tasks the player with assuming the role of a grim reaper, dishing out death from quite possibly the most mundane setting of all. An office.
Yes, that’s right the player is tasked with snuffing out human lives from the relative comfort and safety of an office chair. This is mainly done by a point-and-click cell interface on the reaper’s desk. Players interact with a fax machine that spits out paper emblazoned with the profiles of each human who must be judged. There’s also a mobile phone which contains anecdotal newspaper headlines on how the humans died or survived by way of a twitter-like app. Other objects can also be obtained and displayed on the desk, many of which also have an additional function.
Each day a new letter from the boss arrives detailing the parameters that need to be met. These letters should be read closely as should the human profiles. Depending on who is killed or spared, and how many of each, the narrative can be affected. As there is no time limit to deciding who lives or dies there’s ample opportunity to think it through.
Whilst a lot of the game is spent at the desk there are other areas to visit each having its own function. The player can travel up and down the office block using the elevator. This gives access to fate’s office mortimer’s shop and the personnel quarters. These are used to help continue the narrative, buy things, proceed to the next day, as well as changing the reaper’s appearance. Popping between and interacting with these locations is how the game is driven forward and becomes a central game loop. Kill off some of the general public, have a meeting with fate, get paid, buy some useful items and then go to bed. Rinse and repeat.
Despite having some wide reaching philosophical themes Death and Taxes is quite a small scale game this helps maintain a certain level of quality throughout. Instead of having too many game mechanics or locations to travel to, what is in this game is very polished. Every face-to-face interaction with the character is voiced. For example there’s plenty of items and costumes to collect and plenty of branching dialogue choices to choose from.
I also really dig the art style the mixture of monochromatic backgrounds and limited colors helps to highlight important things yet still maintain a dreary underworldy vibe. That is very befitting of a game focusing on death. Above all else this game is understated. This lack of flashiness and overall mundane setting is one of the strongest parts of the game. There might be fantastical elements of play. The fate of many average lives resting in the player’s hands, but this mundane nature helps convey an important theme. That death is just another part of life. It isn’t glorified, it’s really just another day at the office. Not to say the game is lifeless, of course. There’s plenty of jokes and references to amuse the player and the voice actors invoke plenty of personality into their characters.
As multiple endings exist there is incentive to play through the game a few times trying different options to hopefully get a different ending. Whilst i did enjoy listening to the voice actors lean completely into their characters, I did start skipping through some of the more long-winded conversations. The sheer amount of dialogue combined with some intentionally slow, drawling delivery started to get a little annoying. I ended up reading the on-screen subtitles faster than they were being spoken aloud, although this is probably due to my impatience as opposed to anything else.
Overall Death and Taxes is pretty good. It’s a game that players need to take their time with, soaking in all the little details that are on screen. Whether this sounds good or not is entirely up to your preferences. If you need something a little more cerebral and mundane this Halloween, Death and Taxes might just be the game for you.
First off, I want to say thanks to Skylar-Mei and WesleyWhale for nominating me for a Sunshine Blogger Award! It’s always a lovely surprise to be nominated for a blogger award, and a great way to interact with the blogging community.
Rules for the award:
Without further ado, let’s get this thing started!
1. If any gaming controller could work with any console, what would be your preferred gamepad?
I’m not going to lie. I recently bought a PlayStation 4 and I absolutely adore the controller. After living for so long with the bulky Xbox One controller that needs batteries to function, it’s nice to have a sleek and sexy controller that can just be charged via USB.
2. Has there ever been a time where you gave up on a section in a game and never looked back?
Actually, this happens quite frequently. I’m a very fickle person when it comes to gaming. If I don’t almost immediately enjoy the game that I’m playing, I’ll trade it in and buy a new one. Life is too short to do things that you don’t enjoy, so what’s the point in playing something that you aren’t engaging with?
3. What is your favourite name of an achievement/trophy?
Without a shadow of a doubt, it’s the ‘One Does Not Simply…’ achievement/trophy from Lego Lord Of The Rings. I’m a massive fan of references, memes and Sean Bean. Do I really need to say anymore?
4. What is your favourite video game soundtrack?
This is a very tough question. I don’t think I can pick just one! I can narrow it down to either Final Fantasy 7 or Skyrim. ‘One-Winged Angel’ from Final Fantasy 7 and the ‘Dragonborn Theme’ from Skyrim are two such iconic tracks. Quite cliché choices but I find them both so epic and inspiring.
5. Which game has the best loot system?
The Monster Hunter series immediately springs to mind for having a pretty engaging loot system. Is there really a better way of getting a new weapon than hacking off the body parts of a big scary monster and building it yourself from said parts? I’ve heard that a lot of long-time fans of the series were turned off by the newest iteration (Monster Hunter World), but I thought it fixed many of the small problems that I had with the series.
6. What’s the most difficult game you’ve ever beaten?
To be honest, I don’t really enjoy playing difficult games. I appreciate them for what they are, but if there’s an easy mode, I’m gonna play that. I’m much more interested in an entertaining and heart-felt story. Not really an answer to the question I know, but I don’t think I’m qualified to answer this one.
7. Which game have you played the most and approximately have many hours have you spent on this game?
The game that I’ve spent most of my time on is definitely Stardew Valley. It’s the only game that I’ve triple-dipped. I bought it on Steam when it first came out, on Xbox One when it came out on that, and then on the Nintendo Switch, because having a portable version of Stardew Valley is just something everyone needs. I can’t give a solid answer to how many hours I’ve spent on it, but I’m going to say that it’s definitely in the hundreds.
8. Was there ever a game that made you think “I really want to play more games like this”?
I can’t really think of a specific game in mind, but I’m very into small experimental indie games. Ones that defy genre tropes. Ones that are self-referential or make the player question themselves. I became bored of big massive open-world games a long time ago.
9. Hard copies or digital?
I’m a ‘hard copy’ kind of guy. Like I said before, if I don’t engage with the game, I value the option to trade it in. There is the option to get a refund on Steam, but nothing quite beats having a physical edition. That said, I don’t shy away from digital versions. If there’s a game that I can only get as a digital download on a console, then I bite the bullet and buy it.
10. Since it’s nearly Hallowe’en, what’s your favourite horror game (or film if you haven’t played any)?
My absolute favourite horror game is TECHNICALLY not a horror game, but it is based on horror characters, so i’m including it for this question. Back in 2000, a fantastic little game came out for the PlayStation 1 called ‘Muppet Monster Adventure’. It features Robin the Frog (Kermit the Frog’s nephew), going on an adventure to save his uncle and the rest of ‘The Muppets’ cast from the evil Baron Petri von Honeydew. It’s wacky, fun and a solid platformer.
11. As we’re both fairly new to Twitter, who should we be following?
Meeeeee! Haha, obviously i’m joking. Although if you want to then that’s awesome, thanks for the love.
I do have a few Twitter handles to recommend for real though. If you are a bit of a pixel nut, I would recommend following Pixel Dailies. Every day there’s a new prompt for a piece of pixel artwork for people to do. It’s a fun little thing to do every day. If you want something cute, then consider following ditto as electrode. Lots of very cute images a plushie Electrode with Ditto’s face. Lastly, if you want something a little bit strange but informative I would recommend Progress Bar. This account divides the year into 100 pieces and then informs you how far along in the year we are in percentages.
And now that I have answered my questions I nominate these bloggers:
Andria (TurnBasedTurnip)
To answer these 11 questions!
Thanks very much for reading this post about my Sunshine Blogger Award nomination! If you liked it, then please follow this blog for similar updates in the future.
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It’s safe to say that Fortnite is pretty big right now. This cartoony shooter is basically dominating the Battle Royale genre at the moment. With several seasons under it’s belt there is enough new content being added frequently enough to keep the hardcore players entertained.
As with many big-name properties, merchandising is soon to follow initial success. Clothing, accessories, toys, collectable items, and, if they are very, very lucky – trading cards. These rectangular bits of cardboard tend to be big money. Anyone just has to look at Pokémon cards to see the massive amount of potential trading cards have of making money.
It was very unsurprising then that on my holidays on the sunny Costa Blanca, I came across packets of Fortnight trading cards for €1. Usually, I wouldn’t question the legitimacy of trading cards, especially ones in foil packets, but as I found these in one of the many Chino shops, I think I had every right to. For the uninitiated, there are a high number of massive Chinese warehouse-sized supermarkets across the Costa Blanca in Spain, where an absurdly large amount of slightly dodgy goods can be bought for insanely cheap prices.
As is the case of legitimate cards, these ones came in a foil packet, like I mentioned before. Interestingly, the back of the packet had a short snippet of text that helped to set up the scenario…
“In a land inaccessible to the rest of the world, the premier Dueling high school “Duel Academy” educates promising young Duelists to their full potential. However, little does the school realize that things are about to change with the arrival of the greatest duelist of all…”
To be honest, I have no idea if that bit of lore has any connection to the actual game, but it does seem a pretty generic scenario. Although I guess it’s hard to build lore around a game that sees 100 players drop down into a landmass and shoot each other until there’s 1 person left. In fact, does this trading card game even need a backstory? Probably not.
Anyway! Inside my pack, I found 8 individual cards. I could immediately tell that they were of a much higher quality than the Pokemon trading cards I bought in Spain. The reverse side had a distinctive and rather cool shot of the flying Fortnight bus. The combination of the bright colours and the crisp imagery gave an air of legitimacy, but as I turned them over, my confidence in the cards wavered lightly. While the images on this side shared the same quality as the reverse side, they were covered in a layer of textured shininess. Not that I mind a bit of shininess, but every single card? It made them look tacky.
Regardless, the actual artwork on the cards was well realised. A good variety of characters, accessories and weapons were present, with a damn fine looking Halloween themed card being a highlight. Thanos even made an appearance, a fact that I found highly amusing. Luckily, I knew that he had already featured in Fortnight for a limited time, otherwise I would have been very confused.
Mechanically, the gameplay seemed quite perplexing. Each card featured a simplified approximation of a hand in the form of either Rock, Paper or Scissors. That part was very self-explanatory but the inclusion of 4 digit Attack and Energy stats just confused things. Another annoying thing I found (at least for me), was that the front of the cards was portrait, and the reverse was landscape. This is purely an aesthetic choice my Graphic Designer brain just couldn’t agree with, and was of no real consequence anyway.
Overall, those Fortnight cards were pretty impressive. Aside from a few minor details, they seemed pretty legit. As I have done absolutely no research into if they are the real deal, I am struggling to decide whether or not they were actually genuine. As a card game, they didn’t seem to be in the same league as something like Pokemon or Final Fantasy Opus, but for the die-hard Fortnight fan, they would do nicely.
Thanks very much for reading this random post about my experience of opening a packet of Fortnight trading cards that may or may not be dodgy! If you liked it, then please follow this blog for similar updates in the future.
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