Nexus

Nexus is very similar in playstyle to Genjox, an IGF finalist game I reviewed a while ago.  On the one hand, it's kind of depressing to see a true to life example of how little has actually changed in the 12 years between the two games' releases, but on the other hand, if i hadn't known Genjox existed, I would probably look quite favorably upon Nexus.

So, in case you don't know what I'm talking about, Nexus is a top-down tank shooter.  It's much simpler than Genjox, as there are only 3 different types of tank to choose from, all with their own weapons.  I have to say, while both approaches can be really fun if done well, I like the way Nexus went about things a bit better.  Tinkering around with stats until you find something that suits you can be very rewarding, Fight Zone, proves that, but there's something to be said about the streamlined approach Nexus takes that maintains the flow of the game and makes things very simple for the player for fear of sensory overload.

Each of the 3 classes, long range, mid range and short range, are all well balanced and each tank has a fighting change going toe-to-toe with another tank.  All too many games with the "3 class" framework play around too much with strengths and weaknesses in order to balance the gameplay, but that just ends up turning the game into glorified Rock, Paper, Scissors.  Nexus doesn't do that.  The gameplay is constantly entertaining, whether you're a short-range tank going up against a mid-range one or whatever.

My major complaint with the game is that the movement speed is too damn slow.  The short range tanks have a dash ability that allows you to get right up in your enemy's face, but to me, the "dash" button is really a "momentarily go the speed you should be going all along" button.  The rest of the game seems to be designed around delivering a fast, unhindered gameplay experience, so why would you make the tanks move so damn slowly?  If this were a complex game that made me consider a lot of factors before charging into battle, a slow movement speed might be advantageous, but this is a shooter, not an RTS.

All-in-all, I had fun with Nexus and I bet you would too.  Check it out if you're bored and just want to make things go boom Unreal Tournament style.

That's all I got for now.  Until next time, stay streamlined.

Links
Next Bus: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26684

Neoterminus

jeez, this one takes broken to a whole new level.  Upon launching, this game put a big white block on my screen, effectively blocking my access to any other program.  I had to restart my damn machine.  For all intents and purposes, this is a virus.

I'm still going to include the link for the braver among you, but damn...

Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1478

Lux & Mad Tea Party

Lux can be described as a combination of Luminaria and Lumin Lacuna. It uses the same beam/mirror mechanics as Luminaria, but is controlled in a 3D, third-person environment like Lumin Lacuna.  Not counting the short tutorial, this game only has 2 levels, meaning I don't have much to say about it.  The engine is a bit glitchy, as I got caught on a few cliff sides, but that usually helped me, preventing me from falling into an abyss, so maybe it was intentional.  It's just a very simple game with nothing special to offer, sorry to say.  It might be worth checking out for the 3D art, but even that's not too impressive.

Then of course there's Mad Tea Party, a game which held my attention for maybe 5 seconds before I ragequit.  The framerate is laughable.  I only got to what I'm guessing is about 10fps, and my computer has no problem with typical mainstream games.  On top of that, the platforms sometimes just choose not to exist.  I jumped a grand total of 3 times while playing this game, and twice I fell through the floor.  Back to the drawing board, guys.

That's all I got for now.  Until next time, stay efficient.

Links

Lux, I am your Father: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18579

Maddening F-bomb Party: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26618

Lunaris

Lunaris is a pleasant game to say the least...most of the time.

First, let's talk aesthetics.  The character and environment designs are nice and calming with their warm blue and green tones.  The grass conforms to your character's shape as you trod upon it and it all just looks pretty with the exception of one thing.  There's this annoying film-grain filter kind of like the one in Mass Effect except infinitely more annoying and non-removable.

I will say that this is one of the few games on the list that was actually able to make me laugh out loud.  When you run into spikes, your character just kind of explodes with nothing more than a squishing sound and the camera hangs on your lifeless pile of goop just long enough for the effect to be hilarious.  It also provides juuuuuust the right amount of punishment for dying.

But we all know that it's all about the gameplay at heart, right?  Well let me say that at its core, there is nothing wrong with this game's feel.  Every mechanic is tight and intuitive and the sense of flow is very noticeable.

The real problem I have with this game is that it gets too repetitive.  The levels are very numerous and very, very samey.  This wouldn't be a problem if I could access some sort of level select, but what do you know?  We're back to the very first thing I ever complained about since January 1st of this year.  There's no damn level select, and there's no...damn...SAVE FEATURE!  A game with levels this repetitive has no right to demand that I beat it all in one go.

That's all I got for now.  Until next time, stay patient

Links
Loons are us: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24665

Luminosity

Well, would you look who it is?  Why it's good ol' Andrew Nack, the solo game designer who brought us Ethereal, Fate, and Gloom. But what's this?  This time, he's not alone.  Let's see what happens when a hitherto stag game designer teams up with a few other bright young minds...

Well first off, this game is presented very nicely.  It uses the same colors as all those neon-light style games that I was complaining about a little while ago, but doesn't feel the need to make them garish. You can tell this was handled by an artist and not just a guy who saw which colors looked nicest when put together.

The thing that really characterizes this game for me is that it feels awesome to win but absolutely woeful to lose.  The playstyle is similar to the hacking minigame in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  Click here, then there, then watch and hope the screen fills up with blue faster than it does red.  It doesn't make you feel in control, so losing is incredibly frustrating.  Plus, the frantic pace of the game means there is little to no room for experimentation, so playing seems less like outwitting the computer and more like searching for the one right answer that was thought up for you to use beforehand.

All-in-all, it's pretty but not terribly engaging.  It's worth checking out if you're bored, but there's nothing in particular that I'm dying for you all to see.

That's all I got for now.  Until next time, stay shiny

Links
Not the website for old people with bad neurons: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25896

Luminaria

Guess what, guys?  It's finals week! yaaaaaay! You know what that means: crappy reviews!  YAAAAAY!

and what's everyone's favorite kind of crappy review?  Broken games!  YAAAAY

I got Luminaria to take me to the first level, but nothing happens after I solve the puzzle...so yeah...until next time.

Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25879

Lumin Lacuna

Alrighty then, let's get this show on the road:

Lumin Lacuna is a game that is simply not finished.  It's one of those games that makes me wish the students had gotten an extension or something, because it shows a lot of potential.  Let's delve a bit deeper:

The visual style is very appealing, though I am starting to regret ever saying that I like the neon look, because it seems that many devs are relying on that to make their game look nice.  The character and level design in Lumin Lacuna would be great either way, but still...

The first and most pronounced thing that tipped me off to this game's being unfinished is that there is no sound.  It's not rocket science, guys, a game needs sound just like a book needs punctuation or a film needs editing.  There is a button on the options screen which looks like it was meant to toggle music or sound on and off, so this certainly wasn't something that was meant to happen.

Other than that, there's really only one problem with Lumin Lacuna.  Its magic system is way too easy to break.  You can mix and match two types of spells at any point, which is a great concept, but it won't take too much experimentation to find out that "homing bomb" can ruin entire roomfuls of even the toughest enemies by just spamming it.  I suppose you could say that you don't have to use that particular combination and that there are plenty of others to play with, but I'm going to use the same argument here as I do when I spoke against creative mode in Minecraft.  Just knowing that an infinitely more efficient option exists is enough to ruin the more difficult experience.  Building that giant stone castle by hand becomes much less rewarding when you see your friend's mountain-sized diamond palace populated by hundreds of wolves and ocelots.  In Lumin Lacuna, clearing out a room with "field laser" or something like that is more frustrating than rewarding when you look at how much health and time you lost just because you didn't want to use "homing bomb."

That's all I got for now.  Until next time, stay optimal

Links
Lacuna Latata: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18587