Game EXP: Dustoff Heli Rescue II (NS)

Disclaimer:  I received Dustoff Heli Rescue II for the Nintendo Switch free of charge from developer Rainy Frog and publisher Ratalaika Games through Indie Gamer Chick's #IndieSelect event back in early March, 2019.  The game was given without promise or expectation of a positive review, only that the game be played and shared through social media channels.  All of the words contained in this article, unless otherwise noted, are my own.

I first started playing Dustoff Heli Rescue II back in March and finally finished the game back on April 10th, but for whatever reason, the rest of the next two months, I failed to follow up with a second article, delving a bit more into my play experiences with this game.  If you have not read my First Impressions article yet, I recommend it because I will be coming from the perspective of someone who already knows a bit about the game.

Bringing supplies to the troops.

In my First Impressions article, I was on Mission 08 out of 35, which seems like a decent amount of missions to get acquainted with the overall mechanics of the game.  By that point I had experienced attack missions, rescue missions, and supply drop missions.  The only thing that would be more developed as the game progressed were the environments.  While most of the game took place traveling from one side of the level to the other, eventually vast networks of cave systems were introduced, and these areas (as they never fully encompassed the entire stage) were my least favorite.  Even when I had upgraded to the highest level helicopter in the game, which had the best controls with the exception of the flying saucer (more on that one later), traveling through tight corridor-ed caves was always nerve wracking and never seemed to go as fast as I had wanted to.

Unlocking weapons & helicopters happens w/ completing levels, and is not
directly related to the number of stars earned on a mission.

In that article, I had also (briefly) mentioned the jump in difficulty, especially with Mission 08.  What I apparently failed to take in was just attempting to pass a level without some/any/all of the side items (additional stars, dog tags) on my initial run through on the stages.  What I ended up doing was just playing the level to pass it and try to work my way up to better helicopters as well as upgrading the equipable weapons when they became available, then go back and do previous stages where I was missing stars/dog tags.  Once I reached that mind set, I began to have a lot more fun, or at least became less frustrated with not being able to do the levels as fast as I needed to be in order to earn the timed star.  And you know, once I had progressed enough to have a helicopter at one or two levels, I would go back and do previous missions and wonder what my hang up was.

The point is, sure you could probably get a 3 star rating while collecting all of the dog tags on your first playthrough on Mission 13, but that was not how I was enjoying the game.

Not the best shot, but if you look closely, you can see another friendly Blufor
Helicopter back there by the plateau.

I also want to highlight the fact that the level design was pretty amazing for the overall voxel approach to the game.  Often times there would be other helicopters in the background, presumably doing similar missions.  This lead to the feeling that the world I was playing in was not limited to my own actions, but that there were other missions going on that I was a participant in.  What I like about this is that it eliminates the solo fighter constantly being the one key component to winning an entire war.

And then there was not the last mission, but the mission that ended the war.  Without giving too much away, I will say that there were elements in this one level that were not used in any other level, and that was a nice touch.  When I came upon these environmental elements, I was taken aback, both at the scale that Rainy Frog took to make this particular level feel special, but also because it looked great!  There was the semi-expected boss battle too, but that was not what I am referring to. 

And then the game continued!  After the big boss battle, there were still missions that included eliminating remaining factions, rescuing troops from earlier missions, and the like.  It was, in my opinion, a pretty brilliant way to close out a fun game.  Rather than have the boss battle be the last level, there was clean up to do, which to me makes sense when dealing with a fictional war.

So in the end, I would recommend Dustoff Heli Rescue II if you are looking for a simplistically conceptualized, which I previously said would not be out of place on the Atari 2600, but with Minecraft voxel stylized graphics plays great.  I spent about 10 hours on the game, which could possibly justify the $14.99 MSRP, but for some reason that still seemed a bit high to me (even though I received the game for free).  I would think a $9.99 price tag might be more reasonable and probably a better price point; but that is just me.

And I still think that a Star Wars game using the exact same engine and mechanics would be a perfect match.  Although EA should probably not be anywhere near this game, otherwise they might microtransaction the hell out of an otherwise fun game.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
But Now We Must Fly

MIDI Week Singles: "Labyrinth/Boss Theme" - Fire 'N Ice (NES)

"Labyrinth/Boss Theme" from Fire 'n Ice* on the Nintendo Entertainment System (1993)

Composer: Ryuichi Nitta

Album: No Official Release

Publisher: Tecmo

Developer: Tecmo

I have a two fold reason for picking this song for today.  The first, is because I find this boss music to a puzzle game to be to the point of what the melody is trying to get to and is not overly complicated.  The entire song only lasts 29 seconds before it begins to loop, and the theme is easily singable.  The second reason is just silly, being that A Song of Ice and Fire a la HBO's Game of Thrones is now officially over.

I saw the title for the song listed as a couple of different names, but I decided on "Labyrinth Theme" since the first boss you go up against at the end of World 1 tells you that you have to solve the labyrinth, and it is used during the final boss battle, hence the "Boss Theme" part.

That is really it.  Another case of wanting to share a song that I apparently do not have a whole lot to say about, most likely because I have never played Fire 'n Ice and therefore have nothing additional to add other than the fact that I like this song.  But if you do like this track and want to hear more from Ryuichi Nitta, go give the music from the first two Ninja Gaiden games a go.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Isn't He A Bit Like You And Me?

Departing the Darkest Dungeon.

I think I have put myself into an increasingly difficult position with Red Hook Studio's indie turn based Lovecraftian game, Darkest Dungeon Ancestral Edition on the Nintendo Switch.  This difficult position has lead me to the conclusion that I may have to scrap the 55 hours I put into the game because I accidentally made the game a lot more difficult than it had been.

When I started Darkest Dungeon, I decided to play on the easiest difficulty setting, Radiant, partly because the game suggested this setting for people unfamiliar with the game and all of its madness inducing mechanics, and because I did not feel like punishing myself with a game that I had spent some money on and felt that I would actually like without beating myself over the head with tentacled madness.  I did install the Musketeer and Shieldbreaker DLC, which only adds additional classes to use, but left The Color of Madness and The Crimson Court expansions uninstalled as I wanted to at least start and enjoy what the base game had to offer.  Yes, I realize that the two DLC character packs means that I did not start with the base game as just described by me, but that was the way I wanted to play.  So there.

This encounter happened right before reaching the final room, which would
allow me to complete this particular quest.

Jump to 55 hours in, I had maxed out each of the locations to 7 (for whatever that means), although I had yet to actually attempt the mansion because I felt/wanted to kill off all of the bosses before heading in.  At this point in the game, I still had three bosses left, the Siren, the Witch, and the Prophet, and constantly attempting random dungeons in the hopes of picking up more money and gear before mansion delving started to get a little stale.  When I read the descriptions of each of the remaining DLC, I had hopes that ended up being significantly different than what they turned out to be.  For The Color of Madness, it ". . .opens the Farmstead region which has become the site of a fallen comet," and The Crimson Court has ". . .the addition of a new storyline and dungeon, new hero class, new monsters, new bosses. . ."

These little mosquitoes are quick and like to attack from the back, making
them harder to reach.

What I thought I was getting myself into was new areas to send the various mercenaries I had grown attached to (even those who had died in the service of the Descendent), and for the most part, The Color of Madness was what I was hoping for but ended up being more of a enemy rush mode that had you beat as many enemies as you could.  The Crimson Court was the estranged expansion.  Here, the dungeon was only accessible at certain times, but the enemies from that area would occasionally crop up in other dungeons.  

Curses!!

The problem with this, is that The Crimson Court also introduces a new mechanic, "The Crimson Curse" that affects characters until they are cured as well as the potential for spreading the curse to other characters.  And these enemies that help spread the curse are, or at least seem more powerful than the standard enemies that one who has played the game for 55 hours has grown to love and hate.  Oh, and there are some miniboss-type creatures from The Color of Madness DLC that also begin to populate the standard dungeons, and like the name of the DLC implies, they do a lot of stress based attacks.

So now that I am 60 hours and 105 in-game weeks in, feeling like I had given both DLCs a fair shake (and have only been able to access The Crimson Court area twice), I feel like my game is now tainted in a way that I was not expecting or wanting.  Had I finished the main campaign, I would definitely be more interested in attempting The Crimson Court, but when I am making a run to kill one of the three remaining bosses, and I am assailed by monsters that curse my party and/or draw them further into madness, it makes dungeon delving expensive on the gold carrying pouches as well as the sanity of the characters; and me too.

I would be surprised if I never revisited Darkest Dungeon as I love Wayne June, the actor who voices your ancestor and frequent commentator during the game, I love the story, I love the various mechanics involving health and sanity.  But I definitely feel that I have bitten off more than I could chew with adding two DLCs before I was ready.  I will return to the Darkest Dungeon, but I might need a few months respite at the tavern, refusing to leave for yet another week.  And I am definitely note deleting my current save file.

I will return to my ancestral home, opulent and imperial.  Even if it is a festering abomination.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

I Dredge Up The Black Anchors on My Chains

MIDI Week Singles: "Gris, Pt. 1" - Gris (NS,PC, macOS)

"Gris, Pt. 1" from Gris on the Nintendo Switch, PC, and macOS (2018)

Composer: Berlinist

Album: Gris Original Soundtrack

Label: Self Published

Publisher: Devolver Digital

Developer: Nomada Studio

First off, I have not played Gris, although it is very much on my radar and a game that I am definitely going to get around to playing.  And this track from the soundtrack only cements that desire to play even more so.

From about 1:18 when the synth-sounding instrument comes in and I start getting Blade Runner vibes, to 1:35ish when the organ comes in and the song continues to build and build, I kind of wish that it would continue to build in strength and emotion for another 10 minutes.  Maybe akin to Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings?  But I am willing to guess that the sudden die off around the two minute mark is related to in-game events and letting that build up of emotion hang there in the air, as opposed to cutting the song off so that the loop back to the beginning is less obvious?

The point is, this song is gorgeously beautiful and now I am having to stay myself from just outright buying the game.  Maybe next month.  And do not be surprised to find another track from Gris featured in our MIDI Week Singles in the coming year.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Here's A Hand That Guides

Movie Review: Pet Semetary (2019)

I know that Pet Sematary (2019) (hereto-after as PS19) has been out for a couple of weeks now (or more specifically 42 days ago), but last Tuesday night, Conklederp and I went out to see it at a local theater because it was buy-one-get-one-free night; $22 for two tickets, two pints of blackberry cider and a large popcorn isn't too shabby.

Both of us have seen the 1989 film of the same name, and have read Stephen King's 1983 book, just so that you know where I am coming from.  So brace yourself, because there are going to be spoilers all over the place.  I am also going to be assuming that you, the reader, have also either seen the movie (either), or read the book.

There is also a lot that Pet Sematary (2019) does that is its own beast, but the main takeaway from is that you will need to have either seen the 1989 movie or read the 1983 book in order to appreciate the movie in the way that the writers Greenberg/Buhler, directors Kölsch/Widmyer, and the editors have intended.  There is a lot that happens in the movie that is banking on the audience having knowledge of at least one of the previous installments, primarily the movie since the medium is the same.

Because the story deals heavily with the concept of loss and how people manage that loss, one would hope that developing those relationships would be a cornerstone of the movie.  Unfortunately, PS19 moves very quickly through the early story, seemingly only introducing characters before moving on, not taking much of any time to build the relationships with the audience for them/us to actually care about what is happening to them.  Interestingly enough, the audience is introduced to Rachel's sister Zelda so early on in the movie, that the audience does not have enough time to get to really know Rachel before finding out about her trauma; or at least that was how I felt.  In another instance, after their neighbor Jud is invited over for dinner, the audience comes in as the daughter Ellie is finishing an ballet-ish dance performance, their cat Church enters the scene and there is a brief interaction between Church, Jud, and Ellie.  A few scenes later is when Church is found dead and Jud tells the dad Lewis to meet him later that night to take care of the cat.  When Jud offers to take Lewis beyond the barrier to bury Church (in order to bring the cat back to life), he says that he does it because of how much Ellie loves Church.  The problem is that the audience is never given the opportunity to really experience Ellie's love for Church, or Jud witnessing that love.

In the scene where Lewis actually buries Church, his first couple of hits against the stony ground with the shovel is all the audience gets to indicate that this act of burial and resurrection should not be an easy task.  The shovel scrapes twice, then it cuts to Lewis putting Church in the ground and covering the body.  There does not seem to be any indication of passage of time, that digging a small hole, even for a cat, took anything longer than 10-15 minutes.  Anyone trying to dig a hole in incredibly rocky dirt knows that that is going to take you longer than 10 minutes.  And then in the third act when Lewis buries Ellie (more on this decision later), he uses a rock to pound a hole into the ground?  He picks up a rock to dig a hole.  I guess this is to show the desperation/love that Lewis has for his dead child, but this just seemed like a silly/odd choice.

Okay, let's talk briefly about how PS19 felt like Kölsch/Widmyer expected the audience to have already seen PS89.  When Lewis shows up to his first day at his new doctor's job at the university, there is a little bit of tension as you expect Victor Pascow to be wheeled in any second, only for this to happen on a subsequent day (possibly the second day, but it was hard to tell).  During Ellie's birthday party and Gage runs out into the middle of the road, there is the expectation that he is going to be hit only to be snatched away at the last second with the feeling that K/W are going, "Gotcha!"  In the scene when Jud is walking through his house looking for the revived Ellie who is now tormenting him, the camera, from underneath the bed, holds on his ankles for just long enough for the audience to think that once again we are going to see his Achilles tendon cut with a scalpel; even the retrieving of the commemorative scalpel is completely glossed over, as if Lewis just keeps readily available scalpels lying around the house.

My other gripe with the film was how underutilized Victor Pascow was as a character.  In PS19 he was introduced in the scene where he dies; during Lewis' first dream sequence; again briefly (but only as a Carrie inspired hand from the ground) trying to stop Lewis from crossing the barrier; briefly heavily concealed in shadow during another dream sequence; and lastly before he utters a final warning and fades from existence.  I know that doesn't sound like underutilization, but from someone who was initially terrified by Pascow in PS89, I was looking forward to being scared poopless in PS19.  As it turned out, I was more scared during Rachel's flashback and waking-dream sequences involving Zelda.

I genuinely feel that I could probably continue for another complete article, going into what I did not like about Pet Sematary (2019), such as Jason Clarke's acting as Lewis, the lack of interesting music (sorry Christopher Young) which made me sad because I usually like Mr. Young's music, the pacing (which I kind of touched on), the glossing over of previous instances of things (people/animals) coming back, the lack of connection/interactions between Ellie and Lewis and Ellie's family, that there was more telling and less showing (like seeing a newspaper clipping referencing Timmy Batemen with a font that was too small and that was on camera too briefly to actually understand the importance of why this was even brought up), and probably some other things that I cannot think of.  I did not at all mind the switching of Gage for Ellie being the child that was killed.

Now, there were some elements that I liked about PS19 despite the eight former paragraphs, but that may have to wait for a non-existent article. For me, throughout most of PS19 I felt like I was being reminded of PS89, but when those comparisons are being made by a movie that I am not enjoying as much as the film from 30 years prior, I do not know if constant references are the best way to make a movie.  I guess that is my takeaway?



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

MIDI Week Singles: "Choke" - 1080° Avalanche (GC)

"Choke" from 1080° Avalanche on the GameCube (2003)

Composer: Cauterize

Album: So Far From Real

Label: Wind-Up Records

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo Software Technology

This might seem like a strange choice for a MIDI Week Single, but bare with me for a moment.  The song was used in 1080° Avalanche when it was released on the GameCube back in 2003.  And since we use songs in video games, I validate this as a choice.  We also write the articles so there is that too.

I think Dr. Potts put it best after I he had borrowed 1080° Avalanche for a while.  He said something along the lines of, that the music and songs in 1080° are not particularly great and probably would not listen to the songs out in the real world, but you definitely start to have favorite songs within the context of the game.  This is true for most, if not all of the alternative rock / nu-metal songs on the non-existent 1080° Avalanche soundtrack.

To me, what it feels like is that Nintendo was aiming for something similar to what Neversoft did with the music/songs in the Tony Hawk franchise.  That never quite happened for me.  Especially when I listen to the songs that were used in 1080°, I only feel a nostalgia for the game and the songs only feel like they are part of the game, not as stand alone songs; like when "If You Must" comes up, the songs stands by itself outside of the game.

So now that I am done ragging on the music from 1080°, I wanted to share "Choke" partly because it was one of my favorite songs from the game, but also because it does conjure moments of boarding down any one of those fictional mountains.  Although, I think I do genuinely like from 2:30 - 3:15, which coincidentally is the longest part of the song without any singing.  Something about this section just makes me want to boot up 1080° again with this song and hopefully be in a wide open area on the mountain going at maxed out speed.*

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
I'd Like To Chant Some Magic Spells


*We really need a snowboarding game on the Switch that isn't reliant on being able to do tricks a la SSX Tricky.

First Impressions: Hellmut: The Badass From Hell (NS)

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Hellmut: The Badass From Hell on the Nintendo Switch from publisher Grindstone of Volcanicc's game through Indie Gamer Chick's #IndieSelect.  The game was given without promise or expectation of a positive review, only that the game be talked about and shared through social media channels, primarily through Twitter.  All of the words in this article, unless otherwise noted were written by me and are my own.

First off, I knew nothing about Hellmut: The Badass From Hell (forthwith referred to just as Hellmut) before requesting a regional key from Indie Gamer Chick, but I liked the two screen shots that I looked at.  I also liked the Hellboy-esque stylized logo.  So when I started the game after downloading from the EU eShop, I was a little surprised (although I really should not have been) to find out that it was a twin stick shooter; think The Binding of Isaac, Smash TV, or the recently played/reviewed #IndieSelect title InkSplosion.

I was a little nervous after my experience with InkSplosion since I felt that the Switch Joy-Cons were not very comfortable with the type of twin stick shooter that they game wanted me to play as.  And since I felt that InkSplosion was a little too punishing for how short the game could be, I was hoping that Hellmut would be a bit more fun and a lot more forgiving.  So upon booting up the game, I decided that I would play through the tutorial in the hopes that I would have more luck here.  Lo and behold, I did!  Thank bloody hell for that too!

Upon completing the tutorial, I was granted the use of a character named StitchMonster who starts out with 250 health when the standard character, Rat Kind, only has 150 health.  Boon to me for trying out the sometimes lauded tutorial by people who think that they're too good for such childish nonsense.  Which then brings up one of the very cool aspects of Hellmut.  When you start the game, you are just a floating cracked brain exposed skull that is floating/bouncing around and able to shoot weak projectiles.  You then acquire a new form to take which has their own skills, weapons, advantages/disadvantages to consider, hence choosing either StitchMonster or Rat King.  When this character is killed, you become the floating skull again.  Throughout the game, you are able to free other forms to take along with your starter form and skull form.  That was when I freed the character of Ragnar (pictured above), but was apparently unable to keep as a playable character after dying and restarting.

What I really like about this take on the rogue-lite twin stick shooter, is that you are able to switch between any of the available forms you have, if one forms weapon seems more suited for an enemy/boss/situation than another.  Or by switching out before that form dies and before you can make it to a shop to buy health kits, which is significantly cheaper than buying a revive crystal.  And what I love about Hellmut is when I actually manage to play good, because then I feel like I actually know what I am doing.

I guess that is really all I have to say, at least at the moment, about Hellmut.  I wish that the Switch's Joy-Cons were easier to use for me with twin-stick-shooters, but I have managed to score an additional form and have killed one boss over multiple attempts.  The only thing I am unsure about is that in the starting hub where you decided which form to start off with, it looks like there are upwards of six to maybe seven additional characters to choose from, but I am unsure how to unlock them, because it was not the Ragnar character I freed in one playthrough, and I did not get one after defeating one of the bosses.

I guess it is back into Hell I go to find out more about this fun and frustrating game.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
She Lives In A Pig Pen

Monthly Update: May 2019

First off, April did not see participation in the short lived #DiscoverIndies for reasons that were mentioned by Indie Gamer Chick in her slight frustration in the overall lack of participation, or using games that may not have been as under the radar as originally intended.  So #DiscoverIndies is not dead-dead, so I guess you could say it is in a coma?  But #IndieSelect is still alive and kicking while I was only able to participate in two games this month, SpellKeeper and Daggerhood.  One game was a relaxing casual puzzle game while the other seemed to kick me in the pineal glad with a lava tipped steel toed boot.  I will let you guess on those two as I move on.

I did receive a review copy of Rollin' Eggz by Square Heads Games which I talked about on Tuesday and approached that game like I have previous #IndieSelect titles.  Something that I have definitely taken away from not only the #IndieSelect titles, but writing more Game EXP articles, is that I am not afraid to say that I do not like a game for reasons X, Y, and Z.  I would like to think that my criticisms have come across as "helpful" as opposed to simply saying that I do not like something, even when I receive a review code for a game from the publisher.  Maybe last year at this same time I might have sugar-coated a review because I felt somewhat indebted to the giver of the code, but if GrimTalin's response to my post on Tuesday is any indication, being honest is 100% more helpful than beating around the proverbial shrubbery.  Or maybe it is just in my head?

More on the Switch front, aside from the three aforementioned games, most of my time has been spent (again) with Darkest Dungeon, Fortnite, and now joining the fray is the Toy-Con 04 VR Kit edition of the Nintendo Labo.  I have a couple of articles up looking at what I thought of the VR concept as well as my first impressions putting together the main VR goggles.  After those articles, I have put together a couple of the other pieces that come with the main kit [the camera, snorkle, (nearly useless at the moment) Switch frame, the bird, the wind paddle, and the pin wheel] and Conklederp and I have been having fun with those, despite their targeted age range being decades below our own years.

I have also been playing Color Zen, and BOX align, both of which I definitely plan on writing about.  They are both puzzle games heavily oriented around the use of color, but using color in different and interesting ways that I have not come across before.  And both are games that will make me feel like an idiot when I am unable to solve a puzzle and end up staring at the screen for five minutes without doing anything.  I also managed to download the demo for Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun!, but I had to use my Australian account as the demo is not available in North America.  I would like to play it beyond the two demo songs, but $49.99 still seems a bit steep.  And I am definitely not ready yet to plunk down $155 on the bundle which comes with the physical release of the game and the physical drum, or even the stand alone drum for $39-$85, depending on the company who makes the drum.

Oh, and Conklederp and I saw Avengers: End Game on Tuesday, being the last day of April, but I will probably write about it in a week or two, after it has been out a while and I do not run amuck of people who want to avoid spoilers.

And now that we are in May, I just want to warn y'all, that the frequency of articles may drop off a bit as we are now heading into peak wedding/birthday season.  And do not even get me started on June, you will just have to wait another month before finding out about all of that.

Until next week then.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
It's Everything You Ever Need

MIDI Week Singles: "Stage 2: Lightning Speed" - Bad Dudes (NES)

"Stage 2: Lightning Speed" from Bad Dudes on the Nintendo Entertainment System (1989)

Composer: Azusa Hara & Hiroaki Yoshida

Album: No Official Album Release

Publisher: Data East USA

Developer: Data East

You know, there is a fair amount going on in this song, and in each section, the melody is memorable enough that they could stand on their own.

However, even with how great the music is, how it is used in the game might seem a bit odd.  In the second stage, Blade/Striker ride atop a moving semi-truck down the highway as enemy ninjas attack from all sides.  On paper, this music does seem like it would work perfectly, even the name of the track fits in with the concept of the stage.  How the stage actually plays on the NES though is the complete opposite.  In the arcade, the same song is used, although the sound quality is a lot "tinnier" and more in the background, which makes sense when you consider that arcades are not typically where you would go to to listen to video game music, what with all of the competing sounds.  Even the level is nearly identical in its speed, with the screen slowly creeping from the right to the left.

Or maybe that was the original point of this song moving faster than the level?  With how slow the stage moves from right to left, revealing more of the truck a chunk of pixels at a time, that this music was used to instill a sense of speed that the level design either did not or could not do?  This is of course all just speculation.

I would recommend just sitting back, turning up the volume, play this song with a fan blowing in your face and you are all set to be a bad enough dude!

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Da!