InvertY.com
A Gaming Diary
Braid (360)
Aug 16th
Got the remaining puzzle pieces in World 3, got all the ones in World 4 and am currently pretty confused by World 5.
It’s a good, fun puzzle/platform game, but I don’t see where the 10/10s are coming from, or the love for the story. Either I’m missing something or, well, it’s videogame-good and not good-good.
Bangaio-O Spirits (DS)
Aug 16th
Very tired, in bed, early hours of the morning, hardly able to focus on the screen, I went back to the Treasure levels and got through three or four levels without any real problems. Very strange.
SBK08 Demo (360)
Aug 16th
It’s bikes. Ones with engines. Ones I can’t drive. I have no idea whether it’s any good or not, I do know that it’s not for me.
Four wheels good, two wheels bad.
Fable 2 Pub Games Demo (360)
Aug 16th
Rubbish, but the card game is strangely addictive.
I’d never, ever even consider buying it for 800 points, but it might be nice to get for free with a pre-order, if Microsoft actually manage to organise it.
Bionic Commando Rearmed Demo (360)
Aug 16th
I like this. Quite a lot. Maybe enough to buy.
Hard but fair, based on the demo. Pity it doesn’t let you fight the boss, because that would definitely decide me one way or the other.
As well as the conversion of the old NES game, there are also some VR-style challenge missions. There are two available in the demo. The first is slightly tricky, the second is incredibly hard. Goodness know what the rest are like.
Bangai-O Spirits (DS)
Aug 15th
An hour of lunchtime play. One whole hour.
How many stages completed?
One. One whole stage. The first stage in the “Other” section, known as The Face. It was hard, but I got it in the end. I’m now stuck on the second stage, which is killing me. A lot.
And just think, I thought I tried the “Other” stages because I thought they might be easier than the “Treasure Favorite” stages I was doing last night. Ouch.
Still, it’s not a bad thing. Even when dying over and over again, it’s still an awful lot of fun. It’s nice to be a bit rubbish at the game, because that means it’ll last forever.
Bangai-O Spirits (DS)
Aug 15th
Finally, the English-language version arrives!
It’s been a long time coming, but now it’s here. And was it worth the wait?
Well, yes. It’s fantastically addictive and hard as nails. (It took me quite some time to actually complete the final tutorial level – and I was quite surprised to see the credits at the end.) It’s half-shooter, half-puzzle and the one-more-go-factor is up there with Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2. Yes, it’s that compelling.
Amazing stuff, but I suspect it won’t be for everybody.
Braid (360)
Aug 12th
I went back and did World 2 again. Some of the jumps took a good while to get right, but I didn’t have any real problems. At least I remembered all the solutions to the puzzles. I moved on to World 3 and didn’t manage to get all the puzzle pieces before having to stop playing so we could watch Richard Dawkins on the telly. I think I’ve got two left. One I might be able to work out when I go back, but another is completely baffling. It looks like I need to speed something up – but how can I do that when I can only reverse time? Hopefully fresh eyes this evening will reveal the solution.
Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 (360)
Aug 12th
Half an hour playing Pacifism. I got a new high score and went up a place on my Friends Leaderboard, but it wasn’t a huge improvement. Just an extra million or so. Still, better than nothing.
