The series continues! See parts 1 and 2. In short, I’ve played a ton of games in 2020 and have written capsule reviews for most of them. Sometimes these get turned into features (usually at spots like Unwinnable or Gamers With Glasses), but sometimes they just hang out as stubs. So I’m passing them on to youuuuuuuu
Inside
Inside has incredible atmosphere. Its a game full of dread, spiked it with body horror and fear. The first time the child player character was tackled by vicious dogs, it was clear that Playdead, the game’s designers, were not interested in holding back. Its physics puzzles are also quite good, especially some of the ones that bend conventional physics. At times, some of the sparseness of the environment made it difficult to understand which aspects of the world were moveable and which were not. Other times, that sparseness paid off as unexpected parts of the world became available as part of puzzle solutions. The last chapter is absolutely top tier, bringing to mind Akira while keeping the identity of this particular game. The alternate ending isn’t bad, either, but it seems to lean more towards a ludic wink than the release of escape found in the main ending.
Yakuza 5
This is an excellent Yakuza game. The pacing is a mess and the main story is so convoluted that only a great ending could save it. But the ending is… not much better than the rest of the main story. I would still say that it’s one of the best games that I’ve played all year. Why? Because this is one of the finest short story compilations ever put into game form. Just about every playable character has a side gig, each with its own mechanics, from street racing to bear hunting to an idol career. These deepen the characters and the game and, to quote one of Haruka Sawamura’s songs, give it “So Much More.” So what if the overarching narrative doesn’t hold together? It’s more of a framing device, anyway. There are so many stories in this game, and many of them so good (Saejima’s story in Sapporo in particular), that this game was absolutely worth the 65 hours I put into completing nearly every side mission and substory.
Ladykiller in a Bind
A quality visual novel with some interesting things to say about power and consent, as explored through dominance, submission, and other complex topics. I think the framing device and endings don’t quite live up to the conversations within the game’s main story. That said, I enjoyed how those conversations were designed to be flexible without necessarily being predictabile. Ladykiller pushes back on player choice depending on the situation, which is wholly appropriate to its themes. If the frame held up to how well the rest of the game considers power, it would be a sure winner.
The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa
This game gets one very important aspect right: it knows what it means to be a delinquent. Everything else follows. Ringo doesn’t have constraints on how he spends his time, but he also doesn’t have much in the way of direction. You can fuck up relationships, get a job and lose it, spend your time getting better at pool or fighting. Ultimately, the plot revolves around Ringo’s titular friends. Slightly unlike it’s semi-namesake in The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Ringo does actually seems to have real friends. The trouble is, he doesn’t know how to embrace them, fit them into his life, or move on together with them. All the same, when the plot moves, it’s because Ringo and his friends are involved in the world. Ringo reacts in his limited capacity, leading to a lonely end.
Mr. Driller DrillLand
I’d rate the 2000 Mr. Driller as a 4/5 for a start, and DrillLand includes a version of it as a single one of its 5 modes. This is a very creative take on a puzzle game compilation, with each mode tweaking just enough of the core gameplay as to require that the player adjusts their approach. All of that is wrapped up in a story that’s just as much fun as that height of the anime puzzle genre, Puyo Puyo Tetris. And like PPT, MDDL is fantastically replayable. It’s the Kirby Super Star of Mr. Driller, which makes it a very good time. Here’s hoping that people enjoy this port of the 2002 edition and that we get some new Mr. Driller in the future.
Optional Objectives is a contributing editor for Gamers With Glasses. He also writes for a bunch of other online publications and zines, including Unwinnable, Heterotopias, First Person Scholar, Clickbliss, and Haywire Magazine. You can find more on twitter, both @opobjectives and @donaever.
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