Humble Indie Bundle

[fireheart]

So I got the latest Humble Indie Bundle off of their website. (www.humblebundle.com)

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Humble Indie Bundles are basically about 4-5 different games, packaged up and sold on the Internet, for which you can name your own price and choose who the money goes to (the developers, the website designers etc.). The total amount raised so far has been around $4.5 million.

The current crop of games are:

Superbrothers Sword and Sorcery EP

Limbo

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Psychonauts

Bastion

Lone Survivor

Braid

Super Meat Boy.

The last four you get if you pay more than the average asking price (which is around $8.40 USD)

I have not been disappointed. The games rock.

I'd been looking at Super Meat Boy for quite some time and I'd mentioned it to my boyfriend, who hadn't been too keen on it at the time . Now I have it.

Anyway, here's my take on the games I HAVE played and the games I've seen but haven't played:

Limbo: Very basic feel and storyline (titular character is searching for his sister), however the game doesn't disappoint you. As far as graphics go, the entire thing is monochromatic. The puzzles however, do not disappoint. You are provided with the controls, then chucked straight into the world without a tutorial. You don't have to keep track of anything or anyone, just get past the puzzles. For instance, you have to cross a river (the character can't swim), how are you going to make a bridge? Very simplistic, but the actual mechanics are amazing.

Super Meat Boy: the game definitely lived up to my expectations. The graphics are very retro and the storyline is a tad "Mario-ish" at times, but it's a lot of fun since it's more "fluid" than you think. You have to be careful when you're jumping, otherwise you'll overshoot your jump for example.

Bastion: This one I've spotted courtesy of my boyfriend (who surprisingly, spent the entire damn weekend playing it) and it's...unique. The entire game is set out in an isometric fashion (which confused the heck out of me). It loses points for gameplay (which can be a tad confusing at times), but it scores points in the storyline and the graphics department. Basically the world "unfolds" as you move around it, rather than you having to hunt for the world. The world itself is very richly detailed. And the narrator is absolutely awesome: he'll give a running commentary AS you play. Oh and on top of that, should you happen to fall off the world, he'll go "And the hero has fallen off the world" like it's a normal everyday occurance.

Psychonauts: Now this one was interesting, as the graphics reminded me a little bit of other 3D games (like Ratchet and Clank almost), but the storyline was unique. Basically the character has "psychic" powers and is going to camp to become a "psychonaut". The gameplay doesn't rely on weapons apart from your own mind.

Braid: last game I've spotted, this one was DEFINITELY different, in that the character could go back in time. My boyfriend delighted in this and very immaturely kept sending his character back in time repeatedly. -.-

That's all I've got so far.

[thansal]

I'm starting to have issues with the humble bundles, mainly that they keep reusing the same games. I mean, I own most of this bundle already, either from picking them up individually (braid/psychonauts), or from other humble bundles.


That said, I'm gona chime in a bit on Braid and Psychonauts.

If you like 3d platformers at ALL pick up Psychonauts. I mean, I assume most of you who like those games have it already, but if you don't pick it up. If you, like me, don't like 3D plantformers, pick it up any way. Why? Because it's a wonderfully amusing game.

Braid?
Braid is a wonderful game, if you ignore the fact that the developer is a total douchbag, and fails at some key developer skills.

The regular game is rather fine, and the playing with time in various ways is well done. There are some problems in specific puzzles where it's VERY unclear if you have the wrong solution, or you are just not timing the jump correctly.

My real dislike of the game comes from the meta-game of collecting the secret stars. There are 8 of them and they range from the doable, to the "What do you mean I CAN'T get that star b/c I already completed part of the game????" to the "seriously, 2 hours of twiddling my thumbs to get a damn star? SERIOUSLY?".

If the game simply didn't have the secret stars I would actually like the game much more, but they are such a "I'm a pretentious twit" move by the developer that it distracts from the rest of the game.

If you do play braid, keep in mind that you will not be able to get all the stars barring using a guide, or being insane, if you do that, the game is fun.


Ninja edit:

PS, Bastion Rocks.
I'm a sucker for ANY game that tells its story via in game voice acting. Never breaking you out of the game for a cut scene, or making you read the story, or whatever (Think System Shock or bio Shock). Bastion takes that form of storytelling and raises it to fine art. The narrator is almost constantly talking about what you are doing, it's amazingly fluid and never gets repetitive.

That, however, is not enough to make it a great game. The combat is fluid, the controls are precise, the weapons are interesting (and different), it has a weapon upgrade system (I'm a sucker for upgrades), it has an ability customization via the brewery (which drinks you use change how you play), and it's difficulty system is simply genius.

The difficulty system deserves a bit of talking about:
The game itself is reasonably challenging, never insanely difficult, unless you try some of the challenges, which are, you know, a challenge. However, as you progress you unlock different idols of the gods. You can activate any combination of the idols that you want, and each idol makes the game harder in a specific way. Some are straight forward: baddies deal more damage, or have more health. Some are more interesting: each killed baddie drops a live grenade, baddies will deflect your shots more often. For each idol you have active, you get better rewards for defeating baddies. So, not only is it not just "baddies hit harder and have more health (le sigh)", it also gives you direct rewards for upping the difficulty.

This is also ignoring the fact that the game is beautiful, the story is engrossing, and that there are tonnes of things to do.


Kay

</geek>

[Andara Bledin]

So I got the latest Humble Indie Bundle off of their website. (www.humblebundle.com)

I've been doing the HIB thing since the first. Sort of. Technically, I didn't get in on the first, but the boyfriend did, and I got the games from the first by getting into the second.

As was mentioned by someone in my Twitter feed, half the fun of the bundles is watching Notch and HumbleBrony duke it out over who gives the most that round.

I unlock mine through Steam, because it makes things easier for me.

Superbrothers Sword and Sorcery EP

I don't know this game, though it looks interesting.

Limbo

I have this, but have never played it.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

I have this, too, and have also never played it. I can blame the acquisition on a SatW comic. >_>

(note, SatW is not always work-safe)

Psychonauts

I have a friend who is utterly gaga for this game. Nekojin has tried it, I think, but it didn't really catch me. I'll likely take a look at it again some other time.

Bastion

As mentioned, this game is pure awesome. And the voice over work is so seamless, despite being basically a real-time commentary on what you're doing.

Lone Survivor

Don't know this one, either, and doesn't look to be my sort of game (despite owning it from another bundle).

Braid

I don't like Braid. It's a bit too obtuse for me. The puzzles require far more work than I'm willing to put into a game. It's just more frustrating than fun.

Super Meat Boy

This is a good game for what it is. If you like interesting precision platformers, this is an excellent choice. Not my thing, however.

Oh and on top of that, should you happen to fall off the world, he'll go "And the hero has fallen off the world" like it's a normal everyday occurance.

Try jumping off the edge deliberately.

^-.-^