Greetings everyone! Another month has passed, many games have been played, and backlogs have been worked on (hopefully)!
I cleaned up a few backlog games (Sniper Ghost Warrior 1 & 2 , RYSE, Valhalla Hills, Mushroom Wars) which were just ok, but my Game of the Month would have to be:
Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist , it is free on Steam and about 2 hours long if go back for achievements. It has just stuck with me for a few weeks now afterward, making me smile every time I think about it, especially if I see pretzels. Honorable mention for Sniper Ghost Warrior 3, which is very enjoyable imho.
Wow, for me April was so scattered with awesomeness that I think, I THINK, the game I played most was Lord of the Rings Online, which is just such a happy comfort zone for me. It’s hard to tell because April was SUCH a busy month game-wise. Not complaining at all though, just hard to narrow one down, you know? I mean I played a good deal of Titanfall 2 as well for example, but not as much as LOTRO.
I didn’t play many new games this month, and those I did were mostly decent-ish like Snake Pass and Lego City Undercover. But there was one game that was something else completely:
Probably MLB The Show because I hate myself and keep trying to force the issue on a game mode (Diamond Dynasty) that needed work. Should have been Persona 5 but it’s hard to get into the right mindset and put meaningful time in when I know I’ll only be playing for an hour or so at a time.
In terms of hours played, Stellaris: Utopia. I don’t love the game, as it needs much more meat on the bones, but it still delivers a great early-game experience.
Honorable mentions to Out of the Park Baseball 18 and Offworld Trading Company, both of which are great fun. Right now I’m playing Offworld Trading Company pretty much exclusively.
Axes and Acres is probably my favorite all around experience for the month of April. The higher difficulties provide quite a challenge. The rules are clear and simple, but there is enough wiggle room for differernt approaches.
Runners Up
Monster Slayers: I’ve put a lot of time into this one. You can get screwed by some of the randomness, but there is a nice variety in cards and the different classes you can play that makes up for it.
Homefront: The Revolution: while the gameplay is pretty standard shooter stuff and can get repetitive if you try and do everything, the environment and even the crazy story definitely elevate the game beyond average.
Still Pretty Darn Good
Offworld Trading Company: I just can’t play this very well because I can’t keep track of what my opponents are doing and still manage my own area. It’s fun enough for me to keep trying though.
Rayman Origins and Legends: Best co-op game I’ve played with my son. He loves it.
Not Bad
Sorcerer King Rivals: It never grabbed me like Fallen Enchantress / Legendary Heroes, but it’s not a bad take on that type of game. Rivals adds a new victory condition which reduces much of the slog that the original SK had.
Coulda Skipped
Styx: Master of Shadows: I enjoyed the first couple levels, but the repetition got to me. Luckily it was part of a bundle.
Same, I very much enjoyed the game I was playing. I think it is a good game as is, and worth playing, but I am waiting for the next update. Really would like to see combat change.
Persona 5 for Game of the Month, Game of the Year, Game of the Decade. Zelda and Monster Slayers were both strong runners-up that each would have won some/most months over the last year.
It was definitely Starsector here, with a side of Monster Slayers. The recent Starsector release is so much closer to fulfilling the promise it’s always had, and I’m very much looking forward to 1.0 now.
Not sure what May will hold. Probably some Guild Wars 2, since there’s a story update due out, and those always get me back in for a bit.
Zelda got the nod from me last month and I continued playing it this month too, but the new Persona particularly captivated me. Special mention goes to Elite: Dangerous, which along with Diablo 3 keeps winding it’s way back into my life.
