Rollerblading into the Caves of Qud

Hello everyone! Sorry about skipping last week, we had a little bit of a medical emergency unfold last Friday that left me out of the house for most of the day. By the time it was sorted (everything is fine!), I made it home and was absolutely fried. Not to mention that the Steam Autumn Sale was running which is like, new release kryptonite for devs, so I figured it was fine to just let it go for a week. I am still playing catch up, so there will be no video version of the newsletter this week. Let me know if you actually want that video version too? If not, I might skip it moving forward to give me some time back, but I see the views are rising so maybe some of you prefer it?

Between work, study, and the kiddo this week I have had barely any time for games. I picked up UFO 50 the other night and I'm becoming obsessed with Mortol. It's this weird kinda Lemmings-like where you are these little dudes dropping out of a spaceship, and you need to reach the end goal of a level. Your teeny little pilots can straight up launch themselves full pelt into a wall, creating a human pylon for you to jump on to reach new heights. It's kinda like Quackshot, but you know, with way more death. They can also turn themselves into literal stepping stones to create platforms across spikes, or to slam enemies. Finally, they can explode to clear environmental obstacales and to also damage enemies, all sacrificing themselves for the greater good of their people.

Hmm... perhaps we need a little more of that mentality in general out here. Not the sacrificing ourselves part, the more... helping each other for the greater good part. You get what I mean.

Anyway, let's take a look at the games.

And what came out this week?

Battle Shapers

Developer: Metric Empire ​
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store page​

Battle Shapers is a neat sc-fi FPS Roguelite that crams close-range combat encounters together with a colorful world that is bursting with character. You play as Ada, a reactivated "Shaper" who needs to reclaim New Elysium from the maniacal Overlords. This throws you into battle after battle with an army of corrupted bots, as you fight your way to the final boss.

Apparently you stela the cores of defeated Overlords to get new movement and combat abilities, which will open up new tactics for future runs. It looks to me like Gunfire Reborn and DOOM (2016) had a baby, with a dusting of Overwatch flair to make it pop. To me, that sounds like a damn good time.

ANTONBLAST

Developer: Summitsphere ​
Steam rating: Overwhelmingly Positive
Store page​

Maybe it is my recent foray with Tomba! that is making me nostalgic for a particular era of retro platofrmer, but when ANTONBLAST arrived in my inbox this week I was smitten. This is a classic Saturday morning cartoon inspired platformer that is chanelling a lot of energy from Earthworm Jim with offbeat humour and just a truckload of character!

Anton is pissed. Satan has stolen his mighty spirit collection, and the only way to get them back is to smash through the world with his "Mighty F'n Hammer" to pummel Satan and his cohorts into submission. Aside from the weird story and style, the big thing here is destructible levels which look to shape the way you play. If you want to just laugh and break stuff this weekend, this one could be a winner. I know this is where I will be spending my weekend.

Get To Work

Developer: Isto Inc. ​
Steam rating: Very Positive
​​Store page​

OK, I know I say it often, but a game that can just give you the elevator pitch and you're on board is one of my favorite things in the world. Well, Get to Work nearly made me spit coffee all over my keyboard when I opened the Steam page for the first time.

In the same vein as Stressformers (yep, coining the terms) as I AM BREAD or Chained Together, Get To Work is a ridiculous platformer that has your little bald guy needing to get to work. Sure, he could probably take the bus, but instead he is getting to work with a set of rollerblades strapped to his hands and feet, because you know... normal reasons.

The game pulls no punches. In the trailer and the store description it immediately states that "this story is a metaphor for climbing the corporate ladder". As I sit in my living room writing this at 6AM thinking about how badly I don't want to go to my day job, I am not ashamed to admit that I just looked up how much a set of rollerblades would cost to on Amazon.

If you want to feel a little better about life, and laugh a little, consider picking up this one.

Void Crew

Developer: Hutlihut Games ​
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store page​

I missed this one last week, but a bunch of folks on our Discord server own this one, so I wanted to share it. Void Crew is a co-op Roguelite that has your outfitting a spaceship, and heading into the void. Each of your crew members will need to manage different parts of the ship as you face off against dangerous foes, which can lead to a lot of yelling loud encouragement from your crew mates.

This is so very much my jam, and I am regretful that I didn't get a chance to play it during Early Access before my son arrived. But it's on the backlog for a rainy day when I can get some time to play with friends now that it has hit 1.0.

Caves of Qud

Developer: Freehold Games ​
Steam rating: Overwhelmingly Positive
Store page​

After 15 years of development, and a very lengthy Early Access period, the hugely ambitious Caves of Qud has hit 1.0 today. In the same realm as Dwarf Fortress, Caves of Qud is at the top of the Roguelike resurgence, bringing to life a dynamic retrofuturistic world that is filled with creatures and sentient plans. The game begs the question, is it a dying Earth, or a one that is on the verge of rebirth?

Every single monster and NPC is Caves of Qud is fully simulated as the player. I will be honest, I don't fully understand the implications of this. I love Roguelikes, but these types of games scare me a little, so I will let the Steam description do some heavy lifting here:

FULLY SIMULATED CREATURES — Every monster and NPC is as fully simulated as the player. That means they have levels, skills, equipment, faction allegiances, and body parts. So if you have a mutation that lets you, say, psionically dominate a spider, you can traipse through the world as a spider, laying webs and eating things.

Yeah, that sounds bloody awesome. What else is awesome is that the game offers four game modes including classic with permadeath, Roleplay that lets you save at checkpoints and play it more like an RPG, Wander which is pure exploration where you get XP for exploring the world, and a Daily run to see how long you can survive.

I bought this ages ago when Mesmaa from our community was banging on about it. Even though I was terrified, I really enjoyed the dozen or so hours I pumped into it then. Now I am a little older, a little wiser, and they have a Wander mode in there, I might try and give this a red hot go.

Join our 2025 Fantasy Critic league!

We are gearing up to run our very first Fantasy Critic league in 2025, and we want more people to join us! "What the hell is Fantasy Critic?" I hear you say? It's kinda like fantasy football, but for game industry fiends. You hold a draft at the start of the year and you all bid to take on the best performing games critically on your fake publishing label. Then we follow along for the year of 2025 and see who gets the best label of games. There are some opportunities to do some trading and some special events along the way, but overall we want to create a fun and exciting little community event that will keep us discussing all the newest games with a fun sense of competition.

Sounds good? Sign up to our Discord and find the Fantasy Critic thread in our discussions to get the info on how to join!

Dragon Age: The Veilguard And The Regression Of BioWare's Values

I am really fascinated by the vast reactions towards BioWare's latest release, Dragon Age: The Veilguard. I have never played the series, but I love BioWare and a lot of their back catalogue. The critical reception has mostly been skewing positive, with many saying this is a return to form, and while not perfect, shows that BioWare is still capable of making a compelling game. On the flip side, you have many fans disowning the game, claiming that it fails to deliver an experience that fans expected after 2012's Inquisition, that the art style is ill-fitting, and that the writing has no bite.

I cannot comment too much as someone who has no experience with the series, but I do wonder how much of this vitriol comes off the back of Baldur's Gate 3, a game that was adored by all (except me apparently) that delivered the goods on all fronts. A game that let you do nearly anything you wanted, had compelling characters, strong romances, and deep side-stories that had choices that truly mattered to your experience. BG3 has created an impossible standard to meet, so I do wonder how much of the criticisms I am hearing about Veilguard may be accurate, but also excassebated because players have seen the promised land once, and want more of that, but in Dragon Age this time.

Reading this great essay from moirahicks over on VGBees has kinda shown me a different side to this however.

My problem with the writing in Veilguard is not that it is corny. Some of my favorite writing in the game is encountering Lucanis’ upscale, European grocery lists— this is corny! The problem is that the writing is not mature enough to allow for player expression as simple as being wrong. I left home to go to college and had experiences that changed me. Thankfully, I am not the same person I was when I left home. Dragon Age is not the friend from high school you left behind who is exactly the same; Dragon Age has somehow regressed and is incapable of interpersonal engagement more complex than what shows on Sesame Street. Elmo, I can tell you find it upsetting that Lucian is posessed by a demon, but we need to work as a team to save Thedas!

A great read, that is well worth your time so please do go check it out. How did you feel about The Veilguard? Did it fail to meet your expectations? My only true frame of reference is JohnnieWalker from our Discord who is a game developer, and someone I genuinely vibe with when it games to game tastes. They hate played the entire thing, and I am pretty sure fell into a depressive state after. He's not ready to talk about it yet, but all I know is that this game kinda broke his heart.

And that's a wrap!

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See you next week!