Tag: soundtrack

Speed Limit V2 – High Speed Boogaloo:

Back when we were not in the grips of a global pandemic, which honestly feels like a decade ago – I went to EGX in London. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to receive a press pass and I got the chance to talk to some awesome developers about their games. My longest interview with developers were with the crew from Gamechuck, which lasted over an hour! We ended up talking about the various projects they were working on, the origins of those ideas, future plans and what they wanted to get across to their players in the long-term. We have stayed in contact since then and the crew has been great at keeping me aware of their upcoming releases and demos, which we have covered before on the site.

If you cast your mind back to early March of 2020, you will remember that I released an article about Speed Limit – the high-paced arcade inspired game that reminds us what travelling on the Tube could be like if acted upon the internal rage we all feel at people’s behavior on public transport. Well, this week the full game is being released across all platforms and I was lucky enough to receive a review code for this awesome game! Honestly, I was made so happy that I was offered a review code, first time in the history of Mind Games that I have been offered one rather than applying through a system. It is the little things that make us smile.

Two totally not shifty people sat on a train.

Of course, a lot has changed since the demo of the game was released last year but feel free to go read my piece on that and come back to this when you are done. Totally not trying to encourage people to read more of my articles. Wink wink, nudge nudge, guilt guilt. Anyways, lets talk about Speed Limit and my time with the game, as well as some interesting things that I highly encourage you to check out for yourself.

The core gameplay of Speed Limit can be summed up with one sentence – keep pushing on, regardless of what is close behind you. Regardless of agents with grenades, bikers with a death wish, aggressive jets or the various railway signs waiting to decapitate you, your goal is simply to keep moving. Your main weapon is your trusty pistol, which has infinite ammo (thank god) and can take down your standard enemies in one shot, like a gun would actually do in the real world, come at me video games. And no, you cannot just stand there and shoot the conga line of death following you along the train until they are all dead, trust me, I tried. They are infinite. They are inevitable. You stay in one place for too long, you are dead.

…remember to duck

Where Speed Limit really shines is in its timing. Every time you die, you learn more about the level that you are playing. You discover the number of guards in a train carriage, the location of barriers that you could crash into on the road, the movement pattern of enemy helicopters. The more you play Speed Limit, the calmer you are. It is an intriguing experience to say the least, especially since during my first playthrough, I panicked and screamed a lot as I sprinted down the train carriage, with like twenty knife wielding men chasing me. Now, when I play that level, I move almost rhythmically, dodging and weaving like I am Neo from the Matrix.

GET AWAY FROM ME

Gamechuck have taken all the good points from the arcade games of old, such as a kickass soundtrack and unique mechanics that do not get overused to the point where they are not fun anymore, and turned it into a high-paced, action packed romp through childhood nostalgia but without the dodgy control schemes and constant drainage of our loose change. Even the transitions between levels feel smooth and badass, as you ramp your motorbike into a helicopter or hurl yourself from the roof of a moving train into a passing car. Honestly, I felt cool and I am sat writing this article in a hoodie with my weekly dungeons and dragons’ session in about an hour.

VROOM VROOM NERDS

The more runs of Speed Limit that you play, the more detail you notice. Suddenly you think to yourself, why is that helicopter crashed over there? Why is there a hole in the roof of this train? Why are all these government people trying to kill me? Why do they have throwing knives? Why are the battleships on some mundane river near the city? Who was that person at the beginning? Now, I am not going to spoil it for you. I feel that it is something that you need to witness yourself, after all, it took me by surprise. There are not many games that I can outright say that you should play instead of watching footage, but Speed Limit feels like one of them. From time trials to achievements, there is so much to this little indie game that there is no way that I could get through it all in an article. Plus, there is an achievement for ruining the paint job on an enemy’s vehicle in a particular stage and that genuinely made me laugh when I received it.

Look at that sunset water. So pretty. Goddamit.

You have boss fights, kickass music, cool level transitions, intriguing story clues, unique level mechanics and a beautiful art style inspired by the arcade games that a lot of us grew up with. What more could you want?

I want to say a massive, massive thank you to the whole crew at Gamechuck for being so awesome throughout all our conversations and interactions, as well as sorting out a switch review code for me amidst the chaos of the world. They are an amazing indie company that deserve all the love they can get, and I guarantee they are worth every penny you might spend on their games.

Have a good week all,

CaitlinRC.

Octopath Traveller: A Kraken Good Time

Opening a game and immediately being told to choose between eight characters, is a tad daunting, to say the least. However, I am a sucker for story-driven RPG’s so I didn’t let it put me off and threw myself into the game, starting with H’aanit – because I saw she had a snow leopard as her best friend and I wanted in on that immediately. When you choose a character at the beginning, you are given a basic description of their personality, abilities and where their story is going to go. The eight you must choose from are:

  1. H’aanit: A hunter, who can tame beasts to help in your quest and is loyal to the balance of nature. Has a pet snow leopard and is phenomenal with a bow. A good starting character for anyone unsure of where to begin with this behemoth of a game.
  • Alfyn Greengrass: An apothecary, who travels the land providing care and treatment to anyone who needs it. Can be extremely powerful if you learn how to mix ingredients properly, but difficult to master.
  • Primrose Alezhard: Her story line is not for the fainthearted. After witnessing her father’s murder at a young age, she grew up as an exotic dancer, trying to survive and searching for her father’s killers. Proficient with a dagger and able to buff her teammates during battle, she is not to be overlooked.
  • Cyrus Albright: He is a scholar, with ridiculously powerful magic attacks that can affect multiple enemies at once. I’d recommend making him a staple in your party, especially if you’re out grinding levels for a weaker party member. Word of warning though, he’s a bit of an idiot, which can cause you to cringe in response to his actions.
  • Ophilia Clement: The best darn healer in the game. You want her in your party, always. ALWAYS. She is a kind, sweet girl who deserves the world and I will MURDER ANYONE WHO HURTS HER. Anyways. She can also inspire NPC’s to fight by her side, giving you that extra edge in battle.
  • Tressa Colozone: A merchant, whose appeal doesn’t seem majorly obvious at first. Her storyline is about discovering herself and improving her “merchant skills”, which isn’t that interesting but her ability to pick up endless amounts of loose change from the ground is essential for being able to afford those shiny new swords.
  • Olberic Eisenberg: A knight, who can probably beat you to death with his little finger if he wanted to. He is a very honourable man, seeking the truth behind his friend’s betrayal of the king they served. A tad cliché but you can’t help but like him, he’s a good man and one of the heaviest hitters in the game.
  • Therion: A thief, with the ability to steal anything off anyone (if the percentage gods are in your favour), and after a failed robbery, ends up on a mission to retrieve some valuable artefacts and track down his childhood friend. Not the best fighter but stealing is fun, right? Right?
H’aanit or Olberic are good starting characters, as they have a strong enough attack power on their own. Once you have one of them, go get Ophilia because lord knows you’ll need a good healer.

Whoever you choose to start the game with, is locked into your party until you complete their storyline. However, you can still meet every other character and experience their stories, coming back to your main character’s tale when you think you are ready for it. Like most RPG’s, you can have four character’s in your party at a time, meaning you can’t have all eight of the adventurer’s at once and encourages you to switch out your companions to suit the situation you are facing. You can switch characters at an inn, which are present in every single town you come across – so you don’t have to run across the entire world every time you want Ophilia in your party. The only restrictions on who you can have in your party, is the character you chose to start with and the character whose storyline you are attempting to follow (because you can’t really follow Therion’s story if he isn’t there)

Octopath Traveller is a game more suited for handheld systems like the Switch. Not because it is a short game, but because like any RPG, you can get a bit fed up of it if you play for too long at a time. Boss fights can take half an hour, so being able to work your way through a dungeon to a boss, then take a break and come back to kick its butt, is quite relaxing. Save points are frequent, normally right after you complete a section and are always present right before a big fight, so you don’t need to trek all the way back if the boss pounds you into a bloody pulp.

The first thing people will notice about Octopath, is that it is a beautiful game. Developed in a 2D-HD style, the world is mesmerising. Every place you go to is unique, no location looks like a replica of another, even dungeons can range from mansions to caves, to sewers and abandoned ruins. The sprites of your characters are expressive and a joy to watch, especially when executing new moves in combat. However, the best art in the game must go to the bosses. Typically, the enemy sprites are small, around your size or slightly bigger, depending on the monster. However, bosses, have gigantic unique sprites that are incredibly detailed and stun you for a moment when you first enter battle with them.

Who doesn’t want to attack a giant demon bird thing.

The soundtrack of a game often makes or breaks an experience. After all, a game can be as stunning and interesting as you want, but if the music is abrasive and irritating, you won’t want to play it as much. Trust me when I say, the game’s music doesn’t disappoint. Every location and character has their own unique theme. Tense cutscenes have dramatic music playing underneath it, sadder scenes make use of piano chords to tug at your heart strings whilst boss fights inspire you with kickass tunes (even when you are getting beaten to a pulp).

It’s hard to put into words how much I love Octopath, even though it’s story can be a bit weak in places (looking at you Tressa and Therion). A lot of people’s criticism of it, is that the stories are quite separate from one another. Excluding the “secret final dungeon” after you beat all eight stories and some specific side quests, there is very little linking the characters together. However, for me, this makes sense. We are all living our own stories, walking our own paths. Sure, I may be sat in the same coffee shop as about ten different people as I write this, but it doesn’t mean our journeys through life are intertwined in any way.

I think if all eight characters were linked together by the story, the game would lose its impact. By having four chapters focused entirely around a character, you get to understand them on a deeper level. Having so many playable characters means that the amount of attention you can give each one, is limited. So being able to break the story down and follow one person’s tale at a time, results in good character writing and storytelling, rather than reducing some of your party members to boring, rushed NPC’s with a brief backstory.

H’aanit speaks in a very Old English style, which takes some getting used to but LOOK AT THE KITTY.

More than anything, Octopath is about travelling. Shocking, I know. No matter who you are playing as, you get to experience the world built by Square Enix with little concern for accidentally coming across story spoilers. The game lets you know the rough level requirement for an area, so you don’t walk into a level thirty forest when you are still only level twelve (totally not talking from experience). There’s something calming and fulfilling about Octopath. From the little interactions between your party members, to getting to know every NPC you come across, to exploring the lush landscapes and fighting everything you come across, this game is incredibly detailed and a lot deeper than most people expect.

A big example of this, is the combat. Like most RPG’s it is turn based, where depending on your character’s speed, each party member can make an action each turn (or several depending on your perks, thank god for H’aanit being able to attack twice). Enemies have a certain defence level that can be broken by attacking them using weapons/magic that they are weak against. Once their defence is broken, they are stunned, will not attack you for a turn and take greater damage from your attacks. All generic enemies have set weaknesses, that once discovered, will appear next to them in future encounters – so you don’t have to recall every single enemies’ weakness. Bosses, can change their weaknesses mid-fight, so be prepared to switch up your attacks and have a good range within your party, otherwise you might be wiped across the floor.

In summary, Octopath is probably one of my favourite RPG’s I’ve ever played. From the intricate combat system that forces you to think ahead and strategize, to the beautiful art style and haunting music, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with these characters and have sunk over a hundred hours into it, from the main storyline, to levelling up my weaker party members, to completing side quests and stealing everything I can (sorry not sorry). If you like RPG’s and want one you can really sink your teeth into, I cannot recommend it enough.

What’s yours is mine, what’s mine is mine.

What games do you recommend I try out? Which ones keep you up at night? Let me know in the comments and maybe I’ll write my next article on them! I’m currently thinking childhood nostalgia in the form of a certain puzzle solving gentleman. Remember to comment below and subscribe to my site so you get notified whenever I post a new article! If you want to keep up to date on what’s going on, follow me on Twitter @OurMindGames .

Until next time,

CaitlinRC.