Watch Out for Fireballs!

Episode 106: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross branch out into Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors.

999 is the winner of our Summer Reading poll. Considered by most to be one of the best entries in the Visual Novel(ish) genre, we take a look and see if it holds up to scrutiny. What we find is that 999 is a divisive game, leading to a classic WOFF barnburner.

LINKS OF NOTE:

Episode 105: Spider-Man 2

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross spin a yarn about Spider-Man 2.

What happens when you have one great mechanic, one okay mechanic, and a bunch of other stuff that surrounds them? You get Spider-Man 2, the first superhero game that did a great job of making you feel like a superhero. The swinging is damn near perfect, but does everything else stand up?

LINKS OF NOTE:

Episode 104: L.A. Noire

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross get to the bottom of L.A Noire.

It's 1947. The war is over, and changed men are returning to a changed nation. Cole Phelps, a Marine-turned-cop, must face down his own demons while tackling corruption in the system. This is a unique game, and while not everything holds up, the investigation, interrogation, and atmosphere make L.A. Noire a game to remember.

LINKS OF NOTE:

Episode 103: Demon's Crest

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross blaze through Demon's Crest.

The Summer of SNES continues with Demon's Crest, a neglected entry in a neglected series. It takes non-standard platforming mechanics, and spreads them across a non-linear story rich with bosses and evocative gothic imagery. Be sure to grab this one on Virtual Console.

LINKS OF NOTE:

Episode 102: Harvest Moon / SimCity

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross manage to talk about Harvest Moon and SimCity (the SNES versions of both).

This Split EP is dedicated to two SNES games that take it a little bit slow. Both Harvest Moon and SimCity ask the player to make decisions about how to use limited resources like time and money in order to get some kind of return. Sometimes that's a bountiful turnip harvest, and sometimes that's a happy populace. While both series would go on to grow and change, these SNES versions are the simplest distillation of what they are trying to accomplish.

LINKS OF NOTE: