Retro Spectives

Derek Yu’s Spelunky is, without a doubt, an all time indie classic. From its humble origins on PC in 2008, it exploded onto the indie scene as an xbox live arcade title, back when indie gaming felt new and exciting. Underneath its cartoony graphics and cheery music lay a brutal beast of a game, one that wasn’t afraid to grind you to dust with death after death. Despite this - or because of this - Spelunky was a wild hit, even if the number of players who actually played it through to completion was shockingly low.
There is a lot about Spelunky that feels weirdly unique, even to this day. Instantaneous death is always lurking, no matter how strong your character becomes with the ludicrously strong equipment you can find in its depths. There are essentially no RPG systems to speak of, with all progression tied to shortcuts, and most importantly, player skill. And there is an entire can of worms of secrets and secret endings for only the most dedicated hardcore players.
But for all this, is Spelunky still worth playing all these years later? Instant death sounds like a good way to elevate tension, but is it a cheap way to do so? And does the lack of meaningful progression make it feel repetitive and boring as you tackle the same levels and enemies over and over again?

On this episode, we discuss:

Playstyle
Mastering Spelunky requires a delicate mixture of three elements - player knowledge, being able to develop and execute a plan, and the mechanical wherewithal to execute that plan. Which of these is the most important, and is it possible to neglect one and still succeed?

Level Design
Spelunky uses randomly generated levels and enemy placements that still conform to some macro logic, like using some predefined templates and allowing a single continuous path from the entrance of a level to the exit. Does this hit a good balance of randomness that allows for dynamic encounters that feel unique, or does it slide into something a bit too repetitive?

Risk v Reward

Danger is ever present in Spelunky, with a run-ending mistake only being moments away. Does this design end up pushing players into a far more conservative and boring playstyle, or is there enough reward to playing aggressively that you get to engage in fun platforming and combat for good reason?

We answer these questions and many more on the 142nd episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!
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Video about PUBG

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K
Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another
Spelunky OST: Erik Suhrke

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Is Spelunky 2 just as good as the first game? What other games exist that have carried the spiritual torch of the original? Is this game just secretly an immersive sim? Come let us know what you think on our Community Discord Server!
You can support the show monetarily on our Buy me a Coffee Page!

Westwood Studios wasn’t always known for the command and conquer series. While 1992’s Dune 2 laid the foundation for the RTS genre as a whole, they were more famous for their dungeon crawling RPGS, usually associated with Dungeons and Dragons. So when they decided to develop a new IP with Lands of Lore, they were coming to it as grizzled veterans, and they had no intention of messing around.

It was released to near universal acclaim. Critics praised near everything about it - graphics, combat, puzzles, even the UI. It was considered to be less cruel than other dungeon crawlers, less punishing and with greater clarity when it came to puzzles and enemies.

But this was 1993. The genre that Lands of Lore belongs to is very nearly dead, with only the indie scene keeping it alive by the skin of its teeth. As the genre developed, slow and methodical dungeon crawling was trumped by real time demon slaying, something that even the sequels to the game were not immune to. The friction of delving into a dungeon where death lay at every turn, and confusion reigned is something that we see very rarely today.

Is this with good reason? Have we moved on from what Lands of Lore has to offer? Or is it still worth playing all these years later?

On this episode, we discuss:

UI.

Lands of Lore has a very unique UI, with heavy use of screen space dedicated to inventory and spells and only a relatively small window showing you the real time action of what your party is doing. Does this offer excellent functionality, or is it just a bunch of wasted space for no good reason?

Combat.

Combat is turned based, but movement is real time. Attacking and spellcasting are tied to cooldowns, but using items is not. Enemies chase you in pods when aggroed, but you are free to rest and heal to full at any point. Do the contradictions in the combat systems of Lands of Lore exist for a reason, or does it just become a complete mess?



Level Design.

Lands of Lore’s dungeons are elaborate mazes, filled to the brim with traps, treasure and buttons. Progressing through them is difficult, it's easy to get lost or stuck, and much of the environments look the same. Is this part of the fundamental experience of playing a dungeon crawler, and part of the fun, or is it simply an exercise in frustration?

We answer these questions and many more on the 141st episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Lands of Lore OST - Frank Klepacki

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Is Lands of Lore a good entry point into the blobber genre? What were your experiences playing this one on release? If we were to play another one, which one should we tackle next?

Come let us know what you think or recommend us a new game on our community discord server!

If you would like to support the show monetarily, you can buy us a coffee here!

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow sits tucked away in the middle of 30 different Castlevania games.  First released for the Gameboy Advance in 2003, it takes strong inspiration from Symphony of the Night - yet is running on far weaker hardware.  It introduced the Soul System - where killing enemies grants you their powers - a mechanic so ingrained into popular games today that it's almost ubiquitous.  You would be forgiven for thinking this is yet another Castlevania game.

But it isn’t.  Many cite Aria of Sorrow as the best handheld Castlevania game, and some even have it as their absolute favourite.  Does Aria of Sorrow have some secret sauce that makes it so special, do all of its elements come together beautifully, or are people just remembering playing into the night while hiding their GBA under their bedsheets?

On this episode, we discuss:

Music.

Music is important in most games, but especially so in Castlevania, which started to include music references in their game titles after SOTN.  How good is the music in Aria of Sorrow, and is it a good fit for the GBA hardware?

Aesthetics.

How well does Aria deliver a beautiful Castlevania game for the gba, from sprite work to animations?  What are the gameplay implications of having cleaner, less busy graphics?

Souls.

How dark are they?  But actually, how does this system function in terms of giving the player novelty versus usefulness?  Is it frustrating that souls don’t level and scale with the player, or is this an essential part of what makes them work?

We answer these questions and many more on the 140th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Aria of Sorrow OST - Michiro Yamane
Symphony of the Night OST - Michiro Yamane

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Was Aria of Sorrow one of the best Castlevania games you ever played, or just another one in the pack?  Were there any ridiculous secrets we missed?  What Metroidvania should we play next?    Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

You can support the show monetarily on our buy me a coffee page!

Catherine is a game about relationships, infidelity and the shackles of love.

It’s also a game about pushing blocks. Released in 2011 by Atlus, Catherine initially appears to be the odd duck in the Persona developer’s catalogue. Characters in their 30s, real-time gameplay and a sub-hundred hour runtime. But a deeper look reveals many familiar themes such as order, chaos and the great lengths players will go to for their in-game romantic interests. 

But can a developer best known for their turn-based RPGs pivot to real-time puzzle action with ease?

On this episode, we discuss:

Story

Catherine’s narrative tackles relationships in a way not often seen in video games.

Does it have the writing pedigree to support its promiscuous themes?

Or does the cast come across as shallow and two-dimensional?

Presentation

From sound design to visuals, Catherine oozes style and atmosphere.

But does this commitment to symbolism come at the cost of a deeper narrative?

Gameplay

Does Catherine’s block-pushing gameplay compliment its steamy romantic narrative?

Just how much depth can one game squeeze out of two simple rules?

Are the game’s developers as clever as they claim in their 4th wall breaking epilogue?

We answer these questions and many more on the 139th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Catherine OST: Shoji Meguro

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What did you think of Catherine? Was there a particular ending you thought the best?
Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

You can support the show monetarily on our Buy Me a Coffee Page.

On the Retro Spectives Podcast we adore our survival games.  Every year when we do a cheat episode we find ourselves drawn to the games that force you to live on the edge.  Whether it's Pathologic, Rainworld or Resident Evil, we enjoy the pain and suffering of never having enough and managing those frustrating meters.  

So it's no surprise that 11 Bit Studios 2018 smash hit Frostpunk caught our eye.  Combining the grim understated horror of the industrial revolution with a city builder was an inspired choice, and the endless freezing cold as your ultimate adversary feels relentless.  The game forces you to compromise on cold, hunger, sickness and your very morals in service of the city if you want to emerge out the other end.

But for all its critical praise, how enjoyable is Frostpunk to actually play?  Are its ethical dilemmas actually as difficult to resolve as they initially appear?  And do its city management elements pale in comparison to its far more complex peers?

On this episode, we discuss:

Immersion.

How well does Frostpunk sell its aesthetic to the player?  Is this a gritty and grounded story of survival, or fantastical mush?  How well does it connect players to the individual citizens in your city?

Philosophy.

Frostpunk lets you shape your city through its Book of Laws, a set of decisions that determine the degree to which you prioritise your citizen’s happiness versus the needs of the city.  How well does the game present these as complex moral dilemmas?

Survival.

Mechanically, Frostpunk is all about resource prioritisation.  Does Frostpunk offer meaningful decisions to the player with clear consequences, or do all roads lead to Rome?  How well does the game give you an opportunity to recover from bad decisions?

We answer these questions and many more on the 138th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

 

If you’ve played Frostpunk and would like to share you stories of survival, or just fancy a good old fashioned chat, Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

You can also support the show monetarily on our buy me a coffee page!