The August 2022 games for HumbleChoice are now available.

- The Ascent
This is a top-down shooter set in a sci-fi/cyberpunk world with some
very appealing visuals. It looks like a modernized "Syndicate" crossed
with some role-playing aspects; I gotta say, it looks appealing.

- A Plague Tale: Innocence
Oops, I already have this one on Steam. It's not a game I'd recommend
anyone rush out and buy, but if you have it, it's worth a play.
Hmmm... I wonder what I'll do with the spare key? (Ho-ho-ho!)*

- Gas Station Simulator
Yet another workplace simulator. This one looks interesting... or it
would if being a pump-jockey was anything I was interested in.
Apparently it also suffers from bugs and various interface issues too.
I'll maybe give this one a look, but I doubt I'll hang around very
long.

- Mind Scanner
Well, this is a hard game to quantify. In style (but definitely not
theme) it's similar to "Papers Please", with retro graphics, a vaguely
puzzle-like adventure, and a subversive attitude. In theme, it's quite
a bit more surreal, involving the eponymous 'mind scanner' with which
you manipulate your 'patients' personality and memories for the
greater good. It's probably quite good, except - having played a
number of "Papers Please" clones, I'm just not interested in seeing
another game in that style.

- Omno
A third-person Unity-engined action/adventure Indie game featuring a
young child exploring a fantastical ancient world. It looks very well
done (and the reviews are very positive) but I've seen this sort of
game SO MANY TIMES that I just can't be arsed to give it a try, sorry.

- In Sound Mind
A "first-person psychological horror" game, I was willing to give this
one a try... then I saw the trailer which featured a bunch of game
streamers shrieking in fear and found the whole thing so annoying I'm
giving it a pass.

- Emily Is Away
Another retro sorta-adventure game. This time, it's pretend-Facebook;
create a profile on a fictional Facebook clone, manage your friends
and timeline and likes and all that Facebook crap, and see how your
virtual relationships develop. I don't have any interest in this sort
of thing in real life, why would I want to play a game doing this?
Well, it got good reviews so obviously some people like it, but
definitely not for me. Blech.

- Hot Wheels Unleashed
I was always a "Matchbox" fan as a kid, so this game's branding is
wasted on me. So too is the toylike visuals; I'm not sure is this game
is intended more for nostalgic adults or kids, but it's definitely not
for me. It's also very heavy on microtransactions and additional
content to flesh out a very weak core game. Blech.

So, one game that looks really good and I wanna play, one game that's
worth getting except I already have it, one game that look well made
but probably isn't my cuppa tea, two games that are well made but are
too derivative to make me want to play, one game that looks well made
but drive me off with awful marketing, and two games I'm not touching
with a ten-foot pole.

So... an average selection; nothing exciting but not too disappointing
either. Hopefully we'll start seeing some bigger-name titles show up
after the summer doldrums end, though, or I may need to reconsider my
subscription...

----------------------------------
* Holy-snit, I just looked at my "spare keys" list and it's
disturbingly long. December in c.s.i.p.g.action is gonna be fun ;-)

On Tuesday, August 2, 2022 at 7:01:46 PM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> The August 2022 games for HumbleChoice are now available.
>
> - The Ascent
> This is a top-down shooter set in a sci-fi/cyberpunk world with some
> very appealing visuals. It looks like a modernized "Syndicate" crossed
> with some role-playing aspects; I gotta say, it looks appealing.
>

You almost had me here, as Syndicate is on my best games list. I looked
into it, and it's apparently got a lot of game breaking bugs, with none
fixed since release. Bugs generally don't bother me much, unless they're
the kind you can't get past, so I'll be skipping this one.

- Justisaur

On Wed, 3 Aug 2022 07:57:10 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
<justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Tuesday, August 2, 2022 at 7:01:46 PM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>> - The Ascent
>> This is a top-down shooter set in a sci-fi/cyberpunk world with some
>> very appealing visuals. It looks like a modernized "Syndicate" crossed
>> with some role-playing aspects; I gotta say, it looks appealing.

>You almost had me here, as Syndicate is on my best games list. I looked
>into it, and it's apparently got a lot of game breaking bugs, with none
>fixed since release. Bugs generally don't bother me much, unless they're
>the kind you can't get past, so I'll be skipping this one.

Yeah, I saw mention of those too. I'm not sure they're a deal-breaker
for me, at least not enough for me not to want to give it a try. A lot
of times reports of bugs in reviews get an inflated importance. That's
not to say they don't occur; rather, these game-breaking bugs tend to
be limited to only a few people. Often the reason they aren't fixed -
especially by smaller publishers - is that they are so difficult to
replicate.

That said, if "Ascent" was the only game attracting you to this
month's HumbleBundle Choice-subscription-thingee (TM), I can see how
the bugs might tilt the balance into not buying into it this month.

I quite enjoyed the original "Syndicate" myself, all the more so when
I realized the entire game was using 16-color mode (it looks like true
VGA!). But I /adored/ its sequel "Syndicate Wars". Arguably it had
worse graphics and less compelling gameplay. But that was nothing when
compared to the carnage your cyborgs could create after you slotted
them with a bunch of graviton guns and started pulling down whole
buildings. (complete with 'graviton waves' that whipped through the
crowds and vaporized any person it touched). It was such an
over-the-top display of destruction that I still fire up the game from
time to time just to watch the spectacle.

On Fri, 05 Aug 2022 13:52:40 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Wed, 3 Aug 2022 07:57:10 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
><justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
>>On Tuesday, August 2, 2022 at 7:01:46 PM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
>>> - The Ascent
>>> This is a top-down shooter set in a sci-fi/cyberpunk world with some
>>> very appealing visuals. It looks like a modernized "Syndicate" crossed
>>> with some role-playing aspects; I gotta say, it looks appealing.
>
>>You almost had me here, as Syndicate is on my best games list. I looked
>>into it, and it's apparently got a lot of game breaking bugs, with none
>>fixed since release. Bugs generally don't bother me much, unless they're
>>the kind you can't get past, so I'll be skipping this one.
>
>Yeah, I saw mention of those too. I'm not sure they're a deal-breaker
>for me, at least not enough for me not to want to give it a try. A lot
>of times reports of bugs in reviews get an inflated importance. That's
>not to say they don't occur; rather, these game-breaking bugs tend to
>be limited to only a few people. Often the reason they aren't fixed -
>especially by smaller publishers - is that they are so difficult to
>replicate.

Note:

Having completed the main campaign in "The Ascent's" single-player
mode, I can't say I encountered any game-breaking bugs. There was an
issue I experienced at the end - after a way-too-long marathon session
- where the in-game menu stopped responding (so no way to access
settings) but a game restart fixed that, and it didn't affect the
gameplay itself.

So if worry about bugs are your main concern, the problem may be
exaggerated. The gameplay itself could use a lot more polish but -
that one minor incident aside - the game ran flawlessly for me.