Hi everyone, and welcome back to My Week Unwrapped, where I discuss all the games I’ve been playing over the last seven days. If you pay attention to my YouTube channel or Twitter feed, you probably noticed I spent a lot of time this week playing Genshin Impact. Still, I made sure to make some time for other games, so there’s still plenty to discuss today.
Sixit
Sixit is a clever puzzle adventure game in which you need to figure out how to acquire six different tools, each of which helps you get to the next one. For instance, the first item you acquire allows you to talk to other characters. The next one is an axe that lets you chop down certain things. But there’s a catch — you an only take six actions before you have to restart. Any tools you unlocked remain unlocked, but you’ll have to start back at the home base and try again to make further progress before you run out of those six actions. Whichever tools you decide to equip before heading out into the world will cycle through each time you tap the action button. So if you take two tools with you, you get three of each and they alternate. So if you talk to a character and your other tool is the axe, your next action will be to strike with the axe. And so on and so forth. The more tools you bring, the fewer you have of each one. You really need to plan things out and then be extra careful not to waste any moves, as you usually need all six actions to complete a puzzle. It’s a novel idea and I love the humor throughout the game. But the mechanic does get a little old after a while. I unlocked five of the six tools/abilities so far but only two of the six keys, and it’s starting to make my head spin a bit. I think the problem for me specifically is that it’s not a straight puzzle game. There are platforming sections, since one of the objects you acquire allows you to jump, and if you mess it up it means starting over. That becomes extra tricky when you have to combine speed with jumping to jump further. I’ll likely go back to it and try to make more progress, but you definitely need to have a stomach for the repetitive nature of it. Anyway, you can see what it’s like in my video or just download it for free to try it out. There’s just a single IAP to remove the ads if you tire of them. I’m also working on a walkthrough here.
Geneforge 1 – Mutagen HD
I never played a game from Spiderweb Software before, so Geneforge 1 – Mutagen for iPad was my first experience with the developer’s works. I like the overall idea of it, as you play as a Shaper, which means you can create life, creatures who will join you in battle and obey your commands. It’s a story-rich experience and I only played through the tutorial, but there’s a lot of good stuff here. Its exploration-heavy, so you wander around looking for any items that can be of use, as well as taking on any enemies you encounter. So far I’ve been able to create a sort of fire lizard that breathes fire at enemies. Overall, it feels like a great fit for iPad, and the game does a great job explaining things for beginners. My main complaint with the game is the way the camera behaves. It’s tap-to-move, but you then have to wait for your character to move if you want to pan the camera around to see what’s ahead and get him walking again. Otherwise, the camera just snaps back to focus on your character. I’ve played plenty of games with tap-to-move controls that didn’t have this issue, so it’s been really hard to get used to. I just want to be able to have full control of the camera, even if my character is in middle of moving. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it does affect the pacing of the game for me, forcing me to wait for my character to stop before I start looking around again. Otherwise, it seems like a great game if you’re looking for something with a rich story and interesting combat mechanics. You can watch some of my gameplay video below to see what it’s like in action.
Knights of San Francisco
Knights of San Francisco is an upcoming text adventure game that takes place in a future where San Francisco somehow has magic, as well as creatures like goblins, ogres and dragons. You play as a necromancer looking for your brother, who was one of the Knights of San Francisco. You choose paths, dialogue options, as well as what to do in battle. I was especially surprised when I was messing around after killing my first goblin and raised him from the dead. He now follows me and does my bidding. I’m enjoying the writing and look forward to playing more. My main complaint with the game is that most of the soundtrack doesn’t really fit the mood and ends up being too distracting. I would have preferred music that blends into the background or just ambient noises. But if I continue playing, I’ll just shut the music and play in silence. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than the alternative. I’ll hopefully have more impressions when the game is out on May 4th, but you can watch some of my video below if you want a better idea of what it’s like.
Lines on Sides
Lines on Sides is an upcoming puzzle game from the developer of Cubether. Each level has a border with colored dots on it. You then need to match all the colored tiles to those along the border, and also makes sure all their colored sides match up to each other. When colors match, a black line will connect them so you know you got it right. New mechanics are added as you progress, most notably the ability to move tiles around the board instead of just rotating them. Unfortunately, in the time I spent with it, I was mostly going through the motions, not really getting much of a thrill from it. I stopped around the time a new mechanic was added, which might make things more interesting. But I was having trouble figuring out exactly how it works. It has to do with moving a color from one tile to another, but the exact rules were escaping me. I’m not sure I’ll continue playing, but check out my video to see if it’s something you like. If so, you can pre-order it before its release on May 6th.
Northgard
I played some more of Northgard this week, but my attempt at getting through the third area in the story didn’t go well. The main issue was that I didn’t realize I needed to upgrade my scout camp in order for them to be able to explore another clan’s land. Since the goal of that campaign is to take down a competing clan, I just got stuck in a game that went on for way too long with not enough progress. The developers are aware now that the game doesn’t indicate that the scouts need to be upgraded, so that should be fixed in an update. I did want to start the area over and try again, but I just didn’t have the time. Hopefully I’ll be able to do so next week, as I do enjoy playing the game.
Day Repeat Day
As I mentioned last week, I started a new playthrough of Day Repeat Day, since I messed up my first one. I’m being more attentive this time and refusing overtime hours. But there doesn’t seem to be any single right path — just like real life. I tried to do good by my brother and help him get a house, but that meant my own family couldn’t get the house we wanted. Now my wife is upset. And I had to choose between my friend’s chemo and my daughter’s going away party. So even without marrying my work, it’s hard to keep everyone happy. I actually like that about the game, that there are no easy choices. I’ve also seen a lot more on this playthrough since I’ve been making all the calls I was supposed to. Hopefully I’ll finish the game this week and see how it all plays out.
Tender: Creature Comforts
I started playing Tender: Creature Comforts last week and wrote some early impressions. My main complaint was the pacing of the game, as well as the fact that dates happen in real time and you have to schedule them at specific times. There have been a few updates since that make the matching faster, so if I don’t log in all day, I’ll have five or six conversations going by the evening. That means I’ve made a lot more progress and did go on about five or six dates by now. I did miss some more, though, because I just wasn’t available at the time and the reschedule times didn’t really work for me either. To be honest, as much as I enjoy the whole presentation, the artwork and writing, I’m just not really interested in checking in once or twice a day for 10 minutes at a time to have a conversation. I really just want to play this out like a game. I also haven’t really connected with anyone yet. The dialogue options don’t always promote meaningful conversations, and sometimes I just choose what I think the person wants me to say instead of what I actually want to say. It’s still an interesting game and maybe I’ll restart it at some point on my phone so I have it with me at all times. But I keep my phone on Do Not Disturb for a reason and I’m not a fan of games bothering me throughout the day with notifications. So it might just not be the game for me. But if you’re looking for a game that recreates the experience of dating fairly authentically, you might enjoy it quite a bit.
Genshin Impact
This week has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride with Genshin Impact. I desperately wanted Zhongli as a playable character so I saved up 58 fates for his return this week. Instead, I got a few Noelles, which was basically the same as throwing them right down the toilet. When I finally did get a 5* character, it ended up being Mona instead, which I have no use for. It also took all my fates to get her, so now I have to start collecting again to try for Zhongli. It’s going to be hard to get enough for him without either some amazing luck or spending money on primogems. I want him badly, but I hate the idea of spending money on something like this, especially since it’s basically rewarding the developers for having such a crummy system based on gambling. I also played through most of the events added in the 1.5 update so far, including Zhongli’s new story quest, the Serenitea Pot, and the weekly boss that was added. There’s also a new temporary domain that’s quite challenging, but more doable for me with friends. And last, I’ve been scouring the world for any treasure chests I missed, as well as trying to catch up with the Spiral Abyss. I feel sick now, though, so I need to to cut back on it. It’s not good for my health to play Genshin Impact for five hours in a single day. But we’ll see how things go and I’ll report back next week if there’s any good news about Zhongli. I am enjoying the new 4-star character they added, though. She’s named Yanfei and shoots fireballs from her hands. Sadly, I only got one of her in all those 58 pulls, so I still need some luck to get more of her. Boy, do I wish I could play Genshin without all the gambling.
Titan Quest: Legendary Edition
I had taken a long break from Titan Quest, not because I wanted to but because there were just too many new games fighting for my attention. But the update this week reminded me of the game and I finally got back to it and made some more progress. I’m getting close to the third Telkin and I’m a bit nervous. I’ve been stockpiling stat points because I’m not sure where I want to spend them, but I may need to choose soon so I’m not vastly underpowered for him. I do want to get back to playing this regularly because I enjoy it so much. Again, you can see more of my videos here.
Machinika Museum
This week, I made a new walkthrough video for Chapter 6 of Machinika Museum. Again, you can see my full walkthrough guide here. I’m holding off on making a new video for Chapter 7 because the patch notes on one of the updates mentioned a secret puzzle and I want to try to find it first. If anyone knows anything about it, please let me know.
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
One of my favorite Apple Arcade games, Alba, got a content update this past week. It has you searching for a mysterious cat, something that’s different from the Lynx. It was nice to return to the game after all these months, but sadly it was a very short quest. I was done with it in 20 minutes and craving more. Hopefully we’ll see other content updates in the future.
SP!NG
And last but not least, another Apple Arcade favorite received an update this week. SPI!NG got two entirely new chapters, including some new mechanics like anti-gravity. I’m trying to pace myself with them so I don’t run out too fast, so I’ve only played through the first ten levels so far. They were mostly not too difficult, but one of them took many tries before I finally got it. I’ll be playing through the rest bit by bit and hopefully updating my walkthrough guide for anyone who needs help.
And that’s everything I’ve been up to this week! I also watched Ant-Man since k never saw it and caught up on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I started The Nevers but couldn’t really get into it, so I’m still looking for my next show to watch. Anyway, let me know in the comments section which games you’re enjoying this week and I’ll see you back here next time with more of My Week Unwrapped!
Hello! Regarding your issue with camera in Geneforge 1, I think there is an option to fix it. At least there was in the Avadon series : in the settings, set ╬ô├╢┬╝Γö¼Γò£ View follows main character ╬ô├╢┬╝╬ô├▓├╣ to ╬ô├╢┬╝Γö¼Γò£ off ╬ô├╢┬╝╬ô├▓├╣. It did bother me too 🙂
Interesting week unwrapped as usual !
Ahh didnΓÇÖt think to check the settings for that. Thanks. IΓÇÖll take a look!