Hi everyone, and welcome back to My Week Unwrapped, where I discuss all the games I’ve been playing over the last seven days. This was a rainy week, so there were days I literally just stayed inside and played games from morning till night. So I managed to fit in a lot more games than the previous week. I played not one, but TWO Hero of the Kingdom games and just noticed another has been released since then. I worked on my walkthrough for the latest Adventure Escape game and played through the newest ISOLAND installment. There’s a lot to discuss, so let’s cut to the chase.

ISOLAND 4: The Anchor of Memory

COTTONGAME have released a lot of puzzle and adventure games by now, and we’re already up to the fourth ISOLAND installment. For those who don’t know, the series usually involves time travel and all sorts of weird stuff with a quirky art style. I played through ISOLAND 4 over the course of two days and I’m embarrassed to say that I got stuck in a lot of silly places. But that’s also what happens when I record my playthroughs and not just walkthroughs — you see me working things out instead of just solving them for you. I enjoyed this one, though I have mixed feelings on the idea of playing the game over when you beat it for some harder puzzles and a few other extras. For one, I didn’t see any clue that starting a new game would do anything other than wipe my progress. I was missing a few achievements so someone told me to start a new game to see different puzzles. The problem with that is that so much of the second playthrough involves redoing things you already did. I liked the extra puzzles and changes (except for one really pesky puzzle) but part of me wishes they could have just incorporated it all into one playthrough instead of making me repeat things again. In any case, it’s still worth grabbing if you’re a fan of the series, and it’s super cheap, too, at only $1.99. I’m also working on a walkthrough guide if you get stuck.

Nothing Door

Nothing Door is a completely free puzzle game about a door that only lets you through. That means you need to get rid of all your items before you can go through. The way you do that is by killing enemies. Certain enemies are killed by swords and others are killed by potions. There’s more to it than that and it gets pretty clever as new items and enemies are added. It was a nice surprise, especially for free. The game should only take about 20-30 minutes to finish, but I can’t really complain about the length of a free game. I’d love to see more down the line, but if you haven’t already played it, please do so. I also have a walkthrough here.

Hero of the Kingdom III

I only learned about the Hero of the Kingdom series recently, but once I did, I played the first two back-to-back and was hoping the third would come to iOS. Then, as I was making my GOTY list, which included one of them, I noticed Hero of the Kingdom III was now also on iOS. I played through it this week, as well as the free Lost Tales game that I’ll discuss further down. There was a lot I liked about this new one, but I didn’t like how the developer added a grind. In the previous games, you unlocked certain skills as you progressed, but you didn’t level them up in the usual way like you do in an RPG. Instead, there were a set number of enemies to fight, a set number of animals to hunt, and so on. The games were balanced to not need more than that. But with this one, everything replenishes over and over and you have to keep repeating the same exact tasks to level up all your skills. It became old very fast. I did like the added campfire where you can cook and brew potions at any point, as well as the ability to buy items from shops directly on the map, instead of having to travel to them. But those didn’t make up for the huge grind. If you haven’t played any of these games, I would recommend the others first. And I hope if there’s a fourth Hero of the Kingdom, they go back to their roots.

Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 1

As I said, I’ve been playing all the Hero of the Kingdom games and liked some more than others. The Lost Tales 1 seems to be a separate series that branches off from the original, and it’s actually 100% free on iOS. So definitely take advantage of that and use it as an introduction to the series. It’s not quite as big as Hero of the Kingdom III, but it was more streamlined and I was happy about that. There’s no grind here and it feels more like the first two games that I preferred. I see now the sequel is also out, and I definitely plan to play that one, hopefully this coming week.

Star Survivor: Premium

Star Survivor, at its core, is basically Vampire Survivors in space. It’s a roguelite/roguelike in which you go on missions and fly your spacecraft through swarms of alien ships, picking up experience and using it to unlock upgrades. What’s interesting about it is that you decide where to equip each weapon, thereby affecting where it shoots from. I do wish weapons could be moved, though, if you decide you don’t like where you placed it. I also like that there are several different modes, so there should be something for just about anyone. So far I’ve only played the campaign, which allows you to replay a mission if you fail. There’s also an endless mode, which I assume ends if you die and is also a high score chaser. My main gripe with the game is how big the touch controls are and how much of my view they cover. I wish I could shrink them or at least make them transparent. The boost button is gigantic and so is the joystick, when it could have just been invisible altogether. There’s also two buttons on the screen for zooming in and out, which I think could have just been a slider somewhere in the settings. The user interface gives the whole game a very cheap feel, even if the gameplay itself is actually fun. I recommend watching some of my videos below before deciding whether to buy it.

Giant Sushi: Merge Master Game

Giant Sushi is a merging game that feels very familiar. Basically, you drop sushi pieces on top of each other, merging them into bigger and bigger pieces while trying to avoid letting them pile up too high. I can’t remember what games I’ve played like it, but it’s definitely not the first of its kind. That said, it’s polished and I love the art style with all the detailed sushi varieties. There’s not much more to say about it. It’s free and ad-supported, but unfortunately no ad-removal IAP, so you’ll have to decide whether that’s a dealbreaker.

Adventure Escape Mysteries – Sweet Dreams

Haiku Games released another Adventure Escape game last week, called Sweet Dreams, but it’s only available if you buy the $9 VIP package. Otherwise, you have to wait until January 24th to play for free. I bought it and have been slowly making my through it while working on my walkthrough. I will say, I’m finding the puzzles more fun to solve than I’m Vanishing Act, and the story is cute, too. I’ll give proper impressions once I’ve completed the game, though.

Genshin Impact

And last, I’m still playing Genshin Impact, even though there isn’t a whole lot going on right now. I finished the Lost Riches event and started the newest one which is basically more battling. There’s also new character banners this week and I pulled on Yoimiya’s banner a bit, trying to get a copy of Chevreuse. I actually ended up getting Qiqi at 4 pity, which is pretty exciting because it means my next 5-star character is guaranteed to be the rate-up. I also pulled a bit more and got Chevreuse, but then I stopped. I’m still debating whether to keep trying for Yoimiya or to save my guarantee for a future character. Other than that, not much going on tight now.

And that’s everything I’ve been up to this week. I’m still watching The X-Files, though I’m a bit intimidated by how many episodes there are. I’m also almost finished with The Curse, which has been quite the trip. Anyway, let me know in the comments section which games you’re playing and I’ll see you back here next time with more of My Week Unwrapped.