So I have put Red Dead Redemption 2 on the back burner for the time being because even though there are certain aspects of it I really enjoy it really seems to be a horse-riding fetch-quest simulator and even though there are parts of it that are great when i get yet another run over here quest I just turned it off.
Unfortunately this probably means that I am unlikely to return to it as if and when I do I will have no idea what the controls are or what I am meant to be doing next. I quite pretty early on so maybe this is a good thing. Who knows.
I moved back to my favorite style of game - Metroidvanias, but this time with a top-down angle in a game called Hob.
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Originanally I got a hold of this because it was a list of games like Death's Door which I thought was just fantastic and definitely recommend. This one is similar in a few ways but not anywhere near as good thus far. There are some things that I quite like about it though.
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I'm playing the game on PC and even though it was a $1500 gaming laptop when I purchased it, my computer is over 5 years old. It runs this game no problem. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by this seeing as how this game was released before my computer was so disregard that last comment. I think this game could run on most mid-level machines though because there isn't anything terribly crazy going on with the graphics and it is 2D+ for the most part, not 3D.
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The wiki classifies this game as "action adventure" but since there are areas that you have to return to later once you obtain powerups I think this classification is wrong. Or maybe Wikipedia just doesn't recognize Metroidvania as a genre, who knows.
It plays like Zelda or Death's Door (which also plays like Zelda) but one thing that I really appreciate about this is that there is a near complete lack of dialogue yet you can still kind of figure out what you are supposed to do simply by listening to this strange non-language that these robots say to you. You don't even know what or who you are at the start - you simply head out and start to conquer. The only dialogue that I have encountered at all in the game thus far is when you get a powerup and it tells you how to use it. That's it.
This is in stark contrast to Red Dead Redemption which has so much dialogue that it is more like watching a movie than it is like playing a game.
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You just follow this guy and that's basically it. The game is pretty linear, which wont appeal to everyone, but there are opportunities to go back to previous areas and uncover powerups and collectibles if you want to. As far as I can tell thus far, it is not required.
If you ever enjoyed Torchlight or Torchlight 2's graphics you will probably appreciate the graphics and sound in Hob as well since all these games were made by Runic Studios.
The enemies are quite tough in this so you are going to need a strategy since going in and "mad button mashing" isnt going to work beyond the first few enemy types you encounter and you also have very limited health even after a few hours into the game. At the moment I can only take 2 or 3 hits from enemies but if you run away a bit and cut down some plants you can get health replenishing hearts of sorts just like in most Zelda games.
So far I think this game is very simplistic fun and for a casual gamer like me who doesn't enjoy a lot of constant story being thrust upon me, the game is close to perfect. I wouldn't pay a lot of money for this game or anything but if you like Metroidvania you are in luck because since it is 5 years old, you can get it for less than $5, if you decide to pay for it at all.