RYSE VIDEO REVIEW

I just finished watching a video review (in Spanish, sorry) of Ryse Son of Rome by a guy who's played the whole game. Yep, 10 hours of watching him saying 'Ven aquí muchacho' ('Come here boy') but interesting to see how people experience the game.

THE ROOM

Another proof of the superb design you can find in portable devices: The Room is probably the best puzzle game I've played ever.

On the minus side, it's just puzzles: There are no other subsystems to provide some relief from the core experience. Also the game is relatively short, only 5 levels of 30 min each.

On the plus side, the game features a unique approach to puzzles: All the secrets are contained in the same object, generally a wooden box with multiple gadgets. The wandering for the necessary items is really limited and often straight forward. Puzzles are surprisingly varied, enjoyable and accessible (I never had to look for solutions in the internet) and the concept of all puzzles in the same location supports a high quality of the graphics (you can be as detailed as you want since there won't be any other scenario).

There are some flavor elements surrounding the game: A paranormal plot which doesn't offer much and a supporting system for clues (similar to the one used in the Professor Layton series). But the core mechanics work very well, the camera is fairly responsive and the overall experience is one of a kind. I strongly recommend it to whoever like puzzle games.

BEYOND TWO SOULS

Thanks to my Spanish colleagues at Frankfurt, I got on my birthday Beyond two souls. I had previously played both Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain, and I personally like David Cage's approach to videogames. If you haven't tried any of them it'll suffice to say it's all about the story, and gameplay is limited to press buttons on certain moments to trigger the next story bit. This works for me as a variation from other (actually practically all) games but I totally understand if people accuse these games of lacking interaction. It's a fair point.

Anyway, the story on these titles is usually superior to other games, and BTS is no exception. You're told the story of Jodie, a young girl with paranormal skills who has been abandoned by parents, kicked out of foster homes and eventually ends up being raised by a couple of scientists. For the most part her story is a sad one, with lots of rejections and disappointments, but at the same time her special abilities have given her the possibility for changing for the better the lives of others. You develop a close relationship with her, promoted by the fact that you control her across her whole life: There are missions when she's 6, 12, 16 and 20 years old.

At the end, I tended to see her as a daughter, and I was protective in my decisions about her life. Interesting, isn't it? The mix between reality and supernatural is well balanced, and cutscenes and facial animations are probably the best of the last generation.

On the minus side yes, gameplay is poor. You're essentially requested to press certain buttons to make the story progress, and many times is not even clear which ones are those (you need to read the character animations to infer the direction to press on the stick). The game doesn't excel on that at all, but the story compensates these flaws imho.

Also I'm curious about the budget of the game. There were unique game systems in some missions which are not repeated anywhere else, practically a need animation set or character model per mission and multiple cutscenes. I suspect this game has been quite expensive, and considering it's destined to a niche segment I wonder if it's worth the money for Sony.

Anyway, I enjoyed it and recommend it to whoever is interested in videogame stories. It has a 70 in Metacritics but the user's 81 seems to be more accurate to me.

5 REASONS THE VIDEOGAME INDUSTRY IS ABOUT TO CRASH

Thanks to a Facebook link (greetings to Karim), here you have an interesting article about issues currently affecting our industry. I don't necessarily agree with some of them, but still relevant in most cases. Click here to read it.

MASTER THIEF

Being honest, I didn't finish Master Thief since the game features 11 levels and then you need to purchase the rest. Since I don't wanna, I base my analysis on those first missions and that's it.

My interest on this game is because it's a reference for a potential personal project. The gameplay itself it's basic: You memorize the guard patrols and move across their routes to collect all the gold bags and escape. I'm missing a story element to engage the user, otherwise the experience doesn't connects with you and becomes easy to forget. Still an interesting usage of stealth mechanics in iOS.

CALL OF DUTY GHOSTS

Thanks to Microsoft and Crytek, one of the perks for finishing the Ryse project has been an Xbox One console and some games, including CoD Ghosts. Since this one the only I cared a little bit, I've just finished it and here are my impressions:

Same old, same old. It has all the good things from previous instances and nothing new. Meaning if you like the series, you won't be disappointed. If you're looking for novelties, this is not your game.

On the plus side it's a compilation of interesting scenarios, lots of destruction, variety of challenges (stealth, turret gameplay, tank and of course shooting) and reasonably good looking. The multiplayer is as good as always, although being relatively new to it I die really often.

On the minus side, the plot is slightly confusing, they run out of bad guys and now they're using Venezuelans (¿?), some of the layouts were confusing to me and couldn't see the difference between enemies and allies. Plus, inherited from previous games, I often shoot at my team since sometimes the only way to know they're on your side is to move the reticule onto them and wait for a name to show up (too late)

Also, many times the game uses simple QTEs to progress (i.e. press RT to cut the rope) with hard fail conditions. Ryse was widely (and incorrectly) critizised for using QTEs, but not CoD. Why is that? Probably because it's only one button press and it's commonly associated to something spectacular. In God of War it's even more obvious.

Anyway, a good purchase if you like the CoD series, otherwise go indie!

STRANGLEHOLD

I played 1-2 levels of Stranglehold when it was released, almost 7 years ago, and left me a good taste. It's what I call middle class games: Not outstanding but enjoyable. I bought it from a work mate 2 weeks ago and I've just finished it. It currently holds a 77 in metacritics, and I think it's fair.

The game has some unique systems, reasonably well implemented: The mexican standoffs are simple but enjoyable (it's recommended to unlock the video of the first prototypes, can't help to think they could have done better), the environmental navigation (sliding over furniture) creates multiple eye candy moments, the scenario destruction is probably the most comprehensive I've seen in a game and they also have good localized damage and death animations.

There are multiple so-so systems, such as the amount of enemy classes (enough, but all use more or less the same AI patterns), the boss fights (the excessive enemy health and a heavier weapon is generally the main challenge), animation transitions (too abrupt, although responsive), management of player resources is accessible (health, focus and style points) and mostly works, although relies too much on medikits and the story starts being personal and interesting in mission 3 (sooner would have been better). The scenarios are somehow varied but too indoors to my taste, and the collectible shop is just ok (concept art and prototype videos).

On the minus side, the enemy AI is really poor. Practically all enemies function as simple turrets or run towards the player until point blank. I suspect that forced combat layouts based on dropping wave after wave of mindless foes which can be a little repetitive. Aside from that the level design is clearly improvable: The player is commonly forced into scenarios around which enemies can be spawn practically in any point around 360º. On top of it they're not signaled to the user, meaning you often don't know where they are and need to rely on tracking the tracing rounds or run around while spinning the camera looking desperately where they are. Cover options are limited and lack polish and the game is a little short (7-8 hours). I couldn't try the multiplayer, though. Also I think they could have scaled better the progression in new enemy types and abilities: All player actions are introduced in the first levels, and so users are not requested to master any of them to get to a crescendo moment that test that ability (i.e. a final boss)

As a whole, I can see it's a good representation of the John Woo movies. I actually downloaded Hard Boiled (the first instance of inspector Tequila, in which the game is based) and watched it 20 years after.

GTA 5

It has obviously taken a while, but last week I finished the story mode of GTA V. I had already completed other GTAs (Vice City and Vice City Stories) so no big surprises in general. I don't consider the storytelling of these games outstanding, to be honest.

However, this one has important novelties on gameplay. The first and more important one in my opinion is the addition of a multiplayer mode. This is no easy task, and although the developers seem to have borrowed most of the Read Dead Redemption design, it works fine and it's enjoyable. The progression system could be more meaningful for the player in my opinion, but being the first time they try it's definitively a great step.

The second most important novelty, again in my opinion, is the heist simulations. In several instances of the plot the main characters are all involved on an operation that allows the player to swap between them. This pretty much forced the designers to script each mission 3 times.

Aside from this, you will find the usual sandbox experience (excessively limited to interaction with the police, imho), big world (most of it unused I think) and ironic cutscenes. In any sense a top of the class experience, and a memorable game. Probably worth the 97 it currently holds in Metacritic.

I'm currently grinding the rest of trophies since this is going to be the first game I get a platinum award on. Seemed easier than other games, that's all.

RYSE - The Damocles Legend

I don't commonly post about my project here, but considering this has been what my life has been about for the last year and a half (actually almost 2 years), I guess it makes sense to post something about Ryse - Son of Rome.

Here's the video about the Damocles legend...

REMEMBER ME

Ok, I don't get it. Like a week ago I finished Remember me (thanks to Ramon, who lent me his copy) and my overall impression is fairly good. But for some reason it has a 70 in metacritics. I'm quite sure it should be along the lines of 80. I fail to understand critics on this. WTF?

Let's start with visuals: The art direction is elegant and sophisticated. I've always liked the french SF since the times of Once upon a time... Space. The game world is believable although a little empty. Interesting in any sense. Animations are smooth and well integrated in the combat system, and characters are reasonably good for this generation.

Game mechanics are very decent: The game pivots onto 3 major elements - combat, platforming and 'memory alterations' (in absence of a better name). Combat is fluid and engaging, basically the system used in Batman Arkham asylum but adding an extra layer of complexity allowing users to customize the combos. There is a nice variety of enemies (I believe around 20) which is more than enough to fill up the encounters.

Platforming may be the weakest of the systems since it's a direct rip off from Uncharted. Still works fine although often lacks challenge. Memory alterations are interactive cinematics where you can switch on/off certain elements to alter the outcome. Works perfectly well as a unique selling point, although there aren't many.

There are also some supporting mechanics such as collectables, bosses and chase sequences that add some spice to the result. In summary, a mature design work and a good product. If any, the story is confusing and the memory theme is too present in the world to the verge of unbelievability. But I've seen worse stories in other games and they ranked higher.

So again, I think the ratings have punished this game under its true value. Hope the sales were good, at least.

ALIENS COLONIAL MARINES

You learn so much more from bad games than from good ones... I just finished Aliens Colonial Marines and it's amazing how many lessons on game design you get about how to NOT do things from games like these.

First thing to say is it could have been a good game: The Aliens franchise has lots of potential, very gamey (particularly for shooters), and the number of game modes and mechanics are sufficient. Problem is they screwed it up. You can take a look at a summary of the problems they had on this article.

First the game systems: None of them are really new. All weapons are copied from other games, no unique player skills nor the enemy AI is particularly outstanding. If any, really prone to glitches. Despite the little activity the game has, I managed to play some MP rounds and although playing as an alien is always fun, the only game mode with players available was nothing new to me. In summary, not impressive on this side.

Then the story: They had the actors behind Hicks and Bishop on the original Aliens movie, but they're scarcely used. The plot in general has empty characters and lacks player motivation. The story in general offers nothing new to the franchise, and actually has a turn of events with the inclusion of mercenaries that I'm not totally sure fits with the IP mood.

Even with all this, the game could be a just a forgettable one, but not THAT bad. However it currently ranks 43-48 in Metacritics. That means is really poor. What happened? I think the main problems were:

Press felt betrayed: The demo they sent to E3 looked awesome, but due to performance adjustments the game never looked that good. That pissed off some journalists, who took their revenge on the ratings. This says little of the professionality of reviewers, but I've seen this happening in the past (Bionic Commando)

Glitches: But actually the press was right to give poor ratings to the game, mainly due to AI glitches and lack of art polish. It's common to see team mates teleporting, aliens stuck on environment, poor animations and ragdolls and extremely simple environments.

Funny thing is, player and reviewers can forgive a number of minor mistakes if the game has some good unique selling points. If the art would have been amazing, or there were some really compelling systems I think the glitches would have been overlooked much more, and the game would have been around the 60s in metacritics. But probably due to lack of time they had to cut down on risks (creating new gameplay always takes time) and polish, and the title is now widely considered as a synonym of a bad game.

LAST OF US

The day after it was released, I started to hear people saying it was an amazing game. So often I eventually decided to buy it. Sold out at Gamestop and the mall. I ordered it at Amazon UK. Was it that good?

Ok, I started playing it and it's definitively a good game. Great in some aspects. But not a 95+ in metacritics as it's right now. Why so much hype, then?

On the plus side all game systems are well developed and satisfying. There are different weapons at your disposal and they're all effective, some particularly useful in certain gameplay situations. There are good emotional moments along the plot and being a collector I valued so many pickables at my disposal. There were even some moments with unique systems (I'm thinking on the audio-driven miniboss at the resort). And I really liked the ellipsis between chapters, quite new.

On the minus side, it's a plot-driven game of a story I already know. It shares multiple elements with The Walking Dead - The videogame (zombies, survivors, tough guy who doesn't hesitate to kill when needed, take care of a girl, a cannibal episode, main characters die, QTE moments...) or I am Legend. To me it's not eye candy since the scenarios are old news, you've seen them all in movies, series or other games. So many collecting options often clash against the game chase situations, promoting a slow-pace when the cinematics are so frentic. The progression system (improving the weapons) it's far too cheap. They reuse systems and animations from Uncharted like crazy (even the main character has a suspicious resemblance with Drake) and the multiplayer is just ok.

Don't get me wrong: It's a good game worth of what I paid for it. I just think Naughty Dog has a great reputation and somehow that has transpired into this title. I guess I've been trapped by hype again...

LEISURE SUIT LARRY RELOADED

This is probably the first kickstarter project I funded, like 2 years ago. It's all about nostalgia, since Leisure suit Larry in the land of lounge lizards was one of the first games I played in that PC I inherited from my cousin Pedro. It was one of those old school graphic adventures using a word parser to interact with the game, extremely punishing if you failed and double difficult if you weren't a native English speaker.

Even so, I played that game like crazy. I was around 15 and it had some erotic components so I really felt compelled to finish it. Back in the days it was semi-impossible to know the solution for the puzzles unless you tried and tried. Today it's simply a question to open a browser. I eventually managed to complete it, but never with the top score.

It has taken me a little more than 3 hours to finish it now. In terms of quality looks like a flash game, but it's still enjoyable and they've barely expanded it, it's essentially the same game of 20 years ago.

I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a die hard fan of the series, but I'm happy with my contribution to the project. I really think Kickstarter iniciatives can make a different in the videogame scene!

INFINITY BLADE

Just finished Infinity Blade (iOS). Such an intelligent design! I first knew about it 2 years ago while working at Digital Legends, tried and hated it since I didn't play the tutorial. But some months ago it became free for one day and I decided to give it a try since so many people praised it.

And they were right! It's one of the smartest designs I've seen in years. As far as I know it was conceived to showcase the Unreal engine's possibilities for mobile devices, and it certainly does. First of all the controls are extremely well adapted to the touch screen. The whole combat system relies on it (dodge enemy attacks, depending on how many you perform the enemy will be more or less open to sword swings - Once again performed through tactile input).

But once again the main focus seemed to be the visuala. They wanted to show impressive characters and scenarios, but since the iPhone has a good number of limitations, they adapted the design to it: The number of enemy characters is limited, and they all share pretty much the same animation sets. Camera always focus on them so scenarios don't need to be super-detailed (only in the go-between cutscenes) and actually the list is not particularly impressive. But they conceived the game to be replayed over and over based on a final challenge which is the real hanger.

You start the game confronting the final boss, who's actually the tutorial level. He kicks your ass bad (he's lvl 50) and forces you to replay the game over and over, always fighting the same boss and always being defeated. However in the process you level your character and get better gear, making every attempt a little closer to success.

There is an intelligent microtransaction system, allowing you to ease the process and get faster to better equipment. I took me 7 lineages (playthroughs) to beat the boss, at lvl 22. Should have been possible earlier, I suspect. On the minus side the game can become repetitive unless you're 'hooked' with the challenge, and there is no story of any kind.

Anyway, I recommend it for all type of players (maybe a little more for hardcores) and particularly anybody interested in videogame design. A great example of adapting the design of the final project goals, and making something really entertaining.

MOTORSTORM APOCALYPSE

Thanks to God of War: Ascension I got a one month pass for Playstation Plus. That service offers a limited number of old titles for free (as long as your subscription is active). I've played Ico & Shadow of the Colossus, which I hadn't since the PS2 days, and also finished Motorstorm Apocalypse.

I've never been a fan of racing games, and this is the only game I've completed of this genre as far as I know. It's reasonably accessible (although I had multiple collision problems in the tracks), provides a short-term experience you can adapt to your needs and the controls feel appropriate. The MP still works fine but considering the time it's been in the market other users still playing are far too hardcore for me. It has a good vehicle variety and interesting tracks, based on the unique selling point of the title: The whole scenario is collapsing around you while you race, altering the route on the fly.

On the minus side there is no story nor incentive to progress aside from achievements, customization options are limited to MP, some tracks are not properly balanced and the AI ocassionally performs oddly.

But hey, it's definitively a good game. If you like racing ones I highly recommend it.

THE WALKING DEAD

Yesterday I finished The Walking Dead, the videogame released episodically. I decided to buy it months ago due to the good reviews and a Steam offer, and I don't regret it at all. In terms in storytelling is the most compelling game I´ve played so far, if memory serves.

This leads me to think about a common mistake within the videogame industry: Most people praise games as good in storytelling because they look and feel like movies (i.e. Uncharted). But we often forget stories are about creating feelings. And although you certainly feel the thrill on Nathan Drake´s adventures, it´s generally because of the level design challenges not because he's betrayed by another character (they do a lot, Nathan should really start checking out his acquaintance's intentions beforehand).

Truth is The Walking Dead often navigates between the shores of interactivity and CGI movies. The gameplay pivots around a limit number of scenarios: Environmental puzzles (grab this and use it there, generally super-simple), dialogue puzzles (talk to X team members to unlock the next scene), pure QTEs of button smashing (generally Q+E) and occasional shooting galleries really limited in time. That´s really it. The rest is dialogues, character build-ups and some decisions to be made (sometimes deciding who lives and who dies) that at the end of the day are not really meaningful since the story will continue just the same only with different actors.

But the strength is on the characters. The relationship between Lee and Clementine, and how you feel compelled to protect her is superb. She´s not one of those stupid kids from Spielberg movies who always screw it up but you're supposed to forgive them because they're lovable. These are all stories about survivors and how they struggle to stay alive in a world dominated by zombies. And by god those are tragic stories. Most of the characters die one way or another.

On the minus side, animations often betray the overall result with lack of sync or simply being poor. But you generally forgive the game since the rest is well balanced and interesting.

So if you're interested in well-crafted stories in a videogame, I strongly recommend to give a try to at least the first episode. I suspect you won´t regret it.

XCOM ENEMY UNKNOWN

I got XCOM Enemy Unknown for free (thanks to the Bioshock Infinite pre-order offer) and gave it a try one night... and couldn´t stop playing.

Funny thing is, the basic gameplay seems to have been directly copied from the original XCOM from 1994. I played it for a while but I remember it was extremely punishing and couldn´t finish it. This reboot is practically the same, although with better graphics. Still I had to try 3 times to make it till the end. The golden path of the game is really narrow, and if you don´t make the proper calls early at the beginning you´ll be screwed the rest of the game.

But the playability works incredibly well. Each combat scenario takes 30-40 min to be completed, allowing to adapt your playtime to any personal circumstance. You´ve got plenty of options to customize your base and squad members, and during combat you've got a semi-random element whenever you shoot at an alien that always makes you wonder if you´ll be lucky or not. I admit I played with the saving system (whenever I failed a mission I´d reload the save) so my soldiers would achieve the highest rank as soon as possible. Otherwise the game was too punishing.

Anyway, I strongly recommend it. Although there are plenty of animation / camera bugs, and sometimes the shot success / fail calculations are inappropriate, the overall result is amazingly engaging, the story serves its purpose nicely and the gameplay works like a charm.

BIOSHOCK INFINITE

I should probably start saying I´m a fan of the previous Bioshocks. They master the concept of environmental storytelling, there is constant flow of creativity on the setup and the characters, and the mechanics are well adapted to the scenario, making it shine even more.

It was a no brainer I'd play Bioshock Infinite, and I gotta say it´s a great game. In the first 2-3 hours you´re introduced to the shiny new world of Columbia, and start experience the multiple contradictions of that society. The game systems are pretty much inherited from Bioshock, which creates a certain feeling of 'Yeah, a city in the clouds but this reminds me to Rapture too much'.

But then you meet Elizabeth, and the empathy you feel for that young girl is really powerful. The rest of the game you´re pretty much lead by her through the story. I generally have to make pauses every 2 hours to not be saturated by the game, but in this case I almost devoured it until the end.

And about the end... I don´t want to spoil it but I gotta say it´s really unique. Yeah, really unique. Send me a message if you fancy to talk about it ;)

ECOFISH PSM REVIEW

In case you don´t know, EcoFish was also released on the PSP Mini marketplace. Here you can find a review:

http://www.pspminis.com/10915/ecofish-review-qix-me-baby-one-more-time/

The level design (one of the things I made for the game) seems to be well perceived ;)

BLACK MESA / HALF LIFE

Truth is I never finished Half Life. I played it but I found it boring half way through, and abandoned it. Or maybe it was one of those puzzles which forces you to go back and forth, and internet walkthroughs weren´t that popular at that time... Can´t remember.

Thing is, I never finished the game. But I´ve played Half Life 2 like three times, so it was about time. And Black Mesa was released. It´s a mod which rebuilds HL on the latest Source engine, so it´s prettier (although I generally don´t care much about graphics) and free! I downloaded it and played along some months, until this week I finished it.

It´s a great game. It pioneered the concept of ingame cinematics, and has a superb implementation of scaling the mechanics. Some of them worked just fine (team mates, puzzles involving running around through the whole complex, a weird jump control) but others are simply great (enemies, pacing, storytelling, crescendo events, multiple systems all reasonably well implemented, scenario variations...)

So I recommend to give it a try. I think it has been nominated to a number of 'Mod of the year' awards and it´s really entertaining if you are a little pacience. I will never forget the initial interactive cutscene. And I´ll send a donation to the guys who built it, they totally deserve it.

CRYSIS 3

Crytek was kind enough to give us a free copy of Crysis 3, and last Saturday I finished it (sorry for the delay). I chose the PS3 version.

My overall feeling is quite good. It´s a solid work in most of the levels, with a higher focus on the story compared with the previous titles. Visually speaking is impressive even for PS3 (apparently in PC is superb) and the multiplayer is enjoyable, very similar to the CoD model.

Right now I´m still playing it to get some trophies (yep, I´m an achievement whore). There is a certain discontent in the company due to some low reviews (the game is ranking around 76-79 in metacritics) I can agree upon it: I don´t think the game should be below 80, or at the very least other games commonly rated over 90 should be lower.

But ok, the reviews are there and you have to live with them. In any sense is a good game, and it gets better by the end (some unique gameplay and bosses!). You may say it´s because I´m a Crytek employee, but I sincerely recommend to give it a try.

LIMBO

I bought Limbo on sale, attracted by its visual proposal and the good reviews. However I fully suspected it was one of those poetic games that I´m generally not too much attracted (i.e. Ico).

Truth is I enjoyed it. It´s mainly a puzzle game with some platforming, but the difficulty is limited for the most part of it, and I managed to go through 90% of the game without looking for solutions on the internet. The storytelling element was too subtle or obscure to me. I only found out you´re supposed to be looking for your sister reading walkthroughs after finishing it.

All in all I recommend it, particularly for those who look for inspirational elements in games and are willing to complete missing parts (in this case, intentionals). It´s short, it´s beautiful and if you like puzzles it´s fun.

ASSASSIN´S CREED BROTHERHOOD

It´s been a while, but I finished another game. This time it was Assassin´s Creed Brotherhood (actually the third AC game).

I played a couple of hours the first one and I found it interesting both for the setting and the free-running concept, but that´s all. But since the AC franchise has some points in common with my current project, and thanks to Lolo who gave it to me as a present a year ago (he used to work in Ubisoft, and got it at a reduced price) I pushed myself to play it.

I´ve enjoyed it quite a lot. Not only for again an interesting location (this time Rome in the Renaissance) but also for the multiple mechanics and an internal difficulty level which allows players to enjoy the game easily or going for internal challenges (on each mission you have an additional objective, which allows to get the 100% sync).

Aside from that I´m the explorer type, and the game has multiple treasures and secrets to find. Probably the game with more of these I´ve played.

I´m chasing the 100% now, and I´ll probably give a try to the MP and some more trophees. It´s actually the game I´ve unlocked more achievements so far!

WORST GAME DESIGN CRIMES

Here´s a list made by PC Gamer of the 13 worst game design crimes. I could add some more, I think :D

MCPIXEL

Well, it has been some time since I finished a game, but another one bites the dust! This time it was McPixel, an indie game I recently purchased on Steam.

The basic premise is simple: You control McPixel (a McGiver look-alike) and you have 20 secs to find a bomb in the scenario and defuse it somehow. The method is simply clicking on the different elements you can see, and sometimes combining them.

On the bright side the starting point is fresh, the design is simple but effective and there are plenty of pop references (which I generally enjoy a lot). Comedy is everywhere, and non-politically correct, my favourite one! Also there are some good design twists and game modes reusing the limited production capabilities I´m sure developers had.

On the minus side there are no interface elements highlighting interactive objects, which force you to a non-enjoyable pixel search. Also pixel art is difficult to understand sometimes due to low resolution, and most of the time you just try stuff and see what happens, you rarely feel in control.

All in all if you like indie games I recommend it. I also recommend it if you like designs which try something different. I won´t say it´s a perfect game, but at the very least is refreshing, something you won´t find in Call of Duty 37, or any number the franchise is on.

HOW TO BE A GAME DESIGNER

Here´s an interesting article from Penny Arcade about how to become a game designer:

I agree upon most of the points except for the order: I´d say making games is by far the most important thing you can do to become a decent game designer. Nothing compares to the direct experience of doing that, fail and succeed.