LEISURE SUIT LARRY - WET DREAMS DRY TWICE (PS4)

 

Sequel to LSL Wet dreams don´t dry - which in turn is a sequel of many other Larry games - It´s another graphic adventure of pretty much the same quality than the former. Maybe less

It´s basically the same game with a new story and setting, plus a couple of UI improvements that don´t completely work. To make things worse, I had to restart save games several times because you could fall in infinite loops preventing progress. Not totally sure if because I play very disorganized - which shouldn´t be a problem - or the saving system can mess up things totally

Why am I playing this series, then? Well, two reasons: First is that it´s one of the few videogames which takes pride on not being politically correct, and has mild sexual references (no nudity). You don´t find that often these days. Second, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of Loung Lizards was one of the first PC games I ever played, and not supporting the series makes me feel like abandoning an old friend from my teen days

Anyway, you might be lucky and not have tech problems. If so, it´s a fairly standard adventure. If you like the character, then it´s probably a must

TACOMA (PS4)

 

A walking simulator of sorts, Tacoma is a nice narrative videogame with some unique elements on it. I am generally interested in that sub-genre because they provide a different pace from action/shooters – so prominent these days

The story is simple but reasonably effective: What happened to the crew of the Tacoma space station, now abandoned. You will find out, watching animated scenes recorded by the resident computer

The game is not superb on anything, but it does his job. Provides 4h of enjoyment and doesn´t ever frustrate you. It´s probably impossible to “fail” it at all. I still think other games of this type – The Stanley Parable, What remains of Edith Finch, Gone Home… - tried to go further, but I cannot NOT recommend Tacoma because it delivers what it promises. If you can find it at a reasonable price, go for it

SID MEIER´S MEMOIR!

Sid Meier is credited to be among the best designers in videogame history. He was the creator of dozens of games - mostly simulators - but he got his credit mostly due to Civilization!, one of the best games ever created

These memoirs are mostly professional. Little is said of his personal life aside from what is relevant to understand certain work decisions. I didn´t recall him being so active in the 80s, but I do remember Microprose as a popular company back in those days. Then, I spent so many hours playing Civilization I am not fully confident to admit

The book also gives you a lot of background info on how was project development at that time, how the decisions were made and the people involved, and how things have changed since. Today we mostly work on genre products, whereas in the 80s each game was supposed to reflect a unique experience, different from other existing games. Ah, youth

I was shocked to find out the "Sid Meier´s" prefix was suggested by Robin Williams, and a number of games were released with it that didn´t actually have so much involvement from him - Specially Colonization and Civilization 2, a game I still today consider myself a recovering addict from

Anyway, it was an interesting reading, not only if you like the character behind but also if you are interested in how things used to be and videogame history in general

https://sidmeiersmemoir.com/