GemCraft: Frostborn Wrath

This one wasn’t in the Year Plans. However, I didn’t know whether I could start playing a new game while working on a review for another, but I still felt the desire to post an extra before the end of the year. So why not talk about a game that I’ve already played aplenty? It’s a long one, so I can knock it out of the list for good. Plus, it’s a genre that I love.

Just to prove how much time I spent on this game: I am
currently Level 1,100.

I already covered the previous game, Gemcraft: Chasing Shadows (shortened GCS), way back in 2018. At the time, today’s entry was in development; Frostborn Wrath (FW), also made by Game in a Bottle, was released to Steam on January 10th, 2020. I already discussed the franchise in depth in the previous article. Thus, I'll focus my efforts on discussing the differences between this entry and the previous one, and how it helps them feel like new games with different challenges as a result, despite being the same concept of merging gems to beat monsters.

Not gonna lie, I’d love to see an “Early Days” Gemcraft collection (encompassing Chapters 1, 0, and Lost Chapter: Labyrinth). It’s become trendy to do that for browser/Flash games with a strong nostalgic value, and it could help give these three a new life. I spent so much time playing Labyrinth, it’s not even funny. If Chasing Shadows started as a browser game with microtransaction elements before jumping, Frostborn Wrath is exclusively on Steam. What's this one like?

Minimal story? No problem

Points given for the style and the art.

This review is going to be more technical. There is a story that develops as we visit more fields, but it’s inconsequential to gameplay to the point it can be ignored. And I did, too, for a while. It adds flavor, explains some things, that’s about it. Our character was part of a caste of powerful wizards who began dabbling in demon-summoning black magic. The lone wizard rose against their kin, only to be forced to flee to northern lands, and frozen as retribution. One day, they unexpectedly thawed, but centuries had passed – they had to relearn magic. The mysterious recovery is explained by a warmth spell not so far away that got out of control. However, the wizard must now deal with the horrible surprises left behind.

Sonic Unleashed (Part 3)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3

Time to give Eggmanland a visit, and Eggman a proper beating.

Let's tear it all to pieces.

Eggmanland

I made sure to stock up on extra lives before entering the final stage, as I knew it was going to be one Hell of a ride – at least, from what I had heard. Turns out, I was mistaken; in the Wii and PS2 versions of Sonic Unleashed, the area is split into proper stages. One stage as Sonic, two bonus missions (UGH), then five stages as Werehog Sonic. However, the HD versions (Xbox 360/PS3) are very different in that regard: Sonic can use special hourglasses to switch from day to night, and thus between forms, within the stage. The result is infamous as one of the longest marathon levels ever designed, taking fifteen minutes to finish – and that’s without mistakes. It can take nearly an hour to finish it otherwise. I’m mentioning it for the sake of trivia, as that’s not what happens in the version I played.

Goddammit, I was looking at this from a completely
different angle just a second ago! I lost my groove!

That said, Eggmanland on the Wii is still a long stage that takes five minutes to complete without fault. And it’s got all of the cheapest tricks. I know it’s the final day stage so it has to be tough, but I feel like most of my failures here were caused by poor design. A common issue in Sonic stages is when the camera switches quickly from a side view (for 2D segments) to a back view (for 3D segments where Sonic can move left or right), and this has tripped me up in several areas. As an example, that short bit spent riding a car-shaped roller coaster seat. Due to my ongoing problems with the Quick Step, some late-stage portions were massively annoying, so I opted to pass those slowly instead of speeding through.

Can't tell you how many times I died in places that were
stupid traps, like here, failing to adjust with the angled
terrain and falling off...

Near the end of the stage, you have a straight path with
holes and very little time to Quick Step aside in time.
Considering my bad luck with Quick Step, and that a single
mistake at that point wastes half a minute from you...
I fucking HATED this mission, in case I wasn't clear already.

So the stage is finished, right? WRONG. The next two missions are set in the same stage. The first is a classic “Collect X rings”, and it’s easy. The other forces you through the ENTIRE stage, with an impossible time limit that can only be lengthened by passing through checkpoints. I disliked the original stage, but I HATED that specific mission, as I had to play quickly, and it was stupid easy in specific spots to die and lose several seconds after reappearing at the (somewhat rare) respawn points. Oh, and that mission is MANDATORY. You can’t move on until you do it. Fucking WHY??? This is not necessary! We wouldn’t lose anything if that stage was optional!

Sonic Unleashed (Part 2)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3

In Part 1, I went over both forms of gameplay in detail, and covered some of the plot. Let’s do more today!

In a pickle

Heh. I couldn’t resist making the pun.

Exposition time? Chip isn't listening, he only likes
exposition when he's the one telling it.

Tails takes Sonic and Chip to Spagonia to look for Professor Pickle. In Spagonia, we first meet the professor’s aide, who is also looking for the scientist. Pickle has been kidnapped by Eggman. He is found one continent over, in Mazuri, where he is promptly rescued by Sonic and Tails. The professor asks Sonic to retrieve the contents of a nearby safe, which the hedgehog (in werehog form) does by smashing it open. Well, that was quick! Back at the lab, the man explains that the parchment in the safe is known as the Gaia Manuscripts. Those detail the existence of Dark Gaia, which lives in the planet’s core and is responsible for breaking it apart. In fact, it has done so before. The only way to correct everything is to find the Gaia Temples, one on each continent, and use them to restore the Chaos Emeralds, which will put the planet back together.

My one minor complaint with the Eggman battles in this
game is that all three battles are set against robots that look
and are defeated the same way, even if they do employ
new gimmicks at each fight.

It's not going to be simple, as Eggman is also looking for the temples. Thankfully, we have a foot forward; off to Mazuri again, where the mad doctor is threatening the population. Sonic saves them and Eggman goes away, and the villagers thank Sonic. The village elder reveals that he knows all about the Gaia temples and can even help them by fixing the planet tablet they’re carrying. Each continent has someone, usually an elder, whose duty is to watch over the temple.

At the temple in Mazuri, (regular) Sonic confronts Eggman and battles the doctor’s Egg Beetle. Not a tough fight, though one with a few tricks to be wary of. When that robot is defeated, Sonic gains access to the temple’s main chamber, where a pedestal rises. He puts a black Chaos Emerald in it and it is restored to its original colors. And, bonus, it reattaches the continent to the core. That's one down, we've got six more.

And so the planet-sized puzzle begins putting itself
back together.

Sonic Unleashed (Part 1)

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3

The one where Sonic becomes a werewolf. Er... Werehog.

A slow walk out of infamy.

It’s no secret that during the second half of the 2000s, the franchise had a rough patch. Sonic ’06 left a mark, and it took a while for the franchise to recover. The games that came afterwards tried to regain momentum, with varying degrees of success. Sonic Colors was a return to form, but prior games shook up the formula more than fans were comfortable with. So, of course, it is during this period of experimentation that we got some of the wildest ideas.

Hard to describe the concept behind Sonic Unleashed anything other than wild! I mean, I already spoiled it in my first line of text. Not that it’s a huge spoiler; this is exactly what Sonic Unleashed, released in November 2008 on PS2, Wii and Xbox 360 (and in December the same year for PS3) is known for. Like every game that does things differently from its predecessors in an established franchise , a pushback was inevitable.

But hey, you’re here to read my own thoughts on it, right? Let’s get this started!

Everything’s gone wrong

We don't even know what Eggman did, but that's fine,
we don't need to. A beating is in order.

Classic Sonic finale. Eggman has the world in a bind. Sonic shows up on the doctor's flagship and smashes through his army of robots like they were cheap electronics. Eggman arrives in a higher-end mecha that puts up a better fight… and Sonic goes Super with the power of the Chaos Emeralds and smashes that, too, causing a panicked Eggman to retreat to his quarters.

Gee, is there even a game past this? Looks like our buddy has got it all covered. Nothing to see here!

Wingspan

(Yes, I know the results. This week has been horrible. I believe America has made an enormous mistake. I am disgusted that of two options, THIS is what won. But we must all keep moving forwards. Become an activist, make your voice heard, find support groups. Most importantly, do not give up. That’s all I will say on the subject for now. Anyway, good thing today’s game is relaxing. I need that right now. We all need some levity. Do note that most of this article was written before Tuesday. P.S. No more Twitter for me, Bluesky is life. Join me there @hamelnico.bsky.social)

Sometimes you just want to do something chill. Like birdwatching. Or play a game with birds. Anything as long as it’s ornithology.

It's a lot of stuff, but it looks great.

I covered several genres on this blog, but one I’ve seldom discussed is video games based on board games. (We’ve seen it happen a lot the other way around, though – even Black Gate announced a Valheim board game this year.) And I do mean board games specifically, not card games. I think I may have a handful of games like this in my collection. I’ll also freely admit that I’m not super into board games personally – mainly because I tend to lack the social circle to make best use of them. Oh, I do have board games, even bought some over the past few years – and some sit still untouched. I did go to video gaming/board gaming events once or twice, and I got to try a few thanks to it – I recall trying out Marvel United and enjoying it, so there’s that.

Wingspan was the first board game designed by Elizabeth Hargrave to be commercialized, and her subsequent games all share the themes of animals and/or nature, with a focus on relaxing or peaceful topics. Birds, flowers, monarch butterflies, foxes, mushrooms, with one outlier involving pixies. The PC version of the game was developed by Monster Couch and published by them, Stonemaier Games and Indienova.

The "story" in Wingspan feels like it would make for an interesting management simulator, too: The player oversees a nature preserve and is tasked with bringing birds to its habitats. There are specific requirements for each bird, and most cards come with their own effects and abilities. The game is set over four turns, which themselves are divided into rounds, with each major action you can take being equal to a round. Players get one fewer round at every following turn.

The early bird…

The tutorial is very helpful! And the name of the wildlife
preserve guardian delivering the tutorial to you is...
Robin, of course.

There’s a ton of information on a bird’s card. One of the most interesting aspects of Wingspan is the attempt at displaying as many true details about each bird as could fit on the card. You’ll find: The name, of course, but also the habitat(s) it can live in, its diet, its nest type, the average span of its wings, how many eggs it can lay, its worth in feathers, and its effect. Even the effect is meant to replicate some realistic characteristic of that species, whenever possible.

Gonna pick the worm, that way I can summon the barn
swallow in my hand- Did I say "summon"? Sorry, I think
my brain is a bit too geared for Yu-Gi-Oh.

At the very beginning, you pick your starting birds and food, five split among both. To play a species, you need to have its required foods available in your bank. Some ask for a specific food item, others ask for one of a few, some go as far as to ask for three food items. Some birds have a color wheel symbol in the diet part; this means any food will do. If the dice aren’t kind to you and you don’t have what it takes to summon the bird you want, you can convert two other pieces of food into the one you need. You also choose a “bonus” card offering you an additional challenge to take on.