Now Playing at SUPERJUMP, Issue 21

We're back with another issue of Now Playing at SUPERJUMP! This week is a mesmerizing mashup of genres, classics, small games, and highly-anticipated mainstream fare. Enjoy this week's entries and we'll see you back here soon with more recommendations and odes to the games we love!

C.S. Voll

Lately, I've been playing Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth. It's an adventure game set in medieval England. The art style is really eye-catching — it feels like one is part of a beautiful animated movie. Along the way, I needed to make some difficult decisions, and it seems like most of them influenced the story, too. Another plus is that several characters have complex motivations that drive the plot forward. Players looking for challenging gameplay might not enjoy it, but those with a hankering for an intriguing story could do much worse. I'm glad I stumbled upon this game!

Taylor Levesque

Recently, I’ve had an urge to explore games that are silent yet story-rich. I’ve played a couple in the past that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, and after my most recent experience with the type, I seem to have found myself in a bit of a kick. As such, I’ve decided to try out Seen in what time I’ve had available this week.

Seen is an atmospheric puzzle platformer, with a beautiful design and a lovely soundtrack that almost seems to carry you right through the story. As one might guess by the appearance of the main character, this game is indeed about a lonely kid in a dark world. More than that though, this game is about hope and inspiration. In fact, you literally collect hope (or discouragement) throughout the game, whether it’s in plain sight or hidden from view.

As far as the puzzles go, they’re all fairly simple. In the very beginning, it might take a minute to discern that you’ve even stumbled upon one, especially since some of the indications are a little cryptic on what they actually mean, but some of the puzzles literally give you the answers right there on the screen. Seen was a very short game, but also a simple and laid-back game that's definitely worth a try!

Robbert Boeijink

I’ve been alternating between Stardew Valley and Ori and the Blind Forest. It’s interesting how the time of day influences what I play: on the train to work I prefer more challenging games like a puzzler or Metroidvania, while on the way back or at home I’d rather opt for more mellow story-driven games (preferably a 2D pixel RPG). I’m considering doing an article on that, I've been too silent lately.

Ivanir Ignacchitti

These days I'm playing Atelier Totori DX and Class of Heroes 2. The former is one of the few Atelier games released in the West that I hadn't yet played and I'm curious to see how the experience will go. I really love how the series tackles the concept of an RPG with synthesis at the forefront and manages to make every game compelling and unique in its own right. And Kishida Mel's art is a delight to look at.

Class of Heroes on the other hand is a dungeon RPG that'll definitely be harsh on me. I like how it feels more open and immersive from the start compared to the first game but I still need some time to figure out how the two compare to each other.

Bryan Finck

After finishing The Last of Us Part 2 (which seems to me even better on the second playthrough), I was somehow seized with the desire to start working on the Bioshock franchise once more. The first game and Infinite are two all-time favorites, but somehow I missed Bioshock 2 altogether. I've now made my way through the original and I found, a bit surprisingly, that I like the gameplay even more than I did back in the game's heyday.

The story is, of course, no longer a surprise but remains as captivating as ever thanks to the excellent voice acting and quality of the tale itself. However, my recollections of the gameplay were that they took a solid backseat to the story, but whether due to the work of the remastering done in the Bioshock Collection or just a faulty memory, I found myself enjoying the mix of guns and plasmids more than ever. I'm excited to step into the shoes of a Big Daddy (for real this time) when I get to the second game, but that will be delayed a bit due to the emergence of another attention-grabbing title.

I'm happy to find that Stellar Blade is much more than the discourse of "HORNY GAME ALERT" made it out to be in the days leading up to its release. The action is crisp, there's a decent amount of exploration with interesting things to find, and the enemies are fascinating and terrifying in equal measure. With large skill trees and various systems to upgrade, the game is far deeper than it appeared from early trailers. I'm looking forward to seeing what further adventures with Eve have to offer.

That's a wrap for this week's Now Playing at SUPERJUMP! Thank you for checking out the veritable treasure trove of games our team is playing right now, and be sure to check in next week when we're back with more.