I think people are being unnecessarily harsh in response to your comment. I get what you mean - it must be frustrating to writers to see their work reduced to a few key points that remove it from the greater context.
I don't think you're being snobby in saying that.
On the other hand, I don't think summaries are a bad thing. On the whole it'll encourage more people to give the book a try. Anyone that's put off by the summary probably wouldn't have read the book in the first place, and at least it gives them some basic background.
13 Sentinels is really great so far! The animations are beautiful. There are some slightly cringey anime tropes/fanservice at points but it's not too bad. After the introduction the game lets you choose whether you'd prefer to advance the plot or play the Fire Emblem-esque battles. Having this choice is nice - sometimes I just want to relax with the visual novel side for example.
Yes I did eventually get to the end. I recommend finishing it - if you get really stuck try a hint website like this. I think that can make the experience a bit more enjoyable, as a few of the clues are really obscure.
Along these lines, I think my favourite puzzle game of all time has to be The Witness. Have you played that?
I haven't played any TOTK in a few weeks - I've been distracted by other games! But I should probably play some more.
Besides that I've been enjoying 13 Sentinels, Battlebit and a bit of Minecraft on the side.
That's a nice idea actually, and it actually gets you to consider your thoughts on a game. Quite often I'll think back to a game I've played before and I can't remember exactly what it was that I liked/disliked about it - or at the very least I'd struggle to put it into words. Instead I just have a general sense of the 'feeling' of that game. Considering the game immediately after finishing it would solidify things in your memory and give you a greater appreciation of it. That in turn may encourage you to play more games in your backlog that you'd disregarded previously.
Let me mention a couple of games I've finished recently:
Return of the Obra Dinn definitely stands out as one of the most unique games I've played. Clouds, explosions and all the little details of the ship rendered in that dithered pixel art style immediately drew me in. And somehow the game makes the admin of identifying and filling out a book of crew members extremely rewarding. There were some moments near the end of the game where I hit a wall - and it's good to have a friend who's completed the game if you want some hints. But for the most part you could make logical claims about each character. Coupled with the amazing voice acting and soundtrack, this is an extremely satisfying and intelligently designed game.
It's a game that completely flew past me when it released, but I'd subsequently heard great things about Dragon's Dogma. And having played it, I can see why a lot of people recommend it. The combat feels like Monster Hunter meets Dark Souls - very fluid and responsive, and I love the way you can hire other player's pawns with varying levels of expertise to assist you. Whilst I did enjoy my time playing this one, it did feel like a very empty world. Throughout the story, I was gearing up for the game to lead me to the next big city but that never happened. The ending was actually very interesting, but it felt like it was missing a larger second act which never happened. I hope that the sequel can make the open world a bit more lively.
We'll have to see. Other PS3/360 games have been ported to the Switch with some success. If you can get PS3 or X360 emulators to run well on your system then that may be the best option. If not, Switch emulation is surprisingly good so hopefully this'll add one more viable way of emulating.
You've summed it up pretty well I think. The climb, wait, stab, wait, starts to become grating after a while. If there was some actual gameplay there rather than holding a button, it would be way more satisfying.
In some respects it wasn't that the game didn't tell you what to do, but instead that it wasn't clear what to do. Knowing if something is or isn't a climbable ledge for example. Many other games make clear the 'meta' of the game without being hand-holdy
The controls are very fluid, a lot like Ico. Whilst they are satisfying, there's a lot more time pressure in SOTC so the issues with the controls become more apparent.
Apparently the HD collection on the PS3 made SOTC a bit harder, with stamina draining faster and Wander getting tossed around easier. Perhaps this is is part of the reason why I found it so frustrating at points.
I'm interested in what you mean in saying it's one of the first games with lots of conscious design choices. Are you saying that they didn't let the restrictions of the PS2 hold them back from their creative vision?
Yes I played Ico (PS3 remaster) and really enjoyed it. The atmosphere felt very similar and the ending was beautiful, but most importantly the gameplay was far less frustrating in my opinion. It was clear what the 'puzzle pieces' were/what I was working with - whereas with SOTC I sometimes struggled to work out what was actually intended with each puzzle.
I've also played The Last Guardian and loved it. People say that controlling Trico in that is frustrating, but I had far more trouble with the player movement and vague requirements of each boss in SOTC.
Yes, I think you're correct - playing the game when it came out would have been a very different experience. It's obvious that it was very ahead of it's time and I can see how it has inspired so many others, which have really improved on that style of gameplay (Uncharted comes to mind).
Whoa, looking up Spybot unlocked a memory I'd long forgotten. Did you ever play Junkbot (another Lego game)? It was a Lemmings-y puzzle game in which you placed down Lego blocks to help a robot eat all the junk and get to the end of each level.
I think people are being unnecessarily harsh in response to your comment. I get what you mean - it must be frustrating to writers to see their work reduced to a few key points that remove it from the greater context.
I don't think you're being snobby in saying that.
On the other hand, I don't think summaries are a bad thing. On the whole it'll encourage more people to give the book a try. Anyone that's put off by the summary probably wouldn't have read the book in the first place, and at least it gives them some basic background.