Continued from part 1…

Kingdom

The first release of Kingdom is a masterclass in incorporating “show, don’t tell” in videogame design. I genuinely hold it up beside World 1-1 in Mario. Every aspect of the game seems like the game is hiding itself from you, but once you figure out it’s inner workings, you’re like “oh, of course, if I stand still, my horse will eat grass and replenish it’s stamina”. The money mechanic in this game is brilliant too. I wanted the city in Desert Child to have the same presence as the world in Kingdom, and I really tried to ape the way that everything in the game, in a way, is it’s own currency.

Play the original release before you Play Kingdom: New Lands.

Luftrausers

This game needs no introduction, but only because you could cover the entire game in the lenght of an introduction. You’re a lone pilot in a customizable fighter plane; shoot enemies till you die, and get a high score. Thats it. Thats the game. I got this on my PSVita and was the first Vlambeer game I’d ever played. The way the water kicks up under your craft, the way smoke bollows from planes when they’re shot, the way the music just seems to sit at the perfect tempo for the rhythm of the gameplay… man. I love this game. My friend Rob Gross once called Desert Child “Luftrausers with walking bits”. I choose to take this as a compliment.

Devil May Cry

I guess this seems weird, but for a while I was mentally refering to Desert Child as an action game first, racing game second. The ability to play and get better and better, and to SEE that progression of skill though the the rating screen at the end of a level, is what brings people back to Devil May Cry. It’s combat system is so simple, largely utelising only a single button, and yet the depth in this game comes from a ballet of different elements in the game, not just the main character’s complexity. This is what I take away when I play DMC: that true depth comes from a merging of a game’s different, simple elements, rather than the complexity of a single one.

That said, this is a hard series to recommend. If you just jump in the deep end you’ll hate it. It’s like giving vodka to a 12-year-old (don’t do this). I would actually start with playing Bayonetta, then work backwards through the DMC games, ending with 1. Oh, and don’t drop the difficulty, you’ll regret it later.

So thats it for now. I’ll probably do more next week. For now, let’s compare the parliaments of different countries. Just look at how amazing the Canadian Parliament looks! Which do you think is coolest?

Canada

Italy

New Zealand

Brazil

Australia