Game EXP Trilogy is a new (permanent?) series I'm starting to cover older games from my backlog that I'm finally getting around to playing and, with any luck, beating. I wanted to play through games that I had picked up through previous Humble Bundles (back in the days when they would typically only do periodic Humble Indie Bundles), and since these games are 15+ years old, the only audience I'm writing this for is myself and maybe a handful of people whose backlogs are larger than mine.
In today's article, we'll be covering Shank from Klei Entertainment, Cthulhu Saves the World from Zeboyd Games, and Bastion from Supergiant Games, in brief tl;dr format if only to say, "I played, beat, and really enjoyed these games for these reasons." I played all three of these games on the Steam Deck, and ran into zero compatibility issues.
Pretty much our whole purpose for being on the Internet.
Systems: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows, macOS, Linux, Steam OS
Release Date: August 24, 2010
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Klei Entertainment
Time Spent: 4 Hours, 6 Minutes
Shank was a really fun game that I had started about a decade ago, but never got beyond the second level. It's a good "old-fashioned" side-scrolling beat'em up with a penchant for bloody revenge-based massacre. You play as the titular character Shank, who, I think, defended a woman against the wishes of his former boss, where he was employed as a hitman. From what I understood, the co-op campaign was a prequel to the single-player campaign, but since this game really isn't appropriate for children, I did not play it with The Squire. I felt a little bummed that an integral section of the game was locked behind a required co-op element, but I also didn't do anything to search out another player, so I guess that's on me too.
The game loop is pretty simple and a bit repetitive, but still very satisfying. You run from one side of the screen to the other, killing different types of enemies that are common to this genre (close-combat, ranged-combat, enemies with grenades, enemies with miniguns, enemies that are literally three times your size, but that's just normal for mid-level and end-of-stage bad guys. Shank is armed with a simple knife, a shank if you will, handguns, shotguns, a chainsaw, katanas, grenades, etc and a health bar that runs on beer. At the end of each stage, you'll fight either a high-level associate of your former boss, or a miniboss, then it's on to the next stage, where you essentially do the exact same thing. But it's fun because the fighting is fast, and Shank is just OP enough to feel like the action hero you are, while still offering enough of a challenge that the game didn't feel like a complete pushover; I think the final boss took me a handful of attempts to figure out each section of the fight.
Systems: Xbox Live Arcade, Windows, Linux, Steam OS
Release Date: July 13, 2011
Publisher: Zeboyd Digital Entertainment
Developer: Zeboyd Digital Entertainment
Time Spent: 20 Hours, 20 Minutes
Cthulhu Saves the World is a tongue-in-cheek nod and homage to classic 16bit era JRPGs that Dr. Potts introduced me to with Zeboyd's Breath of Death VII shortly before I acquired this game. I really enjoy the approach that Zeboyd takes to the JRPGs that they develop (the aforementioned BoDVII, Cthulhu Saves Christmas, This Way Madness Lies), often using the following mechanics:
- Traditional four-party system
- A set number of random battles in each dungeon
- An optional "press button" to automatically engage in a fight against monsters in dungeons
- You can pick your leveling bonus (beyond standard HP +10, MP +15) to somewhat customize your own playstyle with a set of predetermined parameters.
Like all of the other JRPGs from Zeboyd I've played, there are several "extra" rules to combat that make it different from Dragon Quest. First, the "Enemies gain a +10% to their Strength/Magic attacks" at the beginning of each round during the battle. On the one hand, I like it because it means I actually have to think about the battles and can't (often) just button-mash my way through, although I still do sometimes. But on the other hand, it makes some run-of-the-mill encounters real slogs if you have a bad combination of monsters and not enough area-of-effect attacks. Getting overwhelmed can happen very quickly. Secondly, you're able to regain MP (used for magic and techniques) after every battle, but how much you regain depends on how many rounds the battle took. More rounds mean fewer MP restored.
Again, the writing here in all aspects, from the story, the dialogue, the enemy descriptions, and the fourth wall-breaking narrator, is easily one of the highlights of the game. I'm not going to try to describe the writing further than the screenshot to the right, as trying to "describe comedy" inevitably fails. I also played with the Director Commentary on, which had no effect on being able to complete the game, so I was happy to have bits of insight as I played. I only wish that there were more question marks to read more.
I could probably write more about this, but let's leave it here. It's a short-form article after all.
Systems: Windows, Linux, Steam OS, OS X, Xbox 360, Xbox One, iOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch
Release Date: August 16, 2011
Publisher: Supergiant Games
Developer: Supergiant Games
Time Spent: 10 Hours 36 Hours
I loved Bastion. I first started it back in 2021 after writing a MIDI Week Singles article, and didn't play it beyond those first 15 minutes. I loved the implied agency of the player with the rebuilding of the Bastion, even though the town was going to get built as you progress through the story, regardless. I loved the semi-fourth wall breaking and how the narrator, Rucks, would interject whenever the player would do something a little off, often leading to something bad happening to The Kid. It kind of reminded me a bit of the narrator from The Stanley Parable, but less smarmy and omniscient and more connected to the story. The story is something that's unraveled over the course of the game, and I won't get into the details here, but for those familiar with the endings, I chose the Evacuation Protocol.
One of the really fun aspects about Bastion was the different combinations of weapons, subweapons, skills, and buffs (amusingly in the form of alcohol) that you could pick along with modifiers to make enemies more difficult, but reward you with additional experience points and additional in-game currency to upgrade your weapons. What really surprised me was that I would play a stage or two with a particular weapon and subweapon, the Breaker's Bow with the War Machete, and feel that I'd found my weapon combination for the rest of the game. But then I would use another weapon, the Brusher's Pike with the Galleon's Mortar, and fall in love with that combination.
There were a couple of times when the game felt difficult, but not too difficult that I felt discouraged. Just the right amount to make me feel that I could've approached the stage differently, or that I didn't pay enough attention to my health and didn't use a healing potion in time. Just a really satisfying game. I think y'all should keep your eyes on Supergiant Games; I think they're going to have a bright future.*
P.S. Y'all, I'm playing Hades, you can calm down.
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