Excavation of Hob's Barrow

[olivermoss]

I finally finished it! ... as a let's play.

I'd actually decided to play it a half hour per day to finish the story without burning myself out on game mechanics I do not vibe with, but then the game froze every time I opened it. I am pretty sure what's happening is that some older indie engines don't run well on newer/higher end systems. They process the data too fast as the game falls over in confusion. So, I picked an LP and watched a bit at a time.



And the story itself was... there? It told me what was going to happen and that didn't make it tense just, meh?

But, let's ignore the story for a second.

The setting and sense of place, the flavor was all top notch. I think what Wadjet Eye games excel at is picking a very specific flavor and committing to it. It really sold old, wet village isolated from the world until the rail line came through.

The pixel art was amazing. Honestly, doing so many scenes only in midtones and having it work? This is art by someone who is incredibly experienced and deft. If there are any awards for pixel art this should win all of them.

Also, music and voices! It's got Sam Beart and David Jones! It sounds like, from comments both by Sam and one of the BG3 devs, that they got the gig doing Karlach based on this performance.

One more note regarding dialing in on a flavor really tight. They just sold out again of the OST, which they released on cassette? Not vinyl, for some reason, it's a cassette tape? There has got to be a reason for that choice, but I don't quite get it. The fans, however, do.

Obvs, I do not vibe with the mechanics and think the most frustrating parts of them could be easily remedied. With so much amazing art, music and voice work it would be possible to turn this into a very well paced film. I know people love this sort of game, so I feel bad saying that, but really it could be cut into a stunning pixel art film. There was less actual gameplay in this compared to other Wadjet Eye games, so it also kind of felt like it wanted to be a film. Since the game is strictly linear, there was no 'will I avoid this fate?' it was 'walk toward the mistake or don't progress the game'.

Okay, now the story. *shrug* There was so much hype around this game. I had so many reasons to want to play/see the story, to think I'd love it if I could just get at it. But the actual plot was not the highlight. It was really the atmosphere / vibes that were.

Also, this is the second Wadjet Eye game I've played where 'befriend the guy being inappropriate to the female protag' is a baked in part of the plot. Like, the character I want to see the MC deck or turn out to be the villain keeps being like the main supporting character.

In good news hopefully, I am over having any fomo about the hype around Wadjet Eye. If they do another game, I might watch it. I think they got a big bump from the BG3 connection so they are probably doing fine.

Comments

[mistressofmuses]

I'm glad you got to see how the game plays out without having to put up with a frustrating experience. It does sound like it had a great sense of setting! The way you describe it does seem like it would make a better movie than a game, honestly. Things that are very linear without much internal gameplay seem better suited to a film.

[olivermoss]

Some people really seem to like this sort of gameplay and I don't want to discount that, but, yeah, it felt like it wanted to be a movie. Still, the guy is getting his stories out there and that's cool.

[mistressofmuses]

I really enjoy some things that fall into the "visual novel" category, where it's a lot of finding particular things, and clicking through dialogue options, though mostly in the ones I've played there are puzzles to be solved and at least some branches in terms of the plot and the endings.

I wouldn't say that a completely linear story inherently *isn't* a game, but sometimes it might be more suited to a movie instead, and it sounds like that was the case here.

But yes, good for him getting his stories out there! And I'm glad that there are people who are enjoying them!

[delphi]

I've played a lot of Wadjet Eye games, but I hadn't heard of this one. This was handy to read before potentially checking it out (or checking out a Let's Play).

Also, this is the second Wadjet Eye game I've played where 'befriend the guy being inappropriate to the female protag' is a baked in part of the plot. Like, the character I want to see the MC deck or turn out to be the villain keeps being like the main supporting character.

What was the other one?

[olivermoss]

Oh man, I've been hearing about this one everywhere even before BG3 came out. Now it's getting hugely bumped by that fact that it's got the VAs for Karlach and Halsin.

I'd have to replay (or check an LP) to see if inappropriate is the right word, but one problem I had getting into the Blackwell games is some of the things the ghost dude says at the start.

The only Wadjet Eye game I've played through is Unavowed.

[delphi]

Oh, that makes sense - yeah, first-game Joey was not my favourite in the Blackwell series. And a lot of the voice acting for him continued to make him not my fave, with the way some lines made him needlessly condescending.

Admittedly, I'm not plugged into AAA gaming, so I wasn't aware of the connections to BG3. I've possibly played more Wadjet Eye games than any other newer studio, but mostly because I just hop around between smaller or indie producers.

[olivermoss]

Yeah, Hob's Barrow has the VAs of two companion / love interest characters from BG3 in it and also the devs of BG3 have tweeted about it. Wadjet's probably really happy about that right now.

I like finding good indie games. Poking around the space is hit or miss, but Inscryption (a Daniel Mullins game) was one of the best gaming experiences I've had. I play a mix of big games and indie games.

[delphi]

Ah, that makes sense! And thank you for the rec - I'll definitely take a look at Inscryption. I don't avoid big games by design, but I'm one of those people who gets sick, faints, or worst-case scenario has seizures from 3D graphics, certain movements, or flashing lights. I tend to stick to indie stuff because that's where I'll find more 2D graphics or side-scrollers.

[olivermoss]

Ooh, that's rough. I can play AAA games, but I have to strictly limit my playtime or I'll hit serious exhaustion issues that linger for days. Definitely check to see if Inscryption has lighting effects that would be bad for you.

[delphi]

Let's Plays have been a godsend, because screen-in-screen helps to mitigate things, and I can preview games pretty thoroughly if someone has taken an interest. (Also, Steam's been pretty generous with my occasional "Thought I could play this without passing out - turns out I was wrong" refund requests.)

[olivermoss]

Steam's refund policy is amazing!

I do like Let's Plays. Also if I'm not playing my eyes don't need to focus so hard at things. Alan Wake was a game I simply could not play at all due to it's intense light mechanics. With an LP I can just tab out to avoid the worst of it and tab back in. No reasons to subject myself to that needlessly.