Halloween and Down in Bermuda
On Halloween we did our traditional thing where we went out to dinner and saw a movie. My mom and I dress up and my dad gets embarrassed as usual. I went as a pirate (in honor of Monkey Island ;)), but it didn't quite work out as planned. It was a bit of a modification of the steampunk costume I wore last year. I had the same shirt and pants. I also bought this nice looking pirate jacket. It was nice and comfortable. I also got a head scarf. But after looking at it on my head in the mirror, it didn't look good, so I chose not to wear it. A sword would have made me look more piratey too, but I didn't think it would be a good idea bringing that out in public. So in the end, I don't know how piratey I really looked. My mom on the other hand dressed up as "Batgirl." I kept calling her Batman though because she was wearing a Batman mask. We went out to dinner at BJ's, and then we went to see the movie Ticket to Paradise, which stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts. It ended up being a really funny movie. A few cheesy rom-com tropes maybe, but it was entertaining. I wish they'd make more movies like these actually. Halloween was pretty nice, apart from me not having the perfect costume.
Now yesterday I technically finished Down in Bermuda, however I'm not done with it just yet. There's a little backtracking and puzzles for me to do to be a completionist, but I thought I'd share my thoughts now. It is a puzzle game. You play as a pilot named Milton who crash lands and gets stuck in probably the Bermuda triangle I'm guessing, and he's been trying to find a way to escape for years. To the point where he has become an old man. You do some island hopping and solving different mechanical puzzles. The first island serves as a tutorial and from there on out you get to visit the other islands, which are quite diverse. You've got a forest island, a shipwreck island, and a lava island, just to name a few. I think in total there were about five or six different ones.
You don't actually control Milton in this game. Instead you're looking down on the islands in an isometric view, and clicking and dragging and rotating the screen, solving the various puzzles. Your main goal is to find the orbs that are hidden around the islands. Some you just find by looking around and in hidden spots, while others are released from puzzles, and yet others are used to unlock a portal to the next island. The puzzles as I've said are the mechanical variety, and there is enough variability in them to keep things interesting. I didn't find them too difficult and some are the common type I often see in these types of puzzle games. Sometimes you're pushing buttons, other times trying to connect a maze or aligning symbols. There were a few I spent a longer time on than others. Those made me not want to quit the game until I solved them lol. I did have to look up a couple hints on the final island, but overall I felt the puzzles were fair. Also on almost every island there was a monster in the end you had to defeat, again by solving a puzzle usually.
There are also some other bonus things to find on each island, like a map, which shows you the location of the orbs. Very useful. There are also photographs you can collect, which shows a bit of Milton's past. And finally there are keys, which unlock some other puzzles. That is what I'm trying to do right now. Collect all the keys.
It was a pretty fun little game. Kind of on the shorter side. A couple of criticisms maybe: There is music, however the music cuts out after a few minutes and then you're just left with some ambient sounds. I would have liked the music to last throughout, instead of stopping. It made the game a little too quiet for me. The sound effects however, like for example when you find an orb, are very pleasing to listen to. The other thing is moving around with the mouse on PC is kind of clunky. This is probably another one of those situations where the game works better on a different platform such as the phone, which is what it seems designed for. I would have played it on my phone, but it looked like it was only available on Apple Arcade. I couldn't find it on the app store anyway. Anyway, have a screenshot. This would be Shipwreck Island. I spent a long time moving that cannon around, trying to get it in the right position to shoot at things.
After I finish Down in Bermuda, I'm going to start The Spirit and the Mouse. This game looked too cute to pass up. It's quite a new release, so there's not a review on Adventure Gamers AFAIK yet. I'm going in blind with only my own expectations. My only concern is that there might be action or platforming elements. I'll just have to see.
Now yesterday I technically finished Down in Bermuda, however I'm not done with it just yet. There's a little backtracking and puzzles for me to do to be a completionist, but I thought I'd share my thoughts now. It is a puzzle game. You play as a pilot named Milton who crash lands and gets stuck in probably the Bermuda triangle I'm guessing, and he's been trying to find a way to escape for years. To the point where he has become an old man. You do some island hopping and solving different mechanical puzzles. The first island serves as a tutorial and from there on out you get to visit the other islands, which are quite diverse. You've got a forest island, a shipwreck island, and a lava island, just to name a few. I think in total there were about five or six different ones.
You don't actually control Milton in this game. Instead you're looking down on the islands in an isometric view, and clicking and dragging and rotating the screen, solving the various puzzles. Your main goal is to find the orbs that are hidden around the islands. Some you just find by looking around and in hidden spots, while others are released from puzzles, and yet others are used to unlock a portal to the next island. The puzzles as I've said are the mechanical variety, and there is enough variability in them to keep things interesting. I didn't find them too difficult and some are the common type I often see in these types of puzzle games. Sometimes you're pushing buttons, other times trying to connect a maze or aligning symbols. There were a few I spent a longer time on than others. Those made me not want to quit the game until I solved them lol. I did have to look up a couple hints on the final island, but overall I felt the puzzles were fair. Also on almost every island there was a monster in the end you had to defeat, again by solving a puzzle usually.
There are also some other bonus things to find on each island, like a map, which shows you the location of the orbs. Very useful. There are also photographs you can collect, which shows a bit of Milton's past. And finally there are keys, which unlock some other puzzles. That is what I'm trying to do right now. Collect all the keys.
It was a pretty fun little game. Kind of on the shorter side. A couple of criticisms maybe: There is music, however the music cuts out after a few minutes and then you're just left with some ambient sounds. I would have liked the music to last throughout, instead of stopping. It made the game a little too quiet for me. The sound effects however, like for example when you find an orb, are very pleasing to listen to. The other thing is moving around with the mouse on PC is kind of clunky. This is probably another one of those situations where the game works better on a different platform such as the phone, which is what it seems designed for. I would have played it on my phone, but it looked like it was only available on Apple Arcade. I couldn't find it on the app store anyway. Anyway, have a screenshot. This would be Shipwreck Island. I spent a long time moving that cannon around, trying to get it in the right position to shoot at things.
After I finish Down in Bermuda, I'm going to start The Spirit and the Mouse. This game looked too cute to pass up. It's quite a new release, so there's not a review on Adventure Gamers AFAIK yet. I'm going in blind with only my own expectations. My only concern is that there might be action or platforming elements. I'll just have to see.