Underneath my yellow skin

Tag Archives: Cozy Grove

Sequel to the third, yes one more post

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I want to talk about sequels some more because I can. This is the fourth post about sequels, and I want to talk specifically about the Cozy Grove sequel. I wrote about my impressions of it (Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit (Spry Fox)), but I got stuck on the idea of sequels.

I went deep into the rabbit hole of the different Dark Souls II launch trailers, which I have not seen before, as I was thinking about sequels. FromSoft trailers always go hard, and one reason I skip them is because they give so much away. Yes, it’s hard to tell what is what without context, but still. They show late-game bosses, which is just wild. In fact, for Dark Souls III, the final boss was the box art.

I have not played more of Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit, and there are several reasons for it. But first, I’d like to reiterate that this is a mobile game. The only reason I played it at all was because I was somehow included in the Netflix beta, which I did not know until I went to Netflix for the first time in quite some time. It’s funny because I went there to cancel my membership (another post for another day), and to my surprise, I was able to play Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit on my PC. I was stoked because there was no way I was going to play the game on mobile.

By the way, in searching for the reveal trailer, I stumbled on a Reddit thread from Cozy Grove fans who were heartbroken than the game was going to be a Netflix exclusive AND a mobile game. A few people were scolding the people who said they were mad/upset/disappointed because games cost money! Yes, they do. And as I stated in my quick look at the sequel, I am not upset at Spry Fox for grabbing that Netflix money. They need to get paid and they need to eat.

However. I am also with the stalwart fans who are upset because in order to play the game, you have to keep your Netflix membership in perpetuity AND you have to play the game on your cell phone. With a teeny tiny screen. Someone pointed out that the cheapest subscription is $7.99 a month, which is $95.88 a year. It might have been a bit cheaper when the game came out because they raised their prices fairly recently, but it wouldn’t have been that much cheaper.

I wonder how many people have played the game versus the first game, but I don’t think it would be easy to find that data. I don’t think Netflix would be freely letting that out into the wild. Also, please stay in your fucking lane, Netflix. I mentioned this earlier as well, but I don’t think they are doing the right thing as they try to get into the games biz.


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Sequel to the sequel about sequels

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I want to talk about sequels in video games one more time. In the last post, I pointed out some positive things about Scholar of the First Sin, the sequel to the first Dark Souls game. I ended it by talking about a popular FromSoft content creator who was pissed as hell that Elden Ring was designed around spirit summons. I’m not naming the guy, but he’s someone I watched casually in the past. A few months after Elden Ring was released, this guy put out a video that said in time, Elden Ring would be considered the worst FromSoft game. Ever.

I laughed in bemusement because one, it was only a few months after the game had come out. Two, who the hell was this guy to be the final arbiter on what was the worst FromSoft game of all time? Three. He was just wrong–and it was sour grapes. Four. It very much reminded me of fans of a hipster band who got angry when that band got big. “I was a fan before they were popular!”

Did FromSoft take a different tack with this game than with their past games? Yes. Did they balance the boss fights around spirit summons/human summons? Yes. More the former than the latter, but they made it pretty clear that the game was very summon-friendly. They also made it harder to get invaded in that you had to be using the multi-player aspect in order to be invaded. In past games, you could get invaded simply by being human–and in the case of Dark Souls II, when you weren’t human, too. I haaaaaaated that about the sequel because I suck at PvP and was mad that there was no respite from being invaded in that game. In fact, I think the more curse you had, the easier it was to get invaded. So, the opposite of the other games.

It’s funny to me how people claim they want something different, but then insist on playing the games in the exact same way. I watched a video arguing that fighting the bosses solo in Elden Ring was playing on hard mode, and it was a choice players made for themselves. Before this game, I was someone who did fight all the bosses solo (with some exceptions, but I’m not going to get into that).

It’s funny how death changes you, though. Or at least it did me. When I came back form the dead, I was grateful to have another Miyazaki world to explore; I did not care about soloing. At all. I mean, I have done all the main bosses with just the spirit summon, which is this game’s soloing the bosses.

Anyway. Here’s my point. We rail at developers for putting out the same game over and over. And then we rail at them when they change things up. This has always been my observation about Dark Souls II. If it had been called something completely different, I don’t think it would have gotten half the shit it did. But as I said in the last post, it was caught between a rock and a hard place.


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More about video game sequels (part two)

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Let’s talk more about sequels in video games. I wrote a post yesterday intending to get to Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit, the sequel to Cozy Grove. I took a hard detour to Dark Souls II (Scholar of the First Sin) instead, and I’m going tos stay there for the moment.

I mentioned how most hardcore From fans did NOT like Dark Souls II and/or considered it a failure. It was so intense, From actually re-released the game a year later with several fixes. The biggest one is that they changed the ending by adding one more boss after the final boss. Which, in and of itself, is…ah…how to put this diplomatically–utter horseshit. Why? Because depending on how you play it, you can face three bosses in a row without a break. Fortunately, if you kill one, they are dead for good. It’s still annoying, though, to have to babysit your souls through three boss fights back-to-back-to-back.

I have said for years that it’s not a gerat Dark Souls game, perhaps, but it’s still a great game. It’s better than 90% of the games out there. I have slightly amended that first statement. And, I’m going to say something that has caused much angst and drama. I enjoyed the second game far more than I did the first game. There is one major reason for it–it had fast travel from the start. In the first game, you had to beat Ornstein and Smough, which is roughly halfway through the game before you got the ability to fast travel. And even then, there were only specific bonfires to which you could travel. Very few and far between.

I understand the thinking behind this approach, and I can say that I know the layout of the first game so much better than I I do the second (or third). Why? Because I was forced to traverse the areas over and over again as I died so fucking much. So. Much. Dying.

However. By the time you get to the second half of the  game, any charm that plodding along the same areas again and again and again might have had has definitely worn off. Add to that the fact that the second half of the game is decidedly and markedly worse than the first half, and, well, this is my least-played of the three Souls games. And my least-favorite.

Dark Souls III is my favorite, in case you were wondering.

A friend in the RKG Discord mentioned that one thing she really liked about the second game was that there were several animal-based bosses/enemies. Which I thought was funny. Another thing I liked is that in one of the optional boss fights, there are two completely different ways to beat the boss. The conventional way to do it (by pulling a lever) and the nonconventional way–which is what I did during my first playthrough.


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What makes a good video game sequel

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Let’s talk about sequels. I did A Quick Look at Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit (Spry Fox), which was the sequel to Cozy Grove. Here’s the second part of that review. I only played a few hours because I just could not get into it. I was thinking about why that was because it’s essentially the same game as the first one, though not as good. I touched on a few of those reasons in the last post, but I wanted to flesh them out more in comparison to Dark Souls II/Scholar of the First Sin (FromSoft).

When Dark Souls II came out, it was proclaimed a disappointment and a failure by hardcore FromSoft fans. This is a gross simplification, but the essence is true. True fans would cite the million things they hated about it, and there were tons of videos on how the game was Not A Worthwhile Successor. So much (virtual) ink spilled!

There was a popular video criticizing the game, and one thing they mentioned was that when you left the swamp area and went up an elevator, you reached the lava area. The video pointed out how jarring this was because swamp to lava? Inconceivable! I read/heard this criticism over and over again, and I wanted to ask, “How many of you actually realized this as you were playing the game?” Because I sure didn’t. Oh hell. Let’s just tackle this now. The level design is not as elegant as the first game, no, but it’s not terrible the way some people like to moan. You know what? No. I don’t want to get to this now. I’ll tackle it later or in another post.

Before I get to that, though, I have to say that there were so many criticisms, FromSoft did a nemake of the game and released it over a year later–under a different name. The original was called Dark Souls II whereas the new version was Scholar of the First Sin. I played the latter first and then went back and played the beginning of the original game. I will say that SotFS is a vast improvement and that I did not finish the original. I’m saying this so it’s clear which game I’m talking about.

I will say that some of the big issues with the original game–I can see it. The hordes of enemies were off the chart and the lack of checkpoints was painful. I made it to No Man’s Wharf, and, I have to tell you, that’s brutal in the SotFS version. It’s ridiculous in the original.

I have to mention a really ridiculous bug in SotFS. Well, I’m not sure it’s a bug, but it’s ridiculous, anyway. It’s the one game that decided to get serious about durability (of weapons). Which, fine. Whatever. I’m not a fan, but eh. It wasn’t that big a deal in the first game. In this game, however, on the PC, there was a thing that made the durability degrade at an alarming rate. So in the aforementioned No Man’s Wharf, you have to carry two usable weapons (or have repair powder) beacuse one weapon will not be enough. You might be able to squeak by depending on how many enemies you kill, but if you’re me, you start worrying when the durability hits 25%.


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The yin and the yang of me

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I don’t game often, but when I do, I game hard. Or soft. Depending on my mood. I am a mass of contradictions, and I don’t mind admitting it. Some could call it complex. Some could also call it contrary. Some others might simply call it crazy. I would say yes to all of the above, and I have no problem with  that.

Side Note: This is completely off-base for the rest of the post, but I am not a fan of the move for games in the ‘horror’ genre moving into extremely graphic body horror. It’s not scary–it’s just gross. I watched the beginning of the demo for the newest *yawn* Supermassive Games, and I just turned it off after ten minutes. Full disclosure: I hate the games. I think they’re juvenile and facile, and they only exist to show really grotesque ways for teenagers (voiced by thirty-year-olds) to die. There is nothing interesting about them because the teens don’t act like real teens. I’ve said that Supermassive wants it both ways. They want the campy slasher flicks feel to their games AND they want you to actually care about their characters. You honestly can’t have the latter if you’re doing the former. At least not for me. Anyway, the newest one is so grotesque, I just could not watch. I watched maybe two minutes of the same team (Eurogamer) playing the next Outlast and turned it off just as quickly.

Not only is all that grotesque–it bores me. There is nothing interesting about oh, there are supernatural forces ripping humans apart if the characters are one-dimensional assholes. I spend my whole time as I’m watching just wanting everyone to die as quickly as possible. I mean, yes, that may be the intent, but it’s not interesting to me.

I hate that RKG are really into the games because then I feel I have to watch them play the games. I watched half of their recent Spookies (The Quarry), but gave up. The games are horrible to me. Like, jaw-clenching terrible.

Where was I? Oh, right. The yin and the yang of my video game playing. I like FromSoft games. That would be the yang. And I like cozy games. That would be the yin. I also like some hard roguelites, which would be more on the yang side.


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I feel it in my (dark) souls

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I have not played Monster Hunter Rise (Capcom) today and I’m pretty sure I’m done. I have no desire to play it, which is a pretty drastic change for me because I was all about it just yesterday. Even then, though, the bloom was off the rose. Truly, I jumped into it enthusiastically, charmed by the graphics. It has a smaller scope than MHW, of course, which I actually appreciate. There was too much in MHW and it got overwhelming. Actually, I think it’s more that I’m just annoyed. There’s a ton to do in MHW, which, fine and dandy, but it always felt like I never was done with it. Which, yeah, I know that’s the purpose of many games these days. To get the gamer to play that one game forever. One way to do that is to have endless amounts of content. Which, again, I’m not opposed to. I mean, it’s not as if I have to do the arena quests if I don’t want to. And I really don’t want to. I hated the arena quests in the last game because they are so contrived. I mean, yes, the whole game is contrived as there is no such things as monsters, but at least in the world of monster hunting, they have environments with flora and, indeed, fauna. They interact with each other and said environments, which I appreciate about the games. In MHW, there were bespoke turf war animations that were really fucking cool. At least the first ten or so times.

All of this is taken away in the arena quests. In those, you just…kill the monster. Which, ironically, is my least-favorite part of the games. I know, I know, that’s a hot and unpopular take, but it’s how I really feel. I love tootling around and exploring. I love prepping for the quests. I love crafting armor and weapons. I love petting the Poogie and to a lesser extent, sending the Cahoot flying. I like talking to the NPCS, well,  at least in the last game. I find them less charming in this one. I don’t think it’s the fault of the NPCs, but that I’m not as into the game.


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The actual awards for games I want to give

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Yesterday, I was musing about the game awards I was going to give out this year, a year that was unlike any other. Yes, the pandemic was part of it, and not my favorite part. I’ll be honest with you. It’s very much not my favorite part of this year. But, there was also the me staying in the hospital for two weeks part, which is also not my favorite part. But it’s the most important thing that happened to me this year. Kind of. More the aftermath and dealing with my parents, but that’s neither here nor there.

Because of my medical trauma and my stay in the hospital, I really fell off new games in the last quarter of this year. I was concentrating on recovery and my stamina loss. I wasn’t really able to process new games so I kept returning to old favorites. There are not going to be many games in my awards this year, but know that each one is giving with 100% sincerity.

Before I hand out the actual awards, I want to mention that I tried a bunch of indie games this year that didn’t hit the mark for me for whatever reason. They include Overboard! by Inkle Studios, Chicory: A Colorful Tale by Greg Lobanov, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion by Snoozy Kazoo, and Unpacking by Witch Beam. These are all good games in their own ways, but they just didn’t resonate with me. I’m especially sad about Unpacking because it was an indie favorite, but it stressed me out when I couldn’t get items in the right place–which is exactly opposite of what you’re supposed to experience while playing the game.

With that out of the way, here are my awards in no particular order.


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A new gaming me (or not)

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Before the hospital, I was into three different kinds of games: soulslikes, roguelike-lites, and cozy games. I was playing Cozy Grove by Spry Fox (cozy game, of course. It’s right there in the name), Dorfromantik by Toukana Interactive, which loosely fits into the cozy games category as well, and (sigh) Nioh 2 by Team Ninja, which can be crammed into the soulslike category if you use a shoehorn, elbow grease, and squint real hard. I had just watched the trailer for Elden Ring (FromSoft) before going into the hospital and was stoked about that. The release date has been pushed back a month, but I’m fine with that. I would rather they release it fully playable at a later date than release it on time and it’s riddled with bugs.  I had just beaten the first boss in Nioh 2 and was messaging with Ian about the second main mission the day before I collapsed. Apparently, I had done the sub-mission and didn’t remember it. That is neither here nor there, though.

After I left the hospital, my thinking about video games changed drastically–along with many other things. Before the hospital (BH), I had this grand plan for Elden Ring. It’s their first open world game and one you can play completely with other people. I was going to have two characters–one with whom I would play the game solo as I played all FromSoft games. Soloing all the bosses and exploring the environments. With my second character, I was going to play with other people (mostly Ian) to see what that was all about.


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Her name is Nioh(2) and she dances in Japan

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side view of protag with monkey friend.
This is my monkey fren who is also a guardian spirit….Look, it’s complicated!

Yes, I have used this title before, but I changed His to Her and added a 2, so it’s completely different, right????? Besides, if I’m plagiarizing, I’m plagiarizing myself, so whatever. And the reason it’s her instead of him is because there’s character creation/customization in the sequel! That was the first hour and a half in the game, which was actually short for me. I was delighted to be able to make my character older and as thick as possible, which wasn’t that thick, but I did make her cut. I put her hair up in a ponytail that is as long as possible. The hair is straight and thin like mine, and I put white/blue streaks in it. I actually didn’t spend that much time on her face because all I really care about is that they look Asian–which is not a problem here. Oh, and making her not look like she’s ten years old. I put scars on her face and tatted her up–and I was so fucking happy with her. My trademark dark red lipstick as well (what I used to wear in real life. Diva by MAC). William who? Samurai Geralt was boring as fuck and while you can play as him, why the fuck would you want to do that when you can be like the picture above?????

One incredible–oh, I should say I’ve been playing the game Nioh 2 by Team Ninja. Before I dive into it, I have to mention that September 1st was the roll over to autumn in Cozy Grove by Spry Fox and I love the warm autumn color palate. I noticed it immediately as I spawned onto my island with all the browns and reds. More importantly, I got a badge for playing in three seasons and even more importantly, new stuff! New flowers, trees, bushes, insects, and fishies. I spent a good few hours just wandering around and finishing off certain badges for the first time in weeks. I had my character dressed in fleece and a cozy cap, and it was just really lovely.

The second game I’m playing is Spiritfarer by Thunder Lotus Games. It was one of my GOTY last year (along with Hades by Supergiant Games, of course) and they added their second update. It’s the Beverly update with Beverly being your old neighbor and an owl. The last update was the Lily update with Lily being your sister. That was interesting because it added backstory that was alluded to in the game, but never explicitly stated. It was small and not much to do other than go from place to place and do the bad platforming to talk to her. The worst part about this game is the gameplay itself. This update is meatier and actually has things to do, but…I feel curmudgeonly for saying this, but the thrill isn’t quite there. I think it would have been better integrated into the game instead of zipping through it at the end. I have all the materials needed to do what she wants, but I did have to craft some of it. It’s been so long since I’ve done that. I have to say that it’s still a nice update and I’m impressed with the quality as always, but it’s hard to recapture the magic from this far out. I will say that I was stoked that they added save slots, which the community had been begging for ever since the game came out. So I could play it again if I want. I’m happy that they’re still adding new content, though. It’s really great of them.

The third game I’m playing outside of Nioh 2 is Dorfromantik by Toukana Interactive. It’s deceptively addictive and I’ve dabbled in creative mode. I prefer classic, though, because I like having boundaries, otherwise I’ll be playing forever. I will say that since I started playing Nioh 2, I only play one or two runs of Dorfromantik rather than the hours I played in the past.

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Cozy Grove: 4 months later

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I’m on Day 117 of Cozy Grove by Spry Fox. I have appreciated it being my stress relief on a daily basis. Bite-sized fun that can be anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour a day, depending on how much of the day-to-day you want to do. This is both a boon and a deterrent, which I’ll get into in a minute.

By the way, I find it amusing that in the Reddit, someone was talking about bugs and saying that while they understood there was a warning that time-traveling may cause bugs, the OP (Original Poster) said they ran into a bug that they didn’t think was because of time-skipping. They casually included that they did do time-skipping, which was the amusing part. They gave no basis for it other than they didn’t think it was true. Someone else hypothesized that the devs said that to cover up for the bugs that were already there, but also with no evidence.

I will say that I do not time-skip in the game and I have not run into any of the bugs they commenters in that thread had mentioned. That’s just an aside, not part of my main take.

I’ve sent my last spirit buddy on her journey and before that, got the canonical ending. It was…look. I don’t want to disparage the game because I adore it and it’s done so much for me. So please note that my what I’m about to discuss does not diminish my feelings for the game in any way. It’s just that, unfortunately, the last third or so of the game is not nearly as good as the first two-thirds for several reasons.

First of all, the resource management becomes unwieldy. This is in part because there are badges for different things and planting a certain number of plants/trees gives you badges. That’s fine and dandy, but that means an increasing amount of picking the plants, fruits, and nuts each day. Plus the other resources you have to mine and the animals you have to feed and pet. It adds up. In the beginning, it was maybe a two minute chore. Now, it’s ten to fifteen, which I don’t want to do every day. Here’s another problem. There is very little space on the island and the different living things prosper being close to certain items. So, in the case of the flowers, they benefit from being grouped together. That’s fine and dandy, but the pathfinding in the game is not great, so it can be really hard to click on the particular poppy you’re trying to harvest.


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