Prime Gaming – April 2022

Well, after a week of last year’s Prime Gaming article sitting high on our top articles section, I can finally disappoint with some ok games included as part of this April’s dump. Oddly enough I’ll have something to say about the “in-game loot” this month, as PC, PS4, and Xbox One players of Two Point Hospital can get small themed-cosmetic bundles. PC players of The Crew 2 can get a massive amount of the premium currency as well. Otherwise, it is the same guff as usual for World of Warships, Lost Ark, GTA Online, Destiny 2, New World, and the usual offerings, alongside some Blizzard additions like Overwatch and Hearthstone.

Onto the games available this month. It is a mixed bag of odd things, interesting things, and complete mysteries for one or two inclusions. Let’s start with Fishing Cactus’ second game included via Prime, Nanotale – Typing Chronicles, a hard cooking RPG. It is a typing tutor-style game, dressed up as an adventure piece in an isometric RPG land full of beautiful color. I’ll begrudge typing tutors simply on years of gamified attempts in combatting dyslexia. However, the art department at Fishing Cactus deserves praise and a raise. This is good stuff with an interesting idea, and it uses it to enhance something that is often important to teach.

Moving on to the bland of the month, Guild of Ascension is also published by PID Games. Also, it is exactly what you think it would be with a name like that. A Rogue-lite turn-based RPG that looks a bit too plastic, like those budget British animation shows/films you get around Christmas.

There is just something about it trying to be someone’s first Rogue-like. If you’re often playing something like Hades, Dead Cells, or other Rogue-influenced games, I’ve got a feeling Guild of Ascension will unfortunately feel very surface level. It is not bad by nature, but certainly not enough to pull your attention away from other titles.

Let’s have a bit of reprieve with what is often considered one of the greatest adventure games of all time, the second adventure of the young pirate Guybrush Threepwood. Ron Gilbert, the ever wonderful Tim Schafer, and Dave Drossman’s 1991 hit Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge is available throughout April. There is very little to actually say, as it is generally considered that most would understand exactly what the LucasArts adventure game happens to be thanks to being the staple of the genre. You pick up seemingly random crap, get told a generally charming and fun story, and when you can’t progress any further, you rub the crap you found against everything until you can.

This is a point that is proven with House of 1000 Doors: Family Secrets, a more modern incantation of the adventure hidden object game. However, unlike the LucasArts brilliance that came before it, the hidden object genre (if you can call it that) is plagued with generally awful stories. These tales are usually created by inhaling all sorts of hallucinogenics, sticking your head in a vat of chlorine, and smacking your face off of a keyboard until it doesn’t hurt anymore. After starting life out on Steam for a small price, it would be ported to mobile two years later as a “free-to-play” game with microtransactions that allow you to actually play.

Next up is a sci-fi take on pen-and-paper RPGs. Galaxy of Pen & Paper was something I played back in 2017 (a key was provided). As a turn-based sci-fi adventure with several references to Star Trek, Star Wars, X-files, and even Back to the Future, it is a fun nerdy paradise as you and your group fight space worms and other trope-filled battles. It was developed by the Brazillian and Canadian developer Behold Studios, which has a history of similar games. It is one of few pixelated turn-based RPGs I don’t instantly roll my eyes at.

From red-shirts to nobles, this month’s big offering is 2006’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, I.E the one before Skyrim offered dragons and sexual favors. As the first time in the series the characters would be fully voiced, ZeniMax Media spared little expense in getting Jean Luc himself, some woman that stood about in her red, white, and blue underwear despite being a greek goddess, some bloke that keeps dying, and Bernadette Bassenger herself. I can’t say Oblivion is impressive though. I only played it until Jean Luc left me alone, and the fact that more than fifteen years later, it has aged a bit and is a little worse for wear.

The penultimate game for the month is EA’s recent hero shooter from the tower defense series of Plants Vs Zombies, known as Battle for Neighborville. Unsurprisingly, the release is meant to be added to your Origin account. PopCap’s 2019 hero shooter landed with the thud of anything with zombies in it, and continues to be just as exciting. The usual gameplay of the typical hero shooter is there, with a franchise that makes both look like they are both past their sell-by-dates. If you want a couple of hours of PvP third-person hero shooting, I can’t say you’d be doing bad with Battle for Neighborville, but you’ll return to something else soon enough.

What did I save for last? The game I was excited about back during our break in late December and still haven’t gotten around to, but the title alone sold me straight away. A puzzle adventure RPG-thing, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a vegetable-based adventure story about a little turnip that tries to take down the vegetable government by committing tax evasion. No, you haven’t taken drugs and will now be able to write a hidden object game’s story. I really said all of that and I love it. Who doesn’t want to be a happy little turnip, farming on your land, battling monsters, and causing mischief by avoiding tax?