A Ratalaika Funfest
I've heard of Ratalaika games for a long while ? inexpensive games with quick gamerscore published by Ratalaika - that's all I knew. Having never played one, I thought they would all be a lot alike, so when I was asked to check them out, I decided to give them a fair test. Thus instead of one Ratalaika title, I tried six, and I was pleasantly surprised with the results.
Blind Men and One Night Stand
The first titles I tried were Blind Men from Man-Eater Games and One Night Stand by Kinmoku, both of which are point and click dialogue games, aka visual novels. These are great for achievement hunters because one can finish these types of games very quickly. I played around with the different dialogue choices myself and enjoyed it before going to a guide to finish them up. With a guide, these can each be finished in about an hour. Blind Men is a fun title about a wannabe Super Villain having a bad day on what should have been his debut to the world. It's a tongue-in-cheek take on the popular superhero trend done in anime style. One Night Stand has a more pastel, watercolor art style which contrasts rather dramatically with its less humorous topic ? the main character wakes up in bed with someone he can't remember, and the story goes from there. While neither of the characters is unlikable, the fact that both are drunk and sick gives it a very different tone than the funnier one.
Devious Dungeon and Devious Dungeon 2
The next ones I tried were Devious Dungeon and its sequel Devious Dungeon 2 developed by Ravenous Games, both of which are old-school dungeon crawlers with simple platforming aspects. With their eight-bit retro-style, it's like stepping back in time. Both of these have the most simplistic of stories told in a few sentences at the beginning. While the first two games were completely story driven, these two are all about the gameplay. In Devious Dungeon, there's only one character, and he dies...dies rather a lot actually, but since he immediately resurrects back in town, it really makes no difference. The only thing to be lost when one dies is progress on quests, and most of these are short enough that it's not a big thing. The game saves the player's progress every three levels, meaning one never loses huge amounts of progress when he or she dies. It's very straightforward ? kill enemies, make money, buy better equipment, rinse and repeat until you meet the boss at the end of each section. The game is just plain fun without a huge commitment of time. It can be picked up and played whenever one has a few minutes (or a few hours) to play. Devious Dungeon 2 is much like the first one except the difficulty has ramped up a bit. The game has more traps and hazards than the first one and items are a lot more expensive, but making money is fairly quick and easy. Another change is that the game offers three heroes to choose from ? a barbarian, a rogue, and a mage ? all with a different special ability. It's similar enough to the first title to be nicely familiar with just enough change to be interesting. Both of these titles are loads of fun.
Legend of Skyfish
The next title on the list is Legend of Skyfish from Mgaia Games. This is a sweet game in which a young girl is trying to save her brother. Again, there's not a lot of story, but there's enough to make one want to help her. The mechanics of the game are easy to grasp as the girl moves from island to island as she makes her way to the corrupted skyfish. She uses her fishing pole to manipulate the environment and move around obstacles while fighting various enemies. The game has a sweet vibe and a bright art style to match. It can be finished in just a few hours.
Hoggy 2
The last title is a fun little puzzle platformer. Hoggy 2 by Raptisoft sees the main character's children stolen by the Moon Men. The character is a cute little guy that moves like a snail. He can't go around obstacles in the usual way; instead, he can stick to the floor or ceiling and make his way through that way as he goes about eating fruit and finding keys as he looks for the little ones. This is another one that's fun and easy with both kiddie and normal difficulties. How much time one wants to devote is entirely up to them. All of the achievements can be gained within the first hour, but there are many other levels should one want to continue solving puzzles.
After my dive into Ratalaika, I've found this to be a publisher I really like. The games are fun, diverse, and easy to finish. On top of that, all of these titles are priced at $4.99 to $7.99, so what's not to love? Having found Ratalaika, I'll definitely be back for more.
Overall Score: 9 out of 10
Review by B1ueSeptember
v5v 12 Jun 2020 07:32:08
R4M Razr 17 Jul 2020 17:18:07