Unfinished Games:
Unfinished Games of 2021: Part I
Unfinished Games of 2021: Part II
Unfinished Games of 2022: Part I
The year is approaching its end, and I
must concede there are games I started in 2022 that I will never
finish (there are also games I started, completed, but didn't receive
a review – that's for next year). What follows are five more games
I tried, but for one reason or another, didn't finish. I didn't
enjoy them, but readers may find enjoyable experiences in these
discarded games.
Fit For A King:
Someone on Rock, Paper, Shotgun liked
this game, and it was included in an itch.io bundle earlier this
year. Released in 2019, it looks and controls like something from
the very earliest years of video games. Playing as Henry the VIII,
the tagline is “Marry everything, execute everything!” It's
likely there is a fun game here, but I didn't engage in either of
those activities. I couldn't figure out how to do anything aside
from walk around and engage in idle chatter with the nobles and
peasants.
Fields of Glory:
This MicroProse Napoleonic strategy
game received only mediocre reviews on its release in 1993. It
hasn't aged well. To the modern eye, the graphics are difficult.
The game features six battles fought in real time between Napoleon
and his foes. Most of the screen is unhelpful. How relevant is the
terrain? Are there objectives? How do I even order units around?
The game comes with no instructions. It does come with a PDF file, a
manual if one cares to read it. Even with the basics under control,
maneuvering is still confusing and tiresome.
Time Played: 2.1 Hours
Last year I enjoyed playing Sunless Sea. With its sequel, Sunless Skies already in my collection, I was excited to play it. Unfortunately, it didn't float my boat.
Sunless Skies begins ten years after Sunless Sea. The sequel is set in the air instead of the ocean. Because I failed to beat Sunless Sea, and only spent two hours in the Skies, I don't know enough to explain why this is. Gameplay begins with an introduction that teaches the player the rudimentary elements, while hinting at the story. Unlike Sea, the player's starting base is in the center of the dark world. Two factions compete at the center of the Reach; the Tacketies and the Stovepipes. Sunless Skies is gentler than its predecessor. At start the player can choose between a Legacy or Merciful death (Sea only had Legacy deaths). A death with the legacy setting is permanent. A Merciful death allows the player to accept their fate, or load their last safe location.
Before setting out to sail the skies the player needs fuel and supplies. Both seem to last longer than they did in the Sunless Sea. The scouting bat, which in the previous game could be used repeatedly, now costs supplies with every use. But it is more reliable. As the player travels, flavor text appears on the skies.
Traveling is quite different. Sunless Sea had a wide sea, spotted with islands, archipelagos, coasts, and peninsulas. The skies of Sunless Skies are narrow corridors. It feels like a maze or underground tunnels. Rarely are there wide open spaces, or emptiness. While sailing the player sees that the developer added a cool background, showing the land far beneath. It's amazingly drawn with fantastic detail, but it also makes it difficult to differentiate the background from the terrain. If the player can't tell the difference they'll crash. The background and the narrow passageways makes the map difficult to read.
A key resource is terror. Too much and the protagonist descends into madness. Too little and he can't explore the horrors of the Reach. Sunless Seas clearly explained how the player gained and lost terror, and its effects. The system of Skies is more opaque, and it can be frustrating to gain terror, without any idea how it was accrued (or how to expunge it).
The Skies are more visually striking
than their predecessor, and some systems are improved, but it also
lost some clarity, a few systems are worse, and skies feel too
confining, but with fewer ports, enemies, and events. 
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
I wanted to enjoy this game. I fondly remember the old Commando series from which Blades of the Shogun descends. If memory serves, I stopped playing for two reasons. One, I'm atrocious at this style of game. Two, I purchased Elden Ring, which I've been playing for the past eighteen weeks.
In Shadow Tactics the
player controls a group of agents during the Edo period in Japan.
Their goal; investigate a corrupt daimyo. Like the Commando
series each level is a map with an objective. The agents are ordered
to sneakily defeat enemies. The agents include a Samurai, two
Ninjas, a Thief, and a Sharpshooter. Each agent has unique abilities
that the player uses to advance toward their goal. Each agent has a
different feel. They are like tools in a toolbox. The style makes
Shadow Tactics a type of puzzle game. Success requires using the
correct tool (or combination of tools) at exactly the right
interaction to solve a problem. Its precise nature makes it easy to
make a game ending mistake. Alerting the enemy to your existence (a
murder seen by scouts or a dead body spotted on the ground), is
normally an insurmountable obstacle. The player needs to save
constantly, as often as every thirty seconds. A timer displays how
much time has passed since the last pause. When paused the map shows
all the enemies. Shadow Tactics has solid gameplay,
simple but clear visuals, good dialogue between characters, and an
engaging story. Maybe I'll return someday. 
This is a remake of the first three Phoenix Wright games released in North America. I remember enjoying the first and second when they debuted on the DS. When they released on Steam I convinced my wife to try them. After having the game for a year, and only finishing three of the five stories, it's fair to say we will never finish Ace Attorney. On most occasions, instead of playing this game, we preferred to watch a TV show or movie. Adventure games are comparable to a show, and we found it less enjoyable than the choices on Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, or Disney+.
This is what sticks out.
One, the game is a simple port from the DS. Everything is too large. The screen oddly feels stretched. The sounds are simple and harsh. None of the dialogue is voice acted. It feels like nothing was altered or improved for the PC. The visuals, combining western cartoon and anime styles are silly. The characters dress in ludicrous costumes and use overly exaggerated visuals when expressing strong emotions, particularly anger. This isn't necessarily bad. Silly is acceptable, but sometimes the silly feels too repetitive. Though the main character is a lawyer, and half of the game occurs in a courtroom, it has only the thinnest relationship to actual law (because it is silly).
It is not only silly, which can be enjoyable, but it is immature. Women display tremendous cleavage and absurdly bouncy breasts. Ace Attorney is full of sexual innuendo. It uses these elements for cheap laughs. On a more serious note, the protagonist's ally, Maya, is the target of sexual harassment. Instead of addressing it, the game brushes past it. The characters make ugly excuses, telling her to tolerate it, because men will be men.
None of this is appropriate, especially for a kid's game. To compound issues, the early Phoenix Wright games contain the most poorly written games I've played (Chroma Squad excluded). At best the dialogue is packed with cliches. At worst it's cluttered with empty words that mean nothing. The characters make sounds so the player thinks they are doing something. They speak so the player has text to read. But the characters communicate in vacuous comments, interjecting idle chatter into every corner of the game.
The gameplay isn't any better. Phoenix Wright forces the player to move around too much to find the plot. In the explore sections the player examines, talks, moves, and shows evidence. The player moves to a location, performs a single action, then runs to another area. Repeat. The exact actions must be performed in the correct order. It's easy to miss one obscure action. To avoid frustration I ask every question and present every piece of evidence to everyone I meet. This creates its own feeling of frustration. It's not a game if I have to play this way to proceed. It's checking items off a list. At trial the player needs to present the precise piece of evidence at the perfect time. Sometimes the answer is obvious, but it's also obscure and unguessable. This is a common problem with adventure games. Frustrated players look up answers to continue the story. Except that the story isn't great either.
The characters are the only redeeming feature of Phoenix Wright. The lead and recurring characters are charming, sarcastic, clueless, humorous, and determined to do right, whether it's Gumshoe, Edgeworth, Phoenix, or Maya/Mia.
2022 is close to a wrap. A final review of this year's games soon.
Recent:
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - In Need of a Bloodletting
Relevant:
Unfinished Games of 2019: Part 1
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