Intensive Gaming Diary

The blog about videogames.

Category: 2020s

Going Back To Art of Rally

Posted on by Viljami

My details indicate that I have played Art of Rally for over fifteen hours. I noticed this matter as I went back to playing this rally game again. I wanted to play something new on my Switch 2. So, I bought Hades II maybe a week ago. I didn’t buy it right when it was released. I also noted that it is a tough season to buy video games from web stores since it is Christmas very soon. They don’t have enough time to deliver fastly these basic items that I very regurarly need and do order from these web shops.

Art of Rally is a very good rally game. It is very original. The game is called “art” for a reason. You actually don’t so much compete in the campaign mode but you actually enjoy this game – its graphical display, the unique gameplay and the pleasurable audio or should I say music. In order to progress in the game you need to figure out the style of driving. Graphics are nice but, I have to say this, they also aren’t that realistic. The game isn’t trying to compete with games like Dirt Rally or WRC series. Instead it brings you a very inspiring gaming exeperience. I must also say that Art of Rally is definitely an indie game.

There are options to adjust the difficulty or AI cleverness of opponents and you also get to adjust the level of damage that crashing causes. The driving style is a bit different with every car. Now, I don’t get so much, in this blog post, on about how the car acts and how the actual driving experience is programmed. I do not have a clear view on how this is achieved inside the lines of code that has been written. Driving the car works nicely and after some hours you get to understand how you can handle the car better.

It is actually very nice to come back to this game. I already finished playing this, I played the campaign through once, and just installed it again to my Switch 2. I had the game installed on my old Switch 1 console. The Nintendo account holds all saved game information and data so I didn’t have to start playing the game all over again. What I did was I continued playing with every track unlocked and kind of actually went to playing this game again. The game asks if you want to race the season and all tracks involved again. After you anser “yes” you get to play the season once again.

After all these Switch 2 games that I have already acquired I am currently enjoying very much playing, again, Art of Rally. We are going to see, soon, some more games released for this console. Yesterday Metroid Prime 4 was released. We are going to see the new Terminator video game in this month. There is also the Mortal Kombat collection going to be available soon. Also I am waiting for Resident Evil 9, or Requiem, that is going to get released next year in the end of February. I think right now that I am going to buy the Generation Collection that features Resident Evil 7 and 8 also for Nintendo Switch 2. They cost pretty closely the same amount of money. So, why wouldn’t I spend maybe ten euros more for the collection?

Actually the version of Art of Rally I have is “Deluxe Edition”. I also have this game for PC. I bought it from Steam a while ago. This game looks and feels amazing on a 4K display. It can be called, and actually is called, Art. Also, the Switch 2 Pro Controller works fine with this rally game. The controller is a bit expensive but I think it was well worth the price. It costs right now actually about 90 euros.

Some Games I Have Been Playing Lately

Posted on by Viljami

Here are, actually not two but even three different games, I have been playing a lot recently. These games are Gran Turismo 4, that I have now already spent on over 60 hours, for PS2 and Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 for Nintendo Switch. When it comes to Super Mario Galaxy bundle I managed to finish the first one in the series. I am currently on to finish also the second. But now actually I have been concentrating on trying hard to finish Gran Turismo 4. This racing game proves to be a very good game. It might be even the best game in the whole Gran Turismo series as it is tightly competing with the seventh and first game of the series in my own considerations. It is also the longest game in this racing series. It can take up to 76 hours to complete.

In Gran Turismo 4, in the career mode, you are going to have to get yourself some cars. I am saying some cars because it isn’t one or two. It is actually several cars. You have to figure which car you need and which one you could sell to buyt upgrades to the car you are using to try to complete races. You have to complete races to advance in this game and to eventually also finish it. You can check the completion percentage when you visit your Home that can be found from one of the menus that can be found inside the game.

There’s a lot to play. You can achieve yourself some driving licenses that enable you to compete in different kinds of races. There are many events available that are grouped to Beginner Events and Professional Events and then we have also Extreme Events. You have to complete all Beginner and Professional events to proceed to Extreme ones. There are also events in different countries that are for cars that are manufactured in the specific country. Also, you can find some events that are grouped by manufaturer.

You really much get to upgrade your vehicle. There are also many settings that can be enabled with buying an upgrade. Then you can make adjustments. You can for example edit your preferences for types of tires, some properties of transmission, your cars braking power and you can also adjust your suspension, driving height and many other settings. You can compete in the races without knowing every piece of the settings but this can give you a nice advantage. So, if you know about cars and can figure out these quite technical matters you will gain some well needed speed and winning races can become easier.

It is also necessary to know, or at least try to learn, about different car models. Gran Turismo 4, as all Gran Turismo games do, features very real cars and there are many car manufacturers involved. While the game was released in 2004 we cannot see these electric cars. It would have been nice to have also electric cars in this driving game. Maybe we are going to see some of these car manufacturers models some day in racing games. Gran Turismo 4 is a huge recommendation if you like PS2 games and racing games.

Now, I haven’t discussed about Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, yet. So, I managed to get through first of these games. It was a very good remake. At first I was a bit overwhelmed with the controls, since it is originally a Nintendo Wii game meant to be played with the motion sensor, but I got around it quickly. It seems only logical that this controlling method wasn’t altered so much as it is actually a keen part of the gameplay.

I spent about 14 hours playing the first Super Mario Galaxy. Then I proceeded to the sequel. Unfortunately I decided to start to play Gran Turismo 4 and that took my attention. So, I think I don’t have so much to say, currently, about Super Mario Galaxy 2. I was content that I bought this bundle of these two games. They offer a lot especially if you are into Super Mario games.

I think this is all this time. I might get back to you, later, when I might have finished at least Gran Turismo 4. I think I will have something else to write about the next time. I try to come up with a new topic. Thanks for reading and see you in the next blog post!

Mafia: The Old Country

Posted on by Viljami

I just finished Mafia – The Old Country. I played it for about 12 hours which is also the length of this game on “How Long To Beat” website. This time it was natural to follow the plot and i is actually a huge part of the whole experience that Mafia – The Old Country offers. I am not going to spoil the plot but it builds on romance and personal story of the main character of this game. I liked this game. It is also the only Mafia game in this series that I have played through.

The gameplay offers fighting (with knives and guns), conversations and a bit of driving around on horses and cars. A car means here something very old since the game takes place in the beginning of 1900s. Knife battles are challenging and you have to time your moves, swinging the knife and trying to dodge your enemy’s attempts to hit you, very well. When it comes to guns I found out that shotgun, preferably the pump-action one, that can have more ammo loaded, was my favorite weapon. You can actually hit your target from a very long distance. It is also a bit easier to hit if compared to the basic rifle that is also available, at least at times. You can also use the rifle if you want to hit even targets that are a bit more far away from you.

The graphics in Mafia – The Old Country are beautiful. The catchy accent of the characters feels just right. I found myself, as awkward it may seem, babbling the dialogue to myself in this italic accent. So, I have to say that the voice acting is in a good form in this game. It is a big budget game after all. I bought the digital copy of this game and played it on my Xbox Series X. I didn’t even have to think about any performance issues which in my opinion is a good thing. The digital copy had a price of about 50 euros.

I really don’t have the option here to compare this game to some earlier games in the Mafia series. This was the first game of this series that I ever have played. I think we can talk a while about other games in this series. The first game was released already in 2002. The series has also games Mafia II and III. The second  game was released in 2010 for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. The third game in this series was released in 2016 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. There has also been a game called Mafia – Definitive Edition that was released in 2020. It was a remake. There is also a collection named Mafia – Trilogy. It was released in the same year that the remake was.

What did Mafia – The Old Country have to offer for me as a gamer? The story was immersive. You start as a young mine worker and advance to a mafioso. There is also the love story involved between Isabella and the main character, Enzo. I am not going to reveal the ending. The plot is important in this game. If you enjoy the plot I think you should choose a lower difficulty setting. If you prefer fighting, with knives and guns, you should pick a more challenging difficulty level. You might also want to first finish the game and then increase the difficulty level and play it once more. There are also lots of collectible items that you can try to find as you progress in the game. I found Mafia – The Old Country to be a comfortably enjoyable game that is well worth its 50 euros price. The game is of course available as a physical copy. Its just a matter of which format you prefer. The choice is yours to make.