The Koalition writes: "There have been plenty of games in recent years that have tried to capitalize on combining elements from a few different genres into one streamlined package and few have truly succeeded. While A Valley Without Wind 2 (Valley 2, from here on out) does not succeed in every area, it’s still a fun and incredibly ambitious project from a small team of dedicated developers. You can check out my interview with three of the team members from Arcen Games right here for some more details on the inspiration and design concepts of the game.
The general premise at hand is similar to “Metroidvania” experiences (combinations of elements from games like Metroid and Castlevania) that have come before it – it’s part side scrolling action game, platformer and RPG-lite. However, Valley 2 sets itself apart from the pack by throwing in a whole other piece to the puzzle – a micro-RTS-style game within a game that ties directly into the story and concepts at work. It’s an ambitious undertaking, but it works surprisingly well."
Our Top 15 LAN Compatible Games include Dying Light, Age of Wonders III and Farming Simulator 15 just to name a few. That is if you are ever hosting a LAN Party and want to laugh at others (or get laughed at) in person while playing these games.
Even though I don't like the idea of Farming Simulator, there aren't that many LAN games out there any more, and shooters seem to be forcing non-local matchmaking. It's great to see what I can play with my friends at a huge birthday party.
There are actually a few that we didn't include within this list and of course one could always turn to Classic games for LAN but it is frustrating not having local matchmaking for newer shooters.
This feels less like a sequel and more like a re-imagining of what the first Valley Without Wind was supposed to be. It fixes a lot. The mash-up of genres makes more sense now, splitting your time between managing the world map like a turn-based strategy game and exploring the grid spaces as a 2D action platformer. The platforming, however, is even less interesting than it was in the original game...
Chris Park: "Postmortem sounds so grisly, doesn't it? I was tempted to call this a retrospective, but that sounds a bit foofy. So here we are. This isn't even a true retrospective, because AI War is still going strong and looks to remain that way for some time.
The time period this postmortem will examine is May 2009 through the end of May 2013."
