What I've Been Playing This Week (aka Pile of Shame Sunday)

Ironrath, home of House Forrester

The following post is part of a series of posts that are published every Sunday to update readers on what Mark G has been up to with respect to finishing off games on his "Pile of Shame". The games to target are picked by Choicest Games contributors Choona, Luke and Lanna. As I'll be talking about my progress through these games, there may be spoilers ahead, especially for games containing a narrative. Consider yourself warned.

Thaumistry: In Charm's Way

• Picked by Me
• Percentage Complete = 37%

I've played the game for an hour so far and am really enjoying it. It really doesn't feel as difficult as I thought it'd be although having said that, I have finally got stuck. With a limited number of locations though, it's only a matter of time before I stumble upon what I'm supposed to do although this is a text adventure/interactive fiction - so there's actually quite a few more possibilities than your usual point 'n' click adventure.

Game of Thrones – A Telltale Game Series

• Picked by Lanna
• Percentage Complete = 83%

I've completed most episodes now so I've now only got the finale left. At one point it looked like Rodrik finally took control back of the house (but this was short-lived, just like many characters in the game it seems). Eventually, the rumours about a traitor in the Forrester Council comes to the fore as Talia reveals that the traitor is noneother than Ser Royland; I had my suspicions that it was him but I wonder if Duncan ends up being the traitor instead if you picked Ser Royland as Sentinel?

Gared has well and truly left the Night Watch (and I don't blame him considering they wanted to execute him for basically defending himself... AGAIN). His buddies seem to stay pretty loyal to him throughout (despite their reservations) but unfortunately Finn seems to be killed when a bunch of, I don't know, ice zombies attack the group out of nowhere. Cotter also reunites with his little sister who begrudgingly decides to help you find the North Grove.

Mira is digging herself into a deeper hole in King's Landing and it seems like she's got nobody as a friend anymore (except for maybe the coal boy whose name I forget). It seems that you're forced to pretty much betray everyone you meet such as one part where you have to choose between lying to cover up Sera's fake lineage (since you promised to keep her secret even if you don't really want to) or telling the truth and ruining your friendship anyway. Normally, I'd stay silent if there wasn't an honest option (which is still a lie by omission, I know) but it didn't give me a choice in this instance: so, betray friend's trust or lie, and unfortunately the lie is quite an elaborate one because you claim to have met her fictional family.

Asher and Beskha help Daenerys Targaryen (who is apparently one of the major characters in the TV series) liberate a city on Essos called Meereen although Beskha has lots of bad memories of the place since it was where she was brought up... as a slave. In order to prevent the mission being jeopardised there is a part where you have to either stop Beskha from killing her former master or agree to let her get revenge. I chose to stop her which probably had a heavy toll on Asher and Beskha's friendship. It turns out it was almost for nothing though since Daenerys doesn't keep her side of the bargain and decides not to release her mercenaries to fight for House Forrester; instead she gives a lot of gold which is used to hire some bloodthirsty pit fighters from Meereen instead.

Asher eventually makes it back to Westeros only to be ambushed by the Whitehills along with a party of Roderick's men too. Let's just say it doesn't end well and another major character is now dead right before the finale.

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes

• Picked by Lanna
• Percentage Complete = 25%

I haven't made any further progress on this – it's now on hold while I am distracted by Telltale adventures 😊.

Battlefield 1

• Picked by Lanna
• Percentage Complete = 10%

I haven't made any further progress on this – it's now on hold while I am distracted by Telltale adventures 😊.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

• Picked by Luke
• Percentage Complete = 90%

I finally managed to figure a way of releasing Sophia from her cell and it actually involved abandoning her for a bit and pushing further into Atlantis; after opening the door that leads to the final chamber in the middle of the maze, a hinge pin breaks off the door which is apparently the right object to prop the cage door open so Sophia can escape. After going to all that effort to rescue her it comes as a bit of an annoyance that she's now possessed by Nur-Ab-Sal. I think I'm pretty close to finishing this game... although there's been no sign of the primary antagonists, Colonel Klaus Kerner and Dr Hans Ubermann yet.

War Thunder

• Picked by Choona
• Percentage Complete = 40%

Multiplayer games are always more fun with friends and this week I happened to play a few games with Luke. I'm still enjoying the air arcade battles and also had a good round in Realistic too; I love the challenge of landing planes especially when they're hobbling home after suffering battle damage - it reminds me of the times I used to play Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe where I'd often try to bring in a B-17 back home with a whole bunch of overheating engines (it required a lot of tinkering around with the throttle) - ah good times. Tank battles weren't that much fun this time around and I died without even seeing where the enemy was - I even lost Silver Eagles (which are apparently the currency you need to do just about everything - even purchase ammo!). I obviously have a long way to go with tanks or it's just not for me.

LINK:
[ The Pile of Shame ]