Greak: Memories of Azur vs Kingdom Classic
Greak: Memories of Azur
Greak: Memories of Azur is a gorgeous action-adventure game featuring a young boy in search of his sister in a world engulfed in turmoil, no thanks to the bloodthirsty Uglars. Playing as the boy Greak, you’ll venture across various regions in Azur, exploring every inch of it for hidden stashes, completing quests, and battling enemies along the way.The game starts off like a relatively regular action platformer, where you’ll get to jump, swing your sword around, and solve relatively simple puzzles by switching characters once you manage to reunite him with his sister. This part is actually pretty similar to the gameplay in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, a favorite of mine.
In fact, you’ll get to control both characters at the same time, which is interesting, though it does complicate things a bit during combat especially considering that the sister is a magic user and deals damage from afar while the brother is a sword-wielder and does best dealing damage from a much closer range.
In a way, Greak: Memories of Azur also feels a bit like a Metroidvania in the sense that the game hides secret chests and rare flowers in places that you, if you don’t pay too much attention, might miss. Even if you spotted the items, you will still need to figure out a way to get to them, which usually involves some creative and sometimes very precise jumping. Expect to get frustrated… a lot!
The gorgeous hand-drawn art in Greak is definitely one of the highlights of the game as well. The out-of-focus background in the distance matches well with the stuff at the front too.
In a nutshell, not only is Greak: Memories of Azur a gorgeous action-adventure game with a heartwarming story about a brother trying to reunite with his sister in a world embroiled in war and infested with dangerous creatures, it also comes with a fun gameplay that's perfectly "midcore". So, if you're into story-driven platformers, you'll want to check out this one!
Kingdom Classic
Kingdom Classic is a pretty challenging and yet entertaining, 2D game that also happens to be one of the more innovative tower defense games in recent years. Developed and published by indie companies, this game puts you in the role of a crown-totting king or queen who is setting out to find a suitable spot to settle down and build his or her own kingdom from the ground up.There aren't a lot of kingdom building in this game though. Aside from upgrading your main "base" which starts off being a simple campfire, you will only build and upgrade certain structures like farms, walls, and towers. The game also uses a really simple coins-based system where you rely on the coins you earn to do practically everything, from converting wild men in camps into your kingdom's loyal subjects to powering up special stats-boosting shrines, to unlocking new stone upgrades, and even to upgrading your very walls.
Your kingdom will be under constant attack by creatures from otherworldly dimensions every night, and hopefully by then, you would have some defenses up and ready. These creatures will become increasingly harder to kill, more in variety, and more in numbers, so you will need to ensure that your kingdom's defenses are sufficient to meet the threat.
Due to its difficulty, you might want to check out some of the guides out there after trying a round or two on your own, just so you won't pass up on this amazing game. Even with the guides though, you will still need to put in a good deal of effort and strategic thinking just to make it to Day 50 let alone Day 100. So, if you're a fan of tower defense-like games, don't mind pixel art, and enjoy a good challenge, Kingdom Classic is an indie game you will want to buy.