What I've Been Playing Vol. 42

Transiruby (PS4)

A fun, colorful adventure that's worth a play.

 Transiruby is an indie platformer that I came across during a sale, which looked really cool due to its retro visuals. It follows Siruby, a cyborg and her AI companion Necom as they explore a mysterious planet. The game is a 2D platformer with Metroidvania elements. Siruby starts-out with a limited set of health and weapons and as she explores the planet, she'll gain new abilities that'll allow her to enter areas that weren't possible before. The world's rooted with secrets such as health and weapon upgrades and a bike form for Siruby. The game turns into a shoot 'em up by the end to change things up, which was a fun addition. 

 It features 2D retro sprites that stand-out alongside the colorful backgrounds. The soundtrack was catchy and nice too but has a tendency of getting repetitive and could've benefited from variety as hearing the same tracks play will get old after a while. It took around 8 hours to beat with me taking my time exploring and getting most of the collectables. My biggest gripe was the limited map that lacked detail in telling you where to go next if you get stuck. All in all, Transiruby was a fun time that fans of the Metroidvania genre should check out.

Stick It To the Man (PS4)

Peek into the minds of everyone with a purple spaghetti arm
that's stuck on your head!

 Stick It To The Man is an indie that caught my interest ever since 2013 when I saw how cool it looked. It follows Ray, a young man who can read people's mind using a purple spaghetti arm on his head after a strange package hit him from the sky. Initially amused by his powers, he finds himself being hunted a shadowy organization led by "The Man" who wants to retake it. Along the way, Ray will travel to a bunch of places such as an asylum to even space as the game is not short on the weirdness. The characters were a fun bunch, including Ray, Ted, and the shadowy figure "The Man".

 It's a 2D platformer that revolves around you reading peoples oddball minds to pick stickers that you can use to solve puzzles and other people's issues. For example, someone has a problem that needs solving and the solution lies in someone else's mind, so you'll need to pick into their minds to find a sticker that'll solve said problem. You can also reading a sleepy guard's mind to get a sleepy sticker and slap it on to get past him. While simple in nature, the game was fun, especially when reading people's wild thoughts which made reaching the next chapter all the more exciting. 

 The game packs a unique art-style that's reminiscent of Paper Mario and classic cartoons, which was a nice blend. The voicework was also good as every NPC are fully voiced too. Sadly, the game is pretty short as it took me around 4 hours to beat and I still wanted more from the adventure. Still, I enjoyed what I've played and I'm happy that I got to play Stick It To The Man after all these years.