I’m Kinglink. It’s the first week of September, so let’s do the Humble Choice September 2024 Review. 

We have a lot of major titles I’m excited to talk about, a pretty solid lineup at first glance. I’ve played these games on a Twitch stream, and I have played a few of these previously on Game Pass and owning them myself. Now we can talk about what the games are like, who is going to enjoy them, and if you should check them out. 

Let’s start with the awesome game already on screen. Take it away, Drax. 

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. This is how to do a Marvel game. 

Guardians of the Galaxy was a movie I thought would be Marvel’s first flop. I was wrong. The thing is the Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel chose are likable, interesting characters, with a lot of great dynamics between the characters that allow them to have interesting stories. Rather than going for the same actors in the movies, this is a different tale, a unique take, and a new look, but it all works. 

The story is enjoyable; the characters banter pretty effectively, there’s a couple of fresh mechanics like the Huddle up, and the pacing is just right. I even love how the boss is dealt with at the end of the first chapter. 

Still, I think if you’re not already a Guardians of the Galaxy fan, this might not change your mind. The movie isn’t required viewing but does help set up the dynamics of the group faster, though it is well told here. The gameplay is solid, but also it’s probably not going to be the deepest experience. Honestly, the biggest problem is Square said this wasn’t a great seller after everyone went crazy about it, so this is it. Also, for some reason, sometimes the button prompts were the Playstation version and sometimes they were the Xbox version, very strange, though I am using an 8bitdo Ultimate, so maybe that’s confusing it.

Pick this up if you like Marvel Movies, superheroes, sci-fi, humor, or interesting environments. This won’t be for everyone, but if you’re even slightly interested, I would recommend this one. 

Stranded: Alien Dawn. Why won’t you do the job? 

Stranded Alien Dawn is made by the same company that makes Tropico and Surviving Mars. For Stranded, you have a squad of four characters who survive a spaceship crash and the player will decide actions that your group needs to carry out. Players might have their team observe plants, and animals, and gather resources to build shelter. It’s a typical survival game, including alien monsters that will become very hostile. 

However, as I played Stranded Alien Dawn, I just got more frustrated. I wanted my characters to observe a plant. Only one or two characters could do that. Scavenging was limited to a couple of characters. For most of my playtime, two of my characters sat around being idle, and the game didn’t give me clear guidance on why they did nothing. Perhaps it’s about the actual skills the characters had, but they should have had enough. There’s a huge lack of information and it became far more frustrating than anything, and before I knew it I was bum rushed by 16 beetles, who killed my team because I hadn’t researched Weapons yet and couldn’t defend myself. 

Admittedly, some of this will probably come from tutorials and more. But it also just doesn’t feel intuitive at all to understand what characters are thinking or wanting to do. There’s a level of micromanagement here that seems unrealistic for what the game is offering. 

Pick this up if you’re willing to invest a long time into the game. However, the frustrations I felt with Stranded are similar to the Frustrations I had with Tropico and Surviving Mars. It’s probably just what this developer wants to make at this point in their career. There’s a solid fanbase for this type of game, but it’s like pulling teeth just to understand what’s going on. 

Coral Island. Stardew Valley 2.0

Coral Island feels like a massive upgrade to the Stardew Valley game. The graphics are extremely vibrant. It feels like the farm is much larger, and there are no screen transitions between areas. There are 52 townsfolk with at least 165 total NPC in the games, along with more animals than I could imagine, and it is a whole new world waiting for the player to explore. 

However, it’s still exactly like Stardew, and while there are some new features like catching bugs, the core loop is the same. Granted, this is designed for people who have played out Stardew Valley, but that’s also a problem because if you aren’t already a fan of Stardew Valley, this won’t appeal, and Stardew is probably the better starting point. 

As a special treat, I asked my daughter who is also a fan of Stardew about the game, and she said she likes the large map, which is huge. And there’s a lot to do. She’s still meeting new people on her 9th day in. Though she experienced a little lag when moving between areas, she also is playing on the Xbox Series S, so that might be only on that console. 

She thinks it’s super cute, loving the museum, and interacting with pets, which I did for entirely too long. They are just adorable. And Spiker Doo is the best name ever for a dog. Finally, she didn’t like fishing, which is fair enough. 

Pick this up if you want more Stardew. I wish I could go deeper, but honestly; I think you already know if you are a fan of this type of game, and if you want a new one, this is extremely well-designed for the right audience. I will mention that some features are still not here. I saw this game in Early Access and wanted to wait until it was released. They delivered on the promise of the series, but stuff like co-op is not available yet. Though it is on the road map, so expect this game to continue to improve over the years. Hopefully, the closing of Humble Games doesn’t affect the road map too much.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake. A classic Collectathon 

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is impressive. You can just tell someone to put in the extra effort in everything on this title. The cut scenes are well-animated with a style that is way above what I was expecting. The story is well told; the writing is quite funny. But with it being a collectathon it’s going to be about the levels, and Cosmic Shake has an impressive layout for the first area, and the first true level, as well as a funny concept. 

However, there are still some issues I have found. I saw three different times players rode a horse, and all three of them had rough transitions between the horse gameplay and the main gameplay, making me think I failed each time. I didn’t, it just wasn’t smooth. Also, sometimes players will be confused about what is expected of them, but not too often. The controls are smooth. It’s more of a question of what is possible. 

One thing I will bring up is the voice cast. The entire cast is back to my knowledge, and it brings me back to the original cartoon. I do want to call out Bill Fagerbakke. His line delivery as Patrick made me laugh so many times in the first hour. 

Pick this up if you’re a fan of Spongebob, or just like a good collectathon. The level design here is great. The characters are their classic self, and the story here is compelling. It feels like a large-scale episode, and that’s what you would want in a Spongebob game. This was a very pleasant surprise. 

Lost Eidolons. A Tactical battle game. 

Lost Eidolons is a tactical RPG. Players will move their units and then allow the enemy to move themselves. With the option for permadeath and more, it reminds me a lot of Fire Emblem or Symphony of War, only without the anime style. There’s a weapon swap system and the armor the opponent wearing matters more than the weapon they are wielding, so for heavy armor you’d want to use an axe. Unfortunately, so far, the game is straightforward. Combine your attack with others to overtake one enemy at a time. Eventually, you start getting magic that will heal your party and I assume there’s a camp system mentioned a few times right around the corner. 

However, Lost Eidolons also feels a little weak. The game has good lip sync for the characters, but not a ton of animation, so characters feel static while talking. Outside of battle, characters talk in a group but it looks weird seeing only one character speaking at a time, where this could have been a cut scene or just showed four characters talking. I also hope the games are much more tactical. At the current time, it’s pretty easy, but this is a 60-hour game, and I’m just scratching the surface. Finally, there’s a cool feature in the opening battle where it looks like the player is in a large riot, and that hasn’t come around again in the first three chapters. I hope there are more clever tricks like that. 

Pick this up if you’re a fan of tactical games, especially unit-based ones, and of course Symphony of War, Fire Emblem, and maybe even Wargroove or such. This has a lot of tactical potential, but it also will depend on how aggressive the AI gets or the level design is. Still, it’s a meaty campaign so those who give this a shot will have their fill, whether it’s something they enjoy or if the luster wears off. 

Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles. Slay The Spire with Dice! 

Astrea gets its inspiration from Slay the Spire, but it changes one thing. One thing that makes this a completely original game. Players will draw dice from their deck, but then also have to roll the die, so the die that players choose now gives one of six results. But beyond that, the die can be modified, the die can be re-rolled, converted, discarded, and more. There are so many interlocked systems and choices in this game, I am quite amazed. 

This still does feel a lot like something you have played before. There are several characters, each character has a unique ability, and there are three levels each with a boss. Elite monsters and more. It’s well designed, but it’s also a feeling you’ve seen much of this before, whether that’s a comfortable mold, or something you’re trying to get away from, is up to you to decide. 

Pick this up if you like dice games, or Slay the Spire. This is a great fresh take on the concept, but it also feels like a safe bet for the developers. One that doesn’t risk too much. Players will be comfortable here, though the dice does add an interesting and deep twist to the entire game. 

InfraSpace. City Skylines in Space

Infraspace is a city-builder, but takes place on an alien world. The entire game revolves around building a functioning society. Traffic will become a problem before long with the setup, but the focus of the game is to harvest resources, study technologies, and eventually repair a spaceship with the materials found on the surface. Everything is done by building locations designed for certain purposes and making sure there are enough resources to cover all the needs of society. 

And yet I wonder what’s difficult here? I don’t know if there’s a genuine challenge. Players can build far and wide, and while that means the resource network might take longer to get going, I don’t think it actually will harm the player in the long run. Players can easily drop a few Wind Turbines in a remote corner to power harvesters for instance and the game seems to find this acceptable. As a concept, this is good, but I’ve seen this done far better elsewhere. 

Pick this up if you want to play Cities Skylines in Space. So much of this is about routing traffic, but it also lacks much of what makes that difficult in other games, because you can just keep building outwards almost infinitely. Maybe I’m missing something and aliens will attack in the next five minutes, but I don’t think so, I think is just a relatively chill, easy city builder. 

You Suck at Parking. Dealing with the worst part of driving. 

You Suck at Parking has players attempting to park in a few parking spaces laid out across large levels. Players need to park the cars in the spots in a limited time, being rewarded with an extra gold marker if they do without mistakes. This sounds like a strange concept, but it’s an enjoyable experience. Players will have to navigate levels, memorize patterns, and use precise movements to get their cars where they have to go. The challenge is execution rather than speed. 

However, some levels are more annoying than others. There’s a good amount of them, but players will get through them pretty quickly. The online multiplayer has been active for a while because of Humble Choice, but quite dead. When the game originally came out, you could easily find 8 players to challenge. Now, after two minutes, I was only seeing 4 players. A shame, because online is fun and hectic. 

Pick this up if you want a little arcadey game where you have to park cars in whacky locations. The level design here works well, and there’s an enjoyable challenge that continues to raise the bar across all the levels with some clever concepts. There are also harder bonus levels but this means players will be pushed to their limits. 

And that’s what I have for Humble Choice For September. Well, mostly. You see, there’s an Alpha Playtest of Rue Valley. It sounds interesting, and it’s a Time loop game. I’ve heard people say Disco Elysium, but I don’t think there’s a direct connection there. Honestly, it’s on Epic and it’s only an alpha build, if you want it, grab it, but I didn’t spend the time on that one as it’s not even the full game. 

So instead let’s take a look at Is There Any Deal and the answer is shockingly yes. The only games that have sold cheaper than 12 dollars are You Suck at Parking, and Guardians of the Galaxy, and while Cosmic Shake is cheaper, We’ve discussed Voidu not being a valid site, and if you remove that it’s 12.99, so yeah. If you want one of these games, you’d be paying at least 12 dollars, 12 dollars for the bundle isn’t a bad price. 

With that, I do have to call out previous bundles. You Suck at Parking isn’t listed on that site, but it was in Jingle Jam 2022. That’s how I got it and enjoyed it. Astrea, though, is worse being in the Humble Bundle of Devious Deckbuilders Bundle of May 2024   Again I say this every month, Come on Humble. 

As for the games, there’s a wonderful variety here. While there’s some overlap, I would say these 8 different games in different genres, Infraspace as a traffic simulator, and Stranded as a city builder might be the closest, but honestly, even those will appeal to different people. 

There are four coupons. One for the DLC of Stranded Alien Dawn, Robots, and Guardians, at 55 percent off, and one for 20 percent off Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2. As I wrote this I saw two new coupons, one for 30% Off Aerial_Knight’s We Never Yield and 44% Off Soulslinger: Envoy of Death, Also I don’t believe you can combo any of those deals with the discount you get for being a subscriber to Humble Choice. 

Anyway, on with the tier list. As you know, we will now judge the games and put them into buckets, dividing up the games worth the full bundle price, The Strong Contenders, the average games, and the Misses. This is based on opinion, not a value judgment, more focused on which I enjoyed and think you will also enjoy. 

And we skip the Misses. I don’t think anything is that bad, which is a good thing. 

The Average games have two titles, we start with Stranded. I’m sure if I spent hours on the tutorial and watched some YouTube videos and read some Wiki articles this would be an interesting game, the concept is good, I just don’t know if the game underneath all of that will be worth the ramp-up time. 

On the other hand, Infraspace is the other Average title, and this one just doesn’t feel like it can challenge the player. I’m sure the traffic systems will be difficult, but when it feels like you can build anywhere, how challenging can it get?

And with that, we’re already at the halfway point. I do feel very strongly about these titles this month, but we only have talked about two of them so far. 

The bottom of the Strong Contenders, and the top of the Average, is You Suck at Parking. I got into this game when I first got it. It’s a fun, inventive game, though it may not last you very long. If you want to chase leaderboards, you’ll have a great time here. Still, I think you’ll get your money’s worth with this one. 

Next up we have Astrea. This is a fun rogue-lite. I think it’s going to be a question of how much randomness players want. Astrea pushes the limit but also gives players the option to have safer versions of dice or go for high risk and high reward with enough abilities to help players change their luck. 

And finally, in the Strong Contenders, we have Lost Eidolons. This is just a meaty adventure. It’ll last 60 hours, but the fact it’s only in the Strong Contenders because this might not be for everyone, even as a fan of this style, I’m not totally sold yet. Still, it’s a wonderful concept and while I have reservations, I would recommend this to any tactics fan. 

And here we are, three titles left. They’re not all headliners either, so let’s see where they land.

The first up in the games was worth the full bundle price, SpongeBob Square Pants the Cosmic Shake. This blew me away, I thought this would skew younger, it wouldn’t live up to the cartoon, it’ll be dated, and it’s none of those things, this was just a genuinely fun game, and I feel sad because not enough people experienced it. We can fix that now. 

Following that up, it’s the game that my daughter and I agree on. Coral Island. Just a well-designed game. I keep calling it Stardew Valley 2 and that’s the highest praise I could give it. If you need a chill game, this is perfect for that, with a lot to explore and experience. And they’re still working on it. 

This leaves the game of the month, Guardians of the Galaxy. This is a real joy. It’s a game that’s legitimately funny, great characters, interesting locations, and an excellent design. I also will say that I love that this dropped the big-name actors and instead focused on the actual characters in the game. It’s something I almost wish the Marvel movies could do as well, focusing less on the stunt casting and just telling a great story again. 

And that’s what I have for this month. I’ll let Guardians of the Galaxy play on. 

So I want to mention that I’ve been making these videos for 5 years. I started in October 2019, and that’s been a long time with a lot of changes everywhere, including myself. These videos can be a joy. Every Friday when one launches, I enjoy hearing from everyone and getting feedback, being told I’m wrong, and hearing I’m right. It’s a great time. 

But that comes at the price of about 20 hours done on a tight schedule. I’m up to at least 1 am every night working on it. The entire process is a lot of work. Honestly, it causes havoc on my schedule. I spend the week before planning food for this week; I spend the week after trying to get back to my normal routine. That’s up to three weeks of disruption. That’s not to mention work, social, and planning around this constantly. 

I’ve reached out to Humble hoping there might be a way to get a better timeline going, maybe getting to see the games early, and unfortunately, that’s not possible. But beyond that, the simple fact is, I’m ready for a change. I don’t want to stop at 5 years. So I’m going to do one final Humble Choice: five years and a month. This means I’ll still be here next month for October 2024, but after that, I will be hanging up my Humble Choice hat. 

I will mention everyone who watches this video must, yes must, I’m being assertive here. Must subscribe to Stealthyshiroean’s Humble Reviews. I’ll leave a link in the description, I’ll try to link his channel, and I’ll link his newest review on screen.  He does a great job covering these videos and honestly, I watch every one of his episodes after I finish my video because I want to see where we differ. I hope you’re already a fan of his, but if not, now is the best time to subscribe and show him some love he deserves. He puts in the effort. 

As for my channel, I always said my last video would probably be on Saints Row 2, the first game I ever worked on in the game industry. I don’t know if it truly will be my last video, but I haven’t made that video yet, and I don’t think October will include Saints Row 2, so I’ll have to keep making videos I’m going to take a break, decide what I want to cover on my channel, almost certainly retro games right now, there are a couple good topics in the backlog, and I’ll be back, probably. Maybe… I don’t know. 

Anyway, thank you all for watching. It’s been a great five years. We have one more trip to make next month. Hopefully, it’ll be a good time, and until then…

See you next time.