The console wars have been raging on for decades now, Between Microsoft and Sony vying for power while Nintendo plays with sticks and rocks in the background. Other competitors have come and gone, and the scene has changed as the years passed.
Meanwhile in California, Google decided they wanted to join in on the fun. Starting with a test run in 2018, they would soon launch Google Stadia the following year to lukewarm reception. Offering the ability to play games anywhere, anytime, regardless of what device you were on was a huge promise, but the folks from Google managed to do just that.
Watch on YouTube
What exactly is Google Stadia though?
Well, to address some of the misinformation online, Google Stadia is not “something” you “buy”. That would be like saying you are buying a Steam account. A little further on, we’ll talk about how you access Stadia, purchase games, and get it running with Chromecast, however.
Stadia is Google’s entry into the cloud-based gaming service industry, akin to Playstation Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming. What Stadia offers is the ability to play your games across any device that can open a Chrome browser window. And it does exactly that.
You don’t need to download anything (unless you don’t use Chrome like I do, and you need to install it), but you will need the Stadia app if you want to play on your phone. If you’ve got a Chromecast, you’ll also need the app if you want to play on your TV. Once you’ve logged in, that’s it! No downloads needed, no installation, you just buy the games you want and play them at your lesiure.
You don’t even need to pay a monthly fee to use the service. You just need to buy the games you want to play. Google does offer a Pro plan, which gives users discounts on some titles as well as a selection of free-for-subscriber games that updates every month.
The Pro plan, specifically, it about all I have ever spent on this. Google even sent me a free Stadia controller and Chromecast Ultra thanks to one of their promotions for being a YouTube Premium subscriber. Out of the nearly 30 games in my Stadia library, I’ve only paid for two of them.
Google seems to still be pretty open to getting new players into their ecosystem too, with recent promotions for Cyberpunk 2077 and Resident Evil Village netting you a free Chromecast Ultra and Stadia controller if you pre-purchase the game on Stadia.
So….what’s the experience?
Well, before we get into that, I want to explain something to you.
Wifi internet sucks for a lot of people in the world. It’s unreliable, it drops often, there are dead areas, and speeds can be slow. Regardless of how you experience video games, if you’re playing online you will have the best experience if you are hardwired in.** No wifi, just grab your favorite Cat5 cable and plug directly into your modem for the best experience.
Also, for reference: I’ve been playing Stadia on my Desktop PC, my Smart TV (via Chromecast), and my Samsung Note 20 Ultra, all in 1080p. Stadia does support 4k, but my wallet does not.
Playing on Stadia is quick. I can tab out of this article I’m writing in Firefox right now and open up Jedi: Fallen Order right now and be in the title screen in under a minute. It’s lightning fast, and Google improves the platform constantly.
Input lag exists, but it’s nowhere near as bad as you think. I’ve had some UI lag in the Stadia menus between games, but rarely any lag while playing. When my internet speeds suffer (and they do, because my local ISP is terrible), my games will lag and the graphics will pixelate. But in an average day I will most likely have no issues at all. The only in-game input lag I have experienced with Stadia was during my playthrough of Jedi: Fallen Order, which from what I have seen is mostly an issue with the Stadia port of the game, and not Google themselves.
Graphically, it’s identical to me playing on my PC. I’ve got Destiny 2 on Steam as well as Stadia, and playing the game is virtually identical. There are some times where Stadia may drop in quality, but it’s usually very brief and after a time you rarely notice it. When the quality drops, gameplay does not suffer and the input does not lag at all.
Anecdotally, during the rocky release of Cyberpunk 2077, tons of people were saying that the Stadia port was the best version to play it on, in terms of stability and lack of graphical bugs. I can’t attest to this, but it’s been cited on the internet by a lot of reputable sources.
Alright, what are the bad parts?
Well, we all know Google is one to kill off projects willy-nilly. Especially since these games are only in the cloud, you can’t exactly back up your purchases if Stadia shuffles off it’s mortal coil. I don’t know if Google is planning to back out of this anytime soon, but they’ve been showing some strange signs.
The biggest mystery is the sudden departures of a few big employees in the last few months. It started with Google’s launch of Outcasters, the platform exclusive top-down multiplayer shooter in December 2020. In February, Google would announce they were winding down their internal game development teams in favor of “refocusing the platform”.
With the closure of Stadia Games & Entertainment, they lost Jade Raymond (who was formerly a producer at Ubisoft an EA), and a few months later would lose their Head of Product John Justice and another six unnamed employees. As of writing this, they lost another big name with the departure of Justin Uberti, who created Google’s Duo platform and joined the Stadia team as a lead engineer.
Playing games on the platform is fine, but the UI for the platform is rough. They only added a search bar to the service within the last two months (which isn’t in the app, only the website version of Stadia), Friends lists and messaging were also late additions to the platform as well.
It’s also no secret that Stadia’s library of games is pretty weak. They’ve been getting better, bigger AAA titles are coming all the time. Larger indie releases don’t normally hit Stadia on launch day, and some big games (such as Terraria) aren’t even on the platform yet. They have big plans for 2021 and there’s a lot of big titles coming to the platform, but I’m not sure if they’re capturing an audience and converting people from console and PC.
What’s the damage to my bank account?
Stadia has me sold on it’s price point, which is honestly pretty fair in my eyes. You can get started right now, for free, before you finish this article. It’s that easy! You more than likely already have a Google account, all you need to do is hop on to Stadia and play one of their free-to-play titles such as Crayta, Destiny 2, and Super Bomberman R. If you’re playing on PC, you can use mouse & keyboard, your Xbox controller, Playstation 4/5 controller, or even your Nintendo Switch Pro controller.
If you want to play on your TV however, you’ll need a Chromecast or a Smart TV with the Stadia app, as well as the Stadia controller (that’ll run you $70 for the controller alone, not counting the Chromecast). The same goes for your phone, most third party controllers will work with Stadia. They also include touch controls, but I wouldn’t be caught dead trying to play Destiny 2 on a touch screen.
Games are average priced, around $60 for new titles with some decent sales here and there. Some older titles are cheaper as well, but nothing I haven’t seen that beats Steam in most cases.
The real bang-for-your-buck is the Pro plan. Not only do you get a truckload of free games, you get new ones every month! It also allows you to play in 4k if it tickles your fancy, and you get some exclusive sales every now and again.
Wrapping it up
Stadia has been chugging along for the last few years, and I don’t think it will go away anytime soon. I feel like it’s still in it’s early days, and in a way it still is. It feels unfinished, and there’s a lot of room to grow.
But Stadia has true potential. I love the ability to play a game on my PC, switch to my TV, and then pick it up on my phone if I want. And the ability to not need to install or update a single time to play what I want to play is oddly handy, even though I really don’t mind them as a PC player.
I’d like to see Stadia continue to grow and flourish. I don’t think it will ever challenge the big boys as the next big thing, but I think it’ll be an example for the next big thing. And for the cheap price of Pro, I don’t mind enjoying it while it lasts.
Don’t forget, you can watch our editorials on YouTube. Check out “Is Google Stadia worth it” on our channel.
Disclaimer: I received a free Chromecast Ultra and Stadia controller in Spring 2020 through one of their promotions for being a Youtube Premium subscriber. Google isn’t lining my pockets for this, but I did want to make it clear that freebies were involved.
Howdy Streamers! We’ve got some exciting news for the month of June!
Starting off with what you guys really wanna know, here’s our (current) June lineup of games! Two of these games also include multiplayer support, which I know some of you guys have been asking for.
Sunblaze drops June 3rd and is already available for preorder on the Hub! Sunblaze is an upcoming precision platformer with pixel art graphics and more than 300 levels. The game is inspired by Celeste but with a heavier emphasis on puzzling, and with different mechanics. You can catch them on the Chasing XP Podcast later this month too!
Eximius: Seize the Frontline combines tactical First Person Shooter gameplay with high level strategic decision-making of a Real-time Strategy game. The game features a competitive 5v5 team battles where players square off in a post apocalyptic urban environment. You can also catch my interview with them on the podcast this Friday.
Duru is a 2D Puzzle Platformer set in a West African mole rat colony. While solving puzzles with a somewhat unreliable companion, players follow the story of Tuli, a story about the struggles of insecurities, darkness, and friendship.
Pyramid Plunge is a game inspired from the classic spelunking platformers, adding a lot of humor for all ages bringing back the handcrafted pixel-art platforming of the 90s. You’ll explore creature-infested, ever-changing pyramids.
We’ve always got new games coming, so be sure to keep an eye out! For other updates, let’s take a look:
We’ve split the feedback channels into their own category, just for ease-of-use as our library grows.
Keep an eye out on our Twitter @ChasingXP1 for some exclusive giveaways we’ve got planned!
That’s it for me folks, thanks for sticking with us and making a great community!
The golden age of 3D platformers has long since passed on, with only a few straggling titles aiming to fill the void of the classing collect-a-thon exploration games. While Blue Fire is decidedly NOT one of those games, it definitely reminds me of them, if only a little bit.
Blue Fire is Robi Studio’s first game, where you play as a mysterious warrior in the land of Penumbra. You are destined to do….something and then it’s off to the races as you’re dumped into the large open rooms of the game to hop, skip, and jump your way around this world.
Where’s The Story?
One of the first things that stuck out to me is the lack of storytelling. Coming hot of the heels of my first playthrough of Hollow Knight, the world of Penumbra feels empty and bland. The world itself is beautiful and some regions feel huge and imposing, but there is a distinct lack of ambiance in the world.
There’s also very little direction provided, whether it’s narratively or gameplay wise. The story isn’t very well explained, aside from your usual “chosen warrior that finally woke up” trope, which I wouldn’t mind if the game gave me any context clues beyond that. There’s even an NPC that doesn’t know who you are but “knows you are the one he’s been waiting for” and gives no further explanation.
The areas lack detail and character, as there’s no theming to tell them apart. The first area has some bookshelves and statues, but there’s little explanation as to what the area is or used to be. Was this a library? Why are there statues of guys doing emotes (and why do they matter)? Why does only this one room have furniture? That room has a map and a statue, but you’re telling me the map is unreadable. What’s the point?
Run, Jump, Explore
Hollow Knight’s distinct areas make you feel as if you’re in a new area. The lighting and music shift, the enemies may change, and the terrain changes as you progress. Life scuttles around in front of the camera and deep behind you, birds fly away as you approach, giving you a sense that you’re only in a small part of a large world.
Level design is something I felt was very wishy-washy. In the Void areas (which are optional challenging platforming sections that reward you with extra health upon completion), platforming was tight and required some skill to navigate. I loved these sections, and they were pretty frequent. Even the first “dungeon”, where you unlock the ability to run and jump off of walls, was pretty dynamic and interesting, although there wasn’t any sort of puzzles to make it challenging.
The Overworld
The overworld, however, was fairly bland and linear. Either the area was linear with little to nothing to explore, or the smaller side areas offered almost nothing beyond items that the game doesn’t tell you what to do with (I later found out you’re supposed to sell them in the main city, but I never even saw an NPC to sell from).
Some areas just had questionable design choices, which made me confused and a little frustrated to deal with.
For example, to enter the first dungeon of the game, you have to climb a series of ladders to flip a switch and unlock the door. Sure. No problem. Flip the switch, drop down, jump from the platform to the dungeon entrance and voila: you’re in.
BUT
If you want to jump from the entrance back to that platform, you can’t. It’s barely out of reach with your dash, so you have to instead jump and dash to a much lower platform, climb some ladders, and then jump back to that platform. Maybe I’m just not properly timing my jump, but I felt that it was impossible.
Entering the first city in the game, the terrain definitely changed but the area felt just as empty as the previous ones. A distinct lack of ambient life made the areas feel dull and forgettable. Even if there was something as simple as rats scuttling around in this broken world would make all the difference.
It’s a true shame that the level design wasn’t consistent, because the platforming felt very tight and well done. You can tell that Robi Studios spent a lot of time working on making platforming feel right, but the game just doesn’t get to stay consistent with it.
Slashing and Hacking Away
Blue Fire is not only a platforming game, but is also an action game. You get to hack, slash, and even cast spells as you challenge the strange looking creatures of Penumbra. Attacking and blocking (or parrying) feels great, and the animations are smooth.
But enemies attack in predictable, stiff patterns that I never had a struggle with. Enemies with swords have slow, simple attacks that are easy to dodge out of the way, and you attack so much faster than they do that combat doesn’t often last very long. Paired with a distinct lack of enemies in the world, combat is almost a non-issue. One monster every few platforms doesn’t make me feel challenged in the slightest.
There are even some rooms where you’re locked in, Legend of Zelda style, to defeat some enemies and unlock a chest. But the game just spawns two enemies, and that’s it. Too easy to dodge and there’s very little on the line.
A Dying Flame
Blue Fire has a distinct visual appeal that is what originally hooked me. Paired with the vibes of a Hollow Knight-like Metroidvania in a 3D Legend of Zelda type world, I was sold from the start. But the game feels like it was split too far down the middle and missed the best parts of both of those games: Exploration, Storytelling, and combat. If Blue Fire had stuck to a more traditional 3D platformer and focused on a larger platforming game, that would have been killer. Or, if it had gotten deeper into the Metroidvania roots and added some more challenging combat, maybe I would have been more satisfied.
I don’t really want to recommend Blue Fire unless you’re really captured by the visuals and want a similar vein to Hollow Knight before Silksong releases. For me, I’ll probably wait. But I will 100% keep an eye out for whatever comes next from Robi Studios, because they’re definitely a studio to keep an eye on.
We are so excited to announce two brand new services from us here at Chasing XP. We’ve been working at these for a few weeks now and we are finally ready to share it with you!
We are currently in pre-launch and we are accepting registrations right now!
The Developer Marketing Hub
One of the biggest things we’ve learned from the numerous devs we’ve spoken to is that marketing is biggest hurdle for an indie developer.
Whether it is properly demonstrating your product, finding the audience for it, or just getting it out there and growing interest in your game. All of these aspects and more can be difficult challenges for small indie teams or solo developers who can barely find the time to tweet and promote their game, let alone get it in the hands of reviewers and Twitch streamers, or running ads.
We want to work with developers to help make their projects shine – whether it’s getting fresh, unfiltered feedback from streamers, expressing their passion through our podcast, or raising their profile alongside fellow developers on our Roundtable series.
Tailor-made Marketing Packages
We’re offering tailor-made packages for each and every developer that we work with, to find out what works best for them.
Publishers can also take advantage of our service, and streamline their marketing endeavours. By tapping into our resources, publishers can reach a large number of streamers in record time, and enhance their client’s public profile in record time.
Right now, the Developer Marketing Hub is FREE for all developers and publishers!
The Chasing XP Streamer Hub!
One of the best ways for developers to get eyes on their game is through Twitch and other streaming services. Whether they provide unfiltered critique, discovering bugs, or showing how great a game is, streamers offer fantastic insight.
If you’re a streamer you don’t want to buy every single game that catches your eye. Nor do you want to go chasing license keys from hundreds of developers. You want to focus on maintaining viewership, engaging with your audience, and keeping content from getting stale.
Collaborate & Grow
With that in mind, we’re offering streamers the chance to team up with developers to play the latest indie titles for free, as well as exposing your stream to new audiences.
Streamers that sign up can request license keys for brand new indie titles, promote and grow their audience by partnering with developers, as well as staying ahead of the game with new and unique games to play.
And it doesn’t matter how big your stream is! Whether you have 5 average views or 500 average views, you can still take part.
We are absolutely thrilled to offer these new services, and we can only wait to see what you guys come up with.
Oh, wait… one more thing!
The Developer Hub Discord
Wanna join the conversation? You can join our Discord and stay up to date with us, as well as be the first to know about news and events with Chasing XP.
If there’s anything of a new hotness in the gaming world, it’s definitely roguelikes. Crawling out from under the towering presence of open world survival titans like Minecraft, RUST, and ARK as well as the battle royale scene with Fortnite and Apex Legends, Roguelikes have been slowly rising to the top over the past few years.
Passtech Games’ first debut into the genre comes out of the gates fast and hard, and became a smashing success out of Early Access. Curse of the Dead Gods features creative and exciting mechanics that make it stand out among the crowd, as well as a striking art style reminiscent of Mike Mignola (of Hellboy fame).
Curse of the Dead Gods starts you off with a simple premise: You’re an adventurer trapped in the ruins of a Chatac temple, heavily inspired by Mayan and Aztec culture. You get a machete and a pistol and you’re off to find the way out.
Or are you?
Cursed To A Miserable Fate
Well, it turns out you’re cursed to roam this labyrinth of never-ending traps and enemies forever. As you go deeper, you become more corrupted and the game steps up the difficulty. Eventually, you may find yourself face to face with a champion of the Dead Gods. If you survive….well, you’re back at the start of the temple.
“Why are you cursed?” you ask, sitting on the edge of your seat.
Well….I dunno? The game unfortunately lacks a strong story behind the amazing gameplay. There are some tidbits of lore tucked away behind unlocks by defeating enemies, but there are no cutscenes or dialogue about who you are and where you are. It all requires a bit of digging, which to me felt like a letdown.
Now, that’s not to say that all roguelikes need stories with them. A good setting is all you need to play Risk of Rain 2, or a creative deckbuilding component to get lost in Slay the Spire. But for a game with such striking visuals and a rich setting with plenty to draw from, the game falls a little flat for me.
The combat is where Curse of the Dead Gods really shines.
Curse Of The Dead Gods vs Hades
Those who craved more difficult combat from Hades or more thoughtful dodges like in Dead Cells will be right at home here. You start with five points of stamina, which is used by dodging, combo finishers, and some two handed weapons. You can regain stamina by waiting, but that makes you a sitting duck. Instead, you need to weave your attacks with your dodges, and stay safe. If you manage to perform a good parry, you’ll even regain some stamina to keep the flow of combat (as well as feel really rewarded when you land a sorely-needed parry).
On top of that, the game offers a ton of weapons and weapon combinations, with 11 total weapon types to choose from, and each type offering 8 unique weapons within them. That’s a LOT of variety, more than you usually get from your average roguelike.
Now that you’ve got the rhythm down, you’re able to fly through some of these levels, and I mean fly. Maybe I’m just too into roguelikes, but I found most levels being really short, and combat not being enough. Maybe there wasn’t enough enemies that spawned, or maybe they were just not that difficult in the first place, but I often breezed through most of the first 5-7 rooms. Maybe I’m just too used to the infinite spawning hell of Risk of Rain 2 or the constant fear as I turn up the heat in Hades, but I breezed through more rooms than I’d like to.
Unique Light System
One of the unique mechanics added to the game is the light system. Simply put, you got a torch and you gotta use it! Having your torch out lets you see traps ahead of you, spot enemies and loot, and overall make your life easier. The downside is that your torch takes up your main weapon, so you have to offset higher damage for vision. On top of that, if you get hit by an enemy or a trap while it’s dark, you’ll take more damage.
There are some sconces and whatnot that you can light in some chambers so you can see better, but in my experience they always seem to be extinguished by an enemy as soon as I light it. Instead, I opt to just light one of the baddies on fire (a totally valid strategy) and use them as a natural source of light.
You’ve cleared this floor and you’re ready for the next one. You approach the door, pick your path, and BOOM! You gain some corruption. What’s that? Well, if you fill up the little purple bar in the bottom right, you get a curse. Curses can be wildly different, I’ve had some easy ones that make almost no impact in my run, versus some that made me regret every choice I made so far. It helps keep the game fresh without going overboard. You can also get corruption at any shop you visit, since the game allows you to purchase new relics and weapons with either gold or blood.
Curse Of The Dark Visuals
Now that we’ve talked about most of the core mechanics, let’s talk about the visuals.
Curse of the Dead Gods is a beautiful game, hidden under a very dark world. The art style is grim and beautiful, very reminiscent of Hellboy and The Walking Dead (not the show, the graphic novel).
The floors you run through as you traverse one of the three temples offered (with a fourth coming later this year) are unique and each one stands out from the others. The enemies are unique and interesting, as well as the bosses that await you at the end. Some sections of the game I have felt were too dark, even with my trusty torch in hand.
The few cutscenes the game offers are very well done, with the intro cinematic simple yet powerful. Even the brief scene when you receive a new curse is beautifully animated and iconic. I do wish there were more, to better explain the world or the dead gods we’re fighting against, but maybe that will come in a future update.
Scratch Your Roguelike Itch
At the end of the day, I’m a sucker for roguelikes. Curse of the Dead Gods scratches all of my itches, with unique mechanics presented in an interesting world. However, I do have a couple (minor) issues with the game.
As I stated, the gameplay has a steep learning curve, but plateaus fairly quickly for me. Maybe I didn’t play enough, but by the third temple I was breezing through most floors with little to no issues.
I have no issue picking up a new game, flying through the tutorial and learning the game. But there are just so many mechanics I have to keep in mind while playing the game, that it slowly becomes decision paralysis.
Do I run and dodge to find a place to light this room and fight? Or do I risk it and hope I don’t get hit more than a few times?
Is this weapon really worth that much corruption? Would I be better off with what I have right now?
Do I dodge? Do I parry? Do I need a new weapon for this next floor? Do I want to get a relic? WhichstatdoIincreasenext? WhichcurrencydoIneedtounlockthenextweaponorbuff?
There are a lot of things to ponder about in this game, which I worry will be a turnoff for those who aren’t prepared for it. Especially those coming off the heels of Hades, another similar title with far less decisions to make that actually impact the game.
Curse Of The Dead Gods Review Summary
Would I recommend it? Absolutely, but with a caveat.
For those who are not as invested in roguelikes as I am, I would watch our gameplay footage first to see if it’s something you’re willing to play.
If you like roguelikes, or want a unique and moody atmosphere for a game, by all means pick up Curse of the Dead Gods today.
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