Jump to content

Search the Community

Showing results for tags 'Review'.

  • Search By Tags

    Type tags separated by commas.
  • Search By Author

Content Type


Forums

  • Forums
    • General Nintendo
    • General Gaming
    • Power On

Find results in...

Find results that contain...


Date Created

  • Start

    End


Last Updated

  • Start

    End


Filter by number of...

Joined

  • Start

    End


Group


About Me


Member Title


Nintendo Switch


Nintendo 3DS


Nintendo Network


PlayStation Network


Xbox Live


Steam


Discord


Twitter

  1. Even as someone that owns a Wii U and played all of these games on it, it's nice to see so many of the Wii U's gems get a second chance in the spotlight with Switch ports. The hardware may have failed to find broad reach, but the games themselves provided fantastic experiences, and in the case of this game, a chaotic and wonderful multiplayer experience. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury offers Switch owners a chance at playing possibly the best multiplayer Mario platformer out there, as well as a sizable bonus mode that provides a more sandbox Mario experience that is no less compelling. Starting off with the new content, Bowser's Fury is available to play at any time as a separate mode, i.e. you don't have to play through the main game first. In this mode Bowser Jr. comes to Mario for help after Bowser has grown gargantuan and furious—moreso than usual, at any rate. Mario needs to collect Cat Shines to activate the Giga Bell and calm down Bowser once and for all. Unlike the stage-based design of 3D World, Bowser's Fury is open-world, taking place on Lake Lapcat with numerous islands for Mario to explore. Each island has five Cat Shines to collect, plus you can find tons more scattered around Lake Lapcat, though you'll also have to contend with Fury Bowser's rage which boils up every few minutes, akin to the Blood Moon in Zelda: Breath of the Wild. When Fury Bowser is awake he'll rain down fireballs or breathe fire at Mario, and even create new hazards around Lake Lapcat. It's easy to assume that Bowser's Fury would just be a simple side mode addition to the re-release, but it truly boasts a fantastic level of care and attention to game design. The challenges here are fantastic and make great use of the kinds of gameplay principles that 3D World establishes. Mario doesn't have quite the same moveset as his other 3D adventures, but even with that limitation there are clever challenges that put your speed and precision to the test, and all of the power-ups from 3D World are included here as well—including the all important cat bell. It feels like a natural extension of Mario's open exploration-focused adventures like Odyssey: a huge environment that is essentially a big playground with the freedom to wander, though still has some checkpoints that you'll need to get through to open up new areas of the lake. Bowser's Fury satisfyingly scratches that collect-a-thon itch while still feeling pretty unique with the array of challenges and island designs on display. Also, every creature in the environment has cat ears, so it's got that going for it too. Bowser's Fury isn't too long though, and experienced players can end up zipping through and clearing it 100% in just five or six hours. You can bring a buddy along for the ride who gets to play as Bowser Jr., though Junior's skillset is pretty limited. Rather than a full co-op experience it's more like riding shotgun, similar to the two-player experience in Galaxy. Still, it'd be a good way for a more experienced player to help usher a new player through this brief Mario adventure. For the true co-op experience (or perhaps the true competitive experience), you have to switch over to 3D World, with its four-player multiplayer, now both local and online. For anyone that didn't play 3D World on the Wii U, this game follows in the footsteps of 3D Land on the 3DS, which is a combination of classic side-scrolling Mario design with 3D depth. Instead of being a completely flat 2D plane there's a degree of depth, which ends up offering the best of both 2D and 3D Mario design. 3D World was met with some skepticism when it was originally announced back in 2013 but this game features some brilliantly inventive and entertaining platformer design—none of which should be a surprise for a Mario game, but truly 3D World has some fantastic levels. Mario games have always excelled at coming up with clever gameplay challenges and then putting some kind of twist on them to further up the ante in a later stage, and 3D World might be the best example of that design philosophy. The best part is that you can play through them as Mario, Luigi, Peach, or Toad, each of whom has slightly different properties that can make them better (or sometimes worse) for a given stage. 3D World also boasts some amazing visual and audio design, with insane neon colors for Bowser's carnival of chaos and an almost ridiculously catchy jazzy soundtrack. As for what's actually changed, well, not that much really. The characters do move slightly faster though you're not likely to notice it much unless you play the two versions side by side—although Toad now feels extremely fast in this Switch edition. The stamps that you could collect and use on Miiverse can now be used in Photo Mode instead. The parts of the game that once required the Wii U Gamepad's touchscreen can now be activated by holding the R button and moving a cursor around the screen. It doesn't feel like a particularly smooth system but it's a decent enough workaround. You can also now play multiplayer online though it's limited to your friends list—for the best, probably, as playing a game that requires such timing and cooperation with random players could easily be a recipe for disaster. The smoothness of the online system is always going to depend at least in part on your own internet connection but in my experience it felt pretty good, even considering the need for timing and precision. The one small downside is that only the host player actually gains progress in their game, but then again that's no different from going to a friend's house and playing on their save file in person, is it? Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury as a whole package is just about everything you could want from a re-release. The original adventure is perfectly preserved, aside from minor necessary controller changes, and the addition of online multiplayer makes the chaotic co-op action easier to access. The new side content, meanwhile, feels like a fully fleshed out Mario adventure, albeit a bit short, but still with a wonderful sense of exploration and fun challenges throughout. If you never played 3D World on the Wii U you absolutely need to give this game a try, and even if you've already seen everything 3D World has to offer the addition of Bowser's Fury is reason enough to dive back into this cat filled Mario adventure. Rating: 9 out of 10 Cat Shines
  2. It took several years for Ori and the Blind Forest to leave behind its Microsoft-exclusivity and make the leap to the Switch in 2019, and thankfully fans haven't had to wait as long for its sequel to also land on Nintendo's hybrid console. Ori and the Will of the Wisps, available just months after its Microsoft system debuit, brings players back to the gorgeously designed forest environment, home to Ori and his friends, for another engaging Metroidvania adventure and another heartfelt tale. It's easy to see that, if you liked the first game, you'll love Will of the Wisps just as much. The story picks up where the original game left off (so, mild spoilers for Blind Forest ahead). Ori and his newfound family, including the newly hatched owl named Ku, are enjoying a quiet life together. However, an accident while flying separates Ku and Ori, sending Ori into a dark and dreary environment. It's up to Ori to find and rescue Ku while potentially also reviving the marshy land they find themselves in. Like the first game, Ori's adventure is beautifully atmospheric and moody, even with minimal text or dialogue. There's just enough exposition to give the story the weight and depth that it deserves without turning the game into a plot-heavy RPG, and the handful of side characters you meet are all charming in their own ways. The gameplay in Will of the Wisps is fundamentally the same as the first game, but has some notable improvements. Once again you're exploring a 2D Metroidvania environment, meaning you'll gradually gain new abilities that allow you to explore further and uncover more secrets like health or energy expansions. Like a lot of games in the genre, it can feel like the first couple hours of the game are a bit linear and basic, but once you have a few of Ori's abilities the game opens up wonderfully, and exploration becomes a blast. Ori's movements might seem a bit sluggish at first but once you're able to double jump through the air and zip to specifically marked blue flowers you'll be practically flying through the lush scenery of forests, caves, and rocky deserts. The game also gives you some freedom in how you progress—the first half or so of the game is linear, but after that you'll have multiple objectives and can tackle them in any order you wish. Given the exploration-adventure focus of the game, it's nice to have that freedom to wander at your leisure. The most stark improvement in Will of the Wisps is the combat system. The original game's close-quarters homing attack system was novel but ultimately a bit clunky, or at least not terribly satisfying to use. Now, however, you're able to customize Ori's attacks by assigning a different skill to the AXY buttons (B is always jumping), and the first attack skill you gain is a standard sword-like slash attack that has some good range. Not only is the sword just simpler than the tedious homing system of the first game, the customization option gives you far more control over how you fight. Some attacks cost energy to use, but regardless, this system opens up a wealth of combat variety that helps alleviate the monotony of normal fights. The attacks themselves also just feel better. There's a better sense of weight as attacks connect, and more opportunities to chain your attacks—assuming you aren't hit yourself of course. Will of the Wisps also features a customizable shard system. You can find or purchase crystal shards that provide passive effects, such as increased defense or an extra mid-air jump. These shards can be swapped at any time which allows you to cater Ori's abilities to whatever challenge lies before you. The shards are another great way for players to customize their experience with the adventure and find clever ways of reaching new heights in these secret-filled environments. This game also introduces an autosave feature that wasn't present in the original. Autosaves, in addition to being the kind of modern convenience that most players would expect in any game, makes experimenting a little easier since you always have that safety net should you fail, and when the game crashed on me the autosave system meant I lost very little progress. The only major flaw of the first game that returns in Will of the Wisps is the chase sequences, though even these feel better in this sequel. In the original, chases were a little too common and a little too tedious, given their long lengths and tricky platforming challenges. Some of the chases in Will of the Wisps are still a bit frustrating as they can demand some precise platforming and impeccable reaction times, but overall they feel a bit less punishing. Will of the Wisps is a bit longer than the first game, but can still be 100% completed in a comfortable 15 hours or so. Anyone that isn't a completionist can easily shave off a few hours from that length. However the customization options do help add some variety if you want to play through the game again, and there are also little races that test your platforming skills. In addition to rewarding you with currency, your time in these races can be shared on online leaderboards for all of the bragging glory that comes with it. Like the first game, the graphics of Will of the Wisps are just stunning. Virtually every single scene in the game feels like a meticulously designed painting, and seeing all of it in motion adds a whole other level of depth and beauty to the visuals. Like its predecessor the graphics can occasionally be a bit too busy which makes it hard to see if a surface is a platform you can actually stand on or just scenery—or worse, a hazard—but overall the art style is lovely. Plus the characters you meet are simply adorable. The soundtrack is top-notch as well: fully orchestrated music elevates all of the emotions that this atmospheric game generates in a beautiful way. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is another excellent and moving Metroidvania adventure that manages to tighten up some of the bothersome little quirks of its predecessor. Combat and exploration feel more fluid and varied thanks to customizable attack options and more convenient autosave feature, and the continuation of Ori's story is just as compelling and heartfelt. Fans of the original will surely have already jumped at this new chapter in Ori's adventures, but anyone else curious about the game can expect a beautifully constructed Metroidvania experience. Rating: 9 out of 10 Wisps
  3. Six years ago, developer Mografi Kickstarted their mystery adventure game, Jenny LeClue - Detectivu. Last year the game released on PC and mobile devices, and now Switch owners have the opportunity to experience the mystery as well. Was the game worth the wait? The clues in this case are impeccable writing filled with humor and heart, stylish presentation, and engaging mystery gameplay, leading to only one logical deduction. Our protagonist, Jenny LeClue, is a confident, precocious young girl determined to follow in the detective footsteps of her mother. But Arthurton, their sleepy hometown, is a seemingly quiet, hohum place lacking in the kinds of mysteries and adventures that Jenny craves. That is, until a murder most foul occurs right under Jenny's nose, providing the perfect opportunity to flex her detective muscles and uncover Arthurton's unknown secrets. As a mystery story, Jenny LeClue is a complete success. The writing will easily draw you in to learn more about Arthurton and its inhabitants, as well as the mysterious goings-on under the surface. There are plenty of enticing, dangling threads to pull that will easily hook anyone that enjoys a good mystery. The game is also filled with quirky characters that are a lot of fun to interact with, including Jenny herself and her plucky, determined attitude. Be forewarned though: the title of the game doesn't make it clear but this is only part one of a planned series of games, which means the ending is a bit abrupt and leaves a lot unanswered. It's still an intriguing story and well worth exploring, but the inconclusive finale may bother some. I should also mention that the entire game is encapsulated as a story within a story. Within the game, "Jenny LeClue" is actually a series of children's mystery novels, formerly successful but recent waning sales have put the author, Arthur Finklestein, into the uncomfortable predicament of needing to shake up his story formula. Chapters of the game are punctuated by interludes where we see Arthur's writing process and his struggle to create an engaging mystery for his publisher without betraying his writing principles. It's an interesting way of framing the story and leads to some fun scenes where Arthur's narration seems to push against Jenny's own thoughts and behavior. The gameplay blends some light adventure elements with investigation and puzzle-solving, all in a side-scrolling 2D environment. The game's world is divided into small areas where Jenny can explore, examine objects and clues, and interrogate townsfolk. Interrogations play out as mini-investigations: Jenny will examine a person to pick up clues about their actions, then put those clues together for a logical conclusion. Outside of these character interactions, the gameplay is largely classic adventure game content, i.e. you're presented with a locked door, so you examine the surrounding area to find some way of opening it. The gameplay overall is solid though a lot of the puzzles are a bit too easy. For an adventure game—and particularly a mystery game—you'd expect the puzzles to require some serious thought, but that's rarely the case in Jenny LeClue. That's not all bad, since it does mean the game is quite comfortably paced, but there was definitely room for some more complex gameplay elements, especially for a future ace detective. You can expect to spend around eight or nine hours with Jenny LeClue, even when you take the time to really examine everything in any given area. There are small rewards for doing so, including stickers you can use to decorate Jenny's trusty detective's journal, and postcard scraps that you can put together to reveal fun little messages. You may also want to replay the game just to test out different conversation branches. You can sometimes choose Jenny's response during conversations, which doesn't seem to change the story on a fundamental level but can lead to some different dialogue that might be fun to see if you just can't get enough of Jenny LeClue. The game's visual style is striking, sporting sharp cartoonish designs and some beautiful color palettes, all animated with a puppeted style that is a lot of fun to see. It really helps to bring these quirky characters to life and make them particularly endearing, from the pot-bellied, jovial college dean to the lanky and good-natured best friend. The music does a fine job of setting an engaging mystery atmosphere, but it's the voice acting that is the real star of the show in the audio department. There's a lot of great voice work throughout the game that perfectly completes the charm of these characters. Jenny LeClue - Detectivu spins an intriguing mystery story set in an utterly charming little town filled with fun, engaging characters. Though the gameplay perhaps doesn't live up to its potential, the brisk pace of puzzle solving ensures you're always moving one step close to cracking the case. Even if there aren't head-scratching puzzles around every corner, Arthurton is still a joy to explore. The fact that the overarching mystery isn't fully resolved may also disappoint some, but it'll also leave you excited to see what new mysteries Jenny will solve in the next chapter of her story. Rating: 9 out of 10 Clues
  4. While everyone eagerly awaits the next big name title from their favorite developers, it might be best to look to the indie world for fresh takes on familiar genres. Blue Fire, from developer Robi Studios and publisher Graffiti Games, wears its inspirations on its sleeve, drawing upon the adventure elements of Zelda, platforming of Mario, and tone of the Souls series to create a challenging 3D action-adventure. That wide blend of game design may also be why Blue Fire oftentimes doesn't feel as polished as it should be, though. You play as Umbra, a diminutive warrior who awakens in a mysterious derelict castle. Initially your only goal is to explore your strange surroundings, but you'll gradually learn that the castle is called Penumbra and floats in the sky to protect it from the corrupting power of the Black Shadow. But, naturally, the darkness is closing in, and Umbra may be the last hope for the castle and all of its strange denizens. Even when the game gets deep into its lore Blue Fire never overwhelms the player with storytelling. It's more like the game gives you a skeleton and allows you to flesh it out with your own imagination, drawn from the eerie atmosphere of the crumbling walls of Penumbra. Thanks to this soft touch approach to storytelling it's easy to get drawn into this strange world without having to sift through long narrative scenes. Blue Fire mixes elements from a variety of 3D adventure games—Penumbra is a large castle of interconnected passages that feels a bit like Dark Souls (i.e. you'll gradually unlock shortcuts that allow you to move about quickly). The dark atmosphere is also distinctly Souls-like, as is the fact that if you die you'll need to recover your money from your ghostly remains. The adventure gameplay is also undeniably inspired by Zelda. There are temples where you'll find new items/upgrades to allow you to further explore, and in between these areas the sense of exploration feels like a Zelda title—the inventory screen even looks rather like Breath of the Wild's. Finally, and perhaps most strangely, there's a bit of a Mario feel to the game as well. You'll need some solid platforming skills to get around Penumbra, and there are also challenge rooms called Voids that hit you with a tricky bit of platforming (you're rewarded with an increase to your maximum health, so these are always worth attempting). These Voids can feel a bit like Breath of the Wild's Shrines, but the precision jumping and dashing needed to survive them feels straight out of the hardest levels of a Mario game. The mix of gameplay inspirations ultimately comes together nicely: you've got a creepy atmosphere that just begs to be explored to the fullest, while the platforming challenges needed to actually progress keep you on your toes at all times. Umbra starts off with very basic abilities, naturally, but you'll gradually unlock skills that make moving around a lot of fun—from wall running to double jumping, you're slowly allowed to test the limits of Umbra's movements, and more often than not you're rewarded for your efforts. Blue Fire isn't particularly flashy and that's what makes it particularly engaging at times; you have to make the most with a relatively small arsenal of abilities, and that should particularly suit any player that enjoys that kind of challenging platforming. Where Blue Fire stumbles is in the finer details, though. The broad gameplay beats are nicely realized, but the small aspects of the game tend to feel unpolished. For example, Void rooms can be challenging due to controls and visual design flaws just as much as due to the platform designs. Oftentimes, in Void rooms, you're in a bright white space that makes it incredibly difficult to keep yourself oriented when you're leaping from one platform to another. Some Void rooms require a lot of swinging the camera around to help you judge distance or keep your bearings, which feels hectic when added on top of the actual platforming challenge. For fine, delicate actions Umbra's movements feel unwieldy. The game's currency system comes off as just tedious, since you collect money from breaking pots and barrels, and buying items is quite costly, making the whole effort feel too grindy. There's no map system in the game which is particularly disorienting early on before you unlock the fast travel ability (fast traveling also comes several hours into the game, so early on there's a lot of tedious back and forth to save points or shops). The combat system is rather floaty, without a satisfying sense of weight for either Umbra or the enemies you face. You only get a couple of attacks so enemy encounters tend to all feel the same—by the latter half of the game it just makes more sense to avoid enemies than fight them. Individually, most of these are small issues, but adding them up does weigh down the experience. If you stick it out though Blue Fire will last you a good 12 to 15 hours or so, depending on how much time you end up spending exploring and backtracking. You can also pick up a variety of side quests from the creatures you meet while exploring Penumbra. These can be a bit rough since there's so little information to guide you on how to complete their tasks—for example, someone might need a specific item but they're a little too vague on what that item actually is, or more importantly where you might find it. Finishing side quests tend to be well worth the effort though, since you'll usually earn a valuable reward. The visual design of Blue Fire has the same ups and downs as the gameplay. On one hand, the eerie atmosphere is well realized, and there's just enough detail in most of the environments to make them interesting and get your imagination going. The character designs, including Umbra, are a charming mix of odd and cute. On the other hand, the textures can be somewhat bland and repetitive, which doesn't make backtracking any more exciting. The soundtrack is much the same: it's atmospheric and suits the environment, but also isn't particularly memorable. Blue Fire offers a smart blend of action-adventure exploration and tricky platforming challenges, tied together in an engaging dark fantasy setting. With clear inspiration from other games, Blue Fire builds its own style. Perhaps it is because of this approach that some of the smaller aspects of the game have slipped past without the appropriate level of polish, though, leaving many details that prove frustrating or tedious when repeated over the course of the game. It's still a unique experience worth pursuing for adventure fans, but be prepared for some tough moments. Rating: 7 out of 10 Voids Review copy provided by publisher Blue Fire is available now on the Switch eShop for $19.99. On sale until 2/17 for $17.99.
  5. What would it look like if you put the gameplay of Metroid Prime in a comedy setting? You'd get Journey to the Savage Planet, a first-person adventure game that sees you exploring an uncharted planet with a wise-cracking AI companion, all on behalf of an oddball interstellar exploration company. Between collecting new equipment to explore further and battling the occasionally aggressive alien fauna, Savage Planet has all the makings of a solid 3D Metroidvania, though some rough edges do prevent it from standing toe to toe with the Prime series. You play as an employee of Kindred Aerospace, the "4th best interstellar exploration company," and your mission is to explore an alien planet to determine if it is suitable for human habitation and/or strip it for resources. In fact, your ship only had enough fuel for a one-way trip, so gathering resources is pretty critical no matter what. This isn't a hardcore sci-fi story though—this is a space comedy. Humor in video games can be hard to nail sometimes but Savage Planet does a great job of lampooning horrible corporate culture in the context of a sci-fi setting, and your AI's sardonic attitude is just the right mix of silly and flippant. What does come off as a little weird at first is the fact that cutscenes with your boss back at Kindred are all filmed with real actors, but this approach probably works best for the kind of goofy humor at play here anyway. The gameplay essentially takes its cues from Metroid Prime's playbook, albeit with more focus on exploring and less on combat. You do get a gun to defend yourself from any aggressive alien creatures, but combat generally feels like a side note in Savage Planet. That may also be why combat doesn't feel all that great. The game's controls aren't terribly well tuned for FPS action—and sadly there's no motion-control aiming—which makes fighting even basic creatures feel like a bit of a chore. It is possible to lock-on to enemies but it's extremely finicky, and even when you do it's not super easy to strafe or dodge around them. The controls just don't feel fluidly built for this kind of action-based gameplay. On the other hand, the exploration is pretty great, and it's far and away the focus of the game anyway, outside of unavoidable boss fights. Like any good Metroidvania you start out with pretty limited movement abilities, but as you explore and gather resources you'll be able to craft upgrades such as a double jump boost pack or a grappling hook. The terrain has a good blend of complexity and readability—it's not terribly difficult to keep your bearings, but at the same time there are plenty of nooks and crannies to dive into that are worth exploring. The game also isn't overloaded with collectibles. There are only a handful of collectible types, and they're all valuable, so it's worth taking the time to grab them. The only time collecting resources can be tedious is with regard to certain usable items, such as grapple seeds that create a grappling point when thrown onto specific surfaces. And even then, these items are only tricky because you can only carry a few of them at a time—they're pretty easy to find when you need them. Although the level design makes navigation pretty clear, it's still somewhat annoying that there is no map system in Savage Planet. As mentioned these environments are pretty dense and sometimes there is only one path to really progress, and having some kind of map would have been a huge help. You can eventually upgrade your scanner to highlight important collectibles, but oftentimes this will just make you wish you had a proper map even more. Savage Planet isn't a particularly long game, but it feels about right for what it has to offer. Around 10 hours will see you through the whole journey, potentially more if you take your time and aren't particularly gung-ho about collecting everything immediately. It's also possible to play through the game with a co-op buddy, but there are a few caveats: it's only online co-op, not local/same system, and only the host player's story actually progresses. That's a bit unfortunate but understandable given how the gameplay and narrative work. On the presentation side of things, Savage Planet features some fun, colorful, and imaginative alien environments. There are only a few different "regions" to the game so there's not a huge amount of variety in the scenery, but it's still a cool landscape to explore. Similarly, it's populated by some strange creatures that feel like an appropriate mix of goofy and alien. This is a multi-platform release so it's not unexpected to see that the game's visuals take some technical hits that presumably aren't an issue on other systems, but aside from some minor pop-in and occasionally weak draw distances, the game's graphics hold up well on the Switch. The soundtrack is fun but likely won't stand out to you as you play, and besides, the music is perhaps overshadowed by the voice acting that brings out the game's humor so well. Journey to the Savage Planet is a stylish 3D exploration/adventure game, filled with just the right amount of collectibles to make discoveries worthwhile and engaging without being overwhelming. Although the game has trouble nailing its FPS elements, the exploration side does a fine job of picking up the slack, and the game's quirky sense of humor gives the whole adventure a charming light-hearted take on a sci-fi adventure. Rating: 7 out of 10 Aliens
  6. Are you the type of gamer that wants fast-paced combat and exploration, or the type that prefers slow, meticulous sim gameplay? Well, with Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, you don't need to choose between the two. Of Rice and Ruin combines side-scrolling action with a richly detailed farming simulator centered entirely around rice. Although the two halves ultimately complement each other quite well, neither one feels quite as polished as it could be. You play as Princess Sakuna, a spoiled goddess of the Lofty Realm who is banished to the Isle of Demons after an accident destroys a store of rice reserved for holy offerings. She is tasked with staunching the demon population of the island and caring for a handful of humans she was banished with—and hopefully learning some humility and responsibility in the process. Sakuna is understandably bratty at first, but she and the rest of the characters do grow on you somewhat over the course of the game. Many of their trials and tribulations feel a bit cliche and some of the more interesting subplots are underdeveloped, but it's still a solid story about growth, and the conversations among the cast as they eat dinner each night provide some fun character interactions. As the daughter of a warrior god and a harvest goddess, Sakuna is well equipped to fight demons and grow fresh crops of rice on the island. In fact, despite the seeming disparity between these two halves, they support one another nicely. The only way to grow more powerful is by harvesting rice—each harvest gives Sakuna a nice bump in stats—and in order to grow the best possible rice you'll need to collect materials by exploring and/or defeating demons. The gameplay loops in a satisfying cycle of exploration and cultivation. Probably the most impressive aspect of the game is how detailed it actually is when it comes to traditional methods of growing rice. You'll need to do a lot of the typical farm chores that you'd expect from any farming sim—till the soil, fertilize, water the crops, etc.—but Of Rice and Ruin gets incredibly granular about farm techniques. Do you have the water level at just the right amount? What did you blend into the fertilizer to improve it? How evenly spaced are the crops in the field? It's actually rather overwhelming just how detailed the game's farming system can be, and even though the game gradually introduces a lot of these concepts it's still pretty difficult to keep them all in mind. It doesn't help that the game simultaneously provides too much information and not enough—that is, you can see the precise water level in the field but there's no indication of what is precisely the right level, just vague generalities. It can make the farming half of the game feel needlessly tedious. Thankfully though you don't have to be incredibly meticulous to still get a good yield of rice. Even just following basic guidelines is enough to progress, you just might not be getting the most out of your rice. The combat/exploration half of Of Rice and Ruin has its ups and downs as well. You'll gradually unlock more regions of the island to explore, which are divided into relatively short stages filled with demons and items to collect, like manure for fertilizer or ore to craft new weapons. Sakuna has light, heavy, and special attacks, though chaining them together never felt particularly smooth or natural. In fact, all of Sakuna's movements feel rather stiff and not very satisfying—her jump feels too short and the only way to dash is by tapping forward twice. Some of this is alleviated by Sakuna's Divine Raiment which acts as a sort of grappling hook that can pull her toward walls or enemies. This movement also takes a bit of getting used to since Sakuna will swing behind an enemy instead of directly into them, but it's essential to master since otherwise it is frustratingly easy to get caught in an enemy's attacks and juggled repeatedly. Even with a bit of practice though, the combat system never fully clicked for me. It's not as snappy as I wanted it to be, despite the hordes of demons that will attack you from all sides, and too often battles felt tedious rather than satisfying. Still, even if both halves of the gameplay have their issues, they balance each other nicely. The rice you grow can be eaten to provide temporary stat bonuses which make it easier to explore, and you can collect other ingredients while fighting demons to bolster your meals. There's only so much you can get done in one day, so you'll always be ping ponging back to your base to check on your rice paddy and prepare another meal. The loop might sound tedious but it actually feels quite natural, and helps the in-game days fly by. It also makes the real-life time fly by, as Of Rice and Ruin can last a good 25 hours just to finish the story and potentially a lot more if you spend the time maximizing your rice yields and exploring every corner of the island. The game's presentation is a stylish blend of cel-shaded graphics and obvious Japanese artwork influence. This makes for some lovely and colorful character designs, though the demon and environment designs can be a bit repetitive. The music is in the same boat with some tunes that crop up a bit too often, but the soundtrack is still well done and knows when to be melodic and tranquil while preparing rice and upbeat and engaging during battle. The voice acting is undeniably lively, and there's quite a lot of it throughout the game, though some voices are, by design, somewhat annoying. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is an interesting combination of gameplay elements that doesn't quite come together perfectly. That doesn't mean it doesn't have some fun ideas though. Tying Sakuna's stat progression into the rice harvesting creates a nice balance of combat and crop cultivation, and the level of detail involved in growing rice is impressive. The actual combat system leaves a lot to be desired, and the persnickety details of farming could have been implemented in a way that is more engaging, but anyone looking for a combat-heavy and detail-oriented twist on farming simulators might enjoy checking this one out. Rating: 7 out of 10 Rice Fields
  7. A Metroidvania starring a ninja protagonist already sounds like a winning combination, but if you make that ninja a tablet in a world of robots, well, you've got something special on your hands. Kunai isn't afraid to get silly, but it also backs up its goofy moments with top-notch adventure gameplay that proves difficult to put down. The game's story begins with a surprisingly somber explanation that the world has been ravaged by an evil AI named Lemonkus who almost wiped out all of humanity. You play as Tabby, a tablet with the soul of an ancient warrior, awakened to help fight Lemonkus and restore balance to the world. You'll work alongside a resistance group and battle all manner of aggressive robot opponents. Ultimately it's a pretty standard "save the world" plot, and yet, aside from that set-up, the game doesn't take itself too seriously at all. Most of the actual dialogue is silly in some way, and the main collectibles in the game are hats to adorn Tabby. Despite the slight tonal whiplash, the writing in Kunai is delightful and balances its sense of humor quite well. In true Metroidvania fashion, you start out with virtually nothing in terms of equipment—in fact you don't even have a weapon at first. But soon enough you pick up a katana that allows you to absorb health from defeated enemies, and shortly after that you'll get the all-important kunai which act as grappling hooks, allowing you to swing through the environment like a little robot Spider-Man. The kunai mobility feels fantastic. It has enough physics-based movement that your momentum feels important—i.e. you can't just wildly swing anywhere—but it's also not so persnickety that you have to perfectly line up your swings every time. It's fast and fluid, which is exactly what you want out of a system like this, and it makes exploration a blast. And, also in true Metroidvania fashion, there are plenty of little secrets to find throughout the map, and being able to swing up to high ledges or hidden rooms is a lot of fun. Exploration is, of course, a major part of Kunai, and it has a nice balance of complexity. There are secrets to find and interconnected rooms to explore, but it's not so elaborate that it's ever too difficult to keep your bearings. The only tricky part is that you don't have a map right at the beginning of the game, but once you do it's easy to backtrack to find health upgrades (or hats) with whatever new abilities you have. And the snazzy grappling hook movement system makes even backtracking pretty satisfying. The combat in Kunai feels great as well. Your main attack will always be the katana, which is even more vital since it allows you to heal, but when combined with Tabby's fluid movements and a handful of secondary weapons, you've got a good variety of attack options that all make you feel like a skilled ninja warrior. That said, mopping up random enemy robots can feel a bit boring at times. There's a decent amount of enemy types but for the most part you're so much more powerful than them that they never feel particularly threatening, and yet you'll probably want to defeat them all anyway to either recover health or grab some money for upgrades. On the other hand, considering how quickly enemies respawn in this game, it might be for the best that Tabby is able to so easily slice through them and maintain the momentum of exploring. Even if you take the time to suss out all of the secrets available, Kunai isn't a very long game. It's possible to zip through the game in just six or seven hours, and even uncovering everything the game has to offer will still likely take less than ten hours. That's not to say the game feels short though. The pacing feels right for the game, and even if it is a bit on the short side Kunai is never dull. On the presentation side of things, Kunai does a lot with very little. The pixel art style with a minimalist color palette looks fantastic, and has the added benefit of keeping the environment easily "readable," i.e. you can quickly tell if a wall or ceiling can be grappled with the kunai, and enemies always have some amount of bright red coloring on them that makes them stand out. And on top of all of this you've got Tabby's goofy little face that makes the whole visual style utterly charming. Kunai is a smart little Metroidvania adventure that doesn't try to do everything—instead, it does a few things exceedingly well. Movement and exploration is a blast thanks to the polished kunai grappling hook system that gives you the perfect amount of control. Combat can be a bit repetitive at times but it's fast and satisfying, which is exactly what you'd want and expect from a ninja warrior. All of this is tied together with a charming visual design that is minimalist and stylish. Anyone looking for a quick but engaging Metroidvania would do well to give Kunai a look. Rating: 8 out of 10 Shuriken
  8. The oddball mashup of pinball physics and roguelike progression in Roundguard might prove that roguelike elements really can be applied to any other game genre. From developer Wonderbelly Games and publisher The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild, Roundguard combines the gameplay of Peggle with randomized levels and items to create a unique "dungeon-baller." It's an unlikely combo that works shockingly well. There's not much story-telling in Roundguard but you are treated to occasional scenes of quirky and cheesy humor between characters. Otherwise, this game is all about gameplay. You can choose to play as either the warrior, the thief, or the mage—each of whom has slightly different stats and abilities—and your goal in each level is to clear the room of enemies by launching yourself at them. When you hit them they'll take damage based on your attack stat, but you'll also take damage from theirs, so you'll also need to collect health potions scattered around the room. You can also equip up to two skills that use mana, and skills typically provide bonus attack effects like allowing you to charge through multiple enemies instead of bouncing off the first thing you hit. Each room is also littered with pots that can be broken for gold, but they also act as obstacles for you to aim around. Sometimes the physics mean you're not going to end up quite where you wanted to, but that's just part of the game's chaos. You'll also have to contend with various status effects like poison or regenerating health, as well as mini-boss rooms and boss fights at the end of each section of the dungeon. Every time you clear a room, you'll get a random item: a weapon, armor (that increases health), or a new skill. Since you're constantly getting new equipment you have lots of opportunities to experiment and try new strategies. Maybe you have a weapon that deals poison damage, so you just hit enemies once and let them slowly dwindle away. Of course, since the equipment is random you might end up stuck with something that you don't love for a while, but that's just the risk of roguelike gameplay. Overall though, the game's formula works well. The pinball mechanics and roguelike progression feel surprisingly natural together, and there's a good blend of strategy and chance as you're ping-ponging around a stage. Perhaps too much chance at times—occasionally I'd ricochet and go flying in a wild direction that didn't feel natural—but it keeps you on your toes, and the high difficulty also incentivizes you to keep trying again and again. One run is about 60 to 90 minutes, which feels right. It's long enough to give you plenty of trinkets and allows you to mix and match new equipment, but short enough that it doesn't overstay its welcome. And since Roundguard is a roguelike, there's plenty of incentive to keep playing over and over to discover slightly different trinket combos. The game also features both daily and weekly challenges to spice up your play time even more. That said, the game does grow repetitive a bit too quickly. The small variety of enemies and trinkets isn't quite enough to keep the experience feeling fresh and engaging for too long. And the completely random nature of the trinkets you receive can be a little frustrating if you have any specific strategy in mind. All you can really do is go with the flow, like a ricocheting pinball. The game's presentation is rather generic, but that's not to say that it's bad. The character and monster design is cute in its own weird way, and although the room designs are understandably repetitive it keeps things clear while you're bouncing around the screen. The music is also a bit bland—the soundtrack is peppy but ultimately forgettable. Roundguard is a Frankensteinian creation of gameplay elements that mesh together far better than they have any right to. The pinball physics can be chaotic, but mastering them is a fun challenge, and the random nature of the equipment and room layouts means there are plenty of opportunities to test your skills in different ways. The formula may not have ideal staying power for every player, but at the very least Roundguard makes for a unique experience that you can easily dive into every now and again. Rating: 7 out of 10 Pinballs Review copy provided by publisher Roundguard is available now on the Switch eShop for $19.99.
  9. You may have played an MMO before, but have you played a game within an MMO? CrossCode is set within a fictional MMO called CrossWorlds and, as you might imagine, gets a little meta at times as it explores the relationship players have with a game world. Along the way, CrossCode challenges players with a wide variety of puzzles and real-time combat, with all of the trappings you'd expect from an RPG—side quests, gear to collect/buy, level up perks, etc. All of this is wrapped up in a 16-bit era art style and sweeping soundtrack. It's an incredibly ambitious indie developed project and showcases some fantastic ideas that could have used a bit more polishing. You play as Lea, an avatar within the world of CrossWorlds, who suffers from amnesia. Worse yet, her speech module is busted, so she can't directly talk to other players—a fun twist on the old silent protagonist theme. Lea's only hope is to play the game to potentially spark some memories about her past, and the mysterious circumstances that have led her back to CrossWorlds. This "game within a game" framing device is an ambitious, clever concept that is handled somewhat haltingly by the game's pacing. The first half of the game plays out basically like any other RPG, and it's only after maybe 15 hours that you get back to the real plot of why Lea is in CrossWorlds in the first place. You spend so much time just doing normal RPG quests and interacting with other "players" (most of whom are rather bland, character-wise) that you may forget that this is a game within a game at all. CrossCode could have used a bit of storyboard balancing to make the two halves of the game feel less separated from one another, but once you do get into the mystery there's a solid sci-fi premise with some heavy ideas to enjoy. The gameplay mostly mimics a typical MMORPG: there is real-time combat with a mix of melee and ranged attacks, lots of quests and side quests to tackle, resource gathering, varied environments to explore, and dungeons that focus on puzzle-solving. As a "Spheromancer" class, Lea can mix close-quarters melee strikes with ranged energy ball attacks, both of which also have powerful skill attacks that require you to charge your skill meter, and as you progress through the game you're able to add elemental effects as well. It's a fast and snappy combat system that demands quick reflexes to read enemy attacks and dodge/counter appropriately. You can also "break" enemies to stun them for a short time, though some enemies can only be broken with melee, ranged, or elemental attacks, so you need to be able to adapt on the fly. The fast pace of combat can be equally punishing on the player too—dodge too slowly and you might be on the receiving end of a seemingly endless string of combos. Even with a bit of grinding the game generally doesn't let you get too overleveled so all combat encounters have a healthy degree of difficulty to them, which can border on frustrating at times when you're getting ping ponged by groups of enemies, but if you do need a helping hand you can adjust the difficulty at any time. Aside from fighting, there's also a huge emphasis on puzzle-solving in CrossCode. You'll need to clear several dungeons as you progress, and although there are some fights (and a boss fight) within each dungeon, the clear focus is on environmental puzzles, largely based around your projectiles. For example, you may need to hit a distant switch to progress, so you need to line up a number of blocks that allow you to ricochet your projectile to hit the switch. As you gain elemental abilities, you gain new tools for puzzle-solving as well, like freezing blocks of water or shocking a lightning rod with electricity. CrossCode is filled with clever puzzles that often test your timing as much as your puzzle-solving skills—switches often only last for a few seconds, and sometimes you need to set up an almost Rube Goldberg-esque series of switches in order to progress. Puzzle fans will love it, though if you're struggling there's also an accessibility option that eases up the difficulty of timing. Although the puzzles are a lot of fun and the game provides a good balance that are challenging without being frustrating, it does feel like the game overwhelms you with puzzles. Dungeons are long, and sometimes clearing one puzzle room after another—with one or two fights thrown into the mix—gets exhausting. This game is in dire need of some editing to make the pacing feel smoother and keep the flow of the game feeling more natural. The other issue with the puzzles comes down to the controls. You use the right control stick to line up shots, but oftentimes the game is incredibly persnickety about how accurate you are, and a shot that is slightly off may spoil your entire attempt. Combined with the short window of opportunity you often have in the timed puzzle challenges, it gets incredibly annoying and frankly tedious to try again and again. Aiming during the frantic heat of combat is just as tricky and just as obnoxious, and then there are times where you need to hit a puzzle switch while still dodging enemies. The issue most likely stems from the game's PC origins, where a mouse and keyboard offers much more precise control over aiming, but with a controller, that kind of fine-tuning requires at least more time to line up a shot. Some degree of lock-on aiming might have alleviated the issue nicely, but as is the aiming system leaves something to be desired. CrossCode will last you a good thirty hours, potentially more if you take the time to explore all of the side quests, collect gear, and experiment with the growth trees that allow you to customize your skills and stats. On top of all of this, there's more planned content on the way. It's safe to say CrossCode is a solid length RPG, though like the pacing of the puzzles, the overall experience of the game feels rather slow and drawn out at times as well. Part of that seems to be from emulating MMOs—i.e., in order to get the best gear you need rare material drops from enemies, and to increase your chances of getting gear you have to defeat multiple enemies in a row, rapidly. It really captures the grindy nature of MMOs, but without the charm of engaging battle mechanics or other players to fight alongside. Of course, you can always just power through the game without spending time on side content or gear, but nevertheless there are significant parts of the game that could easily be tightened up. The visual design of CrossCode is a gorgeous homage to the SNES era of RPGs. The pixel-art scenery is pretty incredible, notably the outside environments. On the other hand, the character art can be a bit hit and miss with some fairly uninteresting designs and portraits. But overall, the game captures the charm of 16-bit graphics nicely. Unfortunately CrossCode doesn't run perfectly smoothly on the Switch, leading to some minor framerate stuttering—which can be alleviated somewhat by turning off visual effects like weather and ambient lighting—which is pretty distracting, but the game is still playable. The music also feels like a huge love letter to classic RPG design, emphasis on huge. The soundtrack is massive and sports some great songs for fighting, exploring, and puzzle-solving. CrossCode is a charming, ambitious RPG that packs in an impressive amount of content and ideas into a game that by all accounts should be more expensive than it is. The experience has some rough edges, notably with regard to pacing that can make the game drag, and unfortunately the Switch version has a few technical hiccups, but if you stick with it you'll be treated to a unique action-RPG that requires as much brain power as it does brawn. Rating: 7 out of 10 Codes
  10. Developer Thunder Lotus Games already has two games under its belt, but aside from the beautiful hand-drawn visuals you wouldn't expect those action-heavy games to be related to this quiet, pensive management game focused on dying. Spiritfarer takes players on a thoughtful journey of reflection wrapped up in a tidy gameplay loop of crafting, collecting, and completing quests for your passengers. It's an utterly charming experience that only makes it all the more difficult to say goodbye when it ends. You play as Stella, the new Spiritfarer who takes over for Charon as the ferrymaster to the deceased. Accompanied by her cat Daffodil, Stella sails the seas of the afterlife where she meets spirits, aids them with whatever final business they need to complete, and ultimately ushers them to the Everdoor for a final goodbye. The writing in this game has an incredible ability to transition between sweet and silly moments to truly heart-wrenching scenes in a perfectly smooth, natural way. It's safe to say that you'll feel tears bubbling up at least once throughout the game, and more likely that you'll get emotional with each and every goodbye. Spiritfarer isn't overly stuffed with dialogue and details about each of the spirits you meet, but there's enough to make your time with them feel meaningful and unique as each character deals with their death in different ways. Most importantly, the game handles its heavy subjects with a maturity that never diminishes its positivity and charm—each character has their own hug animation, how do you get more adorable than that? The actual gameplay in Spiritfarer is a familiar but satisfying mix of management sim tasks, sprinkled with some light platforming elements. You'll need to visit multiple islands spread throughout the sea to gather the resources necessary to build structures on the ferry, including homes for the spirits as well as other amenities like a field to grow crops, a kitchen to cook food for the ever-hungry spirits, or a sawmill to cut logs into usable planks. Management games tend to have a simple, satisfying gameplay loop and Spiritfarer is no different. It has a bit of a slow start, which is not unexpected, but once you get going there are constantly little tasks that need doing, and since you spend so much of your time sailing from one island to another you always have free time to fill. The game finds a great balance of always giving you something to do without making your work feel too overwhelming. There are fish to catch, recipes to discover, islands to explore, and spirits that need a steady supply of food and hugs. The ferrymaster's work is never done, which makes Spiritfarer awfully addictive to anyone that enjoys ticking off tasks and keeping a tight ship. It also helps that a lot of the tasks involve fun little mini-games, such as making thread and fabric on the loom, or literally catching lightning in a bottle. Some tasks are always a chore, like watering the crops, but the variety keeps things interesting, and there's always something new to discover as you progress. Thankfully Stella herself doesn't actually need to eat or sleep—though you can sleep through the night to pass time, which is helpful since the ferry doesn't move at night—so you can focus on monitoring the spirits' and the ferry's needs. I only have two minor gripes with the game, one being the odd button mapping that just takes a bit of time to get used to. The other issue is a bit more frustrating: even with the recent 1.4 patch the game has some stability issues, and crashed on me pretty regularly after a few hours of playing. Thankfully there is an autosave feature so at most I lost a minute or two of progress, but it's still obnoxious to deal with crashing on such a frequent basis. There's no ignoring the fact that Spiritfarer is an absolutely gorgeous game. The hand-drawn graphics are stunning on their own, but when you add in the fluid animation it brings to life the characters and this ethereal environment they're inhabiting in a truly beautiful way. Everything about the game's visual design exudes a sweet, soft, and cozy feeling that just makes you feel good to be a part of. Even when you're busy with tasks, the atmosphere of the game is wonderfully tranquil, which can also be said of the soundtrack. The music is colorful and serene and delightfully soothing. All of this visual and aural design perfectly complements the tone of the game and further heightens its emotional moments. Spiritfarer is longer than you might think, but it'll still be over before you know it. Once you're in the thick of things, juggling all the aspects of keeping the ferry running, it's hard to put the game down, and the 25 hours or so that it takes to finish can fly by. Of course, you don't have to do every little side quest you come across, but you'll always be rewarded for your time and sometimes just sailing around is enjoyable. You can also bring a friend along for the ride—player two controls Daffodil the cat—which can be helpful when you have a lot of tasks to complete on the ferry. Spiritfarer takes a hard look at death and dying and puts them in an eminently pleasant setting that is equally charming and heartfelt. The real accomplishment of the game is in not just touching upon these topics but melding them with management sim gameplay that is engaging, addictive and oddly appropriate for the narrative's themes. It's an affecting experience, and one that no Switch owner should miss out on. Rating: 9 out of 10 Spirits
  11. After a 2015 Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, the creators behind Skullgirls brought their 2D artwork and animation talents to an unusual mashup of gameplay genres. Indivisible combines side-scrolling platformer environments, Metroidvania backtracking, and action-RPG battles for a pretty unique experience. Not all of the game's elements are perfectly fleshed out, but there's still a lot to enjoy in this hybrid adventure. The story follows Ajna, a hot-headed but friendly young woman who sets out on a quest for revenge after the evil warlord Ravannavar destroys her village. Equipped with her martial arts skills as well as a strange ability to absorb Incarnations of other warriors into her mind, Ajna travels the world in an attempt to right wrongs and learn more about her abilities. The plot itself has some fairly typical video game beats but it's buoyed by its oddball cast of characters and southeast Asian influence. Indonesian and other southeast Asian mythologies aren't often represented in games and it's a lot of fun to get a glimpse at some of those stories in Indivisible. The allies that Ajna picks up along the way are delightful as well, and even if their personalities or roles in the narrative aren't terribly unique they're still a delightful bunch to fight alongside. The gameplay combines two main aspects: on one hand you've got the side-scrolling platforming with Metroidvania elements—i.e. Ajna gradually unlocks new abilities that allow her to reach new areas in previously visited locations—and on the other hand you've got real-time RPG battles that allow you to use varied attack combos by stringing together button presses. It's a strange combination of gameplay that works for the most part—small issues notwithstanding. The platforming and exploration takes a bit of time to get interesting since Ajna's initial movement abilities are so limited, but by the end of the game there are some great platforming challenges that require mixing all of the skills you've acquired to perform a chain of mid-air acrobatics. But again, that means for a lot of the game the platforming is rather dull, and it doesn't help that Ajna's basic jump is so weak and stiff that moving around just doesn't feel great throughout the first chunk of the game. The backtracking also gets a bit tedious since there are so few opportunities to fast travel or warp to a specific area, which means you'll spend a significant amount of time just retreading ground. The combat system also has its ups and downs, though it has the benefit of a unique control scheme and a great variety of playable characters. Combat feels like a mix of fighting-game button combos and action-RPG mechanics: in battle you control Ajna and up to three Incarnations, each of whom is assigned to one of the ABXY buttons. Each character has a unique skill set, and pressing up or down while attacking can alter attacks—for example, one character can increase damage by charging elemental power by pressing down before unleashing it on the next attack. You can only attack a few times before that character is put on a cooldown timer which is determined by their speed, but for the most part it's pretty quick so you're not spending a ton of time in battle just waiting around. Additionally, when enemies are attacking you can block or perfect parry by blocking at just the right time, which mitigates all damage. Finally, attacking charges up your Iddhi, which is basically your party's super meter and allows you to use extra powerful attacks. All of that is to say that battles in Indivisible feel incredibly unique, and once you're actually playing it's not nearly as confusing as it might seem at first glance. There's a satisfying ebb and flow to battles as you time your attacks between all four characters to rack up a big combo chain and deal extra damage, and a fair bit of tension since failing to block enemy attacks can be painful. The variety of characters also helps keep battles interesting. You can swap characters at any time outside of battles and each one has a pretty distinct combat style. Learning to master all of them provides a nice incentive to experiment regularly. However, the battle system can be rather repetitive at times as well. Even once you're good at it enemies can feel like damage sponges sometimes, and battles feel like you're just going through the motions. But with so many characters to choose from you can always challenge yourself with different party combos. Indivisible is a good twenty hours or so, which feels about right, though maybe a bit too stretched out by the necessary backtracking and occasional bland battles. Exploration does have its uses though since you can find Ringsels which are the only way to increase your attack or defense power. The game also has a few bonus features: there's paid DLC for additional challenges, a New Game+ mode for increased difficulty, and drop-in, drop-out co-op that allows other players to control characters in battle. It doesn't wildly change how you play the game but it can be fun to have a friend or two along for the ride. The undeniable highlight of Indivisible is its presentation. The character designs are stylish and inventive, the environments have a beautiful hand-drawn quality to them which is particularly eye-catching in cities, and the fluid animation of the characters ties everything together wonderfully. Each character has such a distinct visual personality that every new character is a joy to meet. You'll probably be swapping characters regularly just to test them out in battle anyway, but it's really a delight to see each one's attack animations as well. The soundtrack is also a lot of fun and impressively varied, and the voice cast does a fantastic job of bringing to life so many and such varied characters. Indivisible is an ambitious game that perhaps doesn't bring together its disparate elements perfectly but still crafts a unique, enjoyable game. The platforming is dry at first but gradually ramps up to some solid challenges, and the combat system is interesting, flashy, and satisfying even when it gets a bit repetitive. However, the gorgeous style of the game, top-notch voice work, and charming cast of characters make Indivisible a delightful and memorable experience that you won't soon find in any other game. Rating: 8 out of 10 Incarnations
  12. If you follow the indie gaming scene at all you've probably heard of Kentucky Route Zero at some point, given its extended release schedule. Originally Kickstarted in 2011, the first part of this episodic adventure was released in 2013, and the fifth and final part was only released at the beginning of this year. But whether you've been a fan since the beginning or are just jumping in for the first time, this story-driven exploration of community, the self, and the surreal is well worth the drive. If the developers were hoping to capture a certain undefinable glimpse of the mundane through magical realism, Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition is an overwhelming success. As the game begins you play as Conway, an aging delivery driver for a small antiques store. His latest assignment has taken him to a quiet part of Kentucky with an address that can only be reached by taking the mysterious Route Zero, a road that seemingly doesn't exist, or can only be accessed by unknown means. Or maybe it's not actually a road? Conway's quest leads him to plenty of strange interactions in stranger locations as he picks up fellow travelers and dives deeper into a world of magical realism contained within the sleepy setting of a vaguely mid-20th century America. The story is divided into five acts, and this edition of the game also includes all interludes that were originally released as free downloads. The interludes connect to the overarching narrative but focus on side characters or sometimes on entirely tangential aspects of the story. The interludes suit the structure of Kentucky Route Zero perfectly: this is a story-driven game, but it's also one where the deeper themes and ideas are presented in scattered parts, and it's up to you to piece them together in a meaningful way. At times the game feels like a short story collection with a unified central theme and branching arms that briefly focus on one detail or another. It's the kind of storytelling where you have to simply lose yourself in the story's world. Little details may not be explained explicitly, but by absorbing them you understand the setting and characters better. It is perhaps particularly impressive how well this loose, flowing narrative works considering that the game was in development for nearly a decade and some acts were released years apart from one another. It does work though, and the final result is a brilliantly thoughtful and moving experience that is at once hard to describe and yet perfectly understandable. Let yourself be swept up in the current of the story and you'll enjoy the ride. Even by point and click adventure game standards, there's not much here in terms of gameplay—in fact it's really more of a visual novel with its focus on dialogue options and only the occasional need to move from one location to another. You can choose to look at or interact with objects at times, but for the most part these options are pretty minimal. Still, this doesn't exactly hurt the experience of Kentucky Route Zero. The entire atmosphere of the game is slow and thoughtful, and any flashy gameplay features would likely only have muddied that tone. Even the speed of the dialogue boxes is slow and drawn out at times to elicit a certain mood. And even if it is rather basic, the ability to explore a bit and examine items or chat with characters only adds to the rich world building of the game. Visually and aurally, Kentucky Route Zero is just gorgeous. The clean art style provides just enough personality while giving your mind free rein to fill in the details, and there are still plenty of beautiful shots within the game that are truly striking—mysterious, melancholy, moving, and sometimes all three. The visuals say so much with so little, which is perfectly appropriate for the game as a whole. The music is much the same way; the general background soundtrack is eerie and ominous yet melodious, and then there are moments where the soundtrack kicks in with a wonderful bluegrass or folk tune that reflects the spirit of the game so well. Maybe it's because the rest of the music is so focused on background ambiance, but those bluegrass tunes or other lyrical songs stand out beautifully. It's hard to say much more about Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition. In terms of dry gameplay details, there's not much else to the game, and in terms of the writing and themes, well, this is the kind of experience that you just have to see for yourself. Give it a chance though, even if quiet, story-driven games aren't normally your thing. This is a wonderfully constructed game and story that pulls you into a surreal world and lets you unpack the details in your own time, which makes the experience stick with you so much longer. Rating: 9 out of 10 Routes
  13. When Immortals: Fenyx Rising was initially revealed, plenty of people joked about how similar it looked to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Now that the game is out, I can safely say that…well, it's really similar to BotW. That's not inherently a bad thing, though. What Fenyx Rising has going for it is a massive open world packed with challenges and items to discover, a simple and snappy combat system, and the joy of gliding through the air as you leap from a mountain down into a grove of trees, climbing over everything in your path. The downside though is that this isn't nearly as polished of a game as Nintendo's original. Fenyx Rising draws from Greek mythology for its characters and setting. Typhon, the father of monsters, has escaped his prison and seeks vengeance against the Olympian gods. With many of the gods subdued and almost all of humanity turned to stone, one mortal—Fenyx, who can be customized as male or female—has survived and is now the only hope for setting things right. Funnily enough even this story setup feels a little too similar to BotW—evil being is freed to corrupt the land and defeats four champions poised to stop him—but Fenyx Rising distinguishes itself with its comical, cartoonish tone. The game is narrated by Zeus and Prometheus who, in addition to throwing in plenty of commentary, are constantly cracking jokes, oftentimes with references to Greek mythology. The levity is a fun touch but the humor is spotty at best. A lot of the jokes are the kinds you'd see in a cheesy kids movie and just don't land well in this format. The gameplay really does feel like the exact blend of BotW and Ubisoft's familiar adventure game formula. You have a massive environment to explore that is filled with points of interest, including Vaults of Tartaros *cough* shrines *cough* as well as other gameplay challenges that put your platforming and puzzle-solving skills to the test. Instead of simply adding all of these locations to your map as soon as you uncover a new region, you have to find them yourself or identify them with the Far Sight ability. This results in a somewhat clumsy mixed bag approach. On one hand, it's nice that the game doesn't just hand you all of these points of interest like many other Ubisoft games might, but on the other, using Far Sight is a rather tedious and awkward solution. Of course, you can simply explore and try to stumble on challenges on your own, and after a few hours you'll get good at identifying potential points of interest, but there are also a ton to discover, and some are so small that it's extremely easy to miss them. That said, exploration in Fenyx Rising is pretty fun regardless, so if you don't mind taking the more laid back approach, you can just run around and clamber over ruins to your heart's content. The combat system feels like it takes a bit more from other Ubisoft games rather than BotW—don't worry, there are no breakable weapons in Fenyx Rising. What you do have is a small assortment of weapons (sword for light attacks, axe for heavy, and a bow for range) and you can find different types of swords, axes, or bows that have different effects, such as a sword that deals extra damage when at full health. There's not a ton of variety in the kinds of attacks you can do with these weapons, and early on enemies can feel like damage sponges as you just mash the same attacks over and over, but even so your attacks feel good. Your strikes are snappy and it's easy to dodge out of the way of incoming attacks—you can also "perfect dodge" or "perfect parry" to slow down time and leave the enemy open to some hits, if that sounds at all familiar. In addition to finding new types of weapons you can upgrade your equipment, and thankfully you don't have to upgrade each individual weapon, which means it's easy to swap and experiment. It's also nice to have another incentive to fight monsters and explore in order to collect the currency you need for these upgrades, which keeps the momentum of the game moving nicely. There's also a big focus on puzzles in Fenyx Rising, including overworld puzzles and challenges with Vaults of Tartaros. Both show a great variety of puzzle concepts and are a lot of fun to play around with (and again reward you with materials to upgrade your abilities). Even though they are clearly blatant copies of the shrines in BotW, the Vaults of Tartaros are a definite highlight of this game and provide a wonderful assortment of challenges that really make the most out of classic 3D adventure game puzzles, i.e. hit a switch, create a path, etc. There are also bigger vaults that you'll need to solve in order to progress the story that capture the classic feeling of Zelda dungeons in clever and satisfying ways. Unfortunately, Fenyx Rising has some technical issues that can't really be ignored. For one thing, the game crashed on me several times. I wouldn't normally comment on one or two random crashes but it was far too common here. Thankfully the game does feature both manual and auto saves so I never lost too much progress. Secondly and more pervasively: the game doesn't look too great on the Switch. Presumably this stems from the fact that the game was built for several platforms and, with the Switch as the weakest, this version of the game ends up being pretty rough at times. It's never anything too terrible but the little things really add up over the course of the game, like the clothes that constantly clip through limbs or the textures that take too long to load or the slightly choppy animations that pop up occasionally. It's a shame that the game couldn't be better polished and catered to the Switch platform (although one of the nice perks of Fenyx Rising is full cross-platform save functionality, so you could swap to a different console if these issues get to be too much). The game's art direction doesn't help these technical hiccups either. The visual style is perfectly fine, but that's about all it is: fine. There's something far too generic about the character models and landscape details in Fenyx Rising. Despite some bright and colorful locales as well as some dark and foreboding ones, the game's visual personality is pretty bland. On the audio side of things, the music is decent but rarely shines. What really overshadows it is the voice acting, but not in a good way. All of the characters have a vaguely Greek accent to suit the setting, but the effect does not work. It's just distracting and doesn't help any of the corny jokes actually land. Fenyx Rising probably isn't quite as big as other massive open-world games, but you're still looking at a minimum of 25 hours to play through the story, and that's from mostly pushing through the main quests and only getting some of the upgrades and collectibles. If you wanted to really do everything you could easily double that length of time, maybe even triple it, and as mentioned the variety of challenges the game presents does make the effort worth it. Additionally, there are daily challenges you can try, and there's every indication that the developers are going to continue to support the game with new content down the line. Immortals: Fenyx Rising is a solid action-adventure game that struggles to shrug off the shadow of one of the Switch's biggest titles. I don't like drawing such a specific comparison between two games, but the influence is undeniable here, and anyone that has played Breath of the Wild likely won't be able to keep that game out of their head while playing this one. It certainly doesn't help that Fenyx Rising doesn't have the same level of polish. That said, if you're looking for another open-world experience, this game does scratch that itch quite well. The environments are sweeping, the puzzles are engaging, and the combat is snappy. It may not rise to the level of Nintendo's take on the genre, but it's a fun game to dive into all the same. Rating: 7 out of 10 Olympians
  14. Christmas is just around the corner and Halloween is well past us now, but you can still get into the holiday spirit for both celebrations with the recent Christmas update to Pumpkin Jack, a 3D platformer from one-man developer Nicolas Meyssonnier and publisher Headup Games. With a mix of combat and platforming challenges in a cartoonishly spooky world, Pumpkin Jack is a charming mix of classic concepts seen through a fresh lens no matter what time of year you're playing. The Devil, bored by the calm and carefree lifestyles of humans, sends all manner of monsters to wreak havoc and destroy the mortal world. But when a champion of good rises up to defeat the forces of darkness, the Devil sends his own champion, Jack, to ensure evil reigns. It's a fun twist to be playing for the bad guys in a game like this, and Jack's flippant attitude makes him a great protagonist for just revelling in the destruction and chaos. There isn't a whole lot else to the story, but Jack's brief dialogues with either allies or foes provide fun, slightly cheesy breaks from the action. The gameplay of Pumpkin Jack truly captures the spirit of the kinds of 3D adventure/platformers that were much more common around 15 or 20 years ago. In this case the level design is quite linear, but there's still a sense of exploration for finding the collectable crow skulls that can be used to purchase costumes, or the recently added Christmas presents that provide their own holiday bonus. There's a decent variety of platformer challenges, and apparently jumping from moving platform to moving platform is always a fun, satisfying time, no matter what the year is. However, a significant part of the game's difficulty has more to do with Jack's awkward jumps than with the level design. Jack's momentum while jumping is rather tricky and makes adjusting your positioning mid-air awkward and difficult. The vast majority of my deaths in the game came from a slightly missed jump, leading to a plunge into water or a pit. To make matters worse, the loading screen to get back into the action is noticeably long, which is particularly annoying when instant death falls are so common. Still, the game is generous with checkpoints and the level design is never needlessly cruel, just challenging due to Jack's less than stellar jumping skills. You'll also need to fight your way through various enemies in each level, and there's always a boss fight waiting for you at the end. Combat in Pumpkin Jack is also a bit of a mixed bag: Jack's attacks are a little too loose which doesn't give the combat system much of a sense of weight or snappy action. There isn't much of a sense of attack combos or other abilities, and enemies will hit you right back through your own attacks which makes a lot of fights just feel like a mish mash of strikes until the enemy falls. However, you gain a new weapon in each level and getting to play around with each one helps add some spice to the mix and keep things interesting. Each weapon feels distinct, and although each one is arguably better than the last, you can swap weapons at any time if you feel like changing things up. One of the best aspects of Pumpkin Jack is just the sense of variety and momentum in each level. The gameplay never slows down, whether you're fighting skeletons or jumping between platforms, and tying it all together is a fantastic variety of mini-games, ranging from mine cart rides to miniature puzzles where you're only controlling Jack's pumpkin head. The entire game is only about five hours long—a bit longer if you take a long time collecting everything—but the momentum of the game keeps every moment engaging. Perhaps even more than the gameplay, the visual design of Pumpkin Jack captures the colorful and whimsical sense of style of early 2000s platformers, all with the influence of Halloween. Over just a handful of levels there's a good variety to the environment designs and all of them just feel fun, and the contrast between heavy shadows and eerie color palettes gives the whole game an appropriately PG spookiness. The soundtrack is also a blast and surprisingly varied for the relatively short length of the game. In terms of building that cartoony but spooky atmosphere, the music does an amazing job. Pumpkin Jack is a delightful 3D platformer that knows how to lean on nostalgia for the genre but still manages to feel unique. Considering the game was largely a one-person effort, that's only more impressive. That's not to say the game isn't without some rough edges, as the combat could be a little more interesting and the platforming could be tighter, but even so Pumpkin Jack takes players on a fun ride through a Halloween-themed (and now also Christmas-themed) adventure. Rating: 8 out of 10 Jack-o'-lanterns Review copy provided by publisher Pumpkin Jack is available now on the Switch eShop for the normal price of $29.99 and is currently on sale until 01/02/21 for $20.99.
  15. After thirty years, Fire Emblem fans finally have the chance to play the game that started the entire series—not as a DS remake, but as a port of the NES original (plus a couple of modern additions to make the experience a little more palatable). Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light started it all, the series that had six installments before one was finally localized in English, and then only truly soared to its current popularity after another six. But this is the original, before any fancy additional features were included, when all you had was an 8-bit battlefield and your wits to overcome scores of enemies. And not surprisingly, it's a rough ride by modern standards. Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light follows Prince Marth's quest to retake his homeland of Altea after it was conquered by the Dohlr Empire, and by extension liberate all of Archanea from Dohlr's evil rule. On one hand, there's a fair bit of storytelling within the game itself, which is relatively rare for an NES title. You may still need a guide or manual to understand all of the details, but overall the game tells a decent if rather straightforward hero story. The localization is solid, given the relatively simple material they had to work with. That said, Fire Emblem fans will likely still lament the lack of character interactions which has become such a large part of the more recent games—here they really are mostly faceless minions to move around the battlefield. Even after thirty years the gameplay fundamentals haven't changed too much. You move your units around a grid-based battlefield in turns with the enemy computer-controlled army, and planning ahead is a must to see Prince Marth to victory. Units have different stats or abilities based on their class—pegasus knights can fly over any terrain, thieves can open treasure chests, etc.—and you'll collect an assortment of weapons to outfit your units, including classic standbys like the Killing Edge which has a higher chance to deliver a critical hit or the Armorslayer which is effective against heavily armored enemies. Marching mindlessly into battle is a surefire recipe for disaster, and the joy of the Fire Emblem franchise is seeing your carefully laid plans pave the way to victory. Even in 2020, Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light scratches a satisfying itch for strategy gameplay. That said, there are plenty of details that have not aged well, or there are features that are perfectly common in modern Fire Emblem games that weren't found here. Some require just a small change in strategy, such as the lack of a weapon triangle or the fact that magic always deals static damage depending on what spell is used. Others will fundamentally alter the way you play the game though, such as the lack of a battle preview to tell you your odds to hit, how much damage will be dealt, or the enemy's abilities when counterattacking. I won't lie, it's pretty difficult to plan without this kind of information, and even calculating it yourself is tricky sometimes because there are no in-game stats for weapon power or weight. You can estimate what will happen, certainly, but more likely you'll be taking more risks than you might in any other Fire Emblem game, or be paralyzed by slow, overly cautious progress. Thankfully, this release of Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light does have a few new additions, including the ability to bookmark or save mid-battle, as well as a turn rewind feature that reverts everything back to the start of one of your turns (up to the last twenty turns). It may not feel entirely in the spirit of Fire Emblem to use these features, but they are incredibly helpful for coping with this game's lack of clarity. The game is also awfully slow and replaying entire chapters is going to be tedious even for long-time Fire Emblem fans. You can choose to speed up the gameplay which is another invaluable addition to this version of the game that doesn't make any fundamental change to the original NES experience. There are plenty of other odd or annoying little quirks to be found here. Each character can only hold four items, and moving things in or out of the convoy costs gold. Healers don't gain experience by healing, only by being attacked by enemies. Enemy reinforcements attack on the same turn they appear (which happens in more recent games as well but is usually restricted to the higher difficulty options). Not all units can be promoted—surprisingly, knights don't become generals in this game. All of this is to say that this original Fire Emblem experience feels rough around the edges. It's playable, certainly, but you need to know what you're getting into, especially for a game that can last a good 15 hours or so. Like the gameplay, there aren't any significant changes to the graphics or music, although you can swap between a stretched view to better fill modern screens or pixel perfect mode to retain the square shape of the original. Either way, the visuals aren't much in this game. Granted it was made for NES hardware, and even more recent Fire Emblem games have repetitive map features too, but some of the character portraits just look goofy, and the battle animation isn't much to look at. The music is okay for the chiptune style of the time, but it's annoying that speeding up gameplay animation also speeds up the music into a frantic, repetitive loop. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light has been lifted from its time almost completely intact for international audiences to play for the first time, and the resulting experience is…fine? The franchise has come a long way in terms of making the strategy-heavy gameplay accessible to all players, and the lack of even basic planning aids like a battle preview definitely stings, but it shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone that a thirty year old game is going to feel clunky and dated. No one should play Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light expecting a perfectly smooth and polished strategy RPG. This is a game you play for its historic value and, for die-hard Fire Emblem fans, as a point of pride for conquering Marth's original adventure (we'll just overlook all of the bookmarks and turn rewinds used). This is a fun novelty for Switch owners, and the price point isn't too bad, but only dedicated players are likely to stick with it through the whole adventure. Rating: 7 out of 10 Emblems
  16. From Hello Games and the minds behind LostWinds, an early WiiWare indie platformer on the Wii, comes a new puzzle-platformer adventure with a somber and melancholic tone. The Last Campfire takes players on an atmospheric journey rife with introspection about life and loneliness, peppered with simple exploration puzzles. The gameplay may not ever feel particularly challenging, but the subject matter may make this game a must-play title for 2020. You play as an Ember, a diminutive traveler who has gotten a little side-tracked from their original journey. Your path now takes you through some quiet, lonely environments where you meet other travellers who, having lost hope, have turned into statues called Forlorn. By helping the Forlorn via puzzle-solving, you are able to open the path forward to continue your journey. With an omnipresent narrator—who also voices all of the characters you encounter—and cute little character designs, The Last Campfire has a storybook quality that contrasts its heavy, serious subject matter that dives straight into topics like loneliness, sadness, and depression. It's a melancholic game, but one that truly seems to respect the nature of such feelings: the game's solution isn't just happiness and sunshine, nor does it allow its characters to languish in darkness. Despite the game's cartoony appearance there's a maturity to the game's tone, which makes its message resonate all the more powerfully. The gameplay involves simple exploration and puzzle-solving across a handful of different environments. In each area you need to rescue a certain number of Forlorn in order to progress, and actually finding the frozen Forlorn requires a bit of platforming and ingenuity, whether that means thinking of a way through prickly brambles or finding a key to a locked gate. Once you find a Forlorn you enter a small puzzle-platformer challenge. For example, you may need to create a path across a series of broken stones by moving blocks into place, or you may need to carry a flame while protecting it from the wind. The Last Campfire is full of solid, clever puzzle designs that never feel too challenging but are nevertheless well constructed and engaging. These are simple logic puzzles, or obstacles where the solution is just in the next area, so a bit of exploration is all you need to overcome them. It may not be particularly challenging to anyone that has played similar platformer-puzzle games, but maybe the brisk pacing helps keep you invested and not frozen like a Forlorn. The only major problem with the game might just be its short length. Perhaps because the puzzles are so well constructed and brisk you'll end up speeding through the game in just about five hours or so, which leads to a satisfying conclusion to the story but will likely leave you hungry for more puzzles. This isn't a high replay value kind of game either, though if you're thorough while exploring you can find treasure chests containing pieces of the Wanderer's journal (who is presumably an Ember that came before you) and take in a bit more of the story and lore. The game's visual design is incredibly charming, combining cute little characters with colorful environments, even if those environments dip into creepy territory at times. There's not a lot of intense technical design at play here but The Last Campfire is still a good looking game. However, it does have some trouble maintaining a smooth framerate at times, notably when transitioning into or out of a puzzle. It's not a huge problem though, more of a nagging little annoyance. The music is excellent and does a lot of the heavy lifting for establishing the moody, atmospheric moments of the game. The soundtrack is also impressively varied for a relatively short game, and the previously mentioned narrator adds a charming, soothing voice to the whole experience. The Last Campfire is a sweet and somber little adventure that is over entirely too quickly, but its thoughts on loneliness and depression still resonate beautifully, particularly in a year that has been defined by isolation. Despite some minor technical hiccups and a challenge level that experienced gamers might find too simple, Switch owners shouldn't pass up the brief time they'll have with The Last Campfire. Rating: 8 out of 10 Embers
  17. The original Hyrule Warriors, especially with all of its DLC additions, was a charming love letter to the entire Zelda series in the guise of a Warriors title, but it's the more narrowed focus of this sequel that might have produced a better game overall. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity explores the disastrous conflict 100 years before the events of Breath of the Wild, when Link, Zelda, and the four Champions prepared to battle Calamity Ganon. Our heroes face hordes of hundreds of Bokoblins, Moblins, and more fearsome creatures in the hack 'n' slash action that Warriors games are known for. The resulting mix of snappy, satisfying gameplay and beloved characters is a Zelda spin-off experience that Switch owners can't miss. As fans know, 100 years prior to the events of BotW, Calamity Ganon's evil power was reawakened, sending the land of Hyrule into turmoil. Age of Calamity begins as Link and Zelda rally the forces of Hyrule to prepare for this threat by recruiting Champions from all corners of the land to wield the ancient Sheikah technology that will help them repel Ganon. Ultimately the plot covers several of the same story beats that players already experienced in BotW, but that doesn't diminish the charm of the cutscenes in Age of Calamity. It's a real treat just to see these characters again—and especially to control them in battle—so regardless of how much this game actually does or does not reveal about canonical BotW lore, the story scenes never disappoint. Warriors games are all about non-stop action, pitting just a handful of heroes against hundreds or even thousands of enemies. Through strings of attack combos, powerful special skills, and a handful of extra abilities, your goal is typically to just demolish everything in front of you in order to capture key outposts or defeat bosses. The game will also occasionally throw in some unique mission goals, such as escorting an NPC—by crushing everything in its path—or activating switches—again usually by destroying every nearby enemy. Age of Calamity feels somewhat less strategy-heavy than other Warriors games (including the original Hyrule Warriors) in that you don't have to worry quite so much about keeping control of the entire battlefield at all times, and the time pressure rarely pushes you. Die-hard Warriors fans might feel the change simplifies the gameplay a little too much, but overall it might be a step in the right direction by focusing on the fun of combat instead of juggling objectives. Regardless of the level of difficulty, the formula is undeniably repetitive but also so wonderfully satisfying. It's pure combat action that allows you to go wild and feel like a one-person wrecking crew. Age of Calamity customizes the Warriors experience with plenty of little BotW touches. The characters are drawn from BotW, obviously, and their unique playstyles are absolutely fantastic. Each character feels distinct, each is fun to use, and although there are some general strategies that carry over across all characters it's a lot of fun to take the time to learn how to use each character to his or her full potential. This also does wonders for making the gameplay feel less repetitive. The details drawn from BotW are also a treat for fans to spot, from hidden Koroks and buried treasure chests to the variety of weapons. Every character can use Sheikah runes and magic rods which provide yet more ways to kick butt. Even the fact that the map is the same as BotW and you start missions by moving your cursor around the map is just a fun touch. It was so easy and exciting to lose yourself in the world of BotW while playing that game, and even though this is an entirely different genre that feeling still carries over. And much like BotW, there's an impressive amount of things to do in Age of Calamity. Aside from the main missions which are already quite lengthy, this game is jam packed with side missions, opportunities to upgrade the abilities of your characters, and the blacksmith system that allows you to fuse weapons together to make them stronger or pass on special effects from one weapon to another. The fusing system could be a little easier to understand, but even if you struggle with it at first it's worth taking the time to level up your weapons. Every time you clear a main mission a whole slew of new side content opens up, and it's frankly hard to pass up the opportunity to do them all. Aside from the obvious benefits of powering up your characters, the gameplay is just so addictive and clearing each little task on the map is too satisfying. On top of all of this there's also the incredible replay value of playing these missions again with different characters, which may be rather repetitive but it's still an absolute blast to dive into the game again and again. Age of Calamity has its share of flaws as well, of course. The most consistent problem with the game is the frame rate which struggles to remain smooth at all times. It's not game-breaking but it's noticeable, which is jarring for a fast-paced action experience. The load times when starting a mission are noticeably long, though thankfully there are no loading screens mid-mission. The camera can also get a little unwieldy, especially when you're near a wall or the edge of an arena, or worse yet a boss retreats into that corner and it becomes hard to keep them in your sights while still dodging effectively. The camera also has pretty poor vertical range, which isn't much of a problem most of the time but it does make split-screen multiplayer feel squished, and of course multiplayer makes the frame rate take an even bigger hit as well. Age of Calamity also gives you the opportunity to pilot the Divine Beasts which ends up being rather underwhelming due to stiff controls and fairly bland level designs. It's still cool to get to control these giant machines but those levels lack the snappy action and depth of the rest of the game. In terms of visual and audio design, the developers at Omega Force absolutely nailed recreating the BotW aesthetic in a different genre. Some frame rate issues aside, the game looks gorgeous and once again it's so fun to see familiar characters and locations in new scenarios. The soundtrack similarly draws from the melodies of BotW but makes them a little more energetic and frenetic to suit the fast-paced action of this game, and the effect works nicely. And it's great to hear the returning voice cast who once again capture these characters so well in every cutscene. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a fantastic Zelda-themed Warriors game that knows just how to play off of the player's love for Breath of the Wild. Age of Calamity beautifully walks a fine line between catering to the aesthetic and feel of that game while still focusing on the wild action of bowling through hordes and hordes of enemies. There are some minor quibbles to be had with some aspects of the game and the fast-paced combat may not resonate with everyone, but for many the combo of Zelda charm and satisfying Warriors gameplay will make for an irresistibly addictive experience. Rating: 9 out of 10 Guardians
  18. The latest in the Gunvolt series from developer Inti Creates, Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX carries the same fast-paced, 2D action gameplay that the franchise is known for. Although experienced players and die-hard action game fans may enjoy the flashy combat mechanics, more casual players may find this game to be more style than substance. In the future, normal humans are controlled and hunted down by a ruling class of enhanced humans called Adepts. You play as Copen—returning from the previous games—who is fighting on behalf of humans to stop the tyranny of the Sumeragi, the organization controlling the Adepts. It's a decent action-adventure set up that is so rapidly blazed through that if you blink you might miss the story completely. Part of the problem just seems to be that the game really expects you to remember everything about the previous games, though a recap would have been useful here. Side characters and boss antagonists are introduced with minimal fanfare or depth, so most come off as weak cardboard cutout characters. It's hard to care about anything happening because these characters are given so little time to develop before you're rushing to the next stage. This is an action game after all though so maybe the light-touch storytelling isn't a big deal, but it's bizarre that there's clearly more backstory and plot under the surface that is just never given time or space to shine. Copen was a playable character in Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, and he largely plays the same here. There are some obvious Mega Man influences but with the speed of the gameplay turned up to 11—instead of just shooting enemies, you'll want to dash into them to lock-on, then blast away with your standard gun or EX skills (you also earn more EX skills from defeating bosses). Unfortunately the game doesn't do a great job of explaining its mechanics to the player. Like the story it really seems to expect you to be able to just dive straight in, which might be fine if you're a huge fan or have played the previous games recently, but anyone else will want to read over the game manual or consult a wiki just to learn some of the core mechanics at play. The gameplay is also fully aimed at a certain level of skilled player. It's totally possible to progress through the game without mastering its mechanics of dashing, shooting, and dodging, but it makes the gameplay a bit dull. Luminous Avenger is at its best when you're rapidly flying through the air, bouncing from one enemy to the next, and building up a huge score multiplyer—you're even awarded with flashier special effects when you reach a certain score chain. It can take a fair bit of practice to get to that point though, including just memorizing best strategies on some levels, so you need some dedication to actually get the most out of the game. When you're not, some mechanics like Copen's somewhat weightless movements will just feel awkward and sluggish. Even so, Luminous Avenger makes some generous concessions to inexperienced players. Copen has a Bullit system that allows him to automatically dodge enemy attacks as long as he has Bullits loaded, so even if you're not great at dodging it's actually pretty hard to take damage most of the time. Reloading your Bullits is pretty awkward, even with two control input options, but it's a necessary hurdle. On the other hand, the game will also throw a couple of sharp difficulty spikes at you, especially with the final boss, since some enemies have attacks that cannot be auto-dodged. It's a bit annoying to have this useful crutch the entire game and then lose it when it matters most, but this is an action game that requires practice and skill. The game is also awfully short, even by action game standards. You can easily finish in under three hours, even if you're not flying through stages as smoothly as possible. There is a decent amount of replay value though, not just in earning high scores but in bonus missions or unlocking all of the upgradable gear, which will take multiple playthroughs to fully complete. It would have been nice to have more variety rather than repeated gameplay though. The game's presentation, at least, is pretty sharp. The sprite work is clean and the environments are decently stylish, though the special effects can at times be so flashy that you might lose track of Copen on screen. The character designs leave something to be desired as they can feel quite generic at times, but again since the writing doesn't give the characters much depth anyway maybe it doesn't matter. The soundtrack is also the kind of upbeat action music you'd typically expect, and can feel a bit generic at times as well. Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX is made for fans of the franchise that already love the fast-paced action centered around perfectly dashing from one enemy to the next to maintain a huge score chain. It also feels like it's simply going through the motions a lot of the time, and the gameplay isn't evolving, nor is the writing expanding on the franchise's lore in a clear, engaging way. Still, if you're looking for some frantic 2D action gameplay, Gunvolt has been a worthy franchise for years now, and Luminous Avenger, for better or for worse, is no different. Rating: 7 out of 10 Gunvolts
  19. It was a pleasant surprise earlier this year when a brand new Paper Mario game was not only revealed and released within a two month span, but also delivered a charming adventure with a unique battle system. But those of us longing for the more traditional RPG mechanics of the first two Paper Mario games are better off looking to the world of indie games, as Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling draws clear inspiration from the battle mechanics, badge system, and visual design of those classic Mario RPGs. This is far from some cheap impersonation though. Bug Fables is a lovingly crafted homage to those games, one that nails the feeling of those RPGs while still developing an engaging adventure all its own. The story takes place in the land of Bugaria, a prosperous land of insects full of foliage, vicious creatures, and the allure of adventure. The ant queen has promised riches to any brave explorers who can find the ancient relics that point toward the Everlasting Sapling, a mystical item that promises immortality. Our protagonists are a trio of bugs questing for the treasure, though with rather different motives. True to its RPG roots, Bug Fables is bursting with dialogue and lore, a lot of which is optional. It's worth taking the time to read it all though, because the developers have crafted a fantastic little world of insects that is full of charm and heart. The broad story beats may not be breaking new ground, but you'll still grow attached to the characters and enjoy seeing their personalities play off of each other, watching them grow, and learning more about the miniscule land and the secrets it hides. The gameplay is pure Paper Mario, from the 2D characters in a 3D environment to the light puzzle-platformer exploration to the interactive, turn-based combat system. Bug Fables makes excellent use of its inspiration, adding clever twists to the gameplay principles to make the experience feel both familiar and still unique. The battle system, for example, uses similar well-timed button presses to either increase your strength or defense. However, there's also a wealth of strategy involved in every battle. The character at the front of the party receives a small strength boost, but is more likely to be targeted by enemies. Each character's attack has different effects—Vi's "bee-merang," for example, can knock flying enemies out of the air which allows the other characters to reach them—and you can swap characters' positions or give turns to other characters, whatever lets you defeat enemies most efficiently. Combat is also pretty challenging throughout the game which means you'll always be on your toes. Your characters never actually increase their attack or defense stats, but you can increase your Medal Points which allows you to equip medals for helpful effects (similar to badges in Paper Mario). You really have to master blocking since even taking one or two attacks at full power can be devastating for your team. By keeping your damage output and defensive abilities low throughout the adventure, the game encourages the player to plan and strategize, not just rely on plowing through enemies with sheer force. It's challenging but also quite rewarding when you succeed against powerful bosses. There's also a wide variety of medals to collect and each character gains a handful of different special skills, which provides a good amount of variety in combat strategy. Plus, if you feel the need for an even bigger challenge, you can equip a hard mode medal at any time to truly test your abilities. The puzzle-platforming exploration is where the game falters a bit, though, or more specifically, it's the platforming that causes issues. You'll encounter a good variety of exploration puzzles—find the switch, create a bridge for yourself, etc.—and they're generally clever and well-implemented. However, the actual movements of your 2D characters in a 3D environment is what makes exploration a bit frustrating. Too often it's hard to tell if you've properly lined up a jump or will reach a ledge. Not only do the bugs have fairly meager jumping skills, the visual cues just aren't displayed well, i.e. you think you're lined up for a jump but the depth perception is actually all off, or trying to place a 3D object amidst 2D characters looks confusing. Typically, missing a jump only costs you a bit of time, but it happens all too frequently in Bug Fables and certainly could have been fine tuned. You might think that an indie-developed RPG would skimp a little on the side content that fleshes out the typical RPG. Not so with Bug Fables. Not only are there dozens of side quests to tackle, there are optional bosses (not for the faint of heart), recipes that you can unlock to make your healing items more potent, and even a fully realized card-based mini-game. Bug Fables is packed with little features that are a joy to discover, and of course they always provide valuable rewards to make your adventuring a little easier. Even without the EXP or rare medals though, interacting with the various insects that populate Bugaria is a delight, especially when it comes to the personal side quests of our three protagonists. Anyone hoping for plentiful content can rest assured, Bug Fables is already a decent length RPG, clocking in at 20 hours minimum, and tackling all of the side content can easily add another dozen or more hours. The visual design of Bug Fables is also heavily inspired by Paper Mario, and like those games it's pretty adorable. The art style is simple and simply cute, personifying these bugs into endearing little characters, whether it's a humble beetle or a beautiful butterfly. The limited animation works for this adventure, as do the simple environments with just the right touch of human influence in them. The soundtrack is also wonderful and positively brimming with songs. More importantly, the music is fun and catchy without ever growing old, which is vital in an RPG like this where you'll hear some battle and town tunes over and over. Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling is a delightful little RPG that proudly displays its Paper Mario influence without ever feeling stuck in its shadow. The combat system can be challenging but always feels fair and, once you have a few medals to play around with, offers a solid variety of strategies. The game's presentation is absolutely charming and pulls a lot of personality and depth out of a sleek, simple art style. The game's one major fault is its awkward platforming aspects, but that's not enough to weight down what is otherwise a completely charming RPG experience. Rating: 9 out of 10 Bugs
  20. Drawing inspiration from both George Orwell's novel 1984 and the classic 2D Prince of Persia game, Ministry of Broadcast combines a dystopian narrative with a challenging mix of platformer puzzles. It's definitely a unique mixture, though some of the gameplay mechanics could have used some fine-tuning. In a dystopian society run by a totalitarian regime, a massive wall created by the rulers has both literally and figuratively divided the people. In the hopes of seeing his family again, one man (never named, but generally referred to as Orange due to his hair) signs up for a reality TV show in the hopes of winning a trip over the wall. Surviving the reality show means completing various platformer arenas, sometimes to the detriment of the other "contestants." As you can see the very premise of the game starts off pretty dark, and things don't exactly get better for our nameless protagonist. However, the game balances its bleak setting with plenty of sarcastic and dark humor. Not all of the jokes land perfectly but overall it provides a unique sense of personality to the game while the story explores some heavy themes of control and desperation, and how far one might be willing to go under dire circumstances. The dark premise is also offset by the charming pixel art design of the game. It's a well-trod look by now but Ministry of Broadcast still makes it look good, with just enough detail to give characters personality while still feeling appropriate for the oppressed, totalitarian setting of the story. The music isn't bad either and has some surprising variety to it that adds a bit of oddball charm to the experience. In the same vein of games like the original 2D Prince of Persia or Flashback, Ministry of Broadcast is a cinematic platformer, meaning it's focused around puzzle-solving more than dextrous action. There might be a large gap in the way of your progress, or an aggressive dog, and you'll need to find a way forward using the limited options that the environment provides. There are a lot of really clever puzzles at work here, some of which take a good bit of lateral thinking that is rewarding to work through. On the other hand, there are also parts of the game that do require you to be quick or dextrous, and these tend to be the most annoying or frustrating moments. The controls are, seemingly by design, rather stiff and clumsy. Orange isn't exactly Mario or Sonic, he doesn't move or turn on a dime and it is incredibly easy to miss a jump by being off by just a tiny bit. When all you're doing is moving boxes in order to reach a high ledge these controls aren't a problem, but when you need to outrun an enemy or escape a crumbling floor, Ministry of Broadcast becomes incredibly obnoxious. It doesn't really make sense to include these precision platforming moments at all when the controls simply aren't designed for it. Orange's general movements are also pretty slow, which again works during the more cinematic platformer moments, like when Orange is talking to himself and contemplating his actions, but when you just need to get back to the point where you died and try again the slow pace can be tedious. Thankfully, Ministry of Broadcast has some pretty frequent checkpoints, but there are still plenty of times over the short six-hour span of the game that you'll be wishing Orange simply moved faster. Ministry of Broadcast takes players on a cinematic platformer adventure, one that is in turns thought-provoking and mechanically challenging. The unusual formula doesn't quite come together perfectly, but there's enough here to draw in anyone looking for a unique platformer experience. Rating: 7 out of 10 Arenas
  21. In the continuing trend of porting every major Wii U game to the Switch, Pikmin 3 Deluxe revamps the 2013 Wii U title with new side-story missions as well as co-op gameplay. Although it's somewhat disappointing to see the Wii U grow more and more pointless, it's great to see its hidden gems find new life on a more popular console, and Pikmin 3 is definitely a gem. Instead of Captain Olimar—protagonist of the first two Pikmin games—Pikmin 3 stars a trio of space explorers from the planet Koppai as they search the galaxy for new sources of food. Alph, Brittany, and Charlie crash land on the planet PNF-404 where they discover massive, bountiful fruits which they are able to collect with the aid of Pikmin. The story in Pikmin 3 is an absolutely adorable, almost bedtime-story-esque take on a sci-fi adventure. The protagonists are charming—and surprisingly relaxed about their relatively dire situation—and their log entries describing the fruit and creatures they discover are simply a delight to read. The trio isn't quite as melancholy and pensive as Olimar was with his log entries, which gave the previous games a unique sense of gravitas, but their logs are engaging in their own ways and it's still worth taking the time to read them all. The gameplay of the Pikmin series is real-time strategy: our heroes are only able to explore the planet during the day as deadly creatures come out at night, so you have a limited amount of time to explore each region, collect fruit, and grow Pikmin. You can use up to 100 Pikmin at once, directing them to carry objects or fight the ferocious fauna of PNF-404, and each type of Pikmin has its own use. Red (fire-resistant), yellow (electricity-resistant and can be thrown farther), and blue (can breathe underwater) return from previous games, while rock (can break crystal objects) and flying (can…well, fly) are new to Pikmin 3. Using each type for the appropriate task is the key to success as you and your Pikmin scramble to get as much done as possible each day while the clock constantly ticks down to sunset. All of the Pikmin games strike a wonderful balance of engaging and challenging real-time gameplay while still being accessible enough for a wide variety of players to enjoy, and Pikmin 3 is no different. Making efficient use of your time and Pikmin and seeing the literal fruits of your hard work (or more precisely, your Pikmin's hard work) is incredibly satisfying, and also makes the game quite addictive—there's always more to explore, and never enough time in one day to see it all. Pikmin 3 also emphasizes multi-tasking thanks to the three protagonists at your disposal. You can direct them to move about the map separately, allowing you to cover more ground in a single day. You can't get too specific with telling them exactly what to do, unfortunately, but the juggling act of using all three is still fun and allows you to make extremely efficient use of your time. So what's new for this Switch edition of the game? First there's the new side-missions that challenge the player with short, score-based tasks, starring Olimar and Louie. These are similar to the Mission Mode from the original version of the game and provide bite-sized challenges. They aren't terribly robust challenges and they simply recycle maps from the main story, but they add some new content, which is certainly welcome, and it's nice to be back in the captain's chair with Olimar. Both the side-stories and Mission Mode also serve as a nice test of your Pikmin skills, putting all of your collecting, fighting, and multi-tasking abilities on display with your high score. Pikmin 3 Deluxe also includes all of the DLC of the original version, so there's plenty to play. There are also some nice quality of life updates here, including three separate save files, difficulty options, a hint system for new/inexperienced players, and co-op for the main story. The co-op is local, same-system multiplayer only unfortunately, but having another player can make your progress even more efficient, and may be just what you need to tackle the Ultra Spicy difficulty level. And coordinating strategies in a real-time game can be a lot of fun. The Wii U version of the game had a number of control scheme options, and the best was probably one of the strangest: using a Wii remote and nunchuk for main controls and the Wii U Gamepad as a second screen for map information and directing your other captains. It was a bizarre set-up but wonderfully efficient, and sadly the Switch's control schemes can't quite live up to that. Being able to point on the screen where you wanted to throw Pikmin was perfect, and the Joy-Cons motion controls just don't match up. Worse yet, using the Pro Controller means you're often relying on the lock-on system which can be extremely messy when there are multiple targets close together. This is all a little too harsh on the Switch's control options though; the controls on the Switch are fine and perfectly usable, they just aren't ideal. This Deluxe edition doesn't change much in the visual or audio department, but it really didn't need to anyway. Pikmin 3 is still a beautiful game and runs perfectly smoothly on the Switch. The Pikmin themselves are still adorable, the enemy creatures are a fun mix of inventive, cute, and threatening, and the scenery is lush, perfectly capturing the feeling of zooming in on a lively little garden. The soundtrack is also charming and soothing, the perfect match for exploring a colorful and lively world of miniature beasts and giant fruit. The years haven't done anything to dull the charm of Pikmin 3. It remains an engaging and adorable real-time strategy adventure, one that makes micromanaging tasks both fun and rewarding. This Deluxe edition of the game features some relatively minor additions, but the new content is still welcome and perfect if you have a buddy to enjoy the game with. Although fans of the franchise might still be pining for a Pikmin 4 or any other kind of mainline continuation of the series, Pikmin 3 Deluxe is a worthwhile return to the delightful world of miniature creatures. Rating: 9 out of 10 Pikmin
  22. Carrion puts you in the role of the monster in a monster movie: an amorphous blob of tendrils and teeth escapes the research facility holding it, and now seeks freedom while devouring every scientist and guard in its path. It's a grisly, visceral game that is utterly satisfying to crawl and slither through, even if the experience is over far too quickly. The game doesn't dwell too much on storytelling or plot, but you can piece together the narrative as the creature initially escapes confinement and explores the facility. There are also some flashbacks that fill in a bit of backstory, but with no dialogue and very little text on screen it's not a story-rich game. Ultimately that works for Carrion though—many of the great monster movies didn't need exhaustive explanations about where their beasts came from, and it's the same case here, and the quiet mystery of the whole situation only makes it more foreboding. The important thing is that this creature won't stop until it finds freedom. Carrion is generally billed as a Metroidvania, though it's a pretty simple one since there isn't a ton of backtracking or elaborate exploration involved—generally your progress is pretty linear, though you do pick up new abilities throughout the game to help you explore. That also means that the exploration challenges are fairly simple. A locked door typically means a switch is close at hand (or at tentacle), and oftentimes there's only one open path ahead of you anyway. What Carrion really nails though is just the fun of controlling a blob monster. The creature's movements are quick and fluid as tendrils shoot out to cling to walls and ceilings, propelling it rapidly through rooms, air ducts, and caves. The simple act of moving around is so oddly satisfying in Carrion, and the little details of the monster's animation strike a perfect balance of gross and cool. Even if there aren't a lot of puzzle challenges in your way, wandering around as this blob beast is a lot of fun. In addition to just exploring you'll need to fight back against the guards and security robots that try to impede your progress, and again there's something so grisly and grim yet viscerally satisfying about grabbing a guard with a tentacle and consuming them. You can eat people to regain health and eventually you'll unlock the ability to increase your biomass which gives you access to new abilities, which is one of the few "puzzle" aspects of the game—e.g. the smallest form of the beast can shoot out a long-range tentacle, while the larger form has enough mass to break down sturdy barriers, and you often need to swap between these forms to progress. Swapping forms and abilities based on how large you are is a clever mechanic, though it can be a tiny bit annoying at times since you can only lose biomass in specific pools of reddish liquid (taking damage also shrinks the monster). Combat itself can be a little tedious at times though thanks to the somewhat finicky aiming controls. Sometimes it's hard to grab the guard you're aiming for when there is other debris in your path, and sometimes it's just hard to aim smoothly since the camera's movements can be a little fast and dizzying. The good news though is that combat is never so complicated that you're really likely to be stymied by these control quirks, and even if you are, save points are frequent. As mentioned the game is pretty short overall, though that also means the gameplay never overstays its welcome. The pacing is brisk and propels you to the next area to explore further and grow even larger—it makes the game hard to put down. And although there isn't too much backtracking needed to progress through the game, there are collectible upgrades that may require visiting previous areas to grab. These upgrades aren't required but they do have some useful effects. The game gets away with a lot of its grisly material thanks to the relative simplicity of its graphics, but the developers still managed to make 16-bit bloodshed as visceral as possible. It's disgusting in the best possible way, and again the animation of the creature is just so much fun to drink in. The soundtrack overall is pretty subtle but the sound design knows when to punch it up with a gruesome bone-cracking squelch or the shriek of terror from one of the hapless scientists. It's just what you'd want out of a horror game. Carrion puts a clever twist on the "monster movie" formula and makes controlling the monster just as much fun as defeating it. The gruesome, violent subject matter probably won't be for everyone but it's an absolute blast to put yourself in the position of the monster and run rampant. Although the game nails its subject matter, the gameplay itself could use a bit more fleshing out with more engaging puzzles or combat mechanics, but overall this is a delightfully macabre and unique game, perfect for a late night play session. Rating: 8 out of 10 Tendrils
  23. Plenty of games let you go on a bloody rampage, destroying everything in your path, but few let you do it with every manner of weapon, from swords and guns to carrots and corpses. In the tradition of fast-paced high-score chasers, Bloodroots is a non-stop action experience where your only goal is to kill anyone you can see, and since one hit kills both you and enemies you need to be sure to strike first. When you're in the zone and deftly destroying everyone on screen, flying through levels in Bloodroots is a blast. Getting to that point can be a bit tedious though. You play as Mr. Wolf, the leader of a vicious Old West gang of thieves and murderers known as the Blood Beasts. One day they betray him, shoot him, and leave him for dead, but Wolf survives and is now on a bloody quest for revenge against his former comrades. You wouldn't expect an action game like this to have much in the way of storytelling, and there isn't any within levels, but before and after each level there's a bit of dialogue or text that fleshes out the characters and their motivations for what happened, and it's a decent little plot. It's certainly more engaging than you might expect for a game like this, and even though the focus of Bloodroots will always be on the frenetic carnage, the writing does a good job of keeping your attention as well. When you're in the action though, there's no time to think about anything aside from your next move, since one false step will see you dead. And that will happen—a lot. Since it's so easy to die, Bloodroots is really about using your initial attempts as a learning experience as you map out where enemies are and how best to approach them, especially since you'll eventually come up against armored targets or foes with long range weapons. Timing is everything as you dash through the game to execute enemies because every weapon has an appropriate range, and being off by even a tiny amount will leave you open to enemy attacks—there's even a "perfect timing" bonus that will net you some extra points when you strike at the exact right moment. All this is to say that it is really easy to die in Bloodroots, which can be frustrating, but it's also awfully satisfying when you perfectly take down one enemy after another like a whirling dervish of destruction. The main quirk that Bloodroots has going for it is that virtually anything that you can pick up in the environment is a weapon. There are typical options like knives, swords, and guns scattered about, but you can also grab a carrot out of the ground, or a vase, or a fence post and club someone over the head with it. Any weapon will break after a few hits—and guns only have a few bullets—so you need to constantly find new weapons in the stage while maintaining your momentum (you can also punch enemies to death but this is much slower than using a weapon and leaves you open to enemy attacks). Picking up new weapons constantly contributes to the natural flow of the game, and mixing in some silly weapon options adds some cartoonish levity to what is otherwise a pretty brutal game. The only downside is that most of the wacky weapons are less effective than normal tools, i.e. a carrot might be good for only one hit while a sword can be used three times before it breaks, so even though the goofy options are there you're kind of incentivized to rely on the normal weapons anyway. For a game that is so reliant on a smooth sense of flow from one kill to another, anything that throws off that flow can be extremely grating, and unfortunately Bloodroots has a few issues to that effect. For one thing, the frame rate is not as silky smooth as it really needs to be for a game like this. Any choppy animation in a game where you're constantly moving at top speed is incredibly jarring and makes Bloodroots hard to look at at times. The camera can also be uncooperative since it's in a fixed perspective that can make it hard to see enemies, hazards, or weapons sometimes. Collision detection can seem inconsistent at times as well, though that could also be down to just bad luck. Dying may be common but it's still annoying to die because somehow your sword just barely missed an enemy. And finally Wolf's fast-paced, slippery movements are great when you're zipping from one enemy to another, but occasionally the game throws a small platforming challenge at you that the controls and camera just feel utterly unprepared for, and these sections are just annoying instead of being fun changes of pace. Any kind of death that feels unjustified in a game like this will only leave the player frustrated and kill the momentum of the gameplay. Bloodroots isn't a particularly long game, but since every level will likely take you numerous, numerous attempts, you'll spend more time with the game than you realize. Still, a single playthrough will only last around six or seven hours, but since earning a high score is such a big part of the experience (and there's an online leaderboard to track your best score) there's a decent amount of replay value to enjoy here. In the same way that the silly weapons help assuage some of the violent tones of the game, the colorful, cartoonish graphics help make the action feel a little more palatable. The visuals are stylish with a great use of color and shapes that have just enough detail to keep the gameplay clear without overwhelming the player with information, though as mentioned the distant camera does make small details hard to see at times. It's all wrapped up in a fun Old West motif as well, which still provides for a decent variety in environments and objects. The music has a lot of solid, action-driven tracks that keep you in the right mindset for quickly dispatching enemies, though the songs do feel a little repetitive after a handful of attempts. Bloodroots walks a thin line between cartoonish violence and gory action, but it walks that line well. More importantly, getting into the flow of combat and smoothly dashing from one enemy to another with all manner of weaponry is awfully satisfying. It can take some slightly tedious effort to get to that point though, and some technical issues with the frame rate, camera, and controls mean the experience isn't quite as tight and polished as it really needs to be for this kind of game. But fans of fast-paced action and high-score chasing will still enjoy what Bloodroots has to offer. Rating: 7 out of 10 Weapons
  24. Cats and dogs working together? It's not mass hysteria, it's Cat Quest II, another light action-RPG from developer The Gentlebros. You once again play as a cat hero in the kingdom of Felingard, but this time your journeys will take you to the dog kingdom of Lupus as well. Most importantly, you can also play as a dog in this adventure, and even join up with a friend for local co-op action. Cat Quest II isn't much of a departure from its predecessor, but the simple, snappy action-RPG mechanics still make for a satisfying experience. You play as both a cat and a dog in this game—if you're playing solo you can swap between the two at any time—who are the displaced rulers of Felingard and Lupus. In order to reclaim your thrones, you'll have to adventure, gather strength, and reforge the legendary Kingsblade. The plot itself is decent enough, even if it feels a little basic at times, but the writing can be quite charming thanks to the ridiculous amount of puns found throughout Cat Quest II. This game is littered with every kind of cat- or dog-based pun you can think of, to the point where it's kind of distracting. Still, it's pretty cute, and will at least make you smile when you're taking on one quest after another. The gameplay is largely unchanged from the first game. You explore an overworld map which now includes both the cat and dog kingdoms, and you battle creatures using melee weapons and magic spells. In addition to the main quest you can pick up side quests that might reward you with new equipment, and will always award you with a healthy bit of EXP and gold. There are also caves and temples scattered across the map which are filled with monsters and more treasures. A big part of the appeal of these Cat Quest games lies in their simplicity. There aren't any elaborate RPG mechanics to learn here, you're just exploring, fighting, and improving your characters. It makes them incredibly easy to pick up, and ideal for quick play sessions. Cat Quest II isn't a demanding action-RPG, and having a friend along for the ride now makes the experience feel even more like a relaxed afternoon kind of game. If you're playing solo, the other character will be AI controlled, but you can swap between them at any time. The AI leaves something to be desired—it'll attack enemies, though not always in the most intelligent ways—but the real benefit is that the second character basically acts as a spare life for you. If your main character goes down you'll instantly swap to the other one and can revive the first. Even if the AI isn't the best fighter it still ends up being a handy assistant. The downside is that the game's simplicity does make it rather repetitive. There's a little bit of strategy and dexterity necessary, since you'll need to dodge out of the way of enemy attacks and may want to coordinate your spells to hit elemental weaknesses. For the most part though the game is easy to breeze through, and the enemies you fight and caves you explore are pretty much the same over and over. You can try to spice up the experience for yourself by swapping weapons, armor, and spells, though the cost of upgrading your equipment can discourage doing so too frequently. And in the end you're not going to have a wildly different experience no matter what kind of weapon you're favoring. Cat Quest II's simplicity is its charm, but it can also make it a bit shallow. It should only take you eight or nine hours to complete the whole adventure, which ends up feeling like a good length given how repetitive the gameplay can be. There is a bit of post-game content in the form of high-difficulty caves and temples, plus there is a new game+ feature to carry over some of your progress into a second playthrough. An update to the game has also added "Mew Game" and "Mew Game+" which allow you to play with various modifiers on to make the game a bit more challenging, such as limiting the equipment you can wear or causing everything to move faster. Players hoping for a bit more challenge will certainly want to check out these game modes. The presentation hasn't changed much from the first game either, and it's still overwhelmingly cute. The visuals are bright and colorful, and seeing the anthropomorphic cats and dogs running around is awfully adorable. There's less variety in environments in Cat Quest II, but the scale of the world still manages to feel a bit bigger and more grand. The music is a lot of fun as well. It's bubbly and heroic and really adds to the sense of adventure. Cat Quest II doesn't do too much to distinguish itself from its predecessor. Co-op is a fun addition, but otherwise the gameplay formula is nearly identical, including foibles like the repetitive caves and unambitious combat system. In the end though, those issues don't matter too much. Cat Quest II is still a charming little action-RPG, perfect for introducing young players to the genre, and now co-op makes that even easier to do. It's not the kind of game that's likely to capture your attention for hours on end, but as a quick, light adventure into a kingdom of cats and dogs, it's not a bad way to relax a bit and enjoy an undemanding game. Rating: 7 out of 10 Cats
  25. Over the past decade, developer Supergiant Games has seemingly gone out of their way to produce particularly unique games, covering a variety of gameplay features but retaining a certain impeccable sense of style in each. To be honest I wasn't thrilled to hear that their latest, Hades, was a roguelike, a genre that has never fully landed with me, even if I have enjoyed a few games that use its death loop mechanics. Leave it to Supergiant, though, to make me a believer. I suppose it shouldn't have been a surprise given their previous games so perfectly combine disparate gameplay aspects into a brilliant and unique whole, but even as a fan of the developer I wasn't prepared for how fully Hades would capture my attention. In Hades you play as Zagreus, prince of the Underworld, who has grown tired of living in a world of shades and darkness and has decided to leave his father's realm to be with his extended family on Mount Olympus. Leaving the land of the dead isn't exactly a simple task though, and he'll need to battle his way through shifting hazards and guardians from Tartarus to the River Styx before he can escape the afterlife. Roguelikes don't generally have a lot of storytelling; the gameplay loop of restarting the entire adventure every time you die tends to downplay the story, or at least push it into small corners of the game's world. That's not the case with Hades. One of the best aspects of this game is the fact that it's not just the gameplay that compels you to keep playing and make another attempt but the story as well. You get little pieces of backstory and character development with every playthrough that will make you eager to push a little further and uncover more. It also helps that the developers have done an amazing job of bringing these Greek mythological figures to life (in a manner of speaking). Zagreus himself is a charming combination of moody and flippant without being obnoxious, and every other character—whether it's an underworld denizen or Olympic god—is just as wonderfully developed and charming. The short break between escape attempts might have been a dull housekeeping period in a lesser developer's hands, but in Hades it's an opportunity to talk with side characters and further immerse yourself in the game's setting. Like all roguelikes, the gameplay of Hades is based around repeatedly playing through the game with a random assortment of hazards and upgrades. Zagreus is able to choose one of six weapons to use in his escape attempt, but beyond that there's an element of chance to everything that happens. Different enemies will pop up, different room layouts will impede your progress, and different gods will grant you boons which act as powerful upgrades. For example, Zeus will give your attacks additional lightning damage, while Athena grants defensive buffs that can deflect enemy projectiles. You may also see improved versions of their boons (rare, epic, heroic) as well as boons that reinforce the ones you already have. Which gods you see on your playthrough and even which boons they grant are randomly generated so every attempt is going to feel a little different, which keeps the gameplay feeling fresh and forces you to think strategically with the tools you're given. What makes a good roguelike is essentially how much fun the core gameplay is, regardless of what boons/upgrades you're using and regardless of whether you're actually successful in your playthrough. Hades nails this aspect, ensuring that not only does each playthrough feel unique, but that the combat mechanics and combination of boons is always engaging. Even without boons the combat of Hades feels great. Each weapon has distinct advantages and disadvantages, from better range to defensive capabilities, and learning how to master each one's features is a blast (and tearing through enemies is super satisfying). Your attacks are sharp and responsive and you have a great amount of control over Zagreus's movements and dodges. Even basic sword swings just have a satisfying weight to them. Then there are the boons that add so much variety and depth to the combat system. Mixing and matching them allows for incredibly varied approaches to both normal fights and boss fights, and learning how to best use each boon is another fantastic layer of depth and strategy in Hades. There were plenty of boons that, starting out, I didn't like at all and couldn't find a good use for. But after a few playthroughs and some experimentation I found that they could be just as powerful as any other, and testing out new combinations became something to look forward to. Early on you'll just be experimenting to see what each boon can do, but soon enough you'll be experimenting with different combos, weapons, and playstyles, and Hades has a fantastic amount of variety in this department. Even after dozens of playthroughs there are still surprising and exciting aspects of the gameplay to uncover. Hades also allows you to make some permanent upgrades outside of the randomly generated boons, which is a huge help in making each playthrough feel useful and valuable even if you didn't make it all the way to the end. You're able to pick up a few different forms of currency which unlock permanent boosts to make you slightly stronger in your next attempt, and early on these incremental upgrades are a huge part of keeping you engaged for each playthrough. Then there's the flipside where, once you've finished the game once, you can choose to inflict additional challenges on yourself to make the game harder, like increasing enemies' health, damage, or attack speed. This will also net you additional materials for upgrades so it's not just designed to punish yourself, though by that point you'll likely be skilled enough that a little extra challenge is welcome. There's also God Mode which is an assist mode that will reduce the damage you take, perfect for players that need a helping hand or just want to see more of the story progress. Regardless of what upgrades or punishments you're using, Hades is a brilliantly addictive game that will leave you with that "one more try" feeling each and every time you finish a run, successful or not. Even across different genres and gameplay styles, one thing that has never never changed for Supergiant is the absolutely stunning presentation of their games. Hades is gorgeous, from the atmospheric scenery that captures a subtle sense of foreboding underworld vibes to the beautifully designed character portraits that do an incredible job of interpreting the classic Greek pantheon that we all know. The hand-painted environments are so richly detailed that for your first few playthroughs you'll likely just be distracted drinking in the scenery. And although the game's isometric perspective doesn't allow for much close-up detail the game is beautifully animated as well. Even after your fiftieth playthrough it's worth taking a little pause to appreciate the amazing visual design of Hades. Then there's the soundtrack which is once again masterfully composed by Darren Korb. There's a very fine line to walk here for a game where you're going to hear the same songs over and over, but Korb's soundtrack is the perfect blend of catchy and action-packed without feeling tiresome even by the hundredth time you've heard it. And finally, the voice work in Hades deserves special mention too for the way it captures each character's personality so well in a subtle, magnetic way that pulls you even further into the impeccable writing and storytelling. Hades is everything a roguelike should be. The controls and combat are so finely polished that even basic battles have a satisfying, addictive flourish to them. The gameplay is challenging without being discouraging, and always feels worthwhile whether you've made it to the end, collected valuable materials, or simply tested out new strategies based on what the game gave you. The writing is wonderfully engaging and uncovering bits of the story across each playthrough is another perfect incentive to keep playing over and over. Add onto all of this Supergiant's impeccable art and music design and you easily have one of the best Switch releases this year. Even if you're not a fan of roguelikes, there's something about Hades that will pull you in and won't let you go. Rating: 10 out of 10 Boons
×
×
  • Create New...