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  1. Site: http://cytusalpha.com/en/index.html Release Date: JPN: April 25th | NA: May 14th Price: $49.99 (Physical/Digital) The top selling music/rhythm game on mobile, with over 20 million downloads, is being remastered for Nintendo Switch as CYTUS α. The game will feature over 200 songs, a revamped UI and song select screen, a Diary Mode to better navigate storylines, and Online Score Battles with up to 3 people. OH MY!... I'm so happy to see Cytus coming to Switch. I absolutely LOVED this game on mobile. I was really hoping they'd bring Cytus II to Switch, but I'll happily take this. If you love music/rhythm games I HIGHLY recommend this! Especially, if you liked Rayark's previous music/rhythim games on Switch, VOEZ and DEEMO. Not sure if there will be a demo like the other games, but if you have never played Cytus you can try it on now for FREE on Android (with ads) or for $2 on iOS, which includes over 100 songs for FREE. Also, here's some gameplay of the game on mobile if you want to get a better idea of how the game plays. So has anyone else played Cytus and/or looking forward to this?
  2. Disney's recently revealed streaming service will be coming to Switch... It's nice to see another streaming service besides Hulu and Youtube coming to Switch. Yo, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll where you guys at?! Hulu and especially Netflix better watch out, Disney+ looks so have some damn good stuff. Disney Classics/Moderns (TV & Movie), Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel...Hell, they even got Nat. Geo. now!
  3. Full PR HERE: https://gonintendo.com/stories/330267-pr-new-nintendo-labo-kit-introduces-shareable-simple-vr-gaming Trailer: Looks interesting, though I would like to see some gameplay. At $40 for the starter set, I might consider getting it if others games use it in unique and interesting ways, like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for example. Though, I might just wait and see if it drops price, because right now places like Target, Best Buy, etc. have the Variety Kit for around $40. BTW, I have the Variety Kit, which I received in a Switch prize pack I won in one of NOA's Sweepstakes, but still haven't built anything yet. I really need to get around to making that piano, because that's the only reason I wanted to get LABO. Good thing I heald out and didn't want to pay $70 when it launched.
  4. From the crayon aesthetic of the original Yoshi's Island to the yarn style of Woolly World, Yoshi games just can't seem to keep away from putting a unique visual spin on Yoshi's solo adventures. Yoshi's Crafted World ups the ante by dumping an entire arts and crafts store into the mix, giving the entire game a Do-It-Yourself, homemade charm. And even if the gameplay hasn't seen much evolution from past Yoshi titles, the endless charm of the game is more than enough to keep players engaged. It's another peaceful day for the Yoshis of Yoshi's Island when Kamek and Bowser Jr. swoop in, intent on stealing the magical Sundream Stone, an artifact with the power to grant any wish. But before the two villains can get away with the stone, its five gems are broken off and sent flying across the world. Now the Yoshis are in a race to recover the stones before Kamek and Bowser Jr. get their claws on them. It's a cute story even if it's nothing we haven't seen from a Yoshi game before, and the short dialogue intros to boss fights are pretty charming. In the end, the story set-up doesn't matter much for a Yoshi game—the colorful scenery and trademark platformer gameplay are the stars of the show. Crafted World also treads lightly when it comes to shaking up the gameplay—very little is different here, so series veterans will quickly slide right back into the enemy-eating, egg-throwing, smiley flower-collecting action that defines Yoshi's games. Yoshi games have always had a solid mix of more laid-back platforming mechanics (compared to Mario or Donkey Kong games) combined with a wealth of collectibles to uncover which rewards a slower, more thorough exploration of its stages. None of that has changed with Crafted World. In fact, one of the few changes to the gameplay formula was in adding even more collectibles—specifically, more smiley flowers, which are now required to unlock new regions—so this game really doubles down on the franchise's position as a treasure trove of hidden items to sniff out. The gameplay may not be all that different from Yoshi's inaugural adventure in Yoshi's Island over twenty years ago, but the formula is still wonderfully addictive with a great balance between the ease of simply progressing through the game and the added challenge of collecting everything, satisfying all levels of gamers at once. The only other mildly significant addition to the gameplay is the extra dimension of exploration that Yoshi now has. Crafted World is still a side-scrolling platformer, but now Yoshi can throw eggs into the foreground or background as well as move forward or backward on that 3D plane, though only in specific areas. Ultimately it's not a huge addition—in fact the feature kind of feels like a holdover from a 3DS game—but it adds a few interesting puzzle mechanics as well as even more places to hide collectibles. The downside is that aiming into the foreground/background is a little challenging since you have to carefully aim at a specific target for the game's aiming mechanics to lock on. Granted the game is pretty good about giving you a generous "lock-on" range, but it still has a way of slowing down the gameplay and requires a bit more careful aim. It's nothing too difficult to work with, but it takes a bit of adjusting, especially for Yoshi pros that might be used to the wiggle room that aiming/jumping usually offers. Finally there's the flipping mechanic that was originally touted as a major feature in Crafted World but, in the final product, is a bit more lackluster. Every stage of the game has a flipped version, where you essentially get to play the level again but with a new objective and while seeing the back side of all of the cardboard scenery. It's a cute concept but feels woefully underutilized. Seeing the back side of every level doesn't actually add much of a fresh perspective on the gameplay, and instead the mechanic just feels like a way to pad out the game's length. Given the short length of this adventure though, maybe it makes sense to pad the game a little. If all you're interested in is reaching the end of the game and seeing the credits roll, Crafted World can be completed in as little as six hours or so. Of course, there are a lot of collectibles along the way, and not just in the flipped versions of stages, so don't worry, there's still plenty of content to occupy your time. Plus there's co-op mode, letting two players team up in local multiplayer which, like a lot of co-op platformers, can be as much of a hindrance as it is helpful, but is nevertheless a fun time. As already mentioned the DIY arts and crafts visual style of the game is absolutely adorable. Cardboard tube rocket ships, paper plate platforms, and even the characters themselves sport slightly fuzzy, felt-like features—it's a dangerously cute design style, one that the developers clearly had a lot of fun building. The graphics do a perfect job of capturing a playful sense of childhood whimsy, and manages to stay heartwarming and charming from start to finish. The music is less successful in this area, though. The songs are just as cute and whimsical, but none of them has quite the staying power as the visuals, and the soundtrack gets old fast. The main theme is somewhat overused in each region's background music, which makes the whole soundtrack seem a bit one note. As a sequel to Woolly World, Yoshi's Crafted World doesn't stray too far from the franchise's tried and true formula. The visuals get a charming upgrade from just yarn to now incorporating all kinds of adorable arts and crafts creations, but in terms of gameplay Yoshi's Crafted World feels like essentially the same game we've played before. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, as the gameplay is just as engaging and addictive as ever, and the platformer challenges are inventive even if they are rarely truly difficult. Series fans will surely appreciate the game, and the friendly, adorable aesthetic makes it a perfect introduction to a younger generation of players. Rating: 8 out of 10 Eggs
  5. LEGO DC Super-Villains flips the script of the typical LEGO superhero games by letting you play as the villains. Even better, you're able to create your own villain to join the illustrious ranks of the Joker, Lex Luthor, and other criminal masterminds. In practice though, little has changed here, and DC Super-Villains plays exactly the same as every other LEGO game: a huge amount of content in a simple, repetitive package. The story begins with Commissioner Gordon visiting Stryker's Island prison to deliver a new, unknown super criminal who has the ability to absorb superpowers. A prison break is soon executed by Lex Luthor though, and in the chaos a group of villains escape. The Justice League is hot on their heels until a group of superhero imposters called the Justice Syndicate trap the heroes. It's up to the villains, including the new criminal dubbed "The Rookie," to find out what the Syndicate is really up to. So even in a game focused on the villains, you're technically playing the good guys. It's a huge missed opportunity but then again it's doubtful a LEGO game would stray from its comfort zone and make a game truly focused on criminal activity—these games are still squarely marketed toward children, after all. In the end the story is fine for what it is, but it's hard to shake the feeling that it could have been much more. DC Super-Villains doesn't stray far from the gameplay system that has been well established in the LEGO franchise either. Each level involves a variety of simple puzzles that require destroying the scenery in order to build new items from the bricks or using different characters' abilities to interact with objects. Joker, for example, can use exploding pies to destroy silver objects, and Deadshot can snipe distant targets to activate controls. And as always there's drop-in/drop-out local multiplayer available throughout the adventure. The gameplay has grown stale after so many years of relying upon this exact formula but it still has a simple charm to it, suited to either a relaxing, mindless play session or for teaming up with an inexperienced friend. The only significant new feature in DC Super-Villains is the customizable villain, The Rookie. In addition to crafting his or her appearance at the beginning of the game, you can choose from a couple of minor superpowers in addition to the story-related powers gained during the adventure. A customizable character who is front and center in the story feels like a novel idea at first but the game squanders the concept, partly just because of how the gameplay works. You constantly need to switch characters to progress, so The Rookie quickly just feels like another character in an already huge cast. There are also plenty of levels where you don't use The Rookie at all. The customization aspect adds to the game's robust amount of side activities, but it adds little real value to the main adventure. The presentation is also largely by the numbers for DC Super-Villains, though as with every new entry in the LEGO series there are a few more frills to spice up the visuals. The special effects in particular are more flashy here, with plenty of colorful explosions to represent various super powers, though at times it makes it hard to actually tell what's happening on screen. The soundtrack isn't much more than typical video game background music, but as a treat for longtime DC fans there are numerous recognizable voices in the voice cast, not least of which is Mark Hamill once again reprising his role as The Joker. Despite all the times he's claimed he wants to move away from the character he can't seem to keep away for long, and it's great to hear his distinctive cackle again, even in LEGO form. What else is there to say about yet another LEGO game? Like most of the dozens of games released in the franchise over the years, there's a wealth of content in LEGO DC Super-Villains, enough to keep you busy for hours upon hours despite the repetitive nature of the gameplay. Very little of the game is truly exciting, inventive, or surprising, but sometimes that's all you want out of a game—something that you can flip on and zone out to for a few hours, getting exactly what you expect to based on the dozens of other games in the series. For a bit of cute, mindless action, the LEGO franchise continues to serve nicely. Rating: 7 out of 10 Bricks
  6. Another PAXEast has come and gone, and here are the games I"ve played! If it's coming to the Switch, it'll be mentioned. To start off, Nintendo actually has two booth spaces this year. One is the larger more family friendly booth housing a Yoshi display and the usual stage. The other is a much smaller "Mature" booth. The smaller one has a much shorter line, and interestingly when I asked them how the line was setup (Do I have to wait in the "main" line, or is there a separate line for the "mature" booth), they asked me if I'm here just for Mortal Kombat, I was. Apparently the way the line works is that if you are there to try out Hellblade, Assassin's Creed III Remaster, and Bloodstained, you wait in the "mature" line. BUT, if you were there for Mortal Kombat, they will pull you out of line, have you play it, get a prize ticket, and get out. Mortal Kombat 11 (Switch bound title) The game ran quite well from what I can see, with dynamic resolution scaling and lower shadow quality. But it's still as bloody as we all know Mortal Kombat can be. Played only one session 1P v COM, Sub-Zero v Scorpion. Lost in the final round in a very close match...where Scorpion did his fatality in front of who I assume is a Netherrealm developer (he wore an MK11 shirt as oppose to the Nintendo shirt). We had a good laugh and told him how glad that there is a new MK game on a Nintendo console after so many years and how well it ran. Touhou Gensou SkyDrift (Switch bound title) The surprising thing about this doujin game is that I was told that it was developed by former Mario Kart developers, and it shows. It's a Double Dash style game, and after getting use to the controls (Drift with B instead of R, summon/use item with R instead of L, tag with L), it felt pretty much like home. The weirdness of this game comes from your partner being used like a hoverboard. N1RV Ann-A (Switch bound title, PC version played) A visual novel where you play as a bartender, and the story progresses depends on not by dialogue choices, but what drinks you decide to mix your customers. After you mix in the ingredients for the drink you make, you have to shake it by moving the mouse all over the place, I hope on the Switch (and PS4 version), you can shake the controller or Joy-Con for shaking the drinks, it just seems appropirate. Been a fan of the Cyberpunk Bartender Action series when I first saw its first title VA-11 HALL-A in 2015, instantly fell for the series for it quirky characters and art direction. It seems like the new lead for N1RV is more upbeat compared to Jill's snark in VA-11, but I think I'll still like her as well. I think VA-11 HALL-A is getting a Switch port as well. World of Horror (Switch bound title, PC version played) A Lovecraftian-Japanese horror hybrid (if that makes sense) visual novel RPG that reminds me of those old Mac adventure games like Shadowgate or Deja Vu down to the black and white graphics. It's creepy. Even the chiptune is unnerving. There are battles in this, and the transition to those were the only jumpscares I can see in this game. Windjammers 2 (Switch bound title, PC version played) Dude, it's Windjammers. Ultra Bugs (Switch bound title, PC version played) It's a Vlambeer title, so it's going to quick pick up and play arcade action. I enjoyed it. Nothing else to say. Lethal Lawns A competitive multiplayer title where you mow a lawn and KILL each other with said mowers. It was simply fun. I'd like to think it being something like bumper cars, but backend collisions are deadly. Ion Maiden (Switch bound title, PC version played) Nice to see another Build engine game since...Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior. Playing this took me back to my childhood. Even told the developers that seeing another game using this engine is amazing, really enjoyed it. Wrath: Aeon of Ruin (Switch bound title, PC version played) It's a Quake engine game. I found this to be okay, but liked Ion Maiden more because I've played more Build Engine games compared to Quake...maybe Star Trek Elite Forces I & II, but that's it. (Okay, I didn't know that Ion Maiden and Wrath are Switch bound titles) Also, seeing this as the "mature" booth's backdrop, awesome.
  7. This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy – Become well-coiffed attorney Phoenix Wright and experience the thrill of battle as you fight to save your innocent clients in a court of law. Play all 14 episodes, spanning the first three games, in one gorgeous collection. Solve the intriguing mysteries behind each case and witness the final truth for yourself. The Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy game is available April 9. Mechstermination Force – Battle against massive bosses, jump and climb onto them to find their weak spots, and blow them to kingdom come in this action-packed platforming boss rush, from the creator of the Gunman Clive series. Take on the massive bosses alone or together with a friend in local co-op. Nintendo eShop sales: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Great deals this week! Check out the full list of deals available this week at http://www.nintendo.com/games/sales-and-deals. Also new this week in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch: Arcade Archives Armed F Circuits – Available April 5 Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! – Available April 10 Godly Corp – Available April 5 Gabbuci – Demo Version – April 5 Hob: The Definitive Edition Modern Tales: Age of Invention Monster Slayers – Available April 5 Out There: Ω The Alliance – Available April 9 OVERWHELM Pitfall Planet Pressure Overdrive Royal Adviser Safety First! Sephirothic Stories SMASHING THE BATTLE SUPER DRAGON BALL HEROES WORLD MISSION – Available April 5 Switch ’N’ Shoot – Available April 10 The friends of Ringo Ishikawa The Mystery of Woolley Mountain – Available April 10 War Theatre Yet Another Zombie Defense HD – Available April 5 Zombie Scrapper – Available April 5
  8. Site: https://labo.nintendo.com/ I know there's been a bit of discussion here about Nintendo Labo since it launched, but I haven't really heard anyone share their experiences with it. Did anyone pick up one of the kits or have a chance to go hands-on with Labo? Ever since that "First Look" trailer I've been totally enamored by that Toy-Con piano. Though, I wasn't going to pay $70 for the Variety Kit just to build it, as that's what I was mostly interested in. As I mentioned in another thread, I was lucky enough to win the Variety Kit as a part of a Switch Prize pack in one of NOA's Sweepstakes. So, I've had Labo for a quite a while, but have yet to built anything and with the recent announcement of the Labo VR Kit (It looks pretty neat), I though it was time to build one of the Toy-Cons. I decided to build the Piano, since that was the main reason I wanted Labo in the first place. I gotta say, this thing was a lot of fun to put together. It reminded me of building Lego/K'nex sets as a kid, which I forgot how fun they can be. To put the whole piano together took me about 3 hrs or so. I went through my Switch's entire battery and had to plug it in to finish some of the extra bits. During the build I found there where some fiddly bits, with having to make tiny folds and sticking some tabs into slots. Though, it was all pretty straight-forward. The most time consuming part was just building all the keys. Once you know how each type of key is built, you can just get in to a rhythm. I messed up a couple times, because I was playing through my phone (It isn't easy, mind you) to keep things in frame. >_< Also, the 2nd song wasn't played at the proper tempo do to this. It should be a bit faster. One of the coolest features of the Toy-Con piano, which I feel no one really talks about, is how you can create your own waveforms. With also being able to adjust the envelope and reverb, this thing becomes a basic synth. Though, I should mention that when in the Studio, and you need to play a note in a different octave, you have to use the lever on the side of the piano, which can be a bit wonky do to the extra thinking involved. I was trying to make a square wave, but messed up the beginning. It still worked though. Oh! LOL! Now that I look at that pic, I noticed I left the little box they give you to store the little punch-outs for the rhythm card inside the piano. There's supposed to be a Nintendo Labo logo right where that box is, which I was wondering why they put the logo on a piece that goes inside the piano. Now I know it's just for the camera to pic-up when scanning cards. Speaking of leaving things inside the piano, what's really neat is that you can store all the little extra bits inside the piano when you're done using it. This stupid thing amazes the hell out of me!... From an engineering standpoint and a technological standpoint. This thing is made out of CARDBOARD and I can actually make real music with it!!! Even all the buttons, knobs, and the lever on the side work as well! 📦 + 🎹 + Nintendo Switch = 🤯 After building this piano I now have a grater appreciation for LABO (still have yet to dive into the Toy-Con Garage and make my own creation), because before I just thought it was pretty neat. If you get a chance to try out LABO, go for it! You soon realize just how cool it is. Though, what I feel is turning most people off is the price. I really like what they are doing with the VR Kit, with how you can buy the starter kit for $40 and the other projects separately for $20, or get the entire kit for $80. I really wish they'd sell each of the projects in the Variety Kit separately as well. To help keep the price down they can just include a download code for the need software. I feel the software is what's mostly driving up the cost. I kinda want to build the Toy-Con Motorbike next, so I can use it in our Mario Kart Nights (just for LOLs). ...But Yeah...Nintendo LABO...It's really freakn' cool! BTW, is it just me or...
  9. Drawing clear inspiration from the great RPGs of yesteryear, Cosmic Star Heroine, from two-man developer Zeboyd Games, takes players on a planet-hopping adventure that wouldn't feel out of place on the SNES. The game doesn't merely bank on nostalgia though, and the unique battle system offers a wealth of variety that helps make each battle interesting. The resulting blend of classic presentation and novel gameplay mechanics helps make Cosmic Star Heroine feel both familiar and fresh. You play as Alyssa L'Salle, star agent of the Agency of Peace and Intelligence, a galactic peacekeeping agency. An assignment to investigate a science outpost gradually uncovers a hidden conspiracy, one that prompts Alyssa to strike out on her own path to protect the well-being of the universe. As far as settings go, Cosmic Star Heroine does a great job of quickly acclimating the player to an inventive sci-fi universe where seemingly anything is possible, but the game's plot is a bit lackluster. There are plenty of fun characters but the story moves so quickly that none of them are given any time to really develop, and by the end they're an almost dizzying rotation of faces. Similarly, the conspiracy plot is intriguing but doesn't feel fully developed, partly because you're shuttled off to the next objective so quickly and partly because the writing just doesn't make the threat feel like anything more than typical "save the world" (or galaxy, in this case) video game fare. Cosmic Star Heroine has a great set-up, but the storytelling feels a bit thin. At a glance the gameplay here looks right out of an SNES-era RPG, and Cosmic Star Heroine clearly uses those RPG greats as a foundation. You've got standard dungeon exploration, equipment to find/buy, and turn-based battles (battle screens even include a turn order on the right-side of the screen for you to keep track of who is up next). But once you actually start playing it's clear that the developers have cooked up a fresh, inventive battle system that takes advantage of the game's numerous playable characters. First and foremost, characters don't have a basic "attack" action. Instead each character can equip up to seven unique abilities, which includes simple attacks, elemental spells, buffs, debuffs, etc. Aside from a few rare exceptions, using an ability means that it is spent until the character recharges by spending a turn in a defensive stance. As a result, Cosmic Star Heroine emphasizes thought and planning in every enemy encounter. Even simple enemies require some degree of forethought, so no battle ever feels rote. The game does a great job of keeping you engaged and invested in every fight, no matter how small the opponent. By the end of the game each character has access to a wide variety of abilities, so you get to customize which ones they're working with in battle, which offers a ton of customization and replay value. Characters can also equip shields which give access to additional attacks (called programs) and you can use items in battle, but both programs and items are one-use-only per battle, so they're even more vital to plan when to use and not squander. It's easy to cook up some inventive combos of abilities and programs, and the game offers plenty of flexibility for fun experimentation. That's not all there is to the battle system in Cosmic Star Heroine, though. Attacks will also give you style points, and the more style points you have the more effective your attacks are. The catch is that enemies also charge up style points as the battle goes on, so the longer the fight lasts the more deadly things become. It's a smart way to ensure you don't become too complacent while playing—you always have to keep your best strategies in mind. And finally (and perhaps most importantly) there is the hyper point system which means that, every few turns, a character enters hyper mode and their attacks become even more powerful—it's kind of like a limit break system. The hyper mode interval is different for each character but regardless, this is where you want to plan your strongest attacks and buff your allies or debuff enemies. Ultimately it may sound like there's a lot to keep track of during battle in Cosmic Star Heroine but in practice it all flows together naturally and does a fantastic job of encouraging tactics and planning while giving you just enough limitations that you can't be too relaxed. The battle system does an excellent job of keeping you engaged with every moment of the fight without overwhelming you with details to track. Even with a particularly involved battle system, Cosmic Star Heroine moves along at a clip. It's not hard to finish the game in just 12 hours or so, which is obviously a little short for an RPG. Still, since the story pushes you along so quickly it still feels like you accomplish quite a lot. And thanks to a decent number of playable characters (each of whom has their own set of abilities) you constantly have new challenges and new tactics to work with, so no part of the game drags. It helps keep the game engaging and addictive from start to finish. Of course, as an RPG, there are also side quests to keep you busy, and if you find the game a little too easy (or too hard) you can adjust the difficulty at any time to ensure battles have a challenging sweet spot. Once you have a handle on the battle system it's worth turning the difficulty up a notch to really put your tactics to the test. The game's presentation feels straight out of the 16-bit era, or perhaps even earlier during its slightly animated, pixelated cutscenes. Undeniably the aesthetic plays off a certain sense of nostalgia, but it's a delightfully charming effect nevertheless. Pixel artwork in indie games is quite common in indie games these days but there's still something to be said for a game that does it well and finds the right balance of detail to make environments interesting and give characters personality while retaining the retro look. The soundtrack, by HyperDuck SoundWorks, does a fine job of evoking that retro charm as well, while still giving the game a unique, sci-fi vibe. Cosmic Star Heroine has no qualms showing its inspiration from, and love of, classic RPGs, but that doesn't mean the game feels at all derivative. The battle system, the core of any great RPG, offers up a fantastic balance of variety, nuance, and challenge that allows any two players to approach combat in wildly different ways and still find satisfying, effective strategies. Cosmic Star Heroine's story doesn't hit quite the same highs, but fans of turn-based RPGs won't want to miss this charming and inventive take on the genre. Rating: 8 out of 10 Heroines
  10. This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch Yoshi’s Crafted World – Jump into a new Yoshi adventure in a world made of everyday objects, like boxes and paper cups. As Yoshi, you’ll leap up high, gulp down enemies and set out on a treasure hunt to find all the different collectibles. On the flip-side, certain stages can be played backward, providing new perspectives to explore and new ways to locate some of the more craftily hidden items. The Yoshi’s Crafted World game is available on March 29. The World Next Door – A mix of lightning-fast puzzle battles, powerful storytelling and immersive visual novel elements. The World Next Door follows Jun, a rebellious teen girl trapped in a parallel realm inhabited by magical creatures, who must find her way home before time runs out. Darksiders Warmastered Edition – Deceived by the forces of evil into prematurely bringing about the end of the world, War – the first Horseman of the Apocalypse – stands accused of breaking the sacred law by inciting a war between Heaven and Hell. In the slaughter that ensued, the demonic forces defeated the heavenly hosts and laid claim to the Earth. The Darksiders Warmastered Edition game is available April 2. Nintendo eShop sales: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Great deals this week! Check out the full list of deals available this week at http://www.nintendo.com/games/sales-and-deals. Activities: Find the Poochy Pups to Earn My Nintendo Rewards Points – Poochy Pups are hiding in different spots on the official site for the Yoshi’s Crafted World game. You can earn 150 My Nintendo Platinum Points* for finding all three! Happy Spring! – To celebrate the launch of Yoshi’s Crafted World, My Nintendo is offering new Yoshi-themed rewards. Starting on March 29, redeem your points* and get wallpapers, calendars and more. For more info, visit https://my.nintendo.com/news. Also new this week in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch: 12 Labours of Hercules ACA NEOGEO BASEBALL STARS 2 Airfield Mania AngerForce: Reloaded for Nintendo Switch – Available April 2 Bow to Blood: Last Captain Standing – Available April 3 Cel Damage HD Croixleur Sigma Darkest Hunter – Available April 1 Event Horizon – Available March 29 FUN! FUN! Animal Park GODS Remastered – Available March 29 GOKEN INFERNO CLIMBER: REBORN Istanbul: Digital Edition JUNK PLANET Lyrica METAGAL – Available March 29 Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid President F.net SEGA AGES Alex Kidd in Miracle World SEGA AGES Gain Ground Shadow Blade: Reload – Available April 3 She Remembered Caterpillars Snow Battle Princess Sayuki SpellKeeper – Available April 2 Ultrawings Undead’s Building UNI Warparty
  11. Looks like Target is clearing out space for the up coming Nintendo Labo VR Kits. All 3 Labo kits (Variety, Robot and Vehicle) are on sale for $18-$21 at Target (In-Store)! Now these are the prices I was expecting when Labo was announced. I still don't get why Nintendo priced them at $70 - $80, since it's just cardboard, but they probably had a good reason. I was just at my local Target on Sat. and didn't notice they were on sell. Maybe it went on sale on Sun...? If you have been on the fence about Labo or have any kind of interest in it, I'd HIGHLY recommend giving it a shot a these prices. Before building my first Toy-Con, I thought Labo was neat thing. Now after building the my first Toy-Con, I think Labo it's really freakn' cool! For more of my thoughts, check out my thread HERE.
  12. Where better to put a Zelda-inspired adventure than Nintendo's latest console? Windscape, from developer Dennis Witte (aka Magic Sandbox) and publisher Headup Games, draws influence from Zelda and other recent adventure games to create a vibrant first-person adventure complete with dungeon exploration, crafting, and a great evil that needs to be defeated. After gradually being worked on as an Early Access game for a couple of years, Windscape is ready for its official debut, but the final product might have benefited from a bit more polish. In Windscape you play as Ida, a young girl that lives on a farm with her mother and father. As so often happens in adventure stories though she is quickly wrapped up in a quest to save the world when a simple journey into town reveals a dangerous evil threatening to destroy everything. The game has no qualms relying upon this tried and true storytelling device, and the writing doesn't develop beyond it at all. In fact it's pretty clear that the writing runs out of steam when the latter half of the game ends up featuring no new NPCs or dialogue. Still, while the writing is fairly lackluster it's clear that the game isn't focused on storytelling so much as exploration, combat, and crafting. Unfortunately, these three areas of the game have their own issues, mostly stemming from the fact that the developer might have overextended himself in trying to create an epic adventure that would include exploration, dungeon puzzle solving, first-person combat, and crafting. Not one of these aspects of Windscape feels particularly exciting or polished, even though it feels like the developer planned for something more elaborate someday. For example, it's possible to craft slashing, blunt, and piercing weapons as some enemies have resistance to one or more of these weapon types. The crafting system is incredibly basic though, and in each region there is usually only a few options for new weapons to craft, so there's no reason to put any thought into which weapon you want. Combat ends up being completely mechanical as well, typically just circle strafing an enemy to get in a few hits. Battles have a dull, mechanical feel to them, and they tend to play out in exactly the same manner whether you're fighting a giant bee or the final boss. Exploration isn't much more exciting since, although there are some large environments in Windscape, there is rarely anything interesting to find within them, so you might as well just sprint to your next destination. The dungeon design is a bit better, though it's clear that the developer ran out of steam by the end of the game here as well. The early dungeons have at least a bit of complexity that requires exploration and finding levers to progress, but the final region of the game is little more than a long, linear combat sequence. These half-baked elements of the game just make the experience feel bland and repetitive. Finally there's the crafting aspect of the game, which can be hard even for mainstream games to get right since there's a fine line between engaging crafting mechanics and just plain tedious ones. Windscape, thankfully, is never tedious about its crafting system. Curiously though, it manages to swing to the opposite end of the spectrum—instead of being too difficult, crafting is a little too easy, since there isn't much to craft at all. You might instinctively want to load up on materials as you explore, chopping down trees and gathering herbs, but overall there's very little reason to spend any significant amount of time farming materials. On one hand it's great that the game never forces you to mindlessly gather items. On the other hand though, it makes the entire crafting system feel somewhat pointless when there are only a handful of items to craft throughout the entire game. Part of what makes the crafting system feel a little superfluous is just the short length of the game. It's not hard to finish Windscape in just six hours or so, even when you do take the time to craft everything. As mentioned the game's open environments are lacking in things to see, and that includes side quests. There are a few, but for the most part there simply isn't much to do in Windscape, which doesn't help shake the feeling that the whole thing is a little unfinished. The controls and user interface could've used more polishing as well. Aiming feels a little clumsy, and while magic spells thankfully lock-on to targets somewhat, arrows don't provide the same luxury and landing a hit is far more awkward than it ought to be. Menus also have a weirdly unintuitive interface that can make flipping through your materials, map, and objectives feel clunky. It's just another area of the game that could have used some fine tuning. The game's presentation is also going to be a tough sell to some players. There's certainly something charming about the minimalist art style that uses bright, flat colors rather than weigh the game down with detailed textures. However, the art style doesn't really play to the minimalist aesthetic well, and instead environments, characters, and enemies just come off as forgettable and drab. The music is a bit better, with some engaging background music peppered throughout the game, though even the audio doesn't escape the clumsy design when sound effects like opening a treasure chest are completely unbalanced with the music. Windscape is an admirable attempt at creating a smaller, indie version of the grand adventure game, one that incorporates dungeons and a crafting system into a classic tale of exploration and monster slaying. It never feels like more than attempt though, and certainly not a particularly unique or polished one. Despite a couple years of Early Access development, Windscape never seems to find its feet, resulting in a half-baked first-person adventure. Rating: 5 out of 10 Islands Review copy provided by publisher Windscape will be available on the Switch eShop on March 27th. Pre-purchase now for $15.99 (20% off the normal price of $19.99).
  13. Microsoft has announced that they are planning to bring Xbox Live to Nintendo Switch, as well as mobile... Uhhhh....Wait! WHAT?!!! o_O? I'm guessing this a part of Microsoft's bigger effort to expand cross-platform gaming? Does this mean Xbox games on Switch? Do you have to have to have a XBL membership to use the service on Switch? Will you need a Nintendo Switch Online membership as well? So many questions right now. Seriously, this is pretty nuts. It's like if Sony out of the blue announced PSN coming to Xbox One. Still, it's nice to see Microsoft and Nintendo working so well together to actually allow something like this.
  14. A fan when looking through leaked Switch pre-release documents and in an earlier version they found mention of the Switch pro controller having a headphone jack... -____-' G'damn it, Nintendo! Even Google knew to put a head phone jack on their controller. Though to be fair, they could have quite possibly ran into some issues with trying liniment it (Bluetooth, etc.) or didn't want the Pro Controller to have a headphone jack while the Joy-Con didn't. It's possible they could't figure out how to make it work with the Joy-Con Grip without increasing the cost of the grip, since they did't want a headphone jack on the Joy-Con and just when't with the app, so one controller didn't have an advantage when playing in docked mode. At this point Nintendo needs to make the app an option. Especially, since they company behind the tech Fortnite uses for native voice chat on Switch is releasing their SDK to all Switch devs. I've said this before...I have no issue with the app as long as it's an option. When playing in handheld/tabletop mode, I just want to be able to plug in a headset to voice chat. When playing in docked mode, the app can be useful if you don't want wires going across your room or don't have a wireless USB headset. I'm pretty sure NOA and NOE now how much Switch owners dislike the voice chat app, but for whatever reason NCL keeps telling them to push it. They need to go to NCL (if they haven't already) and explain to them that the VC app hasn't gone over that well in their markets and needs to be made an option alongside native VC.
  15. This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch FINAL FANTASY VII – The Shinra Electric Power Company, a sinister corporation, has monopolized the planet’s life force. In the urban megalopolis of Midgar, an anti-Shinra rebel group has stepped up its campaign of resistance. Cloud Strife, a former member of Shinra’s elite unit now turned mercenary, lends his aid to the rebels, unaware that he will be drawn into an epic battle for the fate of the planet. The FINAL FANTASY VII game is available on March 26. Unravel Two – When you cut ties to the past, new bonds form. In Unravel Two, create a Yarny of your very own. Then build relationships with other Yarnys in local co-op* or as a single player, fostering friendship and support as you journey together. The Unravel Two game is available March 22. Blaster Master Zero 2 – The side-scrolling/top-down hybrid action adventure gameplay returns with a new sequel to Blaster Master Zero. Experience the yet-untold story of Jason and Eve after defeating Earth’s mutant scourge as they venture into the depths of space in their new battle tank, GAIA-SOPHIA. Nuclear Throne – Nuclear Throne is Vlambeer’s latest action roguelike-like about mutants that spend their workdays trying to fight for the throne in a post-apocalyptic world. The radioactive waste in the world allows the player to get ahead by mutating new limbs on the fly. The abundant availability of powerful weaponry makes the quest to become the ruler of the Wasteland one fraught with peril. Nintendo eShop sales: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Great deals this week! Check out the full list of deals available this week at http://www.nintendo.com/games/sales-and-deals. Activities: Nintendo Splatoon 2 Ink-credible 20 Percent Discount – Take your ink-splatting skills to the next level with an ink-credible offer! Starting March 19 at 07:00 a.m. PT until March 28 at 08:59 a.m. PT, you can save 20 percent on the digital version of the Splatoon 2 game for the Nintendo Switch system when you purchase through Nintendo.com or Nintendo eShop on your device. To battle it out or cooperate with other players online**, you can purchase a Nintendo Switch Online membership separately or Splatoon 2 + Nintendo Switch Online Individual Membership (12 Months). Also new this week in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch: Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers – Available March 26 Air Conflicts: Secret Wars – Available March 26 Alien Cruise Apocryph: an old school shooter Arcade Archives ELEVATOR ACTION Assault on Metaltron Azure Saga: Pathfinder DELUXE Edition Bargain Hunter Block-a-Pix Deluxe – Full and Demo Versions Croc’s World – Demo Version – Available March 22 Doodle God : Evolution – Demo Version – Available March 22 GALAK-Z: The Void: Deluxe Edition – Available March 26 Gems of War – Available March 26 Grand Prix Story – Full and Demo Versions Hook Inventioneers – Available March 25 Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists ~Ateliers of the New World~ – Available March 26 Neon Caves – Available March 27 OMG Zombies! – Available March 26 Peasant Knight – Available March 22 Reptilian Rebellion Rogue Bit StarDrone Super Phantom Cat: Remake – Available March 27 Sushi Time! – Available March 22 The Princess Guide – Available March 26 Windscape – Available March 27 Witch & Hero Xenon Racer – Available March 26 Also new this week in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS: Horror Stories Also new this week in Nintendo eShop on Wii U: PixelMaker Studio
  16. A vengeful spirit embarks on a quest for revenge in this stylish stealth-based action game. Aragami: Shadow Edition bundles together the original 2016 game as well as its prequel DLC/expansion for a ton of satisfyingly sneaky gameplay in one package. Despite some rough edges and a slow build up, stealth fans will appreciate the addictive nature of flitting from shadow to shadow, eliminating any guards in your path. You play as Aragami, a shadow spirit summoned by Yamiko, a girl who is being imprisoned by the oppressive Kaiho clan. In order to free her you'll need to collect a number of talismans and defeat the Kaiho generals, all before sun-up when your shadowy existence will disappear. It's a decent enough story even if it quickly becomes predictably melodramatic—don't expect any particularly fresh writing takes and you won't be too bothered by the lackluster dialogue. It doesn't help that the game does not feature voice acting, and trying to read text while sneaking from shadow to shadow is a bit awkward, especially when you need to be at the ready at all times. Aragami covers the classic elements of stealth gameplay—in each level you need to reach the goal while avoiding roaming Kaiho guards—but as a shadow spirit you've got a few neat tricks up your sleeve. For one thing you can teleport to any shadow within range, which includes jumping up to ledges and even passing through guards while in shadow form. Shadow leaping is your most basic and most invaluable tool in Aragami, though it takes a little getting used to at first. The controls aren't quite as smooth and responsive as you might want out of a stealth game where timing is everything, but after a bit of practice you'll lock into the rhythm of leaping from shadow to shadow and it'll be easy to appreciate the smooth sense of movement that Aragami offers. You also have a handful of other abilities at your disposal, but these have to be individually purchased by collecting scrolls hidden within each level. It's a smart way to encourage a bit of exploration—and perhaps even taking some risks to grab a scroll—but it also makes the first few chapters of the game feel slow and tedious. Once you have the ability to dispose of guards' bodies so no one else raises an alarm, throw kunai to kill enemies at a distance, or even just create a distracting noise, the game opens up and becomes far more engaging and interesting. You can choose to focus on more defensive or offensive techniques, and even the more overtly powerful abilities like temporary invisibility feel pretty well balanced. Even if Aragami has a bad habit of recycling objectives (you almost always need to destroy a barrier in order to progress), the variety of tools helps keep the game feeling fresh from level to level. Naturally the game wouldn't be challenging if you were able to use abilities wildly, so you're limited to just two uses before you have to recharge at a prayer shrine, and even your shadow jump ability relies on a stamina meter that gradually refills while you're hiding in shadows. This is where things get a bit muddy for Aragami though, and it comes down to an awkward disconnect between the visuals and gameplay. For one, it's too difficult to tell if you're able to shadow jump to a point at a glance. There's also a difference between low and bright light, where bright light drains your stamina, so it's important to avoid. This kind of information is vital to take in quickly, but the game's art style makes it hard to tell what is a safe point and what isn't. Secondly, your stamina and ability charges are stylishly displayed on the back of your cape. It certainly looks cool but again interferes with gameplay since it's hard to tell exactly how much stamina you have remaining—this gets even worse when your cape is billowing in the wind. Lastly, aiming your shadow jump in order to ascend a ledge is far too finnicky. Oftentimes it feels like the cursor has to find a hidden sweet spot to work correctly and finding it totally breaks the fluidity of sneaking around in the shadows. The controls in general feel a bit too stiff in fact, though it gets a little easier with practice. Aragami has a lot of fun stealth gameplay but it has some undeniably unpolished aspects as well that make the game more clumsy and frustrating than it needs to be. The game isn't terribly long if your goal is simply finishing each level once, but like a lot of stealth-based games there's an addictive quality to perfecting each stage and completing them without being detected once. As such Aragami makes up for its relatively short length with plenty of replay value. Additionally you can bring a friend along for the ride with online co-op, which offers a fun twist on approaching obstacles. And of course this Shadow Edition of the game includes Nightfall, the prequel expansion that adds new levels, playable characters, and gameplay mechanics. The core gameplay is unchanged (including its obnoxious quirks) but the fresh challenges and new abilities make a welcome addition to the base game. The presentation in Aragami is somewhat of a missed opportunity. The cel-shaded look is fantastic and makes both Aragami himself and select details in the environment pop is a beautifully stylish way. At the same time though the overall art direction feels somewhat bland, as environments have little interesting detail in them and enemies are repetitive and rather drab. Without more engaging character designs the cel-shaded style feels a bit wasted. The music is somewhat similar thanks to, perhaps, an over-reliance on light ambiance music instead of engaging, memorable songs. Even for a stealth game the prevailing quiet makes for an aurally dull experience. Aragami: Shadow Edition offers up an engaging stealth adventure that feels held back by some unpolished elements which can make the core gameplay a bit awkward and frustrating. If you're willing to work at it though and overlook some of its flaws, sneaking around enemy camps and carefully eliminating guards before you're noticed is always a fun time, especially once you have a few of the more useful abilities at your disposal. Stealth fans in particular will feel well rewarded for sticking with Aragami. Rating: 7 out of 10 Shadows
  17. Once upon a time, Nippon Ichi Software created a side-scrolling puzzle-platformer that followed a princess and a prince on a storybook adventure through a dark forest. Playing the game isn't a complete fairy tale, though. Despite a charming story and a beautifully unique visual style, the gameplay in The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince leaves something to be desired. The plot of the game reads just like an old fairy tale: each night in a dark forest, a monstrous wolf sings a beautiful song, attracting the appreciation of a young prince. Separated by the darkness the two grow close, but when the prince tries to see the source of the beautiful voice, the wolf panics and accidentally blinds the prince. With the help of the old witch of the woods, the wolf transforms into a princess to try to help the prince regain his eyesight. The story is extremely cute, a little sad, and wholly charming from start to finish. It's not too often that you get to enjoy a modern fable with poignant reflections on self-identity and appearance that still captures the feel of a classic fairy tale—cutscenes in the game are even presented as a storybook. It's easy to be charmed by the fairy tale format of Liar Princess. The gameplay is a little harder to love, though. You play as the princess who is able to transform between a wolf form and human form. As a wolf, you can attack monsters with your claws and are mostly invulnerable to damage yourself. As the princess, you have to take the prince's hand and slowly walk him forward, avoiding obstacles and falls (you'll die from shockingly small heights as a human in this game). In essence, Liar Princess is one long escort mission, and I fully acknowledge the kind of baggage that comes with that term. Walking the prince around can be slow and plodding—though thankfully it's easy to leave him alone to take care of enemies or hazards yourself, so you're not constantly worried about his safety. Still, the gameplay can feel quite meandering at times. To spice things up a little, there are plenty of simple puzzles you'll have to solve using both the princess and the prince, i.e. pressure sensitive switches that require you to leave the prince behind while you find another route. For the most part these are quite simple puzzles though. Anyone that has played a decent number of platformers won't be surprised by the kinds of challenges Liar Princess cooks up and, given the slow nature of walking the prince around, the gameplay can feel particularly sluggish at times. To be fair there are few bad puzzles in the game, outside of one or two finnicky controls moments or a particularly obtuse riddle (which, to the game's credit, the game even warns you about and offers you a chance to skip it entirely). Instead the puzzles in Liar Princess are, by and large, just kind of there. Not terrible, but nothing particularly inspired either. The game is also quite short, and can easily be finished in just four or five hours. Combined with the somewhat basic level and puzzle design, it can't help but feel like Liar Princess is a rough draft that was never fully fleshed out. Still, it has a certain charm while it lasts, and each level has a handful of collectibles which unlock concept art and additional story lore, both of which are well worth checking out. The presentation, like the storytelling, is the saving grace of Liar Princess. The storybook / sketchbook style to the graphics is gorgeous and totally charming for the cute fairy tale plot that unfolds here. There aren't a ton of different elements at play here—you really only encounter a few different types of monsters—but the style is undeniably appealing. There are also adorable details like how the princess and prince smile while holding hands. The soundtrack is pretty great as well. There aren't that many tracks since there are only about twenty stages in the game, but the music hits the right balance of whimsical and eerie that feels perfect for this slightly dark fairy tale. The game's cutscenes are also voiced, but only in Japanese—somehow it doesn't feel too out of place, though. The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince offers up an adorable little fairy tale that will easily charm you with its endearing protagonists and simple story of bonding. The gameplay rarely manages to feel like more than a mostly by-the-numbers side-scrolling adventure though, and your progress isn't so much limited by challenging game design as it is by the prince's slow walking speed. Still, players interested in a beautifully designed and charming story should appreciate the brief journey of the princess and the prince. Rating: 7 out of 10 Fables
  18. I have no idea how this news evaded me for the past three months, but apparently it was announced on Christmas that Clannad will be ported to the Switch on July 4th. Anyone else planning on picking this up?
  19. Google will be adding support for the for the Joy-Con controllers (L, R, L +, R, and USB charge grip) and the Switch Pro Controller (USB and Bluetooth) to Google Chrome... For anyone that has out of the loop with what has been going on with Google, apparently they're making a MAJOR push in to the gaming market. A few months ago that had a beta to test their streaming service,where people got to test streaming AC: Odyssey via Google Chrome, which worked fairly well. Next week at GDC they have plans to announce what their newly established gaming division has been up to. Apparently they are going to show some kind of hardware along side their streaming service. It's unclear if it will be only a streaming/download box or will accept physical media, but they've sent out invites to all the major gaming press, so this points to something more than a streaming box/service. Also, SEGA is said to be heavily on board with some exclusives. Could Google become the 4th competitor in the console wars? Microsoft is making it easy for Google to just take over their spot, since they don't seem to worried about hardware anymore and just want their games on everything. I mean, they did just put HALO on Steam. Sorry to derail this thread and make it all about Google. If you want to know all the details about what Google is up to, check-out the videos HERE and HERE. So, as for the Switch controller support in Chrome... It makes since that they would want to support all major controllers on current systems, so anyone can just fire up Chrome and start using this game streaming service and not worry about needing a special controller. With Google prepping Chrome with various controller support just before the big GDC conference, it seems like this service might be launching in the near future.
  20. What if you could rewrite the rules of a video game while playing it? That is essentially the premise of Baba Is You, created by developer Arvi Teikari, aka Hempuli. In this puzzle game the rules of each level are written on the screen, and by moving the words around you're able to turn an impassable wall into harmless scenery, or a simple rock into an invaluable key. Baba Is You leverages this inventive puzzle game premise into hundreds of mind-bending levels for a puzzle game that is consistently surprising, challenging, and delightful. Baba Is You takes a very literal approach to the idea of "rewriting the rules," as each level's rules are written as text in the level. For example, you'll generally see "Baba is You" somewhere on screen, indicating that you can move the odd little character Baba around. Another rule might say "Flag is Win," indicating the end goal of the level, but the rule "Wall is Stop" might prevent you from reaching the flag. However, rules are only in effect when written in a straight line (horizontally or vertically), so by simply pushing the word "Wall" up one space the rule is now broken and you can pass straight over the wall. Explaining this in text doesn't have the same effect as simply playing the game—it's a devilishly simple but ingenious puzzle gameplay system, one that any player can immediately pick up. This word manipulation system is so delightfully clever that I finished most levels while shaking my head in amazement at the puzzle design. Once you get past the introductory levels, solving these puzzles truly requires out-of-the-box thinking, but Baba Is You also makes it easy to experiment and slowly work through solutions at your own pace. There's even an undo button that allows you to rewind by one action at a time. This is especially important given that changing one rule can have a huge effect on the stage overall, plus it can be easy to accidentally work yourself into a corner (literally, since Baba can generally only push words and not pull them, so pushing a word into the side of the screen will leave it stuck there). Even so, Baba Is You doesn't pull any punches. The game isn't afraid to throw some seriously challenging puzzles your way, and given the nature of the game you may find yourself floundering for a bit. There aren't any in-game hints to nudge you in the right direction either, which can make some of the particularly difficult levels feel frustrating. Baba Is You simply isn't the kind of game you can rush through though. It's a game that rewards light experimentation as much as careful planning, and it's a game that will particularly appeal to players that enjoy mulling over a puzzle, examining it from all sides, and trying to find the key first step that puts everything on the right track. And thankfully, even though the game doesn't offer hints, the levels unlock in a mostly non-linear fashion—if you're truly stuck on a puzzle, simply skip it and tackle a new one instead. Sometimes the best way to solve a puzzle in Baba Is You is to leave it be for a while and come back when inspiration strikes. The game drops you straight into the action with no storytelling build-up, which is a bit of a shame, given the uniquely surreal visuals and setting in the game. The graphics are simple but undeniably striking in their own way and give the whole game a charming sense of style. There's also something impressive about the way the developer has given each world a personality using only a handful of different background elements. The music is sort of in the same boat—the soundtrack isn't overtly flashy but it adds a catchy, mellow vibe to the game, perfect for when you're staring at the screen trying to solve a particularly tricky puzzle. Puzzle games, naturally, rarely have much replay value, but the sheer amount of puzzles combined with the challenging design means you can rest easy with spending your money on Baba Is You. With over two hundred levels, it's easy to spend hours upon hours with the game. However, if you're just trying to "beat" each world and progress, you'll also be pleased to hear that many levels are optional, so if you get stuck you can move on to a new puzzle anyway. Baba Is You is a fiendishly clever puzzle game, one that does an excellent job of establishing a simple set of rules and then twisting them into all manner of challenges. The simple art style and catchy music add a welcome layer of charm—important, given how long you'll be staring at these screens trying to work out in your head what you actually need to do. But even if the puzzles can quickly feel overwhelming, their inventive design never fails to impress and the satisfaction of completing one is consistently tantalizing. Rating: 8 out of 10 Babas Review copy provided by developer Baba Is You is available now on the Switch eShop for $15.00.
  21. This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY! – FINAL FANTASY FABLES: Chocobo’s Dungeon is back with an enhanced gameplay system to be enjoyed by both first timers and fans of the series alike. Explore the challenges of the never-ending dungeons and befriend monsters with the new buddy system. You adhere to one simple rule: Every time you enter, the world around you changes shape, but it only moves whenever Chocobo moves. The Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY! game is available March 20. Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Switch Online* Kid Icarus – The evil goddess Medusa has stolen the Three Sacred Treasures and imprisoned the goddess of light, Palutena, in her evil plot to control all. Play as Pit, a young angel who has been entrusted with a magical bow and arrow. Fight against hordes of enemies that swoop from above and below. Secure the Three Sacred Treasures from their evil guardians, equip them and face Medusa in the final battle. StarTropics – Step into the shoes of Mike Jones, a teenage star pitcher from Seattle, who has come to the tropics to visit his famous archaeologist uncle, Dr. Jones. After being told that his uncle has been abducted, Mike begins a perilous quest in order to rescue him and figure out the mysterious plot behind his disappearance. Luckily for Mike, he meets helpful villagers and finds more powerful weapons as he explores numerous locations and island hops using his uncle’s submarine. Nintendo eShop sales: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Great deals this week! Check out the full list of deals available this week at http://www.nintendo.com/games/sales-and-deals. New DLC: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – Special Episode - Obtain Shiny Crowns in 18 new challenges among five creative new courses in the paid DLC**, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – Special Episode. The DLC is available now and can also be played together with a friend in the recently added co-op mode, Partner Adventure. Also new this week in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch: American Ninja Warrior: Challenge – Available March 19 Arcade Archives IKARI WARRIORS Bad Dream: Fever Blood Waves – Available March 15 Bonds of the Skies Dungeons & Aliens – Available March 15 Dusty Raging Fist Fate/EXTELLA LINK – Available March 19 Freecell Solitaire Golf Peaks Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Joe and Mac Returns Little Shopping Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom – Demo Version Motorsport Manager for Nintendo Switch My Jurassic Farm 2018 Not Not – A Brain Buster – Available March 15 RICO Super Kickers League – Available March 20 SYMMETRY – Available March 19 Teddy The Wanderer: Mountain Hike The Red Strings Club Turok – Available March 18 Twist & Match Unit 4 – Available March 15
  22. Plenty of games try to capture the excitement of a buddy-cop action flick, but few do it by focusing solely on the door-kicking action and gun fights like this one. RICO from developer Ground Shatter and publisher Rising Star Games puts you in the shoes of a loose-cannon cop, either solo or with a friend, where procedurally generated buildings are packed with criminals in need of merciless justice. Quick, arcade-style action and local or online co-op don't do much to fix RICO's rough gameplay elements, though. In the town of San Amaro, crime runs rampant, especially due to the slow nature of prosecuting organized crime. That's where you come in: as a member of the RICO elite police task force, you have just 24 hours to take down a criminal empire, which means working your way through the lower ranks until you reach the kingpin himself. Unfortunately that's about all you can expect as far as storytelling is concerned, as there's no other cutscenes or story elements outside of the opening cutscene, but to be fair RICO is a fast-paced arcade-style FPS, and you've got no time to waste if you want to defeat the crime boss. Either solo or with a buddy (both local split-screen and online), your goal is to sweep through one criminal warehouse after another by kicking down doors and shooting anyone you see inside (when you've only got 24 hours to finish a case, due process takes a backseat). Essentially RICO focuses entirely on the satisfaction of breaching and entering rooms with tactical efficiency—you'll even be treated to a slow-down sequence when you first enter, giving you a chance to quickly pick off each enemy in the room before they can react. You'll also have to collect evidence and make a speedy escape before you're overwhelmed by reinforcements, and later missions will add further challenges such as taking out a high-ranking target, destroying criminal servers, and frantically defusing bombs before they explode. It's undeniably satisfying to sweep through rooms as either a one-man or two-man wrecking crew, but the problem with RICO is that it doesn't offer more than this one thrill over and over. Every level is procedurally generated to add variety and as you begin a case you'll be given a branching path to reach the boss, so you can plot your path to some degree, but the game is still mindlessly repetitive and some of the extra challenges make the game more frustrating than rewarding. Defusing bombs is easily the biggest problem, as you're given a short countdown to find every bomb in the area as soon as you find one. Given the randomly generated level design, this more often than not means you're given a nearly impossible challenge to break through enemy lines to reach the bombs (and why are so many criminals just standing in a room with a ticking time bomb anyway?). Roguelike mechanics sometimes mean you're simply dealt a bad hand, but in RICO the balance is too often tipped toward frustrating challenges rather than rewarding ones. The other basic elements of the game don't do much to make up for the tedium of each playthrough. The controls are flat out clumsy—even with a good bit of fiddling with the aiming sensitivity settings it's hard to find a happy balance between either wildly too loose or molasses slow. You basically have little choice but to rely upon spray 'n' pray shooting. The guns themselves aren't terribly inspired either thanks to a limited variety to purchase/upgrade and a lack of a satisfying sense of weight or snappy aiming. The fact that reinforcements can spawn from seemingly anywhere is discouraging, especially when you're frantically trying to find a bomb. The destructible environments—most of all the doors that you kick down—are novel at first but too often a flying bit of timber will obscure your view for a clean headshot. Even the game's UI is a little obnoxious given its black and white color scheme that makes it hard to see what item you're actually highlighting. It's unfortunate, then, that RICO is based entirely around replaying the same basic playthrough over and over when so many of its gameplay details feel lacking. If you're willing to put up with some repetitive, unpolished gameplay though, you have full cases with different difficulty levels, daily challenges, and of course the option of going solo, with a friend, or playing online. But RICO never quite finds the right addictive formula to keep you coming back for more. The presentation isn't much more polished than the rest of the game. The cel-shaded design is certainly stylish when you first start up the game, but the cracks soon appear. Environments are repetitive and lacking in interesting details, the criminals themselves are much the same with only a handful of different looks, and even details like headshots aren't given much visual flair, to the point that sometimes it's hard to tell if you've even landed a headshot. There's virtually no background music and the sound effects can be oddly balanced at times—too often you'll hear a thug screaming at you from three rooms away. Sadly the audio and visuals do nothing to buoy the repetitive game design. RICO focuses on one element of FPS gameplay—breaching and entering rooms full of bad guys—but unfortunately doesn't even manage to do that particularly well. It's all too easy for a procedurally generated Roguelike game to fall into tiring repetition unless the core action of the game is polished enough to be engaging and satisfying no matter how often you do it. That's just not the case with RICO. Kicking down doors and bursting into a room guns a-blazing is fun for a moment, but RICO's rough design isn't able to sustain the excitement for even one playthrough. Rating: 5 out of 10 Kicked Doors Review copy provided by publisher RICO will be available on the Switch eShop on March 14th for $19.99.
  23. One part sports game, one part RPG, Golf Story revives the unfortunately all-too-rare genre of story-driven sports game, one that retains all of the key gameplay components of golf while offering a more engaging sense of progression than simply collecting tournament trophies. Although Golf Story isn't the first game to blend these two game genres together, it does so with an undeniable charm. You play as an average golfer with dreams of hitting the pro circuit after being inspired by his dad as a child. Though he starts out as a nobody in the golfing world who can't even seem to get a coach to give him a chance, a bit of tenacity helps him gradually make a name for himself as he conquers each of the themed golf courses in the game's suspiciously Australia-shaped island. The basic plot isn't terribly exciting, and even the protagonist is a bit bland, but that's only because he plays the straight man to the game's multitude of oddball characters. From rapping hoodlums to aged country club snobs, it seems like everyone in the world of Golf Story loves golf, and that means you'll meet all manner of fun and funny characters and strange scenarios—the country club's werewolf scare being a notable highlight of the game's writing and sense of humor. It's great to see a sports game that just has fun with its setting, and even the corniest jokes are a welcome break between playing a round of nine holes. No matter how the story or side content is presented, the core of Golf Story is still classic virtual golf gameplay—if you've ever played a golf video game you'll instantly be familiar with the key gameplay mechanics here. Golf Story really doesn't do much that's new on the basic aiming/swinging mechanics, though to be fair, why try to fix something that isn't broken? Selecting a club, lining up a shot, adjusting for wind, and locking in the power of your swing with a quick button press are all totally standard golf mechanics by now and they remain engaging, if somewhat repetitive. Golf Story isn't afraid to think a little out of the box when it comes to course design, though. The layouts and hazards may not be quite as wild as some Mario Golf entries, but there are far more tricky and inventive obstacles to deal with here than on any real life course. Even so, Golf Story is overall a fairly easy game. Sure you might have some trouble on certain holes, especially if you get too ambitious about skirting the main path in favor of riskier shortcuts, but the key moments required to progress the story aren't going to push you to ace every hole—oftentimes just hitting par is good enough. As such there may not be a ton of depth to Golf Story in terms of either mechanics or difficulty, but it's a breezy, enjoyable course all the same. The game is also advertised as having RPG mechanics, though these are admittedly relatively minor to the game. As you progress you'll earn experience points, and when you level up you can boost your stats, such as power, accuracy, handling, etc. Your main stat is power, but increasing power affects your other stats—i.e. increasing power will make your accuracy go down—so you'll want to keep your stats balanced by not increasing power without adjusting other stats as well. Hence, there's not much variety in terms of how you level up. If you wanted to give yourself an extra challenge you could try leaving your accuracy on the low end, but for most players divvying up these stat points will be fairly mindless. You can also equip different clubs, but there aren't a huge variety to find in the game. There really isn't much variety in terms of how you approach Golf Story. It is, perhaps, not too surprising that a golf game would fall into a fair bit of repetition. Even with eight different courses, each with its own quirks, you have to really enjoy golf to keep up the energy throughout the fifteen hours or so that it takes to finish Golf Story. It doesn't help that the game forces you into repeating courses occasionally as part of the story, which gets a little tiresome. If you do want some extra gameplay though there are numerous side quests and challenges you can take on to earn a little extra EXP and money. These can feel mindlessly repetitive at times as well but they're also a good way of sharpening your skills since they tend to focus on one aspect such as aiming, chipping, putting, etc. And if you want to play a round without jumping into the story there's also a quick play mode which can support local two-player versus matches, just in case you need to settle who the real golf pro is. A big part of the game's charm comes down to its simple yet fun pixel graphics. There's nothing flashy in Golf Story, and across the game's eight themed courses the environments never stray from anything that would typically be seen in a video game, and yet there's an undeniable sense of style in the sprite work, one that perfectly suits the story's droll sense of humor. The soundtrack isn't half bad either. The music has a ton of personality in it, perfect for the somewhat-grand adventure of becoming a golf pro, even if it's hard to pay attention to the music when you're focusing on lining up your swing. Golf Story is a charming little game and a great revival of the subgenre of sports games that emphasizes adventure and story progression in addition to sports simulation. Although not a huge step forward for the golf genre and slightly bogged down by repetition, the game's light-hearted humor will easily pull in any virtual golfing fan. Rating: 7 out of 10 Clubs
  24. This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn – One ticked-off sorcerer just banished Kirby, warping the poor puffball to a yarn world in need of saving. The twist? Having a yarn body is epic! Kirby can transform into knitted versions of vehicles like tanks and flying saucers. Plus, his new ravel abilities mimic his classic copy abilities, adding something new to every stage of this action-adventure game. The Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn game is available on March 8. Players that want to try before they buy can download the free demo, now available in Nintendo eShop. Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch Baba Is You – Baba Is You is a puzzle game in which you can change the rules of play. By manipulating blocks in every level, you can change how the level works and cause surprising, unexpected interactions. With some simple block pushing you can turn yourself into a rock, turn patches of grass into dangerously hot obstacles and even change the goal to something entirely different. The Baba Is You game is available March 13. The Caligula Effect: Overdose – Something’s amiss in the seemingly perfect world of Mobius. Escape from the false paradise and return to reality, or risk losing more than just your identity. Befriend and recruit more than 500 students to your cause, or turn the tables and sabotage the Go-Home Club’s efforts to return to the real world. The Caligula Effect: Overdose game is available March 12. Assault Android Cactus+ – Experience an arcade-style twin-stick shooter set in a vivid sci-fi universe. Junior Constable Cactus is outside her pay grade when she responds to a distress call and ends up stranded on a space freighter under attack by its own robot workers. Think fast and shoot faster. Charge head first into an army of refitted robots, transforming stages and massive boss showdowns. The Assault Android Cactus+ game is available March 8. izneo – The izneo BD Comics Manga Webtoon application is a Nintendo Switch app with thousands of digital comic books available for purchase. Nintendo Switch, laptop, tablet, smartphone, Smart TV: Your comics are synchronized in your library and available anytime, anywhere, making it easy to pick up where you left off. A convenient and pleasurable digital reading experience to enjoy comics as you always have done: on the train or on the bus, on your couch or in bed, and even offline. Explore all kinds of comic book genres: Adventure, Romance, Thriller, Heroic Fantasy, Sci-Fi or Comedy. Enjoy your comics with the panel-by-panel mode called eazycomics for the most comfortable reading experience possible. Nintendo eShop sales: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Great deals this week! Check out the full list of deals available this week at http://www.nintendo.com/games/sales-and-deals. Also new this week: Aperion Cyberstorm – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) ACA NEOGEO THE ULTIMATE 11: SNK FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) BombFall (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 12 Braveland Trilogy (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Claybook (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 12 Ghoulboy – (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Hard West (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Mahjong Stories: Vampire Romance (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Monument Builders Rushmore (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 8 My Little Riding Champion (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Paperbound Brawlers (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 8 Proficient Paddles Deluxe (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 8 Space War Arena (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) V-Rally 4 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Valley (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) World Tree Marché (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch)
  25. Hot on the heels of 2017's remake of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap comes a brand new entry in the Wonder Boy franchise: Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom. Cursed Kingdom retains the classic side-scrolling platforming of the series as well as the monster transformations of The Dragon's Trap, all with a beautifully hand-drawn art style and lovingly crafted soundtrack. As good as the presentation is though, Cursed Kingdom has some rough edges when it comes to the gameplay design. In Cursed Kingdom you play as Jin, a young boy thrown into a chaotic quest to save the world when his uncle—seemingly drunk on royal nectar—uses a magic wand to transform all the people of the Monster World Kingdom into anthropomorphic animals. To reverse the curse Jin has to collect five magic orbs—a classic adventure quest. The game doesn't try to do anything new other than rehash the old tropes we've seen hundreds of times, but as an homage to a classic 80s series, the cliché plot doesn't feel out of place. Cursed Kingdom nails the feeling of an old-school action-platformer—perhaps too well, in fact. Because while the game recreates the look and sound of 80s platformers, it does little to modernize the gameplay. There's a frustrating clunkiness to the action that means your movements and attacks never feel quite as smooth as they ought to. Unlike a lot of other action games, Cursed Kingdom never quite finds the right rhythm to give the player that satisfying sense of fluidity. Instead combat just feels choppy, even by the end of the game, often due to clumsy hitbox detection which means you'll stumble into attacks and hazards far more often than you'd think. The combat just never feels satisfying. The platforming side of the gameplay fares a little better, thanks to the variety of abilities that your monster transformations give you. As a snake you can climb mossy walls, as a frog you can swim freely underwater and use your tongue to grapple things, as a pig you can…cast magic for some reason. Regardless of the specifics, the monster transformations also transform the way you play and interact with the environment and offers up plenty of fun and clever puzzle-platformer scenarios that rely upon one form or another. The game's pacing on giving you these transformations feels a little off—obviously the last transformations will be the most powerful/useful, but the first couple are downright boring at times—but still, each new form offers more variety to the platforming gameplay. Cursed Kingdom is also a challenging game, surprisingly so in fact, and too often for frustrating reasons. There are old-fashioned annoyances like enemies that swoop in from off screen to attack you and bothersome quirks like how coins bounce away so you have to chase them down, but the most difficult aspect of the game might just be the fact that you consistently feel underpowered. You can equip different swords/armor to boost your defense a little, but these are mostly used for the special effects they offer, such as a frost sword that can create ice blocks in water. Even with the right equipment enemies hit hard, easily draining your energy in just a couple of hits, but the short range on most attacks means you have to get up close and personal. This is what makes combat so frustrating, since your range and movement don't feel up to the task. As such you'll likely die/retry a lot in this game, but the checkpoint system can be annoyingly limited at times. There are a number of checkpoints scattered throughout the game, granted, but their placements mean you'll be stuck replaying certain difficult portions of the game every time you die, and at that point Cursed Kingdom just feels tedious. Ultimately, the game doesn't balance its difficulty with rewarding gameplay and instead relies upon some dated mechanics. The one area of the game that is perfectly modernized though is the presentation. Cursed Kingdom retains the cartoony style of the previous games in the series but recreates it with beautiful hand-drawn graphics that are not only gorgeous but utterly charming as well. It's the details in the smooth animation that brings Cursed Kingdom to life and gives the game an adorable, playable-cartoon vibe. The music is also pretty incredible—it captures that childlike sense of heroics that defines classic cartoons and classic video games, but does it with modern sound design that's a joy to listen to. Even at its most difficult moments, Cursed Kingdom's presentation is wholly charming. At around fifteen hours Cursed Kingdom feels like the right length for its adventure. There are a number of locations to visit and a good variety of challenges that don't get too repetitive. In Metroidvania fashion there are also plenty of hidden power-ups and collectibles to find which often require retreading old areas with new abilities, and thankfully a warp system makes backtracking a little easier. Completionists can get a little more out of the game by finding everything, but even at that point Cursed Kingdom feels like a single playthrough kind of game. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is clearly a loving tribute to a classic franchise, and maybe that's why the developers seem to have missed the fact that plenty of old-school challenges just aren't fun anymore, and certain gameplay elements are best left in the past. Still, if you're willing to look past the awkward combat mechanics and cheap deaths, Cursed Kingdom boasts incredible audio and visual design as well as a decent variety to the platformer side of its gameplay. Just be prepared for some frustrating elements along the way. Rating: 7 out of 10 Monsters
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