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  1. When former Rare employees took to the internet to announce a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie, fans took notice, spurring one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns of 2015. It's clear there was a lot of nostalgia love for a 3D platformer starring an anthropomorphic animal duo, down the visual style and nonsense squeaking noises during dialogue. The heyday of the genre was squarely in the late 90s though, and recreating that formula on a modern console leads to mixed results. It's a normal day for Yooka and Laylee (a chameleon and a bat, respectively) when an old book that Laylee found is suddenly spirited away through the air. The evil Capital B and his assistant Dr. Quack are gathering up every book they can to find a powerful magical tome, until Yooka and Laylee decide to put a stop to their evil machinations. The writing in Yooka-Laylee feels right at home with the likes of Banjo-Kazooie. It's goofy and cartoonish, full of meta gaming references, and even though some of the humor doesn't quite land perfectly (jokes in written form can be clumsy sometimes, especially with slow scrolling text speed), the game still has a light, kid-friendly charm to it. Anyone that has played one of Rare's classic collect-a-thon platformers from the 90s will feel immediately at home with Yooka-Laylee—starting up the game truly feels like stepping twenty years into the past, when 3D platformers were all the rage and full of colorful animal characters and hundreds of collectibles to grab. At its core, it feels like Yooka-Laylee could have been made just after Banjo-Tooie, as if this is some forgotten title that was dusted off, given a new coat of paint, and released on modern consoles. This game has all of the essentials: you start off in a hub world and enter different themed worlds, each of which is an open 3D environment full of items to collect—primarily Pagies, the torn pages of Laylee's magic book, but also currency for buying upgrades. Each world feels large and sprawling but not so large that you'll easily get lost—some kind of map for each area still would have been appreciated, though. Still, there's a decent variety of challenges within each world and as in so many games there's an addictive quality to picking up one collectible after another. The flip side of this coin is that Yooka-Laylee also retains many of the annoying quirks of 90s 3D platformers, and at times fails to innovate on the genre. For the most part they're little things, but they add up to put a damper on the fun, light-hearted atmosphere of the game. For one thing, hit boxes can be a little inconsistent, particularly with projectile or aerial attacks. Although the game includes a first-person aiming mode as well, this is usually too slow when you're in the middle of fighting minions. This sort of control quirk feels tied to the game's 90s roots, but certainly should have been updated for a modern game release. The game's meandering pace can be a little annoying at times as well, due to lack of direction, retreading previous worlds with new abilities, or occasionally retreading large parts of a world due to failing a challenge. The pacing isn't inherently bad but it adds a certain tedium that isn't alleviated by the wide open spaces and lackluster enemies in each world. The biggest issue that feels too beholden to the past is the controls. For the most part they're fine and give you a decent degree of control over Yooka and Laylee, but overall the controls just don't feel as sharp as they should be for a platformer. Your movements can feel stilted at times, and flying in particular is an awkward endeavor. The camera can also get a big hectic in tight spaces as it struggles to find a decent angle—thankfully at least you have the option of using a classic mode where the camera naturally centers behind you and a modern mode that gives you more control. The classic may be traditional for this kind of game but it feels too inconsistent and unwieldy, especially when modern controllers all have a second control stick anyway. Even modern mode has its issues though, and there are few things more annoying than failing a challenge simply because the camera won't cooperate. The game's presentation does a better job of bridging the N64-era inspired roots and modern aesthetics—mostly. Because while the character design is cute, most of the creatures don't have a ton of visual personality (the game mostly relies on its unending supply of puns to drum up some charisma) and the environment design is extremely hit or miss with some truly uninspired scenery at times. The soundtrack fares better overall, though it also has its ups and downs. Still, there are several great tunes, even if they are all too often restricted to smaller scenarios rather than a world's main background music track. Yooka-Laylee takes around 12 hours to finish, but that's an estimate for just the bare amount of completion. It's no surprise that as a collect-a-thon platformer there are plenty more optional challenges to tackle in order to 100% complete the game. The journey there can get a little tiresome at times but if you take the game's meandering pacing in stride it's easy to double the length of the game. For better and for worse, Yooka-Laylee faithfully recreates the 90s collect-a-thon platformer, with all of its charms and flaws. The developers have made some critical mistakes in not taking more care to modernize some of the core aspects of the game such as smooth camera movement or tighter controls, but the overall package is still a charming, nostalgic adventure that feels right at home next to the Banjo-Kazooie games. Yooka-Laylee may rely upon that nostalgia a bit too much at times, but for fans of this subgenre of platformers who haven't seen a game like this in years, the game's flaws and quirks are a small price to pay. Rating: 7 out of 10 Pagies
  2. This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch DELTARUNE Chapter 1 – From the creator of UNDERTALE comes a new RPG. Create your own avatar, meet strange friends and jump into the darkness. By the way, this first chapter is free, so please feel free to check it out. Ape Out – Ape Out is a wildly intense and colorfully stylized smash ’em up about primal escape, rhythmic violence and frenetic jazz. Build up nearly unstoppable momentum and use your captors as both weapons and shields to crush everyone on your procedurally generated path to freedom. Treasure Stack – Fusing the pressure of a falling block puzzle game with grapple-powered platforming, Treasure Stackoffers up a fast-paced party game experience. As treasure chests and keys fall from the sky and threaten to fill the screen, take direct control of a pixelated hero as you run, jump, grab, climb, grapple and stack matching colors to keep the blocky deluge at bay. The Treasure Stack game is available March 1. Nintendo Mobile Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp – Happy Homeroom is now in session! The Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp mobile game* just received a major free update that introduces Happy Homeroom, a newly added interior design mini-game. In Happy Homeroom classes, players with a Camp Manager Level of 6 or above can use the furniture they have to practice their interior design skills, which will be judged by Lottie and others. Passing Happy Homeroom classes increases a player’s HH Rank, earning them items like HH material and more. If you haven’t played Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp in a while, now is a great time to jump back in with all of this newly added content! See what’s new by downloading the latest update and launching the game on your mobile device. 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: Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes DLC #1 Black Dandelion** – Play as the assassin Shinobu with two newly added special skills and an added Badman Strikes Back Adventure! Activities: Happy Pokémon Day! – To help celebrate Pokémon Day, My Nintendo is offering Happy Pokémon Day cards, Meltan Wallpapers and more Pokémon game themed rewards from now until May 27. Have you exchanged your Friend Code from your Nintendo Switch system? Use the Happy Pokémon Day card to share it with your friends! For more info, visit https://my.nintendo.com/news/837f74adcdd985cb. Also new this week: 12 is Better Than 6 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 5 ACA NEOGEO THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2003 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Anodyne (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Arcade Archives ICE CLIMBER (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Awesome Pea (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 1 Bard’s Gold - Nintendo Switch Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 5 BATTLLOON (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Beat Cop (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 5 Constructor Plus (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Crash Dummy (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Creepy Road (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 1 Croc’s World Run (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Dark Quest 2 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 5 Darkest Hunter (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Duck Hunting Challenge (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Elevator...to the Moon! Turbo Champion's Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 6 Fimbul (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) History 2048 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 1 Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Super Real Darwin (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Klondike Solitaire (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 1 Monster Dynamite (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) My Girlfriend is a Mermaid!? (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Ninja Village – Full & Demo Versions (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Pillar – Full & Demo Versions (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 5 Pirates Pinball (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 1 Pixel Devil and the Broken Cartridge (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Queen’s Quest 2: Stories of Forgotten Past (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 1 R.B.I. Baseball 19 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 5 Riddled Corpses EX – Full & Demo Versions (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 2 Shred! 2 – Freeride Mountainbiking (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 1 Swords and Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 1 Tardy (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 1 ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove! (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 1 Unknown Fate (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available March 5 V.O.I.D. (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Warhammer Quest (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch)
  3. Sometimes it's hard to believe how much the Switch has turned around the public perception and style of Nintendo. No one would have expected the Wii or Wii U to get games like Skyrim, Doom, or Diablo III, and yet all three now feel perfectly at home on Nintendo's hybrid console. Sure, Diablo III: Eternal Edition isn't exactly a brand new product as even the most recent DLC pack came out over a year ago on other platforms, but Nintendo-only players won't mind as they dive into this addictive, time-sucking action-RPG. With over twenty years of games/background lore behind it, new players might feel a little intimidated jumping into the series with Diablo III, but the core story here is easy enough to understand: the long-running war between heaven and hell is once again reignited when a falling star crashes into the cathedral where Deckard Cain and his adopted niece Leah are investigating an ominous prophecy. Your character arrives in the nearby town to help investigate and fight off the hordes of evil, leading to a series of battles that culminates with Diablo himself. The story's strength isn't so much on the character journeys as it is on worldbuilding. Diablo is classic dark fantasy that's fun to immerse yourself in as you play—the actual dialogue isn't terribly inspired, but at least you can quickly skip through it to get straight to the action. And oh what endless action Diablo III provides. Diablo is one of those games that relies upon a very simple core gameplay structure, but one that is potentially endlessly replayable with enough variety to keep it interesting hour after hour. You fight monsters, level up, find better equipment than the stuff you currently have on, then march out there to do it all again. A basic premise, and one that ends up being awfully addictive once you get into the swing of things, because every time you find better loot you get that little nudge to keep going. After all, you've got to try out this new equipment, and maybe if you play just a little further you'll get something even better. Diablo can be almost obsessively cyclical, but that's what keeps it engaging every time you load up the game. An important part of keeping a game like this interesting is in offering the player choices to customize the experience. First off, this edition of Diablo III includes all DLC so it has a total of seven character classes, each of which has a unique playstyle (melee fighters, magicians, etc.). Each class also has a variety of different abilities—for example, while I was playing a Demon Hunter character I favored rapid fire arrows and deployable turrets, but I could just have easily have focused on setting traps and using slower, more powerful attacks. The game is open enough that any strategy can work, so you never feel pigeon-holed into one path and are free to experiment as you please. And the combat feels engaging in just about every battle. Sure, fights aren't always difficult per se, especially once you've got some powerful equipment and abilities, but it's always satisfying to demolish groups of demons. The only downside here is that the game might trust players a little too much to figure things out on their own, and as a new player you might get a little lost on some details, but with time anyone will adapt to the nitty gritty aspects of the game. Diablo III also feels like a natural fit for the Switch since it's perfect for quick play sessions. It's so easy to load up the game, destroy demons for half an hour, then put the game back down, and being able to do it on the go is even more convenient. This Switch version also adds a few fun Nintendo references, including Ganondorf's armor set and a new amiibo, and while these aren't major additions to the game they're still fun to see. Of course, while fighting the lords of hell it's dangerous to go alone, so Diablo III lets up to four players team up locally or online. Fighting as a team can be a lot more fun than tediously defeating monster after monster yourself, and definitely helps break up some of the monotony of the game. And the multiplayer system works pretty well too—assuming you can find other players online it's easy to jump right into their game with no noticeable connection or network issues. The frustrating thing about playing with random players online though is the lack of communication options. With a game like Diablo sometimes you need to pause to adjust your equipment, pop back to town to drop off loot, or even just take a quick bathroom break. Diablo III on Switch doesn't give you any ability to tell other players what you're thinking/planning though, so outside of using a third-party communication like Discord you're kind of playing in a vacuum, even when there are three other players on screen. Nintendo's always been a little clunky with this kind of feature but it's particularly annoying here. The visuals in Diablo III aren't exactly all that impressive, but to be fair the game features a lot of things on screen at once when dozens of enemies are attacking, and the good news is that loading screens are short, sometimes nonexistent, with no performance dips or lag at all. And there's something to be said for the game's dark fantasy look which makes for cool, fantastical set pieces. So even if character models aren't incredibly detailed and high rez, the overall style of the game is still fun to see. The sound design is in the same boat: the background music isn't much to write home about, but it still captures that classic Western RPG vibe really well. One playthrough of Diablo III, even with the Reaper of Souls expansion, won't take too long to power through, maybe twelve to fifteen hours. However, this is a game built upon replay value, and nowhere is that more evident than the difficulty options menu which shows dozens of levels you can tackle once you've got solid gear and know the game well. Add in the different character classes, multiplayer, side modes and seasonal online events—if the cyclical nature of Diablo III clicks with you, you can easily spend hundreds of hours on this game. Diablo III: Eternal Collection is a surprising but welcome addition to the Switch's library. With nigh endless replay value and a satisfying loop of fighting monsters, collecting loot, and then doing it all again, there's a wealth of gameplay to enjoy here for anyone that hasn't gotten their fill of it on a different platform. Granted, the cycle of collecting gear after gear isn't going to click for everyone, but if it does you may end up playing Diablo III for an eternity. Rating: 8 out of 10 Demons
  4. This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! / Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! – Demo Version – The demo version of the Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! games is available now in Nintendo eShop. Have you visited the vibrant Kanto region on your Nintendo Switch system yet? Then play the free demo version and come see what the excitement is all about! (Note: The content of the demo version differs from the full versions of these games.) Trials Rising Standard Edition – Explore over-the-top action and physics-bending motorcycle racing in the latest entry in the Trials franchise. With more than 125 new tracks, the Trials Rising Standard Edition game is easy to pick up and play, yet challenging to master. Test your friendships with the new Tandem mode that allows two players to control one bike, or create and share unique levels in Track Central with more than 8,000 items available. Trials Rising Standard Edition is available Feb. 26. The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame – The alien monster invaders have left Bricksburg in ruins and taken Emmet’s friends. It is now up to Emmet and a host of heroic characters to go beyond their world and save their friends from the strange inhabitants of the Systar System. Journey into outer space, discover new worlds and test your Master Building skills. TheLEGO Movie 2 Videogame is available Feb. 26. Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn – Demo Version – 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 wonders 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! Full game available March 8. 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: Alchemic Dungeons DX (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Almost There: The Platformer (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Aragami: Shadow Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Arcade Archives FRONT LINE (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Awesome Pea – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Car Mechanic Simulator (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Caterpillar Royale (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Daggerhood (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 22 Devil Engine (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Dungeon Stars (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) GIGANTIC ARMY (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Hell Warders (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) I wanna fly (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Mindball Play (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) My Arctic Farm 2018 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Pizza Parking (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Q.U.B.E. 2 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Quest for the Golden Duck (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 22 Rad Rodgers Radical Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 26 Raining Coins (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) RemiLore (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 26 Rotating Brave (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) SKYHILL (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 26 Surfingers (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) The Golf (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) The Journey Down Trilogy (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) The Lost Light of Sisu (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 27 Tyr: Chains of Valhalla (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 22 Warplanes: WW2 Dogfight (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) X-Morph: Defense (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) YUMENIKKI -DREAM DIARY- (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch)
  5. As fun as Mario, Sonic, and other mainstream platformers are, sometimes you just need a game that puts all of your running and jumping skills to the absolute test, and keeps you white-knuckle gripping the controller. From developer Bony Yousuf and publisher The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild comes Almost There: The Platformer, a hardcore platformer complete with minimalist visuals, simple controls, and devilishly intense gameplay challenges. A game made for hardcore platformer fans, Almost There makes up for what it lacks in looks with sharp, satisfying game design. Almost There is strictly about precise platformer challenges, so there's no backstory to explain the setting—not that the game would need much since your character is just a cube! Instead the game is simply divided up into 155 levels spread across three worlds, each of which ramps up the difficulty with new hazards. Initially though the game starts off simple—perhaps deceptively so for the challenges you'll eventually face, but regardless it's a clear introduction that highlights the basic controls. There are really only two actions in the entire game, moving and jumping, but there's enough nuance to the controls to create a variety of engaging challenges with this set-up. The only complex part of the controls to master is wall jumping which doesn't even require a button press, instead you can simply alternate left and right on the control stick or D-pad to work up the momentum to move up walls. It feels a little tricky at first but it also gives you an incredibly precise control over how you move. With a bit of practice you can adjust your position on a wall down to just a few pixels in order to launch the perfect jump onto a nearby platform. With tons of vertical level design, wall jumping quickly becomes an integral part of Almost There, putting the player's dexterity—and thumb stamina—to the test in intense, rewarding ways. Like most hardcore platformers, Almost There is really all about tapping into the innate rhythm of each level in order to smoothly sail over obstacles. You don't have to play perfectly just to finish a stage, but in order to earn all three stars on a level you'll need to move as quickly as possible, wasting no time on hesitant jumps. This is where the real heart of the game is as well. Just finishing a level can be challenging, but completing it with the best time possible adds much more depth to the gameplay. Trying to find the perfect rhythm for a stage also helps the level design truly shine: it's easier to appreciate the precision of the level structure when you're trying to minimize wasted movement as much as possible. Almost There is pretty much founded upon the "just one more try" mentality that keeps players coming back for more, because if you just try to rush through every level once the game won't last too long. No level lasts longer than a minute, and even with 155 stages that makes for a short game. Of course, once the difficulty ramps up, you'll need to play levels over and over just to finish them, and earning three stars on every stage gives Almost There further long-lasting appeal. Even so, it would have been nice to have more incentive to earn stars, such as unlockables or new features—though presumably concept art for this game would be, at best, minimal. As you can see from these screenshots, Almost There isn't a game with many visual flourishes. Just like with the lack of storytelling, it's clear that gameplay comes first and foremost in this game. There's something appealing about the stark simplicity of the graphics, especially as it helps you focus strictly on timing your jumps—there's never any doubt as to whether you're lined up on the platform correctly or if there's a hazard in front of you—but even a bit more visual design would have been nice. The music, somewhat surprisingly, features some great tracks. It's the kind of music you can bob your head to without dwelling on it consciously, the perfect background audio while you're focused on the action. There are only three songs in the game—again that minimalist design rearing its head—but they're certainly good ones. Almost There: The Platformer scratches all the right itches for hardcore platformer fans. The gameplay is centered around tight, simple controls while the unforgiving nature of the spikes, lasers, and buzz saws means that even a slightly off movement can lead to a quick death. Mastering these levels and earning the coveted three star rank on every one is a daunting task, but it's the kind that should perfectly appeal to any gamer that appreciates the "just one more try" mentality. The minimalist style may be a bit disappointing to some, but the core audience will likely appreciate the focus on clear level design—just be sure to give your eyes and thumbs a break around attempt 30 or so. Rating: 7 out of 10 Platforms Review copy provided by publisher Almost There: The Platformer will be available on the Switch eShop on February 21st for $9.99.
  6. Out of all of the shopkeepers in video games that sell equipment to the chosen hero, how many must wish they could set out on a grand adventure of their own? In Moonlighter, such a shopkeep gets his chance, as the game blends simple shop management with dungeon-crawling action, with just a touch of Roguelike mechanics to keep players on their toes. The cycle of fighting monsters, gathering loot, then selling it in your shop proves to be a somewhat repetitious loop, but an enjoyable one all the same. Moonlighter takes place entirely within Rynoka village, a small hamlet that sprung up because of the nearby presence of a group of mysterious gates that transport adventurers into monster-filled dungeons. Will, the owner of the Moonlighter shop, dreams of entering the dungeons himself and exploring their vast riches. The game sets up a nice little world, complete with cryptic notes left by previous adventurers within the dungeons, but don't expect too much storytelling here. What little dialogue there is is fun but sadly rather light—the vast majority of the game is focused on the two halves of the gameplay: exploration and shop management. Each day in Moonlighter is divided into day and night (and don't worry, although there is a bed in your shop you don't have to worry about sleeping regularly or running out of stamina). During the day you can chat with villagers in town and open up your shop to sell items; during the night you can explore one of the four dungeons just outside of town. You can also dive into the dungeons during the day but the shop can only be opened during the day, so you do want to be a little careful how you manage your time. Regardless, Moonlighter is all about the constant cycle of procuring items from the dungeons—dropped from defeated enemies or found in treasure chests—and selling them in your shop, allowing you to buy better equipment and delve further into the dungeons. It's a simple but quite satisfying loop, one that can be quite addictive as you gradually manage to earn more and more money on each trip into the dungeons and try to maximize your profits on each run—who would've thought making money would be addictive? Moonlighter includes light Roguelike elements to keep the dungeon-crawling interesting. Every time you enter a dungeon the map will be randomly generated, though there are always three levels (plus a boss room) and every level has a healing pool. The monsters you find will be slightly randomized but each dungeon has its own selection of creatures and there isn't actually that much variety—instead you run into the typical power tier system, i.e. you might run into a level 1 golem on the first floor and then a level 3 golem on the third floor. You'll also occasionally stumble into hidden rooms, but again there isn't a huge variety here either, and it quickly becomes clear that the Roguelike elements ultimately help Moonlighter recycle gameplay features over and over. That's not to say the dungeon exploration isn't fun, but after a couple of hours you'll catch on to the typical tricks the game uses and then there won't be many surprises left in any later dungeon. The challenge of collecting as many valuable items as possible during your time in the dungeon is still there, but the game lacks exciting set piece moments. Combat also leaves something to be desired, as cutting down the same handful of enemy types over and over doesn't help spice up the gameplay either. You do have a small variety of weapons to choose from, though purchasing them can be prohibitively expensive (at least early in the game) which makes experimenting hard. Instead you'll probably end up just sticking to a couple of weapons you like straight through to the end of the game, upgrading them as you progress. And combat itself doesn't have much variety in combos or attack patterns, which can make it a little monotonous. Worse still, the healing pools on every floor, although a huge boon to the player, make combat less tense since you can always run back to the pool to heal up after every enemy encounter. Just like the exploration elements, the combat isn't bad but its simple repetitiveness reveals itself pretty quickly. Managing your shop may not be as deadly as dungeon exploration but it still requires a good deal of micromanagement. In order to sell things you have to both display them in your shop and set a fair price—too high and nobody will buy the item, but if you set the price too low you'll be missing out on profits. Shop management in Moonlighter is a bit like spinning plates as you need to keep on your toes to restock shelves, ring up customers, and chase down thieves. In somewhat opposite fashion to the dungeon-crawling half of the game, shop management has some complex details that ultimately feel kind of pointless. For example, when items are in high demand you can mark up the price a bit, but if you saturate the market and demand drops, customers won't put up with the higher price tag. It's an interesting concept but in practice it just seems to be more trouble than its worth, same with other details like hiring an assistant or fulfilling specific requests from townspeople. And yet, all that said, Moonlighter still proves to be fairly addictive. There might not be a ton of depth to the action, but there is something wonderfully engaging about escaping a dungeon with a backpack full of loot and turning a tidy profit in your shop, then doing it all again. The whole gameplay structure is brazenly cyclical, but players that enjoy the slow, steady progress of purchasing better equipment and exploring a little further bit by bit will surely enjoy Moonlighter. Micromanaging your limited inventory space within dungeons then managing shelf space in your shop is oddly satisfying, from your first dungeon run to your last. Pixel graphics in an indie game are anything but new at this point, but Moonlighter's graphics are undeniably charming all the same. There's not much in the visuals that particularly stands out at first but the design has a beautiful simplicity to it that's crisp and colorful, even when you're wandering through a dungeon for the tenth time. The music, meanwhile, is pretty great, with a lot of catchy songs that feel perfect for either exploration or keeping a watchful eye on your shop. Even if the gameplay starts to feel grindy after a while it's always fun to groove along to the music. Moonlighter mashes up two game genres into a charming little game that is undeniably repetitive and yet still manages to maintain a magnetic appeal from the first moment to the last. The micro rewards of finding valuable loot and earning a good bit of money makes for a perfect impetus to keep exploring the dungeons over and over, and the Roguelike elements help add a bit of variety without dragging down the experience into tediously difficult territory. Moonlighter may appeal to a niche audience—fans of both dungeon-crawlers and shop management sims—but the happy medium it finds between the two genres proves to be a uniquely engaging one. Rating: 7 out of 10 Dungeons
  7. This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch Tetris 99 – The iconic puzzle game Tetris arrives, but with an online experience like no other. In this next entry in the storied puzzle franchise, 99 players compete together until only one is left standing. Nintendo Switch Online members* can battle for dominance in this free-to-download software. The Nintendo Switch exclusive is now available to download, and players can look forward to battling it out in upcoming online events. FINAL FANTASY IX – Zidane and the Tantalus Theater Troupe have kidnapped Princess Garnet, the heir of Alexandria. To their surprise, however, the princess herself yearned to escape the castle. Through a series of unusual circumstances, she and her personal guard, Steiner, fall in with Zidane and set out on an incredible journey. The FINAL FANTASY IXgame is now available on Nintendo eShop. STEINS;GATE ELITE – Follow a group of young, tech-savvy “lab members” who discover the means of changing the past via e-mail using a modified microwave. Their experiments in pushing the boundaries of time begin to spiral out of control as they become entangled in a conspiracy surrounding SERN, the organization behind the Large Hadron Collider, and John Titor, who claims to be from a dystopian future. The STEINS;GATE ELITE game is available on Feb. 19. OlliOlli: Switch Stance – OlliOlli: Switch Stance includes both the OlliOlli and OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood games. OlliOlli mixes one-life skating gameplay with more than 120 tricks and grinds to pull across 50 deviously crafted Levels, 250 Challenges, Spots Mode and Daily Grind. The skateboarding game goes all green screen with a stunning new look inOlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood, plucking you from the street and dropping you squarely in the middle of the big screen’s most bodacious cinematic locations. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – Special Episode – Obtain new Shiny Crowns across 18 new challenges in the paid DLC**, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – Special Episode, available March 14 for the Nintendo Switch system! Purchase now to get early access to a new course right away, then receive the remaining DLC when it launches. You can also download a free patch now to play the all-new co-op multiplayer mode, Partner Adventure, where Toad and Toadette must work together to solve puzzle-filled courses and uncover hidden treasures. Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Switch Online* Kirby’s Adventure – Using 20 unique tricks and Kirby’s ability to steal enemies’ powers by swallowing them, you’ll have to make your way through a horrific land filled with all kinds of nightmares. Recover the broken pieces of the Star Rod, and everyone in Dream Land will sleep peacefully once again. If you fail, the citizens of Dream Land will be subjected to a lifetime of terrible nightmares. Super Mario Bros. 2 – Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad embark on a quest together to save the day against the villainous Wart. Pick up items and throw them at your adversaries to clear levels in seven fantastical worlds. Even enemies can be picked up and tossed across the screen. This unique installment in the Super Mario Bros. series will keep you coming back for more. 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: ACA NEOGEO PUZZLE BOBBLE 2 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Alvastia Chronicles (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Astrology and Horoscopes Premium (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) BlazeRush (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 19 Captain StarONE (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Cinders (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Commander Keen in Keen Dreams (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Degrees of Separation (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) DreamWorks Dragons Dawn of New Riders (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 15 Guess the word (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Hexa Maze (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) KYUB (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) LOVE (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Mega Mall Story – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Mimic Hunter (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Modern Combat Blackout (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) NEKOPARA Vol.2 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Nice Slice (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Pet Care (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Space Lift Danger Panic! (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 15 Strikey Sisters (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Tales of the Orient – The Rising Sun (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) The Rainsdowne Players (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Tokyo School Life (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) TOUHOU SKY ARENA -MATSURI-CLIMAX (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Trine 2: Complete Story (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 18 Sinister Assistant (Nintendo eShop on Wii U) Pinball Breaker (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS)
  8. What's caused the Tales games to have such inconsistent appearances on Nintendo systems? Despite originally premiering on the Super Famicom in 1995 with Tales of Phantasia, most Tales releases have skipped over Nintendo systems entirely and the last two games, Tales of the Abyss for 3DS and Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition for the Switch, have been ports. Still, Nintendo-RPG fans take their thrills where they can get them, and even if Vesperia is a 10-year old port, the franchise's signature action-RPG combat and colorful anime-inspired visuals make for a lengthy, engaging adventure. Vesperia's main protagonist is Yuri Lowell, a former imperial knight who is now something of a vigilante, standing up for the lower-quarter peasants against the uncaring nobility. Yuri is still a fairly classic take on the good-guy-protagonist trope, but his flippant attitude and determination to do what's right, even if it means doing something wrong along the way, makes him an interesting focal point for the story. The overall plot starts off extremely slow in Vesperia, though. Yuri's adventure begins with chasing down a thief, and the low stakes of his quest don't really rise until nearly halfway through the game (i.e. dozens of hours for an RPG like this). It makes the first half of the game feel a bit plodding, especially as the characters frequently, and quite needlessly, spend time discussing what each of them want to do next. The plot eventually develops some interesting twists (though still sticks to classic save-the-world tropes) but the pacing of the storytelling can make slow sections of the game feel even slower. Like all Tales games, Vesperia uses the Linear Motion Battle System, meaning battles are carried out in real-time and you have full control over one character to move freely around the battlefield and attack while the AI controls the rest of your party. This kind of action-oriented battle system can be a welcome change from traditional turn-based battles, since it makes battles a bit more engaging, almost like a fighting game as you chain together attacks and try to find the best time to block or dodge. Vesperia isn't an all-out fighting game though, and your actions feel somewhat slow and stiff—even if the gameplay is real-time you still have to think strategically about how you approach enemies. And to fight well you need to be particularly thoughtful about how you time your attacks and chain together standard strikes and special abilities called Artes. Like most RPGs it's the boss battles that truly shine and require the most strategic thought, and are hence both particularly challenging and more rewarding. The battle system also has its frustrating moments as well, though. For one thing, battling against groups of enemies is almost always a tedious endeavor since they can very easily stunlock you and deal massive damage. As you play you'll get better at avoiding such scenarios but especially in the early parts of the game it's downright frustrating. Additionally, you're always going to be wishing that your party's AI were a little smarter. You can set certain strategy plans to dictate how they act in battle (i.e. focus on healing, keep your distance from enemies, or even customize which Artes they can use), but even with these guidelines your party never feels like it's operating as efficiently as it could, especially when combos are a big part of the battle system—too often an ally's attack might knock an enemy out of your combo. On the bright side, you can have up to three friends join you in battle, and multiplayer combat tends to be much better coordinated—as long as your friends are pulling their weight. It's worth bringing a friend or two along though since another human brain in the mix has a large effect on how battles play out. Like many great RPGs, Vesperia has an almost overwhelming amount of content to sift through. In addition to learning Artes as you level up, you can also learn Skills by equipping different weapons. Skills can be as simple as increasing your strength or maximum health or have more specific benefits such as letting you chain together different Artes for longer combos. Even though you only gradually learn skills as you play they can still be somewhat overwhelming to deal with as they represent the more technical side of Vesperia's combat system. The game doesn't always do a great job of explaining the nitty gritty details of efficient Skill management, but it's also forgiving enough that the learning pains aren't too harsh. Speaking of not explaining things, Vesperia has a bad habit of hiding side quests and side content in obscure nooks and crannies throughout the game. Some of these can be as simple as an extra short cutscene, but it's still a bit annoying to miss out on things that require revisiting previous towns with no indication that there's anything new to see there. Still, even if you don't spend much time poking around for side quests, Vesperia will likely last you a good 50 hours, plenty of value for the cost of the game. This Definitive Edition also adds a few extra features, including two additional playable characters, so there's plenty of value in this little Switch cartridge. Be aware that the game has some minor instability problems, though. I experienced three crashes while playing, and one of them was far enough from a save point that I lost a good amount of progress. The cause of crashes doesn't seem to be consistent but with the threat out there it's more important than ever to save at every available opportunity. Vesperia's graphics are a good reminder of just how long 10 years actually is when it comes to video game design. That's not to say the visuals are bad, but there are few areas of the game that really push the environment graphics to be anything more than scenery, and the jagged edges of polygon models are readily apparent anytime there's a close-up. Still, the colorful anime-influence of the art design is charming and gives the characters a decent amount of personality, even if the animation can feels somewhat stiff at times. What's really disappointing is the inconsistent frame rate that can make some scenes look a little choppy—thankfully this is never an issue within battles though, and you can trust to perfectly smooth action while dishing up combos and devastating Artes. The music also has its ups and downs. There are a few standout tunes on the soundtrack but much of the music feels forgettable, and the voice work is equally inconsistent, mostly for the characters not in the main party. This Definitive Edition also includes the Japanese voices as an option every time you boot up the game though, so you can experiment with what sounds best for you. Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition offers up a ton of action-RPG enjoyment, whether you're slashing away at basic monsters or pulling out all the stops during intense boss fights in the real-time combat system. The game has a bad habit of slowing down engagement of the game with a somewhat plodding storyline and an overabundance of nitty gritty details with finding side quests or managing Skills, but RPG fans will certainly enjoy the wealth of gameplay here, particularly the new features that round out this Definitive Edition. Rating: 8 out of 10 Artes
  9. This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS YO-KAI WATCH 3 – Mischievous beings known as Yo-kai are everywhere, and it’s up to Nate and Hailey Anne to befriend, battle and solve problems with them. Follow two parallel stories and unravel the mysteries behind strange sightings while meeting more than 600 Yo-kai and using the new 3x3 grid battle system to strategically dish out or dodge attacks. The YO-KAI WATCH 3 game is available on Feb. 8. Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince – Plucked straight from the pages of an ancient fairy tale, The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince tells the story of two lonely hearts brought together through a mutual misunderstanding. Transform between the wolf and the princess to solve puzzles and evade traps, collect flowers and petals to unlock fragments of memories, and weave through the dark and dangerous forest to guide the prince toward a cure. But be warned ... an all-seeing forest is no place for a blind prince. The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince game is available on Feb. 12. Away: Journey to the Unexpected – Welcome to a feel-good FPS – a colorful adventure combining action, negotiation and rogue-lite elements. Play as a kid that is neither a hero nor a warrior. Choose your path through the levels, uncover the lighthearted story and above all, recruit allies. All the wacky and powerful characters you meet can be played in first person, and it’s up to you to find the right answers to get them to join your team. Observer – The Observer game is a cyberpunk detective thriller set in Krakow, Poland, in the year 2084. The world lies in ruins, with corporations seizing power after the fall of governments. You do their bidding. No lie will remain hidden from you, as you hack into the minds of those you interrogate. When your past catches up with you, you must act on your own and unravel the mystery of your son’s disappearance. 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: My Nintendo Has a Valentine for You – Newly added rewards featuring the lovable Kirby include a special Kirby: Right Back At Ya! video for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems and a Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn gift box printable. More Yo-kai, More Mysteries – To celebrate the launch of the YO-KAI WATCH 3 game, a new wallpaper reward is available through My Nintendo. Redeem your My Nintendo Points* and download the fun YO-KAI WATCH 3 themed wallpapers. *A Nintendo Account is required to receive and redeem My Nintendo points. Terms apply. https://accounts.nintendo.com/term_point. Also new this week: 99Moves (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 8 Access Denied (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 8 Ancient Rush 2 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Arcade Archives MOON CRESTA (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) BLAZBLUE CENTRALFICTION Special Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) City of Brass (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 8 Defense Grid 2 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Doom & Destiny (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 8 Estiman (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Evoland Legendary Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) FREECELL BATTLE KING (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Food Truck Tycoon (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 8 Glass Masquerade (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 8 Gnomes Garden: New Home (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Iron Crypticle (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 13 Magic Scroll Tactics (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Mercury Race (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Minesweeper Genius (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 12 Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 2 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 8 Odallus: The Dark Call (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 8 Oniken: Unstoppable Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 8 Percy’s Predicament Deluxe (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Ping Pong Trick Shot EVOLUTION (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Pocket Academy – Full & Demo Versions (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Pumped BMX Pro (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Reverie: Sweet As Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) RIOT – Civil Unrest (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Shanky: The Vegan’s Nightmare (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Sky Gamblers – Afterburner (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Solitaire Klondike BLACK (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Solstice Chronicles: MIA (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Spoiler Alert (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Stunt Kite Party (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 8 The King’s Bird (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 12 The Stillness of the Wind (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) TORIDAMA: Brave Challenge (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Vera Swings (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS)
  10. The Switch's collection of Wii U ports has officially worked its way backward all the way to the beginning of the Wii U's library with New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, a port of the Wii U launch game and its Luigi-centric add-on. Although the core 2D platforming remains as charming as it was in 2012, whether or not this game truly earns the "Deluxe" addition to its title is debatable. NSMBU was, like all of the New Super Mario Bros. games, a return to form for Mario: a side-scrolling platforming adventure that harkens back to Mario's glory days on the NES and SNES. There are themed worlds, Koopalings to contend with, and a princess in need of rescuing. The New Super Mario Bros. series as a whole has taken some flack over the years for being too cookie-cutter in its audio and visual design, and granted, the presentation in NSMBU feels overwhelmingly safe and catered to the broadest possible audience. But there's no denying that Nintendo still knows how to cook up solid platformer gameplay. No matter what the graphics and music are like there are still plenty of great platformer moments to enjoy here, and an excellent variety of level designs as well. Amidst the classic themed areas of deserts, underwater stages, and lava-filled levels there are inventive ways to use power-ups, Yoshis, and Baby Yoshis that ensure you're always tackling something a little different and honing your platforming skills all the while. Add in the four-player co-op element and things become absolutely chaotic—in the best way possible, of course, up until your friends start to intentionally mess with one another by tossing each other around. Regardless, multiplayer adds a nice bit of frantic energy to the game, but if you still want more single-player challenges there's the New Super Luigi U mode which remixes every level of the game into a fast-paced dash to the flag pole. Stages are redesigned to be fresh and a bit more challenging, plus you only have 100 seconds to reach the goal, so sharp reflexes are key. The Luigi mode is a fantastic "hard mode" for a Mario game, one that experienced players will surely appreciate. What about inexperienced players you ask? Well, that's where most of the Deluxe's additions come into play. Deluxe doesn't add anything like new stages or worlds—the major addition is actually a new playable character, Toadette. In her normal form she plays mostly like Mario, Luigi, and Toad, aside from slight differences in her movement and swimming that make her a little easier to control. What makes her truly unique is the new power-up, the Super Crown, which transforms her into Peachette—a Princess Peach doppelganger with the same floating abilities. The ability to slow your descent is a huge help in a platformer obviously, but even the original game had a similar power-up with the Super Acorn, giving players the Flying Squirrel form. What makes Peachette unique is that, if you fall into a pit, she will automatically spring up and save you—only once though. Peachette isn't a complete "get out of trouble free" card, since it's still easy to fall right back into that pit, but overall Peachette makes a nice easy mode for new players. Even if her abilities aren't overwhelmingly easy she is still a far more forgiving character to use than the classic plumbers and caters to players that aren't as adept with the kinds of platforming challenges Mario and Luigi handle on a daily basis. Of course, if you really do need an overwhelmingly easy option, there's Nabbit, the rabbit(?) thief that first appeared as an enemy in the original game then became a playable character in New Super Luigi U. In Deluxe he is now playable in both modes, and he truly is the "walkthrough mode" for a Mario game. Immune to all enemies, Nabbit's only real concern is falling into pits. Granted, Nabbit is clearly meant for the truly inexperienced players that are learning how to play, but removing most of the challenge from the game is kind of disheartening for anyone with a bit of platforming acumen. Thankfully players that don't want to use him can avoid him entirely. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is made for newcomers—both the players that missed out on the original games on the Wii U and players that are new to Mario or platformers in general. Peachette and Nabbit can make even the game's most challenging moments more palatable for novice players, even while playing solo, and by the time you get to the New Super Luigi U levels there are plenty of nail-biting platformer challenges to enjoy. There's not much reason to double dip on Deluxe if you've already played the Wii U games, but if you missed out the first time there's a whole lot of side-scrolling Mario gameplay to dive into on a single Switch cartridge. Rating: 8 out of 10 Super Crowns For posterity, below are my original reviews for New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U from 2013—enjoy, and thanks for reading. New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U
  11. During Nintendo's fiscal briefing they announced that they have multi unannounced games planed for Switch this year, including one that "fans will be delighted to know" and one that will be "tailored for online". Alright! Time to place your bets! The one that will delight fans has to be something that we've been wanting for a long time. I'm thinking maybe a new F-ZERO or dare I say...Mother 3? As for the game tailored for online, I'm thinking that rumored Star Fox racing game that Retro supposedly working on.
  12. This comes from Nikkei in Japan... Hmm...given most gamers reactions to NOS, it seems very likely Nintendo would be doing this. Also, there was that rumor of the Switch eShop being rebranded, so that could be a part of this...?
  13. We've heard rumors of Nintendo working on a Switch redesign for quite a while. Now Nikkei is reporting that Nintendo is working a small, cheaper Switch, which will be out by March 2020, the end of Nintendo's 2019 fiscal year. I think it's safe to assume that a Switch redesign is coming either late this year or early next year, but a mini instead of a pro? I'm not sure how they could make a smaller Switch without sacrificing what makes the Switch a Switch.
  14. This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch Wargroove – Take to the battlefield with Wargroove, a turn-based strategy game for up to four players*. Choose your Commander and wage war on battling factions, using your “groove” to strategically sway the fight in your favor. The Wargroove game is available Feb. 1. Dragon Marked for Death: Advanced Attackers / Dragon Marked for Death: Frontline Fighters – Play as the survivors of the Dragonblood Clan who set out to take revenge on the Kingdom of Medius. To obtain the power they need to enact their revenge, they forge a pact with the Astral Dragon Atruum. Choose from four playable characters, and defeat your enemies to gain experience and level up. Customize your character in a way that best suits your individual play style. Downwell – Downwell is a curious game about a young person venturing down a well in search of untold treasures with only his Gunboots for protection. Make your way farther and farther down into the darkness filled with nasty creatures and mysterious secrets to collect the spectacular red gems scattered about the rocks. No two trips down the well are ever the same. Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS Etrian Odyssey Nexus – Create and customize characters from 19 playable classes, then take on the dangerous creatures of Lemuria's labyrinths with your personalized party. With the ability to swap between four difficulty settings, auto-mapping settings, and a grand standalone story, series newcomers and experienced veterans alike are welcome. 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: My Nintendo: Celebrating Friendship and Love with Kirby – February is all about sharing the love, and we’re doing just that starting today with fun new rewards featuring everyone’s favorite pink puff. Get ready for the Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarngame**, launching on March 8 for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems, with Kirby themed rewards. For more info, visit https://my.nintendo.com/news. Also new this week: AGARTHA-S (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Akihabara CRASH! 123STAGE+1 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Airheart – Tales of broken Wings (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Arcade Archives BOMB JACK (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Avenger Bird (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 5 Bad North – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 2 Balance Blox (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Bleep Bloop (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) BOMBFEST (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) CHRONO CLASH: Fantasy Tactics (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Eggggg – The platform puker (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Farm Together (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 1 Fishing Star World Tour (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Forgotten Tales – Day of the Dead (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Gabbuchi (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Magic Nations (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 4 Merchants of Kaidan (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Monkey Wall (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Necrosphere Deluxe (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) New Star Manager (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Onigiri (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Paladin (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Perry Pig Jump (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Piczle Colors (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Planetarian (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Robothorium (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) SmuggleCraft (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Stray Cat Doors (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Tangledeep (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 5 The Path of Motus – Full & Demo Versions (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 5 Thea: The Awakening (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Feb. 1 Zombie Night Terror (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Zombie Panic in Wonderland DX (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch)
  15. UPDATE: Switch firmware 7.0.0 now available! Link: https://ninfora.com/forums/index.php?/topic/3030-switch-firmware-700-now-available/&do=findComment&comment=119239 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dataminers have found signs that point to firmware update 7.0.0 releasing within the next 24 hrs... If this is true, I really hope it adds folders/arranging icons, themes, and a web browser. Though, most likely it will just be system stability and/or some new profile icons.
  16. This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch SMITE – The SMITE game offers a multiplayer online battle arena that puts the power of the Gods in your hands, with an ever-expanding roster, new events, variety of skins and biweekly updates. Jump into the action as one of more than 90 Gods from Pantheons around the world. Play as iconic figures like Ares, Thor, Hercules, Wukong and Medusa. Purchase the SMITE Founder’s Pack to get bonus loot as well as access to the closed beta. Pikuniku – Pikuniku is an absurd puzzle-exploration game that takes place in a strange but playful world where not everything is as happy as it seems. Help peculiar characters overcome struggles, uncover a deep state conspiracy and start a fun little revolution in this delightful dystopian adventure. Unruly Heroes – The sacred scroll preserving harmony in our world has been torn up and scattered in the winds. Now, strange and terrifying creatures are sowing discord and chaos throughout the land. Inspired by the Chinese novel Journey to the West, the Unruly Heroes game is the adventure of four totally opposed, implausible heroes who must collect all the scroll fragments and travel to fantastical worlds to restore balance ... or die trying. Goat Simulator: The GOATY – The Goat Simulator: The GOATY game is the latest in goat simulation technology, bringing next-gen goat simulation to YOU. You no longer have to fantasize about being a goat – your dreams have finally come true. Goat Simulator: The GOATY is all about causing as much destruction as you possibly can as a goat. Destroy things with style and you’ll earn even more points. When Ski Lifts Go Wrong – Start in the rolling foothills and journey up to the jagged and exposed peaks. Puzzle over carefully designed scenarios to help every passenger reach their destination. Construct various facilities and infrastructures such as chairlifts, gondolas, jumps, bridges and ramps to guide the riders across more than 100 hazardous levels. 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: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Piranha Plant Limited-Time Offer – There’s only one week left to purchase and register your Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game by Jan. 31 for a free download code to play as Piranha Plant when it releases. Get all the details at https://smashbros.nintendo.com/buy/#piranha-plant. Also new this week: #KILLALLZOMBIES (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) ACA NEOGEO NINJA MASTER’S (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Asdivine Hearts II (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Bad Dream: Coma (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Cinderella – An Interactive Fairytale – Full & Demo Versions (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Collidalot – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 28 Color Zen Kids (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Cursed Castilla (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Doodle God: Evolution (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Dragon’s Lair Trilogy (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Drowning (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 30 Fishing Universe Simulator (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Flowlines VS (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 25 GetAmped Mobile (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Heroes Trials (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 25 Hyperide (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 30 Inops (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 26 JackQuest: The Tale of the Sword (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) LEGRAND LEGACY: Tale of the Fatebounds (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Mages of Mystralia (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 29 Mugsters – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) My Exotic Farm 2018 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) My Memory of Us (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Piczle Colors – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 29 Swords & Soldiers (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 25 Timberman VS – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Unworthy (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 29 UTOPIA 9 – A Volatile Vacation (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Venture Towns – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Azure Snake (Nintendo eShop on Wii U) Azure Snake (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS) Dragon’s Wrath (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS) Phasmophobia: Hall of Specters 3D (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS)
  17. 2018 marked 25 years since the release of Flashback on the SNES, and to commemorate the occasion the game has been brought to the Switch with a handful of modern touch-ups. The core experience remains the same though: Flashback is an old school adventure game that will thoroughly test your patience with clunky controls and obscure puzzle progression. This is one retro game that might have been best left in the past. Like a lot of older games, the in-game storytelling is somewhat obscure, despite promotional materials explaining much more of the backstory. As Flashback begins you're running from pursuers through a jungle, and then you're thrust right into the gameplay. It's a little disorienting, but by design—Flashback builds a sense of sci-fi intrigue as you encounter things like teleporters and hologram technology without any explicit explanation of where they come from. For the early 90s this might have been a novel approach to video game storytelling, but it feels a little dated now. Even by the halfway point of the game there's so much unexplained that it's hard to get invested in the game. It doesn't help that there's not much depth to the gameplay to latch onto either. Similar to games like Another World or Prince of Persia, Flashback finds a sort of awkward niche between point 'n' click adventure games and platformers. You've got some of the dexterity challenges of a platformer with running and gunning, but the pacing and presentation feels much more like a classic adventure game where you explore to gather items and unlock gates, flip switches, etc. The result is kind of a mess, unfortunately. Flashback has neither the depth of point 'n' click puzzles nor the fluidity of a platformer, which makes the gameplay clumsy and unsatisfying. The core of Flashback's problems lie with the controls. Every single action is incredibly stiff: jumping over a gap, climbing up a ledge, even drawing your gun is a slow action. The controls make the gameplay feel incredibly choppy, which wouldn't necessarily be a huge problem if not for the combat, which seems to demand much more dexterity than the game allows. Instead shootouts are stilted and awkward at best, and at worst completely frustrating. Facing more than one enemy at once is a mess since you can't move and shoot at the same time, and in fact even having your gun drawn means you walk in a slow shuffle. As a result two or more enemies can easily gang up on you, and the game frequently throws these scenarios at you—even worse, there are multiple times where you'll walk onto a new screen and immediately start getting shot at, before you even have time to draw your gun. More often than not it felt like I was fighting the controls rather than fighting the game's collection of guards and robots. Even outside of combat there's a strange stiffness to the controls, which also comes down to the awkward button mapping. The A button is awfully overworked as a means to run, jump, and interact with objects, requiring different D-pad inputs to change the action which are, naturally, incredibly easy to mix up. And because actions are so slow there's no fluidity to the platforming sections, which becomes a huge problem when you need to flee from a deadly hazard. Such issues are, I'm sure, a product of the game's early 90s development, but it just makes Flashback not fun at all in 2019. There are also some problems that come down to simple glitches, such as ZL not actually aiming the gun properly like the tutorials claim it should. Flashback's controls are a mess all around. The one saving grace of this 25th anniversary edition is the sole gameplay addition: the ability to rewind time to retry after dying. Dying is especially easy in Flashback, particularly thanks to insant-death traps or simply falling from too great a height, and the rewind mechanic is a true lifesaver—or time saver, since otherwise you'll be restarting at your last save point, which are relatively infrequent. On normal difficulty you only get a collective couple of minutes to rewind, but easy difficulty might be the way to go for new players since it gives an endless supply of the rewind ability. Flashback is still insanely tedious, clumsy, and unsatisfying, but at least with rewind it feels more playable. This version of the game also includes a handful of visual and audio upgrades, which are pretty underwhelming. Classic mode retains the pixel artwork and rotoscoped animation of the original, while modern mode throws on a few more modern visual effects and filters. The result is a look that is technically smoother and yet less visually interesting. It's possible to switch between the two at will though, as well as selectively choose to turn on the individual filters, so at least there's a bit of visual customization available. The game also offers the option of switching between the original 8-bit audio and a remastered version, but either way the soundtrack is so bland that there's little use dwelling on the decision. Some games remain classics by remaining unique and engaging decades after their original release, while others might have been original and exciting at the time but fail to hold together years later. Flashback is unfortunately the latter. Through the lens of modern gameplay, Flashback is just a mess of stiff, awkward controls and clumsy challenges, and even the new rewind mechanic can't quite salvage the tedium found in every moment of this game, from battling groups of enemies to just jumping up to a ledge. Fans who played the game 25 years ago may still appreciate Flashback's clunky old school charm, but without those rose tinted glasses modern gamers won't find much to enjoy here. Rating: 4 out of 10 Flashbacks
  18. Image & Form, the developers behind the SteamWorld Dig games and SteamWorld Heist, have announced a brand new entry in their steambot series: SteamWorld Quest, a card-based RPG set for release on the Switch later this year. Check out the trailer above for a quick preview of the game's hand-drawn world and turn-based battles. I've loved all of the other SteamWorld games, so I'm definitely looking forward to this one! Press release:
  19. It's been nine years since we last had the chance to roam the streets of Santa Destroy as the foul-mouthed otaku Travis Touchdown, cutting down fellow assassins in an over-the-top bloodbath of stylish action-gameplay. But punk game auteur Goichi Suda (Suda51) has finally returned to Travis's story, this time in the form of a small-scale, indie-game-inspired adventure inside of a video game console—that's right, this is a video game that takes place within a video game. Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes may not be quite the same insane action experience as the first two No More Heroes title, but Suda51's inimitable style is still on full display in this hilariously bizarre game. Seven years after the events of the last game, Travis is living an isolated life in a trailer somewhere in Texas, but that doesn't stop the assassin Badman from hunting him down for killing his daughter Bad Girl in the first NMH title. The two duel but are soon pulled into the Death Drive Mk-II, an experimental video game console that was never officially released. Now the two must battle through a series of games to hopefully gain the ability to fulfill any wish. Like all Suda51 games, the writing here is truly bizarre, in the best way possible. It may seem like just plain insanity at first but there's something beautifully poetic about the madness of Suda51, like a stream-of-consciousness style of writing that just lets all of his ideas pour out into the game, full of pop culture references and goofy, meta dialogue. It's a style unlike any other game developer, and it's the kind of writing that you just have to submerge yourself in, whether you fully comprehend or appreciate all of its bizarre nuance or not. Travis Strikes Again, moreso than the past two NMH games, doesn't quite stick the landing on tying all of its ideas together into a satisfying conclusion, but it's a wild, beautiful, entertaining ride while it lasts all the same. Travis Strikes Again re-imagines the NMH formula into a smaller indie-game setting. Travis still wields his beam katana to strike down hordes of foes, but in an overhead point of view. Combat is less flashy here, relying only on basic light and heavy attacks with little room for variation or combos, and there aren't any wrestling move finishers, unfortunately. It's a simple combat system and fairly repetitive, but to spice things up you can customize up to four special attacks by equipping skill chips. Each chip grants a different special attack, ranging from area of effect strikes to defensive abilities like healing or dodging, and all operate on a timed recharge system so you can't just spam these powerful attacks nonstop. There are dozens of skill chips to collect so there's a good amount of variety if you take the time to experiment, and although you'll most likely stick to a handful of favorites these skills chips really represent the meat of the combat system. Timing them efficiently, comboing them together, finding your favorites—skill chips add a much needed layer of depth to just hacking away at enemies. Of course, it wouldn't be a Suda51 game if things didn't get a little weird as well, and although the core gameplay of Travis Strikes Again is always the combat, each game within the Death Drive Mk-II is framed a little differently. For example, one game has a puzzle game element as you need to rotate panels to create paths, while another is inspired by survival-horror mansion exploration. There's always something a little different within each game (and Suda51 finds ways to insert some goofy humor and gaming references into plenty of them) which helps the combat from getting too repetitive. Even so, it might have been even better to push the idea further and make each game even more unique, as the mansion exploration ends up being fairly basic. Boss fights are undoubtedly the highlight of NMH games, as even the first two titles were more defined by their over-the-top boss battles than by their hack'n'slash combat and exploration. Travis Strikes Again is no exception here: each boss is delightfully unique with some sort of insane backstory and stylish visual design. However, the battles themselves don't hit the highs of the two previous titles. The boss battles don't have the same inventive variations as before, and combat can once again feel fairly repetitive. The fights are still fun, but in the end don't distinguish themselves too much from any other battle in the game. Unlike the two previous games, Travis Strikes Again introduces a co-op element—naturally, since both Travis and Badman are pulled into the Death Drive Mk-II. Two players can team up locally for some good ol' fashioned co-op combat, all with convenient drop-in, drop-out accessibility. The game doesn't change at all to accommodate the second player, but it's still nice to bring a friend along for the ride. Badman also has a handful of unique skill chips, so he can provide a slightly different playstyle (even while playing solo you can select Badman). The only minor downside to co-op is the effect it has on the controls, as they're built around allowing each player to use a single Joy-Con. For the most part this isn't a problem, but when using a Pro Controller or both Joy-Cons it would've been nice to have an option to remap the buttons to make them a little more convenient. The visuals and audio have all of the beautifully eccentric style that you'd expect from Suda51. In honor of its focus on video games there's a clear pastiche of 80s gaming design, from eye-popping neon colors to vector art graphics, along with plenty of references that can be fun to spot. As always boss designs are stunningly stylish and a highlight of the visuals, and although the basic enemy designs and environments are a bit more flat, there's still a lot to love about the game's aesthetic. Plus, in a loving nod to indie gaming culture, Travis can collect and wear dozens of T-shirts sporting logos from all corners of the indie gaming world, from the recent YIIK to fan favorites like Undertale. You only get to see logos in this game, but who knows, maybe you'll be inspired to try out some of the many indie references found in Travis's closet. And finally the soundtrack is, of course, a fantastic aural backdrop to the game, with plenty of catchy, eclectic tunes that you just want to groove to while playing. Travis Strikes Again isn't all that long of a game, beatable in eight or nine hours, which might make the $30 price tag sting a bit. However, that estimate doesn't take into account the time spent hunting down collectibles such as skill chips or Azteca coins (used to purchase select shirts), nor the multiple difficulties you can tackle. There might not be much variation when you replay levels but hunting down collectibles is still a fun pursuit. Travis Strikes Again sets out to replicate the NMH formula in a smaller, quirkier indie game style, and in that sense it perfectly succeeds. The game retains the off-kilter style and meta humor of the previous games, and condenses the hack'n'slash combat formula down to a satisfying if fairly repetitive adventure. It is by no means a mainline NMH experience, but Suda51's distinctive sense of vision is as entertaining as always. Even in this indie-styled format it's great to see Travis again, and hopefully this paves the way for another full-fledged title. Rating: 8 out of 10 Death Balls
  20. This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes – The setting is a small town in the middle of nowhere in the American South. Badman shows up at the trailer Travis Touchdown has been living in to exact revenge for the murder of his daughter, Bad Girl. But things go horribly wrong. As they battle it out, the two are sucked into the game world of the Death Drive Mk Ⅱ. Beam Katana in hand, Travis strikes again! The Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes game is available Jan. 18. YIIK: A Postmodern RPG – After witnessing a woman vanish from an elevator, college graduate Alex embarks on an adventure to rescue her that spirals into an epic quest with stakes higher than he could have ever imagined. Alex’s search for the woman and the truth behind her disappearance lead him and his companions toward the new millennium, on a journey rife with mystery and danger … or so goes the tale of YIIK: A Postmodern RPG, the surreal Japanese-style RPG from Ackk Studios and Ysbryd Games. 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 https://www.nintendo.com/games/sales-and-deals. Also new this week: ACA NEOGEO KZUNA ENCOUNTER (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Apocalipsis Wormwood Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) At Sundown: Shots in the Dark (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 22 Bash the Bear (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Bedtime Blues (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Big Crown: Showdown (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Bubble Shooter DX (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Combat Core – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Crazy Strike Bowling EX (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Drowning – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) DYING: Reborn – Nintendo Switch Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Elli (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Feudal Alloy (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Fight of Gods (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 18 Football Heroes Turbo (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Fragment of Marine (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) FutureGrind (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 22 Gunman Clive HD Collection (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Guns of Mercy – Rangers Edition – Full and Demo Versions (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Holy Potatoes! We’re In Space?! (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) IHUGU (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 21 Left-Right: The Mansion (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Marble Power Blast (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Mars or Die! (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 18 Mecho Wars: Desert Ashes (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Mega Mall Story (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Neko Navy – Daydream Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Number Place 10000 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Octahedron: Transfixed Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Old School Racer 2 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 18 Rampage Knights (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Samsara: Deluxe Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Shift Happens – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 18 Spot The Differences: Party! (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) The Office Quest (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) The Raven Remastered (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 22 The Shrouded Isle (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Tied Together – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Voxel Sword (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Woodle Tree Adventures – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 22
  21. It's hard to imagine any video game recapturing the blissfully bizarre style of Earthbound, but YIIK: A Postmodern RPG from developer Ackk Studios and publisher Ysbryd Games comes far closer than most. With a mind-bending storyline full of metaphysical and philosophical twists and turns, engaging RPG battle mechanics, and a slightly otherworldly 1999 setting, YIIK invites players to take a chance on a wholly unusual experience. And despite a few rough spots along the way, the journey is well worth it. The year is 1999 and Alex, a recent college grad, has returned to his hometown when some odd things begin happening. He stumbles upon a strange girl in an abandoned factory who is soon whisked away by otherworldly beings, and it only gets more bizarre from there. It's a fun, surreal, not-quite-the-real-world setting, but the most impressive part of the game is how far the game pushes its metaphysical and philosophical ideas. YIIK isn't afraid to deliver some lengthy cutscenes that delve into ideas like astral projection or the nature of souls, and even though it can get a little hard to follow at times it is nevertheless a fascinating storyline, one where you genuinely don't know what to expect from moment to moment. It makes for a compelling mystery, and it's easy to get invested in the characters as well because YIIK also isn't afraid to paint its lead protagonist as kind of a dick sometimes. He's not the noble heroic lead of so many other games—instead, Alex is presented as human, with plenty of flaws and brutally honest truths about human behavior. It's refreshing to see a video game deal so directly with this kind of psychological development and show a character being introspective about his fears and doubts. YIIK's story and writing leads you on a mind-bending journey, but it's also absorbing and thought-provoking. Between cutscene expositions on supernatural realities, YIIK plays like a classic JRPG. There are towns to wander through, dungeons to explore, and, not surprisingly, an oddball cast of monsters to fight. Taking a page from Earthbound, you'll fight things like animated stop signs and violent traffic cones, all in a turn-based battle system that revolves around mini-game button presses to execute attacks—kind of like the Paper Mario games, but more involved. Alex, for example, uses a vinyl record to attack enemies, so in order to attack you'll play a short mini-game of hitting the colored sections of a spinning record. The better you do, the more damage you'll deal, and there's also defensive mini-games when enemies attack that can let you block or dodge damage completely. On one hand, the mini-games are a fantastic way of keeping battles engaging. You can't just mash "A" to attack enemies over and over, you have to pay attention to the battle. Each character has their own mini-game as well, so there's a bit of variety in what you have to do and you're always actively involved with the action on screen. On the other hand, all of these mini-games means battles tend to drag on at a slow pace. The worst offender is when an enemy uses an attack that hits everyone in your party, and you have to do the same mini-game four times in a row. Enemies also level up alongside your party so there's not much opportunity to power up so much that you can crush enemies quickly—battles will always take a while to complete, as a typical enemy will require several hits to go down. Although the mini-game system is fun, the pacing of battles can make it a little tedious at times. It doesn't help that the game, as a whole, can be slow-paced, down to little things like long loading screens to enter and exit battles, or the slight delay between walking up to an object you can interact with and the button prompt actually appearing. There are a handful of little issues like this in YIIK that would really benefit from a bit of polish, such as the item menu that requires you to scroll through everything slowly if you want to look at the new item you just picked up. These kinds of minor annoyances can wear on the experience after a while. And YIIK is a good sized RPG at about thirty hours, so you're already investing a good bit of time into it. Still, even if the slow details get to be a little grating, the game as a whole stays plenty engaging, especially when you're dealing with one wild new plot development after another. RPG fans should be pleased to hear that there are a variety of side quests scattered throughout the game as well, though for the most part YIIK is a fairly linear game. And if you can't get enough of the game after finishing it, there's a New Game+ option—which might be a good idea just to re-experience the story one more time. Aside from the intriguing storytelling, the other highlight of YIIK is its unique visual and aural aesthetic. The game uses sharp polygonal shapes, no textures, and bright, saturated colors for an incredibly striking look. The lack of textures makes the colors pop even more, and during the more surreal moments the color palette becomes incredibly vivid yet dreamlike. It's a beautifully original visual style that continues to surprise and delight throughout the length of the game. The animation also has an unusual slight choppiness to it that adds to the otherworldly nature of the setting—it stands out at first but as you play it feels oddly suited to the world of YIIK. The sound design in YIIK is just as eclectic and impressive as the visuals. The soundtrack seems to draw from a huge variety of influences—it makes sense that there are several guest composers on the soundtrack as well, adding ever more unique sounds to the game—and somehow the game manages to make the transitions from jazzy, funky numbers to dreamlike pop songs feel natural and seamless. Just like with the story, you never quite know what you're going to get with YIIK's soundtrack, but it's always exciting to see what comes next. And finally the voice work in the game does a fantastic job of bringing these characters to life, especially all of Alex's internal struggles, doubts, and fears. It's a story heavy game after all, so it's great to hear the characters put a voice to all of the crazy plot developments. The entirety of YIIK: A Postmodern RPG feels like some kind of intense dream, one that looks bizarre from the outside, but while you're in it everything feels natural and you're driven by a need to see what happens next. In addition to the bold, eclectic visuals and music, it's the game's intense otherworldly quality that makes it so compelling from start to finish, and despite some rough spots in the gameplay design, battles are stylish and engaging. Fans of thoughtful storytelling and classic RPG beats can't miss this surreal, one-of-a-kind game. Rating: 8 out of 10 Vinyls Review copy provided by publisher YIIK: A Postmodern RPG will be available in the Switch eShop on January 17th for $19.99.
  22. 13AM Games made a big splash in 2015 with their colorful party platformer Runbow, and now they're following it up with the single-player action-platformer Double Cross, co-published by Graffiti Games and Headup Games. Double Cross trades Runbow's short speed-based challenges and colorful design for classic 2D platformer gameplay and a fleshed out adventure story, but the developer's knack for addictive, charming platforming action is still on full display. In Double Cross you play as Zahra, an agent of RIFT—Regulators of Interdimensional Frontiers and Technology—an organization that is able to hop between different dimensions to keep the peace. An attack on RIFT headquarters itself sends Zahra on a multi-dimensional adventure to track down the culprit, the mysterious Suspect X, who may actually be a traitorous RIFT agent. It's a solid mystery story—though you don't actually have to piece together any of the clues yourself—and buoyed by an endearing cast of odd characters, from Dr. Sam Squatch who is a sasquatch to Agent Pineapple who is a…pineapple. In a story where literally anything can happen thanks to multi-dimensional shenanigans, Double Cross keeps things relatively simple, but as the plot develops you'll find it's more than just a good vs. evil story and actually speaks to some thought-provoking ideas about the duty of a regulatory force. Don't let that intimidate you though—at its heart, Double Cross is a fun, charming adventure with a whimsical cast of characters. The gameplay in Double Cross is classic 2D action-platforming, so much so that this feels like it could be a remake of a beloved NES or SNES title. There are all manner of platforming challenges to overcome here, and each region of the game puts a clever twist on the core gameplay mechanics with features like bouncy goo or zip lines. You're also able to tackle the game's levels in any order, which gives the game a nice sense of freedom and lets you prioritize certain levels if you find yourself stuck on another one. Zahra can also level up over the course of the adventure by collecting upgradium crystals in each level, unlocking both permanent upgrades and skills that can be equipped and swapped at any checkpoint. The skills don't completely alter how you play but they can be helpful boosts depending on the circumstances of each level and add a touch of customization to the gameplay. The key unique feature in Double Cross is the proton slinger, which allows Zahra to grapple onto specific targets and pull herself forward. It is essentially a grappling hook, but the game puts it to good use in a variety of challenging scenarios, and it's always fun to quickly zip through the air in any game. The developers have also found something of a balance between ease and complexity: when aiming the proton slinger everything around you slows down so you can aim precisely, and you're also able to adjust your momentum mid-air, but there are still plenty of tricky areas in the game that put your 2D platforming skills to the test. In that regard it's not hard to see the echoes of Runbow at play, when you have to tap into an almost rhythmic sense of fluidity to survive the game's challenges. It's wonderfully satisfying to beat these sections, and the frequent checkpoints means even your failed attempts aren't terribly discouraging. Naturally Double Cross isn't just about platforming, as there's a combat element as well. Zahra can use light and heavy punches to defeat enemies and tackle intimidating bosses, plus there are a couple of special attacks that require energy. The boss battles have a great mix of fighting and creative platforming/dodging, but the standard combat leaves something to be desired. With only punches at her disposal Zahra's attacks just aren't terribly satisfying, and although you can unlock new attacks as you level up, such as a slide kick or uppercut, the standard three-hit-combo is the most effective more often than not, so fighting can feel a bit repetitive. Most enemy attacks aren't at all challenging to dodge either, so it's kind of up to the player to find creative ways to spice up combat by playing around with the special attacks, even if they're slower. It's not a bad system but the combat could have been more fleshed out. Sharp 2D artwork gives Double Cross a stylish Saturday morning cartoon kind of look, which feels fitting as the dimension-hopping setting could easily translate to a weekly show. The environment design only offers the occasional visual thrill (although the Funderdome levels are certainly a highlight of the game), but the character design has plenty of personality and charm. Unfortunately the frame rate feels a little choppy at times, but thankfully it never interferes with the gameplay. The soundtrack is also something of a mixed bag, with several fun, catchy tunes but just as many that are less memorable. Still, the overall presentation in Double Cross has a delightfully light-hearted charm to it that easily pulls you into the game. Double Cross isn't a long game by any means—if you were to rush through the game you could easily finish it in a matter of hours. That would be a disservice to the game though, as there are plenty of engaging and challenging nooks and crannies to explore in order to find all of the upgradium crystals. More than just giving you a helpful edge with new abilities, hunting down upgradium helps flesh out the adventure and put all of Zahra's skills to the test. You can easily replay levels in order to retrace your steps and find crystals you initially missed, though there really ought to be an option to skip dialogue when you're replaying a mission to speed things along. Additionally, completionists can try tackling the various commendations (achievements) that can be earned, many of which offer a good incentive to replay levels once more. Double Cross finds a comfortable groove in the classic 2D platforming mechanics of yesteryear, spiced up with a fun grappling system and sharp HD graphics. It is, perhaps, less brazenly original than Runbow, but the smart platforming gameplay shines through just the same, and this time with an engaging narrative that is both charming and thoughtful. Fans of platformers won't want to miss the dimension-traveling action found here. Rating: 8 out of 10 Dimensions Review copy provided by publisher Double Cross is available today in the Switch eShop for a launch discount price of $14.99 (normal price $19.99).
  23. This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – Join Mario, Luigi and pals for single-player or multiplayer* fun anytime, anywhere. Take on two family-friendly side-scrolling adventures with up to three friends* as you try to save the Mushroom Kingdom. The New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe game includes the New Super Mario Bros. U game and the faster, more challenging New Super Luigi U game – both of which include Nabbit and newly added Toadette, who can use the new Super Crown to transform herself into Peachette, as playable characters. Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition – Celebrate the 10th anniversary of the fan-favorite Tales of Vesperia game with the Definitive Edition. A power struggle begins in a civilization dependent on ancient technology and the Empire that controls it. The fates of two friends traveling separate paths intertwine in an epic adventure that threatens the existence of all. Dive into the definitive version of this game with updated HD graphics, new music tracks, exciting mini-games, bosses and a collection of unreleased costume DLC. The Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition game is available Jan. 11. Double Cross – Double Cross is an exciting action-adventure game that has players take on the role of Zahra, an agent of R.I.F.T. (Regulators of Interdimensional Frontiers and Technology) whose job it is to maintain peace and order between all dimensions. A recent attack on R.I.F.T. headquarters thrusts players into a thrilling new case during which they must use their R.I.F.T.-developed gear to sling, swing, fight and investigate across distinct dimensions. Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey – Laugh your way through a hilarious story told from three perspectives. Search the Mushroom Kingdom for a cure as Bowser, explore his innards as the Mario Bros. and discover the untold story of Bowser Jr.’s Journey. Overcome Fawful’s fury, action-packed battles, puzzling tasks and giant bosses in a classic action RPG – stuffed with new content! 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 https://www.nintendo.com/games/sales-and-deals. Activities: Mushroom Kingdom Wallpaper – To celebrate the launch of the exciting games New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe and Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey, My Nintendo is offering three different wallpapers. Redeem your My Nintendo points** to plaster your computer or smart phone with Mushroom Kingdom heroes. Also, don’t forget to take the quiz on the Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey official site to earn My Nintendo Platinum Points**! For more info, visit https://my.nintendo.com/news. Animal Crossing 2019 Calendar – Before you shake that tree, download and print a 2019 calendar inspired by the Animal Crossing series! Redeem your My Nintendo points** and celebrate the birthdays of your favorite Animal Crossing characters. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Piranha Plant Limited-Time Offer – Purchase and register your Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game by Jan. 31 for a download code to play as Piranha Plant when it releases. Get all the details at https://smashbros.nintendo.com/buy/#piranha-plant. Also new this week: A Ch’ti Bundle (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) ACA NEOGEO RAGNAGARD (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) ANIMUS (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) BQM -BlockQuest Maker- (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Brick Breaker (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Bury me, my Love (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Caveblazers (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Clock Simulator (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Combat Core (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Ethan: Meteor Hunter (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Everything (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Forever Forest (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 14 Gnomes Garden 2 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Grab Lab (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Hive Jump (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 11 HoPiKo (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Inside My Radio (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Knock ’Em Down! Bowling (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Lightseekers (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Onimusha: Warlords (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 15 Overdriven Reloaded: Special Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Pang Adventures (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Pic-a-Pix Pieces – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Planet RIX-13 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 16 Retimed – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) SEGA AGES Out Run (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Snowboarding The Next Phase (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Stellar Interface (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 11 Tetraminos (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch)
  24. There's no shortage of side-scrolling platformers from indie developers these days, but there's something to be said for capturing the essence of the genre so well. The Messenger draws inspiration from Ninja Gaiden to make a modern ninja action game that capitalizes on old-school appeal while infusing plenty of inventive new twists into the gameplay. And just like in Ninja Gaiden you can expect some unrelentingly difficult sections paired with satisfying platforming action. In the last bastion of humanity besieged by demon forces, a young ninja is chosen to carry an all-important scroll and deliver it to the top of a mountain, thus making him The Messenger. The initial premise seems classic enough for an 80s throwback game but the developers have a lot of fun with the clichés of the genre and mix in plenty of humor as well as some plot twists. The surprises are fun but it's the jokes and meta-humor that stand out in the writing, particularly the interactions between our hero and the enigmatic shopkeeper. It's not hard to see the Ninja Gaiden influence right off the bat: 8-bit graphics, side-scrolling levels, and you're mainly armed with a sword (as well as a limited number of shuriken). Although the game eases you into the gameplay with a pretty simple first level, it doesn't take long for the complex level design to shine through, offering up a lot of unique, challenging obstacles that take all of your skill as a ninja-acrobat. It takes a bit of time to get used to the flow of gameplay in The Messenger, but once it clicks you'll appreciate how inventive and satisfying the game is. It's quite challenging—frustratingly so at times, due to things like instant-death pits—but the smoothness of the controls gives you a great level of control over how you move, and chaining together multiple jumps through the air is incredibly satisfying. A big part of what makes the gameplay work is the small but invaluable selection of skills you pick up along the way, so again the early parts of the game can feel limited. Once you've got the full arsenal of abilities which let you glide through the air, grapple suspended hooks, and cling to walls, the fluidity of movement in The Messenger becomes a blast. There are also plenty of optional upgrades you can purchase to make things a little easier on yourself. Pro players (or masochists) might be willing to skip over these upgrades but for most they'll be invaluable in balancing out some of the more difficult and tedious sections of the game. One of the things that makes The Messenger so unique is the shift that comes approximately halfway through the game when the linear progression is opened up into a more Metroidvania experience, allowing you to return to previous areas to collect hidden items. Additionally, you are able to transition between the present and the future (represented by 8-bit and 16-bit graphics, respectively) though only at designated points throughout each level. It's a clever twist but in practice it is incredibly tedious to have to replay large portions of the game, mostly because the checkpoint/warp system isn't as helpful as it ought to be. The warp points are too limited and distant, so you'll inevitably be retreading the same ground over and over, and this is all made worse by the fact that you're meant to be searching for special items using only cryptic clues to guide you. Some of them aren't too hard to suss out but the most annoying issue is stumbling upon an area in the wrong "order," meaning you'll have to leave and come back later, retreading all of that ground once again. The Metroidvania half of the game may offer some great challenges but the pacing ends up needlessly dragging. That said, the game should last around twelve hours or so, but a big part of that will depend upon how good you are at this kind of no-nonsense action-platforming and how efficient you are in the second half of the game. There are also hidden collectibles scattered throughout the game that essentially act as challenge rooms, requiring all of the skills you've developed over the course of the adventure, and a recent update to the game added a New Game+ option for an extra challenge. The developers have also recently announced free DLC coming this year, and hints within the game point to more DLC, so there should be plenty more of The Messenger to enjoy. Like so many games released these days, The Messenger features a charming retro aesthetic, complete with chipper chiptune music and classic sprite artwork. The developers have done a fantastic job of bringing that old-school feel back while still making it unique and stylish—some of the environment backgrounds are gorgeous. And of course, there's the clever twist that time travel also changes the look and sound of the game. It's a fun way to reflect the time change and also lets players re-experience the whole game with another visual design which is just as meticulously crafted and stylish as the first. The game's unrelenting difficulty doesn't often give you room to pause and appreciate the scenery, but it's worth risking it anyway just to take in the graphics and energetic soundtrack. The Messenger does a fantastic job of blending both old-school mechanics with modern twists and 8-bit presentation with 16-bit. The result is one of the most clever retro-style games you'll play. Although the high learning curve can be punishing and the second half of the game is a little too repetitive, don't let that deter you from The Messenger. The fluid gameplay and inventive twists on a classic genre make this a must-play for fans of side-scrollers. Rating: 8 out of 10 Messages
  25. This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content: Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch Fitness Boxing – Get moving with fun, boxing-based rhythmic exercises set to the instrumental beats of songs by popular artists. You can personalize your workouts by selecting from different fitness goals. Train your way, whether you’re on your own, with a friend, at home or on the go. Now you can work out anytime, anywhere on the Nintendo Switch system! A free demo of the Fitness Boxing game is available for download now, and the full version is available Jan. 4. Catastronauts – Gather your friends and join the illustrious Space Fleet in this fast-paced party game. Can you deal with unrelenting disaster and hold your ship together long enough to destroy the enemy invaders? Repair systems, extinguish fires, arm the torpedoes, avoid deadly solar flares, destroy your friends and clone them back again – it’s all in the life of a Catastronaut. 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: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Piranha Plant Limited Time Offer – Purchase and register your Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game by Jan. 31, 2019, for a download code to play as Piranha Plant when it releases! Get all the details at https://smashbros.nintendo.com/buy/#piranha-plant. Also new this week: 99Seconds (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 4 ACA NEOGEO THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2002 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Animated Jigsaws: Wild Animals (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Don’t Sink (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Dreamwalker (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) JCB Pioneer: Mars (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Job the Leprechaun (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Fighter’s History (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Mad Age & This Guy (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available Jan. 4 Mentori Puzzle (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Octahedron: Transfixed Edition – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Pic-a-Pix Pieces (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) Unicornicopia (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) RTO 3 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS)
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