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TalkBack / ModRetro Games Launch Library (Review) Game Boy
« on: January 06, 2025, 05:00:00 AM »

Six New Games For Your Old Handhelds

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/69615/modretro-games-launch-library-review-game-boy

Disclaimer: Please note, this company has ties to controversial figure Palmer Luckey. NINWR LLC feels it is important to cover this device and its games as pieces of hardware and software, but we do not condone the actions or opinions of any individuals involved in its production.

Last year I talked at length about the Chromatic, a new Game Boy device developed by ModRetro. Back in September, in my extensive preview, I talked about several of the games that ModRetro is officially publishing alongside the launch of the device. Now, it is important to note that these titles are compatible with original Game Boy systems, including the original GBC, GBA and some even are playable on your favorite old brick, the original DMG Game Boy. As such, in this article I’ll be reviewing six of the launch titles that have been released and in particular considering them from the perspective of original hardware, since that is what the majority of players will be able to play these games on.

Each title is developed by a different studio, but all are published under the ModRetro label. The games come with a nice little manual with illustrations and tips for the game, as well as a bangle charm that you can attach to your system. There’s a lot of variety in these first releases, and the company is releasing at least four more games in 2025, so Game Boy fans definitely have some new things to look forward to this year.

Dragonyhm - Spacebot Interactive. Works on all Game Boy systems.

Dragonyhm is without a doubt the most ambitious out of these six games. It is a large-scale fantasy RPG set in a magical world where the protagonist’s father, Kurtis, is the protector of the Dragon’s Seal. As his son, Kris, awakes one day to find his father has disappeared, it is up to him to take up the sword and protect the citizens of Archend from monsters, fiends and the return of the dragons.

The game takes clear inspiration and cues from traditional turn-based RPGs. If you like Dragon Quest you’ll pretty much feel right at home. In its writing and world-design Dragonyhm better resembles something like Link’s Awakening, with a lot of optional side-quests that can get you additional upgrades and weapons. At its core, you’ll need to find a way to enter several dungeons, defeat powerful bosses and solve puzzles to follow the story. The visual design is especially striking, with clear sprites and proper color usages if you’re playing on a Game Boy Color or Advance. I also really liked the music, with quite a bit of variety through the regions and battle scenarios you will come across.

I think my biggest gripe is the way in which you perform combat in the game. In particular early on, you’ll often struggle against enemies that are at the same level as you are and will be non-stop chugging health potions to stay in the fight. Grinding is the name of the game here and while there is an elemental system at play here, it tended to boil down for me to hitting with my strongest move and hoping I would not run out of mana or special attacks. I did like the way in which the game encourages variety in your approach for building your stats. If you defeat an enemy with a normal attack and gain a level up, your strength will increase. But if you do the same with a magical attack, your mana will improve (think Final Fantasy II). It is something I only found while browsing the manual, but I do like that player growth isn’t limited to a set scale, but rather based upon your preferred moves and actions. It can build tension and release within a single fight if you tend to favor magic over strength and need to face an opponent stronger against those stats.

But I think Dragonyhm really nails the tone and style of ambitious Game Boy titles like Final Fantasy Adventure/Mystic Quest, where you can see that years of development experience allow it to fit as much content as possible into this cartridge. Almost like a lost Game Boy game, that you hear about from cult followings. A few puzzles even require translating a cipher that you can solve using the manual, but if you’re really dedicated (or stuck on a train without the manual) you can keep notes of important events, clues and secrets spread throughout the world. That balance between puzzle design and turn-based adventure gives it a fun flair all its own. I will say that this game currently lacks any guides or tips, so it can be a bit tricky at times to navigate the world and find out where you should go next. But for those willing to get lost in a simple, but engaging RPG, Dragonyhm is highly worth seeking out!

8/10

In The Dark 2, Pearacidic Games and Grumpy Function. Works on all Game Boy systems.

This is one for the die-hard puzzleheads. In The Dark 2 is a direct continuation of a standalone game, called In The Dark (released in 2022) which is a combination of a narrative adventure and a straightforward puzzle game. What sets it immediately apart from other puzzle games or high-score chasers is that the game is surprisingly story heavy. After the events of the first game, which saw a virus spreading throughout the galaxy only to be prevented by the brave sacrifice of one of Captain Penn’s friends, Captain Penn is sent out to find the designer of the virus. Told through vivid and gorgeous tableaus and with especially well written text, the game sees you traveling to several planets and systems in search of the creator of the virus.

With this as a backdrop it does feel out of place that the game is really nothing more than a collection of light-fipping puzzles. Each puzzle you are presented with a grid of 3x3, 4x4 or 5x5 lights.  Each light can be turned off by selecting the light, but doing so will turn on all the surrounding lights. The objective is the same every time, turn off all the lights to solve the puzzle. There are additional challenges such as finding out what the fastest solution is, mostly designated as ‘par’. But beyond that, don’t expect many surprises when it comes to the gameplay.

Now on its face, that is a really hard sell. Even puzzle fans will tell you that variety and building upon your knowledge is what sets a good puzzle game apart. With In The Dark 2, it does take a bit of digging on the player’s part to get to this point. As you complete more and more grids, you start to get a sense for how to achieve the solution, but getting to that point involves quite a bit of trial and error. There are no hints, except the indication of what the fastest move can be, but the ramping up of difficulty feels surprisingly natural. I was truly in the dark (pun intended) at first, just flicking random lights on or off. But in time I got much more grip and sense with how the puzzles were designed and used my experience to solve puzzles in fewer moves.

I think the story bits are a brilliant way to keep the player engaged. In between puzzles you can walk around, talk to your crewmates and learn more about the planet you’re visiting. There is a surprising amount of world building and character to what could’ve been a simple menu puzzle game. I don’t think it will turn into a mainstay for me personally, but I’ve picked it up every now and then over the past few weeks and solved a few boards while commuting to work. The additional modes—like a free play mode that presents you with randomized puzzles and the challenge mode in which you have to clear multiple boards in a row—are good time wasters. Though I will say that with those modes I did feel the distinct lack of the story and world that tie In The Dark 2 together. A proper puzzler that has a flavor all its own, it might be worth the pickup if you want some crunchy brain teasers.

7/10

Patchy Matchy Puzzle Surfing, Tom Sutton. Works on all Game Boy systems.

I’ve raved at length about how much I enjoyed Patchy Matchy in both my Chromatic review and my preview last year. Suffice it to say that Patchy Matchy sits in that beautiful middle ground of understanding exactly what the Game Boy was all about. Short and simple, but highly engrossing gameplay sessions that keep the action going as you get better at the game.

Patchy Matchy is a tile-matching game where you need to connect objects in lines of four to remove them from the board. Think bejeweled or candy crush, but in a much more compact form. Without power-ups, you are simply relying on your ability to move the cursor as quickly as possible to swap around the shells, stars and totems on the field. Bubbles can get in your way as obstacles that block other objects, but clearing a line besides them removes them from the board as well.

The speed ramps up over time, but if you can score 999 points you clear the game. Clearing the game, however, isn’t just limited to getting to the end. The true replayability is in unlocking the seventeen achievements, which require you to extend enormous combos and keep your score rising as much as possible.

As a score chaser game it is really dangerous, because I kept getting sucked back into playing some more of Patchy Matchy. It feels like a quintessential Game Boy game at times. In all honesty, as much as I love the version of Tetris that is packed in with the Chromatic, I’d have chosen Patchy Matchy as the pack-in (Patch-in?) title. It just works so well for these devices if you sit down and play it for just a minute.

The biggest sleight against Patchy Matchy is that it is truly designed for an original Game Boy. I secretly wish that the game had support for Game Boy Color with a bit more style and flair to its visuals. It is perfectly functional and doesn’t have any distracting visuals, but it can become a bit boring to look at for a prolonged play session.

Still, the core of the design is what counts here and the game is just a ton of fun to play. I put this cartridge back in my Game Boy again and again and I don’t think I can give it much higher praise than that!

8.5/10

Tales of Monsterland DX, Joel J. Games. Works only on Game Boy Color or newer devices.

If you’re talking Game Boy, you’ve got to have a platformer, and while the upcoming Baby T-Rex and Hermano look amazing, Tales of Monsterland DX is the only platformer in the launch lineup. The game takes inspiration from games like Monster Boy and immediately stood out to me with its lovely aesthetic. The story sees a boy wake up in a mysterious town. He doesn’t know how he got there but goes on a quest to find a way back home. The town is threatened by an onslaught of monsters and an evil wizard. As you explore, you find mysterious potions that transform you into several forms, including a wolf that can move boulders and a mermaid that makes it possible to swim.

Insofar as platformers go, Tales of Monsterland DX feels pretty good to control. The jump is pretty tight, with platforms and coins guiding the way you want to explore the land. There is also an action button that you can assign to either your sword or the actions of your transformations. It doesn’t try anything that can be considered too challenging, although I will say that some bosses could get a tad frustrating at times. But too often the game is lacking challenge and the difficulty stems from navigating your way through its world. Some guideposts can be a bit obtuse; in particular, finding the first potion was a bit of a hassle since I didn’t realise that you can walk through certain pieces of terrain. Aside from that I got stuck once, where I had saved only with one heart and no continues before the final boss, meaning I had to backtrack all the way to the town to regain my hearts and collect an additional power-up to beat the game. At certain times it feels like there are too many quirks in the design of the world and pacing of the game that hinder it from becoming truly great. Small visual glitches and longer than average wait times between menus. As well as a game over booting you straight back into the main menu instead of giving you an option to immediately restart from your last save.

That being said the music is definitely a highlight, with some great tunes that immediately capture the vibe and feel of the locations you visit. Whether it is the upbeat music when setting out on your adventure, or the dark tones of the wizard’s tower, the accompanying tunes always hit the nail on the head. The game isn’t that long, only a little over two hours to see everything, but it doesn’t overstate its welcome. With a nice hot cup of tea and a blanket on the couch I played through the game in one sitting, and while I don’t think it’ll have that much of a lasting impact, it was a nice time. I am hopeful that Joel J Games learns from this experience and gets to build another game that can deliver on its ambition. Tales from Monsterland DX is a step in the right direction, but a few stumbles make it fall just short for my tastes.

7/10

Toki Tori: Ultimate Edition, Two Tribes. Works only on Game Boy Color Compatible Devices.

Disclaimer: For my day job I have worked with the team from Two Tribes on archiving their games at the Netherlands Institute of Sound & Vision. I have no direct connection to the development or release of this version of the game on Chromatic, but keep this in mind with this particular review.

Let’s be frank, you’ve probably played Toki Tori in some way or another before. Though its original release was cut short by a late release on the Game Boy Color as the Game Boy Advance took the world by storm, Toki Tori lived on in its many re-releases on pretty much any device you can imagine. Even specialized limited re-releases of the original game for the Game Boy Color are available for those looking for the original experience.

So why go back? Why release yet another version of Toki Tori? Well, to hear the folks from Two Tribes talk about it: ‘How often do you get the chance to re-create your original work but in the way you’ve intended it for original hardware?’. It’s a fair point and by all means Two Tribes has definitely succeeded in putting the ‘ultimate’ in Toki Tori: Ultimate Edition. As stated through the disclaimer, I am intimately familiar with the original Toki Tori, so seeing a revved up version of the original was kind of exciting. You can notice the improvements almost immediately as Toki Tori runs faster, automatically climbs over ledges and the game’s presentation just feels that little bit more polished.

All that helps to re-establish and confirm why Toki Tori has remained such a staple for many lovers of the Game Boy Color. I think that few puzzle games do as good a job of teaching the player how to play as Toki Tori does. The levels are designed in such a way that you immediately get a sense of how to navigate its tricks and obstacles. I’ve played through Toki Tori so many times and there is this level in the first world that still tricks me up after all these years. The goal is simple, collect all the eggs that are spread out across the stage. Toki Tori can’t jump over enemies or gaps and only uses special power-ups a set number of times per stage. That one level in the first world always tricks me, with the layout guiding me a specific way to the eggs, but following that laid out route gets you stuck with a single egg missing. It teaches the player magnificently how to play the game and first plan out a route themselves rather than simply jumping every gap or climbing every ladder.

In that sense Toki Tori: Ultimate Edition is the final embodiment of Toki Tori’s original design. Playing the game like this felt like I could finally see all the intent and design that Two Tribes had in mind almost 25 years ago. Later stages in particular just flow so much better without the timer counting down and the large amount of backtracking you’re doing with this increased speed. It doesn’t get the honorific of being an ultimate edition as a way of marketing, but it earns this version. It makes one of the best puzzle-platformers even better and frankly, if you do not already own a version of Toki Tori for another device, this is without a doubt the best way of experiencing the game. The one caveat for returning players is to not expect any surprises, new levels or gameplay changes. This is still Toki Tori at heart.

9/10

Traumatarium Penitent, Eligos Games. Works on all Game Boy systems.

As popular as the Game Boy was, it was surprisingly lacking in a couple of genres. Aside from the Wizardry series, there weren’t that many dungeon crawlers on the original handheld. Traumatarium Penitent (try saying that five times fast), seeks to remedy this with its striking visuals and world design. You play as a knight making your way to a major castle while purifying the lands of evil monsters and other foul creatures. The game takes place in first person, with each screen showing your surroundings, the directions you can walk to and possible interactions such as townsfolk, boxes and carriages.

At its core, you’ll be handling your stats throughout the game as you explore. Your vitality meter decreases with each screen you explore, meaning you’re always on the lookout for food or inns where you can rest up. All the while you run into monsters and creatures blocking your way. Battling these takes the form of a static turn-based combat scene where you can defend, attack, consume an item or flee. Battles often boil down to figuring out the patterns to the attacks, as certain enemies may have a third attack that deals the highest damage which you might want to block. Dying resets the game, so be sure to keep a note nearby to track your passwords that record your progress.

Let’s get that out of the way first. Yes, this game uses a good ol’ password system. While these cartridges support FRAM saves, Traumatrium has chosen to rely upon passwords consisting of ten characters. I am still baffled by this decision. On the one hand, there is a certain charm and tension to seeing your vitality stat drop with no food and realizing your last password sets you back about fifteen minutes. But on the other hand, passwords were done away with for a very good reason as they take time, effort and above all are pretty inconsistent in keeping track of your progression. As a wink and nod to the struggle many players have had with the original Game Boy, it is cute, but in actuality it makes an already challenging game feel even more stacked against the player.

And challenging it certainly is. The only way to stay alive in this world is to resort to consuming your potions and food whenever you have them available to you. The game communicates these stats in a very obtuse manner. It took me quite some time to notice that when your vitality drops, your health points start to decrease after. Meaning at times I could easily explore another five screens, but other times I dropped dead after the second one. It all boils down to managing stats, pushing as far as your meters are letting you go and then rushing back to your inn to get a password and repeat the process.

The visual style is what truly sets the game apart. It genuinely has some of the most gorgeous backgrounds I’ve ever seen on a Game Boy screen. The game uses the original green and black palette to its fullest extent. Characters may lack animations but their designs are striking against the locations they inhabit. I also like how you are relying on the map to plan out your route through the world and avoid getting stuck on dead ends. At its heart it is a pretty simple game of exploration and inventory management. That is usually a plus when it comes to Game Boy titles, but the theming is pretty dour. Characters have little to say to the protagonist and following the story is quite difficult as it establishes its own world of orders and rulers that requires reading the accompanying manual to make sense about.

I don’t think that Traumatarium is a bad game per se. Its visual style and gameplay is very inventive. But it makes some baffling choices in both its save system and battle mechanics that make it difficult to recommend. For those who are persistent and stick through the game's quirks, you’ll find a true throwback to the old days of the Game Boy. Before save batteries and online guides. Relying on getting by in battles and exploration by the skin of your teeth. Personally I find the games’ flaws to be too much to bear alongside its dark setting. But there is an argument to be made that there is really nothing like this game on Game Boy. For better or worse…

5/10

And that wraps up these reviews, I hope you enjoyed them and might’ve learned a thing or two about new games on Game Boy. Are you considering picking up any of these titles? And which one looks the most appealing to you? Let us know in the comments!


2
TalkBack / Chromatic (Hardware) Review
« on: November 18, 2024, 05:00:00 AM »

Perfecting Portable Power

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/69118/chromatic-hardware-review

Disclaimer: Please note, this device has ties to controversial figure Palmer Luckey. NINWR LLC feels it is important to cover this device as a piece of hardware but we do not condone the actions or opinions of any individuals involved in its production.

A few months ago, I was given the opportunity to go fully hands-on with the Chromatic, a newly designed Game Boy device, created by ModRetro. My extensive preview delved into what the device was promising as well as the way in which it wanted to set itself apart from the flood of new emulated Game Boy handhelds you can purchase online. ModRetro is making a big play here, with the ambition to publish multiple classic and new Game Boy games as well. The Chromatic is their flagship product, so how does one deliver a new Game Boy in 2024? Well, I am happy to report that the Chromatic is one of the most pleasing retro devices I’ve played in a very long time. For returning or new players, this is a device that embraces the original design philosophy of the Game Boy but polishes its modern tweaks to perfection. The Chromatic will allow anyone to (re)discover the amazing library of those systems, in the highest quality you can find.

Let’s talk about that design first. The Chromatic is available in several colors, each resembling color palettes from the Game Boy Color era. The device combines several design aspects from the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color. The overall shape is more reminiscent of the Color, but the power button is located at the top of the device while the link cable port is on the left hand side. It makes for an ergonomic design, complimented by its luxurious finish with a magnesium alloy shell. It adds a bit of weight to the overall device and is cool to touch–which I particularly like–since it is a metal, without getting hot or slippery during long play sessions. The speaker is located on the bottom alongside an LED-indicator for the power level and a USB-C port. The one new button you’ll find on the side is a menu button that enables you to change settings such as the brightness of the screen, view controls and change visual features for certain titles. Finally, there is a sapphire screen lens on top of the pixel-accurate 160x144 screen, making it resistant to surface scratches. When you are holding the device it immediately feels like a premium gadget. I was skeptical about the slightly smaller A/B buttons and a D-pad without its ridges and pivot center, but honestly it feels great to play and control games. The travel when pushing in buttons is just right and gives that little bit of forced feedback you are used to with more analogue gadgets.

As the Chromatic is dedicated to reviving the Game Boy experience, you will find no additional buttons on the device to play other types of games. There is no compatibility for Game Boy Advance or any other systems. This does not mean that the Chromatic does not use emulation, however; there is an FPGA core at the heart of the system that can be updated and adjusted over time via firmware updates. This might be a turn-off for some, especially in comparison to a device like the Analogue Pocket, another premium gadget aimed at making it possible to replay original cartridges in an accurate form. The Analogue Pocket is a great device, but in my experience it felt a little bit like it wanted to please everyone. The approach of selling expensive adapters to play a wide range of systems and the additional buttons on the device makes it a bit cramped for my taste. I think the tradeoff with the Chromatic, being just focused on playing Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, might be a difficult choice for some. For me, the premium finishes and this design being chosen for a singular purpose makes the Chromatic stand out from the Analogue Pocket. The Chromatic feels more durable with extended use. The choice to pick AA-batteries as its primary power source, though a lithium rechargeable battery will be released at a later time, makes it safe to say that in twenty years the Chromatic will be just as functional as it is today. But for the average consumer, the fear of losing power or progress through dying batteries is a valid concern; a powerbank and a USB-C cable do help you bridge that gap if you need it.

And then there’s that screen. I’ve gushed about it in my preview plenty, but the color grading, viewing angles and accuracy to the original Game Boy Color is unlike anything you’ve seen before. I wish I could accurately compare these two devices in this video, but this is incredibly challenging without holding the device in your hands. The Analogue Pocket is an admirable screen, but with its slightly larger dimension and warmer palette it does not hold a candle to the vivid and accurate representation of the original colors on the Chromatic. Even if you’re into modding retro handhelds, like myself, there is no aftermarket screen that comes close to capturing what Game Boy Color actually looked like. Comparing these devices side by side, I found the Chromatic to be the most authentic in its screen colors. The Analogue Pocket comes close, but its tint is a bit more over-saturated, even when adjusting the settings. The Chromatic in particular shines when it comes to the viewing angles, especially with a game like Kirby’s Tilt ‘N’ Tumble. Through the firmware, several palettes are available if you do want to go for a specific look with original Game Boy titles, such as the green shade on the original Game Boy or other color palettes. They aren’t for me, but the option is there for those who like to experiment with different looks for their games. The brightness of the screen is another matter entirely. At maximum brightness you can pretty much use it as a flashlight, but the lowest brightness is absolutely perfect for a short gaming session in a darkened room or in bed before going to sleep.

I did find that the current firmware is still a bit lacking for certain quality of life features. Accessing the color palettes is hidden via a shortcut at boot of a game, and there is no indication in the menu which palette is selected. Certain options aren’t explained very well, such as the frame blending and color correction, which is only active when connecting the Chromatic via USB-C to a PC for capturing gameplay. When it comes to that brightness, the system doesn’t remember which brightness you used last, so you may end up blinding yourself with the screen in a darkened room. Finally, there is no way to create save states or allow the system to go into a sleep mode. Turning the power off means closing your game and saving it beforehand. This was of course true of the original Game Boy as well, but for certain games this means bringing out the password-booklet, getting to in-game save points and yes, keeping track of your original Pokémon battery to make sure it won’t die on you over time. Firmware can be updated, and it seems that ModRetro does want to actively support and update the device over time, but it does require the end user to shift their expectations back to the early ‘90s when it comes to these features.

Each Chromatic being sold at launch will come with a new version of Tetris. It proves once again that Tetris is still best suited for a smaller handheld device and this version adds some welcome changes. T-spin, bag holding, seeing what piece comes next, ghost piece, soft drop and lock down are all here and make for probably the best version of Tetris available on Game Boy Color. I’d take this version over any other on Game Boy if it were up to me, but don’t expect any fun side-modes like in Tetris 2 or Bombliss.

Additional ModRetro published titles are also compatible with Game Boy Color. I was sent Tales from Monsterland DX, Patchy Matchy and Toki Tori: Ultimate Edition. Tales of Monsterland DX is a cute, albeit a bit unpolished, action platformer, with a banger of a soundtrack. Toki Tori: Ultimate edition is probably the best version of the original Toki Tori. Small design tweaks, like making jumping over ledges happening automatically as well a drastic increase in speed and removal of the timer, make it a joy to play through its many challenging puzzles. But my personal favorite was Patchy Matchy. This is a game that I just loved to pluck away at. It’s a simple tile-matching puzzle game, where connecting a row of four makes the row disappear, but just feels great to pick up and play. The real goal isn’t to get the highest number of points but to complete a set of over 20 achievements. This one got the most replayability for me and is even compatible with an original Game Boy.

And then there is of course the massive Game Boy and Game Boy Color library. Every title is compatible with the Chromatic, including some wild ones like Pokémon Pinball, Kirby’s Tilt ‘n’ Tumble and yes, the Game Boy Camera. I went out of my way to pick up the Game Boy Camera as the USB-C port makes it possible to directly capture gameplay from the Chromatic. So, yes. I can now use Game Boy Camera as a livestreaming webcam or as a way to get my photos easily transferred to my computer. While I think it will not be the preferred method of choice for the die-hard macro photographers, it does make for a very comfortable shooting experience. As of writing, audio passthrough isn’t available yet via OBS and the Chromatic, but it is a feature that is planned as an update at a later time. For now, you’ll need to connect a line-in to your computer to fully capture the audio. It is a great way to play Game Boy games directly while also using the footage for videos or livestreams.

The real question that hangs over this review is not the quality of the device, nor the compatibility with certain games, but rather ‘who is the Chromatic for’? It is a valid question, as there are nowadays plenty of ways to play Game Boy titles on a plethora of devices. From modern android-based emulation devices produced by companies like Anbernic, to the aforementioned premium Analogue Pocket and then also those who have dedicated themselves to building and improving original Game Boy devices through modding. There’s pros and cons to each of these methods/devices. I feel that the Chromatic defines itself not through addition, but subtraction and refinement. In every aspect of the design, interaction and compatibility it all comes back to a singular design inspiration, that original Game Boy experience. Where one would sit down with a single game for a long time, or in short bursts. The overwhelming amount of options and choice that Anbernic devices or even the Analogue Pocket offer is welcome for those who just want a one-in-all device. But I’ve always found that this hasn’t been able to grab my attention for a prolonged period. Games played on these systems become short distractions before something else comes along and it disappears in a drawer again. There is a point to be made that the Chromatic understands the appeal of these original games, and that much of it rests on the device itself as well. The simplified controls, limited color palettes and capability to just run two types of games didn’t feel like cheap compromises, but allowed the games themselves to take center stage.

In my extended time with the Chromatic I found that the device itself almost became invisible to the experience, because I just started focusing on the game and not the bells and whistles surrounding it. It is hard to describe but it just clicks. It understands where luxurious finishes were needed like in the screen and the shell, but also where the classic feel could be maximized by returning to a minimalistic approach. The buttons feel like magic, mashing and clicking away, never needing to worry about hitting the wrong button. Everything about the Chromatic is tactile and polished that I simply did not want to put it down.

Is that worth the premium price for most consumers? I’m not entirely sure. But for those who do not wish to mod their original hardware, but are looking for a method to play their original games in the most accurate way possible, the Chromatic is the best answer to experiencing the Game Boy library in the way it was originally designed.

ModRetro is aiming to use the Chromatic as a jumping off point to (re)introduce the general public to the magic of the Game Boy. A library of new titles is being released over the coming months and due to partnerships with stores like GameStop it might break through with a wider audience. The Chromatic hits, and it hits hard. Constraint is really difficult in an age where more features, additions and software updates are always expected. The Chromatic makes it clear that this is what the Game Boy always was and resets those expectations. Each time I go back to boot up another game, I get this jolt of excitement when picking up the Chromatic, feeling its weight, admiring its screen and knowing that this is the best some of my favorite games have ever looked. That to me, is worth the premium price, and for those wanting to experience Game Boy again, or passing those memories on to a new generation that did not grow up with these titles, the Chromatic is the closest thing to perfection as you can get.


3
TalkBack / Tetris Forever (Switch) Review
« on: November 11, 2024, 04:00:00 AM »

Play Tetris Forever My Friends!

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/69044/tetris-forever-switch-review

I am of the opinion that Tetris is genuinely the singular greatest game ever invented. Yes, other games have influenced the shape of the industry, its culture and trajectory. But Tetris is the universal language of games. Simple in its execution, brilliant in its game design loop and ever malleable to our times. You can learn so much just by looking at how the game has evolved through the years about technological advancements, the cultural zeitgeist, and just how far games have come. That is in essence what Tetris Forever is all about. A celebration of Tetris in nearly all its forms, redesigns and adaptations throughout the four decades it has been part of our culture. With its third entry in the Gold Master Series, Digital Eclipse has honed its skill with preserving games and providing context and is recommended to anyone even if they have never played a video game.

Tetris Forever is dedicated to the development, history and impact of Tetris as viewed through its original creators and those who helped bring it to the masses. As with all of Digital Eclipse ‘historical games’, you can browse the game at your own pace. Context is provided through text, high resolution scans, photos, and video interviews. This is for me, the highlight of this package. Where Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter story at times felt scraped together from already existing documentaries, the team behind Tetris Forever got the chance to sit down with all the major creators of Tetris that are still around. Aleksej Pazjitnov, the original creator of the game, Henk Rogers, who managed to license the game for home consoles and handhelds, as well as Gilman Louie who was responsible at Spectrum Holobyte for the marketing and production of the international PC version and Maya Rogers, current CEO of Tetris Inc. The story is expertly put together and super easy to follow. The interviewers struck gold with some of the most fun people to see talking on camera about their experiences with Tetris. For the Nintendo fans out there hearing the stories of how Henk Rogers made deals with former Nintendo of Japan president Hiroshi Yamauchi and visited their offices with accompanying video footage is a treat.

The best way to describe Tetris Forever is an interactive coffee table book. It is something you can flip through at your own pace, but enables you to engage with the contents at an interactive level. This especially comes through in the games. Several versions of Tetris and its sequels are available in full here. Including a faithful recreation of the original Electronika 60 version that Pajitnov originally programmed the game for, as well as the Spectrum Holobyte PC version, Tetris 2, Bombliss, Hatris and Tetris Battle Gaiden. That last on is a real treat for fans as it is one of the most fun competitive/multiplayer versions of Tetris. However, I will admit there was a slight disappointment that a lot of versions of Tetris have been left out. It is the curse of a game-series that has always been tied up in external licenses and until 2005 wasn’t unified under a single company. While I know that I am the sole person desperate to play Tetris on Philips CD-i, shining in absence is the original Game Boy version, the Nintendo NES version and even later versions such as Tetris on mobile phones. There is no Tetris Worlds, Tetris X on PlayStation or SEGA Tetris for arcades. These games are shown in photos and videos, but you can feel that this collection is limited by the tug of war between preservation and external rights holders. I’d kill to get an expansion pack, much akin to Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, but it does feel like a pipe dream at this point.

The games that are included however play excellent. The emulation quality is near perfect, with even accurate slow down accounting for the original versions. I adored seeing the small gameplay refinements in progressive versions and it makes you appreciate how far Tetris has come. This all culminates in Tetris Timewarp, a completely new Tetris game that celebrates the series history. In this version of Tetris, special timewarp pieces are added after clearing 10 lines. Removing a line with a timewarp piece, blasts you back to a different Tetris game from one of four decades. You only get a few seconds to clear a specific goal with the adjusted rulesets of these other Tetris versions, like the Elektronica 60 version with its relentless hard drop or a version of bombliss where you need to remove the big bomb. They feel like little puzzles that can massively increase your score. Placing Tetris Timewarp at the end of the collection feels like a real reward as you will recognize the different versions of Tetris when entering the timewarp. And while yes, the original Game Boy version is not playable in the collection, there is a dedicated ‘Game Boy Style’ mode in Tetris Timewarp that plays the original music with the color palette. While it isn’t quite the same, it is a nice gesture and acknowledgement of the impact of that particular version.

You’ve probably heard about the dire state of legal video game preservation over the last year or so. Last month the Video Game History Foundation alongside other lobbying efforts failed to gain an exemption on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for the remote access to videogames for libraries and institutions. This comes after their report on the loss of 87% of classic videogames. Digital Eclipse is showing a path forward with their Gold Master Series, and Tetris Forever is really a highlight so far in this series. Providing all these eccentric versions of Tetris with context like marketing materials, home video footage and insights from Pajitnov, Gilman and Rogers makes for an easily digestible historical document. It gives me hope that collections like these are able to tell and preserve the wins and failures of video games and their cultural impact. In fact, the notable absentees in Tetris Forever make a great case why it is more prevalent than ever that we need worldwide laws with regards to the preservation of games.

To put it simply: Tetris Forever is required reading. Not just for those who engage with games on a daily basis, but especially for people who are unaware of why games are cultural heritage and deserve to be preserved and celebrated as more than just toys. The new inclusion of Tetris Timewarp makes for a fun Tetris variant and is particularly rewarding after learning about the series' wide and wild history. So put the game on like a documentary with the family, introduce it to your colleagues and make them understand that it won’t be just Tetris forever, but games forever as well.


4

The Definitive Collection For All Fans of Rez, Tetris Effect and Lumines

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/68988/two-stunning-boxsets-revealed-to-celebrate-the-10-year-anniversary-of-enhance

Today, two major design bureaus, Lost in Cult and Cook and Becker, who you may know from publishing some of the most gorgeous and elaborate (art)books about games, games history and pop-culture revealed their next project. In collaboration with Enhance, the game studio formed by industry icon Tetsuya Mizuguchi, they will publish two luxurious boxed sets celebrating the ten year anniversary of the company. You may best know Enhance from their games like Tetris Effect: Connected and Lumines: Remastered, but of course games like Rez: Infinite and Humanity are also represented in this collection.

Two sets are currently available for pre-order on the Cook and Becker website. The first one is called Sounds and Visions: Enhance at 10, which is a set that consists of the book "Sounds and Visions: An Oral History of Enhance", which is a 300-page premium book that tells the story of Enhance, the games they worked on and their teams. It goes in-depth on all their projects and is accompanied by highly detailed artwork and photos, some of which have never been shared before. This book is penned by Simon Cox, former EIC at EGM and 1UP.com, who dives deep into the foundations of what makes Enhance tick. Alongside the book there is an hybrid Super Audio CD with a mix of several tracks put together by Hydellic, who are the in-house music designers of Tetris Effect and Rez Infinite. A glass sculpture of the Level 01 Rez Player and museum-grade art prints make this a premium set.

The second set is dedicated to the music of the games from Enhance. The Enhance Soundworks Collection Boxed Set is limited to 505 copies and contains a whopping 9 LPs with a curated selection from all Enhance releases. The set has individual numbering ans is personally signed by Tetsuya Mizuguchi. This set will be the first time that the soundtrack for Humanity is pressed on Vinyl. Alongside the enormous music collection, there is a 16-page liner booklet that has interviews with nearly all composers that worked on Enhance's games as well as an Iconography poster that is specially prepared to avoid creasing. A turntable slipmat and set of high-quality pins, featuring the same iconography as the boxset representing the collecting round out the collection.

Both sets are available for pre-order now via Cook and Becker and are in extremely limited quantities available. The price is also not for everyone, as these will set you back 259 USD (excl. shipping) for each boxset. Pre-orders are available until sold-out or the campaign ends on December 10th. Lost in Cult Records and Cook and Becker aim to ship these boxsets in the spring and summer of 2025.


5
TalkBack / Gamescom 2024 Hands-On Previews
« on: September 01, 2024, 03:00:00 AM »

Rita's Rewind, The Knightling, Wilmot Works It Out, Usual June, King of Meat, Neon Blood and more from Germany

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/preview/68404/gamescom-2024-hands-on-previews

Gamescom this year brought a lot of different games to play. In fact, I’m fairly certain that I’ve never seen the indie arena booth this packed in all my years of attendance. Though my time was limited for hands-on games, there were a few that I was really anticipating to get my hands on. This write-up serves the purpose of at least trying to share my first impressions from these games. Now most of the games listed here have not yet been announced for Switch. I have good hope that these might make their way to the Switch or its successor at some point, but do keep that in mind for these titles as of writing. All of the demos I played were on a PC and of early builds. Feel free to skip ahead to the games that excite you most!

The Knightling - Developed by Twirlbound, published by Saber Interactive. Release date: 2025

Disclaimer: For my day job, working on games preservation, I’m currently working closely with Twirlbound on preserving their first game Pine. I have not been involved in any way in their work on The Knightling.

Taking one look at The Knightling, you can’t help but be stunned by the amazing display of style and color on screen. The game is set in an eye-popping colorful world that takes its inspiration from a ton of different sources, like African masks and a backstory to the world that is very intriguing. In fact, if you want to know more, be sure to watch my full developer interview with studio co-founder Matthijs van de Laar.

The set-up is quite simple, you are a servant to a legendary Knight who carries around a mythical shield to protect the people of this realm. But one day the Knight vanishes and leaves nothing behind except his shield. So it is up to his knightling to find him and help the citizens of the realm.

Having a shield as a primary weapon seems like a strange fit for an open world action-adventure game, but it is exciting to see how many different uses the developers at Twirlbound have found for this shield. The first one you’ll notice is the way in which you can use the shield as a method of traversal. By jumping in the air and sitting down on the shield you can slide down any sloped surface. It becomes second nature to try to slide down everywhere and the world is truly accommodating for this design. From the ledges on the walls surrounding the villages to the hills that cover the valley. Combined with the ability to jump around, and even later in the game upgrading the shield to include a glide function, the game is really teaching and challenging you to get accustomed to its movement mechanics.

But the shield also functions as a weapon. Now at first this is pretty straightforward as you can bash, slash and throw the shield at targets and enemies. Whether you’re trying to solve puzzles by hitting targets from a distance or hiding behind the shield to avoid an incoming attack, the sheer variety makes it adaptable in most situations. While I did love the shield throw, especially the little slow-down that takes place when you’re throwing the shield mid-jump, combat was a bit trickier. Combining dodge rolls with blocks and striking when stunning your opponent can get a bit tricky. I found it particularly challenging against stronger and larger enemies, who required some pretty specific timing to break their stance and go on the offensive. In my 15 minutes with the demo it was hard to get a grasp on this combat system, but I’m certainly curious to see how this system will be elaborated upon in the later parts of the game.

Structurally the game is an open world that you are pretty free to explore at your own pace. Though the developers did inform me that the game is more divided into large open areas and will require upgrades and collectibles to advance to later areas. In my time with the demo I was mostly helping out local villagers with an animal that had gone haywire and escaped its pen. It involved a little bit of investigation to find out where the beast had run off to, and opening the different pens by hitting targets from afar with my shield. This side-quest had some quirky writing and fun worldbuilding going on in the background, so as an opener it felt pretty safe. I was told that the game does feature more elaborate dungeons during your adventure and looking at the B-roll footage provided, those areas seem more combat and puzzle heavy.

The comparisons between The Knightling and Zelda might seem obvious when watching the game in action, but while playing I think that The Knightling is truly carving out its own identity. The way of traversal is much more pronounced in this game than Zelda and I loved the way in which the shield is used as your main tool. With the promise of upgrades and dungeons later in the game that will challenge more of your skills and observation, I think that Twirlbound is working on something truly special. It of course remains to be seen how the game will perform on the Nintendo Switch as well as how varied the combat can get in the game. As a follow-up to Pine, Twirlbound's creative world design takes center stage in The Knightling and is now really one of my most anticipated titles for next  year.

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind - Developed by Digital Eclipse, Published by AtariRelease Date: 2024

I was a little bit hesitant going into Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind (MMPRRR) at first. While I am fully aware of the history and impact of the show and its characters, I never really watched it growing up. Thankfully, those worries were quickly taken away as Digital Eclipse has created a love-letter to the series, that is just as much fun if the references pass you by. The story is incredibly simple, with the arch-nemesis of the Rangers, Rita Repulsa using a time portal to travel back in time and team up with a younger version of herself to fight the ‘classic’ Power Rangers.

The game is a very classic beat ‘em up multiplayer brawler. You can control any of the five rangers and walk from left to right, defeating waves upon waves of enemies. Dashes, grabs, juggles, combos and special moves, you know what to expect. The visual style is delightfully retro, with some absolutely gorgeous pixel art that immediately invokes the feeling like you’re playing a classic arcade game. I was reminded of games like TMNT IV: Turtles in Time and that’s probably the highest compliment I can give.

While I wasn’t able to play those levels myself, I was informed while playing that the game does try to spice up the gameplay by switching genres in the later levels. Because obviously, you can’t have a Power Rangers game where the rangers don’t hop into their Megazords at the end and combine their powers. These fights look spectacular and shift control from the individual rangers to their big vehicles. This is also where the curtain will be lifted and the game will play with your expectations. Segments that function as on-rails shooters with fast-moving and rotating backgrounds are really interesting and show that Digital Eclipse is using their experience on creating the TMNT Cowabunga Collection to put something truly original together. Alas, it was a shame I was not able to play these segments myself, but for fans of the Power Rangers and retro-style Beat ‘em ups, this should have you really excited.

The most fun while playing is really in the multiplayer aspect of the game. Whether it is one player distracting a big boss while the other smacking it in the back, or each taking on a wave of enemies on each side of the screen. The game adapts based on the amount of players involved, so especially if you’re playing with the maximum number of players you should be in for a ton of fun on the couch. It’s a shame we can’t fast forward to Rita’s Rewind, but it will release later this year for Switch and all other platforms.

King of Meat - Developed by Glowmade, Published by Amazon GamesRelease date: 2024

Keen readers of Nintendo World Report will already have seen a preview of King of Meat by Alex on our site. Alex got a chance to play the game before its announcement at Gamescom this year. I also got my hands on the game during Gamescom and played about three matches while being guided by the folks from Glowmade. Much like Alex I was unable to try out the dungeon-building aspect of the game, but I did have quite a lot of fun playing the game with others.

A quick refresher: King of Meat is a co-op party game in which you compete in matches in order to traverse dungeons that are built by other players. Your goal is to collect as many points as possible and keep the audience watching this fictional game show engaged, which multiplies your score. The game has a large focus on collaboration and customization and is very colorful. While this PC build did sometimes struggle a bit with a few bugs when jumping around, the core foundation is extremely solid.

One thing I did like that Alex did not mention in his preview is the fact that while the game is co-operative, I found that you can easily just ignore whatever other players are doing. This isn’t a team game like Fortnite where you have to actively work together as a squad. Rather, these dungeons require some teamwork for missions, but you do not need to communicate every second with your teammates. I think that is a true strength for people like me that like to occasionally play a multiplayer game but don’t want to go through the trouble of getting the same group of people together every time. I was easily able to ignore my teammate and go out platforming to collect the most crowns. Now initially, I thought this was because there would be a winner at the end of a match, but no, all scores are tallied for the team. This meant I could just focus on the parts that I was good at, and leave combat and throwing bombs to my teammates. It’s a small distinctive difference, but really helped me to stay so engaged with King of Meat that, once I’ve left the booth, I would be totally down to play another round. That’s probably the highest mark I could give to a multiplayer live-service game, so let’s hope that Glowmade sticks the landing and that the Switch version of the game can compare to the other versions!

Wilmot Works it Out - Developed by Hollow Ponds, Richard Hogg and Published by FinjiRelease: October 23rd, 2024 (PC/MAC)

Wilmot’s Warehouse was one of the biggest puzzle surprises when it was released in 2019. It has slowly gained popularity over the last five years and even has a super cool looking board game coming out later this year. But an even bigger surprise is that the Wilmot franchise is expanding with a pretty unorthodox, and yet perfect, follow-up.

You know that Wilmot works at a factory all day, but did you ever think to consider what he does in his free time? That’s right, Wilmot is an active fan of puzzles and receives boxes full of puzzle pieces every single day. So in this game that’s what you do. You open up boxes in your living room that contain puzzle pieces and you fit them together to make paintings that you can hang on the wall of Wilmot’s room.

Unlike other jigsaw puzzle games, you don’t move individual pieces around in a grid, but rather control Wilmot as he picks the pieces up and moves them around. You also do not need to rotate pieces in the game, which makes the puzzling experience super relaxing. That truly is the key word here, relaxing. The comparison I made while playing was a game like Stitch, that was released earlier this year. There are no time limits, you don’t get more points if you finish a puzzle more quickly, but just see the pieces strewn about on the floor and put them together. It sounds boring when writing that out, but fits so well in the Wilmot franchise and is a joy to play. Perfect as a focused play session or to keep your mind occupied while listening to a podcast or having a show on in the background. During the demo I was told that you can upgrade and unlock cosmetics to dress up Wilmot’s house and make it all your own.

While the game is releasing soon, there is no word yet of a port to Switch or other systems. Needless to say, I will be exercising some self-restraint to not double dip with this and a steamdeck version, because Wilmot Works It Out seems perfect after a long day of work.

A free demo of Wilmot Works It Out is available on Steam for a limited time!

Cairn - Developed and published by The Game BakersRelease date: 2025 (PC & Consoles (TBA))

The Game Bakers have a pretty great track record. First jumping onto the scene with the boss-rush game Furi and then followed up by the narrative heavy exploration game Haven, both of which we reviewed at NWR and found to be excellent in their own right. But Cairn looks to be on a whole different level as it aims to be a survival climber game. Now, I’ve never been climbing in real life, but I am a big fan of climbing as a game mechanic. From Grow Home to last year’s excellent Jusant and of course the ability to climb anything in a game like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. So when I was given the controller for this demo I was eager to jump into my first climbing wall. But this wasn’t as straightforward as climbing had been made out to be in other games. With what can only be described as playing a 3D-version of the game QWOP I fumbled around making my way up on that first wall. Not a great start for either my expectations or getting to grips with the game.

But once I managed to climb up the third wall and was greeted by an actual mountainside, something started to click. The direct movement of limbs as you guide them upwards while holding on to the smallest grips and ledges started to feel natural. It’s hard to explain but the way you decide which limb you move by tilting the joystick really helps you to come to grips with how to control Aava’s body. With the help of her little Climbot, you can also install pitons on the mountain, but since these are incredibly limited in supply, you want to be careful with not wasting them. The tension between navigation, positioning and keeping an eye out for your stamina and health really makes you connect with Aava, as she starts to pant and scream while hanging from ledges. The haptic feedback from the controller also plays an important role here and I am incredibly curious to see how this would feel on a controller that supports more advanced rumble than the Xbox controller I was using to play.

In-between climbing areas you have a backpack and tent with you to rest up. Here you can manage stats for Aava’s wellbeing like drinking water, eating food and dealing with the extreme temperatures you’re faced with on the mountain. I love how the UI for the backpack shows all the items tumbling around in the backpack and I hope that there will be some interaction with objects to make it truly a survival experience. That survival aspect wasn’t the focus in the demo, but you can easily see how this can become a challenge in harsher environments where you need to scavenge for water, food and other materials to help you make your way to the top.

Where Haven was a narrative heavy experience, Cairn is going back to a more mechanics heavy game for The Game Bakers. It truly is climbing like you haven’t experienced in another game. But as intense as scaling these mountains will be, the visual beauty of the mountain and  stunning sound design promise to make it an incredibly memorable experience. It remains to be seen how this game will make its way to the peak of Mount Kami, but the first steps of this journey leave a mighty fine impression.

Usual June - Developed and published by FinjiRelease Date: 2025 (PC/Mac)

Finji has been on quite a roll lately. Not only did they publish some amazing titles like Tunic, Chicory: A Colorful Tale and I Was A Teenage Exocolonist, but the style and ‘vibe’ of their games is always something to behold. Usual June really leans into these features while trying to tell a story about death, the afterlife and June wrapped up in all of this.

My demo dropped me in the middle of a scene where June and her friend are exploring an abandoned building. June, who is able to see ghosts and travel, tries to hide from her friend that she’s seeing the person who’s notes they are trying to understand. But suddenly she is taken away to the other world to find the source of corruption.

Visually the game sports an incredible style that often reminded me of animated films like Spider-Men: Into the Spider-Verse, with characters moving every other frame, while still feeling quite smooth to play. The demo was split into a narrative half and a combat-focused half. In the narrative you go around rooms and talk to characters and try to find clues about a mystery that’s been hidden in the town. It’s fairly straightforward with a ton of charming writing and characters speaking in an animal-crossing/sims-like language instead of being voiced.

But the combat really piqued my interest. I was expecting something akin to combat arena’s, dodge rolls and short encounters, but what surprised me was that the combat features a building system. As you defeat enemies, you gather orbs that can be used to create items to ward off opponents. There’s throwables that damage the creatures directly, but you can also place walls to prevent them from getting close to whack them with your sword. The rhythm in combat makes Usual June feel pretty distinct from other third-person action games. While it is a bit of a barrier of entry, I do think that this system will provide players with a lot of versatility.

This demo was still quite new and while it gave me a good impression of what to expect of the game, I am mostly curious about the larger narrative and story to really get pulled into the world of June. Thankfully the game is still quite some time off from release, but the initial impressions are solid. Especially if you love visually pleasing games you’ll have a great time exploring this mysterious world as June.

Usual June has a demo available on Steam until September 2nd.

Neon Blood - Developed by Chaotic Brain Studios, Published by Meridiem Games, Astrolabe GamesRelease date: 2024

Neon Blood is a stunning looking narrative adventure game developed by a new indie team based in Spain. The three developers, who were kind enough to provide context during my time with the demo, started working on the game as a graduation project. I played about thirty minutes of the game and can say that for those of you who love to get swept away in a visually stunning world with engaging writing and characters, this is one you should definitely keep an eye out for.

You play as Alex McCoin, a detective who lives in Bright City. The city, controlled by a mega-corporation, is filled with inhabitants, most of whom are cybernetically enhanced and either/or addicted to Spark. Alex deals with this himself as he is down on his luck at the beginning of the demo. That is until he is roped into a murder mystery, of an assassin going around killing people around the city. It is up to Alex, to figure out why these murders are taking place, who is responsible for them and how he finds himself at the beginning of a revolution.

While the plot in the demo was a bit convoluted, though the main writer kindly explained where I was starting in the story, it immediately sets the tone for the atmosphere in Bright City. Above all, you will be stunned by looking at the impressive visual style that the team behind Neon Blood have managed to craft. The game uses high quality pixel-art for the characters and objects, but for the world itself it uses a voxel 3D-style that is reminiscent of PlayStation 1 and N64-era graphics. What makes this especially impressive is the blending of these two styles. The characters sitting on chairs, next to doors or just walking around never feel out of place with the overall style. Combined with some seriously impressive lighting, I found it just engaging enough to walk around Bright City, as I was chasing clues and fugitives. The game mostly takes place in a 2.5D world, so you can walk back and forth in the background, while you traverse across the screen. The developers have spared no effort in making the city come alive with background animations, pedestrians walking on the streets and even some fun interactions Alex can do when not investigating.

Gameplay wise Neon Blood does not reinvent the wheel. It is a linear narrative adventure game and you will be walking and running from place to place talking to suspects, witnesses or chasing criminals. I think that playing a game like this at a major event is quite a challenge, because it is hard to keep yourself focused on the narrative in a limited timeframe and while chatting with the developers, but I did quite like the way in which the writing was portrayed. More surprising was that the game features turn-based combat, that mainly uses dice in a roleplaying game fashion to progress. The combat didn’t really click with me, as it mostly boiled down to rolling dice to attack and hoping that enemies would roll badly. I hope that the final game will play a bit more with this and perhaps introduce some variety in the moves and status ailments one can afflict. I was told that the game is about 75% narrative and 25% combat, so you probably will not have to deal with it quite that much. But some more flexibility and creativity is something that would spice up the gameplay.

Neon Blood is shaping up to be a visually stunning and narratively gripping game. The developers are aiming for the Switch version to run at a locked 60FPS, so it should really be something that fans of narrative games can keep an eye on. Whether Neon Blood will fall into the trappings of repetitive gameplay and its slightly unengaging combat system remains to be seen, but my first impression is really solid. I can’t wait to see what stories Bright City will hold when Neon Blood launches this year on all platforms.


6
TalkBack / Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
« on: August 28, 2024, 07:01:00 AM »

Taking You For Many Rides

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/hands-on-preview/68374/marvel-vs-capcom-fighting-collection-arcade-classics

There’s probably few names in the fighting game community that ring more hallowed than Marvel vs. Capcom 2. The fighting game debuted in Japanese arcades but became a true classic when it released on platforms like the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. For many it is the headliner of the all new Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection that contains all the arcade-releases that Capcom made with the Marvel license. I managed to get my ass kicked for about thirty minutes during a special hands-on preview at Gamescom. While I am still really bad at Arcade fighters, I am fairly certain that this collection will be everything fans are looking for and more.

A quick overview for those not in the know. Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics features seven fighting games in one packages. Both Marvel vs. Capcom 1 and 2 are in there as well as X-Men: Children of the Atom, Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter and The Punisher. I got to play all of the games except The Punisher and Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter. While there is a lot of overlap between these games and mechanics, it is clear that every game brings its own distinct style to the fighting game formula. While MVC2 will be the main attraction for most players. I will break a lance for X-Men vs. Street Fighter, which is a much more straightforward fighter, but was the first one to feature 2-on-2 matches. The combat is fluent and each character has their own fighting style that still comes through. The roster can be quite small for that game, but I do think that it aids in getting to grips with the characters easily.

I will be the one to first admit that I have very little experience playing fighting games. I know the very basics, but get my low and high punches/kicks messed up all the time. Let alone swapping between five games at a very rapid pace, was quite a bit to get my head around. Thankfully the presentation of the collection makes it fairly easy to get accustomed to the different games. Each game comes not only with a dedicated moves list per character, but it can also display the marquee card that was featured on the original arcade machines. This feature is delightful, as it not only shows some awesome additional artwork, but presents these games in context and can be a quick overview if you’re familiar with fighting games, but not a specific one from this collection.

But the star of the show without a doubt will be Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. This is the original arcade version so it features 56 characters, all the stages and of course the soundtrack that has had players grooving for over two decades. The game plays really well and I was personally happy to see that there is now an option for a dedicated difficulty settings for both the CPU and using One-Button Specials (be aware that this feature is unavailable if you’re diving into ranked matches). My time with the demo only featured local play, but the final release will also feature rollback netcode for all titles in the collection, which will help MVC2 fans kick ass for years to come.

My main gripe with the game was the applied CRT-display filter. Perhaps it was because I had to sit so close to the screen, but the filter was just really bad. The combination with the flickering attacks, while reduced from the original, gave me a headache at the end of my play session. Now I’ve been told this CRT-filter can be turned off, so thankfully it is optional, but I did find it weird that for a game that wants to adhere to its arcade roots this choice of filter was actively hurting the experience. I was also not yet able to see the museum gallery, that contains high-resolution artwork of all characters, level designs and design documents for each game. But if the previous Capcom collections are anything to go by, this should probably be a fantastic ride through this particular history of the company.

Overall Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics should be exactly what you get. A responsive, pick-up-and-play experience for some of the most revered fighting games from the 1990’s. The rollback netcode is enough to justify this game for puritans who’ve been anxiously waiting to dive back into Marvel vs. Capcom 2. But I feel that this collection overall has enough to satisfy anyone with a passion for fighting games. Just be sure to turn off the CRT-filter and practice in training mode to get your bearings before going online and I’m sure you’ll have a wild ride.


7

Steel Thy Shield!

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/68332/the-knightling-developer-interview-with-twirldbound-co-founder-matthijs-van-de-laar

Willem Hilhorst talks to Matthijs van de Laar, Co-Founder of Twirlbound about their next game. The open world action-adventure game The Knightling and what their design goals were for the game. Matthijs also talks about designing a game for the Nintendo Switch, lessons learned from developing PINE and the hope for Switch 2.

This video was shot/edited by Willem Hilhorst during Gamescom 2024.


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TalkBack / (no title)
« on: September 07, 2024, 12:01:11 PM »

9
TalkBack / Interview with Atari's CEO Wade Rosen
« on: August 28, 2024, 05:10:14 AM »

Discussing the past, present, and future of one of gaming's oldest companies.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/68372/interview-with-ataris-ceo-wade-rosen

Atari's CEO Wade Rosen talks to Willem Hilhorst about the Atari brand, their recent acquisitions, games in the company's backlog, their walkback on NFT's and the future of the company.


10
TalkBack / Takaya Imamura Interview
« on: August 24, 2024, 08:13:38 AM »

Legendary designer talks about his new game and his time at Nintendo

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/68279/takaya-imamura-interview


11
TalkBack / 1000xResist (Switch) Review
« on: June 21, 2024, 12:31:14 PM »

Resistance is Never Futile

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/67595/1000xresist-switch-review

What makes genres malleable? I think when looking at all sorts of media, we like to consider genre as a sort of comfort. When watching a horror film, we can prepare ourselves with a specific mindset before watching the blood spatters fly across the screen. When playing a platformer, the feeling of control through movement is what drives us to explore levels and find collectibles. But what immediately peaks my interest is when genres are bended, merged and broken. 1000xRESIST bends, breaks, and builds its world, setting, and characters in so many ways that it is hard to describe what mindset you should prepare going into it. Even after rolling credits I am still unsure as to how to categorize this game. But what I am certain of is that this is a story that needs to be told and deserves to break all the rules.

The world in 1000xRESIST starts out fairly abstract. You live in a futuristic commune where you and your many identical looking sisters are tasked with serving the Allmother. A benevolent figure who holds the key to immunity to a disease that has taken hold of the world. She has given command to six sisters, with each their own domain and a given name: Fixer, Bang Bang Fire, Knower, Healer, Principal and you, Watcher. Unlike the other sisters who serve a clear function, it is Watcher who is tasked with observing and understanding what is going on within the commune. Her relationship to the other sisters is therefore complex and even more strained when she has to prepare a special ritual called a communion, in which she can travel to distant memories that are part of the Allmother’s story. As you learn more about who the Allmother is, and weave together her history, that of her parents and how the commune came to be, Watcher starts to question her role and who the Allmother is.

1000xRESIST is primarily a narrative driven adventure game that is played in the third-person point of view. As Watcher you traverse between different memories and learn more about the sisters living in the commune. A lot of this boils down to you walking around and talking to people, but the highlight are the communions in which you explore memories set in different time periods and can swap freely between them. Sometimes this means zipping around between floating orbs in space, but it also gives Watcher the ability to view certain scenes from different perspectives. The game is entirely lineair, with a couple branching story choices. But it is that narrative that kept me fully engrossed into the world of 1000xRESIST. The themes are masterfully woven together and relate to topics such as the abuse of power, fighting oppressive forces, the influence and consequences of parental decisions and how one’s self is defined. A major element in all this relates to the experience of immigration and fleeing political persecution. I wish I could speak to these themes more broadly, but aside from the relative spoiler-sensitivity, I also feel it is not my place to talk about this subject as a white man who’s lived in western Europe for his entire life. I do encourage people who have played through the story to seek out writing by others who have a better understanding of this topic as I think it is vital to getting to terms with why 1000xRESIST is a story that needs to be told. That is something you can rarely say about stories in video games, but like a good drama RESIST embraces its themes of dealing with occupation, control and hierarchy, while letting the player experience this throughout the story.

Presentation wise the game has a fully voiced cast and they deliver an excellent job. Some of the voicework shifts and adapts throughout the game and while at first it left me feeling confused, by the end it helped make these characters come alive. The game also has a striking visual style. Here however is where some of the issues on Switch become apparent. The Switch version really looks quite bad in the visual department. Jagged edges on character models, mediocre resolution and in particular visual effects have been massively downgraded. I played most of my time in handheld mode and while its visuals do not subtract from what's most important here, the story, it did feel like I was playing an early PSP game at times. I also found navigation to be quite cumbersome. There isn’t really a map to find your way around the commune and while you do have the option to enable waypoints, it takes quite some time to learn where to find and meet the cast of characters. I also had one game-breaking bug in a later part of the game. Thankfully the auto-save was fairly frequent, but after that I did save after nearly every conversation to make sure I did not need to redo them. Finally the loading times are frequent enough and can last upwards of twenty seconds, which can really take some of the urgency away from the narrative.

Like I stated at the beginning of the review genres are malleable and 1000xRESIST fully embraces the freedom that a genre like Science-Fiction brings. Every aspect of the characters, world and setting are used to tell a story that feels more relevant than ever in our global climate crisis and countless political issues. It focuses on the stories we often lose when talking about grand narratives, in particular that of the diaspora. As a narrative 1000xRESIST is perhaps one of the greatest accomplishments of the year so far, with a tale that will stay with me for quite some time. It paints in a canvas that is similar to stories like 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and reminded me so often of rebellious worlds like that of Umurangi Generation. As a game however, and in particular on Switch, it falls short at times. Visually in particular, but also the trappings of the narrative adventure game that can get a tad repetitive over time without too many moments that shake up the gameplay. This all does not subtract from the astonishing writing and performances in 1000xRESIST and I urge those who are looking for boundary breaking storytelling to truly dive into this world blindly. It may even help you find the strength in these times to learn what it means to resist.


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TalkBack / Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Switch) Review
« on: May 27, 2024, 05:11:00 AM »

You can check out any time you like, but you will never truly leave this hotel.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/67181/lorelei-and-the-laser-eyes-switch-review

I can tell you right now. If you have seen or read anything on Lorelei and the Laser Eyes that even remotely intrigues you, that is all you need to know if you want to pick up this game. I am dead serious that going blindly into Lorelei and the Laser Eyes has been one of the most profound gaming experiences I've had in the last five years. This review will not reveal puzzle solutions or spoil what is actually going on in Lorelei, but I will need to talk somewhat about the structure and genres that Lorelei plays in. This game is truly best experienced without prior knowledge, so leave this place while you still can. If you're still here, then let me address you directly. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a masterpiece in puzzle, horror and game-design. It is the culmination of all the years that Simogo has been making interactive art, and without a doubt their crowning achievement.

You play as a woman who arrives at a hotel in a European wood. Why she is there is pretty unclear, but you've received a strange letter from someone who wishes to meet you here. As you explore the rooms of the hotel, strange things start happening. Small stuff at first, like a sense that you're being watched, but slowly the feeling seeps in, that this hotel is definitely out of the ordinary. Rooms with strange statues, locked doors with unusual keys and computers with an eerie red glow. What is going on, why are you here and who are these figures with mazes for a face that come chasing you out of the walls?

Gameplay wise, the best way to describe Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a combination between the original Resident Evil, with its locks and keys level-design, blended with titles such as Rusty Lake’s The Past Within or The Room Escape series games. From the word go, the game actively encourages you to keep track of puzzles and strange clues with pen and paper. At first I thought this to be a cute wink from the developers, but as I discovered more and more puzzles in the game I was shocked by how important my little notebook had become. Scribbles I'd made in the 3rd hour suddenly became massively important as I made connections between all the different locations of the hotel. Puzzles tend to range from alphanumeric codes, to dialing specific telephone numbers to noticing objects in the background. A sliding door here, a padlock there and some hidden mechanisms make the hotel even after 10 hours refreshing to explore.

But it is its combination with the unsettling visual design of the game that makes Lorelei leave a haunting impression. From the reflection of the rooms shimmering across the floor, to notes and cryptic messages being directed at not just the player character but the player themselves as well. The absolute highlight is when the game flips itself on its head and transports you to a whole other game entirely. These segments are magnificently crafted, leaving you with a sense of dread and being on edge. Some of these left me with actual goosebumps, whether purposely submitting puzzle solutions or running into the solutions by accident. Whenever I found a new cipher or had my “AHA!” moment, the game managed to unfold another layer to its world, story, characters, and even gameplay. Enhanced by its atmospheric sound design. The sound of your footsteps echoing across the hallways, the slow fading in of songs that play on record players, and the sheer terror whenever an anomaly begins to show its face, or even lack thereof. It hits the nail on the head every single time and I have been absorbed, transformed even by the way the game plays with both time, space and its relation to the player.

At its core you will be connecting dots, understanding a wide range of clues and applying what you have learned throughout the game. Most impressive is that the game itself is largely conveyed through text and visuals, reveling in its desire to leave you as much in the dark as possible. This means that from a playing perspective, most of the solving of puzzles will be done in your head. I am fairly certain that some sharp players will instantly understand some of the more elaborate puzzles, and I found some of them to be incredibly hard to solve. But once that moment clicks, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes ascends to the rare level of games like Tunic and Immortality, where the game takes place mostly inside your own mind. It is astonishing how well this design philosophy is applied, because at every turn, once you figured out the solution to a puzzle, it is so incredibly obvious that you had not realized it before.

That is not to say that the entire experience is without its small hiccups. For one is the controls and the UI. The game only uses directional inputs and a single button to confirm an interaction. From a design perspective this makes the game incredibly straightforward. It is not like that infamous puzzle in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass where you need to close the DS system in order to proceed. All the solutions are always relying on the same type of inputs. That does mean that navigating menus and interacting with the world also uses the same single button and directional input as well. Again, this compliments the overall design and leaves little room for confusion for the player, but this also means that you have to manually go to the ‘exit menu’ buttons and that there are no shortcuts that you may be accustomed to. Even when playing in handheld mode, the touch screen can not be used for easy access. It makes certain moments frustrating, such as navigating to a particular memory or mental note you might want to brush up on when attempting to solve a puzzle. It took me a good few hours to get accustomed to it. Additionally, while the game keeps several logs, mental notes and directions I had gotten lost quite a few times on my journey through Hotel Letztes Jahr. There are no clear aids or directions that are able to help you out when stuck and I am afraid for those who are resorting to a guide to reach the finish line. The solutions are always there, but because certain dots are connected in a slightly more obtuse way, a few more concrete methods of asking assistance would’ve been welcome.

Even so, all these complaints did not deter me from playing as much of Lorelei and the Laser Eyes as possible. In my near twenty hours playing the game I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this is one of the most expertly crafted mazes I have ever seen. I experienced shock, awe, goosebumps and have been truly engrossed nearly every minute of the experience. The unique blend of puzzle game, escape room and psychological horror was something I wasn’t quite ready for. For Simogo to follow up their colorful and playful games with something so starkly different is impressive. How well they have managed to craft together this experience is no less than masters at work. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is every Zelda Dungeon, Resident Evil Mansion and Escape Room honed to its finest edge and plays with the player as much as the player plays the game. In a year already stacked with impressive indie games, this will be the one that is going to haunt me for years to come. I could not be more excited about seeing others experience it for themselves.


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TalkBack / ANIMAL WELL (Switch) Review
« on: May 09, 2024, 05:00:00 AM »

Finding Secrets in the Deep

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/67058/animal-well-switch-review

Diegetic gameplay, very simply put: games that teach their player without the aid of a text-box, is a rare occurrence nowadays. Perhaps it is the fear that confusion and a lack of direction will alienate most players or simply because a combination of game mechanics can get confusing rather quickly. I was therefore pleasantly surprised that while playing ANIMAL WELL, the only text boxes that would pop up were that of confirming whether to save or not. ANIMAL WELL is shrouded in mystery and designed with a clear intent. While not every cog in the machine flows as smoothly, it makes for a memorable metroidvania-like experience that sets itself apart from the competition almost every chance it gets.

ANIMAL WELL does not feature a lengthy text crawl, or a description of where you find yourself but immediately drops you into the middle of a dark and sprawling dungeon, it's titular well. While a lot is left in the dark, literally and figuratively, your main objective is to retrieve four flames located all around the map. Armed with nothing but a jump, you will need to solve puzzles, find paths to proceed and activate switches to open doors and locks. All the while darkness envelopes the depths of the well and its animalistic inhabitants.

The vagueness in that description is really just my personal, “spoiler-free” interpretation. The creator of ANIMAL WELL has stated his intention of keeping many of the games' secrets hidden and the game does a pretty good job at that, even at times to its own detriment. I cannot tell you the events of what happens in ANIMAL WELL. Unlike Hollow Knight where a thread is laid out for you to follow, ANIMAL WELL is truly all about the vibes. And man, what vibes they are. Looking like an old 8-bit or 16-bit game, with accommodating scanlines, the game manages to look absolutely gorgeous at nearly all times. Its strength especially is in the lighting and depth of field effect in the backgrounds. From droplets falling from the ceiling to the lighting of firecrackers that fly off in colorful trails and all directions. If you play the game on a Switch OLED model in handheld mode or an OLED TV it looks stunning due to its use of blacks.

Lighting and your own field of view becomes key as you navigate the twists and turns inside the well. The locations of flames are all easy to tell apart and feel distinctive in its setting and atmosphere. From the watery depths at the bottom of the well, to the growth that has taken over the higher reaches. With some clever tricks and those aforementioned secrets the game quickly becomes about learning how to navigate the well while solving puzzles. As you go about you obtain items that serve as power-ups. For example a stairwalker, that when dropped on an elevated surface will start to move downwards and can hold down switches. Another item is a Yo-Yo that can be used to reach long distances or even attract animals to move around to specific locations. Combined with the instantaneous traversal between screens, which is something I didn't know I needed in my metroidvanias, it makes combining all the pieces together incredibly satisfying.

You may have noticed that I have not used the word enemy once yet. What genuinely surprised me is that ANIMAL WELL does not feature active combat whatsoever. Where Samus can fire beams at will to defeat enemies or interact with the world, ANIMAL WELL relies just on timed platforming, positioning yourself and distracting obstacles or aggressive animals. It is a bold choice, especially since the game features several what could only be described as “boss battles”. Where during the exploration it is fun to run around and figure out methods to get rid of obstacles or attacking Animals, these bosses really felt like they broke with the core identity of ANIMAL WELL. Since you are unable to directly attack bosses, they tend to resort to discovering patterns and trying to survive for as long as possible. These were really some of the most uneven and frustrating difficulty spikes of the game. One boss chases you through a long stretch of the level as you have to make your way to a specific spot. It can be fun to plot out the route, but having to retry this over fifteen times became dull and frustrating. On the other hand, the final confrontation was surprisingly anticlimactic and short, leaving me wanting more.

There are a ton of hidden secrets and collectibles you are able to obtain as you learn better and better how to navigate the well. Using your map is just as essential as learning to time your jumps. All this makes ANIMAL WELL memorable in ways that cannot be said for other recent metroidvanias. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has an enormous map and fairly in-depth combat system, whereas ANIMAL WELL is short and concise in teaching the player how to explore. Metroid: Dread is about segmented gameplay chunks, where each biome relies on another skillset. In ANIMAL WELL I felt that the game never felt the need to withhold information but wanted me to almost sequence break from the word go. And Hollow Knight revels in its atmosphere and world building, but ANIMAL WELL is set on unnerving the player by not explaining a single thing. It makes the game exciting, it feels tense to play at times and even when committing myself to only a short 20-minute session I found myself getting sucked into its mysteries and refusal to enlighten me. That is a tightrope that not a lot of games can walk, but ANIMAL WELL does it masterfully.

It is not perfect however. The aforementioned boss battles can be tedious and frustrating. Some secrets or passages were a little too obtuse at times. And one thing I was particularly not happy with was a segment where caged up animals, cats in this case, made such an awful sound of pain and anguish that I resorted to muting the game entirely. I would love it if the developer could add these particular “animal distress sounds” as a toggle in the sound options. Finally, the game is surprisingly short if you aren't set on finding all the secrets and collectibles. I'm sure there are players that will have a field day with this and can easily expand their playtime. But just when I had found most of the items and defeated the final challenge I was hoping for a bit more meat to the game. I guess I'll have to go back and hunt all those Easter eggs.

ANIMAL WELL is really unlike anything I've played. At first glance it looks like a stylish and gorgeous metroidvania that harkens back to a retro feeling. But under the hood, the game juggles so many ideas at once that slowly engrossed me into the experience. By the end, it felt like I've seen what the future of the metroidvania genre could hold. Even though it drops a few balls while juggling all these mechanics together, such as the boss battles. Still, ANIMAL WELL is a brilliantly put together game that I'd highly recommend to anyone who wants to get lost in a small but intricately designed game. I am quite convinced that both designers and players will be delving down deeper into this well over the coming years.


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TalkBack / Sokobond Express (Switch) Review Mini
« on: April 28, 2024, 09:05:00 AM »

Building Chemistry Takes Time

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/67015/sokobond-express-switch-review-mini

Frequent NWR guest and contributor Syrenne McNulty was involved with the PR for Sokobond Express. The review was written and edited without any input from anyone who works with Syrenne.

I have always been absolutely terrible at understanding exact sciences. Whether it was physics, biology, or chemistry, something about combining math, abstractions, and the natural world always seemed to elude me. So flipping the periodic table on its head and forcing me to face my high school fears was not something that was on my bingo card for 2024. While Sokobond Express is presented as a clean and straightforward puzzle game, I ended up falling into the same trappings that stumped me as a kid, for better or worse.

Sokobond Express is a level-based puzzle game in which you need to guide a group of nuclei to the goal. You are presented with a grid that contains colored letters and need to connect these in such a way that they fit inside the grid when connecting the end. But much akin to chemistry, these nodes will only attach to one another if there is an available positive atom to connect the two. Early levels start out straightforward, tasking you with connecting two H-nodes to an O-node, but the tension quickly escalates as nodes can contain multiple atoms, need to be charged with positive energy, and the routes become winding along the grid.

The presentation is key here. The game feels akin to something like Mini Metro, with a clean UI and interface that does not distract from the puzzles. You will not be coming to Sokobond Express for a story, but after completing a stage you are presented with a little fun fact about the element you just put together. It helps tie the experience together and feels sufficiently rewarding after completing a puzzle.

The puzzles themselves can be hit or miss. While the level structure presents itself fairly linearly, I found the difficulty to be wildly fluctuating. One moment I breezed through a puzzle on my first attempt, but the next I was stumped for a good fifteen minutes. There are some good attempts at variety, such as the aforementioned positive ions that need to be added to your connecting line. But overall you will be drawing and redrawing lines during the entire game without too many mixups.

I do think a flaw of the clean and straightforward presentation of the game is its hint system during puzzles. When requesting a hint the game will show you how the final shape of the connected nodes should look. It's up to the player to figure out how to trace the line in such a way that it looks like the hint. I think it is a good way to communicate a hint, but it does mean that the hint button tends to turn into an “instant solution” most of the time. I'd have rather seen that the game builds up its hint system so that you can still figure out part of the solution yourself. I admit it is a tight balance, but in a game that relies on you getting better at understanding its puzzles, I did lose myself in the abstraction of it all.

Sokobond Express is pretty much exactly what you see. If you enjoy slightly abstract but “think-heavy" puzzle games, there is a lot to enjoy here. It is easy to pick up and play while looking to pass the time for a few minutes. Though its difficulty spikes and slightly too revealing hint system are at odds with its design, I found it to be a delightful puzzle experience that even taught me a few things about atoms and ions. While I am not head over heels for it, there was certainly some chemistry to be found.


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TalkBack / Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story (Switch) Review
« on: March 12, 2024, 08:01:00 PM »

Blasting in the Past

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/66593/llamasoft-the-jeff-minter-story-switch-review

Do you ever stop and think about why video game reviewers, writers, and critics mention a game like Super Mario Bros. all the time? Sure, it is a classic video game that was not only a commercial, critical, and cultural success, but it has also become a story that is so well told that it has become ingrained into videogame history. Any video game made in the 80’s could’ve been the example set by a game like Super Mario Bros., but Nintendo in particular has made sure that Mario’s story has been told, retold, and re-experienced time and time again throughout the decades. If you ask me, that is video game preservation. Making sure that future generations have access to the stories, documents, and most importantly the games and are able to view it in context. Digital Eclipse has struck gold once again with their most recent attempt at providing us with video game history in context in Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter story. Whether you grew up with home computers or are learning about this lovable programmer for the first time, the second game in the Gold Master series shows that Digital Eclipse are at the forefront of preserving and telling the story of videogames in interactive form.

If you’ve either played Atari 50: The Anniversary collection of The Making of Karateka, you may know what to expect. For those unfamiliar, these games can best be described as interactive coffee-table books for videogames. You learn about a specific topic through video-interviews, the ability to view photos and documents in incredible detail, and of course, by playing the games. The presentation is slick and simple and the information shared is not only highly informative but entertaining as well. The game, for a lack of a better word, chronicles the journey of lauded videogame developer Jeff Minter. In the 1980’s he became emblematic for developing games for the home computer market with a true sense of authenticity and authorship. His games feature flashy and psychedelic artwork, but also a wide array of animals (to which he lovingly refers to as beasties) and arcade greatness. From Attack of the Mutant Camels, to Gridrunner, his early VIC-20 Arcade-clones, and even the famous Atari Jaguar version of Tempest 2000, the collection presents the widest array of versions and compilation of Llamasoft’s games up to the mid 1990’s.

What makes this game stand out is that it is not only filled with some great interviews with not only Jeff but other collaborators and writers as well, but that it pays meticulous attention to how Jeff was able to stand out in the crowded home computer market from the 1980’s. I adore the plethora of photos of Minter being at computer conventions selling his games, to incredibly well made scans of his original ‘Nature of the Beast’ newsletter that he sends out to fans. In a way, it makes the indie-developer scene that most people associate with the mid 2000’s look like an imitation by comparison. This is a piece of history that I was only familiar with through games like Tempest 2000 and stories being told of Jeff, but this collection just makes it incredibly accessible to those who wish to learn more about games history at a time where that was rarely documented.

The games themselves will most likely appeal to those who are already familiar with Llamasoft’s output, but for those who are new, expect a great collection of arcade-style games. Most of them are what we would today describe as shoot-em-ups or grid-based arcade games, but only a few have really become outdated. A large selection of additional features and options, like the ability to instantly open up the game's instructions or to view the controls help you get familiar with every game, even if you only play them for a few minutes. That’s the beauty of the way Digital Eclipse presents its Gold Master Series. You can learn all you can about the creator and dive into each painting, photo or text document, or much like a museum you can browse at your own pace and decide how much time you’d like to spend on a certain title. The game is easily divided into era’s, so I liked to tackle the game one era a night for a week. It made for a fantastic time that balances well between games and seeing the influence that Minter has had on the games industry and its culture. What you end up doing with that information is eventually up to you the player, but if you know people that played a lot on home computers, this might just be a fantastic way to strike up conversations.

I will say that, for how well the game and the collection itself is presented, I do think that Digital Eclipse can improve in the future with these collections. For me a primary fault was the lack of diverse speakers during the video interviews. Yes, the 1980’s are emblematic of the image of the stereotypical games, but out of the ten or so people interviewed, including only two women and no people of color does impact the way in which this story is being told. I think that especially for historians, archivists, and those wishing to preserve history, it is vital that other voices are heard especially in collections such as these. The other complaint is something that I wasn’t aware of before learning about Jeff Minter, but it is his passion and focus on music visualizers. These abstract light sensations that are shaped and form based on music and input is something that Minter has chased for decades and was something that I really wanted to learn more about. Only one visualizer is included and I’d have loved it if this game went the extra mile to show some of the later versions that Jeff Minter worked on. This is probably primarily a rights issue and skews up to the line of what is a game, but since the story itself references it often, I was hoping there’d be more to play around with.

But, as a games-archivist myself, I cannot commend Digital Eclipse enough for having the ability and access to keep telling these stories in interactive and accessible formats. If you never grew up with a Commodore 64, I know how hard it can be to learn of this part of history. But the creators of Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter story allow you to make it as easy as opening an app on your phone. Not only that, but thanks to these additional contextual materials it allows the games to be understood and studied in the context of their time. It is something that archives, cultural institutions, libraries and perhaps even lawmakers should take note of. It shouldn’t be as rare as it is, to learn about this medium’s history from sources other than PR-firms or the fans that follow these games and their creators. Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story shows us a way forward and presents why the history of games is ever evolving and that it is vital to the future of the way games are played and created.

One final note: At the time of writing I also experienced a de-sync of audio and video in the interviews. I was informed by a representative of Digital Eclipse that this is a bug in the Switch version and will be fixed in a patch soon after launch.


16
TalkBack / Pentiment (Switch) Review
« on: March 01, 2024, 09:00:00 AM »

A Tale for the Ages

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/66449/pentiment-switch-review

I think if you were to ask any person about their favorite period in history, barely anyone would mention the European dark ages. This historical period has usually been presented as drab, depressing and dour, unless a fantastical element is involved. It's often referred to as the Dark Ages because there is a significant lack of historical records that can be traced back to this period. At least, that is what the common assumption is. Much akin to real European history, Pentiment is a tale that shines a light on what life and society were like in this often forgotten bout of time. But what is especially astonishing is that for a time centered on religion, memento Mori and the division between church and state, Pentiment finds and presents humanity in all this. Part detective story, part roleplaying and part adventure game, it is a title that revels in its world and characters and goes to the effort of letting the player live between the margins of the page.

Andreas Maler is a painter from the city of Nuremberg. Unmarried and in the pursuit of finishing his masterpiece, an artistic depiction of November in a scriptorium, he resides in Kiersau, Austria where he works at one of the last traditional abbey's at the beginning of the 1500’s. It is a turning point in history, as the true medieval times come at a close, the town of Kiersau is caught between the wishes of those who own the land and the will of the Abbey that has persisted all this time. The player controls Andreas Maler and is able to forge his path as you learn more about the village, its citizens and the history of Kiersau. There is a fair amount of background and character building you can do as Andreas. His education, upbringing and personal interests play a large part in how certain people will respond to your questions and actions. In that sense, Pentiment follows Obsidian’s tradition of engaging roleplaying games where storytelling and choice is always front and center.

At least it would be, were it not for the jaw dropping presentation of Pentiment’s world and characters. The visual style is like a manuscript come to life, with characters drawn fairly detailed against soft, almost watercolor backgrounds. This storybook is breathing with life and even though animation is minimal and animated off-frame with intent, it never fails to amaze. The characters are clearly recognizable and understandable, which is important as there is a large cast of characters who change during the game. Yet I rarely felt truly lost, thanks to the schedule and notes you're able to keep track of in the journal. The soundtrack feels appropriate as well. Most of the time there is just ambient noises, since the game tries to depict a sense of realism. But then you'll enter the church where one of the monk’s is singing in the hall, or you learn about a story from one of the sisters in a gorgeous dreamlike sequence. It makes every moment feel earned and never failed to surprise me.

In a sense, gameplay feels almost like sidequests in a game like Majora's Mask, but with a sense of urgency as there is no rewind option. As you explore new areas, talk to people in Kiersau and decide to pursue certain activities, time progresses. There is not a real-time clock, but every in-game day is divided into segments during which you can only interact with a specific group or person. As you want to learn more about the habits and activities of individuals, you’ll need to choose between what leads to pursue. Will you go dining with the Drucker family or would it be smarter to sit in on a sewing session to hear town gossip? Is it a smart idea to go out hunting with the suspect of a crime or would you rather go into the woods to find out why the blacksmith is angry with the stonemason? All these dilemmas may sound simple on paper, but these can be truly maddening decisions as you wish to learn more about certain individuals and can not be sure what is the “correct” path.

As you might be able to tell, I'm keeping story details to a minimum as much as possible. Going in blind really is the best approach, but trust me when I say that once the story gets going you will be unable to put your controllers down. That being said, this is a game that is heavy on the reading. Thankfully the developers added this handy dictionary feature. Every time a word or phrasing comes up that refers to a place, time period, background detail, religious text or even characters in-game, you can press the minus-button and are taken to the margins of the page. Here each word is explained and even characters are presented with a small portrait so you can learn who they are. That last bit can be overwhelming at first, but after the first chapter I was pretty familiar with everyone and could easily find my way around Kiersau. There is quite a bit of walking back and forth and not an easy way to backtrack, which can be a tad frustrating at times. It feels genuine and representative of the time period and the research put into the world, but does clash with the gameplay experience at times.

The Switch version overall is a solid experience. The framerate is prioritized over resolution and feels consistent across the game. The most notable drawback are the loading times. These are present on every version of the game, including the Xbox and PC version, but on Switch it does seem to take a second or two longer to load between different areas of Kiersau. It can be a bit of a drawback when trying to find your way to the next quest or exploring the town and talking to its inhabitants. Which isn’t helped when the loading screen is framed like flipping a page and needs a few more moments to be flipped. But considering every version has been designed with a loading screen in mind, you can get used to this in the Switch version just fine.

Pentiment left a deep and lasting impression on me. Not only does it use its world and characters to present a time period that has been neglected far too often, but it makes a point of reinforcing why this is a story that needed to be told. I love how you aren't playing a strong knight, a ruler or a brilliant scientist here, but Andreas Maler, who is above all a person, like you or me. His interests, but especially his vulnerabilities and struggles make for an unusual protagonist in an even more unusual story. But throughout the adventure every step of the way, the gameplay, its visual design and story feels justified in saying that people in the Dark Ages were after all people. They weren't dumb or ignorant, but lived in different times. So rarely do we see this type of life portrayed in this particular way in games, let alone let a player walk their own path through it all. The twists and turns will keep you engaged and by the end Pentiment left me feeling with a sense of joy, purpose and appreciation. I am quite certain that if you enjoy adventure games, story driven games or roleplaying games, you will too.


17

Plenty out to play today

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/66336/nintendo-direct-partner-showcase-releases-several-games-and-demos-today

During the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, released earlier today, several titles were announced to be released on the Nintendo Switch after the presentation. These shadow drops included a few titles that were announced earlier and also included several demo’s. In this post we’ll list an overview of everything you can play on your Switch right now, and even on that’s due tomorrow.

Demos & DLC

Unicorn Overlord: Starting out strong, the highly anticipated game from Vanillaware, creators of the acclaimed 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim, Unicorn Overlord received a new trailer ahead of its release next month. Alongside the trailer a demo of the game was announced. This demo even allows for the transfer of your save data to the full game, so should give fans of tactics games a taste of what is to arrive soon. The demo can be downloaded here.

Pepper Grinder:Pepper Grinder, developed by Ach Ech and published by Devolver Digital, feels reminiscent of games like Drill Dozer. You control pepper, who wears a drill as you dig, dash and slash your way through levels while recovering treasure. This metroidvania looks extremely polished and you can give it a shot right now with a demo on the eShop.The demo can be found here.

Suika Game:Probably the breakout viral hit from last year, Suika Game will be adding multiplayer as paid DLC for the Nintendo Switch version. The Suika Game Multi-Player Mode Expansion pack allows you to play with two players and features three new game modes, including Original, which is a PVP mode in which you need to outlast the opponent, Time Attack, which is a five-minute competition and Attack mode, in which you send sinking fruit to the opposing player’s Suika board. Additionally an online mode is in development as well and will be available to those who purchase the DLC. You can purchase the DLC here.

Releasing today:

Penny’s Big Breakaway:A surprise to pretty much everyone watching the Nintendo Direct. Penny’s Big Breakaway was met with high praise when it was demoed last year at several events. This is a new game from the team behind Sonic Mania and is a 3D action-platformer where the core mechanic is a Yo-Yo that can be used as a whip to swing across gaps, fight enemies and hover in the air. It’s colorful artstyle should make players that crave more platformers immediately feel at home. The game is available today on the eShop and costs 29,99.

Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On!Has anyone seen Neal? No? Well not really surprising because the remake / sequel of the 3DS cult-hit Pocket Card Jockey dropped out of nowhere on Switch today. For those who haven’t played the original, you are in for a treat as you play matches of Solitaire during horse races. As you win competitions, you can improve your horse stats, while getting power-ups to increase your solitaire playing abilities. But watch out, this game can suddenly take up all of your free time. Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! Also comes with a free demo, if you feel like getting a taste of the horse racing solitaire lifestyle!The full game is available for $15.

Nintendo Switch Online Rareware blast:For those who are waiting for Rare Replay to hit the Nintendo Switch, perhaps the wait just got a whole lot easier as five, yes five, Rare Games hit Nintendo Switch Online today. These games span an entire era of Rareware and will expose a lot of new players to some of these classics. Snake Rattle ‘n Roll and R.C. PRO-AM will hit the NES Nintendo Switch Online service today, followed by Battletoads in Battlemaniacs and Killer Instinct on the SNES Nintendo Switch Online. But for those paying for the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, you will also be able to play Blast Corps from the N64 today. Check out the trailer down below for an overview of the five games.

Pentiment:

Look, even though it won’t be out for another 24 hours at least, I would like to shout out Pentiment here as well. This game is part of Xbox’s announcement of making several games available on other platforms. And while Grounded was also announced today, Pentiment will be the first game of the bunch to hit the Nintendo Switch tomorrow. Pentiment is a gorgeous narrative roleplaying game, in which you play as the painted Andreas Maler, who works in a little town in Austria in 1508. The story is magnificently told, thanks to its visual inspiration that seems directly lifted from the pages of a manuscript. If you are interested in visual novels, detective games or choice-driven role playing games, this is one that comes highly recommended. At the time of writing no store page is available yet for Pentiment.

And that’s the shadow drops from the February 2024 Partner Showcase. Let us know if you are picking up any of these games today and stay tuned for our review and further coverage!


18
TalkBack / Arzette & the Jewel of Faramore (Switch) Review
« on: February 14, 2024, 04:00:00 AM »

CDi-nspired

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/66266/arzette-n-the-jewel-of-faramore-switch-review

At the beginning of January I was invited to give a lecture at a cultural center here in the Netherlands as part of their current exhibition on The Legend of Zelda series. I could've talked about the complexity of the Zelda timeline or could've explained all about Tingle's bizarre origins. But no, I dedicated my time and one full hour of a packed room to talking about the Zelda CDi games, in particular Link: the Faces of Evil and Zelda: Wand of Gamelon. Having replayed these games in preparation, I learned about their remasters, which were created by a team under the guidance of a developer named Dopply. Dopply has now released his original title, Arzette and Jewel of Faramore. Presented like a long lost CDi-game, Arzette is a faithful homage to the games that inspired it with some fun twists all its own.

Right off the bat, Arzette is immediately reminiscent of games that most will probably only have seen as memes or video playthroughs on the internet. In short, Arzette is a 2d action-platformer that sees you traveling around the world of Faramore as you defeat monsters, light up several beacons, and collect candles to remove barriers to fight bosses and retrieve the shards of the titular jewel to defeat the evil Daimur. Along the way you encounter citizens of Faramore that need help and provide you with sidequests that increase your capabilities and your means of traversing the world. This is where the CDi-ness is most spelled out as little animated cutscenes that are directly inspired by the memes that ruled the internet. Their approach in style and writing isn’t as cringey as those in Link and Zelda, but it did make me chuckle quite a few times.

I am genuinely of the belief that Link and Zelda were misunderstood in their time and that in the context of what Zelda was in early 1993, these games were pretty clearly inspired by the latest one that was released before development began, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Yes, the animation is what made them stand out to those who didn't play the game, but there is so much incredible visual splendor and music in FoE/WoG themselves that is so often overlooked. Arzette has a few advantages in that sense; the pixel art on screen is high quality with a lot of dynamic poses, while still feeling incredibly ‘90s. The controls are responsive and fluid, and while enemies still can be too overwhelming at times, the gradual difficulty curve makes the latter half of the game feel like a breeze as Arzette grows stronger and more durable against enemies. And thankfully, a game over only sends you back to the beginning of the last screen you entered.

However, what used to be designed as part of system limitations, like having to revisit areas at later times to return items and complete quests, feels like a bit of a grind in Arzette. Case in point, levels are quite sprawling and you may have to revisit them multiple times. Partially because navigation and orientation are pretty obscure, but also because you need to find items that unlock new routes. You may come halfway across a level only to realize that you need a different item in order to reach the end of the stage. This wayfinding can be charming, but it does make the initial barrier quite high. I am afraid that for players that haven't played the CDi titles, i.e. most people, this could be a turn off. On the other hand, players who are familiar with those games may find Arzette too derivative. It is fun to play a “proper” Zelda CDi game, but Arzette does lean a bit too much into references and borrowed ideas at times. It doesn't lack identity, but I was hoping for that one original item or mechanic along the way. I am glad that the developers added a ton of fun side-objectives and challenges to the game. Most of the bonus levels are inspired by other CDi and Nintendo minigames, like Hotel Mario and Smash Bros.’ break the targets. There are also challenge coins that are pretty tricky to find and unlock a time trial mode.

I will say that for a first impression, Arzette and the major cast of characters definitely carve out their own path. It isn't just a retread of thirty-year-old games, but the way its story and characters are presented there is a clear line between the homage and the original. That being said, do not expect a lengthy experience. While I didn't grab all the items or find all the secrets, I rolled credits after about three hours. It could be because I am very familiar with this type of game after my lecture, but it really isn't attempting to be an overlong epic adventure. In terms of the music, the soundtrack has some highs and lows. The tracks feel electronic and pop enough to fit the ‘90s vibe of Arzette, especially the distinction between different levels. But I did find that a few tracks became pretty draining after hearing them again and again in longer levels with a lot of backtracking.

If you go in with the expectation of a loving homage to the Zelda CDi-games, Arzette and the Jewel of Faramore is exactly what you would expect. With its cheeky cutscenes, action-platforming gameplay and side-quests that see you exploring all nooks and crannies of the world, the culmination makes for a fun game to play over a weekend. While I don't expect it to have the lasting impact that its inspiration has had, I am optimistic that Dopply continues to be inspired by games that others have rejected. So, let's hope that Arzette 2 might take after Zelda’s Adventure. I'm definitely excited to see where this series can go.


19
TalkBack / Dave the Diver (Switch) Review
« on: October 25, 2023, 05:55:31 PM »

Deliciously Deep

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/65313/dave-the-diver-switch-review

Dave the Diver seemed to have all the markings of this year's summer sleeper hit. Originally released following a successful kickstarter, the game hit PC earlier this year and was praised loudly as a refreshing indie game that worked particularly well on platforms like the Steam Deck. Thankfully Switch owners didn’t have to wait long and now Dave has cannonballed onto Nintendo’s hybrid device. Combining several genres into one fantastic package, Dave the Diver had me hooked from the very beginning and is an experience that I would recommend to anyone in a heartbeat.

Dave is an old diver coming out of retirement at the behest of his business partner Cobra, who has set up shop near the Blue Lagoon–quite literally, because he has opened a sushi restaurant that prides itself on only using locally sourced ingredients. Of course, the one who has to catch the meal of the day is Dave. As you plunge into the Blue Hole, you’re armed with a harpoon gun and an oxygen tank. Your goal is simple: catch a wide variety of aquatic wildlife during the day that can be chopped up and served to customers at night.

Let’s focus on the diving aspect first. This part of the game has a pretty straightforward loop: each in-game day you get to go on two diving excursions and collect fish and other objects from the seafloor. You either successfully come back up with a large quantity of fish and collectibles or you run out of oxygen and only get to bring a single item back up to shore with you.Controlling Dave starts out feeling quite sluggish, but thankfully you’re quickly able to upgrade and improve your gear over time or find helpful items in underwater containers. Fish are either caught by reeling them in with your harpoon-gun, or by actually dealing damage to them with a variety of weapons. There are melee weapons like tennis rackets, baseball bats, and your trusty knife, but you’re also able to find and purchase shotguns, tranquilizer darts, and pistols. The catch–pun intended–is that damaging your fish with these traditional weapons makes them less useful for cooking. This means that there’s always a delicate balance between deciding to either take a fish out because it poses a threat, or trying your hardest at reeling them in.

While being underwater there is of course much more to discover than just fish. It’s not long after you begin with your diving expeditions that you are contacted by researchers. These characters want you to go out and find relics from an ancient civilization, or specific fish to write their papers on. In turn, this also causes other characters to respond to your actions, such as a wildlife protection group showing up when you attract their attention after blowing up a cave to find more relics. What is particularly impressive here is that the dives you go on aren’t randomly generated, but the hole always follows a similar pattern. You’d think this would get repetitive, but what makes and keeps Dave the Diver so intriguing is that every milestone you pass either rewards or surprises you. For example, if you happen to go on a successful dive that provides a lot of gold, you can spend it to upgrade your suit and gear for better dives. But even after unsuccessful dives, in particular because sharks can be quite aggressive, there are usually new character interactions or mission objectives introduced that can still be completed. This keeps the game feeling fresh, especially once you get to go to deeper levels of the Blue Lagoon. The best comparison is probably a game like Steamworld Dig 2, where you are intrinsically encouraged to keep exploring the depths beneath and experiment with new weapons and navigational tools.

But the real secret to Dave the Diver’s addictive nature is that your goal isn’t just being a nebulous fish-collector. At the end of each day, you return to your sushi restaurant and select the fish that will be served as meals to paying customers. The level of customization here is astounding, because you aren’t just decorating your restaurant or hiring staff; you are actively responsible for creating the menu. Certain fish are worth much more than others, but even the small fry can be enhanced with additional ingredients like soy sauce, sea salt, and spices. Enhancing these meals costs fish, meaning that you will have a small quantity available on the menu and need to decide whether you want to serve many customers or wring the fewer paying customers dry. And that’s not all: you are also required to assist in serving the restaurant. You need to keep track of pouring drinks, which gives a tipping bonus, you have to keep grinding up wasabi, and you need to clean up the bar itself. You can hire additional staff to assist with the cooking and serving, but they do eat into your profits. It makes for a straightforward, but accessible management game that has a lot of depth to it.

The balancing act on display here, with both the diving and the restaurant segments, makes Dave the Diver super rewarding to return to. Whereas other scavenger-likes such as Subnautica, Rust, and even Minecraft can feel overwhelming in their endlessness, Dave the Diver has an incredible focus. And even if its structure is something that you can appreciate over time, what is immediately striking is its gorgeous visual style. Mint Rocket has crafted an appealing look that somehow is able to balance pixel-art and what look like 3D-models next to one another. It is as if the art-style from pixel games like Pokémon Black and White has been perfected in the animation of its creatures and characters as well as in differentiating the different depths in the Blue Hole. But above all are the phenomenal cutscenes. Blending a love of over the top anime montages with a more traditional pixel-art style that made me always want to watch them, even when the skip button was right there. This is the spice that truly makes Dave the Diver stand out from the crowd of other pixel-art inspired indie games.

That doesn’t mean that all is well under the sea. Load times on the Switch are quite noticeable, especially going between the diving and the restaurant sections. I also found that the game does take a little bit to really get you to understand its diving and serving mechanics. It can be quite overwhelming as four different mechanics are introduced one after another and you only realize how they work together several hours later. There are plenty of collectibles, but keeping track of the Pokédex-like system, the “research these fish”-app and the missions-tab can all blend together, especially in the menu-interface, which is designed to resemble a smartphone filled with apps. I had to take a bit of time to get accustomed to the way in which you plan a goal for yourself. I had actually grown quite experienced with diving and exploration long before I even made it out of the first chapter, because I didn’t realize I had to find a specific item and complete a quest.

But even during dives where the game wasn’t giving me proper direction, I still was enthralled by the experience and wanted to plunge back into the game again and again. I’ll never forget the moments where I was clinging on by single digits on the oxygen tanks and barely made it out alive, over encumbered with fish, or the moments where I was suddenly jumped by a predator and had to evasively dive away and shoot my gun in blind panic. Dave the Diver keeps you on your toes, but the rewards after a successful dive always make me want to play “just one more round.” My sushi restaurant is currently thriving, and I am still looking forward to jumping back in many more times after this review is published.


20

Stumbling first steps into the greater world of Paldea

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/64938/pokemon-scarlet-n-violet-the-hidden-treasure-of-area-zero-switch-review-in-progress-part-one-the-teal-mask

Editor’s Note: We’ve chosen to make the review for the DLC for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, a review-in-progress. This is due to the fact that the DLC consists of two parts that cannot be purchased separately. Additionally the DLC tells a continuous story, so it feels unjust to review a DLC with a story that hasn’t been concluded yet. The final review will review both pieces of DLC and the overall experience.

After writing a pretty substantial editorial piece on why Pokémon Scarlet and Violet still suck I have to admit that I was at the very least slightly curious as to how the upcoming DLC, dubbed the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, would fare. Taking place in smaller, separate locations, it might even improve some of the dreaded performance issues of the base games. But, if this first piece of DLC is anything to go by, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet still have quite some way to go to win me back over. The Teal Mask does a lot of table setting, but leaves the setting itself ringing slightly hollow.

The Teal Mask picks up immediately after concluding the base game and the story revelations therein. After having explored the fabled Area Zero, probably leaving with more questions than answers, the player is selected as part of an exclusive field trip to the land of Kitakami. This new region is home to a lot of returning pokémon that hadn’t made their way to Paldea quite yet, as well as some new regional forms and creatures. As you set out to learn more about the Kitakami region you are joined by several new characters including the siblings Kieran and Carmine. At first they are definitely not happy with foreigners entering their lands, but as you battle them with your pokémon they grow to like you more and more over time. Of course, there are signature pokémon as well, in this particular case Ogrepon, the wearer of the titular Teal Mask. As you go about, you learn more about the history of Ogrepon and its relation to “The Loyal Three”, a group of Pokémon that once fought against Ogrepon.

Let’s get the major things out of the way. The Teal Mask is pretty much another smaller explorable region that is very similar to Paldea. A big mountain in the center surrounded by ravines, woods and lakes on all sides. Gameplay wise there are no notable changes to the core gameplay loop. You still have access to Koraidon/Miraidon and are able to freely travel as you wish and find new pokémon. The returning cast of pokémon that were absent in Scarlet and Violet are a bit of a mixed bag. Fan favorites like the original Wooper, Snorlax, Milotic, Litwick, Cramorant and even Alolan and Hisuian forms of certain Pokémon can be found and added to your party. But also a few less obvious, and frankly not that useful, inclusions are here like Noctowl, Ariados, Slugma, Volbeat, Chingling, Vullaby and Cutiefly can be found in the wilds of Kitakami. Important of note is that the levels of these wild pokémon start around their 60’s, meaning you are encouraged to bring your previous party members and may have a hard time building up an entirely new team. The new pokémon are quite rad, including a twist on a recent Pokémon I wasn’t expecting. I think that the Loyal Three are probably the most disappointing, sporting fun abilities, but their designs and interaction with the player just are not clicking right.

I think that Kitakami falls flat for me because, even though it is clearly inspire by the smaller rural communities of Japan, it doesn’t do much with that premise. Kitakami holds a festival, but outside of a, frankly middling, minigame, the festival barely has any impact on the goings on in Kitakami. Some local food can be purchased and there is one important scene that is relevant to the story, but other than that Kitakami feels even more barren than Scarlet and Violet did. There is one community center that functions as a town, but that leaves very little room for engagement with the culture of Kitakami. While your main story progression is based on reading actual post signs with some of the history of the region, there is barely anything that harkens back to what sets it apart from Paldea outside of its creatures. This is particularly disappointing after the fantastic storytelling and setup that was done to promote one of the new pokémon found here, Poltchageist. This one trailer had so much more buildup and myth behind it than any of the other stories found in Kitakami.

The one notable exception to this is a side-quest given to you by Perrin, an enthusiastic photographer that is visiting the region from Sinnoh. Perrin is not very subtle in both her design and interests for the Hisui region that was featured in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. She has a small side-quest but her story left much more of an impression on me than that of Carmine and Kieran. Now granted, Kieran is set up to play a larger role in the next part of the DLC, the Indigo Disk, but it is such a contrast with Perrin. During her sidequest there is even a little segment that harkened back to the observing of pokémon for the pokédex in Pokémon Legends. I do hope that another counterpart of her appears in the Indigo Disk to represent the Pearl clan, because this segment felt refreshing and wanted to somewhat bridge the gap between Legends and Scarlet and Violet. Something that was definitely missing in the base game.

Something else that is missing in this DLC are frames. It is frankly astonishing that after almost a full year of updates, including one introduced with this DLC that fixes some notable issues with the dex and boxes, The Teal Mask still runs at an abysmal framerate. It is a smaller region with a lot less Pokémon than Scarlet and Violet and still the performance and visual glitches are unavoidable. From the camera spacing out during battles with wild pokémon or other trainers, to the low draw distances the pumping of the brakes on the framerate when jumping or gliding through the air. Even that great sidequest I mentioned earlier is barely holding it together as you are tasked with finding certain pokémon in a small, closed off environment. I wasn’t expecting the DLC to fix any of the core issues, but the fact that it comes across as if no lessons had been learned from the reception of the core games makes it even more jarring how this DLC was sold to potential buyers.

So far, the conclusion about the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero is very simple. If you liked Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, including exploring the world and catching pokémon, you will probably have fun with this DLC. But all The Teal Mask does is set-up for the next DLC, the Indigo Disk. It has very little truly its own to offer with the exception of Perrin’s sidequest and the Ogre Oustin’ minigame. You may add some new pokémon to your collection, but this smaller area does very little to elevate any of the core issues at the heart of Scarlet and Violet. In particular this region comes across as barren with not nearly anything as promising as the stories that were told before its release. Here’s to hoping that the Indigo Disk can bring these broken pieces together and possibly even find a bow to wrap it all up. But if this first DLC is anything to go by, I am nervously holding my breath for that a little while longer…


21
TalkBack / Almost A Year Later and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Still Suck
« on: September 12, 2023, 02:00:00 PM »

Squandered potential makes for a Paldean mess.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/editorial/64835/almost-a-year-later-and-pokemon-scarlet-and-violet-still-suck

Willem went nuts and made an entire video essay for this editioral, so be sure to give it a watch over on our YouTube-channel!

I’d say that when it comes to faith in the Pokémon series I’ve been on the more positive side over the last decade. I’ve written and made a whole video essay before about how the Pokémon franchise has evolved and how our perception of what a remake should be has shifted since the series inception. When it was revealed that for the 8th generation not all previously available Pokémon would return I didn’t blame The Pokémon Company or Game Freak, but recalled when Black and White took a step in that same direction to let new Pokémon take the spotlight. Pokémon Legends: Arceus was a thrilling step into a new direction and had my hopes high for the following 9th generation of Pokémon. But Scarlet and Violet may have finally broken something in me. Sure, other loud voices had been declaring that Pokémon had lost its touch ever since the shift to full 3D-models, but this time around I personally felt that something had been lost. Whereas others embraced this new approach to Pokémon, I have dreaded most of my 70+ hours of playing these games. Now, on the eve before the first wave of DLC hits and shifts the perception of what Scarlet and Violet are, allow me a moment to look back and examine why I think Scarlet and Violet kind of suck.

I really could just drop in: “performance issues‘ right here and call it a day. I am one who tends to excuse lower framerates, unoptimized performances, and the lack of visual fidelity on Nintendo’s systems. But upon reflection, and especially with almost a year of updates, most of the problems with its core approach can all be boiled down to its frankly abysmal performance. However, as I'm writing this before the release of the DLC, I am quite certain that the optimization of the core game has shifted to its DLC and will be largely left behind. After its release several patches and updates were released that aimed to fix bugs, such as the 1.2.0 patch released in February of 2023. That means that as of right now I feel confident in talking about its faults and how this seeps through into the core of the experience.

See, Pokémon games have always had a sort of weird relationship with their optimization from the very beginning. I definitely do not envy Game Freak, as doing balancing, testing, and animating for hundreds of creatures is a daunting task. But even in Red/Blue, glitches and bugs were almost part of its identity. It fed into the popularization of myths and legends around certain pokémon. Let’s be frank, Missingno would have been a footnote today if it wasn’t such a common occurrence that it was brought up in magazines, websites, and on the schoolyard itself. All down to a simple glitch that was caused by the game just needing to be pushed out the door. Even when the first week of social media on Scarlet and Violet was all of the weird glitches and bugs that players ran into, I didn’t pay it much attention. This is par for the course and obviously the developers are aware of them as well. What is more worrisome is the general state of the game upon release and how it hampers every aspect of its playing experience. Look at the original Pokémon Diamond and Pearl for example. Yes, the story, creatures, and world are possibly some of the best in the series. But its gameplay and performance feels slow and drags on in both the menus, battle animations, and overworld interaction. It is no wonder that Pokémon Platinum is the preferred version to play of that generation. Not only because it feels like a definitive version, it also speeds up a lot of the game and its core features.

Scarlet and Violet feel the worst to play in this regard by a long mile. The vast majority of the game is a drag to play. Using items, selecting moves, and watching the battle unfold takes ages. You would think that with Sword and Shield, or even Pokémon Legends running at a pretty consistent speed, this would be a cakewalk. But going through the motion in both battling, catching, and equipping items to your Pokémon feels like slamming the brakes out of nowhere. You may say: well, use the auto-battle option. But even with that feature you can’t avoid traditional encounters  entirely. Traversing around the world you keep running into wild Pokémon, which can sometimes pop up a millisecond before you run into them. It makes every time you fight a trainer, battle a wild Pokémon or even navigate your in-game menus a horrendous ordeal. In particular attack animations which, although they have an increased speed compared to Sword and Shield, are unable to be turned off in the settings for the first time in the series history. It’s all little things when looking at them individually, but together they jam the gears of what should and could be a fairly standard Pokémon adventure.

Speaking of those menus, the worst times are when using the Pokémon boxes and Pokedex itself. Two essential features for not only determining your next objective, but also swapping out party members and movesets. The Pokédex and the boxes actively load while you are using them. Meaning it takes a few seconds when opening a new box or finding an entry in the dex before you can see the Pokémon itself. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a delay so bad before in a Pokémon game for what should essentially be a checklist or navigational spreadsheet. Let alone missing features such as browsing quickly through the Pokédex or getting a proper indication for the habitat of Pokémon. You could argue that this is part of the design, but not giving the player any navigational tools like markers means you are relying on this badly designed Pokédex. A feature that was the literal focus in the last core game of the series.

So let’s talk about Scarlet and Violet’s odd relation to Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Not only did both games release in the same year, they share a lot of the core identity. Both wanting to enable the player to explore a wide open world with their Pokémon and determining their own route along the way. The games are both about streamlining the management of Pokémon themselves and are much more about the player's expression. But where the Hisui region in Legends feels designed for this open-ended exploration and the learning about the Pokémon, Paldea is a mess to explore. Not only are you always tied to your Miraidon / Koraidon. They are also pitifully slow in most basic actions, even after fully upgrading all their movement capabilities. Now legends suffered from this as well, but legends had a trick up its sleeve with a fragmented overworld. Not only did this probably aid the game to run at a more consistent framerate, but it also made exploration exciting and manageable. It made going back to earlier areas exciting as you unlocked new modes of transport. That could be used for finding new items, spotting Spiritomb pieces and of course, finding new Pokémon that were visible before, but you were unable to approach or capture. Like the flying Magnezone and Togekiss in the sky.

In Paldea the world feels barren. There are distinct regions, but rarely do they feel like they have their own characteristics. Brown Mountain, Rocky Canyon, desert bit and coastline blend together to make the Paldean region feel unappealing. The exploration and size of the world feels meaningless. It feels like there are only ten or so buildings you can enter in all of Paldea, excluding the gyms themselves. Can you tell me anything significant about these places and why people live there or what defines their life outside of being the location for a Pokémon Gym? You never need to meet any NPCs that live in a town, meaning they are little more than a rush to find the Gym Leader. Sure one town has fields of olive gardens and another is filled with fountains, but they functionally lost all meaning of being there. If I say Celadon City, Goldenrod City, Lavaridge Town, Oreburgh City, Nimbasa City, Snowbelle City, Malie City or Motostoke, you can at least let your imagination run wild. But outside of its capital Mesagoza and maybe Cascarrafa and Levencia there are no locations that feel meaningful. Even Area Zero, which is great, does not have any NPC’s running around for its worldbuilding. It has meaning in absence and unique diversity in Pokémon, but frankly that absence of other humans could be felt all throughout the Paldea region.

I really don’t like to keep comparing these games but again, look at Legends.  Settlements in the Hisui region show how the people live and also provide quests and grow over time. You are encouraged to meet up with NPCs to get a sense of their lives and the world. There are funny characters that aren’t Gym Leaders and have a role to play, like the general staff of the Galaxy Team who actively engage with the player. Unlike the staff at the Naranja or Uva academy who feel not just secondary but can be missed altogether if you decide to never take any optional classes. This caused my behavior to shift while exploring Paldea. I rarely talked to any trainers in the open world, let alone battle them. The need for that engagement was gone and their rewards, be it experience or money, were not worth the trouble of having to deal with slowdown, the in-game menus, and the terrible performance. One may argue that it is to ‘break with the conventions’ like another long-running franchise did in its open-world outing. But the trainers are still there, they have just been made redundant because avoiding them is by far the most logical option.

And then there’s Game Freak wanting to have both a returning feature and putting a new spin on it with Tera Raid battles. These combine the fantastic Raid Battles from Galar, with the godawful performance of Scarlet and Violet and remove the turn-based mechanics in an online environment. The end result is a complete mess, where half of the time players have no idea what they are doing and you end up waiting to see if your move even made a dent. This is coupled with also having to tackle either unbelievably strong Pokémon that require you to have a very specific approach before you begin the fight or Pokémon that are one-shotted by using a type-effective move. The Crystal Cavern mechanic is interesting, but half the time just finding people to play with and coordinating anything over an online connection where input timing is essential make the game just fall apart. Even after technical improvements post-launch, Tera Raid Battles are still badly explained mechanically and feels more like throwing up roadblocks for the sake of being obstacles instead of making the player feel smart about their choice of Pokémon. What really left me sour is that as of right now, there are new Pokémon like Walking Wake and Iron Leaves locked behind this mechanic. Meaning that you are required to have both Pokémon strong enough to withstand their attack and be able to communicate with other players properly to add these creatures to your collection. Sure, it is more engaging than connecting to the internet and downloading them, but it also feels like the least elegant solution when you have a world that the designers want you to explore. Just to throw an idea out there, they are based on roaming legendaries. So just have them out there roaming around and running away through this big open world. It would’ve complemented the design of the game and perhaps even given some significance to now meaningless locations in Paldea.

At its best moments, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet run just well enough to make you feel like you can freely explore every nook and find new creatures. But almost all the time the brakes are slammed down as you run into a performance hiccup, need to wait while opening a menu, or run into a wild Pokémon. It is a game that unintentionally makes you aware that you are playing a game. Every time I went back to it after finishing, I was instantly reminded of how little fun I have with it, which is a shame because I do think there is a lot to love here on paper. The story, especially Area Zero and Arven's role, is quite engaging. In fact, Area Zero being separate from its main world seems to make a huge difference. I also love most of the new Pokémon in this generation and some refreshing versions with the paradox-mon are a cool approach to reinvent what certain Pokémon are. But this is part of the course for almost any Pokémon game: having ups and downs. I do not like Team Star nor their implementation in the story and also think that some new evolution methods are outright bizarre. The glaring and recurring issue is that the technical problems seep into making me feel down every time I want to give Scarlet and Violet a shot. I have friends who still actively play the game for shiny hunting and team building, and I wish I had more of a desire to join in on that, because I still am truly a fan of the Pokémon games. But even thinking about booting up Scarlet just makes me instantly look for something else to play. I can’t deal with a game that had the blueprint for how it could be done right in front of it, but instead just sank beneath its own weight.

I suspect that with the release of the Hidden Treasures of Area Zero DLC, its focus on two entirely new locations might be much more akin to what Hisui and even Galar were about. I am genuinely hoping that this can be a smaller scale adventure, much like the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra in Galar with the Sword and Shield’s Expansion pass, thus mitigating some of the technical issues while providing some much needed character to the Paldea region. In turn, this will probably shift the conversation about S/V for the foreseeable future, discourse that overshadowed how these games tried to run before they could walk, and perhaps contradicted themselves when the smaller separate locations improved on the experience. But that doesn't mean we should skip past the massive road bumps that the core of these games was designed around and that seeped into their design. Much has already been said on the topic of The Pokémon Company and Game Freak’s relentless schedule and them needing to push out new games every two years. Yes, that conversation ties in with my personal gripes with Scarlet and Violet, but I don’t think that my issues with them would all be solved if the developers had another full year to work on the game. The technical issues are a disappointment on top, but the core underneath them is flawed in places that additional development time wouldn’t have been able to fix. Tera Raid Battles, the lack of personality for each of the cities–even though they have been elaborately designed–and the lack of incentives for a player while exploring the world are things that cannot be solved within a year. Without a doubt, better optimization would be a benefit for the entire game, but it wouldn’t have elevated Scarlet and Violet to the top tier of Pokémon mainline games for me. Because in the end, after playing every single Pokémon game, I don’t think I’ve ever had the urge to stop catching them all as much as after Scarlet and Violet. That, above all else, scares me the most.


22
TalkBack / Escape Academy: The Complete Edition (Switch) Review
« on: September 12, 2023, 08:00:00 AM »

Escape Rooms Everywhere You Look

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/64834/escape-academy-the-complete-edition-switch-review

I did an escape room once with my old group of housemates. While it definitely was a fun collaborative experience, some of our unorthodox methods of trying to solve the puzzle must have gotten us some raised eyebrows from those monitoring the room behind the scenes. I mean sure, filling liquid up to the right amount into a canister and then using that canister to weigh down a scale was quite fun, but perhaps because I relied on the communication with others the puzzles took much longer than intended. Thankfully Escape Academy, now presented on the Switch as the Complete Edition, makes the art of an escape room much easier to grasp. In fact, with online and local co-op enabled it made for some of the most fun one-on-one multiplayer I’ve had in a long time.

Escape Academy sees you becoming a student at the titular institution. A school fully dedicated to the art of escape, where you take classes on all sorts of subjects that teach you how to get away in dire situations. Taking you through a wide variety of locations, having an escape room in videogame form makes for an entertaining ride with scenarios that I wouldn’t feel comfortable with in real life. From a room slowly filling up with water, to a botanical garden that belongs to a bomb creator, Escape Academy is a wildly inventive location that reminded me of fictional schools like Wayside or even Hogwarts.

But of course a game based on escape rooms stands or falls with its puzzle design. While I don’t think that all scenarios are ranked equally, Escape Academy has a pretty great set of puzzles. What I think the escape scenarios do particularly well, is that they maintain a clever balance of slowly opening up to the more intricate design at play, while also teaching you the tricks you need to keep an eye out for. Take the monument garden for example, which starts off fairly easily with you needing to find paints to scribble your signature on the monument, but quickly devolves into opening safes, re-arranging items as well as understanding how to access the monument itself. Items you find along the way have a particular use, but realizing how they fit together is half the enjoyment of the puzzles.

This is where co-op gameplay truly shines. While it does have an effect on performance on Switch, walking around and discussing the possible solution with another player really makes the game come alive. The developers have also thought of some great features that make communication much easier. At any time in co-op, you can switch to the view of the other player. During my time with the game this was especially helpful with deciphering codes and messages as my friend was standing near the cipher, while I entered the code. You still may want to talk and communicate, but it lowers the barrier of entry by quite a lot. Two-player multiplayer might seem like a limitation, though in practice the rooms are definitely designed for one to two players. When playing alone I found myself taking little notes, which the game even recommends, but just having another player to talk to really improved the overall experience. The game supports local multiplayer as well, so it is probably a great game to play with a partner or friend on the couch.

The visual style of Escape academy is quite pleasing, but does occasionally struggle to really pop on Switch. Jagged edges, plain textures and a setback in fidelity withhold the game from really embracing its cell-shaded design. This is even worse in multiplayer, where the game really drops in visual fidelity. It is fortunately never required to read or spot small details, but it is clear that the game wasn’t designed from scratch with Switch in mind. The other major setback is that the story and characters aren’t that memorable. The goofy janitor Jeb, the mysterious principal and your rival student are just there and don’t add that much meaning to the story. They very much play into the flimsy tropes and characters you are used to from actual escape rooms. I also wasn’t particularly fond of the music, outside of the great title theme really isn’t that special.

Included with the Complete edition are additional level packs that feature multiple new settings and escape rooms. These are, in my opinion, of a much higher difficulty than the base game and provide some good challenges after the main story. Here some of my gripes with the music and characters are relieved, especially with the Time Travel pack, though the overall story is still straightforward. I’d definitely recommend playing these after you’ve earned your diploma from the academy itself.

Escape Academy : The Complete edition is a great collection of escape-room puzzles that are a must-play for fans of point-and-click adventure games and looking for a fun time racking their brains. The co-op, whether local or online is an absolute must and improves the experience by a mile. While you won’t get too much out of the story and characters, the additional level packs add on top of the good serving of puzzles you’ll encounter. I have to admit that after my time with Escape Academy, some actual escape rooms will have a hard time living up to this experience.


23
TalkBack / Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara (Switch) Review
« on: July 24, 2023, 07:00:00 AM »

Summer in Mara 3D Land

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/64377/koa-and-the-five-pirates-of-mara-switch-review

Back in 2020 Neal reviewed Summer in Mara on the Nintendo Switch. It was a game I had kept an eye out for, but ultimately his review helped to convince me that it simply wasn’t a game I’d get much enjoyment from. So consider my surprise when I learned that Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara wasn’t a spin-off sequel to that title, but only after playing did I realize that this was a continuation of the Summer in Mara series. Much like Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, Koa and the Five Pirates throws the original design of its predecessor out the window and has turned the farming-exploration game into a 3D platformer, which feels akin to the pick up and play titles from the GameCube/PS2-era. The end result is a very accessible platformer that will challenge even veterans quite a bit.

Koa and the Five Pirates picks up, I think, a few years after the events of Summer in Mara. Koa is traveling around the islands of Mara when she suddenly receives word that pirates have raided the village of Qualïs. Thankfully, these pirates have mostly done so as a prank to challenge anyone to take on the pirate trials of Mara. It’s up to Koa to triumph over these challenges and return peace to Mara. Along the way there are a number of friendly villagers to talk to as well as various islands to explore.

The best point of comparison for Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is something like Super Mario 3D Land. Each island has one or more stages in which your objective is simply to reach the end goal. Koa has a fairly simple moveset consisting of a run, a dash and a bomb jump. The more advanced technique is a sort of long jump that you can chain into a roll, giving Koa a lot of momentum. Along the way there are hidden collectibles that you can find to upgrade the ship that you use to travel between the stages or to unlock cosmetics like outfits and backpacks. Movement feels pretty good, though I did find myself often wanting to use the more advanced mechanics while having to adjust to Koa not controlling ‘exactly’ like Mario. If you play stages at a leisurely pace, the game is great for younger players that aren’t as familiar with 3D-platformers. In that sense it really reminded me of games I grew up with like Rayman 2, Toy Story 2, and the SpongeBob games. I will say that there isn’t as much character to the different people you meet on your journey, but perhaps this is because it wants to tie in more closely with the first game.

The real challenge is presented at the end of a level. After completing a stage you are presented with the time it took you to reach the goal. There’s a bronze, silver and gold medal attached to this completion time, and this really incentivized me to complete stages as fast as possible. Whereas on your first attempt running is simply optional, to get a gold medal you will need to run, long jump and find shortcuts everywhere. Don’t expect Neon White levels of speedrunning tech, but there definitely is something satisfying about redoing a stage and learning all the ins and outs of a level to get to the goal as quickly as you can. Later levels especially can be quite a challenge due to playing with mechanics like disappearing platforms and ice-physics. This gameplay loop, however, is very rewarding, and while not stated outright, I think this really can be engaging for parents who want to play with their children. That having been said, the overall presentation of Koa and the Five Pirates can come across as a bit plain at times. Static character portraits, compressed visuals, simple level geometry and a lack of meaningful rewards make the game just feel a bit unpolished. When it comes to gameplay this really doesn’t matter, but the soundtrack repeats quite a few tracks and some of the additional levels are really barren. There’s a minigame where you have to guide a crane to the bottom of the sea to grab a collectible, but it basically boils down to mashing the ZR-button and avoiding enemies. Then there are levels where the goal is simply to talk to one person who’s somewhere on the island. It seems at times that there was a desire to make the ocean, your world map, feel expansive with a lot of islands to visit. But ultimately these can just come across as set dressing. The ‘boss’ challenges also aren’t really anything to write home about. The majority of them are races, where you either need to reach the end of a goal or defeat the boss by tossing items or hitting switches. They suffice for certain, but I wish that their imaginative designs were put to better use.

Overall, I think that Koa and the Five Pirates is a great reworking of the Summer in Mara world and characters. Being a 3D character platformer just makes the gameplay feel fast-paced and welcoming. Like I stated, for younger players this is a great introduction to these types of games if you’re looking for something that might be even more accessible than Mario. For platforming veterans there’s some decent challenge in getting gold medals in every stage, but other than that it might feel a bit too simple. The game might be unpolished in a few places, but there was very little that hampers the gameplay experience. Leaving the door open for future Mara adventures, I think that these characters really lend themselves to different genres and experiences. Even if I didn’t pick up on many of the callbacks to Summer in Mara, I could tell that the developers really like these characters and this world they’ve created. Perhaps it’s time to explore the RTS or RPG genre in Mara?


24
TalkBack / Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Switch) review
« on: June 27, 2023, 07:00:00 AM »

This ghost hasn’t lost its tricks

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/64148/ghost-trick-phantom-detective-switch-review

There really aren’t any game designers out there like Shu Takumi. The Capcom veteran responsible for creating the Ace Attorney series understands like few other designers what makes a good mystery and how to design mechanics that deepen the player's connection to that mystery. I adore the Ace Attorney series with all my heart, but it is a little-known standalone DS game that I’d consider Takumi’s magnum opus. And after thirteen years of waiting, the game has finally returned in a definitive, polished-up version. For those who are already familiar with this game’s tricks, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective on Switch is the perfect version to relive its twisting tale and vibrant characters. For those who are new to the experience, something truly special awaits you.

Usually in games, death is pretty much the end, but with a death is where Ghost Trick begins. You play as Sissel, a recently departed soul with a bad case of amnesia who died in a junkyard at night. As a ghost, Sissel possesses–pun intended–the ability to control the world of the living by performing his ghost tricks. These tricks can impact objects in the world to spin, whirl, fold, twist, turn on machinery, and much much more. Your goal is simple: find out how and why you died. Unfortunately, your only lead seems to be a detective named Lynne, who herself is the target of a hitman, and she just died as well. Sissel’s spirit, however, is able to travel back four minutes before her death and use his trick to alter Lynne’s fate. From there, the story twists and turns as you slowly learn more and more about strange events and deaths taking place all over town. Ghost Trick is full of great scenes that make its world come alive (yes, this one too).

Gameplay in Ghost Trick consists of two segments. On the one hand, there are the discoveries, as I call them. During these moments you are using your ghost powers to traverse rooms and obstacles to find certain people to interact with or learn more about what is going on in the story. As a soul, you can trace a line, either by using the touch screen similar to the DS-version or by moving the joystick between your soul and the core of another object. Once you’re in the other core, you can leave the Ghost World and trick the object. For example a foldable ladder can be extended, an umbrella can be opened, or a bell can be rung. Most of the time, this will attract the intention of people around the scene, and present new routes for you to get to your destination. Here you will learn more about the characters and the way they interact with others and the world around them. This knowledge comes in handy when dealing with the bodies.

Ghost Trick really turns into a detective game when Sissel comes across a dead body. Being able to turn back the clock to four minutes before that death took place, and with the ghost tricks at your disposal, it is possible to prevent a death from happening and change that individual’s fate. The game truly comes into its own during these moments when you are, in real-time, learning about how the death happened and how it can be stopped. Each death is set up like a Rube Goldberg machine, where the individual pieces can be tricked to change the outcome. At certain points you’ll change the fate of the person involved, causing the scene to shift significantly and open up new paths. The game is entirely linear in its solutions but the combination of the ticking clock while solving the death shifts your approach every time. Using that knowledge is key to learning how each murder can be prevented.

But the puzzles aren’t the only thing that made Ghost Trick a cult hit; its heart truly lies with its cast of eclectic characters. These range from Lynne’s incredible optimism and determination, to probably the greatest animal sidekick in all of video games in the form of Missile. As you encounter more and more of those involved, you start to see the connections between the characters and how Sissle relates to them as well. Even for those who only appear for one or two scenes, their animations and writing just sell the character immediately, such as Inspector Cabanella’s wild dancing motions, the way Missile jumps around, and how the Junkyard’s superintendent communicates with a pigeon. The music is also a suspenseful fusion of jazz and electronic beats that do a great job of communicating the situation Sissel finds himself in. It’s definitely not as tense or diverse as the Ace Attorney games are known for, but it’s a well balanced soundtrack that has some great tunes.

Ghost Trick is a phenomenal experience for first time players, but this remaster is a little bit barebones for those who might be hoping for some new chapters or stories. The game has a great unlockable art gallery that is a treat for those who are big fans of this game. There is also a jukebox that has both the original and the new arranged soundtrack. The real new piece of content here is a puzzle mode, where you simply solve a set of sliding puzzles in a grid of several sizes. There are some in-game achievements that can be unlocked by playing these, but don’t expect any new substantial content. I like some of the UI changes that have been made, but really whether you’re playing the original DS release, the mobile port, or this new remaster, you can’t go wrong with any version of this game. The biggest advantage here is that the game just looks a whole lot shinier in HD and that it is just great to have Ghost Trick back for new players to experience for the very first time.

Replaying Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective really cemented my feeling that this is still one of best mystery stories ever told in the medium. The gameplay is inventive and makes every trick feel surprising and new, while reinforcing the idea of how objects relate to each other. But it’s the cast of Ghost Trick that has remained endearing after all these years. Finding out what happened to Sissel, how Lynne is involved, and how everyone on this one strange night is connected: that story just feels like something that cannot be told in a television series or movie, but truly stands on its own as a game. It is no surprise to me that Shu Takumi apparently often revisits this game to reflect on how he has grown as a designer. If you’re already familiar with this game, you won’t be missing out on any meaningful extras by skipping this release, but if you are new to Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective it is a must play. It is one of those games that doesn’t need a sequel or prequel but is a perfectly self-contained story that truly hasn’t aged a day. I couldn’t be happier that Ghost Trick has been brought back to life one more time.


25
TalkBack / The Case of the Golden Idol (Switch) Review
« on: June 12, 2023, 05:00:00 AM »

Murder, Mystery and Mayhem in one fantastic package

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/63926/the-case-of-the-golden-idol-switch-review

Acting like a detective always feels a bit like cheating in video games. Rarely does a mystery game deliver on the premise of the player putting all the clues together, without it coming across as if there is a guiding hand shadowing over you. Just relying on your observational skills and putting all the little pieces together is absolutely one of the most rewarding experiences in games. Titles like Return of the Obra Dinn, A Hand with Many Fingers and last year's Immortality have a win-state so to speak, but the true victory is when the player arrives at the ‘Wait!? I GET IT’ moment of realization as to how the different pieces fit together. The Case of the Golden Idol is a truly phenomenal addition to this subset of detective games, spinning an intriguing narrative that makes you feel incredible for figuring out how it all comes together.

The Case of the Golden Idol follows the history of several English-inspired noblemen around the 1700s and the trail left behind by a small golden idol. You play as an omnipotent observer where you investigate what can only be described as tableaus. Each tableau depicts a moment in time that coincides with a death. The tableaus have little interactive sets, where you can click on people or objects and add words to your notebook. It is up to you to complete several objectives using the information you collect. This can vary from identifying all the individuals that are part of the tableau, where all of them were located during the time of the event happening, as well as their intertwining relationships with one another. Some of these are pretty straightforward, like servants and lords. But others can suddenly have entered the tableau for the first time, or be a random person caught up in the event. The tableau is completed when you can put together what specifically happened at that time and, usually, who passed away due to what reason.

The game is incredibly hands off. All the clues are numbered in a checklist at the bottom of the screen and you can access your thoughts at any time. You might perhaps start out with naming all the individuals that are seen on screen, or you can immediately try and put the story together. The navigation is really straightforward with the player dragging the clues or words to particular fields and entering them to complete the lines of thought. All of this is presented in a fantastic visual style that is somewhat reminiscent of LucasArts games from the ‘90s. I particularly loved the changing musical styles as you investigate different scenes within the tableau. When seeing a large map the music has a theme, but when you start looking into a cabin, a violin is added to speed up the tempo, turning dire when you come across the body and have to figure out what exactly happened. The only thing I’d knock against the soundtrack is that it does get a bit repetitive when you are stuck solving a puzzle. At times, I did throw on something else in the background when I was really trying to put together one particularly challenging scene.

All of this makes The Case of the Golden Idol a fantastic tale about revenge, absolute power, and the corruption that said power brings forth. The problem is that it is also a game I want to say as little as possible about, because the discovery and investigation is what makes the experience stand out quite a bit. If you love titles like the Ace Attorney series for their puzzlebox-like approach, The Case of the Golden Idol does similar things but makes the logical lines much less obvious. This caused me several times to scream with excitement when all I did was realize who was in what place and why. It really cannot be compared to a visual novel in that sense, giving the power over its narrative to you the player instead. The Return of the Obra Dinn is the closest analogy, but even when I think that, the way that The Case of the Golden Idol uses its world and characters is much more coherent to follow. The tableaus can be dizzying at first, full of moments where you absolutely have no clue what is going on. But figuring that stuff out, realizing why X is here and what that means for Y, or that someone is referring to a moment from a previous tableau made me excited in a way very few detective games have over the last few years.

And even if you do get stuck, the hint system is just a marvelous little bit of accessible design. If you get stuck, the game doesn’t fill in the right words for you. Instead you are presented with some general advice, like laying out all the clues you have, taking a break to think or even recontextualizing the words you’ve found so far. If you want a hint after that, you are still not given one, but rather have to fill out a small test of putting the right words underneath objects and characters you’ve already come across. Then you get to select from four general hints and that hint isn’t even spelling out the answer, but rather suggesting a way to think about the characters and their motivation. It is a truly beautiful system that still wants the player to come to the realization of what has happened, but does not ruin the game. I genuinely hope to see more games employ these kinds of hint systems, because it made using the hint system feel rewarding, rather than a moment of disappointment.

The Nintendo Switch version also just runs great. The variety of control options is fantastic. You can opt for using the traditional touch screen in handheld mode. In TV-mode you can use the joystick to move around a cursor freely and even increase the speed of the cursor movement with the triggers. And finally you can also manually browse through the game just using the directional-buttons or the right stick to snap to the nearest object. This setup is fantastic for controlling a point-and-click adventure game in a way that feels much more natural on console: a fantastic job by the developers for creating this.

As much as I want to keep on gushing about the ideas and stories in The Case of the Golden Idol, I really don’t want to take anything away from those who may be interested in playing it. There is an additional DLC chapter that has even more stories to discover and those are without a doubt some of the hardest puzzles in the game. Even if the idea of a point-and-click adventure game scares you off, The Case of the Golden Idol can be understood and enjoyed by anyone who has an interest in detective fiction. The stories can be gruesome and horrific at times, but that also makes them intriguing puzzleboxes to sit down and solve. At times while playing I looked up at the clock and realized I had been squinting at the screen and was lost in thought solving a puzzle for nearly an hour. The year of narrative bangers just keeps on rolling and if you are even remotely interested in solving a good mystery, The Case of the Golden Idol should be at the top of your list!


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