Topic: Your favorite game(s) from Wii U eShop?

[ejamer]

Hey everyone!


Switch is a hit and Wii U is almost ready for retrospectives and I need your help.
Although it feels like I've got most games from the Wii U eShop that would interest me, I am always curious about possible indie or lesser known gems that could be overlooked.


What was your favorite game (maybe with runners-up) from the Wii U eShop?
Were there any games that really surprised you, or caught you your attention unexpectedly?
Did anything disappoint, or fail to live up to the hype - either review scores or your own expectations?


Looking primarily for games that didn't have a significant retail release, or are more obscure than the usual Breath of the Wild.

[ejamer]

Just to get the ball rolling...


My favorite eShop game was:
* Toki Tori 2 - Absolutely loved this game. Imagine a Metroidvania, but instead of action it's all puzzle based... With no dialog and very little (if any) written instruction, you are thrust into a world where there are plenty of secrets and cleverly structured puzzles to unravel using your own wits and powers of observation. Won't appeal to people who want clearly defined goals, but fantastic for anyone who like the thrill of "figuring it out" on their own.

My biggest disappointments:
* The Swindle - The game seems awesome, and most of the time it is... but play deep enough and you inevitably start running into game-breaking bugs that freeze the entire system and cause you to lose progress at an unacceptable rate. I stuck through and finished the game, and enjoyed it enough that I would re-buy without hesitation if the bugs were fixed. But it's hard not to feel frustrated and disappointed after restarting what should be the last level almost a dozen times at no fault of your own.
* Teslagrad - Loved the look and concept. Didn't feel like the gameplay was tight or clever enough, and the story was also a letdown. Was hugely excited by the game prior to playing, but really can't recommend it to others.
* EDGE - Made by Two Tribes, who I loved due to Toki Tori 2... but this felt like the kind of garbage I'd expect on a phone. Mediocre controls, random level design, and overall just a poor experience (even for a cheap time waster).

Games I'm still interested in trying:
* The Cave - This probably wouldn't appeal to everyone, but the demo was neat and it played into many of my personal gaming interests (point-and-click, cute humor, replay value through different characters). Have had this on my wishlist for years, and don't remember it ever getting a discount.

[ShyGuy]

I'm probably missing some titles, but after a quick review...

Favorite eShop games:
Steam World Dig - Great game, extremely polished, well paced and hits the perfect reward ratio. Play the even-better sequel on Switch!
Nano Assault Neo - My first eShop game, tons of fun, great looking, very addictive and hard on the later levels.
The Fall - There's just something about this game, the feel of it is a great flavor of cyberpunk and the intriguing story lifted it above the games painful bugs.
Stick It to the Man - Charming yet simple adventure game. It may be my favorite use of a licensed song in a game ever.
Master Reboot - A simple 3D adventure/puzzle game with an intriguing sci-fi story. It surprised me in how much I enjoyed it.

eShop games I have a soft spot for:
Freeze Me - A 3D platforming throwback, the creator actually pitched it on these forums before it released. It controlled rough and was rough in general, but it had a spark of the 3D platformer magic.
Blok Drop U - The first game by the infamous RCMadix.  It was actually a fun, orginal puzzle game. What followed was awful text book definitions of shovelware.
The Letter - The first shovelware game that everyone jumped on. In spite of its ugly amateurish looks and gameplay, it reminded of early 3D PC games.

Biggest Disappointments:
Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails - I really tried to like it, but man oh man I fought against the controls every step of the way. It just wasn't for me.
Lost Reavers - Why even bother with this? It was canceled so quickly. Bare bones, limited weapons, levels and enemies. The early teasers were so intriguing! What happened Bandai Namco??

Still Interested:
Soul Axiom - The sequel to Master Reboot, why did I never pick this up? I enjoyed the demo.
Steamworld Heist - For how much I loved Steamworld Dig, I should get this game too. Been thinking about it more since I played Steamworld Dig 2.
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate - I'm conflicted on this one. I swore off WB games after they did the refund instead of bringing the Arkham Origins DLC they promised, but I'm a huge Batman fan (and Retro devs fan) and I still want to play this even though I have heard bad things about it. Should I just buy a used 3DS copy?

[Order.RSS]

Big eShop fan here, so I'll weigh in for sure. Wii U may have seen sparse major releases at times, but with all the gems on the eShop I've played more games on it than any other platform. Also really, really helps that many of these went on sale for absolutely dirt-cheap.

Favourite Wii U eShop games:
Severed - Loved this hack & slash game from start to end, perfect length, affecting story too.
Sky Force Anniversary - Tremendous shoot-em-up. Simple, but so, so addictive.
Affordable Space Adventures - Probably still the game that best used the Gamepad, absolute must-play.
The Swapper - Creative puzzler with an interesting story, fantastic production values on this one.
SteamWorld Heist - Clever turn-based strategy game with good replay value, very few complaints here.
Jotun (Valhalla edition) - Darn tough action game, nice hand-drawn art look, cool tough bossfights.
Shantae & the Pirate's Curse - Really good Castlevania-esque platformer, don't like the cheesecakey art.
Nano Assault Neo - Very stylish shoot-em-up, bossfights are letdowns though.
Tengami - Very calming adventure game presented in origami art style & soothing David Wise tunes.
Star Fox Guard - Creative use of the Gamepad, I suppose this got a print run but pretty limited so it counts?
Art of Balance - Takes a while to get to the good puzzles, but this is a relaxing timekiller.
Octodad: Dadliest Catch - Very humorous game with outrageous controls. Best in short doses & multiplayer.

Mid-range titles I would cautiously recommend:
Never Alone (Kisima Innitchuna) - Buggy platforming overshadows this atmospheric educational game, sadly.
Nova-111 - Mixing realtime & turnbased elements is a great idea, but this way overstays its welcome.
Nihilumbra - Nothing really wrong here, but it's a fairly simplistic puzzle-platformer with heavyhanded story.
Little Inferno - Mildly humorous game that doesn't quite land its meta message, in my opinion.
Gunman Clive Collection - These are pretty difficult cowboy Mega Man games, great art, bit stiff controls.
Blek - The handwriting aspect of this puzzler is a great idea, but man did it make me feel dumb.
Back to Bed - Solid puzzler, but a bit too short and unvaried to recommend at full price.
Bit.Trip Runner2 - This is a really good game, but honestly also pretty frustrating. Mileage may vary.
Edge - Finnicky controls and trial & error nature make this pretty frustrating. Catchy beats though.
Forma.8 - Tremendous worldbuilding, but just a tad too complex & dense, making it a bit inaccessible.
Spy Chameleon - Fun gameplay idea here to switch colours to stay hidden. More story effort would've helped.
SteamWorld Dig - In my opinion this one takes too long to get going, ending is great though.
Stealth Inc. 2 - The overworld is more of a hindrance than an addition in this trial & error puzzle platformer.
Whispering Willows - Honestly a pretty flawed adventure game, but I enjoy these low-tension games.
X-Type+ - Addictive score attack shoot-em-up. A previous version is on the devs website, for free.
Year Walk - Relatively unsettling/scary adventure game. Horror is an underserved genre on the eShop.

Disappointing titles:
Midnight 2 - I like the golf-puzzle idea and presentation here, but controls aren't quite there yet.
Mini Mario & Friends: Amiibo Challenge - If you don't have Amiibos there's about an hour of okay~ish Mario & DK style puzzles here. Free though!

Still interested in these:
Axiom Verge - I've ordered the physical version for this, love the idea of a 2-screen Metroid style game.
Ghost Blade HD - This Dreamcast homebrew game looks like a cool shoot-em-up. Gonna get it soon.
FAST Racing Neo - Love F-Zero, but I've read the A.I. in this are rubberbanding cheaters?
Earthlock: Festival of Magic - Kinda wanna try this RPG, but I'm not really sold yet.
Völgarr the Viking - Looks cool, but apparantly it's absurdly difficult - and I don't have great reflexes so...
The Fall - This is one I don't know a lot about really. Used to get this and the Swapper mixed up, they look so similar in screenshots.

[Khushrenada]

This thread reminds me of NWR's failed thread / content of naming the 50 best eShop titles. Perhaps if that had happened last year then you wouldn't be making this topic. At the same time, given the slow responses here, there is probably a reason the Top 50 never happened. (Insert thinking emoji here)

[ejamer]

...
Stick It to the Man - Charming yet simple adventure game. It may be my favorite use of a licensed song in a game ever.
...
Blok Drop U - The first game by the infamous RCMadix.  It was actually a fun, orginal puzzle game. What followed was awful text book definitions of shovelware.
...

Stick It to the Man was very good. In fact, I'd suggest it often flirted with greatness... but couldn't quite turn the corner and provide consistent enough play. The choice of a main song was wonderful though, and the humor was delightful.


Also played Blok Drop U and thought it was an interesting starting point for a small indie dev. Very simple, but easy to play while distracted and entertaining enough; most important, it was priced appropriately so you didn't feel like you wasting money. Unfortunately that dev quickly became infamous for pushing tech demo code as shovelware instead of trying original designs. (But hey, apparently that strategy worked out ok for him.)

...
Sky Force Anniversary - Tremendous shoot-em-up. Simple, but so, so addictive.
...
Never Alone (Kisima Innitchuna) - Buggy platforming overshadows this atmospheric educational game, sadly.
...
Stealth Inc. 2 - The overworld is more of a hindrance than an addition in this trial & error puzzle platformer.
...
X-Type+ - Addictive score attack shoot-em-up. A previous version is on the devs website, for free.
...
The Fall - This is one I don't know a lot about really. Used to get this and the Swapper mixed up, they look so similar in screenshots.

Oh, interesting! I'd be keen to try Sky Force Anniversary - don't know anything about that one, but always enjoy a good shmup.


Which makes this a good time to also bring up X-Type+: for a cheap little diversion, this is a fantastic title to have on your Wii U. Simple and quick play, online leaderboards, and updated with gamepad support so that you don't need the TV on, this is the type of little gaming gem that everyone should own. Good simple arcade fun!  (That in turn reminds me of Pirate Pop Plus which ended up being disappointing, and of Woah Dave! which was awesome.)


Playing Never Alone now. The cultural insights and story are awesome, and the artistic style is appealing... but gameplay isn't worth recommending. Sad, but not uncommon for indie releases.


Stealth Inc 2 worked much better for me than it seems to have for you. Almost made my "very best of" list, and would be one of the top 4 or 5 eShop games that I played. The overworld was an interesting change of pace from the puzzle rooms, and being able to explore and make use of the many different powers to sneak around the complex was very appealing for me.


Finally, just wanted to say that I also get The Fall and The Swapper mixed up due to vaguely similar screenshots. Haven't played either yet, own both and am keen to get to them eventually.

[Order.RSS]

Oh, interesting! I'd be keen to try Sky Force Anniversary - don't know anything about that one, but always enjoy a good shmup.

If you're interested, I've done a write-up for it over here. It's probably my second or third favourite game I've played this year, which is a decent feat with competition like Breath of the Wild, The Swapper, Jotun and Panzer Dragoon Orta which I all really liked this year.

[Fatty The Hutt]

Is Inside My Radio any good? Anyone tried that or know of it?