Topic: Nintendo Switch/Wii U Indie Game Review/First Impressions Thread

[ThePerm]

So, this thread is for reviewing indie games. Much like the rate the TV or Movie thread in General Chat. I recently bought a bunch of indie games. So, I'll be playing through them and reviewing them.

Axiom verge - 8.9/10 This game is really good.  If you're a fan of Metroidvania games then you need to get this one.









edit: I decided to add First Impressions. I'm swimming in Indie games right now.

[Evan_B]

Lemme give you the lowdown. I've played more eShop games than retail releases on both the 3DS and Wii U- I know that's not a bold claim, but I have lots of OPINIONS.

"Must-have" eShop Titles:

-Fast Racing NEO- A steeper-priced eShop title, and maybe obsolete with RMX Switch on the horizon, but damn, this is a fast-paced, white-knuckle racer. Lacking in aesthetic charm and character a bit, it makes up for it with pure, unadulterated gameplay.
-Elliot Quest- This is the best Adventure-of-Link-alike title around, but it takes it to the next level with brutally difficult end game boss fights. Very open-ended, it's exploratory bliss at its finest.
-The Swapper- One of the most interesting blends of gameplay and story I've ever experienced, this puzzle-platformer is clever. You can get it elsewhere, and if you do have it already, that's okay. But if you don't, buy this game NOW.
-Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails- This blend of platforming and rail-shooting is one of the more novel and interesting experiences on Wii U, and it's odd spectator mode thanks to off-TV play is pretty silly. Atop that, it features a crushing difficulty curve that blends the best aspects of its individual genres in order to give a frustrating, but also extremely rewarding sense of accomplishment.
-Xeodrifter- Not Wii U exclusive, and loses the touchscreen functions present on the 3DS.
-Shantae and the Pirate's Curse- A fantastic Adventure-of-Link-alike, but marred by a pretty terrible stealth segment in the middle.
-SteamWorld Games- If you can't play these on other consoles, get them here. Duh.

"If you're into that sort of thing" Titles:

-Shantae: Half Genie Hero- It's not the best Shantae game on the Wii U, let's put it that way. An action-platformer with great art, mediocre bosses, and a mediocre soundtrack.
-Pushmo World- If you have played Pushmo on 3DS, you might not feel that rewarded by the slow difficulty curve on display here. If you HAVEN'T played Pushmo on 3DS, play this game!
-Q.U.B.E. Director's Cut- Do you like ball-physics, first-person puzzle games? THEN BOY DO I HAVE THE GAME FOR YOU!
-Child of Light- While the combat and customization options at play in Child of Light are fantastic and the art style is lovely, the dialogue and plot is pretty terrible, even for an RPG.
-Guacamelee- Do you want a melee-combat-based Metroid with a Luchadore theme and an uneven plot? THEN BOY DO I HAVE THE GAME FOR YOU!
-Freedom Planet- Do you want a Sonic game where you can run past enemies and get your ass kicked by the bosses? THEN BOY DO I HAVE THE GAME FOR YOU!
-Pokemon Rumble U- This genuinely fun series missteps a bit with arena-style challenges and is only redeemed by NEAR FIELD COMMUNICATION FIGURES (if you can get them).
-Shovel Knight- Do you like Mega Man games and whimsical dialogue, but hate yourself? THEN BOY DO I HAVE THE GAME FOR YOU!

"This game will try you but if you stick with it, you'll really enjoy yourself" Title:

-Chronicles of Teddy: Harmony of Exidus- This would be the BEST Adventure-of-Link-alike on the Wii U if it wasn't plagued by technical bugs. It will crash. Unless you save mercilessly, you will lose progress. If you manage to get past the first "world," it's smooth sailing and the rest of the game is absolutely fantastic.

[ShyGuy]

Oh man, Fast Racing Neo is so intense, it will make you sweat!

I have a lot on indie games on the Wii U, I should post my quick thoughts on the ones that stick out.

Speaking of indie games, I have a bunch of indie game codes that I'm trying to give away, no strings attached:
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=48174.50

[Soren]

As long as these threads exist I will never not try and sell people on the hidden brilliance of Knytt Underground. If you can get by the questionable character art design and paper thin story there's actually a beautiful world to go out, discover and experience. It's definitely not for everyone as the physics of the game can be a little wonky, but it's the kind of indie experience that can satisfy, warts and all. I played it during a particular time in my life and it my perfect game for midnight sessions with all lights turned off. Now excuse me while I fill the rest of this post with screenshots.

[ThePerm]

I bought Swapper right before I finished Axiom verge. So far it is good. I'll wait until i get more into it or beat it before I give a review though. So far it is still pretty buy worthy right now. It's on Sale for 2.99. I jumped on it. It cost less than a beer at pub.

[ejamer]

-Shovel Knight- Do you like Mega Man games and whimsical dialogue, but hate yourself? THEN BOY DO I HAVE THE GAME FOR YOU!

Curious: why say it would appeal if you "hate yourself"?  Did you find the difficulty too high?  I mean, you've already said it's for people who like Mega Man games so this seems like an unnecessary qualifier.


(I was skeptical of Shovel Knight, but upon playing really enjoyed the game and think it's totally worth recommending. If you have the chance, definitely give co-operative play a shot too - they did a great job implementing and balancing that mode. Until co-operative mode was ported to other systems, it made the Wii U version the best available. Oh, and don't forget the new modes that get unlocked post-campaign where you can play as the bad guys... so no lack of content available. Actually, I think you've talked me into going back and playing it some more.)

[ejamer]

XType Plus is a lovely game for any bullet hell/shmup fans.


The premise is easy: you are a small ship able to spew a constant stream of fire or use one of several screen-clearing bombs to avoid enemy fire. Each game you will face off against a string of bosses, one after another, who unleash a varied wave of bullets across the screen. Weave and dodge as necessary while blowing those bosses up piece by piece, and see how long you can survive as each new enemy is bigger and badder than the last.


There are only two modes in this dual analog, high score chasing diversion (survival mode and time trial) but considering the paltry $3 entry fee that seems totally fair. And the way games tend to be relatively short makes it easy to pick up and play for just one more round.


So XType Plus won't appeal to everyone and is a bit of a one-trick pony - but it's a good trick, and this game definitely hits the targets it was aiming for. If you are a shmup fan, give this indie title a shot!

[Evan_B]

Curious: why say it would appeal if you "hate yourself"?  Did you find the difficulty too high?  I mean, you've already said it's for people who like Mega Man games so this seems like an unnecessary qualifier.

Sorry, I shouldn't have said "if you like Mega Man" because you already hate yourself if you do.

The only thing that I found to be good about Shovel Knight was the music. The gameplay is boring and the bosses are terrible. It gets a pass for being "retro" but as I've mentioned many times in the past, I think it is overrated and not fun at all. I haven't played co-op, but seeing as it's not the main draw of the game and the levels weren't designed around it, I can't imagine it's all that great. I did play Plague of Shadows and it was a poorly implemented "and Knuckles," but the fact that they are planning on doing Spectre of Torment and whatever the hell King Knight's campaign will be are the only reasons to get it- it does have a large amount of quality for one game at it's price point, but it gets away with aesthetic  "charm" more than anything. It's fairly bland and rehashes a lot of ideas from better games.

[MagicCow64]

Curious: why say it would appeal if you "hate yourself"?  Did you find the difficulty too high?  I mean, you've already said it's for people who like Mega Man games so this seems like an unnecessary qualifier.

Sorry, I shouldn't have said "if you like Mega Man" because you already hate yourself if you do.

The only thing that I found to be good about Shovel Knight was the music. The gameplay is boring and the bosses are terrible. It gets a pass for being "retro" but as I've mentioned many times in the past, I think it is overrated and not fun at all. I haven't played co-op, but seeing as it's not the main draw of the game and the levels weren't designed around it, I can't imagine it's all that great. I did play Plague of Shadows and it was a poorly implemented "and Knuckles," but the fact that they are planning on doing Spectre of Torment and whatever the hell King Knight's campaign will be are the only reasons to get it- it does have a large amount of quality for one game at it's price point, but it gets away with aesthetic  "charm" more than anything. It's fairly bland and rehashes a lot of ideas from better games.

I completely agree. It would have been totally forgettable like many of its retro-indie brethren (Owlboy seems to have come and gone with little impact, for instance) but for some reason it caught the enthusiast zeitgeist and is held up as some kind of important title. For that reason I have developed a severe dislike of the game beyond its mediocre-to-bad quality, kind of like when Gladiator won the best picture Oscar. 

[ejamer]

Curious: why say it would appeal if you "hate yourself"?  Did you find the difficulty too high?  I mean, you've already said it's for people who like Mega Man games so this seems like an unnecessary qualifier.

Sorry, I shouldn't have said "if you like Mega Man" because you already hate yourself if you do.

That's more like it.   

..., I think it is overrated and not fun at all. ... It's fairly bland and rehashes a lot of ideas from better games.

I don't totally disagree. The game probably is overrated, and even though I found gameplay to be solid the level design was consistently middling. But as indie games go, any solid release with a retro aesthetic and reams of content is worth trying in my books - and you can't fault the developer support as they continue to release new content for the title.

Mega Man 9 was clearly better, but if choosing between Mega Man 10 and Shovel Knight I'd probably have a hard time to decide...

[Luigi Dude]

It's rather unfair to compare Shovel Knight to Megaman when the gameplay is quite different.  Outside of the eight bosses all having Knight in their name like MM bosses having Man, the gameplay itself is more like Duck Tales.  I enjoyed Shovel Knight more then the 2 Ducktales games so I'd say the game succeeded quite well at what it's trying to do. 

Yes it can't compare to the top tier Megaman games but not many games can.  But compared to a lot of other games from that era I'd say Shovel Knight is just as good if not better then many.  Shovel Knight is still one of the best examples of a Retro game done right and if some of you didn't like it because of whatever expectation you had then I'm sorry, but the rest of Shovel Knight's praise is greatly justified and deserved.

[Evan_B]

I mean, opinions are opinions. I ranked it low because it's like you said, yourself- it's not as good as Mega Man titles, and Mega Man isn't all that good in the first place. I also am no great fan of Action Platformers, and I don't believe that "retro" games are a genre or even something that should be attempted to be done "right." It's a marketing strategy, and when you strip that away, Shovel Knight is just a melee-based Mega Man that doesn't even use its Duck Tales pogo-bounce mechanic all that well. Atop that, the Relics present in the game are cheap Mega Man power up knockoffs that are also underutilized.

I'll say two things again- the saving grace of Shovel Knight are its additional campaigns, even if Plague Knight breaks the game and it's boss fights wide open. When I compare Shovel Knight to Freedom Planet (as I have in the past), I think of how those games take elements from other games like Mega Man, Sonic, and Duck Tales. Shovel Knight has themed levels and bosses, screen transitions, and uses the pogo stick mechanic to its greatest effect in its final boss battle. Freedom Planet has an optional cheesy story, ridiculous level design featuring loops here and there, but uses one of its most important mechanics, I-frames, in just about every single boss battle. The alternate characters are also very varied. It just feels like the Genesis style stickiness and momentum are an added bonus. Sure, Galaxy Trail loves their Sonic, but they do a whole lot more with the idea to make it unique.

The second of the two things I'll say again is, of course, these are all my opinions. I have strong feelings about Shovel Knight in the same way that I have strong feelings about Super Mario 3D Land: I don't think either are particularly great, they just abuse nostalgia and have just enough good in them for people to give them more credit than they're worth. Both are still well made games, developed by professionals, but it doesn't do anything for me.

[Order.RSS]

Great thread idea! Will read through the Shovel Knight discussion later, haven't bought the game yet.

Recommendations:
Affordable Space Adventures: a lot has been said about this one, it works best with 2 or 3 players in local co-op but is fine in single player too. You steer a little spaceship around a hostile world, solving puzzles with dozens of features on the Gamepad. Pitch-perfect difficulty curve that keeps it accessible enough, it encourages cooperation and looks and sounds fantastic. I got this cheap, but it's absolutely worth the normal price, I would consider this a must-own for Wii U. 9/10


EDGE: slick, stylish puzzle/platformer with cool techno soundtrack. This one gets rather frustrating and reliant on trial-and-error towards the end, and I think one of its gimmicks controls awfully, but you get well over 50 levels for 2 bucks. 7/10


Nano Assault NEO: shmup taking place on tiny cells that you can fly around. Think Mario Galaxy's planetoids but their tiny cells you need to rid of viruses. Not perfect but a vast improvement over the DS Nanostray titles, and a pretty good shmup for Wii U. 7/10


Never Alone (Kisima Innitchuna): okay this is a tough one. It's a platformer based around tales and traditions of some Alaskan Native people. For that alone I would recommend this, but honestly it's a bit finnicky as a 2D platformer. So if you don't care about narrative and finding out about the history of the Iñupiat this won't be for you. It includes documentary-esque features to further educate you, I found it interesting. 7/10


Nihilumbra: another 2D puzzle/platformer. Narration is rather heavy-handed, as is its message really, but you can shut the voice off. This was a neat distraction though, looks quite pretty. 7/10


Octodad: Dadliest Catch: very funny, chaotic game that works best in short bursts and with multiple people. I wrote a bit more about this here. 7/10


Severed: still my favourite game on Wii U, period. Including retail titles. This one's dark, moody, uses the gamepad well, cool Mesoamerican setting you don't see too often. Very, very highly recommended. I wrote more about it here. 9/10


Shantae & The Pirate's Curse: I have some issues with this game, but it's undeniably very fun to play. Controls are super smooth, it's quite long too. Didn't really like the cheesecakey vibe it has. I wrote more here. 8/10


SteamWorld Dig: A Fistful of Dirt: this one's pretty well-known by now. It's weird for me in that it starts out honestly pretty dull and a bit frustrating, and only really gets good past the halfway point. Glad I stuck with it, because I didn't dig it right away. 7/10


Year Walk: this one's cool. A creepy, supernatural point & click adventure set in Scandinavian winter. Uses the gamepad as the notes screen. Hate that it makes you play through twice for the real ending, but there not too many creepy games on Wii U and this one fills that niche well. 7/10


Only for a niche audience
Art of Balance: you stack bricks and stuff, hope it doesn't fall over.It's a pretty relaxing game, rather contrary to most Shin'en developed games. Looks nice, takes a while before you get to the good puzzles though, but at 200 of them there's solid content here. 7.5/10


Blek: cool concept, to solve puzzles using a kind of handwriting almost. However this one really stumped me a lot, so maybe only if you're good at puzzles. I wrote more here. 6/10


Gunman Clive 1 & 2: both look great, especially the second one, and the story does some... unexpected things. But they felt pretty sluggish to me control-wise and there's some infuriatingly difficult bossfights. T-rex can **** right off. Maybe if you're good at Mega Man styled games and want them with a cowboy aesthetic this is a good shout. But you don't move anywhere near as fast/nimble as Mega Man ever does. 6/10


Little Inferno: can't say much without spoiling this one, but I found it a bit too long and grindy, not truly funny and I don't think it really lands its message properly. The irony though is that you could probably use every criticism one might have against it, and say "but that's the point!!!" - which sure that's interesting I guess, but doesn't change that playing it feels a bit boring. 5/10


Midnight 2: kind of a neat concept, mixing "get the block to this point"-puzzles with... Golf. However the touch controls aren't quite as intuitive as you want - just let me draw a line where the block should go! It also weirdly trains you a few concepts that never get seen again (outracing hostile blocks), and the soothing music gets interrupted everytime you clear a stage which is the exact opposite of soothing. Can't really recommend this, sadly. 4/10

[ejamer]

Show, don't tell. That should be the motto for Toki Tori 2. This open world puzzle game challenges players to observe the environment and use their wits to figure out (a) the goal of the game, (b) how to identify where the puzzles are, and most importantly (c) how to solve the puzzles littered across the game world.

Not everyone will enjoy this game. It's not something you can play casually or without thought, and it's not big on hand holding. But Toki Tori 2 is extremely well made and very rewarding as you progress deeper into the game.

Very highly recommended. One of the best experience I've had on Wii U - bar none.


Perhaps this is a good time to mention that all Two Tribes games are on sale right now in North America?

[ThePerm]

Guacamelee! - First Impression I just got this game from Shyguy. It's actually pretty cool so far.  I'm from Tucson, so I'm digging it. I also like the references to our favorite Space Bounty Hunter Series.

[MagicCow64]

Show, don't tell. That should be the motto for Toki Tori 2. This open world puzzle game challenges players to observe the environment and use their wits to figure out (a) the goal of the game, (b) how to identify where the puzzles are, and most importantly (c) how to solve the puzzles littered across the game world.

Not everyone will enjoy this game. It's not something you can play casually or without thought, and it's not big on hand holding. But Toki Tori 2 is extremely well made and very rewarding as you progress deeper into the game.

Very highly recommended. One of the best experience I've had on Wii U - bar none.


Perhaps this is a good time to mention that all Two Tribes games are on sale right now in North America?

Yup, I forgot to mention this somehow, but this is one of the best puzzle games ever made in my book. Just an astonishing level of design skill on display here, essentially constructing a Metroid where the skills you acquire are made of your own thinking.

I also believe the WiiU version might be the best, as I think they updated the game when porting it to include text and hints and stuff, which sounds to me like blasphemy.

[Evan_B]

Guacamelee! - First Impression I just got this game from Shyguy. It's actually pretty cool so far.  I'm from Tucson, so I'm digging it. I also like the references to our favorite Space Bounty Hunter Series.

There's a Boba Fett series out there? I'm not aware of any other Space Bounty Hunter Series in existence. I mean, Boba Fett could still be alive. No other series about Space Bounty Hunters that I know of is alive.

[Manly_Eyepatch]

There's a Boba Fett series out there? I'm not aware of any other Space Bounty Hunter Series in existence. I mean, Boba Fett could still be alive. No other series about Space Bounty Hunters that I know of is alive.

I once knew a strange fella in Rangoon. Wore a suit of all silver. Covered his face with a mask.
Called himself Rom, Spaceknight. Whatever the hell that meant.

[Khushrenada]

Must have been suffering from jungle fever.

[Evan_B]

Stop flooding the forums with your alt account, Khush. I'm the only one that's allowed to critique games.

[rygar]

There's a Boba Fett series out there? I'm not aware of any other Space Bounty Hunter Series in existence. I mean, Boba Fett could still be alive. No other series about Space Bounty Hunters that I know of is alive.

I once knew a strange fella in Rangoon. Wore a suit of all silver. Covered his face with a mask.
Called himself Rom, Spaceknight. Whatever the hell that meant.

[ejamer]

... Toki Tori 2. ...

Yup, I forgot to mention this somehow, but this is one of the best puzzle games ever made in my book. Just an astonishing level of design skill on display here, essentially constructing a Metroid where the skills you acquire are made of your own thinking.

I also believe the WiiU version might be the best, as I think they updated the game when porting it to include text and hints and stuff, which sounds to me like blasphemy.

Agree that it's in the running for best puzzle game ever. Didn't bring it up earlier because I thought that Azeke might want to gush about the game - he's a big fan if I remember correctly - but definitely had it in mind when first seeing this post.


The biggest problem is that sometimes I don't know what to say about the game without giving away some of the secrets... because discovery is the biggest joy it offers. Let me just say that from the opening moments, where the game starts without a traditional start up screen and just asks you to start exploring, you know this game is trying something different. And I believe it succeeds.


The one downside was a weak story. Toki Tori 2 did such a fantastic job in every other respect that I felt like the story should have been fleshed out better than it was. Luckily my expectation in that regard is a bit lower because this is a puzzle game, and it does everything else so well that I'm perfectly ok overlooking that one shortcoming.

[Manly_Eyepatch]

Must have been suffering from jungle fever.

Son, in my day "Jungle Fever" meant something very different.
Very different.

[ThePerm]

Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition 8.5/10 I'm not done with the game yet, but i'm on the last level. I'd give the game higher marks, but there are points that are ninja gaiden hard. Its a Metroidvania type platformer with more melee and grappling. The game is great. Great fighting system. Good music. Pretty looking. It is really funny, and throws in all sorts of things to make you laugh. This goes from good jokes to references to other games. My only gripe is there are some intense stuff. This makes me sound like a shitty gamer, but there should be some points for your hands to rest. Switching between worlds while platforming is somewhat disorienting. Overall great game. Highly recommended.





I haven't even played the 2 player  mode which could  bump the points of the game.

[Order.RSS]

Tengami: This is another great Wii U game I forgot to mention earlier. Plays mostly like a point & click adventure game, I'm thinking it might've been designed with iOS in mind? The Wii U version adds some minor stuff like collecting pretty stamps to post on Miiverse with.

In this story you move through a gorgeous origami styled world with some similarities to environments in Paper Mario perhaps.
You can flip pages as if it's a storybook for example. Very chill music with low-pressure puzzles makes this game ideal for a quiet evening with a cup of tea. It won't last much longer than that quiet evening; I finished it in 1.5 hours, but for me that's a perfect session length. Very tranquil experience overall that I would highly recommend to destress with. 8/10

[Evan_B]

You know, I wasn't really that thrilled by Guacamelee. Indie Metroidvanias always feel like exactly that- an unrefined developer tackling one of the most difficult-to-design genres in video gaming. Or, at least, a very difficult genre to execute with finesse. I wasn't too pleased with how the endgame became energy-shield-based, and how the final area was a bunch of gimmicky kill-rooms. I also didn't really think much of the bosses- they just weren't memorable or even difficult to a point where fighting them felt memorable.

I definitely liked the art style, and I think the idea of a brawler-Metroidvania is cool, but it didn't all come together in the end, for me. Still, for fans of the genre, I would give it a recommendation because of its interesting aesthetic and some cool ideas, but I wouldn't place it in the upper echelons of Metroidvanias.

[Order.RSS]

Spy Chameleon: just noted this went on sale this week and remembered I played it sometime last year I think.

So in Spy Chameleon you play as a chameleon who, crucially, is somehow not a spy. I'd say he's more of a skilled burglar to be honest. Seen from a top-down view you run and sneak around short levels, avoiding guards, sentries, cameras and other methods of detection. Ultimate goal is to reach the end of each chapter, where Spy Chameleon will steal an object of particular value - such as an important painting, or the secret recipe to a conspicuously branded soda beverage.

Being a chameleon our lil' burglar dude can change his skintone (this alternate future is truly post-racial) at the touch of a button, to blend in with whatever he's standing on. Standing on red carpet? Undetectable! Blue neon pads? Invisible! Etc.
It's really quite a clever mechanic, and since the controls are ace (holla at yo Pro Controlla) the whole game is pretty much a joy to play. Longer levels often have checkpoints and reloads when you got caught are near instantenous too.

Complaints: the leaderboards are useless if you don't have any friends who play this. What do I care about seeing the top 5 worldwide for every level (usually the same few people vying for the top spot too), just tell where I am on the list!
Would also have liked a smidge more effort being put into the story. Maybe a 5-second cutscene showing who orders Spy Chameleon to steal these riches or something. Or a picture at the end with him sipping not-coca-cola in front of the chaMona Lisa, just something to provide context or motivation.

Overall though this is a fun, vibrant lil' stealth/puzzle game you can run through in two sittings. At 5 bucks or less I'd say it's worth a shot! Rating 7/10

[MagicCow64]

You know, I wasn't really that thrilled by Guacamelee. Indie Metroidvanias always feel like exactly that- an unrefined developer tackling one of the most difficult-to-design genres in video gaming. Or, at least, a very difficult genre to execute with finesse. I wasn't too pleased with how the endgame became energy-shield-based, and how the final area was a bunch of gimmicky kill-rooms. I also didn't really think much of the bosses- they just weren't memorable or even difficult to a point where fighting them felt memorable.

I definitely liked the art style, and I think the idea of a brawler-Metroidvania is cool, but it didn't all come together in the end, for me. Still, for fans of the genre, I would give it a recommendation because of its interesting aesthetic and some cool ideas, but I wouldn't place it in the upper echelons of Metroidvanias.

Yeah, I'd second this. Decent hook for a Metroidy game with the movement and fighting upgrades being tied together, but the actual progression and world design was pretty perfunctory. And as said, it leans way too heavily on the kill rooms.

[ThePerm]

I got the game for free. Had never really heard of it before hand and I liked the atmosphere. Something can be said about playing so many games that really anything can't be enjoyed. I had the same impression of Call of Duty Ghosts. I had not played the other games in the series, and hadn't really played any console shooting games since Perfect Dark. I quite enjoyed Ghosts. But every reviewer **** all over it. I got the Call of Duty game that preceded it, which had much more unanimous praise, and it really wasn't my bag. I played Guacamelee immediately after I played Axiom Verge. Which itself is a more standard Metroidvania style game. I thought it was good that there would be a similar game, but with a major departure in gameplay. My only real complaint in retrospect is the music while very good is not as varied as it could be.

I'm moving back to my hometown and it is actually one of the games I'd like to show off. I really want to play through it again with a buddy. So this is going to have a great deal of replay value. Another thing is I can't say how long it's been since I laughed so hard at a game. Maybe one of the Zelda games or Conker's BFD?

As far as the kill rooms thing. I actually like that. At the beginning of the game I found the Cavern in the main city and decided to grind until I had all of the abilities I could buy. This was really fun as the game has a good fighting system. I was really big into wrestling games by Aki/Asmik back in the n64 days though. Also, I watched a ton of luchadores on the first hour of wcw during those days. It might be more appealing to me as opposed to a general audience.

Also, all the people are bitching about the new Call of Duty game.  They're like "it's too futuristic" I'm like "alright, I like it to feel more like a spy tech game than a tommy gun game"

really the question is what amazing games did you play that made a great game like Guacamelee lame?I want to play those. On the other hand, maybe I'll enjoy them less for the same reason?

[MagicCow64]

I mean, to some extant I think I am having the problem of having played too many games at this point to enjoy stuff I find unexceptional. Unlike movies or TV shows that can be processed on the side or otherwise take less time or attention, I am definitely losing patience with mediocre video games.

As a big fan of the Metroid titles I have played quite a few Indie wannabe Metroidvania games and at this point I'm no longer really satiated just by the attempt at the structure. I would put both Axiom Verge and Guacamelee at the "nice try" level, better than, say, Ori and the Blind Forest or Incredibly Twisted Shadow Planet, but not on the same level as Metroid games. I think this design mold is really tricky to pull off well because it potentially involves so much repetition.

I've said it before, but I'd pretty much only rate Shadow Complex as a truly excellent attempt at the genre. It got kind of poo-pooed on rerelease for whatever reason, possibly because it's kind of the opposite of Guacamelee: presentation is somewhat bland but the actual level design and play feel is top-notch. 

[Order.RSS]

Sky Force Anniversary was recently released on Wii U, a port from the 2014 release on PS4 and the like... Which in turn is an HD remake of the 2004 game Sky Force, are you keeping up? Not sure how the Wii U version differs drastically, apart from cloning the game to the Gamepad, but hey it's finally here! This is from a Polish studio who mostly do mobile games and versions of Sky Force.

So Sky Force Anniversary is a vertical shoot-em-up, and feels a bit like a steampunk~ish variation on Capcom's 1942 shooter. You pilot a lil' ship that needs to take down an entire army by itself, over varying terrains such as oceans, seasides, weapons factories, caves and stuff. Some of that terrain is destructible, though it's mostly limited to towers and crates and the like.

SKy Force is definitely on the forgiving side of the shmup genre, you can take several hits before dying, and by collecting stars from downed foes you can upgrade your ship. (My recommendation: start by adding side-cannons and the missiles, before expanding health and getting special weapons!) Importantly, you can keep the stars you collect even if you get shot down. This means that while failing a stage 5 times in a row you're at least getting a more powerful ship.

There's also temporary firepower upgrades, and permanent cards to collect which can do things like add extra drones for more firepower, or increase your movement speed. Lastly you can also rescue stranded paratroopers by hovering over them for a bit.

By clearing stages with various conditions (saving all paratroopers, not getting hit, destroying X amount of foes) you gain medals - get all 4 medals on a stage and you can play that stage on a higher difficulty setting. So with 9 levels, each with 4 difficulty levels, and 4 medals per difficulty... there's 144 medals in total you could strive for. If that's not enough, the game also features 2-player local co-op (Pro Controller support waddup) aaaaaand there's an online Tournament mode every weekend.

This all sounds great! Are there no negatives? Well I guess that the Tournament mode being locked to weekends only is a minor annoyance, and the medals are mostly just the same 4 goals over and over again. The sprites of the two characters don't match the artstyle, but you don't see them often. I suppose not all the bossfights are equally cool, the first two levels pit you against giant frigates so facing a helicopter in the next may feel like a step down.
Also I wanna complain about the loadtimes, which feel just a biiiit too long, especially if you accidentally exit out of a stage by pressing the wrong button and needing to wait another 30 seconds for it to load back up.



In summary: Sky Force Anniversary packs a lot of bang for your buck, looks pretty, has very precise controls, and is surprisingly welcoming for newer players to the genre thanks to its permanent ship upgrades. You could totally grind your way through it if you have the patience.
While the loadtimes feel excessive, and I would've perhaps liked a boss rush mode, I have very little to complain here. If you're into shmups or think you might be, Sky Force Anniversary comes highly recommended. 9/10

[Adrock]

Axiom Verge Physical Release is Coming to Nintendo Switch

I guess I'm finally buying this. No date or price. I'd bet on the Nintendo Switch tax.

[Order.RSS]

Axiom Verge Physical Release is Coming to Nintendo Switch

I guess I'm finally buying this. No date or price. I'd bet on the Nintendo Switch tax.

Don't wanna rain on any parades here, but feel like this needs to be pointed out: the link you posted sources a NeoGaf thread... Which sources a Tweet that has already been deleted. Apparantly in the podcast that tweet was from it is said that a Switch version is "being looked into".

Not doubting it'll see release on Switch at some point, and physical would be cool, but I wouldn't take this as confirmation quite yet.

The Wii U physical release hasn't gotten a date yet has it? It's slated for Q2 this year, so I suppose that gives them at least 2 more months if they'll be able to make that window.

[Adrock]

I guess I'm not buying this.

[Adrock]

Has anyone purchased Kamiko? If so, how is it?

I'm interested because it's a $5 game, and I read so positive reviews. It's apparently short, but the price is right so you get what you pay for.

[Evan_B]

I am playing through Kamiko right now, although in brief bursts, as I have a lot of schoolwork. It's great! As someone who closely follows developer Skipmore's work, it's a huge step-up in terms of quality for them.

The game is admittedly short, with your first character run taking about one hour to complete (I clocked half that time with my second character), but all three play styles are varied and interesting. Like most Skipmore games, I think it's unfair to take Kamiko at face value after playing through only one character, and I'm a bit critical of Daan's review for that reason- you unlock some special features after doing all three character runs on a single file. Skipmore's games are designed for the speed-runner: your first run will have you learning the game's mechanics and enemy behavior, but it's designed to make you want to improve your playtime and impose certain limitations on yourself.

I have written about Skipmore's other games, and a bit more on Kamiko, in the reader review thread. It's nice and cheap, I recommend it.

[Order.RSS]

Let's talk Whispering Willows on Wii U, a "5 out of 10" game if ever I've seen one. Apparantly this was ported over from the Ouya of all things... From one doomed console to the next?



So here's another Wii U indie game I don't hear anyone talking about, ever. It's an adventure game of sorts with a supernatural/horror theme going on. In terms of gameplay, you're this girl called Elena who has to find her lost father in/around the grounds of a giant mansion where spooky stuff has gone down in the past.

A Native American spirit teaches you to astrally project, which helps you solve little environmental puzzles and interact with spirits of dead people. Solve their murder, return their spirit to their lost corpse, help ghosts find peace so they can move onto the afterlife, that sort of stuff.

So you're walking around the catacombs, garden hedge maze, tool shed, mansion, etc. trying to find keys and occasionally push items, deliver things to ghosts, or (rarely) avoiding evil beings. It's pretty light stuff, and since you can only run when outside it can drag a bit when you're plodding from room to room, but it's not too bad I guess.

Presentation is all over the map, the in-game stuff looks pretty sharp and nicely drawn and there's some decently spooky piano music going on. But then there's "cutscenes" which are like a Powerpoint slideshow of DeviantArt pictures which clash with the game's art style.
In addition the load times are super frequent and surprisingly long, which cut out the music very sudden and drastically. This is a particular problem during the ending, when spooky music and in-engine cutscenes (thank God) constantly get interrupted to load the next 20 seconds of the scene.

Gamepad integration is nicely done, displaying Elena's occassionally updated diary as well as notes/letters from the various deceased you find. You tend to find those out of sequence, so the story has some non-linear elements of delivery to it, which is nicely done.
At the same time however, Elena seems to learn facts MUCH later than you do. There's an annoying point in one of her latest diary entries when she's "very confused and doesn't know what to believe" when all evidence, both written accounts and her own experiences at that point, seems VERY clear already.

Clocking in around 3 hours, Whispering Willows isn't the worst of its kind. It's very light on gameplay, but does set a nice mood throughout, looks mostly great and sounds pretty good too. The story also isn't awful, even if it does rely on some well-worn tropes like Native American spiritualism. At least they attempt to handle that respectfully though, this ain't Pocahontas.
If you're looking for a creepy adventure game on Wii U, try Year Walk instead. But if you play this with snacks to pass the loadtimes, I think you'll have a decent enough evening. 5/10

[Fatty The Hutt]

Whispering Willows now officially on my radar. I love puzzle adventure games like this one.
Thanks for the review, Steef!

[Order.RSS]

Whispering Willows now officially on my radar. I love puzzle adventure games like this one.
Thanks for the review, Steef!

No problem, definitely check out some recorded footage first though. For one it's not a point & click adventure deal, you actually control Elena's movement. Its puzzles are also very much on the easy side. Personally I didn't mind, but Tengami is a bit more challenging for example. That's a straight point & click title though.

Feel like Willows only works if you're interested in the atmosphere, so try to see if it grabs you before purchasing I'd say.

[Order.RSS]

Wrapped up Back To Bed on Wii U today, a short puzzle game for fans of Dalí.



So this is a really short 30-level puzzle game developed by what looks like a group of students from Denmark, hope I'm not slighting another Nordic country now haha. This was a late release for Wii U, from December 2016.

Most striking here is obviously the presentation. With its gorgeous surrealist art style that feels very reminiscent of artists like Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst and maybe some Giorgio de Chirico in there. I can imagine this being a visual treat for any art schoolers out there.

What you do in that gorgeous setting is playing as the subconcious of Bob, a narcoleptic dude who sleepwalks around and needs guidance to find his bed again. Bob behaves pretty much like a Lemming or one of those Mario vs. DK automatons. You roam over floors and the occassional confusing wall (can I namedrop M.C. Escher here to up my cultural cred? Oh hey does anyone remember Roberto Matta?), placing apples and fish in Bob's path to make him change direction or help him cross gaps.
While you do this there's some soothing soundscapes happening, and occasionally a down-pitched voice gives you instructions (or tells you that apples are the same as hats?). It all has a suitably dreamlike atmosphere going, and the visual style is consistent from menu to "cut scene" to gameplay, very nice.

The puzzles themselves are on the simple side, they never go complete crazy with intersecting impossible corners and stuff. I ran through the the whole "story" in 1.5 hours. That does unlock all levels in a hard mode which does require you to make more elaborate paths and collect keys, but still.
I have a few more complaints: who maps "cancel/back" to the A BUTTON?! And why is the Y button accept/pick up? If you're not gonna let us remap buttons, at least offer a conventional layout.

Load times are a bit too frequent as well, especially when Bob gets hits by an enemy (dogs or clocks are conspiring to wake him up). When he falls off the ledge the game seamlessly continues, but if you get hit, or run over by a whale-train (don't ask) it suddenly has to load the level all over again. Bit inconsistent and it frustrates when you've been trained to just let him walk into every hazard to see what your options are.

On the whole, Back To Bed offers a polished, if short puzzle experience. If you go in expecting a budget Captain Toad of sorts and have an appreciation for this era of visual arts, I imagine you'll have a decent hour or two. It's current sale price of 5$ feels right to me, not sure if I would've been as positive if I paid full price (10$) for it, since I don't see myself re-doing all the stages in Nightmare Mode. Rating 7/10

[Evan_B]

The folks over at Nintendo Everything did some legitimate research and journalism (for once) and put together an article that addresses the indie scene on Wii U and Switch. Some games have been canceled, some are still coming out, and some have moved to Switch. Check it out here:
http://nintendoeverything.com/50-indie-games-still-on-for-wii-u-in-limbo-moved-to-switch/

[Order.RSS]

The folks over at Nintendo Everything did some legitimate research and journalism (for once) and put together an article that addresses the indie scene on Wii U and Switch. Some games have been canceled, some are still coming out, and some have moved to Switch. Check it out here:
http://nintendoeverything.com/50-indie-games-still-on-for-wii-u-in-limbo-moved-to-switch/

Thanks for posting this link, that's a great roundup! I didn't realise MixedBag had another Wii U project alongside Futuridium and Forma.8, sad that never saw the light of day. Aqua Moto still has my curiosity, and Bizerta & Vegas Prime could be neat if they materialize.

Really does highlight how many projects fall through or move platforms. In some ways it's probably not helpful that since crowdfunding tends to take place at the start of a project, it moves the public's awareness of a project to way earlier in the development process than with traditional studio projects.
As a result we see a lot more titles dissappear/not follow on "promises"/etc. than we would have before.

Sidenote but some of these teams don't seem great at marketing/communication? It doesn't really sound like the Strength of the Sword guys want to be in console development, which I can totally understand, but maybe don't say that while you're still gonna release a game on consoles!
Witchbeam's comment on Assault Android Cactus is pretty vague too, I don't think it's been officially cancelled, but here they're given an opportunity to either say so, or reinforce hope for potential customers... and they just do neither. Shame too, it's a good game!

[Soren]

Edmund McMillen (Super Meat Boy, Binding of Isaac) has announced his new game "The End Is Nigh". Coming to PC July 12 and Switch "later".

[MagicCow64]

Super Meat Boy 2, sounds good to me, especially after the endless Isaac iterations that I could not give a **** about.

[Adrock]

I guess I'm finally buying this. No date or price. I'd bet on the Nintendo Switch tax.

Axiom Verge: Multiverse Edition Confirmed For Physical Release On Switch


Switch Tax® also confirmed.

[NWR_insanolord]

The developer confirmed the Switch digital version will be the same price as the other console versions. The "include something small in the physical release so you can get away with a different digital price" strategy strikes again.

[Mop it up]

I find it interesting that they're still releasing a Wii U disc version at this point (even though I know it's been mentioned before). Or does it just have a download code in it?

[Shaymin]

It's a full disc.

[Order.RSS]

I'm game for the physical on Wii U still. Having played The Swapper with its map on the Gamepad really hammered home how well the system is/was suited for a 2D Metroid of Castlevania. Was gonna get Axiom Verge earlier but it just didn't happen somehow, so now I'll wait for the physical edition. Plus those bonus features like the soundtrack and the DVD could be fun, not sure if I'll use them much ever tbh, but I'll at least put the soundtrack on my MP3 player since it's super catchy.

[Order.RSS]

Speaking of Metroid/vania's, I finished Forma.8 yesterday. I'm super torn on how much I liked this one. I played it on Wii U, but I could see this coming to Switch in the future since it's already on a bunch of platforms.



This one comes from Mixed Bag, a game studio from Italy, probably best known for their Star Fox-esque space shooter Futuridium. I picked this up because the NWR review was rather positive. However, in my opinion the game is... well... a bit of a mixed bag (sorry).

You play as a space probe that looks like the Owlship from Watchmen, which gets stranded on a giant planet. Full of cavernous places, mysterious locations, with hints of past civilisations and so forth. It really adheres pretty close to the Metroid formula in terms of architecture and worldbuilding without a single written word.
Structurally it's also similar, you can go in a bunch of direction usually, there's tons of secrets, but also power ups you need to unlock before you access certain blocked off paths.

Visually it's a real stunner. It looks very distinct from Futuridium mostly, proving the developers have more than one ace up their sleeves. This one is right up there with the DrinkBox Studios games like Severed and Guacamelee; Forma.8 shares a similar cartoony vibe and even shares some of the colour-pallette. That's commendable in my book, because it makes Forma.8 into one of the best looking indies on Wii U.

The sound department also pulls some real weight here. A moody,oppressive vibe hangs over most of it. If you restore health the flowers you do so with make a satisfying jingle, boss battle encounters have blood-pumping bassy synth themes, again top notch stuff.

However... It ain't all fantastic, sadly.
Metroidy games are notoriously difficult to pull off if you don't get the map right, and the map here is really rather useless. Rooms are absolutely MASSIVE, your ship is tiny, and the map just displays what sector you're in. Not even your location within the block, and definitely not all the winding paths within them either.
Since nothing has names and many of the areas look somewhat similar you're going to get absolutely lost and trek back and forth past the same areas many times.

The hints here are also very sparse and often just super obtuse. There's some real headscratching puzzles for which hints are placed all the way across the map. There's a few warp portals to help you out, but even those are unreliable sometimes - I got super far into an area, found a portal near a mysterious domed structure and it sent me back a thousand miles... AND IT WAS A ONE-WAY PORTAL. Why??? Had to trek all the way back there.

Speaking of backtracking, what's a defining feature of Metroid? SPEED. You zip past rooms with relative ease and many powerups are designed to increase mobility, or at least demolish everything in your path with barely a second thought. Not so in Forma.8, your probe is pretty slow and floaty. Those imprecise controls are mostly fine, but almost every enemy can tank at least one hit, even the smallest critters.
There's thousands of them constantly getting up in yo grill when you're just trying to find where the damn cave exit was again. This game does interesting things, but the combat is pretty annoying and it makes traversal quite harrowing (not in a good way).

Another basic element they really messed up: damage indicators on boss battles. There's a bunch of bosses and there's usually a trick you need to figure out to beat them. However, just wailing on them with the bombs or shield zap often makes them flash, giving you the impression you're doing damage. No boss healthbars means I dropped 50 bombs into a grid robot's face before thinking "okay maybe this ain't it."
Give us some feedback here! Just have it make a metallic clink indicating our efforts are pointless against its armour or something!

That's the overall experience: mesmerising and it keeps you curious, but also very frustrating. Maybe I'm too dumb for its puzzles, some of which are really neat, but I was close to giving up several times. For indication: HowLongToBeat.com said this game would be 5½ hours. It took me around 10 and I just passed the 50% completion mark.

I was really excited for Forma.8 so maybe my expectations were too high, but unfortunately I can't give this a full recommendation for everyone. If you want a hard, beautiful Metroid game, get this. It's a really mysterious world, and you won't be able to solve all its puzzles, so it succeeds in making you feel really tiny in a hostile giant universe.
However it really overstays its welcome, extensive backtracking is caused by confusing layouts and a crappy map. Tonally it also doesn't always jive, since the game feels pretty relaxing/smooth/slow-paced, but they'll pile on the enemies turning it into a weird stressful experience.

Rating: 8/10 in its best moments, 5/10 during its worst. Come sit on the fence with me!

[Phil]

Ittle Dew 2 is getting a physical version on Switch. I really liked this comedic take on Zelda when I played it on the PS4, so I'm going to get it on Switch as well.


https://nintendowire.com/news/2017/07/07/ittle-dew-2-trickles-onto-nintendo-switch-november/

[Phil]

I'm really enjoying Infinite MiniGolf so far. It finally released today after originally going to launch this past Tuesday, so not a big delay. Just a slightly disappointing one. Lots of holes, lots of costumes to unlock, and seeing that every hole already in the game can be made using the hole creator means that you can do some really cool and involved stuff.

[Order.RSS]

I'm really enjoying Infinite MiniGolf so far. It finally released today after originally going to launch this past Tuesday, so not a big delay. Just a slightly disappointing one. Lots of holes, lots of costumes to unlock, and seeing that every hole already in the game can be made using the hole creator means that you can do some really cool and involved stuff.

This is from Zen Studios correct? They're really going for niche markets huh, pinball and now mini-golf. Although a course designer sounds funs! I remember how Rollercoaster Tycoon had a mini-golf in their expansions, couldn't do a whole lot with it but it was still fun forcing people through an endless cycle of the same three holes haha.

[Order.RSS]

Hate summer heat? Jøtun (Valhalla edition) has you covered! Played on Wii U.



This is another indie gem in my eyes. No question about it, a super polished package all around.
In Jøtun you play as Thora, an axe-wielding lady who is tasked with impressing the Norse Gods by slaying a succession of giants, to earn her place in Valhalla.

Presentation is absolutely top-notch for an indie release. So many language options supported! Actual orchestrated music! Hand-drawn animation style! Good voice acting! Post-game content! Really impressive stuff, I think this could've totally been sold as a retail product.

So in this 7~ hour game you walk around 5 worlds, each of which have 2 distinctly different levels and terrifyingly difficult boss giant to take down. Some levels see you solving puzzles, others are more combat heavy. If you can picture a timeline where Zelda never went for 3D polygons and just kept doing overhead perspective games, Jøtun gets pretty close to that I think.
Collect runes in the levels to gain access to the boss fights, pick up powerups along the way, simple stuff? Not really - while the level puzzles are generally pretty self-explanatory, the bossfights will absolutely test you. Look at that screenshot above - see how tiny your character is compared to the Giants!!! They have enormous healthbars, and some of them can end your life in just 3 hits. VERY difficult at times, but super rewarding to take one down.

Thora narrates her motivations in well done Icelandic voice acting, which really brings the world alive and sells you on the Norse myth premise. It also helps that while there are cool nods to Norse myths for those interested in the material, it's mostly done to serve gameplay. Wolfprints in the snow guide your way (Odin's wolves) in one of the cool snow levels, whilst Odin's two ravens point to your next destination in the hub world. Power-ups are based on lightning power (Thor), speed (Frigg I think?), or deception (Loki) so they're nicely linked to the material too. However, if you've only ever given a cursory glance at the Marvel Thor movies you'll still do just fine even if you don't recognise the Nine Realms connected by the Yggdrasil tree.

Is everything peachy? Eh, I think the map is pretty crap. The GamePad constantly shows it, which is nice, but never tells you YOUR location on it. So it's not ideal for traversal without keeping a close eye on it. The levels are pretty sprawling, meanwhile. They fill many screens, and while there's no loading once you've entered one, their size makes them a bit cumbersome to navigate sometimes. It does help in making you feel very small though.
Frame-rate only dipped a bit when there were LOTS of enemies on-screen in one of the harder boss fights, but it was still totally playable.

Don't buy this if you're easily frustrated though. Just go in accepting that the bosses will wreck your **** several times before you've even seen half their attacks. I think my "easiest" one went down in 3 or 4 attempts, but most took me closer to 10 tries. Thora is pretty slow so you need to time your strikes carefully; hack & slash is no option here.

Jøtun belongs to the upper legions of Wii U indies, alongside Severed, Affordable Space Adventures, Shantae & the Pirate's Curse and SteamWorld Heist. Rating: 8.5/10

[NWR_insanolord]

It's not an announcement, but the official Super Meat Boy Twitter account tweeted a question of whether people would want a physical release if they made a Switch version of the game, which makes it seem likely the game is coming. I'd really love to see that happen, that's a game I think would be a great fit for the platform.

[Phil]

I reviewed Infinite Minigolf from Zen Studios for my site. I liked it more than NWR's reviewer for the game. Here are my thoughts.

[Order.RSS]

I reviewed Infinite Minigolf from Zen Studios for my site. I liked it more than NWR's reviewer for the game. Here are my thoughts.

Ya know, this looks quite impressive for a minigolf title really. Didn't know it went for these kinds of visuals. Am I right in understanding it doesn't use motion controls for making swings though? You'd think it would be doable on Switch, but maybe it's a lot of work to do for this specific version.
I liked their pinball game's polish, so it's neat to see they put a lot of effort into this seemingly very niche-appeal game as well.

[Order.RSS]

I have a bit to say/vent about Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones, this one's from Curve Digital and launched as a Wii U exclusive in 2014. Since then it's been ported almost everywhere though, so maybe a Switch version will happen too.


This one can best be described as a puzzle-platformer combo, with some minor stealth mechanics, and a big helping of Metroidvania. You play a seemingly generic clone in a factory where it looks like clones are used to try out various new appliances in test chambers. If you're thinking this sounds like an Abe's Odyssee meets Portal crossover, you're not far off, certainly in terms of tone and sense of humour.

It's a pretty large game, took me around 14 hours, which is due to 2 factors: structure, and trial-and-error gameplay. Let's talk structure first: the game is set in a massive industrial complex with interlocking chambers, displayed Metroidvania style in a blocky map, and backtracking is involved too. The hub world contains puzzles, as well as entrances to test chambers.
Those are the real meat of the game, but it's also where a massive problem arises.

Per sector you get just one new gadget to "test out" in these chambers, but outside the chambers you have access to your entire arsenal EXCEPT the new one. So you have this weird scenario where you're traversing through the world, looking for test chamber 3-5 or whatever using gadgets you won't get to use in the chamber itself. I suppose it's done to alleviate monotony, but it's an odd fit with the Metroidvania structure.
Imagine only getting to use a double jump in certain areas or something; it runs counter to what I like about the Metroid structure - combining a bunch of newfound powers to stomp previously unbeatable obstacles.

This is rendered impossible here too however: you can only use one gadget at the time, and they're all handled with the same button. Even if the item consists of two separate pieces, you're still using one button. It's a mystifying decision in my opinion - here you have the Wii U Gamepad, a controller the size of the the Starship Enterprise with rougly 1,000 input methods... But we're just gonna ignore the D-pad, X button, and L button? Use them! Let us combine these fun gadgets!

There's some really frustrating late-game moment where timing is critical and here I am floating above a moving platform, fumbling two separate gadgets using a single button with buzzsaws and lasers everywhere. Infuriating. The game is littered with 1-hit killing death traps you would need clairvoyance to see coming, and while it's liberal with checkpoints, I still had some missions kill me 50 times. At some point you gotta just give me an option to skip a level guys, I'm not great at platforming, but definitely not the worst either. Let me live with the shame in private, but at least allow me to progress FFS. If you're awful at a particular thing it's basically a giant roadblock, since you must complete most of the test chambers.

Buzzsaws, lasers, switches and block pushing form your main puzzles here. The stealth isn't used very much, besides determining if enemies can see you in the dark. If you've ever had the fortune to play one of the old mobile phone Splinter Cell versions, you know how this works in 2D. It's decent enough, but do note this is a puzzle-platformer primarily. Environments are generally pretty samey, which is thematically sound, though you might miss typical platforming staples like lava and ice.

One more complaint before I say some nice things too: this game doesn't really do exit points well. By this I mean providing the player with lulls in gameplay, natural stopgaps where you can choose to stop playing. Test chambers are timed so there's a natural pressure there, but as soon as you finish one, new routes open up and you feel compelled to go there right away before you forget. The sector breaks are rather seamless too, with just  short cutscenes, so unless you actively decide to stop playing, you won't often reach points where it feels natural to set the controller down. Not sure if this is a compliment or not, bit of both maybe?

This has all been rather negative unfortunately, but I did have fun with Stealth Inc. 2. The visuals are neat (although they should really remove the "you are (in)visible" text, since your goggles also display your status), the soundtrack is decent electronic stuff that only occasionally gets grating during some of the most infuriating levels. Platforming feels smooth & responsive for the most part, although I would have liked more buttons dedicated to the gadgets. There's a ton of secrets to find too if that's your thing, and a lot of the puzzles really make you think which is always nice.
Lastly, the Miiverse integration is really fun. You can leave messages for other players almost anywhere. Sometimes people made really useful comments that helped me out, other times I got tired Portal memes to read. I haven't even tried the level editor, nor did I try user-made levels, but the option is there too.

Ultimately, Stealth Inc. 2 is a rather polished package with a bunch of features you might find appealing. I think it's hampered by several pretty integral design flaws (in my opinion), and really outstays its welcome. The first 2 sectors were really fun, and so was the last one, but there's too much stuff in my opinion and the pathfinding isn't intuitive enough. I've felt like a moron several times, just trying to find a freaking new level to play, because the game insists on making you use its labyrinthine hubworld.
If they had shaved off the third sector entirely, and added a pity level-skip feature if you die over 20 times, I feel like the total experience would be a lot more impressive.

Rating: 6.5/10 Definitely worth a look, but your mileage may vary greatly depending on your patience.

[ejamer]

Posting here because I'm not sure where else to talk about it - but Hive Jump is finally getting released on Wii U eShop this week.  This game looked really cool when it was first revealed - is anyone else interested?

[Order.RSS]

Posting here because I'm not sure where else to talk about it - but Hive Jump is finally getting released on Wii U eShop this week.  This game looked really cool when it was first revealed - is anyone else interested?

Hey that's pretty cool! What kind of game is Hive Jump? Run & gun looks like? Has anyone played it? Those games tend to be really difficult for me haha.
I just saw that Battle Princess Madelyn is also slated for Wii U still, though that's a 2018 title and also coming to Switch.

[ejamer]

Posting here because I'm not sure where else to talk about it - but Hive Jump is finally getting released on Wii U eShop this week.  This game looked really cool when it was first revealed - is anyone else interested?

Hey that's pretty cool! What kind of game is Hive Jump? Run & gun looks like? Has anyone played it? Those games tend to be really difficult for me haha.
I just saw that Battle Princess Madelyn is also slated for Wii U still, though that's a 2018 title and also coming to Switch.

Honestly, not that sure. It's supposed to be a solid mulitplayer action game, although I thought there was some kind of a campaign where you build bases and try to gain ground on an overworld map by clearing out enemy hives.


I just remember this and Hex Heroes being two cool looking KickStarter projects prominently on Wii a long time ago... and am kind of shocked this is actually getting released at this point in time.

[ShyGuy]

The Flame in the Flood. I don't like this game and I wanted to like it. I don't like the randomly generated levels, I don't like the fact you can die just because you've never gotten the right items to drop. It feels like Minecraft if it was just food consumption and running away from monsters. The lack of camera control can get you killed and the whole interface/menu system is clunky too.

On the plus side, it's a good looking game and the music is great

[Soren]

Surprise. Morphie's Law is releasing today.