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Messages - lolmonade

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51
TalkBack / Breakout Recharged (Switch) Review
« on: March 04, 2022, 07:21:20 AM »

A good brickbreaker that doesn't break the mold can still be fun

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/59765/breakout-recharged-switch-review

Sometimes people within the gaming sphere use shorthand to describe a game, something which is understandable for those attuned to the industry, but could leave those without that knowledge in the lurch.  Metroidvania, Souls-like, and Zelda-like to a lesser extent are exclusionary shorthand that even when evoked, are such a wide net with blurry lines that over time have become almost meaningless.  With that in mind, one genre of game I’ve loved since being a kid were brick-breakers.  Now there’s a shorthand that makes sense, one where an internet search will give you exactly what it is.  Breakout Recharged is a brick-breaker game, and a pretty good one at that.

What’s a brick-breaker game?  In brick-breakers, you play as a pong paddle at the bottom of the screen.  A ball will appear and drop toward you, which once hits your paddle will ricochet up toward the top of the screen.  There it’ll be met by a series of bricks, the goal being to break all of them before moving onto the next level and seeking the highest score possible.  Game over happens when the ball slips by your paddle.  Breakout Recharged has those fundamentals down pat.  The paddle is slow but not plodding.  Hitting the ball itself is on its face straightforward, but how you position yourself to intercept it can affect the trajectory.  Moving the paddle in the same direction the ball is hurtling toward can send it flying back.  Going the opposite direction sends it the other way.  It’s an imprecise tool, but good enough to give some feel of control in the situation.

Thankfully, Breakout Recharged has been fleshed out beyond this core gameplay.  Three single-player modes exist - Recharged, Classic, and Classic Recharged.  Classic is your vanilla flavor, uncomplicated brick breaking with three lives.  Recharged is a one-hit kill, but superpowers will drop like extending the length of the paddle, splitting the ball into three, missiles, and having trajectory lines to see where the ball will hit.  Recharged Classic splits the difference, getting all those cool power-ups with the buffer of three lives.  There are also more targeted challenges, starting with hitting a target high score and escalating into things like filling the screen completely with blocks and being tasked with breaking all of them.  It’s a nice addition that gives the game a bit of longevity when the basic modes start getting stale.  Beyond this, a co-op mode is there that can be fun if a bit hectic.

It’s a simple aesthetic that wraps around Breakout Recharged.  Easy on the eyes with hues of blue, white, red, yellow, purple, and orange blocks against a deep blue backdrop gives a nice contrast between them, making it easy to see the board.  Power-ups add to the visual punch, filling the screen with particles and beams or white that pop.  The music is mostly understated techno/synth sounds, that isn’t noteworthy, but keeps itself from becoming offensive.

It’s hard to have an in-depth breakdown of Breakout Recharged because the core structure is so simple.  But that uncomplicated nature is an asset.  The developer knew to keep the focus on the fundamentals - multiple game modes to keep things fresh, a way to play with friends, leaderboards, and a clean look.  If you’re not a fan of brick breakers, then this won’t convert you.  But if the last one you played was Arkanoid, then you’re in for a fun revisit.


52
NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia 88: Hey Pikmin, Four..m A Mafia! Day 5.
« on: February 11, 2022, 02:11:19 PM »
I probably don't deserve to be among the living after being so inactive, but here we are.  Without any more details, I'll refrain from voting and hope that I come across enough time to go through the prior days and make an informed decision.

53
NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia 88: Hey Pikmin, Four..m A Mafia! Day 3.
« on: February 05, 2022, 12:26:37 PM »
What a plot twist, BeautifulShy struck me as a townie with the PMs they were sending, it was all a ruse.

If the mafia are taking themselves out one by one that's fine by me

Same, though unfortunately I didn't catch it until last day ended. 

Anyone have a tally of whose left? 

54
NWR Forums Discord / Re: Not to be that guy...
« on: February 04, 2022, 02:39:54 PM »
Life has been pretty jam packed for me the past few years.  Tbh the discord while lively tends to drive into conversations I don't have interest in, so it doesn't scratch the same itch convos here had been.

I'll try to make myself more present here, I like the community here and want to see it continue.

55
NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia 88: Hey Pikmin, FOUR...m A Mafia! Day 1.
« on: February 01, 2022, 01:25:08 PM »
 I haven’t played a Pikmin, is 3 a good starting point?  Nintendo gave me a free copy for being a Wii U owner.

56
NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia LXXXVIII: Pikmin Mafia. Sign-up Thread.
« on: January 17, 2022, 11:21:09 PM »
In it to win it

57
TalkBack / Okinawa Rush (Switch) Review
« on: December 29, 2021, 10:05:30 AM »

A Kung-Fu homage that packs more than a punch.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/59284/okinawa-rush-switch-review

Okinawa Rush caught my eye pre-release with an impressive beta demo.  Since beat-em-ups make my knees weak, the seemingly fast and frenetic style caught my attention immediately.  It’s not a pace I have seen in this genre too often, at least to this degree.  The premise is that the protagonist comes across a murdered loved one, and a journey of revenge ensues.

Put bluntly, Okinawa Rush is a dark game. Your hero’s journey is a marathon of levels with a trail of blood left in your wake.  Basic actions include a jump, an attack, a strong attack, and a super move that’ll obliterate anything on screen.  Enemies range from basic ninjas, bugs, beasts, and oppressive bosses that are incredibly durable.  At times, enemies can fill the screen to a suffocating degree.  Then you have to account for traps and hazards such as falling debris, endless pits, and spikes that can skewer your corpse and leave a bloody mess.

In action, there’s something exhilarating about being in the thick of it.  Despite the limited button set, there are a wide set of attacks available through combo button inputs akin to a 2D fighter.  For example, the typical street fighter inputs will emulate a hadouken or shoryuken.  Moves have a contextual effect—if you’re surrounded on all sides, you might grab the heads of the two enemies next to you and bash them together.  Weapons like bo staffs, nunchucks, and swords can be procured on site, and each changes the tempo of battle considerably until they break.

What Okinawa Rush nails is making you feel like a bonafide badass.  Your character is heavy, but can speed run as well as vault to great heights.  Each punch and kick has that kind of old karate movie “thwack,” a sound design trick that is executed perfectly.  More densely populated skirmishes can get messy and unfairly punishing, but learning how to crowd control comes easily enough.  Where the game really shines is its boss battles, especially against human-like figures.  The back and forth is downright cinematic, with dodging, parrying, and powerful beating back and forth that’s breathtaking.  

That said, I do have some nagging (if minor) issues.  The default difficulty is punishingly hard.  Not because of the enemies becoming more powerful, but due to a countdown timer that enacts an immediate life lost when it hits zero.  It’s a punitive addition that keeps you from reveling in crushing your opponents.  The music left something to be desired, bordering on forgettable.  Finally, the writing is cheesy as all get out.  I can’t tell whether it’s intentional, but I had to restrain myself from audible groans at some moments.  If you’re not too prideful about difficulty setting, soundtrack, or cheese, then it’s small potatoes.

Okinawa Rush attracted me the moment I played it and dragged me in with its visceral, fast paced powerful battles.  You won’t find a developed story or a stellar soundtrack, but sound design in combat is top tier, with each hit feeling like it’s forceful enough to crush skulls.  If a dark, gruesome brawler that empowers you to be a badass is what you’re itching for, then Okinawa Rush is just the right scratch for you.


58
The last version I sent Khushrenada was a giant uncompressed image, which might be why its shrunken down.



I tested on my computer and phone, and it didn't fit the frame.

Incredible work.

59
My father was a wise man.  He always told me "you reap what you sow".  He also used to say "one good turn deserves another".  Which is why I'll Vote MKBundle.

60
I'll take the Gray Horse.

We don't take kindly to people who spell that color that way.  Vote Crimm

61
Well, what the hey, three whole choices?  Let's get flowery & Fishy.

I'd like the Pink Cosmos, Mackerel, and the Yellowtail.

62
Gimme that wheat & sugarcane.  Have no idea what they do, but those are the crop most familiar to me.

63
Howdy, folks.  My name is farmer John (first name Farmer, last name John), and I moved to a 300 acre farm about 10 miles out from Hidden Valley.  Out here we rotate crop between corn & soybean, and have a small assortment of cows & hogs.

This year despite the early cold snap, we got a pretty bountiful corn harvest.  Lots of it will go toward ethanol production, which lucky for us remains lucrative with the corn subsidies Hidden Valley offers. 

When's the county fair here?  My wife's makes a mean apple pie, and we'd love to find the local orchard to start pickin.

64
TalkBack / Thea 2: The Shattering (Switch) Review
« on: October 25, 2021, 06:35:19 AM »

A competent strategy card battler marred by an ill fit on Switch.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/58792/thea-2-the-shattering-switch-review

I’m a sucker for a good turn-based strategy game.  I’ve spent countless hours over the past two decades on the Civilization series alone, all the way from Civ II to Civ VI.  So when given the opportunity to play Thea 2: The Shattering, I jumped at the chance to explore something different in a genre I adore.  Thea 2’s fantasy setting with a card battling system (which is all the rage right now) seemed like a match made in heaven, so why did it sink like a stone for me?

Thea 2 is a turn-based strategy game that’s part city building, part exploration focused, and part card battler.  At the start, similar to choosing a leader in Civilization, you select a deity from a list with varying perks/attributes to aid you based on your preferred playstyle.  In addition, you choose a “chosen one” that acts as the leader of your troupe.  These heroes are selected from a variety of classes such as blacksmith, miner, or even child prodigies.  

The overworld map is cut into hexagonal slices, and your scrappy band of heroes can move along on each turn provided you have movement spaces left.  You can set up camp at any point on your turn, where options to forage for food, gather raw materials like wood or iron, and craft items become available.  To do so, you have to assign party members to specific tasks, which over time will accumulate points until a full bar is filled.  That triggers the receipt of materials.  It works decently, but be mindful that if you don’t have the right pieces to craft something, it will let you set it up as a task and assign characters still.

Combat itself is a tabletop card system, which is very en Vogue lately.  You and your opponent each get two lines of four tiles to play cards on—attackers in the front, ranged party in the back.  The cards are your comrades, each of which has attributes like life and attack power, as well as special abilities.  There is a turn phase and an attack phase that takes place afterward.  In the turn phase, you and the opponent take turns placing cards down until all your points are spent, then the game takes over and assigns hit damage accordingly.  It’s a perfectly adequate, if perfunctory, gameplay segment that on its face fits the bill.

Here’s where things break apart: the Switch port is painfully slow.  Not “this has a tad too much loading time, '' or “the AI takes longer than I’d like to make their moves”  long, but “this completely breaks my interest” long.  The initial load times before you’ll hit the main menu are obscene.  Eleven separate load bars have to be filled before you hit that menu, and it takes several minutes.  The same goes for when you load your previous save.  For the sake of this review, I started my play on Switch and moved to a PC copy just to get better acquainted with the gameplay without having to watch paint dry every 3-5 minutes.

It’s actually pretty disappointing that Thea 2: The Shattering shoots itself in the foot on Switch.  The world is unique and mysterious to me.  There’s a ton of things to tinker with in the overworld sections, and the combat is engaging enough to mix things up.  But this game proved to me what I didn’t want to hear — to me the inherent sluggishness of Thea 2 was enough to sink it.


65
Friendship ended with Vote Pokepal, now Vote Crimm is my best friend.

66


Sorry for inactivity, went on a brief family road trip this weekend and completely zonked out yesterday.  I know I know, no excuses.

No real reason other than them being the first to vote against me yesterday, but Vote Pokepal. 

67
What I've learned from playing a lot of Apex Legends is that games are more fun if you jump into spicy locations.  In that spirit, Vote Shyguy.

68
NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia LXXXVI: Sign-up Thread
« on: October 03, 2021, 06:50:42 PM »
Sure, count me in.  It’s been a bit. Should be fun.

69
TalkBack / Kirby and the Forgotten Land Launching Spring 2022
« on: September 23, 2021, 02:18:00 PM »

The pink puffball finds himself in an abandoned world.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/58428/kirby-and-the-forgotten-land-launching-spring-2022

Kirby and the Forgotten Land was announced in today’s Nintendo Direct.  Kirby’s new adventure is a fully 3D game with familiar powers and a world that appears abandoned and overgrown from a past civilization.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is scheduled to release Spring 2022.


70
TalkBack / The Amazing American Circus (Switch) Review
« on: September 20, 2021, 12:09:09 PM »

A fresh coat of paint on a well trodden card battle genre.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/58414/the-amazing-american-circus-switch-review

There's an incoming generation that the three ring circus will be an old relic of a bygone era, something which appears in movies or television but will rarely find out in the wild.  The Amazing American Circus has filled that void centered around the old untamed west and being the latest in the bandwagon of card battling games.  

As a businessman who recently inherited the family circus, you’re goaded into traveling cross-country along the United States, bringing your show town-by-town to perform for the locals.  Through the travels, your aim is to excite the crowds, rake-in cash, and slowly build up your main attractions to play bigger crowds and eventually take-on the big tent giants.  Your performances are played out in a series of back-and-forth card battling.  In between events, your caravan includes upgrade options like unlocking abilities for your team, improving your deck, hiring new performers, and upgrading your wagon to improve passive abilities.  It adds a bit of depth to the game, although I didn’t feel a passion for engaging in it all that much.

In performance, you control a trio of performers, starting with a strong man, clown, and juggler.  Each one has a count of five cards which can appear in each hand.  A round begins with a mixed hand of cards from the performer, each taking a number of vitality points.  Every card also has a diamond number assigned, which after building up enough can trigger a finale move that doesn’t end the performance, but triggers a big hit to the audience.  Rather than hurting the audience, the performance needs to impress the viewers with their tricks and feats.

Cards have different effects, largely based on the performer.  Ones that have an impress effect act as damage.  Ignore acts as a defensive shield against the attendants throwing tomatoes at you.  Some will have performer specific sub-effects, like the juggler whose cards will stash balls until you play a card which empties that payload into the audience.  Similarly, the audience (which varies in looks as well as strengths/weaknesses) take a turn after yours to return the favor.  Each of your performers have five lives with ten hit points.  When hit points are depleted, the performer has to discard one of their five cards, making them unusable for the remainder of the performance.

The battle system’s biggest strength is the fun in juggling attack and defense.  You have to pay close attention to the crowd’s actions to anticipate the incoming blows and set the stage to withstand damage.  Those set-up effects like banking impress and ignore effects are really satisfying to unleash in the same way token effects play in Magic the Gathering.  Rarely will you have a limited hand to work with thanks to cards with effects to draw more or boost vitality.  There can be a good push & pull in how they play out if you’re successful.

One disappointment I have in matches is how defensively focused they winnow to the longer they play out.  Every life lost for performers hurts a lot.  Those lost cards really stunt your ability to chain together actions for an adequate response, and quickly cripples the performers.  I get there needs to be consequences for poor play, and think the mechanic itself makes sense, but it’s missing something to allow something actionable to recover lost cards or turn the tide.  It also slows down the pace to a grinding churn that can really be a bummer.

What I love the most about The Amazing American Circus is its presentation.  The bright colorful scenery and characters really pop out from the screen, with performers moving like paper dolls.  The music fits the scenery well, with pops, whizzes, cheers, and groans from people that add some fun audio trim around the edges.  In general, as a parent of small children, I love the premise - a troupe of performers working to entertain a crowd rather than engaging in an epic battle feels fresh and helps elevate the experience.  

The Great American Circus’ strengths lie first and foremost in its family friendly premise and presentation.  That smart lure roped me in to a well fleshed out card match game with a leveling system that doesn’t quite grab me.  If that and an uphill climb for making a comeback in a performance doesn’t deter you, then there’s a lot of fun to be had in this upcoming attraction.


71
TalkBack / A Monster's Expedition (Switch) Review
« on: August 26, 2021, 08:08:00 AM »

The age of men is over. The age of monsters is now.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/58185/a-monsters-expedition-switch-review

Like most media, video games are a “right place, right time” thing.  For myself, spare time has dwindled as my children get older and it gets eaten up by kids’ sports and work.  I’ve come to appreciate games that respect your time, give you small, achievable goals, and plop you into a well developed world.  A Monster’s Expedition charmed and delighted me with how well it fit that mold of what I’ve been looking for.

A Monster’s Expedition consists of bite-sized puzzles, each on individual islands.  The goal is to create a path for your monster to cross by knocking a tree down and pushing the log where it’ll create a bridge to the next island; at least that’s how it starts.  As you progress, the puzzles become harder, and the end goal changes—still to reach the next island, but by different configurations of those fallen trees.  Eventually you’ll run into islands with a cylindrical, trash can-looking item.  These bins let you fast travel to different islands with the same landmarks.  

The puzzles are airtight and islands slight, meaning there really is only one solution to each island.  Different landmarks like rocks and tree stumps often play into the solution, having to roll, flip over, or in the case of larger logs, shove them into the water to bridge the gap.  Because of the micro nature of each puzzle, it sets up small little victories each time you reach the solution.  It’s a great cascading effect where each win made me want to try just one more, and because of how brief they are and the way it saves your progress at the island, this design allowed me to stop when I got stuck and pick up when I left off to try again.

Even better is how A Monster’s Expedition leverages the world built within and music to accent the experience.  Visually, it isn’t an ultra-detailed world, but that simplified, colorful style serves it well by eliminating distractions to draw focus to the puzzles themselves.  They’ve done a wonderful job on the music front—a minimalistic, calming sound track—and it does my favorite thing of having every move you make play a small musical note.  Another great choice is the small exhibits scattered across the land that are dedicated to learning about human civilization.  An example of this charming bit of world building is a line queue, whose plaque suggests humans lined up in them for the pure fun of it.

There’s something really special about a well-crafted puzzle game.  The difficulty has to be just right—taking mental equity to solve but not so easy as to be dull.  There needs to be a clear logic to the puzzles throughout that acts as a foundation for each sequential one to build off of.  What elevates it even further is world building and music design that sews it up into a tight, cohesive experience.  A Monster's Expedition’s quick hits of small puzzles passes all of those criteria with flying colors, and you owe it to yourself to give it a look.


72
TalkBack / Arietta of Spirits (Switch) Review
« on: August 20, 2021, 10:24:48 AM »

A charming first chapter of a child’s spiritual awakening

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/58137/arietta-of-spirits-switch-review

Something can be said for the value of brevity.  As I’ve gotten older with more family responsibilities, it’s constrained my free time to a degree in which time for video games, my favorite pastime, has been shaved down to a scant amount.  Arietta of Spirits, the first release from Red Art Games, has taken this tact with a scaled down, personal story of a young girl awakening her true nature and going on a journey of discovery.  It’s a good example of how a micro-focused game and narrative can still make for a fulfilling experience.

Arietta is a young girl who, with her parents, is visiting her grandmother’s cabin for the first time since her passing. Her mother is distraught at not being able to find the grandmother’s old ring.  When Arietta finds it, the ring becomes a catalyst to meeting a spirit guide named Arco and becoming a Bound—people who can control energy with the ability to communicate with the living and the dead.  She learns from Arco that the Bound will communicate with spirits who have lingered in the land of the living and help them sort out their unfinished business so they can move onto the afterlife.  Through her journey, she encounters a few such spirits who she tries to help move on, while also uncovering a broader mystery of an old mine on the island.

Arietta herself is a very charming character: kind and considerate to everyone and a natural helper.  Her journey of becoming a Bound, coming into her own, and investigating the secrets of the island is small in scope, and that ethos is seen throughout, whether looking at other characters or the island itself.  Unfortunately, this means the few characters who exist outside of Arietta are a bit one-note.  Arco exists almost solely as a story explainer.  The parents are barely there, and the few lost souls you encounter have little in the way of personality.  The island itself has a limited variety of locales and environments, which makes the world feel small and empty.  Maybe that was intentional, but it leads to a monotone and vacant experience.

Combat with dark spirits is fairly simple.  Arietta is able to imbue spiritual energy into a wooden sword to make a powerful weapon, and use spirit energy from her grandmother’s ring as a medium to create a shield bubble that temporarily protects from all damage before needing to recharge.  She starts dealing with mostly wasps but as the game progresses, you’ll encounter  varied monsters who attack by shooting projectiles, rushing you, and presenting other patterns.  These typical fights feel fine to start, but become mundane by the end.

The boss battles are where the combat really shines.  Each one has distinct attack patterns, and feels unique in how they need to be approached and dispatched.  They all have a design and character all of their own without having to speak a word, somehow having more of a personality than a lot of the main cast of characters.  It’s a real highlight and testament to just how much interesting bosses can elevate the experience.

The world of Arietta of spirits is colorful, with a pixel art style that’s not unique but has a healthy amount of color gradients to give everything a nice sense of depth. Arietta herself has hair that bobs with each step, a very cute detail that helps keep her from looking static while she moves.  When speaking, characters have a larger profile shown, which gives them a much more detailed picture and displays emotions visibly.  While the visuals are given good attention, I found the music a bit lacking.  It’s pleasant but unmemorable; a more dynamic soundtrack could have really amped up the exciting moments.

In essence, Arietta of Spirits plays out like a pleasant introduction and first chapter of a larger story yet untold.  It has a protagonist who is easy to root for and the framework for development into a larger scope story, broader cast of characters, and a larger variety of combat tools that this game currently lacks.  Arietta of Spirits keeps those issues from becoming more glaring thanks to a brisk game length, but I hope her next adventure is a tad more, well, adventurous.


73
TalkBack / Induction (Switch) Review
« on: August 10, 2021, 09:11:04 AM »

These puzzles hurt so good.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/58036/induction-switch-review

Puzzle games are my siren singing me toward rocky shores; each time they catch my interest, I end up biting off more than I can chew and become overwhelmed with how out of my depth I am.  Once again I find myself veering my ship toward disaster as I play Induction, a mind bending series of puzzles created by independent developer Bryan Gale.  His freshman outing is a refreshingly minimalist experience with a healthy dose of challenge.

Induction on its face is simple: you control a block by rolling it across a series of platforms or steps to get from start to finish.  Moveable cylinders act as switches, predominantly in order to make platforms appear or disappear.  What adds depth is a time loop or repetition mechanic.  At the push of a button, a different color box appears and follows the path you originally tread with the first box, creating almost a shadow that’ll not only repeats the distance but also the pauses or mistakes you made.  Not only that, but switches, collapsable tiles, and bridges reset so that mirror image can complete all the steps you did.  During that time, your original box is able to freely move around.

The puzzles are all about placement and setting up specific patterns of movement that will activate the right sequence to open the path to the end goal.  An early level has two sets of bridges, the first one visible and the second one with a gap.  There's one cylinder which upon pushing it into a matching switch will swap that bridge so the first one is now gone and the second one appears, but now you have no path to get to the second one.  The solution involves not only moving that cylinder into the right switch, but also allowing enough time during your original box’s sequencing to enable you to reach the second bridge before that switch is flipped.

A common refrain in my household is telling my son if he’s getting frustrated at a game that he should take a break and come back to it.  I had to take my own advice more than once during my time with Induction.  This game can be incredibly challenging at times if you’re not adept at logic puzzles.  When I got stumped, I found myself going back through completed puzzles to re-learn the logic like a student going back through their notes before a pop quiz.  Luckily, when I finally hit that lightbulb moment, I got an unbridled sense of joy/accomplishment.

There is beauty in simplicity, and the audiovisual design has it in spades.  The levels are constructed of 3D cubes and rectangular shapes with similar color tones.  For example, the level might have a tone of purple; the top of the shapes might be dark purple while the sides would be light, adding a nice shader effect.  The cube you move is one color, and then when you engage the shadow block it’ll appear in a bubble the same hue as the new block that appears.  Music is all ambient noise, with low persistent hums and fluttering sounds of chimes.  The block itself also makes a really satisfying “dink dink dink” noise with each movement on the board.  

Despite its hair-pulling moments, Induction really is a stellar example of taking a simple concept, building upon it incrementally through each level, and pumping your fist in the air or jumping for joy with each tall hurdle you’re able to leap over.  Coupled with that minimalist style, you’ll find that the juice is worth the squeeze.  If you are a fan of puzzle games and have patience, Induction has plenty to offer.


74
TalkBack / Boomerang X (Switch) Review
« on: July 19, 2021, 06:25:54 AM »

Not really a boomerang, but I kept coming back.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/57858/boomerang-x-switch-review

I’ve gotten to a point where when I see the Devolver Digital logo on a game, I know it’s going to be an interesting experience at its worst and a memorable one at its best.  Outside of their surreal, Adult Swim-like E3 presentations, they have a penchant for finding unique indies that have a compelling hook or tone.  Boomerang X is no different—clocking in at about four hours, the high octane first person boomerang-er (yes, we’re coining that term here) is an example of how cryptic storytelling can help the mundane feel fresh and inventive.

That’s not to say the gameplay itself is stale.  Your nameless protagonist starts with a 4-pointed star that acts like a boomerang and returns to the hand shortly after hurling it toward enemies.  The star is effective but has short range, so in some areas you’ll end up getting close and personal with enemies.  Walking is slow, but a jump that catapults you forward gives just enough mobility to start.  Each level is a room with waves of floating enemies, many reminiscent of those tentacled robots from the Matrix with an ink drip style.  To beat the waves, there are specific monsters with a yellow circle above their head that need to be downed; this does not require defeating all enemies.  Between those levels are chalices that increase hit points and grant new abilities that you must master before the next room opens for you.  

Those abilities become more critical to master in the next zone.  Early on, there will be the ability to snap back the star quicker, then a teleport that lets you blink jump in the direction the boomerang has been flung.  Later abilities veer on the side of combat options, from a bullet-time slow down and attacks that let you shoot a shotgun-like blast, to a laser that acts like a sniper rifle when you hit enough enemies in one shot.  Starting out you’ll feel a bit sloppy with timing and coordination, but in later zones these tools turn you into a high flying, versatile agent of death.  The aerial moveset is similar to a game like Gravity Rush where the unwieldiness starting out could be discouraging, but the experience of mastering the tools and deftly destroying your opponents feels gratifying in ways kill-room based games often don’t.

The world of Boomerang X is enigmatic and fascinating.  You’re washed ashore with no real idea of what’s happened.  Throughout the world are villages and old artifacts of a civilization gone. A lone millipede-like creature left to give brief history lessons of a people who cursed themselves to an end through searching for a particular artifact.  You move between levels through a teleportation door leading to a circular room with an open sky; an ephemeral trail tells you to hit strings along the way to form a basic set of tones before dumping you back into the depths of a new level.  There’s little to no audio beyond the effects of your boomerang or abilities in battle.  Still, there’s just something that speaks to me about trying to follow little threads to build a larger narrative, and this fits the bill nicely.

There’s really very little to complain about with Boomerang X, but here’s a handful of forewarnings.  On Switch, there’s some slowdown in more populated zones, which threw off my timing.  While the monsters are varied in shape and strategy, they all share that same dripping black ink look, so don’t expect a diverse range of color here.  Finally, the difficulty did become a beat-my-head-against-the-wall struggle near the end, so it could take some persistence and patience if you were a bit slower to adopt the new abilities beforehand.

Boomerang X is a textbook example of short and sweet.  It’s a bite-sized experience that rewards persistence with a vague, mysterious narrative, dynamic combat, challenging enemies, and so much satisfaction when you squeeze out a victory in the last wave.  I had to test my mettle and tolerate a bit of slowdown, but Boomerang X is one of the best indies I've played this year.


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TalkBack / Weaving Tides (Switch) Review
« on: June 23, 2021, 07:04:30 AM »

I love Wicker Basket: The Game

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/57628/weaving-tides-switch-review

I had the pleasure of playing an early beta build of Weaving Tides last year, and I knew within moments it’d be something special.  This isometric game with a story about the meaning of family is filled to the brim with endearing characters, a unique backdrop, pleasant music, and a really neat hook.  Developer Follow the Feathers has hit the mark on their freshman outing.

You are Tass, a young orphan boy who was adopted as a child by a Weaver, which is basically a flying manta ray.  Tass has always wanted to know who his biological parents are, and his adoptive parent Kilim reluctantly agrees to schauffer their journey.  Along the way, they’ll encounter a community of seers and other weavers with distinct personalities who have relationships with them.  The world of Weaving Tides is outright whimsical.  Most of the ground is built of a wicker basket mesh; flora and fauna are lush.  It’s just a really well developed environment that lends itself well to the game.

The big draw to me was always the weaving.  That wicker basket turf will regularly have swatches removed or missing.  Your weaver can bob up and down as they glide through it, and the ribbon tied to their tail will close the gap as you criss cross.  It’s really a chill, meditative experience if you’re like me and take pleasure in fixing things or closing gaps.  Each time you close an empty patch, a currency is spit out that can be used to purchase upgrades in the form of equippable patches, and these boost stats and abilities or yield optional tail patterns.

Surprisingly, while the weaving is zen, it is only a small piece of what makes the gameplay great.  I was surprised by how well the combat works, too.  Your Weaver comes with a dash, a special weaving move, and the tail you use to fill patches.  Often, a quick dash to stun the enemy and dipping up and over them is enough to defeat them.  In addition, I was surprised by just how varied the enemy types were. They start as pretty basic fodder but then develop into more tricky ones that have to be timed out properly.  Some you’ll need to drag one out of a fox hole, while others will need to be dodged and an appendage pulled out, but once you learn the patterns you’ll be as smooth as butter in dispatching them.  Looking for boss battles?  You got ‘em!  Similar to basic enemies, the boss fights are distinct, and while challenging can be overcome once their patterns are learned.

I feel like a TV infomercial pitchman because wait, there’s more!  Puzzles bookend different segments of the world.  They start as simply as using your ribbon to dip in and out of rings to match a pattern but evolve into deeper challenges and tweaks that complicate things, like sheep that’ll gobble up your threads.  It’s been a while since I’ve been stumped, but I had to walk away and come back a handful of times to give my brain a break and get a fresh perspective.

I can’t sing Weaving Tides’ praises high enough.  The world is vibrant and colorful, and the characters have distinct personalities and relationships that feel genuine.  Dipping up and down to close those weave gaps is one of the most meditative experiences I’ve had this year, and it’s only one small piece of the gameplay pie that’s chock full of delicious combat filling.  Weaving Tides is a treat, one to share with friends and make room for seconds.


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