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