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[A creative platformer that improves on its predecessor in many ways.]

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TalkBack / Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines (Switch) Review

« on: September 19, 2024, 11:55:00 PM »

A creative platformer that improves on its predecessor in many ways.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/68576/grapple-dogs-cosmic-canines-switch-review

Two years ago I reviewed the original Grapple Dog for Nintendo World Report. I thought it was a good, if unspectacular game, but I enjoyed it, so when the opportunity arose to review the sequel, I happily took it. I’m thrilled to report that Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines exceeded my expectations and improved on that first game in many ways.

Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines is a 2D platformer, a genre well represented on Switch, but it brings a lot of interesting ideas to the table and keeps throwing them at you to keep things feeling fresh. The biggest addition for the sequel is a second playable character, hence the name. Pablo, the star of the original, returns, and is now joined by the grumpier Luna. It’s not just a cosmetic difference: each character has unique abilities in addition to the grappling mechanic that is core to the gameplay. Pablo is built for fighting enemies up close, while Luna has a gun and a dash that makes her more suited for long range. Each character has their own levels, so they can be built around how best to use those abilities.

One of the biggest strengths of Grapple Dogs is its variety. In addition to the core differences between the characters, they each have special powers that show up in certain levels, often based on the theme of the world. I particularly enjoyed the electricity power in the first world that lets you glide across electrical panels, and the power in the fire world that lets you fly around jetpack-style. These create interesting new level designs, as well as adding variety to the adventure. The different themes are also complemented by some striking visual differences between levels and worlds, in addition to tweaks like levels where platforms come in and out of existence based on a rhythm.

Each level includes three gems to collect, analogous to the star coins in Mario games, as well as a hidden treasure chest. Collecting a certain amount of these is required for progression, which can be a little annoying in spots, but once you get to know the game you can start to get a good feel for where to look for them, which is satisfying. The levels are mostly linear, though sometimes you end up in an enclosed area where you have to grab a certain number of collectibles to unlock a door in order to progress. I generally found these sections to be the weakest part of Cosmic Canines because of how much they slowed things down, though they’re generally not that difficult. What can be very difficult are the bosses at the end of each world, which feature interesting designs but focus too much on combat, rather than the platforming that is the core of the experience.

Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines feels like a case of a developer learning from what worked and didn’t work from their first effort and improving on it effectively. The result is a fun platforming adventure that I can recommend to both fans of the original and newcomers alike.

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TalkBack / Re: Bandai Namco Acquires Rights To Former PS Vita Exclusive Freedom Wars, Remaster Due In January

« on: September 17, 2024, 09:33:43 PM »

I'm pretty sure I bought this on Vita and never played it.

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General Gaming / Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.

« on: September 11, 2024, 09:34:52 PM »

I'm not saying it's useless or nobody will want it, but it's completely optional. A lot of people have gone digital only.

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General Gaming / Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.

« on: September 11, 2024, 02:16:02 AM »

The $80 add-on is most definitely not necessary.

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NWR Feedback / Re: Connection Problems

« on: August 29, 2024, 01:34:35 AM »

The site as a whole is having issues that are being worked on according to John Rairidin on the discord.

This is correct. There are multiple technical issues occurring right now, and only so much time to go around on a volunteer site, and as you can probably tell from the software version we're using, the forums aren't the highest behind the scenes priority around here.

He didn't say much else so I can only assume it is Khush's fault.

Always a good assumption.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Switch is so popular people don't even post

« on: July 06, 2024, 01:33:36 AM »

Yeah, we'd never be able to keep bringing up that thread where the guy swore up and down Switch was going to be a failure and repeatedly mocking it if it were on Discord.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Will Nintendo Finally Drop the Switch Price?

« on: July 04, 2024, 04:01:26 PM »

Is it historical still when you look at the last 14 years?

3DS was released in March 2011
Wii U in November 2012
NEW 3DS XL in February 2015
Switch in March 2017

Only Wii U was November. Perhaps NEW 3DS is a bit more derivative but I consider it a "NEW" hardware launch. System variants have been all over the place but within July - October indicating that Nintendo does want to take advantage of holiday sales momentum with these different models:

3DS XL - August 2012
2DS - October 2013
NEW 3DS - September 2015
NEW 2DS XL - July 2017
Switch Lite - September 2019
Switch OLED - October 2021

With how well Switch sold from its March 3rd release date, I've always felt like Nintendo would try for that time of the calendar again in a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" superstitious sort of attitude. I think it also would help with holiday sales momentum to release earlier in the year so that you get the initial sales rush from early adopters and then can get a second spike during the holiday sales and restock up for that time as well.

I think your last point is a big part of it. Supply can be an issue with new consoles, and with a March launch you can get the die hards to buy in early, then build up a bit of a software base and more stock for a kind of "second launch" in the holiday season.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Will Nintendo Finally Drop the Switch Price?

« on: July 02, 2024, 11:35:00 PM »

We don't have any real info on that, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's fairly early 2025, similar to how the Switch came out in early March. But with the Switch still selling well at the current price there's no real reason for Nintendo to drop it right now.

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NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia XC: XC1 - Definitive Mafia Edition. Sign-up Thread. Take 2.

« on: June 19, 2024, 07:03:05 PM »

In.

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TalkBack / Re: Indie World Announces A Dozen Future Released For The Switch

« on: April 19, 2024, 05:14:23 AM »

I would love to see SteamWorld Dig 3, 2 was amazing, but I'm glad they're doing Heist 2 first.

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TalkBack / Re: Indie World Announces A Dozen Future Released For The Switch

« on: April 18, 2024, 09:05:30 PM »

SteamWorld Heist 2 is extremely exciting for me. I was a huge fan of the original and had kind of given up hope of a sequel as it seemed the developer had moved on.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Boredom and Nintendo

« on: April 10, 2024, 05:11:31 AM »

That's just nonsense. It's really pathetic the way some people try to justify their entitlement like that

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Boredom and Nintendo

« on: March 30, 2024, 01:50:26 AM »

The GameCube nostalgia hits especially hard because it's in the sweet spot in terms of age and most of its library hasn't been rereleased, so in most cases it's purely going on memory. Sunshine was briefly available on Switch, and the Pikmin games came out last year, but besides those and the upcoming Thousand Year Door remake it's not easy to (legally) play a lot of that console's library on anything current.

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General Gaming / Re: 2023 NWR Forum Awards - Best Indie Game

« on: December 05, 2023, 07:36:16 PM »

The only thing that would keep me from picking Dave the Diver here is questions over the definition of indie. It's one of my favorite games this year period, and almost certainly in my overall top 5 alongside the big hits from Nintendo.

[Life in the desert isn't bad.]

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TalkBack / My Time At Sandrock (Switch) Review

« on: November 02, 2023, 07:03:35 PM »

Life in the desert isn't bad.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/65372/my-time-at-sandrock-switch-review

It’s become something of a meme when Nintendo Directs come around to count how many of the games shown involve farming. Suffice to say, the Switch has no shortage of such titles, from Story of Seasons to Stardew Valley to Harvestella. While it can sometimes seem like too much, the genre is clearly popular, and My Time at Sandrock, the follow-up to another Switch game, My Time at Portia, really stands out from the crowd.

While My Time At Sandrock involves farming, it mixes in a number of other concepts. At the outset you come to a desert town to be their new “builder,” a person in charge of crafting various items and machines for the townspeople. You gather resources that can be processed into different components, which then can be assembled into more complex machines. Budgeting time and stamina, mining, chopping wood, and fighting animals is key to maintaining the supplies you need to keep your operation running.

Resource management is the main focus of My Time At Sandrock. Beyond the raw materials, the various machines you use to process and craft items take time to operate, and it can be tough to juggle those and keep projects on track. Each machine also requires fuel and a water supply, and as suggested by the desert setting, water can be hard to come by. It can be kind of stressful in a fun way to try to keep all those plates spinning. I’d spend most of the day mining in the abandoned ruins for the ore I need to build my next project, then rush back to my workshop to get that processed before heading into town to socialize. In truth, the most important resource to manage in this game is your time.

There’s also a combat element, with a surprising amount of depth and different weapon styles, including melee and ranged combat. I tended to prefer using the guns, which means keeping up with crafting a steady supply of bullets, but mixed in the sword and shield for close-range fights. There are several dungeon-style areas to traverse, as well as beasts in the overworld that can be killed for materials.

The main story involves a series of missions where you fix up the town, a desert outpost that appears to be on its last legs when you arrive, with a lot of things in disrepair and people wanting to leave..The big projects you build will advance that story, but a lot of what you do day to day is commissions: building smaller items for the other people in the town. These allow you to make some cash and build up your personal relationships, and it’s fun to interact with the various personalities in Sandrock. The dialog for the villagers is voiced, which helps add to the atmosphere and makes the town feel more alive. In addition to building friendships, like many games of this type, there are a number of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes you can romance.

 

The main issues with My Time At Sandrock, at least on Switch, are mostly technical. The frame rate dips, and there’s a fair amount of graphical pop in. That’s not a huge issue in this kind of game, but what’s more annoying is the load times. There’s a pretty long load time when entering the game, which I found particularly frustrating as this is the kind of game I like to be able to pop in and play for a little bit in handheld mode and that means I have to sit there waiting for it to start each time. While it’s not as bad once you get in, the short delays when in the menus can be irritating in a game where you spend a lot of time navigating menus.

Despite the technical issues, My Time At Sandrock is a very engrossing game with a satisfying gameplay loop. The town and characters are very charming, and it’s very easy to end up repeatedly saying “I’ll just play one more day.”

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General-3 / Re: I REMAIN YOUR GOD IN ABSTENTIA

« on: October 06, 2023, 08:08:41 PM »

Emphasis on absentia, considering this is Crimm's first post outside of TalkBack and Podcast Discussion in over a year and a half.

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Movies & TV / Re: Alright! Let's Get Serious With TV Talk! Your Top Shows of the 21st Century!

« on: October 06, 2023, 04:58:44 AM »

I've been thinking about this and still need time to collect my thoughts and put together a list, but I'll jump in and agree with the general idea of what Khush heard about Battlestar Galactica. That show was incredible for a while, but seemed to lose focus at a certain point, and the last season or season and a half weren't up to the same standard as the earlier parts. I still liked the show and watched all the way through, but not sticking the landing is probably what's going to prevent that show from making my list.

Did it also end on a cliffhanger or unresolved? When I was typing that, my mind suddenly recalled a sketch on Portlandia in which two people had binged the show but then felt it needed an ending so they tracked down Edward James Olmos and then had him star in their own made up ending for the show. That's what sort cemented the image in my mind that it could be a unresolved journey.

Granted, it's been a little while since I've watched it, but as I recall it had a pretty definite ending. It was somehow simultaneously too sudden and dragged out too long, and kind of weird how they did it, but it was a clear ending.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Not a hater but... (future prediction)

« on: October 05, 2023, 11:50:23 PM »

I think Adrock's got the right idea here. This is probably a DS to 3DS situation. A largely iterative hardware improvement (outside the 3D screen, which was admittedly pushed pretty hard), that was successful in its own right, but not to the crazy degree of its predecessor.

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Movies & TV / Re: Alright! Let's Get Serious With TV Talk! Your Top Shows of the 21st Century!

« on: October 05, 2023, 11:43:56 PM »

I've been thinking about this and still need time to collect my thoughts and put together a list, but I'll jump in and agree with the general idea of what Khush heard about Battlestar Galactica. That show was incredible for a while, but seemed to lose focus at a certain point, and the last season or season and a half weren't up to the same standard as the earlier parts. I still liked the show and watched all the way through, but not sticking the landing is probably what's going to prevent that show from making my list.

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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2023! (Forums Aren't Dead Yet?) Edition

« on: August 03, 2023, 12:23:39 AM »

I just finished up New Super Luigi U a couple weeks ago, I wasn't thinking, I could have just dragged my feet a little bit more and it would have counted for this. Anyway, my first plan right now is to finish the main campaign of Super Mario 3D World, after I believe doing Bowser's Fury for last year's Backlaugust. I'm already fairly deep into it, I into the Bowser world now.

[A good match for Switch.]

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TalkBack / Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes (Switch) Review

« on: July 26, 2023, 03:38:57 PM »

A good match for Switch.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/64380/might-n-magic-clash-of-heroes-switch-review

When Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes originally released for the Nintendo DS way back in 2009, the idea of combining an RPG with a match-3 puzzle game was still relatively novel. Now, fourteen years later, that game design is well-trodden territory, but this still stands out from the crowd, with some interesting wrinkles and a lot of depth that keeps things interesting over the full course of its campaign.

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes starts with a couple simple concepts. You move your units around a grid, matching three in a row vertically to attack or horizontally to create a defensive wall. However, a wide variety of character-specific abilities and different unit types keeps the gameplay feeling fresh. Attacks take multiple turns to charge up, with more powerful attacks generally taking longer amounts of time, and this adds layers of strategy for linking and combining attacks to be more powerful, but also gives your opponent time to try and counter them.

The meat of Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is its single-player campaign, which tells a story in different parts from the perspective of multiple characters. The story itself isn’t really anything special, but the structure of switching between characters, each with their own abilities and completely different sets of available units, adds welcome variety in a genre where games are often prone to becoming very formulaic. Each character class has its own set of standard foot soldiers, as well as special units with more powerful abilities. There are a few areas where the game feels its age a bit, such as the lack of an autosave and no ability to quickly get out of a battle, but the campaign remains fresh and interesting throughout its 20-plus hour run.

In addition to the campaign, you can initiate a quick battle from the main menu featuring any combo of characters and units. There is also multiplayer, both local hotseat play and online battles. Online play can be done via private rooms or just random battles. Online play, in my experience, works very smoothly, getting in and out of battles fairly quickly.

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes has held up very well despite many similar games coming out in the intervening years. It offers a high level of depth in its battle system that keeps you coming back, and is especially well suited to the Switch’s handheld mode that makes it easy to say “just one more battle.”

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TalkBack / Re: Willie Mays, Rollie Fingers, and Vladimir Guerrero Headline New Super Mega Baseball 4 Legend Rev

« on: May 11, 2023, 10:05:43 PM »

It does kind of sound like a list given by someone after you ask them "How many retired baseball players can you name from memory?" Some greats, and then some random guys that just sprang to mind as they were struggling to keep going.

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General Gaming / Re: 3rd Annual NWR Four on Four

« on: April 07, 2023, 04:38:38 PM »

I've been playing Galaxy 2 lately as well, so I suppose I'll jump in. Give me a bit to come up with what other games I want to do.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: What's Next For The N64 Expansion Pack?

« on: March 07, 2023, 11:27:25 PM »

They're not even running that low, there are games they've announced are coming to the service that aren't there yet, plus more in terms of first party releases that haven't come out yet.

[Blast robots and collect loot in this twin stick roguelike.]

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TalkBack / Dust & Neon (Switch) Review

« on: February 28, 2023, 04:02:32 PM »

Blast robots and collect loot in this twin stick roguelike.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/63018/dust-n-neon-switch-review

This generation of gaming, particularly in the download arena, could be described as “The Roguelike Era.” What was once an obscure gameplay style has seen its elements make their way into a wide variety of titles, with varying degrees of success. Dust & Neon combines that formula with another well worn idea, the twin stick shooter, but brings enough creativity to the table to stand out and feel fresh.

Dust & Neon tasks you with going through a series of wild west-themed levels, shooting robots and collecting loot. The most important thing in a game like this, before you factor in any of the details, is that those core shooting mechanics feel good, and Dust & Neon nails those. Cover can be used, and there’s a handy combat roll that helps you avoid enemy fire, but it’s mostly just moving and shooting. The one unique thing about the combat in this game is that you have to manually reload your gun, and I mean press the button to reload each individual bullet. This is a bit jarring at first, but as I went through the game I came to really enjoy this. It adds a level of tension where you always have to keep an eye out for how your ammo is holding up, and find the right opportunities to reload. In hectic moments I was running wild and hammering on the Y button to be able to finish off the oncoming hordes of enemies.

Where the roguelike elements come in is that over time you build up experience that can be used to permanently upgrade your character even after you die and have to be cloned again, as well as items that can enhance your base stats to give you better starts. While it’s accurate to call them roguelike elements, this is very much on the lighter side of that type of thing. The penalty for dying isn’t that steep, especially once you unlock the ability to rebuy the weapons you had when you died, which happens very early in the game.

Apart from those upgrade components, the main thing you collect in Dust & Neon is guns. At any given time you can carry one pistol, one shotgun, and one rifle, with many different types of each scattered around the levels and in the shop. These vary in terms of power, accuracy, chance of critical hit, and clip size, with that last one being very important given the reloading mechanic. The only problem is that once you find a really good gun, you don’t have a ton of incentive to try different things.

The levels you play through are pretty straightforward, with a handful of different objectives that can keep things from feeling too similar. There are also boss fights in each major region that pit you against powerful enemies with unique patterns that reward you with major upgrades to your base. One of these is Tonics, power-ups you can buy that are only in effect for one or a few missions that can help give things a different feel at a point in the game where you might feel like you’ve seen everything. Even with all that, though, the game does sometimes feel repetitive, as most games of this type can.

Even with that repetitiveness, the core mechanics feel so good that I really enjoyed jumping in for a few missions every now and then on a regular basis. Dust & Neon manages to combine several common game tropes in a new and interesting way, with a surprisingly fun reloading mechanic that makes it stand out in a crowded field.