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[Bust those bugs, bro!]

101

TalkBack / The Bug Butcher (Switch eShop) Review

« on: November 20, 2018, 06:43:00 AM »

Bust those bugs, bro!

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/48958/the-bug-butcher-switch-eshop-review

I remain confused as to why the Pang series doesn't inspire more imitators. You may know it as Buster Bros. over here, but this is a game where you fire a weapon upwards to shoot and split large bubbles into smaller bubbles. 13AM’s Pirate Pop Plus is a memorable follow-up that features some unique hooks, and I’m happy to report that The Bug Butcher, by Awfully Nice Studios, scratches that same itch. You take on the role of a cranky but lovable exterminator in the future who’s been called to eradicate a nasty infestation in a science facility. Notably, these space bugs tend to be rotund, travel mainly by bouncing, and can often be split into smaller bugs.

The game’s main Arcade Mode is a stage-based progression in which the exterminator is chaperoned through the facility by one or more scientists. Their job is to provide you with perks during encounters with your prey. You will also have to occasionally protect them from long-tongued invaders who crawl across the ceiling. As in Pang, the exterminator can only fire upwards as all manner of bulbous aliens bounce around the room. There is some weapon-based fun to be had, here: keep your combo meter high so that you can activate short-term special abilities, like invincibility or briefly freezing every enemy in place. As you progress through the story, the scientists will toss you new armaments (with limited ammo), including a rocket launcher and a laser gun.

And while plenty of bugs simply bounce around, there’s enough variety that you’ll never get bored. Some bugs fire projectiles at the height of their bounce or spew hot magma towards the ground. Others blort out small bouncy things as they, themselves, hop around. One critter skitters around on the ground until it’s close to you, at which point it launches itself towards you, maw agape. And like I said before, those ceiling-crawling spider pests have a taste for helpless scientists. The environment may also play a role: some rooms are very cramped while others are quite large but feature walls that can section enemies off or horizontal platforms that block your shots until destroyed. You can earn up to four commendations per stage—the key is keeping your combo meter high and grabbing every dropped coin. It’s worth going back and retrying stages to get better scores, because the more coins you get, the more you can upgrade your speed/health/weapons between stages.

The Bug Butcher also offers single player and co-op endless modes called “Panic” (which is a nice homage) in which you can buy upgrades on the fly while busting bugs to kingdom come. I should mention that the game features persistent leaderboards that are displayed between every stage, which is nice for people who care about leaderboards (I don’t).

I want to give ample credit to the game’s art style: many bugs animate beautifully, and even the exterminator—despite his limited moveset—gets some animated flare now and then. The music is also surprisingly catchy.The Bug Butcher is a fun Pang-style romp that works in bursts or in longer play sessions—I found it a good game to play while catching up on TV shows. If you like this arcade game style, The Bug Butcher should definitely be on your radar.

[I 'member arcades.]

102

TalkBack / Eternum EX (Switch eShop) Review FAQ

« on: November 11, 2018, 10:55:38 AM »

I 'member arcades.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/48895/eternum-ex-switch-eshop-review-faq

I tried writing a proper, formal review of Eternum EX but it was incredibly dry so I’m going back to this format (examples here and here).

Hello! I’m back to ask you about new video games.

Fantastic—this will give me a chance to take a break reading Julian Jaynes’ The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Not that you’d know anything about that.

No, of course not.

But to your point, I have, in fact, been playing a new Switch game called Eternum EX. It’s a platformer that seeks to evoke the arcade games you’d find in the back corner of your local Pizza Hut or Round Table (Editor’s Note: Is Round Table some sort of Alaska thing? Did y’all not have Ground Rounds?) when arcade machines were still popular.

Ah, those halcyon days of yore. I ‘member those days. Tell me more about this nostalgia-inspiring Switch game.You control an aging wizard, Sir Arthur, and your goal is to collect all of the treasure chests in a room without being killed by monsters or environmental hazards. Once you succeed in this task, you move Arthur to an exit portal and go on to the next stage, which has a different layout. Every fifth stage is a “boss stage” in which Arthur must climb a vertical tower and then fight a boss.

That sounds pretty nifty. It must be a great two-player competitive game.

You’d think so, seeing as Eternum EX is all about duplicating old arcade gameplay (by the way, Nintendo clearly doesn't edit these game profiles) but this is a solo adventure, which is kind of disappointing because without a second player to compete with, the game becomes very repetitive very quickly.

Are there any wrinkles to treasure-hunting that might spice things up?

There are, yes. Enemies change from stage to stage. Various power-ups appear that give you bonus points, a timed fireball spell, a sort of fireball grenade, more time, etc. If you collect all the EXTRA letters, you get a 1-up, not that 1-ups aren’t fairly routine items on their own. Plus, the treasure hunting has an interesting risk/reward twist: if you’re able, you can bump a treasure chest from below (a la Vs. Mario Bros.) one or two times to increase its point value. Green chests must be opened this way, but with normal red chests, it’s totally optional.

What’s the “risk” part of that?

Sir Arthur is on a fairly strict time limit in each stage, so doing a lot of bumping tends to run the clock.

That sounds kind of cool. What are the enemies like?

Things like goblins, zombies, golems, bats, and the occasional deadly eggplant.

Sorry, I must have misheard that last one.

You did not—the weirdest enemy in the game is a floating eggplant monster with a toothy maw. Enemies tend to wander the stages at random—your primary concern is that there are always a lot of them. Thankfully, Sir Arthur wields a mean, uh, stick, so he can deliver a fatal melee attack to enemies that are right in front of him. Goblins burrow out of the ground and have a tendency to do so either directly under Sir Arthur or where he’s about to land from a jump, which tends to feel cheap, but this IS supposed to be a lost arcade game from the early ‘90s.

Tell me about the tower climb stages.

You don’t have to collect any treasure, which is cool, but there are still power-ups to grab. Tower climbs are basically vertical obstacle courses. You’ll be avoiding a lot of fireballs. If you take your time and are mindful of your surroundings, you’ll get through them fine. And then there’s the boss.

How are the bosses?

They’re surprisingly engaging, though once you hit the third boss Arthur’s inability to attack at a distance and single hit point start to become a concern.

Wait, you can’t take any hits?

No, and once you lose all your lives, it’s curtains. You can continue (more on this in a second) but you’ll have to reclimb the tower and retry the boss. It would be nice if one of the various power-ups that Sir Arthur finds gave him temporary armor or something. Just let the guy absorb a hit.

That sounds less fun but, again, old arcade game from the early ‘90s.

Right. It’s just that there’s a reason those games went extinct. When you start a new game, you can choose “Home” or “Arcade” modes. The former saves your progress between stages but only gives you  three continues while the latter does not save your progress but provides unlimited continues. This is an interesting duality that I appreciate—it’s the kind of thing you’d see in the home console port of an arcade game from that era. Oh, and there are leaderboards that function as a modern “High Score” screen, so that’s something, although they're only viewable after you have a Game Over.

Right.

I like the graphics—they’re 16-bit sprites, and Arthur controls well. The music is fine but forgettable.

Man, this game needed a two-player mode.

It really did.

Should I go out and play it?

I don’t know, man. It’s one of those games where there isn’t much technically wrong with it, but it feels like a relic today that kind of wears out its welcome pretty quickly. When was the last time you played Bubble Bobble or Snow Bros. by yourself?

I mean Bubble Bobble was on the NES Classic, so pretty recently.

How long did it hold your attention?

Not that long.

Exactly. Bubble Bobble is a great game when you’re playing with another player. By yourself, it gets old pretty quickly. That’s the feeling I get with Eternum EX. Some people might love it to death and might go for the top of the leaderboards, but on the whole, I’m pretty “meh” about the whole thing.

That’s too bad.

It is, because I feel like there’s a good game here. It replicates the spirit of that Pizza Hut arcade bank almost to a T. It would be like I played VVVVVV and understood what it was going for and recognize that it was successful in that goal but it just didn’t grab me. Well, VVVVVV grabbed me. Eternum EX didn’t.

Wrap it up, I have other people to haunt.

If you really long for those days of playing Street Fighter II and Metal Slug while you wait for your Book It group’s pizza to come out, you might want to give Eternum EX a look. I feel like it needs a two-player mode to keep things fresh because otherwise it runs out of steam pretty quickly.

[I hope this isn't the cream of the crop.]

103

TalkBack / Pinball FX3: The Williams Tables Vol. 1 (Switch eShop) Review

« on: October 22, 2018, 10:56:49 AM »

I hope this isn't the cream of the crop.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/48708/pinball-fx3-the-williams-tables-vol-1-switch-eshop-review

Until recently, I was unaware that a rival pinball game existed on the Switch: Pinball Arcade. This collection, from FarSight Studios, featured real-world pinball tables, many from Bally and Williams, that are highly regarded. Sadly, Pinball Arcade recently lost the rights to the Bally and Williams tables, which severely slashed their number of available tables. This is a real shame, but Zen Studios has snatched up at least the Williams tables and are making them available in packs of three or four. Volume 1 includes Fish Tales, Medieval Madness, Junk Yard, and The Getaway: High Speed II. Sadly, only one of these is unambiguously amazing—the rest are kind of dull.

Let’s start with the best table: Medieval Madness. This is a long table with a castle centerpiece, several loops, and two “trolls” that pop up in front of the castle and must be knocked down. Your primary goal is to destroy the castle—this is mostly done through hitting it repeatedly. Other goals include looping combos, hitting ramps, and completing loops in order to activate “Madness” states, which feed into the many different versions of Multiball available in Medieval Madness—one of which features a whopping five balls for you to juggle. In real life, this table implemented a feature that would stop the ball from draining between the flippers after a failed ramp attempt. This appears to be replicated in the virtual version, as I had significantly fewer gutter balls than the other three. Medieval Madness is super fun and I’ve achieved all but one challenge star on it.

I don’t want to say that Fish Tales is a bad table, but Fish Tales is a bad table. The layout is strange and not much is there to do. Your main goal is to “catch fish” by hitting targets, and then “exaggerate their size” by hitting a spinner within 10 seconds. Other goals include locking balls to activate Multiball and activating a cute dot-matrix minigame in which you try to shoot down waterskiers but not boats. In real life, this table had shorter-than-regulation flippers (about 1/8 inch shorter apiece). I have to assume that’s been replicated here, as I had way more gutter balls (both between the flippers and through the actual gutters) than any other table. Both the One-Ball Challenge and Survival Mode are incredibly frustrating. Fish Tales is a bad table.

Junk Yard is probably the second-best table in this pack; it’s fun but weirdly random. Your goal is to build objects with scrap that you “find” in the junkyard. The table features a pinball held aloft by a string that you can hit—it’s supposed to be a “crane.” A dot-matrix minigame where you try and hit a bulldog with pieces of toast while avoiding a girl is there as well as another minigame where you try to outrun the bulldog by mashing the flipper buttons. I still haven’t really figured out Junk Yard, but it’s a fun table that holds up well in both One-Ball Challenge and the Five-Minute Challenge. Survival Mode is more of a gamble.

Similarly, The Getaway: High Speed II is hard to work out. The goal seems to be to consistently shoot the ball through loops—one loop leads to a “Supercharger,” which is a very cool visual and actually speeds the ball up. Other than trying to lock balls for Multiball, the table doesn’t seem to have many other objectives that don’t simply result in bonus points. I also had some problems with outside gutter balls here, not as bad as Fish Tales, but gutter balls always feel like robberies. The “Supercharger” feature makes this an interesting table, but I didn’t love it.

All of the tables have a toggle between spruced-up Pinball FX3 graphical effects (like a fisherman standing on top of the table or explosion effects on the castle) or simply the original look. Swap between them with the B button at any time. I find that the FX3 effects don’t add a lot, and are in some places distracting, so I kept them off. Sadly, all four tables have been censored or changed in some way to comply with Pinball FX3’s E rating. This includes removing all references to alcohol or smoking, cleaning up the language in voice samples, and changing some of the cabinet art. I would not have noticed any of these changes had I not become aware of them (the lists of changed content are in each table’s “legal” tab), but I’m a bit disappointed because of what it implies for future Williams tables (or Bally tables if Zen gets those, too). For example, given Pinball FX’s E rating, we’ll probably never see the Elvira tables.

I’m excited to see more Williams tables, as they are consistently praised, but of these four initial releases, I only fell in love with Medieval Madness. Hilariously, you cannot escape Fish Tales, because it will be distributed for free to anyone who already has Pinball FX3. Perhaps they knew nobody would actually buy it?

[I'd like to be under the sea in Mr. Tako's garden in the shade.]

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TalkBack / Saving Mr. Tako with Christophe Galati

« on: October 09, 2018, 11:42:22 AM »

I'd like to be under the sea in Mr. Tako's garden in the shade.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/48603/saving-mr-tako-with-christophe-galati

If you readers aren't familiar with Save Me, Mr. Tako!, I suggest you do so. The game puts you in the role of a kind-hearted octopus named Mr. Tako who tries to end a cephalopod-human conflict by being helpful, solving problems, and carrying a message of peace (reminds me a bit of Yono and the Celestial Elephants). We just learned that the game is coming out on October 30th, which is exciting as I've been eagerly anticipating its release. Although it's a Switch game, developer Christophe Galati has lovingly recreated the look, feel, and sounds of my old brick Game Boy, although there are Super Game Boy-style enhancements along the way. Our own Jordan Rudek checked out a short demo at PAX West and came away wanting more. The game is essentially Metroidlike with dungeons and puzzles and oozes inky charm.

We recently got a chance to interview Mr. Galati, and I leaped at the chance.

I'm happy that developers are starting to realize the appeal of the good old Game Boy. 13AM Games recently did Pirate Pop Plus and now you have Mr. Tako. It's a trend I hope to see continue. What made you decide to build Mr. Tako with the GB in mind as opposed to something like the NES or SNES?

I hope it will become a trend too! We saw a big wave of NES-inspired games following the success of Shovel Knight, but not many recent Game Boy style games aside from game jams.

I grew up playing the Game Boy and was always drawn to those retro style games and the look of the graphics. Many of the games I played had a magical feel to them, which seemed to be achieved by the cute aesthetic and the room that they left to allow for player’s imaginations to take over. When I made the decision to create Save me Mr Tako! back in 2014, it was the year of Game Boy’s 25th anniversary, so it seemed like the right time to start working on this kind of project.

You've said in previous interviews that Mr. Tako is an amalgamation of concepts from games you've loved. I definitely see elements of Zelda, Kirby, Metroid, and Wario Land, although those games also share a lot of DNA. We're there any particular games you drew inspiration from?

When I first started to design the game, I thought about all the Game Boy games that I loved to play, and then honed in on what specifically I loved about them. I tried to select certain elements, mix them up a bit and turn them into something that still felt fresh and new.

As you mentioned, Kirby is one of the main areas of inspirations in this game, with how the world/level hub works and also the power hat system. Zelda: Link’s Awakening inspired the game opening, the dungeons and a lot of the powers, too. The “attack” feature of inking the enemies to turn them into platforms is inspired by Metroid II. Castlevania inspired a lot of the powers, and the core gameplay has some nods to Mario.

For the story, games like Final Fantasy VI, Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru and Seiken Densetsu were my main inspirations, I also added references to pop culture and history. Save me Mr Tako! is mostly inspired by many different Nintendo or JRPG titles, but also by recent indie games. (You might see some cameos!) There are tons of other references and easter eggs hidden in the game, so I hope players will find them all!

Mr. Tako has been in development for quite awhile; what elements have changed from the beginning to now, or did you always have a clear picture in your head of what Mr. Tako would be?

I’ve been working on Save me Mr Tako! for four years now, with the help of the game’s music composer Marc-Antoine Archier. I had a strong vision for how the story would go since the very beginning, but I started slowly using a demo prototype, which was essentially a side-scrolling runner. I received a lot of feedback at that point and it motivated me to begin creating the full story mode that I had envisioned. I completed the story mode with new ideas, I re-coded and improved the gameplay prototype, and then spent the rest of the time polishing the content.

When I partnered with Nicalis three years later, they helped me adjust the difficulty levels and add extra features like the widescreen mode and the Super Game Boy styled background. Although I’ve been working on the game for a long time now, I’m really proud that I was able to stay focused and deliver the story mode that I wanted, in addition to all of the other content that I envisioned and more! Some details have changed from the original concept, but the overall message has always stayed the same.

Is it difficult to let the project go out into the wild as you get closer to the release?

I wish the game was out already, ahah! I finished the content a while back, and this year has mostly been spent testing, debugging and polishing. As mentioned previously, we did recently add a couple of new features like an Easy Mode and also a cutscene fast-forward option. Very soon, it’ll be time for my baby octopus to be released to the wild and for Tako-San to swim on his own!

Nicalis has been one of, if not THE, most supportive indie publisher on Switch. How did you find your way to them? Or did they find their way to you?

When I released a demo of the game back in 2014, I also sent it to Nicalis and asked them for their feedback since I loved Cave Story so much. They answered me, and told me to keep in touch with them regarding the progress of the game’s development. So, when I had updates that I wanted to share, I would send them GIFs of the game so that they could see the direction I was headed and what was new. When I got selected to show Save me Mr Tako! at Tokyo Game Show in 2016, I had an opportunity to meet with Nicalis there and we started talking about publishing the game on the Switch. We later signed our contract and have been working on the Switch version ever since.

I'm always curious about how developers felt about working with the Wii U vs. Switch. I know Mr. Tako started life as a Wii U game, but how far did it get? Was the "switch" to Switch a welcome one?

It was always my main goal to release the game on a Nintendo console. As soon as I could, I applied to the Nintendo developer portal and became an approved Wii U developer. Since Tako was my first game as an independent developer, they didn’t grant me access to the 3DS program. I started to post about the game on the developer forum and received some good feedback, but I never ordered a devkit or started working on the port, as I was still creating the content in the game. So, when the Switch arrived, it was a more than welcome change. Nicalis took care of the porting process, so I could focus on finishing the game content.

What's your favorite Mr. Tako hat?

Wow...it’s very hard to choose just one, as there are 50 different hats in the game! If I had to pick one, I would probably say the Takoyaki Master Hat, which allows Tako-San to turn enemies into takoyaki (fried octopus)! There are so many other great hats and abilities in the game, though, so I can’t wait to see which ones other players like the best.

[And the one person who might play Dragalia Lost is in the wrong country.]

105

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: The 100th Audio Episode Spectacular

« on: September 28, 2018, 02:14:08 PM »

And the one person who might play Dragalia Lost is in the wrong country.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/48504/nintendo-news-report-the-100th-audio-episode-spectacular

Hey everyone! Join us tonight at 10pm ET for Nintendo News Report as we record the 100th episode since we pivoted to, uh, audio. Alex, Donald, Zach, and Justin will talk about the news of the week, mostly centered around the discovery of a new Pokémon.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

[And an online service launched]

106

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: RIP Telltale

« on: September 21, 2018, 02:17:56 PM »

And an online service launched

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/48422/nintendo-news-report-rip-telltale

Hey everyone! Tonight at 10 pm Eastern join Donald, Justin, and Zach for this week's Nintendo News Report. We were mostly going to talk about the week's online launch and grill Zach about why Senran Kagura: Enjoy Your Massage exists, but we'll also be providing the latest news about a major Switch third party.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

[Enjoy her massage.]

107

TalkBack / Senran Kagura: Reflexions (Switch eShop) Review

« on: September 13, 2018, 02:59:09 AM »

Enjoy her massage.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/48304/senran-kagura-reflexions-switch-eshop-review

Let’s do another one of these. They’re fun and fit certain games better than the normal review format. This game seemed ripe for some back-and-forth.

Hey Zach, you’re a big Senran Kagura fan, right?

Oh, dude. Huge fan. You know I like my fanservice games, and Senran is 250% a fanservice game series. I own every Senran Kagura game that’s hit our fair western shores. I have two Senran figures. I have one Senran oppai mousepad. I have an illustration of Asuka behind glass in the hopes of one day getting it autographed by series artist Nan Yaegashi.

I, uh…

Well I assume you want to talk about the latest release in this franchise: Senran Kagura Reflexions?

…I don’t know if I want to anymore.

…

…

Just go.

Fine. What’s Reflexions?

It’s a cute little Switch eShop game that involves massage and HD Rumble.

Go on.

So the story is about series mascot Asuka who wants somebody to give her a massage while she fantasizes about things like being a pop idol or naughty teacher.

What’s this game rated?

It’s rated M.

Before we go too much farther, what’s it rated M for?

Ogling Asuka, groping Asuka, massaging Asuka, and listening to Asuka moan.

Well this all seems PERFECTLY FINE.

Yeah, I’m not sure I like it either. Here’s the problem: the whole game is mildly pervy.

No ****.

As the game opens, Asuka tells you she really likes you and asks you to hold her hand and feel her pulse. You do this by selecting an area on her palm or fingers with the sticks and pressing a shoulder button to press down. You feel her pulse through the magic of HD Rumble, and it’s a pretty good effect.

That seems harmless enough.

Then she starts having fantasies.

Right, right.

She has several different fantasies depending on where you take her pulse. In one she’s a pop idol, in another she’s a naughty school teacher, and in another she’s…uh…hmmm.

What?

…your “little sister.”

*screaming intensifies*

That really does seem like something the localization team could have changed and nobody would have minded.

*sobbing in a corner*

In all these fantasies, she says something like “I’m so nervous, will you calm me down?” And you say sure, because you’re a good friend or, at least, older brother and that’s totally something siblings do for each other.

*rocking back and forth*

You’re then presented with Asuka in full body view, standing there, and you can rotate her and scroll up and down her body and use the buttons to grope, smack, and rub various parts of her body. And if you really want to, you can literally hose her down with water. They’ve pulled this directly from Peach Beach Splash.

*staring blankly into the distance*

As you grope, smack, and rub her, different parts of her body light up with one of five colors. “Activate” one of those colors enough and you’ll get a massage prompt.

At least…at least it gets better now because you’re doing something that’s not skeevy?

Yes and no. You then use motion controls (or buttons) to knock her inner thigh, take a roller to the back of her knee, use a brush on her arm, or…uh…take a vibrating thingamabob to her abdomen. These actions don’t require use of motion control but it is encouraged. HD Rumble feeds into the entire simulation. Your right Joy-Con is going to get a good workout, especially with the vibrating tool.

Is there anything to this?

You’re trying to keep a certain rhythm to maintain a bar within a certain window of tolerance as you try to get her “love” meter filled prior to time running out, at which point you get a “FINISH” prompt and she collapses in a heap of ecstasy. Like you do.

And then?

And then the whole thing repeats. Each time you go through a fantasy, you try to focus on a single color so that you fill up meta-game crystals that correspond to a meta-game puzzle piece (“pieces of her heart”) and then the game just sort of ends but you can replay it whenever. Ultimately, your goal is to complete all the fantasies with all five colors. I guess.

Why would I do that?

To unlock wardrobe options, voice sets, background music, that sort of thing. So if half of Reflexions is mildly pervy massage mini-games, the other half is dress-up, which has become a bigger and bigger part of the series as it’s gone on. You can dress Asuka up in what amounts to a bunch of Peach Beach Splash outfits, including a “transparent” shirt.

Is it actually transparent?

You spray it with water and you eventually can see her bikini top underneath.

Huh.

I mean, I know. This series is weirdly puritanical for how over-the-top sexualized it is. In fact, this gets me to an issue I’ve had with the series since, I dunno, probably Estival Versus (PS4/Vita). It’s an issue that really comes to the forefront in Reflexations due entirely to the subject matter: the game is 250% mixed messages.

Wait

Hear me out. This is a game that urges you to grope Asuka’s half-naked body while she moans and squirms, then perform sensual massages on her. However, if you grab her oversized boobs or smack her caboose, she reacts with embarrassment or anger, but then later she’s pretty okay with it, saying she’s never been touched like that before and she didn’t know you felt that way.

*teeth grind*

This series needs to do one of two things: go all the way or scale WAY back on the body-groping mini-games. Just commit to it one way or another. The series’ attitudes regarding sexuality are all over the map and Reflexions is the nadir.  Senran has been stripping its fighters of their clothing for a few games now, but Chibi faces or shiny blobs cover up the naughty bits.

It kind of sounds like you just want Asuka to get her top off.

Listen you

But no, I get it, it’s a weird disconnect.

I’m trying to think of a good analogy. It would be like the instruction manual telling you how to perform Ryu’s Hadouken but when you do it in the game, he just says “nah ah ah!” Don’t offer me a gameplay mechanic that you’re not willing to follow through on. Asuka’s coquettish reluctance also just drives home the creepy voyeuristic angle. It would be one thing if she has some agency regarding her sexuality (like she’s into it) but as it stands, the whole thing becomes super awkward.

By the way, you said three of the massage mini-games use the right Joy-Con. What’s the left one doing?

I’ll tell you when you’re older.

So that’s it? What’s the point? What are you working towards?

Clothing options, music tracks, voice sets, and unlockable front-end images. I can’t figure out exactly how you unlock the images—I got the athletic fantasy one but I don’t know how it happened. But yeah, there’s not a lot here. However, because this is a Senran Kagura game, there will be DLC in the form of other characters to massage.

Do we know who?

Yep: Yumi (who is my waifu), Murasaki, Ryona, and Yomi. The only possible reason you’d jump at this is to see if their reactions differ significantly from Asuka, and more massage mini-games wouldn’t hurt. Now it’s interesting that they’ve chosen Murasaki for this game—she’s been portrayed as emotionally closed off and timid. Ryona could also be a change of pace, as she’s been written as “naughtier” than all the other girls by a country mile. Yumi and Yomi, however, probably won’t diverge much from Asuka’s script. I also wonder if their stories will be wholly separated from Asuka’s or if everybody will be able to swap outfits and accessories.

Anything else?

You pretty quickly unlock a fifth massage mini-game which is just “SKIP,” allowing you to focus exclusively on checking colors off your list. I started doing this the second it became available. They’ve managed to butcher diorama mode and there was already little point to it in the first place. I also want to give credit where credit is due: the character models in this game (and Peach Beach Splash) are aesthetically and technically wonderful. They’ve figured out clothing in a way that no other developer (that I’ve seen) has and the character models are clean and don’t clip.

Bottom line this one for me so we can move on.

Reflexions is not great. There’s not much content, there aren’t enough massage mini-games, there aren’t enough dress-up options (at least, not yet), and the voyeuristic tone is creepy. And then there’s the fantasy involving Asuka being your “little sister,” which almost makes me want to nuke the game from orbit. For the Senran Kagura superfan, it’s probably required reading but everyone else can just wait for Peach Beach Pinball.

[And someone shipped off to 1930's Europe.]

108

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: Direct Delayed

« on: September 06, 2018, 02:19:30 PM »

And someone shipped off to 1930's Europe.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/48245/nintendo-news-report-direct-delayed

Hey everyone! Tonight at 10pm Eastern, join Alex, Donald, Justin, and (hopefully) Zach for this week's Nintendo News Report.

We expected to be talking about a Nintendo Direct tonight, but tragedy intervened. We'll preview the video - whatever it is - as well as talk about something Mega that might have been in it, and drop first impressions of a major upcoming Switch RPG.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

[There's Mai, and then there's everyone else.]

109

TalkBack / SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy (Switch) Review

« on: September 06, 2018, 04:08:05 AM »

There's Mai, and then there's everyone else.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/48240/snk-heroines-tag-team-frenzy-switch-review

I’ve had quite a run of fan service-heavy video games lately, ranging from Blade Strangers to Senran Kagura, but SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is arguably the most robust though maybe not the most ambitious. In this brave new world of accessible fighting games designed for filthy casuals like me, it’s another light on the horizon and I hope a bellwether of things to come.

While Blade Strangers utilized fan service as an aspect of its character, SNK Heroines positively bathes in it. The game’s only male character—a sandman named Kukri from King of Fighters XV—has kidnapped 14 women from previous games and trapped them in his “pocket dimension” where teams of two are forced to do battle to achieve…something. Kukri has given all the women three different outfits (two of which must be bought with in-game currency) that are either skimpy, ridiculous, or both. This pocket dimension also includes a gender-swapped version of series mainstay Terry Bogard because why not. To give you some idea of the degree of ogling SNK Heroines encourages, I note that Mai Shiranui’s default costume is a ridiculous bikini. You have to buy her loose-fitting red robe.

Like Blade Strangers, SNK Heroines aims to simplify the gameplay to near-Smash levels of accessibility: all of the attacks are based on a single button and a direction, even the special attacks and “finishing moves.” Most characters have relatively few attacks, but Luong (another KoFXV newcomer) has a ton that all branch off each other. The goal is to get your opponent into the red and then hit them with a “Dream Finish,” which ends the match. You can’t actually win without getting a Dream Finish, and if you perform a Dream Finish before your opponent is vulnerable to it, it will register as a normal attack (and will do a good amount of damage but won’t end the match).

This means that most battles have a certain amount of push-and-pull as you work to not just drain your opposing team’s health but also stamina. Items pop up during each round and have various effects, like causing a bomb or poison bottle to drop on your opponent or boost your team’s health or stamina. Good use of these items is often the key to victory as they can usually be deployed when you’re nowhere near your enemy.

The character roster is a little underwhelming, featuring 14 fighters pulled mostly from King of Fighters XV (I suspect they’re using the same character models). I’m not familiar with the majority of them, but of course fan service mascot Mai Shiranui is front and center. There are a few too many loli characters, which I’m never comfortable with in these sorts of games (sorry, Marie Rose). However, for the most part, everyone has a good set of attacks and feels balanced. I don’t like having to hold the L button down to block, though; as a gamer raised on “press back to block,” it’s a surprisingly difficult mental leap to make.

For single-player content, there’s a Story Mode in which you are encouraged to choose certain teams (check the Artwork section for suggestions) and then battle towards a final fight with Kukri. The cut scenes in between fights are equal parts of funny and weirdly voyeuristic. Kukri’s a creepy guy. The usual Training and Survival modes are here too. You’ll earn in-game currency for most single-player content, which can be used to buy costumes and a massive wealth of customization options, which is the other big part of SNK Heroines that is either deeply engaging or a giant waste of space depending on your point of view.

While characters cannot share primary costumes, they all share a huge array of hats, eyeglasses, contact colors, gloves, bracelets, anklets, hip decorations, and things you can attach to their backs (like angel wings or a turtle shell). All of these accessories come in a variety of colors. The idea is that you can customize your favorite heroine to your heart’s content, save that build, and then use it during (offline) multiplayer bouts. This is more fun in theory than in practice given the wealth of options and the fact that you have to buy (using in-game currency) 99% of it.

Once you’re done customizing your gal, you can pose her (poses cost money) in front of a variety of background images (which also cost money) although I’m not sure why you would. You can then take a photo of her all dolled up in your perfect pose that becomes your profile avatar. It’s possible something unlocks once you buy everything (your “purchased items” are tracked) but given how little you tend to make playing matches, I’m not particularly compelled to grind for all of it.

At least the game looks good. I find it looks better on my TV (whereas the opposite was true of Blade Strangers) where little details stand out better, and you can appreciate the animation more. You can count me among the folks not particularly impressed with SNK’s character models from King of Fighters XV and they haven’t really been changed here. Aside from Mai’s bra size, nothing really stands out—the game lacks a unifying art design (although I love the flourishes that accompany special attacks and Dream Finishes). The music is fine if forgettable. Are English dubs just too much to ask anymore? Oh, and guys, we have to talk about your menu icon (and box art). You need to change it because it’s terrible.

A WILD DAAN KOOPMAN APPEARS TO COVER THE ONLINE*

As far as the online play is concerned, SNK Heroines is a major letdown. The lobby system looks slick, but very quickly, it all turns sour. After 20 matches online, not one of them went well. This was the case both closer to home as well as internationally. The big problem is that matches immediately slow to a crawl, which results in faulty inputs as well as abnormal movements from the characters. Blocks might get ignored, special attacks have a higher chance of missing and movement is a joke. In addition, despite attempting the quick match play system multiple times, I was unable to find another player even once.

THANKS DAAN!

I also note that, at least when choosing your character(s) in online matches, your customized builds aren't actually selectable?

For what it's worth, SNK Heroines is a fun fighting game with (local) multiplayer options but, like so many fighting games, lacks a real single-player hook. I suspect your enjoyment of this game will depend on whether you have a stable roster of real-life friends because it seems like online play is currently borked. Maybe they can patch it? There are DLC characters coming down the pipe, so the roster will improve but there’s not a ton of reason to keep coming back for solo play.

*I've been stuck in a hospital room for the last eight days and of course the hospital WiFi is from the Bronze Age, so online multiplayer was not in the cards. Thanks to Daan for the assist!

110

TalkBack / Re: Blade Strangers (Switch) Review

« on: September 01, 2018, 12:44:59 PM »

Little inside baseball on this.

The score is still pending because literally the day Blade Strangers came out and the servers went up, I was admitted to the hospital--not with a brain abscess this time--just a normal respiratory infection. Anyway, the WiFi at Providence is terrible. Neal sent me another game to review (involving an all-female cast) and it took TWO AND A HALF HOURS to download.

So yeah, the WiFi is not up to the task of online play. However, I did have my PHONE, so maybe I can TETHER, right? MY PHONE DIED ON DAY #2. Like, forever. I need a new phone. So next time my wife comes in (due to work, her presence has been spotty), I'll try tethering to HER phone and playing online.

Cross your fingers!

Re: kicking high, Solange doesn't, but Helen does. :-D

[Princess Solange teams up with friend and foe alike in this accessible indie fighter.]

111

TalkBack / Blade Strangers (Switch) Review

« on: August 28, 2018, 07:04:29 AM »

Princess Solange teams up with friend and foe alike in this accessible indie fighter.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/48135/blade-strangers-switch-review

Cast your mind back to E3 of 2017—Nicalis announced a 2D fighting game called Blade Strangers, which featured characters from Code of Princess and Umihara Kawase (which we know as Yumi’s Odd Odyssey). More news was slow to come, and it wouldn’t be until after E3 2018 that I’d know significantly more about Blade Strangers. A lot of that knowledge came from our interview with director Toshinobo Kondo (LINK). More characters were announced, including a raft of indie characters, and I was genuinely excited to play this game. What I found was a fun, accessible fighting game that straddles the line between something like Super Smash Bros. and an SNK fighter.

I say that because of the control scheme. Rather than forcing you to memorize a number of complex directional inputs and buttons, Blade Strangers simplifies things to a single direction combined with one or more buttons. It’s more like Smash that way, and while each character has unique attacks, they all control more or less the same, which is a refreshing change for a more traditional 2D fighter. Your options are Light, Heavy, Skill, and Unique attacks (one for each of the ABXY buttons). Pressing Unique and another attack button can result in a new or powered-up attack at the cost of draining your super bar. As you land hits, your super bar charges to three levels. Pressing the Heavy, Skill, and Unique buttons at the same time and a direction will result in a super attack that drains one bar. Press it twice in rapid succession to drain two bars for an elongated attack. The controls are fully customizable and you can even assign multi-button attacks to shoudler buttons.

The learning curve is slight—things clicked with me pretty quickly once I realized I wasn’t playing Street Fighter V or Skullgirls. Some characters play with the standard pattern. Gunvolt, for instance, has to power up his own super bar while Quote and Curly Brace’ super attacks are less theatrical and more based on ammo type.Blade Strangers is all about the characters. This is essentially Indie Fighter 2018:

·         Code of Princess has four representatives: Solange, Ali, Liongate, and Master T.

·         Umihara Kawase has three characters: Kawase, Noko, and Emiko (plus her giant cat, Shakemaru).

·         Cave Story has Curly Brace and Quote, who play similarly.

·         There are two original characters, Lina, the final boss, and Helen, an Athenian warrior.

·         Finally, the indie scene is represented by Isaac, Shovel Knight, and Gunvolt from their self-titled games.

They’re all wonderful to play as, although Isaac seems undercooked and Gunvolt is pretty technical. My favorite might be Emiko & Shakemaru, who must be a play on Waku Waku 7’s Mauru & Mugi. Their victory animation is too adorable for words. You’ll unlock five of these characters by playing through Story mode with everybody, which doesn’t take very long.

In fact, my biggest beef with Blade Strangers is that single-player content is pretty limited. Story Mode is fun for the humorous character dialogue before and after fights, but the overall narrative doesn’t really change (only Lina gets her own totally unique tale). Challenge Mode is not Soul Calibur’s “Mission Mode,” which is disappointing. Instead, it just tries to teach you several combos per character in a sort of remixed Training Mode. The Arcade and Survival Modes are exactly what they sound like. Thus, Blade Strangers is going to live or die based on its online performance—which is why I haven’t scored it yet.

The game looks great. The character models are very detailed and animations are lovely. It’s very strange seeing Quote and Curly Brace as anything other than squarish, big-headed pixel characters, but here we are. For the most part, everybody has a good range of character-specific attacks. For example, Shovel Knight uses the War Horn, Isaac can toss bombs and troll bombs, Gunvolt can repeatedly “tag” enemies with his blaster, and Quote has the big white sword that he got from King. I kind of wish there was a way to view animation frames on their own in some kind of gallery mode because they really are pretty but it’s hard to appreciate them during a fast-paced match. Blade Strangers has voice acting, but it’s in Japanese; there doesn’t seem to be an option to switch to an English dub or turn on subtitles, which is a little disappointing. The characters say things before each match begins--I’d like to know what!

This is a fun, accessible fighter that casuals can jump into that also has depth that more seasoned fighting fans will appreciate. It’s definitely worth checking out.

[I'd love to watch this movie.]

112

TalkBack / State of Mind (Switch eShop) Review

« on: August 22, 2018, 03:20:22 PM »

I'd love to watch this movie.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/48078/state-of-mind-switch-eshop-review

It seems that nobody hated my new review format for Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2, so I’m gonna try it again for this game.

Hey Zach, I hear you’ve been playing some new games lately.

I sure have, voice in my head that I should probably be concerned about! Want to hear about one of them?

Sure, I’m always on the lookout for new games to play.

So I’ve been “playing” through State of Mind, from Daedalic Entertainment.

Why is “playing” in quotation marks?

We’ll get to that. There are broader questions we should get out of the way first.

Uh, okay.

Did you see The Thirteenth Floor and/or The Matrix?

Yeah, both are cool! Thirteenth Floor has that guy who’s in the Allstate commercials.

But at no point does he ask if the protagonist is in good hands!

I know! Total missed opportunity.

How about Transcendence?

The Johnny Depp movie?

Yep.

I liked it okay, but the ending didn’t make any sense.

Well, I agree with you there. But anyway, you might like State of Mind, which is playing in the same sandbox as those movies.

Oh, you mean in terms of plot.

Yes.

How does it play?

Well, here’s the thing.

Uh oh.

This is one of those games that you don’t play so much as watch and listen to.

You’re describing a movie.

Surely you’ve played games where your only real role as a player is to move from one cutscene to the next. Adventure games do this all the time.

Yeah, but in adventure games you also do puzzles, and those puzzles are often frustratingly obtuse.

As the player, you do three things in State of Mind: walk around from one objective to the next; engage in dialogues with other characters; and solve very simple puzzles or mini-games. Walking around is fairly standard, though the camera is centered a little too low on your characters. You interact with objects using the A button, which may as well be “press A to do the next thing you’re supposed to do.” Sometimes that means talking to other characters, where you’ll often be given a list of different responses.

Oh, so that’s where the meat is, right? Your different responses affect the plot? It kind of sounds like you’re describing a David Cage game or that PS4 game, Until Dawn.

Okay, so about that. It doesn’t seem like your dialogue choices branch or affect the story. You just have a list of responses, like this:

·         Ask about son·         Ask about wife·         End conversation

Let’s say you ask about your son. Then you get:

·         Ask about wife·         End conversation

And then once you ask about your wife…

·         End conversation

You're literally just going down a list. Sometimes, I say sometimes, you get something like this:

·         React angrily·         React calmly

This influences your character’s tone and word choice but ultimately lands you in the same place.

That’s…not engaging.

No. And here’s an even weirder one:

·         Buy such-and-such [900]·         Leave

You only have two choices here. The 900 is the amount of money the object is.

So you’re at least managing a resource.

Nope.

Then why say how much the object costs at all?

Your guess is as good as mine. And let’s say you think that $900 is way too much for whatever it is, so you leave. Problem is, there’s no other way to move the story forward. You have to buy that object to progress. There’s no way around it.

That’s not a choice.

Correct. State of Mind tries to fool you into thinking you’re the one making the calls, but that’s not really true at all. The whole game is like this.*

Okay, well, you said there were puzzles and mini-games.

Yes, and those actually are kind of fun because they tend to be pretty diverse. In one, you try and reconstruct a large image by picking the right smaller images. In another, you control a drone to remotely find people. My favorite is one where you put together a newspaper column (you’re a writer) from several pre-made paragraphs. While doing that, you can press Y to take a shot of whiskey, and that gives you different choices.

Are there a lot of these?

Not as many as you’d hope.

Well, okay, the gameplay isn’t great. How’s the story?

The story is fine, but if you’re familiar with transhumanism fiction, you’ll recognize most of the landmarks. You initially play as embittered alcoholic journalist Richard Nolan who lives in Berlin in 2048. At the game’s outset, he gets in a car crash but aside from some hazy memories, is physically fine. He goes home to find his wife and son missing, and a robotic butler in their place. You then take control of a different guy named Adam Newman who also just got in a car crash and aside from some hazy memories, is physically fine. His wife and son are present and his entire world seems tailor-made for him. While Richard goes in search of his family, Adam eventually starts seeing some Thirteenth Floor or Truman Show-type stuff that makes him start to question his sanity.

Well, I already have a guess about what’s going on.

And you’re probably not too far off. The game’s main thrust is about the relationship between Richard and Adam, but there are plenty of other diatribes that explore things like the surveillance state, integrating robots into society (for good and ill), cyberhacking, VR, and AI. I should mention that the timeline jumps around a bit to give you some backstory on Richard’s end of things. While there are a few surprises, the whole thing just goes on a bit too long, especially since you spend so much time in dialogue sequences. Richard starts off as an enormous dick but softens over the course of the story (kind of). It takes an ungodly amount of time for Adam to figure out what’s going on.

How long is the story?

I didn’t really keep track, but several hours, and it’s longer than it should be because the story can’t help but veer off the main path in ways that don’t always pay off. To be fair, the story is interesting but this is well-worn territory in 2018.

I looked at some screenshots while you were rambling. It looks cool.

Yeah, I really like the art direction. The environments in particular are fantastic. The character models are weird looking initially but you get used to it. Whoever did the character design really liked big collars/hoods/boas. Every other character has some giant accessory around their neck.

And there’s voice acting!

Yes, and it’s also quite good! I guess the guy who plays Gerald from The Witcher is in this. There’s just way too much voice acting because there’s way too much dialogue. The game is like 80% dialogue.

Huh.

I tried reading Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky a few years ago but I had to stop because it’s just so long and there’s so much fluff and it continuously diverges from the central narrative.** That’s kind of how State of Mind is, but with dialogue.

Maybe this game just isn't for you.

Ultimately, no. It’s just too long and player engagement is so minimal. I don’t like games that pretend to be games but are really just movies. State of Mind would make a great mini-series or book, but it’s not a great video game.

Anything else to say?

No, not really. I’m happy to be moving on to Hollow Knight.

Dude. Hollow Knight.

I know.

*This isn't 100% true--at the very bitter end of the game, you get to make a few choices (literally choose X or Y) that, combined, affect the ending. Too little too late, guys.

**You want to read Crime and Punishment? I have a suggestion: read The Tell-Tale Heart. There. I saved you a hundred hours.

[Maybe wait for a flash sale.]

113

TalkBack / Second Opinion: Mega Man X Legacy Collection Volume 2 (Switch) Review

« on: August 10, 2018, 07:04:41 AM »

Maybe wait for a flash sale.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/47984/second-opinion-mega-man-x-legacy-collection-volume-2-switch-review

Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 came out at the same time as the first back in July. We have a traditional review of it already. My own legacy with this series goes back years though, so I might have some particular thoughts.

That sounds cool! So Zach, tell me about this Mega Man X Collection.

Happy to, disembodied voice! I already reviewed Volume 1 so maybe start there.

Cool, cool, that sounds like a good game. But what about Volume 2?

Volume 2 contains the second half of the Mega Man X series, that is X5 – X8, and a second helping of the X Challenge. What’s unfortunate is that while X1 – X4 are all varying levels of good, X5 – X8 are…not. In general, you could say that the entire X series is a slow downward trend of quality (though it bottoms out at X7 then recovers slightly).

So you’re saying these games are bad.

Basically, yeah. Did you like X4?

Kind of. It didn’t grab me.

Did you like it enough to play it two more times?

What? No.

I ask because X5 and X6 are essentially reskins of X4 with a few new gameplay mechanics. I mean, the stage layouts and bosses are different, but they all look the same and pretty much play the same as X4.

That’s not encouraging. What are the new gameplay mechanics?

Well, in X5 (and eventually X6) you can freely switch between X and Zero.

That’s cool, Zero rules. Anything else new?

Well, in X5 you can find and equip multiple armor sets for X which is…something, I guess. All the Mavericks got their original names back. The plot is just abysmally terrible, though it does center largely on the implication that Zero was built by Dr. Wily specifically to infect Reploids with the Maverick virus. Or something. This story thread is abandoned completely in X6. I guess X5 isn’t bad; it’s just not especially memorable, like X4. Oh, and there’s a training mode.

Like, a “How to Play” thing?

Yes! Making its debut in the fifth entry of this series for all the people who waited to jump on board until now.

So what’s this about the Mavericks?

Oh, you didn’t know? In the original American localization of X5, somebody thought it would be really cool to name the Mavericks after Guns ‘n’ Roses band members, so you get such memorable bosses as Grizzly Slash, Duff McWhalen, and The Skiver.

“Duff McWhalen?” Somebody thought this was a good idea?

I agree, these names are unforgivably bad.

But now they’re normal?

Yes, thank Arceus. Now we have Crescent Grizzly, Tidal Whale, and Spiral Pegasus.

You know it strikes me that animal and plant-based Reploids always go Maverick.

It seems to be a problem.

Is “Maverick” a virus or a conscious choice? Like, did Storm Eagle decide to join Sigma because he believed in Sigma’s cause or was it because he was infected with the Maverick virus?

Uh

Are Reploids just labeled “Maverick” if they start doing things that threaten humans and other Reploids? Are Mavericks just criminals? How in control of their own actions are they?

But

Would you call the original Mega Man Robot Masters Mavericks? They were all allegedly built for normal jobs, like Cut Man was supposed to cut lumber or something and Pharaoh Man gave tours at some Egyptian museum. Did Dr. Wily just flip a switch and suddenly they turn evil?

I, um

And that makes me wonder about Transformers.

Please stop.

Are Decepticons just Autobots who went all Magneto? Can an Autobot decide to side with the Decepticons, change his insignia, and then later realize the error of his ways and go BACK to being an Autobot?

I have things to do.

Sorry.

So anyway, X6 has some terrible level design and forces you to rescue NPC Reploids in order to get “Parts” that X and Zero can equip that modify their abilities. While this sounds good in theory, it’s actually really annoying because some of the “Parts” are fairly critical to getting through the game and since there are no save states, your only option upon failing to rescue an NPC is to reset. Then there’s the story, which kind of glosses over the ending of X5 and there’s a new Big Bad but Sigma shows up anyway because you apparently can’t have a Mega Man X game without Sigma.

Okay, okay, X5 and X6 aren’t great. How about X7 and X8? Weren’t they PS2 games?

Yes, and only one of them is worth writing home about!

Oh god.

Now, I will say that they look really good. Like, way better than I thought they would. They have crisp polygonal models and colorful sets, the whole deal. X7 looks cell-shaded (remember that?).

And yet?

X7 can’t decide whether it wants to be a sidescroller like every other X game or an overhead 3D-movement based game. So it tries to do both but it doesn’t do either of them well. You initially can only play as Zero or Axl…

Axl?

Axl is an annoying new character. Remember when everyone got up in arms about the fact that Kojima pulled a fast one on us and made Raiden the playable character in MGS2 instead of Snake? This is kind of like that. Anyway, you can freely switch between Axl and Zero but X is back at HQ flirting with Alia until you beat all the Mavericks. Axl’s gameplay is hampered by a broken auto-targeting system and Zero is strictly melee. They’re both slow-moving, and Axl has a “copy ability” that is functionally useless. Also, this game has a Maverick called Tornado Tonion. He’s a giant orange onion. Like, props to Capcom for trying something new, but without something like Z-Targeting, it’s more frustrating than fun.

So avoid X7.

Right. Now, X8 is actually pretty interesting and really does move the gameplay forward in ways that I maybe wish they’d experimented with a lot sooner. Every stage—even the intro stage—has multiple paths and they have very nice 2.5D layouts. Axl is still awful but at least he gets different kinds of guns from Mavericks that don’t use weapon energy. You have access to all three characters from the start (though you choose two per stage). There’s a whole host of chips you can build to (somewhat) customize the difficulty, and one of the Mavericks is called Bamboo Pandamonium. He’s a robotic panda.

Well that all sounds great. Any downsides?

If you’re going for 100% of the upgrades, you’ll be revisiting each stage multiple times. The game also suffers from the same problem that Mega Man 7 did—the character models are large and detailed, but the aspect ratio hasn’t changed, so your field of view is always a little too narrow. There are occasions where the camera zooms out, which is great when it happens, but there are just as many times where the camera is a little too close to see where you’re going (especially if dropping down a vertical shaft).

But overall you like it?

Yeah, I do. It harkens back to the first three games in a big way. They even brought Vile back.

How’s the story?

Let’s not talk about the story or the ridiculous multi-stage final boss fight.

Okay, so X5 and X8 are good, X6 and X7 are bad. And X Challenge is the same?

Yep.

And all the overlay bells and whistles are same as in Volume 1?

Yessir. Overall, none of these games are anywhere near as good as X1 and X2, and to a lesser extent X3. X5 is on par with X4, X6 is a step down, X7 is just unfortunate, and X8 picks back up. There’s a reason Capcom included Volume 2 with physical copies of Volume 1, because otherwise nobody would buy it separately. On the download front, I’d say buy Volume 1 but if you absolutely have to have all the X games on your Switch, wait until Volume 2 goes on sale.

Anything else worth mentioning?

One thing. In my review of Volume 1, I said there was one more “extracurricular” X game they could, or should, have included in Volume 2: Command Mission. It’s a PS2 & GameCube sequel to X8 and it’s an RPG. The battles are turn-based, characters have equipment, fights feature status effects and—for the first time in the series—Sigma never shows up. The GameCube version had an interesting bit of GBA connectivity where the GBA player could scan an area for hidden items. I remember it being received pretty well, so it’s a shame it’s not included here since it’s part of the X series canon.

I guess I’ll track it down on GameCube. Thanks, this was fun.

It was! Let’s do it again sometime unless our readers hate it.

[And also, a K Rool appearance.]

114

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: Day Of The Royal Vampire Killers

« on: August 08, 2018, 02:07:42 PM »

And also, a K Rool appearance.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/47353/nintendo-news-report-day-of-the-royal-vampire-killers

Hey everyone! It's Smash Direct day, and our Nintendo News Report team is going to break it all down for you. Join Donald, Justin, and Zach at about 10 pm Eastern as we talk Belmonts, Echoes, and oh so much more.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

[This game is amazing...when you're actually playing it.]

115

TalkBack / Iconoclasts (Switch eShop) Review

« on: August 07, 2018, 05:16:59 AM »

This game is amazing...when you're actually playing it.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/47943/iconoclasts-switch-eshop-review

I was surprised to learn that Iconoclasts, a Metroidvania-like 2D platformer, has been out since late January on PS4 and Windows (but not Xbox One?) because I don’t remember anyone talking about it. This is a game that absolutely deserves to be talked about, heralded from on high as something you need to experience. It is breathtakingly gorgeous, maybe one of the prettiest 2D sprite-based platformers I’ve ever played. The gameplay is similarly sublime, with excellent environmental puzzles and impressive boss battles. However, there’s a big caveat that I did not expect: the story. In particular, how the story is told.

Iconoclasts puts you in the role of Robin, a spunky blonde mechanic. She and her fellow citizens live under the thumb of the One Concern, a religious organization that controls the planet’s lifeblood--Ivory. Ivory is a white gelatinous substance that seems to power all the machines on the planet (and be used for more nefarious purposes). The One Concern is, as the game begins, attempting to wipe out another religious society, the Isi, who’s found its own source of Ivory. Robin gets on the One Concern’s bad side when it’s discovered that she’s a mechanic, which is apparently a job reserved for One Concern tradespeople. At any rate, she quickly befriends an Isi girl and rescues a white-haired boy who claims to hold a high position in the One Concern church.

Got all that? Good, because you’re gonna hear more about it in a minute.

Robin responsively runs around, shooting enemies and using her giant wrench to open doors or vault to high platforms. At first, she’s only equipped with a low-power energy blaster, but as the game goes on she finds a couple more weapons and upgraded wrenches. Various enemies need to be dealt with in specific ways. The minute-to-minute gameplay of Iconoclasts is fantastic, and the environmental puzzles become increasingly complex. The game’s main collectible is chests filled with materials. Where a Metroid game would have missile expansions or energy tanks, Iconoclasts has Ivory Oil, Improvium, and Technium. You can use these materials at craft tables to build “Tweaks.”

Tweaks give you passive bonuses, like being able to stay underwater a little longer or run a little faster. You can equip three Tweaks at a time, but as Robin gets hurt, they’ll become “damaged” until she picks up some sparkly things won from defeating enemies or destroying little statues strewn around the environment. The game’s structure is more traditionally level-based than something like Metroid or Symphony of the Night, but within each level there are chests and Tweak recipes abound. A few Tweaks are won from completing errand-like subquests for people, and those tend to be the most useful (double-jump!).

I was most impressed with the boss battles, virtually all of which require strategic thinking and (usually) a unique method of engagement. One of the best in the whole thing is a late-game fight with Agent Black, basically a One Concern enforcer, who just refuses to give up. It’s a brilliant battle that ties directly into Black’s story and, to some extent, the overall narrative.

But oh, that narrative.

The game’s story is interesting and complex, filled with memorable characters and worldbuilding. Unfortunately, it is incredibly intrusive. One minute you’re jumping around, shooting enemies and solving puzzles, and the next you’re reading what seems like a novella of backstory and character dialogues. It’s not simply that these story sequences go on way too long--because they do--but that they crop up so damn often during the first, oh, 75% of the game. You will learn to love some characters (Mina) and you’ll want to strangle others (Elro), but in both cases you will want them to shut their pie holes and let you get on with playing the game. I expect this kind of interruptive long-form storytelling in Metal Gear Solid, but not a 2D action platformer. You can SKIP the story sequences, but the story really is quite good (if a little ham-fisted at times), but I just wish there was way less of it.

Apart from my problems with the story, Iconoclasts is virtually flawless. Presentation-wise, Konjak is dangerously close to beating WayForward at their own game. I’m weirdly in love with the sound effects that accompany jumping and landing. While the musical score isn’t quite up to virt standards, a few of the tracks present real earworms. I wish there were a few more movement upgrades or weapons, but I was constantly impressed by how many new uses I found for what I had.

Iconoclasts is one of the biggest surprises of the year. Despite occasionally suffering through the story sequences, I found that I couldn’t stop playing (it’s about 10 hours long). I can’t recommend the game highly enough--go play it.

[And of one of the end of show plugs.]

116

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: End Of The First Quarter

« on: August 02, 2018, 02:20:34 PM »

And of one of the end of show plugs.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/47905/nintendo-news-report-end-of-the-first-quarter

Hey everyone! A trio of Nintendo News Reporters will be by at about 10pm for a brisk look at some games and a busy week in the financial sector. Welcome to a world in which the best selling hardware in a month is the NES, and it's not 1990.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

[This is the one to get.]

117

TalkBack / Second Opinion: Mega Man X Legacy Collection (Switch) Review

« on: August 01, 2018, 09:20:53 AM »

This is the one to get.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/47894/second-opinion-mega-man-x-legacy-collection-switch-review

It was, perhaps, inevitable that I’d get my hands on the Mega Man X Legacy Collection. Like its predecessor, the two volumes of the Mega Man Legacy Collection, the X Collection splits its games between two compilations, and only the first one is required reading. This is a decent compilation with some nifty bonus features, but it feels strangely sterile.

Volume 1 of the collection features three unambiguously good games (Mega Man X1 – X3) and one forgettable PlayStation sequel (Mega Man X4). Like the games featured in the Mega Man Legacy Collection, each of these four entries has its own page of artwork, merchandise images, and music to peruse. You can also watch a short prequel cartoon, “The Day of Sigma,” which was originally unlockable in the PSP game Maverick Hunter X. Additionally, there is a bonus mode, the X Challenge, in which X takes on three stages of two Mavericks at the same time using only three master weapons. I’ll get to that in a second.

If you want my detailed thoughts on the first three games, here they are. They’re all great, though quality decreases consistently over time.

Mega Man X4 is the series’ foray onto Nontendo consoles—namely the PlayStation and Saturn. We get the (allegedly superior) PSX version here. It takes a lot of cues from Mega Man 8, but it’s not as colorful and the pre-rendered backgrounds aren’t as pretty. You can play the entire game as Zero this time, and it’s a way different experience. X4 is where the series becomes plot-heavy, and features animated cutscenes with dreadful voice acting. The game isn’t bad; it’s just forgettable and didn’t age nearly as well as the SNES trilogy.

You can flip between the American and Japanese (Rockman) versions of each game by pressing the Y button on the main menu. Unfortunately there is no option to rewind or create save states in any of the games—you can only save between stages. The collection offers plenty of screen filters, aspect ratios, and pixel smoothing to tinker with. “Rookie Hunter” mode lets you soak up a ridiculous amount of damage before dying.

The new content is the X Challenge. It has multiple difficult settings and leaderboards and is pretty fun. The idea is solid—fight two bosses at the same time—but their attack patterns don’t often compliment each-other. Chill Penguin and Frost Walrus, for example, give you essentially no room to maneuver between the latter trying to squash you and the former spitting projectiles and causing snowstorms. Having a limit of three Master Weapons at your disposal is a solid idea, though—it helps you strategize. I can see myself getting hooked on this mode.

The Mega Man X Legacy Collection suffers from the same problem that the Mega Man Legacy Collection does, though: Way back on the GameCube, the Mega Man Anniversary Collection offered up The Power Battle and its sequel The Power Fighters. That game's logical follow-up, the X Anniversary Collection, featured Mega Man Racing. The MMX Legacy Collection could have included Maverick Hunter X and/or the Xtreme games. To me, this is especially strange given that Capcom included the “Day of Sigma” cartoon. There’s another extracurricular Mega Man X game that could’ve been included in Volume 2, but I’ll say more there.

I can’t much fault the Mega Man X Legacy Collection Volume 1 for what it is. All four of these games are varying degrees of good and it’s nice to have them on my Switch. I just wish it wasn’t quite so sterile.

[Samantha is my spirit animal.]

118

TalkBack / Not a Hero: Super Snazzy Edition (Switch eShop) Review

« on: August 02, 2018, 02:00:00 AM »

Samantha is my spirit animal.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/47893/not-a-hero-super-snazzy-edition-switch-eshop-review

Devolver Digital has come a long way since Serious Sam HD. In 2012, they published an indie game called Hotline Miami and fame soon followed. Today, they have all kinds of heavyweight indie titles under their belt, including OlliOlli, Hatoful Boyfriend, The Talos Principle, Enter the Gungeon, and 2015’s Not a Hero, which now on Switch in a Super Snazzy Edition.

Developer Roll7, who gave us minimalistic skateboarding adventure OlliOlli and its sequel, have brought a similarly pared-down approach to the shooter genre. Despite (or perhaps thanks to) its pixelated aesthetic and simplified control scheme, Not a Hero manages to provide a surprisingly good time until it becomes a little too frustrating.

The story is simple, if a little strange: man-sized purple rabbit Bunnylord has traveled back through time from an apocalyptic future in an effort to be elected mayor and avert disaster. Bunnylord sounds like adults do in Peanuts cartoons, and his pre-mission pep talks have a weirdly randomized element to them. In order to win hearts and minds, Bunnylord has promised to severely reduce the crime rate, and he’ll turn to you and his growing posse of European badasses to do so.

The game is played in a side-scrolling perspective, in large multi-story buildings. Each mission has a primary goal and three secondary goals. The primary goal is usually pretty self-explanatory: hang up campaign posters, blow up drug stashes, activate a billboard, etc. The secondary goals are considerably tougher: score so many kills in so many seconds, don’t take any damage, rescue kittens, etc. You accomplish these goals by running around, crashing through windows, taking cover, and murderizing gangsters with reckless abandon. You can slide between cover and slide-tackle enemies. You can pick up clips of special ammo (like lasers) and also secondary weapons (like Molotovs). It sounds like a lot, but you’re really only pressing three buttons: B, Y, and X. Control is beautifully lean.

Building layouts are typically complex, and in hostage situations, you’ll need to find a way to approach the hostage-takers from behind. You’ll quickly learn that, in order to clear some of the more nefarious secondary goals, you must find the quickest path through a given building. While I appreciate this in theory (I love the Mighty Switch Force games), Not a Hero stages tend to be a little too long and complex to justify repeated attempts unless the game really clicks for you.

The more goals you fulfill, the larger your pool of characters becomes. Each character—fully voiced, by the way—adds a wrinkle or two to the overall gameplay. Clive has excellent accuracy and reloads quickly but his handgun isn’t super powerful. Jesus plays fast and loose, with quick executions but terrible accuracy. Samantha is relatively agile and can reload and fire while moving. All of these characters spout chuckle-worthy lines throughout each mission, though their pool of available phrases does seem limited. Samantha’s voice actress is definitely having a ball, though. She may not be my favorite character to play as, but she’s my favorite character to listen to.

While I appreciate the snappiness of the gameplay, I was not keen on the sudden difficulty spike somewhere around the halfway point. Aside from dealing with the labyrinthine building layouts, enemies start pouring in to surround you. On the one hand, this forces you to get creative and find ways to escape (dramatically crashing through windows is always fun). On the other hand, you’ll start dying a lot more, at which point you have to restart the mission from the beginning. Early on, restarting isn’t that big of an issue, but as missions begin to lengthen, it becomes more of a problem. This is especially true if you’re trying to complete all the secondary goals in any given stage.

What makes this version “Super Snazzy?” Well, not terribly much. You can play through three bonus missions—each with their own secondary goals—with Bunnylord himself, who is fun to play as. However, the problems Bunnylord faces are the same as any other character. It feels wrong to end this review on such a tired phrase, but your mileage may vary regarding Not a Hero. I enjoyed it but it didn’t grab me like similar games such as Mercenary Kings did. If you like comically-violent, pixelated shooters, you might try this out, but I suspect it’s playing to a crowd that doesn’t necessarily include me.

[If the Wolf Amiibo outsells the Ridley Amiibo, are we sure the memes were worth it?]

119

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: Canada's Very Own

« on: July 13, 2018, 02:26:00 PM »

If the Wolf Amiibo outsells the Ridley Amiibo, are we sure the memes were worth it?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/47738/nintendo-news-report-canadas-very-own

Hey everyone! It's a full house tonight as Alex, Donald, Justin, and Zach assemble for this week's Nintendo News Report. There appears to be news, but there's even more WWBP. We talk Battletoads, Donkey Kong, Paper Mario: Color Splash, and so much more!

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

[It's not the definitive edition, but it's definitely worth picking up.]

120

TalkBack / Runbow (Switch eShop) Review Mini

« on: July 05, 2018, 12:04:00 PM »

It's not the definitive edition, but it's definitely worth picking up.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/47686/runbow-switch-eshop-review-mini

13AM Games’ Runbow was one of the Wii U’s lowkey best multiplayer games. Up to nine players, either local or online, could get together and play a variety of frenetic platforming craziness. The game was also notable for its wealth of unlockable characters from other indie franchises (including Shantae) and challenging single-player mode. Over time, DLC costumes and music were added as well as a second helping of single-player content (“Sakura’s Space Adventure”). The game was eventually released physically on the New 3DS (Runbow Pocket) and Wii U, upon which all the DLC was included. Unfortunately, we don’t get Runbow Complete on Switch, instead having to settle for the vanilla version, which is somewhat disappointing. Still, for those who’ve never played it, Runbow should not be missed.

The core Runbow experience is a fast-paced platforming race to the finish line, in which you and a gaggle of friends try to off each other in hopes of being the last man standing. The brilliant wrinkle here is that platforms are often specific colors and the background color is constantly cycling. When the background is the same color as a given platform, that platform effectively disappears, so you need to be cognizant of what color is coming up before you leap to your doom while trying to avoid being beat up by your many opponents. It takes a few rounds to get the hang of it, but once it clicks, there’s really no other multiplayer experience quite like Runbow.

Various power-ups also appear frequently to mess with players as well. In addition to the obstacle course race, Runbow also includes a “King of the Hill” mode (self-descriptive) and an “Arena,” which is geared towards direct player-versus-player brawling. The Wii U version allowed nine players because one was on the GamePad (and not directly controlling a character). Here on the Switch, with no GamePad, multiplayer is limited to eight co-op combatants, which is more than enough.

If solo play is more your thing, Runbow’s Adventure Mode is the place to be: more than 100 short stages of varying difficulty will test your mettle in an effort to stop the game’s B&W baddie, Sakura. You can earn up to three medals per stage based on your completion time, and more medals generally means more unlockables. After mastering Adventure Mode, why not head over to The Bowhemoth? This insane challenge dials the difficulty up to 11. Both Adventure Mode and The Bowhemoth can be tackled with up to eight players, although I can’t recommend it if you’re looking to actually progress.

If you, like me, don’t have seven friends to share a couch, you can play Runbow online, where it performs admirably. At least on launch day and July 4th, there weren’t a lot of people playing, but hopefully that remedies itself soon. You can bring up to four local players with you, which is a nice way to fill a room. One of the things I like and dislike about Runbow online is that you can host your own game but you have to give all your friends a room code—this must be shared, essentially, via social media. It’s not a huge problem, but if nobody is look at Twitter when you want to play, you’re kind of screwed. Like so many Switch games, online multiplayer has to essentially be planned in advance. However, online multiplayer does apparently support the full compliment of nine players (which I have yet to experience).

Runbow is a fantastic, colorful, energetic platformer with great style and plenty of content for both solo and group players. At the very least, it is definitely worthy of a spot in your “great multiplayer games” folder.

[Who knew paleontology could be so dull?]

121

TalkBack / Fossil Hunters (Switch eShop) Review

« on: July 02, 2018, 06:12:01 AM »

Who knew paleontology could be so dull?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/47654/fossil-hunters-switch-eshop-review

Fossil Hunters is my third Kickstarted Switch game after Shovel Knight and Mercenary Kings. Unfortunately, my love for those games completely overshadows my lukewarm feelings about Fossil Hunters, a game I should love to the core of my soul. It’s allegedly about paleontology, which is my first love. Previous paleontology-based games, like Dinosaur King and Fossil Fighters, offered Pokemon-like gameplay with interesting methods of fossil prospecting in which you carefully dig, chip, and brush sediment off a given fossil using instruments that mimic those used in real life. Fossil Hunters does not have Pokemon-like gameplay, which is fine, but it more importantly doesn’t have an intricate, methodological process for finding fossils, either. The result is a somewhat dull game that’s buoyed by co-op multiplayer. There’s just not a lot of meat on these fossilized bones.

In Fossil Hunters, you and up to three friends explore a deep, multi-layered mine filled with fossils, environmental hazards, and local wildlife. Each floor of the mine is essentially a grid, and rock of varying thickness covers many of the squares. You destroy the rock by whacking it with a pickaxe until it disappears and, usually, uncovers a fossil. Fossils are funny things in Fossil Hunters: they’re puzzle pieces. You get all sorts of puzzle pieces, from 1x1 blocks to 2x2, 1x2, etc. The blocks have different things on them, like skulls, spines, leg bones, claws, or joints.

You drag the puzzle pieces around until you’ve created some unholy abomination, then submit it for a monetary reward. If you fulfill a client request (like “make something with two heads”) you’ll also get a gemstone or trophy upon returning to camp. Each floor of the mine has a skeleton blueprint on the floor, and creating that skeleton unlocks the next floor down. In addition to skeletal puzzle pieces, you can find coins, dynamite, and journal pages. Journal pages are the completionist collectible; each “zone” of the mine has so many journal pages to find.

You’ll eventually find people who will sell you items that will make your treks less frustrating: lamps (which keep fossil-destroying bugs away) and, critically, support beams. Support beams should be the first item you find, for reasons I’ll go into in a second. Some floors also have glowing pools that briefly increase your character’s digging or dragging stats.

If all of this sounds kind of boring, that’s because it is, and Fossil Hunters adds a couple layers of frustration on top. First, bugs can and often do destroy your puzzle pieces. You have to purchase and set up lamps in several spots around your works in progress to keep them away. However, in addition to not being particularly bright, the lamps need to be moved in order to drag puzzle pieces to where they need to be. If the lamps are hung from the ceiling or simply hovered in place, this wouldn’t be an issue. This is particularly irksome in areas that don’t have a lot of free floor space.

Second—and this is the big one—cave-ins happen with teeth-grinding frequency. Each area of a given floor seems to have a set limit on how many tiles you can pickaxe at before the ceiling caves in and all the rock is replaced. In some areas, it’s a lot. In others, it’s very little. In all cases, anything left uncovered will be destroyed by the cave-in. Because the puzzles pieces seem to be randomized, you can see why this might be frustrating: there were so many times where I’d been looking fruitlessly for a particular puzzle piece only to uncover it and trigger a cave-in before I could drag it away. The solution is to purchase as many support beams as you can afford, but you aren’t given the option of even having support beams until you're about a third of the way through the game.

Co-op multiplayer with a younger crowd might alleviate some of these frustrations, but as a goal-oriented solo player, I was disappointed by Fossil Hunters. I also wish the game had used a bigger selection of puzzle pieces to craft more true-to-life prehistoric oddities. One of the blueprints I found was of a sea serpent, but I couldn’t help but wish it was a mosasaur or a plesiosaur. It’s a little bit sad that a DS game from 2008 is still the best paleontology-based video game on the market—Fossil Hunters does not scratch that itch.

[Guaranteed to be 100% World Cup free.]

122

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: The E3 Recovery Period

« on: June 22, 2018, 12:03:32 PM »

Guaranteed to be 100% World Cup free.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/47613/nintendo-news-report-the-e3-recovery-period

Hey everyone! Tonight at about 10pm Eastern time we'll have Alex, Donald, and Zach recording this week's Nintendo News Report. Waifus will likely be discussed, we'll warn you in advance.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

[What's a Waluigi?]

123

TalkBack / Nintendo News Report: They Actually Put Ridley And Daisy In Smash

« on: June 12, 2018, 12:36:00 PM »

What's a Waluigi?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/47510/nintendo-news-report-they-actually-put-ridley-and-daisy-in-smash

Hey everyone! E3 Day 1 is *FINALLY* in the books, and our home team will break it all down for you at 10pm tonight. What did appear (every Smash character ever), what's not coming until later (Fire Emblem), and oh yeah, a little game called Fortnite dropped.

Don't forget to grab the audio version of the show on iTunes (also, throw us a review and Alex will address it live),  Google Play or in your podcatcher of choice!

[Enjoy being yelled at for playing this game.]

124

TalkBack / ICEY (Switch eShop) Review

« on: June 07, 2018, 08:08:17 AM »

Enjoy being yelled at for playing this game.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/47409/icey-switch-eshop-review

ICEY, by FantaBlade Network, is a nice looking Muramasa-style brawler with a sci-fi setting and an insufferable narrator. The gameplay is simplistic, enjoyable, and surprisingly flashy but I’d go as far as saying that ICEY’s core gameplay isn’t really the point. What you’re really experiencing is an unbelievably grating version of The Stanley Parable with a hostile narrator who seems to be taking out a lot of unresolved anger on you, the player.

Things start out confusingly. You run through a very brief tutorial that introduces you to ICEY’s core combat: our blue-tinted heroine can use a light and heavy attack, dash, counter (sort of), and buy new attacks or upgrade existing ones in shops strewn throughout every stage. However, once the tutorial ends, the game goes through a strange reset made to look like an error, and after choosing your difficulty setting, you’ll regain control back at the beginning of the tutorial area, now under the omnipresent shadow of The Narrator.

The Narrator tells you the game’s plot: ICEY is on a mission to defeat a soldier named Judas, who had allegedly murdered a bunch of people, but The Narrator is more concerned with ICEY following his clearly-marked path. Do so and you’ll be treated to a largely uneventful side-scrolling brawler that mimics Muramasa: The Demon Blade. However, because most of us have played video games for longer than a week, we know that the road less traveled is often the more interesting one. So we ignore The Narrator’s insistence that we stay on track and explore. This is where things go wrong.

The first time you’re given the option of going off-track is in a sewer system, early in the game. You’re briefly shown a map of possible routes, one of which is the actual exit, another shows a treasure chest, and a third shows a trophy. Because this is 2018 and, again, we all know how video games work, I think most of us would go towards the trophy. You’re confronted with an empty room and The Narrator starts lecturing you.

Now, at first, his monologue is a kind of funny meta-commentary about how gamers just want achievements, but then it just keeps going. The Narrator reads what seems like several pages of aggressive scolding, eventually giving you two fake trophies (which actually do unlock two in-game achievements) in his disgust. It goes on too long, and too far, especially considering that The Narrator is speaking as the game’s developer. The whole sequence boils down to the developer, who developed the game and gave you that map, admonishing you for following said map and seeking out content that he created. There’s another instance much later where you’re given a powerful weapon but, if you use it, The Narrator accuses you of “cheating” and forces you back to the last checkpoint (as if you died). Dude, you put it in the game.

This happens every time you go off-script. Sometimes the game will sort of “glitch out” and give you some context-less backstory in text form (that, for reasons I can’t begin to fathom, often references The King in Yellow by Robert Chambers, which you may also recognize from True Detective), but usually The Narrator will just chide you, whining that you’re playing his game wrong and this is what he was TRYING to do and you should be THANKING HIM. At one point he shows you earlier builds of the game, fretting that he’s spent ten years of his life making ICEY so YEAH, think about THAT. Another time he accuses you of thinking the game’s combat is too hard because you took an alternate path that had nothing to do with combat, so he actually puts you into a completely different game, a combat-less platformer, and then yells at you when you inevitably die.

ICEY’s meta-commentary very occasionally (but more towards the bitter end) dips into territory that asks you to change your perspective on the lead character, the world, her mission, even The Narrator. While those bits are interesting, they’re far too rare. The balance between being lectured and becoming woke is seriously skewed, and I just didn’t have the patience for it. In time you learn that the point of the game is to disobey The Narrator to find out what his reaction will be. This usually amounts to standing around a room not doing anything while The Narrator goes on and on in an increasingly-maniacal manner.

Meanwhile, there’s a surprisingly enjoyable brawler happening in the background. The spritework is great and the animations recall Vanillaware designs but, you know, sci-fi. The music gives a healthy electronica vibe and the combat upgrades add some depth and pizazz to combat that might otherwise become somewhat stale. From a gameplay perspective, things go just fine until the final level (this is a short game), when different pieces of previous levels are cut together in a jumble mess that makes The Subspace Emissary look downright elegant by comparison. You can revisit cleared levels at any time via the pause menu, and doing so lets you farm zenny for further upgrading.

If you like meta-commentary in your video games, ICEY might be right up your alley, but I found the narration to be overdone, overlong, and overly aggressive. I appreciate ICEY’s attempt to differentiate itself but…not like this. Not like this.

[Yar, here be a swashbucklin' good time, me hearties.]

125

TalkBack / Pirate Pop Plus (Switch eShop) Review Mini

« on: May 31, 2018, 06:20:49 AM »

Yar, here be a swashbucklin' good time, me hearties.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/47345/pirate-pop-plus-switch-eshop-review-mini

Pirate Pop Plus is a fun little title from 13AM Games, who brought you Runbow not that long ago. This retro game emulates your old green-screened Game Boy in an interesting twist on Cannon Ball/Pang/Buster Bros. It’s already been released on Wii U and 3DS—where it was one of the few cross-buy games available on those platforms—and has now dropped anchor on your Nintendo Switch. Neal reviewed the original release, and I’m more or less providing a second opinion, as there is no difference between the three platforms.

The setup is simple: the nefarious scalawag Bubble Pirate has kidnapped pirate Pete Jr.’s shipmates and intends to send Pete Jr. to Davy Jones’ locker by dropping bubbles on him. Pete, however, is nobody’s swabby, and grabs his trusty harpoon gun (I assume that’s what it is), determined to pop his way to victory.

As in past bubble-popping arcade classics, Pete can only fire his harpoon upwards, and hitting a bubble will cause it to split into smaller bubbles. Your goal is to pop as many bubbles as you can while avoiding running into them as they bounce hither and yon. An important secondary goal is to collect precious coins that drop from time to time. Popping bubbles also cause various other things to appear: fruit, letters that eventually spell BONUS, a weapon multiplier, and a few unique weapons with limited ammo like a chain link that stays in place until hit or a machine gun. These flourishes add some variety to what might otherwise be a fairly rote experience. Another change-up is the Bubble Pirate occasionally changes the play field’s gravity, so your concept of “up” is constantly changing.

Pirate Pop Plus has two modes: Normal and Hyper. In Normal mode, you have more hearts (HP) and the game is a bit slower-paced. You can usually play a pretty long round in Normal mode and it’s a good mode to play if you want to set a high score. If it’s coins you’re after, though, you’ll definitely want to check out Hyper mode. Here, you only get two hits and things are moving constantly. It actually costs 25 coins to play Hyper mode, but you earn coins at a much higher rate. Keeping your combo meter going will make treasure chests rain from the sky. However, there’s much less room for error.

You’ll want to collect coins because Pirate Pop Plus has a large in-game store where you can modify the “classic handheld” overlay (button colors, faceplate colors, screen tints, stickers, etc.). The best prizes are new characters to play as and new music tracks. However, there just aren’t that many characters or music tracks, so once you buy those things, you’re left tinkering with the overlay’s aesthetic or going after in-game achievements once you, uh, buy the achievement list. Pirate Pop Plus also has a leaderboard but it’s not online, so unless you’re strongly motivated to beat your own score, it’s not super useful.

However, the game is addictive in its own charming way and it’s something I’ve popped on once and awhile ever since it originally came out on 3DS. If you have any nostalgia for Cannon Ball/Pang/Buster Bros., Pirate Pop Plus is a welcome addition to your crew.