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Review: Heart Chain Kitty

Natosha M

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Nov 26, 2021

If cats are something you love and possibly find adorable, well this game may or may not be as easily adored for you like many other games. I don’t know why, but the design is a little creepy to me. Something I wouldn’t feel like the first cat-related game I’d like the play.

Plus, with the title, Heart Chain Kitty it sounds sort of nice, and yet the game’s story and design just feel a bit uneasy to enjoy. Especially since the game provides not much color as one may read in the description. Only if the creators are trying to imply more about how the world possibly blends colors, most uniquely. In my own opinion, it appears like the design of the world is made of a bit geometric-style gelatin; translucent style landmarks in the worlds that aren’t anymore but greens, reds, yellows, and blues all combined. If you ever took gelatin and mixed the colors, it sort of reminds me of that. None is very smooth in design, a bit fuzzy on the screen, and just not pleasing.

It’s not only the characters and our cat, Kittey we play as the player that looks so strange with these colors. The worldly objects and landmarks are additionally a bit hard to look at. Not that the ability to move the camera each way is a problem, but the visual scenery gets a bit spooky in some ways. For example, there is one in particular, which I don’t want to be odd, but one cat statue is something I found a bit offensive. If you ever heard the thing about Disney movies appearing to have some obscene images left in the movies or somewhere on even the designed covers of the video, well it sort of made me feel just like that.

Let’s say if you are lucky to spot this statue, I guess that will be a Willy Wonka moment, finding the golden ticket to see that obscene cat statue at the beginning of the game. I think if this part of the statue was done a bit smoother in design at the tip, this wouldn’t be an issue. Also, it could just be me, and possibly everyone I have shown at home that felt the same about it.

So sadly, I can’t find myself to give this game’s graphics any high rating as it just is unpleasing. Even though it’s different and unique, it’s just a way too unminded portion of the game. I would rather have a normal color-scape and cute characters verse a gummy bear-style character to play as, with a tail and ears in a translucent gelatin worldly background and scenes.

Oh yes, and I must mention it also includes the designs of these villainous bosses! They are just as undesirable for a design, but it suits the game as the entire graphical appearance looks horrendous. At least there is some more of a battle to fight, than jumping on enemies in the game.

There is one other negative aspect of the game, which I found to be hard to relate to or want to care to read. The conversational pieces that took place in the game tend to not be at all humorous as they might or are meant to come off as. This is just my input, but I felt it to be still missing something to make it a bit more charming and amusing. So right from the beginning to the ending, the entire design and conversation between the cats and characters are just a bit dull and uncomfortable.

However, if we do move on to the game itself, well this is where it has earned a few positive points! There really is one thing that this game may provide and that is a bit more engaging fun for the player. Just like many platformers, it’s a 3D-style game that you move about searching and transporting around the levels collecting objects and others, and finishing to completion. Again that is if you can get over the ubiquitous style levels and worldly designs.

Heart Chain Kitty may actually have some way of reminding you of a few classic, retro similar style platformer games, with an adventure to entertain the player. From the many bosses and quests, it can keep you occupied, throwing in some challenging levels to accomplish it can be quite fun. Yet, there always is for me, that one big feature problem, the graphics that make it feel still a bit awkward like something won’t do what it should when being shot from a hoop to another location or if something is missing to get to one place to the next in the game. I don’t know why the game makes me feel this way, but it oddly does supply the connection and I have yet to feel stuck.

I sometimes feel like the only good thing is that you have a world to adventure through, like any typical platformer. Plus, the quests to entertain you and keep you motivated to play. Oh yes, and maybe the simple controlling button that was for the Xbox One is something to be pleased about. Other than that, the entire design really wrecks the game for me. I would rather have it in a standard design, not evening needing to be 3D. A standard appearance like 2D or a simple pixelated design would be perfect! Oh and maybe then this color-scape style world may be more appropriate and somewhat pleasant.

Nevertheless, the main purpose and goal of the game aren’t too difficult. Solving quests that are being asked, collecting items, and of course completing the main adventure of finding his family. It can be a game that may please those who can accept the quests, but it isn’t something that I can find myself playing so very often.

A Closer Look at the LEGO Marvel The Avengers Advent Calendar 2021

Andrew Edney

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Nov 26, 2021

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A Closer Look at the LEGO Marvel The Avengers Advent Calendar 2021

With Christmas not too far away now, we are going to be looking at various things you might want to consider – here we look at the LEGO Marvel The Avengers Advent Calendar 2021.

Behind each of the calendar’s 24 doors are daily gifts for kids to reveal throughout December’s buildup to Christmas. There are 7 minifigures – Iron Man, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Thor, Captain Marvel, Thanos and Nick Fury – plus exciting items and amazing accessories from the Marvel Universe that kids will love: a Quinjet, Helicarrier, Spider-Man drone, Avengers Tower and more. As the big day approaches, kids can mix up the gifts to create endless, exciting, super-hero adventures.

Includes 7 minifigures – Iron Man, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Thor, Captain Marvel, Thanos and Nick Fury – plus exciting items and amazing accessories from the Marvel Universe that kids will love.

Behind door 24 is an awesome surprise (clue: it’s one of the most powerful objects in the universe!).

I, and my trusty young helper love the calendar – each day is an adventure.

The LEGO Marvel The Avengers Advent Calendar 2021 is available now priced around £24.99 and is aimed at children 7 years old and up.

You can learn more from the LEGO website.

Disclaimer: The LEGO Marvel The Avengers Advent Calendar 2021 was sent to us for the purposes of an honest review. All opinions are the opinions of our reviewer.

Review: G-Darius HD

Alex Chessun

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Nov 26, 2021

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With recent rereleases offering nearly the entire series on PlayStation consoles, it’s quite clear that the Darius franchise is as eager as ever to show that it belongs as a mainstay in the industry, providing the same fast-paced horizontal shmup experience to newer audiences.

On the menu today is G-Darius HD, which is a remaster of the original 1997 arcade release, G-Darius, which was first ported to PS1 and then included in compilation releases for both the PS2 and PS4. Sprucing up the original with smoother 3D models and resolution grants it a new ‘mode’, alongside the original, but the content otherwise remains the same.

Despite the fact that it’s 20+ years old, G-Darius still holds up great. It has everything you’d want from a shmup – it’s tough, it looks and sounds great and it utilizes a fun weapon gameplay mechanic. It therefore completely justifies its reputation as being one of the best the series has to offer, together with Darius Gaiden, and if you haven’t had the chance to play either of those, and are a fan of shmup games – you should, but probably not with this release.

Making G-Darius stand out from the large list of entries in the series is that it was the first to bring 3D graphics to the party, juxtaposing 3D models to the 2D scrolling action to give it a 2.5D look and making the enemies, and especially the bosses, even more distinctive. The best of these new additions is the ability to fire a gun that can capture an enemy and have it fight alongside you. You can then either choose to sacrifice your new buddy as a bomb or to convert it into a super beam gun, which will very satisfyingly wipe out all in its path or have Dragon Ball Z-like energy wave battles with some tremendously large bosses at the end of each section.

The ease in which these features can be used, in comparison to the relatively convoluted Dariusburst: Another Chronicle EX weapons and stretched screen, make this Darius the most enjoyable to play of the most recent two releases and easiest to master.

It doesn’t take long to realize that these titles revolve around the boss battles at the end of each stage, and they deserve a lap of honour here. They are very well-designed in both their visuals and attacks and their difficulty is such that you have to focus on defeating specific enemies that drop weapon and shield upgrades throughout the level before you reach them in order to stand a chance. Intertwining lasers, pistols, missiles – and my personal favourite – a pinball game of hell are all implements of pain that try and blast you out of the sky.

At first you’ll be very confused as you think he might try to pincer you, before pinballing you to death

They’ll succeed an awful lot of the time as well, even on normal difficulty, but with another inclusion that allows you to have unlimited lives – and save at any point with the ‘R2’ button – it’s possible to make it from start to finish without much frustration while giving you the chance to practice if you so desire.

With 15 stages in a branch structure and the prior-mentioned difficulty, there is plenty of replay value for those who are crazy enough to want to master it, but you might be disappointed if you are expecting a similar level of content seen in recent series releases. Dariusburst Another Chronicle EX was ironically criticized (*cough* including by me here) for its frugal list of features despite having 9 different playable ships, 4 modes and plenty of missions, but this title is essentially one mode with different visuals.

While there aren’t any big issues with the port, unfortunately both the HD and the original – though it seems more prominent in the HD version – experience slowdown when the screen gets busy with bullets or when the background shifts significantly. I have no doubt that porting a video game is no easy task, but considering the hardware they are running on, I can’t help but question the quality of the port.
Also, the differences in visuals between the HD and original version, while obvious, are not so pronounced that it justifies a new mode – personally, I actually prefer the original’s over the HD version as the 3D features seem to contrast a bit too much for my liking, even though the HD models are far cleaner and crisper.

Judged on its own merits, G-Darius HD is one of the franchise’s best, made better, but it falls short of being perfect only for its slight technical hitches and a lack of features. It’s also not the greatest bang for your buck, unless G-Darius is the only version you wish to play, as there are 3 other packages with better value currently/soon-to-be available on the PS4- Darius Cozmic Collection Console (which includes console releases of Darius 2, SAGAIA, Darius Twin, Darius Force, Super Nova, Darius Alpha and Darius Plus), Darius Cozmic Collection Arcade (which includes arcade versions of Darius, Darius 2, SAGAIA and Darius Gaiden) and if you can wait until the end of the year, Darius Cozmic Revelation, which includes both G-Darius HD and Dariusburst Another Chronicle EX+.

Review: 6Souls

Daniel Waite

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Nov 26, 2021

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Searching for priceless treasures can be life-changing and enthralling. Moreover, finding something that has been lost for decades is well worth the time and effort. However, you need to be careful where you start your hunt. Searching through dilapidated, spooky venues will only end in tears. 6Souls revolves around these ideas as you follow the adventure of one man and his trusty pet pooch.

Developed by BUG-Studio and published by Ratalaika Games, this is an action-adventure platform title. Its retro-inspired aesthetic and simple but captivating story will keep you interested in each of the ten chapters. Utilising two difficulty settings, and character-specific mechanics, the story is underpinned with some basic puzzle elements. Moreover, it’s an old-school game that will remind you of Sega Mega Drive or SNES gaming. This will therefore tug at older players’ heartstrings.

6Souls is straightforward but revolves around a whacky plot.

This single-player experience asks you to control Jack and his faithful companion Butch. This heroic adventuring duo must work together to explore a long-abandoned eerie castle. This clichéd setting is allegedly full of treasure, and Jack can’t wait to get his hands on it. What the pair don’t know is that the castle has a bleak history and they are unwittingly going to disturb the ghosts of the past. Subsequently, a simple treasure hunt becomes more complicated as Jack and Butch venture deeper inside.

The story has some wonderful twists and turns across its ten chapters. This impacts your character choices and how you navigate each stage. You must learn to use Butch’s agility, stealth, and speed to crawl through tunnels and evade detection. Whereas Jack can dash, climb, leap, and attack his foes. Each stage is filled with dangers and these must be overcome to find the treasures, collect keys, and get out alive. Each chapter culminates in a boss battle! You must use every mechanic to avoid being struck and to defeat them once and for all.

A lack of challenge and new powers.

None of the levels is overly challenging, yet they require precision, patience, and some degree of planning. You must be flexible in your approach and accept the limitations of each character. Furthermore, it lacks the complexities of its peers, but this complements the retro style.

The completion of each chapter rewards you with new power. These mystical abilities allow you to jump further or higher and you’ll reach otherwise inaccessible locations. Alongside this, Jack finds a bow on his journey. This enables him to create new platforms and attack his foes from afar. It was an excellent way to traverse great chasms and annihilate your enemies safely.

The combat is lacklustre and death is a slight annoyance.

When every chapter ends with a boss fight, you expect there to be a degree of difficulty. Sadly, 6Souls is sorely lacking in this department. Each enemy can easily be slain or avoided completely if you are a pacifist. Unfortunately, there is no reward or benefit from fighting, so running away is your go-to option. Furthermore, this was disappointing, as I wanted the adventure to be thwarted by danger as well as tricky puzzles. However, disappointingly, it wasn’t to be! This lack of complexity continues in the boss fights. Each encounter could be riveting, yet you simply spam the attack button to kill each boss. I desperately wanted the combat to be harder and more rewarding, but this never materialised.

Each chapter is cut up into bite-size stages that must be overcome to progress. This was a fantastic idea, as it made the action manageable and easy to play casually. But the developers missed an opportunity to increase the difficulty as the death mechanic doesn’t test you. Dying will reset your progress during any of the small stages, but I would have liked to see it punish you further. You never truly fear failure, and this undermines the action. The thought of having to redo a chapter would have increased the tension and longevity.

6Souls is gloriously old-school.

6Souls is brilliantly old-school in design and look. The pixelated sprites, simple stage design, and garish colours gave it a dated aesthetic. I loved how the scenery varied through each chapter and this prevented it from becoming boring. Furthermore, each chapter ends with a story defining cutscene which was excellent to watch. I adored how the plot was pieced together and unveiled. It was fantastically extravagant, absurd and worked perfectly with the genre.

Retro gaming perhaps lacks originality and the well-trodden audio is guilty as charged. The familiar tunes and clichéd approach is suitable and serviceable, but it won’t amaze you. I didn’t dislike it. I just wanted something unique and unusual. This issue sadly flows through the sound effects as well. The dated noises match each action, but it won’t leave you feeling inspired.

Clumsy and problematic controls.

A dated game needs an old-school control setup. 6Souls delivers this but to the detriment of its gameplay. The clumsy setup sadly undermines the combat elements, and this leads to unnecessary frustration. Alongside this, the button mapping never felt intuitive, and I was constantly making errors. This could have been a user issue, but I failed repeatedly because I always pressed the wrong buttons. This was annoying and frustrating and could put some players off.

With collectables galore, ten chapters to explore, and a second difficulty option to unlock, there is plenty to do. Yes, the gameplay isn’t complex, but it’s fun and addictive, nonetheless. It is quintessentially retro, and that makes up for its shortcomings. Completionists will love the simple achievement list, but this reduces its challenge further still.

6Souls is absurd and wonderfully retro.

6Souls starts as a simple treasure hunt but quickly evolves into an absurd tale. I loved the madness that unfolds and happily became swept up in the story. Its simple mechanics and lack of difficulty may annoy some, but this should be countered by the harder difficulty. I adored its retro ways and recommend you to buy it here! The castle is full of treasure and history and demands a brave adventurer to unearth both. Do you have what it takes, or will you leave empty-handed?

My video review with footage captured from my Xbox Series X, enjoy!

Review: The Frosts: First Ones

Jordan Kirkpatrick

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Nov 26, 2021

0

I’m not sure about you, but where I’m from in Scotland, getting a white Christmas is rather unheard of in recent years. So, to satiate the desire for that winter feeling that a lot of us think about, some turn to movies, songs and books. Well, instead of those, how about a survival game? It may have nothing to do with Christmas, sure, but it’s set in a perfect winter-draped forest and seems good enough to me to settle into. Let’s explore, shall we?

The Frosts: First Ones is a game of solitude, survival and the supernatural. Set in a frozen, seemingly post-apocalyptic world that isn’t too dissimilar to our own, you play as a hunter-gatherer called Berak. Berak lives in a small settlement in the wild along with some other hunters in a seemingly tranquil life until he is approached by Cilla from the settlement who informs him of her husband Hendrik’s disappearance. Berak, determined to find Hendrik and bring him home safely, then sets out on his own journey through the wilderness.

Set out as a top-down point and click, it is now your task to navigate through the chilling landscape, find tracks that could lead to Hendrik and discover just where he has disappeared to. The further you travel from the safety and familiarity of your settlement, the more out of depth you begin to feel. The effects of the seemingly perpetual winter are more than apparent throughout the untouched landscape—if you were to find yourself in a forest like this in real life, most people would probably not see the other end.

It is very much a solitary adventure, despite the main objective. You will feel as alone as Berak does when you’re playing, and this is thanks to the incredibly realistic and eerie atmosphere that The Frosts creates. Survival games can often struggle to make a realistic feeling experience, and this can more often than not let the entire game down as a whole. This is not the case with The Frosts. As you traverse dangerous ravines and try to carve your way around frozen trees, gusts of chilling wind and the crunch of untouched snow are all you can hear aside from the background music. These simple effects alone added tenfold to the experience; at one point I felt so immersed that I was convinced my room was much colder than it really was.

One word to describe The Frosts would have to be compelling. My brother joked as he watched me streaming that it was a “walking simulator with some plot”, and whilst I do agree to some extent it could be described as a walking simulator, it certainly isn’t a straightforward one. The gameplay at first was quite slow-paced and it is very dialogue-heavy—Berak even monologues occasionally—but if you can work your way around this, it is a very intriguing experience. Another issue arises with the dialogue itself; there are some translation issues every now and then which can slow you down a little bit, but it doesn’t make The Frosts unplayable in the slightest. If you can overlook the finer details, you can absolutely enjoy the experience.

Whilst the general design and visuals are unique, the pixelated style does harbour some small problems. Some of the terrains can be confusing to navigate at times, added in with the pixelated style and the fact that Berak can often blend in with the environment, you may often become disorientated as you try to find your way around rocks and foliage.

One aspect I enjoyed was the small mini-game like objectives that you would run into whilst you searched for clues on Hendrik’s whereabouts. The Frosts likes to throw the odd red herring at you—be wary of blood in the snow, as it may not lead you to Hendrik…

…but to the jaws of a grizzly bear instead.

The other mini-games like scaling rock faces and tending to an injured animal’s wounds are also fun to find, even if they may take a few tries to master.

With 30 achievements to complete that are both story-based and optional, they are all easily obtainable for completionists. The Frosts has around 2-3 hours of gameplay depending on how thorough your runs are and whether you like to explore every nook and cranny of the forest like I do for the fear of missing any details.

Overall, The Frosts: First Ones is a compellingly unique survival game that absolutely deserves some more recognition. The details put into the different areas of the wilderness alongside the sound effects and music only add to the immersive atmosphere of the frozen landscape. Whilst some terrain design can be confusing at times and there are some small errors with dialogue translation, it is definitely a hidden treasure amongst indie games.

As for the fate of Hendrik? Well, you’ll just have to brush up on your forest survival skills and dig out some winter clothes to find out.

Review: Cyjin: The Cyborg Ninja

Conor Spring

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Nov 25, 2021

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Cyjin is a fast paced addictive platformer developed by Aiya Games. When I see another platformer come out I usually approach with some skepticism. For one, these normally aren’t my type of game. Plus, there’s a whole host of platformers with clunky controls and tedious gameplay, especially on PC. So I found myself pleasantly surprised playing through the fast paced stages in Cyjin.

In a game such as this, controls are all important, and thankfully, Cyjin has excellent mouse and keyboard controls. Most of it is controlled with the mouse, aiming, then jumping with a left click. You can blast through projectiles with the shield using right click. It didn’t take too long to get the hang of it, and once I did, it was easy enough to make precise movements. This is doubly important as dashing through enemies is your primary way to attack. It gradually introduces other mechanics as you play through the game.

It’s a classic example of a game that is easy to pick up and put down. It has fast paced platformer and puzzle based addictive gameplay. Blasting through a level, trying to go as fast as possible is a fantastic experience

There is a storyline, but it’s nothing really worth mentioning, a game like this is all about the gameplay, the story is there to give the stages more thematic flair. The music and level design all come together to form a cohesive product that feels like a complete, albeit short, experience.

This isn’t a game that will eat up hours of your time. It’s not something to immerse yourself in for days. However, if you’re looking for some fast paced platforming, which is easy to play for a short while then put down again, you can’t go wrong with Cyjin. Thus despite the game being relatively small in scope, what it does do, it manages to do well. There isn’t too much to say about this game, it does exactly what it says on the tin, ultimately if you’re into platformers, it may be worth picking this one up.

Review: Super Animal Royale

Daniel Waite

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Nov 25, 2021

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Battle royale titles are two a penny these days. Nearly every shooter has cashed in and fans of the genre can’t get enough of it. The fast-paced action blended with tactical elements keeps you thinking while testing your combat ability. I’ve tried many of these games and my latest one is the cute and addictive Super Animal Royale.

Developed by Pixile Studios and published by Modus Games, this is a 2D top-down royale shooter. Set in a fantasy world, you must cross multiple biomes, avoid your enemies, and collect weapons in this 64 player affair. Following in the footsteps of the much-loved PUBG, players will relish the challenge while enjoying the familiarity.

Super Animal Royale is a family-friendly title.

Rarely do I put shooting games and family-friendly in the same sentence. However, Super Animal Royale is cute, colourful, and ideal for most age groups. There is a high degree of violence, but the lack of blood and cartoon imagery soften the blow. Furthermore, gamers are encouraged to create loveable “Super” animals to take into battle. You are free to customise your hero as much as you wish, and an array of costumes, bodies, and creatures can be created.

Like its peers, the gameplay revolves around the idea of moving to a central location while avoiding the deadly “outer circle”. Super Animal Royale asks you to scavenge an array of items including shotguns, tranquilliser darts, machine guns, grenades, armour, health, and more. You must use whatever you find to defend yourself and kill any of your foes. However, mindlessly killing everyone isn’t wise! A timer ticks down to show when the deadly stink gas is moving, and the circle is shrinking. Therefore, a lack of planning and an aggressive approach will undermine your path to victory.

Just like any other battle royale.

Standing out in a jam-packed genre isn’t an easy task, and conceptually, Super Animal Royale blends into the background. This isn’t because the action is poor, or the mechanics are badly executed. No, it’s simply that it handles like every other battle royale title on the market. Subsequently, it will sadly be overlooked by hardcore and serious gamers. This is unfortunate, as I really enjoyed what it offers. Moreover, the lobbies are quick to join and the gameplay options are vast.

The developers have done a great job in creating multiple modes. You can play solo, duos, or in a team of four. There are also special events, unlockable items, and a battle pass to work through. Furthermore, boredom isn’t an issue thanks to the daily and weekly quests you must work towards. So, there is a lot to keep you going, but what will make you play this over its peers? Its simplicity and humorous tweaks, that’s what.

Cute tweaks.

The normal dropping into a match from a plane is replaced with a flying Eagle. Players still have to parachute in, but as you soar above the ground, you can see the loot below. This was a nice touch that allowed you to think on the fly. Moreover, traversing the map is a cinch when you leap on an emu or jump in a hamster ball. These hilarious modes of transport are deadly and troublesome. You may peck your opponents to death with an Emu or run them over with the ball. However, using them isn’t plain sailing. Clever gamers can smash your ball, leaving you vulnerable to attack, or kill your emu and you quickly after.

These minor twists to the gameplay may seem like a trivial thing, but they weren’t. By steering away from helicopters and cars, the developers kept things simple. With the action unfolding at a similar pace, it allowed players to create a plan of attack. This ensured that the playing field was always level and that every approach was well-balanced.

Super Animal Royale is awash with colour.

I simply adored the art style and visual approach of the developers. The combination of vivid colours, bizarre environments, and whimsical characters will keep you engaged. Furthermore, the movement is fluid and the player models retain a high level of detail. However, it has a fundamentally simple style, and this was a great choice. The servers are never overloaded by demand and I didn’t experience any issues whatsoever.

Though the character customisation had no bearing on the gameplay, it was key. As you level up your avatar, you can create Super creatures. These special options show the community your dedication and skills. It’s a small thing, but shooters are all about bragging rights!

When you jump into a familiar genre, it’s hard to ignore the deja vu feelings. Sadly, Super Animal Royale’s audio lacks a unique edge. Subsequently, I was left wanting more. Every element is serviceable, but it won’t wow you. The music is fun and has a high-energy and aggressive finish. Also, the sound effects are loud, in your face, and match the action. However, it’s nothing new and will remind you of other battle royale titles.

Easy to play.

I was amazed at how easy it was to pick it up and play. The well designed and responsive controls ensure you can jump straight into the action. I loved its user-friendly approach, and this maximised its family-friendly gameplay. Within one match, you’ll be slicing, shooting, rolling, and pecking with ease.

Shooters are renowned for their replay value, and this is multiplied exponentially in battle royale titles. The sense of “just one more go” is immediately felt, and you’ll lose hours in its addictive ways. With multiple quests to complete, a battle pass to finish, and many custom options, there’s plenty to do. Furthermore, its small but challenging achievement list will test you!

Super Animal Royale is an adorable addition to the genre.

Hardcore gamers look away now, as this adorable title is a fantastic addition to the genre. Super Animal Royale is fast, fun, and addictive, and is worthy of your time. It’s free to play and has a great and well-established community. I loved it and recommend you to try it here! Create the Super animal of your dreams and win every match you play.

Review: Luciform

Ethan Goldreyer

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Nov 25, 2021

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There is an undeniable allure to the precision platformer. From a player’s perspective, the genre offers unrivalled mechanical purity, unfettered by such trappings as skill trees or enemy combatants. To a developer, this style of game presents a unique challenge; an opportunity to flex their level-design muscles and focus solely on making a meticulous arrangement of blocks and walls intrinsically exciting to jump around on. For these reasons, precision platformers are often the go-to for beginning game designers, and while Chaos Minds’ Luciform presents some interesting mechanics and levels, the inconsistency of its aesthetic and its frustrating difficulty make it feel like the developer’s practice project; the larval stage of something more refined.

It must be said that it’s entirely possible I’d have enjoyed Luciform exponentially more had I played with a controller, rather than with a mouse and keyboard, however the game made this functionally impossible. Even navigating the menu with a gamepad made me feel like I was going insane. Pressing L2 inexplicably quit the game, while flicking the left stick upward did nothing at all, and after about ten minutes of plugging in and unplugging my DualSense, I threw in the towel, deciding keyboard controls would have to suffice.

Seeing as this is an indie platformer, I’d assumed going in there would be some back-of-the-box, pitch-ready mechanic on offer to set it apart from the admittedly enormous pack, and I’m very self-satisfied to report that I was correct. Throughout its dozens of levels, Luciform asks you to constantly switch between three colors – red, blue, and green – in order to interact with platforms of the corresponding hue. For example, if your character is blue, they’ll fall through green platforms, but land on blue ones. This is a fairly novel concept, and one given due exploration by the game’s inventive level design, but Luciform’s other big idea saps this color-switching mechanism of enjoyment at almost every turn. You see, you have no direct control over your character’s movement; they proceed in whichever direction they’re facing until they hit a wall, and they can not rest in place. While in principle this element adds a sense of urgency to the climbing and jumping, in practice it makes each level an overly stressful gauntlet of trial and error. Because you begin each obstacle course moving at full speed, you have no time at all to process the hazards before you, and thus stand nary a chance of circumventing them on your first, or likely fortieth try. In the best precision platformers, your skill is tested on your own terms. Sure, there are a hundred saw blades hurtling toward you as you leap between pixel-wide blocks, but the speed at which you avoid them is left up to you, and so your mistakes feel like your own. In Luciform, no matter how thoughtfully designed each level was, I felt unable to appreciate its construction while performing the mental gymnastics color switching at speed requires.

Narratively and aesthetically, Luciform is… odd. There is an opening cutscene which seems to paint a very loud gorilla as the game’s antagonist, and there’s an oddly evocative score comprising each level’s soundscape. You play as a small rabbit-like creature, and the background is a fairly well-realized forest, and you die when you run into these spiky vines and… I suppose my description of the game’s thematic elements is so disjointed because the elements themselves are very much presented that way. Having participated in myriad game jams, wherein competitors attempt to make a game as quickly as they can within a designated time frame, I’m reminded by Luciform of my own transparent attempts at tying a story and tone to an entirely mechanically-focused game, and of my eventual conclusion that this is largely a waste of time. Luciform feels like it isn’t content with simply being a difficult platformer with an interesting core conceit, and therefore negates any sense of identity it might’ve achieved through minimalism by throwing a handful of discordant ingredients together and hoping in vain that they cohere.

Luciform is an auto-scrolling puzzle platformer with some creative mechanics, and some really smart level design. For the few dollars it costs, I’d recommend the game to anyone in dire need of their next punishingly tough 2D escapade, and I commend Chaos Minds for conceiving of a novel design constraint and running with it for as long as Luciform does. Unfortunately, the game’s lack of identity and reluctance to give its own mechanics the space they need to truly shine holds it back from becoming the platforming classic it might have otherwise blossomed into.

Review: Battlefield 2042

Luke Maguire

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Nov 24, 2021

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A poor installment for the Battlefield series.

Being currently one of the worst reviewed games on Steam is it really that bad? No, it’s not. However, players have sent the message that receiving a bad unfinished product is disgraceful with EA regularly being anti consumer.

The game is a massive disappointment with new add ons that just don’t work and then taking out core foundations of what make Battlefield. Personally my performance was quite decent as I was playing on ultra settings hitting 60-70fps regularly with some drops in frames. But I’m still taking poor performance into consideration for the review.

Battlefield 2042

What can 2042 offer that no other Battlefield has? Honestly not much that works well. In fact they took out the campaign ‘to concentrate at what Battlefield does best’. Missing a key feature, but nobody would mind if the multiplayer was great. So, how did they use their newly founded free time since they didn’t have a campaign? Not optimally. A lot of normal features are simply missing and some of the new ideas just don’t fit. The new wingsuit is great fun ands makes traversal fun and quick on these large maps. The grapplehook is a great gimmick even though it doesn’t flow as well as the recent Halo Infinite grapple as its quite stiff in comparison.

The hovercraft is fun to use, but I cant tell whether it has a lot of health or whether the Rocket launcher is useless against it. It has added in the ‘robot dogs’ and sentry guns, which pain me. Not to sound salty because I’ve been a victim of them so many times, but they just don’t work well especially in game modes like Rush where on the final objective you can have a point on top of a skyscraper. On top of the skyscraper you’ll always find sentry guns, tanks, hovercrafts and about twenty enemies waiting a the only way up for the attacking team is elevators or aircraft.

The game is graphically stunning, one thing Dice always do right. Yet sometimes things can look out of place like fires look poor compared to before and when helicopters crash it usually looks dreadful. Bugs. Lots and lots of bugs, but what else would you except from a Battlefield game at launch? It even has simple features missing like a scoreboard. Gunplay is still fantastic with the exception of bloom. If you don’t know what bloom is, it will give a random spread to your bullets at times. Essentially rewarding unskilled players for nothing and punishing good players for having good aim.

Adding in specialists was again a bad add on. Specialists have pretty much made picking classes pointless and it’s a shame. When I played other Battlefields as an engineer, I’d make sure vehicles were tended. When I was a medic I would make sure to revive or heal others. Now you can just do it all and it takes what was great teamworking capabilities out of the game. Now every class can use any gun, which seems like a decent addition, but when everyone uses the PP-29 submachine gun it gets boring. I would say every second death I have is due to it. It’s extremely overpowered, being the only reason it’s used so much. It should have been noticed before launch, but DICE will patch it soon

One of the biggest problems I have with 2042 is the lackluster maps. They have no character and very few buildings for the great destruction its predecessors offered. The destruction is so inferior to the old Battlefields. That’s not the biggest fault. Not one map in my opinion is memorable. A lot of them are more open and concentrate more on vehicular combat than before. Dice took out naval combat surprisingly. The hovercraft can do naval combat, but it also can climb up skyscrapers so I don’t think its a proper replacement.

The gimmick of tornadoes and sandstorms looked amazing in trailers. And they’re pretty cool in game to look at, but they don’t work into the gameplay as nicely as imagined. Nonetheless this was a creative and great decision to make as it can improve with further updates.

Portal

Finally something positive. Seeing the old Battlefields with the graphics of 2042 is a joy to see. It feels the same as the old games, except much prettier to look at. They’ve brought modes like rush back from Battlefield 3 and Bad Company 2. Honestly I enjoyed playing them more than 2042. The only problem I had was that I couldn’t customize my loadout, but even my friends who were playing had the same problem, so at least everyone was on an even playing field. It keeps everything from the original game gameplay wise and mechanics wise, so it was implemented with care and it shows. There’s not much to say about Portal if you liked the old Battlefield games this is a must play mode.

Hazard

Hazard is what would happen if Escape from Tarkov and Battlefield had a baby. You’re objective is to grab as much data as you can and escape alive. You work in a squad of four against other squads competing for data also. This is where the specialists come in. The specialists work well in Hazard as there’s only four on each team and can make a team far more versatile. Hazard is quite fun particularly when working as a coordinated team.

Hazard falls short on reasons to play unfortunately. You’re rewarded with points after retrieving the data to buy better guns for the next game, but when you already have conquest, rush and portal it doesn’t offer anything better than them. Hazard feels like another attempt at a battle royale by DICE. Even though it’s technically not the same, fundamentally it plays the same for the most part, except you can be extracted rather than killing everyone in the game.

Final Verdict

With all the negatives said, I still enjoyed Battlefield. But the fact I know the potential of what it could of been is depressing. The game at its core is a fun shooter you will enjoy and with updates the game is only bound to get better as DICE have already announced two big updates. However with how the game is right now I can’t recommend it. With future updates and fixes I can easily see myself recommending this game.

Review: Shin Megami Tensei V

Sean McCarthy

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Nov 24, 2021

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I fell in love with ATLUS’s take on JRPG with Persona 5 and Royal, admittedly I was extremely late to the party on that series, but I instantly fell in love with the vibrance of the game, characters, story, music and especially the combat. As I was enjoying it, friends would tell me about the other long running JRPG style series from ATLUS in Shin Megami, so now that I have my Switch, why not tick off another box on the “Games for Nintendo you should have played by now” list and dive into the latest entry “Shin Megami Tensei V”, though I was a little worried if I would take to it as much as I have with Persona.

In short, the answer is a bit of yes and no really, there are aspects to this game that completely connected with me, and I enjoyed and others that came as quite a surprise, especially as a newcomer to the series. Some of it is down to this being my first time playing the series and quite a bit of it does require some adjustment whilst other aspects are quite familiar after playing Persona 5.

The biggest difference that hit me immediately must be the complete tonal change in the world and story. That said, any game that features demons, monsters and angels was never going to be the happy joy type of story, but I was quite taken back by the dark themes woven into the world and the story, from the wasteland of a future Tokyo to the musical score which is very melancholy before the rock of the battle music. I admit, even having watched the trailers leading up to launch, I was not prepared for this, totally on me not understanding more of the series and not the game but I was a little bit distracted by the opening of the game putting you in the role of a character, that you can name, at school, much like Persona. At the end of the school day, a message on the school PSA system advises pupils to not travel home or to the school dorms alone and to travel in groups due to an incident at the nearby train station.

Unable to find pupils to group up with, you decide to head to the station alone, where chatting to people you soon learn that other incidents have happened across Tokyo recently, with this latest one being described as a vicious animal attack. Fearing for the safety of her brother, a pupil asks you to find him which takes you down a tunnel and after a sequence, you find yourself in a barren wasteland of sand and ruined buildings. After witnessing the pupil’s brother being carried off to safety by what looks like an Angel, you are then fused with another being, becoming a more powerful warrior, capable of infusing the skills of demons and using Miracles to improve your abilities.

The story is full of religious themes from across the world with depictions of deities and demons featuring in the game, but it also has more fantasy demons such as Pixies, Mermaids and in the early hours of the game, even Puss in Boots! The variety of demons is impressive, all with different attacks, abilities across casting spells and physical attacks. This all comes in rather handy when it comes to the core aspect to the game, the combat. Demons can be recruited and can join your party to fight with you. As you battle, they will earn XP and after levelling up, they can learn extra skills to be used in battle either in attack, defence or support depending on their class of demon. The mechanic for recruiting them is quite interesting as during battle you the player can ask to have a “friendly chat” and by talking to them, you can attempt to convince them to join you.

This friendly chat can be rather hit and miss as the demons will ask you questions and depending on your answer, can decide if you are worthy of joining but they can also request things from you such as Macca, the currency in the game used to buy items right down to Magic Points and even a chuck of your health. Even if you give what they ask for, they can still decide to just refuse and leave but taking whatever, it is you have given up in the attempt. This can be rather random so be prepared to take a loss especially when trying to recruit a higher-level demon. Once you have a demon in your party you can do more than just fighting with them. You can also acquire the essence of demons, which can be used to fuse their abilities with your player character and any demon in your party to give them new skills. This is a very handy mechanic as you can also obtain resistance to an attack type with them but also gain a weakness depending on the affinity you absorb from the transition.

The aspect that did feel very familiar from my time with Persona is easily the ability to fuse demons together to create a new and more powerful demon for your party, one that has skills from the original two demons used. This is the most satisfying way to strengthen your party throughout the game, though it is limited by your current character level so for example, you will not be allowed to fuse two demons together if the resulting fused demon is higher than your player level. You will end up going on a bit of a search to find the right combination of demons to create these new ones, which being forced to be limited to your character level can make the process quite frustrating.

These processes are all thanks to the Leyline Founts you will find in the game, which serve as not only a fast travel network to move between the regions of the world but also giving you access to saving your game, the world’s shop, and the World of Shadows, which is where you can do the demon fusion and learning the skills of other demons for your character. I love the visual style of these various places with Gustav as a green shopkeeper who always gives you the impression, he is fleecing you out of your hard-earned Macca currency with every deal and using it for some other grim purpose. The sequence for fusing demons together is as theatrical as it is quite sinister, as your character takes to a demonic piano to play the tune as two demons are vaporized before your eyes and the resulting demon forming in their place. Brutal to watch yet beautiful at the same time which is also how I would describe the visuals to the game.

The Netherworld where the demon battling takes place is a very bleak and inhospitable environment to roam and it is a place where you will spend a lot of time exploring and navigating as you move through the map clearing out demons as well as completing the various sub quests you can obtain by encountering the more talkative demons less interesting in fighting as in using you do complete a task for them. The world has a nice verticality to it as well which provides plenty of hidden places to discover and I had great fun discovering new areas with new demons to battle, recruit and engage with just by taking the map and deciding to head in one direction, often away from the main mission marker.

I loved the animation of the battles themselves, with some attacks and spells having fun animations to them, but I do feel that the engine used could drop in textures quite a bit, very noticeable when playing on the TV in docked mode and less so when in handheld mode of the Switch yet noticeable all the same. The cut scenes are amazing with some tremendous setups as the main story moves on but can be skipped if you prefer to get to the action right away. Controls are very intuitive both in navigating the world and in combat, the tutorials to the various and many systems in the game which can be quite complexed so I fully suggest taking your time in the opening hours or even just to give the game a good run through to learn it all before perhaps starting over for a full run once you know more because as fun as this game can be, it can also be very frustrating.

That frustration mostly comes in the very and often harsh difficulty spikes that can stop your progress in the main story because of the game giving you a boss battle you really had no chance to prepare for unless you are following a game guide. The first boss like this was the Hydra demon, the first big bad encounter the game throws at you after a good few hours of trying to learn the many aspects to the game. This guy destroyed me multiple times, forcing me to try out different demon parties to try and counter its attacks and stages, which is not as easy as it sounds as after you have moved to a new region on the map, the amount of XP you can farm is greatly reduced as well as already having farmed the variety of demon types. This battle left me feeling quite demoralized to play the game as I thought I had quite a good party of demons, making use of the World of Shadows to fuse to create new demons as well as completing subquests to acquire what I felt were higher level demons only for this boss to make them look like level 1 characters with its final stage form using a chain of moves that just destroyed my team forcing the reloading of a save just to try again.

This is something I would say to newcomers to the series with this game, it is not forgiving of the fact that you may be new, the handholding of the opening hours very quickly becomes the “get on with it then” vibe and can be both punishing and frustrating. Slow burner is how I would describe this game at times, and it is deliberately so as every loss and failure are a lesson on how to do better next time, though when it comes to that one boss encounter that makes you rethink your entire party lineup, it can be disheartening to say the least.

With that all said, and despite the flaws, this is a very solid JRPG for veterans of the series and considering the eight years since the last entry in the series, this has landed with some fanfare that will be rewarding for fans and challenging to newcomers. My advice for others jumping into the series with this is to take your time, especially if you have come across after enjoying Persona because whilst the two series are similar, Shin Megami Tensei V has a learning curve that will prove a test for seasoned players new or old. Post release and a new and free “Story Mode” has been made available in the Nintendo eShop, which adds a more story focused mode to the game, reducing the difficulty of battles so you can playthrough the story relatively ok.

I have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy this game, I like the level of challenge but when the difficulty does spike, it is a good time to put it down and visit my Animal Crossing Island to unwind before trying again.

Review: Steel Assault

Michael Hoade

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Nov 24, 2021

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Steel Assault is an exhilarating 2D action-platformer that is here to show you a good time, if however brief. And I’m okay with that – mostly.

Developers Zenovia Interactive have created a game that wonderfully delivers on its retro appeal, with bombastic, responsive gameplay that feels right at home on the Switch.

All action, no fluff:

This game is all about the action. After a very stylish intro, accompanied by an adrenaline surging score, you’re quickly thrown into your first mission.

You play as Taro Takahashi, a resistance soldier on a mission for revenge. Equipped with a zipline, an omni-directional electric whip (for combat purposes only… as far as I could tell), and impressive movement, the game feels great.

Taking place in a post-apocalyptic America, which has seen Magnus Pierce – a renowned inventor turned Army general- become dictator, Taro is pitted against hordes of robotic foes.

Each mission consists of you having to navigate through various stages; zipping, dashing and fighting through enemies at a relentless pace. Thankfully the game is simple to pick up, with jumps, whip attacks, the zipline and an all important – iframe gifting – sliding dodge being mapped to a select few buttons. The real challenge is found in learning how to use these various maneuvers in conjunction to swiftly deal with the concurrent enemies and platforming challenges.

The zipline is a fantastic addition that can be used for a number of purposes. Travelling in eight directions, you’ll have Taro weaving through stages vertically, horizontally and diagonally. Moreover, with practice, it is a great way to set-up creative attacks on enemies. Mastery of this skill is especially important during the game’s more challenging platforming sections and boss battles, which act as all important skill-checks for the player. Not to mention: it is just so fun!

Stages themselves are designed in such a way that the action never stops. Four difficulty choices and generous checkpoints mean that death isn’t discouraging (I must have died over 25 times in one of the very first platforming sections), and this encouraged me to experiment with my approach during each run.

A brief nostalgia trip:

The 16-bit dystopian sci-fi world of Steel Assault looks great. The various enemy and boss designs are memorable and the backdrops; from neon cities to jungles, all look fantastic. There is an impressive diversity in the game’s aesthetic. Add in a high-energy soundtrack that carries both hype and motivation in spades, and what you have is a real visual treat.

That being said, whilst I found my journey through this nostalgia trip to be thoroughly engaging, it was very brief. Now, I personally welcomed this; my playthrough took just over an hour (and I am admittedly not the best at these games), however, once that trip is over there is not much incentive for the player to replay.

There are no customisation, upgrade elements or new stages to be found on replay. What you do have is arcade mode, which challenges you to complete the whole game with just one life. This challenge is welcome and absolutely necessitates mastery of every mechanic, but no new changes to missions or unlocks means you’re playing purely for pride. That will do for some, but I personally found the content offering lacking.

The brevity of this experience is both the games biggest strength and weakness; both managing to deliver a quality experience, without overstaying its welcome, but at the same time lacking the additional content to make it an easy recommendation at full price.

I had a great time; the game is incredibly polished. I just wish there were more opportunities to use the awesome zipline.

Review: Beyond Blue

Vasilis Tatsiopoulos

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Nov 24, 2021

0

Educational video games tend to be weird, because they struggle to find balance between school and fun. A game that tries to teach us something should do so while being fun to play, if it wants to catch my attention and maintain it. If it’s not fun, I could as easily watch a documentary or something. This game, Beyond Blue, is not a ton of fun, but I have to acknowledge that it really tries to do its best -and sometimes it succeeds too.

So, Beyond Blue wants to teach me about the sea and the fish that swim in its waters, while also talking about the impact of human behaviour. Well, it’s a noble cause and learning about sea creatures is always intriguing -and done well here- but the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired.

First of all, let’s talk about the school stuff. In a clever move, the developers tried to inject some story and personality in their docu-game. You control a woman named Mirai and dive in deep (and shallow too) waters to follow a family of whales and record their movement and behaviour, for science reasons. This gives the game a clear structure, further defined by the small side-stories that are about Mirai’s colleagues and their lives. You will learn about a co-worker’s marriage, you will talk to your sister about your grandma who has health problems and, in general, you will get to know the characters that make up the small cast. The stories themselves are decent, serviceable and interesting enough, the writing is passable too, and the voice actors do a surprisingly good job in portraying the protagonists.

As a result, we have a narrative structure that is not very exciting, but it gets the job done and manages to ground the documentary part of the game in reality, to make us care about the whales and the grandma. It’s a clever twist and the game is a lot better because of it. However, the introduction of choice-based dialogue is not needed here and distracts a bit. Anyway, it’s a story that’s more effective than I initially thought it’d be and this approach should be followed by more people who make educational games.

Also, the premise is used -cleverly- as an excuse to give us straightforward exposition about the fish. Our character is doing some live-streaming underwater, showing the majestic creatures to the public. Naturally, she takes questions from viewers and answers them, taking the opportunity to just talk and give information about the sea, in a way talking to the player, without sounding weird or out of place. Additionally, we can read more about the animals or watch a series of video documentaries (that have nothing to do with the narrative). It’s a complete package when it comes to learning stuff and it runs just over two hours, making it a good way to learn interesting facts without having to commit for a long time.

Sadly, all the aforementioned aspects cannot translate well enough when it comes to actually playing the game. You see, Beyond Blue is really simple. Of course, there are no fail states and gameovers, you just swim and scan fish, you go from one place to another and you collect some underwater items. A game that has so few mechanics should find a way to make them interesting, and this one doesn’t manage. When a video game makes us walk (or swim) large distances over and over, when we are tasked to go from one point to another without having something to do in between, the movement alone should be engaging.

If I’m just walking in a virtual world, I need the walking bit to be interesting or fun. Beyond Blue makes me swim a lot, sometimes without even having something to look at -because the draw distance is really limited- and the controls are not great too. When swimming in open waters, Beyond Blue controls fine. But, when touching the ground or when diving in underwater caves, we see that our character tends to “stick” to surfaces and move in a clunky way -and some scanning sequences are frustrating too, regarding their control scheme.

Usually, this game makes you just hit the “forward” button to go straight to the marker, with zero distractions while getting there. To be fair, there are some distractions: you can scan every fish you find to get additional info about the various species -it’s not bad, but it does get boring after a while. We could at least have a more complex move set, or new mechanics that unlock after a while to keep things fresh.

The presentation, also, creates some problems. The game is pretty enough, the sea creatures are well-designed, the light seen through the surface creates a nice view and the variety between levels tries to maintain our interest in the visuals. However, the technical limitations get it the way. As mentioned before, the draw distance doesn’t allow us to look far away, resulting in a constant fog that looks unnatural. Also, the draw distance affects the way the game plays too, because when we have to find a specific type of fish and we can’t see it from afar, we tend to get a little annoyed and engaging in a form of pixel hunting. The sounds are great, though, and we hear some interesting songs -albeit not while swimming.

All in all, this is a short game that’s pretty, relaxing, and that tries to teach you something while telling you a story. It’s interestingly structured, decently made and there are some fun moments, like the thrill of collecting all scans. But, in general, the gameplay doesn’t manage to complement the story; they just play out like two different, separate parts, one of them clearly better than the other. If you like educational games and if you have a thing for the sea and its inhabitants, you’ll enjoy Beyond Blue. It’s a game that actually tries to be interesting and fun, and mostly achieves its goals.

Review: Sheepo

Daniel Waite

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Nov 24, 2021

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Few words fill me with dread, however, Metroidvania sends shivers down my spine. The constant back and forth and requirement to remember where you have been and what you are doing usually overwhelms me. Yet, I’m a big boy and I don’t let such minor things put me off playing a game. Sheepo is a short 2D Metroidvania title that is a thing of beauty. Its intelligent gameplay and wonderful aesthetics are matched by its touching yet bizarre story.

Developed by Kyle Thompson and published by Top Hat Studios, this is a sparse and striking platform game. Its gameplay is wonderfully fluid with some excellent intricate mechanics. You will experience the classic Metroidvania exploration elements, but this “tag” doesn’t define its gameplay. It evolves past this basic concept and you’ll love the story and many twists and turns.

Avoid the spikes and collect the feather.

Sheepo shocked me.

It’s rare that a game takes me by surprise, however, Sheepo caught me out twice! First, I expected it to be much longer and because of its brilliance, I was left disappointed. Second, I didn’t expect it to wow me as much as it did. I thought it would be another basic indie title with a nice striking aesthetic. Yet, I was miles off the mark as its intricate design and cleverly intertwined mechanics set the scene. I don’t normally like to admit I was wrong, however, I was happy to eat humble pie while enjoying this wonderful title.

The game revolves around a white shape-shifting sheep-thing. It is sent to an uncharted planet on a scientific mission. It must grab the DNA of any living species it encounters, but this task is easier said than done. There are only six creatures who inhabit Cebron, and you must obtain an egg from each one. Shockingly, every nest is guarded by a Queen. Aka, a big boss. Unsurprisingly, they are not happy to see you, as they don’t want you to steal their unborn baby. However, once you complete your goal, you can change form and become that creature for a fleeting moment.

Mind over brawn.

Now, it sounds like there will be oodles of battles, and combat is a key component. Yet, that isn’t the case. You needn’t worry about fights or violence, as Sheepo is all about mind over brawn. I adored this logical approach, and it was refreshing that Kyle Thompson steered away from the obvious fighting mechanics. Moreover, it incorporates intelligent stage design and shape-shifting mechanics as part of its exploration layer.

The partially open world can be traversed freely, as long as you have unlocked the required abilities. You must fly through the sky, dig through the soil, teleport, and more. With multiple regions to visit and many unusual encounters to face, there is a surprise around every corner. You may have to defeat a ROBObird who is scaring the locals or visit an art gallery. There is also a creature who is struggling to draw the Moon. These bizarre moments break up the sombre nature of this isolated and sparse environment. Sheepo is beautifully clinical, yet these fleeting moments build empathy and warmth. Subsequently, I adored the juxtaposition between the scientific mission and the humanised elements of the residents of Cebron.

Sheepo keeps things simple.

Part of Sheepo’s brilliance is its lack of complexity. The unusual character models add to the alien experience, as do the strange landscapes within each area. The combination of different colours and the use of vivid white icons gives this title a surreal edge. However, what really stood out for me was the buttery smooth movement. Leaping through the air and changing shape were seamless and never ceased to amaze me. Furthermore, the final product was polished to a much higher standard than I’d expect from an indie title.

The isolation and eeriness were beautifully captured in the haunting audio. The combination of music and futuristic sound effects works brilliantly to enhance this unusual theme. Every action is accompanied by shrill but cute noises that match the punchy or smooth movement of the protagonist. The well thought out audio adds to the already excellent aesthetics and emphasises the surreal nature of the gameplay.

Responsive controls.

Much of Sheepo’s brilliance is built upon the excellent and responsive controls. The simple layout is easy to understand and can be mastered in no time. Moreover, it’s super responsive, and this makes all the fiddly and finer elements much easier to overcome. You must slingshot, leap, dig, and teleport your way around the map, and none of these things are taxing. I loved changing into a worm, soaring through the air like a bird, or changing into a frog. Each of the creatures offers a new challenge, but the basic control layout keeps you one step ahead.

Sheepo has many reasons to return, even though its first playthough is disappointingly short. You’ll invest around three hours, to begin with, but this only scratches the surface. There are feathers to collect to spend in the local store, secrets to uncover, and the gameplay lends itself to the Speedrun community. Furthermore, many of the achievements will challenge you, and one, in particular, will test your pace and resolve. I enjoyed the difficulty this added to the game, and the longevity benefited exponentially because of it.

Sheepo is a fantastic Metroidvania title.

Anyone that says indie titles aren’t worth the effort hasn’t played Sheepo! This brilliant but short game is addictive, tough, and beautifully charming. It ticks all the boxes and is a hidden gem that needs to be uncovered. I loved every minute and recommend you to buy it here! Can you overcome each of the Queens and save the doomed creatures of Cebron? Steal their form and explore this beautifully sparse world.

Review: Rover Mechanic Simulator

Natosha M

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Nov 24, 2021

0

To me, Rover Mechanic Simulator isn’t for those who are looking to enjoy the beautiful Mars scenery or move from room to room. It’s more of a stay in one garage and repair parts that are being requested of you, the portion of the vehicle known as the Rover. Each order comes in and your objective gets filled with tasks requested of you to complete. That is the gist of the game. On the other hand, if you were a fan of mechanic games; simulator styles that require repairing vehicles then this will suit you quite well!

Unfortunately, this game isn’t one I’m that overly excited to play. I find myself doing the same job over and over; repairing the rover, searching for the problems, and making sure to complete the objectives required from me. It’s okay just for a moment, but after a while, I feel that it just is too redundant and a bit boring. Even more, there is nothing of interest to see, but the same garage over and over. Gets a bit dull. It may just be me, but I can’t even stand being in one room for hours, so why would I want to be stuck in the same room all the time?

Nevertheless, the main purpose of our job and this game is working in a garage, repairing this same device. Going through the steps of removing the part, placing it on the table which we will then investigate and remove anything that needs to be repaired and replaced. It’s not so hard, but it can be if you aren’t sure what to look for or where to locate the specific portion needing to be repaired.

After some time it will become a bit easier for first-time mechanics who’ve never done anything or played anything like this before. For example, this is the first time I’m trying a mechanic to repair a simulator game. I don’t dislike it too much, but I think if I was interested in the concept of the entire game, I’d probably be hooked on it, like a slice of pizza. Otherwise, it’s just hard to find it entertaining for so long.

For a quick intro to the beginning of the game, maybe if this sounds like your cup of tea or piece of cake, then sip or dig right in! Since I don’t want to make you feel that my impression should turn you away. So let me give you the basic process of how the game is when you begin playing.

At first, you are learning what to do, where to access everything on the screen, and all the practical details to get you to understand what you need to play the game correctly or if you forget, it helps you remember where to locate the details to help assist you. All of this is told to you in text, before entering the location; the garage needed to repair and work on the Rover. Right before entering the garage is the chance you can take to get a glimpse of the outside, to see the space-like atmosphere of Mars.

Once you do enter the garage, basically it’s understanding the different machines inside the room and what they are to be used for. Of course, they aren’t accessible only when you are required to use them. So no chance to play with the 3D printer at any time or work on the soldering iron if you have no need for it. Only if you finally begin with the first job or the many more that will follow, is when these machines; devices will be accessible to be used.

Honestly, there was one issue that got on my nerves in the beginning. I wasn’t excited with all those little green diamonds being so visible through everything like they were right on all the objects in the room. It sort of gets you confused as if you are looking for them on the vehicle in front of you, not just the outer edges of the room on the machines. Maybe it would be nice if that could be improved, removing the visibility a bit.

The machines in the room, there are plenty by the way. Each one is well explained what they do, and I’m glad even after reading about them, you can recall what they do again as it may be forgotten later. They aren’t too hard to understand, but at first, using them, it will take a bit of time to learn how to use our actual Xbox controller to make them do what is needed too. I felt that to be a little tricky, but it’s a simulator so that must be a part of the entire challenging aspect of the game.

Oh and thankfully there is a radio in the garage. Something to beat that empty, quiet room of nothing but work for you to do! I love the variety of tunes, especially the POP music. There are plenty, but that really gets my body moving and grooving, making the entire process I need to focus on a bit more enjoyable. Maybe if it’s just for a tiny bit. Cause again, it’s all in a quiet garage with nothing stellar to see or view while you are at work.

There is one other thing that I did find enjoyable, maybe the idea of having a garage to be a mechanic could be quite fun! Even if it’s nothing I’ve done before, but it could possibly be interesting to use tools. So when giving the shot with the machines, it took a little bit of time. It wasn’t the simple one button to either hold or move that was tricky. As everything to do with that was quite easy, even for a simulator. Since it didn’t require much turning or pressing of so many buttons at one time. The only problem is to learn what or where to go or do inside the machines to get them working and to get what is required of you completed. So the maneuvering was simple, the task was complicated.

I really also prefer each texted direction would have been able to be spoken. Instead of rereading the directions over and over. I found the text to be so long and my mind just wants to skim through, which is possibly the big reason I didn’t understand what was needed of me to do. Again, there is one positive note that they remind the player; mechanic what you need to do to work the machine or access the objectives for each job task being required of you.

At first, it is a bit tricky to get a hang of everything inside the garage, maybe a bit overwhelming for new mechanics. Thankfully, after a few times of fulfilling each job request; objective, you will understand them even more. That is it! Just a bit redundant in my opinion and gets a bit boring, but the jobs do get harder, tedious, and challenging. Though I still feel it’s a bit lacking in something then I’m used to in a game.