Here is our two minute review of the Lexar Professional 1066x microSDXC UHS-I Card SILVER Series.
Designed for your action cameras, drones, or Android smartphone, the Lexar Professional 1066x microSD UHS-I Card SILVER Series lets you quickly capture and transfer high-quality photos, including Full-HD and 4K UHD video with speeds up to 160MB/s read, and up to 120MB/s write. The card is U3, V30 and A2 rated for high-speed performance. This card gives you the speed and storage you need to capture more adventures on the go.
Features
Professional-level performance for action cameras, drones, or Android smartphones
Leverages UHS-I technology to deliver read speeds up to 160MB/s (1066x)
Quickly capture high-quality images and extended lengths of Full-HD and 4K UHD with write speeds up to 120MB/s
Load apps quicker with blazing A2 speed
High-capacity options –– up to 512GB
Designed for durability in harsh conditions
Includes SD adapter
10-year limited warranty for card and one-year limited warranty for adapter (Outside of the Americas)
Final Thoughts
If you need to expand the storage on your devices and you want something fast and reliable then you will need a microSDXC card. Lexar is a very well known brand with a history of supplying high quality products and the Lexar Professional 1066x microSDXC UHS-I cards SILVER Series is no exception.
As well as the microSDXC card, the packet also include an SD Adaptor you can use it either read the contents of the card on a computer or actually use the card in something like camera.
The card is fast and works really well with a variety of devices, whether its a phone or camera, this is the card to look at and consider for your device, after all you will want to keep everything safe on the card and this card certainly delivers. It works especially well when used to record 4K UHD content.
This is yet another great card from Lexar!
The Lexar Professional 1066x microSDHC/microSDXC UHS-I cards SILVER Series is available now priced £15.99 (64GB), £26.99 (128GB), and £49.99 (256GB) with 32GB and 512GB to be announced at a future date.
To anyone who has experienced playing a farming sim before – Friends of Mineral Town will glisten with familiarity. Taking each day at your own pace, hours pass after mining, planting and tending to all your farmyard friends. Right from the start you are greeted with a wonderfully relaxed and comforting game.
The world is your oyster
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a beautifully soft game. With a pastel colour palette and repetitive soundtrack you will no doubt lose yourself. Much like other popular farming sims, such as Stardew Valley, the world is essentially yours to explore at your own pace. There are few objectives to complete (all entirely optional) and as seasons pass you get to experience Mineral Town bloom.
Simple but wonderful
For such a simple objective, the game does not lack in content. With a whole town of NPCs to meet and gain friendships with, and a whole farmyard – there isn’t ever a quiet moment. You have to work hard in order to upgrade tools, and to make the money to upgrade things you need to raise animals or farm crops. All of which take time and patience. Festivals also take place throughout the year so even your farmer can enjoy a day off.
From the moment you begin, you are ready to start your adventure. You are presented with two different playmodes – normal or simple. Normal will give you 500g and begins in the same way as the original game. You are presented with similar challenges and also learn about the backstory of your land. On the other hand, simple will get you started with a little extra gold and is easier when starting up. Things ship for more money, and villagers can be befriended with less hassle. Simple mode makes the game easier for new players and also skips the slower start up pace of a farming sim.
An ode to old fans
For fans of any previous Harvest Moon titles, Friends of Mineral Town is like all the best bits rolled into one. Characters like Thomas will be so familiar they feel nostalgic, and 5pm shipping deadlines gleam with childhood memory. If you have no previous experience with the franchise, you can easily pick it up too. It is a game for everyone, and you don’t need any prior knowledge to enjoy it’s sweetness.
Coffee cows and chibi critters
The controls are easy to pick up, and with tools already given to you at the beginning of the game you don’t have much to worry about. Seeds can be bought alongside a variety of animals to aid your farming journey. There’s even a cow which produces coffee milk, and I don’t know about you but this was a definite must have. You can name all your animals as well, which adds to how adorable this game is. If you’re like me, and are quick to get attached to anything you’ve named then I cannot recommend this enough. With a cute chibi art style, there is no doubt about the fact you will fall in love with these critters.
If you are searching for an easy going, laid back game with no intense story and objective – then this is definitely for you.
Final thoughts
Friends of Mineral Town is perfect for the switch. Controls are fluid and easy going, and tasks are simple so don’t need a huge screen to focus on. It is a perfect time consumer for both on the go or a rainy afternoon. I’ve already spent hours perfecting my farm, and I know for a fact I will continue to do so.
I really love the fast-paced nature of old-school arcade shoot-’em-ups. The simple graphics, high tempo audio and straightforward concept leave you wanting more. I’ve reviewed some great shooting titles in the last month, so when I was offered Void Gore, I thought, let’s see how this one stacks up. Developed by Panda Indie Studios and published by Eastasiasoft Limited, this is a game that keeps simplicity at the core of everything that it does.
You exist in a strange universe where spaceships enter a gateway to hell. The aim isn’t just to destroy demons and cleanse this evil place of its gruesome occupants. No, you are also there for the gold. Wave after wave of unrelenting monsters will float towards your vessel. You are tasked with destroying them any way you can. Fire laser beams and missiles, and destroy them with your ship’s shield. In short, eliminate them before they decimate you.
It is fast-paced and super addictive.
As you learn the fundamentals, you will find the pacing of the game too fast. Demons whoop your ass repeatedly, and death is just around the corner. You gather miniscule amounts of gold and upgrading your ship is but a distant dream. Once you get used to how your enemy’s move, and you improve your vessel, you progress further and further into the unlimited waves. The cash rolls in, and you constantly hit the high score. It goes from being a casual experience to an addictive nightmare in moments.
Shoot and dodge!
Improving your ship isn’t an easy task, and you must decide which path to go down. You will eventually improve every aspect, but to start you will need to tailor your ship to your gameplay style. Improve your weapons, add missiles, increase health or speed and more. You’ll chuckle with joy as your weak craft becomes an unstoppable juggernaut.
Power-ups and no big bosses.
Alongside permanent upgrades, you will be blessed with temporary power-ups. These match the selection available in the store, but they enhance anything already purchased. Your destructive machine takes a turn for the better and becomes stronger than an ox in a split second. I enjoyed it when I was challenged by the high difficulty setting in the early stages, but being able to mow down anything in my path was such fun, and I never tired of it.
What I found strange, though, was the lack of a main boss. You will see many evil and demonic beings, but nothing that will be special. It’s seemed an odd oversight from Panda Indie Studios, as the gameplay never progressed further than the manic bullet dodging hell that is seen from level 1. This was especially noticeable when you had purchased all the upgrades and flew through the stages with no care, and very little challenge.
Just a Demon watching what you’re doing.
Straight from an arcade!
This won’t win any awards for the prettiest title going, but it certainly looks the part. With its grisly colour palette and dark tones, it does well to represent an evil environment. The screen is surrounded by a psychedelic border, which alters the higher you score in a playthrough. The 2D tabletop perspective worked brilliantly, and the movement from South to North made it easy to follow the action. A pixelated art style matched the genre well, and though it is dated, it worked really well in this context.
The audio is also in keeping with the history of the genre and works well with this hellish theme. High-tempo, aggressive music plays throughout. The anger from the songs enhances the demonic nature of the environment, and demands that you push yourself to get the high score. The sound effects are good, but nothing more than I expected. The audio was a resounding success and helped to keep me interested as I refused to put down my controller.
Shoot, weave, shoot, weave!
Attack, dodge and defend, get these things right, and you will run riot in this game. It’s easy to pick up, simple to play, and straightforward to master. You will be challenged when you don’t have all the upgrades, but this is part and parcel of this game, and if it was any easier, then it wouldn’t be fun.
Demonic eye balls love to hunt you down.
The shoot-’em-up genre has a massive fan base, and one reason is the desire and ease at which you can return to play. With unlimited waves, and a mighty vessel to upgrade, I can see that this has some replay value. However, with no NG+ mode or additional challenges, the developers are relying on you loving this to keep wanting to play. I think you will enjoy it, but how many times you’ll want to play it, remains to be seen.
Does it compare?
How does Void Gore sit amongst its peer group? Very well, mostly. It’s fun, quick, and requires a small amount of tactical thinking. The endless fast-paced gameplay will push you to your limits, yet it’s a shame it didn’t develop further. I would have liked to see big bosses, as this would have given me something to focus my time on. Do I recommend you play this? I do! It’s a solid title with few negatives. If you fancy trying it, a copy can be purchased here! Can you raid hell for its gold? Will you be able to improve your crate in the sky, by upgrading it to a full battle vessel? We shall see, but in the meantime; earn some gold, destroy demons, and stay alive.
When I reviewed Neoverse at the end of last year, I ranted about inevitable comparisons to Slay the Spire. Here, it’s no different. When you think about it, deckbuilders like Doors of Insanity, Neoverse, and the like, are backed into a corner. You can only play so much with the fundamentals of the genre before it becomes unrecognizable. The best you can hope for is to create a rock solid base and break away from the crowd through other means. Doors of Insanity does exactly that. It boasts such a forceful personality that it defines itself as an unforgettable experience. It might be one of the most idiosyncratic experiences I’ve ever had while gaming.
Off the bat, Doors of Insanity’s gameplay feels familiar. That’s because it is. Like I said, it follows a fairly typical deckbuilder pattern with a few unique mechanics.
The first that comes to mind is the dice system. A handful of certain attacks and cards will also reward you with a six-sided die. These die can then be used to defend or attack. The benefits are marginal, but can mean the difference between life and death during tight runs. It will be interesting to see as the game progresses out of early access, if more creative players are able to develop builds that revolve around the dice system. As for me, I couldn’t make it work, and the system exclusively manifested itself as nothing more than a nice bonus on most turns.
Perhaps the most peculiar element of Doors of Insanity is the ability to level up between runs. This actually occurs in a handful of ways. You can unlock permanent benefits such as more absorbtion from defensive cards or the ability to raise your attack stat. You also gather magic crystals during your run which can be used to purchase cards and equipment before your next run. If you choose to invest, subsequent runs will inevitably feel considerably more simple. Hardcore deckbuilder fans among the crowd may forego the levelling system as it tends to take the teeth away from the game.
Speaking of items, they offer a decent amount of customization for your character—both in terms of attributes and aesthetics. A player who opts to use a one-handed weapon and a shield is playing more defensively whereas a player who equips a two-handed weapon is playing a riskier, higher damage build. There are also slots for gloves, legs, chest pieces, helmets, and other unique items. While it is nice to see these items reflected on your character, the visual outcome is, more often than not, absurd.
Also, while we’re on the subject of customization, I should touch on the cards. The offerings are fairly standard, but relatively limited. If Doors of Insanity could expand anywhere, it would be here. They need to add a larger variety of cards and come up with even more creative abilities. As it stands, they mostly revolve around summoning, attack, and defense cards.
It’s fine, but the fact that you start each run with basically the same few cards means that you’ll quickly grow tired of seeing them. The only reprieve offered here is that Doors of Insanity offers a card into “purgatory” after each failed run which means it transfers to your next run. But, beyond that card, you’ll be starting with the same deck every run.
Don’t let me mislead you. Doors of Insanity’s functionality is rock solid. It’s beautifully designed. And, despite how it may sound, there is already a surplus of creative builds available. It’s just that very few games wield as much charm as Doors of Insanity. It’s a strange mix of fantasy tropes, tried-and-true memes, and hilarious takes of genre cliches.
After about the first five minutes, I’m completely engrossed. A run in Doors of Insanity is akin to being mocked (or, at times, cheered on) by friends. It all feels very personal—in the best way possible. When I come across a random encounter of a desperate man asking me for money, I choose to give it to him expecting deckbuilder standards to dictate the outcome. Instead, he just thanklessly wanders off. Following that, I defeat what looks like jar of peanut butter in a fight, and he joins me as a summon. When I die, a group of skeletons dances with my casket on their shoulders and mocks me.
Look, on the surface, Doors of Insanity is a fairly standard deckbuilder. But that’s not a bad thing. It’s right up there in terms of playability with all the greats of the genre. It’s much more than that. Doors of Insanity is a strangely enchanting game. It never takes itself seriously, but the effort put in is seriously impressive. If you’re on the fence, don’t be, this is a game that needs to be played to be believed.
Sometimes you come across a game that is a mish mash of several genres, in some cases it could simply be two or three genres loosely joined together such as a platformer that turns into a shoot-em-up. However, imagine a game which combines one of my favourite genres which is the point and click adventures genre with turn based strategy, real-time based strategy, RPG, tower defence and also the becoming more popular genre of visual novels. Well that game is 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim plot is a fairly complicated but very well written and spoken performance. In 1985 Japan, Kurabe, Fuyusaka and Amiguchi end up sharing each others dreams. This involves them fighting old wars against the Kaiju or seeing future versions of themselves. They are seen by Morimura a nurse, who Kurabe learns is medicating students at their school with an unknown substance. As the story progresses in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim you find out the characters are part of five different “Sectors”, these replicate a specific era future or past. In 2188 which is meant to be the current time, a nanomachine virus is destroying the Earth. Leaving only 15 people living in a space colony, which includes the 13 characters who you play. Each character in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim has intertwining story arcs, which as you play reveal parts of the story. Each arc ends with them joining the final battle. When the enemies aka Deimos arrive, the 13 characters i.e. the 13 sentinels band together to save Earth.
So as you can see the 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim plot has several stories you need play through. There’s a fair bit of time jumping and sci-fi included so it’ll take a few hours to figure out what’s going on. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is effectively split into 3 parts. Remembrance mode is where the story is uncovered. Analysis mode collects all the information you’ve found whilst Destruction mode is where you suit up in your mechs and battle the enemy from an overhead perspective across large scale cities.
The adventure visual novel sections are well developed and is where you get a sense of the story, better than most visual novels to be honest. The battling elements are where you to put your strategising to best use. You get to choose up to 6 of your mechs for battle, each one has an advantage over another or has a specific skill set as such as being good at melee etc. Blowing up the enemy is quite satisfying but as you progress it’s an area that probably becomes the least interesting to play because it doesn’t change a great deal, it becomes a little repetitive. When you win you are rewarded with special chips that can be used to upgrade your Sentinels.
Musically 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim follows a techno route, which is something you find generally in games like this which are set in the future. The battle sections are a lot more electronic comparted to the slower more focused adventure sections. The voice acting is excellent throughout 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and has a really polished feel to it. In a game like 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim sometimes there is minimal voice acting which makes the experience less engrossing but in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim it adds a lot to the adventure. Visually 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is really nice to look at, especially in the non battle sections. The destruction scenes are reasonably detailed landscapes containing your mechs and enemies with lots of explosions and displays. The adventure exploring sections have a more visual novel fell to them, characters and areas of interest are layered on top of well detailed backgrounds.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is an excellent game which a thoroughly involving story which takes some time to get your head round, once you do though you’re going to really enjoy the experience. The story sucks you in whilst the games mechanics give you a several different challenging but entertaining experiences. If you want to kill 20-30 hours and enjoy an enthralling game then you won’t go far wrong with 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.
Have you ever found yourself playing the smash-hit ‘Getting Over It’ (Bennett Foddy), and thought “hmmm… if only I could attack and kill other players instead of climbing”? Well, if you’re in the 0.1% of people who happened have such a thought (or if you just enjoy physics-based fighting games), then Thermite Games has just the game for you – Wanba Warriors. With a distinctive calligraphy-based art style, pit yourself against a wide variety of enemies in 2v2 combat, each using their unique ink-brush-weapons and special abilities. But does this game score a KO, or is it just a ‘Sky Poopy’ (I promise that will make sense later on)? Well, let’s take a dive back in time and find out.
The first thing that will hit you when sitting down to play Wanba Warriors for the first time is… well, confusion, really. Entering the home screen, there’s not a whole lot of explanation of how to even load the main menu to start playing – it is just pressing ‘A’ to be fair, but being greeted by a blank title-page with no indication of what’s happening is a bit odd. In fact, this is a consistent theme of the game. Throughout, it straight-up slaps away your hand instead of holding it, which in truth I do appreciate. Far too many modern titles tell you where to go, what to do, etc, etc… Wanba Warriors has no intention of telling you a single thing about how to play it. Yes, there is a ‘How To Play’ section on the start menu, but even that doesn’t do too much to explain how you should go about vanquishing your foes. Instead, you learn through trial-and-error. Pick a character, fight, lose, learn. Although the immediate lack of guidance, mixed with a bizarre aesthetic, is a little confusing at first, I honestly found it quite refreshing once I got a hang of Wanba Warriors, and it certainly added a great deal of re-playability as I tried to master each fighter.
Let’s touch on that art style I just mentioned. The game is covered in a blanket of water-colour paint, with jagged character and UI design. Again, it was a strange experience at first making my way through the nooks and crannies of Wanba Warriors, as it felt closer to an acid trip than a video game, but after this initial takeback, it is easy to see the care put into the visual design. The game stays true to its calligraphy-based aesthetic in almost every way, and by grounding the game in this style, it allows for the finer details in the character design to really shine. Each fighter looks and feels distinct (minus a couple of clones), with each projecting a unique personality, which you either grow to love or hate (I’m looking at you Dooki). Similarly, despite being limited, the sound design of Wanba Warriors perfectly compliments it’s visual counterpart, adding enough depth and punch to your controller input(s) to ensure a sense of catharsis whilst playing. All in all, Thermite Games has designed a unique, beautiful and wacky game, with a great deal of charm.
The impressive design choices also extend into the gameplay of Wanba Warriors. With both movement and attacks almost exclusively tied to your weapon movement, it may seem at first rather basic in regards to the gameplay options. However, dig a little deeper, and you’ll soon realise that despite a relatively simple movement/attack system, there is a great deal of variety in how you traverse the battleground, and ultimately try to kill your opponent. I, for one, completely underestimated the ability to literally just swing my weapon the in opposite direction. Furthermore, with each character equipped with unique secondary and special abilities, there is a surprising degree of depth and variety offered by Wanba Warriors, even with a relatively small cast of characters. Of course, you’ll find your favourites (Dooki’s ‘Sky Poopy’ attack is a great combination with his flying ability, FYI) but there’s plenty to enjoy in selecting a random pool of fighters, and seeing how there fare against each other.
However, although there is significant variety in the gameplay, the same cannot be said for the game modes of Wanba Warriors. It honestly baffled me to only be limited to single player battles, local multiplayer and an arcade mode, as I felt the game had so much potential for online fighting. But alas, the only notable option outside of one-off battles is the arcade mode, which is… just a series of one-off battles. This was such a let-down for such a well-crafted game, as although I did rack up a number of hours in single-player fights, there was little to do beyond this. I understand as an indie game, supporting online multiplayer may not be an option for Thermite Games, but even adding more depth to the single-player experience with a story mode, unlockable upgrades, etc, would have gone a long way in adding longevity to the game. Nevertheless, I will concede that if you approach Wanba Warriors as simply a party game to play with friends, or something to waste an hour or two on, there is enough content there for an enjoyable experience.
Ultimately, this notable lack of content means there is little else to add on Wanba Warriors. The beautiful and bizarre aesthetic of the game certainly adds a dose of charm to the game, and well-designed characters and gameplay mechanics do create a large degree of variety to give the game noticeable depth. But that’s where it stops. Having tested (and potentially mastered) the base controls and roster of fighters, you might find yourself longing for more, but ultimately being starved of any game modes with real substance to them. This is a real shame for a game that I honestly had a blast playing. If Thermite Games were to implement online functionality, or additional single-player modes, I’m sure I would have little difficulty dropping many more hours into Wanba Warriors. But until then, I’ll unfortunately have to wait for a bored, rainy day before whipping out my Switch to drop some Sky Poopy’s on some enemies.
Colourful, fun and challenging 3D platform games are scarce. We all know that a platforming title gets released in some form nearly every week, but I want one that ticks all the boxes. Skully has made a great effort in fulfilling that criteria. It’s bright, modern, cartoon graphics combined with an enthusiastic audio, and humorous dialogue make this an enjoyable experience from the off. If you then add; a good storyline, hard (ish) levels and a variety of game mechanics, then I think I’ve found a winner.
Developed by Finish Line Games Inc. and published by Modus Games, this delightful platform title asks you to go on an adventure around a remote island. You are reanimated by one deity (Terry), he has summoned you to help with his three siblings. A fight over the land has erupted, and you are expected to help calm down the situation and restore order to this once peaceful land.
A platformer that plays like the classics.
Whenever I think of great titles from this genre, I’m drawn to; Spyro, Mario, Ape Escape and Croc. They all have; strong stories, excellent mechanics, stunning graphics, and are accessible to gamers of all ages. Skully isn’t far off achieving this greatness. The world that you explore is a dangerous place, yet with a little practice, it’s easy to navigate. A mixture of mechanics that must be combined with the environment make for an interesting and unusual experience.
With a hop, skip and jump.
Skully can; roll, jump, and transform into different forms. Random mud pools are located around the map that act as a checkpoint. As you roll into them, they allow you to change to a hulking rock figure. This beast can smash boulders, push over rocks, and more. He will annihilate any creatures in his path and allow Skully to access otherwise blocked areas. It was a clever twist that ensured you had to think about the approach for each problem that you faced.
An expansive world following a linear path.
The world around you appears open and vast, but well designed levels push you towards the stage goal. All 18 chapters that you face follow this approach, though some use a different camera angle to add suspense and tension. Gamers may find the lack of an open-world frustrating, but I enjoyed knowing I was free to explore without the risk of losing myself for hours in each chapter.
Another frustration that may be felt is lack of variety in gameplay. For me, I was ok with this as I believe the game cleverly uses its environment. It ensures you must adapt your approach to its evolving ways; new monsters, many pathways, and more challenging surfaces to traverse mean you must be careful how you plan to proceed in each level.
It has the heart of a platformer, but it’s missing the soul!
Platforming games aren’t all about the story and the loveable characters. No, they are also about the challenge of finding all its collectables and what they add to the core gameplay. These are the soul of the platform genre and if this is weak, it can seriously undermine the integrity of a game. Unfortunately, Skully truly messed this part up!
Flying skulls look so beautiful.
Flowers are situated around each stage with a counter highlighting how close you are to finding each one. They are well hidden, and locating them all is difficult and adds hours to each playthrough, but it’s a shallow and pointless target. Gathering all, or none has the same impact on the character progression. It matters not if you skip past them as they offer no; boosts, health increase or new attacks. It was a lifeless task that was not in keeping with the genre, and a missed opportunity for the developers.
It’s great to look at.
An argument can be made for its core concept and mechanics. But you can’t say anything bad about its presentation. It’s an incredibly vibrant world that’s amazing to look at. The art style is crisp, detailed, and looks spectacular on the Series X. The camera pans around you in a seamless motion, and the world is alive because of the beautiful landscapes that you explore.
This is helped in part by the folksy and upbeat audio that drills energy deep into everything that the game does. The voice-over work is amusing, well delivered, and helps to build a rapport with each character. The sound effects are childish, magical, and just what the game needs to be in keeping with its theme. It’s an intelligent approach by the developers and is up there with the best of its peers.
It’s fun being an ever changing skull.
Remarkably easy to play.
I’m not usually a fan of constant on-screen tutorials, but it worked well in Skully. Gentle reminders on how to transform were shown at each checkpoint, though it wasn’t always necessary, it was more of a help than a hindrance. Moving and completing actions was a smooth and responsive experience. The simple UI allowed you to focus on what you were doing, and it was a joy to play, even with its mini drawbacks.
If you are a completionist, you are going to despise the flowers by chapter 18. Luckily, there is a level select option to ensure that you don’t endure every stage again. This would be the only reason to return, so it unfortunately does lack replay value.
Does Skully stand out amongst its peers?
On the whole, it does a very good job. Most of the cogs are moving in the right direction, and you will have fun throughout. But the weak points cannot be ignored. The main one has to be the collectables. A disappointing and pointless task that adds no purpose other than to keep you playing for a few more hours. I wish the developers had integrated this portion more intelligently. So, do I recommend it? Yes, it’s positives outweigh its negatives, and it does a good job on the whole. Can you help Terry see eye to eye with his siblings, or is this magical paradise destined to be war-torn for Eternity?
I would imagine that naming a video game is harder than one would think. I actually liken it to writing introductory paragraphs honestly. For me, writing these openings require me to avoiding giving away my entire opinion while teasing it slightly. For video game publishers and developers, they’re trying to catch your attention by standing out. So I ask you this reader; does She Remembered Caterpillars stand out to you at all?
A puzzle game brought to us by Ysbryd Games, She Remembered Caterpillars is like no puzzle game that comes to memory. Part of that might be my normal aversion to puzzle games due to a combination of ADHD fueled impatience, and poor challenge curving in the few I’ve tried. The genre has given me enjoyment before, as I reviewed an indie game titled Swim Out at my first (and now defunct and offline) site with a positive 7.5/10 score.
What stood out to me first about She Remembered Caterpillars in terms of gameplay is that it lacks a fail state. This differs from the other games in the genre that I’ve experienced. I felt this was a brilliant decision that keeps the focus on finding success rather than avoiding failure. Not only that, but it helped keep my mind clear and calm. My frustrations never boiled over, causing a rage quit or angry gesture.
The challenges provided were quite numerous despite the simple goal. Your task is to move all the Gammies onto a pad. Having to navigate the colorful bridges and gates that fill the stage present turn a singular goal into a complex puzzle. The rules are presented without words and does a fantastic job of showing you what you need to know.
The feedback the game provides is strong despite the simplicity in the methods. A red Gammy can cross a red bridge with no problem, but if a blue Gammy tries to, the bridge will raise up to stop it in its tracks. However, if the red Gammy tries to walk between a red gate, they’ll be stopped as the posts writhe and wiggle. Later mechanics add a bit more complexity, but the visual feedback explains in a way that words can’t as easily.
Speaking of visuals, I once again feel compelled to go into detail about them. While with Gelly Break I wanted to call them out, here I need to sing high praise. Every visual choice was perfectly made. The backgrounds are calming, bleak, and unique, setting a distinct and macabre tone. They hide beautifully and allow the bright colors of interactive pieces to shine through and steal your focus. However, what makes the visuals top notch are the inclusions of shapes.
Where Gelly Break featured no color distinction, She Remembered Caterpillars makes every character and obstacle clear as day by tying the colors to a different shape. For example, red Gammies all feature square heads, with both the red gates and bridges built out of squares. Later in the game you can merge colors, and again the game mixes the shapes as well, turning the red squares and blue circles into a purple half circle. This accessibility for color blind players is an absolute highlight that allows others to enjoy the game, which is always a win.
Going back and reading my Swim Out review, one thing that stood out as a negative to me was the lack of a narrative. While I understand that not everything needs a story, having a framing device can help provide motivation and craft a ‘just one more level’ mindset. She Remembered Caterpillars once again makes a smart selection by featuring a light story element between puzzles.
At the start of each map there’s a sentence or two that tells a tale of loss and love, of regret and dedication. Speaking about their father, the narrator hooked right into my fatherly heartstrings, compelling me to push myself to swiftly complete the game to unlock all the lines. The result provided what is my biggest negative to the game being that I felt it doesn’t properly resolve. I eagerly fought to solve challenge after challenge, got invested into the fable provided, only to never get a satisfying conclusion.
What I did get going through the entire game was a master class on how to naturally scale difficulty. The first few levels serve as a solid introduction to the rules, and then they take off in terms of adversity. Yet I believe that the complications arise not out of unfairness, but rather unfamiliarity. You’re pushed to think steps ahead, working backwards using the information provided in order to successfully complete the level. By the time you reach the last of a set of levels, the struggles have you thinking multiple moves in advance rather than hiding a simple solution. Then once you’ve gotten used to the design it shifts on you, introducing a new wrinkle that alters the flow of movement and resets your line of thinking.
Almost every move the game makes is perfect, yet a slight nit-pick I had was the diagonal movement design. On one hand I see the benefit as it allows the obstacles to stand out and show up easier placement wise. Yet I also found the Gammies to control slightly erratically, undercutting the game ever-so-slightly. By no means was this a deal breaker, but it did stick out to me in the long run. Against all odds though, She Remembered Caterpillars is a game that blew me away. I had a great time solving each puzzle, and in later stages the completion of them resulted in me physically celebrating with a fist pump. The story, while lacking a strong resolution, is still touching, and does a good job of keeping you invested in the game. While I don’t feel it deserves a perfect score, She Remembered Caterpillars is still an exceptional game that you should absolutely pick up. It’s definitely a title that I’ll remember for quite awhile.
At its heart, Talking Tom Candy Run is an endless runner. Although it has some appealing features with a cute art style and charming music. It does not reinvent the wheel in terms of what an endless runner can do. Thus, Talking Tom Candy Run is a rather uninspiring endless runner, adding relatively little to an already saturated genre.
Not all that sweet
From first starting Talking Tom Candy Run the games cartoon-style graphics and music immediately strike you. It is charming and adds a nice joyful feel to the game. The game involves you controlling Talking Tom (a cat) and his companions through a side-scrolling level, collecting candies, which improves your score. This mechanic is a classic. Since the birth of side-scrolling endless runners, almost nearly all of them had had this simple mechanic of gaining collectables to better your score. Think of Temple Run, one of the subgenres most popular titles. Talking Tom Candy Run is no exception, just this time you are collecting candies. Thus, the game in a nutshell.
Side scrolling action
Besides a reasonably bland co-op mode and an NPC challenge mode, Talking Tom Candy Run adds nothing new to endless runners’ genre. It involves simple endless runner gameplay with no depth. I quickly found myself getting bored with the game due to its repetitiveness. Although I am negatively portraying the game, it’s not a bad endless runner. It just adds very little to the genre, which is disappointing.
On a positive note, it is worth pointing out the game makes the player collect these candies to build a candy store. The more candies you collect, the bigger your store will become. The addition of a shop building mechanic is a nice feature. Instead of the game making you collect candies to purchase powerups, there is an objective to this candy collecting mayhem. I can see the ability to upgrade your shop, adding an addictive element to the game. Likewise, the game does a good job in adding, although not deep, some levels of customisation, which is also a nice touch.
A classic level
The games a bit mallow
Nevertheless, Talking Tom Candy Run shouldn’t have been on console platforms such as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It does not reinvent the wheel in terms of endless runner mechanics. The graphics are nice, but simple, making the game best suited for mobile and handled devices such as the Nintendo Switch rather than on these platforms, and there is no depth to its other game modes or customisation options. Thus, the game’s best suited to the mobile and handheld devices’ pick-up and go mentality and played best there.
Verdict
Talking Tom Candy Run is not a good game. Despite a few nice features, it fails to reinvent the endless runner genre’s wheel adding nothing new, making the game repetitive and boring. It also has very little depth, in terms of its gameplay modes, customisation and graphical capability making the game best suited to mobile and handheld devices.
Gem Wizards Tactics is a turn-based squad tactics game where you can play as one out of three different factions. The best thing about this though is the fact that they’re all asymmetric. In other words, each unit type and each faction plays a lot different from each other. Besides that, the game promises to deliver an “endless challenge”. This is mostly achieved thanks to randomly generated maps and somewhat of a free-form campaign structure.
Besides the campaign, which you can play with any of the three factions, there’s also some sort of ranked mode and custom games, if that’s your thing. The campaign consists of a series of randomly generated levels, where you have to capture enemy flags in order to win. There isn’t really any story to it, you just keep playing these encounters until you liberate 100% of the map before your enemies achieve their full strength.
Things aren’t that straightforward as they might seem though. For instance, you can only take a small squad with you on each mission, and if you lose one of your units, they’re gone for good. Thankfully, some missions give you the chance to rescue random units, some of which might be veterans, so there is an optional element of risk versus reward. Nonetheless, the game is pretty challenging as is and since there aren’t any difficulty options, you can find your playthrough doomed rather quickly. This is simply due to the fact that there isn’t any way to recruit new units outside of missions. Hopefully, the developer does add some way to mitigate this in the future, whether in the form of new difficulty modes or allowing players to acquire troops by some other means.
In a way, what makes the core gameplay loop of Gem Wizards Tactics sound exciting is the fact that you’re always outnumbered, so you have to get creative in terms of tactics. Thankfully, the game doesn’t really present that much of an entry barrier. The gameplay and controls are pretty straightforward and easy to pick up. In some ways, Gem Wizards Tactics is exactly what you’d expect from your standard turn-based squad tactics game. Every action revolves around an action points system, there’s a flanking mechanic, and obviously, there are different units that offer various distinct abilities. Furthermore, every time a unit attacks another, they will both deal and receive damage, with the amount of damage being based on both units attack and defence values.
Although this is certainly a game that’s easy to pick up, I can definitely see people getting absolutely destroyed if they don’t take advantage of the game’s mechanics. Gem Wizards Tactics places a lot of focus on troop positioning and unit abilities and how they can not only synergize with one another, but also how they can impact the terrain. For example, if you manage to position enemies in a river and then you use a storm on a tile of that river, you’ll be able to damage every single unit that’s standing on tiles from that river. The game allows you to exploit its systems in various ways, mostly through nature’s elements, but it’s up to you to pay attention to the terrain and unit positioning and figure out when and where these opportunities arise. More than sheer strength, it’s the player’s creativity that plays a big role in how combat plays out.
Even though Gem Wizards Tactics can surprise with its combat, it absolutely falls flat when it comes to mission design. Despite featuring randomly generated maps, the objective in each level is always the same, you just capture enough flags to win. This gets old pretty quickly. Although I admit that the synergies and reactions between the different units, elements, and the terrain can be alluring at first, everything else about the game just feels bland. At first, it seemed like there was going to be some sort of narrative that was going to unfold, but it quickly became apparent that, besides a few monologues here and there, there isn’t anything else to it. It’s obvious that a lot of thought and work has been put into this game, but, unfortunately, after just a couple of hours, I was already tired of it.
At the end of the day, this game still feels very much like a work in progress. Don’t get me wrong, Gem Wizards Tactics has the potential to have a really addictive gameplay loop, but right now, it’s just lacking something to make it special. The fact that the game doesn’t really have anything else going for it other than the combat also doesn’t help matters. Still, it’s clear that the developer plans to update the game, as is evident by the 4 “COMING SOON” factions that you can see in the faction selection screen. To be honest, everything about Gem Wizards Tactics screams Early Access, but the game has been as a finished product. I certainly hope that more content gets added to the game in the future, and hopefully, that will make Gem Wizards Tactics a much better game than it currently is. As it stands, I find it hard to recommend it.
(Reviewed on PC, the game will be available for Windows on Steam)
I’m a big fan of developers being allowed creative license, but even I think that sometimes they go too far. Dungeons & Bombs is a prime example of the mind of a team running wild with ideas. Developed by PigeonDev and published by Sometimes You, this retro, arcade, puzzle title follows the basic concept of the genre well, but with a weird twist chucked in for good measure.
Using the influence from the Sokoban puzzle games, Dungeon & Bombs asks the hero to work his way around small maps, avoiding traps, placing bombs, and destroying crates. So far, nothing too unusual with that, right? Bear with me, though. The calm and prosperous kingdom becomes overrun with orcs, necromancers and other unworldly creatures. The beautiful Princess has been kidnapped, and only you can save her. Here is where it gets weird! As a knight you do not have a sword, so, armed with only your wit and bombs, you must enter each dungeon and save the bearded…..yes bearded Princess.
50 levels of weird timed action.
Oddly, you save the bearded lady once, but then she gets captured again. This happens across each of the 50 levels, so you’d think they’d have learned after it happened twice, but obviously not! Each of the stages has a movement counter, and every step reduces the figure, as does being hit by monsters or spikes. You must plan your route to your glamorous prize, but if you take too long, the world blows up, and all is lost. Sad times indeed.
The Princess and her beautiful beard!
Though the story is silly and absurd, the puzzles are well designed and require a fairly high amount of logic skill. As with all games in this genre, the difficulty increases on a gradual curve, and you regularly have to rethink your approach to a stage. PigeonDev clearly likes a bit of a challenge. They offer no hint or solution system at all, so if you find yourself stuck, you must either cheat (more on this later), get a solution, or give up playing.
It’s good until you find out you can cheat.
I’ve played enough games to realise that programming errors occur, and I’ve come to terms with this. What I can’t accept, however, is when issues impact the gameplay. Players can cheat from start to end if they wish. Puzzle games are supposed to be challenging, but a method seen on YouTube allows you to run from start to finish without solving a single stage. How this got through testing is beyond me! If I was to rate the game based on this, it would score at most a 2.
Obviously, cheating isn’t required, so let’s put that to one side. In the first 10 stages, you are shown all the game mechanics. These failed to evolve from the moment they were introduced until the title ends. The puzzles got more complicated, but the lack of new ideas and the continued use of the same stage layouts make it repetitive. It was as if the developers spent all their creative ideas on the wonderfully odd storyline.
So many spikes!
Retro aesthetic.
This sense of Deja Vu continues with the old-school look and sound. If you’ve played enough indie titles, every part of this will feel familiar. A pixelated 2D fixed screen arena awaits you on each level, and dark, earthy tones make up most of the colour palette. Each of the sprites has a light resemblance to their description, and are pleasant to look at. However, you won’t be blown away by the presentation, and though it is perfectly serviceable, it offers nothing new.
“Bah dah dah dah daaa, Bah dah dah dah daaaaa!” Get used to that beat, that repeats over, and over, and over again. This bassy audio really suits the atmosphere of the game, and creates a sense of peril. Even though there is limited movement, the audio adds pressure to complete each stage quickly. The sound effects of; doors opening, players moving and bombs exploding suited the style of this game. The simplicity and repetitive sounds helped to emphasise the retro nature of this title.
Simple game, simple controls.
Move, drop bombs and move again. That’s it, that is all you do! The complexity does not lie in the control system, but the puzzles that you solve, and I liked that from PigeonDev. It was easy to pick up, and I was concentrating on the problems and not how to play it after stage 2.
Orcs and boxes.
When a game offers 50 levels for around £3, you think that’s pretty good value for money. If you don’t cheat your way to victory, it really is. The solutions aren’t easy to come by, and though the concept and the level design are repetitive, it’s an enjoyable if not odd casual experience. It lacks replay value as its achievement list is unlocked through natural progression. So, once you’ve finished this, I can’t see you wanting to return to play it again.
A game of 2 scores.
It’s rare for me to split my thoughts over two very different scores, but for Dungeons & Bombs there is little choice. If I was to ignore the glaring issues with the coding that allows players to cheat, then I give this one a 6 out of 10. The cheating is unforgivable, which results in a score of 2 out of 10. I’m going to guess that it will be patched out, because of this I will stick with my higher rating.
A tough puzzle game awaits anyone brave enough to take on this title with a very odd storyline. Plan your approach to each stage, blow up boxes, kill monsters and save the Princess. Do I recommend it? Even with its issues, yes. A copy can be purchased here! Enjoy it for what it is and don’t cheat your way to victory!
At a time when high-octane, fast-paced FPS games dominate the player vs. player space, Scribblenauts Showdown is a breath of fresh air. With a cutesy animation style, jaunty music, and overall light tone, this game is probably the last thing players might picture when they hear the word ‘showdown’, but it absolutely makes it work.
In line with its simplistic style, the gameplay is not overly complicated: type in words to create objects or apply adjectives to things, and use said items in competitive minigames or to solve puzzles.
The true victory of Scribblenauts Showdown is its typing mechanic. As a game that relies on you typing in the names of objects in order to solve puzzles and complete minigames, I was initially bracing myself for the tedious process of trying to navigate a QWERTY keyboard with a controller and I could not have been more thrilled to be wrong. Instead, typing in Scribblenauts Showdown relies on a letter wheel wherein you use a thumbstick to select a group of four letters and then use the correspondingly-located button to choose the right letter. The system is very easy to use and within a few minutes, you’ll be able to conjure up a huge range of objects in rapid succession.
And there is a tremendous range to choose from. As with previous titles in the Scribblenauts series, Showdown gives players an impressive level of freedom when it comes to interacting with the game world. While it’s certainly possible to test words that the game doesn’t have an answer for, the vast majority of items or adjectives you want to use are available to you.
It’s perhaps to Scribblenauts Showdown’s detriment then that this central mechanic is only really put to use in the game’s Sandbox mode. The titular ‘showdown’ elements of the game only generally require players to select a single item at the start of the round which will then influence the difficulty of the minigame. While this does allow for a certain amount of creativity by limiting players to words beginning with a specific letter and favouring items with specific properties – heavy, light, flat, sharp etc. – it still feels like this approach cripples the main draw of Scribblenauts games.
Fortunately, the Sandbox levels help to plug this gap. This single-player mode is a much more traditional Sribblenauts experience, with a series of small worlds to explore that are populated by NPCs with problems that need solving. Each game world has its own unique environments and challenges to explore, enabling more creativity that you can find in the ‘main’ game. The Sandbox isn’t perfect, with some of the puzzles requiring overly-specific solutions and others remaining obscure even after purchasing a clue to help you along, but there’s a lot of fun to be had there all the same.
None of this is to say that the ‘showdown’ elements of the game are a total loss. While they largely ignore the main mechanic the Scribblenauts games are known for, they have a certain appeal all of their own that is only heightened by the fact that they can be played in couch co-op. Given that a lot of us are spending more time at home than we might otherwise, it’s nice to see a modern game that actively embraces the ability to play alongside one another on the same screen. The games themselves are generally very simple, but there’s enough variety on offer to keep things interesting.
Put together with the charming art style and music that will be familiar to anyone who has played previous Scribblenauts titles, Showdown is a delightful little game to pass the time with a few friends on a rainy afternoon.
Hordes of beasts and monsters, uncharted territory, a mysterious world, a protagonist with their memories wiped, a lovable crew with hearts of gold, and some wonderfully flashy combat. Ys: Memories of Celceta has it all, and a little bit more.
My Shame
Originally released on the PS Vita, Memories of Celceta has finally made its way to PS4, joining the likes of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana and Ys IX: Monstrum Nox.Ys is a long running series with its roots stretching all the way back to 1987. And yet, I remained unaware of its existence and success until I got my hands on Memories of Celceta. On one hand I’m disappointed that I had overlooked this franchise; but on the other I’m grateful for exactly that.
You see once upon a time I was a very casual and extremely impatient gamer. I was also afflicted with a very narrow mind in terms of the genres I enjoyed. I doubt the Jonah of old would have given any Ys entries the time of day. The person writing this review, however, actively seeks new genres, and my-oh-my did I leave myself a treasure trove of experiences. Especially in the world of JRPGs. Until I turned 19 I hadn’t touched a single JRPG, shameful I know. The game that led me toward redemption was Persona 5. I doubt I could have picked a better entry point. Since then it’s been a slow slog toward completing more Japanese titles. With the cornucopia of options from past and present, I couldn’t be more excited.
But I digress. Memories of Celceta is a great title with a lot to offer fans of role-playing games. From the combat to the crafting it’s got all the familiar features one expects from these kinds of titles and does them a great service in both their reasonable depth and excellent accessibility.
What’s It About?
In Memories of Celceta you play as Adol Christin, a famous adventurer, who begins this journey as a blank slate. He has lost his memories in the forest of Celceta, but has not lost his adventurous spirit; exactly what he’ll need to start down the treacherous path of recovering his past and finding out what exactly happened.
Amnesia is a great starting point for newcomers to the Ys Series as Adol learns about the world and its inhabitants in much the same way that the player will. Having him start from this clean state allows for a natural progression in worldbuilding. There are healthy doses of exposition due to this, but thankfully they never overstay their welcome. Along the way you acquire party members for a roster of 6 including Adol himself.
He is tasked with mapping the same forest he lost his memories in and in doing so encounters isolated villages and towns. Having you slowly recover memories and explore the map in tandem make for some excellent pacing in its exposition and overall narrative. The two work symbiotically and can be done at the player’s pace.
The Crew
That being said the story here is pretty good, it doesn’t tread any especially new ground, but hits all of its story beats effectively. It ends up amounting to the classic tale of two powerful forces sharing a similar goal, but wildly different methods of achieving it. What helps the whole narrative along, however is the ensemble you have traveling alongside you.
Your 5 party members bring levity and emotion to plot points and have a decent amount of depth. Each member has their own personal goals and reasons for joining your cause. They are never solely dependent on you or live to serve at your side. They have come to respect you and after finding your quests to be similar, offer their aid to you. Almost every character has a personality of their own and a dynamic between one another. They bring not just personality to the table, but also their own unique move sets.
However, it did feel that at times certain characters went a little underutilised. Particularly Calilica, the mace wielding striker. She has motivations for being there and is directly involved in the plot. Yet both her unique ability and presence in that narrative felt a little undercooked to me. She’s not alone in this, as Ozma’s unique ability was also few and far between in use compared to the others.
Frantic Combat, With a Dash of Flair
The gameplay of Memories of Celceta is simple and straightforward, Combat amounts to attacks, dashes to evade and guards to block. Timing an evade or guard has some great incentive. A flash evade slows time allowing for a quick counter; while a flash guard replenishes skill points or SP, allowing for more special skills. These skills are what create the wonderfully flashy fight. Each character has their own skills which deal different damage, status effects; and differ in range and area of effect. Across the campaign you will be encountering a plethora of abilities for everyone and by the end you’ll be a walking instrument of death, with moves endemic to Japanese titles.
It should be noted that while relatively straightforward, the game does add a layer of depth to it that is completely optional to the player. You could just pick up and equip a weapon or armour and leave it at that. You also have the option of reinforcing your gear. What this means is a weapon can have status effects applied to it, or armour can be made to have resistances to specific status effects. Thus you can have a sword that deals poison damage over time, along with the ability to freeze an enemy in place for a limited time.
This is great because you can have each party member specialise at a specific status effect. One member might focus on damage, burning and critical hits; while another might excel at freeze, paralyze and poison. You’re not the only ones who can apply status effects, though. The beasts and bosses you battle are more than capable of applying these effects to you. This is where armour reinforcements come into play. You can prepare for an area that you know has poisonous enemies by focusing on that area in crafting.
That Can’t Be It
Unfortunately in Memories of Celceta there’s no real endgame content. You go from beating the main story, to credits, right back to the main menu which prompts you to start a new game plus. While I’m grateful for a NG+, I felt a distinct lack of closure. Both in the inability to go around exploring to get 100% map completion and in the lack of finality to party members’ storylines. It just kind of ends, and Adol is shown to continue his adventure, alone once more. I would have loved to have a quick chat with Duren and the Gang to see what their futures hold. Perhaps at least one last chance to get a pat on the back and a, “Job Well Done.”
Sight & Sound
One thing to keep in mind is when Memories of Celceta initially released. The game came out in 2012 on the PS Vita and has been remastered for the PS4. This means that visuals will seem a little more dated than some people might expect, but it hardly looks bad. While mostly set in a traditional forest, it does hold some unique locations such as the forest of ash. There are towns to explore, ruins to delve into and caves to clear out. There is also a wide range of monsters to fight, I was seriously astounded by the amount of creatures you come across. They are native to certain parts of the forest or specific caves and many species never appear in more than one location. The monsters and bosses alike have some really cool visual variety and are more than intimidating at times.
I must say I’m a fan of the music in use here. They often have this strange familiarity to them. Like one might have heard in another title or even anime. But I believe that is a symptom of their quality. These are tracks that set the tone without being intrusive or grating. You’ll hear the same song in every town, but it never really gets old, at least in my opinion. I even caught myself whistling or humming along to the soundtrack. Once or twice when I wasn’t even playing the game.
Ys: Memories of Celceta is a great time, it’s got some wildly fun combat, a simple and intuitive crafting system, and a cast of characters that really grow on you. Not to mention a solid runtime of anywhere between 20-30 hours. Perhaps more depending on your play style and difficulty setting. I know I’ll be checking out some more Ys titles in the near future.
Here is our review of the Orbi Tri-band Mesh WiFi 6 System.
Orbi WiFi 6 is a Tri-Band WiFi System built with the latest and fastest WiFi 6 technology to provide you and your family with the ultimate smart home experience throughout your entire home with next level WiFi coverage and connection capacity.
Features
Ultimate Performance Whole Home Mesh WiFi System–Covers large homes up to 6,000 sq. ft with fast WiFi. System includes a WiFi router and two satellites.
Powerful AX Mesh WiFi System– Keeps all your connections strong in every room, all the time. Enjoy 4K/8K UHD streaming and online gaming to multiple screens simultaneously without interruption.
WiFi 6 Brings Capacity Beyond Belief – Latest generation WiFi 6 technology is faster than ever, with 4X increased capacity compared to a WiFi 5 (802.11ac) system. From 1 to 100 devices, WiFi 6 supports your devices’ connections for today and tomorrow.
Seamless and Consistent Mesh WiFi Coverage- From front door to backyard and in every corner of your home. A dedicated quad-stream WiFi 6 backhaul allows up to four data streams on each band.
Built for the Gigabit Internet Speeds Everywhere †– Innovative Tri-band WiFi helps maximize the internet speeds available in your home to every device.
Multi-Gigabit Internet Speeds Ready – 2.5Gbps Ethernet port support multigigabit Internet speeds available from service providers. Or use port aggregation to combine two Gigabit Ethernet (LAN and WAN) ports for multi-Gigabit speeds.
NETGEAR Armor – Best-in-class anti-virus and data theft protection for all of your smartphones and computers. Protects your connected home from internet threats.
Easy to Set Up and Use – Simple setup and WiFi management with the Orbi app. Create a guest network, view connected devices, and perform speed tests.
Connect More Wired Devices- 4 Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports on each router and satellite support home offices or home entertainment areas.
Works with Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant so you can use voice commands to control your home WiFi network.
What’s in the box?
The box contains the Orbi Router, an Orbi Satellite, ethernet cables, power adaptors and a guide.
Setting up the Orbi
Once you have connected up the Orbi router it’s time to work through the setting process. Connected to the Orbi WiFi network and follow the onscreen process.
You can also choose to add a satellite at this point in the process, but I waited until later – the choice is yours.
You can then upgrade any firmware.
And that’s it – the router is set up and ready to use.
Using the Orbi
Configuring the Orbi and making any changes are handled either through the Orbi app or through your browser. Below shows the browser version, as you can see it is very easy to see what your options are and to select anything you want to see more of.
You can make changes to your Internet setup:
Change Wireless settings:
You can easily see what is connected, with a signifiant amount of detail:
If you want to enable Guest access you can do so:
There are also a number of advanced options to choose from and view:
Placing the Orbi Satellite
Once you have your Orbi router and network configured just how you want it the next step is to place your satellite, or satellites where you want them. Once you have them physically located where you want them it’s just a case of clicking on Add Orbi Satellite from the menu and following the on-screen instructions.
Once the process is complete you will be able to see them listed on the Attached Devices page, as you can see below.
Then all you need to do is connect up your devices to your Orbi network and away you go.
Final Thoughts
Setting up the router is relatively straightforward and fairly quick – just follow each of the steps and you should be up and running in no time.
One of the steps during the setup is a firmware check – make sure that you upgrade to the latest version of the firmware otherwise you might run into some problems.
You can choose to have your satellite or satellites connect to the router, or each other via WiFi – which depending on your walls and room layouts might work perfectly well, or if you have a wired connection near where you want the satellites you should connect the satellites to it. This then connects each satellite to the router using the Ethernet backhaul process which ensures you get the maximum possible speed from each satellite otherwise you will be limited to whatever speed the satellites will get when connecting either to the router or to each other. I noticed a significant speed and reliability increase when connecting the satellites to the router via Ethernet.
Then all you have to do is make any configuration settings you want and have your devices connect to the Orbi network and that’s it. Each satellite, along with the router also has Ethernet ports on the back so if you have devices that need a wired connection you can easily utilise those.
There are a lot of different configuration settings you can make – so do take the time to go through them all before you start connecting your devices as the web front end provides a lot of useful information as well.
The overall coverage you get with the Orbi is really great – and walking around where you do have coverage with your device provides a seamless constant connection. Speed wise I found the connection to be excellent when the satellites were connected to the router via Ethernet, and between very good and good when connected via Wi-Fi, although to be fair the was because of my particular setup, so make sure you do your own testing, but if you can use Ethernet for the satellite to router connections you won’t be disappointed.
If you are looking for the fastest and easiest to setup and use WiFi 6 Mesh system for your home then look no further than the Orbi Tri-band Mesh WiFi 6, it’s fantastic!
The Orbi Tri-band Mesh WiFi 6 System is available now priced around £700 for the router and one satellite version (RBK852). Additional satellites can be purchased and added to your system as you need them.
