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.
Gladiators have been entertaining crowds for centuries, and our love for these brutal killers hasn’t waned. From the theatre of the Colosseum, to films, TV series and computer games, their deadly ways create as much excitement now as they ever did. Story of a Gladiator tells the tale of one man who has lost his way.
Developed and published by Brain Seal Limited, this gory arena fighting game has you hacking and slashing your way through waves and waves of warriors. You must survive each round that you face, all while slaying your opponents in the most unusual way possible. Merely killing someone isn’t enough, you must decapitate them or crush their body under a leaping attack. It matters not what you do, as long as it entertains.
A simple yet fun concept.
The main premise behind this couldn’t be simpler. You control a man who questions his god’s existence. He began drinking too much and fighting in taverns. He would sleep with questionable ladies and was considered a mess. One day he stumbles across a Champion of the Arena, a man mountain, and someone who he aspires to be. This is the sign he needs, he knows what he is destined to become.
Here kitty, kitty, kitty!
Your path is now laid out before you. You start at the bottom; a brawler with no skills and limited equipment. With luck on your side, you will win over the crowds and be victorious. You must upgrade your gladiator by levelling up, earning gold and buying better; armour, shields and weapons. You may request the help of the gods and use food and amulets to improve your stats. Animals will be your ally and your foe, and make a deadly opponent and companion during a battle. You soon learn that all-out attack isn’t always the best option, so planning and tactics are a must.
Lots of depth.
For such a straightforward concept, it has some in-depth mechanics. A wide range of weapons are available that offer a variety of tactical advantages. Battle boosts from food and amulets must be chosen wisely, as must the skill points earned at each level. You will receive enhanced damage on attacks and a range of fighting techniques. These can be learned and forgotten at any point to allow you to alter your approach to any fight.
As your enemies become stronger, you must become more savvy with your approach. Rolling past your foes and stabbing them in the back looks great and incurs a damage boost. Combining attacks gets the crowd going and rewards you with health replenishing foods and bags of gold. I absolutely loved the slick attacks and mindless violence. It’s unashamedly gory, and most fights end with bodies and limbs scattered over the arena.
The road to becoming a champion.
Becoming an arena god would never be quick. You face 3 different venues, each with their own challenges and unique enemies. The waves of gladiators that you face get progressively harder and gaining the 3 star rating for each battle is no mean feat. Any battle can be replayed at any point, and all gold earned is used to overcome the increase in difficulty faced in the latter rounds.
Only the strongest will survive.
It has a clever and well balanced route to victory and though it is enjoyable, it screams “Grind Fest”. No matter how good you are at arcade fighting games, this one will spank you repeatedly. It’s an addictive, rage inducing game that will make you as angry as it does happy.
So many limbs and so much blood.
For such a basic looking game, it depicts the disgustingly gory nature of the arena to a tee. The 2D side-scrolling images move around the arena in a smooth fashion. Combat animation and the action never stutter, nor are there any issues, even when its hectic and the screen is full of bodies. The old-school character models worked really well, as did the use of a dull colour palette. There wasn’t much variety in the arenas, but this wasn’t an issue. With so much going on, you never had time to observe the environment.
The audio lived up the retro hype and was reminiscent of a Mega Drive game. The constant grunts, screams and other masculine noises made for a very manly title, but damn was it annoying after a while. The music was nothing more than expected and suited the theme and the fighting genre.
So many buttons to press.
When you’re not battling you can relax in town.
To continue on with the arcade nature, Story of a Gladiator uses button combinations in everything it does. Though none of them were complicated, it takes a bit of focus to ensure no mistakes were made. As the action gets more hectic, I found I was pressing the wrong buttons, but I think this was my problem and you probably won’t suffer with this issue.
Alongside the story mode with its 3 challengers to choose from, there is a tournament to compete in. Again 3 characters are available and you must compete against wave after wave of opponents to be named champion. This was a great distraction from the main story and enabled you to experience some endgame traits without enduring all the grinding.
All the gore and violence without the risk.
Brain Seal Limited has done a great job of recreating the brutal environment and high energy that came with all the killing in the arena. An in-depth skill tree and equipment selection enables you to choose the game style that suits your approach. Do I recommend this? Yes, so buy it here! Fun, fast-paced, bloody action awaits anyone who wishes to become a champion. Start from nothing, wow the crowds and become the next big thing.
I rarely get close to being Liam Neeson from The Grey. More recently, my chance came when the Beast from the East 2 struck the UK. Even so, the closest I came to starving or dying of thirst was when I ran out of Doritos, and my beer supply ran worryingly low. Death was also never an issue, though it was a close-run thing when one of my kids kicked me in the balls. This all changed the moment I installed The Wild Eight. It’s a delightfully dark survival game based around the wintry tundra of the Alaskan plains.
Developed by Fntastic and published by Hypetrain Digital, this survival game has you running across miles of snowy procedurally generated lands. A remarkably accessible game that offers a brutal experience with a relatively gentle learning curve for the genre. Death will certainly happen, but you have a fighting chance of preventing it, even if you are new to the game.
Few stats to manage, but it keeps you thinking.
Unlike a lot of its peers, The Wild Eight has kept its character survival stats to a bare minimum. This is great if you are new to the genre, or if you simply dislike micromanaging a virtual person’s life. You must focus on; health, food and temperature, and that’s it. And keeping each one topped up is as straightforward as it should be. Suddenly cold? Build a fire, find shelter or chuck some wood in your furnace. Hungry? Go foraging, beat to death a wild animal, or eat the remains of yourself (this happens more often than I care to think about). Low on health? Medikits, bandages or sleep. This is surviving all wrapped up for you!
Surviving is always easy when you have friends.
If only it were that simple. After you come around from your plane crash (original I know), and you’ve escaped the many wolves roaming around (Liam Neeson’s, The Grey*cough cough*), there is plenty for you to do. You will; explore bunkers, search warehouses, follow electrical lines for miles, and more. Each lead to different quests and objectives. It was a great way to progress the story and ensure that you ventured far from the safety of your snowy base.
Wolves and character progression.
You will want to stay close to home as the army of never-ending wolves hunt you relentlessly. These evil menaces love nothing more than to rip your throat out, leaving your remains strewn across the snowy ground. This is frustrating, annoying, but not the end of the world if you play on the easy setting. Respawn, retrace your steps and collect all your goods. Just make sure Mr Wolf doesn’t kill you again.
One way to ensure these furry hell hounds are less of a problem is to level yourself and all your buildings up. Fntastic balanced this just right. No matter how much you try, you can’t steamroller your way through the skill trees. Items must be collected, hunted or made, it’s slow progress, but it’s rewarding and challenging, just how a survival title should be.
It may be cold, but the fire and food are always hot.
Improving your buildings leads to new items and environmental boosts. Your basic shelter turns into a warm haven, and your workshop transforms into a place to get top tools and weapons to battle the elements and the wildlife. It’s brilliantly balanced and keeps the action pushing you to the end.
Filled with despair and a small ray of hope.
It’s incredible when a developer transports you to their creation with some emotive audio and great art style. From the off, you are sucked into this world of despair and sorrow. The vast emptiness and a sense of loss are at odds with the beauty of the surrounding scene. A blanket of untouched pure white snow lies before you. If it wasn’t for the situation you find yourself in, you’d be in awe of your new-found surroundings.
Playing out from a bird’s-eye perspective, this simple cartoon style title will suck you in with its easy on the eye and no-nonsense approach. The grid-like map is easy to navigate as your field of view is large. Character models are basic but detailed enough, and the use of cold tones emphasise the icy bleak world you now live in.
The audio complements this perfectly. A sad minor toned audio plays out quietly in the background. It allows the sound effects of the eerie howling wind, the crunch of feet in the snow, and the padding of animal feet to sound over it. Like the graphics, it’s not complicated or triple-A-rated, but its simplicity works brilliantly in this setting and is thoroughly enjoyable, if not a tiny bit depressing.
Berries, mushrooms and a Wildebeest. The joy’s of the great outdoors.
Clumsy controls.
Unfortunately, Fntastic didn’t get everything right with their port to console. This is noticeable in the clunky and clumsy control system. Though the UI is well designed, and lends itself to easy navigation, you still press the wrong buttons repeatedly. When time is of the essence, and your stats are ticking down, you don’t want to die because of the control setup, but you will, and you do, all the time. Without a doubt, this would handle better on a PC. The UI lends itself to the use of keyboard and mouse over controller, and though it’s serviceable, it’s frustrating.
With several difficulties to choose between, a procedurally generated map, and different approaches being offered to succeed, this oozes replay value. A challenging achievement list ensures that would-be completionists must play through every portion of this to get their 100% status. This is one survival game that will keep you coming back for more.
More than you’d expect.
When I first saw this advertised, I was sure that it would be “just” another survival game, but yet it surprised me. With its generous difficulty curve, glorious aesthetics and ample replay value, it will test newbies and veterans of the genre. I enjoyed how the developers dipped their toes into the world of surreal and fantasy alongside their realistic survival mechanics. I won’t spoil it for you, but you will find some joyous and brutal surprises during your time in Alaska. Do I recommend it? Absolutely! It’s a cracking example of a survival game and can be purchased here! Do you have what it takes to venture into the snowy tundra and come out stronger on the other side? Plenty of ice, wolves, and mysteries lie ahead for those who take on The Wild Eight.
Playtime can be fun with the Confetti 88 from Geomag, here is our two minute review.
Geomag Classic is an inventive system of simple construction made of 58 mm magnetic rods and steel spheres. A huge number of shapes, geometric figures and models of every kind can be constructed. Geomag stimulates creativity and logical reasoning. The variety of the shapes and their transformations make it possible to create different structures continuously.
The wonderful Geomag Confetti set is the perfect introduction into the world of construction and creativity. With 88 pieces you’ll only need a few parts to create some awesome magnetic constructions. Full of vibrant colour the magnetic rods and non-magnetic and safe steel spheres come together to create a hundred of patterns, structures, and shapes.
The set is fun and educational, the inventive system of simple construction is made of 58mm magnetic rods and steel spheres. Stimulating creativity and logical reasoning and featuring all the components of STEM, (acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), the set is great for the whole family.
You only need to add imagination to the set and you are well on your way to create a unique masterpiece. Geomag magnetic kits are the perfect way to express your creativity. There is virtually no limit to the creations that you can make.
Final Thoughts
The Confetti 88 set we were sent was the 88 piece set and there are other sets to choose from (more more or less pieces).
You can create anything your mind (or the mind of your child) can think of, and its a lot of fun to put something together and feel that snap as the magnetic pieces come together. There are examples in the box of shapes and structures you can put together and other suggestions available on the Geomag website.
It’s not only fun to build, but it’s a fun way of teach your child about magnetism – seeing my 4 years old face when the pieces appeared to push away from each other was priceless.
The Confetti 88 set is available now priced around £39 and is aimed at ages 3 and up. There are different sized sets, so have a look and see which one fits you best. This will make a really fun present and you will find yourself wanting to buy more sets just to build bigger and more fun creations.
Do games need to have complex control schemes to provide an entertaining gameplay experience? Definitely not. For every Monster Hunter gamethat requires you to remember increasingly difficult control schemes, there is an incredibly simplistic game like Galaga that pulls you in with easy to pick up, tightly responsive gameplay. Splashy Cube for Nintendo Switch is a game that certainly falls into the latter category.
Everything about Splashy Cube screams mobile gameplay with its touchscreen control scheme, bite-sized levels, and the barebones UI. The game originally came out on iOS as Splashy Cube: Color Run in 2018. The responsiveness, fast-paced gameplay, and “just one more try” persistence the game cultivates is perfect for the hybrid Switch console.
Just Move Forward
Splashy Cube is also a game with a very simple premise. You play as a cube whose goal is to scoot to the end of procedurally generated labyrinths while collecting same-colored blobs and avoiding obstacles. Buzzsaws, protruding spikes, dead-ends, and pits are all out to get the cube. The challenge navigating these snags is that the stage is constantly plummeting into the abyss and your cube can only move in forward diagonals. This is accomplished by pressing the L/ZL and R/ZR buttons.
Not much to it!
I did not have high expectations of the game upon booting it up for the first time, but I was later proven wrong. The main navigation menu offers a single-player gameplay mode, a modest customization suite to change the look of your cube from around one dozen options that you unlock through gameplay, a national leaderboard, and the ever-present credits. The developer missed a real opportunity by not adding a multiplayer mode to the Switch port of the game. However, if Splashy Cube had included one, it would easily rank in my top multiplayer games on Switch.
Splashy Cube dropped me into the first level without any hand-holding. I was told by the game to press A to start and given the two-button control scheme. But outside of that, I could choose my own adventure, so to speak. Is this cube an Arthurian hero trying to save the prince from a hidden dungeon? Maybe it is a race-cube driver trying to set the record for fastest hotlap. It can be anything that you want.
What Makes a Good Game?
The key to a good game is having the ability to make the player say “one more try” or “one more level.” Splashy Cube overwhelmingly succeeds in this category. I originally set aside 15 minutes to get some first impressions of the game. However, when I looked at my watch, 30 minutes had zipped by. If you have chores to do or scheduled commitments to keep, beware the vacuum of time this diversion creates. The additional promise of climbing up the leaderboard was my motivation to keep scooting through the levels. After an hour of gameplay, I owned that coveted top score.
Top of the w… leaderboard!
Levels are incredibly compact, ranging anywhere from 10 seconds to a couple minutes at the end. There are no hit points or checkpoints; if I make a mistake, I drop back to the beginning of the level and my high score resets. With zero loading time, if you thought you would have a chance to think about whether or not to take a break, you do not. Just hit A and continue giving those blobs Hell.
Take in the Sights and Sounds
Visually, the game would best be described as taking a minimalist futuristic approach because the colors are vibrant, fun, and clean. Every couple levels your cube and the environments change color, giving you the sense of leveling up and pushing you to keep exploring further. One complaint I could make about the visuals is that with gameplay so dependent on hues there is no option to toggle a colorblind-friendly mode which is a serious disadvantage to a portion of the gaming community.
“Is this cube an Arthurian hero trying to save the prince from a hidden dungeon? Maybe it is a race-cube driver trying to set the record for fastest hotlap.”
The sounds in Splashy Cube match the overall aesthetic perfectly. A cheerful, chiptune-like soundtrack pushed me to keep moving. The sound effects are cartoonish in a good way with satisfying plops when I crush blobs and the iconic cartoon falling out of the sky sound when I make the wrong move into a hole.
Verdict
Above all, at a $4.99 price point, Splashy Cube sets itself up as a great game. Whether playing in short bursts while riding on public transit, looking to kill a few minutes, or even as a new game for chasing those high scores, you’re covered. If you want to try the game out before purchasing and you have an iOS device, download Splashy Cube: Color Run.
Orwell’s Animal Farm, as you can probably tell from the title, is a video game-ized retelling of the classic 1995 film Babe. The game focuses on Babe’s pre-Pig-in-the-City days and brings in a lot of political themes that weren’t present in the original film. It also swaps out a lot of Babe’s characterisation, making him a lot meaner and changing his name to Napoleon, presumably in an attempt to situate the game as another gritty reboot.
I am, of course, being ridiculous.
Orwell’s Animal Farm set itself the ambitious goal of taking a novel about communism and converting it into a choice-driven text-based video game with a branching story and multiple endings. Somehow, despite the mammoth-ness of the undertaking of transforming a century-old linear novel into a game where your choices matter, Orwell’s Animal Farm absolutely smashes it. Just to show off, it also makes it cute, charismatic and captivating as well. It has a thematically appropriate style that reminds me of a children’s storybook and some buttery smooth narration from the wonderful Abubakar Salim of Assassins Creed Origins fame.
The game’s opening is what you’d probably expect from an Animal Farm game. You’re dropped into the Animal Farm barn, with the animals conspiring to free the farm from its human owner, Jones. The animals go ahead and do this with relative ease and very little prompting from the player, begging the question of where the animals’ competency runs away to once you’re left in control of them. The main gameplay picks up straight away after that, leaving you in charge of controlling the animals as they begin running the farm for themselves. It’s sort of like a communist Animal Crossing, in which case the farm’s raccoon has probably been taken to a quiet corner and shot in the back of the head for his capitalist agenda.
The game spends most of its time on an overview screen which shows all of Animal Farm and a selection of its animal inhabitants. Every day you’re given a scenario and the on-screen animals will all have different opinions on how the scenario should be dealt with. It’s up to you to choose which animal’s option to go with, balancing the potential gains and probably consequences. The game shows you what improvements and damage that choice will cause by placing little up and down arrows on the things being effected. These things often include the happiness of the animal itself, the happiness of other animals and some of the different resources you have to balance. These resources include:
Animalism: Don’t trust anything on two legs, don’t drink alcohol, don’t sleep in a bed. The rules the animals set for themselves when they revolted. Break them at your peril.
Supplies: Plough the fields, harvest the crops, don’t starve. Use up all your supplies and you won’t make it through the winter.
Defences: The humans will come back. You better be prepared to fight them off.
Repair: Winter will damage the farm’s buildings. You better repair them if you don’t want your animals to get sick and your supplies to spoil.
Windmill: You’ve had it too easy for too long. The animals want a windmill. You’ll need to use some of the time that you should be managing the other resources to focus on building it.
On top of managing your resources and the happiness and health of your animals, there are several events and achievements you can acquire through your choices in the game. They trigger different story events, such as animals arriving and departing from the farm, your relationships with the humans changing and the prosperity of the farm as a whole being altered. They come thick and fast so you’ll get a whole bunch of them through your first playthrough for that instant hit of dopamine. There are also 8 different endings your choices can lead to, some harrowing (like the one I got) and some, presumably, less harrowing. This branching narrative allows a significant level of replayability to the game as you’ll want to choose different options to see the story beats you missed the first time and how a different ending might unfold. In my mind, that’s a great way to encourage replayability as the game is only a couple of hours long, which is reasonable considering the story being told and the price of the game.
On that subject, there are a few flaws in the game due to its small scale. The same choices come up several times throughout and I’m fairly sure the same story event triggered twice for me during the same playthrough. I don’t think anyone was expecting the levels of choice and branching story that you might from an RPG along the lines of Skyrim, but, after a couple of playthroughs, I can imagine you’d be bored of seeing the same narrative, like tuning into the news on the day 335 of a pandemic.
There also isn’t any kind of tutorial to the game so the exact consequences of your choices aren’t always completely clear. When all the choices increase supplies but decrease the happiness of the animal doing the work, except for the sheep that doesn’t have a negative consequence, why wouldn’t you choose the sheep every time? I suspect I was missing something and those choices tie into the progress of story events behind the scenes but I’m too much of a pedant to let it slide without a mention.
Orwell’s Animal Farm is a great retelling of a classic story. It’s almost a visual novel but the level of interactivity and choice elevates the game well above what it could’ve been with a little less ambition. It’s small scale but the number of options and potential story outcomes give a good amount of replayability and intrigue. Overall, I think the content is perfectly pitched for the price and, whether you’re a fan of the novel or want to experience the story for the first time, it’s definitely worth a couple of hours of your time.
Bartlow’s Dread Machine is a great game. From starting the game, I didn’t expect to enjoy it. The game’s mechanics felt off. The mechanics are arcade shooter like, but you don’t have complete movement of your character (a secret agent). It felt unnatural and limited as an arcade shooter—however, the games set in an interesting era of history. The game’s setting pulled me in, and I quickly found myself loving it. Bartlow’s Dread Machine is set in 1930s America, a period of history whereby US president Franklin D Roosevelt attempted to revitalise the US after the great depression. As a secret agent during this period, you embark on a mission to stop an evil plot from taking shape.
An amercianised feel
The game shines in this regard; its setting makes it stand out. The game has an Americanised 1930’s look which is beautiful. The outstanding graphics combined with its early 20th-century pre-war soundtrack puts you in the boots of a secret agent during this particular part of US history. You feel like a secret agent during the period, and it feels great. By great feeling, I mean the gameplay. Although I wasn’t a fan of the gameplay at the start of my playthrough, it grew on me as I continued to work my way through the story. The gameplay is fun and strategic having you the player using various weapons to take down enemies in a classic arcade shooter feel but in early 20th-century America.
A classic level
Outstanding variety and customisation
As you progress through the story, the enemy types vary, making you choose how to take down the enemies to go through the level strategically. Bartlow’s Dread Machine also has considerable variation in level design and uses various camera angles to change gameplay dynamics. This variation makes the game stand out, turning a traditional arcade shooter into a strategy game. One example is the use of the top-down camera angle to position the player in such a way as to be able to take down and see incoming waves of enemies otherwise impossible from a side-on view. Furthermore, Bartlow’s Dread Machine also has considerable customisation with a vast range of weapons and 1930’s clothing to choose from, to give your agent that 1930’s feel. Further adding appeal to the game.
Despite the positives, I found the lack of complete control of your secret agent still very restrictive. Your secret agent can only move up, down, left and right and this restrive movement made boss battles reasonably bland. Likewise, your character’s motion is slow and could have done with more speed to improve the game’s pacing. Thus the pacing of the game is bad, due to restrive and slow movement. Nevertheless, controlling your character in this respect is easy. The game’s controls are easy to pick up and simple, making it an appealing and accessible arcade shooter.
Arcade shooter action
Verdict
Overall, Bartlow’s Dread Machine stands out as an arcade shooter. From the great graphics to the outstanding variety in levels and customisation. Bartlow’s Dread Machine incorporates all of this in a 20th-century feel that not only controls well but makes you feel like an agent of a bygone era. Despite pacing and movement issues, the game stands out amongst its rivals in the arcade shooter genre. It is adding a considerable amount of new to an already saturated genre of games.
The idea of a desolate ship floating somewhere on the vast ocean sends a shiver down my spine. The fear of isolation and sorrow must overpower if you were one of a small group of survivors aboard this meandering metal prison. If you then chuck in a sense of Deja vu and monstrous creatures, you have the beginnings of a nightmare. This is Dread Nautical in a nutshell. A Rogue-lite survival strategy game that asks you to search the many decks searching for survivors and resources to live just one more day.
Developed and published by Zen Studios, this suspense filled survival title asks you to explore a ship known as “The Hope”. You control your chosen character, who must leave the safety of the lower lobby to undertake missions in each of the 20 decks of this massive vessel of doom. You must search through furniture for; food, scraps, equipment, and other useful objects. As you explore, survivors will cross your path, and you must try to convince them to join you.
A unique experience.
Unlike other strategy, resource management survival games, this one has an eerie and creepy main concept. Each day ends with you sounding the ship’s horn for help, but doing so causes you to collapse and return to the lower lobby. From here your day begins again just like the last. This perpetual loop of searching, collapsing and searching some more keeps you busy as you desperately look for items that will help you survive.
Hack, hack and hack some more.
The lobby forms the hub of all activity and is your HQ throughout your stay aboard “The Hope”. You can upgrade this area to ensure that you can house more people, repair, upgrade or scrap any weapons you find, and more. Poles, guns, paddles, harpoons, are but a few of the objects used to attack the many ghastly beasts you encounter. You are free to keep, store, scrap or dump anything that you find. Once you discard an item, you can’t get it back once the day ends. This is the joy and the burden of this procedurally generated world. You are constantly shifting your approach and changing your tactics to suit the situation that you find yourself in.
Turn-based battles and convincing others.
Scavenging is but one part of this suspense-filled title, the other key layer is turn-based battles. You move around each level using a grid system. When no enemies are present, you may freely roam with no issue, but if an enemy is nearby, it automatically reverts to a turn-based system where Action Points are the currency of choice. Stealth is a key tool in victory, as is the weapon that you choose. Each has a set amount of uses, and each exhausts Action Points. You must analyse a situation and decide whether the fight is worth the risk. Once your foes are vanquished, they will drop much needed resources, but is it worth losing your weapon or life for one piece of food?
Alongside monsters, you will help or protect survivors who are caught up in this mess. A choice based dialogue will be presented, and depending on your answers, you may encourage them to join you, or you will offend them and they will risk their lives fending for themselves. Not all survivors are useful to you, and an extra body is an extra mouth to feed. You must decide who joins, and who is left by themselves. It’s tough, almost certainly unfair, but survival is key, and solving the mystery of this ship won’t happen if you die.
The perfect setting for a bloody performance.
A cartoon style with creepy undertones.
The artistic style was fantastic to look at, if not a little dated. The cartoon models were basic in design, but colourful and easy on the eye. The cutscenes used for the conversations were weirdly animated with most characters flailing limbs around like they couldn’t control their bodies. It was odd, but made me chuckle repeatedly so I forgave it. The core portion of this title plays out from a 3D isometric viewpoint. This was a clever choice from Zen Studios, as you had a brilliant view of all the action, and it allowed you to take in the vast emptiness of the world that you inhabit.
The audio is a sombre and melancholy affair. The sinister aura wraps itself around every element, and the tone and pace of the music emphasise this brilliantly. Echoed footsteps, the sound of the sea, and silence help to create a sense of foreboding and loss. Though there are no jump scares, and it goes nowhere near the horror genre, you can’t help but be on the edge of your seat throughout.
Easy UI and 3 difficulties.
When I was offered this, I was worried that I’d have to spend hours learning all the finer details, I couldn’t have been more wrong. A simple UI and a well implemented tutorial allows you to understand the fundamentals with ease. Once you get into it, you are left to your own devices, and this could cause confusion as more complex concepts aren’t as well explained. Yet with a small amount of trial and error, you progress easily enough. The well laid out UI is easy to navigate and helps you to power through the opening stages.
Where better to search for food than the ship’s galley?
Like with all procedurally generated games, the replay value is really high. To add to this, Zen Studios used 3 difficulty modes; Normal, Hard and Insane. The latter 2 will challenge experienced players of this genre, so I recommend cutting your teeth on the normal mode to start. A gradual learning curve and forgiving settings will allow you to master the game without wanting to rip out your hair. Add in a nice sized achievement list, and you get an awful lot of game for only £16.74.
Making friends and surviving, no matter what.
Dread Nautical is an interesting title that is unique in its core concept. It doesn’t ham up its sense of foreboding, nor does it hammer you with difficulty in the lowest setting. Its user friendly approach wants you to enjoy everything it has to offer before you move on. Team and resource management are 2 key elements that keep you playing. Who do you save, and who fends for themselves? You have limited food, who eats, and who starves? It’s tough, but as the group leader you must decide! Do I recommend it? Absolutely! A copy can be purchased here! Search, gather, help, fight, and sound that horn. This is your life until you solve the mystery surrounding your presence on the good ship “The Hope”.
As it happens more often than I’d like, I’m kind of late to the party when it comes to Heaven’s Vault. The developers, inkle Ltd, who were also responsible for the Sorcery! series and 80 Days, released this game back in April of 2019 and it was met with critical acclaim. Now, luckily for me, I’ve just had the chance of playing it, and I’m honestly really glad that I finally did it.
I’ll just go ahead and say it right away. Heaven’s Vault is quite possibly one of the best and most engaging narrative-driven adventure games that I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. It’s a well-rounded adventure game with an amazing story and an astonishing puzzle mechanic. Heaven’s Vault is a game about finding ancient artefacts and deciphering the language of an ancient civilization. This is done by slowly building up your vocabulary by translating various inscriptions that you find etched in artefacts and numerous locations that you get the chance of visiting throughout the game.
Aliya on an ancient ruin
The game takes place in the Nebula, a mysterious place where its inhabitants are able to travel between different moons through some sort of ethereal river network. It’s a world full of intrigue and social struggles that stem from thousands of years worth of knowledge that was lost and clouded by superstition. As the player, you play as Aliya, an archaeologist from the University of Iox, the current seat of power, that seeks to understand the world and what came before.
At its core, Heaven’s Vault plays very much like your typical point & click adventure game, and you’ll often see yourself going back and forth between certain places if you so desire. A lot of people might associate this kind of games with linearity, in one way or another, but with Heaven’s Vault that isn’t quite the case. If anything, the only thing that’s linear about the game are the locations themselves, as they’re just enclosed areas. Everything else leaves quite a lot of room for replayability. This isn’t so much because you can drastically change how the story plays out but more so because as you spend more time with the game, you’ll get better at translating the ancient inscriptions. What I mean by this is that, a lot of times, you might think that you’ve translated something correctly, and thus you just assume that the inscriptions that you encounter from that point onwards mean something specific. However, you might eventually be able to figure out that you’ve been translating some hieroglyphs incorrectly, and that can totally change how you perceive things.
Event timeline
There’s a timeline which you can consult to learn more about world events as you find leads about them, as well as your findings and actions. This includes making sure that you got translations right, by comparing different transcripts and trying to make sense of this long lost language. Figuring out the meaning of the ancient inscriptions might be tricky at first, but you’ll slowly build up your vocabulary and expand your knowledge. As this gradual process unfolds, so does the game’s narrative, and this makes for a really compelling mechanic to keep the player’s interest alive.
The whole translation process starts with the game giving you a few options for each word, and there are various ways to be certain that your translations are actually correct, so you slowly start to make sense of what are initially just random hieroglyphs. Some of the earlier glyphs are easy to figure out, as their shape resembles their meaning, so it’s not like you’re going into the game completely blind. Still, as you progress through the game, the strings of hieroglyphs start to become more complex. Even though you continuously translate the ancient language, the game manages to keep up with the challenge and the intrigue of its puzzles thanks to this increased complexity.
Translating one of many inscriptions
Meanwhile, on the narrative side, the game keeps up the pace by continuously introducing you to new locations and characters. Also, Aliya isn’t alone in her journey, as she’s accompanied by Six (her sixth robot), courtesy of her professor from the University of Iox. As you wander through the world, whether that be through its several points of interest or by sailing the river, it’s Six that keeps you from going insane from boredom. There’s tons of dialogue between the two, and although a lot of it might not serve any actual purpose in aiding your investigations, it certainly adds a lot of flavour to the game world and experience. Without it, the game would certainly feel very bland. With that said, while Heaven’s Vault is unquestionably a text-heavy game, it does have some great moments of voice acting in the form of Aliya’s internal monologues.
It took me around 30 hours to complete my first playthrough, but you can actually keep playing in New Game+ if you want to experience more of the story and approach it differently. With NG+, the game allows you to continue with the words that you’ve already learned, but you’ll have to decipher harder and much longer strings of words. Speaking of which, I found that, although the game’s translation interface worked well for most of my playthrough, it clearly doesn’t work that well once you start to deal with long phrases and lots of possible meanings. There’s plenty of space on the screen which could’ve been better used.
If there’s one thing that I wished that Heaven’s Vault had, that would be the ability to sprint. There’s a lot of walking around, and while the scenery is more often than not immersive, I do wish I could move around faster. Still, I think I understand why the developers have opted to leave such an option out of the game. Although I’m sure that it would’ve been convenient to be able to move around quicker, I also think that this slower approach gives time for players to reflect upon the story and their findings. In a way, this gives Heaven’s Vault a sort of meditative feel, so, I guess that in the end, this is probably for the better. Besides that, the lack of manual saves might also put some people off, as this means that you’re at the mercy of the game’s auto-save system. So, because of that, you can’t go back on any choice that you make, you’ll have to live with the consequences.
Sailing one of the Nebula’s many rivers
Furthermore, I also have another complaint in regards to sailing. As you’re sailing between different locations, you’ll inevitably run into ruins and shipwrecks. These aren’t explorable, but your robot can search them for artefacts that can help you in furthering your translation efforts. Although every time that you sail you happen to chat with your robot, the act of sailing itself gets old pretty quickly, especially when you get into areas with almost no river flow. There is an option that lets your robot take you to your destination, but this obviously not only means that you’ll skip any dialogue that might have happened during your journey, but you will also miss any potential sites along the way.
In any case, Heaven’s Vault contains such a thoughtful and captivating story that kept me hooked right until the very end. With that in mind, after spending roughly 30 hours, I honestly couldn’t force myself to play the game again in NG+. Don’t get me wrong, I really wanted to go through the game and interact differently with its characters, and I also really wanted to try to experience the other endings that the game has to offer. However, just thinking about all the walking and sailing around that I’d have to do all over again was enough to stop me from replaying the game. Instead, I just looked up the different endings and did some reading on the Steam forums, as there are plenty of insightful and thought-provoking discussions in there.
Heaven’s Vault is one of a kind. It’s one of the most intriguing and captivating narrative-driven video games that I’ve ever had the chance to play. The beauty of Heaven’s Vault is the fact that there isn’t a right or wrong way to play it. Most often than not, you can reach the same place through different means and by interacting with people in distinct ways. The fact that the narrative adapts seamlessly to your choices makes the whole experience feel so much more dynamic. Despite its shortcomings, I’m pretty sure that Heaven’s Vault will be one of those games which I’ll forever remember. It isn’t perfect, but it sure as hell is one of the best gaming experiences that I’ve ever had. If you don’t mind reading, I wholeheartedly recommend to any fans of narrative-driven adventure games.
Get ready to hit that respawn button and dive deep! Developed and Published by WarpedCore Studios, Aqua Lungers brings back that often forgotten couch multiplayer experience. You can have as many as four players in this surprisingly humorous split-screen title. With deaths aplenty, funny visuals, and a banger of a soundtrack, this may be the game to let you enjoy a laugh with your roommates for an afternoon. Aqua Lungers has a very familiar control layout and recognizable game mechanics, so any player can literally “dive in!”
Better swim out of there fast after filling up.
Dive After Dive
Aqua Lungers, introduces no new controls or stratagems. You have your standard move, attack, jump, and change weapon controls utilized in 2D platformers for decades. Swim to the sunken treasure ships, fill up with gold, and slowly make your way back to shore. But ye be warned! Swarms of mean-mugging aquatic creatures are ready to defend their stash. Attacking omnidirectional foes one at a time is what you will be doing the most in the unfriendly waters. No one-hit deaths here, but having a few hit points to spare won’t save you from eventually turning into giblets.
You will really feel the weight of the gold held against you as you attempt to resurface with man-eating piranhas seeking revenge after you slayed their comrades. The extra slowdown after filling up, paired with the ease of dropping your stash, create a sense of urgency best shared with another to ridicule you for your struggles. You’ll definitely want to experience Aqua Lungers in multiplayer mode. The single player, while no different than the multiplayer, is for sure missing the same spark. It’s not as fun when you’re racing against yourself. You’ll also lose your motivation if you reach a roadblock and can’t get over the hump without accompaniment.
You will see this screen a lot.
Big Budget Battle Themes and Silly Walk Cycles
The cut-and-paste look rears it’s head once again. I know I’m a little biased, since I prefer pixels and sprites. However, I’m led to believe that this is a more cost efficient method, in terms of animation, for smaller budget games. The divers look so cute with their large feet. It’s adorable and also disheartening watching them walk around so eagerly, only to be ingested by a giant pink shark within moments of touching the water. This really brought me back to the flash animation era of the 2000s. I envision myself in middle school computer class playing something similar to Aqua Lungers on websites such as Newgrounds or Miniclip, then minimizing my window as the teacher walks by.
I laughed out loud upon playing the first level and hearing the intensely orchestrated score. Real instruments are back, and the music is heroic and triumphant. Strings, woodwinds, brass backings, literally anything you would hear from a Peter Jackson film, make their presence heard in this title. When you die and die, over and over, the music keeps its headstrong tone, making you feel even more of a fool for doing your diver a disservice by being bad.
Aqua Lungers is best played with a friend, or two, or three!
Bottom Line
Aqua Lungers is definitely a niche title. Difficulty aside, the game is entertaining enough and designed to be experienced in real social circumstances for players looking to find the pleasure in pain. And for those few, it’ll do just the trick.
No matter how much of a hardcore gamer you are, there is always room for a silly arcade shooter in your life. This genre has been around for decades, evolving successfully to the style that we see today. Twin-stick shooters are big news for the indie market, and more recently we’ve seen some brilliant titles such as Enter the Gungeon and Neon Chrome. Older players will remember the brutally gory experience of Smash TV, and this is where I believe UltraGoodness 2 took its main inspiration from.
Developed by Rasul Mono and published by Ratalaika Games, this gory, fast-paced shooter will test your reactions and patience. You must plan your approach as you are expected to defeat wave after wave of evil creatures. Power-ups, diamonds and health must be collected on each stage, and these will help you upgrade your sidekick, defeat enemies in one hit, and survive for as long as possible.
What’s it about?
A once peaceful kingdom is now at risk of being overrun by evil forces. The only thing that will stop that from happening is the King and his trusty furry sidekick. You will face 30 levels of sheer hell. Bullets fly across the screen from the guns of demon bats. Fiery balls of fury will scorch you, and mushrooms will kill themselves to take you with them. You are armed with 5 hearts and a laser gun. You must use your wits and skill to avoid being struck, and wipe out everything in sight.
Bunny’s gonna get it!
It’s such a simple concept, but the madness is great fun. You run around each stage like Rambo on acid; throwing bombs, using your apocalypse powers, shooting enemies, and dodging projectiles like a King possessed. You quickly realise that more haste and less speed are needed to be successful, and you plan how to approach each stage. There is no randomly generated algorithm here, so each level is exactly the same every time. You learn each monster’s hiding place, and you react to them before they’ve seen you. For anyone looking on, it makes you look like a pro, but they don’t know that you’ve died 100 times already.
Though the main concept is shooting, shooting and more shooting, the game has a trick up its sleeve. Time manipulation enables you to slow everything down. Simply stop moving and the world around you slows to a crawl. It was an element easily forgotten, but it was a brilliant tactical tool that enabled you to eliminate your foes.
It’s more than just a cat.
Collecting diamonds appears to be a pointless task at first, but then you realise you can upgrade your cat. Your floating ally has his own weapon, and depending on how generous you are with the cash, you can; use missiles, rapid fire, a burning laser, and many more. It becomes clear early on that victory relies on the power of your cat, so getting him up to speed with the correct accessories is a must.
This isn’t a vacation!
The difficulty for a Ratalaika Games published title is quite high for once. Though on paper it looks easy to play, the limited lives combined with the number of monsters and their increasing firepower make this a tough nut to crack. The difficulty curve starts at a moderate level and slowly creeps up. I screamed the phrase “You *choice word* turd!” Many, many times. It’s a hilarious, frustrating affair that will bring the worst out in you.
Polished retro action.
As with most twin-stick shooters, the action takes place from a bird’s-eye perspective. You have a limited field of view, and unfortunately your enemies usually see you before you see them. The level’s are simple in design and lend themselves towards a basic art style. Vibrant colours stand out against the dark, earthy backgrounds that make up the opening portion of the game. The second and third chapters use a lighter background, but the same ominous atmosphere represents the plight that the Kingdom is facing. There was always plenty of movement on the screen, yet there were never any issues in how it played out. It was a smooth, enjoyable experience throughout.
When a game wants you to blow the head off of everything, you know the audio is going to be high tempo, and aggressive as hell. UltraGoodness 2 didn’t disappoint. A loud drum and bass soundtrack blares out alongside the action. Thuds of your bullets smashing into your opponent’s head sound on top of the music, as does the noise of their bodies exploding. It’s gory, over the top, and absolutely splendid. After playing this, you’ll need some time in a quiet room to allow your senses to clarify the in your face approach that Rasul Mono has taken.
I thought that hell would never freeze over.
Easy to play and easy to lose time.
I’ve reviewed countless twin-stick shooters, and I normally moan about how rubbish I am with the controls. Finally, a game where I felt comfortable with everything that the developers offered. You experience simple controls that are responsive and easy to learn. Your ally is controlled by the computer, so you need only focus on what you are doing to survive.
Whenever I’m offered a Ratalaika Games title, I’m assured that the achievement list will be short and easy to unlock, and the game is usually quick to play. That wasn’t the case with this game! Yes, it was simple enough to get the 1000 Gamerscore, but a full completion will take some time. Death is guaranteed, as is screaming and frustration. The 30 levels look easy on paper, yet looks can be deceiving. You must set aside hours of your life to get through every stage, and potentially a new controller.
Will Evil win?
Having your Kingdom overrun is not fun for anyone! Luckily, a well armed king and his cat sidekick can take down anything that crosses their path. A well designed twin-stick shooter that has perfectly balanced difficulty with progression. You must unlock weapons for your cat and choose the correct one for each level so that you can be victorious. Do I recommend it? Yes, I do! You can buy your copy here! Grab your cat and gun, get mad and get revenge. Stop the Evil from taking over your realm, after all you are the King!
When a game tries to use multiple approaches to form its core concept, it’s brave or stupid. Using this method can not only confuse your player base, but can also water down your ideas, making them weak and badly designed. Tears of Avia from developers CooCooSqueaky and publishers PQube Limited is one of those titles that has taken the gamble and tried to create an adventure game with a twist. It’s a strategy RPG that relies heavily on the turn-based attack method.
Set in the beautiful and rugged world of Estera, you must choose your hero, the “Seeker” of this tale. Gifted with an ancient power that allows only the blessed to see a jewelled treasure known as a “Tear”, you begin a journey fraught with danger and excitement. You must gather a band of warriors, wizards and priests to take on the many monsters that you will face. The demon Vylenkine desires power, and to control humanity, but he can only do this once he has found all the “Tears” that are scattered across the land. Once they are collected, a powerful magic seal will be broken, and evil will rise to rule over the world. Only you and your team can prevent him from fulfilling his evil plan.
A pretty standard story.
Once you brush away the dramatic elements of the story in hand, you soon realise that there is very little that makes it stand out against its peers. A demon who wants to rule the world, magic seals that need to be broken, and a team of random heroes thrust together to stop the apocalypse from arriving. It’s a 3 for 3; heard it, done it, got the tee-shirt. This doesn’t mean that it’s badly written or not enjoyable, but CooCooSqueaky had to make this stand out from the crowd.
Burn baby burn!
They mashed together several genres to create a sort of super hybrid. A SRPG turn-based Asian inspired adventure game (wow, that’s a mouthful). So did their gamble pay off? Was it too confusing to get to grips with and does it get boring quickly? In short, yes, no, no. It’s not a bad title at all, but it doesn’t really excel either. Having stretched their resources thinly, I was always left wanting a little more detail and complexity in nearly every layer of gameplay. But the merging of the genres was well executed, and will be of interest for most RPG fans.
What works?
Asian RPGs influence many of the game mechanics. Text dialogue translates the original acting, this allows you to hear the tone and flow as the developers intended. This goes deeper still with some fantastic Manga and Anime inspired character models and battle animations. This adds flair and colour to what is otherwise a rather depressing and dark landscape of war-torn buildings and cities. The team selection and inventory was also well designed. You choose to select which 4 additional fighters you wish to take into battle with you. This freedom allowed you total control over the tactics you wished to use, and your own gameplay style.
The levelling up and character progression impressed me. XP is awarded after fights, and can be spent on one of 3 branches of a skill tree. Whatever you choose allows an attack or defence option in fights and can help to turn battles in your favour. Alongside this, you may purchase upgrades for each individual skill. This allows you to concentrate on the parts of each hero that work with your approach and make the strongest team possible. It gave me a real sense of ownership over how the game was flowing, and I really enjoyed this micromanagement element.
Take some time out from the constant fighting.
Clunky, clunky, clunky.
Did anyone mention that this is clunky? Walking animations appear like they belong on a Sega Saturn, battles are slow and arduous, and though I liked the fight animations, the Anime/Manga ones took forever to complete. Large maps become the bane of your life as walking from one end to the other takes an eternity. The camera angle is terrible, and navigating any of the cities is a monotonous task. Unfortunately, for all the good elements, there are plenty that brings this crashing back down to earth. With so much going for it, the desperate attempts of pleasing many people came back to bite the developers in the posterior. Too many cooks spoil the broth, or in this case, spoil the detail in the gameplay. None of these things that have been mentioned ruin the game, it just makes you sigh as you plod along.
A vast world and replayable battles.
Though the story isn’t the most original penned script you’ll ever read, it sits in the background supporting the main concept, the battles. A large 2D world slowly opens up to allow you to choose each fight that you have already faced. Each one has a 3 star rating that must be achieved through set objectives. At the beginning these are unobtainable, and shouldn’t be considered. You may think “That’s pointless!” I thought that until I realised that it’s created for challenge and replay value.
It’s a clever way to ensure that players will continue playing through as their characters level up, purchase better equipment, and become a stronger unit. I really applaud CooCooSqueaky for this approach. It was almost laughable when you returned to the earlier fights, mowing through your opponents.
4 against 2, I like those odds.
It’s a mixed bag presentation.
This colourful and detailed RPG will have you loving its landscapes and environments, but loathing its chunky character models. The battle areas are well designed and offer a tactical challenge. The animation for the attacks is well thought out, but I can’t get over how poorly you move through any of the cities. This is further compounded with a badly optimised camera, and difficult to navigate locations. Places of interest are highlighted with a white orb, but these are hard to see, making it a mess to look at. It’s a shame the quality of the backdrop couldn’t have been replicated across much of the rest of the game.
Alongside the brilliantly integrated acting, a classic RPG style soundtrack plays out. The high energy music with a magical medieval tone sets the scene nicely. The sound effects from the team moving and attacking were nice, and each had their own repertoire of sounds. Though it wasn’t mind blowing, it did well to support the action, and created character traits for each of the warriors.
The controls were lacking.
It’s sad when a good game is let down by unintuitive controls. Unfortunately, this is the case in Tears of Avia. At every point it feels like you are battling an invisible force. Nothing runs smoothly, and you are constantly willing for it to work with you, not against you. It’s all serviceable, and the game is playable, it’s simply not as user friendly as it should have been.
The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Alongside the delightful choice of replayable battles, a challenging achievement list will draw you back in to keep playing. The in-depth skill tree, and the combination of teammates means that each playthrough never needs to be the same. The developers spent a lot of time ensuring that its fans would want to keep playing, lets hope that its shortcomings don’t put them off.
Many positives, many negatives.
This was one of those games that left me confused with how I felt about it. I loved so many of its key ideas that I wanted to keep playing, but I was constantly battling its negatives. It’s not the best title in this category, but it’s also not the worst by a long way. At only £16.99 you get a lot of value for money, as long as you can forgive its mistakes. If you want a copy, it can be purchased here! Do I recommend it, I actually do! The positives just about outweigh its downsides, and most of them are cosmetic, so they can be ignored. If you play this, you must save the world of Estera from a power hungry demon. Can you gather your team and collect all the “Tears” before Vylenkine does?
