Wonder Boy Returns Remix will soon get a special limited release! Strictly Limited Games is happy to announce the pre-order start of the Limited and the Collector’s Edition (Nintendo Switch) for March 20th. The game together with some special physical collectibles will be available at the Strictly Limited Games Store.
About the Game
The Wonder Boy adventures have a long history. In 1986, players first accompanied the young hero on his journey in the side-scrolling action game. Over time, the legendary adventures have delighted many fans of all generations. And so, in Wonder Boy Returns Remix, you’ll join Boy/Tom-Tom once again on his quest to save his girlfriend! The HD remake of the legendary and iconic original Wonder Boy adventure was rearranged and greatly improved by Wonder Boy creator Ryuichi Nishizawa and features a beautiful anime-inspired style, an awesome soundtrack and special features! Now, Strictly Limited Games is making a boxed Nintendo Switch version available for the very first time
Experience an ultimate classic of video game history!
Modern HD, anime-inspired graphic style
Bright visual effects and smooth animations
Superior soundtrack compositions and sound effects
2 playable characters: Boy/Tom-Tom & Tina/Tanya
Improved gameplay and interface compared to the original
Limited & Collector’s Edition
Some might remember the special editions of Wonder Boy Returns that were released in a limited quantity by Strictly Limited Games for PS4 only, a few years ago. Now Nintendo Switch owners can finally also get their hands on the Wonder Boy Returns Remix special editions, including awesome collectibles. Available for pre-order March 20th!
The Limited Edition (Nintendo Switch) will be available for €29.99, limited to 3,000 copies worldwide.
Also available is a highly limited Collector’s Edition (Nintendo Switch) with quality physical collectibles, including:
Collector’s Edition Box
Tom-Tom Keychain
Stylish Tote Bag
Postcard Set of 2
Reversible Artwork Poster
Character Sticker Sheet
Original Soundtrack CD
A colorful manual
The Collector’s Edition will be available for €54.99, limited to 2,000 copies.
For all Wonder Boy fans out there, Strictly Limited Games has some more awesome titles in their lineup, such as the Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection (Nintendo Switch/PS4). Featuringsix games of the beloved series in console ports from Arcade, Master System / Sega MARK III, Mega Drive / Genesis and more, the Anniversary Collection comes with a total of 21 different versions! Visit strictlylimitedgames.com for more information!
Families are a funny thing. The saying “you can pick your friends but not your family” haunts every household. Therefore, for every content group, there are the ones that despise the sight of one another. This being said, family bonds should overcome any animosity! However, this isn’t always the case and heated arguments can turn sour. Consequently, this is the plot of Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? It’s a headache-inducing title that reminds us all that family get-togethers can be deadly.
Developed by Good Gate Media and Wales Interactive and published by the latter, this is an interactive movie title. It utilises the theme of a murder mystery, and it is your job to become a detective and hunt out the perpetrator. Subsequently, you’ll have to search for evidence, have an eye for detail, and identify the criminal in this funny, yet stressful game.
Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? is maddening.
I’m all for a crazy and eclectic family tree, but Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? is something else, altogether! It is the epitome of maddening action and you’ll love and hate many of the central characters. Each of these whacky individuals adds humour, mystery, and tension to the proceedings. They all hate one another, and each has a hidden agenda that you must uncover.
You play the part of Abby, who is the black sheep of the family. She is a calm, caring, and methodical person who is henpecked by her mother to follow a career she hates. Furthermore, everyone except Abby despises her uncle Marcus. Sadly, he is viewed as a paranoid attention seeker and a thorn in the side of the family business. Consequently, resentment has been building for many years, and unsurprisingly Marcus has been poisoned by someone close to him. He knows he is hated, and he is likely to die, so he turns to Abby for help.
Thankfully, the annual family quiz allows you to question people with ease. Therefore, you must team up with potential suspects, go along with the flow, and find evidence in a timely fashion. If you fail to identify the killer, or you can’t find the poison that was used, your uncle will die and his murderer will evade capture.
Hi Uncle Marcus.
The characters are infuriating!
Every household is weird in its own right, but this one is stranger than most! The blend of characters in Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? are an infuriating bunch. Yet you will find them amusing, endearing, and interesting to interact with. Including Abby, there are 7 key players in this plot. You will converse with your mother, gran, aunt, sister, and two male cousins. So far, so good. However, this strange bunch is always at each other’s throats and you must put up with their snide comments.
There is the uptight mother, the alcoholic and spiteful aunt, the tech-fearing gran, the social media-obsessed sister, the nature-loving cousin, and the one that is obsessed with death and violence. Each of the characters has their reasons for hating Marcus, and each has a story to tell. It is your job to question, probe, and unravel the lies from the truth. On the surface, it seems easy, but you quickly realise that playing the detective is hard work. Unfortunately, this family that is fuelled by hate despises one another, and therefore, getting them to trust you is a difficult task.
Clues and evidence.
The gameplay revolves around the necessity to piece together clues and reveal evidence. The hints are found by listening to conversations, speaking to Marcus, and choosing which suspect to team up with. As you begin each round of the quiz, you are treated to an array of strange questions and short interactions between each protagonist. Annoyingly, your time with each person is short and subsequently, you must pry as much information out of them as possible.
The restrictive nature of the gameplay can be frustrating, especially when a round is ended prematurely. You will see the conversation opening up, but it’ll be cut painfully short. This is especially annoying when you a desperate for evidence and you are unable to interact with that person again. This annoyance comes to a head at the end of each playthrough as the amount of information you have gathered matters. If you have enough clues, you can accuse one of your suspects. However, if you have failed in your task, your uncle may be dead and you are no closer to the truth. Luckily, though, each run is short, and this makes replaying not so bad, after all.
Collect the evidence and point the finger.
Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? is a standard FMV title.
I’m no FMV expert, but I have played and reviewed Night Book. Consequently, like its peers, Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? delivers a good quality but unsurprising performance. The use of video streaming, an array of cutscenes, and varied locations for each character add depth to the story. However, it wasn’t unique, and this holds it back. It would have been nice to see some flashbacks to the “meeting” that is constantly discussed. If the developers had incorporated this, it would have added meat to a rather sparse meal.
This problem aside, the simple filming methods, high quality recording methods, and excellent video editing make it pleasurable to experience. Moreover, on multiple playthroughs, you can skip already witnessed scenes and the action smoothly transitions between each new aspect.
It is tough to judge the quality of acting on offer as it’s a subjective matter. However, I enjoyed it mostly. Yes, there were times when the actors were wooden and, quite frankly, awful. But, the story flows nicely thanks to the overall performance they all provide. I enjoyed their blend of eclectic styles, and this adds to the madness that ensues. The acting dominates proceedings and there is little in the way of music. Moreover, there are some basic and familiar sound effects that help support the virtual world you experience.
The sister is tiresome.
Easy to control.
Like visual novels, FMV titles are easy to control. Obviously, there are moments where you must make snap decisions, but it’s normally a calm affair that can be enjoyed leisurely. For what it’s worth, however, the controls are responsive and the button layout is simple to understand.
With a short lifespan and many playthroughs required, this minuscule murder mystery will keep you playing for hours. You must investigate every possible outcome, pry information out of stubborn suspects, and build a case against every perpetrator. This takes time and effort but will keep you entertained during each attempt. Luckily, though, the developers allow you to retain all evidence from previous attempts. This sign of generosity will speed up your investigation while removing the possibility of repetitive action.
Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? ticks the right boxes.
Murder mystery games are a tough nut to crack. They require an excellent plot with many twists and turns, and an exceptional cast. Fortunately, Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? ticks the right boxes from the off. Yes, the acting was terrible at times, but it’s mostly brilliant and helps to convey the theme perfectly. I enjoyed my time working out this heinous crime and I recommend you to buy it here! Will you be able to save uncle Marcus or will he die in vain? Challenge the suspects, gather the evidence, and solve this horrendous crime.
First of all, let me preface this review by saying that this is my first ever Monster Hunter game. Therefore, if you are reading this hoping to find some sort of comparison to Monster Hunter World, then I’m afraid to say that you won’t find that here. Nevertheless, if you’re a fan of the franchise, maybe you can come up with your own conclusions by learning how a newcomer feels about the latest entry of this beloved series.
If you’re like me and never played a Monster Hunter game before, or if it’s the first time you’re hearing about it, then all I’ll say is that the name really does the game justice. To nobody’s surprise, Monster Hunter Rise is a game about hunting monsters. However, I must admit that I was surprised by the fact that, when you start a new hunt, the game tells you exactly where the monsters are located on the map. This feels a bit contradictory, since you’d assume that tracking down the location of monsters would be part of hunting as an activity, but I’ll discuss how this actually works in a few moments.
Despite having played this on a PC with all the graphics options turned up to the maximum, it’s clear that Rise was built with the hardware of the Nintendo Switch in mind. Even at max settings, Monster Hunter Rise still pales in comparison to World. With that being said, I think that the series’ characteristic art style still remains in place, albeit at a lower visual fidelity. Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t think the game looks bad, it’s just that it can look dated in a few areas, namely when it comes to vegetation density and just the amount of detail that’s present in the world, or lack thereof in this case.
Now, when I said that Rise was made with the Nintendo Switch in mind, I’m not only talking about the way it looks. The whole game feels like it was made so that every area wouldn’t be bigger than it needed to be, with the village hub area even being divided into smaller rooms that you have to enter if you want to interact with certain NPCs. Everything feels strictly streamlined, but while I couldn’t stop wondering how the game might have suffered from this in my first few hours, the more I played it the more I realized that the flow of the game actually benefited a lot from this.
The core gameplay loop is simple, you go on hunts and kill monsters, you get materials from said monsters, and then you return to the village and use said materials to upgrade or craft new weapons and armour. Rinse and repeat. While I can see how some people might find it repetitive, and I have to admit that I felt the same way when people would describe Monster Hunter to me, now that I’ve played it, I found it to be extremely addicting.
Loading times are pretty much non-existent, and the game as a whole is extremely fast-paced, which undoubtedly helps in feeding its addictive nature. When you’re in the village, all you have to do is talk to an NPC and then you can press a button to instantly go to your next hunt. As I’ve mentioned previously, once you load into one of the game’s hunting grounds, the game tells you exactly where all the large monsters are. But why would it do that?
The only thing that comes to mind when I wonder what could have made Capcom make the game this way, is that they just wanted to make the game faster and less time-consuming. However, I found that having this information beforehand, allowed me to plan a route that could be used to gather resources and stat boosts along the way. Yes, because hunting monsters isn’t all you do, you also have to feed your hunger for materials and resources that will allow you to grow even more powerful.
Each mission, or hunt, in Monster Hunter Rise, takes place in a self-contained area. There’s no huge open-world to explore or anything of the sort. Nonetheless, exploration is heavily encouraged. The hunting grounds are brimming with resources that you can farm. These can mostly be used to craft potions, food, and other consumables on the go, but there are also these small birds called spiribirds that grant you stat boosts when you pick them up.
It’s with this kind of exploration in mind that I think that revealing the monster’s location from the very beginning is an excellent idea. This way, you can plan your route through the map to maximize the amount of stuff that you can pick up while making your way towards the monster. This whole preparation phase isn’t really required to kill the main monster you’re after, but it’s definitely an advantage since you can configure the game so that you’ll automatically craft certain items once you acquired the required materials. You definitely don’t want to commit to a fight empty-handed.
The novelty of exploring a new area is rather brief though, as you’ll be revisiting the same areas a lot, and even more so if you really get into the game and want to do and unlock everything in it. I assume that this shouldn’t be a surprise to fans of the series, but for a newcomer such as myself, I have to admit that I wish there was more to see and explore. However, I’d be lying if I said that I’d consider this aspect to be a deal-breaker for me. At the end of the day, gameplay is king, and if there’s one aspect in which Monster Hunter Rise excels, then that’s most definitely its combat.
It’s honestly quite unlike anything that I’ve ever played before, and despite struggling for the first few hours, I can now see the appeal of it. The combat in Monster Hunter almost feels like an exhilarating kind of ballet, with the player chaining together a series of over the top animations that unleash a flurry of blows on whatever is on their way. There are 14 different types of weapons, each with its own unique set of combos and special attacks, and playing with a new weapon requires you to pretty much learn a whole new game. Each weapon feels exceptional and behaves in a completely different way, so changing your weapon while you’re still a rookie can definitely feel like a huge challenge.
The weapons aren’t just everything that makes up the bulk of the combat however, because to be a great hunter, one must also master a constant battle of keeping up the momentum. Players have to manage their stamina, the state of their weapon, making sure their well-fed, while also looking for opportunities to attack monsters when they’re exposed. The thing that I love the most about this though, is the fact that monsters aren’t just enemies with huge health pools. Each monster is unique in the sense that they have their own set of moves and attacks, but they also have body parts that you can damage in order to weaken them.
With Monster Hunter Rise’s rooster of monsters, getting to know each monster is a tremendous task and a huge time commitment, and while this will certainly please a lot of people, others might stay away because of this very same reason. It’s clear that the story isn’t really the focus of the game, and while there’s certainly a campaign, I wouldn’t recommend this game if all you’re looking for is a game with a campaign that you can beat and then be done with it. This is one of those games where most enjoyment comes from investing a ton of time and seeing how you evolve throughout your many hours with it. I’m not just talking about an evolution in terms of much better loot you get, I’m also talking about how you evolve as a player.
In Monster Hunter Rise, part of the player’s evolution can also be seen in how they gradually learn to move around with the use of the Wirebug, a new addition to the franchise. Despite its rather odd name, the Wirebug is just a grappling hook, but one which you can hook into thin air. In essence, it allows you to quickly get out of harm’s way by dashing vertically or horizontally in any direction. The most important thing about it, however, is that it allows you to prevent yourself from being knocked out when you’re hit mid-air.
Just like a lot of things in Monster Hunter, the Wirebug is also a resource that slowly generates its charges, so you can’t just keep dashing away to infinity. Still, it creates a lot of opportunities during combat, especially when you use it to unleash powerful attacks that are unique to each weapon type. Furthermore, it opens up more ways for you to navigate the maps, essentially giving you a lot more vertical reach.
Whether you’re hunting alone or with other players, you’ll always be accompanied by two of your pet companions, a cat and a dog. Palicos is what Monster Hunter calls its cats. These are adorable but fierce cats that will actively support you during hunts. Moreover, there are five different types of support that your Palicos can provide. They can place traps to weaken monsters, they can focus on healing you, or you can just have them specialize in finding high-quality materials. Likewise, Felvines (dogs) are also very reliable companions that not only aid you during combat, but also let you ride on their back, which obviously makes the task of traversing each locale and tracking down monsters a lot easier.
Just like you, they can have their own equipment and they also level up as they get more experienced. You can even hire more of them and send them out in expeditions to find materials for you or send them to train at a dojo. To be honest, Monster Hunter Rise feels rather overwhelming at times. There just seems to be so many systems and menus, and so much stuff to keep track of.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate how much depth Monster Hunter Rise has, but personally, I do wish it was a lot more straightforward. I really dislike having to pay attention and keep in mind dozens of different things when playing through the game. Still, I’m sure that a lot of people love the series for this very same reason, so, at the end of the day, it all comes down to personal preference.
I absolutely love the combat, exploring each area to the fullest, getting new equipment and all that, but there are just so many more things going on and they didn’t feel like they add much to the experience. For instance, your pet companions, sure, they’re cute and useful, but it feels like a chore having to also keep track of their gear, and then recruiting even more companions that you can send out to gather materials for you. Yes, these are all things with a purpose, but they just feel more like padding than anything else.
If you never played a Monster Hunter game because you fear that you’d feel overwhelmed, just like I did before playing it, I can safely say that the game does a pretty good job of onboarding new players. Sure, it can take a while to get used to the movement system, and every time you’ll pick up a new weapon type it will feel like you’re trying to learn to play a whole new game, but it’s most certainly worth the effort you put into it. The game has a lot of cool and memorable moments, like these missions where you have to fight against a series of waves of monsters while building automated turrets and manned defences, or the fact that you can even ride the large monsters that you’re hunting. How did I not even mention this before?!
While in the past I might have just glossed over a new announcement about the Monster Hunter franchise, this will certainly not be the case any longer. I honestly can’t wait for Rise’s expansion, Sunbreak, to arrive later this Summer so that I can put even more hours into it. It might take a while to get there, but once the game clicks with you, Monster Hunter Rise becomes a highly addictive experience that you can’t just put down. It’s an extremely satisfying and engrossing game that can definitely keep you entertained for at least a hundred hours.
Whether it is the right game for you or not, that is up for you to decide. If the idea of hunting down a plethora of monsters in what’s possibly one of the best melee combat systems out there sounds enticing, then definitely give this one a shot. If you’ve played a previous Monster Hunter game and felt like it wasn’t for you, then I doubt that this one will change your opinion. Whatever your case may be, Monster Hunter Rise is one hell of a game, and I can’t even imagine how a sequel might topple it.
Welcome to Hero’s Hour, the perfect opportunity for you to fulfil imperial dreams in a safe environment. Invade cities, commandeer resources and build up terrifying armies to amass power in a world that’s only purpose is to serve as an ever-changing battleground
Guilt-Free Conquest
Hero’s Hour is a strategy RPG that allows you to test your empire building skills in a vast array of different factions, scenarios, and maps. There are so many options available you’d find yourself struggling to see and do everything the game could offer. You take control of a faction, either by choice or the luck of the draw. It drops you in the world where you then build up your base, which can increase income, train elite troops (using money and resources), and provide spells to give your armies an edge.
One base is not an empire, though. Your goal is to grab up all surrounding structures and settlements in order to take control of a region. It’s not always a matter of planting your flag and calling it a day. There is often a range of enemies blocking your ambitions. At times you’ll be facing creatures guarding buildings like sawmills or ore refineries necessary for producing vital resources. Other times you’ll be going up against members of rival factions in order to stem the tide of invasion or do a little invading yourself.
Spoiled For Choice
Start a new game, and Hero’s Hour greets you with a list of options for your new attempt at consolidating power. There are maps of varying sizes, where neighbouring domains and their leaders can be a stone’s throw away, or across oceans. Along with these maps are even more scenarios, such as a two-kingdom tug of war. As well as a battle royale between four neighbours, not only fighting each other for dominance, but also contesting a central area belonging to none of them.
On top of the array of conquest scenarios, you also choose between factions. These differ in the kinds of soldiers they produce, innate abilities, and design (obviously). Between the maps, the number of enemies, difficulty, and factions, the amount of possibilities is insane. You could spend countless hours playing, and still have a bunch of variations to try. There are simply a lot of options for what will inevitably be a lot of different runs.
Choose a Side
When I had a look at the lexicon, which gives you some useful lore on the 11 factions, their culture, troops, and strengths, I saw just how much variety there was on offer. Every faction has three specialities. Such as the Dwarves of the Earthen being able to use gold to endlessly create soldiers, so long as they have the coin. Or the Lizardfolk of the Enclave that produces a free resource every day.
Through hours of experimentation, you can find the factions that work in accordance with how you like to play, You might want to be able to restore mana every turn, or be able to trade resources for specialized troops.
When you start a campaign you are given control of one of 22 heroes. These heroes can have a variety of skills made available as they level up depending on their class. For example, I landed a demon-worshipping Pyre who could use a teleportation spell for free every day, which caused a huge explosion around their destination point.
The Armchair General
Combat is very straightforward. Almost to a fault. Choose your troops if you’ve got more than can fit onto the battlefield. Hit start, and then watch legions crash into one another like a pair of waves. You can attack, defend, or flee when things start to go sour. Occasionally you may want to scale a wall if you’re attacking a neighbour’s stronghold. Although the more exciting elements in skirmishes often come from spellcasting.
Every run you will find yourself with a different set of spells, except for Hero-specific magic. There are comets that can rain down on you and your enemy alike. Explosions that can blow combatants to smithereens, tossing some right into the middle of your army. Spells that can summon elementals and Lovecraftian beings. There are also a couple of spells to transform opposing fighters into weaker units or just plain old frogs. Mana is limited though, so you can’t just spam spells willy-nilly.
These spells were my favourite bit of battles though, and I think a large part of that is thanks to how simplistic battles can be. Amass your army till they can steamroll your enemies then watch them absolutely demolish anyone in their way. Spellcasting helps bring some more interaction into things and gives you a bit more of a say during combat. It’s repetitive to a degree, but somehow still quite satisfying to witness. Especially in the tail end of a run, when you’ve amassed a gallery of eldritch horrors, dragons, and demons.
However, some of the complaints of overly simple wars can be alleviated by simply upping the difficulty. This forces you to put more thought into which resources you search for first, and which buildings should be prioritised. Not only this, but also what kinds of troops to stockpile, and what spells to use for invasions. Like blinding enemies so flying troops can scale walls and attack. After the cooldown, you might just follow up with a bloodlust spell and take out the poor disoriented souls.
Building For Dummies
Besides warmongering and conquest, building up your own base is also very important. It’s not like many Strategy games where you build scores of structures with specific jobs and go from a hamlet to a city. In Hero’s Hour there are preordained slots for everything you might build. You simply gather the money and resources necessary and choose which building you want first. This can be a bit of a turnoff if you’re looking for more of a hands-on experience in building and management. But if you’re just here to grow an unrivalled army, you’ll be fine.
One vital building is the tavern, which gives you the chance to recruit new Heroes. These individuals may technically be optional, but they’re actually essential for any run. These Heroes come with a couple of troops, which you can take for yourself. They can also act as stewards for your base, should a rival decide to try their luck while you’re out exploring and expanding your borders. Although most of the time I used these heroes as supply lines. Let them train and deliver fresh soldiers from bases to me, saving me limited moves provided each day. They can also be a force to reckon with on their own. If managed right you could send them out to take over one region while you’re in another.
8-Bit Empires
The 8-bit style art direction of the title was a great choice in two regards. The first is that the 8-bit art style is always a pleasure to look at for me. It simply enables creative design without having to worry about graphics too much. Environments aren’t especially unique. The faction troops and strongholds are where it shines a bit more in their wonderfully distinct designs. With the number of different types of soldiers you can train, I was happy to see a good amount of design variation between them.
This leads me to the second aspect of the design that worked. The large-scale battles. There are a lot of fighters on-screen during a battle. Both in terms of number and types. the 8-bit style makes it so that you get as much action as possible on-screen without melting your hardware. Thanks to this art style we get to have our cake and eat it too.
Gameplay is fairly easy to wrap your head around, however, there is a lot of content. Troop types, factions, hero classes, abilities, and skill trees, as well as the items and treasures you find on your journey. This makes things a bit harder to perfect and master than it is to get into initially. Especially, on higher difficulties and larger maps. This is hardly a bad thing though, it just means there’s a lot more depth than meets the eye. And a lot more hours of fun than I anticipated.
If you’re into Strategy games this can be a fun take on things. Plus I’d wager it’s also a great entry point into the genre. Its learning curve isn’t steep enough to scare off newbies, and it’s got more than enough content to keep you going for a long time.
Do you have what it takes to be a great racer? All you need to do is take a seat in front of the steering wheel, both hands holding on tight, the gas pedal continuously being pressed and the wheels spinning so hard that it burns marks right into the pavement as you turn at each corner. If so, well it’s time for you to try Assetto Corsa Competizione, a game that really will keep your eyes captivated on the screen. As well as engaged by each hand on either a controller or wheel, forcing you to quickly decide which button to press or move to make by steering and speeding past other racers on the circuit.
This game will make you feel like you’ve entered into a real race, just as it should with everything featured in this realistic simulated experience. Plus, with so many quality vehicles to drive, the graphics that look so close to seeing the outdoors of a circuit and even the sound effects are so unbelievably real, it’s hard not to feel as if you are honestly racing in real life. It also truly helps by the well-designed viewpoints of the inside and out of each car driven.
Keeping Steady And The Will To Win The Race
Being my first time playing such a realistic racing game, it does really show promise to please many as well as myself. I honestly can’t believe how astounding the graphics really are, and one of the most exciting experiences to watch as well as play! I’m quite intrigued by the realistic effects that occur on the circuit, from damages taken to the vehicle, as well as the knowledge needed to know how to drive. Plus, if you add in the environmental design of each background, how close it appears to the real thing, well that just perfection even more!
I honestly enjoyed hearing the engine roar, while revving it up during a race. Having real lights on the vehicle I choose to turn on during the night, as well as many other functions to work just as well. It’s just so much like a real vehicle or even a well-resemblance of a real racing car. In my opinion, there is nothing left out, no lag in the movements, or even the graphics. Yet, this review is in regards to playing it on an Xbox One console, not even the newer Xbox Series that others may play it on. So if it’s great on an older console, it must be excellent on a newer one!
There is one difficulty I’d like to point out. A problem that may only be hard for a bit or depends on those who played any recent or similar racing games like this one. It’s nothing to fear, but something that may take a little bit of time to learn. This is actually more about the controller and the many buttons that are used to move the vehicle you’ll be driving. Not the actual game I’m referring to.
I know from my experience, it’s something that won’t come so easy to learn, by whoever plays the game for the first time. Yet, this is normal, As with all simulated-style games, it does require a bit of practice. I had to understand it a bit more before moving forward and trying to race others through the more difficult modes and choices of gameplay. Even if I decided to choose to play against others online, which will allow more challengers of all types, not just the AI; computer from the game. It all requires a keen sense of understanding how to drive, making it the biggest part of the game.
Other than being stuck in for a while, the game isn’t too bad. There are some issues with the capability of reversing and only being blocked to go a certain way, even if you are trying to get back on track. Yet, there can even seem to be a few areas where cars path through you, possibly a slight error in the graphics. Nevertheless, it’s not a bad game, just need some more time spent playing and practicing before really moving forward to actual events and challenges or challengers.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, I think that even for a game so real, it is a bit difficult and not super easy for many. I won’t find it to be something I’d probably spend most of my time playing. Especially if I can just set up a quick race. It’s great to have so many options and features, but if you aren’t so familiar with the features and how to really move the vehicle it can just be confusing. As it takes time, and even after pausing for a bit, some more time is needed to understand the true concept of the game and not just what it’s all about, simply racing to win. Yet it’s the controls and the many features which are necessary to comprehend.
Leaving me to say that the game isn’t bad for all, as many may love to race and played plenty to love this just as much. On the other hand, it could just be a task that might not be something for an occasional player or amateur to pick up and play with ease. Don’t get me wrong, the realistic appearance is a pleasant surprise, but the difficulty out dues me at this time. Even if I find racing games to be fun in other games, it struck me to be a bit frustrating and tedious as well. Yet, for a more average racer will find it a bit easier and possibly enjoy as much as I have, the real appearance that is the surroundings, the car, and the sounds. That I can say is breathtaking like a real racing tournament, but better as you have the pleasure to take the seat as the driver and take the wheel into your own hands.
The sanctity of marriage is a special thing. Therefore, if someone or something comes between you and your spouse, there is bound to be trouble. Most of us would be annoyed if our significant other was taken away from us, however, I’m not sure we’d all turn to violence. Wife Quest, on the other hand, has fighting and rage at the core of everything it does.
Developed by Pippin Games and Eastasiasoft Limited and published by the latter, this is a retro platform experience. It utilises some Metroidvania mechanics as well as a side-scrolling perspective. Furthermore, it has shrill synth audio and colourful pixelated graphics. Sadly, though, it offers no groundbreaking ideas and as such, it’s familiar from beginning to end.
Wife Quest is a saucy affair.
If you like your games with a hint of sexism and a heavy dose of misogyny, then look no further. Strangely, the developers have insisted on a bizarre and over-sexualised plot. Now, normally this would turn me off, as I find the OTT nature of the gameplay to be tedious. Luckily, however, most of the ideas are tongue in cheek and are subsequently very humorous. If you think of Jim Bowen from Bullseye, but make his jokes funny, then you just about hit the mark.
The action takes place in a quaint but magical kingdom. Here, a farmer (Fernando) and his retired warrior wife (Mia) live a quiet and relaxing life. However, things soon take a turn for the worse because of the horny and seductive monster girls! These big breasted and skinny monstrosities are determined to capture Fernando to make him their love slave. Surprisingly, he hates this idea and begs his enraged wife to save him. This is where the adventure begins, as Mia will stop at nothing to save her beloved.
Is this shield fireproof?
Plenty of levels and drip-fed mechanics.
Unlike some of its peers, Wife Quest has a large array of levels to explore. Helped in part by its Metroidvania twist, this is a title that keeps on giving. You start on a basic linear path where you encounter an array of monsters, traps, and treasure. As the game evolves, you must traverse different pathways to unlock gates and activate platforms. Consequently, the action is somewhat convoluted, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless.
Where the gameplay excels is its straightforward concept. Furthermore, its drip-fed mechanics offer up a gentle learning curve. Therefore, this is an excellent title for newcomers to the genre. However, the saucy theme may not be suitable for younger players. This aside, you’ll love how new elements are added as you defeat each boss. You’ll gain the ability to fly, defend yourself, smash walls and floors, and so forth. Not only did these new abilities alter your gameplay style, but they also allowed you to find hidden locations within each dungeon.
What I found to be less impressive, however, was the ill-explained fundamentals. Mia’s special abilities are powered with Mana crystals. Subsequently, every time you fly, use your shield or smash blocks, you use some Mana. Now, this may seem obvious, but without an explanation, it took me around 2 hours to realise what was happening. In such a simple game, this was an oversight that could have easily been avoided with a basic tutorial.
Brrrrrrrr.
Wife Quest: a retro adventure.
I enjoy a good retro-inspired title, and luckily, Wife Quest is well designed. Its interesting levels, blend of colours, and dated sprites give it a distinct old-school look. Furthermore, each of the dungeons you visit has a unique theme that keeps things fresh. However, the varied looks merely mask the repetitive nature of the gameplay. Many of the stages use identical mechanics and this stifles the progress a little. Fortunately, though, this doesn’t undermine the end product. To add to the humorous nature of the story, Mia punishes every monster she tackles. Therefore, you’ll witness a funny animation as you capture each of the creatures. Whether you beat them with a club, rip off their wings, or strangle them, you’ll make every one of them pay.
The cute but oddly sexy nature of the gameplay is enhanced by the fun and lively audio. Thanks to its upbeat music and chirpy sound effects, every moment is filled with sound. The aforementioned animations are awash with noises and this will make you chuckle. I loved the little details that were incorporated into the simplest of ideas. Subsequently, you’ll notice new things each time you play.
This is where the journey begins.
Simple controls.
Platform titles require precision and accuracy. Luckily, Wife Quest’s controls are well designed and responsive. It is easy to attack or defend yourself in any situation. Furthermore, the clear UI is neither clunky nor is it overpowering. These elements make it easy to play. However, I wish the developers had made the use of Mana much clearer.
Wife Quest oozes replay value because of its secret locations. Fans of the genre will love revisiting dungeons to find collectables that were otherwise out of reach. Moreover, each stage has a set number of foes to defeat and treasure to find. On top of this, there are unique challenges that must be completed in every area. All of these things combined add to the longevity while making this great value for money.
Wife Quest is a misogynistic success.
Rarely would I place the words misogyny and success together. However, Wife Quest has delivered a wonderful and whimsical title that does just that. Its amusing plot, interesting monsters, and large dungeons will make you laugh and keep you playing. It’s wonderfully dated, challenging and interesting. Subsequently, I enjoyed it and I recommend you to buy it here! Can you defeat the monsters in every dungeon? You must otherwise Fernando is destined to become a sex slave forever!
I, like many other winter sports enthusiasts, missed the opportunity to hit the slopes. Therefore, I crave the chance to carve through fresh powder while hurtling down a mountain. Luckily, Shredders scratches the snowboarding itch with its stunning depiction of life on the piste.
Developed by I-Illusions and published by FoamPunch, this is an open-world sports simulation title. It captures every beautiful detail of the industry while transporting you to many stunning mountain resorts. Moreover, it’s ultra-realistic, jam-packed with tricks, has oodles of official gear, and many pro boarders. What’s more, it’s loaded with humour, gnarly language, and can be played with friends. Furthermore, the pièce de résistance is that it’s included in the Game Pass subscription service.
Shredders is wonderfully accurate.
It’s rare that sports simulation titles get it 100% correct. Try as they may, there is always something that goes wrong. Whether it’s a lack of fluidity, missing atmosphere, or poor controls, they all undermine the final product. Luckily, however, Shredders pretty much nails every aspect of snowboarding. From the wonderfully laid back language, brilliant clothing, smooth movement, and stunning landscapes, it has it all! Therefore, as a lover of the sport, it had me hooked. I couldn’t help loving the user-friendly approach and the tough but fair learning curve. The developers have got the difficulty balance just right, and this makes it challenging, but fun.
The game follows a pair of YouTubers who call themselves Shreddergeddon. You and your friend Scotty are making goofball videos at the Frozen Wood resort. Your crazy antics capture the attention of Lisa, a brand ambassador. Looking for some free advertising, she asks you both to shoot some promo videos. From here, the pair experience otherwise out of reach areas of the mountain. Furthermore, they are introduced to an array of pro boarders and may get the chance to enter the kick-ass invitational event.
Make the most of the snowmobiles.
Do as you wish.
What makes Shredders truly special is its blend of open-world and mission-based antics. Subsequently, you are free to do as you wish, and this was just fantastic. You can, and you will spend hours carving up the pistes or riding through powder. What’s more, the action revolves around multiplayer shenanigans. Therefore, you can enjoy the mountain with friends and strangers online. Whether you just want to slide down a red run or hit the park together, the choice is yours.
The missions, on the other hand, are a little more restrictive. With primary and secondary objectives to achieve, these somewhat limit your freedom. This being said, you only have to achieve the primary goal if you wish to progress. Fortunately, most of the time, this is achievable with a small amount of practice. However, ticking every box for each mission is no mean feat.
Each quest you undertake is scored between 1 and 3 medals. If the main task is completed, you pick up 1 medal. If you successfully complete the secondary tasks, you’ll be awarded maximum points. However, in order to do this, you must be dextrous, quick thinking, skilful, and have a great memory. Furthermore, you must race at lightning speeds, smash flags, complete tricks, weave through slaloms and more.
The completion of each mission progresses the story, but it also unlocks new gear. Consequently, you can kit yourself out in bright apparel and your favourite brands. After all, snowboarding is as much about the tricks as it is looking cool as hell.
Which jump will you try?
Getting around.
If you’ve ever hit the mountain, you know that getting around can be tricky. Yes, there are ski lifts, but these don’t get you to the best and most wild places. Instead, you’ll need to hitch a ride behind a snowmobile. This was a brilliant addition to the gameplay that made traversing the terrain much easier.
Alongside this, a fast travel system has been incorporated. Therefore, you can easily flit between free-roam, board parks, and any quest. Subsequently, it was an easy and trouble-free way of getting around the resort. However, I rarely used this option, as I enjoyed exploring the vast wilderness.
Shredders looks incredible.
Even if you detest snow and winter sports, you’ll adore and admire Shredders’ beautiful aesthetics. The world you explore is vast, interesting, and stunning! From the crisp white snow to the azure blue sky, this captures a perfect day in the piste. Moreover, the character models are fantastic, the cinematic is fun and interesting, and the animation is spot on. However, I encountered many bugs during my pre-release experience. Sadly, I fell through the mountain, was stuck on rocks or trees, or slid on my back forever. Thankfully, none of these issues was game-breaking and the issues will be patched out.
The brilliant audio adds to the realism. Consequently, if you are riding solo, you’ll love the atmospheric sounds. Whether it’s the crunching of snow or the whistle of the wind, you’ll be transported to the mountain. Furthermore, the noises of you crashing will make you wince every time. Unfortunately, though, it’s not perfect. Sadly, the soundbites become tedious and repetitive. If the developers had mixed things up, then this issue would be resolved.
Will you land this epic jump?
There is lots to learn.
When a game is realistic, you know there will be a lot to learn. Shredders pushes you to learn and memorise every trick. On top of this, you must be precise with the analogue sticks. Luckily, though, you can scrape through with limited skills. However, to excel, you must master every element. Fortunately, the controls are responsive and this reduces the challenge exponentially. Yet, it’s still tough to pull off every trick, but this makes it particularly addictive.
Thanks to the massive maps, a large list of tricks, the crazy amount of unlockables, and multiplayer action, this has masses of longevity. Alongside this, a tough achievement list keeps you playing. I enjoyed the focus on each mission, but free-roaming is where Shredders excels. You’ll lose yourself in the vast rugged world, and will enjoy the blend of piste, park, and wilderness to ride across.
Shredders is well designed.
Snowboarding isn’t simply a sport, it’s a way of life. This ethos has been captured perfectly within Shredders’ core concept. Every element is so well designed that you’ll lose yourself in its beautiful and simple to understand approach. It is excellent to play alone, but it is much better with friends. I adored it and I recommend you to buy it here! Can you impress the pros and make it to the kick-ass invitational? Grab your camera and your board, and set the mountain alight.
Reading the developer’s description of a video game is pretty normal in the life of a reviewer, but it’s never a good sign when you still feel the need to read it even after you’ve finished the game, just to comprehend what happened.
As a Nazi Zombie game, Valley of the Dead: MalnaZidos shouldn’t need much of an explanation, but it tries to will itself some meaning when it probably should have just tried to be fun.
Taking place in the Spanish Civil War, enemies band together to take out Nazis who have poisoned the population with a blue zombie-creating gas. Controlling the main character, Jun, you are part of said group that increases in size as you progress and they require protecting. It’s a nice idea in theory, but it’s a difficult feature to implement well, and like nearly every other element in MalnaZidos, its awkward implementation leads to poor playability and makes you question whether it needed to be included in the first place.
I always say that ambitious games should be applauded, but they also need to be realistic in what can be achieved, and this title is certainly not that, stringing together as much logic and sense as a Jack-in-the-Box.
The story skips from one map to the next with animated screenshot cutscenes and seems to tell a story of a war that just happens to include zombies – or at least, from what I could gather from the barely legible English subtitles and Spanish audio. Your group, which amasses around 7 characters by the end, might as well consist of untrained and anonymous bystanders, as you not only learn nothing about them, but the reason they require saving is that they seem to think that thin air is the enemy – as they are awfully good at hitting it.
Comic-like designs clash with the tension that the game attempts to create, despite looking relatively decent.
Ironically, the incredibly slow and wooden controls of your character actually adds tension to the proceedings as it takes time to aim and take your shots, but as your comrades have a health meter like Superman on steroids, you needn’t worry about it.
It goes without saying that the key to a good zombie game is the zombies and while – visually – they are well-designed and animated, the vast majority of them use an attacking system that is implemented so poorly, that it probably should have gone back to the drawing board. When the undead does manage to attack, they can only do so one at a time, before launching into two very generous QTEs – a timed press and a rapid press QTE. Fail in the first and the zombie will chow down on you in the second assuming you don’t press the button fast enough.
Once you’ve seen it once, this QTE is a walk in the park, which doesn’t exactly convey the danger of dancing with a zombie. Unless of course, the screen freezes which the game tends to do – or experience big frame rate drops – with reasonable frequency.
Succeed, on the other hand, and it will push the zombie away and reset their attacking process, which essentially means that unless you fall asleep in front of the TV – or forget where the triangle button is – you could go the entire game without losing health as it’s so easy to counter.
That’s until one of the very few, but more aggressive zombies swipes at you in a normal fashion. Imagine a man both very confused man and with a mouth wide open in disbelief and you might come close to how I felt when discovering this. Why the QTE system even needed to be there at all is really quite unbelievable.
It’s one thing to make a bad game, but it’s another to make a game badly. Gameplay or aesthetic limitations aren’t so bad if all the basic mechanics and interactions work as expected, but when things go against all standard logic, it’s hard to cut it any slack.
In an underground map, there’s a zombie in a white dress that screams at you while following you room to room and is annoying enough to hope that she might be a boss of some kind, but she just walks off for no reason – and that’s the end of it. The same map has zombies just hanging out/sleeping, making you wonder if you just walked into some weird zombie hotel and that zombie in a dress was actually the concierge.
Even the basics are implemented poorly – like the camera, for example, which will revert to the previous camera angle that you had from before you started aiming, regardless of how long ago that was. This means that you have to almost aim the free camera before even aiming your weapon if you don’t want to be completely disorientated during the action.
Based on how the above, I should have been expecting what comes next – but what can I say, I like to be surprised.
Rounding off the game is a highly memorable ending that blindsides you with zero build-up in tension or logic. I would normally preface this by saying *spoilers*, but the story would need to be comprehensible for that.
First, a truck blows up for no good reason after two characters declare their mutual admiration for each other, and then, after you whittle down the health of a huge guy in a Nazi costume – who turns out to be the main and only boss in the game – the game cuts to a ‘fin’ screen – even though I hadn’t even defeated him yet.
This is the big bad guy, clipping through the barrels you can explode to damage him. Aiming and using your weapon takes longer than you’d like, and considering that most zombies only die by being shot in the head, it makes all the other weapons – apart from your handgun – pretty useless.
Sadly, this isn’t a wacky comedy, but if you weren’t reading the subtitles, you might think it was one.
Something that could have been a plus for MalnaZidos is the fact you can – theoretically – play the game through 7 different characters’ perspectives in a New Game+ feature. I say theoretically because the game provides zero explanation that this is possible and in the very first scene the 2nd character is met with an invisible wall that you can’t progress beyond.
Not only is MalnaZidos an awful and poorly performing title, but it’s also incomplete and should never have been released in its current state. When a AAA developer releases a game this undercooked, they can at least take solace in the fact that they might have the resources to rectify it, but you’ve got to wonder if the same can be said here, or if it’s even worth it considering all its fundamental issues. With that in mind, the only reason to plunge into this title would be out of morbid curiosity – or to experience an ending that has to be seen to be believed.
As highly anticipated games come to the market, we start to see official merchandise where ever we look. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands from developer Gearbox Software is released at the end of the month. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that hardware companies are releasing their peripherals. PowerA is the first to blink as they release another striking PowerA Enhanced Wired Controller.
Previously, I’ve reviewed the Spectra Infinity and Cuphead: Mugman pads. Today we’re looking at the stunningly beautiful Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands-inspired creation. It is designed for the Xbox Series X/S and has the benefit of a capture button, mic mute, and two mappable rear triggers. Furthermore, it is comfortable in your hands and is sturdy and well built.
Such a striking pad!
What do you get?
The controller comes in a striking box. It’s adorned with official imagery as well as an Xbox official merchandise sticker. Subsequently, you know you are getting a well-made controller that meets Microsoft’s high standards. The accessory is nestled between two transparent plastic sleeves. Fortunately, there is no risk to the pad in transit. However, I can’t say that the outer packaging will fare so well. Sadly, mine arrived a little battered but, what are you going to do?
The pad matches the official accessory for both weight and size. Unlike its peers, this one cannot be connected wirelessly. Therefore, you must use a USB cable with a micro B connection.
Rubberised 10 foot USB cable with a micro B connection.
User manual with care instructions.
Beautiful but lightweight packaging.The 10 foot USB cable.The User Manual.Such a striking pad!What’s in the box?The mappable buttons.
How does the PowerA Enhanced Wired Controller compare?
PowerA Enhanced Wired Controllers are a well-established rival to Microsoft’s official controllers. Thanks to their convenient wired system, excellent quality, and vivid themes, they are a great alternative. At less than £40, they are also much better for your bank balance. However, these aren’t the only advantages to buying this accessory.
First, you get all the expected next-generation enhancements. There is the excellent record feature button, smooth D-pad, and responsive analogue sticks. Second, the 3.5mm audio jack is sturdy, and I had no issues with my Razer headset. Finally, the mappable buttons on the rear are easy to use. You can change them on the fly and this gives you that pro gamer feeling. They are well-positioned and, with a little practice, become second nature to newcomers and veterans alike.
No issues and excellent build quality.
I experienced zero issues with latency or stick drift. The PowerA Enhanced Wired Controller was excellent from the first minute to the last. Consequently, I could game with it for hours without a problem. On top of this, the wired approach ensures that you never have to worry about charging batteries. I appreciate that this won’t be for everyone, but I loved the convenience of never running out of juice.
Whenever you look at an alternative to Microsoft’s excellent controllers, you want quality. Luckily, the PowerA Enhanced Wired Controller is well built. It feels sturdy, comfortable, and robust, while not weighing too much. Furthermore, I’d be happy for younger gamers to use it without concern.
The PowerA Enhanced Wired Controller is a worthy alternative.
Buying accessories for your console can be stressful. Yet, you needn’t worry anymore. The PowerA Enhanced Wired Controller is a worthy alternative and great value for money. Not only will the Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands pad be good for your bank account, but it’ll also look fantastic in your hands. It’s striking, beautiful, and a real head-turner. I loved it and I recommend you to buy it here!
One thing to remember when you play this game, is you don’t need to be ashamed to be a snail! As you’ll have so much power and strength, you can never call yourself slow or in any way weak. Will You Snail is quite a pun on the question of whether you’ll fail. No matter the title, in this game failing doesn’t appear to be an option. Instead, it’s so much easier to leap, move, and attack like you are a turbo-charged snail packed with a fully installed engine inside your shell.
The thing about this game is that there isn’t any chance for you to be slow, even if you are the hero character of the game; a snail. It’s true that you’d think a snail won’t be in any form or way superior, but in this game, you can go above and beyond with all the firepower, strength, and mobility as any platform game character you’d normally play as, maybe even better! Especially, taking into consideration the brilliantly bright, neon-style colors entertaining you through each level and plenty of challenges and obstacles.
Puzzling, Challenging and So Action Packed!
For me, this game has nothing to do with being bored or losing interest. As the entire game is fast-paced and will continuously have you moving, shooting, and figuring out unique puzzles as they appear on each level or stage. The brain and the two hands you have on the controller will be always working, as you avoid so many different enemies and obstacles heading your way. Even the graphics may confuse or blind you from what is happening as you play.
The bosses you come across are tough, large, and take time to defeat. However, they will go down if you play the level just right! Getting it just right, each pattern is all it takes to accomplish the levels! Each part of the game is a puzzle and figuring out the way to attack is just part of it. I love the challenges and the many unique obstacles to battle through. It really does hold one’s attention. Just as with the many levels to play, you will be focused too much on the game than anything else, like if you’re being hypnotized.
Additionally, the AI robotic voice and face that pushes you to play the game and survive his entire ability to control the levels, makes it even more interesting. It’s funny, with his little pressure-pushing techniques and also the way he adjusts the difficulty from all sorts of easy. There isn’t just one type, it’s all in the form of easy, but the original easy is the most difficult, while the lowest one you can choose will cause it to be slower and less difficult. Yet it doesn’t stop the AI to adjust when he thinks you’re moving through quite easily and feels you need a challenge. However, adjust it back, that’s all it takes.
It’s even amazing how entertaining this graphics of the game really is, even if you are not the one playing. Just by watching it can be very hard to lose interest. Furthermore, the entire gameplay is very easy to figure out, no matter who picks up the controller. It’s actually perfect for all types of gamers as there is a variety of simple or challenging levels to figure out. Plus, the unique levels are quite puzzling to the mind, all include a pattern and something that might be fun to have another to play along with.
Either way, the controls of the game are simple. Just leaping, moving any which way and even self-destruction is a great way to restart and just a fun site. Oh and for a bonus achievement, self-destruct 100 times will get you one! However, it’s also a great way to restart the level if needed. Plus, it reminds me of fireworks or some exciting to view when you self-destruct with all those lights.
I can honestly say, from the first time I turned it on and a few times after. I found this game to be hard to turn off! It’s just a perfect blend of so many genres I love. Plus, with a game that plays great from start to finish, it’s really hard to find a negative aspect. You can even replay the levels at a different difficulty if you tried it at the simplest, why not push it up a bit more to the next difficulty option up next. At least, if you ever do get stumped on any level or stage in this game you can easily choose to play the easiest option and not be frustrated for too long.
Final Thoughts
No matter if you are one of the slowest animals in the world, it’s impossible to consider you weak or helpless. This game may not be influenced by the actual snail’s reputation or any creature that moves slow, can’t jump or leap so high, and that of practically any animal unless they actually hide weapons we never known of. Nevertheless, being a part of the gastropod family, you are just a character designed to be totally superior and awesome!
Therefore, it’s my pleasure to say that this game is incredible! The music, graphics, and the nonstop shooting when obtaining a special weapon style object to get you blasting objects, as well as challenges in every level or stage, are like a thrill that won’t have you stopping anytime soon! It’s one of the best games, for those who love continuous action throughout the game, where there is no time for stopping or taking a break. Each puzzle is trickier and many as original and unique as the last! So if you want to travel into a world of geometrical and neon-colored graphics, the brain is always on figuring out the puzzles in each location you enter, attacking enemies that are large in size, and enjoying the motivating music playing in the background. Then step on up and give your hands and mind a chance to try this exhilarating game, as it will keep you entertained for hours.
My video review with footage captured using my Series X, enjoy!
If you are a hero, you are not going to step down from a challenge. Subsequently, you’ll want to show the world how brave and strong you are, no matter the consequences. Conan Chop Chop incorporates this idea in its colourful and addictive all-out combat action.
Developed by Mighty Kingdom and published by Funcom, this is an action rogue-lite adventure title. Played solo or with up to 3 others, this is a fun party game that keeps on giving. With a large array of weapons and charms, you can find the right combination to suit every gameplay style.
Conan Chop Chop will drive you mad.
Like every great adventure, Conan Chop Chop is full of interesting characters and plenty of danger. The action takes place in Hyboria, a colourful but dated land. It was once a peaceful kingdom, but the evil wizard Thoth-Amon’s life is in danger. Consequently, his only way to survive is to lure someone to his lair. He thinks fast and organises a competition to capture some foolish adventurers. Sadly, Conan and 3 of his friends have egos that are bigger than their muscles. Subsequently, they accept the invitation and fall for his ploy! Unbeknownst to them, their show of strength gets them one step closer to death. Can they complete their quest, survive and overcome Thoth-Amon? Unlikely, but someone must stand up to this heinous monster.
The gameplay revolves around procedurally generated playthroughs and rogue-lite mechanics. Therefore, Conan Chop Chop will drive you mad. Every mistake you make and trust me, you’ll make loads, costs you dearly. Death is guaranteed and all your hard work is wiped. Therefore, it is gloriously, infuriating and stupidly addictive. Moreover, its simple but striking presentation will capture your attention immediately. Fans of Hades and other rogue-like titles will feel right at home. However, this game isn’t as challenging, and it somewhat lacks the deep lore of its peers.
Can you rebuild the village?
So many weapons.
The story revolves around 4 dungeons, many minions, and an array of demi-bosses and massive overlords. Yet, once you’ve survived your arduous adventure, you must still face the evil wizard. Subsequently, Mighty Kingdom demands a lot from its fanbase. You must be willing to experiment while being skilful and patient. Furthermore, you’ll understand that death and losing your equipment is merely a small part of this rich tapestry.
What you quickly learn is that all the gear is expendable. Moreover, what works on one playthrough won’t on another. You’ll purchase bows, swords, maces, hammers, and more. On top of this, you’ll find armour, equip shields, and protect yourself with charms. These magical items are essential, as they give you a fighting chance. Whether it’s a poisonous weapon, a friendly chicken to fight by your side, or more, it makes it much easier.
The sheer choice of equipment is overwhelming and makes it tough to find the right combination. However, this was a problem I loved to have. As every playthrough ended, I didn’t know what would happen next. All I knew was that I’d retain the XP I had earned and the blacksmith stones to unlock equipment. Other than that, everything else was wiped. Therefore, if you dislike the idea of a blank canvas, then rogue-lite games are probably not for you. Yet, Conan Chop Chop is more forgiving than its peers and is great for newcomers to the genre.
Once you enter the dungeon you can’t turn back.
Upgrading your hero.
Yes, you’ll start from the bottom and have to work your way up, but it’s not all bad! Your character level and XP are never wiped. Consequently, your hero will improve the more you play it. In theory, this makes it easier. However, in reality, the procedurally generated elements keep things tough. If you could guarantee your favourite loadout, you’d be laughing. Yet, this rarely happens and you must quickly come to terms with that.
Though Conan Chop Chop is excellent as a solo adventure, it excels as a multiplayer title. Its action is much more hectic and enjoyable when you team up with friends and family. Fortunately, you can combine couch co-op with online lobbies to get the most out of it. Disappointingly, though, there are a few annoying elements that undermine the fun.
If you are not the host, you can’t speak to the blacksmith. Now, this may seem minor, but it means your equipment choices are limited. Therefore, your character is weaker, and this makes it much harder. Second, the screen stays focused on the host player. This means that your exploration is restricted and that’s just annoying. Finally, it is tough to identify your character when all hell is breaking loose. If the developers had incorporated character customisation, then this problem would be eradicated.
Conan Chop Chop looks incredible.
I adored the striking and simple style of Conan Chop Chop. Its amusing sprites, blend of colours, and interesting landscapes are great to look at. Furthermore, the action is smooth, even at the craziest of moments. This well-considered approach makes the repetitive action bearable. Consequently, you won’t tire of what you see, especially as you never know what’s coming up. Though I loved what I saw, the lack of custom options does undermine its potential. It’s a small thing, but it would have worked perfectly with the gameplay. However, don’t let this small oversight taint the brilliant visuals.
Regarding the audio, all I can say is loud…very, very loud! There are grunts, screams, war cries and more. Moreover, there is the twang of a bow, the slash of swords, and the crunch of metal on bones. It’s gruesome, horrific, but oh so enjoyable. At the end of each playthrough, your ears will be ringing and your head will hurt. This sounds terrible, yet it adds to the drama and the brutality.
Will you be able to beat the ice giant?
Easy to play.
Other than its silly story and appealing aesthetics, I loved the simple controls. Thanks to a wonderful tutorial, this is particularly user-friendly. Therefore, it’s easy to pick up and is great for newcomers and veteran gamers. Luckily, the controls are also super responsive and this helps when it’s hectic. On top of this, you must adjust your style for every weapon you find. This was great as it prevents the hack n slash elements from becoming tiresome.
Because of its procedurally generated action, you’ll not tire of what you see. Subsequently, this oozes replay value and longevity. Alongside this, the fantastic multiplayer mode and large achievement list will keep you coming back for more. Yes, it lacks the complexity and lore of its peers, but this matters not. It’s instantly appealing, as you are not weighed down by unnecessary information.
Conan Chop Chop is fun and whimsical.
Rogue-lite games normally make me shudder. However, Conan Chop Chop is different. Its user-friendly style, colourful imagery and lack of complexity were all fantastic. It offers enough to keep veterans happy without alienating newcomers, and this was brilliant. I adored it and recommend you to buy it here! Will you bolster your ego and defeat the wizard? Gather your friends, grab your equipment, and try to survive.
Online services are more popular than ever and growing increasingly popular every day as consumers expect more than ever from products and services. Companies all over the United States are undergoing digital transformation in a bid to provide more personalized customer experiences and gain analytics insights to help them make better business decisions. Moreover, the high demand for personalized services and big data means companies have to load up on business software applications to enhance their business processes. Businesses of all sizes have robust IT infrastructures these days, and they need a platform that can support and maximize these robust systems.
Application programming interfaces (APIs) make application development, data integration, business application monetization, and many other processes simpler. However, even APIs require advanced API management tools to allow business users to get the most from their API processes. Many industries use API management tools and plenty of viable use cases for them. In this article, we’ll tell you about the industries that use API management platforms the most and how they use them. Continue reading to learn more about API management and how it’s impacting the real world.
These industries use APIs the most.
API management used to be considered a niche field whose value was limited to large companies in only a few industries, but that’s totally changed in recent years. In fact, these days you would be hard-pressed to find an industry where there are no companies using API management solutions. However, studies show that the financial services, healthcare, tech, and telecommunications industries use them the most. It makes perfect sense when you consider that those three industries need to personalize their products, services, and customer experiences more than most others.
Data management companies use API management to provide data as a service.
As you may have heard, big data has become a pretty big deal in recent years. The reason industries like the ones mentioned in the previous section can provide such unique customer experiences is big data. Data science is one of the fastest-growing markets on the planet, having an astronomically high projected CAGR of over 30% over the next five years. Most tech companies use API platforms to provide data-as-a-service (DaaS) business applications and tech support.
Online businesses use API gateways to share microservices with third-party services.
API management tools are an invaluable asset for e-commerce companies. Many online businesses rely on third-party services to expand their customer base and deliver advanced features. API management tools enable them to provide microservices through third-party partners without having to redirect customers to their web or mobile application. Furthermore, as they learn more about individual customers through online interactions, they can offer relevant microservices to tailor their online experience.
B2B companies use API platforms for integration and API security.
One of the great things about APIs is they enable software developers to easily create business applications and share APIs to enable customers to tailor them to their needs, providing ultimate scalability. Indeed, API management tools make API integration much simpler and safer. With complete access control, you can control API usage and set permissions for what API users do, providing API security and ensuring data quality.
The API management industry was worth close to $3.9 billion in 2020, and it’s expected to be worth almost twice as much by 2026. So, as you can see, APIs aren’t going anywhere any time soon, especially with them being so prevalent in the financial services, healthcare, and telecommunications industries. As you can see, there are plenty of use cases for API management tools, and we’re confident that you can find creative ways to take your business to the next level as well. So, is your company down with APIs? Because the rest of the business world certainly is.
Do you know those TV shows that have that one epic season before repeating the same formula over and over and ending on a whimper? Well, the video game version of that might just be Shadow Warrior 3, a gory quip-filled FPS with an Asian-fusion fantasy story that starts off cock-sure, before hitting its limit and trailing off into mediocrity by giving all the wrong features its attention.
It shouldn’t have been this way though, as the Doom-esque blasting and Deadpool-like humour combined with stunning environments that has you scaling mountains and cliff faces, running through bamboo forests and admiring Chinese/Japanese temples, starts the player off impressed and raring to go. Call me crazy, but after being whipped-up in a giddy euphoria from playing around with the dismembering swordplay, I was half expecting to be able to add SW3 to my list of favourite games of 2022.
What the befalls the game though is a linear structure that devours any chance for anything unique (bar killable rabbits that spawn bad guys with rabbit ears) as cutscenes, battles and grapple hook sections robotically repeat themselves without improving, making the gameplay incredibly predictable.
The gun/swordplay is relatively decent – allowing for bloodspurting goodness in any given moment – but the battlefields are often far too small and poorly-designed, forcing the action into a box unfit for purpose. This essentially means that when the game starts to overcrowd these small platforms with waves of enemies there are few ways to enjoy it. The only other real gameplay element, the grapple hook sections, are used to transport you from one battle to the next, but take up far too high a percentage of the gameplay and is seemingly artificially extended for inane character interactions.
Some of the visuals that game provides are quite stunning.
Interestingly, the Shadow Warrior series has gotten shorter with each new entry – in this instance removing Multiplayer, New Game+, and all other extra features – which you’d assume would mean that the developer has been working away to perfect the formula – addition by subtraction, if you will. Unfortunately, SW3 actually ends up too streamlined, leaving only enough room for some average gory kills and the odd quick-witted comment. For some this will be enough, but it could have been so much better.
Helping you deal with the quick build-up of enemies are temporary – but admittedly hilarious – ‘finishing weapons’, which are removed from the body of the enemy and are used to unleash hell upon your foes – such as a blackhole, a homing eyeball that shoots lasers and a Gatling gun that shoots fireworks. Sadly, these seconds-long interjections are far too awesome for their own good, as they highlight the imbalance of your permanent weapons.
Don’t shoot the bunnies or else a bunny monster will come after you. The enemies in the game are divided into henchman or minor bosses with the weaker ones easily dispatched with your sword and revolver, and the minor bosses better suited to your more powerful, but less satisfying weapons.
Furthermore, these super weapons expose the inability of the battle system to achieve anything impressive or requiring any kind of skill. A slow-motion feature could easily have been integrated to allow highlight-reel sword slashing with existing abilities such as the running dive along the ground and the chi-blast, but instead, and in another example of taking away any control and satisfaction from the player, it’s another of the prior-mentioned ‘finishing weapons’ that receives the benefit.
Sadly, this underutilized aspect is also true of the enemies who tend to camp in their area depending on which of the two attacks they’ve been given. If they have short range attacks they hang out inches from your face, if they have projectiles they’ll be a short distance away, but they rarely can do both. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that there are only two minor bosses that are particularly satisfying to defeat, as they don’t follow the same pattern as all the others. One, a Multi-Arm Swordsman, has both long and short range attacks and the other, a Jack-in-the-Box, simply laughs at you as it runs away while leaving suspended blades in the air.
Lo Wang is given little backstory, but still carries the narrative with his culture references and insults
There is a story here, one where the protagonist must team up with a former enemy to defeat a dragon that he accidentally unleashed upon the world, but the 5-hour long narrative largely considers one-liners to be its character building, until Lo Wang sees fit to save his incredibly boring ‘best friend’. This acts like a double-punch with both banal conversation and unnecessarily extended grapple hook sections making you wish for a speedy return to the monotonous blasting.
In deciding that ambition is the dragon that needs toppling, Shadow Warrior 3 is aggressively average, restricting its own potential with poor level design and underwhelming weapons and enemies. Quite how it manages to fluff its lines, despite having all the ingredients for success – humour, great visuals and Doom-lite gunplay – is frustrating, but if you are able to look past this, it does still provide an opportunity for you to switch off with some mindless entertainment in short spurts.
Being an outcast can be tough to swallow. Therefore, you have to have a thick skin and great resolve if you wish to survive. However, you always wonder why people dislike you just because you are different. All you want is a quiet life, but to be accepted, you must step up and show you care. Young Souls uses this idea in its bizarre fantasy story.
Developed by 1P2P and published by The Arcade Crew, this is an arcade beat ’em up with RPG elements. It’s a dungeon crawler that has the sass of Olli Olli World and the dark elements of Deaths Door. Furthermore, it can be enjoyed solo or cooperatively and is available on Game Pass. Subsequently, you and a mate can enjoy this title for nothing, so what’s to lose?
Young Souls is a story of redemption.
It can be tough to change how the world perceives you. Yet, this is the core message of Young Souls! You control a pair of twins who are Jenn and Tristan. Their world was turned upside down when they were orphaned at a young age. However, fate stepped in and they were adopted by an eccentric scientist. Unbeknownst to them, this chance encounter would change their entire lives.
The professor has a brilliant mind, and he hides many great secrets! However, the cat is out of the bag when he goes missing. Worried about his safety, the twins enter the secret part of his lab and discover a hidden goblin world. This is the start of their strange adventure through sprawling dungeons. They must overcome monsters, gargantuan bosses, and stop the leader, Dwaverngobben, from destroying their town.
Giant goblin machines.
Hack’ n’ slash and collect the loot.
Though the story of Young Souls is amusing and touching, the action is hectic. The gameplay focuses on hack’ n’ slash combat, oodles of loot, and upgrading the ginger heroes. Furthermore, what makes it particularly appealing is the simplicity of its design. From the opening gambit, you know what to expect and very little changes. Now, this may sound like it plateaus early on, but it doesn’t. Luckily, the developers have drip-fed new elements and mechanics to keep things fresh. Moreover, as you progress, the difficulty increases exponentially. Therefore, you are challenged from the beginning to the end and this makes it moreish as hell.
The action is broken down across four unique locations. On top of this, you must find four special keys that unlock new paths and treasure chests. Subsequently, you must return to each area if you wish to explore every nook and cranny. This was an excellent approach from the developers that helps the learning curve. Furthermore, you’ll explore each area thoroughly and this doesn’t become tiresome. With new bosses to find, loot to gather, and secrets to discover, Young Souls is full of surprises.
Goblin Street is a thing of beauty.
Bosses, levelling up, and plenty of equipment.
Every great RPG has custom options at its core. Luckily, Young Souls is no different. You’ll gain XP for every monster you kill and this is used to level up your characters. However, unlike traditional RPGs, your three stats are automatically improved. I can understand that this may seem restrictive, but the developers have allowed some freedom. Occasionally, you are awarded a token to use in the local gymnasium. Here you complete a mini-game that improves one of the three skills. Luckily, the task is simple as you must keep your cursor within the marker. However, though it’s easy to understand, obtaining 5 stars and the maximum result is harder than it looks. Consequently, you’ll struggle to get the best out of the exercise, and this will frustrate you.
Where this excels is its vast range of monsters, demi-bosses, and enormous overlords. The selection of enemies will blow your mind and keep you on your toes. Subsequently, each area funnels the heroes to an encounter with either the underlings or a massive guardian. Alongside these creatures, you’ll face traps, darkness, and plenty of trickery. As you face off with each of the overlords, you’ll be awarded new equipment, guardian tears, or a rune of power. Each of these items is as important as one another as they improve your character and help you progress.
You can purchase and find different sets of armour and weapons that’ll change your approach. Whether you use a slow two-handed sword or swift knives, they both have strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, you can equip enchanted items that’ll resist cold, heat, electricity, and more. These items can be changed on the fly, so you can alter your style depending on which enemy you face.
Young Souls plays like a comic book.
I loved the gameplay, but what amazed me was Young Souls’ phenomenal art style. The beautiful imagery, interesting landscapes, and colourful world were brilliant to look at. Moreover, the developers have done an amazing job of replicating a comic book. It was fascinating to explore each dungeon while taking on every monster. Alongside this, the cinematic was stylish and amusing. I adored the cutscenes and found the information to be captivating and humorous. The graphical approach was excellent, well-considered, and ran smoothly on the Xbox Series X.
The presentation was further enhanced because of the wonderful audio. A brilliant mix of folksy and high-tempo music helped convey the story. I loved the blend of tunes and the crashing sound effects. Sadly, though, there were a few things that were missing. First, there were no clichéd “Wham, thwack, and capow!” speech bubbles. These would have added to the comic book approach and would have matched the style. Furthermore, the story relied heavily on text rather than acting. Consequently, this was a missed opportunity. Had this been incorporated, then the game would have gone to the next level.
Time to get strong!
Lots to learn but easy to play.
Thanks to its array of weaponry, a vast selection of monsters, and different environments, there is lots to learn. Therefore, it’s understandable that gamers may feel overwhelmed. Fortunately, however, the simple controls and thorough tutorial make it easy to play. If you tackle this solo, you can select either twin with ease. Yet, as a duo, you’ll adore the straightforward style and its uncomplicated ways.
Like many adventure RPGs, Young Souls oozes replay value. With many avenues to explore and lots of treasure to discover, this will keep you busy. Furthermore, there are several difficulty settings that’ll test newcomers and veterans alike. To complete this, you’ll need skill, patience, and at least 15 hours.
Young Souls is incredible.
The indie market is saturated, so to be noticed, you have to be special. Luckily, Young Souls is incredible and will entertain you immediately. What’s more amazing is its inclusion in the Game Pass subscription. Therefore, you can play this awesome game for nothing. I adored every moment and recommend you to buy it here! Will you save the day, or will the goblins take over? Attack every monster, gather the loot, and defeat Dwaverngobben.
