Like other battle royale games, Fortnite: Battle Royale offers a wide variety of ways that any match can play out. But come to the final circle of a round, and you likely know what to expect: Players building elaborate defenses and wielding shotguns and rocket launchers. It can get a bit tiresome, and Victory Royales can feel out of reach for those who aren’t experts at building. Developer Epic Games is aware of all this, and it’s looking to mix things up.
In a post on Fortnite’s website, Epic explained that it plans to „continue to make changes to evolve the game to give players multiple ways to counter each other in combat, and create more strategies to win the game.“ It also specifically addresses the notion that building is the only way to win: „It’s important to support a variety of late game strategies, that don’t boil down to ‚just build lol.‘ We strongly believe that the evolution of Fortnite supports a wide range of play styles and counterplay. Currently, the superiority of shotguns, rockets, and uncapped building are such a dominant play style in the final circle that most other strategies are being drowned out.“
Epic said it’s already made some changes to address these concerns and will continue to do so. Weapon balance is being looked at, as is the resource economy, which it said includes something like a cap on the number of resources you can hold. The „next few weeks“ will see Epic continuing to look at changes it can make, and it says it wants to hear from players about what they want to see.
„You should be able to find Victory Royales through multiple strategies,“ it said. „Shotguns should be strong, but other weapons have room to grow. Not every encounter should have to end in a build-off. We want to empower you to showcase your skill, strategy, and tactics in all variety of ways.“
The ability to build ramps, walls, and floors was initially the thing that most distinguished Fortnite from competitors like PUBG, but Epic has done an impressive job in expanding the game since launch last year. Just how much it’s willing to deemphasize the need to build to win remains to be seen, but it’s a positive sign to see that it’s willing to address what can feel like a stale endgame experience.
It has been confirmed that the cast of the canceled sitcom Roseanne will reconvene for a spin-off show. ABC’s hugely popular revival of the classic ’80s/90s comedy was canceled last month following a racist tweet by star Roseanne Barr. However, the network has now announced that the main cast members–minus Barr–will star in a show called The Conners, which is set to premiere this fall.
As reported by Variety, The Conners will take the same 8 PM Thursday slot that Roseanne was airing in. As the title suggests, the show will focus on the other members of the Connor family, with original cast members John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, Lecy Goranson, and Michael Fishman all returning to their popular roles. The first season of The Conners will run for 10 episodes.
In addition, it has been confirmed that Barr will receive no payment for the show from the network. Although there was talk of a potential spin-off soon after Roseanne’s cancellation, there was a question of whether Barr could profit any future series as she is credited as the creator of the Roseanne Conner character. However, Variety states that producer Tom Werner appealed to Barr to step away in order to provide continued employment for the cast and crew who lost their jobs when the show was axed.
In a joint statement, Goodman, Metcalf, Gilbert, Goranson, and Fishman said, „We have received a tremendous amount of support from fans of our show, and it’s clear that these characters not only have a place in our hearts, but in the hearts and homes of our audience. We all came back last season because we wanted to tell stories about the challenges facing a working-class family today. We are so happy to have the opportunity to return with the cast and crew to continue to share those stories through love and laughter.“
The return of Roseanne was a huge ratings success, ensuring that a second season was greenlit. Season 1 had already finished airing when Barr made her controversial comments. The show was cancelled within a few hours of Barr’s tweet.
If you weren’t able to get your hands on an NES Classic during its initial run, you’ll soon have an opportunity to pick one up at GameStop. The video game retailer announced that it is receiving a new stock of NES Classic consoles next week, on June 29, but they’ll be in short supply.
According to GameStop, the retailer will have „at least 10 units per store,“ although some locations may have a larger stock. As before, the console will retail for $60, but it will only be available in limited quantities, which will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
If you aren’t able to visit a physical location, GameStop says it will have a stock of NES Classic systems on its website in addition to its brick-and-mortar stores. The console will also be available at ThinkGeek’s online and physical stores, although it’s not clear if it will be sold individually or as part of bundles.
GameStop notes that it is expecting the same level of demand it witnessed for the initial run of the NES and SNES Classic for this restock, so if you’re hoping to add one to your collection, your best bet will be to show up early to ensure you beat the crowd.
The NES Classic first released back in November 2016 and was very difficult to find, selling out almost immediately upon its launch. Following the release of its follow-up, the SNES Classic, Nintendo announced that it would release a new stock of the NES Classic in Summer 2018.
Während der Beyond Good and Evil 2 Demo auf der E3 2017 drehte sich alles um den Umfang und darum stufenlos zwischen dem detailierten Charakter, der Erkundung detailierter Tiefen eines kolonisierten Mondes, hin zum Orbit um selbigen wechseln zu können. Dieses Jahr durften wir einen Blick darauf werfen, was man so alles machen kann auf terrestrischer Ebene, Luftraum-Ebene und orbitaler Ebene. Den Anfang machte die Erkundung eines unterirdischen Tempels mit zwei Weltraumpiraten im Koop.
Als waschechtes Prequel zum ersten Spiel, ereignet sich alles in Beyond Good and Evil 2 gegen Ende des 24. Jahrhunderts im System 3, einem Sonnensystem das von diversen Siedlern der Erde kolonisiert wurde. Mit der Ankunft der ersten Menschen im System 3, mussten diese feststellen, dass sie sterilisiert wurden. Diese Tatsache zwang sie quasi dazu sich selbst und deren Mensch-Tier Hybridsklaven zu klonen. Sobald ihr also Beyond Good and Evil 2 startet werdet ihr erstmal festlegen müssen, wie euer geklonter Weltraum-Piratenkapitän eigentlich aussehen soll. Jeder Bewohner innerhalb des Systems stammt von einigen ganz bestimmten DNA-Strängen, welche die ersten Kolonisten auf die Erde brachten und genau diese werden jetzt von euch verwendet werden, um euren eigenen Charakter zu entwickeln. Beispielsweise sahen die beiden Piraten wesentlich anders aus als Shani und Knox die man aus den Trailern kennt. Trotz ihrer massiven Individualisierung entstammen sie alle den gleichen genetischen Klon-Linien.
Schauplatz ist Ganesha City – eine Metropole mit Hinduistischen Einflüssen innerhalb des neuen Kontinents Neu-Indien und dem Mond Soma, welcher in den Ausbezirken von System 3 den Gasplaneten Dyaus umkreist. Die Demo war ein kleiner Vorgeschmack auf eine Gesellschaft die eine Kombination aus mächtigen Korporationen, religiösen Einflüssen und der Umgebung selbst entstanden ist. Soma, beispielsweise befindet sich in einem synchronen Orbit um Dyaus, was bedeutet das eine Seite des Mondes stets dem Gasplaneten zugewandt ist. Dieser Umstand schützt die entsprechende Seite vor Verwüstungen durch Objekte aus dem All, erlaubt es dem Ökosystem zu erblühen und erweckt so innerhalb der Bevölkerung den Eindruck, dass die Götter ihnen wohlgesonnen sind. Die Seite die dem Weltraum zugewandt ist, besteht jedoch aus einer öden Höllenlandschaft die kontinuierlich mit Meteor-Einschlägen zu kämpfen hat.
Die Firmen, die System 3 kontrollieren, züchteten Hybrid-Sklaven, die für ganz bestimmte Aufgaben gedacht waren. Primaten beispielsweise wurden wortwörtlich für Minenarbeiten kreiert. Zusätzlich dazu konnte man sie unter Vortäuschung einer heiligen Mission in lebensfeindliche Bereiche schicken, um die Rohstoffe der Meteore zu bergen, während gleichzeitig das Gerücht gestreut wurde, dass jene die einen ganz bestimmten Edelstein finden, in die Freiheit entlassen werden. All das dient dazu die Sklaven in einem arbeitswilligen Zustand zu halten und damit auch unter Kontrolle – jener Kontrolle der die Weltraumpiraten ein Ende setzen wollen, indem sie mehrere Schiffe beanspruchen und Crews aus Gleichgesinnten Unruhestiftern zusammenstellen.
Um das jedoch bewerkstelligen zu können, benötigt man auch die entsprechende Feuerkraft, weshalb die Demo gleich mit einigen Scheinkämpfen unter zwei Piraten begann. Jeder vom Spieler kreierte Weltraumkapitän führt jederzeit vier Basis-Gegenstände mit sich: Eine Pistole, ein Schwert, ein Schild und ein Jetpack. Und alle können mit Augmentierungen ausgestattet werden – Spezialkernen die in der gesamten Welt verteilt sind und über die unterschiedlichsten Fähigkeiten verfügen, Einige der Spieler-gesteuerten Piraten führte beispielsweise eine Verlangsamung, Paralyse und Rückstoß-Effekte vor, während die beiden sich gegenseitig mit Schüssen durch den Raum jagten.
Nachdem sie sich aufteilten, um zwei unterschiedliche Richtungen abdecken zu können – schließlich muss man nicht ständig zusammen herumhängen, nur um gemeinsam spielen zu können – stießen die beiden Piraten auf einige Wissenschaftler und Soldaten die scheinbar gerade ein Experiment an einem festgebundenen Affen-Hybriden durchführten. Als sich die beiden Piraten auf einem Steg darüber befanden, zog einer der beiden schnell sein Fernrohr – das ähnlich wie Jades Kamera im ersten Beyond Good and Evil – einen Scan durchführen und allerhand Informationen über das anvisierte Objekt darstellen kann. Durch einen Blick auf die Leute unter uns, konnten wir beispielsweise deren Firmenzugehörigkeit sehen, erfuhren welcher Spezies sie anghören und natürlich auch für welche Firma sie arbeiten.
Als die Piraten dann aus verschiedenen Richtungen angriffen, begannen auch die Gegner sich in alle Richtungen aufzuteilen. Durch die Platzierung einer zylindrischen Verlangsamungsfalle, gelang es einem der menschlichen Piraten einen der Wissenschaftler zu fangen und jede Menge Schaden zu verursachen – der kurzerhand von dem zweiten Wissenschaftler geheilt wurde, wodurch wir erfuhren, dass wir zuerst diesen ausschalten müssen. Nachdem die beiden neutralisiert wurden, näherten sich die die Piraten nun den Soldaten um den übrigen Widerstand mit einer Kombination aus Schwert- und Schildangriffen zu brechen.
Nachdem der Raum gesäubert war, scannten die Piraten den gefangenen Hybriden – der zugegebenermaßen zwar noch lebendig, aber dennoch in keiner guten Verfassung war und erfuhren, dass dieser ursprünglich ein Mechaniker war. Solche Befreiungsaktionen sind aber nur eine der Möglichkeiten, um neue Rekruten anzuwerben und dadurch deren Fähigkeiten zur eigenen Crew hinzuzufügen.
Während ihrer Flucht durch den zum Labor umfunktionierten Tempel, entdeckten die beiden zwei Fahrzeuge, die auf sie zu warten schienen: Ein Hoverbike und ein kleiner Starfighter. Der Chimpansen-Pirat nahm im Starfighter Platz und machte sich aus dem Staub. Währenddessen hüpfte der menschliche Pirat auf das Hoverbike und ging in Ganesha City auf Erkundungstour. Aufgrund der religiösen Wurzeln finden sich innerhalb der Stadt jede Menge hinduistische Symbole und Wandbilder. Unglaublich vielschichtig gebaut, sieht man in der für Flugverkehr optimierten Stadt zwar gigantische Wolkenkratzer, aber auch Barackensiedlungen am Erdboden wo die Ärmsten der Armen ihr Dasein fristen, während die Reichen sowie die religiöse Klasse an der Spitze der Gebäude leben.
Alles in Ganesha City und auch dem Rest von System 3 lebt nach seinen eigenen Regeln, selbst dann wenn man nicht dort ist, was es zu einem dynamischen Ort voller Gelegenheiten für einen unternehmungsfreudigen Piraten macht. Oben bieten sich beispielsweise gleich mehrere Gelegenheiten, um Unruhe zu stiften. So wartet dort beispielsweise ein Polizeipräsidium, wo man inhaftierte Piraten befreien und anschließend zur eigenen Crew hinzufügen könnte. Oder gar eine Bank, deren Tresorinhalt sich wunderbar in Augmentierungen oder kosmetischen Objekten im nahegelegenen Store umsetzen lassen würde. Während eurer Fahrten könnt ihr auch den Klängen von Radio Cheetah lauschen, dem Piratensender dessen DJ niemand anderer ist als Knox, der Chimpansen-Hybrid der innerhalb beider Trailer zu sehen war.
Zurück beim Starfighter (und damit zu den vielen Arten wie auf die dieser sich individualisieren lässt z.B. durch Austausch der Flügelkonfigurationen oder kosmetischen Mustern), schloss sich der menschliche Pirat nun seinem Partner an, der sich wiederrum gerade in einem Dogfight mit einigen Cops oberhalb einer gigantischen Ganesha Statue befand. Nachdem sie gemeinsam Dank der augmentierten Raketen und Maschinengewehren ihre Kontrahenten vom Himmel geholt haben, flüchteten sie nach Ganesha City, durchbrachen die Atmosphäre, beschleunigten auf Hypergeschwindigkeit und liessen die Metropole auf dem Planeten wie ein Staubkorn hinter sich. All das, von den Kämpfen, über die Erkundung bis hin zum Aufbruch zu den Sternen auf orbitaler Ebene, geschah ohne einen Ladebildschirm oder sonstigen Übergang.
Nachdem er sich erfolgreich mit dem im niedrigen Orbit schwebenden Mutterschiff getroffen hat, parkte er sein Schiff und kletterte hinaus – geschützt durch eine Art Kraftfeld-gestützten Raumanzug. Als sie durch ihr Fernrohr sieht und den Zoom verwendet, kann man die Wolkenkratzer der Stadt und die entsprechenden Informationen darüber klar sehen. Anschließend richtet sich ihre Aufmerksamkeit auf eine Nazca-ähnliche Formation eines Affen auf der Oberfläche des Planeten, doch dessen Bedeutung, wollen uns die Entwickler derzeit noch nicht verraten.
Zum Abschluss wechselt die Ansicht auf den Galaxy-Monitor – eine Art digitale Karte über welche die Spieler die Oberfläche von Soma aber auch andere nahegelegene Planeten auf wichtige Punkte von Interesse untersuchen können, sowie nach einem Zoom einen Blick auf das gesamte System 3 und dessen Stern Surya in dessen Mittelpunkt werfen können. All das wird ab dem Verkaufsstart von Beyond Good and Evil 2 frei erkundbar sein. Weitere Informationen findet ihr auch in unseren bisher veröffentlichten E3 2018 bezogenen Artikeln.
After the amazing gaming year that was 2017, you have to wonder how 2018 will compare. But if 2018’s current roster of releases is anything to go by, we might be in for another fantastic year. It seems primed to impress with a slew of hotly anticipated new games, including big-budget games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, and a whole lot more. To help you keep track of all the games coming out, we’ve compiled a list of all the noteworthy release dates for the biggest ones confirmed to come out in 2018 so far.
Be sure to check back often as we update this article with more release dates or any potential changes to any of the dates below. And if you’re eager to figure out the release dates from games last year, you can also reference our feature on the game release dates of 2017.
Below you can find a list of the biggest games that don’t have explicit release dates but are confirmed to release sometime this year. There are also games listed that we expect to launch in 2018. We’ll be moving each of these games into the release date sections above as soon as official dates are announced.
A new Legendary has begun appearing in Pokemon Go. Regice, one of the three Legendary titans originally from Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, can now be found at Gyms around the world as a Raid Battle, where it will appear until July 19.
As usual, players will first have to team up with other Trainers and battle Regice before earning a chance to capture it. Like its name implies, Regice is an Ice-type, which means it’s particularly vulnerable to Fire-, Rock-, Steel-, and Fighting-types. Despite its many weaknesses, it has high defensive stats, making it a formidable Pokemon to take down.
The remaining two Legendary titans, Regirock and Registeel, are also slated to arrive in Pokemon Go soon. Niantic hasn’t announced when those two Legendaries will begin appearing in Raid Battles, but they’ll follow Regice later this summer.
Regice arrives shortly after the end of Pokemon Go’s latest in-game event, the Water Festival. As part of that event, another Gen 3 Legendary, Kyogre, returned to Raid Battles for a limited time. While that Pokemon may no longer be available, players still have an opportunity to complete the latest set of Field Research quests, which will lead to another encounter with the Legendary bird Articuno.
Alongside Regice, Niantic has begun rolling out the recently announced friends and trading features for Pokemon Go. As of this writing, however, only players between level 33 and 40 will be able to take advantage of the new functions, although Niantic says it is gradually opening them to other players as well.
Whether you’re reminded of vicious raptors hunting terrified children, placid Brachiosaurus strolling verdant hills, or a scientist reaching elbow-deep into a mound of Triceratops dung, the words „Jurassic Park“ can evoke some pretty powerful memories. Jurassic World Evolution reinforces these associations with its take on dino-park management, and all the good and bad that comes with such a brazen endeavor. It can be a bit clumsy at times, but Evolution ultimately finds a comfortable middle ground between establishing deep mechanics and maintaining accessibility for the average dino enthusiast.
Your venture kicks off with a warning from Dr. Ian Malcolm–voiced by Jeff Goldblum himself–who ruminates about the inevitability of disaster before dropping you straight onto the first of the game’s five main islands. To successfully run your new park, you need to maintain a variety of dinosaur species and build facilities to protect and entertain paying customers. Do well enough and you unlock additional islands for your expanding park, each with a new curveball to keep you on your toes, be it aggressive weather systems, unique financial constraints, or limited construction options.
After learning the basics of construction and dinosaur creation, you’re introduced to the three divisions that make up your park’s staff: science, entertainment, and security. Each division will offer contracts that, when completed, give you cash and raise your reputation with that division. This unlocks further items and buildings for research, as well as that division’s story mission. While contracts are a good source of money in the early game, they come with an odd complication: completing contracts for one division lowers your reputation with the other two. This creates a nonsensical balancing act that, whilst not difficult to overcome in the long run, feels arbitrary in context.
Building a good dinosaur park isn’t as simple as putting down some fences, incubating dino eggs, and sitting back to watch them majestically take their first steps into the world. You’ll need to manage everything from dig sites and DNA extraction to general park maintenance via your rangers–who will fill feeders, fix fences, and keep everything in working order. In an awesome twist, you can manually control the rangers‘ Jeeps or helicopters from a close third-person perspective, leading to some surprisingly beautiful and memorable moments as you mingle with the great beasts inhabiting your park.
If you’ve played any kind of park management sim before, you’ll feel right at home with how everything works thanks to streamlined controls and an elegant UI. Console players can similarly rejoice as controller configurations are surprisingly intuitive, making navigating everything a breeze.
With the exception of cash, all your research and item progression is shared across each of the islands, and you can freely move between them at will once they’re unlocked. If you’ve got something you want to research but you’re struggling with funds in your current park, switch back to your previous one and spend their money on it instead. Although it would be a time saver to simply let you funnel cash from one park to another, going back to old parks never feels you’re like taking a step backwards. Research progression is skewed so that you’ll unlock the next park before you’ve unlocked all the research items in your current one, so you’ll always feel like you’re achieving something worthwhile, even if that means re-visiting old areas.
Interestingly, unlike most other park management sims, you can’t speed up the flow of time while waiting for tasks to complete, but it’s not as detrimental as it sounds. It’s rare that there isn’t something in the park needing attention, and more often than not you’ll be thankful for the time.
Each of the dinosaurs in your menagerie have particular needs–some are placid, solitary creatures who are super chill, while others are quick to go on high alert. Put a herbivore in a pen full of meat-eaters and it will (understandably) panic. Put two aggressive meat-eaters next to each other and they’ll probably fight to the death, unless you can get your rangers in there to tranquilize and then separate them both before any real harm is done. Learning the differences between each species is an important part of keeping your park operating smoothly. But even when things are going well, calamity never feels that far away.
From rampaging dinosaurs and tropical cyclones to internal sabotage, there’s always something ready to trash your hard work. While dealing with these hazards can be exciting in your early hours, the fifth time your Ankylosauruses make a break for it because they don’t like being around other dinosaurs can get tiresome. Attacks on park goers can initially be costly; later on, when you’ve got money to burn, a few lawsuits digging into your bottom line doesn’t matter much. But while the lack of surprises and stakes after 20 or so hours is a bummer, it’s never enough to take away from the joy of watching your creations live out their lives in structures you’ve meticulously designed and maintained.
Evolution captures the essence of Jurassic Park while being a good park management sim in its own right.
When your coffers fill up, you can really cut loose with how you build up your parks across each island. A maxed-out park is a sight to behold as thousands of guests wander the attractions. Hotels let you increase your parks‘ capacity to house more people, while shops and arcades will keep them entertained for when they aren’t gathering in one of the many viewing platforms that line the fences keeping your dinosaurs in. When it’s all working, it’s like watching the components of a well-oiled machine tick over. Though it’s similarly fun, albeit sadistic, to watch a full park of guests scramble for the emergency shelter when you trigger the alarms.
If there’s one word that could easily describe Jurassic World Evolution, it’s „faithful.“ Taking control of a ranger behind the wheel of a Jeep in the rain and sidling up to a pack of socializing Stegosaurus is as epic as it sounds and is a definite highlight, as is releasing a newly recovered species into your park. Despite the campaign stumbling over itself and losing focus towards the end, Evolution captures the essence of Jurassic Park while being a good park management sim in its own right.
In Trials Rising macht es fast so viel Spaß zu gewinnen, wie zu verlieren. Wie bereits in den bisherigen Trials Spielen, geht es auch diesmal wieder darum knackige Herausforderungen zu meistern, während ihr durch total durchgeknallte Motorradstrecken brettert, die Physik eures fahrbaren Untersatzes vorsichtig ausbalanciert um gefährliche Sprünge schaffen zu können, euch ganz knapp an nahen Hindernissen vorbei mogelt und von einer kleinen Plattform zur anderen hechtet. Der größte Spaß sind aber nach wie vor die vielen beschämenden Arten auf die man bei dem Versuch die Herausforderungen zu überwinden, das Zeitliche segnen kann. In Trials Rising macht es dank besonders großzügig gesetzter Checkpoints und asynchronen Wettkämpfen mit diversen Mitspielern, besonders viel Spaß deren Ghosts dabei zu beobachten, wie sie gnadenlos versagen. Einen lokalen Koop-Modus gibt’s zudem noch oben drauf und der lässt euch mit einem weiteren Mitspieler ein Tandem-Motorrad steuern.
Die neuen Strecken führen euch durch die gesamte Welt und reichen von maroden Motocross-Strecken bis hin zu den wesentlich anspruchsvolleren, unfassbar hohen Todesfallen, die man in einem Trials Spiel mit Schauplätzen wie dem Yellowstone Nationalpark (inkl. explosiver Geysiere), dem Eiffelturm, Pripyat – dem ägyptischen Tal der Könige und sogar dem Mount Everest erwarten würde. Während ihr euch erfolgreich von einer Strecke zur Nächsten kämpft, wird euer Fahrer über das Karriere-Fortschritt-System immer weiter aufsteigen und so auch die Aufmerksamkeit von Sponsoren auf sich ziehen. Sobald euch das gelungen ist, werden euch auch Strecken mit einem Ausrufezeichen-Symbol auf der Karte angezeigt, die bedeuten, dass dort ein Vertrag auf euch wartet. Verträge sind Bonus-Herausforderungen bei denen ihr beispielsweise die Punktzahl eines Spielers schlagen oder bestimmte Medallien verdienen müsst. Schafft ihr es diese Herausforderungen zu meistern indem ihr die Ziele erreicht, warten neben EP-Boni auch Ingame Währung und kosmetische Objekte auf euren Fahrer und euer Fahrzeug.
Sollten euch die Solo-Fahrten noch nicht herausfordernd genug sein, so könnt ihr die Grenzen eurer Freundschaft austesten, indem ihr euch auf eine Runde Tandem im Koop-Modus einlasst. Und das ist genau wonach es sich anhört: Ihr und euer Freund werdet zusammen auf einem Tandem-Motorrad Platz nehmen und zusammen die Balance halten müssen. Nur so wird es euch gelingen, nicht abzustürzen während ihr euch durch Ringe arbeitet, spitze Anhöhen erklimmt oder Flips während eines langen Sturzes vollführt. Wer hier kein gutes Timing und die bereits erwähnte Balance vorweisen kann, der wird öfter als ihm lieb ist auf die Nase fliegen – aber auch das gehört zum Spaß dazu.
Trials Rising wird im Februar 2019 für die Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One und den PC erhältlich sein. Weitere Details zu diesem Spiel und vielen weiteren E3 Ankündigungen, findet ihr auf unserer Seite.
When the credits rolled on Mario Tennis Aces‚ Adventure Mode, I vowed to never again laugh at a tennis player having an ugly meltdown on the court. I had felt the volcanic surge of adrenaline that comes when a rally has gone too long. I knew the sense of high alert while trying to suss out which corner of the court an opponent is going to attack next. I have spliced and invented new curse words to mutter when a ball goes out of bounds. Off-beat stages and creative use of characters from the Marioverse ensure that you’ll never lose sight of simply having fun, but don’t let the adorable exterior trick you; Aces takes its unorthodox tennis very seriously.
Mario Tennis‘ renewed vigor is driven by a suite of new mechanics that force you to make pivotal risk-reward decisions. Special shots are now tied to a meter that fills a little with every shot fired back at your opponent, more so if you’re able to charge your swing ahead of time. Once the Energy Meter is at least a third full, a ball landing on your side of the court will be forecast by a glowing star. Initiating a special swing while standing on a star activates a first-person view that lets you aim a powerful Zone Shot.
When the Energy Meter is completely full, you can unleash your character’s Special Shot. While Specials don’t unleash the cavalcade of effects they did in Wii U’s Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, they do fire a lightning-fast ball that requires exacting maneuvers to return without incurring any harm to your racket–destroy your collection of rackets during a match, and you lose.
Holding the R button slows down time at the cost of meter, allowing you to stroll over and hit hard-to-reach shots or gain a slight advantage when returning racket-breaking shots. Alternatively, a Trick Shot can be activated by tilting the right stick, which causes you to leap across the court at the last second . You can get away with basic shots during simple face-offs, but in advanced matches the exchange of powered-up strikes feels like a breathless symphony that requires you to be at the top of your game and on top of your options.
Even veterans of the series have a little bit of a learning curve to overcome, but Aces‘ Adventure Mode does a good job of both entertaining you and teaching you how and when to use your new tools. The story itself is ridiculous, but ridiculous in that very specific, quirky way Nintendo has been getting away with for decades. During the Mushroom Kingdom’s annual tennis tournament, an evil tennis racket–yes, really–named Lucien takes possession of Luigi and flies off to find five Power Stones that will help him take over the world.
Instead of settling for a revolving door of opponents along the way, you’re challenged to utilize Ace’s new mechanics in a range of unusual scenarios. An average stage might simply challenge you to keep a rally going for a certain length of time, but bosses and puzzle stages require a greater level of ingenuity. You have to figure out how to disable protective barriers, earning enough energy to perform a Zone Shot, and aim at the right part of the court to inflict damage. Bosses also initiate hurdling challenges mid-match that reward precise use of your leaping Trick Shot. Adventure Mode mixes up your objectives from one stage to the next to ensure you’re never simply going through the motions to progress.
Mario Tennis Aces does what this series has done best, and improves what it’s rarely gotten right prior.
Aces is more difficult and devious than you might expect, especially in the latter half of Adventure Mode. Though not required, grinding through matches can improve your chances on the court. Win or lose, you earn experience points for every match played, allowing you to improve Mario’s speed, power, and agility over time. But no matter how much XP you earn, the only way to make it to the end of Aces‘ campaign is to master its unique tennis mechanics. Those who persevere will find themselves better equipped and prepared to face anything the other modes have to offer than ever before.
Outside of Adventure Mode, you’ll find a rather plain assortment of activities: a bracket-based tournament mode, exhibition matches against the computer or another friend, online modes, and the ability to play doubles matches, which can turn into downright anarchy before you know it. Online matches will be the true test of Aces‘ depth, but pre-launch servers being what they are, we still need to spend time playing once the game releases to form a solid opinion of its netcode and the competitive scene.
Perhaps the one major and surprising misstep is Swing Mode, where players can swing Joy-Cons like proper tennis rackets, similar to Wii Sports Tennis. At first it seems odd that this control scheme is isolated to a specific mode, but within a minute or two, it’s obvious why: playing with Joy-Cons feels too imprecise, and even just executing a simple backhand was a twitchy comedy of errors. It’s too bad that the motion controls seem to fall apart so easily, but considering that, it’s probably best the option is siloed away.
It’s not like Aces needs a gimmick like motion controls to win you over, anyway. The Tetris Effect is in full swing here; days after the credits rolled, I still crave the satisfying thwack from a Power Shot, mentally replay matches and imagine how I might do things differently given a bit more focus and know-how. Mario Tennis Aces does what this series has done best, and improves what it’s rarely gotten right prior. Fingers crossed that the online support stands up to the rest of the game after launch.
With its warm, rustic setting, and an instantly endearing protagonist, the first Unravel had the outward appearance of a happily nostalgic adventure. That initial fuzzy feeling, however, gave way to a series of frustrating puzzles and a story that took some unexpectedly dark turns. In the game’s final hours, the poor little hero Yarny was left all alone in a hostile world. What a relief it is to see him in a better place in Unravel Two, the sequel that’s notably comforting thanks to the introduction of a second yarnling. Once they meet, Yarny and his new friend immediately hit it off and set out on a new adventure.
Similar to the original game, Unravel Two has ethereal slice-of-life scenes that play out in the background of each stage. This time, the literal background story involves two youths making the drastic decision to run away from their hyper-religious families. Yarny and his new partner make their own journey through the small town they live in, inadvertently helping the kids along the way with each new platforming challenge they surmount. Despite trips to more urban settings, the design philosophy and earthy aesthetic that made the first game such a visual treat haven’t been abandoned. Aside from some mild industrial chaos–traipsing around construction sites, messing with the ventilation systems in a factory, and the like–much of what you experience is delightfully serene.
Once again, we witness the world from Yarny’s tiny perspective. You run through misty city streets at night under haloed streetlights. You push toy trucks around backyards on sunny days before riding off into the blue yonder on the back of a swan. You jump across rooftops at midnight, a skeleton city of antennas and vents where only the pigeons are awake. One of the most beautiful areas of the game has Yarny making his way along a stream of rushing water in a creek, letting the tide build up the momentum you need to get a full head of speed up for a jump. There’s still such a sense of awe to how tangible and real Yarny’s world is, but it never feels like a place where Yarny is in peril. Though it takes place in more challenging environments, it’s a world where what little danger there is feels magical, and Yarny has never been able to move through it in as invigorating a way as he can with a partner in Unravel Two.
The swing mechanic–where Yarny can latch yarn onto a grapple point and either rappel up and down or swing to launch himself onto a higher point–has returned, but with a newfound kineticism. Many stages push you to swing across multiple wide chasms and tight gaps in quick succession, and soaring and flipping through these trials is always a thrill.
There will come times when you have to stop and figure out a way past complicated obstacles, and this is where Unravel Two’s co-op nature shines. Obviously, the ideal way to manage two characters is to have a friend sitting next to you on the couch, controlling Yarny’s new ally while you plot solutions. But even a single player can make use of both characters, switching back and forth between the two onscreen with the push of a button. When playing solo, the character you leave behind will continue to hold onto whatever they were holding, meaning you can always place your partner wherever you need them. You can even carry your partner through danger by absorbing them into your own yarn body–mildly disturbing but helpful nonetheless.
With its charming yarnlings and a newfound style of platforming, Unravel Two remains welcoming even at its most foreboding.
With the two Yarnys tethered together, most puzzles are resolved by forming makeshift pulleys that allow you to create opportunities the environment wouldn’t normally afford a single Yarny. Puzzles are typically open-ended and can be solved in a handful of ways. The only real barrier, besides pure logic, can be the game’s control scheme. The same button used to jump is used to extend the tether between the two Yarnys, and it’s fairly easy to accidentally send your partner plummeting to their doom. Unravel Two is undoubtedly a more welcoming and accessible game than its predecessor, but there are still demanding trials for those who want them, especially with around two dozen extra-challenging stages that are available.
With its charming yarnlings and a newfound style of platforming, Unravel Two remains welcoming even at its most foreboding. Sure, a forest fire breaks out in one of the latter stages, but even then, the race to keep ahead of the blaze is fun and frantic instead of stressful. In almost every moment you’re given ample time and space to breathe and take in the stunning photorealistic world from the viewpoint of the tiniest creatures. It’s a game with boisterous birds, chases through meadows, and most importantly a cheerful partnership with a companion who’s always got your back. With only six chapters that run roughly 30 minutes apiece, Unravel Two doesn’t last long, but it’s a game where the time you have is meaningful, memorable, and downright pleasant from beginning to end.
Wenn es eins gibt, was uns nach der E3-Demo von Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 mehr als klar ist, dann dass es einen Haufen Inhalte gibt, selbst nachdem man das Maximallevel erreicht hat. In den Schuhen eines voll ausgestatteten Agenten konnten wir in die neue Welt von The Division 2 eintauchen, mit den neuen innovativen Spezialisierungen rumexperimentieren und dabei bemerken wie tief der Endspiel-Kaninchenbau wirklich ist. Und „tief“ ist mit Sicherheit der richtige Begriff für das neue, robustere Endspiel, welches euch erlaubt euren Charakter weit nach Level 30 zu verbessern und anzupassen. Es ist eindeutig, dass die Entwickler jedem Spieler eine einzigartige Erfahrung bieten möchten, nicht nur durch die Charakter-Entwicklung, sondern durch die komplette Kulisse.
Wenn wir uns den Nachbau von Washington, D.C in The Division 2 anschauen, fällt uns direkt ins Auge, dass es, im Vergleich zu New York City, komplett anders aussieht und sich vor allem anders anfühlt. DC ist die am meisten geschützte Stadt im kompletten Land, zu sehen wie es im Chaos versinkt während wir im Schatten des Kapitols kämpfen, fühlt sich total surreal an. Während man sich im Originalspiel durch die flurähnlichen, verschneiten Straßen von Manhattan kämpfen musste, findet man sich jetzt mitten im Sommer in einem heißen und feuchten DC wieder.
Die Hauptstadt des Landes ist offener und architektonisch komplett anders als das Stadtzentrum von Manhattan und mit einer 20% größeren Map als New York kann das Entwicklerteam die Vielseitigkeit der unterschiedlichen Bezirke in DC perfekt in Szene setzen. Die verschiedenen Bezirke sehen nicht nur anders aus, sie liefern außerdem eine komplett andere Spielerfahrung. Zum Beispiel haben wir im Vorort Georgetown unglaublich weite Sichtlinien, während die National Mall super viel Freifläche bietet, sodass die Agenten ihre Objekte aus fast jedem Winkel erreichen können.
Unsere Zeit im Spiel haben wir in der Nähe der National Mall verbracht, in den Schuhen eines voll ausgestatteten Agenten. Durch die Demo wurden die Rollenspiel-Mechaniken besonders betont; unsere Agenten waren nicht nur stark, sie sahen auch noch alle unterschiedlich aus. The Division 2 belohnt eure Leistungen mit dem coolsten Zeug, sodass ein Endspiel-Agent auf jeden Fall fortgeschrittener aussieht als jemand, der gerade erst die Kampagne gestartet hat.
Wenn ihr einmal Level 30 erreicht habt, könnt ihr eine Spezialisierung wählen. Diese Spezialisierungen werden euch mit einer einzigartigen Waffe ausstatten, die es euch erlaubt eure Spielweise zu verändern und euren Agenten noch individueller zu gestalten. Die ersten drei Spezialisierungen wurden auf der E3 vom Team vorgestellt: Die einzigartige Waffe des Scharfschützen ist ein Präzisionsgewehr mit Kaliber .50, das euch erlaubt eure Objekte aus weiter Ferne herauszupicken und nahezu alle normalen Gegner mit einem Schuss auszuschalten. Der Sprengstoffexperte kommt mit einem Granatwerfer, der damit heraussticht, besonders viel Schaden an stark gepanzerten Feinden und zusammenstehenden Gruppen zu auszuteilen. Und zu guter Letzt: Der Überlebensspezialist, der einen tödlichen Bogen mit sich trägt, der dazu in der Lage ist, brennende Pfeile zu abzufeuern.
Diese Spezialisierungen haben sich in der Demo als sehr nützlich erwiesen, in welcher vier von uns beauftragt wurden, ein abgestürztes Flugzeug von einer der gegnerischen Fraktionen, den True Sons, einzunehmen. Diese nutzlosen Landstreicher versuchen euch mit aller Macht zu flankieren und euch mit purer Kraft zu überrennen. In einem Gefecht legte unser Team alle Aufmerksamkeit auf einen stark gepanzerten Gegner. Während alle Augen auf ihm waren, schlichen sich ein paar True Son-Scharfschützen von hinten an und überraschten uns mit massivem Schaden. Es ist schon schlimm genug, von Scharfschützen flankiert zu werden, aber es ist noch schlimmer von den neuen Schaum-speienden Gegnern im Spiel flankiert zu werden. Diese Übeltäter können euch an einen Platz fesseln, indem sie euch mit einem schnell härtenden Schaum besprühen und euch zu einem einfachen Ziel für andere machen – ohne die Hilfe eurer Verbündeten habt ihr keine Chance euch zu befreien. Glücklicherweise könnt ihr euch durch die offene Umgebung von Washington, D.C. überall positionieren und die Feinde aus jedem Winkel erreichen. Schleicht euch an eine Gruppe von Gegnern heran, um sie abzulenken und schon kann euer Agenten-Team gleichzeitig von jeder Seite angreifen.
Diese Koordination und Kommunikation wird ein wichtiger Teil im Coop-Modus sein und bekommt im Endspiel noch einmal mehr Bedeutung. Wenn ihr und eure Teamkollegen eure Spezialisierung wählt, müsst ihr in einer ganz neuen Art zusammenarbeiten. Wenn zum Beispiel ein zweiter, gepanzerter Gegner aufgetaucht ist, konnten wir ihm einen Haufen Schaden zufügen, indem wir schnell auf unsere einzigartigen Waffen gewechselt und unsere Angriffe koordiniert haben.
Zusätzlich zu den einzigartigen Waffen könnt ihr euren Teammitgliedern mit einmaligen Fähigkeiten helfen, einige von ihnen können das Ruder in einem Kampf noch einmal herumreißen. Auf der E3 wurde einige davon vorgestellt: Eine automatische Drohne, die ihr auf eure Gegner hetzen könnt, eine Chemie-Wolke, die entzündliches Gas freisetzt (welches von jedem Teammitglied genutzt werden kann, um einen Haufen Flächenschaden anzurichten) und ein mobiles „Nest“, das sich andockt und eine Ladung Kugeln auf einen Gegner in der Nähe verschießt.
Jede dieser Auswahlmöglichkeiten funktioniert im Zusammenspiel, sodass man sich an die Stärken und Schwächen der anderen Teammitglieder anpassen kann. Diese Koordination ist vor allem wichtig, wenn man die normale Größe der Divisions-Truppe verdoppelt und euch und eure 7 vertrauenswürdigsten Agenten in den neuen 8-Spieler-Raid schickt. Die Raids werden euch auf die Probe stellen und prüfen, ob ihr im Überlebenskampf zusammenarbeiten könnt, somit sind sie die größte Herausforderung im Endspiel. Die Raids bieten sowohl einzigartige Handlungen als auch spannende Herausforderungen, die euch mit dem besten und seltensten Loot belohnen.
Agenten, die so schnell wie möglich in das Spiel eintauchen wollen, können sich jetzt zur kommenden Beta registrieren auf thedivisiongame.com/beta. The Division 2 kommt am 15. März für Xbox One, PS4 und PC.
Anmerk. d. Red.: Wir bedanken uns herzlich bei Nicole Scheidemann für die freundliche Unterstützung bei der Übersetzung dieses Artikels.
Skull & Bones präsentierte während der E3 2018 erstmalig den PvPvE Modus „Jagdrevier“. Gemeinsam mit anderen als Piraten-Gang oder auch alleine, werdet ihr euch innerhalb des Indischen Ozeans wiederfinden und dort Handelsschiffe jagen, Schatztransporte abfangen und gegnerische Schiffe versenken. Während ihr plündernd und brandschatzend euren Siegeszug fortsetzt, werdet ihr euch auch gegen mächtige Gegner, feindliche Piraten sowie die trügerische See selbst behaupten müssen. Und natürlich besteht bei Piraten auch immer die Gefahr, dass sich eure Crew gegen euch wendet, um sich eurer Schätze zu bemächtigen. Skull & Bones wird 2019 für PS4, Xbox One und PC erscheinen.
Während eurer Reise durch das Jagdrevier werdet ihr Informationen sammeln und euch auf sowohl Schiff als auch Crew verlassen müssen, um während der Jagd erfolgreich sein zu können. Auf offener See werdet ihr euch entscheiden müssen, welche Art von Pirat ihr sein wollt. Werdet ihr alleine segeln, mit einzig euch selbst als vertrauenswürdigem Partner? Werdet ihr als ehrenvoller Dieb unter Gleichgesinnten auf die Jagd gehen? Oder werdet ihr ein Piratenleben voller Verrat führen, ohne Verbündete, in welchem euch allein die Beute gehört?
„Jagdrevier“ wird zeitgleich mit „Umstrittene Gewässer“ erscheinen, dem Skull & Bones dedizierten PvP Mehrspieler-Modus, welcher euch mit 3 weiteren Spielern gegen eine verfeindete Piratengang antreten lässt, deren Reichtum es zu verdienen und deren Schiffe es zu versenken gilt, bevor die tödlichen Piratenjäger euch das Leben schwer machen. Eure Piratenabenteuer in Skull & Bones wird auch den Modus „Tödliche Begegnungen“ beinhalten, über welchen wir euch jedoch erst zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt mehr zu erzählen haben werden.
Während eurer Entwicklung hin zum absoluten Piratenkönig, werdet ihr einzigartige und schlagkräftige Schiffe kommendieren, die euer Arsenal um entweder schnelle und agile Schiffe oder überragende Kriegsschiffe erweitern werden. So oder so, werdet ihr stets über ein Arsenal verfügen können, welches eurem Spielstil entsprechen wird. Neben der Suche nach dem passenden, eigenen Schiff, werdet ihr euer Schiff mit den unterschiedlichsten Waffen und Crewmitgliedern ausstatten können, um euer Erlebnis noch mitreißender zu gestalten. Piraten welche die Herzen ihrer Kontrahenten gleich bei Sichtkontakt in Angst und Schrecken versetzen wollen, werden zudem beinahe jedes wichtige Element ihres Schiffs anpassen können, darunter Dinge wie die Gallionsfigur, Steuerräder, die allgemeine Farbe und den Piratenkapitän.
Diejenigen unter euch, die sich bereits auf die Hohe See freuen, sollten sich unbedingt unter skullandbonesgame.com/register für unsere Beta anmelden, die noch vor dem Start des Spiels stattfinden wird, um ihre Erfahrungen an das Entwicklerteam weitergeben zu können.
Weitere Informationen zu Skull & Bones, findet ihr in unserem Blog.
Rainbow Six Siege hat offiziell die 35 Millionen Grenze registrierter Spieler (plattformübergreifend) gesprengt. Um die stetig wachsende Siege-Community zu feiern, wird Ubisoft die Dokumentation „Another Mindset“ veröffentlichen, in welcher genau erklärt wird, wie mittels Siege Verbindungen entstanden sind, die weit über das eigentliche Spielen hinausgehen.
Die Dokumentation wird einen Rückblick auf die Erlebnisse und Geschichten von einigen besonders leidenschaftlichen, Community-weit bekannten Fans werfen und während der jährlichen Six Major esports Competition in Paris am 17. August veröffentlicht werden. Live zu sehen wird sie sein unter www.twitch.tv/rainbow6, wo auch viele Wettkämpfe übertragen werden. Mehr über Rainbow Six und dessen jüngst veröffentlichte Operation Para Bellum-Erweiterung, erfahrt ihr hier.
Ab dem 29. Juni könnt ihr die gigantische Open World von The Crew 2 auf eurer PS4, Xbox One und dem PC erkunden. Doch bereits vorher könnt ihr einen ersten Vorgeschmack auf das Spiel erhalten, indem ihr an der Open Beta teilnehmt, die vom 21. Juni bis zum 25. Juni läuft. Vorab herunterladen könnt ihr die Beta ab sofort auf allen Plattformen.
Mit seiner maßstabsgetreuen Nachbildung der gesamten USA, inlusive 9 einzigartiger Großstädte und 7 einzigartiger Regionen werdet ihr die Chance nutzen können, im spieleigenen Fortschrittssystem um 2 Stufen aufzusteigen. Die Möglichkeiten neue Follower zu erhalten, sind vielfältig und reichen von Wettkämpfen, über Straßenstunts bis hin zu allerlei anderen coolen Dingen die ihr euch vorstellen könnt. Mit jeder Teilnahme steigen eure Chancen ein neues Fahrzeug, Motorsport-Diszplinen oder Events freizuschalten, während der ihr eure Fähigkeiten unter Beweis stellen können werdet. Wie bereits innerhalb der Vollversion, werdet ihr auch während der Beta die Welt alleine erforschen oder euch mit 3 weiteren Freunden im Koop zusammenschließen können.
Während der Open Beta werden wir am 22. Juni ab 21:00 Uhr auch den „König der Straße“ Event LIVE übertragen innerhalb welchem 16 Fahrer um den Sieg wettstreiten werden. Bestehend aus 4 unterschiedlichen Gebieten innerhalb der USA, nämlich dem Westen, dem Südwesten, Süden und der Ostküste werden die Teilnehmer sich innerhalb der Abenteuer Sets auf ihrer Reise beweisen müssen. Dem Sieger wird der Titel „Der König der Straße“ verliehen werden, bevor der Event am 22. Juni um 1:00 Uhr enden wird. Ihr werdet das Spektakel LIVE auf Twitch, YouTube Live und Facebook Live mitverfolgen können.
Um mehr über die Open Beta von The Crew 2 zu erfahren und darüber, wie man sie herunterladen kann, empfehlen wir einen Besuch auf thecrewgame.com/openbeta.
The Crew 2 erscheint am 29. Juni für Xbox One, PS4 und PC. Weitere Informationen rund um The Crew 2 findet ihr in unseren bisherigen Beiträgen. Im Rahmen des exklusiven Vorabzugangs wird zudem die Gold Edition des Spiels ab dem 26. Juni – also 3 Tage vor dem offiziellem Verkaufsstart – auf allen Plattformen spielbar sein.
Dulcet tones and somber notes played in time represent the curious duality of Moonlight. It is, at once, a heroic adventure and the name of the subdued storefront that you alone run. Centered in the heart of a once-bustling town, all the greats, the audacious plunderers of dungeons that were sealed long ago, have died out. The markets and the merchants of your hamlet have all but vanished alongside them. Always looking to the horizon, you see what could be–in both yourself and the town–and set out to claim your glory and bring riches back from the depths of dangerous dungeons.
On first pass, that’s a tall ask, and one that doesn’t necessarily fit together the way you might think. This isn’t quite the same as saving a town the way you might in a classical Zelda game –though references to those nascent adventures abound. Instead, your eye is on unearthing the depths of five dungeons that lie just north of town. Each is like a world unto itself, and getting into and out of these spaces is often a feat–made that much more treacherous by the monsters that inhabit them. Still, the depths hold untold riches, artifacts, and supplies that were once essential for trade.
The balance that Moonlighter strikes then, is tasking you with battling beasts and carefully collecting trophies and supplies based on the needs of the people in your town. Instead of gathering loot and hauling it back to a shopkeep as one does in just about every similar adventure, you’re on both ends of the equation and the way that your two pursuits play into one another essentially is the game.
You’ll need to mindful of supply and demand and as well as good tips and gear for adventuring. Dodging monsters to jab their weak spot, before hopping away and nabbing their leavings is a regular cycle. But that, in itself, hides a lot of the nuance on offer. Prying the core of a mechanized stone golem and bringing it back to town will fetch a tidy price–but only a few times. People don’t know how to use them, per se, nor do they really need that particular item. It’s neat (and rare), but that’s all, really.
Add to it the fact that few have seen such trinkets since heroes swarmed through these dungeons, and that immediately complicates the equation. You don’t know what the value of it really is, because you’re the shopkeep. It’s worth what others will pay. So it falls to you to make educated guesses, learn from your customers reactions and hope that your initial prices aren’t so low that you’re getting ripped off or so high that customers balk and walk off.
Those same assessments follow with every item you plunder, meaning that you’re always working the numbers, figuring out what you can carry up, and how it’s going to affect your bottom line. This also keeps you from always gathering up the most valuable items. If you only grab the best loot, you’ll quickly flood the market and bottom out your sales, and the same goes in reverse for the most basic stuff. Wood and vines can be valuable (though rarely). And all that calculus compounds when you begin examining the supplies you’ll need for your own gear. Potions and new equipment don’t make themselves. Indeed, when you start, none of those types of facilities are even available in town.
This ties a lot of the game’s progression directly into your choices, and gives you a powerful through line and a sense of thematic goals that tie into your physical journey. That feeling is fantastic, and grows every time you think back to the sparse hamlet you began with, and track just how far your adventure and the arc of the town itself join and progress together.
Saccharine melodies that playfully evoke the 16-bit era help sell the narrative as well. Few openers are as immediately alluring as Moonlighter’s theme. Melancholic notes blends with the sweet sounds of your hamlet, filling you with a sense of loss–for what your town once was. Because of the aesthetics, many of those feelings also get blended with kernels of nostalgia, particularly for those fond of the Super Nintendo era.
Bright colors, and a sharp aesthetic are backed with crisp animations that not only sell the world, but help it breathe. Fireflies drift about town, settling near trees, illuminating the wooden giants. Down in the dungeons, spiders and moths flitter to and fro, while your battles with golems and monsters play out.
Now at this point you may have noticed that there not much has been said about the combat. And sadly, that’s because it’s the weaker half of this outing. There are five distinct dungeons, each with their own environments, foes, and array of tricks and traps to throw your way. But across them all, you use the same core movement–and it consists of two types of moves and a dodge. If you’ve got finesse, you can string some actions together, though. You can attack with one weapon, dodge, quickly switch, and then resume the onslaught. Or switch between a sword and shield for defense (where the secondary „move“ would be a block), and a more offensive weapon. But that’s generally the sum total of your combat choices. Combat, then, is thin and there’s only so much that can be done with massively varied environments and a limited pool of combat techniques.
None of this to say that battles in Moonlighter are bad. Far from it. What it manages with those limited sets is quite impressive, and there will be plenty of moments when you dodge over bottomless pits that line a snaking path to approach an enemy from a novel angle. But they aren’t common enough or varied enough to really get the full potential of what’s here.
In some ways, the same could be said of the keeping the shop running at peak efficiency, but there’s enough interplay with managing your limited baggage space and just enough anchored in supply-and-demand systems that it comes together nicely. It’s a shame, then that Moonlighter’s also a bit on the short end, as some of these ideas would do well with simply more–but then the combat would like thin out even more. Still, what’s here is refreshing, and the balance struck between crawling through dungeons and working with the economics of the town are a good combo while it lasts.
Like many of Nintendo’s most memorable video games, Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido takes a seemingly mundane fixture of life and extrapolates it into a novel gameplay idea. In this case, co-developer Indieszero (Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, NES Remix) has built an action-puzzle game around conveyor-belt sushi, which serves as a vehicle for its match-three-style duels. And thanks to a knowingly zany presentation and regular stream of new mechanics, Sushi Striker is a fun and consuming puzzler unlike anything else currently on Switch, despite a few niggling issues.
Battling foes by throwing plates of sushi is an inherently silly premise, and Sushi Striker fully embraces the concept by wrapping it up in an even more ridiculous story. The game begins in the aftermath of the Sushi Struggles, a bitter war that took the parents of protagonist Musashi (who can be either a boy or girl) and resulted in the Empire gaining complete control over the world’s sushi supply. As it happens, Musashi displays a preternatural gift for Sushi Striking–the ability to conjure plates of sushi and throw them in battle–and soon joins the Sushi Liberation Front, a Republic force fighting for the noble cause of sharing sushi with everyone. The tale only gets more absurd from there, but it remains delightfully charming throughout thanks to the hilarious writing and amusing anime cutscenes.
Musashi’s journey encompasses more than 150 puzzle battles, which offer a novel and deceptively simple twist on match-three gameplay. The object of these is to link together plates of the same color as they whiz by on the conveyor belts in front of you, then throw those plates at your opponent to dish out damage. You have seven seconds to match plates; the more you’re able to link up at once, the taller your stack will be, which in turn will inflict more damage when thrown. You can also chain together combos by throwing stacks of the same color consecutively, further racking up your score and increasing the amount of damage you deal.
As a result, battles are simultaneously frantic and strategic, as your success–particularly in the later stages of the game–hinges on effectively creating large stacks of plates before they disappear and chaining them into combos. The game also regularly introduces additional gameplay wrinkles as you progress through the story, which add further layers of complexity to battles and help keep the encounters fresh and exciting.
Chief among these are the Sushi Sprites–Pokemon-like magical creatures that can be called upon to unleash special skills. These abilities can be activated once you’ve eaten a sufficient amount of sushi, and they provide a temporary power that can help turn the tide of battle. One, for instance, imbues your plates with electricity, causing them to deal more damage; another turns all the plates on your lanes into the same color, allowing you to chain together a huge stack. There are more than 30 Sushi Sprites to collect in total, and experimenting with different combinations and devising the best way to leverage their abilities is one of the most satisfying aspects of the game.
On top of that, many battles introduce special capsule items, such as stopwatches or bombs. These randomly appear among the sushi and can be used against your opponent, provided you’re able to link up the requisite number of plates before the item disappears. You can also outfit Musashi with different gears that alter the speed of your conveyor belts, as well as select a favorite variety of sushi; eat enough of it during a battle and it’ll confer another passive ability, from an attack buff to health replenishment.
There’s a lot to digest in Sushi Striker, but the game does a good job of parceling out new elements and gameplay ideas over the course of its single-player campaign, keeping it surprising and engaging for the majority of its duration. That said, the campaign does begin running out of steam toward the end. Later stages start to recycle earlier gimmicks without building on them (besides by imposing harsher restrictions), which results in some frustrating encounters. In particular, a stretch of late-game stages reintroduce wasabi plates. These temporarily stun you when eaten, slowing down the pace of the game considerably as you (often unsuccessfully) try to avoid grabbing them.
Likewise, while Sushi Striker generally plays well on Switch, it was clearly designed with the 3DS in mind, and the controls didn’t translate quite as well to the hybrid console. You can play the game with either a controller or the console’s touchscreen, but the latter is much better suited for the fast-paced gameplay. Using a control stick to toggle between different plates of sushi is imprecise and often frustrating, as you’ll struggle to select the right plate as they roll by. Linking plates with the touchscreen, by contrast, feels more intuitive, although the game would still have benefited from the precision of a stylus.
Both the Switch and 3DS versions support local and online multiplayer, although curiously, these options need to be unlocked as you progress through the story, and there is no cross-play between platforms. In either case, you can take on rivals in two game types: Tasty Battles, the standard mode that only features sushi, and Chaos Battles, which throws capsule items into the mix as well. Additionally, the Switch version allows you to play locally on a single console. Multiplayer battles don’t have the same element of surprise as the single-player encounters, but they’re still fun and strategic, as you can test your best Sushi Sprite combinations out against other human players.
Despite its imperfect transition to Switch, Sushi Striker is one of the more enjoyable puzzle games in the console’s library. With a substantial campaign that’s propped up by clever mechanics and a charmingly ludicrous story, the game offers a wealth of single- and multiplayer content to dive into. The controls suffer a bit in the move to Switch, and the campaign is stretched out for too long, but the fast-paced puzzle-matching gameplay offers a surprising amount of depth and is a real treat.
West of Loathing is not as simple as its art style might lead you to believe. Its black and white color palette, stick-figure characters, and crude hand-drawn art might appear to be devoid of personality. But in practice, its visual simplicity acts as a malleable canvas for its imagination to run away with reckless abandon. West of Loathing is an involved Western adventure game/RPG hybrid that embraces absolute absurdity with mechanical flexibility and comedic personality, making role-playing in its monochromatic old West thoroughly entertaining.
The backbone of the game is its jokes and ingrained humor. Every little thing in West of Loathing serves as either a punchline or the lead-up to one. It exists in the writing naturally–the main narrative involves a bizarre cataclysmic event involving demon cows and rodeo clowns. The flavor text is filled with irony and wordplay, and conversations with characters play out like short sketches. The sheer amount of jokes draws you into Loathing’s crudely drawn and ludicrous world, but what’s more impressive is that they rarely fall flat, and if they do, there’s often another to draw your attention away immediately.
But West of Loathing’s consistent sense of humor runs deeper, woven throughout your interactions and the game’s menus and UI. Attempting to search spittoons for items will engage you in long lectures from the narrator as they attempt to stop you from doing so by describing, in great detail, how disgusting what you’re trying to stick your hand into is. Choosing to playfully boast that „Sneaky“ is your middle name will discreetly change your middle name on your character screen to just that. Searching a shelf and finding a book entitled „The Art of Silly Walking“ will unlock a new character perk, which adds a new toggle in the game’s system menu to visibly change the way your character moves in-game to everything from cartwheels to swimming. These are just a few very early examples of the game’s sense of humor, but West of Loathing’s commitment and follow-through on its jokes will surprise and delight you throughout its entire duration.
You begin the game by selecting from one of three different classes–farcical takes on familiar RPG character tropes. The Cow Puncher is a warrior-style class, the Bean Slinger uses legumes as a source of magic, and the Snake Oiler is the rogue equivalent. But although each class comes with their own set of unique skills, and a convenient option for auto-leveling will build out a nicely rounded character for you of that archetype, West of Loathing also allows you the flexibility of manually assigning experience points to build whatever kind of character you want. That means there’s nothing stopping you from having a physically adept Bean Slinger who can also pick locks, or a Cow Puncher with a high moxie stat and the cunning required to outfox his opponents.
West of Loathing’s combat consists of a simple turn-based system situated on a 3×6 grid. There are some small nuances to consider regarding positioning and using cover when facing opponents with ranged attacks, and a number of consumable items can be used in battle to cause various effects. But aside from the novelty of seeing the amusing enemy and ability designs in battle, combat is a straightforward affair.
What’s more interesting about West of Loathing’s mechanics is that it is as much of an adventure game as it is an RPG, and one of the by-products of this is that there are multiple solutions to any given problem–and there is nearly always a completely viable alternative to engaging in battle. Having the right item in your inventory (some of which have multiple uses both in and out of combat), enough points in a particular statistic, or certain abilities unlocked means that you can complete quests or resolve random encounters without violence and still get enough experience points to spend on character progression. If you don’t have the goods to pass these skill checks when you first encounter an obstacle, West of Loathing allows you to come back later with the right stuff if you so desire; it doesn’t force you into any combat situations without warning, and it’s a very welcome, player-friendly decision.
There are a few minor issues–inventory management on Switch becomes cumbersome as you collect an increasing amount of things, fights with a lot of enemies can obscure some pertinent information, and the stakes sometimes feel a little too low to be completely motivating. But West of Loathing’s focus on maintaining a flexible, open-ended nature and lighthearted, humorous feel keeps you engaged in what feels like an imaginative pen-and-paper Dungeons and Dragons campaign, led by a game master whose only goal is to make sure you’re laughing and having a fun time. West of Loathing’s visuals are monochromatic, but there’s enjoyable comedy painted between every line, a pitch-perfect Spaghetti Western soundtrack, and a full spectrum of role-playing possibilities to choose from that make it a consistently enjoyable madcap cowboy jaunt.
Calling Onrush a racing game is a tad reductive and maybe even a little disingenuous. Sure, there are two- and four-wheeled vehicles careening around a track with reckless abandon. But with no finishing lines in sight, achieving victory in Onrush is about much more than simply seeing who can reach a chequered flag first. This bold idea for an arcade racing game comes from a new studio formed out of the remnants of Evolution Studios. It’s a curious transmogrification of various genres and styles, taking elements from the high-octane takedowns of Burnout, the multi-vehicle chaos of Evolution’s MotorStorm, and the class-based competitive action of a hero shooter like Overwatch. These influences might be unmistakable, but developer Codemasters has crafted a wholly original and innovative racing game that’s quite unlike anything you’ve ever played before.
Describing how this off-kilter mixture functions is best achieved by explaining Onrush’s Overdrive mode, which dilutes the anomalous experience down to its purest form. Here, two teams of six go head-to-head in up to eight diverse vehicle classes, with victory achieved by chaining together boost multipliers in order to rack up points. Earning boost is done by hitting jumps, wrecking opponents and weak fodder vehicles, performing bike tricks, and other actions that are tied to specific vehicle classes. Once you’ve depleted enough boost you can unleash the cathartic Rush Ultimate, which propels you forward at lightning speed and provides a bonus ability that is, once again, tied to your vehicle class. Overdrive is relatively simple and doesn’t have the same depth as some of Onrush’s other modes, but as an introduction to this brazen new style of game, it’s a clear signal of intent: this is not a traditional racer by any stretch of the imagination.
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Part of Onrush’s ingenuity comes from its rubber banding, which sounds absurd until you see it in motion. Both teams are congregated together with the AI fodder vehicles in a pack known as The Stampede. Fall too far behind and you’ll be teleported straight back into the maelstrom of crunching metal for a sustained period of high adrenaline driving. Not only does this keep everyone in the thick of the action at all times, but it tears down the divide between newcomers and veterans alike. You don’t have to be amazing at racing games, or even have previous experience in the genre to feel like you’re contributing to each match because you’re always in amongst the histrionics. And this attention to inclusion is reflected in Onrush’s other game modes, vehicle classes, and its driving model, too.
The bar to entry is quite low with the kind of straightforward driving mechanics you would expect from a thrills-and-spills arcade racer like this, so it’s relatively easy to get to grips with the basic framework. But the skill ceiling is high enough for those looking to improve their play and delve into the intricacies of how to successfully line up pulverising takedowns and maneuver out of harm’s way. There’s a discernible sense of weight to each vehicle, too, that translates into a tangible heft that dismisses any thoughts of floaty handling. You’re also afforded a degree of aerial control that allows you to exert downforce and crush any opponents unfortunate enough to find themselves beneath your tyres, representing the most satisfying of all of Onrush’s myriad takedowns. Despite this subtle depth, however, Onrush’s primary challenge still derives from your vehicle choice, and how you manipulate it to cater to the current game mode and your team’s makeup.
During Overdrive, for example, you might want to play more of a support role, using Dynamo’s special ability to drop boost pick-ups for your team to collect, and utilising its Rush Ultimate to supply any nearby teammates with a dollop of sustained boost that will extend their multipliers. Or perhaps you’re in a game of Countdown, the mode that most closely resembles a traditional racing game, as both teams battle it out to drive through checkpoints to add incremental time to an ever-depleting clock. The speed and agility of the Blade motorcycle might come in handy here, especially with the whole Stampede moving in the same direction, as Blade’s Rush Ultimate leaves a destructive trail of fire behind its two-wheeled fury. On top of this there are other classes that grant you improved magnetism on in-air attacks, ones that drain your opponent’s boost, and others that deploy shields for teammates. The latter comes in particularly useful during Lockdown, which is essentially King of the Hill on wheels, as both teams fight for space in order to capture a moving zone.
You don’t have to be amazing at racing games, or even have previous experience in the genre to feel like you’re contributing to each match because you’re always in amongst the histrionics
There’s a robust single player mode that does an excellent job of teaching you the ins-and-outs of each vehicle class and game mode, with challenges that encourage you to focus on particular areas–whether it’s using the hulking 4×4 Enforcer to blind opponents, or taking down vehicles in the Lockdown zone, and so on. It’s a good primer for what’s to come, as Onrush really comes alive once you hop online and start tearing it up with other players.
If you have like-minded friends, there are tactical opportunities to work together to wreck opposition vehicles with coordinated attacks, and use your class abilities in tandem to get the most out of each one. If you’re only playing alone, however, the experience isn’t impaired in any way. With every driver in close vicinity and a plethora of useful visual cues, it’s relatively easy to aid your teammates despite having no direct communication. The only negative arises in Lockdown, where a recurring glitch captures the zone when nobody’s in it. Wrecks can also be a bit finicky at times; on some occasions you’ll total your car after scraping a wall, while at other times a head-on crash will have no effect.
There are also loot boxes, although they’re not the heinous kind likely to incite an angry furore. By completing matches you’ll earn XP that goes towards an overall level. Each successive level unlocks a loot box containing three random items of varying rarity. These can be things like new bodies and paint jobs for your vehicles, tombstone emojis that are left behind after you wreck, and different clothes for the largely inconsequential avatars. You can also buy any of these items using in-game money that’s also earned simply by completing events. There are no microtransactions in sight, this is just a way to gradually dole out cosmetic items that give your whole style a sense of ownership.
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Visually, Onrush is a beautiful showcase for electrifying particle effects, dynamic lighting, and increment weather, with each of its 12 tracks catching the eye due to their diversity and multi-faceted aesthetics. The sun-kissed Whitewater Canyon, for instance, uses a vibrant, almost otherworldly, colour palette to illuminates its red rocks, while Glory Dam propels you through a winding forest before spitting you out into a dam that’s adorned in vivid street art, and Big Dune Beach offers a glimpse of the Northern Lights in its night sky. Each crash and exertion of boost is also complemented by a curated concoction of popular, licensed music, usually remixed to be more up-tempo and chaotic, in case trading paint wasn’t hectic enough.
When it comes to crumpling metal and high speed thrills, not all of Onrush’s game modes are on equal footing in terms of consistent excitement. Yet its foundations are so strong, and so unique, that it’s easy to lose hours upon hours barreling around these disparate tracks. The question of longevity will, of course, depend on post-release support, with new classes, game modes, and tracks potentially on the horizon. Considering you need 12 players to fill a full room, it would be a shame if Onrush doesn’t find the kind of audience that will give it the lifespan it deserves. Part of this will depend on how Codemasters iterates on the game from here on out, but they’ve shown a proficiency in knowing how arcade racing games click, and Onrush is such a bold, refreshing twist on the genre that there should be little hesitation in putting your faith in them to succeed.
2D anime fighters like the BlazBlue series are often intimidating for their elaborate movesets and demand for precise execution. However, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle breaks from tradition by simplifying its gameplay systems, and bringing in characters from three other franchises to join the fight. By no means does the simplification make Cross Tag shallow–the dynamic tag system and the clever ways you can mix mechanics are where Cross Tag shines. Factor in the charm of these distinct worlds and you’ll have plenty of reasons to consider this fast, flashy, and endearing fighter.
Across four mainline games, BlazBlue developed a complex fighting system, while Persona 4 Arena and Arena Ultimax distilled the formula and captured the charisma of the eponymous RPG. Under Night In-Birth (from developer French-Bread in collaboration with Arc System Works) had its own twist on a deep, yet accessible fighting game. The RWBY animated series makes its fighting game debut, and the cast’s talents and flair make the transition incredibly well. Cross Tag Battle unifies all four series as a five-button fighter with two main attack buttons, a universal overhead attack that can also function as an EX attack, a tag button, and the partner skill. While it may seem a bit too straightforward, even the most historically complex characters on the roster remain true to form where it counts. By distilling classic fighting mechanics, the focus is shifted from performing elaborate directional inputs to creating openings for sweet high-damage combos through easy-to-execute attacks.
You’ll recognize familiar moves with similar properties from respective games, but the conditions for execution have changed. Basic attacks, smart combos, and even Supers (called Distortion Skills) are easy to pull off, though the number of techniques mapped to the limited controls can cause some inadvertent activations of very different moves–particularly throws and Distortion Skills. Auto-forward dash on most characters may also be jarring to fighting game veterans. But it doesn’t take much effort to adjust to this game’s quirks and pace.
Partner skills will take time to grasp; every character has unique back, forward, and standing assist attacks where they fly in from off screen to lend a hand. Cross combos take the tag system one step further by letting your duo pile on damage simultaneously; pulling these off will make short work of opponents if you can expertly control your tandem. These are key to maximizing the effectiveness of combos, creating openings, or pulling yourself out of a rut. With this in mind, you’re encouraged to either experiment using different duos or form your own collaborative attacks with the pair you love most. It’s chaotic and tough to nail down in live matches, and it’s where the depth of combat comes from.
Most of your advanced moves require you to expend meters that charge during the course of combat and it’s critical that you keep an eye on them at all times. Meter management requires you to think about using up the skill gauge for distortion skills, laying down EX moves, or saving up for back-to-back supers with your tag partner. Cross combos and tag counters to get out of combos use up the two-bar cross gauge. And when you’re down a fighter, the Resonance Blaze (the comeback mechanic) kicks you into overdrive for 15 seconds by regenerating health, adding chip damage, automatically filling the skill gauge, and strengthening Distortion Skills–be sure to use that time wisely.
All the pieces of a fast, smooth, and endlessly fun fighting game exist within Cross Tag, but it truly shines by channelling and fusing the personality and charisma of each franchise.
Cross Tag Battle has a lot to absorb, and it’ll take time to get comfortable with the fighting system and unravel all its intricacies. Thankfully, the onboarding process is top-notch. Tactics Mode walks you through the basic terminology, mechanics, and their use-cases, and each character has a tailor-made tutorial that gives you the opportunity to perfect specific combos. On top of that, there’s a slew of missions in Tactics Mode that pit you in difficult challenges to build awareness of the more specific situations you’ll encounter in matches.
All the pieces of a fast, smooth, and endlessly fun fighting game exist within Cross Tag, but it truly shines by channelling and fusing the personality and charisma of each franchise. Whether it’s the stylish super moves, battle cries, or fluid animations, this large cast is bursting with charm. While many of the assets have been repurposed from previous games, this is the first time we see members of RWBY in 2D with anime-inspired models. Under Night’s cast also gets redrawn portraits to better fit the BlazBlue aesthetic. Despite their differences, the combination of worlds works so well that each fanbase will find something to love about seeing their favorite characters in unexpected scenarios.
Mixing up teams brings about collaborations I’ve always wanted to see. Sure, Hyde, Ragna, and Narukami may play like the standard sword-wielding boys from their respective worlds, but having either of them work together makes for a badass team. As a die-hard Persona fan, having the Investigation Team reunited at Yasogami High for a hectic brawl while bumping the Arena mix for Reach Out To The Truth warms my heart. Especially smaller moments, like the unique chatter and interactions between two characters before fights commence, makes this feel like more than a rehash of multiple assets or collection of characters thrown together all willy nilly. When I’m hopping from Under Night’s Riverside stage in one fight to BlazBlue’s Cathedral the next, using my favorite duo of Chie and Ruby while listening to Hyde’s battle theme, Cross Tag Battle evokes and amplifies the fondness I have for this roster.
The crossing of worlds primarily plays out in the Episode Mode, where the four factions of fighters are forced to fight in a fake realm by a mysterious, omnipresent AI that creates arbitrary rules. By obtaining color-coded keystones, and eventually uniting to fight this AI, they’ll be able to return home. The overarching plot sounds ridiculous, and it’s borderline nonsensical. Each of the four campaigns play out as a visual novel with static character portraits and fully voiced dialogue; actual fights are embedded within each chapter to keep you an active participant. It’s all quite trite, sometimes eye-rolling.
Cross Tag Battle has a lot to absorb, and it’ll take time to get comfortable with the fighting system and unravel all its intricacies. Thankfully, the onboarding process is top-notch.
Some character appearances feel shoehorned for the sake of making an appearance, but despite its absurdity, moments of cross-franchise fan service stick the landing. Ruby’s obsession with fancy weapons permeates her encounters with the likes Ragna and Hyde. References to Chie’s obsession with steak, and Yukiko’s inability to make curry call back to the moments I first met them in Persona 4; even Noel gets caught up in the mix as she’s completely oblivious to how bad it’ll taste. And as each episode concludes, I was rewarded with heartfelt scenes that reminded me of why I’m invested in these characters.
Story mode highlights something odd, though. DLC characters take part in the story as opponents despite not being available in the playable base roster. Their movesets, character models, theme songs, and voice lines are in the game, but they’re gated as add-on content. Half of RWBY’s cast is offered for free, but to see several Persona, BlazBlue, and Under Night folks so obviously withheld feels unfair.
Taking the fight online is where you’ll spend most of your time after getting your feet wet in single-player. Cross Tag online component consists of multiple lobbies for different skill levels where players walk around as chibi versions of their favorite character. Customizing your player card with character portraits and familiar catchphrases is another avenue to express your love. It’s cute and lighthearted, magnified by the adorable batch of emotes that often take the edge off exhilarating fights. And thankfully, jumping into matches works seamlessly. After hundreds of rounds online, both in the casual lobby and ranked matchmaking, we can say that netcode is solid and that latency is a non-issue with a decent connection.
Players that want a more competitive environment should be happy to know that we had little trouble finding a fair fight in ranked matchmaking. In both victory and defeat, memorable moments abound. Although it can be frustrating, I’m always taking note of how high-level players get the better of me. I’ll also never forget making a comeback from being down a teammate, activating resonance blaze and perfectly timing both Chie’s power charge and God Hand super while my opponent was in mid-tag to take them both out in one hit.
Whether playing through the story mode alone or against hardened opponents online, Cross Tag Battle is an absolute joy with a surplus of possibilities within its wide roster and versatile fighting system. Even with all the ridiculousness of the overarching plot, I reveled in the charm of my favorite characters and embraced the many moments of fan service. It’s a masterful unification of styles and mechanics from four different universes that compels you to dig deeper and dedicate the time to getting the most out of the beloved members of this cast.
Golem often feels at odds with itself. This gorgeous puzzle-filled adventure successfully wraps you in a mystical world, where bright hues and cheerful melodies set the mood. But beneath this inviting exterior lie disjointed challenges that no amount of whimsy can sugarcoat. Even with smart mechanics that are introduced at a sensible pace, Golem’s rhythm is regularly disturbed by jarring difficulty spikes and obtuse solutions.
A vague narrative tells of a lost civilization that once upon a time used magical stone creatures to build and maintain its structures. These beings, or golems, are practically extinct, save for one you’re tasked to rebuild throughout ten puzzle-filled stages. Starting as a lifeless ball, the golem feels like a nuisance at first, which only serves to make its eventual evolution that much more gratifying.
As your golem is slowly pieced back together, new mechanics are introduced to allow for more complex puzzles. When it gains the ability to walk on its own, for example, you will have to accurately predict its movement while manipulating the environment to clear pathways at the right moments. Later, it evolves into a dog-like creature that you can command to move to specific locations, and will eventually grow strong enough to carry you across treacherous tracts of land that are otherwise impassable.
Golem’s ten stages act as large puzzle rooms, each with the objective of going from one end to the other. This traversal is restricted by your golem’s growing moveset, which puts the onus on you to chart an appropriate course. This can be as simple as moving a rock pillar to close a gap, or as complex as activating a series of switches to resuscitate an old, aging turbine that in turn spins up other nearby mechanisms. Regardless of the conceit, the goal remains the same but with shifting responsibilities. Your golem will sometimes, for example, need to be precisely placed to apply pressure to a switch, giving you access to a new area via a now moving railcar. In turn you might need to ensure that your ally has a clear path to the next hurdle. If you’ve gone one step too far without a clear solution in sight, backtracking and starting from scratch may be your only option.
Herein lies one of Golem’s most frustrating aspects. Puzzles ought to require intricate solutions that make you second guess your instincts, and the best of them give you that „aha“ moment, when you recognize that the blueprint to success was evident from the start–you just hadn’t yet learned how to see a certain number of steps ahead. Golem instead obscures your view of many puzzle elements, forcing you to succeed through trial and error as opposed to relying on foresight and analysis. Golem also regularly fails to make some unique interactive objects standout from the background, which forces you to tediously move your mouse around the screen to determine what is or isn’t useful. Basic switches and levers, on the other hand, are clearly marked; an inconsistency that makes it hard to trust that the game is always playing fair.
Moving about a stage isn’t a fast or free-flowing affair, but instead a point-and-click style dictation. This systematic process and your character’s slow movement speed is mercifully compensated for with the inclusion of a fast-forward button, which you’ll use frequently. And just like the indiscernible key items throughout each stage, walkable pathways are often indistinguishable from off-limits areas. The inconsistency of Golem’s visual language leads to tiring efforts of just clicking on possible destinations in the hopes of finding one that’s actually accessible.
Golem confuses size with ingenious puzzle design, which just dilutes the euphoria it aims to generate on completion. Yet it still conjures infrequent moments of bliss that re-establish a sense of wonder. Golem’s vast, mysterious world is ultimately inviting to poke and prod around in, even if its stringent mechanics don’t allow for looking further beyond the stage at hand. There’s an underlying drive to discover what this world is about, what secrets its lost inhabitants might have held, that prevent temptations to just leave it entirely. Golem’s puzzles might feel shallow, but its saving grace is the captivating setting it desperately latches them onto.
It’s the fizzle at the end of the fuse that encompasses a disappointing journey into an otherwise visually captivating world. Golem attempts but fails to find harmony in bringing a vague tale together with any sort of emotional resonance. That might have been easier to forgive if the journey itself was exceptional. Instead Golem’s inconsistent puzzles and jarring difficulty spikes will infuriate you more than they infatuate.
Metroid-style platformers have become more common recently, which makes standing out from the pack a daunting task for new games in that style. Yoku’s Island Express overcomes this hurdle by creatively combining both Metroid-style exploration and pinball mechanics into one unique product. This combination sounds unusual at first, but the final result is a charming, delightful, and wonderfully satisfying hybrid.
You play as Yoku, a cute little beetle who has a ball attached to his hip with a string, and it’s his first day as postmaster on Mokumana Island. The story is cute and straightforward, and there’s a large amount of backstory sprinkled throughout the game, but it doesn’t take long for the rest of Yoku’s Island Express’ beautiful game design to quickly take the spotlight.
The world of Mokumana Island is gorgeous, and the delightful painterly art style realizes each of the game’s different stages with vibrancy–lush jungles and dark labyrinths blend in seamlessly with stunning snow-covered mountains and underground caves, and the background scenery is just as beautifully detailed as the foreground. Every environment is perfectly accompanied by sound design which gives everything a cheery and quirky atmosphere, and the charming background music keeps things light and breezy throughout. The roster of supporting characters is also a delight to meet. Ranging from animals and plants to imaginary creatures, the large cast of NPCs are all amusing in their own ways. Some give you side quests, some give you exposition regarding the main story or island lore, and some are simply there for a quick quip or two.
Yoku can only move left and right, and can’t jump. However, flippers and platforms can be found all over Mokumana Island, which can be operated by using just two buttons, much like in pinball. These devices are all used to fling Yoku and his ball (which doubles as a pinball) in helpful directions to help you find and explore new paths of game’s cleverly branching world.
If Yoku is the pinball, then Mokumana Island is a giant pinball table. One minute you could be strolling through the jungle, the next you might find yourself seamlessly dropped into a literal pinball puzzle carved out of the environment. Familiar pinball mechanics, like lanes and bumpers, are all there and completing these challenges will reward you with fruit (the game’s currency) and unlock additional paths around the island. Though the puzzles require precise timing demands, and there are many moments when your skills and reactions feel tested, no puzzle feels impossible. Most can be completed in only a handful of minutes, but there’s a lot of variety to the boards which help keep the game incredibly engaging.
Mokumana Island is surprisingly large, and filled with secrets and collectible items. A sprawling story quest and numerous side quests constantly push you in different directions, and there’s a lot of traveling and pinballing to be done. It’s also easy to get sidetracked from your tasks in favor of searching for the game’s many secrets hiding within the beautiful island stages.
Exploring becomes even more exciting as Yoku learns new, goofy abilities, which are used to overcome hurdles in a lighthearted fashion, like removing boulders using an exploding slug vacuum cleaner. These fun and practical abilities add extra layers of cheery personality to an already joyful game, and as common in the genre, they make you feel excited to backtrack and unlock previously inaccessible paths.
Traveling back and forth from one end of Mokumana Island to the other can sometimes become tedious, however. A fast-travel system isn’t unlocked until later in the game, but even that is quite limited in regards to where you can and can’t travel. Some areas require you to complete a pinball puzzle in order to get from point A to B, which makes retreading quite repetitive and occasionally frustrating, particularly when the pinball puzzle is a complex one.
Yoku’s Island Express takes two unlikely genres and combines them into one playful, natural experience. The game’s audio and visual design is simply joyous and the large game world seamlessly combines its pinball puzzles with some brilliant level designs. While traversing the large map does get frustrating at times, Yoku’s Island Express’ main quest never drags, and with its slate of fun abilities, quirky supporting characters and a generous amount of optional content, Yoku’s Island Express is a unique journey that’s refreshing and just straight up fun.
Vampyr may seem an unlikely game from the studio that made the narrative-focused Life Is Strange, but being an action-RPG doesn’t preclude it from being a great vehicle for storytelling. It’s set in a harsh city in the midst of a humanitarian crisis, and much of the game involves potentially becoming the savior the world so desperately needs. If anything, Vampyr feels like the spiritual successor to the beloved cult hit Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines, but with much of that game’s vampire politics replaced by heartfelt interpersonal drama. It’s a story strengthened through the power of choice, with the fate of thousands resting on your ability to sacrifice your needs for the greater good.
Vampyr takes place in England, 1918, at the height of the Spanish flu pandemic. You play as Dr. Jonathan Reid, a renowned doctor just back from the frontlines of World War I. Not even minutes off the boat, he’s violently welcomed back to his homeland by a vampire and subsequently shoveled into a mass grave. When Reid reawakens, confused and stark-raving mad with bloodlust, he attacks the first person he comes across. Before he’s able to process his profound grief and confusion, a guild of vampire hunters chases him off into the night.
How deep you’re able to dive into Vampyr’s narrative rabbit holes depends on your dialogue choices, and whole subplots can be blocked off permanently by not correctly identifying what a patient needs or wants to hear.
Thanks to the help of a sympathetic stranger, your time scared and alone is graciously brief. It’s not long before you’re employed for the night shift at a hospital, and it’s there that you also gain the support of Lady Ashbury, another vampire hiding in plain sight. Once acclimated, Reid aims to come to grips with his afterlife, maybe find a cure for his vampirism, and get some much needed answers as to why he was turned to begin with.
The larger story beats delve deep into the lurid lore you might expect from a turn-of-the-century vampire tale, but it’s not until much later that it becomes the crux of the story. For the majority of the game, Vampyr goes all in on the idea of Reid as an altruistic doctor, a man tirelessly dedicated to the wellbeing of his patients and travelling around town seeing to their various needs. Much of the game involves chatting with fellow hospital employees, patients, and citizens about town, finding out how they’re coping with the epidemic, and building a case file to get to the heart of whatever ails them. Sometimes, their problems can be fixed by simply lending a sympathetic ear. Some troubles can be fixed by concocting a bit of medicine in your lab. But the most engaging quests are resolved by getting down and dirty in an infected area of town, spearheading investigations no living person ever could. How deep you’re able to dive into Vampyr’s narrative rabbit holes depends on your dialogue choices, and whole subplots can be blocked off permanently by not correctly identifying what a patient needs or wants to hear.
Vampyr leans hard into the RPG side of the action-RPG spectrum, and though there’s often a campy texture to the storytelling, it’s very easy to get attached to its motley crew of characters. A factory worker waits on surgery to fix a near-gangrenous arm because his two attending doctors can’t agree on an approach to treatment. A nurse and an ambulance driver rely on Reid to keep their interracial relationship secret. A man becomes an alcoholic due to his survivor’s guilt over an anarchistic plot gone wrong. A non-ordained preacher goes around the city burning the sick alive, believing God told him to cleanse the flu pandemic with fire. Everyone you can converse with has a tale to tell, and the vast majority of them are worth the time it takes to hear them out.
It’s impossible to avoid the fact that Reid needs to feast on blood in order to survive, but his thirst manifests in more subtle, diabolical ways than just a steadily declining hunger stat. Every little thing Reid does for the citizens of London adds to a pool of overall health for each of the game’s four main districts, all of which contribute to the wellness of London as a whole. While that pool is useful for keeping an eye on the citizenry, it also just so happens you can explore that menu to get details on each of the citizens you’ve met. You can learn how nourishing their blood will be should you decide to feed on them–i.e. how much XP you’d get from taking their life–and refamiliarize yourself with their backstory. The stories of the city change depending on who, if anyone, you prey upon, and in much subtler ways than you might expect.
One of the best choices I made was to feed on a gruff man who Reid discovered was secretly a mass murderer. After his death, the man’s mother, while certainly grieving her son, copes by deciding to take in the awkward orphan living nearby and giving him the love she foolishly gave to protect her own flesh and blood. Reid can certainly drive relationships into chaos in much the same way, but the fact that there’s enough information to be had through your interactions to guide those decisions with is both impressive and empowering.
Walking the streets of London between residential districts, Reid is a persistent target for vampire hunters, brutal sub-human mutants called Skals, massive beasts, and highly skilled vampire elites. Encountering any of them means it’s time to take a more hands-on and proactive approach. Using a combination of bludgeons, sharp implements, firearms, and terrifying vampire magic, you’re quite capable of fighting your many enemies off, but these late-night battles are still difficult. Physical attacks and dodges drain a stamina meter that, if not carefully managed, leaves you utterly defenseless while it recharges. Your vampire powers are impressive and can devastate enemies, but they cost fresh blood to execute. While you can bite your enemies in combat to recover some, not only is stunning enemies to get the bite tricky–you either land enough hits in quick succession or parry an attack, which has a frustratingly small window of opportunity–the powers tend to use more blood than a single bite can replenish.
There are games that have tied survival and power to moral choice, but very few have managed to tie the lure of evil so perfectly–or seductively–to the core gameplay.
Mild combat frustrations are further amplified by performance issues. Playing on a PS4 Pro, Vampyr succumbs to frame rate drops and surprisingly frequent loading screens. You begrudgingly learn to live with these hiccups, but the most preposterous load times–stretching well over a minute–haunt you after death. In a game where enemies can one-hit kill you, and where bosses require a bit of trial and error to overcome, such long pauses aren’t easily overlooked.
One of the best ways to avoid death is to trade in XP earned for ability and stat upgrades. You can increase bite damage and improve the amount of blood you draw with each attack, but the most interesting improvements come in the form of advanced vampiric powers. Some are simple, such as sharpening your claws mid-combo to increase your damage output, but you can also learn advanced spells, such as one that boils all the blood in your victim’s body before causing them to explode. You can become an unstoppable force in London, but it all costs XP. And while you can gain XP from handing out meds or killing enemies, the payouts are a pittance compared to the thousands of points earned from killing just one of the proper citizens of London.
If you desire, you can work to improve the vitality (and XP potential) of everyone in town, only to drink your way through an entire district of healthy people in one night, personal connections be damned. This will make Reid nigh-invincible for hours to come, but conversely cause the district to descend into utter chaos as friends, family, and colleagues go missing, leaving those who remain in despair. Alternatively, you can play the game as a much more civilized sort of vampire, getting by only on the blood of rats and those who attack you first. Theoretically, it’s even possible to play the game without killing a single soul, save the few mandatory boss fights. However, walking the path of the righteous man is the game at its hardest, especially as enemies jump up in level.
Ultimately, I opted for a balanced, Hannibal Lecter-like path: kindness and erudite mystery, coinciding with a predilection to savagely prey on the free-range scum of society–the occasional mass murderer here, a crime boss there, etc. It felt good, righteous, even, for a while. And somewhere around the time I reached level 20, I was still getting ambushed and demolished in two hits by a guy wielding a torch and cheap sword. The problem could be easily remedied by sacrificing yet another juicy, XP-heavy victim, but that could potentially put the surrounding community at risk of devastation. There are games that have tied survival and power to moral choice, but very few have managed to tie the lure of evil so perfectly–or seductively–to the core gameplay.
The narrative does take a mild decline as time goes on. The late-game answers to Dr. Reid’s questions feel more focused on the game’s fantastical threads than they do on Reid himself–though it cleverly delves into semi-obscure British/Celtic legend and very real macabre British history for inspiration. More and more as the game goes on, Reid’s dialogue choices don’t end up corresponding to the intended tone. And a few of the really huge choices to be made are no-win situations none of the characters deserve.
And yet, the credits roll on Vampyr with the realization of how seldom we see an open-world RPG experience like this, where being a citizen with a responsibility to a place and its people feels personal, even if that investment lies in who looks delicious tonight. Vampyr is certainly shaggy and rough in the technical department, but its narrative successes still make for an impactful and worthwhile experience.
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