Soul Searching: Going Native (With Dragons on the Side)

Posted on June 30, 2020 by geelw

Make mine a double, please…

In the load of stuff I need to get to in this current crazy time, review code for a little game called Soul Searching popped up in the inbox a while back and you can say I’m intrigued by the project enough to move things around and play for a bit. I’ll get to the main story mode later in this post, but let’s talk minigames for a bit. There are seven ‘Short Stories’ as the game calls them, and they can be accessed from the menu and played in any order you like. but the game will run them consecutively if you start from the first one and complete each minigame.

Publisher nakana.io has released a few unique titles so far where its different developers’ personalities are on full display in each work, so there’s a lot going on in each game, from the art styles to the approaches to gameplay. Soul Searching is brim full of weirdness as the simple pixel-heavy art in the main game gives way to some rather intense slices of mind from its developer in minigames that feature assorted visual styles ranging from simple childlike scrawls to vector graphics and crude polygonal characters. In those brief segments, you almost get a sense that indie developer Kayabros (Talha Kaya) is working through some of life’s problems and you’re along for the ride for better or worse.

(Thanks, Nakana Games!)

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Ghost Grab 3000 + Singled Out Coming to Switch in July

Posted on June 17, 2020 by geelw

(Thanks, Matt Glanville!)

Here come two more fun little arcade style titles from Matt Glanville, the maker of Switch ‘N’ Shoot, a cool and challenging single button retro-inspired game you should also get, by the way. Ghost Grab 3000 is a game where you trap and zap ghosts while trying to avoid their shots and get that high score. Singled Out has you identifying and neutralizing Galactic Supercriminals with a sniper rifle and yes, there’s a family friendly mode where you can cage those goofy-looking space aliens instead. Both new games are now available for pre-order on the eShop with a limited 10% discount and a July 2nd street date for both, but if you already own Switch ‘N’ Shoot or any of Matt’s games on the eShop, that discount becomes 15% off.

Go get these, I say. I’m playing through both games as we speak and can report they’re both fun little games that play and feel like they’re been transported from the 80’s, but don’t try and look for a coin slot on your Switch.

-GW

Evan’s Remains: Logic Dictates This Will Be a Nifty Puzzle/Adventure

Posted on June 11, 2020 by geelw

If you’re into some games that don’t rely on pure horsepower or an overdose of visual flashiness that shows off every graphical trick in the book, don’t let games like this get buried under big console announcements. Whitehorn Digital has what looks like a sleeper hit in Evan’s Remains, a game that’s also on PC, Xbox One, and Switch. I’m in the process of playing and so far, it’s quite a lovely experience with some stellar hand-drawn pixel art and a relaxing soundtrack. I won’t go into details about the story, as I’m not far along and there seems to be a few surprises I won’t spoil, but I’m truly enjoying the game so far. I’m going to shut up here and try to get more time in before the PS5 reveal, but yeah – go check this one out as soon as you can.

-GW

GET! nakana.io Has Freebie Games For Switch Owners

Posted on May 29, 2020 by geelw

But you need to act fast. Go here for details: http://nakana.io/offer

Hello,

you can get our 3 currently released games on Nintendo Switch for free (EQQO, Lydia and Soul Searching) if you already have or now purchase one of them or one of two other games from our friends QubicGames (Blazing Beaks or Mana Spark). This offer is valid until 30 May, end of the day!

After playing, please share your impressions about our titles on our Discord and Twitter!

We’re also hosting a giveaway there to win Switch keys for our upcoming game Infini 🙂

-GW

Review: SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC (Switch)

Posted on May 29, 2020 by geelw

sega-ages-thunder-force-ac-switch-screenshot01

Memories, Golden Space Roast Edition…

1990’s Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis game, Thunder Force III was such a great and very challenging entry in the series that it got an enhanced arcade version in Japan called Thunder Force AC, which has now come back as the latest SEGA AGES release on Nintendo Switch ($7.99). It’s a game I used to play along with a ton of other space shooters on the Genesis as well as developer M2’s second enhanced port of a Thunder Force title (Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar) that’s a must-buy.

You get a flawless version of the game with the new ability to play with three other ships from other titles in the series (you’ll need to play a bit to get to three of them), and the game is another example on a fine example of M2 making a good game even more stellar on Nintendo’s platform. At the time it was released, the game was quite the spectacle with its parallax scrolling, some fancy warping effects, plus a few other neat visual tricks. Oh, and the music was (and is) perfection and thankfully, you get a music player function in this version.

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Review: Diabolic (Switch)

Posted on May 15, 2020 by geelw

Not a game of the week by any means, but an itch will absolutely be scratched.

Yes, it is.

In the middle of of downloading a lengthy Windows update a few days ago, I turned on my Switch to kill some time while waiting, and poked around at the weekly sale in the eShop. There was a lot of stuff there as usual, but I decided to spend about a buck fifty on a game called Diabolic (normally $4.99) from indie developer MyDreamForever and ported/published by Drageus Games. While I wasn’t expecting much and got what I paid for, the game still had a certain… let’s just say, charm in its simplicity that made it a pretty decent time killer. It’s not a perfect game by far, but that long Windows update download was forgotten for as long as I played.

Dirt simple, and light on exposition, Diabolic is sort of a half Diablo/half Gauntlet hybrid with none of the grit and longevity of either where you play a knight setting out slay the evil dragon boss at the end of the 10-level game while killing a load of enemies on the way to that confrontation. That’s pretty much it in the way of story save for some optional side quests that net you coins and extra items. Things are pretty basic here, but I rather liked the straightforwardness of the time-sink while it lasted. Sometimes, you just want something that doesn’t require a lot of thought or learning of arcane commands and this game nails its pure gameplay simplicity down pat.

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Review: TT Isle of Man – Ride On the Edge 2 (Switch)

Posted on May 14, 2020 by geelw

KT Racing has clearly put a Kylotonn of work into bringing TT Isle of Man – Ride On the Edge 2 ($59.99) to the Nintendo Switch and it’s truly an impressive effort on the hybrid console. The developer has recreated the recent PC and console experience perfectly in terms of complete content on the Switch with a few very obvious concessions to the lower-powered hardware. On Switch, there’s a tiny bit of texture draw-in plus some low resolution textures such as bike shadows, some of the signage, plus logos on your rider’s gear, which can all be a bit fuzzy in static shots. Despite these flaws and some long loading times, the game completely soars when in motion, particularly in docked mode. In handheld mode, the game is fine, but as a simulation that requires zen-like focus (there’s no in-race music for a reason!), every little detail needs to be seen at the best resolution available.

Where TT2 impresses constantly is in the excellent bike detail and its thrilling overall sense of speed thanks to excellent visual representation in the various camera modes and some tremendous sound design. The sheer intensity when you get to flying down a course and don’t go flying off your bike is nothing but a pure adrenaline rush, and the game will make you appreciate the art of the learning process. That said, it feels like a bit of understeer is in play on corners and you’ll crash a lot as a beginner and a great deal less (or not at all when you get better) as you get accustomed to the controls, which can by fully customized and come in a few styles from amateur to professional. Got a first or third party Switch compatible controller with a Rumble feature? DO please use that over the handheld’s Joy-Cons. The game goes from trickier to control and a bit too shaky to one where analog controls make things more manageable. The game is playable with Joy-Cons, mind you – it’s just more difficult if you stick to the standard control scheme and/or if you have the dreaded left Joy-Con drift issues some users have experienced with the handheld.

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Jet Lancer: Take To The Skies On Switch, PC

Posted on May 12, 2020 by geelw

“Snakes… Why’d it have to be snakes?”

A pilot, a Captain and an engineer walk into a bar…

Today, ace pilot Ash Leguinn joins the ranks of the many other legendary arcade shooter ladies who fly and blast enemies out of the sky with the release of indie developer Code Wakers’ Jet Lancer on PC and Nintendo Switch ($14.99) published by Armor Games. Having put in some playtime with an earlier PC build and and after playing the Switch version for a spell, this writer can say it’s quite a challenging mix of acrobatic flight combat against waves of enemies and some pretty large and tough bosses.

Ash travels from mission to mission on a small aircraft carrier piloted by a Captain who doles out briefings as she accepts them. Others in need of aid from Ash’s skills will pop in with their own requests as the game progresses, and you’ll get a talking cat engineer named Lem early on to upgrade your ship, the LANCE, as well as that aircraft carrier it travels on. The boat is sea bound until you get an upgrade that allows it to move over land barriers and the map unlocks more missions and plot elements.

Here’s the game’s launch trailer:

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HUNTDOWN: It’s Been A Long Time Coming, But It’s Been Worth The Wait

Posted on May 11, 2020 by geelw

Here comes trouble, and there goes your free time!

Way back in 2016, I saw a trailer for a wild little 2D game from an independent developer and I was pretty excited because it captured a few nostalgic vibes from both some older games and plenty of crazy action flicks:

(Thanks, Easy Trigger!)

Skip ahead to the next year, and the game went through some changes that made it look even better. I was able to sign up and test out an in-progress version on Steam, and it was pretty great even though some parts were in need of a little refining (as any work in progress would – a demo of a game is NOT a full game experience). Even with the parts that needed work, what was there was such a huge improvement that it was clearer this was going to be even more amazing when it was completed:

(Thanks, Coffee Stain!)

Now (well, tomorrow), the final game is ready for its closeup and wow, does it look too nuts or what? “Hold on to your butts!”, as the saying goes:

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Book of Demons: A Fun Pain & Paper Game That Needs To Be Played

Posted on May 11, 2020 by geelw

Fire usually burns paper, so this big guy is in for a surprise… or maybe those three heroes are?

A few years ago, I got an email from Thing Trunk Studios about a game they were working on called Book of Demons, which at the time was still in progress as a PC title. I got to try it out in Early Access form and found it to be quite well done, an amusing, challenging and well-made take on Blizzard’s classic Diablo, but with a paper crafted pop-up book aesthetic. I really liked what I played, but was hoping it would eventually make its way to consoles.

Flash forward a few years and here it is courtesy the developer who have teamed up with publisher 505 Games: