REVIEW / Solo: Islands of the Heart (PS4)

That VideoGame Blog
REVIEW / Solo: Islands of the Heart (PS4)

 

Have you ever wondered what your beliefs are in regards to relationships? Maybe you are with a significant other, or single, or in a polyamorous relationship. No matter what your situation is, you may learn something about yourself when you play Solo: Islands of the Heart.

 

 

Solo is a creative puzzle game that is all about love. It’s also an exploration game; as in, the game encourages you to explore your relationships as well as the dream-like worlds the game is set to. After all, love (or its opposite, hate) is what drives relationships, and the universal truth is that we all experience it in different ways.

In the beginning, you are given choices in Solo: Are you a dude whose significant other is a lady? Or are you a dude who is into another dude, or maybe a lady into another lady? No matter what your choice is, you’ll start off in your own island in which you will have to sail to a linear path of three islands in order to discover yourself and the world.

 

 

The three islands are actually archipelagos (i.e., a cluster of islands), but you originally will not notice that as only the tiniest sliver of the island is afloat. In order to open up the archipelago, you must speak to these totems, but they are all in hard-to-reach places. This is where the platform puzzle aspect of Solo is about. There are boxes you will have to use in order to reach higher ground. In the first archipelago, the puzzles are easy, and you will only need one type of box to progress. However, reaching the totems in later archipelagos will be tricky, and you are given other boxes and tools to progress.

The other boxes in the world of Solo are ones with fans that spew out air, ones that stick to walls and other boxes, ones that have planks that extend in a certain direction, and ones for watering plants (used during special sections of the game). You can’t jump in this game, by the way, so in order for you to theoretically jump, you are given a parachute to use with the boxes with fans. The other tool you will be using a lot is the wand. Its special ability is to pick up any box no matter how far away and place them wherever you wish.

 

 

You are given a mix of these boxes in each section of the game. That means that there’s really no right way to go about reaching the totems. You can get as creative as you want, as long as you follow the box physics and well, if the camera angles play nice with you. The frustrating portion of Solo is that although you are given 360-degree control of the camera, using the wand to place boxes can be somewhat finicky. This is especially true when you get to using the sticky boxes and placing other boxes to stick to it.

If you are able to reach the totems, however, you are given a question and three possible answers in which you choose the one you relate to the most. These questions are about your attitude towards your partner be it may be about spending time with them, lying to them, to even having sexual relations with them. No matter what you choose though, it always opens up more of the archipelago that you are on where you’ll have to again reach the next totem for the next question and section to open up. Solo is a very linear game, but your answers to the totems are what changes the outcome at the end of the journey. That’s because, after finishing the third archipelago, you are given a dialogue that may or may not open your eyes about your attitude towards love which depends on how you answered the totems. It’s almost as if you took one of those quizzes on Facebook, and Cambridge Analytica analyzed it and spat out your results.

 

 

To be honest, I get the concept, but the execution’s just lacking. Why do I have to spend two to four hours climbing to reach these totems to answer questions about love just to get a dialogue that I may or may not relate to? Wouldn’t it be easier to just answer these questions and share to 20 friends? While Solo features some easy puzzle platforming action, it ultimately is up to you if it’s worth the time to explore your attitudes about love.

 

 

 

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

The post REVIEW / Solo: Islands of the Heart (PS4) appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

from That VideoGame Blog https://ift.tt/2L5SNNE

Falcon Age is coming to the Epic Games Store on September 6th

That VideoGame Blog
Falcon Age is coming to the Epic Games Store on September 6th

 

On September 6th, Outerloop Games is set to release Falcon Age on the Epic Games Store for $19.99USD. The game will be available in VR or Non-VR, with or without motion controllers. On PC, the game will be playable with the Oculus Rift, Rift S, HTC Vive, and Valve Index.

The new release also comes with additional content, including new combat and balance pass, bird skins, and overall quality of life improvements.

Falcon Age is a first-person single-player action adventure where players take the role of Ara, who is fighting to reclaim her cultural legacy via the lost art of falcon hunting. Players will learn to hunt, gather, and fight against a force of automated colonisers.

At the beginning of the game, set on a dying colony planet, Ara’s been wrongfully thrown in jail by the machine invaders for a minor infraction. She befriends a young falcon while waiting in her cell and together they escape and set off on an adventure to reclaim the planet’s destroyed culture and freedom.

• Features:
  
  Take back your life: Rebel against robot colonisers and reclaim your culture
• 
  Bond with a bird companion: Name, pet, feed, teach, and dress up your falcon.
• 
  Hunt with your falcon: Various animals roam the land and can be hunted for precious materials.
• 
  Craft falcon snacks: Farm, hunt, and cook snacks to feed, buff, heal and strengthen your falcon
• 
  Accessorize your falcon: Make your falcon look dreamy with different hats and scarves. -also equipment for gameplay like sonar and armor.
• 
  Fight robot colonisers: Use your trusty stun baton to fight off drones and robots with the help of your falcon.
  
  
  
  
  

The post Falcon Age is coming to the Epic Games Store on September 6th appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

from That VideoGame Blog https://ift.tt/2Le0mkh

Creature in the Well hits stores this September

Boulder Dash comes to Gamescom

New Dying Light 2 gameplay trailer coming August 26

Incoming Drone Strike!

Darksiders II: The Deathinitive Edition is coming to Switch

That VideoGame Blog
Darksiders II: The Deathinitive Edition is coming to Switch

 

Interesting little bit of news here for the Darksiders fans amongst you. As you may have already figured out by the slightly to the point title of this article, Darksiders II: The Deathinitive Edition is indeed coming to your Switch console.

Due for release September 26th both physically and digitally at £26.99, Darksiders II: The Deathinitive Edition will see you stepping into the rather grim shoes of Death himself. Having been awakened by the end of days it will be your task to save earth and redeem your brother War.

This isn’t just your average action game. Darksiders II: The Deathinitive Edition is a fully fledged RPG. This game has all the elements we love from a really good open world romp and as part of this you are invited to create your very own Death. There are tons of possibilities for customisation on offer with different weapon and armour sets and a bunch of skill trees to play about with to boot.

The world is, as I’ve just mentioned, an open one. Aside from the main story there are bags of side-quests for you to get your teeth into. The sheer size of the game coupled with the amount of versitility being given to you should allow for a fair bit of replay value.

So what makes this edition Deathinitive? Well, for starters, it comes with all available DLC integrated and included in the release. This means a good 30 hours of playtime and as such a decent amount of bang for your buck. There has also been a fair amount of work done on re-balancing and tuning on both the game itself and loot distribution.

Graphically, an improved Graphic Render Engine has been implemented for higher visual quality, especially in terms of light and shade. Visual work has also been done on the levels, characters and environment to make everything look that bit more stunning.

On a personal note if you’re new to the Darksiders series of games they’re well worth a try for RPG fans. A re-worked edition for Switch owners can only be a good thing for both new players and veterans looking to step back into the shoes of the deadman on a different console to what they may be used to.

The post Darksiders II: The Deathinitive Edition is coming to Switch appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

from That VideoGame Blog https://ift.tt/2TmDkvb

Secret Neighbor Beta available until August 19th

 

Secret Neighbor is here and in beta for gamers until August 19th!

tinyBuild are the team behind Hello Neighbor and now the crew is opening up their beta Secret Neighbor. In the game, six players team up to bust into their neighbor’s house. I mean, the dude is apparently creepy and hiding stuff in his basement…your job, find out what that “stuff” is. You do this by locating various keys throughout the house. And what would a game be without a little trickery? You see, the catch is that one of the other players will be the Neighbor in disguise, and he will be trying to take you all out.

New Stuff!

Secret Neighbor now hosts the new reworked and rebalanced character class system. Play as the Clown Neighbor, Scary Neighbor, or choose from one of the kid character classes.

Take a look at the Trailer

Contest Time!

For those that have already had a crack at the Beta, you will know the Neighbor’s house and have an advantage over others. This is vital information if you intend to enter the game’s guide contest. If you do, you will have a week to create a video guide on Secret Neighbor. The best of the bunch will win Hello Neighbor games on their platform of choice!!

Click here & head to the Discord to find out more of the rules and how to enter.

Get the thing and do the stuff!

If you want to dive-in, then you definitely can – there is no need for a key, simply download and start playing! Players can also record videos, stream play, share to socials and the game has voice chat included.

Head to Steam and start playing!

Follow Secret Neighbor on Facebook.

The post Secret Neighbor Beta available until August 19th appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

from That VideoGame Blog https://ift.tt/2T7tX2l

Cozy Management Game Spiritfarer gets new trailer ahead of PAX West 2019 showcase

 

Thunder Lotus, creators of hand-drawn indie games Jotun and Sundered, have released a new trailer for their upcoming game Spiritfarer. The trailer provides a deeper look into the relationship between protagonist Stella and the spirit passengers that she will meet throughout her journey.

Spiritfarer explores topics such as friendship, developing a relationship with your passengers, and eventually guiding them to the afterlife. In the trailer below, viewers will be able to watch the friendship build between Stella and one of her passengers, Gwen.

In Spiritfarer, you play as ferrymaster to the deceased, Stella. You build a boat to explore the world, as well as spending time mining, farming, fishing, harvesting, cooking, and crafting as you travel across the mystical seas, wherein you will finally release them into the afterlife. As is evident from the trailer above, the experience is intended to be both entertaining and emotionally moving, and also incredibly visually striking.

Spiritfarer is scheduled for release with Xbox Game Pass on Windows 10 PC and Xbox One, as well as PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Mac and Linux in 2020.

The post Cozy Management Game Spiritfarer gets new trailer ahead of PAX West 2019 showcase appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

from That VideoGame Blog https://ift.tt/2yBr9RI

REVIEW / Trover Saves the Universe (PS4)

 

There is absolutely nothing like playing something utterly silly from time to time. As gamers, we take our craft far too seriously  so every now and then it’s nice to just sit back and have a bit of a laugh. The game in question today is Trover Saves the Universe and if you are above a certain age, it’s tremendous fun. Just so I don’t get eaten by angry parents, the below trailer is for adults. If you’re not an adult skip, past and carry on reading. There, I’ve done my bit – disclaimer disclaimed.

 

 

Trover Saves the Universe is a game by Justin Roiland, one of the co-creators of Rick and Morty and it isn’t a game for kids. The language – when it isn’t being a bit foul – is just downright rude. This is not a complaint, rather a bit of a warning. I’m a really big fan of adult cartoon comedy (because I’m still mentally sixteen) and was totally expecting juvenile fun. If you don’t know what Rick and Morty is or anything about that style of humor, go and watch a few episodes before letting your younglings have at it.  There is a mode that censors the experience, but I honestly think that would be destroying the soul of the title. This is a game that’s full of swearing, lewd comments, and general adult tom foolery. Removing this would detract from what is a really fun experience.

You take on the role of a Chairorpian, a member of an entire race of people who never get up and spend their days sitting on their backsides with gaming controllers in their hands. Does this maybe make you want to look in the mirror? There are four all-powerful, neutral beings called The Abstainers. Glorkon, one of the four has gone mad and has taken your dogs and stuck them in his eye sockets making him all powerful. You and an eye hole monster called Trover have to go out and stop his evil schemes.

 

The world is gorgeous … even if everything does want you dead.

 

Trover also likes shoving things into his head. In his case he rather likes power babies. These strange little creatures are hidden throughout the game and collecting them will power Trover up with more life. This game is part platformer so there have to be collectables. Small green monsters are a perfectly reasonable replacement for feathers any day. You also get upgrades as you go which either alter your chair or give Trover abilities such as the double jump, ability to roll etc. This is important for navigation. In your case,  as you never get off your rear, having a periscopic chair is vital to your continued existence, you get this ability really early on so you’re set from the start.

Trover Saves the Universe is part puzzler part platformer and the puzzles are fun and engaging if sometimes impossible. Sometimes it’s actually worth listening to what Trover has to say to you. One of the puzzles you’ll face genuinely can’t be completed. If you pay attention to what your purple friend is saying you’ll figure this out straight away. Alternatively you can ignore him and just waste a bit of your time. You won’t solve the puzzle but you will get an achievement so that’s entirely up to you. If time-wasting is your thing and you can’t be bothered playing the game … that you’re playing … you can just throw balls of paper into a basketball hoop. Go score a hundred, I dare you.

 

What is it with sticking foreign object into your eye sockets?

 

As a character you can’t do a massive amount, which is why you need all the help Trover can give you. This goes both ways. A lot of this game is about perspective. Your chair can rise up and down and you’ll be using this ability alot as you go. It’s pointless jumping Trover over an object that you can’t see the other side of.  Raising your chair a level will give you a better view of what you’re getting him into. The same goes for distance. You don’t move in this game so you can’t just follow him around.

The only way to get you to go anywhere is to run Trover onto a teleport node which will shift you to a new location. Some of these points can only  be seen clearly from a different altitude. The same goes for collectables. Different vantage points will allow you to see levels differently and the power babies that Trover craves can be a bit tricky to spot. All in all this is a necessary mechanic that has been used properly within the game rather than something throw-away that doesn’t do a great deal for you. I like when an idea is implemented properly so thumbs up from me.

 

The Abstainers. They abstain … obviously

 

The narration is what makes Trover Saves the Universe really stand out. Your companion talks to you pretty much constantly through your adventure. What he’s saying isn’t usually polite, but it’s what gives him character. There is nothing worse that having a side-kick that has the personality of a brick. While on this subject it’s kind of difficult to decide who said side-kick actually is.

You’re technically the main character, yet it’s you that’s controlling Trover so it’s probably fifty fifty who is taking the main role. It’s not just the voice work that has been done on your companion that’s of note. All of the NPC characters are very cleverly created an voiced. Each NPC you meet feels like a fleshed out character rather than a copy paste from somewhere else in the game. The sound and voice work that has gone into this title is superb and you can see just how much thought and effort has been put in.

 

Combat is intuitive and fun.

 

Graphically Trover Saves the Universe is wonderfully colorful and very nicely rendered. The who experience feels like your playing through a cartoon which is clearly what the devs went for. Think Crash Bandicoot if someone made the world bigger, more surreal and slapped a whopping big R rating all over it. That’s kind of what we’ve got here and it’s absolutely marvelous. Trover also controls like a dream and being a console release it should. I’m not going to give you a run down on button-mapping but everything is really user friendly and easy to pick up.

Moving back to the subject of visuals for a second, this game plays perfectly both with and with a VR headset. Without VR Trover is a perfectly fun serviceable platformer. Visually the game feels like it should be a VR game whether you own all the kit or not. Without the helmet if you look at your own character you can basically just see a set of legs, bit of chair and a controller. Pop a VR headset on your face and the game switches to full VR mode which just makes everything even more surreal. If you have PSVR play the game with and without, you’ll get a slightly different experience but one isn’t by any means worse than the other.

 

Just a dude in the bath. Or is it?

 

All in all this is definitely worth a punt if you have a silly, slightly juvenile sense of humor. This title isn’t particularly difficult and doesn’t feel massively long. I say doesn’t feel  as opposed to isn’t because I was enjoying the experience so much that everything felt like it was moving along really quickly. You’ll be able to extend the fun by going back for all the collectibles. Trover promises you something really special should you succeed. I would also recommend playing through the game more than once. I basically murdered everyone that I could on my first run through. I’d like to see what happens if I don’t act like a raging psychopath. For those of you that just like a bit of silliness on your gaming menu you could do far worse than checking this little gem of a game out.

 

 

 

This review based ob a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

The post REVIEW / Trover Saves the Universe (PS4) appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

from That VideoGame Blog https://ift.tt/2GM4vdP