REVIEW / God of War (PS4)

 

As someone who had never played a God of War game before, I felt like I had a good idea of what to expect from what I had seen of God of War in the past. I came in expecting a lot of gory kills and over the top action and not much else. What I ended up getting was that great action and kill sequences, but Santa Monica Studios also threw in a side of an interesting story and characters, and the feels. Kratos has jumped from the Greek mythologies he was born in and has made a new, very promising future in Norse mythology going forward.

 

 

The game begins with Kratos gathering wood to burn the body of his recently deceased wife Faye, with help from their son Atreus. Here at the beginning of the game the story nails down the loss both characters are carrying. Atreus is more vocal and acts a lot like you would expect a child to, while Kratos holds it in, but you can tell from his face the pain he is facing. Facial expressions are one of the things I think the devs nailed down the best in this game. Every time something happens the characters do not have to tell me what they are feeling. It seems like this is something that in 2018 you would see all the time, but I think that still too often we see blank expressions from our characters and it makes their feelings harder for us to relate with. Whether it is anger, sadness, or any other emotion, the character’s face in God of War tells you the whole story upfront.

Faye’s final wish was for her ashes to be spread from the tallest point in the nine realms by her husband and son. In the beginning, you can tell that Atreus had spent much more time with his mother this far into his life. Kratos would leave a lot and never take his son with, being a very shut off father who has never told his son of their god lineage or his past in Greece. This adventure being Kratos and Atreus’ first true time together, you see them start bonding. From Kratos being hesitant to show any emotion or support to Atreus at the beginning, to the two being a true father-son duo to be reckoned with at the end, this game focuses on the transformation of two truly interesting character arcs going off at the same time.

 

 

As a father myself, I was able to put myself in Kratos’ position of not being sure what was the best parenting move, but as a son, I also felt with Atreus just trying to grow up and make his father proud of him. The evolving relationship between the two is the real heart and soul of the game. What helps with the emotion is the camera work. In gameplay, the camera is always behind Kratos, but during cutscenes, it expertly zooms in on the things you need to see. A characters emotion-filled face, something happening in the environment, or some other things. Combine that with a chorus that pitches in with the right tune at the perfect time, and this is a great cinematic experience on top of an excellent gameplay experience.

While waiting for Faye’s ashes to be ready for travel, Kratos decides it is time for some father-son hunting. During this tutorial, we get our first experience with my favorite weapon of the game, the Leviathon Axe. Think of Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir from the Marvel movies, but in axe form. Kratos can throw the axe and no matter where it is thrown, a simple press of the button brings it flying back to him. The very first time I did this I was in awe of just how good it felt. The sound of the axe flying through the air and the slight rumble the controller gives made it believable that I was the one that threw the axe. The way it perfectly comes back to his hand and is ready to continue your fighting combo is one of the best experiences in gaming this year so far.

 

 

Speaking of fighting, Kratos has some new moves he can pull off when he is holding his axe. These come in the form of runic attacks, which need to be attached to the weapon and can be upgraded by spending XP. There is a limit of two that can be attached at a time, one heavy, and one light runic attack. These come in handy for disrupting enemy attacks or hitting multiple enemies at once. I mostly stuck with my favorites, but there is a large enough variety that I believe everyone can find something for them.

Throughout the game, new armors and enchantments can be bought and sometimes found to upgrade Kratos’ stats. In the beginning, I felt pretty even with my enemies, but towards the end of the game, after you have been upgrading for a while, there were some enemies I felt were just nuisances. That’s not to say that I think the game gets easy, I am just saying as you build Kratos and Atreus and get used to using your abilities, the game gets quite a bit more manageable as you would imagine.

 

 

Atreus, while not as customizable as Kratos, can be a great help in combat. He uses his bow and arrow to stun and damage enemies, but can also summon animals to do a lot of damage, or jump on a foe leaving them open for attack from Kratos. At the beginning of the game, he seems to have very niche assistance, but as he trains and upgrades, he truly becomes a reliable source. His upgrades largely revolve around his bow, but he can also get armor that lets him assist in other ways. I stuck with using armor that allowed him to pick up health stones for me in combat when I got low, much like Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite which I loved then too.

There are quite a few enemies in God of War. You are first introduced to the zombies of the world who are pretty simple slow enemies that are never too hard to handle. As you battle your way through the game, you face dark elves, trolls, and not as many bosses as I had expected. Besides facing a certain god multiple times, you only get into an altercation with a god-like force one other time. The rest of the bosses are mythical creatures that stand in your way. Of course, this makes sense because Kratos is not on his path of vengeance anymore, but I expected to be fighting many Norse gods throughout my journey.

 

 

What you do see of the other characters in God of War is very well done. Every character in this game has a personality to them and the voice acting associated with that character helps you feel for them and makes them relatable. Two brothers that are opposites of each other so they don’t get along? Been there. A man who just wants to feel anything? I could empathize with that. Every character in the game is believable and has a real-world element to them that if they were human and walked down the street, I could believe they were a real person.

If you have watched or listened to mine and Joel Campos’ “Pixel Street Podcast” (Facebook page HERE), you will have heard me say that I think this is the most beautiful game I have ever played. I already went over the character detail, but the environment in this game is second to none. The mix of shadows and bright colors in every setting of the game is truly expertly done. I am just playing on a slim PS4, so I can only imagine just how divine the game looks on a Pro.

 

 

In the end, God of War is a truly special video game. You get that brutality that the series is famous for, but there is so much more to this game that makes it stand out. The story is the best example of a father-son adventure that I have ever seen in the medium with great side characters that provide everything you could want from a side character. The story never feels like it gets too long, and the end will leave you wanting so much more.

 

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REVIEW / Monster Prom (PC)

 

I have a shameful secret I need to divulge to all of you: I’m a dating sim fanatic. Whenever I see a trending dating simulator, from Hatoful Boyfriend, to Hustle Cat, to Speed Dating for Ghosts, I snap that shit up like it’s a limited edition Too Faced palette. It doesn’t matter what it’s about – if its racy or cute, if you’re romancing school girls or pigeons – once I have a dating sim in my sights, I just need to have it. So, you can imagine my excitement when I heard tell of Monster Prom, a dating simulator that would allow me to woo all my favorite supernatural beings in the curiously under-supervised halls of Spooky High.

 

 

Monster Prom, from Beautiful Glitch and Those Awesome Guys, looked great, had rave reviews and upon seeing the line up of fictional characters I could romance, all in the hopes of taking them to prom, I was already picking out my favorites. I decided the Rebel Without a Cause-looking demon with an anger problem was the first monster on the docket (because of course he was), and with that in mind, I booted it up, a fire for digital dating burning in my heart.

Surprise, surprise! I hated it.

Now, you might be thinking, “Hold the phone, Liz—I can see you’ve given this game a 9.7 rating. How can you praise it so highly, yet claim to hate it three paragraphs in?” I promise you though, I’m not being disingenuous. I honestly couldn’t stand this game on my first playthrough; it’s part of why this review took so long to write. I played it once and was so soured on it that I needed to step away from it for weeks.

 

 

I ended up scouring the press packages, website and Kickstarter page for some inclination that I’d maybe missed the point of Monster Prom. I was scrolling through negative reviews on Steam with all the irrationality of a venomous troll reveling in a shared hatred of something popular and innocuous. I just didn’t get it, and like a petulant five-year-old, I despise feeling left out. So, I decided this game was nothing but mindless drivel that was far too difficult for anyone to enjoy, didn’t take itself seriously enough and tried to play off its laziness as “you’re just not cool enough to understand, bro” humor.

Surprise, surprise again! I was dead wrong.

Monster Prom takes everything a dating sim has come to encompass and subverts it so seamlessly that I, a self-professed narrative dissector, completely missed it. Combining all the facets of a traditional dating sim (attractive bachelors/bachelorettes, text options to help you build a rapport and the goal of ultimately scoring with one of them), gameplay reminiscent of the board game Sorry! and a quirky, intelligent sense of humor, Monster Prom turns the genre on it’s head and points out the inherent silliness of a video game about dating a bunch of imaginary people.

And yes, judging by my initial reaction, that is something that needed pointing out.

 

 

After choosing one of four player characters, you are thrust into a game world very reminiscent of other dating simulators, but wholly different. Measuring your starting stats through what the game itself refers to as the “stupidest pop quiz ever,” you begin your first day at Spooky High with an assortment of numbers scattered between six different traits. Throughout the game, these traits will determine whether you pass or fail skill checks, and whether you gain bonuses to the skills or not depends on what you do during the cyclical school days you play through.

There is an option to play a short or long game, running either 45 or 60 minutes respectively, making Monster Prom an easy game to pick up and play. A standard school day begins with a morning free period, a lunch period and an evening free period. You can only choose which part of the school you’d like to frequent during the morning and evening periods, and where you hang out provides bonuses to your base stats that are integral to scoring the date of your choice.

 

 

Lunch period finds your character in the cafeteria, nervously clutching their plastic tray and trembling past the cool kid’s like Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls, and you’ll need to choose whether to sit with one of the six datable characters, or one of their less important schoolmates. Side characters grant you bonuses, or they will offer to sell you objects to increase your stats and unlock secret events (the corpse, for instance, becomes a talking point in all encounters from the point of purchase onwards). On the other hand, sitting with the dateable characters gives you a chance to get into their good graces and win their favour, which is the goal of the game… right?

Make no mistake, Monster Prom is hard. Just one wrong answer somewhere along the line can end up being completely irredeemable, and you will need to play through the game many, many times just to figure out what skills apply to which monsters (extremely) particular likes and dislikes. And while the game is balanced and beatable, it can come across as almost impossible for someone who is expecting Monster Prom to follow the same formula as every other dating sim they’ve played.

 

 

Which is why I hesitate to call Monster Prom a dating simulator at all. Sure, one of the key functions of the game is to find someone to go to prom with, but you don’t need to take anyone to complete the game. You can choose to go to prom yourself, you can ask one of the monsters out and get rejected or you can succeed, but either way, the game still ends once prom is over. Add to that the plethora of bonus content and secret events (seriously guys, how in the hell did you find the time?) that do not always appear in your dogged pursuit to date the hipster vampire, and I think calling it a board-game simulator with a visual novel slapped on top would be a more apt description.

I feel like this is one of the reasons I failed to see how good a game this is on my first playthrough. I went into it with high expectations, my manic dating sim fanaticism telling me I knew how a dating simulator is supposed to run, and it defied that expectation. For some reason that pissed me off, which is such an ugly reaction I was almost ashamed to admit it in this review. But I need to address it to get to the heart of my original criticism, which is that dating simulators have become so formulaic, so expectable that even the slightest divergence can throw a hard-core fan of the genre for a loop, sending them into a Twitter fueled tailspin and negatively colouring their perception of an admittedly great game.

 

 

Monster Prom isn’t afraid to poke fun at an oversaturated, niche genre in a way that is self-deprecative, self-referential and so bitingly witty that it goes over people’s heads. I was quick to dismiss its humor and writing as lazy, if only because I thought it was so entrenched in not giving a shit that it doubled back on itself and seemed boringly pretentious. It wasn’t until I rationalized it was a silly game about dating monsters in high school, that I understood I needed to climb down off my high horse and stop taking it so literally. It doesn’t take itself seriously, in point of fact it does the exact opposite, so why the hell was I bending over backwards to quantify it in a way it didn’t want to be quantified?

Because I wanted it to fit into the very genre it was rebelling against, that’s why.

The people you meet in the game, specifically the datable characters, are less fully fleshed out individuals and more caricatures of the kinds of stereotypical folks you’d find in a dating simulator. You have the bonehead jock, the spoiled rich girl, the too-cool-for-this-planet hipster, the bitch with a heart of gold, the party animal and the bad boy. They’re one dimensional, aggravating and completely unlikable people because they were meant to be, not because of some design flaw. They are all deeply horrible, but that’s the point… they’re monsters!

 

 

And it’s through this play on expectations that the game highlights the inherent futility of other dating simulators, and how silly it is to take them so seriously: it doesn’t matter how much time and effort you put into getting with this character, at the end of the day, they’re a bunch of two dimensional ones and zeros. For gods sake, the vampire says exactly that during the normal course of the game.  Monster Prom delights in playing with your expectations. It wants you to enter the halls of Spooky High with every preconception imaginable, so it can smack them out of your hands like Corey Taylor does with cell phones.

I usually balk when a game (or anything, really) professes itself to be post-modern, or that it contains post-modern humor. I find that recently, creators across all mediums will use this moniker to excuse why an audience didn’t laugh at their joke or like their finished product: they just didn’t get it. It went over their head. It’s supposed to be subversive. This isn’t to say that everyone does this, or that post-modernism isn’t a thing, because it most certainly is. I just have a problem when it is called upon as defense for a poorly espoused idea. Art, particularly comedy in this case, needs to be self-aware, needs to contain a level of thoughtfulness and most importantly, needs to be conveyable. Meaning exists only in the minds of the audience, and it does not matter what you take away from your own game if it is not adequately communicated to your players.

 

 

While Monster Prom gave me pause when it touted itself as a post-modern slice-of-life, now that I’ve reached the end of my experience with it, I’m convinced that it is. It’s incredibly mindful, it has a statement to make, and it executes it brilliantly, through such cutting application of satire that it went completely over my head. Bra-freaking-vo.

Single player is a ton of fun on its own, but local multiplayer is where Monster Prom truly shines. There isn’t a game I’ve played in recent memory that took a simple premise and made it into such an enjoyable couch multiplayer, facilitating arguments, partnerships and co-operation galore. My husband and I played together, and while he’s not a fan of dating simulators or visual novels at all, he had an absolute blast. We’ve played multiple games since, and it’s become our favorite go-to multiplayer when we’re looking for something quick to play.

 

 

Giving you the option to work together or against one another, to compete for the affections of one monster or spread yourself out across the herd, Monster Prom’s local multiplayer forces you to actively communicate with other players through little minigames, and fosters debates to keep you engaged with other players. There’s a fair bit of strategy involved, and though my husband and I took a very diplomatic approach to wooing these B-movie baddies, should we have wanted to screw each other over we could have done so easily.

The soundtrack is top notch and super catchy, a delightful mix of the Monster Mash, surfer punk and that ambient, spooky sounds CD you keep on hand for Halloween parties. The character art needs no introduction, as you can see through the press images it’s absolutely amazing. Each character has a plethora of different outfits, expressions and poses, and they’re dynamic and constantly changing. Even the settings and backgrounds are extremely polished, with Arthur Tien really knocking it out of the park on this one.

 

 

To everyone still on the fence about Monster Prom, don’t be. This is an excellent game that is so much fun to play either alone or with a friend or three, and the replayability is just insane (seriously guys, where did you find the time!?). Please remember though, if you are going to take the plunge into the slime-addled pool of Spooky High, take it with a grain of salt. Don’t take the game so seriously, let your hair down and have fun with it, because at the end of the day, Monster Prom’s not pulling any punches, and you don’t want to let your preconceptions sour you on what is a truly funny and enjoyable game.

 

 

 

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

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Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate hits Nintendo Switch!

 

Sporting a shiny new logo, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate has been announced for the Nintendo Switch.  Owners of Nintendo’s hugely popular console/handheld will get a taste of hunting monsters firsthand when the game launches on August 28, 2018 for digital and physical retail purchase across North America and Europe.  The follow-up to Monster Hunter Generations, this edition to the franchise marks the series debut exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.  For the first time, gamers have the flexibility to play both local wireless and online multiplayer with up to three other hunters – whether playing at home on the big screen or on the go in handheld or tabletop mode.

 

 

Taking a nostalgic look back at the series’ beginnings and evolution’s, players will have the opportunity to hunt the series’ largest roster of unique monsters ever.  You take on the challenge of facing off against challenging larger-than-life beasts as you embark on an adrenaline-fueled adventure.  Completing quests will yield valuable resources for crafting countless distinct weapons and equipment fashioned after players’ defeated foes. Along your journey, you must defend each of the game’s four villages from major threats known as the Fated Four, plus an even more dangerous new Elder Dragon.

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate features a blend of classic gameplay and unique new twists, brand new areas to explore, new monsters, plus returning fan-favorites like the lightning fast Zinogre and the stealthy long-tailed Nargacuga.  In addition, this new release introduces a new quest level called “G” rank that features even more formidable versions of familiar foes, truly testing experienced hunters’ battle tactics now with different moves and abilities never seen in the wild.

 

 

If you have never played a Monster Hunters game from Capcom and are thinking about picking up this new addition, don’t fret because the game will feature a little something to level the hunting grounds.  The game features tons of powerful new super moves called Hunter Arts that can be executed with a quick tap on the touch screen.  You can experiment to your heart’s content while choosing from six different Hunting Styles including two new ones called Brave Style, which rewards players with new moves for landing successive attacks; and Alchemy Style, a support style that grants the ability to create useful items on the fly during combat.

As a bonus for being a loyal Monster Hunter fan and playing the original Monster Hunter Generation, Capcom has included a feature in the game that will allow for the transfer of save data from the previous title to the new title in order to continue your journey in Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate.

 

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REVIEW / Forgotton Anne (PS4)

 

Imagine, if you will, a land where you could find everything you’ve ever lost or forgotten. That very place is the setting, and central theme, of Forgotton Anne, a 2.5D adventure game developed by Throughline Games and published by Square Enix Collective. Forgotton Anne is predominantly a cinematic adventure game with frequent platforming sections and light puzzle elements. It is also stunningly hand-drawn.

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You play as Anne, and Enforcer in the Forgotten Lands, a magical world inhabited by Forgotlings – creatures composed of mislaid objects who long to be remembered again. In a world where most sentient beings are forgotten items from the human world (the “Ether”), such as odd socks, lost letters and missing toys, Anne and her elderly guardian Master Bonku are the only humans. As Anne, you set out to stop a Forgotling rebellion that threatens the chance for everyone – Forgotlings and humans alike – to return to the human world and be remembered.

When I booted up the game, I was met with a title screen devoid of music and filled with natural, ambient noise and a beautiful landscape. I instantly knew that this was going to be a pretty game, and I was not disappointed. Once you start the game, you are immediately dropped into Anne’s living space – The Tower. The power, called “Anima” in Forgotton Anne as a catch-all for the energy they use for basically everything, has gone out and from the balcony she can see that the station is on fire.

 

 

You are quickly introduced to some of the main mechanics used for puzzling and traversing – using Anima and the Arca. The Arca is a fingerless glove/gauntlet device that Anne wears at all times. By going into Animavision, your surroundings are covered in a blue filter, highlighting any sources of Anima. If your Arca is empty (its capacity is indicated in the symbol at the bottom right of the screen), you can select Anima sources to suck the Anima into the Arca. From there you can carry it around with you for as long as you like, until you wish to fill something else with your stored Anima, such as an empty Anima canister or a power cell for a switch or lever.

Not long after, you receive your wings, which allow you to jump incredible distances.  I really enjoyed the platforming in Forgotton Anne because you really get a sense of Anne’s weight and strength as you hang from platforms, pull yourself up, jump, land, and fall. That said, deploying the wings can feel a bit stiff at times. If you try to hold onto the wing activation button and the run button while readying yourself for a running leap, the wings briefly pop out to activate, then pop back in again while staying activated. It delays you for a few seconds and makes you wonder whether you still have everything set up for your next movement.

 

 

Your wings are powered by the Arca, which must be fully charged if you want to use them. A lot of the puzzles you encounter require you to think carefully about how to use the Arca, the Anima stored within, and the Anima in the environment. Other sections simply involve careful timing and deciding whether to run, jump, or used an improved version of either by employing the wings. Transferring Anima into other objects is the only way to deplete your Arca’s supply, while the wings simply draw on the power but don’t actually consume it. Additionally, your Arca holds exactly one unit of Anima, and when you use it or obtain more, you always use and receive the same amount (i.e. the Arca can only ever be full or empty).

Anne was given the Arca by Master Bonku, who rules over the Forgotten Lands with the promise of a return home to the human world. Master Bonku found her as a baby on the shores of the Forgotten Lands and has since raised her as his own. Bonku has promised a return home to “validated” Forgotlings – basically those with valid identification papers – who have been lucky enough to receive tickets to the Ether Bridge following its completion. Non-validated Forgotlings who disagree with Bonku’s idea that everyone wishes to return home to the human world make up the rebellion. These Forgotlings try to sabotage the construction of the Ether Bridge at every turn and release propaganda to poison other Forgotlings’ view of Bonku.

 

 

At the start of the game, after restoring Anima power to her home, a Forgotling breaches the Tower’s security and enters Anne’s home.  In Animavision, Anne can choose to distill Forgotlings, which means draining their Anima lifeforce and leaving them inanimate and, for all intents and purposes, dead. Here you are faced with your first choice of many choices in the game – do you distill him or not?

Forgotton Anne provides the player with constant choices. A lot of these boil down to what kind of character you wish to give Anne – abrasive, cold, and mercenary, or warm, naive and unsure. Other choices, such as the first choice to distill the intruder, have real weight in the game later on, which pleased me to no end. So many games that prompt the player to make definite A vs B choices like these often have no plan for how it will later develop the story or character. I also appreciated how the game wastes no time in introducing you to its core mechanics in a simple, easy-to-understand way, as well as throwing you into the deep end of making tough choices. I also really enjoyed the fact that the puzzles were suitably challenging, but not hard enough to make you frustrated. There was at least one time where I thought I would get stuck, but there were few enough options to try that I was able to easily deduce where I was going wrong and finally succeed.

 

 

Your choices, as well as general story events, are chronicled in your diary. This helps you keep track of the decisions you have made and the way you have interacted with certain Forgotlings. It’s also useful for remembering what your next move is, should you take a lengthy break while playing the game. Around Forgotten Lands you can also find mementos, which can be anything from rebel propaganda to sentimental items from Anne’s childhood. Mementos give you a bit of extra flavor regarding the world and the characters, but there are also other small bonuses and trophies relevant to this collectable, if you care about that sort of thing.

Now, let’s talk about the big one – audiovisual. Pheeeeeew. This game is, undoubtedly, one of the most gorgeous I’ve ever seen. Still, it’s not without its flaws, so let’s start with those. The animation and art for the more mobile characters sometimes feel clunky and disjointed, and not as high quality as the rest of the artwork. When Anne crawls through small spaces, the way the animation repeats is painfully stop-start and not smooth at all. It also makes the whole movement feel a million times slower.

 

 

 

Likewise, in later segments where Anne is in a terribly stressful situation, her repetitive motions used to free herself are accompanied with a bored, neutral face, and don’t ramp up in intensity with the music. It really detracts from the seriousness and intensity of the situation. It would also be nice if the infrequent profile picture that comes up when Anne muses on something would actually change depending on the situation. At one point she observes the body of an acquaintance and it still uses the same inquisitive face as always.

However, every single area of the game absolutely oozes character, which is helped by the accompanying music at every turn. The environments are absolutely beautiful, and more often than once I had to call over my boyfriend to gawp at some of the beautiful scenery that I had just discovered. The careful use of light and shadow and frequent use of silhouette in revealing and hiding things in the foreground and background is masterful. The lighting changes not only on the environments, but noticeably on Anne and the other characters as they move throughout the scenery. This careful attention to detail really adds to the game’s  charm and gives Forgotton Anne its own unique style while still clinging to that lovely Studio Ghibli aesthetic.  I honestly couldn’t get over how nice the art was, to the point that I’m struggling to find more creative ways of saying that it was gorgeous.

 

 

The entire score was performed by the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra. Remember how I said this game felt like something from the Ghibli workshop? This was one of the main contributing factors in that assessment. It’s incredible that an indie game was able to manage such an impressive score, performed by a group with such renown. Not only is the soundtrack breathtaking, it’s also varied and perfectly crafted to fit every scene. Not only that, but there are multiple variations on the same theme for different areas of the same building as you swap between planes or move up and down between floors.

If I had only one critique, it would be that there is no way to adjust anything but the master volume, as the voice acting was regularly drowned out by the music during key cutscenes. Thankfully, the subtitles are large and in charge and don’t distract from the visuals. In fact, I was even more amenable to the subtitling than usual because of the lovely yellow color that reminded me of watching subbed foreign movies and television shows on SBS.

 

 

The story progresses at an even clip and doesn’t have any slow sections, although if you get a little stuck on the puzzle you may find that you linger a little in some areas. The writing for each of the characters, down to the smallest and most forgettable (hah) Forgotling, is excellent. Even if a passing NPC is only afforded a few lines of dialogue, they are injected with plenty of character and are often quite entertaining. The voice acting is also varied and full of character. I think I only heard a few repeat voices across all the Forgotlings I encountered, and the voices for Anne and Master Bonku are fairly good, although not anything particularly dazzling. The voice of Fig, a Forgotling you meet later in the game, has such a magnificent and dramatic voice (helped by his magnificent and dramatic character) that I could have sworn he had stepped out of a Ghibli movie.

Forgotton Anne was actually way longer than I expected to be, and yet somehow it never, ever once felt slow, or like I could take a good break from it. I always wanted to keep going, although life and the need for sleep will always try to get in the way. You could probably finish Forgotton Anne in a single day if you really wanted, but I think two days would be a better estimate.

 

 

While I was able to guess quite a few of the story beats ahead of time, that may be down to being genre savvy. In truth, I don’t think Forgotton Anne is breaking any new ground story-wise on a very basic level, but the world built around the story makes up for it ten times over. Forgotton Anne is the kind of game you want to snuggle up with under a blanket with some hot chocolate while listening to the rain. I should know, because that’s how I had the pleasure of playing it.

After you complete Forgotton Anne, you are also given a space to return to past important decisions and play them out without affecting your current save. From this point you can also go back and pick up mementos that you missed to add to your collection. I have seen both endings (that I know of) and can say that while only one of them ever seemed like the right choice to me, the opposite choice completely fell flat and had little to no payoff. This is about the only area in the game where I felt the story was really lacking, because everything else from start to finish was handled very well.

 

 

Forgotton Anne is charming, delightful, and breathtakingly beautiful. While it does have audio balance issues, some clunky gameplay and some weird and unattractive animation and character design at times, I can happily give it an overwhelmingly positive review. It’s short, it’s sweet, and it’ll  charm the pants right off you. Forgotton Anne is released on Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC on 15 May 2018 – go get it, because you won’t regret it.

 

 

 

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

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Doughlings breaks out onto Steam

 

I think it can be said fairly safely that quite often the simplest ideas are the best. I remember when games generally weren’t all about awesome graphics, intricate mechanics or expansive plots. A lot of the reason for this is the consoles of yesterday, especially those of the 8 bit era and it’s predecessors couldn’t do anywhere near what we can now. Quite obviously every game pre-1992 didn’t suck balls and the reason for this is that instead of going for bells and whistles devs went for one simple thing. This was pure addictive re-playability. You could have been playing with a cluster of coloured blobs, (and frankly quite often you were,) but it didn’t matter because the game was fun. One concept that fits what I’m getting at here is any breakout related game. You have a paddle, a ball or two and some blocks. That’s it and you know what? That’s all that was needed for a really addictive experience. One of my favourite games back then was Arkanoid, and although it came a tad later in the 16 bit era it was just brilliant for it’s replayability. With this in mind a new game has erupted onto Steam called Doughlings: Arcade and assuming they haven’t mucked about with the concept too much it could well be a lot of fun.

Doughlings Arcade comes to us from Hero Concept and is said to make a few interesting changes to the brick buster concept while still sticking to the formula that many of us know and love. You take on the role of Dr. Morpheus and will go out in an attempt to save your Doughling friends who have been poisoned. There seems to be a slight case of multiple personalities going on here as in your quest to heal as many of the Doughling population as possible you will morph between seven different personas.

Each of the personas you can become has it’s own unique “show off” ability. These are power-ups designed not only to add some fun but also their own level of tactics to Doughlings: Arcade and can be leveled up a total of five times each. You are going to need them as well as you’ll to be facing a total of 90 levels of manic gameplay. Those of your that like to track your scores will be pleased to learn that each of these levels has it’s own leaderboard allowing you plenty of chance to hit top spot.

Something else that’s interesting about this game is that you’re being given a level editor. If nearly 100 levels of brick breaking fun isn’t enough for you, you can go and make a few of your own to test not only your skill but that of other players. If, of course, you aren’t really feeling that up to building something new for yourself you can also seach and play levels created by other gamers to give yourself a fresh challenge.

If you fancy going a bit retro fun, Doughlings: Arcade actually sounds quite good. Brick busters are known for getting really tricky, not only because these are games of skill and accuracy but that they can get immensely fast. Coming back to that notion of simple, addictive fun, this sounds like a title that could well hold up to that ideal and scratch your puzzling itch while you’re at it. If you want to go and have a look you’ll find this title available for download on Steam now.

 

 

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Western FPS Sky Noon gets a new trailer and a closed beta

 

If you’re a fan of the FPS genre, but can’t stand the grit and boots-on-the-ground realism of the Call of Duty or Battlefield franchises, then you’ll love Sky Noon. Like its contemporaries Overwatch and Paladins, Sky Noon is a chaotic, fast-paced adrenaline rush of a shooter. Unlike its contemporaries, however, Sky Noon is set in an alternate Wild West, complete with floating saloons, steam-punk Big Irons, and no shortage of squinting.

Sound intriguing? Then check out this brand new trailer and take a close look at the various Abilities (more on that later):

This trailer has been released in tandem with an announcement from publisher Reverb Triple XP. Sky Noon will be hosting a closed beta from May 23rd – 25th: if you want to get involved, you’ll have to join the official Discord channel and navigate to the Beta Key section. The keys will be handed out on a first come, first serve basis, and will be distributed on the 23rd at the start of the closed beta (that’s 12:00PM PDT). I’ve already done it…

Sky Noon pits teams of 1-4 players against one another in a host of game-modes, from standard Team Deathmatch through to King of the Hill. The environments are cramped, topographically extreme, and floating several thousand meters above the ground – this all caters to the game’s most interesting mechanic. There is no health in Sky Noon: instead, you’ll be using one of the many compressed air weapons to simply knock your opponent off the map and into oblivion.

Yikes.

To aid you in your survival, Sky Noon offers up a bunch of zany physics-defying tools, called Abilities. Jetpacks are standard (as I think they originally were, on the New Frontier) but you’ll also encounter jump pads, teleporters, grappling hooks, and lassos as you zip around the Wild, Wild West (ah no, lassos. I’m thinking of lassos). Of course, this all caters to some seriously intense gameplay.

Sky Noon will be launching in Q2 2018, via Steam’s Early Access facility. If you want to know more, check out the official site here, or the Steam page right here.

 

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Escape the Maw with Little Nightmares Complete Edition on the Switch

 

Adding to an already impressive roster of horror games for a portable system, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment has announced that LITTLE NIGHTMARES Complete Edition will be coming to the Nintendo Switch May 18th, 2018. Joining the likes of Layers of Fear and Detention, Six will now attempt to escape the Maw in 720p at 30FPS on both handheld and TV modes, with HD rumble capabilities ensuring you get the most of your spooky experience.

In addition to the full game, owners of the LITTLE NIGHTMARES Complete Edition will receive the Upside-Down Teapot and Scarecrow Mask, a bonus previously only available through the pre-ordered console version, as well as all the stories from The Secret of the Maw Expansion Pass. This includes The Depths, The Hideaway, and The Residence, wherein players take control of a character known only as the Kid and attempt another daring escape separate from Six’s story. Finally, as a bonus, owners of the Pac-Man amiibo can expect a neat little easter-egg in the form of the Pakku mask, which is wearable in both the base game and the Secret of Maw expansions.

If you haven’t played LITTLE NIGHTMARES yet and just can’t wait for the Switch release, it is available for purchase now on PS4, Xbox One and PC. However, with the plethora of bonus content you’ll receive with the Switch version, even die-hard fans of the game will be hard pressed not to purchase this cult-favorite all over again.

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