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Showing posts with label Batterystaple Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Batterystaple Games. Show all posts
30XX, the sequel to developer Batterystaple Games’ mega-roguelite platformer
20XX which has been enjoyed by hundreds of thousands, brings one last batch of
jumping and shooting action before its full v1.0 release next year. The Rival
Update adds in a multitude of fan-requested features via a Steam Early Access
patch today.
The Rival Update adds an insidious
invading NPC named Delta that attacks protagonists Nina and Ace through stages,
aiming to bring early ends to the robo-heroes' runs.
Sometimes it’s not just a fight Nina and
Ace’s rival challenges them to. Take on more daring modifiers bestowed by Delta
throughout the rest of a level for extra rewards as well as sweet bragging
rights
Even fans looking for expanded lore
receive a revamped story campaign with five hidden, conditional endings to
uncover (with more to come). Similar to the F through Z endings of Nier
Automata, only the most dedicated of sleuths can find the required actions to
uncover the alternate future.
30XX is available now on PC via Steam Early Access with a full launch coming
to consoles next year.
Batterystaple Games is an independent
developer founded by Chris King. Scattered across the globe, the team aims to
create crisp, satisfying action games that players can enjoy with friends and
continue to come back to for years to come. The studio’s first project, 20XX,
has sold more than 200,000 copies across Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4,
and Xbox One. The team also published Jamestown+, the revival of Final Form
Games’ classic bullet hell shooter.
Set a thousand years down
the line from 20XX, 30XX sees the return of Nina and
Ace for all of your fast paced, single player or coop, roguelike
challenged platforming needs! Having just released in Early
Access, there's already a fair bit to challenge
yourself on through two separate modes.
The first of these modes is the Standard Mode which has a more
“classic” feel to it in which you either do or die through a
series of random AND randomly generated stages. The second mode, Mega
Mode, is a bit more forgiving as you not only get to pick which stage
you want to try to tackle, but you also get to keep making yourself
tougher each time without the risk of losing it all and starting back
from zero every time.
In either mode though, you’ll be able to acquire / purchase two
types of upgrades. The first, augments, allow you to increase your
base attack power, movement speed, maximum health (while in effect),
jumping height, and so on. In a neat twist at times, some of these
upgrades are double edge swords as while an augment can speed you up
and make you lighter to move faster and jump further, it’ll
decrease your attack. So a bit of balancing is required as what’s
the point in moving around stupid fast if you can’t actually take
out your enemies at the same time.
The other type of upgrades are more permanent “account” based
ones that will translate between the two modes. While augments can be
found in the classic, you lose them on death. In the more lenient
mode, you can buy them for bolts, this world’s currency, and
they’ll be in effect making you quite the force to be reckoned
with. As for the more permanent upgrades however, these come at a
much higher cost requiring you to beat stage bosses in order to
obtain the materials required and they may not always drop the
material that you are looking for. It’s a good thing that 30XX is
all about the challenge and racing through to repeatedly tackle these
bosses under different circumstances.
Gameplay overall is fairly solid bringing that faster paced Mega Man
X style back again while we keep getting radio silence from Capcom.
Either Nina or Ace (X or Zero really), can run, jump, dash, wall
jump, slide down walls and get power ups from defeated bosses.
Kicking things up notch are the above mentioned Augment and Upgrade
Systems that can change your gameplay for the better or the worse
depending on what these upgrades do such as reducing the distance of
your shots for a closer more shotgun-like spread. If you don’t like
that one though you can always turn it off which was great.
All of the above said though, if you don’t find the current level
of challenges enough, if the random layouts of each stage is just not
doing it for your level of challenge / you’re that hardcore type of
person that REALLY wants to be challenged, there are options for
that! Side to all of the upgrades, if there’s something that you
want to spice up such as making levels longer, making the environment
and enemies do more damage to you, making things more expensive or
putting yourself on a timer that if it runs out you get poisoned
until you die, then these are definitely items to experiment with.
Summary
Otherwise, there’s still plenty of content to come as several
bosses and their stages are not yet in place. I’m looking forward
to seeing what comes next as 30XX is shaping up to be as good as its
predecessor 20XX in a void where we aren’t really getting any new
Mega Man games especially within the X Series.
If it gets better than this I don’t know. 20XX from Batterystaple Games is EXACTLY what I’ve been wanting out of Capcom for YEARS. While it may not have the story elements that the Mega Man and Mega Man X series eventually came to have, 20XX has everything that is needed and so much more for one of the best damned platformers that I’ve played in a while. Essentially giving me X in the form of Nina and Zero in the form of Ace, there’s more procedurally generated levels than I can shake a stick at in the almost Roguelike experience that they’ve created.
This is going to sound like gushing but damn. Just about everything about 20XX is damned near perfect. Having been playing Mega Man since the age of four? Five? I’ve been invested for a long, long time and having seen the 25th Anniversary come and go and nothing? 20XX has filled that void and then some making the upcoming Mega Man 11 going to have to really bring its A-Game because it has large shoes to fill after this. Essentially making a homage to Mega Man 2 in the opening video and then to Mega Man X 4-5-8 with the option of ranged (Nina in blue) and melee (Ace in red) you can set out to either play the main 20XX mode in order to unlock permanent and temporary upgrades or tackle a variety of daily or weekly challenges.
20XX isn’t just designed as a homage with a few bosses thrown in with a bunch of powers that you can use to defeat whichever other boss correlates to that power. Instead, what you have is a variety of unique bosses that you tackle in almost a random assorted way one after another until either they are all defeated or you are. If you bite the dust? Back to base. There are a ton of upgrades that can be bought, currency to help you buy upgrades on a current run or to restore your health. Current run you ask? Yes. 20XX is built for both speedrunners and normal players alike rewarding the bold and taking out the unworthy!
As long as you are in the 20XX mode, chips can be amassed in order to buy several things back at base. The first, and to me the most important, are the permanent mods. These can increase your base attack or ability damage, your health and energy bars or grant you bonuses on certain stages in the form of chests that can be broken for money and restorative items. The second are boosts to your next run, the same style of upgrades apply but they aren’t permanent. The last of the options are to unlock new items to show up in your subsequent runs. Some of them are better than what are already available while others may be less than stellar but hey, any boots that make you go faster is a good thing!
Because everything is designed in runs, only what you take with you from the base will carry over as long as it was a permanent purchase. While out in the levels you’ll be finding plenty of upgrades to your health, your energy, your weapons and your armor. Sometimes these will come out of chests or boxes lying around while other times you’ll have to purchase them from the random shops that pop up here and there and they are always worth checking out at least once per level as the stock doesn’t change until the level does. Even the armors and buster upgrades are easy come, easy go. These will only be with you for the current run and afterwards you can say goodbye to them. Having different sets however with plenty of combinations to try, you’ll also want to find the upgrade that lets you use bonuses from random armor pieces instead of a fully equipped set.
As for the gameplay itself, 20XX plays a lot like Mega Man X. Both Nina and Ace can run, dash and wall jump across the various terrains while shooting their enemies out of the way. It’s honestly perfect and whether you’ve played MMX 1-2-3-4-5-6-8 or just one of them, it’ll feel at home. Yes I leave out the Black Sheep and my personal favorite of MMX7 because it went 3D and wasn’t exactly the most well received. I had more issues with 8 since they screwed up Zero’s hair which was a dinky ponytail instead of an epic golden mane.
The greatest thing about it all though is that while being familiar in a gameplay style, you can’t simply sit on your hands and do it blindfolded with your toes. I wouldn’t be surprised if some record breaker has tried it, and no, I’m not looking it up online either. The reason for this is that the levels are in a constant shift. What was there at one point may not be there the next. The designs shift keeping things interesting. What’s more, is that because 20XX is designed in runs, each stage becomes harder than the previous with your enemies having more armor and more power. It keeps you on your toes and its brilliant!
The final greatness comes into choice. You can either go into the main mode or you can go into the challenges. You can play either in single player or in coop with a friend putting both Nina and Ace out onto the field. Finally, you can choose to pick up a boss power, money, or a random bonus after their defeat, or walk away from it all. Looking at the list of trophies for the PSN, there are a lot of different styled runs out there in increasing difficulty for Bronze, Silver and Gold trophies. Regardless, it’s up to you as to how you want to approach it. Sometimes the money is the best choice because you need to buy health from a machine in the next stage assuming there is one. It is random afterall.
Fans of Mega Man X, 20XX is for you. It’s everything that you’ve probably wanted since the last release fourteen years ago back in 2004. It’s fun, it’s well built and even more, it’s designed for even those that only have time for a stage or two before having to run out the door with a quick save option. The only downside? There’s no real story. That’s it.
20XX is all the classic gameplay with modern accuracy and responsiveness that you need for both your platforming needs and the void that Capcom have left since the last release of the Mega Man X series.
Game Information
Platform:
Sony PlayStation 4 Developer(s):
Batterystaple Games Publisher(s):
Batterystaple Games
Fire Hose Games Genre(s):
Action
Platformer Mode(s):
Single Player
Coop Other Platform(s):
Nintendo Switch
PC
