DATE A LIVE: Rio Reincarnation - PC Review

Date-A-Live is a long running novel series in Japan, complete with an anime, side volumes, and 20 main volumes released. Rio Reincarnation is actually a set of three Visual Novels that would be considered side-stories from the main novels, consisting of Rinne Utopia, Arusu Install, and Rio Reincarnation, now available in North America for your viewing pleasure.

I should probably preface the bulk of this review with two things. First, I’ve actually read a lot of the actual novels, at least past the point that they are relevant to the game, or games in this case, which was volume 11 or 12. That being said, if you’ve either watched the anime or read volume 7, then you’ll basically have all you need to know. Alternatively, there’s a handy digest under Rio Reincarnation (as opposed to under the banner of Rinne Utopia or Arusu Install) that summarizes up to the point you need. Secondly, since these are all side-stories, all the main characters, or “true route” characters, can’t have any impact on the main series, meaning a lot of the character endings end up either feeling very lackluster, or require a box of tissues on hand to soak up your tears.

Since these types of Visual Novels are basically “choose your waifu”, I’ll just give you a general layout of the premise behind each, although they do all build off each other, so it is suggested to play them in order of: Rinne Utopia, Arusu Install, Rio Reincarnation. The basic gist of the series as a whole is that there are these “spirits” that are invading the world, and they cause “space-quakes” when they emerge into the real world from their spirit realm.

In true harem/galge fashion, for whatever reason (actually explained in the novels), all the spirits are female. Also, they aren’t really invading, they’re just trying to exist, and have no real control over when they get ejected from the spirit realm, to an extent at least. The main character, Itsuka Shido, has the power to seal the power of the spiits provided he can make them fall in love with him and then kiss him. While this is actually explained in the novels, it’s not really important to the trilogy that is part of the “Rio Reincarnation” release. Hence, the only way to prevent spirit related damage is to either kill them or kiss them **queue ending theme song from first anime season**.

Your cast of date-able targets include the already sealed spirits as well as the title characters, for the most part. Rinne Utopia starts off the three part package with Shido having an issue with the power of the spirits running the risk of going berserk. In order to quell this, he must go on dates with them to help stabilize their mental state. Arusu Install has the previous game gang plus a few more trapped in a virtual reality game trying to teach an AI what love is through a series of potentially very wacky “love situations”, as they’re so deemed. Rio Reincarnation is more or less of an append or bonus to Rinne Utopia with the basis of Rinne Utopia’s world setting popping up again, and a young girl who calls herself Shido’s daughter, and tries too give a sort of option for all the “dead end” characters.

All the games play in the same fashion, as most Visual Novels tend to do. You read text and make choices, and there is a town map where you can view skits with friends and side characters, and then choose a date-able target. You can view two side skits before having to choose a girl to take on a date. There isn’t really anything else, other than the fact that the games can actually rely on you seeing certain endings in order to unlock additional routes. Everything else is pretty standard Visual Novel fare.

The art is nice, and I’m pretty sure the character graphics are done by the same people who you may know for the Neptunia franchise, so they have that “active” feel as they breathe and blink along with you. The music didn’t bother me either, which tends to be a really big issue I have with most Visual Novels. My favorite part of the Date-A-Live series as a whole though is just how entertaining and diverse the characters tend to be. Yes, the writing is rather good, with serious sections punctuated with some slapstick humor here and there, and events that may make you reach for the tissue box. More than that though, every character always seemed really unique to me, like there isn’t really any overlap between characters and they always have something that keep them from being a generic character trope representation.

With characters with a wide array of personalities, a solid written script, solid visuals and a really basic system, there’s a lot going on in favor of Rio Reincarnation (the package). There were some issues with the games occasionally “freezing”, where you could hear the game progressing, but nothing happened on screen. Thankfully tabbing out and then back in solved that problem.

You get a lot out of Rio Reincarnation, with three games worth of content, and a bunch of extras in the form of bonus 4-komas and even some bonus novel segments that you can read in the extras. Date-A-Live isn’t for everyone, and if you’re looking for a lot of fanservice then you’re probably going to be disappointed, but if you want a rather legitimate story with some humor and don’t mind the harem-y aspect, I would implore you to give Date-A-Live Rio Reincarnation a try, or even take a stab at the anime or actual novels.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Compile Heart
Publisher(s):
Idea Factory International
Genre(s):
Visual Novel
Dating Simulator
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
PS4

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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The Last Spell Launching on PC and Mac in 2020

Lille, France — August 6, 2019 — The Last Spell, the turn-based tactical RPG with roguelite elements from CCCP where hardened heroes defend humanity’s final bastion from hordes of blood-starved monstrosities, fights against the darkness on PC and Mac via Steam in 2020. A Nintendo Switch™ version is planned for a later date.

The Schools of Magic’s arcane arms race nearly resulted in the complete destruction of the world. This calamitous spell enveloped the land in a mist filled with hellish monsters. Everything and everyone touched by the mist was killed, driven mad, or transformed into abominations themselves. The only solution is to cast one last spell to utterly eradicate all magic from the realms.

To cast this final spell, those left alive must band together to protect magicians as they attempt to break seals protecting monstrous bosses. Prepare each day by building new defenses, setting traps, replacing any mages devoured by the beasts, and equipping weapons. The Last Spell’s class-less characters have a high degree of customizability — weapons determine their abilities, and each hero can equip two instruments of death.

By night, eradicate the onslaught of horrors with devastating area-of-effect attacks and spells before they can reach the magicians. Hundreds of enemies can swarm the heroes every night, so fight each battle like it’s the last. Fast-and-furious grid-based combat encourages party optimization and aggressive play instead of hunkering down and anticipating each move the demons make.

Pluck the very souls out of enemies by dealing mortal blows to them. Striking down multiple creatures in a single combo earns more souls. Beware, each character can die permanently. Upon death, Beings of Light and Darkness will exchange harvested souls for permanent boons that will help in the next attempt.

Witness the grim hopelessness of humanity through The Last Spell’s high-quality pixel art. An electronic soundtrack fusing heavy metal with dark synth punctuates the medieval post-apocalyptic fantasy horror atmosphere. Grab an axe, hurl a fireball, and save the world or die trying.

“We love tactical RPGs, but sometimes they get bogged down by playing the waiting game,” said Matthieu Richez, founder of CCCP Entertainment. “We designed the world of The Last Spell to thematically encourage desperate determination in the face of horrific odds.”

The Last Spell comes to PC and Mac via Steam 2020 with a Nintendo Switch version coming at a later date. For more information, please visit the official website.

About CCCP

CCCP is a small indie developer focused on creating games with strong single-player experiences for players who like challenging and meaningful gameplay. The team crafts memorable games combining both light-hearted humor and complex stories. Everyone aboard enjoys beer and penguins, the latter of which helped decide the company’s logo.

For more information on CCCP Entertainment, please visit their official website.



Article by Susan N.

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PlataGO - Switch Review Revisited

Original Review - Score has been amended to this one

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When I review a game that is so clearly aimed at nostalgia, I tend to view that game as though it wields a philtre, tugging on the nostalgia to endear itself to the gamer.  The problem with this is that different people grew up with different games, and some of us like a given genre of games more than others.

This flaw in reasoning is evident with PlataGO, and after hearing from the developer, I know that in some capacities, I was straight up incorrect.  I leaned rather heavily upon my disdain of the physics, but as it turns out, the default physics (which were the ones chosen after years of community-driven preferences) are indeed changeable through the fine-tuning menu available.  In this instance, these things fell through the cracks due to the sheer amount of customisation available to creators.

The fact that the community of level creators don't use these is simply a community liking a specific thing, in much the way that Mario Maker speedrunners like kaizo blocks (which are hidden blocks set over gaps designed to be hit and cause you to die) and impossible jumps... something that the majority of the playerbase would detest.

They've also mentioned the version differences, noting that if there are enough users to warrant continued support (Nobody can fault a developer for directing their attention towards the platform of the game with the majority of users) that a sprite editor will be added in via an update in the future.

Information being the best way to avoid mistakes, and so armed now, I find myself much more appreciative of this piece of software.  It's still not quite what I was expecting, but it is so much more than I thought that it was.  I am sufficiently suffonsified with PlataGO.

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
pQube
Publisher(s):
pQube
Genre(s):
Platformer
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Marc H.

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Oninaki - Switch Preview

The sign of a great developer is one that refines its craft over time, and with its third title, Tokyo RPG Factory is a prime case of this. From the turned based RPG of I Am Setsuna that I quite enjoyed, to the more tactical Lost Sphere that I really need to play more of the intro, Oninaki takes to the action RPG realm with switching spirits that act as your weapons. Acting a big like Knights of Azure, Tokyo Game Factory and Square Enix have provided a "demo" which while clocking in at about an hour to an hour and a half if you grind a bit, is the actual game's introduction and the data carries over to the main game.

The premise of Oninaki is an interesting one. In this cell shaded chibi-esque world, death is not something to be sad about, or rather, is something that one should not be sad about. Being sad, resentful, or even holding onto what’s now gone can cause the spirit of the deceased to stick around and prevent it from going through the motions of re-incarnation. While this is basically the premise for a lot of ghost stories, in this case the rule applies to both the living and the dead as both can keep one from moving on.

In order to keep the balance between the living and the dead, an order known as the Watchers exist to help move the souls of the departed along. Being able to shift between the real world and the realm of the spirits, you’ll be taking control of the Watcher known as Kagachi as he and his partner Mayura perform their duties alongside their Daemon which were souls that could not move on or be corrupted and whose only purpose is to be used as weapons in battle. Or that’s what everyone has been lead to believe...

It’s a brilliantly designed premise because not only is it part of the world’s lore, it’s also part of the game’s mechanics. Moving around town or the surrounding locations, you’ll be coming across spirits that need help moving on, monsters that need defeating and other Daemons that are available to lend assistance to your overall tasks. Gameplay is fluid enough but in the early minutes it can seem very basic, and honestly, quite boring until you start to level up your primary Daemon and the newer one that joins up with you once you’ve taken on the first boss.

A nice touch with the Daemon is that they don’t play the same way. Your starting sword user is much faster and agile than your Lancer who unlike the dodging swordswoman, can’t dodge, but can jump. Add in special abilities that can be unlocked through a node system further helps to separate the experience making combat itself in terms of ideas, Nights of Azure, but in technical perspectives, The Witch and the Hundred Knight. Only really having access to two so far, I’m sure there will be plenty of other options once the full version will be in our hands.

So with nothing more than a quick look so far, I’m looking forward to the full release of Oninaki later this month. That said, we’ll be back with a full review down the road as this looks like it’s going to be a massive and wonderful experience.

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
Tokyo RPG Factory
Publisher(s):
Square Enix
Genre(s):
RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4
PC

Source:
eShop Demo

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Gloomhaven - PC Preview

Having just hit Early Access, Gloomhaven by Flaming Fowl Studios is the latest tabletop board game to see a transition from the physical realm to the digital one. For those not familiar with this one, Gloomhaven is a giant of a game that can be played with anywhere from one to four players and it doesn’t need a Dungeon or Game Master. With all progression based off of flipped cards, how far you make it is half chance and half tactical genius as Gloomhaven is not for the faint of heart or those looking for an easy time.

Having just launched, Gloomhaven has only one mode available, and technically speaking, it was a lot to take in as I haven’t had a chance to sit down to the actual tabletop yet. Coming later during development will be the Tutorial, the Campaign and Multiplayers options. In the meantime, there’s just adventure mode which sets you immediately off on an adventure after picking the characters that you want to use in which each set has the displayed difficulty adjustment for your adventure.

Starting off from a “central point” your party will have three choices in order to make their way to the goal of the adventure. There’s an Easy, Medium and Hard path available to follow and even the easy path at first will be hard while getting the hang of things. Moving from your central point to where you want to eventually want to land, you’ll have stop points in which different events can happen. Very first time out, I came across a corpse on the side of the road and while it was rotten and coming apart, I spotted that it had shiny boots that would still be used. Having a few different choices like leaving them behind or taking them, the choice that I picked in order to take them got my party poisoned which made my first battle encounter pretty rough.

Right now, you’re told from off the bat that this is going to be fairly battle heavy for the time being. So getting into the first “room” that got put down, my party of two was to face off against a multitude of enemies from human to undead, melee to ranged. This, right here, is where Gloomhaven freaking shines.

For every round, each character on the board gets a turn. For every turn that the characters get, they get to pick from two cards of their deck that can be played out on that turn. Each card that you can pick from has two actions, one on the top of the card and one on the bottom. When choosing an action, you pick the top action of one of the cards and then the bottom action of the other. This gives you a few choices depending on how things progress after the turn started and the initiatives have been decided.

While the above sounds easy as you pick your cards and play your turn, each time you play your cards they get discarded into a pile and cannot be used until you take a turn to reshuffle your deck. Even this would be easy enough however once you’ve used some cards there’s the possibility that they get burned and cannot be used again. If that happens, the amount of cards that you have left to shuffle back in gets smaller. Also everytime you shuffle, it costs one card that get burned, leaving you again with even less. A quick shuffle takes away one card at random. A full shuffle that takes the whole turn and restores health lets you pick the card to throw away.

So what happens when you run out of cards? You die. It’s actually a pretty drastic result which is what makes Gloomhaven very challenging. You can only move if a card allows you to move. You can only hit if a card tells you that you can hit. Melee, ranged, healing, they are all options but options that have to be so well calculated that you can honestly expect to wipe out for the first few times as you get a grasp on how things work. It’s tough, but it’s so damned rewarding when you make it through.

The style of gameplay is perfect for a digital version. You don’t need to worry about table space, you don’t need to worry about calculating all of the math yourself and you don’t need to worry about Catzilla knocking everything down once you’ve left the house for work. Adding in animations that can be viewed from up close or from very high up, and you can play it your way in a streamlined fashion. The only thing that I would really like to have added in would be an option to speed up the gameplay as things feel a bit slow for me at the moment. I’m more of a make units move fast turned based strategy type of person.

This is only our first look at Gloomhaven. Having just started Early Access and only having the Adventure Mode available, we’ll be back when the Tutorials and the Campaigns unlock which should provide a much easier entry to people not familiar with the game. For those willing to dive into Gloomhaven in the meantime, there’s plenty of resource material under the How to Play section that will get you up and running as long as you’re willing to put in the time to read through the rules.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Flaming Fowl Studios
Publisher(s):
Asmodee Digital
Genre(s):
Tabletop
Turned Based Strategy
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Pierre-Yves

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The Forbidden Arts - PC Review

The Forbidden Arts by Stingbot Games, which originally hit Early Access back in early 2018, has finally come to completion with it’s launch on the PC, the Xbox One and the Nintendo Switch with the PS4 version slated just a bit later this year. Taking the role of a young man named Phoenix, you’ll be jumping around both 2D and 3D environments as you learn the ways of Pyromancy while trying to save the world from an evil Necromancer.

From the very beginning, I had high hopes for The Forbidden Arts and the final version definitely delivers. Having now played multiple versions, the refinements are clear to see from where it all started to where it is now. Taking two different approaches, The Forbidden Arts is both a 2D action platformer for each stage, and a 3D platformer for the overworld. This blend of styles works fairly well as each feels both unique but unified as Phoenix looks the same and the controls are just as smooth in one as they are in the other.

Unlike the very first version that allowed for death on the overworld, the newest versions removed that possibility switching to a much lighter experience in which you hunt for gold blocks as you move between each stage. These golden blocks, while limited on the overworld, and in much greater amounts within the stages, unlock challenge shrines on the overworld that put your skills to the test for health and fire ability upgrades. Each shrine require ten, twenty, thirty, forty or fifty blocks to unlock so searching high and low is required if you want to get these upgrades that will make your life a bit easier when going through each stage.

The stages themselves are challenging but never above the challenge of what you have access to as long as you play your cards right. You can run, jump, wall jump, launch fireballs, put up a flame shield, speed boost, jump boost and heat vision your way through the darkest of environments. What was really need about these abilities is that there was always a time and a place for them whether it was for particular moments in a stage, or whether it was for a boss fight three quarters of the way through the adventure.

Boss fights can only really be described as “legit”. Each boss fight thankfully doesn’t use the rule of “three”. You don’t just rinse and repeat the same crap three times to beat them. While you have to technically hit each boss four times, the method in which you have to hit them changes after hitting them two and three times. This keeps things interesting until the end of the fight instead of just zoning out to the same pattern until you’re done.

Leading up to these bosses are lengthily stages which open up points on the overworld once you’ve made your way past them. This lets you revisit specific locations when looking for something instead of having to go all the way back from the beginning. Each of these stages has a distinct feel to it both in visual appearance and in gameplay elements. Some require loads of wall jumping, others require true platforming skills as you can’t wall slide on ice, and others require some fair bits of swordplay as unless you can move fast enough, you’re not getting through certain hordes of enemies.

While combat isn’t as much the focal point as the platforming is, it’s quite present and while it’s a do or die in boss battles, in the stages you can either choose to fight your enemies your simply pass them right on by. You basically only have one physical attack that works in a 1-2-3 combo. Hitting your enemies is simple enough but after a few hits they'll become invincible requiring you to back off before they retaliate. Launching fireballs from sometimes even offscreen is also a viable solution as they’ll be dead all the same. That all said, it fits and you’ll want to go a bit out of your way in order to upgrade your blades.

While I could technically complain about water, or floor spikes instantly killing you, they help to make The Forbidden Arts a bit more old school in the sense of “learn how to do it”, or “never see the end of a stage”. There’s no questioning that it’s challenging, but the reward is worth it. The stages, the boss fights, and the challenges plus the challenge factors all wrap up into a nice package that any platforming fan should try out.

Having seen the end of its development, Stingbot Games’ The Forbidden Arts is a platformer worth looking into. With plenty of refinement from the start of its Early Access to the final releases on both the PC and the consoles, this 2D meets 3D adventure of a Pyromancer coming into his power is a lot of fun.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Stingbot Games, Inc.
Publisher(s):
Stingbot Games, Inc.
Genre(s):
Action
Adventure
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Consoles on launch

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Zombie Driver: Immortal Edition - Switch Review

Cars, zombies, guns, what’s more to need? Welcome to the world of zombie apocalypse run and gun, or in this case drive and gun. Let’s mow ‘em down and plow ‘em down, cuz it’s time to roll out!

Zombie Driver plays like something you would find in an arcade, or maybe on Newgrounds back in the day. Well, the better part of Newgrounds, at least. You’ve got a top-down view of your car, and you drive around town, or the arena your mission relegates you to, running over and shooting zombies. You have the standard forward-reverse sometimes sketchy turning controls, as well as a nitro boost for plowing through a large swathe of zombies, especially since hitting them slows you down. You also have a slew of weapons available to help get rid of your undead foes.

There are three modes to keep you entertained:

Story Mode, Blood Race mode, and Survival mode. Story mode gives you the basic quest mode, where you’re given a task to do, as well as a subtask, that you complete for money and upgrades for your cars. As you progress through the story missions, you can unlock other cars that can be used in the other modes. The tasks you’re given can range from escort mission to killing a horde of zombies.

The blood race mode isn’t as self-explanatory as you might think. Yes, there are races involved, but there are also elimination and time-attack style modes within blood race as well. In elimination mode you have to destroy as many other vehicles as possible within the time limit, and in the time-attack style mode you’re racing to checkpoints to extend your time, seeing how long you can go for.

Survival mode is pretty cut and dry, you’ve got an arena type area, a bunch of zombies, kill as many as you can before your car gets destroyed.

Overall, while there are a lot of modes that are offered, Zombie Driver is pretty basic in what it offers, which is just what a game like this needs. The story missions are generally quick and uncomplicated, and the blood race and survival modes are pretty easy to understand as well. While the voice acting definitely left something to be desired, and while the writing is a little cringy at times, it isn’t to the point where it should really affect how much enjoyment you get. The controls feel a little rubber-banded, not in the sense that enemies get better with you, but rather the more you try and turn, the faster you turn, which often lead to me crashing into walls and houses, or going down the wrong street.

Ultimately, Zombie Driver is one of those games you pick up to play while you’re on the bus, or in the car (not driving) going somewhere. It’s a great title to pick up for a mission/round or two, but it definitely isn’t something I’d be able to sit down with for more than half an hour to an hour at a time, maximum. With the portability the Switch offers, if you use your Switch as a handheld more than a console, this may be that title to fill in the time for your weekly commute that you’ve been looking for.

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
EXOR Studios
Publisher(s):
EXOR Studios
Genre(s):
Action
Racing
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Zombie Driver HD - PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus - Heretic - PC Review

Back over the Christmas holidays and into the new year I had the chance to sit down to Bulwark Studio’s Turned Based Strategy Warhammer 40K: Mechanicus. Taking control of your troops from the safety of your ship, you got to control them through a holographic table that outlined the planet below where they were deployed. Having just recently added more content, Mechanicus is back with both a new discipline for your Tech Priests and a whole new scenario that has you fighting against your own people on your own ship!

Starting off with perhaps what I thought was the bigger inclusion to Mechanicus is the new discipline for Tech Priests. Basing a discipline straight off of the Necron forces, your new tree to level into provides plenty of restorative possibilities like regenerating health per round or flat out being able to restore several hit points with a permanent skill that goes into cooldown. The catch to all of this hit point regeneration comes at the price of losing hit points for every single attack that the Tech Priest makes. Shooting a weapon that takes no CP or several CP will both knock you down a hit point so if you’re making several attacks in one round make sure that you can actually survive a hit from the surrounding enemies.

The reason that I found the inclusion of the new path the bigger addition to Mechanicus is because it can be used right from the beginning. Restarting your travels and explorations of the Necron world you can go straight into that tree and see how it unfolds over time instead of having to meld into it when the world is halfway or three quarters awakened depending on how far you’ve made it. Side to this new tech tree though is the inclusion of a new scenario that raises the bar a bit as it acts quite differently than the core experience.

Partway through your travels when levels start going from all easy to easy / normal or even normal / hard you’ll have a new option open up at the bottom but don’t trust it when it says that it’s easy. It really isn’t but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t fun even if I got wiped the first time that I tried it as it was clear that it was too early for me to have tried it. Opening up with a new series of dialog that you have defectors on your very own ship that have also taken parts of your troops with them, it’s up to you as to how you want to deal with them but it’ll be a little bit different this time.

Being on your own ship, you won’t exactly be hovering over your table until it’s time to open up a can of whoopass. So instead of moving from room to room, you’ll instead go straight to a series of decisions that can affect the battle ahead. Do you quietly take out a sentry while they aren’t paying attention? Do you send your forces in weapons blazing and blades severing? Or do you just keep on moving. Your first decision will bleed into the next which after a few of these and plenty of dialog between your advisors, it’ll finally be time to launch into combat on your own ship and fighting Tech Priests and your own style of forces? It requires a bit of a different touch than the Necrons on the planet below but at least when you knock your enemy down, they are down and out. Once finished the first part, you go back to your planet exploration until the time that the next part opens up.

The inclusion of this new content is a great addition if you want to start off from scratch and use it to your benefit. While the new class may be a bit harder to incorporate into your battle plans halfway through your exploration or crusade on the planet below, the battles on your own ship are timed perfectly as you should definitely have the gear and your Tech Priests loaded with enough firepower to show to those that defected that it was a bad idea to piss you off.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Bulwark Studios
Publisher(s):
Kasedo Games
Genre(s):
Turned Based Strategy
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Garfield Kart Furious Racing Releases in November

Take on your opponents in this fast and furious racing game where anything goes!

Paris – Tuesday 30 July 2019 – Today, Microids and Paws, Inc. are announcing the upcoming release of the game Garfield Kart Furious Racing! The game will be available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Steam on 7 November in Europe and on 5 November in the United States.

Fans of racing, cats and lasagna: get ready! Garfield, the world-famous cat, is back to take on Jon, Odie and their friends in this racing game where anything goes! Each of the available characters and karts (which can be customised with dozens of accessories) has its own characteristics and a unique driving style: make a strategic choice to match your playing style so that you can cross the finish line in first place! Get off to the best start on the starting line and master tough skids to save time and win the race.

Crazy bonus items will be available too, including the pillow and the magic wand, to give you the edge over your competitors. Are you as lazy as Garfield? Take shortcuts and use the Spring to overtake everyone else!

The Garfield Kart Furious Racing game is perfect for playing with friends or family and features 16 iconic tracks from the world of Garfield, including Palerock Lake and the Pastacosi Factory. Compete in online races with up to 8 players and split-screen races with up to 4 players. Nintendo Switch players can take advantage of local, wireless connections to connect up to 8 consoles!

Three game modes will be available to please even the toughest of drivers: Grand Prix, Single Race and Time Trial.

***

Ready to cross the finish line?

Reunite with the series’ 8 iconic characters (Garfield, Odie, Jon, Nermal, Arlene, Liz, Harry and Squeak) from 7 November 2019 in Europe and 5 November 2019 in the United States on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Steam!

 

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See all our videos on Youtube

About Microids

Over the last few years, Microids has built up a solid catalogue of games for PC and next-generation consoles. Its work with well-known studios and authors (Pendulo Studios, Eden Games, Paul Cuisset, Benoit Sokal...) and its adaptations of famous licences (Asterix, Blacksad, Vertigo, Garfield....) have enabled it to reach a wide audience.

About Garfield

GARFIELD was born on the comics pages on June 19, 1978. The creation of cartoonist Jim Davis, GARFIELD is a humorous strip centered on the lives of a quick-witted orange cat who loves lasagne, coffee, and his remote control; Jon Arbuckle, his owner; and Odie, a sweet but dumb dog. GARFIELD was introduced to the world in just 41 newspapers and is now the most widely syndicated comic strip ever, appearing in 2100 newspapers. The strip, distributed by Universal Press, is read by over 200 million people each day and is translated into 42 languages.  The success of the comic strip spawned an entertainment empire including television: Garfield and Friends (1988-1995), The Garfield Show, currently on Cartoon Network in 130 countries, a dozen primetime specials; movies, including Garfield: The Movie and Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties; hundreds of best-selling books, and thousands of licensed products.

Garfield has long been considered an evergreen property because he has not only endured, but continues to be fresh and funny after 36 years in the limelight.

Follow Garfield, along with over 17 million other fans, on Facebook and Twitter, and visit www.garfield.com, and Garfield’s free educational site.

About Paws, Inc.

Cartoonist Jim Davis’ company, Paws, Inc., was founded in 1981 to handle the creative end of the Garfield licensing business. Today, Paws is the sole owner of all copyrights and trademarks for the Garfield property, and controls not only the creative angle of the fat cat’s flourishing empire, but also the licensing, marketing, and brand management of Garfield and the Garfield characters.

More information at garfield.com/paws-inc



Article by Susan N.

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Super Mario Party - Switch Review

Some games are just better with a friend or a bunch of them. After the Mario Party release on the Wii I hadn't been back to the series having seen a fair amount of unflattering reviews of Mario Party 10 from both critics and friends alike. So when my girlfriend, who doesn't play video games, tells me that she used to play this series all the time with her brother when she was younger, I just had to pick it up and see. And oh boy did she kick ass at it. And mine.

Super Mario Party, or really, Mario Party 11. With several having released back on the N64, only a few have since been coming out at the rate of one per console. Being designed entirely for the Switch, this latest one is worth it. There are a ton of modes which offer various styles of gameplay from the original move around the board on set slaves to a full blown marching band concert with minigames. With older classic characters and once NPCs all up in the line up, most of our games had me as Boo and Izzy as Bowser rolling high or moving nowhere at all.

Starting from the front gate, you and up to three friends can join in for a party of four. This is probably one of the best line ups yet as you have your heroes, you have your villains, and you have a few generally generic enemies to add in a bit more flavor. Following standard Mario Party rules, every character has the standard 1-6 dice but as something new, or at least I believe being new, they also have character specific dice. These new dice range from risk it all to playing it safe. Boo for example has -2 coins / -2 coins /5/5/7/7 while Shy Guy has 0/4/4/4/4/4.

After picking up your characters, humans or CPUs with difficulty modifiers, it’s time to hit the games. Up first is the obvious Party Mode which contains four maps that each offer up their own challenge. The name of the game? The name of the game is still to pick up more stars than any other player. To do so, you’ll be rolling your dice to cross the maps in search of coins between mini games to afford them. Still costing 10 coins a star, you’ll be buying them from Toadette while watching out for other players who are racing you there.

The core mode still works, and it works well. The only issue that I was finding at first is that after this much time, why were there only four maps? It also at this point doesn’t seem like Nintendo is planning on releasing more content in order to add to these maps which is unfortunate because with the setup for Super Mario Party, you really don’t need a new one.

The prime example of this is the next mode, the partner mode. Going back into the four maps, you now no longer have set paths to follow. Instead, you and a partner both roll a die, add up the sums, and that’s how many spaces you can move forward. The object of the game is still to pick up the most amount of stars, but now you’re doing it with a friend and communication between you is important. Playing this mode with a friend, instead of each player going separately, each team moves at the same time which means that if you’re lucky enough, and have the coins, you can both buy stars on the same turn. You can both go pick up items. One can grab a map specific item that’s out of the way while the other heads for the star. It’s a lot of fun.

From teams of two to a team of four, the entire party can move into a whole other mode which is a raft heading down some rapids. With multiple branches to navigate, each fork of the rapids have their own challenges where it’s a race against the clock to make it to the end. In order to make it there in time, there are balloons that can be popped for four-player minigames in which the better you do, the more time gets added onto the clock.

Almost finally, going back to a free for all, there’s a band marching parade mode. Izzy hated it but I found it fun as it’s quick to do and you don’t stop for anything. You versus the other three and it’s a competition to see who can score the most amount of points and win the match! It’s a fun addition to the set though everyone has to be on board otherwise you’re never going to have fun with it.

Once you’ve gone about all four modes, which are each fun in their own ways, there’s another that unlocks called the Challenge Road. Sadly this mode isn’t a party mode as it’s really single player centric but if you want all of the characters… you’ll have to do it. So to make up for it, there’s the last mode which will not only require more friends, but more Switches? There’s a room that can be unlocked in which there are games designed to be played off of two different consoles. There is the ability to set this up from the onset when determining players and characters, but for the current moment in time this is content that will have to wait as I don’t have anyone else that I know with Super Mario Party. Sorry DK, there goes our baseball game

The only issues, other than possibly not getting more maps down the line, is the lack of being able to skip certain scenes. We know that Toadette sells stars, we know that Kamek throws down unlucky spaces, we know that everything doubles down in the last few turns. The animations for these should have an option to be disabled with just a quick notification that these elements are in place especially if you’ve been playing for the last two days. We. Know.

So all in all, Super Mario Party is a great addition to the series, but, because there’s always a but with these titles from Nintendo, when are we going to see more? With the new “Digital Age”, they proved that they have no qualms with Season Passes of their own which we’ve seen for Smash Brothers and Mario Kart. New stages could be added for the already existing modes which would help to add some new life to it down the line instead of going about and waiting for who knows when Mario Party 12 will be released.

All of the above said, is it worth it? Yes. Super Mario Party is worth picking up.

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
Nintendo
Publisher(s):
Nintendo of America
Genre(s):
Various
Board Game
Mode(s):
Single Player
Multiplayer
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Purchased 

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Secret Government Launching into Early Access in October!

Tuesday, July 30th, 2019 - Publisher 1C Entertainment is excited to introduce its latest partnership - talented Russian developer, GameTrek - and shine a spotlight on their upcoming grand strategy game: Secret Government. Arriving on Steam Early Access this October, get ready to step into the shadows and manage your very own secret society, complete with all the geopolitical perks you’d expect from manipulating the world’s superpowers.

Taking place from the 18th century to the present day, Secret Government tasks you with leading a secret society as you spread your influence across the globe, rewriting key historical events - from the War of Independence to the French and Napoleonic Wars. Manage your resources as you manipulate the actions of the world’s leaders. From strategically planting your agents in vulnerable regions, to infiltrating powerful institutions of authority, anyone can be your pawn as you exploit their resources and seize control over key decision-makers.

You’re not the only secret society lurking in the shadows, though. Be wary, as a rival secret society exists... and they aren’t afraid to manipulate their way into the history books. Make every action and choice count as you outthink the competition and maintain your hard-earned secrecy and level of infiltration in the shadows.

Secret Government slips its way out of the shadows and onto Steam Early Access this October. For more information, be sure to Wishlist the game on Steam and follow GameTrek and 1C Entertainment on Twitter.


Key Features:

• Rewrite History - From the 18th century to the present day, the War of Independence to the French and Napoleonic Wars, each mission will drop players into major global conflicts, tasking them with manipulating the outcome to serve the Brotherhood’s ambitions.
• Play Your Pawns - The world’s most powerful figures - from national rulers to military superpowers - are but mere pawns to you. Learn to manipulate their complex AI machinations as you leverage their unique abilities to shape the world to your needs.
• Indirect Influence - Why should you have to do the heavy lifting of executing your diplomatic, economic, and militaristic ambitions? Plant your own agents and indirectly coerce others to do your bidding with over 50 types of actions intended to upend the world’s balance in your favor while keeping your hands clean.
• Manipulate a Living World - From ideologies to social classes, taxes to civil unrest, the world of Secret Government is comprised of countless interconnected sociopolitical systems that effectively simulate a believable and reactionary world. While world leaders strive to maintain the status quo, how will you destabilize the system and trigger worldwide change?
• You’re Not Alone in the Shadows - Facing down a hostile secret organization that isn’t afraid to manipulate their way into the history books, make every action and choice count in order to outthink the competition and maintain your hard-earned secrecy and level of infiltration in the shadows.

Secret Government slips its way out of the shadows and onto Steam Early Access this October. For more information, be sure to Wishlist the game on Steam and follow GameTrek and 1C Entertainment on Twitter.


Latest releases:
1C has recently released FELL SEAL: ARBITER’S MARK, CONGLOMERATE 451 (IN EA), ETERNITY: THE LAST UNICORN, RE-LEGION, DEEP SKY DERELICTS, ANCESTORS LEGACY

About 1C Entertainment

1C Entertainment is an international group with offices located in Warsaw, Gdansk, Prague, Budapest and Moscow and operating in the segments of game production, distribution and services for video game developers. The company releases video games for all platforms through its global network of partners digitally and in retail.

1C Entertainment has successfully launched over 100 game titles including critically acclaimed series - IL-2 Sturmovik, King’s Bounty, Men of War and Space Rangers. Recent releases include such games as Ancestors Legacy and Deep Sky Derelicts. For more information about 1C Entertainment and their games, please visit the official 1C Entertainment website.

About GameTrek

New game studio from Moscow. Established in 2013 and since that time have been developing business games, gamification and business simulators for Russian enterprise companies. Two years ago the studio launched games development. Except for Secret Government the studio released DJ Whip VR game.



Article by Susan N.

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Etherborn - PC Review

Introduction

Etherborn is a puzzle platforming game that tries to tackle the answer of life, the universe, and everything. But more than that, it is a game that has players scratching their heads as they climb along walls sideways or across ceilings to reach items that are needed to progress. Presumably, these items lead to humanity's discovery of themselves and their purpose, but this is a point I'll explain later on. Each level is entered by following the veins of a tree after a new pathway unlocks. And while I absolutely love this game, it has its flaws.

Gameplay and Story

The games puzzle design was brilliant in that players had to learn the rules of this particular world with a very small tutorial. It offers new ways to look at levels and solutions in a way that makes logical sense. Furthermore, to solve puzzles requires players to place orbs in receptacles that are located on the ground. Sometimes this will unlock new areas and other times they will open up portals to access other levels.

Unlike other puzzle games where players are able to bully their way through gameplay, Etherborn has very clear limits when it comes to its solutions. As in, a player cannot jump onto one side of a level without there being a curve to change the perspective. What I mean is, players are only able to jump onto platforms that are facing the same way as the character is. So, if the character is on a wall sideways, it can only jump on other walls that are sideways (unless it has a curve).

As players progress to new levels in the game, they follow a path on a tree. Based on the games' theme, that I assume has to do with humanity's purpose in life, I'm led to believe that the tree might represent the many branches in life. (This is also partly because plsyers are transparent humanoid beings that show some of our veins. Also, trees produce oxygen which is a necessity for human survival.) To me, Etherborn is a puzzle game that is trying to make a statement about life.
  
If I could say one key thing about this game, it would be that this title needs to be played with a controller. I didn't not try it on keyboard, but I imagine it would be hell to play in this way.

Now for the hard part. I loathed one part of Etherborn and that is the 'story', especially after I reached the dissatisfying end. See, at the beginning, we get to play a nameless humanoid figure that has no physically defining features. And Altered Matter makes it a point to keep Etherborn as neutral as possible by providing a character that possesses no voice, name, personality, or anything that would be construed as biased when looking at its theme. Now, I believe that the whole point of the game is to tackle the question of humanity. So, in a world where we strive to understand our purpose in life, objects like clothing or sex of the character play no role in that understanding.

However, while the game deliberately shields itself from religious beliefs on life (as an example) or other biases, Etherborn fails to pose answerable questions. It, instead, asks more basic ones with extremely broad strokes on the topic. This is achieved through use of a disembodied voice that mentions the beginning of time. It alludes to the ideas with lines like this: "...humans forgot that their footprints were, after all, no more than what a single raindrop is compared to the sea." And as I played though the game, I became more intrigued about Etherborn's conclusion. I expected the story to reach some great prophetic conclusion that never came. Therefore, when I reached the end of the game, I felt the story was shoehorned in with little thought about its theme (A theme that seemed obvious to me). At no point does the game dive into the philosophical questions and principles that would provide for a satisfying ending. So, while I enjoyed my playthrough of the game, the story did not add to my experience. It actually detracted from it.

Graphics and UI

Etherborn's graphic style is quite minimalist, which allows players to focus on the challenges of each level. Since we play a character that is undefined in every way, it allows us to marvel at the graphics style and solve puzzles without distractions. And believe me, some of the areas are quite breathtaking (like the one shown below).

As players solve the puzzles in Etherborn, the camera automatically changes based on the surface they stand on. Sometimes this adds to the challenge of the levels, which I believe is intended by the developer, but other times it's just frustrating. Also, there are levels that require a leap of faith in order to obtain an orb. Though, in the instance I am thinking about, the camera doesn't obscure the area.

When it comes to UI, it has none because it simply doesn't require it. There are no hotkey buttons that appear on the screen nor is there any form of compass (Not that that would help because of the way the game is designed. I'm not even sure how that kind of feature would work in a game like Etherborn anyways.) There are options when it comes to language, screen resolution, and subtitle sizes, but otherwise, the player has nothing to worry about. Etherborn is designed to be a mentally stimulating experience, both graphically and auditorally, without requiring any complicated tutorials or explanations. Players receive one tutorial section that covers all of the buttons required to play the game.

Music and Audio

As with any puzzle game I've played, whether it be a puzzle platformer, a codebreaker style of puzzle game, or a murder mystery game, the music is unobtrusive. The same is true for Etherborn. Its soundtrack is quite beautiful and does not impede problem solving.

It was recorded and mixed by Abuelita Studios, located in Barcelona, Spain. They have been in business for a couple of years and offer services related to producing, composing, recording, mixing, mastering, and publishing. For more information about the studio, check out their website.

Etherborn's official soundtrack was composed by Gabriel Garrido Garcia, who is a video game music composer that has created pieces for film, television, video games, and documentaries. Some of the tracks in the game can be heard on YouTube, like the one linked below. Anyways, more information about Gabriel can be found on his website here.

Puzzling Final Thoughts

If I were to surmise Etherborn's purpose in the puzzle game genre, it would be that life is not something that can be bullied; solutions to problems have to be worked through in a logical manner. In the image shown below, there are statues of other humanoids. I took this to mean that people will always observe others' actions. And if I were to draw conclusions about the tree that players traverse to reach other levels, I would say that it represents a connection in life, no matter how disjointed that may be.

There are two minor issues I have about the game itself.

1. Etherborn is entirely too short. So many other levels could have been added for a more worthwhile price point and;
2. The hard mode of the game was not nearly as challenging as I expected it to be.

But as I mentioned above, the story is the main gripe I have about Etherborn because it fails to shed any understanding on humanity. It tries to provoke thought without posing the right questions and it tries to do this by explaining humanity from the beginning of time, when we had less understanding of life. In this way, Altered Matter failed to do what they set out to achieve, if any of my assumptions were close to correct. In the end, I found that the imagery in the levels and the lack of information was much more thought provoking than the story presented. 

In my opinion, it was ambitious of Altered Matter to develop a 'storybased' puzzle platformer when the focus of the game was clearly its unique puzzle platforming design. And after completing the game, I felt that The Witness was better at showcasing a similar theme (if you found the right ending), where Etherborn tried to tackle it in a much shorter time frame without enough context.

However, despite all of that, Etherborn is well done. The puzzles themselves are quite clever and require players to think outside of the box. Its jumping physics are sometimes mind boggling and at times strange, but every puzzle is easily solved.

Overall, Etherborn is a lovely title that I thoroughly enjoyed, even though the story didn't need to be included. As a result, I give it an 8 out of 10. It has some beautiful music, an interesting puzzle design, and a fantastic minimalist art style. I highly recommend this title if players are looking for a quick puzzle game that will challenge their understanding for a time.

Make sure to follow Altered Matter's website and YouTube. The game Etherborn can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. It is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, and Xbox One.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Altered Matter
Publisher(s):
Altered Matter
Genre(s):
Puzzle,
Platform
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Nintendo Switch,
Playstation 4,
Xbox One

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Susan N.

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