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Furukawa Speaks! We discuss the announcement of the Nintendo Switch Successor and our June Direct Predictions on the new episode of the Famiboards Discussion Club! Check it out here!
This game is really good at its highest moments, and is easily the best "weird Mario" i've ever seen. It's also an absolute slog to get through and you could cut every chapter by half and you wouldn't miss a thing. When the final dungeon was basically two dungeons with multiple boss fights I was done. Cool game but it wasn't worth my time.
Pepper Grinder was featured in a few Nintendo Direct / Indie World presentations, although it slipped under my radar until I was looking for a short and sweet game to play earlier in the week. Another game published by Devolver Digital, so it must be good... right?
Pepper Grinder's main gameplay revolves around using a massive drill to burrow through dirt (by pressing ZR), and using the momentum you gain to fling yourself through stages. There's a very satisfying sense of momentum as you jump from area to area, with the actual drill controls feeling nice and tight; you can easily manouver around obstacles and line yourself up quickly, which feels refreshing given similar games often have rather sluggish underground controls (looking at you, Sonic Superstars). You can optionally dash underground by pressing B - this lets you move faster and jump farther if timed just before you leave any dirt. Other stage gimmicks also crop up from time-to-time, including cannons, grappling hooks, machine guns, snowmobiles, and even a giant mech - all controlled using ZR. These are mostly a nice distraction to keep things fresh, with the best levels in the game seamlessly combining these gimmicks with the drill mechanics.
The level design itself is rather strong. Levels mostly follow the Mario design philosophy, with new ideas introduced, iterated upon, and combined excellently. One thing I immediately noticed was the sense of scale and environmental storytelling seen in some stages, almost akin to Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - in one stage, you ascend a mountain with the help of a big friendly giant, while in another, you dive deep into a withered forest and infiltrate a giant submarine. This helps makes the levels even more interesting, which is great. However, it does appear the game runs out steam by the fourth - and final - world; too many of the levels in W4 involve the other stage gimmicks and not enough of the drill. In particular, W4-3 is just a machine gun level with copious amounts of enemy spam; rather disappointing by the lofty standards of Worlds 2 & 3. Furthermore, while the levels are well-designed, some of the stage mechanics are ocasionally janky; in particular, the grappling hook sometimes doesn't interact properly with cannons - I'd just clip through the cannon and fly into a pit!
The other issue with Pepper Grinder is simply that it is rather short. I am all for short games, and indeed, Pepper Grinder is all killer - and mostly - no filler... but it does also only last about 3 hours. This is a shame, because I really wanted to keep playing more levels! Thankfully, there is a good amount of replayability: each level has 5 skull coins to collect, and you can also replay levels in Time Attack. The skull coins are akin to Star Coins in New Super Mario Bros., rewarding skilled gameplay and careful observation, although a lot of them are hidden in the same way. Time Attack is a good addition, with good gameplay required to meet the gold target times; most of the time, I had only a few seconds to spare. Both reward you with level music and stickers, the latter being used in the cute "scrapbook" mode where you can create your own in-game art.
Generally, the game is pleasing to look at, although it doesn't really stand out compared to most sprite-based indie games. The soundtrack is equally fine, with a few songs really reminding me of David Wise's songs more atmospheric songs from the Donkey Kong Country games - particularly in World 3, the snow world. I did appreciate the dynamic soundtrack though, with music changing in response to jumping into a snowmobile, or blowing up the entrance to the level, etc. Like the graphics and music, the game's story is equally fine - our protagonist, Pepper, finds herself shipwrecked; upon waking, she finds her treasure being stolen by some hooligans. Cue an epic chase across the game, where you eventually find out some weird cult - ran by a rather groovy skeleton - was behind it all. Surprisingly... unsurprising, given such a twist is part of the trappings of most similar indie games.
In all, Pepper Grinder is a great game. Top notch mechanics and level design - for the most part - combined with solid replayability elevate what would otherwise look like another "indie" platformer at first glance. A respectable
8/10.
Yooka-Laylee (05/01/2024, 7/10)
Buckshot Roulette (06/01/2024, 8/10)
Another Code: Recollection (19/01/2024, 8.25/10)
Saga of the Moon Priestess (24/01/2024, 7/10)
Super Kiwi 64: Doomsday [Update] (26/01/2024, 7.5/10)
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (03/02/2024, 8/10)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong (15/02/2024, 8/10)
Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling (22/02/2024, 8.5/10)
And Yet It Moves (27/02/2024, 6.5/10)
Mario Golf (GBC) (15/03/2024, 7/10)
Psalm 5:9-13 (17/03/2024, 8/10)
Crypt of the Necrodancer: SYNCHRONY [DLC] (18/03/2024, 8/10)
Shining Force is basically Sega's take on Fire Emblem and borrows a lot of elements from it. However, it also adds and changes enough elements to feel unique. The most noticeable differences are two. First, Shining Force's progression is through exploring, like you would in regular RPGs. Second, the turn system is based on character speed rather than fixed "Player Phase" and "Enemy Phase". Essentially, faster characters go first so turns will constantly change between you and the enemy. There's many other small differences, like how counterattacks and double attacks are handled, but those two are the main ones IMO.
Overall, I really liked the game. The turn system is a little unpredictable but if you're patient and smart about when to push forward you'll safely clear most battles, although some can be pretty difficult. If you're looking for a fun RPG I can definitely recommend this one!
1) The Last of Us Part I (PS5) 2) The Last of Us Part I - Left Behind DLC (PS5) 3) God of War (PS2) 4) Tetris Effect Connected (PC) 5) Trials HD (XSS) [Replay] 6) Aperture Desk Job (Steam Deck) 7) Need for Speed Underground (PS2) [Replay] 8) The Last of Us Part II Remastered (PS5) 9) 13 Sentinels - Aegis Rim (NSW) 10) Penny’s Big Breakaway (Steam Deck) 11) Jusant (XSS) 12) Froggo’s Adventure: Verdant Venture (Steam Deck) 13) Pokémon Crystal Legacy (GBC) 14) Halo: Combat Evolved (Steam Deck) [Replay] 15) Pocket Tennis Color: Pocket Sports Series (NGPC) 16) Super Mario Run (iOS) 17) The Firemen (SFC) 18) Inks. (iOS) 19) Monument Valley (iOS) 20) Monument Valley - Forgotten Shores and Ida’s Dream DLC (iOS) 21) SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake (Steam Deck) 22) Animal Well (Steam Deck) 23) Donald Duck no Mahou no Bushi (SFC) 24) Alleyway (GB) 25) Rollcage (PS1) 26) Power Stone (DC) 27) Sonic Pinball Party (GBA)
28) Geometry Survivor (Steam Deck)
This is a Vampire Survivors clone in the style of Geometry Wars. As a big fan of Geometry Wars, I was obligated to pick this up when I saw it on sale for the astronomical price of two U.S. dollars.
Geometry Survivors is excellent for a few hours, right up until you clear a run. If you have played Vampire Survivors, you’ll be right at home. It’s exactly the same.
The issue that Geometry Survivors has is a complete lack of variety. Every round is played in the same arena, against the same enemies with the same attack patterns. Once you clear a run, there’s nothing left except to grind for the rest of the upgrades and unlockable ships; but since the game never changes and the permanent upgrades make clearing runs easier and easier, there’s not much of a point to committing to the grind.
Still, for those two or three hours before you get a win, this game is brilliant. It’s fast, hectic, and colorful. The Steam Deck OLED is perfect for Geometry Survivors. It stays at a locked 60fps, even during the craziest of crazy moments with thousands of enemies and particles and explosions on screen at once. On that OLED screen, it’s practically a religious experience.
Even if it’s not the deepest game in the world, I feel like I got more than my money’s worth out of Geometry Survivors. It’s a ton of fun!
Reviews were pretty spot on. Visually, incredible. There were countless times where I just stopped to stare at the what was on my screen for 2 minutes (OLED does wonders for this game). Having NPCs around for a decent amount of the duration was refreshing after the isolation of the first game. I also really like the total lack of a UI, as it does enhance the presentation (outside of one or two moments where I didn't realize I could interact with something).
When it comes to the more traditional gameplay elements, though, the combat and puzzles were pretty disappointing. They both felt very dumbed down and mundane compared to the first game, to the point where I was actually more "excited" for the segments in between those where you kind of just walk about and take in the scenery. The visual scope of the giants and environments is definitely the highlight, which kind of made this feel more like a tech demo that would launch with the system. I still enjoyed it overall, and it being pretty brief really helped its shortcomings (also helps that I basically played it for $1 using the Game Pass free trial). I'd probably put it somewhere close to a 7.
Probably going to hop into my first Switch game this year next, that being TTYD. Never played the original.
Much like with SH4, I won't cover this up into a spoiler, but this post will discuss overall tone, characters, the jokes, and some unpredictable elements of all three episodes of Night Springs DLC for Alan Wake II
Night Springs is a fun and quirky, but ultimately fillery DLC that presents 3 what-if scenarios into the world of Alan Wake II. Now, obviously, Alan Wake II is a strange story filled with multiverse stuff, so if you want it, they CAN be real, but it's easier to imagine that they are as presented: episodes of a fictional TV show.
First episode sees you as Rose saving Alan. It's fun enough, but its central hook is making fun of bad fanfiction, and while it's not without some high points and fun jokes, I've found the dialogues to be a little cringy. The subject matter of bad writing has been made fun of for a long time, so it's nothing new. That said, the fact that episode IS effectively a fanfic makes it so it has some fun details, such as an auto-shotgun that can carry like 15 shells that's likely there because Rose has no idea what weapons are.
Second episode is a mini-Resident Evil-y dungeon where you play as Jesse. It's probably the weakest of the three. While it has some fun art direction, I also feel like the premise was a little too wacky, and the tension wasn't at all there except for one small scene because all three episodes give you hundreds of bullets.
Third episode is possibly the best, featuring Alan Wake's take on Everything Everywhere All At Once. While I don't vibe with multiverse stuff at all, it's got the most interesting settings out of all of them, including some cute surprises.
I'm not sure whether I'll care about revisiting this DLC ever again. It's fun for what it is, but it's sometimes a bit too over-the-top, and the non-reality of it keeps it in the ethereal state where nothing really matters. That said, the art design is, as always, top notch, and the closing song rules.
A very interesting puzzle game with a brilliant main mechanic. You play as a bug that finds these colorful spheres that you can carry and use to solve puzzles. These spheres however are full worlds themselves that you can enter at specific points in the game. You can also enter a sphere/world while you carry another sphere so basically you put a world inside a world. It sounds confusing in theory, but makes perfect sense while you're playing it.
For the first 3/4 of the game the puzzles are mostly simple and the majority of them feel kind of independent from the world-within-world mechanism. However in the last hour the creativity explodes, the game goes full on with the worlds idea and you have to think outside the box to finish it.
This is actually my only complaint with the game, it's too short. It took me around 4 hours to finish it and it felt that it ended just when things started to get really interesting. The main idea is so cool and I feel they could have explored it more.
I'm also not the biggest fan of the art direction. It's a bit too blocky and random for my taste, sometimes it feels like there are random weird things on screen. The soundtrack was pretty good though.
Overall this is a great puzzle game that I would definitely recommend. I just wish there was more of it.
7.5/10
Neon White - 9.5/10
Little Nightmares 2 - 8.5/10
FAR: Lone Sails - 6/10
Blasphemous 2 - 8/10
Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series - 7/10
Carrion - 7/10
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair - 7.5/10
Resident Evil 4 Remake - 8.5/10
House Of Da Vinci 3 - 6.5/10
Persona 5 Royal - 8/10
Toodee and Topdee - 7.5/10
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons - 7/10
Huntdown - 7.5/10
Boomerang X - 7/10
The Case of the Golden Idol - 10/10
Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus - 6.5/10
Resident Evil Village - 9/10
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap - 5/10
Hotshot Racing - 7/10
Tormented Souls - 9.5/10
The Forgotten City - 8/10
Axiom Verge -6.5/10
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes - 10/10
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - 7/10
Cocoon - 7.5/10
1. Spider Man 2 (PS5)
2. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
3. Kuru Kuru Kururin (GBA NSO)
4. Persona 3 Reload
5. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
6. Sayonara Wild Hearts
7. Cocoon
8. Bayonetta 3
9. Blossom Tales II: The Minotaur Prince
10. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
11. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
12. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
13. Super Mario Land (NSO)
14. Fire Emblem: Blazing Blade (NSO)
This was my first experience with pre-3DS Fire Emblem, and it was great! It starts off kind of slow, but the game got noticeable more challenging in the last third or so. I like that it constantly gives you opportunities for new recruits, but at the same time focuses on a core cast of characters in the main story. Supports are present, but I didn't really bother because activating them seemed very tedious. I think the GBA style graphics and soundtrack worked very well for Fire Emblem; magic attack sound effects were my favorite!
I tracked a GBA copy of Sacred Stones, so I will play through that sometime this summer. It's too bad that Binding Blade never made it overseas, because it would be fun to try that as well. I'm glad I got to experience some more Fire Emblem history!
I uh... was gone for a while, not that anyone noticed. I played some games these last few months. I last left off with Kirby Triple Deluxe in February, which was aight. I think I'll make a few posts over the next week to catch up on my thoughts on games recently.
6. Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology (3DS) 3/21/24
My first Atlus game I believe. Always been intrigued by Persona and SMT games, and seeing this one on my backlog had always made me similarly intrigued. Very good overall. I opted to equip items that gave me XP boosts, which trivialized the difficulty, but near the end the battle system was interesting and necessary to progress. It runs on a grid system and you can manipulate most enemies to the same squares to deal damage to all at once during an ally turn. Some of these mechanics were required to beat the game and the true ending stuff. Overall a very interesting game with a good time travel story. I kept reading too much into the story (so I thought) and was delighted when things weren't always as they seemed at first. A fun JRPG that kept me entertained for a good while. 8/10
7. Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale (3DS) 3/25/24
I picked this one up based on several 3DS eShop must-have lists. It was quirky and clever enough, with a good enough card side game. It was like a life sim without any of the fluff. Just wander around, find some cards, and battle your friends when you feel like it. Also, there's a story about monsters in a suburb of Tokyo that's honestly pretty fun to see play out, especially from the frame of reference of a father. Though it was a bit shallow, and I didn't 100% the game, I had a good enough time with it. 7/10
1. Picross 3D Round 2 (3DS) 9/10
2, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again (3DS) 6/10
3. Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch) 9/10
4. Liberation Maiden (3DS) 7/10
5. Kirby Triple Deluxe (3DS) 7/10
6. Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology (3DS) 8/10
7. Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale (3DS) 7/10
1) The Last of Us Part I (PS5) 2) The Last of Us Part I - Left Behind DLC (PS5) 3) God of War (PS2) 4) Tetris Effect Connected (PC) 5) Trials HD (XSS) [Replay] 6) Aperture Desk Job (Steam Deck) 7) Need for Speed Underground (PS2) [Replay] 8) The Last of Us Part II Remastered (PS5) 9) 13 Sentinels - Aegis Rim (NSW) 10) Penny’s Big Breakaway (Steam Deck) 11) Jusant (XSS) 12) Froggo’s Adventure: Verdant Venture (Steam Deck) 13) Pokémon Crystal Legacy (GBC) 14) Halo: Combat Evolved (Steam Deck) [Replay] 15) Pocket Tennis Color: Pocket Sports Series (NGPC) 16) Super Mario Run (iOS) 17) The Firemen (SFC) 18) Inks. (iOS) 19) Monument Valley (iOS) 20) Monument Valley - Forgotten Shores and Ida’s Dream DLC (iOS) 21) SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake (Steam Deck) 22) Animal Well (Steam Deck) 23) Donald Duck no Mahou no Bushi (SFC) 24) Alleyway (GB) 25) Rollcage (PS1) 26) Power Stone (DC) 27) Sonic Pinball Party (GBA) 28) Geometry Survivor (Steam Deck)
29) Crush Roller (NGPC)
Splatoon meets Pac-Man. The goal is to paint the entire maze before the baddies catch you. Unlike the ghosts in Pac-Man, the baddies here are faster than you, and don’t slow down through the tunnels. Combined with the finicky controls that causes you to frequently miss turns, this makes for a frustrating experience.
Supplice is a GZDoom-engine boomer shooter that I have some reservations about. It feels like I've played two different games.
Episode 1 I can recommend with no problem. A selection of 6 maps (including a secret one) that are fairly sizeable, but also feel very detailed, where every map feels like a new facility you go into. Despite huge enemy counts, maps feel very well paced and intricately designed. Just like classic DOOM levels, they often loop back on themselves and open new shortcuts.
The weapons are good, and the enemies are all very different.
I was ready to praise this game to hell and back, but then Episode 2 happened. Even on normal, Episode 2 sapped my enthusiasm. The reason is simple: the levels are just too big. It wasn't uncommon for me to spend upwards of an hour on a single map, maybe more if you count reloads. And you should, because the game's difficulty skyrocketed, with so many ambushes and enemeis behind doors that it started feeling like a Serious Sam game. The worst parts of one, too.
After playing Selaco and Wizordum I'm also not quite convinced this game needed "episodes". Sure, the first stage of episode 2 takes away your weapons, and it's a great tense moment as you need to stealth your way through some of the level. However, traveling between episodes also erases your secret progress, which feels much more painful. The game tries to give you reasons to explore with health ups, ammo capacity ups, and armor ups, yet knowing that it's all basically gonna be erased took the wind out of my sails. I've barely hunted for secrets in episode 2 knowing that the maximum increase even from all the upgrades will be fairly miniscule.
I don't think boomer shooters with huge levels truly understand DOOM. This might sound harsh, but I honestly don't get how you can make an hour-long map with 5 secrets and expect players to explore, or how you think this hour-long marathon with like 5 enemy variants won't become boring.
Hey hey, my first post on Famiboards! (months after making my account...)
Anyhoo, I went a little crazy during the eshop sale last December, and I had plenty left to play even before that. Tagging this to come back to and keep a record of everything I finish this year. I don't have a ton of time at home, but I'm hoping I can get some good play time in during my work commutes. Just have to keep myself off Pokemon long enough to finish other stuff.
2024 Completed List: Pokemon Scarlet: Indigo Disk
Light Fall
Pokemon Ultra Sun
Pokemon Emerald
Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge
My first Mega Man game! To be honest, it's never been a series that really grabbed my attention before, but after listening to members of GVG sing the series' praises so much, I figured this was a good chance to see how I'd actually enjoy it.
And you know what? It wasn't bad. Very, very dated, and a lot of cheap deaths that would've enraged me if I didn't have access to the rewind feature (which I happily abused during my playthrough), but I enjoyed it enough to see it through to the end. I'll probably try out the second one at some point, too.
Bought Cyber Shadow last week when it went on sale and beat it today.
Just a really tight and fun action platformer that pays homage to Ninja Gaiden and other similar NES games with a soundtrack by Pentadrangle that gets your blood pumping. Seriously. Especially love the progression with very light Metroidvania elements. You start out fairly weak and by the end you're jumping and slashing through the air like a leaf in the wind and yet the game keeps up with you. I died so many times. The story is very "90s video game" but I found it surprisingly bleak and bittersweet by the end. Enjoyed this one a ton.
edit: Technically finished Part-Time UFO before Cyber Shadow but forgot to add it because it was an old save on Switch. Super delightful small game that I've praised numerous times before. I still want a 3D sequel called Full-Time UFO.
This was a puzzle game that intrigued me when it was announced so I was very happy to see it appear on Gamepass at the end of last month. The puzzles only reevolve around 2-3 different objective types (get a set number of people, a stream of people, or a special golden person to a particular tile) but they have many different tools to work with. Finishing a puzzle and watching your designed flow of people was very satisfying.
The puzzles themselves were pretty rigid or had a single "answer" most of the time. That isn't a bad thing, but it felt a little restrictive after falling in love with BOTW and TOTK's more open puzzle system. Overall it felt like a perfect length at roughly 12 hours to beat. I didn't 100% it but I imagine that would be another 5ish hours? Story-wise, there's an overarching and thematic plot, but it doesn't get in the way and feels like the perfect backdrop.
What's Next: Probably Doom Eternal DLC which I bought in January but only started a few weeks ago. I've liked it thus far but it's definitely more difficult than the base game. Otherwise back to Elden Ring for a few more attempts at the fire giant.
1) Marvel's Spiderman (PC): 8.5/10
2) Jusant (PC Gamepass): 6.5/10
3) Splatoon 3 Story (Switch): 7.5/10
4) Bowser's Fury (Switch): 8.5/10
5) Cassette Beasts (PC Gamepass): 9/10
6) Pokemon Scarlet - Teal Mask DLC (Switch): 6.5/10
7) Hi-Fi Rush (PC Gamepass): 8.5/10
8) Donkey Kong Country (SNES NSO): 7/10 - retroactively changing from 7.5
9) Splatoon 3: Side Order (Switch): 9/10
10) Starfield (PC Gamepass): 9/10
11) Star Wars: Jedi Survivor (PC Gamepass): 9/10
12) Super Mario Land (GBA NSO): 7/10
13) Humanity (PC Gamepass): 8.5/10
Super interesting to read, I've tried to stop buying Early Access games, but this, Selaco, and Wizordum have all had my eyes. Only bought Selaco though, super interested to see how these three shape up with all the community playtesting
A twin-stick shooter inspired by Zelda 1. A super cute little game that combines Zelda-like exploration and dungeons with some basic RPG elements.
Throughout its 5 hour playtime there was basically no downtime, and I've completed it in 3 sittings in the same day because I was so engrossed in it. The game completely understands what makes this type of gameplay good and despite being a little more linear than the original Zelda it has plenty to offer in terms of secrets and optional things you can find. The structure is familiar: find a dungeon, pick up an item within, kill the boss, explore further. It's nothing video games haven't done, yet I've never seen a twin-stick shooter follow this formula, which makes it feel very fresh and unique.
There are a ton of pickups, from your basic pieces of heart, to unique new powers, which made exploration a blast throughout.
If there's one thing I didn't really like is that if you're going for a 100% playthrough, the game becomes a little check-listy since you can buy an item that directs you towards any pick-ups that are still left in the world. It's not exactly possible to ignore and made maybe last 15 minutes or so of overworld progression a little basic.
There's not much to say, the game doesn't really do anything truly new, but what it does is charming and easy to recommend.
Super interesting to read, I've tried to stop buying Early Access games, but this, Selaco, and Wizordum have all had my eyes. Only bought Selaco though, super interested to see how these three shape up with all the community playtesting
Selaco is easily the best one out of them and is already basically a full game.
It's a bit of a shame that any retro FPS for whatever reason follows DOOM 1 religiously trying to come out in "episodes"
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Only bought Selaco though, super interested to see how these three shape up with all the community playtesting