Steep was one of the first third-party games to be confirmed for Switch release but Ubisoft has been curiously reluctant to talk about the Nintendo version of its snow-based sports title since then, which has led to some speculation that the porting process isn’t going as smoothly as anticipated.
However, game director Arnaud Ragot has reaffirmed Ubisoft’s commitment to bringing Steep to Switch, although he does add that Steep: Road the the Olympics is the main focus of the team:
It’s still planned, it’s still something we have in our mind and are focusing on, but today our focus is really on releasing the expansion, and it will come to Switch one day.
Do you think we’ll ever see Steep on Switch? Ragot’s comments are encouraging but we can imagine after a point Ubisoft might simply give up if the porting process is proving to be too hard. Let us know what you think by posting a comment.
A little while back, dataminers uncovered information in a new update to Pokémon GO that suggested the impending release of the Hoenn region Pokémon in the game, though nothing has yet come of it. Pokémon GO has continued to evolve and change gradually over time, although it’s been a while since the game has seen any sort of sizable update after the addition of Legendaries and Raid Battles. Even so, recent comments from Niantic’s CEO, John Hanke, suggest that this may change soon.
Hanke recently talked to Business Weekly about the app, and laid out a rough plan for what we can expect to see in the game in the coming months. First off was a hint that more Pokémon are coming, likely referring to the Gen III Pokémon that have been found in the game’s code already. Here’s what was said:
There is a lot of Pokémon that have not yet been launched. So, I think the next secret weapon will be launch of the next Pokémon generation. I hope the players will soon see them.
As for the future, meaning 2018 and on, Hanke mentioned the team is “planning on developing a new battle mode” when asked about the implementation of PvP battles, and he also expressed desire to increase social interactions within the app now that Raid Battles are in the game.
What do you think? Do you still play Pokémon GO? How long do you think it’ll be before we see these features? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Tequila Works’ Remy Chinchilla has revealed that the long-awaited Switch version of RiME will make use of the console’s unique HD Rumble feature.
Speaking to WCCFTech, Chinchilla also mentioned that the touchscreen will be utilised for menus when playing in handheld mode:
One of the features we put in was the HD Rumble. Yeah, it’s really cool. The designers put in a curve to how much they vibrate depending on what you’re doing in the world. The only thing really in there is in the menus – you can touch the screen. But that’s all, because we didn’t want to add any other gimmicks. RiME was never planned with any gimmicks in mind, and we thought if we add them now they might not fit with the game as we intended.
Chinchilla adds that the team stopped short of adding in motion controls in order to keep the experience as close to that on other systems:
We also wanted the players that only played on Switch to have the same experience that players who played on PS4 or other consoles have had. If we put in the gyroscope or something like that in puzzles, then it would’ve been different to the way it was played elsewhere.
Elsewhere in the interview, the tricky topic of porting is addressed:
There were some challenges in porting to Switch, we had to optimise a few things. It was also due to the software, Unreal. We started porting on Switch around a year ago, and at first the Unreal Engine wasn’t ready straight away on Switch. We had to integrate several versions on the engine that were released. There was some middleware and software where the support wasn’t there on day 1, so we had to adapt.
Chinchilla also heaps praise on Tantalus, the Australian studio responsible for bringing the game to Nintendo’s console:
The good thing about Tantalus being in Australia is that when we get home we send an email saying what we did and they pick that up immediately afterwards, and when they finish their day, we start immediately afterwards. I used to say the sun was never out on RiME because there was always someone working on it around the world. We took advantage of it when it comes to organization because if you ask for something to be checked in the evening as you leave, it’ll be ready for you in the morning. It was great. Tantalus did all of the code, all of the logic, and we helped with optimising assets because we couldn’t use all of the original assets, but we did our best to keep the same visual style.
RiME launches on November 14th in North America and November 17th in Europe.
Our revised review for NBA 2K18 has recently gone live, but 2K Games isn’t done patching its premier basketball title just yet. The company has just issued the patch notes for update number 4 – live now for PS4 and coming to Xbox One, Switch and PC “soon” – and there’s a lot of reading involved.
You can view the full patch notes below. We hope you’ve got a warm drink handy.
General
– The Classic Edition uniforms for the Bucks, Hornets, Lakers, and Suns have been added to the game. Look for these to be released in the next roster update! – Five new shoes have been added to the game: BBB ZO2: Prime, Jordan CP3.X AE, Jordan Super.Fly 2017, Nike Foamposite One, and Kobe A.D. NXT. Look for these to be released in the next roster update! – Improvements to the CAP/Lab user interface. – New CAP facial hair: 18 new beards, 2 new mustaches, and introducing 8 facial stubble styles that can be mixed & matched with our various hair styles. – Girth now changes when adjusting weight in roster Create-A-Player. – Added eyebrows and eye colors to the roster Create-A-Player. – Detroit Pistons court floor updated has been updated to their new Platinum Equity floor. – Orlando Magic court floor has been updated. – Player names are no longer cutoff in the uniform editor when creating a uniform. – (Switch) Game no longer suspends when pressing the home button while in a Play With Friends locker room. This will prevent the accidental disconnects reported to us. – (PC) Coaches Clipboard timeout prompt will no longer appear off-screen on 21:9 monitors. – (PC) Mouse support has been added to the MyCOURT Customization menu.
Gameplay
– The number of left ankle injuries should now be greatly reduced during user-played games. – Added more variety to the types of injuries that can occur in-game. – Attempting icon passing while posting up will no longer disengage you from post. – More responsive triple threat moves when crowded by a defender. – Fixed a dribbling issue that would cause escape crosses and hesitations to sometimes face sideways. – Made catching passes in the corner more reliable. – Made some improvements to the screen system to improve reliability and user control. – Edited several off-ball ride/deny animations to improve user control and visual fidelity. – Fixed an issue with putback layups that would sometimes cause them to hit the front rim or bottom of the backboard. – Fixed a bug that would cause defenders to pop to a stand while lying on the ground after a hard foul. – Various improvements to the Teammate Grading system. – Fixed issues where defenders were set to GAP, ignoring user and ACE settings. – Fixed a hang that could occur when the ball boy picked up the ball while it’s in play. – “After Foul” animations updated to prevent hands from clipping into the head of another player. – When the offensive team wins a jump ball, the shot clock should now be reset. – Addressed a case where defensive settings inside the Coaches Clipboard were not sticking after being changed. – Fixed an issue where a player on the losing team would sometimes celebrate with the winning team when his team lost the game.
MyCAREER
– On-Court shoes are now free for the given shoe company your MyPLAYER has a contract with. – Updated MyCOURT murals for: Thunder, Bulls, Pelicans, Mavericks, Nuggets, and Rockets. – Support for subtitles has been added for the on-court interviews following a played NBA game. – The user’s VC balance will now correctly display the current VC total in the post-game recap following a played NBA game where the received teammate grade was D+ or lower. – XB1 Silver and PS4 Non-Plus users can now play MyCOURT drills with AI players they invite over. – The in-game framerate will no longer hiccup when the ‘My Matchup’ overlay is on the screen. – Fixed a hang that could occur when the coach caught the ball during a live practice. – The shot meter will now display when taking shots outside of the court while playing HORSE in your MyCOURT. – Logos for the events on the event calendar app on the 2K phone should now always appear alongside the correct event. – The Karl Anthony-Towns pre-game scene will no longer repeat every time you play him. – Fixed a hang that would occur when selecting the “I’m always in rhythm” answer upon David Aldridge asking you how you were able to find your rhythm during the current game.
Neighborhood / Playground
– New Player Edition NBA Nike Jerseys (and more!) in the NBA Store: Wade, Carmelo, I. Thomas, D. Rose, K. Thompson, D. Green, A. Wiggins, B. Ingram. – The displayed VC balance should now correctly match what was earned after a played Playground game (the earned VC was there all along, but the balance was not always getting refreshed). – A number of performance and stability improvements for the Ruffles event. – Controllers Settings should now apply to Playground games. – Gamertags will no longer cover the turbo meter in Playground games. – Fixed a stutter that would occur when people are playing on the courts and someone levels up. – The correct score will now be attributed to the correct team during in-progress Playground games when queued up on a Got Next spot. – Shots will no longer queue up when playing the mini-basketball game in the 2K Zone, making it easier to develop a smooth rhythm. – The Who To Guard indicator has been re-designed to make it easier for you to quickly identify the offensive player you should be guarding in Playground games. – Player signature walks that incorporated a basketball will now correctly draw the ball when performed in the Playground area of the neighborhood. – (XB1) Fixed an issue where the game became unstable when a team attempted to use custom Pro-Am Away uniforms. – (PC) The shot release text will now provide accurate feedback when using a keyboard to shoot ball in the mini-basketball game located in the 2K Zone.
Pro-Am
– Resolved Pro-Am Accessory issues that prohibited them from showing up correctly in the closet. – Users will no longer earn progress toward their badges and cap breakers while the AI plays for them after fouling out in Pro-Am games. – Fixed a case where users were not getting paid their full VC amount after Pro-Am games. – When a team quits out of a Pro-Am game, the remaining team will no longer obtain the badge progress and progress of the team that quit out. – The team overall will now calculate correctly on the loading screen of a Pro-Am game when there is at least one CPU player on the team. – Fixed the issue where arena changes would fail to be applied the first time ‘Save Changes and Exit’ was selected when attempting to make changes to your Pro-Am Team Arena.
MyTEAM
– Users can now use strategy cards in Super Max games in MyTEAM. – Strategy cards are now stackable, in quantities of 20. – Non-NBA balls will now properly appear in your home court when set in the Edit Franchise menu. – Users will no longer be automatically taken to the Edit Lineups menu after upgrading a player’s badge. – Users that excessively foul in online multiplayer MyTEAM games will now get kicked and given a loss. – The “Replace Player” option has moved from the Edit Player menu to the Edit Lineup menu for usability improvements.
MyGM/MyLEAGUE
– To satisfy a popular community request, the NBA logo has been removed from the created uniform template in MyGM/MyLEAGUE. – The CPU will no longer override user-made decisions during the Qualifying Offers offseason time period. – CPU teams will now be more conscientious of when they should renounce the rights to their players during the offseason. – Fixed a hang that would occur for some users when they were signing a two-way player for the remainder of the season. – Fixed a soft hang during the draft in MyGM/MyLEAGUE when the user attempted to negotiate a trade. – Addressed a fantasy draft issue where certain players were being incorrectly omitted from the selected player pool. – Fixed a case where we were incorrectly determining that a user was trying to maintain the rights to too many Draft & Stash players (it would force you to release a player you should have been able to sign). – Addressed a case where a Draft & Stash player would appear on a G-League roster prior to his signing an NBA contract. – Identified and corrected an issue that would lead to the inability to load your MyGM file. For those previously affected by this, your save will now properly load. – Baskets will now count for the correct amount of points when the league approves the rule change that grants automatic points to be granted on shooting fouls (in lieu of free throws). – Attendance will no longer show as 0% for playoff games in the financial information menu of MyGM.
Many other small bug fixes and adjustments were also made, game-wide.
NOTE: All patch fixes will work in your existing game mode saves.
Wow. You actually read that all the way to the bottom? You deserve a medal or something.
Are there any bugs or issues in there which you personally wanted to fixing? Let us know with a comment.
The LEGO franchise and the Switch have been good bedfellows of late, with both LEGO City Undercover and LEGO Worlds releasing on the console so far. The former we enjoyed. The latter? Not so much. Unfortunately for all of us, The LEGO Ninjago Movie Video Game – from now on referred to simply as Ninjago, because that title is a mouthful – is more Worlds than Undercover.
If you’ve played a LEGO game from Traveler’s Tales, then you know what to expect. Like most movie tie-in LEGO titles, Ninjago puts you in command of one of the group of ninja at a time. The levels are guided but somewhat open-ended as well; while you’re given a set objective at the beginning of the level, there are numerous secrets to find, structures to break and studs to collect. The game tries to entice you into replaying levels by hiding untold numbers of secrets behind puzzles that can only be solved by a ninja not currently in your party, or with an ability you don’t currently possess.
The level designs themselves, however, feel somewhat uninspired, and left us feeling like there wasn’t much reason to return. After each level you’re treated to a clip from the movie, most of which we found enjoyable; if anything the game is an effective advert for the film. Telltale’s writing chops are still as good as ever as well, with dialogue that is every bit as funny as that found in other LEGO franchises.
Areas are quite detailed, and the sheen on the faux LEGOs is pretty convincing, but there was nothing in the varied environments that had us wanting to come back for a second look. More importantly, long load times made us dread changing areas. The loading screen features a view of the area you’ll be playing in as though it were a real LEGO playset, which is interesting, but it’s not worth spending 15-30 seconds on each time.
Mechanically, Ninjago works about as well as you might expect it to. Combat is strictly a button-mashing affair but it gets the job done. There are abilities, dubbed Ninjanuities(groan) which can be purchased using Ninjanuity Tokens (double groan). Each time you earn a token you are forced to spend it immediately; each ability costs a single token, so there’s some value to that, but it’s harmful to the overall experience to be removed from what you’re doing to buy an ability you may not need at that moment.
Two-player co-op play is available but we can hardly recommend it. The screen is split vertically and the framerate takes a nose dive. It isn’t entirely unplayable in TV mode, but in portable mode you’re can kiss your chances of understanding what’s happening goodbye. Playing with a friend definitely adds value to the game, as your AI partners are typically useless in any practical sense. While you clear an area of enemies, all too often you’ll find your AI buddy struggling with the same foe they were on when you started. The partner you have exists only to be window dressing and for you to control when the game demands that both ninjas solve a puzzle.
Running around smacking bad guys is fun to an extent, but it’s when the game starts to wander from the beaten path that we experienced trouble. Not content to adhere strictly to a known formula, Ninjago introduces some new gameplay types, such as a Panzer Dragoon-esque on-rails shooter in which you fly around Ninjago (the city) fending off evil forces – but the game doesn’t really handle this well. The framerate takes a very clear dip here, and the Switch sometimes chokes under the number of enemies on screen at once. It’s easy to think this is the fault of the system, but we’ve seen much more impressive feats pulled of on the console from other developers.
New gameplay isn’t the only fault we found with Ninjago, either. Many times during our playthrough the game would inexplicably freeze, or the camera would lock in an area where all we could see was the top of our hero’s head. This wasn’t limited to gameplay either, as we noted this happened several times during cutscenes. During the course of our playthrough for the purposes of this review, it became standard practice to quit the game if a black screen appeared for too long, as it sometimes did during scene transitions.
Conclusion
LEGO games are typically quite good. Movie franchise games are typically quite bad. The LEGO Ninjago Movie Video Game is, both, but ultimately it feels more like a movie game than a LEGO game. Poor level design, long load times and bugs make for a game that doesn’t realise its full potential; funny dialogue and entertaining movie clips can’t elevate this one to greatness. If you’re looking for a great LEGO game for your Switch, stick to Undercover for now.
This week at Bungie, we’re controlling some new zones.
Lord Saladin made his return to the Tower this week and players have been rallying to his flaming shield. We also launched an additional map with Iron Banner to give you more zones to control. Distant Shore is a Crucible map set on Nessus, but it will be very familiar to Destiny 1 veterans. After the weekly reset, Saladin will leave the Tower, signaling the end of this Iron Banner. Distant Shore will then go into the rotation for all playlists.
Launch Prep
In only 12 days, Destiny 2 will go live on personal computers all over the world. Every player on the PC will be able to start their adventure at the same time, but the clock may display a different time depending on where you’re located. If you want to know the exact time when you can start playing, this nice map will show the ”Go Live” time in your region. If you are not close to one of the cities listed, you can also use this handy link.
Now that you know when the games will begin, you probably want to make sure your PC is ready to go. We gave you some minimum and recommended specs for the Beta in a previous update. Now we have an updated chart for you to check out before the full release on October 24 at retail stores and digitally via the Blizzard Battle.net app.
Windows 7 64-bit or Windows 8.1 64-bit or Windows 10 64-bit (Recommended)
Hard Drive Space:
68GB available hard drive space
The Prestige
Earlier this week, we postponed the launch of the Prestige Raid. An exploit was discovered that could cast doubt on the legitimacy of the fireteam who captures the coveted title of World First. We have been working on a fix, but the short-term solution contains too much risk. The last thing we want to do is fix an exploit some players are using, only to break other parts of the game for everyone. Because of this, we are pushing the fix off to a later date.
“Does that mean you are delaying Prestige Raid again?”
No, the Prestige Raid will still begin on October 18 at 10AM Pacific. We don’t want to make you wait any longer to experience what the raid team has cooked up for those of you who enjoy a challenge worthy of your talents.
One thing we did accomplish as part of our investigation was the creation of a way to verify a clean finish. We can now detect if any teams use this exploit to gain an advantage. This will take some extra time to verify, but we will be able to crown the winners with the confidence they deserve.
A safe fix is still being investigated for this issue. Our current plan is to deploy it as part of a future update. We’ll give you more details before it’s ready to go.
This isn’t the only upcoming raid news. We will be back next week to tell you about Raid Challenges that have been designed to make you rethink familiar encounters.
Feedback Frenzy
Ever since launch, there has been feedback posted anywhere and everywhere that discussions about Destiny 2 happen on the internet. I’m always dialed into our own feedback forum, as well all other avenues you travel to share your ideas with us. Some topics are as broad as “ways to make the Crucible more fun.” Some are much more specific, like “Add a method to mass delete shaders.”
We’re reading as much of your chatter as we possibly can. There are millions of you, after all. One thing we have noticed is a lot of discussions about the Endgame and how it can be improved. Right now, these discussions are also happening in our studio. We are listening, but need time to digest everything and draw up the best plans for the future. We will have more to say on this soon. Please stay tuned, and keep the conversation rolling.
Reporting for Duty
Destiny Player Support is on the case. No matter what the issue is, they will seek out player reports and make sure the right people are working the problem.
Destiny 2 Hotfix 1.0.3.2: Resolving Tower Crashes
Earlier this week, Hotfix 1.0.3.2 was deployed to resolve issues where players would experience console crashes when attempting to load into the Tower. Initial monitoring has shown positive results, and players should not experience this issue moving forward.
We are continuing to investigate an alternate issue where players may encounter a black screen when loading into the Tower. This may occur on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Many user reports detail that Tower audio can be heard, but players are blocked from fully loading into the instance. If a player encounters this issue, there are two known workarounds:
Launch an alternate activity or location through the Director and attempt to relaunch the Tower
Close and relaunch the Destiny 2 application.
We will provide updates on our investigation once additional information is available.
Destiny 2: How to report Clans or Players
When playing Destiny 2, players have multiple avenues to report players or clans that are suspected of cheating, using abusive language, or engaging in poor behavior during gameplay. The Bungie Security Team and Bungie.net Community Ninjas receive reports and execute moderation as necessary.
If a player encounters teammates or opponents exhibiting poor behavior during gameplay, such as griefing, engaging in exploits, or inactivity, they may use the in-game Report Player tool on the Player inspection page.
When encountering players suspected of cheating, we ask that players visit the “Report suspected cheating” page on Help.bungie.net and submit a contact form.
If a player encounters others who are sending malicious messaging or engaging in verbal abuse through voice chat, we advise using platform report tools provided by PlayStation, Xbox, and Blizzard.
There’s No Business…
We are back with another edition of the most popular game show currently airing on This Week at Bungie. I’ll be your host as we take a look at some of our favorite video media created by the Destiny 2 community this week. All our winners today will be receiving a special emblem in game. There was an issue with how we grant the emblem, so if you are a past winner waiting patiently for yours, we will have it to you as soon as we can in a future update.
Move of the Week: Hardhat Area
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Honorable Mention: Double Double Fusion
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It’s good to be back. Lots of excitement in the air. Iron Banner this week. Prestige Raid next week. Then we get to welcome PC players to the community.
Note: We originally posted our NBA 2K18 review last month but the game was essentially broken, with a number of serious game-affecting bugs. It was so severe that we were unable to give the game a score, because we considered it incomplete. While we really enjoyed the game when it worked properly, our advice at the time was clear: hold fire. “You shouldn’t buy it until 2K Sports fixes its myriad of problems with a hefty update,” our review originally stated. That hefty update was finally released last week: later than is really acceptable, but now here nonetheless. So, with the Switch version’s physical release due next week, we’re finally able to bring you our final review and the definitive verdict on NBA 2K18.
It’s been five years since Nintendo fans have had an officially licensed ‘serious’ basketball game, the last being Wii U launch title NBA 2K13. 2K Sports’ initial support for the Wii U quickly simmered and the studio decided to focus its efforts on other formats, meaning its day one NBA 2K offering ended up being the only taste of slam dunkery Nintendo’s system received.
A lot has changed since then, however, and now 2K Sports is back for another crack at the Nintendo market. WWE 2K18’s due soon but before that we have the latest NBA 2K entry. And while it’s taken a while to get there, we’re finally happy with the results. NBA 2K18 easily provides the greatest basketball experience we’ve ever seen on a Nintendo system (yes, that even includes Mario Slam Basketball). The sheer attention to detail here is sensational.
Those familiar with the NBA 2K series will already be familiar with the sort of things we’re referring to, but those new to it will discover a level of presentation that eclipses every other sports game, FIFA included. Matches open with a (skippable) pre-game show hosted by a three-man panel, with countless pre-recorded chats that all sound genuine and not just read from a script. They’ll crack jokes, interrupt each other and generally act exactly like they would on the sort of real-life broadcast you’d expect to see on ABC or ESPN.
After this it’s down to courtside where you’ll be treated to one of a selection of pre-game routines. Sometimes you’ll see video footage of the city hosting the game, other times you’ll catch the end of the national anthem being sung, or maybe you’ll see the team mascot firing t-shirts into the crowd. This is all supported with the full TV broadcast experience with a full commentary team, sideline reporters, realistic TV-style camera angles, the whole nine yards. Those familiar with sports games may think we’re overreacting by listing all of this but until you’ve played a recent NBA 2K you can’t really appreciate just how incredibly authentic the entire thing feels before the tip-off even begins.
Once the action actually starts, controlling your team is a breeze regardless of your skill level. There’s great depth to the various types of shot, pass and tactical call you can call upon at any time, but how much you want to delve into that is entirely up to you. This game gives you the luxury of as much or as little control of the intricacies of basketball as you feel comfortable with. If you’re a relative novice and just want to go with the basic ‘B to pass, Y to shoot, A to steal’ controls, you’re more than welcome to. Things get significantly more complicated once you involve the shoulder buttons and the right stick – but you can happily play and win without ever having to worry about them.
Should you actually want to get stuck into that, the level of control you can eventually achieve with practice is ridiculous. Shimmy shots, dropsteps, post hops, hook drives, alley oops, Euro step layups… these and many more are available as and when you decide you want to push your game a bit further. Or not, it’s your call. This freedom of choice extends to the wide variety of games modes available, each of which are so packed they could easily constitute full games in their own right. For starters you’ve got MyGM: The Next Chapter, a story mode in which you play as a former NBA star whose career was ended short by a bad injury and is now a manager.
This mode plays like a standard career mode in something like FIFA, where you’re in charge of all the inner workings of the team: from training and tactics to trading and scouting, to even smaller things like jersey sales (all while still getting to control your team in each match, of course). If the story side of things doesn’t appeal to you there’s also MyLeague, which lets you play through up to 80 seasons, controlling anything from just one to all 32 teams. If you get properly invested in this it might keep you busy for the entire duration of the Switch’s life but it’s also the driest of the modes on offer, featuring little more than a schedule of matches.
Meanwhile, MyTeam is a fantasy team mode that’s clearly been inspired by FIFA’s Ultimate Team. You start with a handful of player cards and, over time, build up your team by winning and buying more cards until you’ve got a squad that can take on all-comers both off and online. Finally, if it’s more plot you’re looking for MyCareer gives you another story, but this time it’s one in which you control a single player rather than the whole team. This is one of the most popular NBA 2K modes every year and for good reason: as your player slowly builds his skills and stats you feel a real sense of attachment to him.
That said, MyCareer has a different storyline each year and 2K18’s is probably the weakest in a long time, partly because the jump from zero to hero is too swift this time. In previous games you had to prove yourself in training camps before getting drafted to a low-ranked team and slowly working your way up to something like the Cavs or Warriors. This time though the story begins with your player competing in a street basketball tournament and somehow making it to a pro NBA team without going through a draft or anything. Within less than an hour of MyCareer mode we were coming off the bench for the Toronto Raptors, which sort of undermined the whole idea of putting in hard work to reach the big time.
The mode also has a heavy emphasis on microtransactions. As you play you earn VC (virtual currency), which is spent on improving your stats and customising your character’s look. While you can earn VC through playing the game, you can of course also skip the grind and pay real money for it. While this won’t be new to anyone who’s been playing NBA 2K games on other systems over the past few years, do be aware that if you want to build your character naturally without spending any extra money you’re going to have to be in it for the long haul: this mode is a marathon, not a sprint.
Regardless, despite the constant spectre of microtransactions looming it’s still a great time, and when you combine all four main modes – MyGM, MyLeague, MyTeam and MyCareer – there are countless hundreds of hours of gameplay here that will keep you hooked, whether you’re an NBA die-hard or just a casual basketball fan looking for a sports game for their Switch.
Until recently NBA 2K18 was suffering from a number of huge game-breaking bugs. Our game saves were being reported as corrupt, cutscenes were playing at a snail’s pace, dialogue regularly sounded crackly and parts of the environment disappeared during MyCareer mode. Thankfully a large patch – albeit one that turned up far later than it should have – has removed the most serious ones. There are still some graphical glitches in there, with the likes of flickering shadows still present, but the big ones are finally gone and the game’s far better for it.
As a result, we’re now comfortable that we can finally recommend NBA 2K18. 2K Sports has delivered a game that comes fairly close to its performance on other systems (it runs at 30 frames per second instead of 60 but other than that it’s remarkably detailed), and unlike FIFA 18 it’s missing absolutely nothing in the Xbox One or PS4 modes (except for a face-scanning function which is apparently coming in a future patch). It’s still silly that it’s taken a full three weeks after the launch of the digital version to get to the stage that we can finally consider this game playable, and hopefully WWE 2K18 won’t suffer from a similarly calamitous launch.
Conclusion
For those who took our previous advice to hold fire until we were happy the game wasn’t a broken mess, you can finally pull the trigger: NBA 2K18 may not have been a great sports game at launch, but it’s certainly one now. This is effortlessly the best basketball game we’ve seen on a Nintendo system in years, and a must-have for Switch-owning sports fans.
The Switch has earned something of a reputation for hosting modern updates of classics from the Japanese gaming canon, with notable reimaginings like Blaster Master Zero and Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap hitting the nostalgia button on Turbo mode. One of the more surprising returnees to take advantage of this trend was Soldam: Blooming Declaration, a launch title on the Japanese eShop based on a puzzle game spin-off of Jaleco’s 1990 arcade hit Rod Land.
Soldam released in the arcades in 1992 and then had exactly one port (to the Game Boy in 1993), so you’d certainly be forgiven for not being familiar with the franchise; but now that new publisher Dispatch Games has stepped up to localize this Switch update for Western markets as Soldam: Drop, Connect, Erase, it’s definitely worth getting acquainted with. Soldam is a delightfully different puzzle game with a unique gameplay hook and an impressive variety of play styles across modes — a perfect deep cut to round out any puzzle fan’s Switch stash.
At first blush, Soldam looks quite similar to other falling-block titles: gameplay consists of guiding and rotating four-piece bundles of coloured fruit as they drop from the top of the field to the bottom, and the goal is to keep them from stacking too high — if they reach the top, it’s game over. How you’ll deal with these drops, however, is quite different to other games in the genre, and this is what gives Soldam its hook.
Rather than clearing out when a full line is completed, as in Tetris, or disappearing when they touch a certain number of like-coloured pieces Puyo Puyo-style, Soldam’s fruits swap colour when they’re surrounded on any side — horizontally, vertically, or diagonally — by fruit of another colour. It sounds a bit like fruit-based Reversi or Othello on paper, but the falling-block trappings and the geometry of the playing field — ten-fruit wide but with only five ‘lanes’ to slide each 2×2 bundle into — make it feel utterly unique in practice.
If you have a pair of red fruits sitting on the lefthand side of the board, for instance, and a pair of blue ones to their right, placing a red fruit to the right of the blue ones will turn the whole lot red. If you manage to paint an entire row the same shade, it will vanish, hop down below the bottom of the field, and act as an anchor for making vertical and diagonal matches across the board. This anchor line, then, takes on whichever colour you last cleared a line of, so managing this carefully is a big part of the strategy; you won’t want to clear a line of green just to sweep it away if you’re going to need yellow on the bottom for your next move. It’s also essential for combos — clearing more than one line at a time — which carry a tidy point bonus.
If that all sounds a bit confusing, don’t fret. Soldam is based on a concept that’s several steps removed from most block-drop puzzle games, and it’s admittedly tough to get the hang of at first — years of conflicting muscle memory from Tetris, Panel de Pon, and Puyo Puyo don’t help, either. But that’s exactly what makes Soldam so exciting: if you’re a puzzle game veteran it represents the chance to get in on the ground floor again, and it’s surprisingly refreshing to learn a puzzle gameplay type from scratch.
It does a great job at getting you up to speed, too; the main endless mode (simply called ‘Soldam’) starts out nice and slow, beginning with only two colours before gradually introducing more. There’s also an ‘Easy Mode’ that lets you take as much time as you like before dropping each fruit cluster. Even better, this localized version adds in a new option to turn on arrows and shaders which show exactly which fruit will be affected by the falling bundle. While we eventually preferred to play with these turned off, they were invaluable in the early stages and helped us immensely in learning to see the rules and patterns that make up the game; once it clicked, we were hooked. It’s as fun as it is different, and we loved how cerebral and strategic Soldam feels.
The main ‘Soldam’ mode should keep you busy for quite a while — it starts at a speed level of ’0’ and heads all the way up through ’200’. In a nice twist, however, those levels don’t represent a constant increase in throttle; it does get faster and introduce new colours as you go, but at certain points you’ll get a respite from the ramp up, and things slow down a bit so you can catch your breath (and clear the board!). That’s a nice change from the Tetris-style norm, and makes it feel less like speeding towards inevitable failure and more like a quest to reach the next checkpoint.
Another thoughtful touch that makes Soldam’s endless mode fun to come back to is the Plumis: cute creatures that hang out on the left side of the screen, and change form based on what colour fruits you ‘feed’ them as you clear lines. A ‘Plumidex’ keeps track of all the forms you’ve found, and there are 40 to discover in all. Plumis are a fun addition, because while they’re tangential to the actual puzzle gameplay, they still give you interesting choices to think about in the early stages of the endless mode — keeping ‘recipes’ for Plumis in mind as we went through Soldam runs added a nice layer of creative play.
When you want something entirely different from standard Soldam there’s also Challenge mode, which trades in endless clearing and auto-drop for a more meticulous approach to puzzle solving. Here, you’ll be given a preset board and pieces, and tasked with completing a certain goal: clearing four lines at once, clearing three lines total, or clearing the board in a set number of moves, for instance. In this mode, blocks don’t drop until you want them to, so Challenge is more of a mental workout than a reflex test, with 50 puzzles to work through in all. It’s a fantastic change of pace, and it also very much tests your grasp of the fundamentals, which leads to a rewarding skill progression loop. Even the early stages felt nearly impossible right off the bat, but playing more of the endless Soldam mode helped us recognize relevant patterns in Challenge stages, which in turn helped us get much better at Soldam proper — a wonderful feeling.
Like most puzzle games born in the ’90s, Soldam also features a two-player battle mode — known as Showdown — and here the rules are switched up quite bit again. Each player has their own colour they need to clear (as marked by the persistent red or blue bottom and sides of their playing field), and the single ‘next’ block waiting in the middle is shared between both players — meaning if you see a colour combo you need, you’ll have to scramble to make sure you get there first. Playing fields are appreciably smaller than in the single-player modes, and you’ll only ever deal with two colours in Showdown, both of which make for fast, combo-happy play. Lines you clear will add new ones to the bottom of your opponent’s stack, and as you might expect the first one to hit the top loses. Though it lacks the competitive depth of built-for-battle games like Puyo Puyo — there’s no real ‘counter’ mechanic, for instance — the straightforwardness is part of the fun, and we had a blast playing Showdown with friends.
In addition to local multiplayer, Dispatch has also impressively added an online option to this localized release — while the Japanese version is same-Switch-only, Western players can challenge others to a Showdown online. While the random matchmaking is a bit barebones — there’s no way to play with friends specifically, and it doesn’t keep track of your wins or losses — it’s still a nice addition to be able to play a round or two against Soldam strangers. It’s worth noting that in our experience it generally took a while to find an opponent, and we also encountered serious lag in several matches, but when we stumbled into a good matchup it was a lot of fun. Dispatch has also promised a patch to improve online performance and enable direct matchmaking, which would certainly be welcome additions.
Online or off, one of the things that stands out most about Soldam is its look; it goes all-in on its candy-coated aesthetic, and we love it. It’s bright, colourful, and simple, with a glossy sheen that makes the peach-like pieces stand out from the board. We would have loved to see more variety in the backgrounds, or the option to toggle to the retro, pixel-art style of older Soldam, but what’s here is certainly appealing, and the quicker play sessions it lends itself to means the lack of visual variety isn’t much of an issue. The same goes for the music — there’s not too much of it, but it’s all lovely, with upbeat, cheery tunes and attract mode jingles that will stay with you long after you’ve switched off the game.
The only serious problem with Soldam’s presentation is that the fruit are distinguished solely on colour, rather than shape, which means colour-blind players may be completely out of luck. Most modern puzzle games include shape-based ‘skins’ for exactly this reason, so the absence of any accessibility features here is disappointing. If you do have limited colour vision, it would be worth checking out a screenshot or two to see if you can differentiate all four shades used — red, blue, green, and yellow — before taking the plunge.
Finally, we did run into one technical hiccup in our time with the game: Soldam doesn’t seem to pause the action when you dip back into the Switch’s Home menu. This led to a few whiffed score runs before we realized what was going on, but it’s nothing a quick preventative press of the ‘+’ button can’t fix.
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