Video games know how to pull on our heartstrings, and the latest offering from Italian indie studio Ovosonico (which previously worked on Murasaki Baby on PS Vita) might just be the one that makes them snap forever. Last Day Of June tells the story of Carl and June, a devoted couple who are torn apart when a car accident takes June’s life and leaves Carl wheelchair-bound.
It’s hyper-sensitive territory already, but it’s got a powerhouse of a collaboration behind it. The game takes inspiration from the music video to Steven Wilson’s song ‘Drive Home’, with Wilson himself involved in the game’s soundtrack (just check out the trailer below, which features his haunting track ‘Harmony Korine’). The striking animation style is helped along by the involvement of writer/director/animator Jess Cope (who worked as an animator on Frankenweenie, as well as directing the music video for Metallica’s ‘Here Comes Revenge’ music).
Gameplay-wise, it’s a puzzle-adventure game where you’ll guide Carl through painful (and happy) memories in order to find a way to change events and reunite him with the love of his life. It’s reviewed very well on PC, so we expect our hearts to collectively crumble when it hits Nintendo Switch at a later date.
What do you guys make of Last Day Of June? Could you heart’s take it? We’re not sure about ours…
Rice Digital has announced that it will be bringing a special edition of the upcoming visual novel Song Of Memories to the Switch this year.
A romantic visual novel with a dark and sinister underbelly, Song Of Memories is an adventure that will see players discovering the thrills of finding their soulmate in a musical love story. You’ll need to prepare to fight for your love in the most testing of times, though, as an apocalyptic virus is sweeping across the world, threatening to infect those closest to you.
Called the ‘Encore Edition’, this newly announced bundle will include a whole host of extra items. Check out the full list below.
The Rice Digital Exclusive Song Of Memories Encore Edition includes:
– A copy of the game – Collector’s box – Cloth screen cleaners with premium Song of Memories character artwork – Four-disc soundtrack CD collection – Penguin mobile phone charm – Art book (which will be translated into English)
We are still yet to hear a specific release date for the game, although it is promised to launch sometime in 2018. Preorders for the Encore Edition have already gone live, with the bundle available in UK/EU and the US.
Are you looking forward to the game? Are you tempted by this Encore Edition? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
UK-based artist-turned-developer Jamie Degen has just launched a Kickstarter campaign for his project Hellscreen – a first-person shooter inspired by hellish ’90’s PC classics such as Doom, Quake and Unreal. With a striking duo-chromatic, pixelated art style and tons of firepower combined with a strong story and lore, Hellscreen hopes to find a home on Nintendo Switch. We were luck enough to catch up with Jamie to his discuss his new labour of love, retro inspiration and mashing the old with the new…
Hi Jamie! So what exactly is a ‘Hellscreen’?
The Hellscreen is an ancient machine created by the gods millennia ago to determine objectively who should go to the afterlife and who should go to Hell. It exists in its own dimension, outside of space and time and is a vast evolving, biomechanical machine. It consumes the natural resources of its surrounding environment and slowly expands across the entire planet it inhabits like a plaque.
Sounds awesome, so how did the project start?
The project initially started as a way to learn new plugins for unity called ‘playmaker’. It allowed me to use a node-based scripting language to prototype some FPS mechanics and create a little playable inspired by devil daggers, but with a Game Boy palette. After I got the basics in, I started revisiting an old idea for an FPS which I had in my head for about 15 years – Doom but with a heavy emphasis on Giger-inspired architecture. Taking that seed and mixing it with more recent ideas for mechanics and until it began resembling what you see today. Since then, I added more idle clicker style elements, the rear-view mirror and transforming weapons.
Your body of work is split between being similar in tone to Hellscreen, and then… not at all! Did your roles differ much from project to project?
The roles only really changed in terms of responsibility from project to project. Generally, throughout my jobs have involved creating environments and props. The last few projects tended to have me wearing a few hats and looking more at technical ways to achieve features and effects and performing a more senior role. More recently I have been freelancing and has seen me return to a small environment/props based role.
Has any of your other work influenced Hellscreen in any way?
A lot of my work has been so stylised and kid-friendly that that side of my experience hasn’t really influenced Hellscreen much. Killzone Mercenary kept reminding me that I wanted to develop the old idea of Hellscreen at the time but no direct influence was really there. I’d say I was more inspired by other games – Devil Daggers inspired me in terms of scope but the main influences are Alien Trilogy, Jedi Knight, Classic Doom, DOOM 2016 and more recently Dusk. I play as many indie FPS as I can to see how they compare.
Hellscreen is a retro-inspired game in 2018 – is that difficult to balance in terms of consumer expectation?
I think its always difficult to convey the idea of the game effectively. This has been especially apparent in the Kickstarter where I could have had more emphasis on the unique gameplay features in the game. People tend to judge very quickly too (who can blame them with so much new information being released every minute!) so trying to convey that it isn’t just a devil daggers clone is an ongoing issue. On the flipside, the ’90s FPS revival also makes it easier to share and be part of a community. People don’t need a lot of references to understand that it is in that genre of games.
There is a heavy backstory and lore to the game- what works of popular culture influence you?
The Alien movies and by extension, the works of Giger are a primary influence on the art style which in turn informed the story. I actually started with the art style and design and worked the story into that. Arthur C Clarke’s writings are a huge influence on the world building too, especially with some of the grander ideas that are present in his books. Old pixel art from some Amiga games as well as a particular stage from Streets Of Rage II are always present in my mind too.
How is the aesthetic integral to the experience?
The aesthetic is designed to stand out from other games initially but also has a gameplay language. The redder colours stand out and draw the eye to dangerous elements allowing the player to focus on the second to second gameplay and be aware of all hazards. The rear-view mirror plays a part in the aesthetic too, with the mirror allowing for different view modes (i.e the Hellscreen version of night vision, invisible enemy detection etc).
What kind of locations can we expect and do they influence the gameplay?
The game takes place in the Hellscreen dimension and will explore the history of its growth and evolution. Existing outside of time, the machine looks to human history to its continued, ongoing design. What was the Hellscreen like during medieval times? What was it like in the primordial era? What was the planet like before the machine was created? Is it alive? These questions will be answered throughout the game. There are five planned locations, each with the Hellscreen twist. These areas will have their own traps and mechanics and will allow for lots of interesting encounters and will feel different to each other.
As a fan of the genre, what elements are a priority for you when developing the game?
Recreating that feeling of playing a fast-paced FPS is the number one goal, but also adding new twists to refresh the genre. The weapons have to feel chunky and the levels must be interesting to navigate. The enemies should feel dangerous but the player should also feel powerful. As a games artist, It is important it has its own identity and try to do new things with the genre to give it its own flavour and feel different to anything that you have played before.
You’ve announced only PC, but Switch is definitely on your radar?
Nintendo Switch is my ultimate goal. Hellscreen looks great on small screens and the Joy-Cons even look similar to the colour palette in the game. It’s ultimately up to Nintendo though! I think it would be seriously cool to play on the go.
We would like to thank Jamie for his time. You check out the Kickstarter for Hellscreen above. Let us know if you think it would a good fit for Nintendo Switch in the comments section below…
While wartime strategy games are one of the evergreen genres of both board and PC gaming, they’re much less of a presence on console; outside of steadfast staples like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, historical takes on the turn-based formula are particularly scarce. CIRCLE’s Conqueror series brought this concept to the 3DS eShop with releases such as World Conqueror 3D and European Conqueror 3D, and now it’s back for another round on Switch. Channelling board game classics such as Axis & Allies and Risk, with a World War II setting and fun, strategic gameplay, World Conqueror X is a solidly enjoyable effort despite a few missteps.
Once you get your boots on the ground, World Conquerer X plays similarly to Advance Wars or other grid-based strategy games: taking turns with your computer-controlled opponent(s), you’ll be able to move each of your units – from foot soldiers and tanks to cannons and submarines – across the map, and set them on any enemies within range. Rather than starting and being stuck with a set number of fighters as in Fire Emblem, here you can use your resources to recruit new units on the fly. You can also bolster defences by building bunkers, mines, or anti-aircraft guns, order airstrikes and missiles, and develop any cities you’re currently occupying to boost the income coming into the coffers each turn.
These basics are the basis for World Conqueror X’s two distinct game styles: Scenario and Conquest. Scenario is a mission mode, where you’ll choose between the Allied or Axis side (starting in Europe, with the Pacific Theatre available later) and proceed through a series of discrete tactical puzzles. These stages are based on actual battles, and so the victory conditions are accordingly diverse; winning might mean taking a certain city, repelling an assault, or holding on while outnumbered long enough for reinforcements to arrive. That variety, along with the relatively brief mission length – many take fewer than 20 turns – makes Scenario mode perfect for shorter play sessions or on-the-go conquest, and the focused nature of each stage keeps them feeling fresh and fun as you go.
Conquest mode, on the other hand, is a massive undertaking that sees you selecting a single country – from heavy hitters such as Germany or the USSR to smaller states a la Greece or Thailand – starting in 1939 or 1943, and simply trying to win the war. Your historically-correct allies will aid you during their own turns, and you have some stripped-down ‘diplomacy’ options (give money to allies or draw new opponents into the war), but other than that, it’s you versus the world. It’s an absolute slog, though that’s not meant as a criticism; it’s just an uphill battle fought on a dizzying number of simultaneous fronts, and it does an excellent job of driving home the enormity of the exercise. Handily, you can save and come back to your game at any time (though with only one save slot, you can’t hop back and forth between countries), and since it’s independent of the Scenario mode sequence, chipping away at Conquest makes for a nice change of pace from the main missions.
In both modes, World Conqueror X brings a few unique wrinkles to the otherwise standard strategy template. Morale plays a heavy role, for instance; units who are surrounded or flanked will lose morale, and have lowered defences as a result, while troops just after a decisive win might get a boost to their attack power. You can also raise spirits by building certain amenities in cities you control, or by calling in the big guns with one of the many generals available for recruitment.
After ‘hiring’ generals in the HQ mode through medals earned in the game, you can deploy them to a specific unit in battle to help turn the tide with their considerable strength. In keeping with the theme, these are real-life generals, and each general’s powers are generally linked to their careers – Nimitz and Yamamoto are strong in naval units and airstrikes, for instance, while Graziani and MacArthur are most at home on land. One big difference, however, is that their in-game avatars have no scruples about helping out either side; if your dream is to have Rommel pinch-hit for the Republic of China, you can make it happen here.
From the turn-based strategy to the potential for fan-fiction with its generals, World Conquered X is a lot of fun. That said, it does have a few issues that can get in the way. The first is that many of its mechanics are vastly under-explained. The included tutorials are a start, but they spend more time on broad concepts (such as movement and morale) than on the nuts and bolts, with the result that we had to stumble around for several missions before we figured out how to recruit new troops, build bunkers, or upgrade units. There’s also a notable lack of clarity on what exactly different actions accomplish – upgrading troops seems like a good idea, sure, but there’s no specific indication of what’s improved – and a general feeling that you don’t always have all the information you need. There’s no preemptive report on possible outcomes before you order an attack, for instance, and no indication of how troops, cities, or structures affect your incoming resources. For a genre built on stats and numbers, the obfuscation is disappointing.
The second issue we encounter is again related to a lack of information, and specifically on what goes on in enemy turns. Though game speed is adjustable, your options when you’re not in control are limited to watching the computer take its turn in full, or skipping it entirely with a press of the ‘+’ button. The problem is that a lot can happen in a single turn, and you either miss out on all of it, or sit through a long series of shuffles and skirmishes and try and remember all the relevant details. It’s particularly egregious in Conquest mode, where enemy turns can take upwards of five minutes (!) to play out — in one instance, we get up to make a cup of tea and came back to the AI still playing away. Some sort of highlight summary between rounds would be a huge help, but as it stands, it’s tough to keep strategic tabs on everything that transpires before you’re back in control.
Graphically, World Conqueror X is a notable update from the series’ 3DS days. It’s nothing fancy, but the colourful cartography built on softened hexagons backs up the board game gameplay with an appropriately tabletop aesthetic. Pleasantly copy-pasted details such as forests, mountains, and deserts give the feel of an unfolded paper map, and aside from a few text alignment issues, it’s a nice look. We would have appreciated a bit more visual variety in terms of troops and cities – Paris is thematically indistinguishable from Phnom Penh, which seems like a bit of a miss – but overall, the crisp, clean style is excellent.
The music – with themes and motifs returning from the 3DS entries – is similarly well done, with particular care given to dynamic shifts. Its martial drums, strings, and horns stay largely in the background for long stretches of time, so that when they finally do swell up into strong, foregrounded melodies, the morale boost is palpable. It’s a smart move that keeps the small soundtrack from ever feeling too repetitive, even in longer Conquest sessions.
Finally, it’s worth noting that while World Conquerer X isn’t exactly graphic in the usual sense of the word – there’s no blood or gore, and defeated units simply blink off the battlefield with a few frames of animation – it’s steeped in the actual atrocities of World War II, and certain images and historical photographs could potentially be uncomfortable. The swastikas and Rising Suns have been airbrushed away, but the intent remains, and it’s fair to say that many players may place gameplay objectives such as ‘Invade Poland’ or ‘Deploy an atomic bomb’ somewhere between distasteful and disturbing. Of course, if you have an interest in the period, this history (and alternate histories) may be appealing in itself, but World Conqueror X’s real-World War basis means that it’s harder to ignore (much less enjoy) the violence here than in purely fictional affairs like Advance Wars.
Conclusion
It’s not out to break new ground, but with enjoyable strategy gameplay and an appealing board game aesthetic, World Conquerer X is certainly a welcome addition to the Switch’s library. Minimal tutorials and under-explained mechanics make it easy to feel overwhelmed at the outset, but new recruits who stick it out will find plenty of strategic fun in both the bite-sized Scenario missions and globe-spanning madness of Conquest mode. A significant improvement from earlier games on 3DS, and a solid recommendation for war-gamers.
Microïds and Frima Studio have announced that Super Chariot, an enhanced re-release of Chariot, will be launching on Nintendo Switch in May this year – and we’ll even be getting a physical edition, too!
Taking on the role of the princess or her fiancé, players must take the coffin of the deceased King through platforming caves in search of a resting place deemed worthy by His Late Majesty. Featuring 25 colourful levels of platforming adventure, Super Chariot can be played solo but, as we mentioned in our review of the original game on Wii U, the focus here seems to be geared towards a two-player co-op experience.
The physical edition of the game will come with some extra goodies including the game, the Royal Gadget Pack DLC (which includes a new playable character and five new gadgets), and the original downloadable soundtrack, although this is only set to be available in Europe and Australia.
If you want to try out the game for yourself before you buy, a demo containing the game’s first three levels is scheduled to hit the Switch eShop soon. Fans of 2D platforming challenges might like to give this one a go.
Did you play the original game on Wii U? Are you looking forward to seeing this enhanced version arrive on Switch? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Kirby Star Allies lands on Nintendo Switch this Friday and our review will be with you later today.
If you haven’t pre-ordered this yet and live in the UK, you might be interested in this bundle from the Nintendo Official UK Store which includes the game in addition to a rather tempting Kirby pin bad set.
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Some things in life are complex. Many games require careful consideration, a deeper understanding, and a keen eye for the bigger picture. Some things, however, are simple. Puzzle Puppers is direct, uncomplicated, and pure; the perfect representation of the grinning, slobbering pooches who act as the stars of the show. It’s bright, cheerful, and doesn’t pretend to be anything more than it is, which is a fun little puzzle title that asks the player to feed some adorable stretch-dogs, naturally.
Set across a series of 80 levels with some small, cutesy islands to navigate, your main objective is to move each hungry hound to their colour-coded food bowls. You move across a grid, leaving your hind legs behind as your front half stretches to impossible lengths, winding around from one square to another. All you have to do is direct which way your good boy goes in order to avoid obstacles, controlling up to four doggos at a time. You can easily back away if you get stuck, so the challenge comes from managing the doggy spaghetti that results from stretching multiple pooches across one small piece of land.
Levels are completed when each dog is happily eating from the bowl of their colour, but there are also bonus chunks of meat to collect if you’d like to push your skills a little further. Doing so will earn you the highest possible ranking for the level, and consistently earning top marks will unlock bonus stages. As you progress, a handful of mechanics are introduced such as multiple dog bowls to choose from, holes in the ground which pop you out at a different part of the level, and streams of water which basically act as moving conveyor belts. Stages can have multiple solutions, and your best-laid plans often go awry as doggy bodies block the way, and lead into frustrating dead ends.
The visuals and music are instantly charming, and almost dream-like in their total detachment from anything serious or realistic. There’s no explanation for why these dogs can stretch, but what’s the point in worrying about that when they look so dang happy doing it? The vibrant colours are appealing to the eye and also make it extremely easy to distinguish one dog from another during gameplay. Our real complaint comes from the total lack of variety, with each level blurring into the next as a result of identical ocean landscapes, repetitious music, and no story mode or structure to speak of. It’s all very pleasant, but it all sort of drifts into the background before long.
Apart from those few extra mechanics, once you’ve played the first ten levels of Puzzle Puppers you’ve basically experienced the extent of what it has to offer. As we’ve said, there’s a purity to its simplicity, but without some form of story mode to add context or a little more visual flair, it’s the gameplay alone that’s going to keep you engaged. Thankfully, it does work in this regard and while it certainly isn’t too much of a challenge, it’s perfect if you aren’t looking for anything substantial. It looks fine on the big screen, but that’s where the lack of content starts to show a little more. If you need something quick to play on the go in portable mode, then this is a much easier recommendation.
Conclusion
Puzzle Puppers is a very simple game about some very cute dogs. Its bright colours and bizarre premise are endearing, the gameplay is easy to grasp, and you’ll be in hound heaven for the first 20 stages or so. After a while however, this old dog shows that it hasn’t learned any new tricks, and the repetitive visuals don’t do anything to elevate the equally repetitive gameplay. It’s good clean fun, straightforward to an absolute fault, and for the low asking price there’s enough here to make this worthwhile. If you’re expecting a magical doggy story mode, or some imaginative level design however, you’ll be left feeling a little ruff.
We recently took a look at Retro-Bit’s classic game collections sold in the US, classic NES and SNES games lovingly put onto reproduction carts with fancy packaging – a must-have for retro game collectors.
It just came to our attention that Retro-Bit is selling a bunch of new retro classic game collections on Play-Asia which are for the Japanese region. These will work on a Famicom or Super Famicom, or NES/SNES with the correct bridging adaptor. You could even play them on a Retro-Bit console if you so wished, or on a Retron-5 or Retro Freak.
The game collections are licensed from classic Japanese companies such as Data East, Athena, Jaleco and Culture Brain, so all of the classics are represented, such as Magical Drop, Joe & Mac, Super Chinese World and Rushing Beat.
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Let us know if you plan to pick up any of these classic game collection carts!
Bigben and Kylotonn are reviving the classic V-Rally series, and it’s coming to Switch.
V-Rally 4 will be the first entry in the series since 2003, and comes to Switch, Xbox One, PS4 and PC this September. The first entry appeared way back in 1997 on the original PlayStation.
Here’s some PR:
Absent since 2003, the epic title is now making its big comeback with more than 50 models of emblematic rallying and extreme motorsports vehicles. Nostalgic players can collect, upgrade, customize, and master the favorite cars, three of which can be seen in today’s trailer – a Porsche 911 Safari, a Ford Mustang and a Ford Fiesta RS RX.
V-Rally was first released in 1997 on PlayStation 1, revolutionizing the genre with 3 game modes and a selection of real-world vehicles and famous tracks. Some years later, on PlayStation 2, V-Rally 3 released to huge success, adding a career mode with decisive team choices and an even greater number of tracks.
With V-Rally 4, the goal is to remain faithful to the identity of the franchise, which earned the support of millions of fans, and to strike a perfect balance between sensation, presentation, and simulation, while offering the best graphics and gameplay the latest technology can support.
“It’s a real privilege for me to once again work on the V-Rally series,” said Alain Jarniou, Game Director at Kylotonn. “It’s an extraordinary title that I have a very special connection to. I had a chance to join the team that created V-Rally to develop V-Rally 3 on the PlayStation 2 as a programmer. I’m very proud to be working on the franchise again 15 years later.”
V-Rally 4 features:
+ Rally: From Africa to Sequoia Park and Japan, travel the world along difficult tracks and in extreme conditions, such as snow, ice, and mud. + Extreme-Khana: You’ll have to be a master of precision and drifting on these tracks full of pitfalls. + V-Rally Cross: Leave your opponents in the dust on these dirt and asphalt tracks and take on 7 expert adversaries. + Buggy: Hop into your all-terrain vehicle to win the race on these particularly rugged tracks. Not for the faint of heart! + Hillclimb: Race to the top behind the wheel of powerful cars.
You can also prove yourself in V-Rally 4‘s Online and Career modes.
Will you be hopping into the driver’s seat with this one?
Some days are average, some days are downright dull, and other days present you with the most utterly wonderful things that you could never have even dreamt of. Today is one of those fine days, ladies and gents, and we couldn’t be more delighted.
Yes, today brings the news that Siri – the ‘intelligent personal assistant’ that can provide you with instant answers to your burning questions on Apple devices – believes that Super Smash Bros. and Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai is actually called ‘Mashed Potato Samurai’.
As you can see from @hashtagsashtag‘s tweet above, asking Siri for the creator of Kirby provides you with the chance to screenshot its response for hours and hours of retrospective giggles. To ensure that this does indeed work as shown, and definitely not just for a laugh, we tried it for ourselves and can confirm that it works perfectly. Oh, and apparently he’s 2017 years old.
This isn’t the only weird Sakurai-related search, either; simply typing his name into Google reveals a slightly surprising lead image:
If you’re reading Sakurai-san, we wouldn’t mind seeing a Mashed Potato Samurai in Super Smash Bros. for Switch. Maybe we should start an online petition?
