Nine Parchments is the latest title from Frozenbyte, the developer of games such as the Trine series and, more recently on Switch, Has-Been Heroes. Just as the Trine series did before it, this game places a heavy focus on co-operative play with up to four players able to team up and enjoy the adventure together. You can play alone if you like but, for reasons we’ll explore a little later on, you’ll want to make sure you have a group of friends available for this one.
After a mysterious explosion hits their academy, a team of slightly reckless students (one of which, Cornelius, somehow manages to sound like an even whinier version of Frodo Baggins) embark on a quest to return nine magical parchments that blew away. To do this, you’ll be exploring various levels and using magic abilities to defeat monsters along the way, all while keeping on top of upgrades, new abilities, and new characters. While the classic RPG elements of skill trees and a levelling-up system are present here, it never feels complex or like there is too much to understand; it is an RPG in perhaps its simplest form.
The levels themselves are very similar; you’ll begin at one end, run through until you reach the other end, and simply try to survive the enemy attacks as you explore. To break up the repetition a little you’ll come across boss battles every now and then – these act as milestones within the game and you’ll collect one of the missing nine parchments with each of these victories. Thanks to the increased repetition of the main levels, these boss battles are often a treat; they can be pretty challenging at times but, with some clever strategic thinking, you’ll manage to overcome them and find yourself eagerly anticipating the next one.
The combat works around an elemental system (fire beats ice, for example) and combining the elements with a suitable style of attack is key. Most attacks are long-range but come in different forms such as continuous beams of energy, or short bursts that do a little more damage with each hit, and these can all be accessed on a rotation system triggered by the shoulder buttons. You can also use close-combat melee attacks, but these usually create more risk than reward and you are much better off keeping your distance from enemies. Coming up with the best strategies and carrying out the attacks can be really fun, but the actual amount of fun you have might depend on how you choose to play.
We decided to play through the game on a solo quest first and, for the first hour or two, things were still fresh enough that we were enjoying the simple but satisfying combat. Unfortunately, after a while had passed, the aforementioned repetitive nature of the level exploration started to make the game drag a little; some of the initial ‘magic’ was lost. The boss fights did stand out as we mentioned, but the rest of the time we were left hoping for something more.
Luckily, things changed in multiplayer. Roaming around the levels with up to three other players can create all kinds of havoc; it is scarily easy to comically set your friends on fire or leave them desperately fighting for their lives while you fumble around deciding which attack to use. Naturally, this kind of thing is best enjoyed between friends who can communicate, so while jumping into games with strangers online is an option, we’d recommend local wireless as the ultimate way to play. Even though the repetitive nature of the levels remains, working out new tactics together – especially when surrounding enemies – and a much better life system (where players can restore fallen comrades by standing over them, as opposed to a simple two-life system in single player) really help to make things more enjoyable.
Just when things were looking up, though, we encountered the next major problem. Nine Parchments has a very strange feature in place whereby you can only have one campaign running at a time, even across different modes. This means that if you switch from a multiplayer campaign to a solo one, or vice versa, all of your story progress will be lost – you always have to start from scratch. You keep your unlocked weapons, upgrades, and level – the idea here is that you can complete the game and then re-play it with your new gear as often as you like – but of course this creates a rather serious problem.
If you’re wanting to see the story through to the end you have two choices: you must either play through the entire game on your own, making sure to never jump into any multiplayer action until it is done; or you can play exclusively in co-op mode, waiting for your friends to be online each time you want to play (and therefore never touching the game when you leave the house without a Wi-Fi connection). The decision is frankly baffling. Frozenbyte have addressed the issue, stating that a fix should hopefully come in January to allow multiple story runs to sit side-by-side, but you have to wonder why this wasn’t considered a day-one inclusion, especially for a portable console.
Despite the occasional online connectivity issue, the game does work perfectly well in other areas. The worlds are gorgeous to look at – not quite as stunningly beautiful as Trine in this humble writer’s opinion, but very lovely nonetheless – and the combat runs very smoothly indeed. We did notice, though, that playing with a Pro Controller either with the console docked, or in table top mode, seemed to offer a much better experience; the combat revolves around a twin-stick approach and the control sticks on the Pro Controller offer much more precision than those on the Joy-Con.
Conclusion
Nine Parchments is a game with an awful lot of potential; the combat is fun, the multiplayer co-op works a treat, and the gorgeous art creates a visually impressive world to explore. Repetition in the format and layout of levels – and the incredibly strange decision to delete your save data when wanting to switching between single player and co-op games – are unfortunate shortcomings, however. If you love your co-op adventure-type games, and especially if you like the sound of the light RPG elements, you may well get a good time from this game – just keep our warnings in mind.
Gallery: Checking Out 8Bitdo’s New SNES Classic Edition Wireless Gamepad
While the biggest news to come out of 8Bitdo recently is the launch of the excellent SN30 Pro controller, the company has also released another notable product: the SNES Classic Edition Wireless Gamepad.
As the title suggests, this is a controller aimed at those who have purchased a SNES Classic Edition and are looking for a cable-free solution which overcomes the tiny lead length of the bundled pad.
We’ve been lucky enough to have had our hands on the controller – which comes in SNES and SFC flavours – for a while now, and can happily report that it’s every bit as responsive and comfortable to use as the real deal. In fact, it’s basically little more than a slightly redesigned version of the company’s previous SNES30 controller.
The face of the pad has been altered every so slightly, and the controller comes bundled with a 2.4GHz wireless transmitter which plugs into the controller port of your SNES Classic Edition. Also included inside the box is a charging cable for the controller’s internal battery and a sheet of instructions.
8Bitdo’s products tend to speak for themselves these days and the company rarely puts a foot wrong with this kind of thing; it should come as no surprise that the SNES Classic Edition wireless pad (and its sibling, the SFC Classic Edition) are both excellent alternatives to the wireless pad you get with the SNES Classic Edition. If you long to be free of pesky leads, then these are highly recommended.
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Opus Magnum is Now Available on Steam and is 10% off!*
Opus Magnum is the latest open-ended puzzle game from Zachtronics, the creators of SpaceChem, Infinifactory, and SHENZHEN I/O. Design and build machines that assemble potions, poisons, and more using the alchemical engineer’s most advanced tool: the transmutation engine!
Steep Road to the Olympics is an expansion for Steep, the open world action-sports game that takes you on the journey to become an Olympic champion. Freely explore a massive open world, including iconic Japanese mountains as well as the Alps, where you will train for qualifiers to reach the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.
In Okami, the player takes the role of the mythical sun goddess Amaterasu, in the form of a wolf. Her task is to restore color (or 'life') to the world by destroying the monsters who have stolen it. Since Amaterasu is a diety, there are naturally people who worship her and people who don't. The more people who worship her (as a result of her restoring color and doing other good deeds for them), the more powerful she becomes.
Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package is a special delivery that will let PlayStation 4 players unwrap the Dead Rising 4 main game, in addition to all other previously released game content. The new bundle will also introduce a game mode called "Capcom Heroes," an all-new way to experience the Dead Rising 4 story that lets Frank West wear outfits and perform outrageous special attacks inspired by classic Capcom characters.
In Dead Rising 4, players will step foot inside the seasonal festivities of Willamette, Colorado amidst a mysterious outbreak that is spreading across the Willamette Memorial Megaplex Mall and surrounding town. Photojournalist Frank West returns 16 years after the events of the original Dead Rising. An ordinary guy that finds himself in extraordinary situations, Frank seeks to uncover the truth behind a government conspiracy responsible for the outbreak. With intense action and an unmatched level of weapon and character customization, Dead Rising 4, delivers a heart pounding experience as players explore, scavenge and fight to survive in an open world sandbox on the brink of the next zombie apocalypse.
A Hat in Time is a 3D collect-a-thon platformer featuring a little girl with a lot of heart. Travel the universe with Hat Kid as you rival the evil Mustache Girl in order to save the world. Unlock new platforming abilities, more combat moves and spice up your attacks with badges attached to your hat.
Destiny 2 Expansion I: Curse of Osiris continues your Guardian?s journey with all-new story missions and adventures set in a new destination, Mercury. Journey through time and space to learn the secrets of Osiris, avert a dark future, and rebuild the ties between the legendary Warlock and his greatest student - Ikora Rey.
Her Advocacy Track talk will discuss ways to recognize when your creativity is affected by stress, loss or other derailing emotions; methods for connection and communication with other creatives; emotional and practical tools to begin to reclaim your creativity. Here, McWilliams gives us information about herself and what she does.
Don’t miss out! The Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next March is going to be full of interesting and informative sessions like Laralyn’s. For more visit the show’s official website.
Tell us about yourself and what you do in the games industry.
I’m a game developer and designer, currently Chief Creative Officer at Skydance Interactive in Los Angeles. I started off in the days before anyone on a dev team had a job title (I was a combo of producer, artist and coder), then became a producer for years until suddenly “game designers” existed and I knew that’s where I belonged. I was occasionally in a producer role after that, but for the most part my career post-2000 has been as lead designer, creative director, or in company leadership. Along with my design work, diversity on our game development teams has always been important to me, and I’ve written about it several times on Gamasutra.
What inspired you to pursue your career?
I fell in love with attractions at Disneyland when I was a kid—I knew I wanted to create worlds. I got my first home computer when I was in high school in the early 1980’s (a TI-99/4A) and taught myself BASIC. When I first played Scott Adams’ Adventure game, though, my goals solidified: I wanted to create INTERACTIVE worlds. That wasn’t really possible as a profession in the early 1980’s though, and this was the height of the period when tech ads/culture started steering toward men.
It never occurred to me to study programming in college even though my freshman year I was an operator on the giant VAX computer system. It wasn’t until after college, working, law school, and a bit more working that I saw Myst and couldn’t take it anymore. I had to find a way to create worlds. I taught myself to make 3D graphics, taught myself better programming in the multimedia software I used for my day job, made a game demo, sold it to Micropose, partnered with a local game studio, and started my own company. This was around 1994.
Without spoiling it too much, tell us what you’ll be talking about at GDC.
We all deal with events in our lives that derail everything: events like divorce, death of a family member or friend, layoffs, bankruptcy, or a diagnosis of severe illness. When you’re going through these events, they rob you of your creativity—an essential part of every game developer’s job, regardless of discipline. They can also steal your focus, energy, and self-confidence. My talk provides tools to help you climb out of what feels like a pit of darkness, not from a psychological perspective (although that’s part of it) but from a professional and creative perspective. I really want my experiences dealing with three rounds of cancer to help other developers stay positive, engaged and creative.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your work?
There’s a reason co-op games are popular and also feel evergreen to play: people are fascinating, challenging, rewarding and unpredictable. Anyone in team/company management knows that understanding the people on your team and striving to improve both their work lives and their work product is a challenge, but one that’s incredibly fulfilling. We’re also working primarily in VR, and it’s always an exciting leap off the cliff when you’re taking on design for a truly new platform that provides new player experiences.
What are the most rewarding parts of your job?
It’s a tie between seeing a team working well together and enjoying the act of creation, and seeing players enjoy the game we worked so hard to build. That’s game development at its best, when you’ve been a part of a group that had a vision and realized it, and that vision can become a part of players’ lives. Ultimately there’s magic in helping to create memorable moments for our players.
The subject of your talk is incredibly relevant for anyone paying attention to the news in 2017. How do you encourage people who live and work online to feel justified for creating?
Creation is an act that helps both creator and audience. I believe in the fundamental power and value of pure entertainment–I don’t think entertainment is important only if it has a “message” or deeper meaning. Brightening players’ lives with entertainment is, in itself, meaningful. The process of creating even something that is “just” entertainment is therapeutic in many ways–it gives you something to focus on and escape from the woes of the world (whether those woes are personal, societal or political). Of course, all of the benefits for both creator and audience are enhanced when we put more of ourselves into what we create: our struggles, failures, triumphs, losses and learnings.
Two great examples are Crashlands, created while a developer was going through cancer treatments but not directly itself addressing cancer, and That Dragon Cancer, which clearly expresses the developer’s experiences. The bottom line: whether you express your struggles in it or not, the act of creation promotes healing.
What helped you maintain the drive to be creative as you were dealing with cancer?
That’s a key part of what I discuss in my talk. It’s really hard–and often impossible–to maintain the drive to create when you’re dealing with a life-changing event, whether that’s cancer or divorce or unemployment or the death of a loved one. I really struggled to even feel creative when I was going through chemo, much less actually BE effectively creative. And that’s OK. That’s why awareness and forgiveness are such an important part of my talk. You need to be cognizant that you’re in a situation where it’s hard to feel the mental focus and freedom creativity requires, and give yourself room to work more slowly and less effectively than you do when all’s well. I share some of the focusing and motivational tools I discovered as a part of the talk.
Do you have any advice for those aspiring to join your field someday?
Design is one of the toughest disciplines in terms of breaking in. The best advice I could give is to build stuff, constantly. Actually that’s the advice I give even to working designers. Be fascinated with tools and how other games are built. Get in there, whether it’s with the Elder Scrolls Construction Kit or Super Mario Maker or Unity or Unreal, and try to build something similar to what you’ve seen and liked. Then try to build something you’ve NEVER seen. Build stuff, break stuff, and learn stuff—that’s the core loop of being a game designer.
GDC 2018 will take place March 19-23rd at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. For more information, visit the show’s official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.
This article originally appeared on gdconf.com. Gamasutra, VRDC, and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas.
