The Longest 5 Minutes

• Developers: Syupro-DX, Nippon Ichi Software Inc
• Publisher: NIS America
• Genre: JRPG
• Players: 1
• Platform: Steam, PlayStation Vita (reviewed), Nintendo Switch
• Release Date: July 28^th 2016 (Japan), February 13^th 2018 (North America), February 16^th 2018 (Europe)
• Microtransactions: None

Turn Based Magic

The Longest 5 Minutes is an old school top-down JRPG but with an added twist to the mechanic which I’ll go into later on.  First released way back in July 28^th 2016 in Japan this game has taken a long time to release over here in the west finally releasing on the 16^th of February earlier this year. As a fan of indie titles I try to look out for more obscure ones to try out as the fit perfectly on my Vita as quick plays but this one turned into something special for me and quite easily one of my favourite indies I’ve played.

The game takes your standard formula of JRPG mechanics but turns it on its head by starting you at the very end game battle right from the start. The whole ‘final battle’ takes place over a 5 minute period but this five minutes like the title of the game suggests is a lot longer than you think.

This final battle section plays more like a visual novel the way it’s set up as you have your multiple choice answers each time you interact in this section and depending on your choices you enter a different flashback to early on in your journey.

Time In Hand

The hero character you play with through the game, Flash, can’t remember how he ended up at the final battle with The Demon King so each time you ‘remember’ a piece of your memory you travel back to an earlier time in the story. These memories are all time stamped so you’ll see your at memory let’s say 6 seconds into the ‘5 minutes’ and it will be a level 6 memory so you’ll do this part of the story now for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour depending how much you get into it.

During these periods of time it plays much more like your standard JRPG in that you explore, do certain tasks in the story and upgrade yourself and your companion characters gear and weapons. This part of the game is very reminiscent in style to the early Final Fantasy games from the NES/SNES era and the Pokémon franchise with it sticking to the old school 8 bit/16bit graphics look. This isn’t a bad thing in the slightest either as even still to this day seeing that style of game is still probably my favourite style and period of gaming and really plays on the nostalgia.

Overall you go through 39 of these memories throughout the whole thing and whilst on a single straight run through of the game you wouldn’t hit all of these I would highly recommend going back and changing through some of your earlier choices. When you do manage to change something in the game it opens up alternative memories to play through and ultimately by doing this effectively it gives you the chance of earning multiple endings.

So depending which ones you ultimately decide to choose to do you can either have a positive outcome at the end or it can end up detrimental.

During the more traditional JRPG times in the game as you travel around the world it can end up a drag at times. This is down to the random spawn drops of enemies. I get that it is one of the most basic aspects of a JRPG but even after 20 years of playing these sort of games occasionally when I’m just wanting to get to a marker location quickly it can be really frustrating every five steps you’re thrown into an encounter.

That’s Right! I Remember!

Overall through the 15ish hours I ended up putting into this game I did have a really fun time with it. The story was quite deep the more you learnt about your character Flash and the backstory of his friends. The villain character The Demon King was also quite a fleshed out villain who had far more in connection to the main heroes than initially anticipated but without spoiling some of the twists it’s hard to talk about.

My main bone of contention though is the pricing of this game, at £34.99 on the PS Store it is a very expensive title for an indie game. I would 100% recommend this to people but also to be cautious of what you are getting. It is still an indie game at the end of the day but you are paying a AAA release price for it so unless you are very into this style or look of games it may not be for you. If it is in a sale at any point which I’m sure it will end up numerous times then that time might be the best to jump into this one.

PROS

• Great mashup of a traditional JRPG mixed with a visual novel
• Concept of working your way backwards through the story is fresh and not utilized in half as many games as it should be
• Very reminiscent of early Final Fantasy and Pokémon games from Nintendo’s early days
• The throughout back style of the 8 bit/16 bit era works perfectly for this sort of game

CONS

• The price point of this game is very steep for what it is
• Random enemy spawns can be a frustrating grind to get through at points
• Relatively short for the style of game it is

VERDICT

7.8/10

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God Of War

• Developers: SIE Santa Monica Studios
• Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Genre: Action-Adventure
• Players: 1
• Platforms: Playstation 4
• Release Date: 20th April 2018
• Microtransactions: None

Man Of Change

God of War is the newest reboot/sequel in the long running Sony franchise of the same name and boy oh boy what a new entry this is.

Whilst story wise this is classed as God of War 4 technically this is actually the 8^th entry into the series with 4 previous home console games, two handheld games, one mobile game and one Facebook game.  The less said about the non-home console versions the better though.

Also realistically if you’ve only played what’s classed as the trilogy you won’t have missed much from the other games.

I’ll start off first by saying whilst I was a fan previously of the other games and that while I expected to like this one I didn’t think I would anywhere near as much as I actually do now. Without a doubt hands down this is by far leaps and bounds above the rest. The change-ups they’ve made really do shake things up quite a lot and make this not only a really good sequel but also a fresh start for this series.

Dad Of Boy

This game picks up quite a while after the end of God of War 3 when Kratos had killed all the gods of Greek Mythology but now he’s living in Midgard in hiding with his new family. Story premise is simple enough, his wife Faye has passed so it’s up to him and his son Atreus to scatter her ashes on the highest peak of all the realms as is her last wish. Your relationship with Atreus is one of the main driving forces of the game with how cold and shut off from him you are early on to where you end up by the end credits.

It’s as much a dad simulator at times as it is an action-adventure game. Obviously there’s more to the story than that and you do encounter a wide array of characters from Norse Mythology on your path along with numerous other realms but without going heavy into spoilers it’s best to leave that one to find out for yourself as some of the twists and turns are another reason of why this game is so special. If you have a vague understanding of Norse Mythology though you might be able to piece together bits of the story as it goes along before reveals are made even though it is very loose at times with the mythology.

Whilst the other games in the series where very linear and rudimental in their design this game goes in a completely new direction. Gone is the single narrative path of the story and instead a far more open world adventure with numerous places to get side-tracked and explore which at times can have you completely leaving the main story on the side-lines for quite some time.

Conqueror Of Realms

All the different areas and realms shown to you in game all have a unique look and feel to them making each new place fresh and different yet Midgard being your focal point is always the biggest and main area though. The scale of these areas and how open they are to explore to you is one of the big plus’ to take away from this game as if you are a fan of open-world style games there is plenty for you to dive into and only makes you wish the previous games had this style instead.

Gameplay wise the combat has drastically changed but for the better in the long-run. The older entries where far more hack-and-slash which in 2018 is a pretty much defunct gameplay mechanic now and instead it’s more of a focused combat style. There is a learning curve to your new weapon The Leviathan Axe but once you master it and your rune upgrades it is a ridiculously powerful killing machine. Also having your backup CPU component in Atreus firing backup shots with his bow and arrow really helps and can really give you a leg up on higher levelled opponents.  It was fun destroying hordes of enemies with the blades in the old game but far more satisfying throwing the axe around and recalling it back to you for an added extra hit.

The upgrade mechanic has also had an overhaul in this game. The old style of just upgrading your standard attacks and weapons is still there but now with an added section to this implemented into the story quite crucially as a main focus point. Whilst your weapons and attacks do still have the basic upgrades you really get the maximum out of them when you use runes and talismans which give off stat bonuses and massive power ups.

Depending on which ones you use with your armour or weapon it can really make the difference in each enemy encounter for better or worse. This style of upgrading is very similar to the one in something like Horizon: Zero Dawn where it really is essential if you actually want to get anywhere in the game.

Vision Of Beauty

Visually I know I say this for a lot of games this generation but this one really is stunning to look at. The amount of little details they’ve put into every area of the environment is incredibly impressive to see. From seeing seagulls soar through the skies to the ripples in the water as you’re sailing along exploring there isn’t a dip in the quality of visuals you see.  The difference in even how Kratos looks compared to the older games you can really see the difference.

Now before I get lynched I know some of the older games are on systems like the PS2 and PSP but even comparing the newer PS3 versions to this it’s ridiculous the improvement this generation has made in regards to the visuals. When you consider how good games like the Uncharted series, Assassin’s Creed and Horizon: Zero Dawn all look and how this still manages to improve over them visually it’s a damn near impressive feat.

After finishing the main story too the actual post-game is where the game really goes all in with all the extra missions and realms to explore along with a ‘secret true ending’ to find. There is more than enough meat to this game to keep you occupied for a good chunk of time after the first credits roll and frankly you won’t want to put this one down anytime soon anyway.  Some of these post-game missions can be a real challenge though but as long as you have sufficiently levelled yourself throughout you are in for some damn fun fights!

God Of War

I honestly struggle to think now after playing through this how it can possibly be topped. With a year of big top tier releases like Detroit, Spider-Man, Red Dead 2, Kingdom Hearts 3 (??) etc. right around the corner the fact that this early on in 2018 we have a clear front-runner for game of the year is astounding.

This game really is a credit to the series and the system as a whole for completely reinventing an already loved franchise by turning it on its head and the outcome being for the better.

PlayStation continue to show once again why they are dominating this current generation after throwing out masterpiece after masterpiece of first party games and this just adds to the pile they are stacking up now. The benchmark was already high for the PS4 but this has already for me personally gone straight to the top as game of this generation without a shadow of a doubt.

Just as a final note for that statement too – no I don’t count Last of Us Remastered in this generation as it was a PS3 game ported but it would definitely give that game a run for its money on gameplay and quality storytelling.

PROS

• Fantastic storytelling
• Great changeup to the gameplay mechanics
• Wide selection of areas each with enough originality to keep it fresh and new
• Graphically stunning with a world whilst doused in mythology really comes alive as you play

CONS

• Some enemy types you encounter can be repetitive and only slightly in look and design to others
• In all honestly my only other flaw was the game ended and I feel I’m going to struggle with other games now with how near perfect of an experience this one was to play

VERDICT

9.9/10

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Nintendo Switch – One Year Later

2017 was a banner year for the video game industry. We had huge titles scattered throughout the year like Horizon: Zero Dawn, Persona 5, Assassin’s Creed Origins, PUBG and Wolfenstein 2,along with many others which where all received well by critics and fans alike. But amongst all of that we had one of the biggest comeback stories in the gaming industry in years.

The reinvention of Nintendo as a serious competitive force in the industry once again. This piece is mainly good to be a summary of the main library the Switch has produced in little over 12 months and how the future looks for this fantastic hybrid system!

Nintendo started the year in January with an unveiling event of the new system the Nintendo Switch previously codenamed NX to be released in March and launching with a mammoth release The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. To say this presentation garnered mixed reviews would be an understatement; some were excited for the machine whilst many online weren’t as optimistic.

I for one being a lifelong Nintendo fan was very excited with this showing. One thing Nintendo has done time and time again is prove the doubters wrong and show us why they’re one of the last few originals still breaking new ground in the video game industry.

Launch wise bar the obvious Zelda title there wasn’t much else on the scale of a big release. A few small titles like the awful tech-demo 1, 2, Switch and an average quick play game Super Bomberman R amongst a selection of Nindie style titles too.

This small-ish calibre of launch titles didn’t affect the sales that much as even with the small selection the big game Breath of the Wild already was causing quite the buzz in the video game world with nearly everyone already calling it Game of the Year 3 months into 2017, a title I may add that come the end of the year it still rightly deserves even though we have had a few come close and another from this very same system! If you doubt it you need only read my review of the game here on this site to see how much I loved this game!

A few issues pointed out at launch still haven’t been fixed a year later though which does show clear lacks in the system compared to the other big two in the industry. The lack of a proper online service is still a major bug bear to a lot and with only a tentative date of September 2018 as the release for it in this day and age 18 months after a console launch isn’t really acceptable for a full-fledged online launch in the digital age we are in.

The other major gripe with the system does tie into the online services but unlike the prior we have no answer or address to this situation – voice chat. Two words Nintendo tend to not like, compared to the PSN or Xbox Live which have full voice chat with Nintendo we have a smartphone app and an ugly Splatoon based headset to use in tandem. This isn’t good for a system which has taken the world by storm not being able to have such basic functions needed for co-operative play in 2018.

Nintendo did a fantastic job of pacing out big game releases in 2017 to make sure the audience was there every month of the year and not drop off.

March obviously we started with Breath of the Wild. April gave us a port of Mario Kart 8 called the Deluxe version making it the definitive Mario Kart experience with all previous DLC from 8 included with the revamped Battle Mode.

In May we got Minecraft, Ultra Street Fighter 2 and Disgaea 5. June was a new IP release and a big showing from the January presentation Arms, this was a big misfire for me personally. A smart idea not implanted well for me, this is truly the only ‘main’ Switch game I’ve actively disliked and not being a huge fighting game fan it might’ve played into that one though? Still Nintendo seem to be trying hard still to make Arms a thing going forward.  Arms still has legs they’re saying…

July was another huge month for them with the release of Splatoon 2 which came out on my actual birthday which made it a day 1 buy for me. This particular game I had mixed feeling with. I dropped off pretty quick initially as I felt it was too much like the first game and not enough ‘new’ content per se  but within the last 4 weeks I have finally dug deep into this one and found a new love for this game.

After finally making some progress with the online and actually unlocking more content and game modes I am now deep into this game and very excited for the Octo Expansion due out this year. This game just falls into the problem of without a full online functionality it feels a step behind other competitive online games like Overwatch, Destiny, PUBG or Fortnite. If it had some of the basic mechanics for voice chat and true matchmaking this could go big in the eSports field but until these are addressed I fear for the longevity of this one.

As we crept into the back half of the year post-E3 and the 6 months mark figures of the sales and the future was showing a positive note for Nintendo going forward with it slowly creeping up to lifetime sales of the Wii U already and gaining big traction in the gaming community with the impending Mario release.

August had one of our first big third-party games come to the system Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, a game that turned out far better than it had any right to be. An XCOM style game with crossover of two franchises you wouldn’t expect to.  September was more ports with DragonBall Xenoverse 2, Rayman Legends and Pokken Tournament DX, all good titles nothing to shout home about though.

October though was the flagship month though like March was. We had our first full Mario game on the system Super Mario Odyssey, a game that was universally loved and instantly jumped into the Game of the Year conversation. The fact that Nintendo had not one but two games literally cleaning house in reviews and conversations was something many probably wouldn’t have expected.

With the new Mario game we got a new technique for him with the inclusion of a new character called Cappy, a magical hat that lets you take over certain characters and enemies in the game so essentially if you wanted to be a Cheep-Cheep or a Koopa Trooper you could now. A very deep game with your standard 3D Mario tropes but with a huge post-game section this game instantly became a system and series favourite for me.

I’ve always traditional preferred the 2D Mario games over the 3D ones but this has been the first one in a long time to come close to the enjoyment I felt first playing Super Mario Bros 3 almost 25 years ago! A real tour de force on a system already with an absolute beast of a game like Breath of the Wild already released.

The year closed out in November and December with a few major titles and entries on the system. We had the mammoth Elder Scrolls: Skyrim release on a Nintendo Console for the first time and whilst I love the game and have put a good 20ish hours into this again I do feel a bit burnt out by this game with the amount of releases it has gone through.

Still Bethesda seem all in on Nintendo with Skyrim, and Wolfenstein 2 on the system. which as a fan of the company is great because we also got Doom portable here which considering Doom was my game of the year in 2016 tied with Inside I was more than happy to replay as it’s an absolute gem and runs perfect on the Switch and fits right at home!

The first big true JRPG released in December Xenoblade Chronicles 2, a game many thought would be delayed and wasn’t coming out in year 1. A fantastic game from start to finish and a great addition to the JRPG genre, it sold pretty well too so hopefully living in the age of ports and remakes it may mean we get a port of Xenoblade Chronicles X eventually which overall was the better game but like a lot of Wii U games it has been forgotten due to the nature of that system being a colossal failure.

The start of 2018 has slowed down on the AAA games and more showcased the hidden gems of the system – the Nindies library. The Nindies has been appearing week in week out throughout the year on the Switch and showcase some of the best indie games on the market today.

In the first few months of the year so far we’ve had one of the biggest indie games around Super Meat Boy, a Meat Boy-like climber game Celeste and the crushingly difficult Darkest Dungeon. Having this level of games of the system show Nintendo is once again all in with the indies and with future releases of classics like Inside and Limbo and exclusivity on first release of upcoming Shovel Knight DLC and Shantae DLC we do have some great content coming in the near future.

Overall I don’t think Nintendo could be any happier with how the Switch has turned out in the first 12 months. With them surpassing the lifetime sales of the Wii U in the first year, becoming the fastest selling console launch of all time and cleaning up at all the major game awards shows with Zelda and Mario the future is very bright for the system and as long as they keep the trajectory going the sky is the limit for them. Third party support is back at last for Nintendo, the public are back on their side and we are heading into Year 2 with Metroid Prime 4, Pokémon and Super Smash Bros on the horizon.

E3 in June will be the real test at how the future is going to shape up and how they handle the launch of the Nintendo Online Service as they’re going against some big hitters this year with some flagship titles on other systems releasing this year like God of War, Kingdom Hearts 3, Red Dead Redemption 2 and the always dominating Call of Duty. If they pace themselves well and don’t fall into any unnecessary Nintendo like tropes of over confidence I don’t see how they can fail.

If I was to give the Switch’s first year an arbitrary rating of the first year I’d have to go with a solid 8.5 out of 10. If the online and voice chats issues weren’t there, you could argue it being the strongest first year out of any system launch alas they are though and being 2018 in a digital age we can’t overlook such a major flaw with the system.

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Nintendo Switch – 2 Months On

I thought for this next article I’d do something a little different and have a write up about the Switch and how it stands just over 2 months after the launch. Being an avid Nintendo fanboy all the week back to the NES days and having owned every system they’ve released I have somewhat of a solid opinion with this company and their products and unfortunately there missteps they’ve made over the years. This isn’t going to be like a standard review just more like a thought-piece looking at the good, the bad and all the rest of what the future holds for this new little experiment of a console.

So let’s start off first with the launch. The system was launched on the 3rd March to a massive launch and has so far racked up 2.74 million units of the system sold with a surprising 2.76 million units of The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild also selling which means over a 100% attach rate so far for the newest Zelda game. These numbers are exactly the numbers Nintendo would’ve wanted right off the bat after the colossal failure the Wii U turned out to be. Working in a retail entertainment shop I see first-hand how quickly these systems are flying off the shelves, no sooner does one come in stock than it’s gone. Comparing that to the fact the Wii U’s just sat on the shelves for years and years this has been the launch that the Wii U should’ve received but poor marketing and a confusing name for casual players ultimately is the end story there.

Launch summary – Nintendo have succeeded in that point and managed to have a successful launch for the new system. 9/10

System and hardware time now! The Switch is quite a unique console compared to the rest in the market at the minute with it being advertised as a home-console/handheld hybrid which instantly gets people’s curiosity going. I have spent a massive amount of time so far on the system racking up close now to 90+ hours in Zelda among other games but my main state of play is playing the system in a handheld mode. As a handheld it is without a doubt the best there has been no doubt about it. It’s crisp, it’s sharp and looks and feels fantastic to hold. The same can’t be said all of the time when the system is docked for the home-console mode. The occasional frame-rate drop here and there and slightly less textured looks at times can be more jarring in this mode. It stills looks great but as a home-console machine it can’t compare to the other two players in the field.

It would’ve been wiser to advertise this as handheld you can play on the big screen instead of a home-console you can make portable. It may only seem like a little petty marketing switch-up but I think it would do more good for the system in the long run and let it take its place in the right category it should be in. The Joy-Con controllers you use for the system are nice little pieces of hardware and though they may seem small they fit incredibly comfortably in your hands. They don’t compare to playing with one of the Pro-Controllers but at the moment for me not many controller options do. The HD rumble feature in the Joy-Cons is a nice touch and makes them feel super sensitive which not all rumble does and the fact I didn’t have to fork out another £50 for a second controller is a good thing to me!

System and hardware summary – Good system and hardware overall but could be worked on more with the marketing over time and slight differences between handheld/home-console modes. 6/10

Let’s talk games now! Is there enough games on the system? Everyone knows at this point the big flagship game is Breath of the Wild and for a flagship game carrying the system so far you really cannot go wrong with this future Game of the Year contender but is there anything else of note on the system so far? We’ve just had Mario Kart 8 Deluxe release and after diving back into this game it’s still as fantastic as the Wii U release was. Playing this game handheld is a nice bonus for me to with preferring the handheld mode and they added Battle Mode sections are a nice touch. I would’ve liked to keep my stats from the Wii U version considering I probably put more hours into that game than any other on this generation but again this is Nintendo and they don’t do things the simple way. Other than that we have had a plethora of indie games mainly on the system and very few new retail releases. I’m just going to fire off a few little thoughts about some of the smaller games I’ve played now on the system instead of diving heavily into them or else I would be here all day and some frankly don’t deserve that much time off me.

1-2 Switch – the less said about this the better, a complete rip-off of a retail title and just a glorified tech-demo. What I played in the pre-launch event I went to seemed fun in small bursts but after buying this full price at launch this should’ve been bundled in with the system as this is not a full game by any stretch of the imagination. Super Bomberman R – again a fun little title but not a full price retail game at all, not much has changed in the Bomberman series for this to justify the price they charged for the cart. My recommendation would be just to play the SNES or N64 versions instead if I had to choose. On the indie front they have scored much better. Shovel Knight: Spectre of Torment – for a timed platform exclusive this is quite possibly the best ‘indie’ so far on the system. A nice little different take on the original game by having the exact same levels with a new character with new mechanics and enough twists to keep it fresh and something new. A must buy easily. FAST RMX – a re-release from the Wii U and one of the best racing-sims in a long time not called Mario Kart. A true spiritual successor to F-Zero and a fantastic pick up and play title. Snake Pass – one of the strangest games I’ve played but incredibly fun and highly addictive. Think Frogger with a snake and you’re not far off with this puzzle explorer. This is hands down a contender for Indie Game of the Year for the simplistic brilliance of it.

Games summary – a very mixed bag with some great new indies but not enough truly great retail releases yet. 7/10

The future for the Switch is a hard one to predict. With a successful launch you would assume it would be clear sailing for Nintendo but as previous consoles have proved anything can happen with these guys whether good or bad. You only need to look at the Wii U and Gamecube as examples; they both had some stellar games but ultimately got lost in the shuffle of the big players of the market. We have had some clear big hitters released so far game wise with some more promising ones for later in the year like Mario Odyssey and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 but ultimately even still the line-up for 2017 whilst having some strong games does still look a little barebones. What Nintendo ultimately announce or don’t announce at E3 will be telling for what the future holds for the Switch. Will we get a new Metroid after years of waiting? When will the Virtual Console finally appear on the system? What exactly does the new paid-online service actually entail and mean?

These are questions that shouldn’t really need to be answered straight away but with Nintendo’s past history of murky communication and strange business moves it can make you hesitant even as a huge fan of the company. 2 months in and it’s going well so far but whether they keep this up is anybody’s guess at this point. For me if I were recommending a new system to people I would 100% recommend a Switch for Zelda and Mario Kart alone. Is that enough for some people? Sure, for me I have found it increasingly difficult to go back to the PS4 after the Switch and found myself getting more and more bored of the home-system setup in favour of playing more high-quality games in handheld mode on the Switch. If they can keep up the level of games like Breath of the Wild for the handheld market this could be a clear rival for the  Sony’s and Microsoft’s of the gaming world but if they fall into the Nintendo pattern of mainly producing smaller indie style games we could end up with another Wii U.

REVIEW SCORE OVERALL:

Taking into account the different pro’s and con’s throughout this piece it’s clear the Switch is a nice addition to the console market with some great games but still with work needed to be done to be taken seriously as a competitor.

7.5 out of 10.

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Horizon Zero Dawn

• Developers: Guerrilla Games
• Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Genre: Action RPG
• Platforms: Playstation 4
• Release Date: 1st March 2017
• Microtransactions: None

In The Days Of The Caveman

Before I get into the crux of this review I just want to lay a bit of ground work. March has been an incredibly busy month of gaming. First up for me was The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild which I had put a good 70+ hours into and was sure a front runner for game of the year. Shortly afterwards I picked up and dove into this gem of a new IP. My play through to 100% completion and the platinum trophy was a good 65-ish hours and it has jumped straight to the top of my game of the year category and quite possibly my favourite play experience I’ve had in a game period. This for me is easily in the Link to the Past and Last of Us position of quality storytelling, amazing gameplay mechanics, extraordinary visuals and all-round as perfect as a game can be. I cannot score the game a 10 on this site due to site and scoring rules but let me assure you if the 10 was allowed this game is every bit deserving of that score.

The Land Before Time

The story of Horizon is a completely original and new take on the post-apocalyptic genre that is forever popular in film, tv and games these days. In this future dystopian world society has taken a backwards move to a more primitive way of life, divided into different areas and tribes living a more simple life whilst also trying to protect each other from the mechanical beasts that rule over most of the world known in game simply as ‘Machines’.

You play as Aloy a motherless outcast from birth from the Nora Tribe raised by fellow outcast Rost. As you grow up you question the reasoning behind you and Rost being outcasts and work your way to acceptance with the tribes. It’s quite an emotional style approach to the storytelling, and the further you dive into the story and learn more of Aloy’s and the world’s past it gets very deep very quick. I can’t really explain much more of the story without heading into spoiler territory but where it heads and goes is by far some of the best sci-fi style storytelling you’ll ever find in video game formats.

T-Rex Skin Boots

The gameplay of this game truly stands out for the uniqueness it provides in your combat. With you being primarily a huntress and an archer your main weapons tend to always be a bow of some kind and a staff. Having the bow as your main weapon differentiates this from most other post-apocalyptic games which focus heavily on guns, and the amount of different kind of arrows you can craft, created for unique battles and encounters that require you to constantly try new methods to bring the combat to your advantage.

You also craft other weapons such as bombs and tripwires that come in handy quite often to lay traps for prey to make your life much easier travelling through the wasteland. The weapon does come with a very simple upgrade and play system where you can either buy new weapons from vendors or upgrade ammo and carry capacities by hunting and gathering certain resources which you find in abundance throughout. These resources can come in forms of electrical goods harvested from ‘Machines’, plants gathered in the wild or bones and skin off real-world animals you encounter and hunt.  All in all it’s a nice simple mechanic which doesn’t become a chore as it’s just a basic task that you end up doing regardless of whether you realise as you travel from one location to another.

The Age Of The Dinosaurs

Now let’s move on to a subject which initially turned a lot of people onto this game – giant freakin’ robot dinosaur animals! The ‘Machines’ in this game are the backbone to the gameplay and story throughout and boy oh boy do they look fantastic! They start with smaller easier to hunt and kill models, such as the Watchers and Striders which are very similar to Theropod dinosaurs and small horses all the way up to gigantic beasts like the Stormbirds and Thunderjaws who are more akin to giant Eagles and Tyrannosaurus Rex’s. Taking on each machine requires a different approach to the combat and most of the bigger machines found later in the game like the Thunderjaw or Behemoth’s require a mix of patience, skill and smart tactics to ultimately take them down. Whilst throughout the game you learn the means to override and control these machines by completing Cauldrons, you still need to be very careful when approaching these for a fight.

There is a good amount of variations in the different machines they created for the game, and the fact that all of the 20+ models are unique in both style and movement really gives off the impression that these guys really do run the land. A tactic you may discover that works incredibly well to kill one machine may ultimately end up kicking your ass against the next one.

They Do Move in Herds

Visually the world Guerrilla Games have created here looks stunning and really feels alive consistently. The little details they added within the different tribes and strongholds really help you feel like you have travelled to the other side of the world which with how large the actual map of the game is, you would hope to expect but not every game adds this little touch in.  The weather and landscapes do change drastically throughout and eventually this can hinder you if you don’t have the right equipment to keep you going. For a world they’ve created with so much darkness in the storytelling it is incredibly bright and beautiful to look at until I suppose a giant Thunderjaw crushes you under its foot though.

Leaving the main story behind the game is filled incredibly deep with extra things to do. Whether it’s helping out a group of mercenaries clearing out bandit camps, delving deep into the mysterious cauldrons to learn more of the Machines history, even just helping travellers or tribesmen with simple side quests there is plenty to keep you going! My personal favourite of all the side activities you could do was taking part in the Hunting Lodge challenges, these involved applying to join a club of elite hunters and undertaking the trials they set for you to advance to become a more skill hunter. These missions awarded you with huge amounts of XP to level up and provide good insight and practice in mastering techniques to take down the Machines in swift and precise fashion.

My only main gripe with the game is a problem I have with a lot of games especially those in more of an RPG style genre – voice acting. If your game doesn’t feature Troy Baker or Nolan North in the main character leads I tend to find voice acting sometimes a little tedious myself. Whilst it isn’t necessarily bad in this game at certain points during cutscenes or dialogue choice options it can sometimes fall a little flat and scripted. Whilst I know every game, film or tv show is scripted there is a way of delivering dialogue naturally without it coming across very wooden. This is more of a little bugbear of mine in general more so than a complete negative but hey you can’t win everyone I suppose.

Whats That Coming Over The Hill

Overall there is more than enough in Horizon to keep you playing long after the story ended and with a promise of more stories to come this is definitely a new IP to keep an eye on as I can see this shooting straight up into elite series status. The story was emotionally gripping throughout and never let up, the mix of characters you meet throughout gave more than enough variation of life in the world and the gameplay and combat is second to none in my opinion so far this generation. I feel this is the game that is going to be remembered this generation as a new starting point and benchmark for Action Role Playing games to come.

PROS

• Gripping storytelling
• Great gameplay mechanics
• Wide selection of enemies throughout, each more stunning to look at and deadlier than the last
• Graphically stunning and the world feels and looks alive consistently

CONS

• Character dialogue can sometimes be a little flat with the options provided
• The game ended (in all honestly I couldn’t think of another con so I put this one on for good measure to seem a bit more balanced)

Verdict

9.9/10

The post Horizon Zero Dawn appeared first on Show Me Games - Independent Gaming Site, and Community.

The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild

• Developers: Nintendo
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Genre: Action RPG, Open World
• Platforms: Switch (Reviewed), Wii U
• Release Date: 3rd March 2017
• Microtransactions: No

Switch It Up

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the newest entry in the long running franchise by Nintendo and boy oh boy it has come back to claim it’s mantle at the top in a big bad way. At this point I would assume most of the gaming community has experienced this game and said what has needed to be said about this game but for me this game has changed my outlook on how I see games going forward.

I went into to this game with an open mind but cautious after the long 4 year wait wondering how this game was going to eventually turn out. Would it be another Ocarina of Time or would it fall into the Skyward Sword category? Strangely enough it fit into neither, this game has truly changed The Legend of Zelda series going forward and has set a new benchmark which I don’t know if they will be able to top.

Hylian Hills

Glossing over the story of the game this is where it’s most in line with the rest of the series. It features the same tropes and locations of the previous games all mashed into one giant new Hyrule setting. You start the game after a 100 year sleep to be awoken with a mission to save Zelda from Calamity Ganon by recruiting the Divine Beasts from iconic locations in Zelda lore – the Zora domain, the Goron city, the Rito village and  Gerudo valley. The story is fairly rudimental in this regard but the story isn’t where this game truly shines, whilst having a solid story that fits into the Zelda lore it’s the other aspects of this game which truly stand out.

Breath of the Wild is a true open world adventure in every sense of the word. In most open world games there is a freedom of exploration but at certain points you will hit a crutch where you cant climb this certain hill or go past this point just yet. This game changes all that. You want to scale this mountain straight off the bat? Sure you can do that if you want too! You want to go right to the end game boss and get destroyed straight away? Go for it buddy! The fact you can literally go and do what you want from the get go at any point in this game is simply breath-taking, and such a simple little extra you would’ve thought would be standard in these sort of games, but really is fresh. Bear in mind at certain points going this way in the game you will fall time and time again it still makes you feel you are in control of the game the whole time

Whack ‘n’ Crack!

It’s time to move on to the big bone of contention for a lot of people with this game – weapon durability and item limits. Weapon durability is by no means a new mechanic in video games let alone the RPG genre but this one caught a lot of people off guard. The standard Zelda formula is you head to a dungeon and find out you need a particular weapon to move forward and find it there and then and it’s in your possession the rest of the game no question asked. This game does not do that in the slightest. From the start you are thrown in at the deep end, you have no standard green tunic clothes or basic weapons. Instead you have to fight and gather weapons throughout the game from enemies and a lot of the time the weapons will shatter 2 or 3 fights later.

The limited space you have to carry the weapons can early on make this a frustrating process as you will have to learn fast which weapons to keep, which enemies to fight to conserve items and space and generally which are needed to help progress the story in the best possible manner.  Whilst there is a couple of ‘unbreakable’ weapons and items scattered throughout, finding them can ultimately be very time consuming and difficult especially to novice players of the series so I can understand the frustration this may have caused quite a few fans throughout their play-throughs.

Deep Delving

The dungeon set-ups in this game also change up the formula from the standard gameplay you expect from the franchise. Whilst there are 4 of what you might call the ‘traditional dungeon’ style in the Divine Beast sections you also have over 100 mini-dungeons in the form of the shrines.  This shrines work as a way of increasing even your heart containers or stamina bars as you get Spirit Orbs for each Shrine Trial you complete and for every 4 orbs that you collect you can exchange them either for a new heart container or a slight stamina increase.

The Shrines level of difficulty fluctuates throughout the game in different ways as some are riddle and puzzle based which can be a pain at times trying to figure them out and some are more skill and action based with different level AI opponents.  Adding so many of these little extra missions give the game more life and longevity as there is no standard area to come across this as they are literally scattered at random points throughout the map so no matter where you are currently exploring chances are your Sheikah Slate is about to tell you that you are close to one of these mini-dungeons.

A Breath From The Wild

Overall for myself I can now tell I am going to find it hard going back to the more linear approach of the Zelda franchise after this game. The sheer sense of wonder and enjoyment this game brought by just standing on top of one of the Sheikah Towers and looking over Hyrule was unreal. It brought back memories of the first time in Ocarina of Time when you head in to Hyrule Field and sense the scope of the world just at a much larger scale. Graphically whilst this game may not be on the same stage as some of the top-tier PS4 or XBOXONE game it is absolutely gorgeous to look at and the fact I played this game practically entirely in handheld mode made it look even more impressive.

The colours and textures of everything is amazing to see, it blends the perfect mix of traditional 3D Zelda titles (like Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword) with the art style and direction of The Wind Waker. Nintendo have now kind of backed themselves into a corner with this game, as how can they manage to top this game with not only another Zelda title or any other Switch title is anybody’s guess. After 70+ hours into the game and still many secrets to find, I can see myself going back into this world for many more hours and possibly years to come.

PROS

• Completely immersive world with everything is within your reach and truly open world
• Graphically the textures and art direction look stunning
• Completely fresh take on the Zelda franchise and reinventing the series for a future generation
• Story is standard but tried and tested formula which makes for a gripping adventure

CONS

• Weapon durability – can be frustrating at times until you get the hang of the system
• Voice acting left a lot to be desired, should probably stick to no voice option in future as the series doesn’t really require this function and the less said about this the better

Verdict

9.8/10

The post The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild appeared first on Show Me Games - Independent Gaming Site, and Community.

The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past

• Developers: Nintendo
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Genre: Action Adventure
• Platforms: SNES
• Release Date: 24th September 1992
• Microtransactions: No

A link To the Past

In honour of the release of the new Nintendo Switch console and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild we have decided to take a trip down memory lane. Today’s piece will be on one of the biggest icons of video gaming and my personal favourite game of all time The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past.

This isn’t going to be your standard review as we’ve read countless of these over the years and we don’t need another one. Instead I’m going to talk about the things I enjoy about this game and how it changed the landscape of videogames and ultimately the legacy it left behind and why I love this game above all others.

By the time A Link To The Past was released The Legend of Zelda series was already a well-regarded series for Nintendo with the previous entries in the series The Legend of Zelda and Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link. Both games vastly different to one another, the first a top down multi-screen action adventure puzzle hybrid and the second a slightly more open world side-scroller adventure which is highly underrated. Then came along A Link To The Past and Nintendo took elements of both and decided if we merge these together we can have the best of both worlds and my god they did it.

Hylian Shield

At the time of release ALTTP really used the full stretch of power from Nintendo’s newest system the SNES. You could see the jump up in the graphics with how much more detailed Hyrule was now compared to the original whose different sections on the map whilst impressive for the time didn’t really have much to differentiate from each other. In this game we have a fully breathing different world, whether it’s the living Kakariko Village with its many inhabitants, or the Lost Woods with its darker setting and enemies and maze like structure, all the way to Death Mountain surrounded by caves and secret paths and falling boulders. Every section of this map was well detailed and planned out to really make you feel like you were exploring a huge world for the first time. This was truly the first major open world game.

It followed the same lines of the first game by having you explore dungeons to find new items and collect the magic pendants to different Ganon again but what truly set this apart from the previous entries of the series and other games from the time was the big twist. Once you have seamlessly Finished the game and collected all the pendants and about to fight Ganon – BAMN! you’re in a new world! The game restarted from the Dark World, an evil twisted version of Hyrule.

This sort of twist and switch up of the game whilst done to death nowadays hadn’t been heard of at the time, Nintendo went and through a whole new games worth of material there for you by including this and stepping foot into the Dark World for the first time and seeing the difficulty level rise the way it did was unheard of. Not only was this a massive curve ball but it truly made the game seem an epic size basically doubling the adventure time you expected. Having a more twisted version of the Overworld to run a gauntlet through was incredible, paths you had taken previously where now blocked off, towns and people you had met on your journey ruins and dead, it’s crazy to think how unconventional this seemed at the time but this is where Nintendo have succeeded time and time again and laid the groundwork for video game creators for years to come.

TriForce

Let’s move on to the soundtrack now. The Legend of Zelda series have always had fantastic musical scores but ALTTP may be the most perfect of these scores with the most memorable songs. For a game on the system Nintendo really utilised as much as they could with the music crafting individual pieces that would years later go on to iconic status.

Hiring legendary video game music composer Koji Kondo who had worked on the original game as well as the Mario series they managed to get another hit out of the gate with this score. The Overworld theme is now synonymous with the series as is Zelda’s Lullaby and The Great Fairy Theŵe. The amount of complicated music they included was astounding at the time and still to this day is one of the most complete soundtracks in video game history and is up there with the soundtracks of games like Mario, Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid on iconic status.

Master Sword

For me this game is about as perfect as a game can get and has been my favourite game of all time my whole life. I have ended up rebuying this game numerous times and played it consistently over the years. Whether it was the original on the SNES, the Four Swords edition on the Gameboy Advance or numerous Virtual Console versions on the Wii, Wii U or New N3DS, the game is timeless. If it wasn’t for this game we wouldn’t have half the games we have had over the past 25 years. From the gameplay to the story, to the soundtrack, the influence of this game is everywhere in modern gaming. From games like the Final Fantasy series all the way to modern classics like The Witcher, the Zelda influence is always there in the background.

Where people tend to credit Ocarina of Time as being the real needle mover in influence of Zelda it is easy to overlook this 2D classic but there is no denying all the groundwork that may have made Ocarina the consensus ‘best game of all time’ started first with A Link To The Past. For me ALTTP was the game that made me fall in love with the series and Nintendo as a whole, and started me on my journey of being a lifelong Nintendo fan. Hopefully Breath of the Wild and the Switch when released will give new gamers playing the series for the first time the same experience of wonder and astonishment I had discovering Zelda when I was younger. Here͛s to another 30 years of magical Zelda games and experiences.

Final Thoughts

• Revolutionary gameplay mechanics
• One of the best twists in all of videogames by introducing the Dark World
• Iconic soundtrack by Koji Kondo
• Laid the groundwork for videogames to come, influencing the entire market
• Nintendo truly taking gaming to the next-level using the full power of the SNES to incredible results

Final Score

9.9/10

The post The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past appeared first on Show Me Games - Independent Gaming Site, and Community.

Nintendo Switch Hands On

I’m Gonna Touch You

So this write up is going to be slightly different as it’s basically just a general opinion and overview of my first impressions of the Nintendo Switch console.

I attended a hands-on preview event in Manchester earlier on and tested a few games out on the console to see how it all shapes up. I’ll go through each game individually as each one had a different feel to the last which made for an original experience overall which for Nintendo at this point is second nature.

Blue Shell

The first game I tried out was the upgraded port of Mario Kart 8 subtly titled Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Not the most original of titles to start with. Overall just a slightly tweaked version of the Wii U, which isn’t a bad thing as that game is still one of the strongest Wii U titles, and without a doubt the best Mario Kart game we’ve had since Mario Kart 64 (sorry Double Dash you know it’s true).

For this game Nintendo had 8 different switch consoles set up in a circle so we could battle each other in a multiplayer race. I got to try out one of the new characters on display – Inkling Boy from Splatoon and used his bike the Inkstriker.

Both character and bike seemed to play quite well and the addition of the double-power up feature was nice even though it’s pot luck whether you get the double boxes as they are in line with the standard ones. Playing the game on the actual handheld offscreen looked fantastic and won’t diminish the gameplay in the slightest.

The picture quality was as good as playing the game on a standard tv and overall looked sharper than the Wii U version so this definitely looks like an upscale version and not just your standard run of the mill HD remaster ala Return to Arkham.

Inky Warriors

Game number two was Splatoon 2. Being a huge fan of the first game I was very excited to try out this sequel to see if it could live up to the standards of the first. It did not disappoint. They had the console set up differently for this game as we got to play with the Joy-Con controllers in the Joy-Con grip setup which was nice to test out.

I was always very curious about these controllers as the JoyCons do look quite small but once again Nintendo did not fail as in the grip it felt very comfortable and light but also incredibly sturdy at the same time.

I got to play on two different matches during this session and tried out a new weapon in – The Splat Duellies, a double pistol combination you can use. These new weapons made for a more intense match overall when you mix in the new supermove ability to which allows you to destroy huge portions of the map with your ink from the air in a slow motion style assault.

Incredibly fun like the first game but the motion controls seem a lot more fluid and gameplay is more evenly paced and easy to pick up.

1-2-Switch

Next up was a couple of the mini games from 1-2-Switch. This was a game I wasn’t really sold on from the presentation a few weeks back as it looked very gimmicky. How wrong I was playing on this as for a straight up fun party game it was incredible.

I played three different mini games – quick draw, milk and weight detection. Quick draw was a cowboy western standoff, simple but effective and all about the timing. Weight detection involved giving your joy-con a rattle to guess how many metal ball bearings are in the virtual box on screen which used the technology they described in the presentation explaining how you can feel ice cubes in a glass.

On the presentation it didn’t sound like it would make sense but giving the joy-con a little rattle really did feel like you could feel numerous balls moving around inside which really hit home how this new rumble hd technology really works. Lastly was Milk, the game that has been subject to many a comment or meme on the interwebs.

It was super fun but probably the most awkward I have ever felt playing a video game as simulating milking a cow with the controller whilst looking someone dead in the eye was definitely an experience probably best had after a few drinks on the Switch. What could have been a disaster of mini games ala Wii Party has now turned into a masterpiece of mini games ala Wii Sports. A day one purchase for sure!

To Arms, Two Arms

Now we move on to Arms. Nintendo’s new fighting game IP. Another simplistic concept, you play as a fighter fighting another character like most other fighting games yet the difference is your arms basically giant springs with different styles of weapons for hands.

This was the most active of all the games I demoed as it involved punching and moving around with your arms to perform different styles of attacks. I tried out a character that wasn’t shown in the trailer called Ninjara who was more of an evasive player focused on speed instead of strength and also has saw-blades for hands instead of boxing gloves.

This game focused more on the motion controls and ZL/ZR triggers than the other games for special attacks and aerial movements. Whilst an enjoyable game this was probably the weakest showing I thought but probably not helped by getting absolutely trounced by the opposing player.

Breath Of Fresh Air

I left the big one to last – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the whole reason I went to this event in the first place. Time slots where allocated to this demo for 10 minutes per person upon entering the event but I managed to get my standard 10 minutes about an hour in and then in the last 25 minutes of the event got to dive in to a full 20 minute sitting as the event was dying down.

From the short 10 minute showing first I was incredibly impressed with sheer scope of the game but not long after exiting a cave you start in and getting to the Grand Plateau I found after killing my first Bokoblin and speaking to a mysterious Old Man you come across (past Link maybe?!?!?!) and seeing the freaking Temple of Time in all its ruined glory my time was up.

This was devastating as I felt I hadn’t even scratched the surface of the demo so going back at the end gave a much better experience. The staff member who was supervising my second play advised me not to waste time finding Link’s clothes or speaking to said Old Man and instead to veer left to the first Shrine of the game.

Entering the Shrine I found my first new weapon a magnet like device which allows you to remove walls and floor pieces to make new paths or just pull doors wide open. A completely new Zelda experience which at the same time felt very nostalgic.

The open world mechanics of the game seemed very strange though with the fact you have a stamina bar and when climbing or swimming if you run out of stamina you either fall to your demise or drown makes this a new take on the franchise.

The game looked stunning and played wonderfully, seeing the Grand Plateau in full HD with Death Mountain looming in the background was out of this world and the fact the small area I got to see was only 2% of the world map really showed how big the scale of this game is going to be. The long five year wait for this game is almost over and many like me bought a Wii U specifically for Zelda so it is a sore spot the definitive version will not be on the Wii U but from playing the game first hand I can tell it will not look as crisp as this version does.

Final Thoughts

I was always a tentative day one buyer for the Switch, but this short two hour test has made me a definite day one buyer. The console is sleek and stunning to look at. The off-screen handheld play is ridiculously good looking and smooth. The joy-cons feel extremely comfortable with or without the grip.

The pro-controller like the Wii U version is as good if not better than the standard controllers for the PS4 or XBOXONE. Graphics wise is considerably higher than the Wii U as Breath of the Wild alone looks like a true next-gen game and even Mario Kart has a significant jump in looks. Whilst it may not seem as powerful in the long run as the competition I think Nintendo has really hit it out of the park with this one, and is positioning itself back at the table in a big bad way.

Where the Wii U ultimately fell, I can see the Switch succeeding. I challenge anyone to play even one of these games on the machine and not instantly feel the joy of Nintendo of old finally coming back. Nintendo have Switched it up big time with this console and I would not be surprised in the slightest to see Sony and Microsoft take note and seriously consider getting into the home console-handheld hybrid territory in the coming years.

Nintendo welcome back.

The post Nintendo Switch Hands On appeared first on Show Me Games - Independent Gaming Site, and Community.

Nintendo Switch Presentation

A New Challenger

So the Nintendo Switch Presentation just got done announcing a ton of new details and information in the early hours of this morning at 4AM. Being a lifelong Nintendo fan and borderline obsessive this event was a must watch for me and turned out to be a fantastic showing for the company. Over the next few paragraphs I’m going to ramble on about all the new announcements, information and all round Nintendo goodness that was displayed.

So let’s start off with the big one. The Nintendo Switch is officially a thing and will be here very soon. More specifically March 3rd 2017, it had previously been rumoured for a March 17th release date but Nintendo full on switched it up and we are getting it a full 2 weeks prior to what was anticipated. In little over a months’ time we will have a brand new innovative Nintendo system in our hands. The pricing for the console seemed in par with usual new Nintendo releases. £279.99 standard RRP and it comes bundled in two forms, the standard system with grey Joy-Con controllers or standard system with blue and red Joy-Cons.

Pretty Little Toaster

We got a full on look of the system and all the little intricacies of the hardware. We got a look at the new controller figurations on display the Joy-Cons. These little pieces of hardware connect to the tablet like screen device and can be used in a similar way of the Wii U gamepad or removed separately to form individual Wii-Mote like controllers. You can also attach them to the Grip-Pad to turn them into a more traditional looking controller and there will be also be a pro-controller version released as well around launch. These controllers can also act as controllers for multiplayer so straight off the bat you have a controller ready for player 2 without having to spend a fortune on a second controller.

The look of the Joy-Con initially looks quite small but adding the strap accessory does sound to add some more size to the handheld controller making it look more comfortable. The tech in the controllers seem quite Nintendo like from the get go with it featuring the same sort of designs as the Wii Motion Plus controllers by being very sensor sensitive including the new version of this the HD Rumble and an in built NFC chip for the Amiibo addicts out there. This new software was demonstrated by shaking the remote to signal the difference of knowing whether there is one, two or three ice cubes in a glass. It may seem gimmicky but at the end of the day this is what Nintendo does down to a tee.

The system itself looked quite slim and sleek on the design front. The Wii U gamepad whilst an originally idea and worked quite well in certain games wasn’t the most appealing of controllers. The Switch gamepad is the opposite look wise, it looks slim as a tablet, has a nice new docking station for when you’re on the big screen playing and looks very comfortable and not too big for the handheld market when you’re on the move. The battery life does seem like it could be an issue though as it was reported anywhere from 2.5 hours to 6 hours battery life depending on the game so any of your big budget games I imagine will get the short end of the stick battery wise.

They did also briefly mention the online aspect of the system but didn’t reveal too much of what to expect. Voice chat features where absent but they mentioned an account hooked to a smart phone and initially free online period but paid online services for later in the year. Not really a surprise considering the other big companies all pay for online services but I’m still curious whether Nintendo will feature an achievement/trophy like option for games in future.

Following suit from Sony to Nintendo have finally removed region locking from there systems they announced. This announcement will no doubt please fans that are constantly on the lookout for new Nintendo games which have previously all shipped globally at different time periods to each other.

Games, Games, Games

Time to move onto the games now the house keeping specs are out of the way and boy did we get some good looking games!

We got a hands on look at two new Switch IPs first off showing the use of the Joy-Con. ‘1,2, Switch’ is a basically Wii-Play like game for the system which focuses on the features used by the Joy-Con. It features multiplayer style games like a Texas standoff, answering telephone calls, casting wizard spells, simulating air guitar moves, dance offs and more. The premise of this game is to look at the other player and not the screen to gage timings to win. They said the intention of this game was made so that ‘everyone can play together.’ The second new IP shown was ARMS which is a motion controlled boxing game. This game looked like a cartoony boxing game where your characters arms are giant like spring boxing gloves that fire across the screen at fast paces and in different directions. It didn’t look like the most complex of games but again this looks like pure Nintendo simplistic fun and a nice little party game to play but I imagine when they add in the online functionality at a later date it may get more competitive.

We saw a few sequels from newer Nintendo IPs throughout the presentation such as Splatoon 2. It looked very similar to the first game but slightly bigger maps and new weapon systems but overall looks to be the same level of enjoyment and no surprise considering the first one was a surprise hit. We also got Xenoblade Chronicles 2 from Monolith Soft, this looks to be a direct sequel to the original Xenoblade Chronicles and not the X game that was released little over 12 months ago on the Wii-U. It did look quite impressive from the trailer shown and as a big fan of the first two this will be the RPG that grabs my attention the most from the Switch. We have a new Warriors game coming from Koei Techmo studios aswel, this time connected to the Fire Emblem series but nothing was shown of the actual gameplay just a little teaser but it’s nice knowing they are going to carry on with these Nintendo specific Warriors games as Hyrule Warriors was a blast to play.

Super Mario

The next big Mario was announced. Super Mario Odyssey – a new open world sandbox game in the vain of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. It was nice for them to reference Super Mario Sunshine as it always seems to be the Mario game that even though critically acclaimed seems to get forgotten in the mountain of Mario games released. It looked quite different from the usual games this one as it showed numerous different types of worlds you will travel to, some looked very Mushroom Kingdom like but they also placed in some real world locations like New York and Tokyo which whilst a strange addition looked pleasantly surprising. Mario has a new attack mode by the look of it as well in the form of his cap being able to throw it at enemies whilst also using it as a jump-pad, it seemed all normal until the end of the trailer when it was shown the cap now has eyes and seems to be a living creature so it’ll be interesting to see what the end game and plan of this is in the game.

For the first time in a long time it was nice to see Nintendo talk about 3rd party support and mention they have currently over 50 individual studios working on over 80 games for the system so it looks like we may finally get regularly releases on the system unlike the Wii-U which had some incredibly long draught periods due to the lack of support. With them talking about all the support this cut to video clips and introductions from studios announcing games and support for the system. With Bethesda revealing Skyrim after a big hush hush moment from the reveal video to EA announcing the new Fifa will feature on the system it seems there will no doubt be plenty of AAA games on the system over the next few years. SEGA announced a new Shin Megami Tensei game and Sonic Mania whilst Square Enix announced a huge list of Dragon Quest games coming to the system including Dragon Quest X and XI and Dragon Quest Heroes 1 and 2 as well as a new untitled project currently codenamed ‘Project Octopath Traveler.’

Nintendoes what Sega Don’t

The support and enthusiasm for the system and games from all involved seemed genuine and back to the Nintendo of days gone by. The presenters on stage and in video really seemed like they were having a great time with the games and talking about them and seeing Nintendo actually put on a stage presentation again was great to see. It featured just the right amount of information to get you excited for the system by having aspects of the E3 style stage shows and the pre-recorded segments of the Nintendo Direct videos. It was also the first public showing of Tatsumi Kimishima as president of the company and overall he did a great job for the first showing, hopefully in time he will become as much a frontal figure as Satoru Iwata was for the company.

The presentation ended with a segment going from the live feed in Japan to NoE president Satoru Shibata talking about the European events demoing the Switch and then crossing over to NoA president Reggie Fils-Aime. Reggie’s segment was slightly longer as we got a look at Shingeru Miyamoto and Eiji Aonuma playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and teasing the release date.

Overall this presentation delivered on everything it set out to do. It announced a fantastic line-up of games to look forward to, revealed a modest price point and showcased the new innovative features we have come to expect from Nintendo. If you were on the fence in regards to the Switch I would highly recommend checking out the full presentation and if Breath of the Wild and Skyrim on the go can’t convince you then I’m not sure what will.

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Assassin’s Creed The Movie

• Director: Justin Kurzel
• Producer: Jean-Julien Baronnet, Frank Marshall, Micheal Fassbender
• Distribution: 20th Century Fox
• Cast: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Michael K Williams
• Release Date: 1st January 2017
• Runtime: 116 Minutes

Apple Of Eden

Assassin’s Creed is the first big budget live action film that is loosely based on the popular video game franchise by Ubisoft Studios. It centres loosely along the same sort of lines of the first few games in the series whilst also offering a different perspective of the story.

Video game movies don’t really tend to have a good track record when it comes to them. For every Resident Evil or Doom which aren’t too bad overall you then have films like Super Mario Bros and Double Dragon which are awful as films. For this reason I was hesitant going into this, whilst I did like the look of the film from the trailers the doubt was always there in my mind that this would be another waste of treasured source material. Thankfully this was not the case at all. Instead we actually get arguably the best video game movie yet.

We have a plot very similar to that of Assassin’s Creed 2 but with different characters in the lead. Instead of Desmond Miles we have Michael Fassbender’s Callum Lynch, and like Desmond’s ancestor Ezio Auditore we are introduced to Callum’s ancestor Aguilar de Nerha for the flashback/animus chunks of the film.

This new addition to the Assassin’s Creed lore is easily the strongest lead character we have had since the Ezio days. He’s part of an ancient Spanish bloodline sworn to protect the object the film revolves around – the Apple of Eden.  This object has popped up in quite a lot of the earlier games as the big MacGuffin piece throughout that the Templar Order want to retrieve to eliminate freewill from the human race and eradicate the Order of the Assassins.

Animus

This premise brings us directly to the focal point of the story. Callum from an early age has been a troubled child and ends up on death row, during his execution the situation is rigged so the Templar’s can transfer him to the Abstergo Industries lab/prison in Madrid and through the Animus system trace his memories back to the location of the Apple. It comes down to the simple three act structure films tend to lean on. Act one introductions, act two placements are made and lead character still undecided by motivations, act three lead character see the right path they need to take and all hell breaks loose in final set piece.

It’s pretty much the entire plot of Assassin’s Creed 1, 2, Brotherhood and Revelations all rolled into one really this film. Simple enough and very familiar at first but then this is where it gets interested as unlike the games we get to see Abstergo and the Templars from a different point of view and spend a considerable amount of time with them.

Mainly Marion Cotillard’s  Sophia Rikken who is a driven member of Abstergo but with mixed feelings and motivations throughout and a sort of weird evil fondness for Callum and his past lives. We also have her father Alan Rikken played by Jeremy Irons as a driven member of the Templar Order with a drive and rush to find the Apple at all costs who comes across more as a shady character than an evil one.

The Animus is also vastly different in this film than the games but for the better. In the games it is just really a couch you’re led on and plugged into. In this it’s a more weird sci-fi looking claw machine which whilst you are in the synchronisation allows the person to freely move about mirroring what you are doing in the past life which makes for a very cool visual aspect.

Death By A Thousand Cuts

The real highlight of Assassin’s Creed the Movie is Callum’s past life as Aguilar in 15^th Century Spain. Like with the games the fleshed out world of the past is always the crux of the series and it is evident in these scenes. We see Aguilar’s life as a mirror opposite to how Callum has lived. He’s a driven hardened member of the Assassin’s and loyal to the Creed where Callum is an outcast who has drifted through his life with no meaning.

We see all the staples from the games such as the free-running and parkour, scaling buildings, different means of stealth assassinations, blending through crowds and of course Eagle Vision and the Leap of Faith. The fact that these stunts where actually real really does shine through and make it seem authentic and incredibly cool looking.

Visually 15^th Century Spain looks fantastic and very authentic. The areas in Andalucía, Granada, Madrid and Seville we see all look amazing plus the fact these periods where filmed with people speaking the native language and being subtitled added a layer of authenticity that the games lack and really made you feel like you are in that time period with the characters.

My main criticism though is that the film does lack more Assassin characters. We have Aguilar’s team in the Spanish flashbacks that whilst doing all the fancy Assassin skills don’t really get fleshed out. This also applies to the team Callum puts together in the Abstergo lab/prison.

We have a few characters in there like Michael K William’s Moussa as the lead in these particular scenes looking and acting cool and hopefully will be more expanded on in the sequel but currently from this film it does seem like a one Assassin show for the time being.

Virtual Insanity

Overall there wasn’t a ton to complain about really with the film. The casting was spot on and the source material was honoured even though the majority of the cast admitted pre-release to never having played any of the games.

The locations where used to great effect and overall they made it original enough whilst still maintaining all the staples of the games people loved to the degree where it comes across as good fan service but also something new and fresh. It also leads directly into territory to where a sequel would be obvious and a utter disservice if they don’t follow through.

Final Thoughts

• Casting spot on throughout – Michael Fassbender shines as two opposite characters, Marion Cotillard provides a different type of villain to the traditional method
• Locations all looked fantastic and authentic
• Use of Assassin’s skills from the game look very cool in film, stealth assassinations and Leap of Faith being the standout
• Could of used more Assassin’s and more background information on the Creed in general
• Great original story idea whilst also paying homage to the series

Rating

8/10

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