The Famicom Detective Club duology of remakes on Nintendo Switch instantly gripped me, as a fan of visual novels and mystery titles. When Nintendo revealed a third, original title in the series for the Switch, I couldn’t be more elated. It turns out Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is narrowly my favorite in the series and possibly the darkest game Nintendo has ever made.

Emio - The Smiling Man involves an immediately compelling mystery about a student who is found dead with a paper bag over his head. On the front, a smiley face is drawn on it. This initial mystery only gets deeper, as it connects to an urban legend and previous murder case. Emio, the titular creepy paper bag-wearing killer, is horrifying in all the right ways from the start.

The infrequent horror scenes focusing on Emio put this title more in line tonally with The Girl Who Stands Behind. However, Emio - The Smiling Man stands on its own as one of the most unique games in Nintendo’s history. Its general gameplay will be familiar to existing fans of Famicom Detective Club or point-and-click adventures. Fortunately for newcomers, I did find the puzzle mechanics more straightforward, yet engaging, than ones in the past two titles.

Every scene in Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club boils down to a few key interactions. You think, talk, engage, and examine your way to the next part of the story. Most of the game involves using these key features to learn new details about the case as you question various witnesses and notable figures. Those characters look better than ever, expanding upon the beautifully detailed designs from the remakes with even sharper visuals and some of the most active animations I’ve seen from a visual novel or adventure game.

While the investigations may sound boring or a bit too simple from a glance, they work like a puzzle. In one instance, you may need to ask about the same topic a few times before you unlock a new question. You might have to examine the environment to learn about a new subject to talk about. Eventually, these portions lead to crucial review sequences near the end of each chapter. They act like tests of your knowledge about certain events.

The gameplay might be linear, but Emio - The Smiling Man makes up for that with a new addition. Ayumi, the main character’s sidekick and friend from past games, takes the role of the secondary playable protagonist for a portion of the experience. This perspective shift changes up the usual formula from the past two games in a significant way. You still play as the main character who you can name, but Ayumi has a slightly different investigative style. After all, she is able to question and interact with characters the protagonist is unable to meet. In addition, she has a much more gentle and calm approach. This idea leads to some of the game’s more heartwarming and ground-breaking scenes.

Those few lighter moments are a welcome respite, given the heavy content in Emio - The Smiling Man. On its own, it already sounds like a pretty disturbing murder mystery. This is especially apparent when you take into account the original three murders of girls 18 years prior to the start of the game. However, it doesn’t stop there.

Without giving too much away, some of the story elements and scenes the plot delved into shocked me. Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is far and away the darkest game I’ve ever played from Nintendo. It deals with some plot points that even the past two games didn’t come close to addressing. There are some story beats, particularly towards the end, that I found difficult to experience.

I appreciate the developer going as far as it did with the Emio - The Smiling Man plot. It can be quite twisted at times, but it is all the more compelling because of this realism. That said, there are some occasional problems with pacing. For one, it overall feels just a tad bit shorter than I would have liked. In addition, it wraps up in a fascinatingly unique way that I can’t get into here, but I imagine will be received in a mixed manner. The chapters also feel quite short, especially early on. This leads to a couple of twists, key characters, and plot devices feeling like they needed a bit more time to cook.

Even with the pacing problems, Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is the best entry in the series yet. The puzzle-like investigative gameplay is straightforward, doing just enough to challenge the player without overwhelming or being too obscure. It all complements well with the excellent but a bit unique storytelling. This tale is not for every Switch player, being a bit too dark at times, but it is highly rewarding for those it appeals to.

Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club releases for the Nintendo Switch on August 29, 2024.

The post Review: Emio – The Smiling Man Is Nintendo’s Darkest Story appeared first on Siliconera.

I’ve always loved the Gundam Breaker series. Even if I haven’t watched all the series included and don’t know every Gunpla I’m harvesting for parts, I adore everything it stands for. Beating up hordes of robots with pretty fun combos both at close range and a distance? Collecting tons of parts from different models to make my perfect custom creation? Then making my Gunpla pretty? It’s priceless. So I definitely think Gundam Breaker 4 is fun, even though it’s a huge grind of a game that sometimes feels better suited and balanced for co-op.

Gundam Breaker 4 begins with players being introduced to… GB4. We’re in the midst of a game-within-a-game situation. Your character is one of the people selected to take part in the GUNPLA Battle Blaze: Beyond Borders (GB4) beta. As such, you’re given access to a lobby where you can accept story, supplemental, and event missions, go to Your Room to customize your unit with pieces from other mechs, and create dioramas. One of the first things that happen in the story is you meet two other newbie players named Tao and Lin, and the three of you form a Clan with the goal of becoming the strongest players in the game. (You know, before things happen.) Given the setting, online is available, but it can be played completely alone.

That said, the whole concept of Gundam Breaker 4 feels like it is pushing you toward online play. After all, the story this time involves an online beta for a game. The grind to collect new parts and become strong enough to advance through missions is also a whole thing. So it is a situation where you might feel tempted to pay for online services, if you’re on a PS4, PS5, or Switch, just to take advantage of running through things with friends to make it feel like less if a time-consuming slog. 

Not that it isn’t playable alone! I spent the entire duration of my playtime offline and alone for Gundam Breaker 4, and I had a lot of fun. The combat system is rather tight, with buttons assigned to the left and right arms for both close range and long range options. I loved dual-wielding and triggering major combos. Switching between locked-on enemies involves a simple and natural movement. So with the right build, you could really cut through a horde of enemy Gunpla around you.

I felt the other gameplay elements were executed well too! Boosting is also quite effortless, so I never had any problems getting around the maps or eliminating the distance between foes. Ranged weapons can also pack quite a punch. If you’ve collected some really good parts, you can take advantage of them, not to mention the special skills. Cooldowns for those are reasonable as well. I also very much appreciated the Awakening system, which can help mitigate some of the issues with certain opponents being a tad tanky.

The thing I did notice is that some missions can be a bit of a slog when you go through them alone. They wouldn’t be too difficult for a solo challenge, mind you. Rather, it felt like certain boss-type enemies are damage sponges. In some cases, I think even if I was in a party with other actual players, it would still feel like they take too much damage to take down. The life bars could involve multiple ones to cut through. Since the earlier two waves for stages tend to also involve "cut down all the other enemy gunpla," it's rough on the hands.

Bandai Namco is a bit of a teaser when it comes to Gundam Breaker 4, however. Right in the midst of the introduction, a character named Tao with an SD Gunpla avatar comes up and reveals that hey! Those types of models are here to harvest parts from too! However, they aren’t as plentiful as the standard Gunpla. So even though there are over 250 base kits and a wide variety of options, I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see as many of the “new” kinds in this release. 

The thing is… it feels like the grind can be worth it! I really loved getting to build my custom Gunpla. The range of parts and kits motivated me to keep going through levels, especially so I could get the SD Gundam parts of my dreams to create an abomination that included mismatched pieces. In Assembly, you can set your head, body, right and left arms, legs, backpack, right and left close-range weapons, right and left long-range weapons, shield, and decorative builder parts. When in the Paint area, you can adjust the head, body, arms, legs, backpack, weapon, and shield colors. Decal and weathering options are available there. You can also go to Blueprint to save favorite sets.

The different customization options remain a highlight. I feel like the weathering elements also help parts from different kits, which may normally not look like they fit well together, do so when combined with all the other customization items. I absolutely spent as much time in My Room adjusting how my avatar looked as I did repeating missions. (Even with some bosses taking forever to beat alone.) Cobbling together custom builds with all of these iconic parts remains an absolute delight. So I need to replay a mission like three or four times to get the exact parts I need to kitbash my dream avatar. I’m okay with that! Especially since, once you clear a mission, it will note which opponents are around so you can be certain you'll find the pieces you need or want.

Going into Gundam Breaker 4, you need to accept that it’s the type of game that will involve grinding missions for experience and parts. I felt like the ensuing Gunpla I’d create and opportunities to collect even more customization elements was worth it! Especially since the combat system is tight and it all looks really good. If you’re not up for replaying a lot of assignments and dealing with occasional hurdles in fights that might feel better balanced for multiplayer, it might be wise to look at an older entry. But it can be a really good time, especially if you love the Gundam and this spin-off series or have a crew you’ll be playing it with.

Gundam Breaker 4 will come to the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, and PC on August 29, 2024. 

The post Review: Gundam Breaker 4 Feels Like a Fun Grind for Friends  appeared first on Siliconera.

Visions of Mana may be flying under a few radars. After all, when talking about classic JRPG series, the Mana series might not immediately jump to the top of your list. In fact, some players might not even realize it is its own series. And who could blame them? For a long time, we simply didn’t get many Mana releases.

The last non-remake, mainline Mana game was Dawn of Mana, and it released during the PS2 era. That's practically a lifetime ago in gaming years. The situation only started improving recently, with the release of remakes like Trials of Mana reintroducing the series to a new generation of players.

Fortunately, these issues seem to be resolved with Visions of Mana, the newest entry in the series. As a standalone experience, it’s perfect for newcomers who haven’t followed the series due to its sporadic release history. It feels like the right time for Visions of Mana to act as a new beginning, while also paying homage to its classic roots.

For me, Visions of Mana doesn’t exactly feel new, but it does feel like a classic done exceptionally well. This series originally began as a Final Fantasy spin-off before becoming its own thing. A lot of that classic Final Fantasy vibe is present here, to its benefit. Square Enix does a fantastic job of capturing that nostalgic feeling of a classic JRPG with this Mana entry, while also incorporating the bells and whistles of modern games.

The story revolves around a world supported by the "Mana Tree," with villages tied to specific elements. Every four years, an "Alm" is chosen to represent their village’s element. These Alms make a pilgrimage to the Mana Tree, accompanied by a protector called a Soul Guard. The main protagonists are Val and Hinna, who respectively are the Soul Guard and chosen Alm of the fire village. As these characters meet new ones across the story, you start to see the humor and charm in the game. These characters aren't the deepest or most complex, but they're fun and play well together. I enjoyed listened to the party banter while traveling. There was a simplicity to the relationships that felt very cozy.

While the story is pretty standard fantasy fare, what immediately stands out is the game’s world. It’s capital-B beautiful, with art design and colors that create a visually stunning landscape. The character designs are solid, but the world itself is what truly shines. The first time you step outside the main village and see a massive fiery mountain in the distance. It reminded me of moments like seeing Death Mountain in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the first time.

The whole thing felt very magical and fantastic to me. It’s a perfect fantasy setting, brimming with magic, creatures, and lore, all packaged in a colorful, cartoony style that works exceptionally well. The game isn't open world, but it does feature large areas full of things to look for, items to find and baddies to fight.

Helping you navigate the world are also mounts that you can call to your party. The first you get fairly early and are adorable bat-like dog creatures known as Pikuls. You eventually get other mounts that can help you navigate other types of terrain too, which are also helpful and look fascinating.

One of the most refreshing aspects of Visions of Mana is the presence of actual towns and villages. I feel like towns in JRPGs have never felt the same since the shift to full 3D. Here, each village feels distinct and lived-in, adding to the game’s classic feel.

As mentioned before, almost everything in this world is tied to elements. The assistance of elemental vessels can help you to explore the world such as using wind to get to a higher area or using water to create floating bubbles you can jump inside. These elements also play a significant role in combat. While many games feature your basic elements, and some even have a few extras, Visions of Mana really throws them all at you with eight total elemental vessels.

These vessels not only determine enemy weaknesses and resistances, but also form the basis of the game’s class system. Each character can equip an elemental vessel to shift into a class representing that element. It's different for each character, meaning each character has eight classes, plus their base, non-elemental class. For example, Val is a guard class with no element, yet if he equips the wind vessel he becomes a Rune Knight.

These classes are upgraded and skills are unlocked using the games Elemental Plot. It's sort of like a skill tree where characters can use elemental points to purchase upgrades. Some of these abilities even transfer between classes. It's a surprisingly simple system, yet leaves room for some strategy as you get into tougher enemies. The combat itself is fully real-time and while I believe it's executed well, it doesn't exactly break the mold. What I mean is, it's far more interesting customizing your characters than it is actually using them in battle.

The combat felt very fluid in Performance Mode. I ran into a few frame hiccups in Graphics Mode, but I also didn't really see a huge increase to detail in that mode either. One thing I thought was an issue, then realized was actually maybe an artistic choice is that at times the backgrounds seemed to move at different frame rates then the characters. It seemed intentionally done, but I found it to be a bit distracting especially in action sequences.

Many times, Visions of Mana just felt older than it is. Not visually, visually it's stunning, but between certain aspects of the gameplay and some of the tropes on display it just felt like a JRPG from another era. This isn't inherently a bad thing. I think there's something to say about a game making me feel nostalgic and like I played it when I was younger even though it just released. A lot of people have wanted an experience like that, but it's important to know what you're getting.

In the end, Visions of Mana doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it knows damn well what makes a wheel work. It plays like a game we all remember from childhood, but with all the modern frills. The game delivers a beautifully crafted, nostalgic JRPG experience that’s worth checking out.

Visions of Mana will come to the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on August 29, 2024. A demo is available.

The post Review: Visions of Mana Feels Like a Classic JRPG appeared first on Siliconera.

Over the years, Star Wars video games have become their own institution separate from and adjacent to the source material. The massive multimedia franchise offers a wide range of playstyles ranging from RPGs, a variety of first and third person shooters, Lego platforming games, and even an ongoing MMORPG. However, the franchise was missing a proper open-world experience. Or at least it was before the arrival of Star Wars Outlaws, a full-fledged scoundrel adventure game spanning a galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars Outlaws is the first open-world game available featuring the Star Wars extended universe. This third person shooter adventure puts players in the role of Kay Vess, a fledgling scoundrel accompanied by her alien mascot Nix. After two failed attempts at her big break in the criminal underworld of Canto Bight, she gets thrust into a galaxy-wide underbelly world of intrigues, backstabbing, political alliances, where the powerful and influential have a lot to lose and everyone else has a lot to gain. With a reputation following Kay, a new and flashy spaceship in tow, and a death mark from the head of the biggest crime syndicate himself on her back, the scoundrel must now find a way to survive in a ruthless galaxy and make a credit or two in the process.

After a brisk and exciting prologue setting the events of the game in march, Kay Vess lands in the planet of Toshara, where she needs to get her act together and start acting as a true criminal and trickster. The first few main quests in the game introduce the players to the structure of the game and its main draw— the aforementioned open-world. While the first planet offers a vast expanse, the always accessible speeder allows for these big open areas to feel easy to cover. The focus is always on exploring and finding points of interest in the map, whether it be interconnected and detailed city hubs, settlements, caves, or Imperial bases to sneak into and get a hold of rare parts and materials.

What I found most interesting about Star Wars Outlaws is that it felt like games I’ve already played, but never before for a Star Wars title. Different parts of other titles combine to make something exciting. The main gameplay loop lies in semi-linear missions, third person action, and free-form exploration. On top of it all you have a healthy dose of stealth-action, some light roleplaying elements and decision making, and even some space travel elements added to the mix. Star Wars Outlaws doesn’t reinvent the open-world, but it adds layers of genres you’re familiar with to make for a fun theme-park ride that keeps itself fresh for long enough to captivate, but not to much that it bores or distracts from what makes the game enjoyable.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the game is how reactive the world felt to my choices. Throughout both main story missions and other various contracts and side quests, Kay has the chance to ally herself or favor the four major crime syndicates that appear in the game, these being Crimson Dawn, the Pyke Syndicate, the Hutt Cartel, and the Ashiga Clan. During my time in Toshara I spent plenty of time favoring Crimson Dawn over rivals, which led to my reputation following me when I traveled to other planets.

The narrative of the game is mostly linear, meaning that the game only allows for some decisions to truly alter the world of Star Wars Outlaws. Despite that, the Reputation system of the game stands out for its interesting gameplay repercussions. If your stand with any of the crime syndicates is good, you’ll have it easier to get inside their home turfs both inside cities and in the open world areas. Meanwhile, a bad reputation means getting worse deals from their merchants, or even being persecuted and blacklisted if you mess with them too much. I like how this meld with both side content and main story quests, as you will often need to have a different approach to complete objectives depending on who you favor and who you betray for plenty of occasions.

This is different when it comes to the Galactic Empire, as they have no interest in making friends. Instead, the Empire and its iconic Stormtroopers act as the Wanted system in this game. If you cause too much trouble to them, the Empire will put a bounty on you that you can only clear by staying off their nose for long enough. Unless you max out your bounty, in which case they will deploy a full manhunt for Kay. I met this instance twice, in which I had to go to a Death Trooper camp and delete my record from their files to clear my name. While this sounds daunting, the manhunts are a good spectacle and show of might for the Empire, deploying an inordinate amount of war machinery against a single person. Fortunately for Kay and for the player, clearing your name is not too difficult or intrusive, and it made for very cool highlights of my galactic hijinks.

The events of Star Wars Outlaws are set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, allowing the Rebel Alliance and Force-sensitive characters to take a step back in the narrative and allow the criminal syndicates to take center stage. Star Wars hasn’t been historically great at allowing non-Force sensitive characters to take the spotlight, which is why I loved being able to soak in the more mundane and down to earth world of Outlaws, with its common folks trying to make a quick credit and its more unsavory fellas waiting to double cross you at the drop of a hat.

Some colorful and interesting characters complete the roster of the game, with the Clone Wars-era ND-5 battle droid being a standout with his sexy long coat. While he’s a great crew member, I wish he had gotten a bit more gameplay participation than just being your handler and your guy on comms, as he’s always a great presence to have. Likewise, Sliro and his Zerek Besh crime syndicate are an interesting addition and offer great tension throughouth the course of the game. Aside from them, the adorable Nix is your mainstay partner. Nix is great fun and acts as both great comic relief as well as a great gameplay element. Nix can fetch items for Kay or distract them during stealth, as well as attack enemies to blind them in the fray of combat. Using him to open vents or complete platforming puzzles always felt fun and quick.

Other gameplay elements that changed the experience somewhat noticeable were the varied costumes, tokens, and collectibles. Almost everything you collect has a gameplay purpose, and with exploring feeling fast and engaging every aspect of Star Wars Outlaws felt rewarding. It helps that both the various planets available in the game and their corresponding surrounding space areas are absolutely stunning and filled with unique looking vistas. Some maps like Akiva or Tatooine can feel vast and their scope too big, but the speeder and some smart fast travel points make them very easily accessible. Meanwhile, planets like Kijimi focus on a maze-like single city and hiding things at every corner.

With an oversaturated market for open-world games, Star Wars Outlaws keeps things varied, fast-paced, and constantly rewarding. Developers at Massive Entertainment focused on variety and quality over quantity, and didn’t skimp on visual spectacle. There is always something for Kay Vess and her Trailblazer crew to do, whether it be treasure to find, some gang territory to sneak into and rob, an Imperial space base to assault, or even some card games to play. For a true space scoundrel there is no limit in the galaxy.

Star Wars Outlaws will release for the Playstation 5, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC via Ubisoft Connect on August 30, 2024.

The post Review: Star Wars Outlaws Keeps Things Fresh and Familiar appeared first on Siliconera.

When you meet certain people, even virtual ones, you may also find yourself hoping for the best for them. Maybe it is because of who they are. Perhaps it comes down to what they’re facing. Tales of Toyotoki: Arrival of the Witch is one of those games, in part because the personalities of lead characters Hikaru Nishime and Lilun and situations leave you hoping they’ll achieve their goals and thrive.

Hikaru is an orphan. His aunt and her family took him in following his parents’ death. However, when he should be starting high school, he’s instead being shipped off to a small island with less than 1,000 residents to live with a grandfather he barely knows. Worse, once he gets there he finds that said grandpa is gone. He took off to another continent, and Hikaru’s aunt didn’t even register him for classes at the new high school. After being forced to sleep in a sugarcane field his first night, he meets a mysterious young woman who’s also come to Toyotoki Island, is also all alone, and was mistreated in the past as well. The two end up working together to get by, and in so doing find new places for themselves and ways to achieve their goals. This also leads to them meeting other residents of the island and getting close to them as they too grow as individuals. 

So the first thing you should know going into Tales From Toyotoki is that this is a kinetic novel, and not the sort of visual novel where you’ll make decisions. Yes, there will be a point when Akari Akatsumi will make it seem like you have a choice as to which route you pursue or what you do. You don’t. So those looking for the ability to influence the outcome or a little more interaction won’t find that here.

However, that doesn’t mean you should abandon or overlook Tales from Toyotoki. This is a situation in which that focus works to the benefit of the story. The official descriptions for it reference it being a coming of age tale and story of self-discovery, and the linear nature means Fragaria really gets to focus completely on that element of it. There are no distractions. We’re 100% seeing how our leads and other individuals grow as people. 

I especially appreciated how while everyone gets some time in the spotlight and development, it’s really Hikaru and Lilun getting the most attention. The mystery behind Lilun’s background is handled well, and I appreciated how it didn’t push too hard for immediate answers and reveals. Likewise, I liked how things are never just clean cut or immediately solved for Hikaru. Even when he does make some strides forward, he’s never getting an easy answer or immediate salvation. 

The way the two play off of each other is also a critical part of the story. Hikaru and Lilun each have their own areas of expertise. Alone, they wouldn’t get far. But we constantly see how together, the two are able to help each other out, progress, and get closer to accomplishing things they need to do to grow as individuals or meet their desires.

Tales from Toyotoki’s artistic direction and voice acting also help “sell” its premise. We’re experiencing life on a small island, thanks to seeing things from Hikaru’s perspective. The art direction and character design is, likewise, quite quaint. It feels rustic and homey. The voice acting is good as well, with a cast that feels well suited for the situation. Especially when it comes to Lilun and Akari. I did notice a few awkwardly phrased lines. (For example, one of the earliest ones is “The person I was supposed to live with was nowhere to be seen.”) But those instances are infrequent and don’t detract from the overall experience.

Tales from Toyotoki: Arrival of the Witch feels designed to keep you captivated by the events of Hikaru and Lilun’s lives as they deal with the odds that are stacked against them. Every win for them is one for the reader as well. It takes its time to show how these young people develop and find their footing, and it’s great when we get to see them succeed.

Tales from Toyotoki: Arrival of the Witch is available on the Nintendo Switch, PS5 and PC. 

The post Review: Tales From Toyotoki Leaves You Rooting for the Kids appeared first on Siliconera.

Reality TV is a guilty pleasure of mine, with it and sitcoms being the two genres I watched as a kid to pick up English soon after I immigrated to Canada. While The Crush House does not exactly satisfy the reality TV itch, it provides a pretty interesting commentary on the nature of these shows. The gameplay loop becomes more fun the more used to it you get, but as a game, it never quite became strong on its own, thus relying heavily on its subversion of the genre it's parodying.

The Crush House seems like a messier version of Terrace House when it comes to the in-game reality TV show. You are the producer of the show, and you start the season by choosing four cast members to live together under the same roof for a week. There's an element of strategy here after you become accustomed to the game. Certain cast members make it easier to make audiences happy. For example, activists love seeing Priscilla, who's prone to bursting into tears. Meanwhile, people with foot fetishes love Charlie, who walks around in sandals all the time.

You then broadcast the lives and dramas of these four people to an audience that’s thirsting for a variety of content. Sometimes, they’ll want you to film fights and arguments. Other times, all they care about is the landscaping of the Barbie-esque Malibu mansion. That's not even getting into the simps, the suburban moms, the plumbers, the conspiracy theorists, and so on and so forth. Your goal is to make sure the show stays on air for an entire season (a week) by meeting your audience’s expectations.

In the beginning, it was a little tough to stop thinking of the game as an actual TV show. I focused a lot on conversations, kisses, and fights. This is the stuff you'd want to see, right? But, of course, real people don’t make up the in-game audience. Half the time I wasn't even capturing the drama between the cast members. I was recording things like the pool, the art, the fish, the fire, and butts. The audience I had to worry about didn't seem to care at all about the actual substance of the show, which was a bizarre mechanic. But once I knew what the game wanted from me, it was a lot easier. Lining up shots to make sure I could get as much as I needed was really fun, but I became so focused on pleasing the audience that the actual show itself became a non-priority.

A lot of my initial complaints faded once I realized what the game was trying to do. One of my main criticisms was that I don’t really care about anyone. No one was really unique and they all felt interchangeable. It says a lot that I can't remember their names half the time considering how quickly I become attached to characters. While they do have unique backstories and personalities on paper, in practice, they're virtually the same outside of some special interactions. Emile the suave Frenchman does the same ridiculous "Hearken!" speech that Alex the himbo does. Veer the band geek strips to his swimsuit before going down the Success Slide, which is something Ayo the drama queen did. Charlie the sweet girl goes nuts over "margarita time" just like the self-assured mean girl Joyumi. No one felt interesting in their own way.

Another complaint I had was that the audience’s needs were illogical. This isn’t to do with them wanting to see certain things, but more that I had some difficulty at first figuring out what demographics meant by their requests. While you can look up your audience to see the types of requests they’ll leave in the comments, I wish the game would provide a small descriptor as to what each group is like. I never really figured out how to deal with cynics or people with shoddy Internet, for example. Cynics seemed to satisfy themselves. Meanwhile, no matter what I did, the people with bad Internet still complained so I just used other audience groups’ hype levels to satisfy them.

As I continued to stream episode after episode to an audience that can’t get enough of the ridiculous antics of The Crush House, I found myself becoming more and more apathetic towards it all. I didn’t care anymore that I’ve seen the same argument about filler words, like, five times, nor did I care about the affairs I stumbled across while trying to record some perky bottoms for the butt-lovers in the audience. Outside of their requests, I stopped caring about the contestants beyond what they could do for me when it comes to raking in audience approval. It made the game’s reveal of the dark secret laying underneath the vaporware veneer of the show’s set so much more intriguing, because I had fallen into the way of thinking that some corrupt TV executive probably has too.

Most of the game’s fun comes from the learning curve. It felt great to master new ways of meeting audience goals or filming the cast, as well as rushing from room to room while letting advertisements rake in cash so that I could get the perfect shot of something. If I wasn’t meeting my quota literally at the last second though, I was hitting it halfway through the day. This wasn't great, since there's no benefit in continuing to film them and as mentioned earlier, they're not exactly interesting to spy on. That meant that I usually messed around on my phone while letting advertisements play in-game for a while every game day. The difficulty balance felt off. However, it could have been my luck when it comes to the combination of audience types.

Because the odd difficulty balance gives a surprising amount of downtime in a game that’s supposed to catch the rush of the cutthroat reality TV business, the game can feel slower than it should. The story seems interesting, as are the little tidbits about who they are as people rather than props. But I personally could not bring myself to care about the characters’ well-being outside of morbid curiosity. This was, again, due to their lack of any individuality and chemistry with each other. Was the apathy towards the cast members something the developers intended? Or was I just a bad person while playing it? I honestly have no clue. I think if I’d watched someone’s video essay on the topic, though, the distance (and not having to read their inane conversations over and over) might have helped me to care a bit more about the cast.

The Crush House is an interesting game that combines FPS elements with exploration, time management, and strategy, all with a narrative that makes you want to marathon the game all the way to the season finale. It’s a game that can only ever be a game, as the impact of the story wouldn’t be the same in another format. While enjoyable, I do suggest having something else to do on hand. Once the audience gets what they want, the drama of reality TV loses its luster, leaving nothing but vapid and repetitive content behind.

The Crush House is readily available on Windows PCs.

The post Review: The Crush House Is the Perfect Microcosm for Reality TV appeared first on Siliconera.

Muv-Luv is one of those games series where there’s one entry that is pretty close to being a masterpiece, but you do need to go through everything leading up to it to truly get the most out of it. Muv-Luv Alternative, which is available now on the Switch via a Remastered version, is that installment. Age tells a great story in it, to be sure, but it really becomes fantastic and ties everything together if you also went through Muv-Luv Extra and Unlimited as well. 

Editor’s Note: There will be some spoilers for Muv-Luv Unlimited in this Muv-Luv Alternative Remastered Switch review. 

Muv-Luv Alternative Remastered picks up where Unlimited left off. Takeru Shirogane finds himself in his room, but he is not back in his original “reality” from Extra. Rather, he still remembers everything that happened in the previous two games, but finds himself back at the beginning of the story as seen in Unlimited. However, since he has all of the experiences and knowledge from that life, he knows the dire fate that awaits him and the earth. Resolved to make a difference and use that knowledge to avoid the previous outcome, he heads directly to the UN 11th Force Yokohama base to reunite with Yuuko Kouzuki. After convincing her of who he is and what he experienced by sharing what he knows about the Alternative IV and V plans to deal with the BETA invasion, he once again is assigned to Unit 207 alongside Meiya Mitsurugi, Chizuru Sakaki, Kei Ayamine, Miki Tamase, and Mikoto Yoroi, working with them, Kasumi Yashiro, and other characters toward a better future.

Right from the outset, you can see how far Age and Muv-Luv has come in Muv-Luv Alternative Remastered’s earliest moments. A big part of this involves Takeru’s character development. To be honest, I wasn’t his biggest fan in Extra! He’s not the worst dating sim protagonist, but he’s definitely an immature kid. In Unlimited, I felt like he really grows on us. He starts as that same person as he was in the initial entry, but we see how his experiences with the BETA, heartbreak, and other stressors force him to grow up into someone more dependable and even admirable. I suppose you could say his appearance here in Alternative is his final form. From the very start, he’s much more committed, mature, and resolved. Like I would trust him as a person. As a testament to Age’s writing and direction, I honestly felt proud of him, what he accomplished, and how he really has these good intentions to help the people he loves and the world. 

That care put into the script and character development also comes through in pretty much every other element of Muv-Luv Alternative Remastered, making the Switch release a pretty good time. (The localization remains pretty great, just like in the first parts.) Little plot points and threads that came up as far back as Extra are touched upon here, and I really appreciated the pay-off. Going through the three one after another on the system also meant I probably picked up more on them through these playthroughs, so I’d definitely recommend anyone else interested take that approach as well. While I feel like it’s most evident with certain characters, such as Meiya, Kasumi, and another person I won’t name, in general there’s a lot going on and people get quite a bit of attention.

Also, the story absolutely goes places. While previous games involved more influencing of the routes to varying degrees, that doesn’t happen in Muv-Luv Alternative Remastered. However, given what’s going on, it makes sense and feels more natural. Yes, you can still make choices and see some minor changes as a result. But in general, you’re working toward one specific ending. As a result, I felt like Age really got to go full-force into making it as impactful as possible. Given how connected folks may be to certain characters as a result of going through these harrowing situations for three games now and possibly romancing them in previous entries, there are absolute gut-wrenching and tearjerker parts. 

As with Muv-Luv Remastered, Muv-Luv Alternative Remastered also looks and runs wonderfully on the Switch. It still remains a dynamic visual novel, with character portraits and sprites appearing at different parts of the screen to show motion, extra positions and posing for greater emotional impact, and care put into CGs and other elements to amp up tension or capture action from different angles. It’s all handled quite well. It’s easy to play. I also felt it was fantastic in Handheld mode.

With Muv-Luv Alternative Remastered, Age tells such a striking and emotional story. The events of it stick with you, especially if you put in the time and went through every part of the adventure. The only downside to it all is that it really does demand that dedication. The pay-off is fantastic if you are willing to go through Extra and Unlimited first. I would still say it is a great story if you don’t, but the character development and hints leading up to what happens here builds in a great way and results in a fascinating sci-fi story.

Muv-Luv Alternative Remastered is available for the Nintendo Switch. It is also available on the Vita and PC worldwide and the PS3, Xbox 360, and mobile devices in Japan. 

The post Review: Muv-Luv Alternative Remastered Stuns on the Switch appeared first on Siliconera.

I’m going to honestly admit that whenever I would see Mika and the Witch’s Mountain, I’d think of it as the Kiki’s Delivery Service game. I mean, it’s a young girl who is an apprentice witch riding around on her broom to help her community by delivery packages. Chibig and Nukefist even included an anime-style opening. The good news is that it is exactly what it appears to be, though some broom-riding mechanics and deliveries can be a little frustrating. 

Mika is heading to the Stellar Lighthouse to train under Miss Olagari, just as her mother did. However, upon getting there, her new teacher boots her off the side of the highest peak on the island’s mountain. She tells her she can’t really begin until she gets back up to the Stellar Lighthouse. Upon landing, Mika breaks her broom. She starts working for Greff, who runs the local delivery business, as a courier to pay for repairs, connecting to the island and its mysteries in the process. 

While Mika is a witch, Mika and the Witch’s Mountain is pretty much entirely a flying sim about making deliveries, recreating the whole Kiki’s Delivery Service experience. You’ll be tasked with completing the deliveries on your Delivery Card, some of which won’t come up until you kick off a chain of events by taking or making the first drop-off in the line. Most delivery items have a certain number of hearts representing their health and restrictions like you can’t get them wet or damage them. (If you mess up, you can hold X to reset the package and retry.) Occasionally, there may be a timer asking you to complete a delivery in a certain amount of time. 

Since your early brooms aren’t great, you’ll often need to rely on certain outside elements to aid in your deliveries. These can involve wind currents, which lift you up or provide a burst of speed to get along a straight pass. Former ruin parts can also help you trigger additional wind-generating portals or elements to reach even greater heights. However, depending on how fragile your package may be, these could also work against you and send you careening into obstacles, ruining the item.

Not to mention there are also optional deliveries. For example, you may find an item like a kite or ocarina lying around, indicated by sparkles in a section. Picking these up only gives you a hint as to who the owner is. Meaning you need to have an idea of who the residents are to ensure those things get back to the rightful owners.

In general, Mika and the Witch’s Mountain works much better than I expected. Flying simulators are a bit finicky sometimes, especially when they don’t involve planes. Mika definitely feels like a witch just finding her footing. This means that the brooms themselves don’t always feel very precise! There was one early Greff delivery that involved taking an already damaged item to a certain place I’d only visited once before on the opposite side of the island, and it took me about seven tries to actually get it there safely. The further you get in the game, the more fiddly it can feel like some items are, so there are definitely a few times when I wished the brooms and controls were a bit more exact.

But really, aside from that, only one thing kept me from feeling like Chibig and Nukefist nailed what they were trying to accomplish with Mika and the Witch’s Mountain. I really wish there was a way to “pin” objectives on the map. Sometimes, characters move around! They’ll be in different spots than they were before. When you check the delivery card, you’ll also only get a general area of where things are. I get what the developers were trying to accomplish. It really does feel like I’m an apprentice witch checking a map, often repeatedly, to make sure I’m headed to the right spot. But when I started really relying on different airstreams or relics to get places or trying to use those elements to proceed, I started to wish I could see a little on-screen indicator to at least remind me I was headed in the correct direction.

That said, everything else about Mika and the Witch’s Mountain is handled quite well. The script is charming. Even characters you don’t spend a lot of time getting to know initially leave a big impression. The developers did a great job of getting us to root for Mika! The layout of the island is conducive to exploring, especially when you start to memorize which wind currents will be most helpful. The designs for everything are also very vibrant and engaging. Also, the few stressful and timed deliveries aside, it can be shockingly low-key! I also like that while this is definitely designed to feel like Kiki's Delivery Service, Mika is a very different sort of witch and protagonist and the game involves other types of themes.

Mika and the Witch’s Mountain really does do a good job of giving us a Kiki’s Delivery Service sort of game, and it’s often quite relaxing too! Mika’s a fun protagonist, and the island is this vibrant setting filled with big personalities and life. Sometimes the broomstick-riding can feel a bit fiddly, but it’s genuinely a delightful simulation about being a courier witch.

Mika and the Witch’s Mountain will come to the Nintendo Switch and PC on August 21, 2024. 

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Okay, I’m going to start this That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Isekai Chronicles review off by saying I’m honestly shocked how little I heard about the game ahead of launch. Like I recall an initial announcement, a release date reveal, and maybe a few mentions on social media. But other than that, there didn’t seem to be much acknowledgement about this worldwide TenSura game release. Which is a shame, as I really enjoyed it and feel like it’s something of a stripped down Tales of experience in some ways.

That Time I Reincarnated as a Slime Isekai Chronicle is essentially a truncated take on the TenSura story in the form of a game. We start with Rimuru Tempest as a slime, who was originally a man from our world who died and reincarnated in a fantasy one. Because of the way the human version of the character lived, the slime version started with a number of skills like the absorbing Predator and a Great Sage “assistant.” Upon meeting a dragon named Veldora, the slime gains new abilities like sight and a mission: to create a safe space for people to live in peace.

From there, the game fast forwards to when Rimuru acquired a human form from Shizu and allied with the goblins they named. So we then play as the slime after this new form is acquired, allies with the ogres that become kijins, and they all continue to build up the village. By the time it ends, the crew hits the Kingdom of Falmuth battle arc, so it covers a decent chunk of the story in a CliffsNotes sort of way. Elements get skipped so we can experience more action-heavy moments. It’s fine, but those who really enjoy the series might be a bit disappointed to see so much skipping around.

The structure for That Time I Reincarnated as a Slime Isekai Chronicle is rather simplistic, with every element of the game essentially serving as a means to improve the combat segments and advance the TenSura storyline. So you’ll see some story-based segments, which are represented either with Tales of style conversations with character portraits, art, or character models in the world interacting. This will provide an excuse for you to head to a location in the world and fight. You head out with a party of five. Three of them are active members you control, and two are support members who can be summoned with a button press for a single support action. 

Said dungeon encounters are genuinely the best part of the game, and I had so much fun with them. In a way, they’re somewhat reminiscent of the Tales series as well. You control one of the three characters in a completely 2D dungeon. The idea is to chain together combos to deal as much damage as possible You have standard attacks, which can change direction or output depending on button presses and directions. There are specials you can equip, with additional ones available if you also press the directions at the same times as the inputs. Each character has what feels like an ultimate move that can be unleashed when a gauge is full. (In the case of Rimuru, this is Predator of course.) You can also dodge, and swapping between your three characters is highly recommended. It’s definitely a highlight, especially since using specials breaks enemy shields and better performances net greater rewards.

The dungeon-crawling is interesting as well. It’s somewhat similar to the 2D branching paths of a game like Valkyrie Profile, wherein you can head into the foreground and background to go down different routes for extra encounters and treasures. Most of the dungeons are rather brief, enough so you can go through a few battles, check out your latest party composition, and really enjoy the combat system. It isn’t super intense or detailed, but it’s enjoyable enough. It almost feels a little like a mobile game in terms of structure and mission-length, but not in a bad way.

Upon arriving back at the village in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Isekai Chronicles, everything Rimuru and the party accomplished serves to improve them and advance the TenSura campaign so they are more prepared for future fights. Those materials you picked up from fights and treasure chests? Those go into building up the village. Each building you create boosts the stats of the party. Likewise, keeping characters around for fights earns them points you can apply to the skill tree to increase their stats and ability to use special skills. I do wish there was a bit more actual city management to the village development portion of the game. However, I did appreciate seeing the tangible effects every time I built things up. 

I appreciated the gameplay loop! Mainly because the combat system is so much fun. It really reminded me of playing one of the older Tales entries sometimes. However, I acknowledge that it does get a little repetitive. If you aren’t a fan of the series, it might not click. Also, it’s wise to go in knowing you’ll spend a lot of time reading through story segments, heading into the same locations to fight a set number of foes, and acquiring materials so you can do that all over again.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Isekai Chronicles is one of those anime games that I’d say is more than serviceable, but isn’t extraordinary. People who like TenSura a lot will definitely get more out of the game than someone who is completely unfamiliar with it. I’d even say for the right price, someone who enjoys the Tales of combat system might even want to consider it. That really is the draw of the title, and it’s fun to take advantage of characters’ unique traits. While it isn’t trendsetting or amazing, it’s perfectly fine.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Isekai Chronicles is available on the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. 

The post Review: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Isekai Chronicles Feels Like Tales appeared first on Siliconera.

The original Game Boy Color (GBC) The Legend of Zelda games had this wonderful aesthetic due to the combination of the color palette and gameplay design. Castaway, a new indie game from Johan Vinet, Topher Anselmo, and ShipMates, channels that. However, while it is a sweet and enjoyable affair, it also often feels a little too short, with some awkward swordplay and one mode feeling more fulfilling than the other.

Castaway begins with Martin and other individuals on a space ship. As they are flying over a planet, some sort of laser shoots them down. We see four escape pods head to the surface. Martin is washed up on shore, much as Link is in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Upon heading south to his fallen pod, he see pterodactyls steal his equipment and dog. With only his sword in his hands and left behind, players need to retrieve everything taken from him.

So the Martin’s Adventure portion of Castaway is absolutely fantastic, albeit too short, and my favorite part of the game. This part features numerous difficulty options, including pacifist, invincible, or speedrun ones. Your goal is to go through a (small) island with a few (brief) dungeons, all of which feature the same sorts of enemies, to retrieve your equipment. It’s so much fun! The handful of boss fights are entertaining. Each piece of equipment has a real sense of purpose and is used well. 

The one failing here is that combat doesn’t feel as responsive as it could and should be. In a The Legend of Zelda GBC game, you know exactly what Link’s sword range is and the enemy hitboxes are easy to discern, but that isn’t so in Castaway. I often felt like I needed to have Martin at the exact right angle for the swing to catch some foes, which could be an issue with the enemies that would suddenly rush or break up into faster, smaller versions of themselves. It wasn’t so much of an issue when it came to bosses or ones that involved swinging the sword to reflect projectiles. Only ones with true melee got to be an issue.

Which means the bulk of Castaway doesn’t always feel as enjoyable, as the Tower you unlock by completing the hour-long Martin’s Adventure campaign involves 50 levels of just defeating enemies. There are no puzzles there, as there are in the initial adventure. You just fight foes, collect the coins they drop, and then spend those coins on randomized buffs such as extra heart containers, shields, increased sword power, or health refills. 

I think I’d take less of an issue with Castaway being so short if other elements of the game didn’t leave it feeling a bit incomplete. For example, having it specifically note “Martin’s Adventure” on the campaign portion, the introduction showing an enemy attack, and there being marked other survivors makes it feel like there should have been more people or viewpoints involved. We get these tools for Martin, and it feels like there should have been more opportunities to use them in-practice on the island. In Martin’s Adventure, it abruptly concludes after hitting a certain milestone, then opening up the Tower mode and leaving it as the only option. 

I appreciated what Johan Vinet accomplished with Castaway, as it really does capture the same vibes as a GBC Legend of Zelda game would, but just wish there was more to it. The adventure mode feels like it cuts off way too quickly, with no resolution. The Tower is entertaining, but focuses on the weakest part of the experience and strips away the light puzzle solving and boss fights. It feels like Castaway is a teaser for something bigger. What’s here is fun, but strangely unfulfilling.

Castaway is available on the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

The post Review: Castaway Calls Back to Legend of Zelda GBC Games appeared first on Siliconera.

Cat Quest 3 is the latest in a series of adorable little action RPGs that have attracted a small but loyal audience. For the third game, the typical medieval setting has been ditched in favor of one based on pirates. And this high seas swashbuckler is one that you’ll want to get your paws on.

In Cat Quest 3, you play as an unnamed young cat pirate heading out on his first adventure with the ghost of veteran pirate Captain Cappey. Your adventure starts on a small island in the Purribean where you steal a ship and set off to find the mysterious North Star Treasure. Along the way, you have to deal with rival pirate captains all with their own plans for the booty.

This start sets a great impression. You’re immediately introduced to the various aspects of combat, which mainly consists of a melee weapon, a ranged weapon and a spell. Then you get a ship and can head off into the world after breaking the flimsy barrier between you and freedom. And I do mean freedom, as the world is fully explorable from the start of the game, although certain corners of the map will likely stomp you into a fur rug without a little levelling.

The Purribean Sea of Cat Quest 3 is small but dense. It’s an assortment of islands dotted around the ocean, all containing their own secrets and treasures. The ability to sail around all these places right out the gate offers a huge amount of freedom. Even within the story, you never fully feel like you’re being funneled into a specific direction. While there is a direct line of events that need to be followed, many of your objectives branch off into multiple locations that can tackled in any order, whether that’s collecting keys for a tower or defeating different pirate captains.

Tucked away between these main objectives are a ton of additional side stories, such as a lovelorn rat whose ghost still haunts his castle or a convoluted mail delivery chain that involves a wedding and a deep-seated rivalry. These side stories make exploring the world of Cat Quest 3 a joy. While you’re journeying to find where the game wants you to go, you’ll trip over countless side activities along the way. There is never a dull moment here.

The game is also determined to immerse you in its map, avoiding a lot of the tedium and bloat that can sometimes infect the open world genre. While your objectives will be marked on your map in the menu, the main game has no non-diegetic markers aside from an optional one you can place yourself. This forces you to use the environment around you to navigate, which I’m always a fan of. It helps that the map is small enough to become familiar without feeling too limited.

It manages to introduce the world to you without holding your hand too much. Your initial guides around the world are star towers that point vaguely where you need to go, but you have to triangulate with multiple towers to find your objective. In the process, you quickly become aware of which islands are where, and soon navigating this map becomes second nature. It happens to organically that I didn’t notice how little I was using the map for navigation until about halfway through the game. I simply headed off in whatever felt the natural direction at the time.

Combat in Cat Quest 3 is something you’ll find yourself spending a lot of time doing. It’s simple action-adventure fare, with a single attack button, a weapon switch and some optional spells, but the way these elements are brought together is surprisingly deep. There are multiple types of melee and ranged weapon, creating a range of combinations. You can attack with a sword, a shield or claws. The shield is slow and heavy, but offers more defense, while the claws are risky but speedy.

Meanwhile, ranged weapons include guns and wands, which offer different combat styles. Equipping the Meowchine Gun will give you weaker damage per shot but a massive clip, while the blunderbuss type weapons are powerful but can only fire a couple of shots before needing to be reloaded. Clothing and other equipment also adds a wide range of additional abilities, such as the ability to heal while attacking. The result of this is a combat system with a heavy amount of customization, making it suitable for anyone’s play style.

Combat also offers plenty of challenge. It’s not Dark Souls by any means, but there will be times where boss encounters will cause you some difficulties. Some fights might crush you unless you swap out your equipment to combat elemental damage, while others require alertness and liberal use of the dodge mechanic. This goes for ship combat too, especially as you get to more unique ships within the Meowtallica and Captain Takomeowki fleets. Ship combat against the captains’ flagships is especially stressful, as some of them can become slow-moving bullet hells. And every single one of these fights is a lot of fun, even when you’re beaten.

The story adds to the fun too. Cat Quest 3 has a simple plot, where you are racing against other pirates for a vague treasure that hides secrets, but the execution is fantastic. This is not a game that takes itself too seriously, most obvious in how many puns are baked into the game’s writing. Your enemies are actually called “pi-rats” and “meow” and “purr” are tossed liberally into any sentence that will fit them (and even a few that don’t). Every character you meet is goofy and charming, often with absurd quirks. But there’s also heart here too, as your protagonist and Captain Cappey develop a close friendship. You’ll fall in love with every single member of this cast.

Visually, Cat Quest 3 has a lot going for it too. It’s reminiscent of Square Enix’s HD-2D style, with layered 2D sprites mixed with 3D models in a diorama-style view. The characters sprites are adorable, especially the main character. He’s got a happy little face on him and seems to be having the time of his life in every animation. Even the save animation, where he hops into an immediate nap for recovery, is aggressively cute.

Cat Quest 3 is an excellent game, so much so that I’m scrambling to find criticism of it. It could maybe benefit from a fast travel system or a method to improve the speed of your ship. It could be seen as a little too short, clocking in at around ten hours if you really explore the world. The cat puns may become a little excessive at times. And that’s really all I can find to criticise it. Even then, many of these aren’t an issue for me, as the game’s density of content makes up for the length, the lack of fast travel may contribute to how intuitive the world is and the cat puns were all part of the charm.

I loved my time with Cat Quest 3. Exploration is joyful, combat is a lot of fun and the story is silly and charming in all the right ways. If you want a small but dense pirate adventure full of good humor, Cat Quest 3 is for you.

Cat Quest 3 is out now for PC, PS5, PS4, Switch, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One.

The post Review: Cat Quest 3 is a Purr-Fect Pirate Adventure appeared first on Siliconera.

Black Myth Wukong is a game that garnered immediate attention from its first trailer — sharp, reactive combat and gorgeous visuals awed a captive audience. And as more information about Black Myth Wukong began to trickle out from developer GameScience, it became clear that this action RPG was everything that initial trailer promised it would be. Black Myth Wukong is an ambitious action RPG that embraces its roots, making for an interesting take on the tale of the Monkey King.

The story of the Destined One is told through a handful of chapters, each featuring a new location to explore and to uncover various secrets. I traversed through dark, wet caves and verdant green forests full of anthropomorphic wolves and snakes. I ventured to a burning temple, where a once-deceased monk transformed into a massive bear and proceeded to beat me to a pulp. I navigated through a dry desert where I was assailed by rat bandits and their king, only to be tangled in combat with a foul-mouthed tiger king moments later. Meditation spots you can find littered throughout these zones provide a brief reprieve, and allow you to take in just how gorgeous the scenery is.

The world of Black Myth Wukong is a rich one, as it pulls from Chinese mythology and keeps a lot of the aesthetic of traditional Chinese artwork that makes the game look and feel special despite it's use of hyper realistic graphics. But everything about Black Myth Wukong pulls everything together, including its music. More somber tracks play as you plop down to view the scenery, whereas up-tempo music with drums and chanting accompanying some of the more fantastical boss fights. But one of my favorite things about the game were the portraits and other illustrations you unlock as you progress, as these illustrations are evocative of traditional, calligraphy artwork. And for those unfamiliar with the tale of the Monkey King, Black Myth Wukong does have a compendium of sorts that lays out the significance and backstory for characters after you've defeated them.

However, even with as powerful as my PC is, there were times when Black Myth Wukong would drop frames. And while the benchmark does give consumers a good idea of just how well the action RPG will run on their PCs, don't expect it to be smooth sailing. An overabundance of red or fire on the screen can occasionally cause your game to lag, or frames to drop. Since Black Myth Wukong is an action RPG that is reliant on frame-based dodges to fully utilize specific skills, this is a shame. But for the purpose of the review, I dropped my settings down from High to Medium, which resolved most of my problems in that department. Because other than a few technical hiccups, Black Myth Wukong is a more than proficient action game.

The controls in Black Myth Wukong are extremely tight, with precise movement and dodging being one of the core strengths of the game. You can't just dodge with reckless abandon, because while you are given more than enough stamina to spam your dodge, the Destined One will need to take a brief moment to recollect himself after every third flip or roll. I had to force myself to get out of the mindset of spamming my dodge after recently replaying Elden Ring, and had to come at Black Myth Wukong at a different angle. Combat is just as exciting, but feels more methodical and focused around the core mechanic of building up focus through light attacks to break through your opponents defense and stagger them.

Black Myth Wukong does have a skill tree, which does allow for you to upgrade your stamina, health, and unlock more attacks. While I did find a build that worked for me, I often went back and reallocated skill points if I felt I was starting to struggle against any one encounter. But for the most part, I relied heavily on building focus and landing those devastating heavy attacks while making use of the Immobilize spell. Your loadout in Black Myth Wukong is limited by comparison to games it shared a genre with, but that doesn't make it any less effective. The skill tree allowed me to level up my Immobilize spell to empower it in such a way that when I would perfectly time a freeze, I would deal extra damage to my enemy.

The game expects you make use of all of the tools at your disposal, which includes spells, transformations, items, and other abilities that lend itself well to the overall feeling of the action RPG's combat. This is the first time I've actually actively used items in an action RPG — for games like Nioh and anything in FromSoftware's catalogue of similar titles I tend to face enemies and bosses head-one, slicing through them with whatever I have on hand. So much so that I even forgot about spells in Elden Ring. But Black Myth Wukong wants you to make use of your entire arsenal, and even expects it. You can, of course, go without using spells or the powerful art of Transformation (which allows you to assume the form of specific enemies you encounter), but it will make the game significantly more difficult. That said, I didn't have too much of a problem fighting bosses or navigating through game's varied chapters.

Once I had gotten in the groove of things, and stopped mashing my dodge, everything came together. I had to be patient. I had to be reactive, and I had to wait. Making use of those frame-perfect dodges felt good, and the slight slow-down effect that accompanied them always felt cool. Learning new techniques for my staff and weaving them into my combos felt extremely rewarding. And fighting enemies that don't track your movements made encounters feel fair. I wasn't frantically trying to get out of the way of anything, because I knew the direction hits were going to land. I understood where I was safe, and if I ended up losing a fight, why I lost in the first place. Death also isn't something that really sets you back either. Shrines, locations where you level up and serve as soft checkpoints, are usually close to boss arenas, and whatever currency you've lost upon defeat can easily be regained by fighting through whatever enemies have respawned.

But if you're really struggling, you can further help alleviate some of the difficulty of specific fights by crafting items that reduce the amount of damage taken, and upgrading your weapon or putting together new armor sets. Assembling matching pieces of armor does provide you with incremental stat boosts and some neat passives, but if you're like me and like pressing your luck, you can absolutely beat Black Myth Wukong with armor you've obtained in the early hours of the game. You can also empower your healing gourd with additional effects too. Black Myth Wukong has a lot of different features to chew your teeth on, and allows for you to experiment with your style of play.

Do you want to deal poison damage to enemies? You can do that through summoning a poisoner to lay venomous snakes around the field that shoot poison at your target. Want to inflict burn damage on an enemy? You can do that through your Transformation skill. Or maybe you just want to focus on countering attacks with perfectly timed dodges and strikes. You can absolutely do that too.

Overall, Black Myth Wukong is a gorgeous game that has taken great efforts to make an interesting and exciting reimagining of one of East Asia's most popular myths. The game is solid, and outside of frame drops, otherwise performs very well. And it's probably one of the best action RPG I've played all year.

Black Myth: Wukong will release for PC via Steam and PS5 on August 20, 2024.

The post Review: Black Myth Wukong is a Gorgeous Chinese Epic appeared first on Siliconera.

I loved the idea of Elrentaros Wanderings when I first heard the premise behind Rear Sekai. There being both an ordinary world and isekai fantasy one existing somehow at the same time, and you needing to play to find out what’s going on? Action-RPG battles paired with relationship building? It sounded like so much potential was there. Unfortunately, Hakama wastes any possible goodwill by somehow making every element of the game boring and tedious.

Elrentaros Wanderings begins with your protagonist happening upon the out Elrentaros. You’re a wanderer who doesn’t know much about who you are or what you were up to. You’re welcomed into the community, and end up getting a chance to restore mitamas to magical mirror by heading into dungeons that reveal themselves around the town. However, in so doing, you also begin waking up in a more ordinary high school setting after every major boss encounter resulting in a gem acquisition. When you do, you find all the people you met in Elrentaros also exist in this other world, albeit in different roles and without any memory of you.

So the first disappointment tied to Elrentaros Wanderings is the fact that the localization isn’t great! Sentences read very awkwardly here. Sometimes, it seems like the translators couldn’t decide what to go with as an official name or phrase. For example, early on it feels like the townsfolk can’t decide if the first dungeon is “Cave Pick” or “Cave Peak.” I do wonder if part of that is due to the nature of the original script though. While there are 10 people who could be your “partners,” there’s no real depth to them. Some personality traits will come through, of course, but this isn’t like a Rune Factory game where your potential love interests feel as though they are well-realized individuals.

The second is that Elrentaros Wanderings doesn’t handle the idea of dual worlds very well! The more fleshed out side is of course Elrentaros, since that’s where you can walk around a town, shop, talk to NPCs, and explore dungeons. The school life portion does eventually get more screen-time, but prior to that it is limited to extremely short, visual novel segments that don’t do much to make that element of the game feel well-realized or inviting. Spend enough time dungeon-crawling for equipment or NPC quest items, and you might even forget there is that element.

Said dungeon-crawling is disappointment number three, but you won’t realize that initially. See, Elrentaros Wanderings is a loot-based action-RPG at its heart. Your avatar’s level is tied to the weapon and armor they found and equipped when heading into one of the locations you’ll find on the map. Each dungeon will have different floors, with new minimum-level-advisories and challenges. To get the items from NPCs that you need to fulfill their requests to bolster relationships, advance the story, and unlock new dungeons, you need to complete run and complete those tasks. 

As an example, an initial one might say you need to find the hidden areas (done by clearing out all enemies in a space), not take damage from a certain type of enemy or hazard, not fall in battle, not be hit by a certain type of boss attack, or defeat a boss. Each tier of a dungeon will have five of these challenges, which will reward you with the sidequest item, a weapon, or a currency you can put toward “buying” a partner gift so you can earn an alliance battle passive by equipping them as a designated partner. This means that you typically need to run through each “level” of a dungeon at least twice, since all objectives won’t be revealed until you’ve cleared it once.

The problem here is that these dungeons are incredibly tedious and, after a certain point, feel like they don’t pay out with the gear at appropriate levels to handle the “asks” by the time you unlock the third and fourth ones. To avoid spoilers, I’ll use Cave Pick as an example. The dungeon layout at all tiers will remain the same. The enemies are all mostly identical, and you’ll also see those same foes repeated in every other dungeon. (The only difference is, their colors will change and they’ll be slightly stronger.) Attack patterns aren’t altered. After you get to about build level 25-28, you may even find that you’ll be able to handle dungeon challenges that would normally require a minimum of up to 40 if you equipped the right special skills from Legendary-tier drops. Viability of equipment comes down to if it has a special skill attached, and you’ll have more money than you ever need since that’s only used to unlock skills for your weapon and armor. Even the bosses eventually start to repeat, once you get past the recommended-level-30 tier. 

This all leads into the fourth most disappointing part of Elrentaros Wanderings, which is that I didn’t find the gameplay loop in any way fun or satisfying. This isn’t like Diablo. The gear you get won’t eventually hit a point where you’ll keep it around for at least a half hour or so. By the point I hit the fourth dungeon, I only cleared out floors of enemies when the game would bar my progress through an area. I could be in and out of an area in about 15 minutes. Maybe less if it was one of the more predictable bosses at the end. Odds are, I’d at least switch out the armor at that point. Though by the time I got my Legendary Ugallu axe, I did hold on to that for about two hours because it was still better at level 27 than anything else I owned or found. I never replayed any of these repetitive dungeons because I wanted to. It was only because I had to.

Which is also how I ended up feeling as the story and relationships seemed to reach the endgame as well. Nothing about Elrentaros Wanderings felt satisfying to me. I didn’t want to really “romance” anyone, by which I mean toss a type of currency at them to get their Alliance Buff perks, even though some of the character art looked good. The nature of the story meant that some of the “reveals” were buried so deep and had so little substance surrounding them that I didn’t really care when a Big Bad suddenly appeared or I started to get answers. 

I didn’t like Elrentaros Wanderings, and the things wrong with it are such that patches to fix the localization or adjust other elements wouldn’t salvage it. It’s a tedious game that doesn’t offer the sort of substance to make it feel in any way satisfying. There are better isekai adventures. There are better loot-based dungeon-crawlers. There are better titles where you can connect with people in the nearby village and perhaps even fall in love with them.  

Elrentaros Wanderings is available on the Nintendo Switch on August 16, 2024, and it will appear on the PC via Steam on August 22, 2024.

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There are a lot of games that incorporate love as of late. Whether it’s the focal point of the title or extra feature, connecting with virtual love interests became a whole thing. Love, Ghostie is a different sort of dating sim, as the cozy relationship game casts you as a matchmaker for other characters. While it’s a really relaxed and low-stakes affair, it’s also quite a pleasant one.

You’re dead. But that doesn’t mean you’re gone. You’re just a ghost. Turns out when you pass the time in the afterlife, one of the things you do is help other people find friendship or love. Your mentor Ghostina sets you up in a manor, puts up signs saying rent is free, and tasks you with ensuring its residents become friends or lovers with the other people who move in. (And they were roommates!) 

Since you’re a ghost, you’re basically a puppetmaster influencing characters lives and relationships in this dating sim. This is primarily managed in two ways. One is to steal items left around the home. You then either “gift” them to someone by leaving it at their room and saying some other, living resident did it, or sell them online to get coins to buy other items online to use as gifts. The other method is to manipulate the house’s chore board to send a pair of characters off on a task that totally, 100% isn’t a date. 

In both situations, the relationship is guaranteed to go up. How much varies. In the case of a gift, it depends on the quality of the gift and if the tags associated with it are ones the recipient values. Even if a character doesn’t “love” the item, the quality can still help it leave a good impression. In the case of the dates, tags and characters used matter most. The ideal situation involves both of the people on the date having the same tags. Special situations can also trigger that involve more unique dialogue. (Dialogue will otherwise be the same for all characters, regardless of pairing.) Even if it is an awkward date, it isn’t like the two people who went will hate each other after.

It’s all exceptionally cute. The character designs are fantastic. The dialogue is clever. It’s a little tedious when you realize certain scripted date events won’t change regardless of who is on it. (For example, Ami playing a board game with BEEP0 is identical to Chamel and Wobbles’ dialogue for that interaction.) But I generally enjoyed all the interactions.

Honestly, if I have one complaint about Love, Ghostie, it is that it is too easy. It’s to the point where whole gameplay elements seem unnecessary. For example, you can purchase the ability to use songs to make characters happy or boost relationships. I didn’t need it. You can invest in perks to add 10% increases to actions. I didn’t need that either. There are minigames you can unlock for extra money, relationship growth, happiness boost and such. I purchased the one to get more money, saw it was a randomized Mad Libs, and never played it again.

I don’t think this will be an issue for folks, though. People who will be picking up Love, Ghostie will likely be looking for a relaxed relationship sim and cozy game where you make characters fall in love or become better friends. It’s about taking your time and enjoying the stories you unlock. Combine that with how quickly and pleasantly it all goes, and it’s a totally fine experience. 

Love, Ghostie is basically a game for folks who play games like Fire Emblem or The Sims because they want to pair characters up in relationships. It’s incredibly compelling! I beat it in a single sitting over the course of a few hours. It’s relaxing! There’s no pressure. It’s also got a ton of replay value, even though there are only 12 characters, since they can all get together.

Love, Ghostie will come to PCs via Steam on August 14, 2024.

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Getting into the Muv-Luv series is a commitment. One that’s certainly easier now than it was years ago when it was a Japan-exclusive series, for sure. But still. You need to be ready to get invested. Fortunately, the Muv-Luv Remastered Switch release really does feel like the best and easiest way to get into the series, as well as enjoy reading through Takeru, Sumika, and Meiya’s story.

Editor’s Note: There will be no Muv-Luv Unlimited spoilers in this Muv-Luv Remastered Switch review.

Now, right away the Muv-Luv Remastered Switch release makes it easy to get into the adventure, as you get to make a choice immediately after starting. You can jump right into Muv-Luv Unlimited, rather than playing Extra first. You shouldn’t, but you can. Considering Extra is the weaker of the two stories, I don’t blame you if you just look up some details on characters and go with the second part first, but there is some important character development in the initial part.

With Muv-Luv Extra, you get to experience normal school life for Takeru Shirogane. He’s always been close to Sumika Kagami, his childhood friend. So close that, as his neighbor, she just comes in every day to his room to wake him up. However, one day he wakes up to find Meiya Mitsurugi in his room and bed. As you can imagine, this means a whole love triangle begins as Meiya insists she’s meant to marry Takeru and Sumika starts wondering about what she really wants. However, it isn’t just a love triangle, of course, as you can also choose to go for Chizuru, Miki, or Kei as you play.

Muv-Luv Extra in Remastered is, in general, fine Switch visual novel. It feels like a very typical dating sim. Characters can feel like they belong to established tropes like elegant rich girl or childhood best friend. Takeru is often an immature, perverted teenager, which may make it more difficult to connect with him at the start. The best part of it, especially in this remaster, comes down to the production values. Every character has multiple sprites. They’re moving around the screen and dynamic, to give a sense of motion and energy you might not typically experience in a visual novel. Even if the general concept might feel ordinary at the start, the extra effort put into those elements helps a lot.

Muv-Luv Unlimited is when the Remastered Switch release and series gets interesting. It begins with Takeru back at the first day of Muv-Luv Extra, except he finds he is in a whole different world and timeline. Here, the BETA aliens invaded and everyone fought back. Only his house is standing when he wakes up in bed. What’s left of humanity fights back in giant mechs and puts forth plans to try and salvage some sort of life for themselves. However, some of the people he knew and loved from the original adventure are back. It’s tone is quite different, given the sci-fi approach and “after the apocalypse” nature of things. However, there there is still a bit of a romance option to it, depending on your choices. It isn’t a dating sim in the same way Extra is, but you can earn endings with characters. 

In this Switch Remastered release, it’s basically Muv-Luv Unlimited that makes Extra worth playing. The differences between the characters we meet in the original storyline, then what they are like in the second part, help provide a better perspective of what’s going on and who they are. One informs the other, and it grants the player a better understanding and appreciation.

Likewise, Muv-Luv Unlimited is essentially a redemption for Takeru. There’s such personal growth and development as we see what this young man experiences. Getting to see what his life was like, what his new story entails, and how he reacts as a result is fascinating. It’s a sense of culminating maturity that we get to see carried forth even further. There’s not the genuine pay-off for everything yet. (That’s saved for Muv-Luv Alternative!) However, there’s still something there.

Also, as expected, the production qualities in Muv-Luv Unlimited in Remastered on the Switch remain as high as in Extra. The game looks great on the system. It’s especially fun in handheld mode. The perspective and resolution looks good. The displays are dynamic. It’s easy to make quick saves, jump around to past text, and keep track of everything going on. The audio quality is also quite good, which gets to be important as the drama ramps up in the second part of the story.

When it comes to the Muv-Luv series, you’re basically committing to a three-game experience when you start it. Muv-Luv Remastered, as a whole, sets up a foundation for one of the most intriguing visual novels to come out of Japan. This means that what you’re experiencing is happening for a reason. Muv-Luv Extra might feel a bit trope-heavy and as though the dynamic nature of character portraits and movements are the only thing setting it apart, due to it laying groundwork regarding characters. Muv-Luv Unlimited is when it starts getting interesting and we get into the meat of things, due to the new mysteries being introduced and way what we learned in the first game shapes the lives of characters like Takeru and Meiya. Put together in one package with Muv-Luv Remastered, and we get a solid start to Age’s story.

Muv-Luv Remastered is available for the Nintendo Switch. It is also available on the Vita and PC worldwide and the PS3, Xbox 360, and mobile devices in Japan. 

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