ugvm — Page 256 — the site of uk.games.video.misc

New Game – Totems

Posted on 08/03/2016 Written by gospvg

I do enjoy my iOS board games & recently downloaded Totems which has you placing down totems to control an area on the map, your opponent can place the same token next to yours to take control of the area & vice versa.

The screenshot shows me winning a game against Satsuma controlling the whole map.

It needs a few changes on the multi-player like a rematch option with a random map & the friends list needs to only list those that own the game & not everyone.

Disney Infinity 3.0 (PS4): COMPLETED!

Posted on 06/03/2016 Written by deKay

How, you are undoubtably asking, has he managed to completed Disney Infinity 3.0? Well, I’ll tell you how: my copy came with the Twilight of the Republic playset, and it’s that (along with all the main actions you can do in the main Disney Infinity hub outside of that) which I have completed. In co-op with my daughter, actually.

It was rubbish.

I suppose, if I were a Disney and/or a Star Wars fan, I’d have enjoyed it more, but then I loved the Lego Star Wars games so perhaps that doesn’t hold true. The Disney Infinity version of the Clone Wars universe is very much like that in Lego Star Wars, and is filled with sections that made me think, ah yes, they did this bit better in Lego Star Wars.

The fighting is boring. The camera is broken when you’re up near a wall. The side quests are all utterly tedious skill-free fetch quests. Even the big set pieces – boss fights, the pod racing, space battles – are all better handled in Lego Star Wars. I simply didn’t enjoy it very much, and what fun I did have was from kicking people off cliffs (which is never not hilarious) and playing co-op (although in numerous places having to revive 2P or not accidentally fight her because the camera has spun round again was not great).

I poked around in the level editor side, which was clumsy, and tried a few highly rated player made levels which were ALL dire. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the game, but what I actually found was I disliked it even more. The bugs, including a flickering screen and sometimes falling through floors and platforms, were just some sort of crap icing on a terrible cake. And JarJar Binks. Oh god just make him die.

The post Disney Infinity 3.0 (PS4): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush (Wii U): COMPLETED!

Posted on 05/03/2016 Written by deKay

After seeing the MechaKirby 3DS game on this week’s Nintendo Direct, I was reminded that I hadn’t finished Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush yet. I think, as is often the case, something else came along instead. Maybe Super Mario Maker? Or Lego Jurassic World. I can’t remember. Anyway!

In one sitting, with my daughter on Waddle-Dee duty, I completed the rest of the game. Which was all of worlds 3 to 7, as it turned out. Like pretty much all Kirby games, it was easy. A couple of tricky forced scroll levels caused a few deaths, but picking up extra lives was such a frequent occurrence that I had about 40 spare by the time I reached the end.

Along the way, as is so often the case with Nintendo platformers in particular, there was so much inventiveness to find. In a few stages, Kirby rides a gondola, with your rainbow rope acting as a “track” for it to hang from. In another, you have to escape from a gunship you’ve just triggered the auto-destruct on, and you’re given a map on which to draw your intended exit route. Near the end there’s a section where Kirby is split into two Kirbys, at first separate from each other (so you have to guide both to switches and out of danger), and then together, where you can hit one with the other to cause it to fire off at speed, ricocheting off everything and smashing through blocks. As soon as you’re used to one new mechanic in the game, it throws another at you, or combines two or three earlier ones. It definitely doesn’t let you get bored.

It’s odd, then, that the bosses are repeated with only minor differences. There are only eight in total, and three are used twice. They don’t even get harder. It’s only a small negative point, but for such a varied title it’s a bit out of place. Another niggle I have only happens when you’re playing co-op: periodically, a fight with a detatched hand will trigger. Kirby can’t defeat it as it tries to grab him and drag him off-screen (to his death), so Waddle-Dee has to do it. All I could do as Kirby was try to keep him away from the hand, and when invariably snatched, provide rainbow ropes for Waddle-Dee to reach the hand (if necessary) and smack it.

That aside, it’s a fun, gorgeous looking (everything is made from clay!) and inventive platformer. Exactly what you’d expect from Nintendo, really. It’s quite short, although collecting all the hidden treasure chests in each level and completing all the unlockable challenges will provide a great deal of extra length, but Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush clever and varied. And so, so pretty.

Click to view slideshow.

The post Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush (Wii U): COMPLETED! appeared first on deKay's Gaming Diary.

Pokémon Picross: you are not allowed to have too much fun

Posted on 04/03/2016 Written by Xexyz

I am nearly done with Picross e3, which will mean a purchase of Picross e4 in the near future. In the meantime, though, I was pointed the way of Pokémon Picross, a free-to-play 3DS game which uses the same mechanics as the e* games but with puzzle solutions based around Pokémon. Obviously.

It's not quite the same. The backend is the most different - rather than just selecting from a menu, there's a sort of story attached, where you have to travel from area to area, solving the puzzles and collecting picrites. You get a certain number of picrites for solving puzzles, but also for meeting

various conditions - enabling certain powerups, meeting the time limit, and so on.

Powerups are another difference. You can equip a certain number of pokémon, who will then give you things like a random row reveal, freezing time, or showing you where moves exist - like in the e* games, with blue colours. To be honest, I don't really use these - except you are forced to do so in order to get the maximum number of picrites. It would make more sense if you got more for not using powerups ...

But maybe not from a financial point of view. Your powerups can only be used a certain number of times before needing to be recharged - basically, they're out of action for an hour or so. You can always pay picrites to recharge them quicker. You have to pay a certain number of picrites to access the next area, but there aren't enough in the puzzles themselves so you have to do the daily challenges - earning a few each day. Or you can just buy picrites for real money,

So everything seems to be geared up to get you to spend picrites. It feels like you're constantly being badgered to give the game more money, or wait for another day or another week before you're allowed to have any more fun. Have lots of fun! But only a certain amount each day!

The odd thing is that there's an option to buy a bundle of picrites which are unlimited, which would effectively make the game a standard pay-for title. But I resent paying for that, and instead am chipping away at the daily challenges in order to open Area 4. I think it may be because even when using a virtual currency, buying things in-game always stresses me, so I don't like the backend structure of a game that's based around that.

Finally, an exercise for the reader. I had trouble with this - where is the valid move? It took me 20 minutes to find it, but there is indeed a definite place to go.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations: a long tutorial

Posted on 04/03/2016 Written by Xexyz

It doesn't seem like a year since I played through Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, but it is and so it's high time I continue the series - in an attempt to make sure that I'm only four years behind the curve and no more. I mean, when I finish Revelations I'll only have III, III Liberation, IV, Rogue, Unity, Chronicles and Syndicate to go.

Hmm.

So, Revelations. I know that I will get to play as both Ezio and Altäir, since they are both on the cover. I know that I will struggle to adapt to a slightly changed control scheme, since they've moved the ranged weapons button.

I know that I will get completely lost in a new city for ages, and will take some time to work out the best way to run away from the guards. I know that I'll quickly get distracted by opening shops and chasing down thieves and looting the bodies of dead soldiers.

I know all this will happen. Why in the future? Because as of now, a few hours into the game, I'm still playing through the tutorial. It goes on forever. I have had to complete some basic missions to learn about the new eagle sense, to learn about the ranged weapons options, to learn about bombs. I finally have a bit of freedom now, but it's taken so long. I mean, it took over half an hour to get to the title screen!

It feels like a refined version of Brotherhood so far. I appreciate the better control over throwing knives, I find the reformed eagle sense a bit annoying, and I find the odd Animus Island a bit odd. It's almost as if they're running out of ideas for the modern-world story.

I'll report more soon.