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Touhou Luna Nights (Switch): COMPLETED!

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Apparently this is an authorised fan-game based on the Touhou shooter series, but none of that means anything to me. I was just keeping an eye on it because it looked like an interesting Metroidvania game, and as it turns out, it is.

Plot is something something fake castle world something baddie something, but what that means is Castlevania without a Dracula. It’s very similar to Castlevania, even having some similar areas (like a clock tower) and enemies (like Frankenstein’s monster and skeletons), and of course it has blocked areas you need items or upgrades to access.

What’s different is in the abilities of your character. She can slow and stop time, for one thing. And “graze” enemies and projectiles in which to replenish energy. Or, graze them when time is stopped to replenish magic points. And you’ll need to replenish magic a lot, because all your attacks use it. The time stop power is also used in environmental “puzzles” too, as some objects and enemies aren’t frozen, some are frozen, and some only move (or move backwards) when time is stopped. There’s a lot of hidden room finding too, and of course a map to fill in 100%.

I completed it, and then discovered that there’s a whole extra area afterwards which I think was DLC in the original PC version of the game, so of course I had to finish that too. The end boss was especially tricky (in her second form, anyway), but I managed it. And then I went and found the few remaining areas and items to get 100%.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and it’s certainly different to play compared to how it looks – not a “standard” Metroidvania by any means.

Deiland (Switch): COMPLETED!

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Set in the same universe as Summer in Mara, Deiland starts out as superficially similar – chop down trees, smash rocks, grow crops – but set on a tiny planet instead of a big sea. There’s no exploration, and you only have a couple of small areas of other planets you can travel to as the story progresses, and also unlike Summer in Mara, there’s combat.

Every so often, baddies will spawn on your little planet and you have to defeat them. If you don’t, they knock you out and nick some of your resources. They’re not hard to deal with, however, and healing is easy – just stand next to a fire for a bit.

You’ll get visitors in space ships, including a few characters who were also in Summer on Mara, who act as both quest givers and shops. Quest are almost always of the form “collect X” or “create Y”, but because you don’t need to travel far, they’re less drawn out as in Mara.

It’s a simpler game than Mara, but it’s different. I didn’t enjoy it quite as much, but it’s still worth playing.

Millie and Molly (Switch): COMPLETED!

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This is a simple little platform puzzle game with 100 levels. It’s similar to Fire ‘N Ice, Solomon’s Key, and Catrap in terms of gameplay, although in this game you can’t step up blocks and you can’t jump. Also, many of the levels let you use two characters (Millie and Molly, of course) with one frozen, so can be used as a “block”, while you control the other.

The aim is to defeat all the enemies (simply by touching them) on each single screen level, with some of them floating in the air and others “dropping” when you kick away blocks underneath them. The puzzle element is how you accomplish this, as you need to decide the order in which to touch them as once they’re gone you can’t stand on them, and when to kick kickable blocks or dig dig-able blocks. Some of the levels are very clever in that you think you’ve done it, only you realise at the end you made a mistake right at the start! Thankfully, there are infinite lives and infinite rewind to save on the frustration normally associated with these games.

Although the developer suggested the game is hard, I only struggled on three or four levels, with level 99 being hair-tearingly difficult. That’s not to say I found it easy, but it certainly wasn’t as difficult as I was expecting. I did, however, very much enjoy it and hope there’s either a sequel or some extra levels as DLC in the works.

Summer in Mara (Switch): COMPLETED!

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At first glance, Summer in Mara would appear to be a Wind Waker clone, but in fact it’s only really similar in terms of graphics and there’s a load of islands you travel between via a little boat. Actually, it’s much closer to something like Harvest Moon, with a bit of farming, some crafting, and a lot of fetch quests.

There’s no peril, danger, time limits or any chance of death – just a nice little story about an orphan exploring the world and meeting a colourful array of characters and doing various chores for them. The ultimate aim is to prevent a race of aliens from sucking the life energy of the planet, but really it’s 95% going to places and making stuff. There’s not even any combat.

Summer in Mara is a fun, relaxing, blue skies game that has a bit too much to-ing and fro-ing (which I found at the end of the game can be reduced with fast travel!) but plenty of character and charm.

Hades (Switch): COMPLETED!

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I thought I’d actually completed this about a month ago, except it seems that just reaching the end isn’t enough. You have to reach the end ten times. Anyway, I’ve done that now.

Hades is a roguelite action game, where you, as Zagreus, Hades’ son, must escape from hell and find your mother on the surface. You die a lot along the way, which takes you back to the start, but slowly your skills improve both by getting permanent buffs and by just getting better at the game, so gradually you get closer and closer to the end.

Each “room” is a short fight, after which you get an item. These range from a choice of Boons, provided by Olympians, which offer skills such as elemental attacks or additional dashes, to money (which can only be spent that “run” on temporary upgrades) and gems (which can be spent in your bedroom between runs for permanent upgrades). Success on a run is largely down to your choices as well as a little luck as to which you’re offered, since some upgrades stack really well and others are mostly useless – your fighting style dependant, of course.

You also get a choice of different weapons to take with you – a sword, a bow, enchanted gauntlets, what is essentially a gun, etc. – but I mostly stuck to the sword as I found it easiest. Some Boons are better suited to different weapons too.

It’s an addictive game, and even though each run can easily be half and hour or more long the urge for “one more run” is strong. If you fail, it’s rarely a waste because of what you gain, but also you feel that you’d get a bit further if you just had better luck. There’s a lot of interesting and humorous dialogue between Zagreus and the other residents of the various levels of hell, with much reference to Greek mythology, and almost every run provides new chat with very little repetition.

I “beat” my first run on about the 18th attempt, but it was nearly 50 tries before I’d beaten it the requisite ten times, with something like 40 hours play in total. I regret sleeping on buying this earlier, which I’d done because although I’d loved Bastion (by the same devs), Transistor which followed it left me cold and I was put off this being a “difficult roguelite”. Thankfully, it’s nothing like Transistor and also isn’t that difficult, or at least, not difficult indefinitely. It’s truly a fantastic game.