ugvm

the site of uk.games.video.misc

Dice People (Switch): COMPLETED!

Posted on Written by

Dice People is a stand-out game in that Game Nacional bundle. It’s a bit better put together, but also, it seems to be a unique type of game. Unless there’s another similar one I’ve not heard of – you tell me.

You buy dice people, each of which are wizards or fighters or whatever and so attack in different ways. You then “roll” them into a playfield, which plays out a bit like a Tower Defence game as baddies swarm the screen. I think, but I’m not entirely sure, but the number on the dice determines your strength or HP or both or something. Kill baddies and they leave items and money.

You use the money to buy more dice people, and the items to unlock millions of things on the skill tree. Or rather, Massive Skill Grid. You can increase probabilities, strength, obtained item quantities, and so on here, making the next round a bit easier. Eventually you unlock enough and progress far enough to take on a boss, after which you’ve completed the game.

It’s surprisingly addictive, and more fun than I’ve made it out to appear, I assure you.

Cat Survivors (Switch): COMPLETED!

Posted on Written by

There was a ridiculous bundle deal on the Switch eShop last week where you could get 21 games for 89p. Of course, they’re not going to be good games, are they? In fact, I already had several of them from a similar bundle last year so knew the quality I was going to be getting.

That said, they’re not all shovelware. So much of the eShop is full of terrible games that are clones of “real” games and have similar names in order to trick you like “Battlefields: Duty of Call” or “GTA: Car Theft Hero” or whatever. They are Bad Games and you Must Not Buy Them. No, these ones are from what I assume is a Spanish publisher called Game Nacional and the main reason they’re not great is because they’re just unpolished or a bit lacking rather than scams.

Turns out, then, that although it’s a bit wonky and generic, Cat Survivors is a playable enough Survivors-like. You’re a cat and automatically attack and, well, you already know how to play these games. Sure, other games do this better, but – apart from sometimes getting so overpowered it’s impossible to die – Cat Survivors is perfectly fine. And for 89/21p, you can’t complain too much.

SteamWorld Heist II (Switch): COMPLETED!

Posted on Written by

It may have taken a while for me to finally get round to playing SteamWorld Heist II, but when it – and all the other SteamWorld games – were reduced in a massive eShop sale I was reminded it was the only SW game I hadn’t completed. And now, it isn’t.

Like the first game, it’s a 2D, side-on, turn based strategy game. In that respect it’s more of the same as the original, and I’ll leave it to you, the reader, to figure out what that means in terms of gameplay as the internet surely can provide. What I will talk about instead, is just how good and well balanced it all is.

Each character in your party can have different classes, weapons and skills (and you can switch between missions as to what, if you like, and “borrow” skills from other classes with the right items as well) so your team is incredibly customisable. Sometimes, it’s good to have a few short-range but powerful weapons, other times sniping with accuracy from a distance. Or maybe being able to move further, or move twice, in a turn is helpful. There’s tradeoffs between sniping being great from a log way off but you waste a turn reloading, or big explody weapons dealing lots of damage to several clustered enemies, but it’s a bit hard to aim and can damage you, or your cover. There’s a lot to think about! As characters level up you get to choose more skills too.

It’s also really addictive. Most missions are probably only 15-20 minutes long, so the urge to do just one more mission is strong. Or, you missed out some (probably unnecessary) loot in a level, so you replay it just to make sure you’ve collected everything. Or, you boat around the overworld seeking things to destroy for other bonuses and see another thing to get, explore, or beat on the map somewhere. There’s always one more thing to do.

Oh yes, the boat. You see, you have a submarine to traverse the world, and as you progress you can upgrade it with better firepower or more oxygen for underwater boating. The seas are full of enemies that need to be run from, or defeated, for fun and profit.

There’s a lot to the game but the real pull isn’t the excellent gameplay, it’s the (as always) perfectly crafted SteamWorld, er, world. The humour, the silly robot characters, the puns, and the references to other games in the series. Plus the excellent gameplay, of course.

Comix Zone: comically hard

Posted on Written by

I love the concept, of being pulled into a comic and having to battle through the panels. Having the world shaped by your own hand, and then having enemies drawn in by your enemy is a work of genius. Choosing paths, having to jump across or down past the borders of the picture, is a really engaging mechanic. It looks stunning too, with large sprites which have been drawn full of character and incredibly colourful. This is paired with a fighting game engine which is very competent and fun to play with – punches and kicks carry weight, and enemies can be avoided by a millimetre.

But it’s very very hard. You have a single life, and recharges to your energy are few and far between. I haven’t worked out how to consistently kill enemies without them taking some of my health off. As such, I’ve never got very far in, and short of quick saving after every hit I’m not sure I ever will.

But it does look lovely.

Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town (Switch): COMPLETED!

Posted on Written by

I do like a Kaz Ayabe game. I’ve played a few recently, including the previous Shin chan tie-in. They’re all set in sleepy Japanese villages where very little happens and this one is the same. However! Shin chan’s dog, Shiro, wanders off and finds a mysterious train that take him (and, when he is led there, Shin chan) to Coal Town – a mining town that nobody in the village seems to have heard of.

Your days are split between the usual Ayabe tasks of catching fish and bugs, running errands for your family and neighbours, doing a bit of gardening, and making friends with the local kids. It is never explained why there are children and pensioners in this village, but nobody inbetween (aside from one childless woman and a visiting chef) so who are the parents? And why doesn’t anyone care they’re all out after dark? Anyway, yes, your time is split doing that stuff, and also visiting Coal Town and helping out there.

It seems the mayor of Coal Town has, now the mine is running low on coal, gone a bit mad and is doing evil nefarious things which I won’t spoil. It’s your job, as a five year old so obviously best qualified, to help out and stop this happening. Which mostly involves cooking things, collecting items for an inventor, and – crucially – mine cart racing. Of course. Without giving too much away, the plot seems heavily borrowed from the Your Name anime, wrapped up in a Ghibi bow. No bad thing, though.

Unlike other games in the series, there’s no deadline for getting everything done. In previous titles, you’d have a summer, or a month, or a repeating week timeloop, but here you don’t seem to be able to run out of days. Which makes the whole thing even more laid back and relaxing than before. In fact, only the arcadey mine cart races are anything but.

So not a huge change to the formula. It’s back to mostly static (as in, not fully 3D) environments of the past after the Natsu-mon game changed it, but then I’m not sure which order the games were originally released in in Japan. It does mean a return of the “hold left to walk off the screen and enter to the left on the next screen and so walk off again immediately” issue, but it’s a minor thing.

Definitely a recommended play if you’re a fan of Ayabe’s work.