*Now in 2D

This week's Arcade Archives entry is another Namco oddity, as Hamster has prepped and readied little-seen sequel 3D Thunder Ceptor II, now available to downloa??d on PS4?? and Nintendo Switch.

Released in 1986 as a pseudo-sequel to the original Thunder Ceptor, (which only launched earlier that same year), 3D Thunder Ceptor II ii an into-the-screen shmup/rail shooter, which sees the player pilot the titular vessel is fast-blasting sci-fi action. Devised as Namco's answer to Sega's hugely successful Space Harrier, Thunder Ceptor II features similar gameplay, (though nowhere near as fast), although it does include a rudimentary HUD, offerin?g up information such as weap??on selection and enemy position.

Check out the action in the video below, courtesy of YouTuber Replay Burners.

//www.y?outube.com/watch?v=yeTC9p??Vdt44&ab_channel=ReplayBurners

In the arcades, 3D Thunder Ceptor II turned heads due to its groundbreaking use of stereoscopic 3D. The cabinet itself utilized a variety of layered windows in order to create false depth, making the enemies seemingly leap off the screen and toward the player. While the game itself wasn't widespread, its utilization of 3D technology was praised, with other developers following with their own 3D titles in the following years, including Namco's own Starblade. Of course, it goes without saying that the Arcade Archives release does not include 3D support, ki?nd of removi??ng a key element of game's concept.

3D Thunder Ceptor II is available to download now on?? PS4 and Nintendo Switch, priced at around $8.

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All signs point to polygons

The internet is all aflutter this morning after users on ResetEra spotted Bandai Namco recruiting staff to develop what appears to be an HD remaster of an unnamed Nintendo classic.

The buzz came about following an update to the recruitment page of Bandai Namco's Japanese website, which is currently?? offering up a vacancy for a "3D action game designer." According to the job listing, the selected candidate will be responsible for planning and developing a project that has been "commissioned by Nintendo." Additional r??oles advertised include a "3D background artist" and, most tellingly of all, a role that involves the importing and HD remastering of pre-existing 3D visuals.

So it seems, quite clearly, that Nintendo has commissioned Bandai Namco to develop a title built of one of the company's many 3D polygonal hits, for example, the multitude of titles that arrived on the N64 platform in the late-'90s. One might wonder why Nintendo would farm out the role to another developer, but the two studios have enjoyed a healthy relationship for many years, most recently coming together for work on titles such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Pokken Tournament, New Pokemon Snap, and ARMS.

For now, this is all a healthy dose of hearsay, but it seems a snug fit that we can expect a remaster announcement from The Big N in the near future. What title would you like to see overhauled for modern platforms? It will probably be a first-party affair, so we can sadly rule out Fighter's Destiny.

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Find out if your friends are Drifter compatible

Heart Machine is fresh off its most recent game, Solar Ash, and already has another in the works. Today, the studio revealed Hyper Light Breaker, a new game set in the Hyper Light Drifter universe.

Today is the sixth anniversary of Hyper Light Drifter's launch, and developer Heart Machine took the occasion to unveil an animated trailer and a very brief snippet of early footage of its follow-up. Hyper Light Breaker takes some noticeable strides away from Drifter. It's 3D, rather than 2D; and while Drifter was a solo affair, Breaker will have online co-op as the focus.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdBfDYAJ9EU

The original creative director, Alx Preston, is taking lead on Hyper Light Breaker as well. In a press release, Preston described Breaker as a "new path and culmination of e?verything we have learned over the past eight years of development at Heart Machine."

Hyper Light Drifter was a pretty big hit for Heart Machine, standing out with incredible style and action blending into one gorgeous, challenging adventure. While Solar Ash had a similarly stylish look, it sounds like charm couldn't quite carry it to the same heights.

A return to the Hyper Light world sounds great, though. And a focus on both 3D graphics and online co-op sounds intriguing, too. Though Drifter had some local co-op potential, it seemed fairly barebones at the time.

With Hyper Light Breaker, it'll be interesting to see what Heart Machine does with a multiplayer set-up right out of the gate. Here's hoping to a lot more neon slicing?-and-dicing, and maybe some of those giant creepy robot faces too. The Steam description advertises plenty of enemies to fight, an arsenal to grow, deep storylines hidden in each attempt at the roguelite structure, and movement using wall-dashes, hoverboarding, and gliding.

Hyper Light Breaker is aiming for early access on Steam in Spring 2023. You can find it on Steam to wishlist ahead of time here.

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It pays to wait

A Hat in Time's Switch port still doesn't have a release date (apart from "Coming Soon"), but some recent news has confirmed that the DLC pack "Seal the Deal" will be launching on Nintendo's console. The wording is a little iffy, almost reading like it will be a separate purchase, but at least anyone waiting to take this jovial 3D platformer on the go will be able to experience the complete version of the game. Some jaun?ty co-op action sounds great for long flights or train rides.

As for the PS4 and Xbox One versions, the DLC is still up in the air. Developer Gears for Breakfast has stated, "Due to certain circumstances we aren't able to use the same methods we used to bring the base game to Xbox One and PlayStation, but we will continue to explore options." That doesn't outright deny?? anything, but it could be a long wait.

A Hat in Time [Twitter]

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Jaeger bomb

One of my favorite overlooked PlayStation 2 titles is a 2003 brawler called War of the Monsters. Inspired by B-movies of the 1950s, the game let you choose from a wide variety of Kaiju and giant robots, then battle it out in a 3D arena full of v??ehicles and skys?crapers to destroy while tiny humans ran for their pitiful lives. It's still a lot of fun 15 years later, and all the more impressive when you consider how much more difficult environmental destruction was back then. 

There's no question what the biggest fighting game of the year is, but you may have missed a smaller release from a few days before Smash Bros. Ultimate came out. Override: Mech City Brawl is a party game which puts you in the pilot's seat of a 30-story mech, then tasks you with beating the bolts off a variety of mechanical and alien enemies. I was hopeful that Override would be a spiritual successor to War of the Monsters, but how does it stand on its own?

Override: Mech City Brawl (PC, [reviewed] PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
Developer: The Balance
Publisher: Modus Games
Released: December 4, 2018
MSRP: $29.99

Let's get this out of the way: Despite some early comparisons, Override: Mech City Brawl has nothing to do with War of the Monsters apart from sharing some common inspirations. It's probably not quite the Pacific Rim game you're hoping for either, though it does have some cool features that can let you and some friends live out your Voltron or Power Ranger fantasies. 

Override has a few different modes to play, but at its core it's a fighting game starring a variety of big stompy robots. A dozen fighters are available from the outset, and nearly the entire roster is inspired by various animals. A couple are o??ff-brand versions of famous 'bots like Gundam or Mechagodzilla, but most are original creations. No matter which mech you pick, they all share some common moves and it's very easy to pick up and play. Although you can use the mouse and ??keyboard in the PC version, it's pretty clear the game was designed with controllers in mind and I found it played better with a Switch Pro Controller or Xbox 360 pad.

Each of your robot's limbs are mapped to a different button, so you can choose which arms or legs to attack with. You can soft lock-on to enemies, but you'll lose it if they get too far away from you. Every 'bot has a personal shield and a dash move they can use? to evade attacks, and they'll earn charge toward a super meter the longer they stay in the fight. There's also a heat meter below each robot's stamina bar, and attacking too aggressively will overheat your mech, leaving you vulnerable to counterattacks for a few seconds.

Oversized weapon pods rain down on the battlefield from time to time, and you can pick these up to augment your already impressive combat abilities. These can be anything from ballistic shields to railguns and grenade launchers, and there are? lots of melee weapons including energy blades, a massive hammer, and a 100-foot-wide frying pan. You can even equip a sword or gun in one hand and a shield in the other if they're size appropriate, or toss mega-sized grenades at your opponents.

There's a single-player campaign mode that borrows a few elements from XCOM as you and your mech join the fight against a new alien threat called the Xenotype. There are several different t?ypes of these aliens, and some of the bosses require different strategies than the waves of lesser invaders. The story is told through visual novel-style cutscenes, and in between story missions, you can take on bonus stages for a chance to earn extra upgrades and resources. Each mech has its own pilot, and they all have slightly different stories as they progress through the campaign. 

While the single-player mode is decent, it's pretty clear multiplayer fights were the focus of development. There are several options available here: team fights, one-on-one battles, online matchups (sadly, no console cross-play), and you can even stuff multiple people in a single mech and try to fight as an organized team. I only got to try out controlling the arms and head as a two-person mech, but I could see a fu??ll eight-player game with everyone controlling a separate limb being? a lot of fun. 

After eve??ry battle, you earn a skin or cosmetic unlock for one of the mechs in your garage. The skins are the main incentive to buy the physical or digital deluxe version as opposed to the standard edition, and they come with one Legendary skin for each combatant as well as access to four upcoming DLC fighters. (One of these has already released, the robot unicorn called Stardust.) Thankfully, I didn't see any way to buy these skins with real currency, but it's kind of an odd choice for a progression system. I guess for those who really get into the online fights, they'll be able to show off their dedication by equipping a snowman head or novelty sombrero. 

Unfortunately, there are quite a few problems holding Override back. The visuals are nice and colorful, but I ran into a lot of frame drops. My rig is getting to the point where it needs some upgrades, but it's well within the recommended system specs so your mileage may vary. For me, moving th??e camera quickly or blowing up a lot of buildings at once seemed to overload the engine, and I got disoriented more than once with how many frames were being skipped. I also noticed the camera got lost when I backed into a corner, and my testing partner said she ended up getting an extreme close-up of her robot's butt a lot more frequently than she'd have preferred.

My other major problem with Override is how insubstantial everything feels. It looks nice when ??you plow through a building, but there's absolutely no resistance, so it feels like even the l??argest skyscrapers are made out of tissue paper. The arenas are also fairly small, and blocked off by a glowing blue barrier that doesn't have any story explanation. Most of the stages are just flat planes with buildings sprinkled around, so prolonged fights get pretty dull once you've kicked everything into rubble. There aren't even any humans around to protect (yeah, right) or stomp on (there we go). It would have been a lot more fun if you could use the buildings as cover or climb on them, but this isn't an option. The stages I enjoyed most had something solid to them, like the underground section in Egypt or the overpass in one of the city maps.

Override: Mech City Brawl had a lot of potential, but ultimately I like the concept a lot more than the execution. The fighting engine is adequate, but I felt like it should be a lot more fun blowing up a city in a million-ton robot suit. It kinda seems l??ike this one was sent out to die, and that's a damn shame.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher]}

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64-bits of sadness

For the past two holiday seasons, Nintendo has released mini variants of the NES and SNES consoles. Along with? b?eing a pretty faithful replication of the gray boxes, they included pre-packed games that were curated to perfectly tickle your nostalgia bone. They were love letters to an era when Nintendo dominated the market.

Many people were expecting an N64 Classic for 2018, but that seems to be off the table. Speaking with Kotaku about the Switch's online service and Smash Ultimate's roster, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said, "I would not ever rule something out, but what I can ??tell you is certainly that's [N64 Classic] not in our planning horizon."

Going deeper, Fils-Aime stated, "We were clear when we did the first two Classic series that, for us, thes?e were limited time opportunities that were a way for us as a ??business to bridge from the conclusion of Wii U as a hardware system to the launch of Nintendo Switch...We've also now been very clear that as the consumer looks forward to engaging with our classic content that is going to happen more and more with the subscription service."

That last bit opens up the door for?? other platforms to eventually reach the Switch Online service, but nothing else was said on the matter. For the time being, an N64 Classic is not happening and certainly won't be releasing in 2018. I'm sorry to dash your hopes.

Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime On Hopes For An N64 Classic, Switch Online, And Sakurai's Smash Roster Tweets [Kotaku]

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I ain't afraid of no boo

I'd go far as saying the GameCube is the best cube-shaped electronic device with a handlebar of all time. With it came the launch title that would put Luigi back into the spotlight once more after nearly a decade since Mario is Missing.

Finally, he'd have a game bearing his name and one that had him busting boos with a literal vacuum. Overall, it was a huge departure from the platforming roots the Mario series had become so well known for and the GameCube would only continue to cement the versatility of Nintendo's cast of char?acters.

Nearly two decades later and we're returning to the mansion once again at the tail-end of the 3DS's lifespan in what is a ?surprisingly updated and modified version from developer Grezzo. This updated version includes new visuals, quality of life improvements, and even a couple of other surprises that make the trip worthwhile for both fans of the original and newcomers alike.

Luigi's Mansion (3DS)
Developer: Grezzo
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: October 12, 2018
MSRP: $39.99

Luigi's ghastly tale is a fairly simple one and it begins after winning a mansion from a contest he never entered. Soon after, he heads over to the mansion to meet up with Mario, only to discover his brother isn't anywhere to be found. That isn't to say the mansion is empty, though, because soon enough Luigi finds him??self fending off ghoulish spirits with a tri??cked-out vacuum.

After acquiring the Poltergust 3000 from Professor E. Gadd, Luigi discovers his brother has been captured by King Boo and must rid the mansion of the boos, ghosts, and other foul creatures to save him. This classic tale and formula haven't changed in the 3DS version of the game. You'll still clear each room o??f its spooky inhabitants just as you did on the GameCube, but with some quality-of-life improvements that?? make the game a tad more enjoyable to play

Most notably, coins now take longer to va??nish when hit by ghosts or when made flat by those pesky trap doors. In the original GameCube release, the animatio?n for those trap doors squashing you, in general, would take longer than your coins would even stick around for. Making use of both screens of the 3DS, the Game Boy Horror, Professor E. Gadd's communicator and radar for invisible boos, is now assigned to the bottom touch screen. It can also now be controlled with the gyroscope or even with nifty touch controls on the bottom screen.

Even more unique to this ?release of the game, though, is local co-op. However, the second player isn't taking control of toad or Professor E. Gadd. No, instead they take control of an abomination known as "Gooigi," which is some sort of green, goo clone of Luigi th??at I honestly believe is some sort of eldritch horror not fit for a Nintendo game, but, here we are. On the topic of this specific release of the game though, as I mentioned it's not an exact port of GameCube release, but instead a heavily updated version utilizing both new and old assets.

Even right from the start of the game, the design of the mansion has been slightly tweaked from the original GameCube release. Most opinions of the aesthetic changes will be pretty different from person to person, but I honestly think Grezzo did an incredible job with the new assets. The opening glimpse of the mansion is more imposing and dark compare??d to the original release, while lit areas within the mansion now have a warmer color palette overall.

But, not everything is for the better. Most notably, the frame rate tends to drop well below 30fps at times, and there are some additional load times between areas or events. Overall though, Luigi's Mansion looks fantastic on the 3DS, especially in person. The new aesthetic updates and texture work still look solid and comparable to the original GameCube release. But, you will still get a higher resolution and sharper image on G??ameCube compared to the 3DS if you're rocking some component cables.

However, if your 3DS supports it, this version of Luigi's Mansion now also boasts stereoscopic 3D. It never does anything really too crazy with the effect, but the added depth of field in the opening scenes an??d other areas of the game is a nice touch. So, if ??you're after that, it's there. Also, the spooky Nintendo start-up from the GameCube release is sadly not present in the 3DS version and that's upsetting to probably me and me only.

Nitpicks aside (which is exactly what these are, minor nitpicks), the biggest issue I have with the 3DS version of Luigi's Mansion is simply the c-stick analog nub on the New 3DS just isn't a? good replacement for the GameCube's c-stick controls. Whether you're controlling the flashlight or attempting to suck up various objects with the Poltergust 3000 -- it just feels clumsy and nowhere near as precise on the New 3DS's analog nub.

It's even worse on older 3DS models?? without the analog nub, as these controls are instead assigned to the d-pad. So, you'll have to take your thumb off the left analog stick (and stop moving) to use the Poltergust 3000 or flashlight. If you're playing on an older 3DS, I highly recommend using the Circle Pad Pro if you have access to it. You'd think the simple solution would be to use gyroscope aiming (like you do with the Game Boy Horror), oddly enough though, it's not really a viable control option for either the flashlight or Poltergust 3000 as you can only point up or down with the gyroscope.

Some technical and control issues aside, I still think the 3DS version of Luigi's Mansion is a solid option for newcomers or for people looking to revisit this GameCube classic. Catching various ghosts and completing Professor E. Gadd's gallery is a perfect time burner on the go and Grezzo have done a solid job bringing Luigi's Mansion to the 3DS. I just don't know if ?I'd prioritize playing the 3DS version over the GameCube? version in the future.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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IT'S HAPPENING!

The absolutely fantastic retro shooter DUSK will be leaving Early Access on December 10, 2018. For a limited time after launch, the game will be available for the special price of $16.66. The game will ship with three episodes of hellish levels and a full multiplayer suite. That isn't the end for DUSK, though, as more u??pdates are planned for 2019. The bigge??st of them is the eventual Switch port.

While this was actually announced around E3, DUSK on Switch is much closer to being a reality now. If you aren't looking to play DUSK on the go, though, you can get ready to bring a friend along as co-op will be coming to the game post-launch. An SDK will also be r??eleased along with eventual Mac and Linux ports. Publisher New Blood Interactive is teasing more stuff, as well.

If you happen to already own the Early Acce??ss build, you'll find the game has been updated with a few new features today. A new endless arena has been unlocked that is based on one of th??e levels from Episode Three. The first two episodes have also received some tweaks and changes, which should bring them more up to the levels of polish that one would expect from a final product. You can also play as the "Hound of Torment" enemy in multiplayer.

If you're a bit peeved about paying a few extra dollars before launch, fear not! All current owners will be given early access to the final version of Episode Three before launch. You'll also receive the 50-page DUSK graphic novel for completely gratis.

I'm beyond excited for DUSK to finally arrive. Ever since playing it earlier this year, I've been dying to get my hands on the final thing. The teasers I've played of Episode Three have me believing this could be one of the b?est first-person ??shooters of all time. Now I just have to not die before December.

THE TIME IS NIGH [Steam Community]

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240p, basically

You know, I was just beginning to think that Yooka-Laylee was too good looking. Part of the charm of N64 era mascot platformers is the chunky, low-resolution graphics. Mixed with c??hildlike imagination, it imbued a sense of atmosphere that is completely missing from modern games. With everything being rendered in such clarity, you never have to think about what you're looking at.

That is set to change shortly, though. Similar to A Hat in Time's 240p mode, developer Playtonic Games will be adding a "64-bit Tonic" to Yooka-Laylee to let players experience the game as if it were on an N64. Not only do the textures take a hit in overall quality, but the framerate even locks to 30 FPS. That is some extreme attention to detail??.

The update will be coming free to charge to all versions of the game in the coming ??weeks. You can check out the trailer below to tickle your nostalgia bone a little.

A Novel Update [Playtonic Games]

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Multiple Wangs for free!

GOG.com is hosting an anniversary sale for its 10th year of business. Along with a whole round of sales on various games, 2016's Shadow Warrior 2 is free! If you and your friends have been itching for a new co-op shooter to play, why not head on over to GOG's storefront and add Lo Wang's latest adventure to your collection? As a word of warning, the "Deluxe Edition" is not on sale, so don't accidentally ad??d that to your cart.

For what other games you should grab, there are a couple of ridiculously cheap bundles with tons of classic games. The best has to be "The Timeless Essentials" that includes System Shock 2, Another World, Theme Hospital and Dungeon Keeper 2 for $5. That is an absolute steal and basically, any one of those games is wort??h $5 on its own.

Here are my recommendations? should you have cash burning? a hole in your pocket:

• Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition - $4.99
  
• Night in the Woods: Weird Autumn Edition - $13.39
• Quake II: Quad Damage - $3.39
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein - $1.49
• SWAT 4: Gold Edition - $4.99
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt GOTY - $19.99

Here is a breakdown of each 10th-anniversary bundle GOG has:

The Timeless Essentials - $5

• Another World
• Dungeon Keeper 2
• System Shock 2
• Theme Hospital

The Art of Aging Gracefully - $10

• Dragon Age: Origins
• Homeworld
• Owlboy

The Modern Classics - $25

• Battle Chasers: Nightwar
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance
• Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun

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Press X to Jason

While October 2018 bringing a tremendous amount of heavy hitting games, it only makes sense that PS Plus' line-up would be a little lackluster. While the line-up actually contains a lot of good stuff, most of the games are a few years old at this point. The two PS4 games, though, are multiplayer focused romps that will likely hold you over until the next big release. I could definitely see booting up some Friday the 13th while waiting for Red Dead Redemption 2, for instance.

Even if nothing gels with you, definitely give Laser League a whirl. That is a legitimately good game th??at got overlooked earlier this year. The PS4 version doesn't offer crossplay with PC or Xbox One users, but it does have bot support for online play, so you should be able to jump into a game without too much hassle.

• Friday the 13th: The Game - PS4
• Leaser League - PS4
• Master Reboot - PS3
• The Bridge - PS3 (Crossplay on PS4 and Vita)
• Rocketbirds 2: Evolution - PS Vita
• 2064: Read Only Memories - PS Vita

PlayStation Plus: Free Games for October [PlayStation Blog]

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Breath taken

[Update: Those sneaky dogs! While Nintendo got to steal the spotlight of having Final Fantasy on the Switch, it isn't the only new platform receiving these games. All of the titles mentioned below (save for Crystal Chronicles and Chocobo) will also be heading to Xbox One. The same release dates apply.]

In a bombshell of an announcement, a whole slew of Final Fantasy games will be heading to the Switch. This not only includes the legendary Final Fantasy VII but IX, XII and X/X2 HD. If that wasn't enough, even some newer Final Fantasy titles will be making the jump. This, of course, means Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition HD (which i??s available right now!), ?but some other titles that I've not even heard of.

This includes a port of World of Final Fantasy called Maxima, Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition (which was announced a few days ago) and Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon Everybuddy!. Most of these ports will be coming to the platform next year, but World has a firm date of November 6. Chocobo is scheduled for Winter.

The post (Up??date) A whole lo?t of classic Final Fantasy games are heading to Switch next year appeared first on Destructoid.

Era-appropriate graphics

The upcoming Seal the Deal DLC for indie platformer A Hat in Time will be packing a nifty feature for the inner child in us all. Looking to further replicate late '90s platformers, Seal the Deal has a "nostalgia badge" that enables a 240p mode for the game. Those that cut thei??r teeth on N64 a?nd PlayStation games will remember how low poly, pixelated and jagged 3D platformers were and this new mode is completely era-appropriate.

In some odd way, I kind of prefer the blocky character models. It takes me back to my childhood, but it also just looks pl?ain cute. For further authenticity, the mode will be using the exact pixel blur technique that was often implemented on the N64. You can't beat that attention to low detail.

A Hat in Time [Twitter]

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Tears of joy or sorrow?

Capcom's upcoming Devil May Cry 5 will be releasing on March 8, 2019. Along with the news, a new trailer from Gamescom has come out and it looks promising. I kind of dismissed DMC5 after E3 (the art style is really not doing it for me), but the actual gam?eplay looks reminiscent of the classic series.

For starters, Nero has the power to freeze time, which is always cool. I'm also digging the terrible music (a series?? staple) and highly destructible environ??ments. The boss battles look seriously big, too, which is just bringing back memories of throwing my controller in the PS2 days. Maybe I was a bit too hasty in my dismissal of this game.

Oh yeah, Dante rips his bike in half and uses it as dual wield chainsaw swords. I'm pretty sure this is the DMC we've been wanting for awhile.

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Also not to be confused with the Destructoid writer

During its panel at San Diego Co??mic-Con, Capcom showed off the latest robo??t master that would be joining the revival of the legendary franchise. Torch Man, a name that has a lot of history with the series, is the latest in a long line of fire-themed bosses. The company also released details about the stage players will have to platform their way through first.

You can catch your first look at the fiery boss? below.

?Things heat up as Torch Man joins the roster of Robot Masters in Mega Man 11, out October 2!

🔥 //t.co/5SHB1vUqas pic.twitter.com/DsuHrVLcDk

— Mega Man (@MegaMan) July 20, 2018

Based on the footage, we can see that Torch Man is very unlike his predecessors. From the fireballs to the divekicks, one could say that he is more like a Street Fighter character in some ways than a Mega Man robot master. In addition, the stage is the polar opposite of what one would expect, taking place in a tranquil forest where Torch Man previously taught campers about fire safety.

However, the fun part of this is that this isn't the first robot master in the franchise to be named Torch Man. Way back in the good old era of computers running DOS, Capcom licensed Mega Man 3 out to a company called Hi-Tech, who developed it alongside Rozner Labs. The result was a game completely different from the one that we've come to love on the NES. One of the robot masters in it is Torch Man, who as far as we are aware shares no relation to the one in Mega Man 11. He's not the first one to experience this déjà vu, with Oil Man a??nd Blade Man also having forgotten ancestors in the same game.

In addition, when the anime adaptation for the Battle Network games known as MegaMan NT Warrior was airing outside of Japan, the name reappeared again. Due to executives thinking about the poor children, FireMan.EXE, the Battle Network equivalent of the boss from the first Mega Man game, had his name changed to TorchMan.EXE. This?? is where one Mike Sounders picked up his usual online persona of Torchman from.

So here's hoping the developers at Capcom can have the latest Torch M??an live up to the distinguished line of villains before him. Well, except for that Mike Sounders guy. There's nothing distinguished about him to begin with.

Torch Man brings the heat to Mega Man 11! [Capcom Unity]

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Hubba hubba

Platformers make up many of my fondest gaming memories, ranging from oldies like Super Mario Sunshine to newbies like A Hat in Time and Rayman Legends. There are many things I love about them, such as speedrunning through obstacle courses and reacting against fast-paced hazards and enemies. Heck, recently I rambled about how strongly I want this genre to stick around (the answer is "a lot"). But somehow, most of those platformer memo??ries always trace back to one particular activity: messing around in a hub world by jumping aimlessly.

It’s strange, because I never purc??hased these games expecting to waste time like that. Yet every now and then I feel compelled to revisit my favorite platformers for no purpose other than to bounce around and press buttons for their own sakes, because I remember enjoying that so much. And it’s no secret that I’m ??frequently driven by accomplishing arbitrary o??bjectives. Why would I of all people love neglecting such???? objectives so much?

The straightforward answer is it means the controls are just that much fun, and by proxy, t?he rest of these gam??es are fun too.

The reason I emphasize hub worlds is because the typical hub world is mainly a vehicle to access other levels. Sometimes they contain some lovely secrets or optional challenges to uncover, but they’re mostly a “safe space” for play??ers. Nothing to pressure the player other than their own curiosity, if desired. So, this point can also apply to not-quite-hub levels such as Super Mario Odyssey’s New Donk City, a kingdom that’s basically a giant sandbox stuffed to ??the brim with goodies without any danger (not counting mini-levels).

This kind of safe space is an ideal opportunity to practice abilities without restraint. Such a vast open area, which may be accompanied with various environmental gimmicks or pickups, invites players to roam however they like without even the slightest chance of punishment. So it figures that this is how most players brush up their skills, getting ready?? for tougher challenges ahead.

But every now and then, such faffing around leads to an unexpected discovery. While I was diving around in Hat Kid’s spaceship, I learned that jumping out of the dive the instant you hit the ground gave her a speed boost with a fancy spark. When I jumped and punched around Rayman Legends’s Gallery of Heroes, I saw that Rayman will slide if you hold down after runn?ing. The former was practical, while the latter was purely cosmetic, but both are tiny intricacies in their controls that somehow left a strong impression on me. Thanks to hub worlds, I not only felt comfortable enough to notice these intricacies, I felt encouraged to explore for more of them.

And oftentimes in my favorite platformers, I would find more such things! More tricks such as Hat Kid being able to triple-jump out of a dive in the air, or Rayman having the ability to punch the ground instead of ground-pounding from the air. Finding new ways to toy with these movesets was a simple, yet constantly g??ratifying pleasure. My curiosity was rewarded for finding the tiniest excuses to combine inputs at my leisure. At that point, I was addicted to t??he sheer act of romping around from point A to point B.

Of course, this all depends on a control scheme having those sorts of intricacies in the first place. But that’s exactly what I’m getting at. Playing around in the hub world of a platformer leads me to stretch its control scheme to its limits, and in turn, find out how how good it is or not. A good hub world makes a great laboratory for experimenting with controls, even if the hub itself is lacking in substance. Case in point, Rayman Legends's hub lacks any thrilling environmental bits from levels like ai?r drafts and sliding chains, but even the bare minimum it had was enough to convince m??e to toy with the basic moves.

If a tool is fun to use without any practical purpose, it’s a good toy. If a good toy can then be applied to accomplish objectives with rewards worth the time and effort, it’s a great tool as well. That’s because the act of using that tool is a re??ward itself. Even if you fail to use such a tool properly or accomplish nothing of value, its use was engaging enough that it’s still considered time well spent. That’s what a great control scheme is for a great platformer. Hubs give a greater opportunity to judge control schemes as toys before coming to a verdict of how they are as tools.

It would be an exaggeration to say that this alone is enough to decide a platformer’s quality.?? But a hub world acts as a cornerstone from which every other area of the game branches out. I believe something similar can be said for how you experience a game’s controls within such a cornerstone relative to within those branches.?? If I can have fun with a game before I'm even supposed to "try" having fun, I think it's a fair critique to say the game did something great.

At least, that’s why I believe I gravitate towards wasting so much time in hub worlds. Am I crazy for having such a habit? I’d like to see what you think! Do you do it yourself? Do you prefer to do this in actual levels instead of h??ubs? What significance do hu??bs in platformers have to you?

The post Home is where the hub world is appeared first on Destructoid.

I like my nostalgia blocky

The original 2D side-scrolling MapleStory made a big splash on the MMORPG scene back in 2003 in South Korea and would do the same with its North American release in 2005. That trend seems to continue with another long release cycle for MapleStory 2. Publisher Nexon America?? announced the game would be releasing globally, after nearly three years from its original South Korean launch in 2015, with a s??hiny new trailer over the weekend.

For those of you interested in getting in on the blocky action as soon as possible, the sign-up for the closed beta is open now for anyone living in the Americas, Europe, or Oceania and will be starting May 9. According to Nexon, MapleStory 2 takes place within the same universe as the o?riginal but also acts as a prequel. Also, despite the announcement of a global releas??e, an official date has yet to be announced.

Although the class system appears to be nowhere near what it was in the or??iginal game, Nexon promises this game will be much more cust?omizable than the original, from customizing your character's outfits, to even building your own home.

Personally, I remember only playing MapleStory for as long as I did because my friend's parents refused to drop the $15 a month for a World of Warcraft subscription and I felt bad for him.

MapleStory 2 making its way worldwide, closed beta sign-ups o??pen [Polygon]

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The Golden Age is Back

For the last decade or so, the first-person shooter genre has been dominated by the likes of Call of Duty and Battlefield. These two behemoths of gaming started a trend of “ultra-realistic” shooters that basically all play the same. You’ve got iron sights for more accurate aiming, regenerating health, incredibly linear level design, and a strong focus on an RPG-lite multiplayer system. This wasn’t always the?? way things were.

In the days of old, shooters were more focused on creating intricate, sprawling levels that required players to remember the location of? locked doors as well as providing an arsenal of crazy weapons that had no practical use in real life. Enemies were also varied and required different tactics, unlike the abundance of hit-scanning enemies that populate the modern landscape. Multiplayer was more a skill-based affair instead of a measurement of the amount of free time you had.

DUSK harkens back to the golden era of PC shooters were things were blocky and pixelated, but also labyrinthine and absurd. To say I’m in FPS heaven would be an understatement, because I’ve been waiting for a real Quake successor since Quake II came out.

DUSK (PC)
Developer: David Szymanski
Publisher: New Blood Interactive
Released: August, 2017 (Episode One), January 11, 2018 (Episode Two and DUSK World)
MSRP: $20.00

Upon booting up DUSK, you’re greeted with a mock-up DOS prompt that initializes the game. There are old CPU sounds, many random strings of text, and an assurance that DUSK is badass. It takes me back to the days of attempting to figure out obscure commands just to launch Duke Nukem 3D on my old Packard Bell PC.

Once in the game proper, you have the option of jumping straight into the action or tinkering with some settings. While DUSK is initially optimized to look very similar to the original Quake, you can actually turn on things like bloom lighting, depth of field, tweak the field-of-view, and cap the framerate to your monitor’s refresh rate. On that note, DUSK fully supports 240 hz (and ??everything ?in between) and is a fucking trip running that smoothly.

If you really want to replicate the late ‘90s, you can even pixelate the hell out of DUSK and get a pseudo-640x480 resolution going on. DUSK does actually support 4:3 resolutions, thoug??h, so you could always play the game pillarboxed and really get into the spirit?.

That attention to detail isn’t lost on the main game. The very structure is separated into episodes, much like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, etc. At present, the first two episodes are the only ones available, but a final episode will be ready for when the game officially launc??hes. Both episodes feature wildly different themes, with special mention needing to be given to the second episode’s disregard for conventional level design.

Much like old-school shooters, DUSK is a key-hunting game with an emphasis put on winding pathways. While there aren’t really alternate routes, exploring the nooks and crannies will help better prepare you for the challenges ahead. Secret doors, walls, and paths will grant you power-ups like better weapons, extra health, or more ammo that will all be welcomed during the various shootouts you’ll be i??nvolved in.

For the first episode, DUSK is actually relatively easy. If you have any kind of familiarity with twitch shooters, you’ll be right at home with the ridiculous physics and amped-up speed. The AI basically just runs straight at you, though you’ll still need to prioritize targets based on their attack range and damage output. DUSK does a great job with its enemy design? by having each foe be visually and audibly distinct (much like classic shooters).

That being said, nothing in Episode One is ultra-taxing on your skills. The levels are relatively simple, enemies aren’t too plentiful, and there aren’t any trap doors or monster closets to catch you off guard. It is a great introduction to this new breed of old-school shooters. I jumped right in at “Cero Mideo” difficulty (the equivalent to Doom’s Ultra-violence) and it felt like I hadn’t lost a beat from my old Quake days.

Episode Two, on the other hand, ramps things up with more enemies, bigger levels, and even a couple of new enemy types. Sadly, some of the encounters rely on shock tactics to catch you off guard, meaning you’ll walk into a room and get blindsided by a wall dropping with upwards of 10 enemies behind it. It can feel cheap, but since DUSK is so old-school, quicksaving and quickloading ??is a part of the package. That helps mitigate some of the unfair balancing.

Even with the sometimes overly difficult enemy placement, Episode Two is just plain awesome. All of the levels contained are sp??rawling and feature some kind of new twist on the architecture. One level is even themed after M.C. Escher’s paintings, which is a real trip visually and spatially. If you thought this old-school style design philoso?phy got taken to its inevitable conclusions years ago, think again.

What would any of the level design matter if the weapons weren’t good? DUSK delivers on that front, too, with a seriously kick-ass double shotgun combo. While the weapons might be a bit conventional in terms of design, every gun has some great sound effects and different applications that make them stand out. They also really shine in DUSKWorld, the game’s multiplayer component.

One of the things I’ve always loved about old-school games (Unreal Tournament in particular) is that every gun is viable in any situation. While a guy with a rocket launcher might have raw damage output on his side, if he can’t hit you then you’re still able to gun him down with the pistol. DUSK perfectly captures that, sin?ce every weapon is pre?tty viable.

Since reloading wasn’t invented until 1998, DUSK doesn’t even feature that. When you press R, your character will just twirl his gun around like he’s a badass action star. I think it fits the atmosphere well and sort of encapsulates just what DUSK is tryin??g to be. This is a balls-to-the-wall FPS from the good old days, whether you like it or not.

For being in beta, DUSKWorld works pretty well. It isn’t the smoothest experience around, but the maps are well-designed and finding matches is simple. I regularly played in populated lobbies and I?? found that retro bunny-?hopping tactics are effective in avoiding oncoming fire. About the only thing that didn’t work out was the grenade launcher, since it lagged just a bit too much to become accurate.

DUSKWorld does have a lack of different gametypes, though. Currently, deathmatch is the only thing you’ll be playing and there isn’t even support for different teams. That isn’t the worst thing in the world (the original Quake only launched with the same mode), ?but it does h??ighlight my biggest wish.

Mod support is not a part of the package and that has me a little bummed. All of id Software’s greatest games featured modability right out of the box, but DUSK isn’t quite there yet. I’m not sure if mod support is in the works, but that would be the cherry on top of this delicious old-school sundae. Hell, I can already imagine someone remaking Quake within the confines of DUSK and that has me giddy with excitement.

Even in its Early-Access trappings, DUSK is already well worth the price of admission. The multiplayer compon??ent works well enough and the current two episodes are so well designed that replaying them is a blast. I can’t wait to get my hands on the final episode and hopefully get some answers about who the DUSKguy is.

_{[This review is based on an early access build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Early Access Review: DUSK appeared first on Destructoid.

A whole Galaxy of things!

Super Mario Odyssey was certainly a grand adventure. While I didn’t expect anything less from Mario’s Switch debut, I still left thinking it was the best game I’ve played this year. While the different gameplay elements may not necessarily be new (everything is very reminiscent of Super Mario 64), the way in which each kingdom brings totally unique challenge??s feels ju?st like the classic games of Nintendo’s past.

Then you get to the ending of the game and a pretty big ripple can be felt. Nintendo has set up something that could possibly influence the rest of Mario going forward and it has gotten me curious a??bout the implications.

Obviously, I’m going to spoil the ending of Super Mario Odyssey, so if you haven’t beaten it ye?t, be warned.

The entire plot of Odyssey revolves around Mario chasing down Bowser to thwart his marriage to Peach. Through your travels, you eventually end up going to the moon (where Mario, Peach and Bowser can somehow breathe) and barge right into the chapel where Bowser is waiting. After a pretty nifty boss battle in the core of the moon??, shit hits the fan and everything starts to collapse. As a last ditch effort, Mario tosses Cappy at Bowser and the final challenge is basically an anime.

Yes, you control Bowser and a ridiculously awesome theme song plays with more music by the lovely Paulin?e. After this crazy experience, you’d think Peach would be ecstatic with Mario, but that doesn’t happen. When you finally return to the surface of the moon, Mario begins to slowly approach Peach, when Bowser suddenly jumps up and shoves a bouquet in her face.

Obviously Mario isn’t going to let that stand, so he shoves his own bouquet in her face. The two start to nudge and shove each other until Peach yells, “ENOUGH!” and walks away. I mean, holy shit! Did Peach just stand up to Bowser? If she had that kind o??f gumption, why didn’t she do this sooner?

I know the ending is supposed to be more hilarious than deep (Mario and Bowser both sort of embrace and cry as Peach walks away), but I mostly began to wonder what that action could mean for the future of the series. I would say the biggest let down with Odyssey is that the plot is basically the same crap we’ve seen for the past 32 years of Mario’s existence. Peach is still a prize and it is kind of insane how Bowser d?idn’t try something different.

That isn’t to say Nintendo hasn’t mixed things up, because a few past games certainly have. Super Mario 3D World actually let you play as Peach alongside the brothers and even the U.S. edition of Super Mario Bros. 2 had Peach as a playable character, not to say anything of the various spin-off RPGs that have seen Mario work alongside his greatest foe. Even if Mario 2 was all a dream, at least Nintendo?? has shown that they are willing to tinker with the formula.

I know Mario games live more on their level design and gameplay conceits rather than plot, but if we’re finally free of having Peach be a damsel in distress, does this mean we can get Mario games that focus on him being a hero to others instead of just his pseudo-girlfriend? Will we get Mario games that don’t rely on? the Mushroom Kingdom for their aesthetic design?

That last one is very possible. Odyssey is the first game in a while to not showcase all the various mushrooms, bricks, bright colors or ghost houses of the past. Nintendo didn’t go for a more realistic tone, though, they instead created exaggerated versions of our world (for the most part). The various kingdoms lo??ok familiar, not because we’ve been there 1,000 times before, but because they are interpretations of things we see in everyday life. Since there are se??mi-realistic forests and beautiful sun soaked beaches, we are put at ease while exploring something unknown.

That being said, where else can this series go? If Peach is no longer the final goal and the Mushroom Kingdom is old hat, what is left? Will we get a return to Galaxy or another tropical getaway like Sunshine? Will poor Luigi be captured, with Mario called in to save hi?s bro? What if we even get a job simulator with the brothers fixing pipes (granted, Mario isn&??rsquo;t a plumber anymore…)?

Better yet, what if we get a game starring Peach that isn’t based on outdated stereotypes of female emotions? While it would definitely be odd to have a game with Mario in the title not star the titular plumber, the possibil?ities are endless for where Nintendo can move forward??. The simple act of Peach rejecting both Mario and Bowser kicks the door wide open.

I’m ready for Nintendo to explore some new ground with Super Mario. Odyssey was great in that it harkened back to an era of game design that was more focused on exploration and creativity instead of trekking down the more linear path that Galaxy start?ed. For the next journey, ??I hope Nintendo can finally change the why instead of the how.

The post What does Super Mario Odyssey’s ending mean for the series? appeared first on Destructoid.

My hat is off to you

Charming indie 3D platformer A Hat in Time will be making the jump to consoles next week on December 6. You'll be able to get it on PS4 ??or Xbox One for $29.99. If you're wondering about a Switch port, the devs have stated they there are currently no plans to port the game to Nintendo's h??ybrid device.

A Hat in Time [Twitter]

The post A Hat in Time lands on PS4 and Xbox One next week appeared first on Destructoid.

PUPUPUPU!

While not much is known about the upcoming 3DS game Attack on Titan 2: Future Coordinates, publisher Spike Chunsoft probably created the most terrifying crossover imaginable. For those not in the know, Attack on Titan is an anime series that features gigantic human-like creatures assaulting a walled civilization of people. The titans, as they are referred to, are typically 30 ft tall and can w??reak havoc on just about anything.

Now imagine blowing up Danganronpa's diabolical Monokuma to 30 ft an?d unleashing him on the world. I don't think we stand a chance! The very small scan from Famitsu magazine looks incredible and it hone??????????????????????????stly makes me really interested in trying out this game. I'm not sure if its headed to the West, but you'll be able to grab the Japanese version on November 30.

The game will feature a story mode (probably fashioned after season two of the anime) and online co-op with a selection of 80 characters fro??m the anime. Here is a trailer that shows off some of the action. Sadly, Monokuma doesn't make an appearance.

A Giant Monokuma From Danganronpa Is Shown Terrorizing Attack on Titan 2: Future Coordinates [Siliconera]

The post Monokuma tur?ns Attack on Titan ?2: Future Coordinates into a nightmare appeared first on Destructoid.

What could possibly go wrong?

For all three of you excited about the upcoming Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back, Did You Know Gaming has uploaded a video that is all about Bubsy. One of the more interesting facts contained is that Bubsy was originally envisioned as a Chester Cheetah game for Cheetos, but Bubsy's creator (Michael Berlyn) didn't want to pay for the advertising rights. Bubsy was also influenced by the design of Sonic the Hedgehog, although I'm sure ??anyone could have g?uessed that.

Berlyn was known, at the time, for making text based adventure games and wanted to break away from being typecasted. He begged his producer to allow him to make a game in the vein of Sega's breakout hit. After being initially rejected, Berlyn's producer said he would consider the idea if Berlyn wrote a paper on why Sonic was a great game. This led to Berlyn playing Sonic for 10 hours a day in the name of research.

I guess he just really wanted to make Bubsy, eh?

Despite all of the negative attention that Bubsy has received, its easy to forget that the man behind the character really did just want to make a solid game. I don't know if Bubsy really deserves a revival, but weirder things have ??happened in this? world.

Bubsy Games - Did You Know Gaming? Feat. Dazz [YouTube]

The post Bubsy was originally planned to be a Cheetos game appeared first on Destructoid.

And other cool facts!

It's always great to see a Kickstarter project come out of (relatively) nowhere and become a success. While people tend to remember the failures more, A Hat in Time is ?one of the few games to reach the other end of a Kickstarter?? campaign and actually be good. The stars weren't always aligned for that to happen, though.

Did You Know Gaming has taken a look at A Hat in Time and one of the more interesting facts uncovered is that the developers were basically volunteers for most of the early stages. People ?had to take on mu??ltiple rolls to get progress moving and the staff weren't being paid for their efforts. Obviously that changed after the Kickstarter campaign, but things weren't always looking up.

The cel-shaded style was also brought on because of its low development cost and fo??r its ability to hide graphical imperfections. Its really funny how such a strong and beautiful art style can overcome limited technology, but just try telling that to publishers moaning about development costs.

I know 2017 has seen a semi-revival of 3D platformers, but Yooka-Laylee never looked particularly interesting to me. A Hat in Time, however, looks right up my alley and I'm eager to give it a try. Maybe I should d??o that right now...

A Hat in Time - Did You ??Know Gaming? Feat. Shesez (Boundar??y Break) [YouTube]

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Get your Shine on!

Fifteen years to the day, Super Mario Sunshine released to critical acclaim on August 26, 2002 (July 19 in Japan). For the first time in series history, and thankfully last, several cutscenes were fully voic??ed acted. Mario himself didn't speak at length, but Princess Peach, Bowser, and the newly introduced Bowser Jr. all did.

A follow to the revolutionary Super Mario 64, Sunshine brought Mario to the beautiful Delfino Island, the best hub world the series has seen including the best theme. Not just the hub, but the whole game was was decorated as a getaway paradise. Super Mario 64's Castle and the Galaxy games space theme were fine if standard, but Sunshine just eats their lunch?? in the pers?onality department.

The gameplay was also incredibly engaging, with the creative new F.L.U.D.D. pack which Mario can fill with wa?ter to do all sorts of tricks from hover, rocket blast up into the air, jet around on the ground at breakneck speed, propel himself around ropes, and so on.

Yoshi makes his 3D debut as a usable assistant (was in 64 almost as an Easter egg and not mountable). On top of merely eating enemies and flutter jumping, Yoshi had a fun mechanic where yo?u fee??d him different foods (mostly fruit) that change his color and thus ability.

The game is considered one of the hardest Mario games, up there with the real Super Mario Bros. 2, though. It's not? as bad as everyone makes it out to be though. The sand bird and cle?aning up the shadow manta at Hotel Delfino aren't as difficult as you remember.

The worst part of the game i??s a red coin challenge where you must steer a raft with your F.L.U.D.D. It is hard to steer and the raft breaks easily, failing you. The worst part is that it's a long arduous process to even ge to the challenge, having to ride Yoshi on a couple different boat routes without falli??ng in the water. If you game over you have to do it all over again, so stock up on lives beforehand!

Most of the complaints you'll see are directed at the camera and controls, incidentally the weakest arguments anyone can make against a game (and ultimatel?y reveals that person doesn't have any real critiques to offer). Especially a ga??me that has both a "center-camera-behind-Mario" function mapped to L and a C-Stick that moves the camera around like in any modern third-person game. 

??It's apparent when you watch people play on YouTube and such. Those who enjoy the game are the same ones who use the C-Stick and L button and happen to play very well. Those that don'??????????????????????????t enjoy it hardly make an effort to operate the camera and then use it as the scapegoat when looking for a legitimate complaint.

Of course the you can end up with unfavorable views from time to time even when you can use a controller, but it's not any worse or more often than Mario 64 or any 3D platformer without fixed camera angles.

The Galaxy games are the ones off-putting if any; I would rather not shake a double-dildo controller at my screen while upside-down half the gam?e with nauseating gravity mechanics. They are fantastic games but I doubt I will ever ?replay them for those reasons. I also prefer not having to 100% the game twice to get a final stage.

Any-who, this is Sunshine's birthday, not Galaxy's. This is one of those games that radiates joy, a game that slaps you and shouts into a megaphone in your ear that it's time to have fun. It was the best 3D Mario title all the way up until Super Mario 3D World decided to be one of the best games since the turn of the century. And now it is even serving as inspiration for the highly anticipated Mario Odyssey.

The post Happy 15th birthday Super Mario Sunshine! You’re still the second best 3D Mario appeared first on Destructoid.

A real game-jam gem

I've never played the original Yo! Noid for NES but after spending a good hour and a half with its fan-made 3D platformer sequel? today, I think that's in order. This game is fun, no q??ualifiers needed. There's wall running, wall jumping, yo-yo grappling, and even a dedicated button for dabbing.

To say much more would be to spoil the game's sense of intrigue, so if you're looking for a genuinely good, surreal, challenging (but not unreasonable) platform game, just go ahead and try it yourself, preferably with a gamepad. (I had good results with an Xbox One controller.) It's free, after all.

If you need more motivation, however, here are some random shots I've taken.

I haven't beaten the game yet -- one area has an environment manipulation puzzle that's a bit of a head-scratcher -- but needless ??to say things get increasingly bizarre. I'm dying to see the end.

Yo! Noid Was Ahead of its Time [itch.io]

_{[Disclosure: Destructoid contributor Myles Cox worked on Yo! Noid II, which I only learned from skimming the credits after playing. As always, no relationships, perso??nal or professional, were factored into this coverage.]}

The post Someone made a Yo! Noid sequel and it’s shockingly good appeared first on Destructoid.

Leaps and bounds

PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners can leap into Poi next week. According to developer PolyKid, the 3D platformer will release digitally on ???both consoles Wednesday, June 28.

Destructoid's Jed Whitaker called Poi "one of the most fluid 3D platformers I've played in years," in his review of the PC version, praising the game's ability to induce N64-era nostalgia while still maintaining its own identity. In a year where plenty of platformer fans felt burned by Yooka-Laylee, Poi's PS4 and Xbox One release has the potential to crown it the king of 3D platformers -- at least until Super Mario Odyssey launches for the Switch later this year.

And speaking of the Switch, Poi's still scheduled to release on Nintendo's machine. Though ?there's no firm date yet, PolyKid are targeting the third quarter of 20?17.

The post Oh boy, 3D platformer Po?i releases on PS4, Xbox On??e next week appeared first on Destructoid.

Everyone else can fly

_{[Header courtesy of Juanjosesa97 on DeviantArt]}

Nintendo may have stolen the show with Mario Odyssey, but that doesn't mean his rival isn't still looking impressive. Well, I mean, mostly impressive, since these new videos for Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces seem to show off more of the side kicks? you'll be using in?-game rather than Sonic, himself.

I'm not so sure I'm down with Sonic Forces after watching more of it, but Sonic Mania still l??ooks ??utterly amazing. I can't wait for August to get here!

The post These new Sonic videos don’t feature much Sonic appeared first on Destructoid.

A game for all generations

While I vaguely remember Sega renaming this year's 3D Sonic game to Sonic Forces, I can't recall when that happened. I suppose I'm just so much more interested in Sonic Mania that I've almost blocked Forces out of my mind. The?? small bit we saw from the Nintendo Direct on Wednesday had me a bit interested, though, so its nice that Sega is following that up with some trailers.

Below you'll find a "Modern" Sonic gameplay trailer, one that sets up the story and the main theme. From the looks of this, it seems to be Generations 2, so I'm happy with that. I'm sad 3D Sonic ca?n't stand on his own, but then I've never liked any of the 3D games.

The post Sega unleashes a trio of Sonic Forces trailers appeared first on Destructoid.

Hands on the PAX demo

I’ve actually never played a Dragon Quest game before. I know of the series and some of its creatures, but my largest piece of knowledge is about how an elderly Japanese actress wanted to play IX before she died. To say I walked into my demo session with Dragon Quest Heroes 2 totally blind would be an understatement.

I am a fan of Dynasty Warriors, though, so I sort ?of knew what to expect. Having just gone back to Hyrule Warriors before the launch of Breath of the Wild, I figured that DQH2 would feature a mash-up of series characters let loose into massive battles with hundreds of characters populating the screen. It looks like developer Omega Force is going for a different angle, though, as this ?game was not that.

Square Enix had sectioned off a room? at the Westin Hotel adjacent to the Boston Convention Center for press. I guess we’re too good to be playing on the show floor, or they just wanted to pamper us with free food and drinks. I kind of associate Square Enix with excess and that room definitely fit the bill.

There were 40" 4K televisions lined against the walls for each console, though everything was being run on PS4s. I was curious to? see the Switch version of DQH2 in action (since I’ve heard it runs pretty poorly), but that wasn’t on the cards. At?? least the PS4 version has no framerate issues, remaining at a rock solid 60 FPS during every scene (except cutscenes, oddly).

I sat down and started up the game. The code is seemingly final, because there wasn’t a specific demo portion for this event; I was just playing the full game and starting up new save file. I?f you have any worries about not being able to have multiple saves, put those fears to rest. There is also a Japanese VO option, but that oddly isn’t in the “options&r?dquo; menu. You get to change normal settings after selecting your main character.

The premise of DQH2 is that two cousins from the kingdom of Dunisia are finally reu?niting after many years. The lands have been free from battle for over 1,000 years due to a truce between the different kingdoms. While the two cousins are getting acquainted, monsters su??ddenly invade and spoil the celebrations.

Well, th??at is where I woul?d personally start the game, but DQH2 wants to tutorial you to death before you ever begin. Upon picking your character (one of the two? cousins, Lazarel or Teresa), you’re given a quick intro for the battle portions of the game in the form of a dream sequence. I went with Teresa due to her having a sword and shield, but I believe th?e first boss is the same regardless.

You open into a small arena where a heavily armored giant foe appears. Since you can't just be ??let loose in this game, your slime companion pauses the action to inform you of how to attack, why you should dodge enemy attacks, and how cool it is to be battling (even though you’re waiting for him to sh??ut up). I suppose I’m willing to let that slide, since not everyone has played Dynasty Warriors.

What I’m not too keen on is how after this quick introduction, you’re taken to yet another tutorial. This time, you are facing off against your cousin while waiting for food to cook. They had a sort of rivalry in their youth, but this is an incredibly tedious way to begin a game. Worse still, you can’t simply skip the whole sequence; you can move around, but you have to l??et your slime companion talk and inform you of things you probably already figured out from the first battle.

Then the game moves along to that invasion I mentioned above?. Now the reigns are handed over and you can finally just kick some ass. You take out enemies like a god, but obvio?usly the story doesn’t bother to acknowledge that as we need to introduce another new character, Desdemona. The cousins are on the brink of getting gutted when Desdemona jumps in to save the day.

Along with picking one of two starting characters, you can recruit other characters into your party. I suppose Omega Force was looking to replicate the experience of act??ually playing Dragon Quest while shifting the genre up, since now your cousin and this new warrior are tagging along. You take out another boss and are given ??a cutscene that details more of the plot.

Since you were in the kingdom of Arba and Dunisia was the one invading,?? obviously the king has questions about your motives. Desdemona explains that she was there with Lazarel and Teresa, so he can vouch for their innocence. Then we get some generic anime interactions where Lazarel is laid back and aloof while Teresa has a stick up her ass and Desdemona laughs in the background saying, “This is gonna be fun.”

You’re then set off into the next portion of the game: the field. This works like a traditional RPG, just a bit more linear. You are going through an instance??d area where you can freely attack enemies, run away from them, or search for loot. Certain areas are blocked off for later progression, but you’re free to explore this small section before moving on with the plot.

That is fairly uni??que for Omega Force, even if it isn’t a unique idea. I do enjoy how much effort went into not making this a Dynasty Warriors reskin as it feels totally different from any of the main entries in that series I’ve ever played. Of course, I may be lost or get scared,?? so the game has to tutorial me some more about exploring the field.

That seems to be my biggest gripe with the game from what I’ve played. I’ve never been a big fan of forced tutorials, preferring that developers teach through level design or more organic conversat??ions between characters, but Dragon Quest Heroes 2 starts off incredibly slow. I would have thought that, this being nu??mber two, people who played the first game would already be familiar with these concepts.

Then again, I?? don’t know if that game had open fields and different towns like an RPG or more closely followed the?? Dynasty Warriors format.?? I thought mixing the two s?eries was a good idea (since Dynasty Warriors has always had lite RPG elements), but if doing so meant bombarding pla????yers with walls of text to explain the minutiae of the game, I would have just said the hell with it.

I wish I could have seen what comes later, because I’m sure the game is fine in bigger battles. The side quest I completed had hooded foes jumping out of bushes and it was kind of hectic, which is neat, but it came after so much downtime and scrolling through text that I’m not sure I could care enough to conti??nue.

This will?? probably be a moot point for fa?ns of the Dragon Quest series as the graphical design just drips with Akira Toriyama’s classic style. Being in full 1080p, the character models look stel?lar. The rest of the world is a bit bland, but since this is a PS3, Vita, and Switch title in Japan, I’m sure Omega Force wasn’t aiming to push the limits of the PS4 for this entry.

I don’t know any of the songs from Dragon Quest, but the music in DQH2 sounded like an SNES game. I have nostalgia for the sounchip of that system, so I was pretty impressed with that. It always brings a smile to my face when I hear some classic music and I&??rsquo;m sure there are nods to the series abound.

It just seems like you’re going to have to sift through a lot of boring text to actually get into the adventure. Seeing as ho?w the game has been out in Japan for nearly a year, none of this is going to be changed. Anyone still interested will just have to make their peace with the slow start, but there is still promi??se for the final game.

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In-depth look at the GDC demo

Rain Games gave us an exclusive demo for its upcoming action-adventure title World to the West. Set within the same world as its previous game, Teslagrad, ??it looks to tackle a different classic style of gameplay similar to how its predecessor worked within the confi?nes of a metroidvania.

We may all be going crazy with Zelda fever since Breath of the Wild is releasing at the end of the week, but any fans of Nintendo’s legendary series would be crazy to ignore World to the West. Not only does it emanate charm with its beautiful visuals and quirky characters, but it is clear that the inspiration behind this title is the highly revered Link to the Past.

Fans of the more “traditional” style of Zelda titles are pretty rightfully scared that the future of the series may forego 2D gameplay and focus solely on the 3D formula. Not only has there not been a console-based 2D Zelda game since Four Swords Adventures, but with the Switch being a portable console, we may never receive another 2D Zelda from Nintendo in the future. While World to the West doesn’t strictly follow the Zelda formula, it ha??s enough of the puzzles? and exploration that fans have come to expect while also tackling some different ideas (like multiple characters).

The game begins with a quick cutscene that doesn’t explain a whole lot. Your main character, Lumina, is trailing behind her father and looking for something. She then stumbles into a field that has some gaps she needs to cross with her blink ability. The blink should be familiar to anyone who played Teslagrad, but it basically allows you to teleport over short distances and through ce??rtain types of gates.

Immediately you’re greeted by a character that is fairly easy to ignore. One of the best things in World to the West is that most character interactions are optional. You can begin talking to people and then just walk away if you end up bored or have already figured out what you need to do. Sure, a few are cutscene related, but even those are brief and the focus quickly shifts back? to the ??gameplay at hand.

After being informed of your blink and crossing over the small gaps, you enter a chamber that has those always classic Zelda block puzzles. It is ridiculously simple, but it sets up how pushing blocks works within this game. It can be confusing if you compare it directly with World to the West’s inspiration, but basically walking up and pressing the a??ction button moves the block forward by o??ne tile. Once you deal with this small roadblock, Lumina walks onto a pedestal that then teleports her to some unnamed location.

This is where the game opens up. While you won’t be able to progress non-linearly like what was possible with Link to the Past, you can explore every nook and cranny in the world to find some unexplained coins and health upgrades. This works in the standard Zelda style of some areas requiring different abilities that you&rsquo???;ll need to return to later. The other gimmick is something that soon reveals itself.

Lumina will progress a bit through the forest before stumbling upon an ancient statue left by her grandfather (which I believe is the main character from Teslagrad). This then opens a hole below her and drops her into some pit. Then, the game switches gears and drops you into the shoes of a new?? character, Knaus.

World to the West features a playable cast of four characters, the other two of which are encountered within the first hour of gameplay. They all have some kind of different ability that makes them unique. I’ve already described how Lumina can blink across gaps, but Knaus doesn’t have such luck. He is from a race of tiny people who look like gnomes, so his special trait is to dig und??erground.

Being very tiny, he can also fit into small holes you’ll find located in some walls. This lets Knaus access different areas in the main world that someone like Lumina wouldn’t be able to. It also plays on Knaus’ lack of fortitude when it comes to fighting. World to the West does feature combat, b?ut not ev?ery character directly damages opponents.

For poor Knaus, he constantly has to run away from his pursuers. With his dig ability, he can often stealth around them and completely avoid d?etection, but that isn’t a??lways an option. Sometimes you’ll need to lure enemies away from your path and then duck into one of those holes I mentioned above. It is neat, if a little predictable.

Knaus’ story focuses on his mining group being deceived by their leader into believing they are on the moon. Knaus st??umbles upon a tree in his introduction that obviously shouldn’t be growing, so he is at a loss for words when it comes to an explanation. When he confronts the leader about this, he is ejected from the group and thrown into the vast world. He soon comes across a totem pole being watched over by some old witch and is shocked to see his face on the pole.

The game then shifts gears to the third main character, Teri. She is a mindbender, as the game describes it, and is working as a mercenary for hire. Her current job has her looking for some ancient artifact that she cares little about; she mostly just wants money. While she? starts with just a scarf, she later learns the ability to cont?rol enemies, which opens up opportunities for puzzles.

Since Teri isn’t small like Knaus, she’ll have to cont??rol random squirrels to crawl through those little holes in walls. She can also control bigger enemies and have them attack other foes or suicide to get out of her way. It may not be the most interesting use of her ability, but the puzzles on offer aren’t a slog to get through. Teri does eventually bump into Knaus, ??though, and this brings us to the character swapping mechanic.

That totem pole Knaus was shocked about grants our heroes a ??sort of teleport between different areas of the map. While that is nice for fast travel, it also acts as the sole way for players to switch between the different characters. I don’t understand why you can’t have the other characters follow you or why previously autonomous individuals lose their individually if ?you walk away, but that is how the game limits you.

Some puzzles with Teri require Knaus for sections, but since you can’t simply change to him, you’ll have to backtrack to one of the totem poles, switch over to Knaus and then walk him to Teri’s current location. I understand that, in a realistic setting, characters would have to travel the same distance multiple times, but when you’ve introduced elements of magic to a game, why am I forced to walk through th??e same pathways multiple times?

It also brings about some unneeded frustration when you forget exactly what you were looking at with one character, begin to walk over to the totem pole to switch, and then get attacked by an enemy. Dying in World to the West won’t lose you much progress, but it does reset you to the last totem pole you were at. If you happen? to die before uniting with your other character, then you’re going to be walking that distance again.

As for the final main character, he is a strongman?? named Lord Clonington. His journey is mostly straightforward; he is looking for glory in this new land. He is a buff, simp??le-minded guy who just wants to be respected for his strength. He has the most robust arsenal of fighting moves, though he doesn’t possess any kind of magical abilities. He can climb up small ledges and smash certain rocks, which is neat.

But I can’t get around the character swapping mechanic. Clonington doesn’t deal with the other characters nearly as much, but your foray into his shoes sees you walking quite ??a bit of distance to a town in the East and then having to repeat it with Lumina. No amount of unlockable shortcuts in the game world elimina?tes the fact that backtracking through a recently traveled area is tedious.

I’m also a little torn on the combat, since it is pretty mindless. 2D Zelda games were always a bit mindless in that same regard, but they didn’t have huge delays in attack speed. You could slash to your heart's content and some enemies even countered your sword swipes with their shields. In World to the West, you just wait out their insanely telegraphed attacks and retaliate until t??hey die.

I did die a few times (mostly due to my own errors or impatience), but the combat sorely lacks challenge. Even the couple of boss fights I dealt with were devoid of tension??, making me run in circles while I waited for them to assault me. I had to kill the tedium somehow.

Even with those few complaints, I enjoyed my short time with World to the West. I probably played way more than I should have (reaching chapter eight in the build), but I’m intrigued enough to stick around until the end. I really love the visual design (looking similar to Wind Waker) and the music is o??utstanding, there are just some nagging issues that may be more personal preference.

While there isn’t a release date for the game just yet, it will be headed to PC, PS4, Xbox One and Wii U this Spring. A Switch version may be in the works, but ther??e isn’t any confirmation of that nor any price. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being $20, which seems just about right for this type of game.

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