Reviews
Apr 12, 2019
My Time At Portia and Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles are two very similar games regarding gameplay. People often wonder which game they should be playing and I’m here to help! Even though both would be a good recommendation, below you can find a small comparison of the two games to possibly help aid in your decision.
Crafting
In both games, you get amazing items through crafting that make the games a lot more fun. The crafting gameplay can become a little tedious in both but is still an enjoyable experience. In Portia you need to run to and from each device to craft your items whereas in Yonder, everything is done the your bag menu. If you like the simplicity of it, Yonder has a good system but Portia has more roleplay and realism with using the devices.
Fishing
Fishing in Portia and Yonder use very similar mechanics. The notable difference that I noticed was when comparing the two’s Fishing Tournament. Portia’s fishing tournament is great as it is one where you feel the suspense as you watch the number of fish go up from the other competitors. In Yonder, there is absolutely no competition. The quest giver calls it a “tournament” but there seems to be no other people to compete with. Even though Portia has a better fishing tourney, Yonder seems to have an easier fishing mechanic.
My Time in Portia fishing Townsfolk
The most notable difference between the two games for me was the townsfolk. Portia comes to life with the range of people you meet and their personalities. Yonder’s characters seem to be a blank slate filled with opportunity for more story but they just don’t have it. You can also have relationships with the people in Portia and even get married!
Music / Sounds
Music in both games are another aspect that are quite similar. They are both relaxing and add to the feeling of the game. Nothing stands out too much.
The opening scene from Yonder is breath taking and memorable with perfect music queues. Sounds in Yonder seemed to win me over rather than Portia. The reason being was just the volume. Sometimes in Portia you run into trees that have birds chirping extremely loud in your ear and the mixing just seems off a lot of the time. Even though I also experienced trees with loud birds in it in Yonder, this issue was not as bad.
Graphics
The visuals between both Yonder and Portia are quite different. I have seen comments saying people prefer Yonder and other people prefer Portia. To each their own when it comes to the graphics between the two.
The only takeaway that I have here is that Portia has a sort of fog filter which makes distant views look more distant. I feel like this fog takes away from the graphics. (Side Note, there is a mod you can download to get rid of this fog!) I also feel like Yonder has a similar issue where night is too realistic and dark. I wish there was an option/mod to play only in daytime!
My Time in Portia has some stunning distant views. Customization
Customizing your character in both Portia and Yonder seem to be a little limited. However, where the customization excels is through the buildings that you’re able to put in your farms. Portia has much more customization than Yonder in this field but Yonder comes in with a close second.
Final Thoughts
Which game would I recommend to people? Both! My Time in Portia has a lot of depth when it comes to building up your workshop and relationships which makes for a more interactive game play experience. On the other hand, Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a more laid back game about exploration and taking in the scenery. Depending on what you’re in the mood for, either of these games are fun and worth the time to play.
By clicking the title here, you can purchase your very own copy of My Time at Portia or Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles on the Nintendo Switch.
- Apr 3, 2019
ToeJam & Earl was originally released in 1991 for the Sega Genesis. Fans of the series were excited to hear when HumaNature Studios announced back in February of 2015 that they were making an updated version of the game. Four years after the game’s announcement on March 1st, 2019 the game was released for PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.
Story
The game follows a simple story line. Aliens fly in a spaceship while listening to music, someone pushes a button they shouldn’t, and then they crash land on earth. Once they warped earth into an unrecognizable land, they aliens try and fix things and get back into space.
Due to this game being very simple and seems to be geared towards a younger audience, this short and simple story line is perfect.
Gameplay
Back in the 90’s, games were a lot more simple yet still enjoyable! Either coop (local and online), or by yourself, you explore the funk-inized styled earth. You collect presents along the way which give you items that’ll help on your adventure. Dodging weird and strange humans to make it to the next portal. After you go through the portal, you go to the next level. Rinse and repeat. This game is perfect for a lazy gaming day or for younger kids.
I never felt frustrated while playing this game even when a present/item I used ended up torpedoing me down 5 levels and me having to run back. It was actually rather funny. This game will cause you to burst out laughing at all of the chaos it can cause!
You can play local coop with 2 people or online with up to 4! Sound & Music
The sound and music in this game is a mix between old skool and just plain funky. It fits the theme of the game very well and I constantly found myself rocking out with it and just enjoying it. The sounds are silly and enjoyable and give me major nostalgia. Yes, the sounds can sometimes be a little “tinny” and low quality but I believe that’s on purpose.
Final Thoughts
If you played the original ToeJam & Earl, you will absolutely love this game. Younger kids will also be a fan of this game for its simplicity and silliness. Grab a can of Surge or Crystal Pepsi and enjoy your flashback to the 90’s! Happy Gaming!
- Apr 2, 2019
Yoshi’s Crafted World is a side-scrolling platform game developed by Good-Feel and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. The theme of the game is that everything looks like cardboard. It looks like a child made an arts and crafts project and it’s visually stunning. This is like how the previous title, Yoshi’s Woolly World, was made to look like a world of wool. The adorable Yoshis are now back with their “ho-hum” and oh-so-cute licking sound effects and all.
The Story
The last game I can remember that had Yoshi as the main playable character was Yoshi’s Story for the Nintendo 64 back in 1998. Many enemies from then make a comeback, such as Ravens and Burt. That was a nice dose of nostalgia for me. Yoshi’s Story was an excellent game that also let you choose between different colors of Yoshi. It also had a very similar plot to what we see in Yoshi’s Crafted World. Those Yoshis had a Super Happy Tree, a fruit-bearing tree that gives joy. This made Baby Bowser jealous, so he steals their tree and transforms their island to a storybook.
Burt – a boss fight. Yoshi’s Crafted World is about a Sundream Stone that can make anyone’s dream come true. Kamek and Baby Bowser see that this stone is in the possession of the Yoshis and begin to fight them for it. This causes all five of the Dream Gems inside to scatter across several different islands. Yoshi games have never had elaborate stories so this is fine as the gameplay is where the focus of the game lies.
Kamek and Baby Bowser taking the Sundream Stone. You travel across 45 levels collecting 254 total Smiley Flowers in order to advance. However, not all of those Flowers are needed to access all the islands. You can do all the levels over again on the Flip Side – more on that later – in 40 Poochy Pups Courses (minus the bosses) to get 160 Smiley Flowers total (4 in each level). You can pick two Yoshis to go with you, if one of them will be your Player Two in a local cooperative mode.
Gameplay
Most levels are exactly what you’d expect when you compare this game to others from the series. There’s a lot of jumping around from platform to platform and avoiding falling to your death. You can stomp on the heads of most enemies, eat them to make eggs, hit them with those eggs, or ignore them all together. Eggs are very much needed in this game to not only kill certain enemies, but to also grab certain items.
Making an egg out of an enemy information. You can walk toward the background in specific areas but not everything you see is reachable with your character. You’ll have to keep an eye out in the distance and aim your eggs at fishy cardboard objects for extra coins. This may also yield important red coins or Smiley Flowers. It feels almost like a shooter with how important this element is in the game. You can get more eggs from certain blocks but you still need to use those eggs sparingly.
Hitting things with eggs in the background. The Goals
Before you enter a level, you’ll be able to see just how many Smiley Flowers there are to collect which will increase in number as the game becomes more difficult. Three other Smiley Flowers will be awarded at the end of the level if you managed to get 100 or more coins, full 20/20 health (hearts) and all 20 red coins. Having these goals to accomplish in every level makes it a lot more fun and engaging. Everything is hidden so you have to fully explore every nook and cranny before exiting the level. Sometimes there will even be little puzzles to solve and other missing items to gather to assemble larger objects.
Mini-Games and Other Fun
Unfortunately, a lot of levels felt repetitive with just new scenery (i.e. forest, beach, sweets) even when they tried to break things up by adding different mini-games. I will say that there was one level in particular that threw me for a loop and frankly did not belong in a Yoshi game. That was the level where the information block gave you this message: “If he sees you, run away…” Then you promptly get bombarded with creepy axe-murdering clowns that chase you around.
Look at that terrified Yoshi face. Poochy and Vehicle Rides
Some levels have Poochy who you could ride on to traverse lava or rivers, or just to bulldoze enemies and reach higher platforms. Then there were levels that let you ride vehicles. You could ride planes and trains and shoot fast-moving targets from them. There was even a level where you had to race to the finish line and one where you could ride a pirate ship and shoot cannonballs. There were interesting levels that let you use extra objects like the Go-Go Yoshi; a giant Yoshi machine that let each player control a boxing-type arm to punch obstacles out of the way. Also, a level where you used a skeletal dinosaur head to break boulders.
There were levels that were once unique but in the end I found repetitive. Those where the ones where you are being chased by something (i.e. skeletal dinosaur, lava monster). It just felt like a recycled idea when the developers could have thought of something else to do in the level.
Running away from the skeletal dinosaur. The Flip Side and Side-Quests
Instead of just adding more levels or content, they also created the Flip Side to every single level. These levels were the exact same but everything was backward. You were seeing everything from behind with the duct tape on cardboard to keep it together. It was cute at first until you realized you were just doing the same thing over again but with less beautiful things to look at. They did add three Poochy Pups to find in these levels however with a time limit if you wanted to attempt that challenge for an extra Smiley Flower.
Poochy Pups Courses – finding three Pups. You could repeat every level because a character in the hub world wants you to find a hidden cardboard item and hit it with an egg (i.e. 5 cardboard seagulls). That would have been a lot more fun if I could do it the first time around but the game waits until you finished each level before you can do this.
Finding more items as per request. Adorable Costumes
A feature in the game that I quite enjoyed was the fact that there were costumes that you could collect. You had to purchase them with coins from a vintage gumball vending machine except there were Yoshi eggs in them. Inside each egg was a randomized selection of the costumes. Costumes not only looked incredibly adorable and hilarious but also gave you added protection against enemies.
The vintage gumball vending machine. Green eggs are Normal costumes with three health bars, red eggs were Rare costumes with four health bars, and golden eggs were Super Rare with five health bars. Once you depleted all of the health bars by taking damage, you would lose the costume only for the rest of that level. This gave you a great reason to collect coins in every level beyond the 100 that give you a Smiley Flower.
Wearing different costumes. Playing Two-Player
Normally, I absolutely love playing local co-op but there was one element in this game that soured my experience; the ability to jump on your partner’s back to then be carried around until you jump off. The reason for my hatred of this is because it happened by accident all of the time which can ruin the current move you or your partner where performing. When you are on each other backs, only the person on top can shoot eggs and the person on the bottom can lick or jump.
Jumping on your partner’s back. Aside from performing a stronger ground-pound, there wasn’t much benefit to this action. All the developers had to do was make this a button choice rather then something that could just happen by jumping. I also hated the fact that you can accidentally swallow your partner, when your intention was to swallow the enemy. This not only interrupts them but causes them to lose all of their eggs. My partner and I spent so much time yelling at each other out of pure frustration that we made sure that our Yoshis were separated as far as the screen would allow.
Partner getting in the way of a shot. Mellow Mode Vs. Classic Mode
The game offers two modes; Mellow and Classic. Mellow gives you the addition of wings on your Yoshi which makes the game very easy – maybe a little too easy. With the wings, you can jump and then stay hovering in the air or continue to float up even higher until you reach the top of the screen. It can give you a huge advantage to overcoming certain difficult bosses but if you use it the whole time during levels, you miss all of the puzzles that were designed to make you figure out how to get to new heights.
Flying away from the creepy axe-murdering clowns in Mellow Mode. It honestly felt like cheating the game although this may be more fun for children. You also get more health, enemies hit less hard, and enemies give you two eggs instead of one. Something that’s very handy is an alert for when Smiley Flowers are nearby and the fact that the amount you have to find is visible. It shows you which Flower you collected in which order.
Extra levels at the end of the main game for an added challenge. Other than the few issues I personally had with the game, the overall experience was a good one. Next time however I hope we get something a little more creative or innovative with the Yoshi series. Like what Nintendo did for the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Mario Odyssey. The graphics, music, and costumes were all part of what made this game great as well as certain levels that stood out from the rest.
Unique Ninja level – playing with silhouettes. For more reviews on cooperative games go here for Chocobo’s Mysetry Dungeon Every Buddy and here for Unravel Two. To purchase Yoshi’s Crafted World, go here.
- Mar 29, 2019
Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy is a remake of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon released on the Wii in 2008. This new and improved game is available now on the Nintendo Switch and the PS4, the latter being the version used for this review. Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy remains largely the same compared the previous game.
The minor differences are that some story scenes have changed, some dialog has been removed, the card-game has been removed, the dungeons have gotten a little better and there are new classes and challenges. The most significant addition has been that of the Buddy system which allows you to play cooperatively with a friend! Another player can now take control of monsters that you encounter and acquire with enough points! You will also gain human allies throughout the game that you can bring along with you in place of a monster.
The Story
You begin the game as Cid and Chocobo, treasure hunters, who are looking for a mysterious jewel called the Timeless Power which is said to be located at the Tower in the Sands. When it is just before their reach, they are suddenly transported to a long-forgotten town called Lostime. The mayor tells them that no one in this town has their memories because the Bell of Oblivion will erase them every time it rings. A girl named Shirma gives us a safe place to stay and helps us along our journey. Back at the town square, a beam of light emerges from the sky and leaves behind an egg on the ground. It hatches and a baby named Raffaello is now in our care. It seems that Raffaello can create dungeons within people’s minds so that we can enter them and recover their lost memories.
Cid and Chocobo at the Tower in the Sands. As you continue to help more townsfolk, new shops and areas become accessible, such as a flower shop and item shops. The Storage facility becomes available quite early on in the game where you can go to Noiroo to buy and sell spellbooks (i.e. Blind or Poison), and go to Blaroo to deposit and withdraw gil and items for safekeeping. If you chose Normal mode (instead of Hard), you still lose all of your money if you die in a dungeon but you only lose all of your unequipped items. To be clear, that means you keep your equipped items. You will always be able to return to Stella’s Farm to get letters and to ask the animals for gameplay tips (yes you can talk to all animals).
The shops and villagers in Town of Lostime. Gameplay
When you enter a dungeon you have to find the stairs on that floor to continue down a set number of floors. Once you get to the last floor, you will battle a boss. You then find Raffaello and can leave the dungeon. You can leave at any time with the Teleport Wings item but when you return, the layout, enemies and items will change.
In every dungeon you need to be prepared before you enter. Gysahl Greens are needed to replenish your stamina as every time you walk around, it depletes. If you get to 0%, you start losing HP. You will need Potions to refill your HP and Ethers to refill your SP which allows you to use special abilities. Your Chocobo can equip two items that will remain in your inventory; talons and saddles. Talons will boost the stats of you attacks and saddles will boost the stats of your defense. There are also other items like the Appraisal Glasses that will come in handy to identify unknown items right away. Remember that you have a carry limit with your items and you will need to purchase bags to extend that limit.
Playing Two-Player
At the start of every dungeon and before moving forward, you can access a crystal. The crystal will allow you to change your Job and access the Buddy Registry. Each Job has different abilities and stats, as well as weaknesses and resistances. When you defeat enemies, you will gain Job Points to increase the level of your current Job which will in turn give you new abilities. You will also occasionally receive Buddy Points to access more monsters. The points go towards the monster type that you defeated.
The crystal at the start of each dungeon. When you bring a second player along with you, that player will gain levels when you gain levels. If they die, you can get them back after advancing to the next floor. They have HP and SP but will not have stamina so they can move as often as they like except with enemies. They also cannot be given any items or wear any equipment. It is therefore safer for them to be ahead of you at all times, although they cannot uncover the map as they walk.
Personally, I cannot imagine doing a dungeon alone as they can get very long, redundant and tedious. You can push or swap places with your Buddy at any time. It is possible to accidentally skip your Buddy’s turn if you button mash too fast. When you “miss” the words will display on your screen. You can also technically miss the enemy if you aren’t facing them properly.
Battling
The way the game works is on a grid of squares. Every time you move or attack, the enemies get a turn to do the same. This is not to say that you are “locked into battles” but you are free to roam the dungeons as you please with the exception that enemies don’t always stay where they are unless they are sleeping.
It is best to strategize by taking one step at a time when approached by enemies and to not get cornered or surrounded by them. You can always take steps backward and heal a bit while doing so. This also heals your Buddy at the same time. You not only encounter enemies and items in the dungeons, but traps and buttons as well. Certain buttons when stepped on could either deplete your stamina or wake up certain monsters. I recommend using the D-pad to move as the joystick is harder to control and can jerk your character in weird directions.
Forging
Once you unlock the blacksmith and their Forge in town, you can upgrade your saddle and talons. You can Hone, which adds a level to your equipment, you can Fuse equipment together to strengthen them, or you can Unbrand them. Some items will have brands which have special effects such as elemental properties or negative effects. You can only use the Honing option up to five times before you have to advance ten floors in a dungeon to regain that ability. Dungeons will start to get excessively longer as you progress the game but there will be checkpoints. At checkpoints you can leave and go back to the town, then return to the same said checkpoints.
Unlocking Freja’s Forge after regaining her memories. There are four Oracles and Guardian Beasts that protect four elemental crystals which have an effect on the town. Those elements are: fire, water, darkness and light. Every time you fight one of the Guardian Beasts, you receive a magicyte which allows you to summon them. Every magicyte can only be used once.
Phoenix; first summon available. Graphics
The graphics in this haven’t improved very much but are still quite charming. They show off how adorable your Chocobo is by letting you play out scenes in certain parts of the town map. You can go to the playground and slide, swing, and go on the see-saw with another Chocobo friend. Square Enix also animated your Chocobo going to sleep on a bed and swimming in a pond. Once you get a fishing rod there are even three areas where you can go fishing. It’s all very playful and cute and a nice little extra feature.
Playing on the see-saw with another Chocobo. Unfortunately, the aesthetics of the dungeons aren’t so amusing. Every floor is flat and various shades of brown. The edges will vary slightly depending where you are (i.e. Fuego Mines has fire below) but has not much else to offer in terms of scenery. The paths change directions on different floors and the stairs are always in a different area of the map but it is always just a massive square that you navigate.
Fire enemies and the fire levels. Music
The music isn’t much better either inside of the dungeons. If you add a Buddy as Player Two, the same music will be playing on repeat unless they die. Then when you’re alone, it’s either the music that was supposed to be playing in the background all along or it triggers only because your partner has fallen. I’m unsure because this has only happened to me once and the tone shifted to a serious and dramatic music rather than the happy cherry music I was just listening to. There are however other familiar songs in town and during scenes such as Memories (get it) from FFIX which is nice for nostalgia’s sake. There is a remastered Original Soundtrack CD which will be available on April 24th, 2019 which includes arrangements from both old and new versions of the game.
If you enjoyed the game on the Wii, then you have to try this better version. If you’re a newcomer to the series, it’s worth it to play as an adorable Chocobo. You can purchase Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy through the Square Enix store here. If you are interested in games that involve dungeons, check out our newest announcement of ReadySet Heroes here.
- Mar 26, 2019
Unravel Two was released in June 2018 for the PS4 and Xbox One. Now you can play it on the Nintendo Switch since March 22nd, 2019, which is the version I will be reviewing today. This puzzle platformer was developed by Coldwood Interactive and published by EA. In this sequel, you can now play cooperatively, local only, with a friend! You play as anthropomorphic beings made of yarn, called Yarnys, that are attached together. This adds so much more depth to the gameplay with unique challenges. Unravel Two is the perfect game to play with someone as each character is needed to work together.
The Story
The plot isn’t too obvious in this game but the message is; making connections and building friendships. Throughout the levels, you will find in the background faded silhouettes of two children running away together. It is not clear whether the two kids are being chased by adults or why but that the Yarnys are lending them a hand. The scenes can be interpreted as current events and we are like spirit guides that they cannot see or that we are simply putting memories back together again and are witnessing events that have long-since passed.
The children hiding behind garbage as adults look for them. The beginning of the game starts with a stormy night as we see the red Yarny falling overboard from a ship. As you land on an island, you meet another blue Yarny (in a similar situation) that you immediately form a bond with. You end up in a lighthouse which becomes your hub world to access all seven chapters. After completing a level, color, light and parts of the paintings on the walls of the lighthouse start to fill. I believe this is from the pieces of light that you find scattered throughout those said levels. It seems as though the more time you spend together, the more you start to build a home for yourself.
Adding pieces to the paintings in the lighthouse. Gameplay
Being tied together can seem like a pain if you’re thinking of The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, like I was but it’s far from it. If one character makes a successful jump to another platform, the other one can either attempt to do the same thing or simply tug on the yarn linking both of you together to rejoin your partner. It can look like rock-climbing if you’re faced with a ledge below or like climbing a spider’s web if you need to be pulled straight upward. Ledges are also sometimes reachable by wall-jumping like in Super Mario which is a lot of fun.
Swinging to the next ledge. You can use the yarn as a type of lasso to latch on to nodes to then swing and launch yourself forward. Both players can do this separately or together to create a longer string of yarn to reach further places. You can also adjust the slack or length on your own. Each player can also form knots on nodes from one end to another to create a spring to bounce off. The string can also be used as a bridge to ferry objects to another area.
Moving a bucket from point A to point B. Working together is the best!
There’s plenty of yarn that can be used between the two players but sometimes the restriction of your reach is built into the puzzle. One character may have too many knots tied at one time so it’s up to the other to complete other tasks in a certain order.
As a form of aid, you may need to loop your yarn around a certain object so that the other player can pull themselves back up after being left behind. This is especially true if both characters need to be in two different places at once to connect things together. For example, if someone needs to press a button while the other walks under a lifted object. In one of the levels there was a chicken chasing the Yarnys and therefore one character had to distract it while the other escaped. The camaraderie needed in this game is absolutely heartwarming. You constantly need to lend each other a hand to prevail.
It’s possible to change you color and appearance. It’s easy but not too easy!
If you are like me and have a hard time using the swinging mechanics in this game but excel at perfectly timed jumps, fear not, you can hitch a ride on your partner until that particular challenge is over! In this game you can become intertwined with your partner and take a back seat to playing if you’re having a hard time with a certain obstacle. This way no one is waiting too long after the other player and there’s no need to become frustrated with each other.
Combining together to form one Yarny. Speaking of frustration, if you’re having a particularly hard time with a puzzle there are always hints that are available! However, I found myself rather enjoying the puzzles that this game had to offer and never spent too much time on any of them. There are no lives, no health bar, and if you die you only have to restart to the last checkpoint. There are an abundance of checkpoints which are situated pretty much after every puzzle. A guiding light will act as a checkpoint and also always show you where to go next.
Impatient partner is impatient but it’s hilarious! This gives the game just the right amount of a challenge without being too difficult. The only times you will die is if an animal reaches you or if you fall into a dangerous pit of fire, or drown in deep water. There are also enemies that look like wisps of dark clouds. They supposedly represent dark or negative thoughts or feelings and you cannot let them touch you.
Graphics and Controls
The background graphics can be a little jarring at first as they lean more toward the realistic while your characters look a lot more like cartoon-style. However, as you continue to play you truly get to experience an amazing environment from caverns to rapids and to lush green forests. There are a lot of objects and things in the environment to interact with. Some vines can be climbed, forklifts can be used to access new heights, buckets can be turned over to create an extra step, and bricks can lend some weight to a plank as a catapult.
Gorgeous sunset overlooking the water. The developers really did a wonderful job with the physics and the mechanics in Unravel Two. Every single action taken is so seamless and precise. It reminds me of what Little Big Planet tried to be, at least the second iteration that I played, but ultimately failed at. The movement of objects and their gravitational pull were spot on. It made them and yourself very easy to maneuver. I would recommend that the game be played with either two pro-controllers or one pro-controller and both joy-cons together as it would be easier to pull off certain moves.
Gaining momentum with a skateboard to reach the top. This game may seem rather short but it is definitely worth the money. In fact take all of my money because I want more levels or a third game with cooperatively play which is something I hope they continue to do. The game will probably take you approximately 7-8 hours to complete but there are separate challenges that open up after every level if you want to attempt even tougher puzzles and obstacles. You can purchase Unravel Two on the Nintendo eShop here.
- Mar 20, 2019
Two Point Hospital is a quirky hospital sim builder developed by Two Point Studios and published by SEGA. For those of you who recall playing EA’s Theme Hospital back in the late 90’s, Two Point Hospital will have you feeling nostalgia as the two games are very similar with Two Point Hospital feeling just like an updated version.
Story & Content:
Two Point Hospital lacks a story line but that doesn’t mean it lacks personality. Every patient that comes into your hospital will have a quirky disease that needs to be taken care of by an even wackier medical contraption.
Sound & Music:
While you are treating your patients, there are occasional announcements over the intercom and a radio station with a funny DJ. These little touches along with a very fitting cartoon art style, work well together to bring out the personality of Two Point Hospital and help you not miss a story line.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is quite simple and in-line with the usual sim builder games. Within 15 levels you build various rooms, hire staff to run them and once you have everything you need, the game will run itself while you watch. There are a few other options like making your hospital look visually appealing, making sure your patients don’t get bored, putting sanitation centers to insure the cleanliness of the hospital, and training your staff, but these aspects are also very limited. The simplicity of this game-play led for a very relaxing afternoon but I felt like the game needed more context to keep me playing it.
Final Thoughts:
The game runs for $34.99 on Steam and with the amount of content it has now, this price seems to be quite steep and (to those not accustomed to Tycoon games) might not be worth it. However, when this game can be found on sale, purchasing it would be recommended if you are looking for a funny and relaxing sim builder.
- Mar 20, 2019
Style Savvy: Styling Star is a fashion simulation game for the 3DS published by Nintendo and developed by Syn Sophia. It was released in North America on December 25th, 2017 on the Nintendo eShop only. It’s the third iteration of the series with the previous titles being Style Savvy: Trendsetters and Style Savvy: Fashion Forward. I can’t figure out why this hidden gem is so poorly advertised when compared to other games of this genre. This particular one stands out for its heart and messaging; be yourself and anything is possible.
About Styling Star
At the very beginning you get to customize your female avatar. You are then told by your uncle Tim that you are now in charge of your own clothing boutique. Customers begin to walk in and ask for items and it’s up to you to choose what they specified (i.e. purple earrings). You can search your inventory via item request or do your own in-depth search via patterns, colors, styles, etc.
Each customer has an information card that you can view. It has their name, personality, a friendship rating, their hobby and their job. It even shows items they may have previously purchased from you. This way you can keep tabs on their history with you and remember who they are. As the game progresses and you start to make a name for yourself, the customers start trusting. They let you decide on their entire outfit as long as it’s within their budget and preferred style.
At first I just wanted to find a game where I can match some outfits. I fully expected it to be as frivolous and shallow as that sounded but quickly began to change my mind. The game tells you that wearing an outfit that truly expresses oneself and makes you feel beautiful can give you confidence. I was a valued member of the town and was truly making a difference in these fictional women’s lives.
Customer request/sale Story and Content
The main story of the game centers around three main characters Rosie, Alina and Yolanda. They come to you for help in creating their persona as you help them along their singing careers. You get to be a part of their rise to stardom and see them perform songs on stage. The song selection varies on the style of clothes and accessories you gave them. All their performances can be reviewed by going to your menu and choosing MewTube (I see what you did there). You get once again proudly watch them sing and dance in the outfit you have chosen for them.
You get to truly build a rapport with these girls as they frequent your shop. They tell you about big or small moments as they keep you updated on what’s going on in their lives. There are also several other events with minor characters. As you dress them for success, they start building their own shops such as a beautician’s, hair salon, flower shop, bakery, and concert hall. It’s almost impossible to fail at this game. If a customer is not be happy with your choice, they will return at a later time to try again.
The main point of this game is to make people feel comfortable in their own skin. Nothing is more satisfying than seeing your customers coming back into your shop wearing the last outfit you sold them. It’s exciting when they tell you that it helped them nail an interview, feel good about their date or make a new friend. This is a step up from Fashion Forward as that game did not have so much as an overall story but just an objective of putting on the best fashion runaway show.
Yolanda’s first live concert Gameplay
This game can basically go on forever. The sheer volume of items accessible can offer millions of different combinations of outfits. This includes hats, bags/purses, dresses, glasses, earrings, necklaces, shoes, gloves, scarves, etc. The different styles are Lively, Eastern, Basic, Girly, Psychedelic, Boho-chic, Gothic, Baby Doll, Bold, Rock, Chic, Feminine and Preppy. Once you start earning some money, you can make a trip to the Exhibition Hall. There you can shop at the brand stores you have unlocked. You can add what they have in stock that day to your checkout basket and later find it in your store’s inventory.
Once you have purchased an item, you can always easily reorder it from your menu and will always have it in your personal inventory for your avatar. When you’ve done that, you can head over to the beautician’s to do their make-up which includes eye-shadow, lipstick, eyebrows, eye color and nails. Then you can also head to the hair salon to recommend a color (with or without highlights), length and style. However, I found both of those things to be more of a chore as you had to go somewhere else to do it. It randomized which customers would go to the other shops so you can’t really choose who you want to give a makeover to.
This game features a decorating aspect as well. You can change the floor, walls and furniture of your apartment or boutique. For your boutique, you can change the music playing in the background, dress up your mannequin in your display window, dress up your shopkeeper, and customize your storefront’s layout, color and style both indoors and outdoors.
Comparing Games
I’m about 50 hours into the game and have yet to complete the story-line. It’s very slow-moving because you have to wait for the main 3 characters to show up randomly in your store with no other means of progression. Thankfully in this sequel, you don’t have to wait as long as the in game clock is not in real-time. This works really well for Animal Crossing as every day is fresh with new items and holidays are special. In Fashion Forward, if you ran out of clothing that matches, you had to wait an actual entire day for the shops to cycle through their inventory. It reminded me of a mobile game that you can only play a little every day rather than sink in quite a few hours into a game whenever possible (which is how I prefer to play).
The content in this game has been cut quite a bit compared to its predecessor. Fashion Forward used to have “treasure hunts” for make-up sets and a clothes designing option. It also had Caprice Chalet which was a feature where you can design several rooms in a building and rent them out to customers. Your customers also used to invite you out to places to take photos together and there was a modeling studio where you were paid to do a photo-shoot. That feature was honestly my favorite part of the whole game and saddened me that it wasn’t included.
Window display of my boutique that I called Jojo’s Graphics, Sound and Music
The graphics of the game are great for the 3DS with every scene and character interaction being in 3D. Where the game truly shines however, is its music, if you’re a fan of pop. The different styles of music go along well with their clothing style counterparts and the soundtrack during certain moments is adorable.
I really love the main theme song Fight For Your Style by Anna of Japanese girl group FAKY whom sings for both the English and Japanese versions. This song perfectly encapsulates the whole feel and point of the game with lyrics like “Getting judged by everyone can make you feel like you’re worthless. It’s so hard to be yourself. But it’s your way; gotta fight no matter how hard it can get (Why are you giving up?). Your style, hold your own. Don’t ever let yourself forget!” and the upbeat tempo has me singing along to this song every time I hear it and it stays stuck in my head for days afterward.
If you’re a fan of fashion, music or you just like to get creative, I highly recommend this title for the Nintendo 3DS, which you can purchase here. I’m hoping that it will get a Nintendo Switch port so that more people can be aware of its existence and we get another bigger and better sequel. For more fashion games by us click on this link.
- Dec 15, 2018
About the game:
Hunter’s Legacy: Purrfect Edition is yet another feline-themed Switch title. The game, which is described by its developer (Lienzo) as a Metroidvania adventure, is set in an exciting fantasy world filled with fierce foes. The game was released on the Switch eShop on 13th December for just $6.99.
Play and control Ikki, a heroic huntress cat with twin swords (are claws not enough?!), a bow, and magical abilities, in an attempt to save the Kingdom of Iripur from the evil Morodir in this action-filled 2D Platformer.
The original Hunter’s Legacy game was released on xBox, PlayStation, and Steam, where it received mixed reviews. Common complaints with the original included:
- A lack of ore (which is required for upgrades)
- An uneven distribution of ore
- The villain and Fang of Alliance aren’t explained
- Ikki seems unfairly disadvantaged due to her inadequate weaponry, which kinda ruins the gameplay experence for some (or in the words of a reviewer on Steam) ‘I know kitties with bows and swords can be cute but this one needs a machine gun badly.’
- Inconsistent difficulty spikes
Hunter’s Legacy: Purrfect Edition is a definitive, improved version of the original game, exclusive to Nintndo Switch.
Hunter’s Legacy: Purrfect Edition features:
- New story sequences
- Additional character dialogues
- New animations
- Updated level design
- A brand new mini-map feature
- Improved melee combat
- A new game plus mode
Despite these added and improved features, the game levels still lack variety and there are still inconsistent difficulty spikes.
My Purr-sonal Opinion
Story:
Ikki, who is also known as the Heroic Huntress of Un’Amak, embarks on a quest in aid of the Iripur, a race of anthropomorphised cat people who have had their Fang of Alliance stolen by the evil Morodir. In order to restore peace, Ikki must locate three sacred orbs to unlock Morodir’s barrier and then retrieve the Fang of Alliance. As you encounter glowing rocks throughout the game, you will be given insight into the game’s backstory
The introduction to the game is kept very brief, with just a few cutscenes (which are shown below) that don’t provide a lot of context. Additionally, I found the narrative to be quite cliche.
Gameplay:
The controls of the game are pretty simple. The arrow keys on your right joy-con will trigger Ikki’s moves, which include bow and arrow, sword, dodge-roll, plus more as you progress through the game, which is approximately 5 hours in length. As moves are triggered by the press of a single button, and that most of those buttons were attack moves, I appreciated that I didn’t have to fumble to fight foes.
The inventory in the game is great, as it’s de-cluttered and allows you to look at the entire world map. This map shows your current location, your destination, possible fast travel locations and where any chests in Ikki’s vicinity are located.
There are some tricky boss fights and challenging situations to face, which is something that a few critics say can be a rage-quitting factor. However, I really enjoyed it and very much felt like it was the sort of game where you could come home at the end of the day and play a game that doesn’t require too much thought. Additionally, players get a sense of fulfilment from unlocking new abilities, surely making the frustration worth it. Ultimately, it’s important to remember that despite certain parts being difficult, the game is not impossible to complete, and that save points are pretty frequent.
Graphics and Sound:
I really enjoyed the cute Metroidvania art style used in the game. Although subtle, there are design changes such as new animations for some characters. Additionally the game’s levels have been designed to be more fluid.
Owing to my weird sense of humour, I also liked Ikki’s variety of facial expressions, of which I may have made memes out of (sorry not sorry)
Ikki Memes:
How dare you feed me dry cat food. 
When mom confiscates the sibling’s Switch 
When you try out WWE moves on your siblings 
When the person in front at Starbucks grabs the last donut 
I am literally so zen right now 
When mom confiscates your Switch 
I found that the Switch version of the game ran very smoothly, and was a definite improvement to the PC version, which has been criticised for its framerate.
Additionally, in my opinion, there were no obvious visual differences between playing in handheld mode and playing in console mode.
I found the game’s soundtrack rather soothing and well-matched to the game’s environment. Initially, I really enjoyed Ikki’s cat noises (during combat, when attacked etc). However, as painful as it is for me say due to being a cat lover, these noises become darn annoying after a while. This is a sentiment shared by many who have played the original game.
Confession: I do still find the hissing amusing though.
To conclude, Hunter’s Legacy: Purrfect Edition is an affordable cat-themed Metroidvania game will alluring graphics and music. I’d definitely reccommend it to feline fans and those who like platformer games. However, whilst I do feel that the game is pretty and worth its retail price, it is let down by its limited context and narrative, and can be unfairly difficult at times. I feel inclined to agree with reviewers who have said that it doesn’t really offer anything new to the already quite saturated adventure-platformer gaming industry. However, it’s a pretty aesthetic game, and how can you not like a game with cats?
