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  • svgJul 12, 2022News

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    Race, Dodge, and Eat Strawberries as Kirby with your Friends

    Nintendo has just released a trailer for a short-but-sweet new Kirby game coming very soon. Kirby’s Dream Buffet is a colorful racing obstacle course multiplayer game like Fall Guys but all food/desert-themed. Yum!

    What we know so far is 1-4 players can roll around in sets of 4 matches with a final round being “a fruity fight atop a floating platform.” It does not specifically say whether the multiplayer is only online or if it’s local. However, the disclaimer at the bottom of the game listing saying “sold separately” has me thinking it’s the former.

    While dodging things like giant ice-cream cones, gaining speed and power-ups, etc, you’ll also have to collect strawberries along the way. Reaching the end of the levels will tally up and reward the tubbiest Kirby and its adorable. The trailer below shows that there are Waddle-Dees in the race but they look like they’re only NPCs and not playable characters.

    Available this Summer on the Nintendo eShop

    Kirby’s Dream Buffet will be releasing on the Nintendo Switch as an eShop exclusive (digital only) this Summer 2022.

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  • svgSep 20, 2019Reviews

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    Quench, developed by Canadian indie studio Axon Interactive Inc., is a puzzle game about herding different tribes of animals through many obstacles. You are a bird named Shepherd that will guide these animals through an emotional pilgrimage using your power of the elements. I found the puzzles surprisingly varied and the story to have unexpected twists of intrigue and betrayal that I won’t be spoiling but rather be giving my impressions on my experience. The game is available now on Steam here and the Nintendo Switch here, the latter being the version I will be reviewing today. The myPotatoGames team would also like to thank the developers of Quench for giving us this review code!

    Your Pilgrimage

    The main focus is on the young new leader of the Elephant Tribe, Shaman located near the Western Elder Tree. It is Shaman’s duty to gather all of the other following tribe members: Springbok, Wildebeest, Zebra, Baboon, and Lion. Together they will travel to the Eastern Elder Tree and bring offerings to pray for prosperity and good fortunes. This is especially necessary as you have become aware that the lands to the East have become dry and hot, leaving many to go hungry, and dark spirits or smokebeasts have been plaguing their homes. You, the player, are born from a single fruit of the Western Elder Tree. I found this to be an interesting premise as elder trees grow in subtropical areas in real life and flower elderberries. It is even said in folklore that they ward off evil and give protection.

    Dark Spirits “Smokebeasts”

    Just when you think that the story would simply be about a voyage of hope, leadership, and union (which is a great story in its own right), the game is filled with tragedy, loss, and more questions I needed answered. I had previously not given much thought to the smokebeasts as I just figured they were enemies and that was that but there’s a lot more to it.

    There are different types that you will contend with that have their own ways of dealing with them. However, because you cannot zoom in and the levels can become quite chaotic, it can be hard to differentiate between Cindertsags and Ravagers (which took me a while to figure out which enemies those names belonged to). I think the game would have greatly benefited from a glossary or monster guide to not only show you the difference of appearance, but also to remind you how to defeat them (temporarily or otherwise).

    Levels and Puzzles

    There are a total of 28 levels, half of which are more like an epilogue where you return home and fight the final boss. The first few levels are like tutorials showing you how to use the Power Wheel and your Weather Powers which are as follows: rain, lighting, wind, and earthquake. There are groves that have stones to indicate either a resting spot or an area that requires a specific element to activate.

    At first I thought that the symbols on the stones where there to show you which power to use, but they are actually there to tell you which power you will receive. There can be more than just one stone and therefore the amount displays how many different powers you will gain in return for the one used. It took me several levels to see tiny triangles, maybe butterflies, floating around the groves with their color giving you a hint to the element needed.

    Keep Watching that Stamina Bar

    As your herd of animals walk, their stamina will drain. The tougher the terrain, the faster that bar will deplete. The specific rest areas need to be lush with green to have any effect on restoring stamina to your animals. If your stamina is empty, one member of the herd will die one after the other. When the levels were easy enough, I restarted the levels when an animal died thinking that if I run out, eventually I’ll have none to shepherd in the harder levels. I’ve also come to care for these animals and didn’t want to lose a single one. However, the number of animals you have will go back to their original count after every level. If you’re thinking “Well the elements are obvious; rain re-hydrates trees, earthquakes get rid of boulders, wind blows away sand, and lightning destroys thorns.”, you’re in for a spin later on.

    Weather Powers Can Do More

    Elements will also have some secondary benefits or problems such as rain healing your tribe or calming smokebeasts, lightning create brush fires in dry spots, wind uncovering enemies, pushing them away or speeding up your animals, etc. These are all things you have to take into account before using your powers. Luckily, the game will pause when you choose your power and lets you take a look around to plan out your paths and strategies. What I enjoyed the most is that there are usually several different ways to arrive to the same goal and your powers aren’t limitless. Therein lies the deeper puzzle aspect; you must ration your powers and/or trade them wisely. Meaning, you can and will run out of your powers if you’re not careful.

    Different Tribes, Different Strategies

    Once you have told your tribe of animals to set for a specific course, you cannot turn back. Sometimes even the most careful planning will be ruined by unexpected surprises as you watch your herd scatter away from a hidden enemy or having stragglers in the back that are slowing down the herd and draining more stamina.

    Things start to get really intense when you have more than one tribe of animals to control and they are placed in different areas of the map in your levels. They also have unique characteristics that you need to be aware of at all times. For example: elephants are great swimmers but are much slower on land, wildebeests can easily climb slopes, and baboons can throw their firestones at certain enemies. You’ll probably use a lot of your lightning to quickly revive fallen animals but it can be quite frustrating if it happens in the water or right in the middle of your tribe because you can accidentally kill the ones that are alive.

    Complete All Objectives to Pass

    Something that aggravated me towards the harder levels was the fact that instructions for the objectives where not at all clear. The main idea was there, but I struggled with what exactly it was that I was supposed to do when there were too many path choices that weren’t linear. Moreover, there was a level that told me to herd my animals to the water but I didn’t see any. Do I bring them south? North? Where do they want me to go? When this happened, I had to experiment quite a bit and then restart once I’ve figured out where everything was and what it did. Thankfully, not all levels where like this and sometimes a glowing ring showed you where you should head to.

    Graphics, Controls, and Sound

    I didn’t mind that the gameplay had low-poly graphics with very simple designs except when it came to not being able to clearly see what was what if there were several things bunched together. However, it helped when hovering over certain areas with your powers as they would light up if you were using the right one. Then I would get frustrated again when the game would often lag or not respond to my commands. At the end of each segment of the story, there was a wonderful recap with beautiful backgrounds with a “cave drawings” art style. That, coupled with the soundtrack, made the game feel like it was truly inspired by African culture.

    Every single level in the end was unique and changed with the story in mind. They can be pretty challenging but are grouped up into shorter stages so it’s not much of a drag if you need to do it over. The animals are adorable and every tribe leader has an interesting personality that made me care about the story just all the more! Sure I’ve had my fair share of troubles with the controls, explanations, and speed, but it was overshadowed by the games heartfelt narrative and exciting strategic puzzles. If you want to learn more about the game, need support, or want to chat with the developers, you can do so here on their Discord channel.

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  • svgSep 17, 2019News

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    It’s been a while since I have heard anything from House House, the developers behind Untitled Goose Game (published by Panic). Today, August 30th, 2019 during PAX West, they announced that the game will be coming to the Nintendo Switch eShop, Mac & PC (Epic Game Store) on September 20th, 2019 – this Friday! It’ll be $19.99 US with a special limited-time launch sale price of $14.99. I am so ready to have a honking good time and drive everyone mad!

    About Untitled Goose Game

    It’s a lovely day in the village, and you are a horrible goose.

    Untitled Goose Game is a slapstick-stealth-sandbox, where you are a goose let loose on an unsuspecting village. Make your way around town, from back gardens to the high street shops to the village green, setting up pranks, stealing hats, honking a lot, and generally ruining everyone’s day.

    Key Features

    • A horrible goose (that’s you)
    • A town full of people just trying to get on with their day
      (you hate them)
    • A dedicated honk button (!!!)

    What could be more relaxing than letting out your frustration on unsuspecting villagers? For more wacky fun and a pet goose, check out our article on newly released game here: Knights and Bikes Release Date Confirmed.

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  • svgAug 30, 2019News

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    Heave Ho, developed by Le Cartel Studio, is a silly multiplayer adventure about swinging and dangling with your friends to reach the other side of the level without falling! The game is available now on the Nintendo Switch eShop and Steam here. Furthermore, there’s even a special promotion on Steam for 10% off today until September 6th, 2019! You can also try it out right now if you’re at PAX West this weekend.

    We love when characters from other indie games cross-over into another, like in Riverbond, so we’ve listed all of the tweets the developers have posted below on other games by publisher Devolver Digital. These hilarious representations of some of our favorite characters come from the following games: My Friend Pedro, Enter the Gungeon, Gris, The Messenger, Katana ZERO, Gato Roboto, Absolver, Hotline Miami, and Pikuniku.

    Besides these unique characters, you can customize your own with a large variety of stylish accessories! Moreover, you can change the following features of your little weird blobs with arms: costume, skin color, hair, glasses, face, arms, and voice. For other party games you can play with your friends, check out our article here: Deliciously Sweet Party Games and Astro Bears Review – A Party Game with Bears in Space.

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  • svgAug 10, 2019Mobile Game

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    Devolver Digital, the publishers of GRIS, announced yesterday that you can now pre-order the game for iPhones and iPads via the App Store. GRIS, a beautiful work-of-art come to life, will be releasing on August 22nd, 2019 right here. If you haven’t heard of this game before, it’s developed by Nomada Studio based in Spain, and it released in 2018 on Steam (PC, Mac) and the Nintendo Switch eShop. See below to learn more about this narrative puzzle platformer.

    About GRIS

    Play as Gris, a hopeful young girl lost in her own world, dealing with a painful experience in her life. Her journey through sorrow is manifested in her dress, which grants new abilities to better navigate her faded reality. As the story unfolds, Gris will grow emotionally and see her world in a different way, revealing new paths to explore using her new abilities. 

    GRIS is a serene and evocative experience, free of danger, frustration or death. Players will explore a meticulously designed world brought to life with delicate art, detailed animation, and an elegant original score. Through the game light puzzles, platforming sequences, and optional skill-based challenges will reveal themselves as more of Gris’s world becomes accessible.

    Nomada Studio’s Store

    If you love the beautiful art style of this game, then you’ll definitely want to swing by their store. It offers various paintings from several artists! Although everything you see is in Euro, they do ship internationally! Not to mention all the lovely artwork is done on high-quality Old Mill paper.

    Officially licensed poster by Conrad Roset

    Other games with colorful art styles you might want to check out are the following: Concrete Genie to Release on October 8th! and Mr. Tic Toc & the Endless City – Time-Travel Through Watercolored Backgrounds.

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  • svgAug 9, 2019News

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    Quench is a story-driven puzzle game set in a colorful world. Help an adorable elephant to guide herds of animals while using the weather to your advantage. Quench is developed by Axon Interactive Inc., an indie studio based in Ontario, Canada. As of August 7th, 2019, you can purchase the game at the following locations: Nintendo Switch (North America), Nintendo Switch (Europe), Steam, and itch.io. Find out more about the game below and how you can help bring clean water to a community in need IRL.

    Charity Initiative for the Month of August

    Axon Interactive Inc. has announced on their Steam page the following: “We are proud to announce that $1 from all sales in the month of August will be donated to charity: water, an international non-for-profit organization whose mission is to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries. Up to $10,000 will be raised to fund a water project for a community in need, with real-time progress reported back to all players. We’re super excited to see what we can all make happen together.”

    About Quench

    Become Shepherd, an avatar of nature, and guide herds of animals on a perilous journey. Each generation, the Elephant Tribe makes a grand pilgrimage. But this time, something is different… Help Shaman, the young Elephant leader, convince the other animal tribes to join her. Protect your herds as they are beset by flood, fire, drought, and the dark smokebeasts that have spread across the land. Control the environment to guide herds of animals and restore their home in this colourful narrative puzzle game!

    Key Features

    • Change the environment around the animals with the powers of the Elder Tree: grow grass and trees, start forest fires, shift sand dunes, or create new rivers and lakes.
    • Overcome treacherous encounters with creatures and obstacles while carefully guiding your animals to safety.
    • Fall in love with a papercraft-inspired landscape set to a joyful original score by Adam Sakiyama.
    • Through gorgeous illustrated cinematics and in-game dialogue, explore how kindness, compassion, and forgiveness are powers unto themselves in this fable about overcoming differences to restore the world.

    For another great game with a great real-life cause, check out our article here: To The Rescue: A Little Help For Our Friends. Moreover, you can still make a pledge on their Kickstarter, which has officially been a success and now aiming for their stretch goals. Know that 20% of the profits of the game will go toward actual dog shelters!

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  • svgAug 1, 2019Reviews

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    Astro Bears is a competitive arcade-style party-game created by indie developers SONKA. This is an updated version of Astro Bears Party that now includes new Bears, planets and play modes for the Nintendo Switch which released this July 19th, 2019. If you already owned Astro Bears Party, you will get this re-release for free. Below is a quick review of Astro Bears on the Nintendo eShop which you can purchase here for $6.99 US.

    How to Play

    You play as a Bear of your choice, with the mode of your choice, which have access to the following abilities: jumping/flying and dashing. Your Bear will run automatically so you have to have quick reflexes while controlling the direction of your Bear. Jumping and flying is useful if you don’t want to run into your opponent. Dashing is more difficult to master in terms of usefulness because you can rush to corner or “cut-off” your opponent quickly if you see the opportunity. Moreover, every time you jump, you leave an “archway” which gives the game another layer of strategy.

    What you want to avoid is the colorful “ribbon” that trails behind your opponent which becomes longer the more you move. Honestly, I get some real Care Bear vibes from how cute and colorful the Bears are in this game with these ribbons. The ribbons will follow every action you take so if you jump, it will also leave a line higher up. Depending on whether you choose your ribbon to be finite or infinite, it will change how long the ribbons get the longer you play. When your ribbon is infinite, it starts getting really hard to even avoid your own ribbon which you can also run into and lose.

    The planet sizes were what disappointed me the most about Astro Bears because even the biggest planet is rather small. This is why the game can last mere seconds because you don’t have very far to go. I understand that that’s the point but I still feel like having more of an open and bigger planet to play on like Mario Galaxy, would have kept me more interested for longer. Although, it is an interesting concept to have the planet by see-through as you can see where your opponent is going.

    Different Types of Modes

    Astro Bears has 3 modes to choose from: Party, Competitive, and the new Jetfish Hunting which is a local 1-2 player team-up to beat online high-scores. All modes are basically the same with minor differences save for the last one which I will discuss in more detail below. As mentioned previously, the main objective for all modes is to make sure you don’t run into your opponents’ ribbons which are trailing behind them as they automatically run around your chosen planets. You can jump, dash, fly and control which direction you want your little space-bear to go.

    Party Mode

    This basic mode lets you play up to 4 local players where you each have your own screen (i.e. 2 players is split-screen). Choose how many points it will take for you to win the session between 20, 40, 80 and 160, the planet size which goes from small, medium, big and huge, if the ribbon is finite or infinite, and the theme. You get 4 points every time you win a round so it can take very few minutes or even seconds to get to 20 points total. The themes only have you changing the lines of the planets to a couple different colors which is a little pointless.

    Competitive Mode

    You have the same choice of 2-4 players in this mode but this time you must select 3 Bears each with their own unique stats. In order to win the overall match, you need to at least win one round with each one of your Bears. You will not be able to choose your planet size or whether your ribbon is finite or infinite as the game will randomize it for you. Furthermore, it seems that the larger planet sizes are excluded from this mode. I can see that being the more competitive approach as it is fairly chosen with no one having to fight over which options to pick. The point system is also a little different so this mode is better if you want the matches to last a little longer.

    Jetfish Hunting

    This mode is a great addition if you’d rather play with your friends and not against. Rather than trying to get your opponent to run into your ribbon, you are trying not to run into each other while collecting as many Jetfish as possible. There is no time to communicate with each other to coordinate who is going after the closest Jetfish as the game is too fast-paced. However, it doesn’t take long to get more skilled at playing this game as the rules are quite easy to learn.

    When playing Jetfish Hunting, you can either compete for the highest score locally or on online leaderboards. The former is more like playing against yourselves if no one else in the family will be playing this game. My partner and I got very meager scores together before we died several times so as you can see we have no chance in competing online as of now.

    Choosing a Bear

    You have to choice between 8 Bears: Bishnu, Wojtek, Neil, Cybear, Xiaoli, Randy, Igor and Aki. All Bears will have varying stats of Speed, Turning, Jet Capacity and Jet Regeneration. Basically what you want to do is figure out what are your strengths when playing and maybe do as I did and choose the Bear that will either compliment those strengths or compensate with higher stats in the area you struggle with. An interesting feature I noticed with Cybear and Randy is that Cybear can get hit twice before losing as he has an extra layer of protection, and Randy’s stats are randomized. Here is a list of the descriptions we get for each Bear:

    • Igor – the proud husband and father,
    • Bishnu – the crazy one everyone likes,
    • Xiaoli – the fastest runner of them all,
    • Neil – the one who likes to eat while swimming,
    • Wojtek – the pierogi-loving war vet,
    • Cybear – the villain with an extra life,
    • Aki – the cosplayer and tech geek,
    • or Randy – the one we know nothing about!

    More Information

    For the low price of Astro Bears I wouldn’t dissuade people from picking up this title if you want to easily grab and play a multiplayer game with friends. Although, don’t expect to have hours of fun playing this game or to replay it often. Rather, expect to have minutes of fun playing this game as the concept is unique, the controls respond quickly as needed, and the 3D graphics are quite nice. The soundtrack is also worth noting that it was very nostalgic to retro gaming and was inspired by the 80s. For as long as I played this game, and again that’s not very long, I did enjoy it. Below you can see a little bit of gameplay including the Jetfish Hunting mode.

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  • svgDec 15, 2018Reviews

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    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:

    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?

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