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Who Needs PvP? Five of the Latest and Greatest Singleplayer Adventures

   What’s the most annoying aspect of modern gaming? Is it all the greedy battle passes and microtransactions? The incessant toxicity of online playerbases? Games demanding your endless interaction with constant daily or weekly challenges that guilt you for deciding to play anything else? It’s probably a combination of all of the above, really. Well, if you’re looking for a break from all that games-as-a-service online nonsense, seeking something a bit more casual, why not try these singleplayer adventures?   These are a handful of the latest and greatest solo games, all enjoyable offline with no toxicity or microtransactions in sight. Of course, while they’re increasingly outnumbered by online titles, there’s still far too many of these types of games to list here - so, I decided to gather a small yet diverse variety to show off here: a sprawling fantasy RPG with endless possibilities, an action-packed rhythm platformer, a creepy eldritch fishing game, a pantheon-slaying titan of storytelling, and a game where you play as a cat. Take a look for yourself!

Baldur’s Gate 3    Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, you’ve definitely at least heard of this game - especially after it won 2023’s Game of the Year. Baldur’s Gate 3 is about as close as it gets to a full Dungeons & Dragons campaign on your PC or console - no need to organise all your friends to show up for a campaign session! In this massive RPG, you can play as a handful of pre-set characters, all with their own expansive stories and countless unique interactions, or make your own from a dozen different races and classes. Want to be a Fighter? A Wizard? Barbarian? Cleric? Bard? Some unholy mashup of everything? Perhaps you’ll play as a human, or an elf, or a gnome, half-orc, or dragonborn - there’s a practically endless list of possibilities, and that’s just in the character select screen!   Everything you do has some kind of impact on the hours of storytelling: who will you help, and who will you fight? Where will you go? What sides will you take in this absolute narrative feat? There’s an overarching plot, but the path you take through it is entirely yours to decide - for better or worse.

Hi-Fi Rush    Bethesda sneakily released this bumping rhythmic platformer early in 2023, and it quickly became a number-one hit. Play as Chai, a bit of a loser with ambitious dreams of becoming a rockstar - and when he accidentally gets his music player implanted into his heart and the whole world around him starts moving to the beat, those dreams start to literally become reality. Suddenly, Chai’s fighting off a dark corporate conspiracy with the power of music, friendship, and blunt force trauma with a sick guitar made of magnetised garbage. In this game, everything - everything - moves, jumps, flashes and swings to the rhythm of the music playing from Chai’s heart, and moving yourself and your attacks in time makes you stronger and earn higher scores.   Hi-Fi Rush is truly an earnest throwback to old-fashioned straightforward action platforming, with a linear level-after-level structure and no side quests or unnecessary padding to get in the way of the story or the rapid-tempo gameplay. It’s got a beautifully colourful and chaotic artstyle, genuinely entertaining characters and hilarious writing, and of course, a banging soundtrack to top it all off.

Dredge    Let’s take things down a notch for those looking for something a little more casual and slower-paced - assuming you can keep your anxiety in check, that is. Dredge is a chilling eldritch cosmic horror story, disguised as a simple little fishing game. Sail out in your little tugboat, pull up any fish you find (don’t worry about the increasingly-creepy and disfigured catches, it’s probably just your imagination) and make absolutely sure you return to port before dark - you’re not alone out there. You might catch glimpses of things much older and much bigger shifting just beneath the waves; how much of it is really there, and how much is just your paranoia getting the better of you? Are you willing to take the risk that there’s nothing really there…or that it didn’t see you?   Once you start collecting some decidedly-unnerving artefacts in the waters, a puzzling storyline begins to take shape, capped off with a stunning twist and a dangerous choice to make…or, you can just mind your own business and keep busy catching and selling all the fish from day to day, upgrading your boat and relaxing on the mostly-calm ocean. Just mind those lights in the fog - pretty sure that isn’t a town in the distance…

God of War: Ragnarök    Now, back to something a bit more blood-pumping with a true linear action titan - God of War: Ragnarök. Kratos, the former god-butchering Ghost of Sparta, is back, and (reluctantly) doing what he does best as he faces off the might of the Norse gods including Thor, Heimdall, and Odin himself, alongside his growing son Atreus. Between all the enemy-slaughtering and gallivanting across the Nine Realms, Ragnarök tells an emotional and engaging narrative of a father not wanting to lose his son, fighting against fate itself to protect his boy just a little longer. The game features graphics and visuals as gorgeous as its’ writing and acting is brilliant - it’s little wonder why Christopher Judge won 2022’s Best Performance as Kratos.   Besides the story is the fast-paced complex combat system God of War fans know and love, with Atreus joining his father as a playable character with his own array of skills and attacks; time to get that hand-eye coordination up! For returning players looking for a good reason to jump back into action, a recent DLC expansion adds a brand-new challenging mode if you’re after a true test of skill in the hallowed battlegrounds of Valhalla.

Stray    This is a game where you play as a cat. Need I say more? Well, if the feline gimmick isn’t enough to interest you, how about a surprisingly fascinating world and endearing characters? Stray pits the cutest protagonist in gaming against a dark, treacherous world that’s much, much bigger from the perspective of our tiny fuzzy hero. In this game, you’ll climb, jump and sneak across a neon-lit city populated entirely by robots, all carrying on with their jobs long after humanity is gone in a tale that explores questions of sentience and societal growth - and collapse.   Come for the adorable little kitty, but stay for the interesting story, beautifully haunting visual style, quirky robotic characters and some thought-provoking puzzles. How far can this cat go to reunite with its lost family? Will this unlikely hero be the key to helping its new mechanical friends find freedom from the massive locked-down city? What happened to humanity in the first place? There’s a lot of questions to answer, and yet you’re just a cat. Additionally, the game also features the best button prompt ever: Press O to Meow!

   Like I said, there’s plenty more solo adventure games to be found beyond these standout examples - which one is your favourite? Are there any more worthy additions to this list you know? Let’s hear it! Feedback, reblogs and likes are all much appreciated!   Thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

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Everything You Should Know About Princess Peach: Showtime!

   After waiting over 18 years for a new leading role, the stage is set for everyone’s favourite video game royalty to take centre stage in Princess Peach: Showtime! Peach finally gets her own spinoff again, the first one since 2005’s Super Princess Peach on the DS, a natural progression to the more active heroic roles she’s taken in some of the more recent Super Mario games. No longer the damsel in distress, Peach is ready to take off on her own adventure, with her own new allies against her own new antagonist! Showtime is coming to a Nintendo Switch near you on March 22nd, but before then, read on for a handy collection of everything we’ve learned about the game from various trailers and teasers. Actors, take your places - it’s time for a show-stopping performance!

Characters & Plot - Casting Call!    The star of the show is, of course, Princess Peach, ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, longtime ally of the Mario Bros. (when she isn’t in need of rescue, anyway). Attending a strange new theatre show that has popped up out of nowhere, the Sparkle Theatre, Peach finds herself trapped when the theatre is attacked and overrun by the Wicked Grape (above; yes, Peach’s new villain is named Grape). Grape and her minions, the Sour Bunch, take over the theatre and start terrorising the theatre’s remaining staff, the lightbulb-shaped Theets. Stella, the guardian fairy of the theatre, teams up with Peach to bring the fight to Grape and her troupe, retake the theatre and save the day! With a new power dubbed Sparkle, Peach and Stella can aid the Theets and fight off the Sour Bunch, restoring the Sparkle Theatre back to normal, one act at a time - the show must go on!

Gameplay Basics    The game features 2.5D sidescrolling levels, with each level portrayed as a stage play. Peach can attack enemies and interact with stage props and Theets with help from Stella, using her ribbon like a whip or grapple. The gameplay shifts genres from stage to stage - the first level revolves around hack-and-slash platforming, followed by cooking minigames of all things in the second level. Clue-sleuthing mystery-solving, sneaky stealth levels, rhythm games - there’s a level for everything, all depending on a central, thematic transformation Peach can use. Much like the Power Stars of Mario games, the main collectables of Showtime are Sparkle Gems. There are 10 Sparkle Gems per level, either rewarded for clearing certain parts of a level or beating challenges, or just hidden around the levels - so keep your eyes peeled! Near the beginning of each level, Peach can use Stella’s Sparkle power to transform into various different costumes, each with their own unique abilities and gameplay. Let’s take a look at them all, shall we?

Transformations    The main attraction: Peach’s transformations! From left to right, we have Patissiere Peach, Ninja Peach, Kung-Fu Peach, Cowgirl Peach, Swordfighter Peach, Mighty Peach, Mermaid Peach, Dashing Thief Peach, Figure Skater Peach and Detective Peach.   Swordfighter, Kung-Fu, Cowgirl, Figure Skater & Mighty Peach are all seemingly more combat-oriented transformations; Swordfighter with fancy fencing and dodging moves, Kung-Fu with more focus on fighting game-style attacks and combos, Cowgirl lassoing enemies and chasing them on horseback, Figure Skater, well, skating around and battling foes while constantly moving, and Mighty being able to fly about and battle enemies superhero-style with gadgets and super strength.   Ninja and Dashing Thief Peach are more stealthy, with Ninja Peach hiding in the environment to sneak-attack unsuspecting enemies and Dashing Thief parkouring across rooftops and hacking security systems.   Detective, Patissiere & Mermaid Peach are more utility-themed, minigame-centric transformations - search for clues, interview witnesses and gather evidence as Detective; create tasty treats in timed challenges as Patissiere; and direct fish to grab out-of-reach collectables and beat rhythm minigames with Mermaid’s singing.   Each transformation has a specific stage centred around them; Showtime includes a Super Mario 64-esque hub level, with doors leading off from the main room to the actual levels. Each door is labelled with a symbol to represent whichever transformation that level is themed around, with the very first level starring Swordfighter Peach. Better start practising your dodging skills!

      That’s just about everything there is to know about Princess Peach: Showtime! before it releases on March 22nd, 2024! I know I’m excited - let me know if you are too! Feedback, reblogs and likes are much appreciated, and thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

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Order Up, Up, Up - A Quick Review of Splatoon 3: Side Order

   The colourful world of Splatoon is a chaotic one, so maybe it’s time for a little order on the side - but as demonstrated in Side Order, too much order can be a bad thing. This new add-on story campaign for Splatoon 3 shifts gameplay gears into the meta-progressing replayability of roguelikes, unlike the more linear platform-shooter-puzzler levels of the previous campaigns. Agent 8 - the first playable character to return from a previous game, last seen in Splatoon 2’s Octo Expansion - once more awakens in a strange place with a new mystery to solve. Accompanied by Splatoon 2’s idol duo hosts Pearl and Marina, and the until-recently-brainwashed DJ Acht, 8 finds Inkopolis Square seemingly consumed by a strange force, bleaching the world white and infesting it with dangerous skeletal fishy foes.   Together, the team must climb the Tower of Order, a randomly-generated series of challenging puzzles and battles, earning upgrades and reaching the ominously-dark and glitchy top floor to determine just what is going on and who is responsible. In true roguelike fashion, even losing helps progress; once you’ve run out of lives, you’re booted out of the tower, losing the gear you’ve acquired along the way - but you can then spend points on permanent upgrades to help make the climb just a little easier every time. Enter the Tower, fight your way up, die, upgrade yourself, enter the Tower again, reach a little higher this time, and repeat until you’re face-to-face with the Tower’s powerful mastermind. How many attempts will it take you to save Inkopolis?

   I was honestly surprised at just how well the roguelike formula translates into Splatoon’s style, even if it lacks some of the massive sheer variety of full roguelike games. Growing stronger thanks to the permanent upgrades between each run is incredibly satisfying - I quickly went from getting mobbed and overrun on the fifth floor to consistently and flawlessly beating the final boss seven times in a row, even with weapons I wasn’t accustomed to using! Even in the early stages, it never feels too frustrating to lose; there’s always a sense of “alright, time for more upgrades, let’s try that again!”   One thing that Side Order falls a bit short of is the more interesting and continuous storytelling from the other campaigns, especially Octo Expansion. The plot effectively freezes entirely between beating the first and second runs of the Tower, which can last quite a while without upgrades. There’s plenty of fun dialogue and character dynamics between the main cast, but it’s all relegated to a handful of conversations that occasionally play out between floors (and frequently repeat themselves), with the actual storyline only really progressing every time you reach and beat the final boss with a new weapon. The DLC might seem “short” to those unfamiliar with roguelike gameplay - the credits roll after beating the final boss for the first time, which technically only takes two successful climbs up the Tower, but that’s just the beginning. The true meat of the DLC is then beating the boss eleven more times, with the player getting stronger each time instead of the boss; the plot continues to progress with every final boss defeat, long after the credits are finished. The first battle against the true villain is also one of the most hype moments in the entire series - a real, unparalleled power trip.   So, while the storytelling engagement isn’t quite up to scratch with the series standard, the handful of character moments still there are just as entertaining as usual, and the gameplay beyond is excellently fun and addictive - that last run was good, but how about just one more attempt?   I hope you enjoyed this quick review of Splatoon 3: Side Order - feedback, reblogs and likes are much appreciated!   Thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

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Can's Best Friend - A Quick Review of Boxville

   Welcome to Boxville - a cosy cardboard city populated by sentient tin cans that communicate via drawings. In this point-and-click puzzler developed by the Ukrainian indie team Triomatica Games, strange earthquakes leave you searching for your lost “dog” Rusty throughout the city, all the way from the rooftops to the industrial slums below. Along the way, fate seems intent on putting all sorts of obstacles in your path - but not to worry, as the city is full of other tin can residents that are (mostly) happy to help…once you’ve given them a hand with their own problems, of course. Grab and combine various items throughout the city, track down missing belongings, trade and help your neighbours in a chain-of-events style puzzle game where one puzzle solved usually helps progress the next puzzle. Hang on, Rusty - we’ll find you!

   Boxville is a very, very short and sweet game - I finished it in just under 3 hours, without having too much difficulty with the trickier puzzles. Even so, it was a very enjoyable 3 hours; perhaps a little pricey, but absolutely worth grabbing if it’s ever on sale. The puzzles range from straightforward sequences to more complex headscratchers, but they’re never annoying or frustrating. You never feel like blaming the game for having trouble with the puzzles, and there’s always that lightbulb moment of “oh, that’s the solution, of course” which always feels great. As a point-and-click game, the old reliable trick of wiggling the mouse cursor all over the screen to see if it reacts to anything clickable still works, though sometimes it takes a little more critical thinking to figure out what to do with any interactables.   There’s something oddly nostalgic about the art style - it kinda reminds me of those old I Spy games, if any 90’s kids that grew up playing CD-ROM games know what I’m talking about. Add the chill music, and you get a cosy, almost “hand-made arts and crafts” vibe for the whole game. The lack of any written instructions, relying instead on drawings and visuals, make the game highly accessible, and even the short length of the game didn’t keep me from growing attached to the cute little tin can citizens - except for that one guy that steals your dog and keeps bullying all the other characters. Screw that guy. Again, it’s only a three-hour-or-so long game, but it was clearly made with love for a very fun afternoon of puzzle-solving. Try it out for yourselves, and support a team of Ukrainian developers at the same time!   I hope you enjoyed this quick review of Boxville - feedback, reblogs and likes are all much appreciated!   Thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

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Here's How it's Done - Five of the Best-Made Tutorial Levels

   What’s the most boring part of any video game, the part most players tend to skip? That’s right, the tutorial level. They’re always full of boring text box pop-ups, spelling out all the different buttons and controls and slowing the game’s opening down to a crawl - it’s almost like the game is teaching the player how to read more than how to play! At least, that’s the case with most games. Sometimes, developers try spicing it up a little, adding a bit of excitement and interest to the first level. It can come in the form of an engaging narrative intro, cool action, interesting locations and scenery, less linear pacing, and so on. There are plenty of tricks to keep that first level interesting; you could consider these games as a tutorial on how to do good tutorials! I’ve collected a handful of games that really hit the ground running with interesting and enjoyable openings - have a look for yourself!   Press [Keep reading] to continue.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2    How many games teach you how to play by immediately throwing you into a gargantuan, multi-phase boss battle? Spider-Man 2 does, and it’s equal parts tutorial and showcase of how powerful the PS5 can really be. Swinging into action, the Spider-Men cross the river besides Manhattan into Brooklyn to battle the latest villain of the week: the swirling, skyscraper-sized walking desert known as Sandman. The massive boss fight puts the opening action of the previous games to shame, as well as cleverly working in the tutorial amongst the story of the fight.   Seamlessly switching between playing as Peter Parker and Miles Morales, the game runs through the basics of combat and mobility - swing into the fight, battle sandy clones summoned by Sandman, dodge the sandy giants’ attacks, and so on. A particularly impressive moment is when Sandman grabs Miles and flings him across almost the entire horizontal length of the map, only for Miles to slingshot himself right back - all within five seconds, no loading or slow environment generation to be seen! Peter and Miles make use of plenty of new, untested gadgets throughout the fight, such as the new Web Wings to glide on the wind and Peter’s mechanical spider-limbs popping out of his suit, learning how to use them alongside the player in an epic cinematic battle between the two Spider-Men and the largest enemy seen in the series yet!

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves    The Uncharted series is known for its’ engaging narratives, but Among Thieves is a particular standout for being a great early example of how cinematic games can really get by throwing the player straight into the action. After the player presses “Start”, Nathan Drake wakes up with a bullet hole in his gut, sitting sideways in a busted-up train car dangling over a sheer cliff. In a desperate climb to safety as the train falls to pieces around Nate, the player will quickly learn the basics of parkour and movement that you’ll be using for the entire game - or plummet to their death in the beautiful albeit deadly scenery.   After a quick flashback that hints at how this adventure started out, it’s back to surviving in the frozen, flaming wreckage Nate has somehow ended up in. Finally, Nate uncovers a mysterious artefact in the wreckage, presumably the source of all this fuss for the entire adventure - and it’s time for another flashback, all the way to the beginning for the story to really get started. It’s an expert combination of cinematic storytelling and intrigue (just how did Nate get into this mess?) with intense action and control tutorials that flow naturally alongside the plot - all the way back in 2009!

Jedi: Fallen Order    Leaping and climbing across a dangerous scrapyard full of old derelict Republic cruisers, while the Empire’s spy droids and TIE Fighters constantly drone overhead - just another day on the job for Cal Kestis. As the game opens with breathtaking vistas of a vast, grim, rainy planet littered with familiar giant ships, Cal hides his Jedi training as he picks his way across the treacherous worksite. All the jumping, climbing and parkour you’ll be doing is taught very early on - the Empire sure doesn’t seem to care about workplace safety, but Cal (and the player) easily clambers across the machinery like it was a giant playground.    Of course, the inevitable workplace hazard occurs as the ship Cal and his buddy Prauf are standing on falls apart, sending them sliding to their likely doom until Cal reaches out his hand and you get the coolest tutorial prompt in any video game: [RB] Use the Force. His Jedi powers revealed, the Empire quickly catches on and suddenly, Cal is fighting through a speeding train armed with a humming lightsaber and the power of the Force, effortlessly slicing through countless Stormtroopers in his path. After that taste of how strong Cal is against the cannon fodder, the player is pitted against a dreaded Inquisitor in a literally unwinnable fight before a mysterious new ship comes to your rescue - and the journey begins.

DOOM (2016)    As a soft reboot of the longstanding DOOM franchise, DOOM (2016)’s opening instantly tells you exactly who the Doom Slayer is. Waking up buck-naked and chained to a bloody tomb in a laboratory, surrounded by shambling demons, what does Doomguy do? Snap the chains on his wrists, grab the nearest unfortunate demon by the face and smash it to pieces, leap to his feet, snatch up a stray pistol and aim it right at the next demon - and now the player is in control. Once you’ve cleared the lab, it’s time to grab your armour and get to work doing what Doomguy does best.   Quickly, you’re shown just enough exposition to know who the important characters are and why things might be all demonic right now, but not so much that it slows down your path of annihilation. Doomguy even throws away a monitor trying to give lore, as if to say “I’m not here to listen to dialogue, I’m here to blast demons!” Through bloodstained halls and surrounded by hellish shrieking, the player sets off clearing out the first building of demons, given only the most absolutely necessary control tutorials. Finally, as the thumping main theme builds in your ears, Doomguy gives his trusty shotgun a pump as he steps onto the surface of Mars, ready to rip and tear.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild    All these openings are fairly straightforward, but how about something a little less linear? In Breath of the Wild, the tutorial “level” is a wide-open sandbox by itself, allowing the player to explore the Great Plateau they find themselves waking up on at their own pace, in more or less whatever order they like. After you’ve left the cave you awaken in with your few belongings, the first thing you see is an old man walking away in the distance; the game’s way of telling the player exactly where to go and who to speak to, all without a single “go here” arrow.   The tutorial’s open nature gives a sense of just how much freedom the player will have in the rest of the game - you can do whatever missions you like in whatever order you choose, or just wander around and enjoy the scenery at your leisure. Across the plateau, you’ll notice various shrines around you, each one granting a new power that you’ll use for the entire game, and none of them require any other shrines to be completed first. You’ll quickly learn the basics as you pick your way across the plateau - climbing trees and hills to gather resources, fighting off the handful of foes in your way, and so on with very little direct hand-holding from the game. It’s a great example of how easy it is to learn by messing around and doing things yourself, rather than reading constant button prompts and objective markers.

   There’s a thousand different ways to teach a player how to play - and of course, some ways are much more intuitive and entertaining than others. Now that you’ve learned a few different kinds of good video game tutorials, you’ll probably never look at a games’ first level the same way again. Are there any other games you’ve played that did a great job showing you the ropes? Let me know! Feedback, reblogs and likes are much appreciated!    Thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

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Now Arriving, The Hype Train - Five of the Most Anticipated Games of 2024

   Happy new year, readers! You know what the best thing about a new year is? New games to look forward to! Well, for me, anyway. There've been some exciting announcements from last year, from big name new releases, like Nintendo and Star Wars games, to long-awaited sequels of beloved indie games. There’s something for everyone; Ubisoft’s marauding pirate game Skull & Bones, a supervillainous shooter in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and plenty of remakes and remasters, such as yet another Final Fantasy remake. On top of that, rumours abound about a potential successor to the Nintendo Switch being announced later this year - they’re only rumours, of course, but it’s certainly an exciting idea. Now, for something more substantial: I’ve gathered up a list of what might be among the most highly-anticipated game releases planned for 2024 - take a look for yourself!

Princess Peach: Showtime!    One of the most famous women's faces in gaming will finally be taking centre stage once again in 2024 - literally! Trapped in a stage play overtaken by the Wicked Grape and her sour minions, Princess Peach will be rescuing herself this time as she fights her way across theatre-themed stages with her new powerful sidekick Stella. Stella will allow Peach to transform into various different costumes, each granting her unique abilities like swashbuckling Swordfighter Peach and expert tracker Detective Peach. It’s been over 18 years since Peach headlined her own video game, but considering her growing protagonistic role in recent Super Mario games, leaving her damsel-in-distress role behind and joining Mario in the action, it’s about time she gets the leading role once more! Princess Peach: Showtime! will be coming to a Nintendo Switch near you on March 22nd.

Hades II    Hades, Supergiant Games’ mythical roguelike that has taken gaming by storm since 2018, is getting an almighty sequel this year with Hades II planned to enter early access in the first half of 2024. Once again, players will battle through the ever-changing Underworld of Greek mythology, encountering various gods - both new and familiar - that will help or hinder your grand odyssey. Play as Melinoë, sister to the first games’ protagonist Zagreus, daughter of Hades and the immortal Princess of the Underworld, as she faces off against the mighty Chronos. The Titan of Time takes the role of the main antagonist this time around, having kidnapped dear old dad Hades and plotting to wage war against all of Olympus. Will Melinoë survive the trials of the treacherous Underworld and save her father, or will her time run out?

Hyper Light Breaker    Better brush up on your swordplay skills and practise that aim, because it’s time to return to the world of Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter in its upcoming successor, Hyper Light Breaker! Following Risk of Rain’s example, Breaker is taking the leap from Drifter’s pixel-art isometric style to a grand, 3-D open-world adventure with co-op multiplayer and roguelike elements. Players will control one of a ragtag group called the Breakers, navigating the dangerous Overgrowth with hoverboards and gliders at breakneck pace. Customise your Breaker’s loadout with whatever gear you find on your journey, mixing-and-matching melee and ranged attacks to fit your personal playstyle. Get ready to explore new corners of the world introduced in the award-winning Hyper Light Drifter from a new action-packed perspective as Hyper Light Breaker enters early access later this year!

Star Wars Outlaws    Rev up that hyperdrive, get a good blaster by your side, and return to the galaxy far, far away in a brand new, single-player open-world interstellar adventure: Star Wars Outlaws! While the Empire is busy battling the Rebellion and Han Solo is in the middle of a carbonite nap, a new scoundrel on the scene named Kay Vess aims to make a name for herself in the galaxy’s thriving criminal underworld. Pick sides or go it alone in a choices-matter storyline, combining sneaking around and straight fights across plenty of planets, both familiar and new. In the current age of live-service, microtransaction-laden online PvP games, it’s a welcome sight to see a big-name, purely single-player, narrative-driven release like this. Outlaws has no specific confirmed release date, but as Ubisoft tends to release games around October or November, we can expect Outlaws to release sometime in the latter half of 2024.

World of Goo 2    Feel that nostalgia? That’s right; World of Goo, one of the earliest and most definitive examples of a successful indie game from way back in 2008, is finally getting a sequel - fifteen years later! Announced completely out of the blue during the 2023 Game Awards, there hasn’t been much confirmed about the game quite yet besides an expected release in 2024. Even so, the announcement trailer brings back much of the familiar satirical humour and strangely-unsettling monochromatic artstyle that fans loved from the original. For those that didn’t grow up playing this classic, World of Goo is a physics-based puzzler all about building precarious bridges out of goo balls, crossing gaps and avoiding obstacles to get as many goo balls from point A to point B as possible, all under a narrative of corporate greed and consumption that rings truer than ever nowadays. The sequel will certainly have a lot to talk about, I’m sure.

   Of course, there are plenty more games set to release in 2024, many of which haven’t even been announced yet - who knows, we might even finally get Silksong this year! I can’t be wrong about that two years in a row, right…right?   Which of these games are you most looking forward to? Are there any other games not listed here that you’re hyped for? Let me know! Feedback, reblogs and likes are much appreciated!   Thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

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2023 Gaming Wrap-Up

   Welcome back to what is apparently a yearly tradition on this blog: the Gaming Wrap-Up! As we drag ourselves to the end of 2023, it’s always good to take a look back at the last 12 months and try to figure out just what was going on there. And well, this year…kinda sucked. It had a lot going on - it was stressful and exhausting at best for so many of us, but there’s always a bit of good within the bad (for example, on a more personal note, this was the year where I actually got a few of my articles purchased by publishers! Now I can, by definition, call myself a professional writer! Go me!), and video games are always an excellent escape from reality.   2023 had loads of great game releases, including some highly-anticipated sequels and remakes, while the business side of the gaming world had a fair few blunders and foot-shooting (Unity, anyone?). Before the end of the year, let’s all take a moment to remember all the highlights of the gaming world of 2023 - enjoy!

JANUARY-MARCH    Let’s get started with a bit of the old and a bit of the new - a pair of high-quality remakes of some classic survival horror games, Dead Space and Resident Evil 4, set a new bar for gaming remakes, with RE4 even being nominated for GOTY! Meanwhile, Pizza Tower took the indie genre by storm with its deranged animations and surprisingly catchy music, and Hi-Fi Rush ambushed us with a sneaky release and some toe-tapping rhythmic combat.   Fans of classic Nintendo games had a bit of a sad start to the year however, with the announcement that Nintendo would be completely shutting down all online services for the 3DS and Wii U, basically pulling the life support plug on the two platforms for good. Additionally, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) continues its streak of rough years; with X-Box, Sony and Nintendo all foregoing attendance, this years’ E3 was announced to be cancelled. With a rise in developers and publishers preferring digital and social media announcements over live shows thanks to the impact of COVID, could this be signalling the end of live gaming conventions like E3?

APRIL-JUNE    Moving on, 2023 also saw the release of some particularly exciting sequels - Dead Island 2 finally released after 9 years in development hell while The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom blew its GOTY-winning predecessor out of the water. Street Fighter 6 brought in Metro City veterans and newcomers alike, and Star Wars: Jedi Survivor continued the tale of Cal Kestis in his battle against the Empire in a galaxy far, far away.   From the small screen to the big screen, The Super Mario Bros. Movie joined the small-but-growing ranks of video game movie adaptations that are actually good, thanks to staying true to the games’ actual identity instead of trying to turn it into something else like so many other game-to-film adaptations. E3’s cancellation also wasn’t enough to stop the Summer Games Fest from being held, featuring a mix of live and digital shows and announcements. Also, this year was quite the mixed bag for game publishing companies - Embracer Group, a publisher for major development teams such as Gearbox Entertainment and Crystal Dynamics, went under some massive structural changes due to a major deal falling through, and was just one of many publishers that underwent huge changes in 2023.

JULY-SEPTEMBER    The latter half of the year didn’t see quite as many major game releases, but it was certainly a case of quality over quantity - Baldur’s Gate 3, an absolute narrative feat, practically overtook the entire second half of the year for both those familiar with the series or D&D and players entering the Forgotten Realms for the first time. Oh, and Starfield was released too.   Meanwhile, a cornerstone of video game voice acting, Charles Martinet, retired from voicing the Mario bros. Having provided the iconic voices of Mario, Luigi, Wario and Waluigi since 1994, Charles still works as a global ambassador for Nintendo in conventions across the world, while the superstar voice role would be taken over by Kevin Afghani later in the year.   Back in the business side of the gaming world, Unity - the group behind one of the most prominent game development engines in the industry - completely shot themselves in the foot this year as they announced an incredibly oppressive retroactive licensing fee to begin next year. This new fee would mean that every single developer that had ever used their engine would need to pay Unity for every copy of their game that has ever sold, even from before the fee took effect. Naturally, everyone disliked this, especially within the indie game community. The sheer amount of backlash caused Unity to rework the agreement to be “less aggressive”, but their reputation is beyond saving now.

OCTOBER-DECEMBER    2023 looks to be closing off with a bang - in yet another major simultaneous release, October 20th saw Spider-Man 2 expand the urban playground of everyone’s favourite web-slinging duo while Super Mario Bros. Wonder brought Nintendo’s flagship franchise in a fresh new direction. Meanwhile, another highly anticipated sequel, Alan Wake II, spun a terrifying new narrative just in time for Hallowe’en.   Of course, the biggest talking point for the end of the year was the Game Awards! Baldur’s Gate 3 beat out some incredibly tough competition for Game of the Year and swept the rest of the awards alongside Alan Wake II; a handful of exciting new games were announced, including a sequel to the classic World of Goo and a vampire-hunting action adventure starring Marvel’s Blade; and we learned that the Call of Duty developers can’t take a joke. However, the biggest announcement arrived just before the awards, bringing the entire gaming community together for one of the most anticipated sequels in video game history (besides Half-Life 3): Grand Theft Auto VI. Set for a 2025 release, 12 years after its predecessor, GTA6 returns to the sunburnt beaches of Vice City, introducing a modern Bonnie & Clyde as its’ pair of playable protagonists Lucia and Jason. 

LOOKING FORWARD    So, aside from the GTA fans that are probably cryogenically freezing themselves until 2025, what are your plans for next year now that 2023 is nearly over? There’s plenty of other games to look forward to - Star Wars and Marvel fans will be getting another exciting set of games with Star Wars Outlaws putting players in the shoes of the galaxy’s next big name in the galactic underworld, while Wolverine will be hacking and slashing his way through the neon-lit Madripoor. Taking our hands off the controller for a moment, a handful of other games will be taking their turn on the silver screen with a promising-looking Fallout streaming series and a somewhat more sketchy-looking Borderlands film. Can’t be any worse than the Halo series, right…right?

   I mentioned in last years’ wrap-up that 2023’s E3 is hopefully back on track, which has aged a bit poorly; well, there’s no need to worry about that this time as next year’s E3 has already been cancelled. At least that means saving on tickets, but is the age of big gaming conventions coming to a close? Time will tell, especially depending on if Summer Games Fest is still in the works. Maybe things are switching to a more digital-based platform for game announcements - as someone not fond of crowds, that suits me just fine.

   But, hey, that’s not until next year. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this look back at the gaming world of 2023, and I look forward to seeing you all again in 2024!   Happy holidays!

An Aussie Button-Masher

[an-aussie-button-masher]

And So They Returned - Everything New in Risk of Rain Returns

   You’ve crash-landed on the hostile world of Petrichor V. Everything on the planet seems determined to kill you. Grab your ships’ cargo scattered across the planet for upgrades, fight for survival - and die a lot. If this all sounds familiar, it might be because you played the original Risk of Rain, a 2-D roguelike released by Hopoo Games way back in 2013. If you haven’t, you’re in luck - it’s time to experience the world of Petrichor V in a brand-new way in Risk of Rain Returns! A complete remake of the original, Returns features a mix of the old and the new with a fresh coat of paint, made with everything the developers have learned in the past decade, including new stuff from the 3-D sequel, Risk of Rain 2. So, whether you’re a Monsoon veteran or just starting out on Drizzle difficulty now, read on to learn everything that’s new in Risk of Rain Returns.

New Artwork    The first and most obvious upgrade in Risk of Rain Returns is the completely overhauled and updated art style - familiar, but shiny and new. Every playable survivor, enemy, boss, item, interactable object, and environment has been re-drawn and re-animated for a modern take on the classic pixelated style. There’s even a fancy new animated intro cutscene created by Remus & Kiki Animation (known for animating the various trailers for Dead Cells), demonstrating the power of the mighty Providence as he singlehandedly brings down the massive spaceship you’re aboard. The remake also features new music composed by Chris Christodoulou alongside his soundtrack returning from the original game.

New Survivors    Alongside the classic survivors of the crash like the Commando and Huntress, Risk of Rain Returns introduces a handful of new playable characters forced to survive the horrors of the planet. The Pilot is a context-sensitive survivor with a focus on aerial mobility and combat, launching into the air and gliding downwards with his parachute to deliver death from above. The Drifter, armed with nothing but her wits and a backpack full of scrap, can create temporary items for a quick, strong boost in power - a great support character for co-op play!   Additionally, the Artificer - introduced in the sequel, Risk of Rain 2 - returns with her mastery of elemental tech, burning, freezing and electrocuting anything in her way. If you’re particularly attentive, you might even unlock the new, hidden secret survivor, who’s tiny stature hides how incredibly overpowered they are. Shhh - no spoilers!

Built-In Multiplayer    What better way to try out all these new survivors than with friends? Back in the day, if you wanted to play multiplayer in Risk of Rain you’d have to mod the function in yourself. Hopoo Games took note of all the multiplayer shenanigans their players got up to, and made sure to include co-op built right into the new game! Local and online co-op play is available from right there on the main menu, making playing with friends easier than ever.   Some items and survivor skills - especially Drifter’s - are geared towards helping your co-op partners, though they’re still useful in solo play. If you die in multiplayer, you’ll turn into a flying drone to continue fighting and gathering items, reviving when the surviving players reach the next stage. If co-op isn’t really your thing, don’t worry - there are no unlocks locked behind multiplayer, and there’s a whole new singleplayer mode to provide even more solo challenges.

Providence Trials    Finding the game a bit too easy? Why not try your hand at Providence Trials? A brand-new singleplayer game mode for Risk of Rain Returns, Providence Trials are a set of short, often extraordinarily difficult challenges to unlock new survivor skills, items and skins. From combat trials (like beating a tough miniboss with nothing but a combat knife) to mobility trials (like using teleporting shots to blink across an obstacle course) and even stealth missions (robbing a village of monsters blind with a smoke bomb), all these trials are specifically themed after the skills and items they’ll unlock upon completion.   If you’re having a bit too much trouble with the trials, certain ones have alternate methods of unlocking the corresponding survivor skills - but for the items and skins locked behind trials, you’ll need to beat them fair and square. Beating the trials also unlocks further trials, some requiring new survivors to be unlocked in the main game before you can attempt them. Once you’ve beaten every trial, you’ll unlock the final, biggest Providence Trial that can be done as any survivor for the ultimate test of strength and willpower.

Accessibility and Customization    Everybody plays games differently. Some have a hard time getting used to more high-difficulty games but still want to have fun playing them, but others might have trouble with games that have completely different control schemes. While the original Risk of Rain didn’t offer too much in the way of customization, Returns brings in much more accessibility. You can select preset control schemes, keybindings and game rules from the previous RoR games you might be more accustomed to, or even completely customise the controls to perfectly fit your playstyle.   Additionally, if the game is a bit too tricky (or even not challenging enough), you can easily edit how much damage you deal and how much you take - want an easy time dealing out double damage while enemies barely put a scratch on you? Go ahead! Perhaps you want to try an even more punishing game where the slightest dent in your health sends you right back to the main menu? Sure! There are very, very few unlocks behind higher difficulties, so play however you want without fear of missing any game content!

And The Rest    To list every single new feature in this massive remake would be way too much for one article. Besides all the major additions listed above, there are plenty of brand-new items and enemies lying in wait on Petrichor V, never seen in either previous game. Drones, once known for being practically useless in RoR, can be upgraded throughout a playthrough, becoming bigger and stronger and shinier as they quickly start mowing down enemies in your way.   All the old stages from the first game have new variants to keep things fresh, each with a collectable environment log hidden within them. Sometimes, you’ll be able to collect temporary items that provide a major boost in strength, even if they only last a few moments. The dreaded Mountain Shrine that doubles the power of each boss fight returns from RoR2, alongside an unlockable artifact that causes them to stack permanently for an entire run - call forth the challenge of the Mountain!

   Risk of Rain Returns is a practically perfect example of a classic game being translated into a modern remake. All the original, recognisable features return in glorious HD graphics, with countless new additions to bring the game even further beyond the original. Whether you’re all too familiar with the perils of the planet or just barely stepping out of your escape pod, Risk of Rain Returns is a great entry into the series for veterans and newcomers alike.   I hope you enjoyed this look at all the new additions to Risk of Rain Returns - reblogs and likes are much appreciated!   Thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

[an-aussie-button-masher]

Do Everything a Spider Can - A Quick Review of Webbed

   There’ll be an arachnophobia warning in the tags, but come on - who could be scared of this little guy? Developed by the Australian Sbug games and released in September 2019, Webbed is a side-scrolling physics-based puzzle-platformer that puts you in the shoes of the bravest arachnid in the forest. You can do all the usual spider tricks - spinning and swinging from webs, crawling up walls, and…shooting lasers from your eyes, apparently.   You’ll need all these skills - a bird has kidnapped your spider boyfriend, and you’ll need to earn the aid of other insects around the forest to launch a daring rescue. Armed with your wits and your webs, solve various puzzles from the miniscule perspective of the forest floor and embark on the grandest adventure a spider has ever been on.

   As you can tell from the image above, this game looks adorable. The cute pixel-art style with equally-cute and endearing characters instantly made me like the game, and the fun music made me love it. Swinging around on webs and navigating the huge map room by room is always enjoyable, and the controls are easy to learn. That said, it’s a bit too easy to get lost in this game - you aren’t given too much direction after the initial tutorial, it can be tricky to figure out where you have and haven’t been yet, and reaching certain important areas can often fall down to trial-and-error guesswork.   Almost every room has a puzzle to solve, but they get annoying fast - not because I found them difficult, no; once you’ve beaten the first puzzle, you’ve figured out how to beat them all. Every puzzle seems to have some minor variation on the same solution: spamming dozens of web lines from one object to the other, slowly inching the object to its’ destination bit by bit until it decides to lock into place. It’s kinda fun the first few times, and somewhat tedious the following dozen times.   The story is very simple, but charming - the insect citizens of the forest, from ants and moths to bees and beetles, all banding together to help one spider rescue their boyfriend. The characters all have distinct personalities, even just from the solely text-based dialogue, and it won’t be long before you get surprisingly attached to a bunch of bugs. The grand finale of the story is way more intense than I expected, too; few games have had my heart racing as much as the end of Webbed. Alongside the story, swinging around like Spider-Man and enjoying the artstyle and music is just fun enough to balance out the repetitive puzzles. Overall, I’d recommend the game, even to those that aren’t too fond of spiders - you just might end up liking them after you’ve swung what feels like a mile in one’s shoes!   I hope you enjoyed this quick review of Webbed - reblogs and feedback are much appreciated!   Thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

[an-aussie-button-masher]

Everything You Should Know About Super Mario Bros. Wonder

   Stock up on those 1-Ups and put on your plumber hat - it’s finally time for a new mainline Super Mario Bros. game! It’s been six years since Odyssey, but at long last, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is right around the corner. Releasing for the Nintendo Switch on October 20th, Wonder is bringing in a fresh new art style and direction for the franchise, departing from the “New” style phase that lasted 17 whole years.   A bouncy new animation style, new additions to the playable cast, and even a brand new kingdom - this game is sure to be a real wonder. Even Mario and Luigi themselves are a little different this time; with Charles Martinet retiring after 27 years of voicing the most famous brothers in gaming, they’ll have new voice actors in Wonder. It’s still unknown exactly who their actors are, but judging by the trailers, I’d say they’re doing a spot-on job.   If you happened to miss any of Wonder’s trailers, or the Nintendo Direct that showed off a lot of what we know, there’s no need to worry - I’ve collected all known info about the game and gathered it all here as a convenient refresher to catch up on news right before the game releases. Here we go!

The Plot - Welcome to the Flower Kingdom!    If you’re expecting the usual Mario plot of “Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach, so Mario journeys through the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue her”, prepare to be surprised! In the neighbouring Flower Kingdom, ruled by Prince Florian, Bowser has stolen the power of the Wonder Flower, transforming into a gigantic flying castle and throwing the kingdom into chaos! It’s up to Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy (in her first non-spinoff playable appearance!), a pair of Toads, and Toadette to chase after Bowser and restore the Flower Kingdom back to normal. Additionally, the playable cast includes four Yoshis and a sneaky Nabbit, who all act as an “easy mode” and take no damage from enemies (but can still fall into pits).   Throughout the adventure, Talking Flowers will pop up across the Flower Kingdom’s seven different areas, often giving hints about secret areas - or just providing some random commentary. Harnessing the mysterious power of the Wonder Flowers scattered around the kingdom and armed with new allies and new power-ups, it’s time to rescue the kingdom’s resident Poplins from Bowser’s clutches, gather the Wonder Seeds, and save the kingdom!

Wonder Flowers and New Powers    Wonder’s central new mechanic is the Wonder Flowers - strange flowers found throughout the kingdom that, when touched, inflict bizarre effects on the players and levels. Expect the unexpected! They could do anything from transforming you into a helpless Goomba or sending you floating through space, to causing warp pipes to come alive and move around or even shifting the levels’ perspective so you walk on the “background”! Collecting a Wonder Seed, the game’s primary collectable, will revert the level back to normal, so keep an eye out!   Meanwhile, a new arsenal of power-ups appear in this game. The Elephant Fruit will turn the player into an elephant (surprise, surprise), granting a strong trunk to swing around and splash out collected water, as well as the ability to easily smash through blocks and charge across gaps. The Drill Mushroom will equip the player with a fancy drill hat, letting you burrow through the ground (and even on the ceiling) to hide from enemies or reach inaccessible areas. Finally, the Bubble Flower lets you blow floaty bubbles that can trap and defeat enemies - even normally-invulnerable foes, or enemies hiding on the other side of walls. The bubbles can even be used as temporary platforms!   The all-time classic Fire Flower also makes a return, letting you throw fireballs around and burn your foes to a crisp. Also, similarly to previous games like Super Mario 3-D World, power-ups can be stored and swapped out at will, so it’s a good idea to keep certain power-ups in your pocket to pull out when they’re needed.

Brand-New Badges    One of the most diverse new mechanics introduced in Wonder is badges; as Prince Florian accompanies the player on their adventure, these fancy badges can be purchased or unlocked and equipped on Florian’s hat, granting unique abilities. Only a single badge from your collection can be equipped at a time, and you can switch them out between levels or after losing a life in one. Certain badges can be unlocked via completing special, themed challenge levels that teach you how to use the badges’ ability, or purchased with the Super Mario Odyssey-esque purple coins found in other levels.   So, what kind of abilities do these badges actually grant? There’s a wide selection of powers, ranging from the useful to the unconventional: glide through the air, boost yourself up from wall-jumping, constantly dash at maximum speed, swing and stick to walls with a grappling-hook vine (not unlike a certain arachnid-themed superhero game releasing on the same date as Wonder), or even turn completely invisible to both enemies and yourself! One particularly useful badge revealed in trailers allowed the player to bounce back from certain death to bottomless pit, while another acted like a magnet that drew in those hard-to-reach coins right into your pocket. You’ll be able to mix-and-match based on your own preferences - or even coordinate badges with your co-op allies for the best combinations!

Multiplayer Madness    Super Mario Wonder brings a brand-new twist to the usual multiplayer mechanics found in Mario games. While you can play local couch co-op with up to the standard four players (and even ride on the back of any Yoshis your friends might be playing as!), the real difference comes to play in the online aspect of multiplayer.   Connecting online will reveal “player shadows”, other players around the world that are playing Wonder in real-time, running around the overworld and clearing levels right alongside you! Shadows can help you out by sharing their items or reviving dying players, and can place unlockable and customisable standees in levels that will also revive dead player ghosts.   Additionally, you will be able to open an online room, inviting up to 12 friends to play together from anywhere in the world. In these rooms, you’ll even be able to race each other through courses, and communicate with other player shadows with emotes.

   That’s just about everything there is to know about Super Mario Bros. Wonder before it releases on October 20th, 2023! I know I’m excited - let me know if you are too! Feedback, reblogs and likes are much appreciated, and thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

[an-aussie-button-masher]

🦀 BOREDOM IS GONE 🦀- A Quick Review of Crab Champions

   If you’ve ever wanted to become a crab, you could wait for millions of years of evolution - but in the meantime, Crab Champions is an excellent substitute for carcinization. Developed solely by Noisestorm, better known as the musician behind the much-memed Crab Rave song, Crab Champions puts you behind the pincers of a heavily-armed crustacean fighting for survival across various islands. Backed by Noisestorm’s tropical electro beats, pick your gun and start your run in this randomised roguelike shooter.   The game has been in early access since April 2023 and receives frequent updates, but in a rarity for early-access games, the main gameplay loop is entirely present and functional; the whole game is fully playable, and extra content is just being added to it over time as it steadily marches towards a full release.

   Considering how difficult roguelikes tend to be, Crab Champions is both very accessible to any skill level and highly customizable - the challenge level is entirely up to the player, and all actually-functional unlocks, like weapons and perks, can be completed on any difficulty. As someone who is generally terrible at roguelikes, I’m quite happy I can stick to easy mode without missing out on anything. There’s a wide range of weapons, from basic pistols to rocket launchers and futuristic blasters, so once you’ve unlocked them you can easily find one that fits your preference or experiment around with new playstyles.   The gameplay is straightforward and quick to pick up, but never boring thanks to the upgrades that can lead to some truly absurdly overpowered builds, letting you wipe out entire islands of enemies with a single trigger pull! Then, multiply that by four in the built-in multiplayer and you can really set off some chaos. My personal favourite builds involve causing items to spawn way more often than usual, which naturally snowballs out of control within minutes and allows for some incredible destruction.   The graphics are colourful and surprisingly polished for such a silly game premise, and the soundtrack is always a banger that will have you nodding along well after you’ve turned the game off. That’s to be expected, of course - this entire game is developed by one of the most recognisable EDM artists on the internet, after all!   I hope you enjoyed this quick review of Crab Champions!   Thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

[an-aussie-button-masher]

Video Games Assemble: All Upcoming Confirmed Marvel Games

   Superheroes are all the rage lately, dominating film and TV series - but it’s in the video gaming world where they’re really shining. What better way to experience the power of your favourite heroes than controlling them yourself? The long-awaited Spider-Man 2 is right around the corner, but it’s being followed by a slew of other new Marvel gaming projects that you may not have heard about. Very little has been confirmed about these projects beyond the fact that they’re in development, but the small bits of info we do have can actually tell us quite a bit about them. Ready your web-shooters, your claws, your high-tech armour and your mighty shields as we explore all confirmed upcoming Marvel superhero games!

Spider-Man 2    On October 22, everyone’s favourite web-slinging duo will be teaming up for real in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. 10 months after Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Kraven the Hunter aims to turn New York into his personal hunting grounds, with Peter Parker and Miles Morales at the top of his list, while the mysterious Venom symbiote begins to corrupt Peter. Insomniac Games’ beloved superhero adaptation will be expanding even further, tripling the size of the playable map as Queens and Brooklyn are added alongside Manhattan. Switch between playing as the two Spider-Men on the fly, and try out their new tricks and upgrades like wingsuits carrying them above the cityscape or Peter’s dangerous new symbiotic powers.

Wolverine    While the Spider-Men tackle Kraven and Venom in New York, an older, angrier hero prepares for a much more violent mission in the crime-riddled city of Madripoor. Armed with incredible regeneration powers, indestructible bones and, of course, his signature claws, Wolverine will be taking centre stage in Insomniac Games’ upcoming 2024 superhero project. Set in the same universe as the Spider-Man games and exclusive to PS5, Wolverine’s game will have a more mature tone considering the bloodstained teaser released earlier this year - perfect for ripping apart baddies with razor-sharp claws and regenerating from usually-fatal injuries. Sharing a universe with Spider-Man also points towards a possible wider Marvel Games universe, opening up possibilities for grand crossovers, or just a guest-star cameo here and there.

Iron Man    It’s not just Insomniac Games that gets all the fun - EA Games and Motive Studio will be bringing us a game that puts us in the repulsor-powered shoes of technological billionaire genius Tony Stark and his trademark red-and-gold suit of high-tech weaponised flying armour. Iron Man’s upcoming adventure will be built on the fancy high-power Unreal Engine 5, in the first of many planned collaborations between EA and Marvel. The game will feature an original single-player action-adventure story campaign, and players will be able to customise Stark’s suits as they see fit with all kinds of cool gadgets and weapons. There isn’t any known release window for this game, but considering it was announced in 2022, it’s likely to drop sometime in 2025.

Black Panther    One of Marvel’s most fascinating locations is the hidden high-tech African nation of Wakanda, home to incredibly advanced technology made from the indestructible metal Vibranium, and protected by the mighty warrior known as the Black Panther. EA Games and the brand-new studio Cliffhanger Games will allow players to explore the vast jungles and shining cities of Wakanda in a possible open-world adventure, in a new story said to give a lot of player agency - so expect a very “choices-matter” storyline! Rumours also suggest that instead of controlling the more well-known established Black Panther, Prince T’Challa, players will create their own original character to don the mantle of Wakanda’s defender.

Captain America & Black Panther    Turning back the clock, Skydance New Media will be bringing us a superhero period piece set at the height of World War II and featuring a powerful playable ensemble: Captain America (a.k.a. Steve Rogers, an American super-soldier) teams up with Black Panther (King Azzuri, the grandfather of the modern Black Panther), alongside the soldier Gabriel Jones and Wakandan spy Nanali. Across the war-torn Paris and the hidden nation of Wakanda, these four heroes will be fighting the dangerous Nazi splinter group Hydra in a narrative-heavy storyline featuring high-stakes espionage action alongside combat. Seemingly based on the comics storyline Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of our Fathers, this duo has plenty of history that will make for a fascinating gaming experience.

   The future of Marvel gaming is looking bright indeed! With all these heroes at your control soon, who knows - we might get a grand connected Marvel games universe to rival even the films themselves! Let me know which of these games you’re most excited for; feedback, reblogs and likes are appreciated!   Thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

[an-aussie-button-masher]

Human Nature - a Quick Review of Recollection

   When’s the last time you took a moment to enjoy the little things, like watching the stars, listening to the birds or going for a walk through a forest? It might be a good idea to do it while you still can - at least, that’s the main message of Recollection, a simple yet charming indie game developed by Erkberg Games in 2023.   Take a walk through nature with a dozen or so little puzzles, moving the mouse around to connect stars, grow grass, find birds and water, and watch the moon. Nice and relaxing, until you reach “Fragile Mode”, which puts things in a more serious light and explores some sadly realistic themes about the effect humanity has had on the mundane yet crucial nature around us all.

   Recollection is, at heart, a very short and simple game with an equally-simple yet moving message about letting yourself reconnect with the simple things, like watching the stars or listening to birds - quite literally a “stop and smell the roses” theme that people all too often take for granted. With barely a couple of buttons to press and mostly relying on just moving the mouse around, the game features extremely straightforward controls that don’t get in the way of the game’s atmosphere and themes. The visuals are relaxing and the music is catchy, with both of them growing more detailed and complex as you progress through the game.   Once you’ve reached the ending for the first time, a much harder “Fragile Mode” is unlocked that changes up the game, making the puzzles more complex and challenging as pollution hurts the birds you’re trying to find and blots out the water, trees you’re trying to grow get cut down, and that beautiful night sky is hidden by light pollution.   The message is quite clear - it’s good to take it easy and enjoy the world around you that you might take for granted, but do it while you still can; it might not be around for long. It’s up to humanity to take care of this planet, and the only way to outpace the damage we’ve done is if we start trying now. 

   I hope you enjoyed this quick review of Recollection!   Thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

[an-aussie-button-masher]

True Trailblazers - Five Classic Games that Defined Their Genre

   Everything follows a blueprint of some kind, right? Pretty much any modern game you play is part of an existing genre - they might introduce some new unique elements or mechanics, but it’s always on top of a standard style that’s usually been around for a long time…but something must have been the first. Where did these blueprints come from? Which games really set the standard for their genre? They might not necessarily have been the very first of their kind, but some games get the rules so right that everything that comes out afterwards follows their lead in some fashion. I’ve taken a look at some of the most popular and unique gaming genres of today and dug back into their past (some much further than others) to find out just which games truly stand out as the definitive trend-setters of video game history. Enjoy!

The Legend of Zelda    It’s dangerous to go alone on adventures, but fortunately Nintendo showed us how it’s done back in 1986 with The Legend of Zelda, one of the earliest action-adventure RPGs. It wasn’t technically the very first - that was Adventure (1979) - but Zelda streamlined the idea into what would become the modern RPG. It introduced staple mechanics like more open-ended non-linear gameplay, while getting rid of less relevant features like scoring points. Zelda gave us the genre’s major features by combining the item and upgrade collection and puzzle solving of adventure games with the reflex-based combat of action games - thus, the action-adventure genre. The original game may be simple and archaic by today’s standards, but the mechanics and ideas it introduced have become a mainstay of the entire genre, especially in future Zelda games.

DOOM    Modern first-person-shooters like Halo or Call of Duty have come a long way as they’ve become the genre’s current leaders, but no matter how far they go, it’s all thanks to good ol’ Doomguy. Back in 1993, id Software took the basic mechanics of their Wolfenstein series (e.g. the “camera” being the POV of the player character with just a gun barrel poking out in front) and added more varied environments, complex weapons, and brought us gaming’s most unstoppable demon-killing machine in DOOM. The game was such a genre-defining hit that for most of the 90’s, until the term “first-person shooter” was invented, similar games were simply called “DOOM Clones!” Even in modern shooters, you’ll find that the usual selection of guns are based on the arsenal used in DOOM - the basic pistol, the close-range shotgun, the bullet-spewing chaingun, the devastating rocket launcher, and so on.

The Binding of Isaac    Even random generation follows some rules, and a lot of these rules came from one sad little child in a basement. The Binding of Isaac was far from the first roguelite (a modern subgenre of roguelike games, which feature random procedural generation of runs with permadeath mechanics), but in 2011, the developers Edmund McMillen & Florian Himsl brought new twists to the roguelite formula that has stuck around ever since, on top of streamlining the usual mechanics to be more in line with modern RPGs. Isaac introduced a heavier emphasis on “macrogame” progression - certain aspects of a run, such as special currency or newly-unlocked upgrades, will carry over into future runs even if the player lost the initial run. Additionally, the massive collection of varied items and upgrades found in Isaac is now a staple feature of all roguelites. New roguelites like Risk of Rain or Cult of the Lamb may have introduced their own gimmicks, but they were added on top of the overall style of roguelite that Isaac set in stone.

Grand Theft Auto 3    What happens when you build a huge, open city, and put a hundred different things to steal and shoot at in it? You get Grand Theft Auto 3, the first true open-world sandbox. In 2011, DMA and Rockstar Studios took their old-school top-down GTA games and restructured them with the power of the state-of-the-art hardware of their time, creating the first fully 3-D GTA game and setting it within a huge, densely-packed world the player could explore at their leisure. They massively increased the scale and depth of the series, moving away from the mission-by-mission level selection in favour of the free-roaming map GTA is known for today. With greater player freedom and less restricted gameplay, players were free to go wherever and do whatever in whichever order they felt with no time limit; the plot was there to progress if desired, but there was also plenty of random other activities and collectables to gather in and out of your way if you chose to.

Resident Evil    You’re hiding from a monster with only one bullet left in your gun. The monster’s getting closer. How will you survive this horror? Look no further than Capcom’s 1996 Resident Evil, the best and original guide to the survival horror genre - it even came up with the genre’s name! You’re welcome to try and fight whatever monster or zombie horde is lurking around, but with the harshly limited resources at your disposal, it’s generally wiser to run and/or hide. Later RE entries introduced more action elements to the series, but the first game is the true survival horror experience with the bleak, oppressive atmosphere and the protagonists being easily overwhelmed instead of just being able to blast their way through anything. For an even spookier vibe, Silent Hill is one of the other best early examples of survival horror, adding elements of psychological horror to RE’s style.

   I hope you enjoyed this look at where a few favourite gaming genres all came from! Of course, there are dozens of other genres with their own classic roots - if you know of any other genre-setting games, let me know!   Reblogs and likes are much appreciated, and thank you for reading!

[an-aussie-button-masher]

Surfing for Survival - A Quick Review of Wavetale

   Welcome to the watery wasteland of Wavetale, where staying afloat is the least of your worries. Created by Thunderful Development and released for PC in December 2022, Wavetale is an open-world story-driven adventure platformer set in the flooded post-apocalyptic city of Strandville. The vast majority of the map is covered in water with only a few landmasses poking out of the waves holding up the ramshackle remains of the old city. To make matters worse, an eerie black fog threatens to consume what little is left of the world, with the survivors’ efforts to hold it back wearing thin.   You play as Sigrid, a young girl who discovers a strange shadowy figure under the waves that allows her to walk and skate along the water’s surface - now, it’s up to Sigrid and her new mysterious ally to save her home, friends and family, and uncover the secrets of the old world. The game features a high focus on mobility and speed - surfing and skimming across the vast open sea, leaping into the air and diving back down, zipping to grapple points and building up incredible speed and momentum…and you’ll need all the speed you can get in these dangerous waters.

   The developers clearly had a solid plan in mind for the central movement mechanics, and they executed it near-flawlessly. The speed and momentum you can build up on the water combined with fancy tricks and zipping around on grapple points is incredibly fun, giving off a brilliant adrenaline rush as you zoom around the waters of Strandville. The world is packed with endearing, well-written characters and fascinating lore all told from the perspective of young Sigrid’s diary entries and scraps of the old world hidden around. The mobility mechanics alone would’ve made a fun game, but on top of them is an engaging and touching story and a cute, cartoony art style that matches the game’s charming atmosphere.   Sometimes the exploration can get a tiny bit frustrating due to the lack of pointers telling you where things are on the map and how easy it is to get lost, and the mid-air movement controls aren’t hard to get mixed up which can cost you an annoying amount of travel time; it’s especially irritating during the surprisingly unforgiving racing challenges. The general combat is also nothing particularly special - just swing Sigrid’s net around until any enemies in the way poof out of existence.   Basically, any time you’re on dry land is never nearly as fun as when you’re on the water, especially as the lack of momentum can make platforming rather tricky. Thankfully, traversing between the islands is always on water, quickly getting fun enough to ignore the boring (and fortunately brief) solid land parts. Wavetale is one of those rare games where the water segments are actually more fun than any other part!   I hope you enjoyed this quick review of Wavetale!   Thanks for reading!

[an-aussie-button-masher]

The Evolution of VIDEO GAME: THE MOVIE

   What’s the first thing you think when you see that a video game is being adapted into a big feature film? That it’ll be awful? That it’ll just be a cash-grab, completely unlike the actual game it’s based on? That’s the usual reaction - but why? Video games have been getting adapted to film for thirty years now, but for the vast majority of that time, they’ve been immediately dismissed as poor-quality low-budget flicks that completely ignore everything about the game being adapted, and usually this assumption isn’t wrong. Movies and games have been getting closer and closer together in the overall pop-culture bubble, with more games getting grand cinematic stories and movies drawing more inspiration from games (arguably the most unique form of storytelling media). So, what goes so wrong when the two of them actually get put together? I’ve decided to try and figure that out. Grab some popcorn and join me in taking a look at the evolution of the video-game movie adaptation, and let’s work out why they’re only recently getting any good.

   1990-2010: Skipping the Tutorial    It’s only fitting that the very first proper video game film is based on one of the games that started it all: Super Mario Bros., and with it, a film that would set the tone for video game movies for the following thirty years. Back then, game movies were always live-action and often very disconnected from the source material. Early games had a tendency to skip having a particularly detailed plot, so directors of any adaptation had to make a lot of it up, which led to them effectively ignoring most details about the game entirely. If it weren’t for the film’s title, you could easily forget the Super Mario Bros. movie was actually based on anything due to how completely different almost every detail was. Early CGI tech was unable to decently recreate a lot of things you’d see in video games, so they end up being practically unrecognisable in the adaptation.   Thanks to these early attempts, video game movies instantly gained a poor reputation, with fans immediately writing off any future adaptations as awful - it’s only in recent years that this view is starting to fade away.

   2010-2020: Figuring Out the Controls    With direct adaptations having such a bad reputation, filmmakers in the 2010’s decided to take a new approach: making movies about video games as a general medium, rather than movies about specific games. Here’s where we got films like Wreck-It Ralph and Ready Player One, with the film being centred around a fictional video game as a way to explore themes present across the entire genre, as well as general pop-culture references. Without a pre-existing game to adapt, the creators were free to make up whatever they wanted about their fictional game with no concerns about being accurate to any source material.   Thanks to incredible advancements in animation technology and CGI, these movies included plenty of stunning graphics - finally, even the most bizarre video game creatures and items could be faithfully brought to the big screen. 3-D animated films were on the rise too, being the perfect medium to translate heavily stylised games to film. Meanwhile, direct adaptations were still being made - by sticking to “plot-light” games like Angry Birds or Pokémon, it was easier to simply make up an entirely original story set within the games’ universe, with…mixed results. Game movies still had a long way to go, but it was in this decade that the most important steps started to be taken.

   2020-Present: Getting Gud    After stepping away from the direct game adaptations for a few years, directors are starting to try their hand at them again in the last few years - and suddenly, they’re actually pretty good! It took almost thirty years, but finally it seems like the video game movie curse is beginning to wear off. Why is this, you ask? Compare the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie with its 1993 predecessor, and you’ll quickly figure it out: it’s all about sticking to the source material. The old Mario movie was basically an in-name-only adaptation, with completely redesigned characters and renamed locations, while the latest version looks practically identical to the modern Mario games, reusing the exact same sound effects and character designs, bringing everything that fans loved about the games straight to the big screen. How did that take three decades to figure out? Fans tend to enjoy these video games for a reason; why would they like a movie that changes everything about them?   Take a look at The Last of Us, an excellent example of the bigger focus on storytelling in games, recently adapted into a live-action streaming series. Anyone familiar with the game will recognise that the series frequently uses the same dialogue from the game, word-for-word, and faithfully re-tells the same beloved story without any unnecessary changes thanks to more direct cooperation between the game developers and adaptation directors - of course it's going to be more popular than something that takes The Last of Us and changes it all up!

   It’s been a rocky three decades for video game movie adaptations, hasn’t it? It seemed to take way too long for directors and writers to realise that, when adapting a beloved game to cinema, it’s important to actually understand why the game was so beloved and make use of those aspects. I believe it's thanks to games in general being taken more seriously as a storytelling medium - it’s one of the most diverse and unique forms of entertainment in the world, yet nobody outside of the actual game-creating industry seemed to think so until recently. Fortunately, with more effort being put into creating adaptations that fans will actually enjoy, maybe the belief that all video game adaptations are awful will start to fade away! Only time (and that Borderlands movie that’s been in development hell for years) will tell…    I hope you enjoyed my take on the evolution of the video game adaptation! Feedback, reblogs and likes are much appreciated!    Thanks for reading!

[an-aussie-button-masher]

Planet of Lana - Quick Review

  A once-peaceful world under attack, a mysterious army of faceless robots, a kidnapped sister, a young girl with her loyal companion, and one of the most cinematic puzzle games you’ll play all year. Welcome to Planet of Lana. A side-scrolling puzzle and stealth game by Wishfully, Planet of Lana is about a girl that survives an invasion from strange machines that abduct her entire village, including her sister. Determined to rescue the only family she has left, Lana sets out into the wilderness of Nova to find her. Along the way, she encounters a tiny creature called Mui who instantly befriends Lana and follows her commands, helping her solve puzzles and survive her journey. Together, the duo stealthily avoid and outsmart robotic scouts and vicious wildlife in a beautifully hand-painted world that hides just how dangerous and surprisingly creepy it can be, uncovering the secrets of Nova on a planet-spanning odyssey.

   First off, I cannot stress enough just how gorgeous this game is. The environments are all completely hand-painted, from every leaf on every tree to each individual blade of grass. Every now and then the game shows off these grand, vast background shots that really sell the idea of this huge adventurous planet you’re exploring. Even the sound design is amazing, like Mui’s adorable little chirps and the eerie melody droned by the robots throughout the game. The robots also have this jarringly distinct artstyle that separates them from everything else in the game, giving off the sense that they aren’t of this world.   In terms of gameplay, Planet of Lana isn’t exactly anything mechanically groundbreaking; you more or less spend the game just walking to the right and solving puzzles or sneaking past robots along the way. It doesn’t do anything new, but what it does, it does extremely well. Despite the straightforward gameplay, the puzzles are often surprisingly difficult headscratchers and the stealth segments are always incredibly tense.   The lack of complex mechanics to learn also means you can focus more on the quiet yet powerful plot - Planet of Lana tells an emotional story from beginning to end, all without a single word of actual dialogue. It’s about a scared yet brave young girl that just wants her sister back, and will quite literally walk to the ends of the world to find her. Add an adorable little creature companion, creepy robots and a stunning artstyle, and you’ve got yourself a truly brilliant game.   I hope you enjoyed the review - reblogs and likes are much appreciated!   Thanks for reading!