#Yooka Laylee Final Boss

[bestfurrywife]

Rules

Character must be 18+ (if they don't have a specified age, they must be reasonably assumed to be an adult)

No explicit nsfw images in submissions, suggestive content ok

If you're submitting an indie artist's character (eg, someone's oc from tumblr or other social media) you MUST credit them

follow @bestfurryhusband lol

Submission Form

Submissions for tournament 2 are OPEN

Contestants:

Next contestants (feel free to submit again if you have propaganda to add):

Aela The Huntress (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

Allison Goleta (Super Lesbian Animal RPG)

Applejack (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Auroth, the Winter Wyvern (Defense of the Ancients 2)

 Bonnie (@dapper-lil-catgirl on Tumblr)

Princess Cadence (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic)

Carmelita Fox (Sly Cooper)

Catra (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

Catty (Undertale)

Dabarella Yeetster (Adventure Is Nigh!)

Dean Hardscrabble (Monsters University)

Demona (Gargoyles)

Deoxys (Pokemon)

Diane Foxington (The Bad Guys)

Eclipsa Butterfly (Star vs the Forces of Evil)

Eda the Owl Lady (The Owl House)

Falin (Chimera) (Dungeon Meshi)

Fenneko (Aggretsuko)

Gadget Hackwrench (Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers)

Goodra (Pokemon)

Isabelle (Animal Crossing)

Laylee (Yooka-Laylee)

Lifts-Her-Tail (The Lusty Argonian Maid; Skyrim)

Lop (Star Wars Visions)

Merveille Million (Solatorobo)

Mrs. Brisby (The Secret of NIMH)

Miss Spider (James and the Giant Peach)

Moon Butterfly (Star vs the Forces of Evil)

Ms Tarantula/Webs (The Bad Guys)

Nala (lion king)

Olympia (Rivals of Aether)

Pinkie pie (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic)

Princess Cadence (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic)

Pyanfar Chanur (The Chanur novels by C.J. Cherryh)

Rainbow dash

Rarity

Retsuko (Aggretsuko)

Sarabi (Lion King)

Sasha Phyronix (Ratchet and Clank)

Shahvee (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

Sophodra (Humans-B-Gone!)

Summer (Spiritfarer)

Sybil (Pseudoregalia)

The Empress (A Hat in Time)

Trixie (capitol critters)

Trixie Lulamoon (My Little Pony)

Tuca Toucan (Tuca & Bertie)

Tyranitar (Pokemon)

Vanilla the Rabbit (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Waai Fu (Arknights)

Washimi (Aggretsuko)

Wuk Lamat (Final Fantasy XIV)

Zecora (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Previous contestants:

Alphys (Undertale)

Arlinn Kord (Magic the Gathering)

Astrid (Spiritfarer)

Birdo (Mario)

Captain Amelia (Treasure Planet)

Cordelia Hendricks (The Smoke Room)

Dahlia Byrnes (The Smoke Room)

Duchess (Aristocats)

Erma Felna (Erma Felna: EDF)

Fenna van Houwelinck (Glory Hounds)

Fidget (Dust: An Elysian Tale)

Fillyjonk (The Moomins)

Fluttershy (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Freya Crescent (Final Fantasy 9)

Furryosa (Atomic Crops)

Golem (Pokemon)

Greasefang (Magic the Gathering)

Hecate (Tokyo Afterschool Summoners)

Holo (Spice and Wolf)

Hoodwink (Dota 2)

Hornet (Hollow Knight)

Ilia Shrikewood (Temptation's Ballad)

Isabelle (Animal Crossing)

Jenna Begay (Echo)

Judy Hopps (Zootopia)

Juno (Beastars)

Krystal (Star Fox Adventure)

Laika (Laika Aged Through Blood)

Laika (Laika's Comet)

Lola Bunny (Space Jam)

Loona (Helluva Boss)

Lopunny (Pokemon)

Loveander (Palworld)

Madam Dora (The Smoke Room)

Madame Vastra (Doctor Who)

Maid Marian (Disney's Robin Hood)

Marie Itami (BNA)

Maria (Extracurricular Activities)

Meicrackmon (Digimon)

Miss Piggy (The Muppets)

Molly Yarnchopper (Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts)

Moomin Mamma (The Moomins)

Mother Glory (Friends at the Table)

Muffet (Undertale)

Nidoqueen (Pokemon)

Princess Celestia (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Princess Luna (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Queen Bee-elzebub (Helluva Boss)

Renamon (Digimon)

Rivet (Ratchet and Clank)

Rose (Remember the Flowers)

Rouge the Bat (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Roxanne Wolf (Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach)

Salazzle (Pokemon)

Sally Acorn (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Soraka (League of Legends)

Tigress (Kung Fu Panda)

Toriel (Undertale)

Torque (X-Com: Chimera Squad)

Twilight Sparkle (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Vipress (Kung Fu Panda)

Xenomorph (Alien)

Whisper the Wolf (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Yona (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

[zee-reviews]

Cavern of Dreams (Steam)

First time?: Yes

[Note: this review will be as spoiler-free as possible, though some minor things from later in the game may be brought up in passing.]

If you're not aware of what Cavern of Dreams is, it's an N64-inspired exploration platformer by Bynine Studio. I've been following the creator on Tumblr for a while and this game has been on my radar since it released, and now that I've finally played it, I can honestly say I enjoyed it a LOT.

The plot of the game is that you are a young dragon named Fynn, and you are trying to rescue your siblings (who are eggs) from a bat artist named Luna. The cavern's guardian, Sage, helps you out by watching over your rescued siblings in the hub world, and giving you new powers when you reach certain milestones.

One of the game's defining traits is that there is no true "combat", to speak of. There are hazards, and you have attacks that interact with the environment, but there's no enemies or bosses to defeat, and no health or lives system. This works out well, as the focus of this style of game is exploration and platforming, so the experience doesn't feel lacking for the omission.

The movement in the game is somewhat unique, as Fynn doesn't quite have the jumping prowess that a Mario or a Banjo would have. However, he does have a roll ability that allows him to go very fast and even ramp off of sloped surfaces like Sonic. The roll controls similar to the roll in Yooka-Laylee, or the Spongeball in Battle for Bikini Bottom; it can be a little tricky to control, but you can carry the momentum into your standard run when you need more precise movement at higher speeds.

Fynn does get more abilities later on, such as a tail whip to slap objects, a glide, a bubble projectile, and perhaps most usefully, a bounce ability that can not only attack the ground, but also gives you more height than your standard jump. The sense of progression you get with each new ability is very satisfying, and towards the end of the game, you'll find the movement to be very complex and rewarding.

Now for the aesthetics. This game was designed primarily by a visual artist, and my god does it show. The game is GORGEOUS, and does a great job at paying tribute to the bold colors and lighting of games like Banjo-Kazooie or Spyro while also having a unique artstyle of its own. Different areas can have different moods; a wooded lake area in a cozy autumn sunset, the metallic interior of a sentient airship, the creepy black-and-white basement illuminated only by the occassional lightning strike, and so much more. I have so many screenshots just of areas I thought looked visually interesting.

My only criticisms of the game are nitpicks, really. For one, the sound design could be underwhelming at times. According to the credits, many of the sounds were grunts made by the people working on the game, or were sourced from freesounds. Nothing was egreiously out-of-place or anything, and it is a passion project by a very small group, so it's easily forgiven.

The only other thing is that I had my camera set to inverted, but the camera in first-person mode was non-inverted, and it would throw off my muscle memory when switching. Though, there aren't a lot of times where you need to switch to first-person mode, so it was never that big of a deal.

This isn't a particularly long game, it's maybe 2/3rds the length of a game like Banjo-Kazooie, but there's still a lot here to enjoy, especially considering the game is only $13 on Steam (even less if you get it in a bundle). I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who's even a little interested.

[athetos]

top 5 videogame osts?

Picking just 5 is impossible so I’m going to go off and list as many as I want

Under the cut for obvious long reasons

Chrono trigger (SNES) - listened to this obsessively when I had the DS port (which is still imo the definitive way to play, just ignore the repetitive bonus postgame quests), yasunori mitsuda is a legend (he’s also one of the composers for dungeon meshi!). I cut my teeth learning to read sheet music in bass clef once I switched to bass guitar playing the soundtrack, I have essentially the entire thing transcribed on my ultimate-guitar (username XxThreeCheersxX, keep forgetting to hype my account up here but I’m a top 100 ranked tabber 😅) personal faves are those without the will to live (beautiful tritone bass slide makes me moan), the trial, and frog’s theme.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (PS/XBOX) - I have never played but know it’s a mediocre multiplayer game, however the soundtrack is fantastic, great rock and metal remixes of some of the most iconic tunes throughout the franchise. The series over all has some killer songs and composers who love funny time signatures so this is easily a “best of.” Castlevania Judgment, arguably an even worse game, also has a good soundtrack.

Undertale/Deltarune (many) - required to be on this list. Toby fox is phenomenal, so many great and memorable tracks. There is a reason megalovania is everywhere. Not a single bad song to be found, but personally my faves are fight against a killer queen, waterfall, world revolving, and undertale. Undertale especially is so impactful because they use an actual guitar on it and it just hits and makes it much more poignant. Fox is maybe the king of leitmotifs.

Dead Cells (many) - after putting so many hours into the game I only appreciate the soundtrack more and more, plus the option to have 8-bit themes is a treat. I love love the Bank theme and Fractured Shrines especially. Very tense and epic sounding. But the Castlevania dlc is phenomenal in so many ways and the music is no exception, always blows me away they’re doing what Konami wishes they could do in every aspect.

Donkey Kong Country 1 + 2 (SNES) - don’t get me wrong Eveline Fischer’s DKC3 snes soundtrack is pretty damn good but imo it doesn’t hit the peaks of David Wise’s ost. It kills me that the silly monkey platformer has some of the most beautiful and atmospheric music of all time. I’ve watched so many music videos on how he made the music and why it sounds so good… from the ambient and emotional aquatic ambience and bramble blast, to the epic final boss themes, that dark reprise of dk island swing in minecart madness, the jittery and unnerving tree top town, the foreboding welcome to krokodile island, the sweet and dreamy dkc2 ice theme… it has it all. Okay what the hell, I’ll mention wise’s remix of water world/aquatic ambience/(a special surprise) in the gba port of dkc3 (he had to redo the soundtrack for that port from scratch). And yes I’ll even throw in fischer’s best songs from snes dkc3 - her version of treetop tumble is way better and more somber than wise’s, water world is like you’re actually at the bottom of a lake and very moody, and nuts and bolts is a dirty rock song with a groovy bass. Good stuff!!!!

Grant Kirkhope’s stuff (many) - another favorite composer of mine, most famous for doing many rare n64 games like banjo 1 + 2, dk64, goldeneye, plus Mario rabbids 1 + 2 on switch and indie game yooka laylee. I’ve also watched many videos and studied many of his songs, he loves to use tritones and out of place dissonant notes not to make something creepy (well, sometimes creepy) but to make things whimsical and man it really works. Dk64 is my personal fav and seeing him reprise some of the themes for Mario rabbids dk dlc was truly special. I really want to do a write-up about the dk64 soundtrack on my site one day! There’s a lot of Easter eggs I’ve spotted that I haven’t seen many people mention! Highlights are creepy castle (it has the dk arcade start motif hidden!), frantic factory, and gloomy galleon from dk64, and from banjo 1 and 2, I love jinjo village, gruntilda’s lair, and banjo’s house blues.

Final fantasy x - most final fantasy games have good to great soundtracks but x is special to me. It’s my favorite ff game and the music really makes it all the more poignant. Zanarkand’s opening note is enough to make me tear up. The battle theme never grows stale unlike some other ff battle themes, besaid is calming and has the perfect vibes, the trials theme should be repetitive but instead feels very disconcerting and even claustrophobic, and auron’s theme is cool as hell. X-2 also has a good soundtrack, but I don’t think it’s quite as good as here.

Celeste (many) - Lena Raine’s soundtrack is phenomenal and the use of motifs is impeccable. Not a bad song in the entire game. Resurrections is my favorite as it’s a long piece that goes a lot of places and makes you drift along for the ride. The way Madeline and badeline’s motifs diverge is brilliant, matching what’s happening onscreen. I love how hesitant the piano in awake sounds, it makes it so heartfelt. Anxiety is dense and lives up to the title, Little Goth is less hesitant but darker… she just writes such beautiful melodies.

Metroid Prime (gcn) - they originally wanted Autechre, an ambient electronic duo, to do the soundtrack but things fell through for whatever reason so Kenji Yamamoto (who did Super Metroid) stepped up to take his place and god what a good soundtrack. Metroid music is very cool and I’ve made posts about it before, like how Metroid II has one of the most experimental soundtracks and kind of challenges the limits of the system and what can be considered game music, super Metroid has some of the most alien sounding songs thanks to weird time signatures and instrumentation. But Prime is crazy because they had the tech now to deliver Yamamoto’s vision. Magmoor Caverns is everyone’s favorite, remixing norfair, those drums just make me go wild every time. All the area themes are great and alien sounding, it’s a very isolating soundtrack, plus the boss themes and the space pirates and chozo ghosts themes are kind of terrifying in a good way.

Sea of Stars/Messenger (many) - 2 of my fav indie games with some of the most addictive songs. Sea of stars is a prequel so seeing variants of the messenger’s tracks was a true delight. Yasunori mitsuda also assisted with the soundtrack making some unforgettable pieces. I want to learn the majority of it on bass by ear!

Hollow knight (many) - somber piano and grand orchestrated pieces make this game go hard. The mantis lord battle is probably my favorite, it’s so majestic and fearsome and makes them a scary boss. I also appreciate the more ambient tracks around greenpath and city of tears. But the boss themes turn things up when needed to and makes a world feel even more alive, which is impressive.

Silent hill 2 (ps2) - Akira Yamaoka has such a great style to create heavy, melancholic or terrifying songs for the franchise but this game stands out the most to me, Laura’s theme and promise always move me no matter how many times I listen to them, very hurting electric guitars. I need to watch more vids on the games ost.

Legend of Zelda (Nintendo) - for this last one I’m not picking a specific game and getting into details for them all would be hard I’m already losing steam fast. So I’ll list my favs across the franchise. Ocarina of Time’s Gerudo Valley, Hyrule Field, and Lost Woods; Majora’s Mask’s Termina Field, Clock Town, and Stone Tower Temple; link’s Awakening’s Face Shrine; wind Waker’s dragon roost island, outset island and Gohdan’s theme; and tears of the kingdom’s colgera’s theme.

[game-boy-pocket]

Today I eat a romhack called The Legend of Banjo, by Charade for the NES.

I don't know what it is about Banjo and Zelda, but between this and Mark Kurko's wonderful "The Jiggies of Time" for N64, it really seems to be a match made in heaven.

As you can tell, it's a Legend of Zelda hack, but themed around Banjo Kazooie ( with a cameo from Yooka and Laylee's heads ), the premise isn't really "Banjo in Hyrule" this time so much as it is "Banjo Kazooie but in the style of Zelda", so you're still fighting Banjo enemies and bosses, but you'll be using Kazooie as a sword.

Even the music is changed in this one and that really goes a long way to making this one feel extra special. The author of this hack even made a map of the overworld that's very helpful in playing, especially since you get very direct hints about where to find heart containers this time... you'll need them, because bosses don't drop them this time. But they're not very difficult to find. This game is actually surprisingly accessible compared to the original Zelda.

Everything is fine and dandy until the 8th dungeon... it has a gimmick that makes it very confusing to navigate. I had to kind of look up a lets play that someone else did...

And on top of that... the final dungeon is bugged. I think this may be a side effect from playing on a real Nintendo NES but every room is dark, and cannot be lit up with the lamp, and all the enemy sprites are buggy and either displaying the incorrect enemy, or a mess of pixels. If I wasn't intimately familiar with Zelda 1 and how the enemies behave, I would have had a very tough time... final boss was working as intended though, so the ending wasn't spoiled for me, if anything it just made the last dungeon feel really eerie.

I love this one, and I recommend it to Zelda and Banjo fans. Unlike Mark Kurko's wonderful hacks though, I think you gotta be a fan of both to enjoy this one. Zelda fans who don't like Banjo might find the Banjo theme too silly to enjoy this, and it goes without saying, you need to really enjoy NES Zelda to enjoy this. I don't think anyone would consider playing this if they didn't enjoy Zelda 1 though so maybe it's a moot point. But yes... excellent NES hack.

[miloscat]

[Review] Brawlout (PS4)

A competent Smash Bros. clone.

After finally clearing Dead Cells and Hyper Light Drifter from my backlog, I could tackle this, to which the two had contributed guest characters. It's a platform fighter in the vein of Nintendo's Smash Bros., made by a Romanian indie studio as their first big project. From that perspective it's impressive how solid it is, but it struggles to escape the shadow of its more established source.

Brawlout sells itself as for the hardcores as well as being accessible to newcomers, but to me its pace calls to mind competitive Melee's fast and technical playstyle. The thing is... I managed to play this locally with others familiar with Smash a couple of times, but we didn't put in the time to get used to its quirks and decided to return to the big dog instead. This is the problem when trying to compete with something so monolithic.

Those quirks are trying to carve out an identity: the control scheme is streamlined to "focus on aggressive mechanics", by removing shields and grabs from the standard Smash Bros. set. One innovation was a jab-to-special combo which I liked. There's also a rage meter that lets you interrupt opponents or your own momentum when launched, and enter a desperation mode. It's a nice idea but using special moves actually takes rage away from you, which disincentivises employing the novel mechanic or half your useful moves. The movement also feels squirrelly in a way I'm finding difficult to describe, but I did get more used to it the more I played.

I'm approaching Brawlout now not for its technical mechanics but for its indie crossover appeal as a solo casual. Slap City, for example, managed to shine in this regard, but for Brawlout the focus is not on that aspect. There's no items, only a handful of fairly flat stages, and a mere ten characters (not helping the perception that it's aping top-level Melee with its restrictive meta). OK, technically there's 25 but many are essentially skins of the six OCs with some tweaks.

These six characters are fun anthropomorphic animals with some oddnesses in their designs, like the cat lady lacking ears and a tail, not to mention that there's only one lady in the entire cast (plus Laylee). The guest characters also make the other characters look oddly small for some reason. These four guest characters were fun to play as, especially now that I've played Yooka-Laylee, Guacamelee, Dead Cells, and Hyper Light Drifter. They're all faithfully presented (aside from it feeling weird to have Drifter with spoken [text] dialogue and in 3D), but I enjoyed Yooka and Laylee most, and Juan fits like a glove with some tweaks to suit his home playstyle. Only two of them got stages, strangely, with HLD and GM left out. The other point I'll make is that some specific moves seem lifted more or less right out of Smash; I don't have a problem with this per se, it's just the game being obvious about its inspiration... also it's funny to see a hedgehog doing a Sheik motion, etc.

For solo play the best option is the arcade mode, a straightlaced series of battles. It at least has some fun back-and-forth quips before each match, and each character has an ending (although the variant characters don't have unique endings or dialogue). The other main mode has more shake-ups and bonus stages like Smash's Classic mode, but without selectable difficulty or continues I couldn't get past more than a dozen stages, finding myself hard-walled at a boss each time. An in-game store provides some meta-progression in the form of randomly unlocked character skins and such, but that didn't prove an effective motivator for me to grind these lacklustre solo modes.

Ultimately I didn't get a huge amount out of Brawlout. As a platform fighter it's certainly competent, but that's all it is, and it needed to be more. It's so hard to compete with Smash especially with Ultimate's level of polish and its IP access (to be fair, this originally released a full year and a half before Ultimate so was competing with the more mediocre For on a previous generation's consoles). Leaning more into the fun crossover aspect and having more for a casual or solo player to do would have gone a long way for me with this, but those things seem like afterthoughts here, and even the worldbuilding for the original characters needed more room to breathe. But for what it's worth, I was here for the continuity of the guest characters and they did well with that in what they did implement; there's some top-shelf Laylee snark in here!

[revelfantasy]

So I finished Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair over the weekend. It was fine...? For me the problem is that it feels like it’s taking too much direct inspiration from Banjo Kazooie and the Donkey Kong Country games. The original YL had just enough differences to stand on its own. The music is weirdly similar where it sounds they were completely pulled from those other games, however none of it is as memorable. But maybe’s that my nostalgia talking.

A huge complaint is the lack of variety in stage types. There’s village, woods, factory, cave and the castle lair. Water levels are just the same types with water dumped in them. The beach area in the overworld has no beach stages, like what? Everything blended together after a while. Also there’s no bosses except the final one, so I was missing that sense of progression. The levels are much too long since they decided every one needed 5 collectibles. The final level is a genuinely difficult and lengthy gauntlet which took me five tries, even with all bees collected. I can definitely see it being frustrating for some people.

I enjoyed exploring the overworld more than the levels themselves because I knew they would be a drag. I liked the puzzle elements where you had to figure out how to open new areas and find secrets. The idea of changing the overworld to affect the main levels was a cool concept in theory. Yet most of the time you were playing the same level twice with minor differences.

I liked the tonics that added abilities, visual effects, or modifiers. The magnet ability was a godsend for collecting more quills. It’s a good way to make collectibles useful, but it was a little grindy to buy them all so I didn’t bother.

Overall, it’s very average. I’m comparing it to platformers like DKC Tropical Freeze and Celeste, which I love, so it falls quite short. I’d still be interested in playing the next Yooka Laylee game whatever genre it may be, unless it’s a shooter.

[lostplay]

Bee-utiful day to Catch Up, isn’t it? Well on today’s Catch Up Saturday we have the finale of Yooka Laylee! The somewhat less celebrated cousin of Banjo Kazooie. While I can’t say all of the game holds well, this final boss was certainly challenging!

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/511087690

[yooka-kazooie]

I hope there’s a Yooka-Laylee sequel

Tooka-Laylee? 

I want to check what percentage that robot is at but my switch needs to be charged 

edit: it’s still 75% this day Feb 5 2019 

[fluffyeddybear]

I finally beat the sequel to Yooka-Laylee, The Impossible Lair, and unfortunately I was happy to be done. It was such a solid 5/5 game the entire way through until I got to the final level. The not-so-impossible lair that lets you use the bee shield to take extra hits was so aggravatingly difficult and full of cheap shots that picked at my bee shield, I just wanted it to be over so I could get the last achievement I needed to 100% the game and bounce. And while I did get all achievements, I didn’t get all the power ups because the final power up requires you to do the impossible lair ( so no bee shield) and beat it on your first attempt. Which means if you fail to beat that long ass level with boss fights in between platforming on your first try, you’ll have to start a whole new save file to try for that power up again and I am not doing that. That was the worst part of the game, I was no longer having fun. But everything else, every other level, and the over world? Perfectly fine and well made.

[parakeet]

my experience with yooka laylee has been fantastic btw. i always steered away from this game bc i remember it being poorly received but i wish i hadnt its a lot of fun and i havent had any issues. i just got enough pagies to unlock the final boss

[evajellion]

2020 vidya ranking: #1 Bug Fables The Everlasting Sapling

You already knew that I was going to tell you that this was the best game I had played last year.

Imo, this should have been indie GOTY back in 2019, but whatever, I guess I should explain why I ranked this one at the top.

Back in 2004, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door was released. I had sadly missed out on getting the original game on the Nintendo 64, but I was nonetheless very excited for the sequel. I got the game, still have my copy even years later… aaaand I got confused in Rogueport Sewers because I was a dumb eight year old, but I swear I picked up the game a second time. Got through all of the chapters, and had fallen in love with the game.

I loved the characters, the battle system, the story, the chapter progression, the cooking system, even the hidden lore and the amount of side quest scattered throughout the game. I even cried. It was the first time I had cried over a video game.

I wanted more, but then, Nintendo didn’t do it again. Sure, Super Paper Mario had a fantastic story, and a lot of people treasure that game the way I do TTYD-- I wouldn’t even mind if the series stayed in that direction. After that though?

Well, Sticker Star happened and stripped away all of the things I loved. Two similar games and one spin-off followed after that. Needless to say, me and several other fans of 64, TTYD, and Super weren’t happy about it. Seemed like I would never get another game like the one that was so dear to me ever again.

Cue me finding Arlo’s video about a cute little game called Bug Fables, just around the summer time. It had come out in 2019 and had been in development for some time by an indie studio. I was skeptic, but at this point I wanted anything-- besides, I actually love insects.

And after the first two chapters, which were a bit bland, I found it. I found the game I had been looking for. I was so afraid that this would be another Mighty No. 9 or Yooka-Laylee, but Bug Fables was anything but. Sure, it took inspiration from Paper Mario with its gameplay structure, but saying that this game is “just Paper Mario” doesn’t do it justice, because game can stand tall on its own.

I loved just about everything here in the same way I loved TTYD. Characters (except for two), the battle system, the story, the chapter progression, the cooking system, the hidden lore and the amount of side quest-- and there was even more than that.

“Gee what did Bug Fables have that Paper Mario didn’t?”

More than one super boss

A card game

Three party members in battle at a time

An entire side quest chapter that you can miss

An in-game randomizer

Higher difficulty settings

FREE DLC

Actual quality of life improvements

And finally, a villain who doesn’t just get a mere slap on the wrist as punishment for their actions. It’s one of the things Super did far better than TTYD because Beldam being let off scott free in the ending always pissed me off as a kid. The final boss is less ham-fisted in general too.

You have three characters at all times-- they’re your only party members and the only ones you need because they’re all perfectly balanced: Kabbu, Vi, and Leif. The third of which you won’t even meet until a bit into the first chapter. You don’t have to worry about wasting turns by switching your members out in this game.

The story starts off simple with the team of three collecting artifacts for Queen Elizant II, who seeks the Everlasting Sapling for an unspecified reason. About half way through the game and into the fourth chapter, the tone of the situation begins to shift, as the wicked wasps from the Wasp Kingdom also seek these artifacts for their lord.

This game doesn’t skimp out on being accurate to bug details either, there are little nods to how things work in real life, which is something I always appreciate. There isn’t really a dull moment in the story or a second where you feel stuck, because with the amount of Medals you get, there are plenty of strategies you can play around with.

Bug Fables is also… surprisingly dark, which perhaps isn’t unfitting of a game inspired by Paper Mario, given the direction TTYD and Super would get into. I can’t really spoil anything in regards to that, because much like with Three Houses, I would rather someone experience that themselves.

In terms of the flaws in this game, I can only think of two. One is regarding a terrible Flappy Bird game that’s required for 100%. It just shouldn’t be there, or at least be easier on the eyes.

The other is that this game suffers from having too many characters, when only four of them get actual character arcs: The main trio and the queen. You have some characters that get more fleshed out in side quests such as fellow team members or NPCs, but I feel like other “major players” suffer in the process.

Neolith is a big one. Cute nerdy moth who just exists as exposition for the artifacts and is a part of Kabbu’s backstory, but he never really does anything besides that, which is disappointing because he’s very cute. I would have loved more lore to him and Kabbu’s past, maybe a future DLC quest can solve that!

Your “rival team” also suffers a bit in this department. The team leader, Mothiva, is a snooty diva who never properly gets her comeuppance or realization that she needs to stop making everything about herself. I guess that’s the point, to give that vibe similar to old Pokémon rivals. But we’re supposed to believe she’s an official couple with her partner; Zasp, who just seems to simp for her in a one-sided way. Perhaps this could also be fixed with another DLC quest.

The worst of the bunch is Kina, Maki’s overly protective and possessive sister to the point of it being creepy. Unlike Mothiva, who is your rival, Kina is supposed to be a supporting cast member, yet she has even less likable traits. She stalks her brother and constantly wants to be with him, gets upset at the idea of him needing space, threatens a small caterpillar character-- you could remove her from the story and it changes nothing. There’s not even a backstory reason for her to be the way she is.

Mind you-- these are very minor nitpicks that don’t really bog down the game. Some may say the main villain of the game suffers from this as well since he shows up halfway into the game, I personally think he was handled perfectly, because you can piece together his motivations and backstory through lore.

Speaking of lore, I hope with so much in this game, that we end up getting a sequel. There are so many questions left unanswered, so much more I wanna know about! 

Other than that thought? The trio of Kabbu, Vi, and Leif and their story is just about perfect. I can’t thank Arlo enough for introducing me to it, and I think this game will catch on more in the future since Chuggaconroy said he was playing it on Twitter, and Fatguy just completed his LP of the game.

I think… we’re entering an age where we should start expecting this level of quality from indie developers more often. This game didn’t feel like an indie game, it felt like a grade a RPG. Which is funny, because that’s what Paper Mario used to be.

God speed, Paper Bug devs. Keep up the good work in the future, thank you for bringing back a feeling I thought I’d never experience with a video game again. I know it sounds cheesy and stupid, but that’s.. just how much Paper Mario effected me back then. Even now, it inspires the books I wanna write, and it’s safe to say Bug Fables did the same.

By the way, can I talk about how delicious some of the food items look in this game? This is insect cuisine, and even I would eat these.

For recap on what the other games I had played this year were, just so you know how Bug Fables topped ‘em:

2. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

3. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

4. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town

5. Super Mario All-Stars

6. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and The Blade of Light

7. Final Fantasy VII

8. F-Zero

9. Star Fox

10. Puyo Puyo Champions

[murdercide626]

So I beat Yooka-Laylee. Damn, that was a great final boss battle! Was frustrating at first, but eventually I got the hang of it and figured out how to deal with each phase.

Still gotta go back and get the pagies I missed though.

Overall, I'd say Yooka-Laylee is a really solid collect-a-thon platformer! I think I still like Banjo-Tooie a bit more though.

I really love the characters in this game though. Yooka, Laylee, and Trowzer are frikkin adorable, and I think Capital B is officially one of my new favorite video game villains! ^^

Now I've gotta play Impossible Lair! lol

[rookie-valkyrie16]

“Business is business, so BUZZ OFF!”

Yes, I like Yooka-Laylee games so don’t judge me ok? Even though I don’t have it, I enjoy watching the gameplays even though the character voice sounds are annoying. So anyway - Capital B is one of my favorite characters because of his own unique charisma and charm as a main antagonist of the game. Plus he’s not really the big boss, he’s nothing but a cog in the machine from an evil company called V.I.L.E. Despite his little tubby appearance, he sure knows how to fight back during his final boss fight and in The Impossible Lair game, and I’m surprised his little wings can lift him up despite his heavy pounds. So yeah, I like this busy bee. I really do. So again, don’t judge me.

(Capital B belongs to Playtonic Games)

(I don’t own anything else except my art. Do NOT steal it!)

[skriaki]

TOP 10 NINTENDO SWITCH GAMES 2019 - my arbitrary list!

Sometimes it's good to be proven wrong. I was pretty sceptical when the Switch was first announced, as it didn't seem too different from the Wii U's gamepad. Then I spent two years watching Nintendo enjoy a complete reversal of fortune, to the point of potentially amassing a more compelling library than Sony's or Microsoft's consoles. So that's how I quite suddenly found myself buying a Switch in October 2019, after having resisted the PS4 and Xbone for five whole years, and my free time has since been dominated by this little machine that defied the odds.

Some of Nintendo's business decisions can still seem inexplicable, but releasing a powerful handheld console that can also be docked with a TV at a moment's notice has proved to be an inspired idea, rather than the gimmick the Wii U's gamepad mostly turned out to be. And along with Nintendo's dependable series of top-notch exclusives, the Switch has enjoyed much better third-party support, which is how I ended up buying Dark Souls for the fourth bloody time just because the option to play it portably was too tempting to resist.

The Switch is the first console I've bought since the PS3 and for all Nintendo's quirks, there's a reason the Switch has dominated Christmas wishlists for three years running. Games like Super Mario Odyssey feel like full-size adventures that just happen to have a portable option, as opposed to handheld games you can also play on the big screen. This is the first year in a long while that I've actually played enough topical titles to justify a "games of the year" list, even if my recent Nintendo bias is pretty blatant.

So with that caveat in mind, and in no particular order, here's my entirely subjective list of the best Nintendo Switch games of 2019.

Luigi's Mansion 3

This is a franchise I'd always been curious about and can finally have an opinion on. The process of going from floor to floor of the hotel hoovering up ghosts and solving puzzles is pretty straightforward, but Luigi's Mansion 3 has so much polish and personality crammed into the cartridge. Luigi is immediately lovable as a determined coward, and each level has a wildly different theme that's realised with extravagant audio and visual flair, so progress always feels rewarding. Though this isn't true horror by any means, there can be an unsettling atmosphere and some of the bosses are pretty freaky. I officially love this oddball franchise and am desperate for a chance to play the story again in co-op. Unquestionably a first-class exclusive.

Doom (Switch port)

Not to be confused with the impressive Switch version of Doom 2016, this is the iconic Doom made cheap and accessible. While purists may take issue with some minor technical deviations, this is the first time I've got most of the way through Doom because the portability and *glorious* true dual-stick control makes this easily my favourite version. There's even a cheat menu for when I just want to mindlessly punch hell beasts. The main thing that ages Doom is its maze-like structure, but playing it casually experience alleviates that frustration somewhat. At a grand total of four pounds, this is a BFB (big fucking bargain).

Untitled Goose Game

You know a game is good when the only asterisk I put on my recommendation is that it *may* be overpriced. Untitled Goose Game took the internet by storm this year because it's the quintessential indie game: cute, simple and with anti-authoritarian undertones. As a horrible goose, it's your mission to cause havoc in an unsuspecting English village, interacting with people and objects to cause chain reactions of chaos. Some of the puzzle solutions are maybe a bit obscure, but 90% of the time just messing around with everything in the area will lead to a solution. Untitled Goose Game makes up for its brevity with sheer comedic charm, feeling much better-designed than a "lul so random" affair like Goat Simulator. A honking good time.

Terraria (Switch port)

I have spent literally hundreds of hours on the PC version of Terraria, so when I was broke after buying my Switch the new Terraria port was an obvious cost-effective choice. While the controls aren't as precise, the amount of time spent mining and sorting through loot makes this a great handheld experience. I can't comment on the multiplayer options but few games represent such a sheer value for money, as there's always a new cave to explore or a new boss to overcome. Time has been kind to this 2011 classic, grind notwithstanding.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

While I personally enjoyed the original Yooka-Laylee, it was definitely flawed and I never seriously expected to see a sequel. But Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair launched quite abruptly and did a pretty spectacular job of upstaging its predecessor. All the previous game's half-baked feel has been replaced with clever design touches, like the equippable tonics which grant helpful abilities at the cost of a currency penalty. The titular Lair is actually the final level and available to throw yourself at right from the beginning, but beating it without first obtaining more hitpoints by completing other stages is incredibly hard, which is a great way to incentivize progress without denying more confident players the option of beating the game earlier if they can meet the challenge. Impossible Lair might be this year's biggest surprise, and despite a modest budget I think it's worthy of comparison to excellent 2D platformers like Rayman Legends. Just don't expect to defeat Capital B on your first attempt.

A Hat In Time (Switch port)

I recently reviewed A Hat In Time but at the risk of repeating myself, it's one of the most charming games of the last few years and an incredibly impressive crowdfunded achievement. Mario's offerings may be a grander technical feat, but A Hat In Time is a fast and fabulous journey through a series of weird and wonderful worlds that all feel distinct in content and tone. It's very openly inspired by GameCube-era platformers like Mario Sunshine and Psychonauts and it easily scratches that itch. Simply one of the best original platformers of this generation, and I defy you not to love Hat Kid's cheeky antics.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy (Switch port)

As someone who thinks the original Spyro trilogy holds up better than most early 3D games, I'd have actually preferred a simple port rather than a full remake, but The Reignited Trilogy is honestly impeccable. The updated visuals are gorgeous while maintaining the general style of those old, jaggy models, and very little of the gameplay or content has changed except for sensible updates like the ability to immediately warp between every level you've visited. Having full dual-analogue control is also an absolute godsend even for a PS1 veteran like me. Though Spyro may seem a bit basic these days when faced with modern platformer marvels, the Reignited Trilogy makes these old favourites accessible again at a generous price point.

Ring Fit Adventure

Yes, I have a Wii kicking around in a box somewhere. No, Wii Fit never held my attention as anything more than a curiosity. Ring Fit Adventure, meanwhile, is limited only by my cholesterol-encrusted heart and dislike of excessive showering. This is an honest-to-goodness attempt at making an RPG out of a workout toy, and the amount of polish put into the game's presentation and hardware implementation is pretty remarkable. Levels involve jogging on the spot and squeezing the ring accessory to collect goodies and overcome obstacles, and periodically you'll engage in turn-based combat where you use a custom selection of exercise moves to deal damage. It's a fantastic idea pulled off much more elegantly than it sounds. The ring accessory unfortunately makes this quite an expensive game, so it'll take a lot of regular use to get your money's worth, but I can honestly (and surprisingly) say that exercise suddenly becomes more compelling when it's presented as a light RPG adventure with anthropomorphic gym equipment encouraging you to take breaks and drink plenty of water.

Pokémon Sword/Shield

Disclaimer: I can only give my impressions from 25 hours of playing Pokémon Shield, so this is DEFINITELY not a full review. That being said, this is still an easy recommendation to existing Pokemaniacs and a good starting point for any new acolytes. While the core formula hasn't evolved (har har) much since the very first Pokemon, Sword and Shield still has a number of modern quality of life improvements that make previous generations show their age. I've had so much fun building a core crew of cute and/or badass 'mons in a weird Nintendo version of Britain, and the online features combine with a VASTLY improved random encounter system to make grinding far less of a concern. The wild area takes some getting used to, but it's satisfying to come back and capture the huge Onyx you had to run away from a few hours before. Even if Pokémon Sword/Shield has some technical blemishes and could have pushed the series further in some regards, it's still easy to see why this franchise has maintained such a beloved status for so long.

Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-mars-tered (Switch port)

Along with Dark Souls, Red Faction was a game I never even knew I needed on the go, but now I've got it I can't imagine ever going back. A cult classic due to its amazing destruction physics, Red Faction sees you leading a proletariat revolution on Mars, literally tearing down corporate monuments to free the working class from systematic oppression. The open world is a bit claustrophobic and the shooting isn't exactly mind-blowing, but there's a reason I've beaten Red Faction every couple of years ever since its original 2009 release. The Switch port does the game justice and if you set the difficulty to easy then this is one of the best rage-venting experiences money can buy. So yes, I recommend getting your ass to Mars.

[xb-squaredx]

B-Squared’s Top 10 Games of 2019!

2019 was a year full to the brim of GREAT games, and as is the custom at the end of the year, people love to rank their favorites, so…I’d like to do the same! Of course my own tastes might be different from yours so if you don’t see a thing on here that you liked, chances are I didn’t like it…or more likely, there’s just too many great games out this year, and I couldn’t get to everything. I’d like to stress to that the rankings don’t really matter all that much, especially the farther down we go. Everything on here is an easy recommendation. Without any further ado…let’s take a look at my Top 10 Games of 2019~

#10 - River City Girls

I love action games, but 2D beat-em-ups never really clicked for me. They were largely before my time and I was thinking that it’d be impossible to get me into one in the current era of gaming. And then I saw Marian’s redesign for River City Girls and bought the game. What can I say? Abs are a great sales pitch. But seriously, getting Wayforward on the helm of a beloved classic franchise is already a great way to pique my interest, and while there’s SOME aspects of this game that I don’t quite gel with, it’s a fun, colorful romp through a ridiculous universe that I’d LOVE to see more of down the line. Featuring a role-reversal, with the girlfriends saving the boyfriends this time, River City Girls has gorgeous pixel art, an AMAZING pop-synth soundtrack that’s worth the price alone, and it’s a game that clearly had fun with the concept and that fun rubs off on you. From the stylish animated boss intros, to the co-op fun that can be had with a friend, everything in this game is brimming with charm. Basic NPCs have great designs in their own right, being able to recruit enemies as assists is a neat idea, and it all adds up to a fun, bite-sized adventure with a bit of depth under the hood if you’re willing to give it a look. Can the character designers get a raise for this game, please? And let Megan McDuffie just do all the songs from now on. ALL OF THEM.

#9 - Astral Chain

Most people assumed if we were going to get a Switch exclusive game by Platinum this year, it’d be Bayonetta 3 but instead Nintendo surprised us with Astral Chain, the anime cop action game we didn’t know we wanted. The game boasts great visuals and is probably the most content-rich Platinum game ever made for starters, but for me the true draw is in the combat. Playing as your police officer in tandem with an alien creature known as a Legion, this tag-team action game is unlike pretty much anything else on the market. While the game starts off very simplistic, the Legion itself moving and attacking with no input from the player, over time more and more options unlock and things get considerably more complicated. By game’s end, you’re drowning in options, and once things clicked, combat was always a treat. With plenty of enemies to practice with, Legions to master and a gigantic post-game filled with challenging encounters, I had more fun with the combat in this game than I did with a lot of other games this year. That said, I do feel that Astral Chain could have benefitted from trimming some fat or rethinking its overall structure. For being a new IP with some bold ideas, I’m willing to accept these as kinks that can hopefully be ironed out in a sequel. Oh, and add Lappy to Smash already. You know you want to, Sakurai.

#8 - BABA IS YOU

Puzzle games are hard sells for me, since I don’t like the frustration that often comes from being stuck. You feel dumb, you get embarrassed and turn the game off in shame, or at least that’s my experience. But then sometimes you get a game so clever, so…weird, that you can’t help but be sucked into it. BABA IS YOU is a block-pushing puzzle game, with the twist being that the “rules” of a particular stage are often physically present in levels and are in fact blocks that can be pushed and manipulated by the player. ROCK is PUSH, WALL is STOP, FLAG is WIN and BABA is YOU. But what if you can’t touch the flag because the wall is in the way? Well, make it so WALL is PUSH to move it aside, or maybe make it so that BABA is WIN and you become the win condition itself. As the game goes on, more modifiers and rules are slowly introduced and absorbed into your own internal logic of the game, logic that increasingly has to be broken and remade to suit your needs. It’s a very empowering experience when the solution clicks and the results can often be hilarious and surprising. This game also GOES PLACES the further you go in, and I’d rather not ruin that surprise for anyone who might be looking into the game. Definitely one of the most innovated titles I’ve played in a LONG time. BABA is GOOD.

#7 - Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid

OK, so…hear me out. Power Rangers was a franchise I was obsessed with as a kid, and while I don’t follow it anymore, there’s still some love for it flowing in my veins. So when a small, no-name studio puts out a Power Ranger fighting game that takes the simplified controls of Smash Bros. and the tag-team craziness of Marvel vs. Capcom and slaps it all together for a cool twenty bucks or so? Well you got yourself a purchase and it ended up being WAY more fun than I expected. Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is far from the best looking fighter on the market, it’s single-player content is lacking, and it’s roster, while interesting, isn’t as big as a lot of the competition, but damn if it isn’t fun to play. With characters taken from across the franchise’s long history, from the live-action movie reboot to the comic books, each choice has been inspired and resulted in an incredibly varied cast. With no crazy inputs for special moves, combined with a tagging system that lets you cycle through your three-Ranger team quickly, the game is the best kind of chaotic fun, but true masters can command that chaos and channel it into cool combos that make you want to say “Morphinominal!” Considering it’s a budget title, it’s also received a fair amount of updates throughout the year to pad out the roster with both free and paid DLC fighters, a full story mode and improvements to the netcode and overall presentation., so if you passed on it at launch, it’s much improved now. It’s not gonna be a fighting game on everyone’s radar, but I’d rather support it than the grind-heavy slog Mortal Kombat has become…Now just hurry up and add that monster that baked the Rangers into a pizza!

#6 - New Super Lucky’s Tale

If your name isn’t Mario or Sonic, 3D platformers are effectively dead. That said, there’s been a few up-and-comers in recent years that are trying to revive the genre. Hat Kid from A Hat in Time, the duo of Yooka-Laylee, and now Lucky from the folks at Playful Studios. The cute fox has quite the history, starting from the Oculus Rift title, Lucky’s Tale, to a full-fledged platformer on the Xbox One X, Super Lucky’s Tale and now the enhanced port/reimagining New Super Lucky’s Tale on Switch. Halfway between a full-blown sequel, and enhanced edition, the game takes assets from the Xbox original game, tweaking and refining everything from visuals to controls to level layouts. The result is a game that is incredibly well-polished. It looks great, Lucky is a treat to control as he moves from jumping, burrowing and sliding around fluidly, and the variety on display keeps things interesting. We’ve got full 3D levels, 2D levels, auto-runners, and even some marble maze levels and puzzles thrown in for good measure. It’s not a hard game, but it IS incredibly fun, and well made. We don’t get many 3D platformers these days, so cherish what little comes of the genre. I hope Playful and Nintendo continue to collaborate, as they really seem more at home here. Just…maybe don’t add more words to the title of the next game, guys.

#5 - Katana Zero

There’s no nice way to say it: there’s too many pixel-based, side-scrolling indie games out there, so the ones that DO stand out deserve to be celebrated. Katana Zero has a real ‘80s flair for starters, using bright neon, TV and VCR visual effects, and a synth soundtrack to give it some real style. When a game kicks off with you slowing down time and reflecting a bullet back at an enemy with your katana, you make a good first impression! Add in the trial-and-error that is planning the perfect route through a stage, the satisfying slicing and dicing of enemies, the unique, challenging boss encounters, and you have a game that was on my radar for a while, before I finally got into it at the end of the year. Its storyline is pretty interesting too, with some slight variances in how events unfold depending on your words and actions, though it ending on a bit of a cliffhanger is a bummer. That said, when a game leaves you wanting more, there’s worse problems to have. At the very least, there’s some DLC hinted at that might be interesting, as well as the implications that this is the merely the first in a trilogy, and at this point I’m game for whatever developer Askiisoft has in store.

#4 - Luigi’s Mansion 3

The GameCube was an odd era for Nintendo, as they attempted to innovate and try new ideas rather than rely purely on their old standbys. Case-in-point, rather than launch the console with a new Mario platformer, his second-banana brother Luigi got his first starring role in what would become the Luigi’s Mansion series. While not making QUITE as big of a splash as maybe Nintendo hoped, it’s garnered a decent fanbase, and when a sequel was announced for 3DS, people ate it up. Considering the gap between the first and second games, I think many people were surprised at the relatively quick turn-around for the third installment. I was also surprised at the overall quality and how much I enjoyed digging into it. For starters, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is easily one of the better-looking Switch titles, boasting some great lighting and particle effects, with some fun physics implemented for just about everything in the massive mansion. Luigi and company are animated with a lot of expressiveness that never gets old, and the music sets the tone perfectly too. From a gameplay standpoint, the toolset Luigi gains gives him ample options to poke at every nook and cranny, with the slimy doppelganger Gooigi being the clear stand-out. Some of the floors of the Last Resort hotel that Luigi must ascend are particularly massive and intricate too, some floors feeling like Legend of Zelda-style dungeons. While not a particularly challenging game, it’s still really satisfying to poke and prod at everything in sight, sucking in all the coins, gold bars and stacks of paper bills you can handle, not to mention slamming the ghosts around like the Hulk does to Loki. There’s also multiplayer! That I…haven’t really touched but…hey! More bang for your buck, surely!

#3 – Dragon Quest XI S

I don’t consider myself a huge fan of JRPGs. Or at least that’s what I thought before I tried out the Dragon Quest XI demo on Switch. I ended up falling for the game hard and bought the full release, carrying my demo data over and not stopping until I hit credits. Despite having never touched a Dragon Quest game before, outside of an hour or so of VIII, I was overcome with this feeling of nostalgia when it came to this game. That’s because Dragon Quest is THE quintessential JRPG game, the originator of all that we take for granted today. It was nice to feel right at home with a simple, effective combat system, rather than having to watch games re-invent the wheel in an attempt to stand out from the pack (sorry Xenoblade), and the story itself, while predictable and a little basic at times, was told well and told earnestly. It really nailed the feeling of going on a grand adventure, with enough twists on the formula to keep things interesting. The turn-based combat was elementary, but always presented me with fair challenges and lots of ways to solve the encounters laid before me, with enough quality-of-life features added in to minimize grind and make things more convenient. The Switch version of Dragon Quest XI featured a bunch of new content on top of a game that had more than enough going for it, and it’s clear a lot of work was done to make this port as faithful as could be, and it stands out not just as a great port on a system known for some shoddy ones, but as a title that’s brimming with as much polish and quality to rival first-party Switch titles. Don’t ban Hero in Smash and don’t miss out on this game if you haven’t taken the plunge already!

#2 – Devil May Cry 5

The Devil May Cry franchise has had its share of ups and downs over the years. For every game that’s considered a success, you have another game that doesn’t quite measure up. For years many thought the franchise was dead in the water after the attempted reboot, DMC: Devil May Cry failed to grow its audience, but when Microsoft’s E3 2018 show revealed to us a new installment, fans were ecstatic. Devil May Cry 5 boasts crisp visuals, deep combat and trims the fat, removing the wonky platforming and puzzles of earlier games to create a high-octane action experience that ultimately exceeded fan expectations. Its storyline firmly plants Devil May Cry 4’s Nero as a main character in his own right, wraps up the story of the Sparda brothers neatly, and if this ended up being the last title in the series, I think it’s that rare ending that ends up being totally satisfying. Combat is the real draw here though, the game giving players three distinct characters to learn and master. Nero’s robotic Devil Breaker arms allow him a decent amount of variety, while having a balanced, beginner-friendly combat style for new players. Dante remains the king of variety, having more weapons than ever before combined with his signature style switching, though the game is actually designed with all these options in mind so he doesn’t end up breaking the game like he did in 4. Newcomer V ends up being a breath of fresh air, controlling up to three demonic summons at once, forcing players to really think more strategically. The music is incredible too; Nero’s own theme, Devil Trigger, has been stuck in my head since last year and I don’t see it leaving any time soon. All things considered, Devil May Cry 5 might be the best game in the franchise, and a worthy contender for game of the year personally. Now if only we had a special edition with Vergil and the ladies playable…

#1 - Fire Emblem: Three Houses

I got into the Fire Emblem series with Awakening and really liked it a lot, however Fates, the next installment, left a bad taste in my mouth. I couldn’t really get into Echoes, itself a remake of the second game in the series, and I began to wonder if this franchise was really for me. I was willing to give Three Houses a shot, but I was not prepared for the game to blow past all my expectations. Fire Emblem: Three Houses isn’t just a good game, it’s a game that’s redeemed a franchise that’s stumbled a bit in recent years, and it likely cements Fire Emblem as a core Nintendo franchise for years to come. It has class, depth and real heart...with only minor creepy or pervy elements! Making a grand return to home consoles after more than a decade on handhelds, it goes big and it ultimately paid off, on track to become the best-selling entry in the series. The school setting might seem weird at first, and I wondered how well I’d adjust to it, but being able to instruct your units and influence their growth in battle was worth the learning curve. Things are introduced slowly enough that the flow of the game becomes relatively easy to manage, if a bit time-consuming overall. With four distinct storylines you can explore, TONS of character interactions and some interesting tweaks to the strategic gameplay the series is known for, I’m confident in saying that Three Houses is well-worth a purchase for newcomers to the franchise. Divine Pulse is a great quality-of-life addition that lets you undo mistakes, rather than force you to start over from scratch, and overall the UI and layout of the game gives you enough information to make informed decisions without overwhelming you. Makes me wonder how we survived before the games showed us who enemies would target on their turns before now. Admittedly, some aspects of the progression have some issues, especially at endgame, and visually the game really is not up to par most of the time, but these end up being tiny blemishes in the long run for me. They certainly weren’t bad enough to prevent me from starting a new path the instant I finished my first route. If I have one request…just make Claude a gay option. Give the people what they want, Nintendo!

Honorable Mentions

I’d like to add on some honorable mentions here before we close things out, though most of these are things I didn’t even get a chance to play, but they certainly might have made this list. For one, Resident Evil 2 Remake seems like a high-quality reinterpretation of the survival-horror classic, but I can’t do horror so I’ll likely pass it up. It’s also for that reason that I might not get to Control but I might try jumping out of my comfort zone for that one. The confusion surrounding both The Other Worlds AND The Outer Wilds is funny, but they’re both space-based games I’d be keen on getting to at some point down the line; the former is a great Western RPG by the folks who made the GOOD Fallout games, while the latter is an interesting space-faring puzzler with some interesting mechanics I’d rather not spoil for those not more in-the-know. Indie titles Sayonara Wild Hearts and GRIS definitely caught my attention with their great visuals, and in the case of the former, its soundtrack, even if the gameplay wasn’t quite there for me, and the weird fighting-game-but-kinda-RPG that is Indivisible demands my attention sooner or later. Bloodstained is the Castlevania follow-up I keep forgetting is out, and I hear great things about Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. The team behind the Yakuza series recently made a spin-off of sorts, Judgment that hit the West this year and while I like the Yakuza series for its quirky tone and fun combat, there’s still six other games I’d have to sift through, so going with Judgment, which is set to possibly begin a new franchise, seems like a good alternative. And how could I forget the likes of Shovel Knight as we finally receive the last expansion that’s been years in the making? I haven’t touched the King of Cards expansion yet, but I have the upmost faith in anything Yacht Club makes, so that’s surely a game of the year contender. 2019 was crazy good! Glad to close the year out with so much quality, and tons of great stuff to add to the ever-growing backlog.

Hope you had some good gaming memories made this year!

-B

[miloscat]

[Review] Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (PS4)

I found Playtonic’s first effort a delight, and I was excited to see these characters return... doubly so for a somewhat DKC-inspired 2D romp!

Playtonic almost made it a point not to bring up the DKC comparison themselves. It’s natural for people’s minds to go there, though. Impossible Lair certainly draws on the history of its developers, not to mention Retro Studios’ Donkey Kong games, but brings plenty of its own ideas to the table as well.

The main thing that makes this not “just” a 2.5D sidescroller is the overworld segments, which recall the less-remarked-upon games in Playtonic’s legacy. Games like Conker’s Pocket Tales, or Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge—not to mention Sabre Wulf GBA, probably the closest comparison point in terms of structure. Between levels you’re isometrically exploring and interacting with a little connected world, albeit in a simpler fashion to this duo’s initial adventure. This is where the bulk of character interaction comes in, and I must say the  release of Dreamprism Press’s Kracklestone graphic novel was a well-timed complement in that area.

The overworld also houses hidden tonics which can change the play state in the levels. You can make things easier or more difficult by adding modifiers, which also will affect your quill total (the currency of the game), or many of them just have cosmetic effects. This customisation aspect is very welcome, especially because it can be changed even during a level.

But how is the 2D gameplay? I’m glad you asked, it’s great! Yooka and his buddy Laylee control very well, and once again with abilities suited to their characters. You can roll and grab certain objects with Yooka’s tongue, but having Laylee around expands your abilities, such as giving you a slightly gliding twirl and a slam attack. On taking a hit, Laylee flaps around for a bit much like Baby Mario in Yoshi’s Island, initiating a frantic rush to get her back. It’s merciful but risky, and just fun!

The levels display the chops of the team, and are a blast to play, full of challenges and setpieces. Plus, every single one has a modifier that is activated in the overworld, contextually changing the state of the level and offering up a new version with a twist, often with a radically different layout. All levels have five coins (conveniently numbered), which are a fun collectible, sometimes deviously hidden... except they’re actually mandatory for overworld progress. I didn’t mind this as I am a completionist anyway, but I know it was an issue for some people who preferred to just play the levels. Another thing I found I didn’t mind was that there weren’t any bosses... outside the Lair, that is.

Ah yes, the eponymous Lair. To finally get to the actual story, the game kind of starts in medias res with Capital B in a snazzy new outfit having deposed the wonderful new character Queen Phoebee from her rightful place in the Royal Stingdom. He set up shop in the Impossible Lair thanks to his mind control device (that only works on bees). The Lair is a long, very long, incredibly long, gruelling gauntlet—punctuated with boss phases against Capital B—that can be attempted at any point in the game. By completing other levels elsewhere, you rescue loyal bee warriors who will shield you during a Lair run, effectively giving you one extra hit each up to a total of 48. And you’ll need them.

Even with the full complement of bees, I found myself torn up with frustration  when attempting the Lair. A run can take a long time; the level of challenge and sheer length is unlike anything else in the game. Plus you can’t even use tonics in it. After finally conquering it I feel more kindly disposed to it and the game as a whole, but for a time it seemed insurmountable. I guess that’s the point?

Either way, Impossible Lair is an ambitious game but delivers an excellent 2.5D platforming experience, with the lovely added diversion of the isometric overworld, as well as expanding the world set up by the first game (not to mention answering a couple of lore questions along the way... yes, you will find out which half of Dr. Puzz is her natural body). There’s the occasional rough edge or typo, but the love and care shines through.