[Interview] Little Kitty, Big City game director on game design, development process, and cats (of course)
Posted on 1 year ago by Nicholas Serpa in Interviews, Switch eShop | 0 comments
One of the standout indie games we played at Summer Game Fest Play Days was Little Kitty, Big City, an exploration-driven game that was highlighted in a recent Nintendo Direct a while back (check out our new hands-on impressions here). It may be the first release from Double Dagger Studio, but it’s far from being the first project for game director Matt Wood, who’s contributed to numerous influential games released over the past twenty-five years. During our hands-on demo, we had the chance to chat with Matt about his experience developing Little Kitty, Big City, what made him want to make a game about a cat in the first place, and much more.
[Review] Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope – The Last Spark Hunter
Posted on 1 year ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release Date: June 21, 2023 (new DLC)
Developer: Ubisoft
Publisher: Ubisoft
2022’s Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope was an excellent evolution of its predecessor’s fast-paced, freeform strategy gameplay, and I’ve been eager to check out its DLC to have an excuse to play more of it. The Last Spark Hunter is significantly larger in scope than the run-based Tower of Dooom DLC from earlier this year, this time offering up a whole new planet to explore, a new antagonist, and even some new mechanics to shake up gameplay. But for players who have likely already sank dozens of hours into the base game, is the overall quality high enough to justify revisiting the world of Sparks of Hope?
More: DLC, highlight, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, top, Ubisoft
[Preview] Hands-on with Another Crab’s Treasure, an underwater Soulslike
Posted on 1 year ago by Nicholas Serpa in Previews, Switch eShop | 0 comments
Over the years, I’ve made a few attempts at the Soulslike genre – most notably via Bloodborne and the recent Demon’s Souls remake – but have yet to find one that I truly want to sink a lot of time into. I think it’s just a matter of preference, as I don’t have much patience for games that don’t respect the player’s time or are needlessly opaque and difficult – but at the same time, I love games with moderately challenging, strategic real-time combat. It’s why I was so curious to try out Another Crab’s Treasure at Summer Game Fest; finally, here’s a Soulslike game that seems purpose-built for relative genre newcomers like me. After going hands-on with the game, I think this could be the first Dark Souls-inspired game I actually complete.
More: Aggro Crab, Another Crab's Treasure, highlight, top
[Preview] Little Kitty, Big City could be the purr-fect game for cat-lovers
Posted on 1 year ago by Nicholas Serpa in Previews, Switch eShop | 0 comments
Anyone who owns a cat is probably well aware of how quickly they can turn from cuddly, loveable fluffballs into zooming creatures of chaos. While I can’t say I always understand why they feel compelled to, say, scratch at our brand-new barstools or knock over a cup of coffee that I just placed on the counter, perhaps the upcoming sandbox-exploration game Little Kitty, Big City will give me some answers, or at least let me empathize with them a bit more. I was able to play 45 minutes of Double Dagger Studio’s debut game at Summer Games Fest recently, and I’m already floored with it.
Capcom on decision to bring back Ghost Trick and how fans helped make it happen
Posted on 1 year ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
In an interview with Famitsu this week, original Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective director Shu Takumi and new producer Shingo Izumi discussed how the game’s recent return came to be.
You might be interested to learn that fans played a pretty big role in making the re-release possible. Aside from a petition that gained notable traction, Izuma said the title “ranked first on a list of games fans wanted remakes of, far ahead of the game in second place.” Yuki Kaji, who played Phoenix Wright in the Ace Attorney anime, also told Takumi at one point about how the mobile version no longer worked. That prompted Takumi to reach out to original producer Hironobu Takeshita, which “really became the start of everything.”
More: Capcom, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, highlight, top
[Let’s Talk] What are you playing? – July 2023
Posted on 1 year ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Let's Talk, Switch | 0 comments
A new month started up today. Now that we’re in July, we want to know what you’ve been playing.
Are you going through the recently-released ports of Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2 for Switch? Still playing Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom? No matter the case, let us know in the comments below.
Platformers shine in the June 2023 Nintendo Direct
Posted on 1 year ago by Tom in Features, Switch, Videos | 0 comments
The most recent Nintendo Direct sure had a ton of great announcements, but Sam wanted to take some time to highlight all the phenomenal looking platformers that were shown off in our latest video.
Many great games are on the horizon, highlighted by Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Sonic Superstars. The bizarre reality of a new 2D Mario and Sonic game releasing alongside each other in 2023 is something we can get behind. And speaking of Sonic, we can look forward to Penny’s Big Breakaway from the makers of Sonic Mania early next year.
More: highlight, Nintendo Direct, top
[Review] The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie
Posted on 1 year ago by Elias in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release Date: July 7, 2023
Developer: Falcom
Publisher: NIS America
Following the steady drip of titles from Falcom’s Legend of Heroes series, Trails into Reverie is the latest installment coming to western players. As before with Trails to Azure, our latest game is also interwoven into a storied timeline. This time, we’ll be following up after the events of Trails to Azure and the Great Twilight events of Trails of Cold Steel IV. With these stories being so connected, there are no ways to absolutely avoid spoilers for the previous games, but we’ll do the best we can in case this is your first introduction to the series. With this particular entry first launching in Japan, the Switch port will see the world of Zero/Azure in HD for the first time, and follow up almost immediately after the events of Trails of Cold Steel IV – the interwoven timeline for both lines of games finally converges, and both protagonist groups of Lloyd and Rean are joined by a third protagonist – the black-clad and mysteriously masked “C.”
So much Mario! (Nintendo Direct June 2023 discussion) | Nintendo Everything Refresh Ep. 058
Posted on 1 year ago by Nicholas Serpa in Podcast, Switch | 0 comments
Last week, the internet was graced with a jam-packed Nintendo Direct that revealed a ton of exciting games, especially for fans of Mario and friends. In this week’s episode of Nintendo Everything Refresh, join your hosts Nick, Dennis and Eli (who’s joining us for the first time!) as they break down all the big reveals from the direct, including Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Super Mario RPG, Pikmin 1 + 2 HD, and MUCH more!
[Preview] Hands-on with Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged
Posted on 1 year ago by Nicholas Serpa in Previews, Switch | 0 comments
2021’s Hot Wheels Unleashed was a huge surprise for fans of arcade racers and the die-cast toys alike; I had a great time with it when I reviewed it, even if I felt the game could have benefitted from tweaked vehicle handling and more variety overall. Now, two years later, developer Milestone is gearing up for the release of Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged on October 19, and I had an opportunity to check out an early build of the game at Summer Game Fest. While some of my critiques of the first game – like environmental variety – look like they may not be resolved at launch, I enjoyed some of the new mechanics and modes the team is adding this time around.
