Blending the rules of combat in The Legend of Bum-bo
The Legend of Bum-bois Edmund McMillen’s latest game, and right from the get-go it’s quite different from his past work. The mind behind The Binding of Isaac,Super Meat Boy, and The End is Nigh teamed up with developer James Interactive to create a roguelike that mixes puzzles, match-three elements, and deck-building.
It takes place in The Binding of Isaac’s universe starring Bumbo, a popular character from the franchise that is now trapped inside dozens of procedurally-generated cardboard rooms. But instead of shooting their way out, players have to gather resources to either attack, heal, or defend themselves by matching at least four elements alike on a grid-based board.
Gamasutra spoke with the team to find out how this combat system came together, and exactly how much iteration it took to strike the fine balance between these different genres.
“It’s mostly a mashup of games like Puzzle Quest and Plants Vs. Zombies spun in a way that makes it feel fresh and new,” McMillen explains to Gamasutra. “I took that foundation and pushed Isaac in as much as I could as far as resources structure, theme and RNG elements”
From the beginning, the influence of McMillen’s past work makes itself clear in The Legend of Bum-bo. Gathering poo creates a defense line in one of the three main rows from where enemies slowly make their way to Bumbo. Pee, for instance, grants an extra move, while bones and teeth are used to inflict damage.
There’s also hearts that heal your character and boogers to incapacitate an enemy for one whole turn. On top of the basics, there are several Bumbos to unlock, each with their own set of skills by default, which can be triggered after gathering enough resources for each mentioned element.
Shops and casino roulettes await players after defeating the area boss, along with occasional skills to choose from in between levels. Despite everything, the game demands for strategy and patience with its turn-based pace. Interactive adds that “the mechanics came out of a lot of trial and error with trying to make a dungeon crawler and a match game [that could] give us the same feeling as Magic: The Gathering.”
During the early days in development, the team spent 8 months working on elements that were more in pair with The Binding of Isaac, in order to offer players a break between puzzles. This included traps, NPCs, secret rooms, ambushes, and much more. But the team felt these additions bogged the game down significantly.
“It felt really counter intuitive once we had more stuff in place, and I just made a really hard call to remove it all [in order] to allowThe Legend of Bum-bo to really become more of what I felt it wanted to be: a pure puzzle strategy game,” McMillen says. “I’m super happy we did it.”
For Interactive, it was a puzzle in itself to figure out how to separate everything into phases, similar to a board game. “As we went along, we had to re-engineer how turns would play out to allow room for item abilities, passive abilities, enemy actions, and general flow.”
Despite this, outside of sketches and the chosen art style,The Legend of Bum-bo didn’t undergo the board game treatment during the prototyping. According to McMillen, it did inspire him to work on Four Souls, Isaac’s card game. “In a sense, all of it was born from pen and paper. It’s the first game where the design document was made 30 years prior to development,” Interactive adds.
McMillen spent almost a decade iterating and adding content to The Binding of Isaac, but having to start anew after spending so long in the same universe led to different and interesting feedback from the community.
Among its community, The Legend of Bum-bo is considered a rather accessible game, which is also becoming appealing to folks that aren’t hardcore fans of the developer’s past work. McMillen answers by saying that “I never go in aiming to appeal to anyone. I just wanted to make a puzzle game with match elements that was tied into a roguelike structure and had lots of unique item interactions to go with it… and the core mechanic happened to be a casual theme”. He adds that he considers it his most accessible game to date, but it wasn’t intentional.
From Interactive’s perspective, the game immediately appeals to a more casual audience because its mechanics come together to create a completely new experience, pushing back against the preconceptions of more experienced players. “Hardcore gamers and casual gamers are on similar ground. Casual or inexperienced players might even have a leg up since they have different expectations out of the game than someone who’s played thousands of hours ofThe Binding of Isaac.”
Back in 2015, deck-building wasn’t as present as it is now around roguelites, so the project had fewer sources of inspiration. Later on, Slay The Spire helped to make a lot of the tuning decisions, but it wasn’t until Dicey Dungeons introduced itself as one that the studio chose this subgenre. “It just seemed like the best way to sum up what we were selling,” McMillen tells us. Meanwhile, Interactive tried to stay away from similar games, but attributes the dungeon crawler aesthetics to his love for Tunnels of Doom as a kid.
Looking at the current state of the subgenre, McMillen says that there are old designs he would like to explore in the future which bring a “random deckbuilder” element into the mix. ‘This could be interesting, but if I explained how someone would beat me to it.’
The Legend of Bum-bo was a challenge due to McMillen’s own experiences as well, since it was the first time he worked on a 3D mix of strategy and puzzle. He considers the latter to be boring to make, as he’s used to developing action games that are fun within a day or two.
“Puzzle games are super hard to design mostly due to the fact that they aren’t fun until every element of the design is in place. With The Legend of Bum-bo, I was kind of going in blind, but i’m extremely happy with the end product. It can feel crushing to be working on a game for months or years and not have fun testing it because not all of its pieces are connect yet. I had to just have a great deal of faith in my work to see it through, and it paid off in the end. But I was worried for a while.”
McMillen adds that his only current issue with the game is feeling like he’s only just scratching the surface with regards to what his blueprint can achieve. As such, he’s interested in making DLC further down the line to try and evolve and refine the design.
“I’d like to see more games where game verbs are defamiliarized by gameplay from other game genres. I feel like it better communicates things like stats and chance than percentages, bonuses and leveling,” Interactive says, adding that he’s glad to have helped McMillen to try something he probably wouldn’t have done without him.
“If you thought action roguelites were a nightmare to get right, try deckbuilding puzzle roguelites. It’s like the Dark Souls of video game development. Do kids even say that anymore?”
Feature: Game Of The Decade – The Best Games On Nintendo Systems 2010-2019
Happy New Year everyone! As the 21st century passes from its teens into its twenties, we’ve been looking back over the last ten years in the video game industry. It’s been quite the rollercoaster journey for Nintendo in particular, riding the highs of the Wii and DS period through the trials of the Wii U and 3DS era right up to the success of Nintendo Switch. As developers continue to push the boundaries of the medium things are only going to get better, and with the dawn of a new console generation and so much variety available across all consoles, it’s a truly exciting time to be playing and sharing video games.
We asked you lovely people to rate your favourite games of the past decade on Nintendo consoles and your ratings have created the following ranked selection of the very best games of the decade. Remember, even after publication this list remains malleable and will change to reflect the User Ratings of Nintendo Life readers, so don’t worry if you forgot to rate your favourites. Simply head to the corresponding game page, hover over the Game Rating star and click to score your chosen title.
Enough talk, let’s take a walk through your Nintendo console Games of the Decade 2010-2019…
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: HAL Laboratory
Release Date: 10th Jun 2016 (USA) / 10th Jun 2016 (UK/EU)
Building on the solid foundation of Kirby: Triple Deluxe, this is a game where the pink ball can transform into Mech Kirby. We’d have probably scribbled that in the design doc, given ourselves a pat on the back and gone down the pub for a celebratory pint, but HAL surrounds this central idea with brilliantly designed worlds, trademark rainbow visuals and enough charming moments to make Kirby: Planet Robobot the finest 3DS outing for The Most Powerful Video Game Character Of Them All™ (as confirmed by Super Smash Bros. Ultimate). We always knew he was more than candyfloss with a face.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo Software Technology
Splatoon 2 is just about everything you could ask for from a sequel. It builds on everything the original online team shooter set up and then some; almost every single major issue people had with the first game has been resolved, showing that Nintendo is genuinely listening and wants to deliver the absolute best experience possible. It maintains the freshness you’d expect and throws in countless big and small changes and additions, every one of them for the better. Splatoon 2 is simply ink-redible.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Retro Studios
Release Date: 21st Nov 2010 (USA) / 3rd Dec 2010 (UK/EU)
Donkey Kong Country Returns is almost the perfect continuation of Rare’s Donkey Kong Country series in many ways. Retro Studios managed to offer the perfect balance of old and new elements to to create one of Wii’s finest platforming experiences and a game that should challenge even seasoned platforming fans. The main game itself is easily enough to make it worth your time, but figuring in the massive amount of replay value makes it an even more appealing package. Of course, this was the foundation for the wonderful follow-up Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, but if you’ve only played that entry it’s still well worth tracking down a copy of Donkey Kong Country Returns on Wii (or the excellent 3DS port).
SteamWorld Dig 2 is another confident effort from Image & Form, and a worthy successor to the original. Stylish and good-looking, it also has the series’ trademark humour and, yes, a pretty good soundtrack. It refines and expands upon the qualities of SteamWorld Dig and hits some delicious high points. Whether you played the first game or not, SteamWorld Dig 2 is a must-have – its charming aesthetic and cast set the scene for a tightly designed and clever exploration game.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Game Freak
Release Date: 7th Oct 2012 (USA) / 12th Oct 2012 (UK/EU)
Those who brushed Pokémon Black and White 2 off as simply more of the same at the time were sorely mistaken. On a superficial level the Pokémon games have not changed much, and for good reason; the foundation that was placed way back in Pokémon Red and Blue was incredibly solid and engaging from the off. By adding more around it and tweaking things under the hood, the series has grown far beyond its humble monochromatic origins even if the pace of change is a little more glacial than some would like. The naming of these entries, their status as the first ‘direct’ sequels in the franchise, and the fact that they weren’t being released on the then-new 3DS console arguably did these games a disservice and masked their greatness. Make no mistake though, these are two of the finest games in the series.
Publisher: Capcom / Developer: Capcom
Release Date: 13th Feb 2015 (USA) / 13th Feb 2015 (UK/EU)
Monster Hunter: World has done the business on other platforms and attracted a far broader audience than ever before to a series that already enthused a sizeable playerbase, especially in the east. The Monster Hunter games have always required a big investment and many fans insist the ‘traditional’ grind and other franchise foibles are necessary to the ‘authentic’ Monster Hunter experience. Crafting items from the enormous beasts you’ve taken down can be hugely rewarding, and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is possibly the best of the ‘classic style’ – the best way to find out if you’ve got the bug for the series. Although Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate works on an original model 3DS, we’d recommend playing on a New 3DS for camera control and a better framerate. Lovely.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 4th Mar 2016 (USA) / 4th Mar 2016 (UK/EU)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD is an excellent addition to the Wii U library. We do acknowledge that it’s a series entry that has its critics, with them often citing a lack of revolution from the Ocarina of Time template, in particular. Those that feel that way have little incentive to revisit it on Wii U, but it certainly feels that it stands on its own as an accomplished game – opinions, when it comes to a series as immersive and demanding as The Legend of Zelda, are everything. Beyond that, what we have here is an attractive remaster with some nice additions, encompassing improved controls, visuals and enjoyable extras for fans. It’s a deep, involving 30+ hour adventure, which draws the player in with plenty of honesty and soul; we’re certainly glad this one has come to light.
Publisher: ConcernedApe / Developer: ConcernedApe
Release Date: 5th Oct 2017 (USA) / 5th Oct 2017 (UK/EU)
Stardew Valley offers its players a chance to live a second life – one where you can forget the troubles of the real world and get excited over finding a particularly rare carrot. It is a truly magical experience; games can often be enjoyable but they don’t all manage to be as captivating as this. This is the sort of game that ideally requires a significant amount of time to be invested; the enjoyment doesn’t necessarily come from the day-to-day actions you perform, but rather from the general growth of pride, satisfaction, and sense of security as the days go by. Fans of games such as Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing will be right at home here and, for those who aren’t, there is a decent chance this game might just surprise you.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Monolith Soft
Release Date: 4th Dec 2015 (USA) / 4th Dec 2015 (UK/EU)
Xenoblade Chronicles X is sprawling, diverse, complex and entrancing. It utilises the Wii U’s capabilities not only to produce a beautiful world, but shows how something as simple as a map on the GamePad screen can be invaluable. What’s most impressive is the dynamism and impression of freedom in play – level caps and grinding are naturally part of the equation, yet they’re managed within a structure where even small missions or Affinity quests greatly enhance the narrative and sense of place. To truly experience the story of this human colony and the vast planet Mira requires exploration and patience, and Monolith Soft has found an impressive balance in bringing its vast range of gameplay systems and mechanics together. Occasional bottlenecks are infrequent and easily overcome in the broader experience, and overall Xenoblade Chronicles X delivers a hugely impressive RPG adventure. It’s an enormous accomplishment for Monolith Soft and an irresistible part of the Wii U library.
Another technical marvel, quite how Monster Games fit Monolith Soft’s 3D epic onto a tiny handheld is still something of a mystery. The second screen meant most of the Wii original’s HUD gubbins could be shifted to the bottom screen, but the scope of Xenoblade Chronicles 3D’s world meant it was restricted to running only on the updated ‘New’ 3DS models. It was never going to beat the Wii version in a beauty pageant but having it on a handheld gave busy gamers a better shot at seeing everything this brilliant 100-hour action RPG has to offer, and that’s as true today as it was in 2015.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 01-02-2020, 09:27 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Best Buy Is Practically Begging People To Buy Starlink: Battle For Atlas
Starlink: Battle for Atlas didn't exactly fly off the shelves when it released in 2018. Late to the toys-to-life trend, Ubisoft's spaceship shooter retailed for a whopping $75. Yes, it came with a customizable toy spaceship that attached to controllers, but the price likely deterred many from trying it out. Battle for Atlas' price has predictably plummeted, and right now Best Buy is practically begging customers to clear its remaining stock of the starter pack for Switch.
For a measly $6, you can take home the starter pack, which comes with the game, Fox McCloud's Arwing ship, a Fox figurine, a couple of Arwing attachments, and a poster. The Switch version even has an exclusive Star Fox mission and comes with a digital version of the Zenith starship. Amazon was matching Best Buy's price, but it sold out pretty quickly.
Here's the thing: Starlink isn't a bad game. In fact, it's pretty fun, and the Switch version is the best of the bunch because of the Star Fox crossover. In GameSpot's Starlink: Battle for Atlas review, writer James O'Connor praised the game's ship combat and Star Fox content but wasn't a fan of the repetitive objectives.
Ubisoft did an admirable job of making Fox's appearance feel like a genuine part of the story. If you want, you can even pretend that Battle for Atlas is a Star Fox game. Please make a new (preferably good) Star Fox game, Nintendo.
Best Buy's offer is only good for pickup in-store, so you will actually have to tell a Best Buy employee that you're there to pick up Starlink. Even if you end up not liking the game, you'll still have Fox's Arwing. I personally think the ship alone is worth the price of admission.
December 2019 in review: Apple releases the long awaited new Mac Pro
The Mac Pro and the Pro Display XDR dominated December, but there was also possibly, just possibly, an end to the year-long issues with China.
Apple’s Mac Pro at WWDC 2019
Buyers had barely got their hands on the new 16-inch MacBook Pro when suddenly it was December and all eyes were on how Apple was bringing out the Mac Pro. Yet before you could dismiss the MacBook Pro as last month’s news, some of those new buyers were finding fault with their machine. Overall the reviews and hands-on pieces that continued into December were overwhelmingly positive, but there was this one issue about sound.
If you were using certain applications such as Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X or just any app that played audio, you might hear a popping noise. It would appear immediately after you’ve stopped playing, but also cropped up for some people as they scrubbed through audio and video files.
Apple’s new 16-inch MacBook Pro
Apple confirmed that this was a software bug and that it was working on fixing it.
As AppleInsider pointed out, though, Apple has some history with this popping or sometimes clicking sound. We could trace back similar issues to even 2007, when Apple had to update the then-current OS X Tiger.
But come December 10, 2019, the superb new 16-inch MacBook Pro was eclipsed somewhat by the superb and costly new Mac Pro.
About that cost
The Mac Pro was the biggest Apple news all month, but it isn’t in any danger of eclipsing other products in the Mac line. It simply isn’t aimed at the majority of users. Surely no one was looking at their Mac mini and planning a tiny upgrade to the Mac Pro.
That’s not in any way to say that Apple was aiming at the wrong market, rather to explicitly say that it was aiming at a particular one. AppleInsider had already talked to potential buyers about their reasons. And as disparate as they all were, they were each desperate for the power that this machine was due to bring.
Then it’s not that anyone is going to casually drop the $5,999 base price for the Mac Pro, it’s that there are users for whom even the cost of the highest-spec model was financially worth it.
We all went to Apple’s Build to Order page, got out PCalc on our iPhones, and totted up that you could spend around $53,000 on a Mac Pro. That was the maximum on launch day, and since then further storage options have been added.
In late-December, the most you can spend on a Mac Pro is $53,948, and there are still more graphics card options to come. Plus the regular base model is at some point going to be joined by one that’s built to be rack-mounted. That will start at $6,499 or a further $500.
Ultimately the price is easily going to crack $55,000 and still we’re going to say that’s worth it. Even if you then have to drop $5,999 for the Pro Display XDR and a grand more for the stand.
From the moment the base price and configuration were announced, there were people who wanted much higher specifications and a much, much, much lower price, please. More reasonably, there were people arguing that the equivalent Windows workstations were cheaper. But, they aren’t.
You could spec out an equivalent Windows PC —and we did —and you could examine the specifications of what we called the “fantastically fast” new Mac Pro.
Or you could ask buyers. The UK’s Lunar Animation studio, for instance, has had both the Mac Pro and a Pro Display XDR for the weeks when it was working on the film “Jumanji: The Next Level.”
Enthused by how the Mac Pro revolutionized their workflow compared to the iMac Pro machines they had previously been using, still the company zeroes in on the display as the true game-changer.
“It essentially meant that we now had a reference monitor in the studio,” continued the firm. “As a smaller studio without 30k to drop on a monitor, it’s allowed us to see exactly what the final deliverable looked like as it was intended to go to the client.”
Even if you can’t justify dropping the cash that would otherwise get you a high-spec Tesla Model 3 car, though, the work that Apple did on the Mac Pro is significant.
The sheer incredible speed that it offers us now will also increase over time as hardware and software engineers exploit the features of the new Mac Pro.
A rack-mounted Mac Pro seen during testing
Apple stuck to its word about making this machine the best Mac ever, and it stuck to its promise of making it modular.
It just didn’t entirely stick to the idea that every Mac Pro would be made in Texas.
If you’re in the US, then then the Mac Pro you order will be assembled at the plant in Texas. But if you’re outside the US, the machine you get is likely to have been assembled in China.
China again
Barely a minute has gone by all year without China being an issue for Apple. Right from January, we had Apple reporting falling profits there, and throughout the months since, the US and China have been in a trade dispute.
What we learned about Apple’s profits in China this month was that nobody knows what’s going on —except that the game continues.
It’s a different situation with trade tensions and tariffs, though. It’s premature to say that all of this was utterly and finally resolved in December, but it was at least eased.
A further round of increased tariffs that would have affected the iPhone, iPad and Mac were dropped in the middle of the month as the two nations struck a trade deal.
The Pro Display XDR
That didn’t stop Tim Cook being continually pressed on the topic. In December, he visited Japan and while there, was asked about the whole issue of why Apple products are made where they are.
“The glass on this iPhone is made by Corning in Kentucky,” he said to the Nikkei Asian Review. “Several of the semiconductors in the iPhone are made in the United States. There’s enormous manufacturing happening in the US, just not the assembly of the final product.”
“The way that we do manufacturing is we look at all countries and look to see what skills are resident in each country, and we pick the best,” he said.
Worldwide
Apple is truly a worldwide company in terms of manufacturing and the supply chain, but it’s also a global sales operation.
In December 2019, we learned that it’s Apple that dominates the entire planet-wide wearable technology market, specifically because of the Apple Watch and AirPods.
You already know that in almost five years since it was announced, the Apple Watch has become an overnight sensation. But this device, which never gets as much mention as the iPhone or now even as much as Apple TV+, is even bigger than you think.
That’s still not as much as the iPhone continues to earn. It’s estimated that Apple earned some 66%, or two thirds, of the entire smartphone market’s profits in 2019.
Note that this figure is specifically profits, and it amounts to something in the order of $8 billion. It’s not the number of phones sold, as it’s easily arguable that assorted Android handsets outsell the iPhone.
However, for all the devices it may have sold, or at least shipped, Samsung reportedly only took 17% of the market’s profits. Significantly, that puts Samsung in second place. That’s how far ahead Apple is.
That was then, this is now
The Apple that is now headed into 2020 is a rather different company than the one it was a year ago. In this last year, we’ve had huge services launched —Apple Card, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and Apple News+ —and we’ve seen a revamp of how the company even presents its news.
With all of these services in place, it’s going to be interesting to see if 2020 sees Apple returning to a more familiar pattern of events that are centered on hardware.
We’ll be crossing fingers that hardware updates will include a 13-inch MacBook Pro with that new keyboard. We’ll be counting on September 2020’s “iPhone 12” featuring 5G.
And we’ll brace ourselves for yet more global concerns that are far less technological and much more political. Such as Apple Maps, which should’ve rounded out 2019 in some triumph as the greater detailed updates now cover the entire US. But instead, it got embroiled in a debacle over the Crimea Peninsula, and specifically who that territory belongs to.
Politics, legal issues, and more episodes of “The Morning Show.” Apple never stops.
Review: Rush Rally 3 – A Cheap And Cheerful Rally Racer
Rush Rally 3 is a pleasant surprise. Mobile racers that promise ‘console-quality’ graphics and performance rarely deliver on such lofty promises, but in this case, developer BrownMonster mostly pulls it off. It’s a solid rally game that delivers surprisingly authentic 60FPS gameplay and throws in a boatload of modes and customisation options to keep you busy.
Featuring a Career Mode as its main ‘campaign’, Rush Rally 3 boasts dozens of different tracks to race on, along with various weather effects and a day/night cycle. You’ll start off by purchasing your initial car, then work your way up the ranks, gaining prize money in the process to buy more and more cars. If the Career Mode isn’t necessarily for you, you can also jump straight into Single Rallys, or go up against AI opponents in Rally Cross.
There’s quite a lot to tinker with off the track, too. In an effort to be as authentic as possible, your cars can be inflicted with crippling damage that will often require repairs in order to function properly. If this sounds a bit too deep for some players, the game features a handy ‘auto repair’ option that largely removes this responsibility. Alongside this, you can purchase upgrades like new wheels, transmission, exhausts and more, and also customise the look of your vehicles with paint and decals.
Despite everything it does right, Rush Rally 3 does stumble along the way, particularly in the graphics department. This isn’t a good-looking game, unfortunately; there’s no getting around that. The visuals are GameCube level at best, and we’ve no doubt that this can be vastly improved for future games without compromising on performance. Elsewhere, the menu system can be a tad confusing for newcomers, and the customisation screen, in particular, is a bit of a nightmare to navigate.
Veteran rally gamers may also have an issue with the game’s overall difficulty. It’s incredibly easy for the most part, even with all the assists turned off. Nevertheless, whilst the game won’t compete with rally behemoths like Dirt Rally 2.0, Rush Rally 3 is a great alternative that won’t break the bank, yet offers an authentic take on the sport that newcomers will really appreciate.
Feature: Our Most Anticipated Nintendo Switch Games Of 2020
2020. Twenty-twenty – the future. There’s something about that number which sounds impossibly advanced to anybody born in the 20th century, but we’re almost there. By now we were supposed to be wearing silver jumpsuits, piloting flying cars and ingesting nutrient pellets in place of food, but it seems we can’t even get hoverboards right. What’s going on?
Still, we are living through a golden era of video games. There’s never been such a wide range of different gaming experiences available across platforms, and Nintendo is part of the gaming vanguard with Switch and the way it dovetails beautifully with our gaming habits as we enter the third decade of the 21st century. Even if you argue that things were better back in the day, retro enthusiasts enjoy a multitude of ways to play the classics these days and the sheer accessibility, variety and quality of video games available is staggering.
With Nintendo in a fantastic position with Switch and Switch Lite, and with some big-name games on the horizon, the gaming future is looking rather rosy, too. Below we’ve collected the Switch games that we’re most looking forward to in the coming year, in more-or-less release order. We’ll need some luck to see the last couple on the list launch in 2020, but let us dream, hmm?
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 3rd Jan 2020 (UK/EU)
Kicking 2020 off with an old friend, the doctor is back when the imaginatively titled Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training for Nintendo Switch schedules an appointment in early January. Having spent so many hours on DS working through the polygonal practitioner’s puzzles, we’re eager to see if our brain has aged along with the rest of us over the past few years.
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Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Atlus
Release Date: 17th Jan 2020 (USA) / 17th Jan 2020 (UK/EU)
One of the Wii U ports we wanted to see make the jump to Switch, we didn’t hold out too much hope. Fortunately, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore should help spread appreciation for the original’s quirky mash up of the Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem series beyond those few who played it on Nintendo’s previous console. Anyone who did play the original found an engrossing, off-the-wall showbiz tale with a dusting of Fire Emblem favourites, and we’re itching to see how it holds up on Switch.
Publisher: Oddworld Inhabitants
Release Date: Jan 2020 (USA) / Jan 2020 (UK/EU)
The HD version of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath originally released 10 years ago, 5 years after the initial launch on Xbox. The series creator has had some mixed feelings over the years when it comes to Nintendo, but we’re delighted to see Stranger’s Wrath make its way to Switch and we’ll be checking it out in January to see how it compares to our memories of the original.
As you might have twigged from the subtitle, Darksiders Genesis is a top-down hack-and-slash prequel to the Darksiders Trilogy. It’s out on PC and Stadia as we speak, but the console version arrives in February 2020 – presumably benefiting from post-launch tweaks and patches from the other versions.
What has us excited, though, is the fact that Airship Syndicate is developing this entry in the series. When Vigil Games – the developer of the first two Darksiders titles – closed down, most of the staff found their way to either Gunfire Games (who developed Darksiders III) or Airship Syndicate (responsible for the thoroughly enjoyable Battle Chasers: Nightwar), so we’re intrigued to see they can do with their old IP.
Developer: SNK
Release Date: Q1 2020 (USA) / Q1 2020 (UK/EU)
There’s no shortage of excellent fighters on Switch, but there’s always room for more and the heritage of this one has us most excited to put it through its paces on Nintendo’s hybrid console. Samurai Shodown released on other consoles this year to positive reviews, and the Switch version is already available in Japan. We here in the west have to wait until Q1 2020 to jump in, and we can’t wait to see if this Switch port can live up to the other great ports we’ve seen on the console.
SpongeBob is 20. Take a moment and let that soak in…
Back? Yes, everyone’s favourite absorbent, yellow and porous undersea resident SpongeBob SquarePants is returning to consoles in remade form for SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated. The original 3D platformer was from the GameCube/PS2/Xbox era and is generally remembered fondly. With games like New Super Lucky’s Tale and Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, we’ve seen a mini-renaissance of quality platformers in the classic-style mould, but there’s always room for more. Assuming developer Purple Lamp Studios can serve up a quality platforming patty, we’re looking forward to tucking in.
Publisher: 4J Studios Ltd. / Microsoft Studios / Developer: Mojang
Release Date: Apr 2020 (USA) / Apr 2020 (UK/EU)
It’s Minecraft, but without the crafting. That might sound like a very strange idea, but we’re intrigued to see how Minecraft works as a relaxed dungeon crawler. The game’s being developed in Unreal Engine 4, so we’re expecting great things from the Switch version – we’ll find out how it holds up in April.
Trials of Mana, a fantastic Japan-only Super Famicom RPG known as Seiken Densetsu 3, only recently received an official localisation and release in the west as part of the excellent Collection of Mana Switch release. As a sequel to Secret of Mana, it was always likely to be good, but such was the quality of the game and the localisation that we’re gagging to play it again in its remade, reimagined form.
Publisher: Atlus / Developer: Atlus
Release Date: TBA
When Joker was announced for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, we all assumed that Persona 5 would be coming to Switch. After all, it released on the PlayStation 3, so it’s tough to argue that the Switch would struggle to run the game. However, while P5 is getting an updated release with Persona 5 Royal on PS4, there’s still no sign of that acclaimed game heading Switchwards.
Instead, we’re getting a hack and slash Dynasty Warriors crossover in the form of Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers. It’s out in Japan in February, with a western release to follow. While it might not be the game we were hoping for, we’ve seen some excellent Warriors crossovers in the form of Fire Emblem Warriors and Hyrule Warriors, and this could be an equally tasty mash up, so while we’ll keep hoping for Atlus to bring Persona 5 proper to Nintendo’s console, we’re intrigued to see what Omega Force has in store. Love that Joker.
Originally scheduled for 2019, this slipped into 2020 with the Switch version coming at some undefined later date following id Software’s 20th March launch on other consoles. Perhaps the Venn diagram of Animal Crossing and DOOM players had too much crossover so id pushed DOOM Eternal back?
While the delay is disappointing, we’d rather DOOM Eternal on Switch spent a little more time in the oven and didn’t come out until it’s absolutely ready. Panic Button’s Switch version of DOOM (2016) was one of the first ‘miracle’ ports we saw on the system, and with this sequel having been developed with full awareness needing it to scale down to Switch’s mobile chipset, we’re confident that this will be worth the wait and should be more than a match for its hellish predecessor.
Publisher: DotEmu
Release Date: 2020 (USA) / 2020 (UK/EU)
We’re huge fans of the original Streets of Rage trilogy, so the fact that Guard Crush Games and DotEmu are bringing back Axel, Blaze and Adam for a fourth outing fills us with excitement and just a touch of trepidation. Still, from everything we’ve seen so far, the care, attention and sheer love that’s being poured into Streets of Rage 4 is hugely encouraging and we cannot wait to head out onto the streets once more and deliver some grand justice to the Galsias and Donovans roaming the neighbourhood.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Monolith Soft
Release Date: 2020 (USA)
If there’s one genre where the poor old Switch is really struggling, it’s role-playing games. Truly, there are so few quality RPGs on the system that it’s tough to—
Hang on, that’s not right. Switch is positively swimming in excellent RPGs. Still, the more the merrier and Xenoblade Chronicles is a particularly fine example of the genre, so we’re psyched to see the Definitive Edition joining its sequel on the system. Who doesn’t love a big sword?
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: PlatinumGames
Release Date: TBA (USA) / TBA (UK/EU)
Okay, we’ve seen next to nothing of the Umbra Witch in 2019, not even at E3, so it’s about time we get a serious dose of Bayonetta’s trademark sass and sizzle. To be fair, we did get Platinum Games’ excellent Astral Chain last year – one of the best Switch surprises of 2019 – but the lady with the magical hair has been uncharacteristically quiet for too long. 2020 is her year, surely?
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Retro Studios
Release Date: TBA (USA) / TBA (UK/EU)
Hmm, okay now we’re starting to get a little optimistic. Having been scrapped and restarted at the beginning of last year, with veteran Metroid Prime team Retro Studios now at the helm, we’d love to see this filling in the Holiday 2020 window on Nintendo’s release schedule. While that might be wishful thinking (Retro was advertising for an Art Director for the game as late as June 2019), we do expect to see more info on Metroid Prime 4 this year, though – and after the false start, Nintendo knows it’ll have to deliver something truly special and we can’t wait to scan every morsel they send our way this year.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 2021 (USA)
In a similar vein to Metroid Prime 4, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that we see The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 release in 2020. It is, after all, building on the framework and tech already laid out by its predecessor, and it has been in development for some time now. Still, it’s rare for Nintendo to rush when it comes to its flagship franchises – one of the reasons why we’ll be playing Animal Crossing in 2020 and not right now – but who can say. Right now, Nintendo has no other obvious candidate for a big Holiday 2020 release, but who can say what the next Nintendo Direct will bring.
Whatever happens, we can expect more information on the next Zelda game. 2020 is shaping up to be very interesting indeed, and we can’t wait to see what else Nintendo has up its sleeve.
Those are the games that we’re looking forward to in 2020, but what are yours? Let us know what you’re excited for with a comment in the usual place.
Last Chance To Snag This Free Game In GOG's Winter Sale Finale
GOG's winter sale is winding down, but the digital retailer has a post-holiday surprise for PC gamers. From now until January 1 at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET, tactical RPG Tower of Time is free at GOG. All you need to do to claim the freebie is create a free GOG account.
Developed by Event Horizon, Tower of Time is an isometric RPG that blends fantasy with science fiction in a post-apocalyptic setting. It has a rather interesting setup, as you play as the main character during only the first section of the game. After the introduction, the protagonist sits takes the throne atop of the eponymous tower and watches and influences the group of champions that explore down below.
While you start off with just two champions, you'll eventually have seven characters--each with their own distinct class and skills--to choose from when assembling your party. Tower of Time's combat takes place in real-time, but it can be slowed down and even paused. Success hinges on planning your moves in advance.
Though Tower of Time has a story that reacts to your decisions, you can move through the roughly 50-hour adventure much faster by playing in the combat-focused RPGlite mode. For those who like tough challenges, permadeath is an option.
Talking Point: Astral Chain Proved That New IP Can Still Succeed In 2019
In this series of end-of-year features, we’re summing up some of 2019’s biggest talking points.
Just as Hollywood studios will bank on a beloved franchise rather than take a risk on the unknown, video game publishers are becoming increasingly reliant on established series when it comes to raking in the cash.
Juggernauts such as FIFA, Grand Theft Auto, Assassin’s Creed, Zelda, Mario and many, many more are tentpole names upon which millions and millions of dollars are lavished each year, with the creators safe in the knowledge that the outlay will be recouped without too much bother, thanks to the pre-existing fanbase.
Therefore, taking a punt on a brand-new IP is a gamble that many publishers are reluctant to even consider, which is what made the critical and commercial success of PlatinumGames’ 2019 Switch hit Astral Chain all the more encouraging; it was a brand-new franchise from a studio which has plenty of existing IP it can use. Instead, PlatinumGames (and Nintendo, which published the title) took a chance and duly reaped the rewards.
Granted, Astral Chain built on the good work seen in other PlatinumGames titles, but its mix of detective drama and thrilling, combo-heavy action (using every button on the Switch to boot) made it a stand-out hit; so much so, in fact, that the Nintendo Life team voted it the game of the year.
It doesn’t always turn out as well as it did with Astral Chain; Switch’s other big new IP in 2019 – Daemon X Machina – was merely good rather than great, but we’re still glad that the console was capable of hosting these fresh new AAA experiences. Hopefully, 2020 will offer similar surprises alongside the established ‘old guard’ of big-name franchises.
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Stays Top Of US Box Office
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker continues to dominate the US box office, with a second weekend at No.1. The final part of the Skywalker Saga made an estimated $72 million over the past three days, bringing its US total to $361 million across 10 days since release. While this is slightly less than its predecessor, 2017's The Last Jedi, at the same stage, the gap between the two movies has closed considerably since the week of release. Worldwide, The Rise of Skywalker has made $725 million so far.
The comedy sequel Jumanji: The Next Level held onto second place after three weeks since release. The movie, which stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, and Karen Gillan, made an estimated $35.3 million, and to date has grossed $175 million in the US and $472 million worldwide. It remains to be seen if the movie will top its 2017 predecessor's massive $962 million worldwide gross, but in any case, it remains an impressive result.
Director Greta Gerwig's new adaptation of Little Women was the week's highest new entry at No.3. The film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, and Florence Pugh, and made an impressive $16.5 million over three days. The movie opened on Christmas Day, and with the extra two days, its total so far is $29 million. While it's not surprising that an acclaimed movie appealing to a different audience to Star Wars and Jumanji has done well, as Box Office Mojo states, that five day total is way ahead of Sony's own $16-17 million prediction.
The rest of the box office Top 10 remains much the same as last week. Frozen II fell to No. 4, with a $4.6 million take bringing its total to $421 million in the US and an incredible $1.21 billion worldwide. The animated movie Spies in Disguise, Knives Out, and Uncut Gems all held onto the No. 5-7 slots, while the musical flop Cats rose one place to No. 8 in its second week of release. The dramas Bombshell and Richard Jewell complete the chart at No. 9 and 10.
Here are the December 27-29 US box office estimates (via Box Office Mojo):
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker $72,000,000
This is Your Pocket Tactics Reader’s Choice Game of the Year 2019
By Admin31 Dec 2019
The results are in, the votes have been counted, I’ve taken a nap and now we’re ready to reveal to you the 2019 Pocket Tactics Reader’s Choice Game of the Year! There was a clear winner again, but a surprising number of you also didn’t like the look of any of this year’s top games, which is interesting.
But without further ado, here is this year’s victor. Drum roll please.
And the winner is…
Best Mobile Game 2019 – Star Traders: Frontiers
As much as I really like Star Traders: Frontiers, I wasn’t expecting it to be the most popular game amongst the readers, not by the margin it got anyway. STF pulled in over a third of the votes, with the next most popular game getting just 10%.
Still, it’s a testament to the hard work and unyielding dedication the Trese Brothers have towards their games, and especially STF. Even before the mobile version released in early 2019, the brothers had been updating and refining the PC version that had launched the year before. Frontiers is the embodiment of a living world, not only in terms of the internal mechanics, where the story can progress with or without you, but also in terms of how patches and updates will tweak, and add content to the game.
Whether it’s a new character, a new quest-line, or even changes to how existing stuff works, the world of STF is in constant flux. As I summarised in my review:
The Trese Brothers have come a long way since their earlier releases, but it’s great to see how their games keep getting better and better. Star Traders: Frontiers is a new pinnacle of not only their own personal work, but also of PC-to-mobile ports in general and an excellent addition to the roster of premium mobile games. If any of Frontiers’ traits appeals to you, then this is absolutely a must buy.
That statement is as true now as it was twelve months ago, and this award proves it.
2019 Runner Ups
We had less top picks for readers to vote on this year, but there were a number of favourites that all vied for second place. Deck building game Shards of Infinity was the official Runner Up, but board game ports Raiders of the North Sea and The Castles of Burgundy were also close contenders for second place.
Wildcard Nominations – The Best of the Rest 2019
I feel like many of you missed the point of the Wildcard nomination – nearly half of you didn’t actually nominate anyone in addition to the game you voted for in the main award, although thankfully only one person didn’t nominate anyone in the main award or the Wildcard nomination.
Still, out of those of you who did go for a Wildcard, here are some highlights:
Terraforming Mars got the most Wildcard nominations, although no-one would actually say why. Still, it’s good to see Asmodee Digital’s work at getting that project out the door paid off.
While it only got a single vote, there seemed to be a lot of love and respect poured into DOTA Underlord’s nomination, with the feedback being “Stellar game, exemplary post-release development. My biggest time-sink 2019.”
Indie card/strategy game Solar Settlers also got some love, which is nice to see.
Apple Arcade’s Card of Darkness also got several votes this year, so kudos to Zach Gage, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention The Parenting Simulator. This neat little bit of interactive fiction was actually created by PT reader HustlerTwo, so congrats on getting some nominations.
Again like last year, there was a lot of spread votes with not a super-clear consensus, but here are some other games that got Wildcard nominations:
Black Desert Mobile
Call of Duty Mobile
GWENT: The Witcher Card Game
Xenowerk Tactics
Through the Ages’ Expansion
That’s all for this year’s awards, and my final one as Editor – hope you all are enjoying your holiday break, and happy new year!
