Wikipedia – Nintendo Microsite

After the release of Tears of the Kingdom, I was afraid that we would never see a new game in the style of the 2D Zelda game. Yet, I have been proven wrong when this game was announced. To be very honest, I didn’t have very high hopes for this game. Especially since this game was announced this summer and released in late September. I felt that this game going to be a game to fill a gap while the developers are working on a much larger game. Now, the game is released, and I have played through a fair chunk of it. So, what is my opinion on this game? Well, that’s what I’m going to tell you in this first impressions article, while I all invite you to leave a comment of your thoughts and/or opinions in the comment section down below.

Renewing the Echoes

After a short introduction where you play as Link, the main story of this game is introduced. There are all consuming interdimensional rifts appearing all over Hyrule, and it’s eating various people in the kingdom.

Link gets eaten by one of those rifts while freeing Zelda and when Zelda tells her father, the king, about these rifts… A new rift appears and replaces the king with an evil clone of himself. Zelda gets thrown in the dungeon and there she meets a fairy named Tri. This fairy gives Zelda a special staff where she can summon objects into the world using echoes. With those echoes, she escapes the dungeon and sets out on an adventure to save Hyrule from doom before the land is fully consumed by the rifts.

Something I always love about the Zelda games is that there is a different core mechanic at the base of the game. In this game, we get two things. We got the rifts to another dark world, but we also got the magical staff, which we can use to summon various echoes into the world. These echoes mean you can tackle this game in various different ways. But I’ll talk more about that later in this article.

In terms of story, this game is hitting all the same beats as your typical Legend of Zelda game. It might be disappointing, to some, that in this game there is no voice acting anymore apart from the grunts and various emotional noises. Personally, I think it adds to the charm of this game. That’s because the characters in this game are way more expressive. While the story isn’t going to leave you at the edge of your seat of “what’s going to happen next”, it’s still well quite enjoyable, and the more expressive characters add quite a lot to the charm and atmosphere of the game.

Something I really like is how in this game, you are free to explore the world at your own peace. This game isn’t limiting you to go in a certain order. While this game isn’t fully open world like Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, it’s somewhere in between. You can tackle parts in a different order. Like the first two major dungeons can be done out of order. Each area is its self-contained puzzle, and everything you need can be found in that general area.

In my introduction of this article, I said that I was afraid that was afraid that this game would be a short one where you were able to beat it in a few hours. That it was going to be a game that’s supposed to hold players over for the “next big 3D Zelda title”. To my surprise, this game is rather lengthy for a 2,5D Zelda game. It clocks in at 25 hours of casual playtime, which is, to my knowledge, one of the longest 2,5D Zelda games.

Climbing with beds

Something I find myself doing quite a lot while playing this game was climbing the area with beds. I summoned various beds stacked on top of each other to climb a wall. Since, I wanted to know if the developers hid a secret on that cliff face.

The exploration of this version of Hyrule is a blast to do. While you visit a lot of familiar places and meet your usual suspects like the Zora and the Gerudo, it’s a treat seeing them again. The only thing I missed a bit is showing the impact of the rifts. Something that this game only tells through dialogue was how things got impacted by the rifts. I wish it was shown a bit more visually. Like different animations of the characters before and after. But maybe, Tears of the Kingdom set the bar a bit too high for those expectations where each major area had a certain curse.

In terms of gameplay, this game really leans into the echoes mechanic. It also remembers that Zelda is a princess and didn’t really have combat training. So, you have to use summoned enemies to your advantage to let them fight for you. Now, you do have a sword, but you can only use it when your power meter has charge. I always reserved that for the dungeon bosses or when the situation got pretty dicey. Since recharging that meter is either done with potions or by defeating monsters from the rift world. These enemies aren’t exactly common in the overworld, and the energy bar drains fast.

In general, this game hits the same general gameplay beats as all other Zelda games. You go from dungeon to dungeon, learning a new technique or skill, defeating the boos and moving forward to another dungeon. There are also side quests in this game, that give you a nice reward. In this game, you also have a nice system to keep track of these side quests, like in Tears of the Kingdom. Something they also brought over from that game is the cooking system to a degree.

That’s something I personally feel mixed about. Maybe it’s me, but I feel the ingredients are quite rare to come by and there is no real way to farm certain ingredients like in Breath of the Wild. I have to admit that it adds a certain charm to this game, but I feel it’s a bit under implemented here. Like when you first meet the potion creators Deku shrubs, they talk about recipes… And I had a hard time finding any.

Like in Tears of the Kingdom, you can also eat most of the ingredients without cooking them. While I personally dislike the fact you have to do two clicks to consume an item, I do understand why they did it. To avoid you consuming them too much. Yet, this is a change from the two previous games and I honestly really feel it’s a set backwards. A fine solution would be to give the player an option to switch between both systems.

Grezzo playset

This game was co-developed by Grezzo. Their previous original Zelda game was Tri Force Heroes. But, this game looks very similar in graphical style to the remake of Link’s Awakening on the Nintendo Switch from late 2019.

This game looks like a plastic toy set and it looks amazing. While I was playing this game, I felt amazed at how expressive they were able to make everything without breaking the illusion that this is a toy set brought to live by our imagination. I don’t have a lot of complaints about the visuals and animations. And most of my complaints aren’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.

Just like, I don’t have any complaints about the music and sound design of this game. If you take the music and sound design in a vacuum, you would say that it sounds just like very other Zelda game. It sounds like a remix of the familiar melodies we all know and love from the Zelda games. But, this isn’t a problem, since it sells the illusion that you are a child playing with a sort of Playmobil toy set of Hyrule and trying to recreate the sound effects and music of the game.

In terms of controls, this game plays like a dream. I rarely had problems with the controls and something I really like is the fact that with one press of a stick, you can see a view from on top when you feel the camera is blocking something. Now, there is one thing that I do have some things to criticize about. And that’s about the jumping.

It’s pretty difficult sometimes to judge how high Zelda can jump. I had moments in combat where I wasn’t aware I could jump on a higher ledge until I saw an enemy jumping backwards on that ledge. I also got tripped up several times with how far Zelda can jump. Her jump is shorter than I think, and the amount of times I jumped into a pit misjudging the jump is quite a lot. Something that would have helped is something a small landing shadow when Zelda was coming down. Then again, that must have been a nightmare to implement… So, maybe I should keep her shorter jump just better in mind.

Now, something else. Something I really like is how this game has two difficulty modes. I’m playing through this game on the normal difficulty setting and I have to say, I’m happy that I did. This game can lure you into a false sense of security. I wouldn’t say that this game is hard, but it isn’t a cakewalk either. You really need to keep your wits about you and think fast sometimes.

Being aware of what’s around you is also quite important since this game loves to hide things in little side area’s and using the map system is a must. I love how you can put pins and such on the map. Yet, I have to admit that I still keep notes in my phone like: “treasure in Gerudo dungeon, need to check later”.

The more I play through this game, the more I realize that the critiques I can make about this game are more on the minor side. Like how it feels like a waste of time when you are scrolling through a long list of echoes when you just want to find one. An easy solution would be to give the player an ability to favorite certain echoes. But then again, the sort function in the quick menu has “most used”, “recently learned” … So, it’s kinda that.

Now, you have two save slots in this game. So, you can play through this game and let a friend or a sibling play through a different slot. Now, this game also autosaves for you frequently, in case you forget to save. The game also keeps like several autosaves in case you want to return to an earlier point.

Something I really like is how this game also has a quick travel system. The system works similarly like an owl statue in Majora’s Mask or a water vane in Link Between Worlds. It makes it easy when you feel stumped by a puzzle and want to return later. The fast travel locations are very fairly placed all over the land.

While I went quite critical in this game, the more I played it, the more it won me over. This game is a new 2,5D Zelda adventure game I hope we were going to see again. The last new, non remake 2,5D Zelda game was released almost 11 years ago. And, I’m so happy to see a return to this style. I’d love to see a this style also making an appearance very so often since it’s clear there are still various unique ways to explore Hyrule and tell a story about the Hyrule legend without going fully 3D.

Apart from a few small complaints you read in this article, I honestly don’t have any major complaints about this game. This is a game I’m going to finish for sure, since I’m enjoying my time with this title quite a lot. If you are into the series, I highly recommend this title to you. If you enjoy exploration and playing with unique mechanics, I also think this game is for you. This game is totally worth it’s price tag and it pleasantly surprised me.

And with that said, I have said everything I wanted to say about this game for now. I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another one, but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.

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Read the full article on GamingOnLinux.

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Read the full article on GamingOnLinux.

Debbie’s Diner Derby sees you trying to get food to the right customers. Trouble is, you’re on roller skates that make it a little bit hard to stop or steer. The game...

The post ‘Debbie’s Diner Derby’ Makes Food Deliveries on Roller Skates appeared first on Indie Games Plus.

From cutting-edge robotics, design, and bioengineering to sustainable energy solutions, ocean engineering, nanotechnology, and innovative materials science, MechE students and their advisors are doing incredibly innovative work. The graduate students highlighted here represent a snapshot of the great work in progress this spring across the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and demonstrate the ways the future of this field is as limitless as the imaginations of its practitioners.

Democratizing design through AI

Lyle Regenwetter
Hometown: Champaign, Illinois
Advisor: Assistant Professor Faez Ahmed
Interests: Food, climbing, skiing, soccer, tennis, cooking

Lyle Regenwetter finds excitement in the prospect of generative AI to "democratize" design and enable inexperienced designers to tackle complex design problems. His research explores new training methods through which generative AI models can be taught to implicitly obey design constraints and synthesize higher-performing designs. Knowing that prospective designers often have an intimate knowledge of the needs of users, but may otherwise lack the technical training to create solutions, Regenwetter also develops human-AI collaborative tools that allow AI models to interact and support designers in popular CAD software and real design problems. 

Solving a whale of a problem 

Loïcka Baille
Hometown: L’Escale, France
Advisor: Daniel Zitterbart
Interests: Being outdoors — scuba diving, spelunking, or climbing. Sailing on the Charles River, martial arts classes, and playing volleyball

Loïcka Baille’s research focuses on developing remote sensing technologies to study and protect marine life. Her main project revolves around improving onboard whale detection technology to prevent vessel strikes, with a special focus on protecting North Atlantic right whales. Baille is also involved in an ongoing study of Emperor penguins. Her team visits Antarctica annually to tag penguins and gather data to enhance their understanding of penguin population dynamics and draw conclusions regarding the overall health of the ecosystem.

Water, water anywhere

Carlos Díaz-Marín
Hometown: San José, Costa Rica
Advisor: Professor Gang Chen | Former Advisor: Professor Evelyn Wang
Interests: New England hiking, biking, and dancing

Carlos Díaz-Marín designs and synthesizes inexpensive salt-polymer materials that can capture large amounts of humidity from the air. He aims to change the way we generate potable water from the air, even in arid conditions. In addition to water generation, these salt-polymer materials can also be used as thermal batteries, capable of storing and reusing heat. Beyond the scientific applications, Díaz-Marín is excited to continue doing research that can have big social impacts, and that finds and explains new physical phenomena. As a LatinX person, Díaz-Marín is also driven to help increase diversity in STEM.

Scalable fabrication of nano-architected materials

Somayajulu Dhulipala
Hometown: Hyderabad, India
Advisor: Assistant Professor Carlos Portela
Interests: Space exploration, taekwondo, meditation.

Somayajulu Dhulipala works on developing lightweight materials with tunable mechanical properties. He is currently working on methods for the scalable fabrication of nano-architected materials and predicting their mechanical properties. The ability to fine-tune the mechanical properties of specific materials brings versatility and adaptability, making these materials suitable for a wide range of applications across multiple industries. While the research applications are quite diverse, Dhulipala is passionate about making space habitable for humanity, a crucial step toward becoming a spacefaring civilization.

Ingestible health-care devices

Jimmy McRae
Hometown: Woburn, Massachusetts
Advisor: Associate Professor Giovani Traverso
Interests: Anything basketball-related: playing, watching, going to games, organizing hometown tournaments 

Jimmy McRae aims to drastically improve diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities through noninvasive health-care technologies. His research focuses on leveraging materials, mechanics, embedded systems, and microfabrication to develop novel ingestible electronic and mechatronic devices. This ranges from ingestible electroceutical capsules that modulate hunger-regulating hormones to devices capable of continuous ultralong monitoring and remotely triggerable actuations from within the stomach. The principles that guide McRae’s work to develop devices that function in extreme environments can be applied far beyond the gastrointestinal tract, with applications for outer space, the ocean, and more.

Freestyle BMX meets machine learning

Eva Nates
Hometown: Narberth, Pennsylvania 
Advisor: Professor Peko Hosoi
Interests: Rowing, running, biking, hiking, baking

Eva Nates is working with the Australian Cycling Team to create a tool to classify Bicycle Motocross Freestyle (BMX FS) tricks. She uses a singular value decomposition method to conduct a principal component analysis of the time-dependent point-tracking data of an athlete and their bike during a run to classify each trick. The 2024 Olympic team hopes to incorporate this tool in their training workflow, and Nates worked alongside the team at their facilities on the Gold Coast of Australia during MIT’s Independent Activities Period in January.

Augmenting Astronauts with Wearable Limbs 

Erik Ballesteros
Hometown: Spring, Texas
Advisor: Professor Harry Asada
Interests: Cosplay, Star Wars, Lego bricks

Erik Ballesteros’s research seeks to support astronauts who are conducting planetary extravehicular activities through the use of supernumerary robotic limbs (SuperLimbs). His work is tailored toward design and control manifestation to assist astronauts with post-fall recovery, human-leader/robot-follower quadruped locomotion, and coordinated manipulation between the SuperLimbs and the astronaut to perform tasks like excavation and sample handling.

This article appeared in the Spring 2024 edition of the Department of Mechanical Engineering's magazine, MechE Connects. 

Developer: Capcom    Publisher: Capcom    Release: 10/18/96   Genre: Action Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems has to be one of my biggest gaming disappointments in 1996. I joined the 32-bit generation a few years late due to being...

The post Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems appeared first on Classic-Games.net.

Developer: Jaleco    Publisher: Jaleco   Release: 03/28/89    Genre: Action I love Sunset Riders. It was one of the few arcade games that was able to take my attention away from TMNT. And the superb SNES port remains one...

The post Big Challenge! Gun Fighter appeared first on Classic-Games.net.

Ranking each entry of Darksiders, even for most dedicated fans, presents an immense task: it requires considering both personal preference and objective merits when ranking these installments but also an understanding of the context (the time when the game was released and what other games where around at that time). Each installment may be considered alone, as its own chapter within this cosmic epic, with unique strengths and shortcomings, but also as being a part of the series. So the task is not as simple as it sounds, if we want to be objective in our ranking (that will be somewhat biased by our preferences anyway).

Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition

Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition has long been one of the premiere titles. With its vast landscape and Death's mysterious charm, its exhilarating combination of exploration and combat creates an amazing experience; not everyone may appreciate RPG elements as much, yet these add depth to character development. It is one of the greatest open-world experiences available today, boasting Gothic grandeur in an immersive open-world environment infused with Death's protagonist persona as grim reaper a stark contrast to Darksiders' postapocalyptic backdrop and featuring RPG elements that add depth to combat and character progression.

Darksiders

Darksiders serves as the cornerstone of this series. Thanks to its linear structure and focused gameplay experience, Darksiders makes itself more accessible; war is an epic force; puzzles cleverly integrated into its narrative ensure an unforgettable gameplay experience. Fury's magic-infused combat style provided an interesting change of pace; however, its open world felt less cohesive than before and sometimes faltered too rapidly for our liking.

Darksiders III

Darksiders III takes an unexpectedly bold step by featuring Fury as its protagonist and her distinctive whip-based combat system as part of its verticality; some critics found this aspect disjoint from previous Darksiders games and found its world less captivating than earlier installments of this franchise. A raw and unfiltered experience that introduced us to the Four Horsemen world. While its linear format might feel outdated today, its impact cannot be overstated.

Darksiders Genesis

Darksiders Genesis offers an enjoyable break, offering top-down perspectives with co-op as its central element. While different from what fans of Darksiders may expect, Darksiders Genesis remains an exciting and fast-paced experience! War and Strife provide dynamic contrast in gameplay styles; though Darksiders Genesis may not delve as deeply into its series' lore it remains an enjoyable and captivating spinoff experience.

Conclusion

At its core, selecting the "best" Darksiders game is highly subjective. Each installment offers something distinct to satisfy different playstyles - whether it is linear intensity in Darksiders' initial release, an expansive world in its sequel, acrobatic prowess in the third entry, or a chaotic co-op of Genesis: there will always be one out there to capture your interest! Ranking Darksiders games are subjective in nature; each installment presents its own special experience that caters to various play styles and preferences. If brutal simplicity, open-world exploration, magic-infused combat, or co-op mayhem are your cup of tea, then there's sure to be one in Darksiders waiting to capture your interest - find one today and you may just discover your passion!

One of the additions to the hardcore First Person Shooter (FPS) extraction shooter provides some interesting shooting combat and traversal.

The Streets of Tarkov map was introduced in the update 0.13.5 of August 2023 and featured a large, partially ruined city map that introduced the first non-player-used vehicle in the form of an armored personnel carrier (APC) that can ferry players from one side of the map to another in relative safety. 

This map challenges the players about their gameplay tactics and their close-quarter combat (CQC) skills as map knowledge for this map is less useful (except for spawn point locations) due to the number of possible entry and exit points for both players and their enemies.

Map Design and Description

First off, this map is noticeably dividable into six (6) major zones within its borders, which are the following:

• The Concordia/Construction Site zone is located on the southwest side of the bottom portion of the map.
• The Old Factory/Rodina Cinema zone is located on the southeast side of the bottom portion of the map, adjacent to the zone mentioned above.
• Pinewood Hotel/City Center zone, located on the central southeast side of the map, just below Klimov Street, is one of the major roads intersecting the whole map.
• Klimov Shopping Mall zone, located on the right upper southeast side of the map, is near both Klimov Street and Primorsky Avenue, where the main road intersection is located.
• Cardinal Apartments/City Expo zone, located on the left upper southwest side of the map, is adjacent to both the Klimov Shopping Mall zone and the Post Office/Residential zone.
• Post Office/Residential zone, located on the central southwest side of the map, wherein the location of the old SCAV/APC spawn point was located.

As previously mentioned, two main roads cross the map: Klimov Street (running horizontally) and Primorsky Avenue (running vertically).

The southern part of the map has more side roads than the northern part. These roads connect the city center to smaller and private roads within each zone.

In addition to the surface-level routes, several subterranean and basement levels connect different zones, allowing players to traverse them. Various buildings, though limited, can also be entered and used as hiding spots or sniping positions.

Map Spawn Points

Initially, the Streets of Tarkov map had 27 spawn points, with some located inside buildings or underground basements, mostly around the outskirts of the city.

After several patches and redesigns, the map now has 39 spawn points, more evenly distributed across the six major zones. Previously, areas like the Klimov Shopping Mall and Cardinal Apartments/City Expo zones had fewer spawn points, creating challenges for players.

Understanding where to spawn and how to safely exit your spawn point are crucial strategies for surviving longer on this map.

Map Features

Just like any other map in the game, the Streets of Tarkov map hosts several features like loot locations and bosses. Aside from those major features, there are some other features that a player should know about when playing through this particular map.

Mounted Stationary Weapons

There are two types of stationary mounted weapons that any player can use: AGS-30 30x29mm automatic grenade launchers, which are highly effective when used correctly, and NSV “Utyos” 12.7×108 heavy machine guns, which can easily mow down enemies.

These weapons are primarily found in The Concordia/Construction Site zone, particularly in and around the LexOs car dealership, which serves as a stronghold for the map’s boss, Kaban.

Be aware that several areas of the map, especially around Kaban’s base, are filled with claymores. Additionally, Border Snipers ensure that no player can leave the map without using the extraction points.

BTR-82A Patrol

This map features an APC taxi service using a BTR-82A equipped with a 30mm 2A42 Autocannon, capable of quickly dispatching enemies. Players can use the service to safely travel anywhere on the map.

The BTR-82A can transport up to 4 players at a time, with costs varying based on faction, Scav karma, Charisma level, and distance.

The APC becomes hostile only if attacked first or when another player purchases the “Covering Fire” service, or if the player is a traitorous Scav. The “Covering Fire” service provides temporary protection, making the BTR-82A hostile to enemies until the player is dropped off, at which point it returns to neutral.

BTR-82A Patrol Stop Locations

Currently, the BTR taxi service offers six (6) pick-up/drop-off locations (the yellow spots with red text in the image above) within the map, which are the following:

• City Center
• Collapsed Crane
• Old Scav Checkpoint
• Pinewood Hotel
• Rodina Cinema
• Tram

The BTR-82A will stop for two minutes for each stop and will honk twice ten seconds before leaving the stop.

BTR-82A Item Extraction

Finally, the BTR taxi service also offers an item extraction service that can be accessed through the BTR-82A’s trunk. The trunk size depends on the player’s Scav karma, and the items extracted from this service will arrive at the player’s mail after an hour in-game time.

Map Bosses

The map features two bosses: Kaban and Kollontay.

Kaban is located at the LexOs car dealership in The Concordia/Construction Site zone. He wields weapons like the Kalashnikov PKM and PKP 7.62x54R machine guns or the RPK-16 5.45×39 light machine gun, depending on where he spawns. He is protected by bodyguards Gus and Basmach, along with 2 to 3 snipers and four heavily armed guards.

Kollontay is a roaming boss who can appear at either Klimov Shopping Mall or the Ministry of the Interior Academy. He carries a PR-Taran Police Baton, a Kalashnikov AKMN 7.62×39 assault rifle, and a Lebedev PL-15 9×19 pistol, aside from other weapons. His guards are equipped with submachine guns, shotguns, and both frag and flash grenades. Approach both bosses with caution.

Extraction Points

There are 17 extraction points that a player can use to exit the map once their objective has been completed (i.e. loot hunting or quest cleared, etc.) or if they simply just want to leave the map altogether.

Do take note that some specific extraction locations have certain requirements to be used, just like in any map in the game.

Basement Descent

Faction: Scav

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: None

Notes: None

 Cardinal Apartment Complex Parking

Faction: Scav

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: None

Notes: None

 Collapsed Crane

Faction: PMC

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: None

Notes: None

Courtyard

Faction: PMC

Always Available: No

Single Use: No

Requirements: Green flare to open

Notes: None

Crash Site

Faction: PMC

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: None

Notes: None

Damaged House

Faction: PMC

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: None

Notes: None

Entrance to Catacombs

Faction: Scav

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: None

Notes: None

Expo Checkpoint

Faction: PMC

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: None

Notes: None

Klimov Shopping Mall Exfil

Faction: Scav

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: None

Notes: First floor, eastern entrance.

Klimov Street

Faction: PMC

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: Shoot a green flare inside the flare area; the flare must reach a certain height to open. Only one person needs to shoot the flare from a group.

Notes: Notification will appear when inside the signal flare area.

Near Kamchatskaya Arch

Faction: Scav

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: None

Notes: Inside the courtyard of the museum building. 

Pinewood Basement (Co-Op)

Faction: All

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: Scav + PMC

Notes: Accessible via the northeastern staircase of Pinewood Hotel.

 Primorsky Ave Taxi V-Ex

Faction: PMC

Always Available: No

Single Use: Yes

Requirements: 5000 rubbles per player, up to 4 players

Notes: Fee depends on Scav karma; border snipers beyond the vehicle.

Sewer Manhole

Faction: Scav

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: None

Notes: None

Sewer River

Faction: PMC

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: None

Notes: None

Stylobate Building Elevator

Faction: PMC

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: None

Notes: 3rd floor, behind the bar of the Beluga restaurant.

 Ventilation Shaft

Faction: Scav

Always Available: Yes

Single Use: No

Requirements: None

Notes: None

The post Escape From Tarkov: Streets of Tarkov Map Guide appeared first on All About Games.

A Witch In Time

HIGH Fast action. Intense enemy design. Impressive visuals.

LOW Puzzles can be offputtingly difficult in single-player.

WTF There are challenge modes to make things harder???

Teagan wasn’t expecting to start her morning tied to a stake and being burnt as a witch. She certainly wasn’t expecting to be rescued by the spirit of a deceased witch and forced to run for her life without time to mourn her fallen brother, Edwin. 

Finding out that she is descended from a line of witches tasked with maintaining the flow of time and preventing the fall of mankind was almost too much to bear.  Now she must master her newfound powers, attempt to save Edwin by going back in time, and also defeat hordes of enemies under the thrall of the mysterious Dark Puppeteer. 

TimeMelters is a game that nearly defies genre classification. 

It’s partially an action title where players control Teagan from a third-person perspective as she navigates through a fantasy equivalent of the Scottish Highlands while battling foes with an array of magic bolts and life-draining powers. 

However, it’s also something of a strategy/tower defense hybrid.  Teagan gains the ability to go into spirit form, allowing her to fly above the map for a quasi-bird’s eye view to activate summoning and infusing powers while time slows to a crawl. 

Alas, the Dark Puppeteer’s forces are legion, and Teagan, while powerful, is a glass cannon. It takes only one enemy slipping through her defenses to kill her.  This is where TimeMelters debuts its game design coup-de-grace in the form of a third aspect — a time rewinding feature that grants the ability to reverse the flow of time and create copied echoes of herself. These echoes will repeat Teagan’s previous actions exactly, up until the moment that echo would have been killed. 

For instance, the player can move Teagan past a group of enemies the previous version of her has already have killed (tenses are hard when it comes to time travel!) allowing her to concentrate on other foes or achieve other objectives the first echo wasn’t able to. It’s even possible to further alter the timeline by using an echo to distract an enemy that the player can now ambush or lead in yet another direction towards a trap.  It’s astonishing to watch in action. 

I know how this sounds, but read it all again — it makes sense, even if it makes one’s head hurt — but the brilliance of this design cannot be understated.  Using time manipulations and copies of Teagan to defy the odds and solve puzzles that would otherwise be impossible made me feel like a genius. However, therein lies the rub.  I am not super-great at three-dimensional, multi-linear thinking, so this was a real challenge. 

Thankfully, handy markers display the numbers of enemies in a group and the route they are currently taking, which then help the player plan the best use of the limited mana and small number of clones Teagan has at her disposal. For instance, she can kill enemies closing in on her position to gain mana, then switch to spirit mode to scour the map for groups she can ambush so she doesn’t have to deal with them later.  While this all takes a little bit of getting used to, it becomes second nature far more quickly than I would have believed when I first started playing. 

…Then I discovered the co-op campaign. 

With a friend joining in via the Playstation Network, two people can take control of Teagan and her brother, traversing the many levels in TimeMelters‘ campaign, though with slight adjustments in the storyline, dialogue and mission structure. 

For instance, Edwin starts one mission at the opposite end of the map from Teagan, providing cover for an NPC who needs to be protected as he slowly meanders towards the mission goal — a task which Teagan had to coordinate on her own alone in the singleplayer version. 

Players share a mana pool and the rewind feature but they otherwise act independently, so planning and coordination are a must. However, this is offset by bringing double the firepower, which makes battles and puzzles much more manageable than in the single-player campaign.

Despite the fact that I was being pushed to creatively think and temporally strategize in ways that games have rarely asked me to, TimeMelters is a must play — especially for players who have someone to share the cognitive load with. 

Even at its most frustrating, the brilliance on display here is addictive. It would be goofy to say TimeMelters is the best action/strategy/time clone hybrid involving witches I’ve played all year, so let me broaden it a bit and say that it’s one of the best games I’ve played this year, bar none.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Autoexec Games.  It is currently available on PS5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 12 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. Three hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T and contains Blood and Violence. This game features witches using magical forces to kill both human and non-human enemies.  The protagonist absorbs the souls/spirits of dead opponents to power further magical attacks.  The game features heavy occult themes and not-for-kids moments like burning suspected witches at the stake as well as necromancy used as a secondary attack for the protagonist.  There is blood, but not excessive amounts, and most players have seen far worse in other games.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. All story-based dialogue during cutscenes is fully subtitled. The majority of in-game dialog is fully subtitled, with occasional declarations by the main character(s) being voice-only.  These additional declarations do not cause the player to miss anything plot specific, but they do add flavor to the moment. I’d say the game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable.

Enlarge / Composite image showing color variation of emerald green bookcloth on book spines, likely a result of air pollution (credit: Winterthur Library, Printed Book and Periodical Collection)

In April, the National Library of France removed four 19th century books, all published in Great Britain, from its shelves because the covers were likely laced with arsenic. The books have been placed in quarantine for further analysis to determine exactly how much arsenic is present. It's part of an ongoing global effort to test cloth-bound books from the 19th and early 20th centuries because of the common practice of using toxic dyes during that period.

Chemists from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, have also been studying Victorian books from that university's library collection in order to identify and quantify levels of poisonous substances in the covers. They reported their initial findings this week at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver. Using a combination of spectroscopic techniques, they found that several books had lead concentrations more than twice the limit imposed by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The Lipscomb effort was inspired by the University of Delaware's Poison Book Project, established in 2019 as an interdisciplinary crowdsourced collaboration between university scientists and the Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library. The initial objective was to analyze all the Victorian-era books in the Winterthur circulating and rare books collection for the presence of an arsenic compound called cooper acetoarsenite, an emerald green pigment that was very popular at the time to dye wallpaper, clothing, and cloth book covers. Book covers dyed with chrome yellow—favored by Vincent van Gogh—aka lead chromate, were also examined, and the project's scope has since expanded worldwide.

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I'm no shoot 'em up nutter - or "shmutter", as I understand they prefer to be called - but some of the first games I remember playing are shmups. Games like Maelstrom, Ambrosia's Macintosh clone of Asteroids, and the proto-shmup Crystal Quest from Patrick Buckland, who would go on to make Carmageddon. Little did I know that the humble premise of a small 2D spacecraft shooting baddies on a wrap-around screen would reach the glittering heights of Nova Drift. Had you shown me this game back in 1995, I dare say I'd have shmupped myself.

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As long-time readers will know, I'm a piteous mark for weird little game guys. I’m currently trying to puzzle out what the titular Mother Machine in The Curious Expedition studio Maschinen-Mensch’s upcoming co-op platformer refers to. But, if it’s a reference to forming a parental bond with what the game has saw-me-comingishly named “chaos gremlins”, I'm way ahead of you.

Ah, the press release speaketh! Probably should have read some more before I began exclaiming “Chaos Gremlins!” over and over. Have an announcement trailer.

Read more

I'm no shoot 'em up nutter - or "shmutter", as I understand they prefer to be called - but some of the first games I remember playing are shmups. Games like Maelstrom, Ambrosia's Macintosh clone of Asteroids, and the proto-shmup Crystal Quest from Patrick Buckland, who would go on to make Carmageddon. Little did I know that the humble premise of a small 2D spacecraft shooting baddies on a wrap-around screen would reach the glittering heights of Nova Drift. Had you shown me this game back in 1995, I dare say I'd have shmupped myself.

Read more

As long-time readers will know, I'm a piteous mark for weird little game guys. I’m currently trying to puzzle out what the titular Mother Machine in The Curious Expedition studio Maschinen-Mensch’s upcoming co-op platformer refers to. But, if it’s a reference to forming a parental bond with what the game has saw-me-comingishly named “chaos gremlins”, I'm way ahead of you.

Ah, the press release speaketh! Probably should have read some more before I began exclaiming “Chaos Gremlins!” over and over. Have an announcement trailer.

Read more

Did The Gentlebros come up with the pun "Pi-Rats" and then work backwards from there in deciding that Cat Quest 3 should be pirate themed? Or was "Purr-ibean" the initiating pun? I feel that the action-RPG sequel had to begin with one of wordplay or another, given that its Steam page boasts that it also has "furr-ocious spells" and "gla-meow-rous costumes".

It's also claws-out now on Steam, which has me feline fine.

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Did The Gentlebros come up with the pun "Pi-Rats" and then work backwards from there in deciding that Cat Quest 3 should be pirate themed? Or was "Purr-ibean" the initiating pun? I feel that the action-RPG sequel had to begin with one of wordplay or another, given that its Steam page boasts that it also has "furr-ocious spells" and "gla-meow-rous costumes".

It's also claws-out now on Steam, which has me feline fine.

Read more

Title: Intravenous
Type of Game: Stealth – Tactical Shooter
Developer: Roman Glebenkov
Publisher: Roman Glebenkov
Released: July 26, 2021
Platforms Available: PC
Platform Reviewed: PC
Level of Maturity: Mature (17+)
Reading Time: 8 minutes

The story starts with you and your brother going to a bar; on the way back from the bar, you get jumped by some junkies and beaten up badly. Your brother ends up in a coma and dies a day later. Police don’t do much, so your mission is to avenge your brother. I (character Steve) start the hunt with the words, “This one is for you, big brother,” which perfectly sets the tone for the first mission. And the first mission is, you guessed it right, to kill the junkie’s leader.

As I started the first mission, I tried the stealth approach, which I quickly abandoned since I was detected rapidly trying to hide the body in a dumpster, so it quickly turned into a gunfight. I died a few times on the first level since I chose the most challenging mode. I highly advise against this if you are new to the genre. After murdering about a dozen of the junkies, I did not find the main guy, so the story continued. Worth noting was that the first mission’s name was Druggie Ghetto, which I found hilarious.

Mastering the Tools of Revenge

The controls are intuitive: WASD to move, and the mouse to aim and shoot. You can also control your walking speed with the mouse wheel, and there’s a laser aim on right-click. This feature is essential for targeting lamps, cameras, and similar environmental objects, and it’s handy in situations where you need to aim through windows and such. 

After the first mission, I got a call from a mysterious dude offering me help; long story short, I ended up with new weapons and training rooms. This is when the fun started! I got a bunch of new weapons, including some with silencers, as well as some new skills. I could picklock the doors, break the light switches, and use night vision. Now, I was ready for some stealth action! 

The Unforgiving World of Stealth

Or so I thought! Stealth is hard to pull off in this game; there are so many details that you have to pay attention to—for example, the windows. When I passed too close to the window, I was detected. When I killed an enemy inside the building, and another enemy passed next to the window, I was detected unless I turned off the lights.

Yes, I had to turn off the lights inside the building, and even then, I was sometimes detected. There are ways around this, tho, like the dart gun. I used a dart gun to steal the mission entirely, but after some time, it became boring. Instead, I switched to a silenced pistol and a rifle. I would use a gun to stealth, but eventually, I would get detected or get bored of it, so I would switch to AR or AK and shoot my way through.This only worked for the first few missions; at mission 4, I had to go cat mode since every enemy had an AR. I broke stealth a few times, but I lost the trace. Another exciting feature I came across in this mission was the vents.

I was infiltrating through the vents, and I liked that I had to crawl through, not just watch a cutscene. Another new feature I liked in this mission was the cameras. I had to dodge the cameras, which were slow and easy to dodge, but it still added a layer of strategy to the stealth game. Note that complete stealth is required for hard mode and above, with no detections, or you become minced meat immediately. 

A Dance with Death: The Complex Missions

There are also some missions where I had to eliminate the whole enemy team, like in the Abandoned Complex mission where I was bait to get enemies to surround me, then I had to tick them all off one by one, and most are heavily armed. I managed to do most of this mission stealthily, and I advise you to try the same since there are shotgun enemies, and they will kill you in one shot from close range, and this particular map did not offer much distance. 

The Art of Stealth: Details that Delight

Stealth details I particularly liked: Toile flush to distract enemies, generators you can break, lights switches and shooting the lamps, windows you can be seen through or climb through, cameras are connected with security rooms (cameras can be shot down), lockpick vs. door bash, armor weight effects the noise you make, you can use bottles to distract enemies, climbing through vents, putting enemies to sleep using darts. There are more, but these were my favorite details.

Other remarkable details: finish off the enemy by stamping his head in when he is knocked out, critical cards for reinforced doors, all sorts of weapons and gadgets if you decide to go in guns blazing. etc.

A Price for Vengeance: The Baker’s Dilemma

In the Baker’s panic room mission, I got to choose whether I was going to spare the Baker’s life or not; I decided not to, to follow up with my character’s rage and determination that I felt so far in the game. It could have been a better choice. If you kill the Baker, you cannot access your loadout anymore – you have to make do with the weapons you find in the following levels.

However, if you spare him instead, you will still have access to your loadout and continue choosing whatever weapon you want before starting a level. So choose wisely! If you do make the mistake I made, load up the Baker’s panic room mission and complete it again; that is what I did. Also, this is a fantastic mission to stealth through by knocking out enemies; I managed to get four achievements in one go: Complete the level without taking damage. Complete the level without breaking stealth. Complete level without killing anyone. Spare Baker’s life. This was also the mission that ended both of the gangs that were involved in the brother’s murder that set my character on fire at the start of the game.

The Final Betrayal: Unmasking the True Villain

But the story continues. As I returned to my house, I was attacked by eight hitmen, and this mission was probably my favorite in the whole game. I was caught off guard with no armor, and I had to grab a pistol from my drawer, with only one magazine, while Hitman was well-armed. After I defeated them, I found another informant who was an undercover cop and tasked me with killing his boss in return for information on humans who assaulted me. After killing the whole casino full of tugs, I discovered I was a pawn this whole time. Remember the accomplice from the start? Well, it turns out he was the leader of the third gang and was using me to kill his competition. Pointless to say, but my last mission was to kill all of his tugs and eventually him. This is where the game ends.

Final Thoughts: A Dated but Detailed Experience

In conclusion, it is a dated game in terms of graphics, but it still offers so much. The level of detail in the game is excellent, and the story, even though not narrated, is still well put together. The stealth is where the game shines, and the attention to detail is enormous. It needs some polish, but Intravenous 2 fixed these minor issues. Intravenous Two was launched just a few days ago, and I am also playing it! Stay posted for the Review on our page; it is coming soon!

Where to Buy Intravenous?

• Steam (PC): Available for $19.99. You can purchase it directly from Steam.
• GOG (PC): Available for $14.99. Purchase it from GOG.
• Epic Games: Coming soon!

The post Intravenous: A Tale of Vengeance Begins appeared first on WePlayGames.net: Home for Top Gamers.

Season 12 of Overwatch 2 is themed heavily around Egyptian gods, but Egyptian heroes like Ana and Pharah aren't getting the spotlight. This season's Mythic Skin, based on Anubis, is going to Reaper.

On the Overwatch subreddit, players were shocked by the decision to give Reaper a skin based off of Anubis over Ramattra, given Ramattra's early design concepts. In a 2017 video, Blizzard shared the concept that ultimately led to Ramattra; an Omnic, wearing Egyptian-styled garb.

Another Developer Update from Blizzard briefly goes over the team's decision to give Reaper the Anubis skin. Lead Concept Artist, Morten Skaalvik, mentions that a meeting was held to discuss who the Mythic Skin should go to. Skaalvik says that the meeting was concluded quickly as everyone had "instantly agreed it needed to be Reaper."

The reasoning behind this decision stems from Reaper being closely associated with death and Anubis being the Egyptian god of death. While the logic behind this decision is fair, players on Twitter/X agree that the skin should have gone to Ramattra.

For additional salt in the wounds, it's still unclear if Ramattra will receive any new skins in the upcoming season. The trailer for Season 12 reveals a variety of skins as part of the Battle Pass and skins that will be coming to the shop. Unfortunately, no new skins were shown off for the leader of Null Sector.

However, Ramattra isn't the only hero getting the short end of the stick. Despite this season's theme, Egyptian heroes Ana and Pharah only had one skin each revealed in the Season 12 trailer. The Pharah skin won't even be available in the Battle Pass, instead being obtained from the shop. Meanwhile, Mercy has received two additional skins set to appear in the shop.

Some players on the Overwatch subreddit have become fed up with the consistent stream of Mercy skins. Especially since this season is brimming with potential for Ana, Pharah, Ramattra, and Venture. Even though they don't have any ties to Egyptian mythology, Venture's job as an archaeologist could have led to some skins incorporating ancient Egyptian artifacts.

The post Overwatch 2 fans feel frustrated with Season 12’s skin choices appeared first on Destructoid.

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Debbie’s Diner Derby sees you trying to get food to the right customers. Trouble is, you’re on roller skates that make it a little bit hard to stop or steer. The game...

The post ‘Debbie’s Diner Derby’ Makes Food Deliveries on Roller Skates appeared first on Indie Games Plus.

Alright, gather ’round, you aspiring siege engineers and pixel peepers! Do you think you’ve got what it takes to breach, clear, and clutch your way to victory in Rainbow Six Siege? Well, it takes more than just a fast trigger finger and a stash of breach charges. We’re peeking into the corners of pro play, ... Read more

The post Rainbow Six Siege Tips: How To Play Like a Pro appeared first on Gamer For Fun.

Assassin’s Creed, a renowned video game franchise by Ubisoft, has captivated gamers with its enthralling blend of action, open-world exploration, and historical narratives since its first installment in 2007. Players delve into the ongoing battle between the Assassins, who strive for peace through freedom, and the Templar Order, who aim to establish peace through control. ... Read more

The post Assassins Creed Games in Order: A Comprehensive Timeline for Fans appeared first on Gamer For Fun.

I believe I am not the only one who has had childhood afternoons spent poring over pirate maps, so you can recognize the feeling that such moments ignited in you, the wanderlust that you yearn to pursue in life. Sea of Thieves may provide just such an adventure (or nostalgic memory reignited), and it could be the case that once started, you will be hooked (pun intended) for a long! Think about the longevity of this adventure game: 12 Seasons already! When I say "hooked for long," it is not just an expression... I really mean it!

Is Sea of Thieves Worth It?

One must consider whether its riches truly meet their mark because the Sea of Thieves is a pleasant and addictive game, however, you cannot avoid asking yourself: is it worth its very high price tag? Also, are there ways to mitigate the price, like getting it for less - think cheap Xbox games on key websites like G2A or Eneba - or something else? Very fast, to leave these questions behind, I can tell you that on Xbox, you can get an Xbox pass for less than $10/month and enjoy many games, including Sea of Thieves. And "yes," it could be found at a better price on the websites mentioned.

From Ship to Shore: Unraveling the Mysteries of Sea of Thieves Islands

Although its graphics might not appeal to everyone - with more cartoony than hyper-realistic depictions - that doesn't matter; what matters is how well they work together: vivid colors, meticulous attention to environment details ranging from tropical island palm trees swaying in the breeze to volcanic vents in Devil's Roar giving off fiery flares combined to form an undeniably stunning world that exudes with its distinct artistic style and captivating moments of breathtaking beauty or hilarious pirate misadventures captured as screenshots before! Never have I taken so many screenshots before in one game that captured such breathtaking moments of breathtaking beauty or hilarious pirate misadventures!

An Insanely Beautiful Piratical Playground

And yet this is only a taste of what lies beyond. Concealed alcoves, perilous shallows, and mysterious isles shrouded in mist make the Sea of Thieves realm, an ever-evolving tableau that never ceases to surprise with its breadth and diversity. Furthermore, weather patterns add another dimension: one moment being caressed by gentle caresses of zephyr wind while moments later caught up in a fierce battle against tempests wreaking havoc: all elements come together to make for an ever-evolving tableau which demands reverence as well as attention as continual adaptation by those living within its waters.

Are You Dreaming of Hoisting the Jolly Roger and Chasing Sunset across Endless Blue?

In conclusion, here's the salty truth: Sea of Thieves can be an amazing solo experience too, even if I would rather recommend it as a multiplayer PvP or PvE video game, offering plenty of solitude with which you can commune with the vastness of the ocean. Even if you buy Xbox adventure games for playing alone, solo sailing offers its poetry and it is a nice departure from many more commercial offers or twitch-shooters that conquered the market lately. This is a different kind of adventure, that develops slowly, but well, and communing directly with nature while learning to read waves, predict storms, and anticipate squalls is part and parcel with becoming a hardened pirate from sea's harsh conditions.

Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts' latest title builds upon the strengths of its predecessor while addressing its weaknesses and embracing a grander scale. Cal Kestis returns, more seasoned and resolute than before, driven to dismantle the Empire. He now aligns himself with the Saw Guerrera rebel faction—an early incarnation of the resistance depicted in the movies. Where Fallen Order chronicled Cal's journey toward becoming a Jedi, Survivor focuses on upholding the Jedi Order's legacy. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor breaks new ground by delving into more nuanced themes. It's a departure from the simplicity of the first title, with its final storyline encompassing everything showcased, putting the characters and players through an emotionally charged experience. Along this journey, the allure of the visited planets, the companions met along the way, and even the NPCs are undeniable.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor excellently portrays Cal Kestis' evolution into a Jedi Master. He retains some skills from the previous game while developing new ones as players progress. The level design structure remains consistent: often, obstacles require abilities or items unlocked later, encouraging replayability as players revisit planets to uncover more secrets. Adding a New Game+ mode adds to the game's replay value. The combat gameplay draws comparisons to titles like Star Wars Unleashed and Knights of the Old Republic, featuring acrobatic movements, Force-powered abilities, a diverse range of adversaries, and challenging gameplay. Although there are difficult options, the Hard Mode strikes a good balance. If you want to enhance your gaming experience, consider exploring places where you can buy cheap PS5 games. Despite some likening it to souls-like combat, Survivor leans more towards adventurous gameplay akin to Fallen Order.

Elevating the Gaming Experience

Players will find themselves immersed in hours of diverse and engaging content. They can delve into various challenges within the Tears of the Force arenas, embrace the role of a Bounty Hunter, pursue Legendary Creatures, cultivate their gardens, and partake in the captivating Holographic Matches minigame. Although the exploration is limited to a few planets, Koboh and Jedha are the primary settings, packed with numerous activities alongside the main storyline. Completing tasks and investing around 45 to 55 hours of gameplay is essential for those aiming to attain platinum status.

Inspiration from Uncharted 4 Elevates Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Quality

If you've managed to stick around through the whole analysis, you've probably realized that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is worth your time. For fans out there, you can be assured that alongside Mandalorian, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor stands as one of the finest recent creations within this universe, inviting players to explore and enjoy the experience, and if interested, consider where to buy cheap PS5 games to expand their gaming collection. The game's level design has also been improved, much better than in the previous Star Wars games, with more intricate and detailed environments to explore, and making use of the new hardware of PlayStation 5.

Conclusion

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is not a money grab by any means and it stands out among its competitors due to its ambitious scope (that you decide if it was reached or not). The game features significantly more content than before, and is better than Fallen Order in any case, with greater levels of detail throughout the game, not to mention an expansive world containing everything from frozen tundras to lush forests awaiting you for exploration. I recommend buying Star Wars Jedi: Survivor because it offers plenty of extra gameplay through hidden areas, puzzles, and collectibles, so it packs quite a lot of replayability with many hours of additional gaming fun for players who finished the game. Although Jedi: Survivor requires quite a lot of storage space (139GB on my device) it boasts impressive loading times and smooth frame rates, clearly a game made for the current generation of consoles, while its graphics are captivating with highly detailed environments (true, there are some glitches) and character models that stand out.

Steam store page

One of my favorite activities in Minecraft is going deep inside the caves and just exploring them. A few years ago, the developers behind Cave Digger reached out to me and asked me to review their game. Not too long after, the sequel got released and looked like it would be a VR exclusive. Until I noticed that it appeared on the Nintendo Switch eShop. So, I thought, maybe it also released on Steam, since after playing the Switch version, I felt like this game was better played with keyboard and mouse. Now, a non VR version is on Steam now… But is it worth it? Well, after playing the first sections of this game, I want to talk about it. The latest update was on May 28th, 2024 when writing this article. Now, before we dive right into it, I want to invite to you leave a comment in the comment section with your thoughts and/or opinions on this game and/or the content of this article.

Risk of Staleness

In this game, we play as an unnamed miner who is throwing into the deep end, when his digger broke. You arrive at a mysterious valley. In this valley, a hardy explorer once did his research. But why? Which secrets are in these valleys and the accompanying mines? That’s for our miner to figure out. Now, the story is being told by various comic book pages you can uncover and, according to the Steam store page, has multiple endings. I’m quite curious where it’s going to go.

So far, I haven’t gotten too deep into the story. But, from what I can read on the Steam store page, I think it has potential. I have my doubts on how the multiple endings will work. Since comic books mostly have one ending, right? Unless, it all depends on which page(s) you find or in which order or where. That’s something I’ll discover when I’m deeper into the game.

If this game is like the original game, the story overall will take a backseat for the gameplay. And after 5 hours in, that’s the case. The original game didn’t have a lot of story to begin with, but more story in a game like this can be interesting.

There is one voice actor in this game. He does a pretty fine job and brings some life to the atmosphere. I replayed a bit of the first game and I have to be honest, I appreciate the small voice lines during the exploration. Even when you quickly hear every different line, it’s a nice break since they aren’t spammed and don’t appear that often.

One of the biggest changes in this game is that the cave this time around is randomly generated each time you enter. So, this game becomes a rouge like to a degree. But, you can always exit via the lifts to safety. Since, dying in the caves means that at least half of your obtained loot is dropped. The atmosphere this time around is very cohesive. This game presents itself as a sci-fi western game, and it really feels like that. Something I really like in this game is that it doesn’t go overboard in the sci-fi genre and stays grounded. The technology could realistically exist today, apart from the unique enemies in the cave, that is.

With the story taking more of a backseat, it’s quite important that the gameplay loop is enjoyable. The gameplay loop is simple, you have to explore the caves with 4 chosen tools. The three slots above the entrance give you a hint on which tools you will need to bring to gather the most loot. You take the lift down and gather loot, while fighting enemies and avoiding pitfalls to survive. The goal is also to find the other elevator that takes you down to the next level to gather even more valuable ores to bring to the top. You have to fill in the ores you gathered into the grinder to buy upgrades to your tools and environment to progress.

The big risk with this kind of gameplay loop is that this is just a different numbers game. What I mean by that is that, apart from maybe the visuals changing, the core concept is always the same. This risks that the game becomes stale and repetitive. It’s possible that it is just a “me thing”, but I enjoy games like this more when there are some variations on the gameplay or some different puzzles. Thankfully, this game has that. There are a lot of things you can upgrade and improve to make each run feel rewarding, and each type of cave you can visit has different enemies types and unique lay-outs to keep you on your toes. In a way, I dare to compare the idea a bit to Cult of the Lamb in a degree.

The music in this game is also a blast. It fits the atmosphere of each area like a glove. My favorite track is the track that plays in the lake caves. It sounds like you image a typical track like that to sound. And it gets more intense while you are fighting enemies down there. Now, the silent moments when the music doesn’t play feel a bit long, but I always know that there is more music coming and that it fits the atmosphere perfectly and draws me more into the game. Sadly enough, this isn’t the only problem with this game, and I’d like to talk about them.

No feedback

This game has an addictive gameplay loop, and I’m really curious how the multiplayer works. I haven’t tested the multiplayer in this game, but it looks like fun. Now, this game can be played solo perfectly fine.

Now, I don’t know if VRKiwi took the VR version as a base for the non VR version, since I have the impression, that is the case. I especially notice that with the controls in this game. It feels a bit floaty, like you aren’t really connected to the ground. It also feels a bit stiff, like you have to move your mouse like you would a VR headset. You really have to play with the settings until you hit that sweetspot that feels right for you. For me, I had to lower the sensitivity to 80, amongst other things. I highly recommend that you tweak the settings to your liking, since on the Nintendo Switch version, I had to lower the sensitivity to 40 before it felt right.

Still, the character control doesn’t feel right. At first, I thought it was because the controls felt floaty… But, after some testing, I think I found a few other problems with the character control that might cause it to not feel quite right. First, the jump in this game is just silly. You can’t really rely on it, since it doesn’t always trigger when you hit the spacebar, and it’s just a pathetic jump. You can’t even jump out of ankle high water sometimes.

Secondly, there are no sound effects for walking on most floors. You feel like you are floating, and it’s jarring when you suddenly hear a sound effect when you walk over a table or a railway. Thirdly, climbing on ropes amongst other things is just insanely picky. There is also no real feedback or sound to show you grabbed the rope. Fourthly, the scroll order between tools is extremely weird. You get numbers on the wheel counter clock wise. But you go down, right, left, up. Which still confuses me after 6 hours of playing this game.

And finally, some things are extremely picky. For example, there are safe riddles you can solve down in the caves. But to rotate the letter wheels to make pick the right letter is more difficult to do. All of these things give you a feeling that you aren’t always in control of your character and that you don’t get the feedback as a player on what’s happening. Making you unsure what’s happening and doubt if you are doing the right thing.

Prompts like “Use W/S to use the crank” should be “Hold W/S to use the crank”. Since, you need to hold the key instead of pressing it. Small things like that could also improve this game and it’s controls quite a lot. Overall, the controls are good, but they lack feedback to the player sometimes. Either with sound effects or with some visual effects. Like with the hammer, you barely have any sound effects when you use it, and it has some wind up animation, making you unsure if you are using it or not.

That is one of the biggest flaws in this game. The lack of feedback on your actions. Things like not knowing how many bullets are still left in your revolver or a sound effect when you hit an actual enemy. I think if there is one thing I’d use the built-in feedback tool is to report various cases/moments when I expect feedback from the game, like a sound effect or visual effect. Maybe they appear in the form of rumble effects… But, I’m not playing this game with a controller.

When you read this section of the article, I wouldn’t blame you if you think that this game isn’t good. Small bugs like the text of “Press R to reload” when your gun isn’t equipped or the bullets not leaving from the gun but from the player model don’t improve things either. Yet, I find myself looking past these problems since the core gameplay still works. I find myself getting used to the jank in this game and finding a very rough diamond. If the developers keep up with their promise of improving this game, I think that more action feedback will bring a lot to the game and maybe fixing the small bugs like in this paragraph as well.

Things like the animation of the shovel looking weird sometimes. The animation looks like the arms go through each other after a dig. Speaking of the shovel, the last dig is annoying since you have to move a pixel or two for it to count and give you your goodies. But the bug I’d love to see fixed most is the freeze for several seconds when you pick up something new or get a new codec entry. The game locks up like it’s about the crash, but it doesn’t.

What’s next for us?

Usually, I’m not really picky when it comes to the visuals of a game. As long as a game looks consistent, I’m quite happy. It needs to have a certain style so that you can quickly identify what’s what and enjoy the game.

Yet, for this game, I do have some things that I not really like in terms of the visuals. Firstly, the contrast of some ores and the floor isn’t clear enough. Sometimes I was passing up on ores since I wasn’t able to notice them on the ground.

There are also a lot of objects to give more details to the cave, but you can barely interact with them. I’d love to see lilly pads in lakes to move a bit when you walk past them or something more than just being able to clip through them. As well, a sound effect when you hit a wall you can’t mine. You get shouted at when you use the wrong or a too weak tool on something, so when not for the rest?

I think the biggest mistake that the visuals make is that it has an identity crisis. What I mean by that is that it isn’t a cohesive style. There is a lot of shell shading going on, but there is also a lot of details that give off a more realistic vibe. Some textures aren’t detailed enough and strechted too wide giving wrong impression the rest of the visuals that look more modern. The floor textures sometimes suffer most from this issue.

Looking back at this article, I think I’m being very critical for this game. I have played a lot worse and broken games for 15€. But, in this game you even have customisation options for your character and thee developers are extremely open for feedback. This game has a lot going for it. Fun achievements to hunt for, bosses at the end of runs and an amazing auto save system.

Apart from improving the character controls and adding some feedback on actions, I think this game is pretty decent. Yes, there is some polish missing like not having a tooltip with the lever at the cave entrance on what that lever does. I personally feel less conflicted about this game compared to the original. The growth in this title is immense and brings me a lot of hope for either some amazing updates, DLC or a new entry in the series.

The basis of for an amazing title is here and if you look past it’s short comings, this game is a blast to play. Maybe it’s a bit too repetitive for some and can be more fun in short bursts. But, when this game sinks it’s hooks into you, it really clicks. There is some polishing left to do and for a rather new VR focused developer, this is amazing. It’s their second non VR game and it shows a lot of promise.

The game is a perfect relaxing game to wind down, since it isn’t too difficult. The game is rather forgiving. I wouldn’t be surprised that I play this game after work to wind down and try and finish it slowly. Then again, while I’m writing this, I have summer holidays and I wouldn’t be surprised that I finish most of this game during my summer break.

Like I said earlier, I feel less conflicted about this game compared to the previous title. This game has a lot more going for it compared to the original. It’s less repetitive and it has a lot more going for it. It has it’s problems, yes. But, if you enjoy games like Minecraft, Steamworld Dig or Cave Digger, give the demo of this game a chance. The demo gives a very good idea on what you can expect from this game and if you enjoy it, buy the game. I’m enjoying myself quite a lot with this game and I’m happy that I have chosen the PC version over the Switch version since I feel like it just plays better. But maybe, if I get used to the Switch controls, I might enjoy it on Switch as well.

With that said, I have said everything I wanted to say about this game for now. Maybe when I finish this game, I might write a full review with the final thoughts and opinions on this game. But for now, I think the best conclusion for this game is that it’s an amazing step up from the original and besides some unpolished things… It’s a great game and comes recommend from me.

So, it’s time to wrap up this article with my usual outro. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article, but until then have a great rest of your day and take care.

Wikipedia page – Official site – Official microsite

I love how the store credit system works on the Nintendo eShop. When you purchase games, you get golden coins that you can use as a discount for other games. If you have enough coins, you can even buy the game outright. One of the games I have bought with this system is Trinity Trigger. From the description, it sounded like an interesting and unique action JRPG, and I’m always interested to play new and unique games. Especially since key staff on this game worked on amazing games like Chrono Cross and the Mana series. Now, is it any good and should you pick up this game, or is it a game that you should skip? Well, in this first impression I have after playing 1/4th of the game, I want to tell you my opinion so far. I’m also curious to hear your opinion on the game and/or the content of this article in the comment section down below. And with that said, let’s dive right into Trinity Trigger.

Just A Bit More

In this game, we take on the role of Cyan. Cyan is an average boy from a small village. He is also a treasure hunter that one day learns he is chosen by the God of Chaos as his Warrior of Chaos.

In the fantasy world of Trinitia, there are two main Gods. The God of Order and the God of Chaos. In ancient times, they used to wage war for control of the lands. Now, they chose a warrior each to represent them and fight the other warrior to the death for dominance. Cyan doesn’t know what that even means, but it might explain why he has amnesia, those weird dreams and that special glowing mark in his eye. In search for answers, he sets out on a journey, and that’s how this game starts.

When this game was originally teased, the main setup for this game was to create a game and story that was nostalgic to those who played old school JRPG’s. A lot of talent who worked on other big titles like Xenoblade, Pokémon and Bravely Default II were working on this game as well. I always find it dangerous to mention these things, since it might set the expectations of players way too high. What if this isn’t going to work out or when the story just doesn’t hit the mark?

You can never predict how the chemistry is between people, and it’s possible that they are unable to work together. But, it’s also possible they hit it off big and make something extremely unique and special. I remember how a game like World’s End Club could have been so much more with two amazing directors behind it, Kazutake Kodaka from Danganronpa fame and Kotaro Uchikoshi from the Zero Escape fame. Yet, that game was decent but could have been so much more if it had more depth and polish.

If I’m honest with myself, Trinity Trigger falls into the same boat then World’s End Club. Take the story, for example. When I started playing this game, an amazing world was being setup and I started to get interested and immersed in this new world. But, it didn’t take long before I noticed that this game hits all the familiar story beats you expect from a JRPG. But the biggest issue in this story is that it doesn’t do anything special during its journey. I have already visited a couple of towns and each time it’s the exact same basic premise that happens.

The best way I can describe the story is that it’s unoffensively bland. It does what it’s supposed to do, but nothing more. It’s a shame, since the amazing voice cast behind this game brought this game to live so much. I have nothing to critique there. The only thing that can be a bit annoying is hearing the same grunts over and over again while you are fighting in the dungeons, but that’s part of the course in JRPG’s.

Playing it safe

For some people, having a bland story in a JRPG’s is a dealbreaker. But, I can handle that if the main gameplay loop is enjoyable. In this game, you go from town to town and explore the town dungeon to become stronger and get new unique abilities.

The battles in this game aren’t turn based like in other JRPG’s. This is an action JRPG, after all, so you have to dodge and time your attacks well. You can even choose to ignore battles if you want to, apart from scripted fights or boss battles, that is. The combat system is decent and does the job. The only complaint I have is that your stamina drains a bit too fast, making your attacks quite weak against enemies. So, you have to use other mechanics like having better damage when you dodge roll an attack in time.

After each dungeon, you unlock a new weapon that has a slightly different playstyle. You can choose between which weapon you use on the fly with a weapon wheel. It works quite well, and it’s fun to figure out which enemies are weak against which weapons. Especially the bosses, since hitting them with the right weapon creates even more damage.

During your exploration, you can find hidden chests with items. Underneath the mini-map, you can find a counter with how many hidden treasures are still left in the area. I find it quite enjoyable to explore the whole map to find these hidden treasures. Some of the hidden passages are hidden away extremely well, and finding them was a blast.

Something I also really enjoy is that you can easily choose between which character you control. Some characters have unique skills and being able to quickly switch between them is amazing. Since, some enemies have a long range attack, and then it’s a blast being able to switch to a character that can use a bow to take them out more easily.

Enemies also drop various items that you can use to craft items in shops or at special stations. And crafting these items actually cost in game money. The amount you have to spend for crafting is a lot lower, but this is a mechanic I’m hesitant about. It would have been quite a lot of fun to be able to craft healing items during your exploration. Maybe these healing items were less effective than the potions you can buy in the shops. But then again, it might break the balance of the game and make you a bit overpowered.

You can only carry so many potions and to be very honest, I never really had problems with a boss battle or a dungeon when I was stocked up on potions. When you don’t do anything crazy and keep your stock high and manage your stat boosting items well, this game becomes quite easy. So easy in fact that boss battles become an endurance test and extremely repetitive.

Each boss battle has the same basic premise. You have to dodge their attacks and use the right weapon to break the shield of the boss. In most cases, this is the newly unlocked weapon. After you have broken the shield, you can damage the boss. If you have broken the shield 4 to 5 times, and kept hitting the boss, you have beaten the fight.

Now, the dungeons play like your typical The Legend of Zelda dungeon to a degree. There is one main theme and puzzle mechanic for you to solve. Once you reached the final room of the dungeon, you fight a final boss and progress in the game. When I think about it, the structure of this game resembles 2D Zelda games here and there. And maybe, the structure of a Zelda game would have fit the game better than an action JRPG. Since, I wouldn’t be surprised if players drop this game and call it repetitive. Since, it really is. I tried to play this game in longer sessions, but I started to feel bored after playing it for an hour or two. Yet, I kept enjoying myself with the game while playing it on my 30-minute train ride from and to work.

Middle of the Road

The more I play this game, the more I feel like this game could have been so much more. The basic foundation of this game is rock solid, and I barely have anything to critique there. Like the controls and the UI for example. The controls are extremely responsive and a blast to work with.

Now, the other characters are AI controlled. Overall, the AI does an okay job following you and aiding you in combat, but it can do some brain-dead actions as well. One of the dungeons where it frustrated me to no end was the ice dungeon, where your AI allies slid into the spikes every single time.

Visually, this game looks pretty decent. There is quite a lot of detail put into this world and the underused area exclusive mechanics are quite a lot of fun to play with. For example, I love how in the forest area the mushrooms can have different effects depending on the color. Especially the one that allows you to light up the area.

But then you have moments where some textures are bland and look like they are from an earlier generation, creating a mismatch. And on top of that, some battle animations can’t be canceled. And the final attack of the bow is just silly. Yet, if a certain attack is in progress, you can’t switch weapons. This is something that annoyed me quite a lot as well.

The soundtrack of this game is quite enjoyable. It fits the atmosphere of the game like a glove. Overall, this orchestral soundtrack is a joy to listen too. But, there are some tracks that are a bit too short and the rather repetitive melody isn’t it doing any favors. Thankfully, these tracks don’t appear to often so I don’t mind it too hard.

The sound effects are pretty good too. I’d recommend that you use the option menu to tweak the sound balancing to your liking, since the basic sound balancing is a bit off when it comes to the balance between sound effects and music. I had to lower the music a little bit so I could hear the important sound effects better during battles.

This game really feels like it’s walking the middle of the road here. My biggest complaint with this game is that it lacks depth in almost every aspect of the game. And it’s just that lack of depth that’s hurting this game. This game has a lot of great idea’s like how easy to read the UI is, but it barely does anything with the stat boosting items.

The game also has local co-op, but I don’t see a reason why to play this game in co-op. There aren’t enough elements to justify for me to have a friend over and play this game. It’s just too bland for that. It’s a shame, since if the combat system was more in depth, it would have been an amazing feature. Now, it’s just another ticked box of features this game has.

Just like how some of the monster design is amazing and sometimes even looks somewhat creepy. They also telegraph their attacks quite well, so you can easily dodge them. Dodging attacks in time is quite important, since you can do special attacks or even more damage. Now, you also have your typical enemies like your slimes and bees, but they look unique and fit their setting quite well.

To be honest, this game is the perfect entry game for young childern to get into roleplaying games. I think that if you have played other more expansive JRPG’s, you will notice the cracks this game has and feel mixed about the game like the whole reception is for this game.

This brings me to the price. To be honest, I wouldn’t pay the full price for this game. The asking price for this game is 40€. And if you want all the DLC, it’s even more. Around 50€. Now, I don’t recommend buying all the DLC apart from the one that comes with the Deluxe edition. The other DLC is just a one time booster pack you can buy to make the game even easier than it already is.

The asking price is too high for this game and it’s length. This game can be beaten in 15 hours and it doesn’t really have replay value. I personally feel that 25€ would have been a better price for the base game and Deluxe edition should have been 40€. If you are interested by this game, I’d buy it if it were on sale. While this game isn’t doing anything new or innovate, it still manages to be enjoyable.

I’m happy that I gave this game a chance. While I expected a lot more from it, I don’t think it’s a bad game. I can totally understand why people don’t like this game or drop it. Since, it’s a very basic middle of the road JRPG that could do something unique but doesn’t. Now, the Japanese publishers of this game FuRyu have developed a game that became the basis for another larger game (The Legend of Legacy feels like the basis for The Alliance Alive). Maybe this game is creating the basis for another larger and better game.

If that’s the case, I’d love to see more unique puzzles in the dungeons for a start. The dungeons were so easy to beat and didn’t provide too much challenge. Maybe some puzzles were only the unique dungeon weapon has to be used to progress or even exit the dungeon.

I’d also love to see more expansion on the armor and stat items. I felt they barely had any impact in this game and I often forgot you could change the stones in your equipement to increase the damage output in certain cases or decrease the taken damage in certain cases.

The biggest thing I’d love to see improved is more depth in the game. Develop the town more and make them more memorable, instead of just a stop to stock up on supplies to go to the next dungeon. The side quests were introduced too late into the game.

I could go on for a while giving examples of what they can expand or improve, but I want to avoid that you get the impression that this game is bad. This game is decent, but not great. That’s the best way to describe this game. I’d recommend it to younger players who want to give an action JRPG a try. If you are in love with the action JRPG games, I’d highly advice you to lower your expecations. I’d compare to that animated summer blockbuster movie that everybody forgets about in a few months. It didn’t do anything memorable but it a fun time while it lasted. It’s a great snack inbetween games for me and I’m curious to see what the developer does next. Since, the potential is there.

With that said, I have said everything I wanted to say about the game for now. I want to thank you for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article, but until then have a great rest of your day and take care.

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