Another day, another platformer. It’s difficult to reinvent the wheel when developing this genre. However, I do appreciate more nuanced layers in these kinds of games. Pankapu, a new 2D action/platformer, takes on this challenge by presenting an interesting two-story structure and wonderful aesthetic. However, it falls victim to underdeveloped mechanics and questionable level design. These things detract from what could have been a more memorable platforming experience.

Story

The title happens to be a narrative-driven one. The narrative switches between two settings, reality and dreams. The story line of reality bases itself on a boy named Djaha’rell. Apparently suffering from some tormented life, Djaha’rell prefers to escape to the land of dreams…Omnia. Narrated to him by his father, Omnia becomes the setting for the second story line. This is where we are introduced to Pankapu “the Dreamkeeper.” Pankapu must defeat the nightmares (Hya’Nagi) that plague Omnia and restore peace to the realm.

I thought this two-story structure was an interesting setup for this type of game. It added some intrigue to the worlds these characters inhabit. I also appreciated how this game did not waste too much time with lore and background info. It tosses you into the environment rather quickly. With platformers, I definitely like to get into the action right away, and Pankapu delivers this from the get-go.

The story itself was so-so. The objective is easily understood and I determined to progress further. I also appreciate how the story is told as a fable, allowing the developers be more creative and fantastical in their world building. On the other hand, the dream world did not tie into reality enough for me to buy-in to the conflict. I was hoping consequences from Omnia would reflect in some way to the reality of Djaha’rell. A missed opportunity to keep me invested into the story throughout the game.

Design

My favorite feature about this game is how aesthetically pleasing it is. The pristine digital artwork that went into Pankapu is evident throughout. I adore the lighthearted character design. Pankapu is a fierce looking warrior by the standards of the world in which he exists. The supporting cast of characters share that same feeling of light and fun. Even the enemies are mainly just blobs with eyes. Although they represent nightmares, the darkness doesn’t feel as threatening. Comparable to the goombas from Super Mario, from which this game draws inspiration, the Hya’Nagi seem much less lethal than they may actually be.

In addition, these creative creatures exist in a vibrant world of dreams. The art style is truly shown off in this respect. Vivid backgrounds and contrasting colors accent just how much effort went into this phase of the game. Colors even played a role in the gameplay itself. Each different color aegis signifies a different specialty Pankapu may equip himself with. Red = warrior, green = archer, and blue = mage. Taking a strong aspect of the game design and implementing it into the gameplay was a genius decision by the developer. As I see it, this game knew what it had and accentuated it to distract from where it falls short.

Gameplay

I’ll be honest. I am not the biggest fan of platformers. However, I refuse to let my bias influence my opinions of this particular game. Every gaming experience is different, and I always go into a new one with an open mind. I have expressed how Pankapu provides intrigue with story structure and game design, but it just wasn’t enough for me to get over the frustrations of the gameplay.

The controls are somewhat responsive, but not precise enough for a platformer. For this genre, they need to be as tight as possible in order to succeed through the difficult levels. I think the developer decided to incorporate a light and “floaty” control mechanic to match the aesthetic of the game. Perhaps a courteous design choice, but it took away from the actual gameplay and my enjoyment of the game.

The level design is Crash Bandicoot levels of hard. In a sense, you must learn exactly how to control Pankapu in every situation. The level design involves a lot of timing and control in order to progress. It may take several tries before you can reach the next checkpoint (which are scattered sporadically and inconsistently). I understand making a game difficult as to provide a challenge. However, the ends don’t justify the means for me in this scenario. As I stated earlier, the story did not present high enough stakes for me to buy-in to the conflict. I didn’t care much for any reward awaiting me at the end. In the end, I feel the difficulty of getting through each level was fleeting.

Conclusion

First, let me say how I admire an indie developer like Two of a Kind for relying on the gaming community to help them with projects through crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter. This truly shows how proactive the gaming community is. Supporting smaller developers to get their hard work noticed and appreciated is important. Unfortunately, Pankapu‘s great potential is stymied by the gameplay mechanics. It’s unfortunate because I was genuinely intrigued from the outset. It has a few things going for it. If you prefer more lighthearted games with beautiful scenery, then of course I would recommend it. For me, I simply lost the opportunity to be fully invested in this game. I became too distracted from the gameplay, and it took me out of any possible immersive experience I was hoping for. However, if you are a sucker for platformers, give this game a chance. The developers undoubtedly put a lot of heart into this project and it shows.

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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If you play a lot of role-playing games on your mobile device, you’re probably familiar with KEMCO. The publisher is known for various RPG Maker-like games for iOS and Android devices, and even a few consoles releases. Usually I have reservations for mobile RPGs, especially ones that look like they were made by RPG Maker, as they tend to have low-quality graphics, reused sprites and animation, and an overall bland story. However, KEMCO surprised me with its recent port of Antiquia Lost for the PS4 and PS Vita. From looking at previews and image stills, I was predicting that the game would be very mundane. (I mean, it is a port of a mobile game.) However, after playing it, I saw how deep it gets past the surface.

It’s about time for Minecraft to show how much better the game is when playing with others. The “Better Together” update is the crossplay update that was announced at E3 earlier this year.

As of now, Xbox One, Windows 10, Mobile, and VR users will all be able to join into worlds with each other and play the blocky sandbox game. Nintendo Switch will be getting the update this winter as some beta testing still needs to be done on that platform. So far Sony does not want to include the PS4 and Vita in the gathering, but Microsoft has said they are in ongoing talks to bring it there, so you can keep your hopes up.

With this update, players on all the above platforms (except Xbox) can also share invite links to Realms, which is the area of the game that lets your world stay active even when no one is on and anyone can join at anytime. The host of the world does not need to be on. Xbox will be getting this feature soon.

Along with the crossplay feature, the update brings a ton of new content, tweaks, and bug fixes that you can check out on the Minecraft website here.

As a guy who has put hundreds of hours into Minecraft, but not much in the last couple years, I am pretty excited to give this a try. There is a very real chance that this could pull me back into the game, especially since it means I can play on my Xbox and be playing with my daughter on her phone while she is at her mom’s house. Even though it is a game that came out years ago, Minecraft is still evolving. I have to say, I did not expect it, but I am kind of excited for this.

You can check out Gameinformer’s post on the update here.

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Of the many genres of gaming, puzzle games have to be some of my absolute favourites. When they’re done right, these games can be a good five minute time killer or a three hour session in the making, depending on how you’re feeling. The best puzzle games can turn that five minutes into three hours without you even knowing it. Hoping to join the pantheon of puzzling greats is Twickles, a curious little maze game that will be readying itself to confound us as of the end of this month.

Developed by the German team Neox Studios, Twickles will be appearing on Steam from September 28th at a cost of $6.99 but what can we expect from it? Well, Twickles is a maze game of sorts with a minimalist aesthetic. You are asked to navigate your ball around an increasingly complex series of labyrinths. What makes this more than your average maze is that you’ll need to rotate pieces of the labyrinth and sometimes its entire structure to meet your goal.

This is the sort of game that is going to be a perfectionist’s dream. Completing each level is one thing; doing this with the perfect number of moves and attaining all of the trophies is something entirely different. Replaying the same level to get that perfect score is bound to coax that “one more round” feeling that puzzle fans love so much. With 75 hand crafted levels to ace that should keep players going for quite a bit. The game is also broken into five overall parts and each will add a new element to play just to stop things getting stale.

I wouldn’t mind having a crack at this one myself, actually. Keep the old eyes peeled for some more coverage in the future. If you’re planning on joining me just keep watch for its arrival next week.

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It’s been a rough few months for Community Inc. developers T4 Interactive. Their village-builder simulation title hit Steam in August, but was met with a muted response after finicky mechanics and tedious gameplay got the better of their reviews page. Unfortunately, the rough seas haven’t turned into plain sailing. Community Inc. is still plagued by the very same intricacies that it thrives on, which is what makes defining its worth so very difficult.

As the overseeing force of a new civilization, you have a mere 30 days to transform the wasteland you find yourself in into a thriving city of trade, diplomacy, and civilian gratification. Of course, you won’t be doing any of the work yourself. You have Lings for that. Lings are your workers, the pawns you move to construct your city for you. Unfortunately it seems these workers have the same amount of artificial intelligence as literal chess pawns.

The fundamental flaw with Community Inc. is the significance it places on the role of the Lings combined with a fatal case of spreading a mechanic too thin. Without direct command, Lings will simply wander around the pile of dust you want to transform into a thriving community. This is all well and good for the first couple of workers you employ. However, as you begin bringing more employees into the mix, things start to get hectic.

This would all be praise if Community Inc. was a game based on chaos management, but it’s not. Community Inc. is a tactical strategy village building simulation, not a tower defense title. Unfortunately with the tactless AI and monotonous gameplay Community Inc. manages to be neither what it aspires to be or what it sometimes comes across as.

In theory, though, it works. This is what makes playing Community Inc. so devastating. On paper, the title has enough genre-breaking mechanics, strategies, and elements to conquer the charts. Take, for example, the Ling specialization features; once you hire workers, it’s up to you what they get to work to. Choose a Ling to specialize as a tree farmer and they can build significant skill in that area, bringing you better results and shorter work times. Lings come with distinct personalities, needs, wants, attributes, and skills.

In theory, they work. In theory, they can change the game. In practice, the whole feature is begging to be streamlined. The fundamental issue here, is Lings often look exactly the same. Wearing the same clothes, same hairstyles, same colors, managing all these needs, wants, and professional attributes becomes more like a part time spreadsheet balancing job. There’s a reason village sims rarely provide this number of workers with this level of characterization. T4 Interactive took on the challenge gallantly but ultimately did not deliver in this regard.

It’s not just Lings you need to interact with, however. There are neighboring races waiting to either trade or wage war with your civilization. The name of the game here is diplomacy, unfortunately, however it’s as far from political tact as possible. What initially impresses with complex relational systems inevitably yields to simple, arbitrary decision branches. Help one race and another will automatically hate you no matter your previous relationship. If one race loves you another will hate you because of it. There is no middle ground and no real depth to these interactions to the extent that they merely play the extraneous part of annoying pop up every few minutes.

Community Inc. feels like a rushed attempt to create something new with certain disregard for the consequences of sweeping statements. If it were an early access release, I could understand and even forgive some of the game’s many issues, but it is not an early access release. T4 Interactive rushed out to try and revolutionize a genre but left their basic design guidebook at home.

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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In Light Fall for the Nintendo Switch, you can explore the land of eternal night from the palm of your hand. Bishop Games have announced the Nintendo Switch version of the immersive 2D platformer for release in March 2018. Light Fall will also be available for PC, Mac, PS4 and Xbox One, as previously announced. The first playable build of the game on Nintendo Switch will be shown at Tokyo Game Show 2017 from 21 – 24 September 2017.

For the past few months my PlayStation VR has collected dust sitting next to my PlayStation 4. I’m not sure if that’s because I don’t want to take the time to set everything up or if there just aren’t any PSVR games that I want to play. What I do know is that with all the buzz around Arizona Sunshine since it’s launch on the HTC Vive, I could not wait for the PSVR port of the game.

Arizona Sunshine is a zombie-thriller made for VR. While that genre may seem over used the past 10 or so years, Arizona Sunshine has something special that kept me intrigued the entire time. You play as a man (unnamed) who wakes up in an Arizona river valley that is littered with beer cans. From there your adventure begins as you explore your surroundings, kill zombies, and eventually find a radio that has a weak signal, allowing you to faintly hear another human’s voice.

The story as a whole exceeds anything I’ve played on my PSVR to date (although I’ve not yet played Resident Evil 7). From the moment you find the radio signal, it is filled with mystery and excitement as you track down the source. While short, the story was both exciting and intriguing. That’s not to mention the fact that the entire thing is playable in Co-op. Co-op is one my favorite ways to play games so this was a huge plus for the game. Being a zombie game, Arizona Sunshine has its fair share of jump-scares and creepy scenes which I very much both appreciated and hated.

Mechanically Arizona Sunshine plays just about as good as any VR game can play on the PlayStation 4. I found little to no problems at all when it came to tracking my motions. Also, I did not feel even slightly sick a single time, despite having played 4 hours straight one night. While aiming down the sights of a gun there are no problems for me.There are some people having problems with this, but it may be that they have not calibrated their systems properly. The weapons all feel very natural to use with the Move controllers. My favorite weapon in the game is easily the sniper rifle. Using both hands to hold the gun up and also looking through the scope felt so natural that hopefully there is a sniper simulator come to PSVR in the near future.

Aside from being able to play the game cooperatively, the team over at Vertigo Games added a horde mode. This was one of the weaker points of the game. While the mechanics and weapons all play nicely, the maps for horde were very small and restricting. You and your team are essentially trapped in a small bunker while waves of zombies attack. This mode would benefit greatly by adding larger maps.

Overall Arizona Sunshine is a great buy for anyone looking to play a good story on their PSVR. Hell, if you also have a friend with a headset I’d strongly recommend you both pick this up. Horde maps aside, Arizona Sunshine may be one of the better games available for the PlayStation VR.

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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Steam’s Early Access is a dimly lit labyrinth where some games emerge victorious, and some perish to never be seen again. When a game announces that they have bested the proverbial Minotaur, expectations are naturally pretty high. When you think about the implications of a game spending years in Early Access, being play tested by hundreds of thousands of what are essentially beta testers, the game in its finished state should be a refined experience. The keyword being should. Studio Wildcard has officially released their grand, dinosaur-based survival game ARK: Survival Evolved on consoles after roughly 3 years in Early Access, but as a new player you would never guess it was a finished product.

Welcome to Jurassic Park

Hopefully no humans in real life are built like ARK cavemen

My very first structure

PQube has announced that MAGES and 5pb’s acclaimed visual novel, CHAOS;CHILD, will be coming to PS4 and Vita in Europe on October 13th 2017 and North America on October 24th 2017.

Originally released as a novel in 1989 and later a TV miniseries in 2010, Ken Follett’s most popular book, The Pillars of the Earth, gets re-imagined in 2017 as a narrative adventure game for the PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Taking place in England during the twelth-century, The Pillars of the Earth tells a drama-filled tale from the perspective of three unique characters. You have Philip, a well respected monk visiting the priory in the fictional city of Kingsbridge. There’s Jack, the son of an outlaw who lives in a remote cave with his mother. Lastly there’s Aliena, a young, disgraced noblewoman. While they each have very diverse backgrounds, they’re not heroes or heroines destined to save the world. T