Posts

Posted on

Game Ramblings #85 – The World Ends With You: Final Remix

More Info from Nintendo

  • Genre: Action RPG
  • Platform: Switch
  • Originally released on: DS
  • Also available on: iOS, Android

TL;DR

  • Input and visual remake ported over from mobile both work fantastically well for a handheld Switch title
  • Still one of the most memorable soundtracks for an RPG from the DS’ run

This is a pretty interesting game to play on a second system if you originally played it on the DS. While the story is the same and the gameplay clearly takes its base style from the DS release, in practice it’s a much different experience due to the lack of a second screen. What this ends up being is a mix of nostalgia and new that somehow succeeds just as well as the original did, despite the years in between.

The obvious starting point here is combat. The original game had two screens of combat, the bottom which juggled manipulation of touch screen elements, and the top which used d-pad button combos to simultaneously attack two different areas at once. Since the top screen is gone, this version goes all-in on the touch elements. That tweet is just a small example where one of the player’s attacks (via equippable pins) involves dragging around environment obstacles to damage enemies. There’s a whole slew of tap, drag, slash, and hold attacks to equip and it’s all up to the player to find a mix that works best for them.

The combo attack is the reward for playing the game well, and it ends up being core to the changes to the battle system.

What’s most interesting for me was how they replaced the top screen manipulation. Under normal circumstances, the second party member is now just a normal pin. However, alternating each player’s attacks also builds up a meter that allows for a large combo attack to occur. Importantly, this combo attack also heals the party, so it doubles as a defensive maneuver as well. This completely changes the flow of battles compared to the original.

On the DS, my pattern was generally to switch my focus back and forth between each screen, doing a combo on one screen, moving the character to a safe area, then switching to the other screen. Here the focus is on one spot, and the peak way to fight is to find ways to build out your pin set to allow you to smoothly alternate between each character. In practice, this made my playing style a lot more aggressive than the original release. I was no longer too worried about avoiding damage, and in many cases encouraged taking damage so I could stay in close range. I’d maximize my attack alternation, get my combo built up, heal and do big damage to eliminate everything. It made the entire battle system feel completely new, and meant the loss of the unique second screen gameplay was not a negative.

Some of the old top screen gameplay does show up in bosses, and it’s a nice way to make boss fights feel unique.

Boss fights do bring in some of the dual-screen mechanics in a good way however. Boss fights in the original game generally revolved around one or the other character having to do specific actions in order to make the boss damageable or expose weak points. In this remake, that happens through transition points where you gain control of one character at a time to activate these actions. In the example above, the fight takes place in a music venue where one character is on the floor fighting the boss, and the second is in the rafters fighting adds to turn on lights to expose the boss. It basically ended up that the boss fights still felt really familiar and brought in some of the solid dual screen gameplay in a way that didn’t feel forced.

The mobile remake’s visuals really work well on the Switch. Everything is super crisp in handheld mode, and is a significant upgrade over the DS.

I suppose the short version here is that this is a game worth playing. I put way more hours into the DS version than I care to admit, and even for me playing this in the new format was a treat. The mix of old and new gameplay styles from the DS and mobile versions still left me playing an RPG that feels like nothing else on any system. The story was still super engaging, and the soundtrack is one of the best RPG soundtracks I’ve ever heard. If there’s anything I’d hold against this, it’s that playing it in anything other than handheld mode is a terrible idea, but I think it’s worth pulling that Switch over to your lap to give this one a whirl.

Posted on

Game Ramblings #84 – Unravel Two

More Info from EA

  • Genre: Puzzle/Platformer
  • Platform: PS4
  • Also Available On: Origin, Xbox One, Switch

TL;DR

  • Mechanically fantastic puzzle platformer that works just as well in single player or co-op
  • Not as big an emotional impact as the first game, but is mechanically far better as a game

It’s worth noting that I pretty much did a marathon of both the Unravel games in a few sittings. Where the first game was a solid puzzle platformer with a fantastic emotional arc straight out of Journey, the second was a much more laid back affair. However, it added a few mechanics that made it a much more solid game experience and added on a great implementation for couch co-op, so I decided that this one was the one I would ramble about. Really though, both are absolutely worth playing.

Most of the core mechanics of the game are present in this one screenshot, so it’s a good place to start.

Unravel is entirely a game about yarn, it’s the core visual feature of the main characters, it represents the binding of the two background story characters, and it’s the core limitation that keeps the players from being separated throughout the game. Like the first game, it’s also the big core physics piece that allows most of the puzzles in the game to work. Where the first game gave you limited yarn between checkpoints, this game gives you limited yarn between the two characters, which is also why this game works so well whether in single player or co-op.

The big physics mechanic that you gain with the yarn is swinging. You can hook up to points in the world and swing from them. Like the screenshot above, you can also create points by wrapping your yarn around objects that block the yarn. However, the swinging in the sequel feels a bit less physically realistic, and the game is much better off for it. The first game was generally alright for swinging, but there were a number of points where it definitely felt like I was battling the physics engine for just the right swing. In the sequel, swings feel much more set on perfect arcs (although they definitely massage this visually), so my swings and especially my jump releases were far more accurate. This move away from super physics realism also extended to some core movement. Running was distinctly faster and jumps were more rigid, giving the game a much more distinctly typical platformer feel in practice. It was definitely to the benefit of the game for them to go this direction.

The yarn can also be used just to hang, and like the screenshot above this can be used for other sorts of maneuvering. Since the two characters are independent, one can hang and move around on the rope while the second player physically swings them along. It’s a clever use of the typical platformer moving rope mechanic in a way that the player has significantly more control over the result. Done in co-op, it also means that the two players work together in a way that gives great instant feedback to what they’re doing.

The other big game mechanic added for the sequel is wall jumping. It may sound weird for something so simple, but this tremendously improved the pace of the game. The first game had a lot of sections where there wasn’t really a whole lot going on between puzzles. By simply adding wall jumps, the design toolbox was allowed to expand in a way that encouraged more simply fun platforming set pieces between puzzle areas, so the overall fun factor of the entire game improved as a result.

Puzzles definitely require both players to be doing something, which really makes co-op work well.

It’s also worth noting how literal the Two in the game title is. The entire game is playable in single player where the player switches between the two characters, or in co-op where each character is controlled separately. This co-op extends to the entire game, and the puzzles really take advantage of this. The screenshot above is a pretty simple example, where the players take turns distracting the bird to move to the end of the puzzle. However, these extend to areas where the co-op players activate weights to move set pieces around, to puzzles where the players have to heavily use the yarn rope physics to swing themselves to the right spots and help each other up, and more. This is as good of a couch co-op experience as I’ve ever seen in a platformer, and unlike New Super Mario Bros U, this is definitely designed to make co-op fun instead of frustrating.

I can’t leave this without mentioning the visuals – this game looks fantastic throughout.

The two Unravel games are pretty damn special. The first is an emotional gut punch that follows a similar arc to Journey, and in doing so gives a really strong puzzle/platformer game. The second makes the game mechanically far better, and at the same time adds one of the best platformer co-op experiences I’ve ever seen. This is on top of great visuals, great audio, and a phenomenal soundtrack backing it all up. These two games have been pretty easy to miss, especially on PC where they’re relegated to Origin, but it’s absolutely worth putting in the effort to seek these out, especially the sequel.

Posted on

Game Ramblings #83 – SteamWorld Dig 2

More Info from Image & Form Games

  • Genre: Metroidvania – Action/Adventure
  • Platform: Switch
  • Also Available On: Windows, macOS, Linux, PS4, Vita, 3DS, Xbox One

TL;DR

  • Fantastic Metroidvania that mixes that genres typical features with a solid mining mechanic to push progression
  • Great visual style and audio kick up the presentation aspects of this title
  • Fantastic gameplay loop that really fits the on-the-go nature of the Switch

My ramblings don’t hide at all that I’m a big fan of Metroidvania titles. However, I typically stay away from playing them on portable devices since the gameplay loop doesn’t typically feel that good in short bursts. SteamWorld Dig 2 is definitely a big exception to that rule. In crafting a really solid Metroidvania title on its own, the team behind this game has also crafted one that encourages fast travel and exploration in short bursts with frequent returns to base to power up, and given us a title that is both a great Metroidvania as well as the perfect game to play on the go, even if that wasn’t exactly how I went ahead playing it.

This is 100% a Metroidvania, so of course you’ll be spending a lot of time in the map looking for new secrets.

Let’s get this out of the way – yes there’s a whole lot of digging in this game, but this is still a Metroidvania in every way. There’s a ton of secret areas to find, a ton of upgrades to get along the way, and a lot of little enemies to destroy for loot. You’ll spend a lot of time traversing and retraversing levels as you gain access to abilities to let you get through new block types, let you grapple hook, let you fly, and more. However, it is that little mining detail that really separates this game from the pack.

Digging is in the name of the game, and it’s what you’ll really be building your abilities around.

While combat is there to some extent, digging is the real core upgrade loop here and it isn’t as simple as it looks. Throughout the game you end up gaining upgrades to your pickaxe, but you also gain a bunch of other things with similarly destructive tendencies. This ranges from things like jackhammers to mines to grenade launchers, all set in a bid to blow up as much stuff in your way as possible, and the more destructive it gets the more entertaining the result. Throughout this entire process you’re also digging not just to clear paths, but to find gems to sell, upgrade tokens for obvious purposes, and the occasional treasure that can be traded for upgrade blueprints. Basically, you’ll want to always be digging somewhere in order to find every little thing that can be used to move you along the upgrade path.

There’s also a bunch of really smart passive upgrades that may sound weird to Metroidvania veterans, but really do a good job of smoothing out the grind as the game goes on. Just when you get tired of gems falling down into pits, you can purchase an upgrade to draw gems into the player. Just when you’re getting tired of searching every nook and cranny for gems, you can purchase an upgrade that visualizes these things on your active minimap. Just when you’re starting to get tired of searching for those last few little hidden spots, you gain an item that will show a sparkle in-world if you’re near a hidden breakable block. These are all things that simplify the experience to be sure, but they’re given at points well past where mechanics are learned as a reward for getting so far, so they end up feeling like a huge thank you to reduce grind mechanics at the point where it would start to become tiring.

Sometimes you just accidentally start up fire robots to take out enemies that are ahead of you. Oops.

However, the thing that most impressed me is how good this entire loop works for a portable device. Getting through this game is a huge bunch of effectively 5-10 minute sequences where you mine for a bit, fill your bag, and return to town to sell your loot and upgrade your abilities. This is smartly capped by other things that make you want to go back to town anyway, such as a lantern that runs out of fuel, water resources that can sometimes be hard to find, or health that can sometimes be a bit difficult to come by. Typically these things could be really frustrating, but in practice it really reenforces the loot, sell, upgrade loop that Dig 2 is pushing so hard for. There’s a ton of fast travel devices that you unlock all over the world, so there’s almost always somewhere near your start and end of a single loop to warp around which does a ton for minimizing unnecessary retravesal as well.

This basically then becomes the perfect portable title. Grab your Switch, 3DS, or Vita, play for 5-10 minutes, get a loop in, and put the device to sleep. You’re always making progress, always increasing your power curve just a bit, and always doing something beneficial to getting towards the end. With a typical playthrough clocking in at the 6-8 hour range, this gives you a whole bunch of little loot loops to take advantage of as well so you end up getting a bunch of mileage out of it when played this way.

Really this ends up being a great Metroidvania title, even if it’s a bit off the typical path for this genre. Even just from presentatin aspects this one hits all the right marks. Visually this is a looker, the audio and soundtrack are all fantastic, and the framerate and controls are solid throughout. From a portable perspective this is also the perfect way to play the genre, with a game loop that enforces a 5-10 minute mini-run setup instead of longer form gameplay that these can sometimes get stuck in. Would this game work fine as a console or PC experience as well? Absolutely. However, I think this one really nails it as something you’ll want to bring along with you as the perfect travel companion experience.