Indie Games

[liger05]

No Axiom Verge is crazy.

[Grazza]

Reading the article it seems like NoA is the issue. The game that got mentioned (Vroom or something?) is, by all accounts, an absolutely terrible and buggy game, yet it's been allowed on the service, while something like Axiom Verge has been pushed aside. NoJ allowed this game on the eShop.

 

While I can see what they are trying to achieve, they are going about it the wrong way. It's not like it's even working, either. Mr. Shifty was released the other week and the game is supposed to be a bit of a broken mess. Reports for gamers and Nintendo podcasters have stated that it has horrible crashing issues, especially towards the end of the game. You don't want games like that headlining your digital shop for the week.

 

Absolutely. Based on the article you linked (which was very enlightening), it seems the concept of a game gets judged early on, rather than how good the finished product is.

[Hero-of-Time]

The first game I played after setting up my Switch wasn't Mario Kart or Zelda but rather Kamiko. I've been looking forward to playing it ever since the first trailer hit. I ended up finishing it 3 times yesterday afternoon.

 

Skipmore are a small Japanese indie developer that have released a couple of 3DS games in recent years. Both Fairune and it's sequel received a lot of praise from various gaming outlets due to their cheap price, great soundtracks and simple gameplay. Kamiko looks set to follow in the footsteps of it's predecessors.

 

The game starts off with you having to pick one of the 3 heroes of the game. Each of the girls has a different weapon to use and this will alter how the combat will be while exploring the world.

 

Yamoto is a sword user who's speciality is close combat. Uzume uses a bow, which means that long distance attacks are her forte. Last up we have Hinome, who uses both a sword and shield. She is kinda of a mixture of both characters as she can toss her shield as a projectile but also use her short sword if enemies attack her at close range.

 

Once you have decided on your hero of choice, it's time to set out on your adventure.

 

The game is broken up into 4 separate worlds. While there are similar elements to each of the worlds, they do have their own distinct look and feel. The main objective for each of these stages is to light 4 beacons which are usually positioned in the middle of the world. Once lit, a new gateway will open and you can then fight the boss of that area.

 

To light up the 4 beacons you will have to find 4 different altars that are scattered across the world. After using an altar, one of the beacons will light up. To help the player know where to look, the beacon that is lit is relative to where the altar is. For example, use an altar in the bottom right of the map and the bottom right beacon will light up. This helps the player to know what area of the world they have explored and gives a subtle hint as to where to go next, without having a big arrow pointing on the screen.

 

So, how do you go about using these altars and generally navigating the world? As mentioned before, each of the heroes has their own combat style. You use these attacks to defeat enemies, who then dish out combo points. These points fill up a bar that is located just beneath your health meter. The key here is to keep that combo going as long as you can by chaining enemy kills. If you get one kill then you get 1 point, 2 kills get you 2 points, 3 kills...you get the idea. These points are given to the player every time you hit a new combo number. It's not a case of reaching a combo of 50 and then just getting 50 points, as you get points every time the increment is increased.

 

Once you have earned yourself a nice amount of combo points you can use them to open up the chests that are hidden around each level, open locked doors or pour them into the altars to light the beacons. While you may worry about wasting points or not having enough for what you need, the enemies respawn all the time, meaning that you will have an endless supply at your disposal.

 

Another use for the combo points meter is a special attack. If you hold down your attack button for a few seconds then you will unleash a powerful move that will take care of most the enemies on screen. This will cost you points and to be honest, outside of a mandatory use, I never really used it in the game.

 

The game does have a few puzzles but nothing that will trouble seasoned gamers. Unlike Fairune, which left me scratching my heads a few times, the puzzles here are mostly just grabbing an item and then carrying it to a specific place. While easy, your progress can be hampered if hit by an enemy while carrying said item. If you get hit then the item is dropped and you have to go pick it up again.

 

Both the combat and puzzles are the complete opposite of Skipmore's previous games. In the Fairune games there is no real combat ( you just run into enemies to defeat them ) and the puzzles are quite obscure at times. Here, the combat is an essential part of the game and the puzzles quite simple.

 

Now, for what will no doubt be the biggest sticking point for a lot of people, which is the length of the game. I'm not going to sugar coat it, the game is short. My first play through was around the 50 minute mark and then the next two were 30 minutes and finally 20 minutes. Each run got faster and faster due to the levels becoming more familiar to me. While this is true of any game, many may find this a large negative due to how short their first run through is.

 

A big plus though is that the game is priced at under £5.00. Had it been priced higher then I imagine many would have been turned off by it and not seen the value in it. As it stands, it seems to be charting well in the eShop, so it is priced right.

 

Nintendo have spoken about wanting to court indie developers that will offer new experiences and exclusive games on the Switch. For me, this game has been a great get by Nintendo and it was honestly a reason why I wanted to buy my Switch this weekend. It proves that indie games do have their place in this industry and also that it's not just AAA games or things like Mario or Zelda that can have pulling power on gamers.

 

Skipmore have shown that they are more than a one trick pony and, despite having a similar visual style, have delivered a game that is very much mechanically an opposite of their previous games. If you go in knowing that the game is very short, but offers a very sweet experience, then I think that you will enjoy what is on offer here.

[Glen-i]

Thanks for the synopsis, @Hero\-of\-Time

 

Sounds like a great pick up and play game.

Now that I've seen the credits in Wonder Boy (I can't wait to write about that game in the gaming diary) I might give it a crack. On @S\.C\.G.

 

...@Dcubed

[Hero-of-Time]

I've just done my fourth and final play through of the game. This time I nabbed all the secrets and unlocked the soundtrack, which can be played from the main menu. I absolutely love the tune from world 3.

 

 

I'll now shut up about the game.

[Hero-of-Time]

I snapped up Graceful Explosion Machine last night and gave it a go. I've only beaten the first world so far ( I think there are 4 ) but have enjoyed my time with it. It can get very hectic in a very short space of time. At one point I didn't even know what I was doing and my hands seem to be reacting themselves to what I was viewing on the screen.

[bob]

I'll now shut up about the game.

 

Liar.

 

_____

[Hero-of-Time]

Liar.

 

Eh? I didn't speak about it anymore.

 

Another indie game looks to be heading to the Switch.

 

[TWEET]860076147945734144[/TWEET]

 

Also, Thumper has a release date of 18th May.

 

Some days it's worth firing up the Switch eShop to see what's coming soon. Newly added to the European eShop is Drool's Thumper, which is described as being a 'rhythm violence' game. It's coming on 18th May for £15.99 / €19.99 in Europe. U.S. release date and price to be confirmed.

 

In this classic rhythm-action you play as a space beetle who has to brave the hellish void and confront a maniacal giant head from the future. We actually played this a full 18 months ago when it was being demoed at EGX in the UK, it's intense.

[drahkon]

Thumper is awesome, but it should definitely be played on a big screen with a nice sound system.

[bob]

Eh? I didn't speak about it anymore.

 

Another indie game looks to be heading to the Switch.

 

[TWEET]860076147945734144[/TWEET]

 

Also, Thumper has a release date of 18th May.

Yeah sorry I wasn't paying attention at all.

[somme]

Thumper is awesome, but it should definitely be played on a big screen with a nice sound system.

 

Thumper should be played in VR! Totally out of this world experience, and rather frightening.

[Hero-of-Time]

Another indie game announced for the Switch.

 

 

Love the look of this one. The sound effects take me right back to the arcades in the 80s.

[Hero-of-Time]

[TWEET]862729616787558400[/TWEET]

 

Loved this game. I'll probably double dip.

[S.C.G]

Did someone mention Shantae?

 

*sigh* alright then, I know the drill.

 

It's time to summon... @Grazza!

[Grazza]

I enjoyed Half-Genie on Wii U, but probably won't double-dip...

 

[TWEET]862729616787558400[/TWEET]

 

...Wait a minute. HD Rumble? HD Rumble?! I'm in!

[Ashley]

[tweet]863408531835432961[/tweet]

 

Hopefully they'll have one Joy-Con support because it would be great for Tabletop play.

 

Oh wait this seems to have been announced a while ago and I missed it ^_^

Edited May 13, 2017 by Ashley

[Hero-of-Time]

I snapped up this the other day and just finished it this afternoon.

 

 

@Grazza mentioned the mainline game of this series to me the other week and I figured I would give the spinoff a try.

 

The game is a rhythm game where you play as one of 3 characters and fight/dance your way through a number of stages. There doesn't seem to be much difference, if any at all, between the 3 characters on offer. I seemed to do better using Rudy but that may have just been a fluke.

 

 

Each of the characters have a number of alternative outfits to unlock. You will need 24 gems in total to unlock them all. These are earned in the main game by getting an A ranking or better. This is achieved by getting a score of at least 80,000.

 

Once you have picked which character you want to play as you can then decide which stage to tackle first.

 

 

There are 13 stages in total but they are not all unlocked from the beginning. You will first have to tackle a few of the early stages and upon completion the game will award you with more levels to play.

 

 

Playing the game is very straight forward, especially on the easy difficulty. Your character will be positioned on the left of the screen and your opponent on the right. When the game starts your opponent will start firing balloons which are called Boing-Boings. You have to then time your shot to hit the Boing-Boings. On the easiest difficulty you only have to deal with one colour Boing-Boing. These are dealt with by pressing the A button at the right time. On the higher difficulties you have to press the Y button to hit Blue Boing-Boings that will come from above or X for the X Boing-Boings for the ones that appear from behind. Also, on higher difficulties, your opponent may try and fire a laser or fireball at you. This can be avoided by pressing down on the directional pad to make your character jump over the projectile.

 

 

On the easiest difficulty the game is very straight forward. It also doesn't feel much like a rhythm game either. The music and Boing-Boings being thrown at you don't match up a lot of the time, with many instances feeling like they are just been thrown at random. If you're used to rhythm games then this can be a little off putting. Luckily this isn't as bad on the higher settings.

 

 

Other than the outfits for the characters, you can also unlock endings for each of them.

 

 

I personally went through the story with all 3 but you can simply finish the

game with one of them and then just fight the final boss again but with a different character.

 

You can also unlock the Lunatic difficulty level by finishing the story mode. This will really push you to your limits, as the game starts throwing everything at you all at once. I couldn't handle it but veteran rhythm game players will probably be able to hack the challenge.

 

I enjoyed my experience with the game, even more so once I tackled the harder difficulty levels. I will say that if you have no interest in unlocking things, or going for high scores, then the game won't last for very long. The replay value is there for those who want it but for those just wanting to go through the story mode the game is probably best avoided. It costs £6.99 on the eShop and, even though I enjoyed the game, I think many could feel short changed by what is on offer. Had it been around the £4-£5 mark then I think more people would be willing to give it a chance.

[Hero-of-Time]

Another indie game is at the mercy of NoA.

 

 

I honestly don't get this line of thinking, especially as Zelda and Mario Kart are essentially Wii U ports. I've been interested in this game for a while. It's a Sci-fi RPG that takes some ideas and themes from Phantasy Star. I've actually been hoping for a Vita release, as the game would be more suited for a handheld, so a Switch version would have been great.

 

The difference in the curation methods between NoA and NoJ/NoE is baffling.

[drahkon]

I've actually been hoping for a Vita release, as the game would be more suited for a handheld, so a Switch version would have been great.

 

[tweet]864142013092048897[/tweet]

 

Whatever that means for a release date.

 

Been waiting for a Vita release, too. Good to know it's still happening

[liger05]

Another indie game is at the mercy of NoA.

 

 

I honestly don't get this line of thinking, especially as Zelda and Mario Kart are essentially Wii U ports. I've been interested in this game for a while. It's a Sci-fi RPG that takes some ideas and themes from Phantasy Star. I've actually been hoping for a Vita release, as the game would be more suited for a handheld, so a Switch version would have been great.

 

The difference in the curation methods between NoA and NoJ/NoE is baffling.

 

 

The whole no ports thing is a nonsense.

[Ronnie]

Ports aren't a priority doesn't mean no ports.

 

Ports of huge critically acclaimed games like Stardew Valley and Overcooked are fine, but when it comes to smaller titles they're prioritising original titles like Graceful Explosion Machine and Snake Pass.

[Grazza]

I don't understand why (presumably decent) games aren't allowed. What exactly are they asking for other than space on the eShop?

[Glen-i]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't one of the more common complaints about WiiU's third party support was that it mostly consisted of ports?

 

Because if so, this is reaching dangerously close to a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" situation.

 

The whole no ports thing is a nonsense.

 

When has that ever been said?

[Hero-of-Time]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't one of the more common complaints about WiiU's third party support was that it mostly consisted of ports?

 

Because if so, this is reaching dangerously close to a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" situation.

 

It wasn't that people weren't happy with the ports, it was more to do that the ports were either rushed/gimped in some way or offered way less for a higher price (Mass Effect). In fact, the most common complaint was simply aimed at the release of Mass Effect 3 and EA not giving the Wii U owners the full trilogy.

 

The issue here is slightly different. You have developers who want to spend their time and effort developing a game for the Switch but NoA are not allowing them to do so.

 

What is annoying with this situation is the lack of consistency. You have things like World of Goo, Mario Kart, Shovel Knight etc all being ports of games, yet the reason for some of these developers not being allowed to make a game is because Nintendo don't want ports. Some of these games that the indie developers want to make are relatively new releases, as well. So it's not as if they are wanting to port old things over.

 

There's speculation going around that in order to get an indie game greenlit for the Switch that it needs to be released on the same day as other versions, be exclusive ( timed or otherwise ) or have exclusive content. If this is the case, then it sounds like what Microsoft tried to pull with their parity clause, which didn't go down well with indies or gamers.

[Sméagol]

Perhaps it's simply a matter of timing. For all we know, Nintendo has lined up E-shop indie releases for the rest of the year, and they don't want to mess with their schedule too much, unless it's new / original / exclusive / popular. Maybe World of Goo simply got in early.