Teslagrad Review (Nintendo Switch)

We first came across Teslagrad at a Eurogamer expo in London a good few years ago now. We were drawn to it by its unique look and the fact it seemed to be full of clever play mechanics and traps. It’s been released on numerous formats and has now made it to the Switch. So once again we can explore the mystery of a small boy with magnetic powers escaping into a castle after being chased by some Rasputin-esque looking pursuers.

The game has a style that though familiar we haven’t really seen before. The Soviet influence reminds us of steam punk animations and fairy tales from the Eastern Bloc and it works perfectly to set up a mysterious and unique atmosphere. There is also very little text with the story and controls explained via drawings and animated theatre puppets. The silence further intensifies the mystery (even if the lack of tutorial is a little confusing).

Teslagrad is a difficult game and it requires sustained amounts of quick thinking, jumping and precision placement to get through most sections. Most of the time you are trying to avoid dropping onto spikes or electricity, but there are also some shadowy beasts and mechanical enemies to avoid from time to time. You don’t really have any offense so you’ll be darting past them and running away a lot.

Our little hero is far from powerless though and you’ll soon find the equipment that gives you the use of a unique set of powers. First off you’ll get the positive and negative magnetism glove. This allows you to change the charge of magnetic services and blocks. This means you can get blocks to move or fall, or use opposite charges to propel yourself up tunnels or across chasms. The next thing you’ll find is the ability to ‘blink’ or teleport a short distance. This is vital for passing barriers or dodging enemies and moving electrical fields. Before long you’re having to bounce around and blink all at once in sequences that require constant movement. It’s tough and challenging and certain sections will be repeated over and over and over.

Dying is perhaps where the biggest weakness in the game lies. The controls can feel a little twitchy at times and I don’t think we’ve ever been so frustrated by a character auto-climbing up a ledge they’ve grabbed onto. Death can also feel unfair with the blink ability very difficult to judge while in motion. What compounds the issue is that if you miss a jump or die, there are times you’ll have to repeat quite a large section to get back to where you were. Don’t even get us started on some of the bosses that just never seem to die either.

Frustration aside, this is a very clever and well-crafted game. You do get used to the controls and both the level and graphical design is of a standard that makes you want to persevere and get to the next section. The constant climb up the castle and gradual revelation of the mystery within it are engaging and will likely keep you striving until you reach the end. There will be some gamers who just won’t be able to cut it though and that’s a shame as this remains a beautiful fairy tale that you really should try.

Overall 8/10

Shovel Knight: Looking at all Five Amiibo

For an indie game Shovel Knight has impressively managed to have had five separate Amiibo figures created for it. Here we are going to look in more detail at what they do and how the figures hold up.

All five of the Amiibo act in pretty much the same way. Each one allows for the unlocking of exclusive challenges and fairy companions which accompany you through the game and mainly provide comic relief by doing little actions like riding on enemies or trying to pick up jewels. On top of this the Amiibo Knight three pack also unlocks an exclusive cosmetic set of armour for each character and knight related spirits in Super Smash Brothers Ultimate.

The Blue and Gold Shovel Knight both unlock the same Shovel Knight related content (aside from some gold looking armour). With these you get customisation options for the appearance of your Shovel Knight. It also unlocks the ability to play through as Custom Knight. Here you level up by collecting gold and unlock new abilities and relics as you go (some of which are exclusive to this mode and comically overpowered to boot). It offers a different way to play and is the most significant reason to track down either of the Shovel Knight figures.

All the Amiibo are impressively detailed with King Knight being our personal favourite. How essential they are depends on how much you love the game. The Shovel Knight figures are definitely worth tracking down as they add a genuinely new and unique way to play the game. The Three pack is more cosmetic so a lot will depend on how much you like the actual figures themselves. Look at our pictures below to see just how detailed these figures are.

 

Shovel Knight: The Shovel of Hope Review (Switch)

Shovel Knight has been around a long time now. We loved it when we tried the PC version out originally and found it had lost none of its magic on the PS4, Vita or Wii U, in fact it became only the third game to receive a 10/10. Another in the long line of retro styled platformers, it has always had something a little bit special about it.

The game follows the tale of Shovel Knight who used to act as one of the champions of the land, defending it from evil along with his companion Shield Knight. One day the two knights fall fowl of a cursed amulet in a magic tower. Shovel Knight awakens to find Shield Knight has been sealed in the tower and the entrance is now impassable. While Shovel Knight hides away from the world the evil forces of the enchantress take hold. In doing so she unseals the magic tower and Shovel Knight sets off to rescue Shield Knight and stop the evil.

Shovel Knight is a platform game that wears its influences very plainly on its sleeve. There’s a  bit of Mega Man in there, (though you don’t take powers from fallen bosses), Some Duck Tales style bouncing, a bit of Castlevania 2 and 3 with the sub weapons and even a touch of Dark Souls. The thing that sets it all apart though is while all these elements are identifiable the game feels like something unique. It’s not just a trip down memory lane but a game that has taken key elements and forged its own identity with them.

The graphics and music are 8-bit themed and it certainly feels like the sort of thing you could be playing on a NES or Master System. Despite the potential limitations of the style each level is filled with detail and they each have their own clear identity. This is where the main Mega Man influence comes and it keeps things fresh as you never really know how an enemy boss knight’s stage is going to have to be approached until you get into it.

The adventure is set across a map screen with locks at the edge of it. Defeating the correct enemy boss knights releases the locks and allows you to move to the next section. As well as the enemy castles there are villages where you can get new gear and special levels which offer up gems or unique adventures for our hero to conquer (You can also go and speak to a big fish thing which fills up empty chalices with magic). You’ll need all the gems you can find as it acts as the in game currency and allows you to buy a whole host of secondary weapons and shovel and armour upgrades.

It should be pointed out that though the game is called Shovel Knight, this is not a title in the same vein as Steam World: Dig or Spelunky. It’s very much a platformer in the Mega Man or Castlevania style with skilful jumping and boss fights on the menu for intrepid explorers. The game is challenging but it has a very well balanced difficulty curve and we never felt completely out of our depth. Levels also have a large amount of checkpoints and there is no lives system in place so you can keep continuing. The main penalty for death is losing a chunk of your money. When this occurs it hangs around the area you died and must be reclaimed. If you die again then it’s gone, much like Dark Souls.

It’s a game that wants you to keep playing it. The constant supply of gems and available upgrades, the gradual revealing of the map, the extra levels – it all just keeps you wanting to see what else is out there and what’s going to be next and there is always something more to see. You’ll get random monsters and bosses roaming the map like in Mario 3 or pick up a new weapon and be able to complete a level you couldn’t before. You’ll just keep going and going until the end and then there’s always new game +.

Overall, Shovel Knight is a brilliant game. Everything is does it does well and everything works. It’s balanced and challenging and constantly offers up new surprises. The controls work perfectly, the levels and enemies are well designed and there’s a nice chunk of humour in there as well. This probably is it for the 8-bit retro styled platformer as to beat this would really take something. We tried and tried but it simply cannot be faulted. It’s just a magnificent game.

Overall 10/10

Transistor Review (Switch)

Bastion was a massive success for Super Giant Games. Most people have played it and numerous gamers own it on at least two different machines. With that in mind it would have been easy for the studio to release a sequel or spiritual successor to it. We’d all have played it, loved it, and raved about it. Transistor is not like Bastion.

Starting in a beautifully depicted futuristic cityscape you pull an electronic sword from a body and you’re on your way. No explanation is given and no background about the world or yourself is forthcoming. The player, like the character you control is thrown in, as if awakening from some strange dream and this gives a wonderful sense of mystery and discovery as you progress.

From the outside this may look to share some similarities with Bastion. The perspective is the same and there is also a narrator of sorts, although he is talking to the female protagonist as you go. Right at the start you begin to think this is going to be another hack and slash but then about five minutes in it asks you to hit the freeze button and everything changes.

Here, you suddenly realise you are actually in a real time/turn based cross over style RPG. You can execute attacks in real time (and even boost them to activate almost instantly), but the real trick is mastering the freeze system. Hitting the button stops everything and you then have an action bar you can use up before the enemy moves again. It’s kind of like the V.A.T.S system in Fallout 3 or the system at work in Vagrant Story.

During this time you can move around and stack up attacks. Pressing the button again sends you into action like a blur across the screen. The downside is that you then can’t use any attacks or special moves until the bar has regenerated in full. The more attacks you use, the longer the bar takes to recharge. This means you have to be extremely careful about what you are doing as you are often slower than the enemy robots sent to stop you. It’s essential to get in, attack and get back out to a place you can safely recharge as avoiding damage otherwise is almost impossible and you’ll be downed in no time.

If your health bar depletes while you have charge time you’ll get a chance to move away from danger. If not, one of your powers will be damaged and unusable until you make it to two save points. This severely limits your attacking options and often leads to a daisy chain effect of you losing all your powers and flat lining. On the off chance you are finding things too easy you can also add a number of handicaps as you go which increase difficulty and the amount of experience you gain.

The options you have to play around with are numerous and can be set up in a ton of different ways. This is one of Transistors strengths but we can see it easily overwhelming some players. When you gain a power you can do one of three things with it. Equipping it in an active slot will allow the player to use it via a button press. This could be a long range attack, a fast dodge, an area effect attack or something like summoning a creature to assist you. All attacks have different speeds in real time combat and few of them work fast enough to run through the game hacking away without the freeze system.

Each active power can also be boosted by equipping powers as support. For instance, you could take the bouncing bomb power and add it to your long range attack, thus making the attack ricochet off enemies and into others.  You can add two boosters to each active attack which opens up all sorts of crazy possibilities. Finally, you can add powers to your passive support slots. This means they normally do things like boost player speed or increase resistance. Any power can be assigned to any slot on any other power so finding the perfect combination will require some thought and the possibilities are just about endless. The only limit on what you can do is that each power takes up a certain number of points and once that hits maximum nothing else can be equipped.

While you are getting used to the combat you’ll be experiencing some absolutely beautiful visuals. The Neo Noir tone of the game is offset by stunning, neon tinged environments full of small details and snippets of information about the world you’re exploring. It reminded us of an isometric Deus Ex or the SNES version of Shadowrun if the rundown world had been replaced with some kind of semi-utopian society. There are also a few pretty big nods to Final fantasy VII in there as well. It’s gorgeous and the musical score and sound effects also help to build a picture of a once perfect, now lonely world where something seems to have gone wrong very quickly.

Overall, Transistor is a triumph of both style and design and Super Giant Games have tried something a little different here and it works. There’s the odd pacing issue and players will need to spend some time getting used to how the combat works but it’s a rich and rewarding experience and something that you’ll likely return to long in the future.

Overall 9/10

Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power Review (Switch)

It’s no secret that we are big fans of the Trine series at Retro 101. We’ve covered both the original games across numerous formats and rated them very highly. Indeed, there’s just something about them that fills the Lost Vikings sized hole in our lives. Frozenbyte promised to try something different with Trine 3 and now the 3D experiment has made its way to the Switch.

As always with the series, Trine 3 looks jaw-dropingly gorgeous. The environments leap into life with colour and flourishes of detail that you just don’t find in many games. If you have the ability to play the game in 3D then things get even more beautiful as well. It’s simply stunning how good this looks and playing anything else afterwards is a real comedown in the visual department.

The big change is that now the game is in 3D. You can run into and out of the screen and the levels now scroll into the play field as well as left and right. This allows for some nice sections with the three heroes floating and swinging along but also brings with it some changes that not everyone will be happy with.

The main issue is that levels feel less focused than in the previous 2D outings. Puzzle solving is less complex and there is more emphasis on general combat and platforming. Using the wizard has become a bit of a pain as well as moving his objects around in the 3D landscape never really feels as natural as it should. There’s also an issue with depth and it can be hard to tell if you are going to land where you think you are. It’s kind of like an N64 platformer with the most beautiful graphics ever.

The characters have now lost the ability to upgrade their skills as well (though they are given selected skills to start). The Knight can stomp, charge, deflect and float with his shield while the thief can now tie her grappling hooks to things to hold them in place. The wizard is more limited with his abilities and now restricted to the summoning of a single box.

The new approach to skills is made use of well though and you will need everything to progress. The fact the heroes start with their skills also allows the game to throw things at you right from the off and get you thinking. It’s good the game does throw you in quickly because it is somewhat shorter than other games in the series. Starting out with a level to introduce each character you then get five main levels to fight through. Upon completion you are faced with a cliff hanger ending which hints at more to come. What form that will take will remain to be seen.

There are a host of shorter levels to unlock as well which focus on an individual character and as such effectively give you one life to complete them. These are tougher and designed to fit skill sets of the respective characters. Though brief they are fun to play and never out stay their welcome.

Both main story and side levels are unlocked by collecting glowing triangles. We don’t really like things like this as it can work as an artificial game lengthening device that forces players to go back to levels and hunt around for the missing twenty or thirty they need to progress. We didn’t have much trouble with getting the requisite amounts but it’s something we’d like to see removed in any future games.

Overall, while there has been a lot of a change in mechanics and progression the game never stops being fun. It’s certainly a more knock-about kind of fun than before but it remains humorous and throws up enough adventure to keep you interested until the end. When the 3D works in the games favour you can see exactly what the team were going for and there are some solid foundations here for future forays into it. It may not be up there with the near perfection of the 2D games but it has bucket load of potential if the team ever decide to revisit the idea.

Overall 7/10

Trine 2: The Complete Story Review (Switch)

Trine follows the adventures of a mage, knight and thief bound together by a magical artefact known as the Trine. A 2D puzzle platform game, Trine 2 tries to do something new with a genre more typically found back in the 16-bit era. Indeed, we found our thoughts drifting to The Lost Vikings as we began utilising the three hero’s unique abilities.

The knight is best at fighting and can use his shield to reflect light beams and deflect objects. The thief shoots arrows and can use a grappling hook and the mage can conjure and move objects. Each character can be upgraded by seeking out experience points in the form of magic bubbles. This unlocks further abilities such as exploding arrows, stealth abilities and a number of other things which help fight off the many Goblins and giant spiders you'll encounter along the way.

With the different abilities on offer and different ways to play the developers have given the players multiple options in how to solve the puzzles. Playing single player has one character on screen which can be changed at any time, while multiplayer has all characters on screen at once. This means that certain puzzles would by default need a number of different ways to get through them.

The great thing is that the Trine world and physics are very tactile and effectively sets up a big toy box for you play around with to accomplish your task. Players who prefer the mage will be able to upgrade his abilities to summon large numbers of boxes and ramps to get around. While those using a mixture of the characters will find the need to use a combination of grappling hook swings, magical platforms and brute strength.

You could for instance spend time re-arranging pipes to get the water level right to reach a high ledge. Alternatively you could use an ice arrow to freeze the pool and then stack some mage created boxes on it, while in multiplayer there would be much more opportunity for cooperative lever pulling . The choice is yours. We found this flexible approach refreshing and it meant that progression was always steady as you weren’t left searching for the one way the developer intended you to get through an area.

The first thing that strikes you about the game is just how jaw droopingly gorgeous the whole thing is. The backdrops and landscapes are beyond stunning. We have never seen a 2D game that looks so good. Sunbeams shine through leaves, ice glistens and everything looks as magical and enchanting as seems humanly possible. The attention to detail is staggering and this combined with the physics engine creates a solid and immersive world that you never tire looking at.

The music is also suitably epic with bold fantasy themed tunes subtly underscoring your adventure. Even better news is that Trine 2 has an excellent script and group of voice actors. As the heroes adventure their comments and conversation can’t help to raise a smile. Everything seems to have been done with just the right amount of tongue in cheek humour.

Graphics and sound are all good but don’t mean anything if the game doesn’t play well. For the first hour or so we were a little worried that the controls wouldn’t gel. While we had a few issues when we first started to play this on the Wii U, the Switch version hits the ground running straight away.

The game itself is very smooth with everything acting as it should and combat working well. The only slight issues is that after years of playing games like Flashback and Prince of Persia we instinctively expect the edge of a platform to be in a certain part of the graphic. Trine 2’s is a little deeper and this left us missing jumps a number of times (especially in handheld mode). Again, once you get used to it there is very little here to complain about.

This is a good thing as the game is pretty sizeable with the normal quest taking around ten hours and the add-on content pushing that up by another five to eight depending how good you are. Searching out all the hidden chests to get paintings, poems and the maps pieces needed to access the extra area will also take a fair amount of time.

Every level is strong and there was never a time when we found ourselves wanting the game to be over. It’s one of those titles that eats up your free time without you really realising it. When it ends you just wish there was more of it and we can honestly say this is the most pure fun we've had with a video game for years.

Everything about Trine 2 just makes us smile and anyone slightly put off by the fact it’s been around a while really shouldn’t worry. The amount of value and enjoyment present here is to be commended and it’s clear the developers really have gone that extra effort to make something that deserves to be held up with the very best in the genre.

If you haven’t guessed by now we like this game a lot. It takes players on a magical and beautiful adventure while always remaining enjoyable and throwing in some absolutely stunning design. If you own a Switch this game is as essential as anything else you can buy. This is definitive version of one of the best games to come out in an absolute age and still holds up expertly. There really is no excuse not to own it.

9/10

N++ Ultimate Edition Review (Switch)

We’ve been playing the N series for a long time but the rather lovely limited physical release of the Ultimate Edition on Switch was too much to resist (yes, we actually bought a game to review with our own money!), and a chance to head back into such a pure piece of skill based gaming is something the Switch really needed. The fact the game has now almost doubled in size certainly helps as well.

N++ Ultimate Edition is the final version of the game in the N series and comes packed with a ridiculous amount of content. You get pretty much all the levels from N and N+, N++ and a whole host of new levels of well. In all there are around 4000 thousand levels to test yourself against. If that isn’t enough there are also race and co-op levels to try out. If that still isn’t enough there’s also a level editor to make and share levels online.

As well as levels there are a host of graphical options and music tracks to unlock as well. It’s hard to think how exactly any more could have been squeezed in here. It’s certainly good to have lots of different things to play around with as you’ll be dying a lot. Luckily, restarts are pretty much instantaneous now so you can set off to make exactly the same mistake again in a matter of seconds.

Presentation in N has always been minimalist and it remains the same here with a simple selection of colours for each scheme and clearly defined level design. It means everything is focused on getting your little ninja to zoom around the levels at break neck speed and we wouldn’t have it any other way. We really liked the retro graphic scheme (not a massive surprise perhaps?), which makes the game look Vectrex-esque with lots of neon outlines.

The goal of each level is to hit a switch that opens the exit door and then make your way to it. A timer bar continually ticks down throughout the set of levels you have picked and it can be topped up by picking up little gold squares. Hit the switch, grab the squares and avoid the mines and obstacles and then move on. That is essentially it, a simple concept but one that never gets old.

With the new levels come some new enemies to get your head around. The missile and gun turrets return along with all your most loathed contraptions from before but now you also have to deal with a host of new death machines such as the evil ninjas that follow your exact movement trail. Of course if they catch you it’s all over but then everything kills you in this game. Everything.

The gameplay itself is based around an inertia system. As your ninja runs, jumps and falls they pick up speed which can then be used to launch off surfaces or up the side of walls. Hit the ground from too high and you die, but hit the ground on a downward slope and your ninja will just keep running ready for the next set of acrobatics. It’s a simple system that works perfectly and you can only wonder how long it took to balance out in testing. Most importantly it makes you feel like a badass super ninja and when you get the flow of a level there a few better feelings. Luckily, the game allows you to watch replays of both your and everyone else’s best runs to show off and also see how to shave seconds off your time.

Overall, N++ is an outstanding game. It’s just so full of excellent content and imaginative ideas that platform fans have to check it out. It’ll also last you forever and even if you do get through everything then you can start designing your own levels. It’s the definitive version of one of the best indie games ever. Buy it, love it and get killed thousands of times in it.

Overall 9/10

Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance Complete Review (Switch)

It seems like a life time ago that Etna erupted onto the scene in the first Disgaea game. From that moment massive number crunching became a way of life for many console gamers and there have been few games since that are so humorously twisted and crazy. Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance is the sixth console game in the series and first appeared on the PS4. The complete addition has now its way to Switch and as you might expect it has more than enough packed into it to keep you occupied for hundreds of hours.

As usual the plot revolves around an overlord trying to take power. This time it is Seraphina who is the daughter of the king of the Gorgeous Underworld. Along with a host of other odd overlords she bands together with the mysterious Killia to try and destroy the evil demon emperor Void Dark who has decided to take over the entire universe. There are also Prinnies.

It’s another mad cap adventure with Seraphina fascinated by the fact she can’t use her magic to charm Killia and the two jet around the universe on a giant space ship which is used as your hub between levels. Instead of different regions for each episode you are now going to different realms which adds a nice epic feel to the game as you try and repel Void Dark.

We could spend pages talking about all the systems in Disgaea by now and this version adds even more into the mix. All the previous systems such as the geo-panels and skill levelling return and work much in the same way as the last version of the game. There is a new revenge mechanic which raises damage given and reduces damage taken when a bar is filled by your team being attacked. Overlords also get special attacks when in the revenge state – these are wide ranging and include skills like turning into a giant or charming the enemy.

Later in the game there is also a squad system which allows your team to be split into different groups and differing effects then being added to the leaders of the group who take the battle field. The item world is now more ridiculously packed with things than ever with copious amounts of random events and encounters that you’ll need more than one lifetime to uncover. There are also side quests to complete and extra levels that stretch way off into the distance after the main campaign has ended. This game could literally last you forever and it’s highly unlikely you are going to see all it has to offer and now you have all the DLC to get through as well.

Despite all the systems we found this fairly friendly for newcomers to the series. Each new element is explained well (and also quite quickly), and there is the option to skip tutorials for anyone who already knows how they work. It’ll certainly take a while to get to grips with things but there isn’t an assumption that gamers will have followed the series all the way to this point so if you’ve ever wondered about Disgaea this is as good a place as any to start.

One very good change is a slight adjustment to the geo-panels. As well as being slightly textured now they also display more information when highlighted. This information includes what colour the panel is which means colour blind gamers no longer have to see their best strategies scuppered by a light green block sitting in amongst the yellow ones. The item world has also had a slight shift with an emphasis now placed on winning each level rather than just charging to the exit.

If there is one slight criticism we have it is that the dialogue doesn’t seem as on the mark as in the best of the previous games. The exchanges between Seraphina and Killia never really reach that of Etna and Laharl or Adell and Rozaline. It’s still very solid and entertaining but just lacking a bit of magic and chaos and nothing that made as chuckle as much as Valvatorez and his continual battle cry of SARDINES!

Overall, Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance keeps the series’ trademark high standard of quality going. This has to be among the deepest strategy games ever and if there’s anything with more content outside of an MMO we’ll be amazed. If you like Disgaea then this is a justification to own a Switch and you can’t really give a game much higher praise than that and with the ability to now take it everywhere you go this could become all life consuming in a way little else can.

Overall 9/10

Megadimension Neptunia VII Review (PS4)

Written by Natalie Houghton

It may seem like there has been an onslaught of Neptunia games recently and whilst this is true, most of them have been remakes of the original PS3 games which have in turn come to PS Vita and Steam, there actually hasn’t been a main release in the series since 2013. So welcome to Megadimension Neptunia VII (that’s actually V-2 not 7!)

It is one game split up into 3 sections, each with their own typically flamboyant title and opening screen which makes for a nice touch. The first entitled ‘Zerodimension Neptunia Z: Twilight of the Desperate CPU’ is set in a dying world which is essentially a world mimicking the last days of the Dreamcast - this acts as the tutorial for the game and features some of the best characters found in a Neptunia game for a while. Uzume Tennouboshi aka Orange Heart is the only CPU left in the wasteland and she’s on a mission to defeat the source of this darkness, a giant mecha known as Dark Purple. 

As usual Neptune & co come crashing down from the sky in order to help out and save the day. Joined by Uzume’s companion - a talking fish named Umio (first male character in Neptunia!) who in whichever language you choose (Japanese language is available as free DLC) has quite a sexy voice. Despite his ridiculous appearance... fish body with a human head, he is probably the most sensible character in the whole Neptuniverse. 

Neptunia has always managed to be a slightly lewd series but never before in my opinion has it crossed the line from cutesy bath scenes to sexy bath scenes, these are of course the obligatory Neptunia fare by now and if you enjoy these kinds of games (and take them as I believe it is intended), as a reasonably light hearted silly tales then prepare yourselves for an interesting surprise as some of the scenes now leave almost nothing to the imagination.

The second section of the game features a standalone story with each of the main CPU’s – yes, you do have to do them all! and finally the third section ties everything together and wraps it up nicely. The narrative is one of the best that Neptunia has offered so far. Unfortunately, the same old dungeon design which I’ve seen for the past 3 games rears its ugly head to detract from the fast paces combat. Even though it’s set in the same world, changing things up from the same stale old designs that have been lurking since the first game would have been nice. Come on Compile Heart... new dungeons please!

There are also some subtle changes which are absolutely pointless. For example - instead of having a radius in which you can move, there is now a bar that slowly decreases. This is a change that makes absolutely no difference whatsoever to the game play. Another examples is instead of travelling to places automatically when clicking on them as before, you now have to pay credits in order to ‘build a road’ which monsters will then randomly attack you on as you travel down it. These things really make me wonder about the design choices made as they are nothing but frustrating. 

Most of the other game mechanics work in a similar manner as before – Neptune will run around yelling ‘like a kangaroo’ every time you jump which gets annoying after about the 3^rd time. Battles operate via the same types of combos as before; the biggest difference is than as opposed to Victory / Rebirth 3 there is no longer a break gauge so you don’t have to spend time whittling down an enemies break gauge in order to then damage them. Take from that what you will, personally I did not mind it as it has sped up battles quite considerably and everything runs smoothly on the PS4 – there is almost no lag or downtime waiting for the system to process anything. That said the visuals have had quite an upgrade from the previous games on the PS3, everything is nice and smooth, it isn’t spectacular but it is fluid, bright and everything fits together well in an aesthetically pleasing manner but I can’t help but feel like this isn’t pushing the PS4 at all. 

All special moves require SP as before and there are a lot which can be unlocked and utilised but it isn’t really until the end of the game that the big guns come out and some truly ass kicking combos can be unleashed. One of the best new modes and things that V-2 actually does right is the introduction of boss battles where each character is on a platform and you can only use moves involving SP in order to hurt the boss – line your characters up in a triangle around the boss and you can unleash some awesome moves – unfortunately these big scale awesome battles don’t happen too often.

Levelling up also happens fairly quickly so there isn’t really much need for grinding unlike before, I really wanted to like V-2 more but with the addition of a few annoying features and the constant re-use of old, done and dusted dungeons managed to take some of the sparkle away from an otherwise good game. It simply doesn’t do anything new enough to make it stand above the rest of the series although it is friendly enough to deal with any newcomers as whoever is on screen will introduce known characters from a previous game. 

The most competent game in the series so far and there is definitely some sort of addictive brain potion mixed into the battle system. The plot is the best yet but there are unfortunately a few annoying additions which really should have been left out.

7/10

SUPERBEAT:XONiC Review (PS Vita)

You wait for one rhythm action game to come along and then a whole load arrive at once. We hadn’t really been following SUPERBEAT particularly closely but we really should have. While Persona 4: Dancing All Night was great fun and offered plenty of fan service this is one of the best rhythm action games we’ve ever played.

There’s no plot here just buckets of rhythm action goodness with presentation of the highest quality. As soon as you start the game up the screen pulses and fizzes with music and excitement that lets you know this is something good. There’s a sharp and edgy design to it which is not unlike the Wipeout games and it fits perfectly.

The game itself has notes flying out at you from the middle of the screen. You need to hit the corresponding top, middle or bottom button on the left or right of the screen or you can also use the touch controls. There are notes that need to be held and the L and R buttons come into play as well. You even have to use the analogue sticks for certain notes that snake up and down (again, you can use touch controls if you prefer). It’s full on and certainly keeps you on your toes.

There are 4 trax and 6 trax variations which let you use different amounts of notes in each song (with the 4 trax variant only putting notes at the top and bottom of the play area for instance). Here you have to complete three songs in a row to try and achieve the best score. As you level up by completing songs you unlock more difficulties which adds more note variants and also opens up missions in the world tour mode.

The World Tour mode has you travel around famous clubs taking on specific song based missions. Normally these consist of not missing at certain number of notes or keeping your combo at a certain number. They also ramp up the intensity even more by doing things like moving you much closer into the play area so you need almost instant reactions to hit the notes. World tour is not for the casual player and even the second set of club missions had us beaten for longer than we feel comfortable admitting.

As you level up from completing songs and missions you will unlock a host of new sounds, tracks and icons. The sounds can be set as the noise which comes in when you hit a note while the DJ icons add special powers like extra health or experience. The only criticism we have comes from the striking notes sound. Some of the songs really don’t sound right when you’ve got the sound set on things like a snare drum. It’s a rare miss step and we found setting the sound to hand claps pretty much worked with everything. You can also turn the sounds off completely.

The musical selection on offer is also excellent. There aren’t any hits as such but just about every genre of music is represented and we can’t think of another game where Hardcore sits next to Latin Samba. Most of the songs are very good as well and there’s a host of music from games like Guilty Gear and BlazBlue thrown in for good measure.

Overall, SUPERBEAT:XONiC is a stunning rhythm action game. It’s tough, but for fans of the genre this is up there with the best of them. It’s perfect for the Vita as well and you just keep unlocking new things every time you play and tt left us with an excited grin on our face every time. It’s a breath of fresh air and an amazing injection of adrenaline for Vita owners that in our mind is an essential purchase.

Overall 9/10

Colour Blind issues No

Review Code - Yes

Lost Dimension Review (PS Vita)

Written by Natalie Houghton

The world now faces total destruction... after being suddenly attacked from out of the blue with half of it being destroyed in an instant. An agent of the coming apocalypse appears issuing an ultimatum "kill me within 13 days or die". The only ones who are capable of stopping this are the 'gifted' - a group of teens with special powers who swiftly have the fate of the world thrust into their hands. In all honesty it sounds like the typical anime 'teens with super powers' trope but it really does manage to transcend that stereotype as not one character is over powered in any way - they are relatively normal humans that each have a gift. Their powers range from levitation, pyrokinesis, precognition, super strength and the ability to copy anyone else's abilities.

You awake at the bottom of a tower, with no memories of how you got there... the only thing that you do know is that 11 other supposed comrades surround you and that you must climb to the top of the tower and stop the man otherwise known as 'the end' from firing his arsenal of nukes and destroying the rest of the world. Sounds simple, right? Wrong... the caveat is that there are traitors amongst your ranks.

Overall, this serves as the primary plot device and I have to admit that the traitor system is quite innovative and the way in which you have to sniff out the traitors is engaging but not impossible - the main character, Sho has the premonition ability and he can also hear other team member's most private and deepest thoughts, by utilising this and diving into the inner depths of a character's psyche. This means he can figure out who the traitor is and influence the rest of the team on who they should vote for in one of the many judgement rounds that you are besieged with at the end of each floor. 

This involves the team voting for one of them to effectively be killed off where they will be erased from this world, dissolving into absolute nothingness, leaving behind only their 'will' - a usable item, so for example if your healer turns out to be the traitor and you vaporise them, then one of the other characters can equip their ‘will’ and use their abilities so you won't be without healing for the rest of the game. Interspersed throughout the dungeon climbing, it is possible to bolster the trust of each team member by raising their camaraderie level as you talk with them and learn more about their situation, the way they feel about things and what they plan to do in the future (if they survive.. that is).

The plot had me hooked. Who is 'the end'? Why is he doing this? And who is the traitor this round? I hurriedly played the game until its conclusion as I so desperately wanted to know... only to find out that it does require a couple of play-throughs to reveal the true ending. Second play-throughs are much easier however, as you carry across your already existing camaraderie and you are automatically given gift exp so you can start with some abilities.

Lost Dimension itself is half a visual novel and half a tactical RPG. From a visual novel standpoint, the animation is rendered in a way which makes it appear almost 3D, it is sublimely crisp and clear and the transitions between each character are smooth although the dialogue can be slightly jarring at times when you start losing characters.

The other main half of the game is the tactical battles, they are simple in appearance but are quite challenging as they have a tendency to occasionally throw you straight into the deep end. The battles are taken in turns between your team of 6 and however many enemies are present. Your team can each move within a set radius of their original starting point, if any enemies are in range they can then attack - but beware the enemies will usually retaliate with a counter-attack if they can. The main tactic that you'll need to both equally utilise and beware of in order to win is the assist mechanic where any characters that are within range of each other will assist their ally in their attack.  For example: If Sho attacks an enemy and two other characters are nearby, not only will Sho attack the enemy - but his two allies will as well. This can lead to some incredibly powerful combos that will allow you to pound the enemy into oblivion. 

Sound during the battles is superb and I thought that the song which played during the final boss battle was quite pleasing as well as being motivational - I'd definitely want to put it on my MP3 player. There is no Japanese voice over available, although the English voice acting is not too bad for once. There are a few slightly strange quirks with this though. for example one of the characters speaks with a fake English accent which is slightly odd as she can't seem to work out if she's pretending to be in the middle of a Victorian tea party or in the east end of London "Care for some tea, mate?". She speaks like this because she thinks it sounds cute which is a bit hmm... I'll just scratch my non-existent beard on that one.

Overall, this is an excellent tactical J-RPG let down only by a slightly anti-climactic ending. But it still has its charms and is well worth playing so go on... get lost in another dimension!

8/10

Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance Review (PS4)

It seems like a life time ago that Etna erupted onto the scene in the first Disgaea game. From that moment massive number crunching became a way of life for many console gamers and there have been few games since that are so humorously twisted and crazy. Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance is the sixth console game in the series and the first for the PS4 and as you might expect it has more than enough packed into it to keep you occupied for hundreds of hours.

As usual the plot revolves around an overlord trying to take power. This time it is Seraphina who is the daughter of the king of the Gorgeous Underworld. Along with a host of other odd overlords she bands together with the mysterious Killia to try and destroy the evil demon emperor Void Dark who has decided to take over the entire universe. There are also Prinnies.

It’s another mad cap adventure with Seraphina fascinated by the fact she can’t use her magic to charm Killia and the two jet around the universe on a giant space ship which is used as your hub between levels. Instead of different regions for each episode you are now going to different realms which adds a nice epic feel to the game as you try and repel Void Dark.

We could spend pages talking about all the systems in Disgaea by now and this version adds even more into the mix. All the previous systems such as the geo-panels and skill levelling return and work much in the same way as the last version of the game. There is a new revenge mechanic which raises damage given and reduces damage taken when a bar is filled by your team being attacked. Overlords also get special attacks when in the revenge state – these are wide ranging and include skills like turning into a giant or charming the enemy.

Later in the game there is also a squad system which allows your team to be split into different groups and differing effects then being added to the leaders of the group who take the battle field. The item world is now more ridiculously packed with things than ever with copious amounts of random events and encounters that you’ll need more than one lifetime to uncover. There are also side quests to complete and extra levels that stretch way off into the distance after the main campaign has ended. This game could literally last you forever and it’s highly unlikely you are going to see all it has to offer.

Despite all the systems we found this fairly friendly for newcomers to the series. Each new element is explained well (and also quite quickly) and there is the option to skip tutorials for anyone who already knows how they work. It’ll certainly take a while to get to grips with things but there isn’t an assumption that gamers will have followed the series all the way to this point so if you’ve ever wondered about Disgaea this is as good a place as any to start.

One very good change is a slight adjustment to the geo-panels. As well as being slightly textured now they also display more information when highlighted. This information includes what colour the panel is which means colour blind gamers no longer have to see their best strategies scuppered by a light green block sitting in amongst the yellow ones.

If there is one slight criticism we have it is that the dialogue doesn’t seem as on the mark as in the best of the previous games. The exchanges between Seraphina and Killia never really reach that of Etna and Laharl or Adell and Rozaline. It’s still very solid and entertaining but just lacking a bit of magic and chaos and nothing that made as chuckle as much as Valvatorez and his continual battle cry of SARDINES!

Overall, Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance keeps the series’ trademark high standard of quality going. This has to be among the deepest strategy games ever and if there’s anything with more content outside of an MMO we’ll be amazed. If you like Disgaea then this is a justification to own a PS4 and you can’t really give a game much higher praise than that. 

Overall 9/10

Goat Simulator Review (PS4)

Starting out life as a joke idea and then developing into a cult hit on the PC, Goat Simulator has garnered enough success to now make its way to the current generation of consoles. So will this be using the full power of new systems to present something simply impossible on older consoles? Well no, but there’s nothing else quite like it either.

It’s very difficult to know how to review Goat Simulator. There’s no story or real aim to anything with it being a physics playground to play around in - in which the player controls a slightly homicidal goat. There are a few things to collect and occasional timed races and score challenges but basically this is you, a goat and lots of things to charge into and lick.

There are two areas to pick from which take the form of an urban neighbourhood and a waterfront area. They are pretty well stocked with secret locations to discover and silly things to play around with and then it’s up to you to make your own entertainment. It has to be said that the game is funny in a jack-ass kind of way and some of the things to discover are a kind of twisted genius. Our personal favourite was when we catapulted ourselves onto a skyscraper and rammed DJ Deadmau5 off the edge during a gig. This then gave us a giant mouse head on our goat and spread the message ‘goa7 and stuff’ across the screen. 

We won’t reveal any more of the surprises but there are plenty of jokes like this hidden around the levels. You can also mutate your goat with jetpacks, spinning attacks and all manner of other things to create chaos. It’s a big crazy toy box and it’s certainly fun to muck around in for small amounts of time. Whether you are likely to be spending hours of your life ramming people into swimming pools is another thing entirely.

Your goat has a fairly wide range of moves to play around with. It can lick things to drag them along, jump and forward roll in air. It can even perform a ‘manual’ where it proceeds to skate around on its head. You can wall run and also trigger a rag doll effect with a press of a button. It’s all very silly but in a good way.

The lack of focused goals will no doubt put some off but for those wanting to mess around and have some fun this works very well. It’s not particularly polished and you aren’t going to be playing it for hours on end or returning to it in a year’s time but you can’t deny that sometimes it’s fun to run into a petrol tanker and cause an explosion that sends you up to the moon.

Overall, Goat Simulator makes us smile simply for the fact that someone not only made it but then decided to port it to console. It’s a wild and unruly sandbox that doesn’t conform to game industry norms and that can only be a good thing. Above all else anyone playing it will be having fun more times than not and isn’t that what gaming is really all about?

Overall 6/10

Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power Review (PC)

It’s no secret that we are big fans of the Trine series at Retro 101. We’ve covered both the original games across numerous formats and rated them very highly. Indeed, there’s just something about them that fills the Lost Vikings sized hole in our lives. Frozenbyte had promised to try something different with Trine 3 and after a period in Early Access it is now here for us to adventure into once more.

As always with the series, Trine 3 looks jaw-dropingly gorgeous. The environments leap into life with colour and flourishes of detail that you just don’t find in many games. If you have the ability to play the game in 3D then things get even more beautiful as well. It’s simply stunning how good this looks and playing anything else afterwards is a real comedown in the visual department.

The big change is that now the game is in 3D. You can run into and out of the screen and the levels now scroll into the play field as well as left and right. This allows for some nice sections with the three heroes floating and swinging along but also brings with it some changes that not everyone will be happy with.

The main issue is that levels feel less focused than in the previous 2D outings. Puzzle solving is less complex and there is more emphasis on general combat and platforming. Using the wizard has become a bit of a pain as well as moving his objects around in the 3D landscape never really feels as natural as it should. There’s also an issue with depth and it can be hard to tell if you are going to land where you think you are. It’s kind of like an N64 platformer with the most beautiful graphics ever.

The characters have now lost the ability to upgrade their skills as well (though they are given selected skills to start). The Knight can stomp, charge, deflect and float with his shield while the thief can now tie her grappling hooks to things to hold them in place. The wizard is more limited with his abilities and now restricted to the summoning of a single box.

The new approach to skills is made use of well though and you will need everything to progress. The fact the heroes start with their skills also allows the game to throw things at you right from the off and get you thinking. It’s good the game does throw you in quickly because it is somewhat shorter than other games in the series. Starting out with a level to introduce each character you then get five main levels to fight through. Upon completion you are faced with a cliff hanger ending which hints at more to come. What form that will take will remain to be seen.

There are a host of shorter levels to unlock as well which focus on an individual character and as such effectively give you one life to complete them. These are tougher and designed to fit skill sets of the respective characters. Though brief they are fun to play and never out stay their welcome.

Both main story and side levels are unlocked by collecting glowing triangles. We don’t really like things like this as it can work as an artificial game lengthening device that forces players to go back to levels and hunt around for the missing twenty or thirty they need to progress. We didn’t have much trouble with getting the requisite amounts but it’s something we’d like to see removed in any future games.

Overall, while there has been a lot of a change in mechanics and progression the game never stops being fun. It’s certainly a more knock-about lose kind of fun than before but it remains humorous and throws up enough adventure to keep you interested until the end. When the 3D works in the games favour you can see exactly what the team were going for and there are some solid foundations here for future forays into it. It may not be up there with the near perfection of the 2D games but for some fairly minor stumbles we also have a bucket load of potential.

Overall 7/10

Volume Review (PS4/PC)

We first came across Volume a couple of years ago at the Euro Gamer Expo. It was in a fairly early state and we struggled to get to grips with the mechanics and the general flow of the game. Now the finished game is here and it tells the story of a modern day Robin Hood trying to steal from a corrupt ruling class in a near future England.

The idea of the game is to navigate around enclosed maps in a pseudo-top down perspective and collect loot. Once everything of value has been obtained you need to reach the levels exit. There are of course a host of traps and enemies to avoid along the way and some wonderful gadgets that help you do just that.

The first thing that strikes you about Volume is that it has a wonderfully distinctive look to it. If the Vectrex was a modern day system running Metal Gear Solid VR missions then it would probably look something like this. The clear design keeps the play field uncluttered and allows players to easily identify loot, items and enemies. The only slight issue is that in tight levels it can be difficult to see everything as objects can be hidden a bit behind walls. It’s only a minor point though and for the type of game this is the visuals work just about perfectly.

Diving in you will find that your hero controls very well and the system is easy to pick up and get used to. You’re only really walking around but you can also crouch behind walls and whistle to attract attention. There are some fun gadgets to use as well and not a gun in sight (at least for you). There are gadgets that let you run quickly and silently across trigger traps and various things you can throw at walls to distract enemies while you sneak by. Our favourite is the first one you get which is the bugle. This allows you to fire a sound pellet across a planned path and then activate it at any point to lure guards away.

Each level has somewhat generous check points throughout and while this does reduce frustration it can also mean things are little too easy sometimes. You have unlimited lives and restart at the last point you passed when you get shot. That’s fine in itself but there were a number of times where it was easier to grab loot by running straight through it, dive through a checkpoint, get killed by the pursuing guard and then just start again from the point with everything reset and the loot still obtained. In a couple of levels we even managed to get through the checkpoint as we were dying, only to pop up seconds later with guards now back in place and everything fine. Again, it’s not a major issue but can make escapes feel cheap and often removes the need for the more intricate stealth sections the levels are designed for.

Level design is excellent throughout and players are always being given new things to play with, new enemies to avoid or new ways to think. The feeling of repetition never really kicked in for us and we played the game for quite sustained periods of time each time we picked it up. There’s clearly some intelligent planning going on here and with stealth games like this it is all important to get it right and Volume does.

Sound effects are kept to a minimum but work well with the stealth premise. Anything that makes a noise is crisp and also gives an indication of how far the noise is traveling. The uncluttered soundscape again acts well to help the player in their loot collection. What doesn’t work so well is the voice over with the protagonist talking to his AI companion throughout. Not only does this mask sound feedback at times it also drops a text box on the screen which can be irritating when you are trying to sneak around traps.

The story is not exactly told in a subtle way either and the script could really have done with a few revisions. Unfortunately it comes across as rather overbearing during play and the protagonists voice over never really fits in with the actions being carried out on screen. Instead it seems like someone talking to you in the room while you’re playing (and we all know how annoying that can be).

Overall, Volume is a very enjoyable and well-designed experience. It offers something a bit different in the current market and succeeds at most of the things it has set out to do. We would have liked to see a bit more of a challenge later on, the checkpoints need a bit of a placement rethink and the story can grate but it’s full of ideas, plays well and looks great.

Overall 8/10

Rollcage Review (Playstation)

Back in the days of the N64 and Playstation there were a host of racing and car combat games hitting the market. Every week seemed to bring something different as players hunger to race around at break neck speed (and normally shoot at things), seemed to be a gold seam easily mined. The Playstation alone had Twisted Metal, Vigilante 8, Gran Turismo, Wipeout and of course Rollcage among a host of others vying for players attention.

While Wipeout was the cool kid that helped shape the Playstation generation, Rollcage was the niche alternative for the speed heads that wanted something more physical, grittier and that bit more obscure. It still has a licensed soundtrack and all the bells and whistles but, if anything, it requires even more skill and concentration to play well.

Much like Wipeout the game has you racing around a series of futuristic tracks against a host of computer controlled opponents. There aren’t a massive amount of tracks but as Wipeout 2097 proved it’s all about quality rather than quantity (and there’s significantly more than found in that game). They are drawn from a base of four locations with you racing around variations on a neon lit city, tropical island, snow covered mountain and Mars mining colony.

Tracks don’t have the loops you might find in Wipeout but do have lots of walls and tunnels, destructible scenery, speed boosts and jumps. The reason for all the walls and tunnels is of course part of the main draw of Rollcage – that being you can drive on ceiling if you really want to. 

Your car is basically a flat vehicle on four large wheels that can operate either way up. This means you can bounce around the levels like a lunatic and as long as you land facing the right way you will keep going. In practice this is easier said than done as you’ll most likely end up spinning around to such a degree that sea sickness will set it.

Rollcage is not an easy game to play when you first start. Any bump or twist in the road is likely to send your car either barrelling across the track or spinning around in a circle and it will take some time to get used to the handling system. Once you have learned to read the track and keep the vehicle balanced it really does begin to show its strengths. Some consolation comes in the fact that the computer is just as likely to spin out as you are so at least you are all in the same boat.

The real key to lasting appeal of Rollcage is the sense of speed that still remains. These tracks are fast and chaotic and that means you have to concentrate all the time. If that wasn’t enough there are a host of power ups to contend with as well. Ranging from shields to scenery collapsing rockets and teleport beams there is everything you need to keep races competitive. Your car is indestructible (a small mercy), so the only thing to worry about is getting back on track after being blasted into a wall.

The Playstation version has league and time trial modes to play with as well as a two player mode. Sadly though it lacks the Arcade mode of the PC version which means a couple of tracks aren’t actually playable in single player against the computer. A strange choice no doubt brought about by the limited power of the host machine.

Overall, Rollcage may lack the refinement and sleek racing lines of the Wipeout series but it makes up for it in sheer aggression and attitude. This is a rough and ready racing game that requires players to drive well to keep their car on the track let stay in the lead. There’s no doubt it can be frustrating and it certainly doesn’t look as sharp as you probably remember but its fast, brain meltingly fast. It’s also very chaotic in the best way. If you’re into racing games and want to try something unique then getting hold of it should be a priority.

Overall 8/10