LOMBARDY, Italy — Sept. 25, 2023 — RoboDunk, the only arcade basketball roguelite, dunks from space in a ludicrous display of mecha sports combat on Steam and Nintendo Switch today.
Developer Jollypunch Games takes basketball into a new age with thunderous SPACE DUNKS, stop-motion robo ballers, and earth-shattering weapons! Dominate robo-opponents with satisfying tackles; shoot your lasers while weaving through asteroids and jump over tornados. Throw down legendary dunks solo or with the team in local multiplayer, with drop-in/drop-out co-op in all modes and up to 4 players versus.
Victories grant power-up points to allocate across a massive skill tree. Snag permanent stat boosts, mad skills, and modifiers like double jump and teleport to increase the carnage and execute the sickest plays the planet has ever seen. Between blowouts, delve into the lore of the Gods to unravel the secrets of the universe and answer the age-old question: is DUNK the meaning of life?
Ready to up the ante and defy gravity? Dominate the replayable campaign or test your skills in endless mode where everything is up to chance, even teammates. Survive long enough to earn a career-defining high score in games full of ever-changing rules, trap-ridden courts, and unique rewards to boost the robo-roster to new heights.
“I made RoboDunk to fill a hole in the hearts of NBA Jam fans everywhere,” said Gabriele Libera, Founder, Jollypunch Games. “Even if you never enjoyed a sports game or a roguelite I guarantee dunking from space will get your blood pumping, and the infinite unlocks, randomized campaign and strange lore will keep you coming back for more.”
RoboDunk is available now on Windows PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch. English, German, French, Spanish (Spain and Latin America), Portuguese (Portugal and Brazil), Italian, Russian, Simplified & Traditional Chinese, and Japanese languages are supported.
Developer & Publisher Jollypunch Games specializes in super satisfying action games, made in Italy by solo developer Gabriele Libera. Its first title, the wildest anime fighter Fly Punch Boom!, released in 2019 for PC & Nintendo Switch. Jollypunch is now working on its second title, a roguelite basketball combat game with robots called RoboDunk.
LONDON, UK – September 25, 2023 – Check into the Grand Hotel and investigate a love affair in Shadows of Doubt’s ‘Cheats and Liars’ update, the first major content update for the acclaimed immersive detective sim, available to download today.
Launching as a free update to all Shadows of Doubt players, Cheats and Liars introduces a brand new case type – investigating an affair – along with a new building type, new NPC interactions and a range of quality of life improvements, including bug fixes, localisation improvements and support for NVIDIA DLSS.
Check in to the Grand Hotel and investigate an infidelity. Monitor the accused and uncover evidence of a sordid relationship to determine their faithfulness. Make use of the hotel’s facilities, relax at the rooftop bar or marvel at the crystal chandelier in its majestic lobby – the hotel is yours to explore.
CHEATS AND LIARS UPDATE TRAILER:
Discover brand new NPC interactions and dialogues, including the option to directly accuse your suspect and place them in handcuffs. But be warned, your suspect might not always take kindly to being accused of a crime…
“Shadows of Doubt has had an incredible reaction from players, and we’re really pleased to provide them with brand new content to explore and investigate with today’s Cheats and Liars update,” said Sean Campbell, Senior Product Manager at Fireshine Games. “Since launching into Early Access earlier this year, the team at ColePowered Games has been focussed on polishing the game experience and expanding on new ways to play that really take advantage of Shadow of Doubt’s innovative AI systems and complex simulation. Cheats and Liars is just the start of that hard work, and I’m very excited to see how players take on this very different type of investigation.”
Available now on Steam Early Access, Shadows of Doubt is an immersive crime-solving experience that puts players in the role of a private investigator. Explore fully simulated cities and meet individual citizens each with their own name, job, apartment and daily routine on your hunt for a serial killer. Use a variety of gadgets to track down suspects and approach each case your way: scan fingerprints, check call histories, read private emails, bribe citizens, watch CCTV, or pick locks, break down doors and sabotage security systems – there are multiple ways to solve each case.
About ColePowered Games
ColePowered Games is an indie development studio founded by Cole Jefferies, currently working on stealth detective game ‘Shadows of Doubt’. Previously developed city building puzzler ‘Concrete Jungle’.
About Fireshine Games
Fireshine Games is a global publisher of digital and physical videogames based in London, England. Originally established in 2014 under the name Sold Out, Fireshine Games works with studio giants such as Team 17, Rebellion and Frontier Developments as well as introducing new indie dev studios to the world like Pugstorm, Stonewheat & Sons, Spiral Circus, ColePowered Games and many more – publishing for physical and digital distribution. Fireshine is also part of the EG7 group of companies.
CD PROJEKT RED has released the official Launch Trailer for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty in anticipation of the game’s premiere.
The new, dynamic trailer dives deep into Phantom Liberty’s world and story, exploring the themes of loyalty, trust, freedom, and responsibility for one’s actions. Players can see characters from the expansion in action — including Solomon Reed, portrayed by Idris Elba — and discover some of the dangers awaiting them in Dogtown before Phantom Liberty launches.
As of the day of the release of the Launch Trailer, the Phantom Liberty expansion has already received very positive reviews from journalists.
Watch Launch Trailer
The trailer also features the theme song of Cyberpunk 2077‘s expansion — “Phantom Liberty”, performed by Dawid Podsiadło, who’s currently one of the most popular singers-songwriters in Poland.
Phantom Liberty, Cyberpunk 2077’s spy-thriller expansion, is coming to Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PC, and GeForce Now on September 26th, 2023. Players take on the role of V, a cyber-enhanced mercenary for hire who is pulled into the world of spies and political intrigue, joined by sleeper agent Solomon Reed, played by Idris Elba.
Cyberpunk 2077 is a narrative-driven, open-world RPG set in Night City, a megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour, and body modification. The game tells the multilayered, mature story of cyber-enhanced mercenary V. Players are faced with choices and consequences as they customize their character and playstyle, take on jobs, and build their reputation. The game has sold over 20 million copies and won over 200 awards, and is also the inspiration for the award-winning Netflix anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, created by CD PROJEKT RED in collaboration with Studio Trigger. Its spy-thriller expansion, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, is slated for release in September 2023. Cyberpunk 2077 is set in the universe of the classic pen & paper RPG system, Cyberpunk 2020.
About CD PROJEKT RED
CD PROJEKT RED is a game development studio founded in 2002. It develops and publishes video games for personal computers and video game consoles. The studio’s flagship titles include The Witcher series of games, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, GWENT: The Witcher Card Game, and the futuristic AAA role-playing game — Cyberpunk 2077, upon which the Netflix anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, created by CD PROJEKT RED and Studio Trigger, is based. Together with GOG.COM, a game store offering hand-picked titles for PC and Mac, CD PROJEKT RED is part of the CD PROJEKT Group. CD PROJEKT S.A. is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (ISIN: PLOPTTC00011).
A new trailer for SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada is out, introducing the two suspects in the fall of the city of Amasia, their environment, and glimpses of gameplay.
When a mysterious poisonous rain wiped out most of humanity and birthed deformed creatures called Enders, roaming the surface hunting for survivors, the leftover population fled and built an underground haven called Amasia.
In SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada, humanity moved back to the surface when Amasia was suddenly destroyed. You will play as a Drifter piloting a Coffin, an armed vehicle designed to ensure survival in the dangerous terrestrial environment. After a first investigation team disappears, you and your Magus, an AI companion, will be sent to the remains of Amasia to find the missing team and uncover the role of another Drifter, Alba, and their Magus, Ada, in the collapse of the city.
SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada will release for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Step into the world of Rainbow High™ and play as all six OG characters in the first-ever video console game based on the No. 1 fashion doll brand
Sydney, Australia – 25th September 2023: Outright Games, the leading global publisher of family-friendly interactive entertainment, and MGA Entertainment (MGA), one of the largest and fastest growing privately held toy and entertainment companies in the world, are excited to launch Rainbow High™: Runway Rush. This is the first console game based on the No. 1 fashion doll brand and streaming TV series Rainbow High, with a combined one billion minutes watched on YouTube and Netflix globally.Rainbow High™: Runway Rushis now available to purchase for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.
Watch the full launch trailer here!
Stepping into the colourful world of Rainbow High creative arts school, players play as one of the six original Rainbow High™ characters – Ruby, Poppy, Sunny, Jade, Skyler, or Violet – as they take on their first big creative project. With more than 21 different locations to explore, including recognisable places from the TV series like the majestic Unicorn in the atrium, the Rainbow Union, and Sunny’s bedroom, players will also be able to go outside the main story mode to find collectables to level up their characters with unlockable outfits. Each character also has a mini-game personalised to their unique artistic flair, allowing fans to fully become their favourite characters – from taking photos with Violet, designing clothes with Skyler, and creating kawaii illustrations with Sunny.
As a puzzle adventure game, fans of the show can be the leading characters in the story while they explore the colourful school, solve puzzles, and use their creativity to move to the next level. Younger children will also be able to take control of their adventure with the help of the “hint scan” function, which highlights all the interactive elements of a room’s puzzle and guides them to their next task. This function will simplify the navigation and allow fans to play at their own pace, without missing out on the fun.
Rainbow High is an inclusive line of fashion dolls and accessories that includes characters representing all the colours of the rainbow. The first line of dolls was released in 2020 by MGA and was hugely successful on its launch, including being named No. 1 New Toy at the Toy Association 2020 Toy of the Year Awards in the U.S. The animated series aired the same year on YouTube and became available on Netflix in March 2021, accumulating more than one billion minutes watched on all platforms globally. Fan favourite fashion dolls are making their colourful dreams come true at Rainbow High — and the possibilities are endless when they all work together #LetYourTrueColorsShine!
Stephanie Malham, COO of Outright Games said: “Rainbow High has fast established itself as the defining fashion doll brand for Generation Alpha. With our new game, fans will have an entirely new way to interact with this world, its beloved characters and develop their creativity in a way that has been tailor-made for our audience.”
Isaac Larian, Founder and CEO of MGA Entertainment said: “In just three short years Rainbow High has revolutionised the fashion doll category and we are thrilled to see continued growth for the brand, with its first-ever console video game. Our core value for Rainbow High is to have fans let their true colours shine and they will be able to do this in an all-new way, as they immerse themselves as a student and step into an interactive world.”
Carla Bolaños Blanco from Xaloc Studios said: “As a developer, it was an exciting challenge to adapt the world of Rainbow High into a puzzle adventure game. We incorporated the key brand positioning enabling players to enter the magical world of rainbows, creativity, and friendship where they can live up to their potential, roam their favourite locations, and interact with their favourite characters.
Rainbow High™: Runway Rush is available now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.
About Outright Games:
Outright Games is a global video games publisher with a focus on bringing quality family entertainment to a worldwide audience. Founded in 2016, Outright Games has established its place in the market delivering engaging interactive games of beloved entertainment licenses globally. Outright Games brings stories and characters to life with titles including favourites such as Peppa Pig: World Adventures with Hasbro, DC’s Justice League: Cosmic Chaos with Warner, Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova and Paw Patrol: Grand Prix with Nickelodeon, and DreamWorks Dragons: Legends of The Nine Realms with NBC Universal. With an Outright Games title there will be fun for all the family to enjoy.
MGA Entertainmentis one of the largest and fastest growing privately held toy and entertainment companies in the world. Headquartered in Los Angeles with offices globally, the company creates innovative, proprietary, and licensed consumer products and entertainment properties, including toys, games, dolls, apparel, consumer electronics, home décor, stationery, sporting goods, movies, and television series.
The MGA family includes award-winning brands such as L.O.L. Surprise!™, Little Tikes®, Rainbow High™, Bratz®, MGA’s Miniverse™, Fluffie Stuffiez™ , Na! Na! Na! Surprise™, Micro Games of America™, Baby born® Surprise and Zapf Creation®.
About Xaloc Studios:
Xaloc Studios is a Spanish independent game development studio creating delightful game experiences across multiple platforms since 2015. The aim is to unite people that share the same passion by designing extraordinary and unique game environments to give innovative experiences. The team is composed of talented handpicked industry professionals with a precise attention to detail to deliver an epic adventure to the player and breathtaking sceneries.
PlayStation Australia is excited to announce that between Monday, 25 September and Sunday, 8 October, PlayStation 5 (PS5) will have its biggest sale to date in Australia, with a promo RRP at $684.99 (up to $115 off)*.
Just in time for school holidays, and in the lead up to some of the year’s biggest game releases including Marvel’s Spider-Man 2,EA SPORTS FC™ 24,Call of Duty® Modern Warfare 3 (2023) & Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, now is the perfect time to purchase.
With ultra-high speed SSD, haptic feedback, and 3D audio, this console will allow players to elevate their gaming experience and take advantage of this year’s best game releases. Play Final Fantasy XVI, Hogwarts Legacy, STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor, Baldur’s Gate 3 & NBA 2K24 with 4K visuals and near instant load times!
*Promotional price shown is available on PS5 console with a disc drive at participating retailers. Actual price and product availability may vary by retailer. Offer starts 25/9/23 and ends 8/10/23 (dates inclusive)
Deep Dive Into the DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: THE DARK PRINCE Story and Key Characters
Visit iconic locations from DRAGON QUEST IV: The Chapters of the Chosen in Upcoming RPG game from the DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS Series
Today, SQUARE ENIX revealed new details regarding the overarching story and key characters featured in the upcoming role-playing game DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Dark Prince. Additionally, fans of the closely connected DRAGON QUEST IV: The Chapters of the Chosen story will also see the return of several iconic locations throughout Psaro’s adventure to becoming the Master of Monsterkind. DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Dark Prince launches worldwide on December 1, 2023, exclusively on Nintendo Switch.
Offering fans an alternate depiction of the events during DRAGON QUEST IV: The Chapters of the Chosen, DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Dark Prince explores the untold story from the perspective of Psaro himself, the enigmatic prince of monsterkind, who swears revenge against the ruthless and cruel Master of Monsterkind, Randolfo the Tyrant.
Psaro’s mother, Miriam, is a human and his father is the Master of Monsterkind, Randolfo the Tyrant, making Psaro the demi-human prince of Nadiria, the monster world. Sadly, Miriam is gravely ill, and Psaro ventures into Nadiria to ask his father to cure her sickness. Randolfo rejects his pleas outright and proceeds to curse Psaro so that he may never harm a creature of monster blood directly, kicking off Psaro’s quest to take revenge against his father’s cruelty and rule over Nadiria himself.
Key figures players will meet throughout Psaro’s adventure in DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Dark Prince, include the following:
Randolfo the Tyrant, The Uncompromising Ruler of All Nadiria: Psaro’s imposing father, his archnemesis and the Master of Monsterkind. He has governed the chaos of Nadiria for many years with an iron fist.
Dolph the Destroyer,Nadiria’s Most Vicious General: Randolfo the Tyrant’s eldest son, rumoured to be the most powerful fighter in all Nadiria. Possessed of unmatched strength, he is widely believed to be his father’s chosen successor to the Nadirian throne.
The Zenith Dragon,The All-Seeing Dragon God: The Dragon God who watches all-knowingly over the world’s affairs from Zenithia, a castle in the clouds.
Healie, A Boy in Search of an Old Friend: A naïve young boy who travels the world in search of a long-lost companion. He didn’t always look like this though…
Ludo, An Elusive and Enigmatic Youth: A mysterious young man with a penchant for peculiar poetry. He has a habit of appearing in unexpected places and seems to know Psaro all too well…
Percival, Army Captain Devoted to His King: An army captain who is fiercely loyal to his liege lord and will carry out even the most barbaric orders without a second thought.
General Chayne, Trusted Keeper of Diabolic Hall: Keeper of the fortress known as Diabolic Hall. This hardened warrior seeks to use his immense power to stop Psaro from achieving his ambition.
Miriam, Psaro’s Sick Mother: Psaro’s human mother. She lives in the human world of and has come down with a mysterious illness.
The Chosen Heroes of DQIV: In DQIV, the Chosen Heroes set out to stop Psaro and end his cruel ambitions in order to save the world. It would seem their actions will influence this story too, and judging from their grim expressions, the threat they face is surely a dire one…
Players will also be able to visit memorable locations from DRAGON QUEST IV: The Chapters of the Chosen. As to the role these locations play in the story, players will have to find that out for themselves! Some of these settings include:
Rosehill: Psaro’s base of operations is the sleepy village of Rosehill, where monsters and dwarves live together in harmony. It may be small, but Rosehill is home to shops and a church, as well as the Altar of Amalgamation and a paddock where monsters can relax. It’s the perfect place for a budding monster wrangler to blossom.
Diabolic Hall: The monster stronghold.
Zenithia: Where the Zenith Dragon observes the world.
Several other locations from DQIV will also feature prominently!
DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Dark Prince is now available for pre-orders exclusively for Nintendo Switch. Players who pre-order the game will also receive the Head Start Set which includes:
DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: THE DARK PRINCE, FINAL FANTASY, DRAGON QUEST, SQUARE ENIX, the SQUARE ENIX logo, SPACE INVADERS, and TAITO are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Square Enix group of companies. Nintendo Switch is a trademark of Nintendo Co., Ltd. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet made quite the impression on the Switch when it released last year. The normal thing that people had issues with (outside of performance) was without a doubt the amount of available Pokemon from launch. Its time for some DLC finally, and we are packing up and heading to Kitakami for The Teal Mask expansion, which looks to add a good amount of content. How does it fare? Let’s find out.
Content
On one end, there is a lot to like about The Teal Mask and what it has to offer. Players are awarded the opportunity (narrative wise) to visit Kitakami, a location that features new species, characters, and places to explore. On paper it is fine as this is the first of the “Area Zero” pack, and there definitely is a lot to do. This locale has new shops, interactions and more, as well as a lot of new lore featuring new legendary Pokemon. It should be fantastic, but there is something lacking where past content has been a bit richer in the past.
The story is there, but nothing really makes a lot of sense for Scarlet or Violet. Sure, its nice to see new characters – but the player is more or less teleported to this area, and shoved into a new adventure that doesn’t really feel like an adventure, instead more of a way to simply catch more Pokemon in general. Luckily, that is why I wanted the DLC anyway and what is offered is quite nice on that front. Over 100 past Pokemon are made available, with a good grouping from each region (and a few regional variants) becoming available. This was actually delightful to see as fans now can obtain a nice Poliwhirl, Swinub, and several other Pokemon, along with the trio of starters from Diamond and Pearl.
Sure, I kind of think they could have pushed a bit more in the species department for this release, but with more content on the way – it still was quite refreshing to simply find more of the old within this pack. Activities within The Teal Mask will also keep you busy, with a mini-game where you collect balloons in order to obtain berries, as well as the hefty side quest “Timeless Woods”, which allows the player to work together and hunt for a mysterious Pokemon. The overarching narrative involving the main three new legendary Pokemon is fine, if not a bit quiet or boring as a whole. Sure, I didn’t dislike what was there as it does act as the motivation for this pack, but outside of the added lore, it felt a bit disconnected from the actual region this all takes place in.
My actual issues with this DLC comes with the performance, which still has yet to be improved. This is no new IP and as mentioned in the original review, the less than stellar frame rate (trending usually lower than 30 FPS) and even crashing can add a headache to the overall adventure. To see Game Freak continue to resist on properly patching the overall game and still have the DLC have issues is disappointing. Sure, the game is still very playable and fun, but I feel this generation’s mainline games are plagued by problems that are going to cause a lot of distrust in the future. Adding more paid content without fixing such standard issues is baffling, so this may be something for you to chew on as you decide to return for more content overall.
Final Thoughts
The Teal Mask is a bit difficult to transcribe in most ways when it comes to thinking of how it adds overall value to the main game. The added Pokemon are great and the content is fine enough – even if the story needed a bit more substance. The lack of quality improvements all of this time later however make it simply not worth the price-tag, as this franchise really should not to continue to run in such a stuttery state. Those who want more will find it here, but without the polish and consistency that should be expected from one of gaming’s most loved namesakes.
There was a certain magic when it came to Saturday Morning cartoons in the ’80s. Sure, they were mostly a marketing tool used to sell toys but the cheesy and colorful presentations were a delight at the time and the properties that sprung forth from some of the most popular franchises, such as Transformers, GI Joe, and even He-Man have continued in various forms of success even to today. As such, when MythForce revealed itself to harken back to that era with a wonderful looking intro sequence and promised some enticing roguelike action, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to present a unique looking experience with an original property. Unfortunately, while these cartoon influences remain fairly impressive parts of the package, the overall experience leaves much to be desired as MythForce struggles to find an identity.
Story
After watching a delightful opening sequence, players will select one of four heroes from the MythForce to begin their adventure that spans across three chapters, each of which has their own little animated sequence as well focusing on showing off the primary boss that players will eventually face down as they progress through the nine total stages, three stages per chapter. These cartoon animations give great samplings that fit perfectly with the theme that MythForce is aiming for but don’t really offer much more than that as players looking for story lore, world-building, or much in the way of personality beyond a character’s surface representation will feel a bit disappointed here.
Even during standard gameplay players won’t find much in the way of lore. Playing in multiplayer will see heroes interact with one another from time to time though they will often repeat their lines so frequently it seems that there really isn’t a lot of variety even between different members of MythForce. It is a bit more enjoyable while playing through stages as players take on multiple mini-bosses with some taunting by the area bosses Beastor, Hexstar and finally Deadalus. That being said, it doesn’t help that, once players manage to run through every stage and even reach the final boss, the final confrontation doesn’t even feel that epic in scale nor does it even offer a satisfying ending in any way… seeming sacrificing its attempt at telling a heroic tale in an effort to stick true to its roguelike design.
Gameplay
At its core MythForce is a roguelike that allows players to select from one of four heroes that they will be controlling through a series of randomized levels within a stage. These heroes come in the form of Victoria, the tank-like knight, Hawkins the long-range damage dealing hunter, Maggie who wields magic from a distance, and Rico the speedier rogue that serves as a blend of damage dealing and damage avoidance. Each of the four heroes can equip two sets of weapons and have their own unique set of skills that they can use on cooldowns including an ultimate gauge, that when triggered when filled, blasts the MythForce theme-song while improving all of their abilities immensely.
MythForce doesn’t feature an intuitive tutorial in any way, instead opting to present four static arrow filled UI descriptions about what is shown on screen before dumping players into the game. Nearly every room that players travel through will have a set amount of enemies to defeat before the door will open to the next location, offering a choice of buffs that will persist through the rest of the run. Some of these range from improving or adding new abilities to one of the character’s weapons or even a complete stat buff. Players will also obtain “trinkets” that serve as pieces of equipment from treasure chests that can provide various buffs as well that will remain through that run.
The first person combat is often a bit odd and floaty feeling, with melee combat not offering the type of impact that players are usually looking for, especially when it comes to most enemy types. Similarly, enemy attacks have rather strange wind-ups to the point it is easier to simply dodge them rather than trying to block or parry them. It is also worth noting that the game has an absolutely ridiculously limiting stamina system, with attacks costing a certain amount of stamina that will leave players “exhausted” if emptied and leave them vulnerable. Ranged combat is far more enjoyable when used properly, though obtaining magic books for the few characters that can use it is far better than using the bow and arrow. Along these same lines though, enemy magic has a rather ridiculous lock-on time and accuracy to the point that players will be running around a stage to avoid an incoming blast and still get hit by it because of near-permanent lock-on. Instead, it is best to slay any mages as soon as possible, if you can find them that is. Enemy AI is rather poor most of the time, with enemies either spawning and standing around waiting for players to hunt them, getting stuck on the level design, or just rushing around blindly with no tactics or effort of any kind, with only bosses having some semblance of a unique feeling encounter.
The title is fairly simplistic and straightforward so such an anemic introduction isn’t too much of a problem but when the game doesn’t even indicate that their seemingly generic background buildings on the main menu are actual upgrade shops, it is something of an issue. These shops are where players will be spending the various resources that they gather during their times running through the stages and carrying anything they may obtain back with them, with things like gold, glyphs, and star crystals all of which can be used to purchase upgrades that will persist throughout their following runs. Glyphs can be used to upgrade the quality of a shop, improving the upgrades available while crystals can enhance a character’s overall abilities, with the ability to swap and fuse them together for even stronger improvements to their character of choice while money can then be use for literally any upgrade, including improving the traits of trinkets and perks they pick up during their dungeon runs.
Grinding for these upgrade materials is unfortunately not an enjoyable experience thanks to the rather poor design of MythForce’s stages and the way they progress through every level. Each level consists of a set number of rooms, with these rooms having extremely limited variety to the point that, on multiple occasions, we saw ourselves traveling through the exact same looking room four times in a row, fighting enemies that appeared in the exact same locations with the same traps. This lack of variety is only exacerbated by the fact that the only real alternative levels are the occasional treasure room or one with a shop in it where players can purchase an in-run upgrade at the expense of gold best saved for a more permanent upgrade. This repetitive nature makes even the more enjoyable gameplay aspects quickly lose their luster, especially with how limiting MythForce’s online gameplay can already feel.
Not only does the title lack any form of local co-op, an extremely strange choice given the rather limited design of the product, it also happens to not feature any form of crossplay between consoles. This means that players will find their total player base a bit on the limited side at times and while it is entirely possible to invite friends to fight off the various monsters as a party of four, others may need to rely on simply tapping the “Quickplay” button and hope they get placed in a solid enough team, if they are lucky to find anyone else at all already. That being said, it is nice to note that players can have an open lobby, playing through a stage and allowing others to drop in and out without affecting the host.
Audio & Visuals
One of the most appealing aspects of MythForce is the Saturday Morning Cartoon style aesthetic which both looks and sounds like a perfect copy when the game’s few animated cutscenes play out. The actual game also features some fairly impressive looking cel-shaded character models and bosses, though enemy design and variety is a bit on the disappointing side. It is also worth noting that, as mentioned before, the dungeons themselves feature extremely repetitive designs and are almost entirely bland to actually explore, making repeat runs through the game feel like a chore as they don’t take any advantage of the unique visual aesthetic of the theme. There are also a surprising number of visual glitches when it comes to enemies, especially “pot” enemies that always spew out awful looking effects that are so bad and glitchy, we can’t even tell what it is meant to be.
The voice work is fittingly cheesy with the characters all fitting their tropes quite well and really playing it up nicely. As for the soundtrack, the background music is mostly generic outside of the catchy Mythforce theme song that plays at the start of the game as well as when players use an Ultimate.
Overall
MythForce has a great sense of style but unfortunately doesn’t capitalize it as much as one would hope. Instead, past the Saturday morning cartoon stylings lies a relatively basic roguelike with decent combat that is both quickly repetitive and relatively bland in nature, turning its grinding efforts into a chore that will often see players barely return once they see the conclusion to the story. Playing with friends may be fun, especially since the drop-in co-op works great online, trying to find a new group can be challenging, especially with a surprising lack of split-screen, leaving this heroic tale one best left untold unless you really want to scratch that cartoon itch.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Bomberman turned 40 this year, and there would be no better way to commemorate such an impressive landmark than with a new game. SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 follows up on 2017’s Super Bomberman R. R 2 doesn’t shake up things much when compared to R; instead, Konami preferred to play it safe and just mix things here and there. That said, does SUPER BOMBERMAN 2 R retain the chaotic and fun gameplay that’s a trademark of the series?
Story
While patrolling the galaxy in search of a villain to blast-off, the Bomberman Bros. come across a suspicious signal. It seems that a ship, classified as a planet destroyer, dubbed “Black Moon” is unleashing chaos, as its crew is looking for a stone called Ellonite. Seeing this, White Bomber and his weird brothers and sisters decide to intervene. As they investigate one of the attacked planets, they come across a race of baby-looking critters, complete with bibs and pacifiers, called Ellons. The Ellons are responsible for guarding the Ellonite, but they can’t stand against the enemy alone. Thus, White Bomber and his less-than-willing siblings decide to lend a hand in order to fend off the Black Moon menace.
Animated sequences narrate White Bomber’s predicament as he tries, without much success, to get his siblings to help protect the Ellons. The other Bombermen just seem to lack the focus and common-sense needed to accomplish a serious task without White Bomber’s guidance. While watching these cartoons may sound like a hilariously good time, they’re anything but funny or fun. The writing is atrocious, which is a pity, because the cutscenes could at least be on the level of a Smurfs episode if the writers tried a bit harder.
Gameplay
In story mode, the Bomber Bros. must liberate three worlds, each comprising several stages; these are designed as simple mazes that can be traversed without any difficulty. After setting up a base, players need to do a bit of exploration in order to find Ellons trapped throughout the map, as they’re needed to unlock the following stages. Detonating enemies and blocks along the way grants items used to increase the world level; this is how players can acquire classic Bomberman power-ups and also parts used in the base-building portion of the game. Furthermore, enemies will sometimes attack the player’s base which will trigger a side-activity where White Bomber must halt advancing enemies by upgrading the base with items unlocked during stages.
At first, I liked the idea of combining traditional Bomberman mechanics with exploration and a bit of RPG. But unfortunately, little thought was put into actually designing these stages. Enemies are found wandering aimlessly on the overworld, and they’re almost never a threat. The number of abilities that can be unlocked is very limited; much farther into the second world, I was disappointed when I realized that I had unlocked the exact same abilities that I got on the first world. Additionally, boss battles, while interesting at a glance, fall too easily and require little effort or thought from players.
Online battle pits players against each other in a variety of gameplay modes. Castle is new to R2, and it’s the same capture the flag section found in story mode where teams take turns defending or attacking the base. Standard is the classic Bomberman that players love, while in Battle 64 up to 64 players can compete to see who gets to be the last one standing. Online play flows surprisingly well. The addition of crossplay between a variety of platforms means that finding matches won’t take more than a few minutes. The only drawback here is that players can’t choose a specific mode. Instead, they rotate daily. While this will certainly be a major point of contention between many players, I personally like all modes, even if Standard and Battle 64 are the highlights as always.
Visuals
SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 disappoints by delivering the same level of graphical fidelity found in its predecessor. One could argue that the visuals are good enough for a Bomberman game. While I agree that the visuals are functional enough, more details and effects could have been included to provide a more up-to-date experience. Regardless, the overall performance is smooth even during populated online matches.
Audio
The soundtrack fits what would be expected from Bomberman. The tunes constantly change during stages, but they’re too repetitive to the point of being annoying.
Overall
SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 fails to provide a good single player experience with its watered-down story mode. Despite that, much fun can be had with R2’s multiplayer offerings.
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