Product Review: VGamingHoovers

If you have ever read one of our reviews, most end with a little blurb that says we’ve been given a copy of the game in return for a fair and honest review. What you might not know is that sometimes we have to approach publishers and sometimes they come to us asking to try a game they have been working on, and we always try to get games that we think our readers will enjoy learning about. When the team at Hoover got in touch with the site about a product review, I was initially very confused since we a) are a video game site and b) review video games. After a to-and-fro with the team and by being assured that gamers love vacuuming, I somehow ended up with a DPD driver knocking on my door at an ungodly hour to present me with a Hoover HF500STP. Once I unboxed the thing, I had no idea how to frame a relevant review. Then a wave of inspiration hit me.

I realised that at some point in their lives, most people who play video games have wished their lives to be enriched by the fantastical elements of what they play on the screen. We’ve all waxed lyrical about being able to explore the grandeur of Hyrule or being able to dive from the highest tower with nothing but a hay bale to catch you. Relying on our imagination in order to wield impossible powers is all most of us will ever be capable of doing but over the last few weeks dear readers, I have been able to live out a video game that has been in my heart since 2002…

I got to be Luigi from Luigi’s goddamn Mansion.

I must say while I adore Nintendo’s series revolving around one of the Mario Bros’ side hustles, the reality doesn’t exactly match the expectation. I’m certainly not a winner of a contest I didn’t even enter, nor was there a creepy old man in strange spectacles talking nonsense when presenting me with the product. Instead, it was me and my strapless Poltergust vs the haunted mansion, which in this case is my three-bed new-build that substitutes King Boo with two cats.

Unboxing the Hoover brought about the familiar joy of receiving a new limited edition game. Shiny new plastic, various attachments and way too much cardboard and wrapping is sure to excite anyone who loves gadgets. There’s a nozzle for the smaller areas like skirting boards and bannisters, the main brush head which works on both carpeted and laminate flooring, along with a smaller head for the stairs and sofa. They all clunk together in a way that made me feel like Sylvester Stallone in Rambo 2 where he meaningfully assembles his rifle before setting off to kill the baddies.

One annoying aspect of the design is that the smaller pet head isn’t stored on the Hoover at all meaning there’s a potential for it to be lost around the house. It’s a shame Hoover couldn’t work a way around this as it’s particularly useful for clearing out the cat bed and preventing awkward cleaning of the stairs, but while the attachments were cumbersome to carry about, it is light enough and small enough to store easily thanks to the small form factor.

When in use, the HF500STP whirs into action instantly. It may not be a PlayStation powering on but the Hoover sounds like a futuristic jet engine that sets about sucking all the detritus that has collected on the floor since your last run around. On the main brush head is a fancy anti-hair wrap roller that is meant to keep long strands from causing issues. With a normal clean up operation, expect zero issues as it works every time, but if hair did wrap around the brush, there is a simple clasp that unclips the roller, and it would be a case of cleaning it and putting it back. 

The rest of the setup work equally as well; the more precise tools of the HF500STP are useful after a long hard session of repairing consoles and routinely performing maintenance on my PC and keyboard. My keyboard especially attracts crud and the Hoover does a great job of sucking out the bits of biscuits and hair that find their way behind the keys. This particular machine is marketed towards those with pets, and a flick of one of the buttons activates a boost mode, or as I like to call it Kirby’s Mouthful Mode, which drives up the engine speed, introducing more power to really get into all of the nooks and crannies and clear up even the most embedded cat hair. I did have to be careful with Mouthful Mode however, as it swallowed up one of the cat toys, causing a blockage in the pipe. This was relatively easy to fix but it did mean I had to keep a watchful eye on what was being inhaled, which takes more time on a task I really don’t want to be doing.

My biggest bone of contention though is the battery life which is set at a paltry 45 minutes – just enough time to give the house a quick once-over, but not enough to suck up those pesky Boos. A word of caution, using Kirby mode drastically drops the lifespan to around 10 minutes so make sure you use it sparingly. For such a high ticket product, this runtime is simply not good enough; not only does it last less time than it takes to cook a pie, the thing takes 2.5 hours to fill up. I’ve not seen efficiency this bad since the Game Gear, and unlike Sega’s battery chewing portable, the Hoover HF500STP cannot be used when plugged into the mains. I guess this could be seen as an upside, as my excuse for neglecting the cleaning and picking up the controller of my Switch becomes a very reasonable point, but given the cost of electricity rising faster than Sonic hitting a spring, it’s certainly a consideration for anyone on a budget.

Along with the battery life, I did find myself scratching my head over the tiny collection bin that is attached to it. After dragging the vacuum across the kitchen and living room, it was full and while the HF500STP certainly lived up to the expectation of collecting fine pet hairs, it was almost at its tipping point after hardly any run time. Stopping to empty the bin every five minutes meant cleaning the house took longer than usual and it added another layer of annoyance to an already tedious chore. This problem isn’t solely limited to this particular vacuum, as most handhelds I’ve experienced have the small bins to keep them compact, but it would certainly be nice if they could be expanded from something bigger than a pint glass.

The Hoover HF500STP is a neat little vacuum cleaner but that’s all it is. For those who want to spend £300 on a video game system, you’re probably better off spending it on a Nintendo Switch. The vacuum doesn’t have any screens so it can’t play Doom (yet), and it’s not the T-1000 who sets off to find John Connor after it’s cleaned the landing floor. It simply sucks up dirt and crud from whatever surface you point it at and that’s it.

That said, it’s portable and light enough to be carried around the house with ease and storing it away is rather easy. It works surprisingly well when removing dust from the inside of my PC and around the workstation and the boost mode still makes me feel like a Power Ranger activating his Megazord, even after a few weeks. The pet version removes some of the most stubborn cat hair embedded into the carpet as promised, but the things holding the Hoover HF500STP back are unfortunately deal breakers for me. The pitiful battery life and the comically small collection bin mean that this is perfect for those who live in flats, assuming there’s no sizeable furry animals that need cleaning up after. It does have its uses but is definitely not perfect for those who are trying to live their best Luigi’s Mansion life.

In the interest of full disclosure, VGamingNews was provided with a Hoover in order to conduct this review. We’ve not been paid for the review. Any links to the product may be affiliated, this means we earn a small commission from the vendor if you purchase the product but you don’t pay any extra.

Splatoon 3 Giveaway

We are back with another blinding competition – this time we’re giving one lucky person the chance to own Splatoon 3 for the Nintendo Switch!

Splatoon 3 is the latest entry in Nintendo’s online shooter series that sees teams of four battle it out to cover the most amount of turf.

One winner will get a copy of the game shortly after it’s 9th September release date. Full details and entry can be found below.

Gamescom 2022: Indie Arena Booth Round-Up

Gamescom is one of the highlights of the gaming calendar – with a host of celebrities breaking news galore and announcing all manner of exciting games. The flagship event held in Cologne, Germany, is a Mecca for developers and publishers to get their games seen – and that goes for AAA and indie teams alike.

Sadly, our little team couldn’t make it out to get boots on the ground this year, but that isn’t going to stop us from using our contacts to bring you news on the low-down from on the continent.

As always at VGamingNews, we’re going to focus on those indie teams who don’t always get the recognition that they deserve, and so we’ve spent much of our time scouring the Indie Arena Booth to bring you news of the best indie titles currently being exhibited at the show.

Click on any of the links below to jump straight to the relevant game, or keep scrolling to check out all of our coverage:

Aka

Aka is a cute, wholesome open world game that stars a fat red panda who is invited to a peaceful island after a long war in an effort to rebuild what has been destroyed. Developed by Cosmo Gatto and published by Neowiz, Aka sees you helping the residents of the island by working on the local fauna, constructing buildings and helping NPCs with quests. If you don’t feel like helping, you can always take a nap wherever and whenever you feel like it. 

Aka is due for a release on Nintendo Switch and PC by the end of the year and we’re already big fans of the art direction as well as the different number of environments we’ll be setting off to explore. With its option to build and farm the land as well as the cute nature of the animals, the game does feel inspired by the likes of Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. Although we suspect that aforementioned war will play a rather large part of the game, especially when talking to NPCs. We’re excited to see how Aka turns out. Along with world building and adventuring, mini-games will also be included. Quite what these are remains to be seen but it looks as if Cosmo Gatto is throwing everything and the kitchen sink into Aka. Did I mention you play as a red panda in a suit? 

Animal Well

Pristine HD graphics might grab all of the headlines, but tight gameplay and an intriguing concept will put smiles on faces for a lot longer than a simple spit and polish, and that’s what tense metroidvania, Animal Well is hoping to achieve. Developed by Shared Memory from the USA, Animal Well uses a throwback pixel-art aesthetic that allows for the creation of a sprawling, labyrinthine world that focuses on atmosphere rather than action.

Explore the depths of the maze as a defenceless little explorer, lighting candles to fend off what lurks in the shadows, and using your items to navigate to previously unreachable areas. There’s a deep level of interactivity too, with items, enemies and the environments working together in unexpected ways, leading to a level of intricacy that the developers claim could take years to fully uncover.

In a refreshing twist for the genre, Animal Well is non-linear and allows you to choose your own route through the game, offering each player a truly unique experience. In a surreal world filled with beautiful and unsettling creatures, and riddled with innumerable mysteries, Animal Well could become a cult classic among adventure and metroidvania fans alike. There’s no official release date just yet, but it feels like a title that could drop at any moment – we’ll be watching this one closely.

Back to the Dawn

Back to the Dawn is the debut title from Metal Head Games that sees you play as an anthropomorphic fox who’s trying to escape from prison for a crime you didn’t commit. You’ll have to use your brains, your charm and your brawn to survive in the big house, stay sweet with the guards, and do jobs and favours to earn much-needed cash while planning your escape.

Since prisons are all pretty samey, many of the activities and themes are reminiscent of Mouldy Toof Studios’ popular The Escapists, but Back to the Dawn has a much less throwaway feel and boasts a well-written plot underpinning some simple, yet fantastic mechanics. Each of your fellow inmates has a unique backstory that can be unlocked by befriending them, but beware – not all of the animals in lock-up are keen to be your pal, and you should choose your allies wisely.

Presented in stunning pixel-art graphics and lighting that brings the detailed areas to life, Back to the Dawk is a survival game with a difference. The playful animal characters put a fluffy face on what is a complex and well-thought out prison-break sim that I frankly cannot wait to play more of. A demo of Back to the Dawn is available to play now on Steam.

Batora: Lost Haven

Batora: Lost Haven caught my eye as the space romp RPG not only promises a deep and choice-driven story, but takes multiple sci-fi tropes and flips it on its head. The story starts with Avril, a moody teenager who was settling into a life of angst and trips to hang out at Afflecks Palace, or equivalent place where the alt kids and punks go. Life seemed OK until a cataclysmic event destroys half of the planet and thrusts her through space. 

This is where Avril discovers she has gifted extraordinary powers and will have to journey across the universe to uncover ancient secrets and reckon with a series of life-changing decisions, which will come in handy as she has drawn the attention of a God that is hellbent on absorbing her new gifts and destroying every planet they touch.

While the story seems like a cross between The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy and Star Trek, the vast worlds appear to be begging for exploration. From the early builds and various demos that have made their way online, Batora is shaping up to be a great expansive RPG full of puzzles that utilise all of Avril’s new powers. The soundtrack and visuals don’t look too shabby as the developers have based them on 1950s sci-fi era movie posters and comics. 

Desta: The Memories Between

Being from rainy old England ourselves, we love a home-grown game, and Desta: The Memories Between from London-based developers ustwo games looks to be a doozy. You play the role of Desta, a young person returning home after a difficult parting and the recent death of their father. Thinking back on their past and their relationships with those around them, Desta’s dreams become a way for them to unravel their emotions and put things into perspective. 

As Desta falls asleep each night, they awaken in an ethereal world filled with representations of people and places from their past. In this dreamscape Desta must play a ball game, taking on characters and bosses in order to make sense of their memories. There’s introspective themes running through the game like loss and self-discovery, and it’s this character-driven narrative that makes Desta: The Memories Between so enticing to us.

With stunning hand-drawn backdrops framing the strategic turn-based action, Desta offers deeper and more replayability than ustwo’s previous titles, like Alba: A Wildlife Adventure and Monument Valley I & II. The final release date is yet to be confirmed, but in time Desta: The Memories Between will be released on PC, Nintendo Switch, Android and iOS, allowing you to experience Desta’s unique story on the go.

Fall of Porcupine

While it’s never an easy job, it’s been a particularly difficult couple of years for people who work in healthcare – as an NHS worker, I can certainly vouch for that. Looking to shine a spotlight on some of the hardships faced by healthcare workers, German developers Buntspecht.Games are releasing Fall of Porcupine, a sweet platformer that tells the tale of Finley, a medical intern serving the quaint town of Porcupine.

While the visuals are warm and fuzzy, filled with cute animals and storybook environments, the story isn’t always so lovely – Finley will have to help diagnose his patients while navigating his way through the tricky relationships of the small town, all the while reporting to the less-than-supportive head doctor and trying to find some time for himself.

There’s some serious topics beneath the saccharine sweet visuals that address mental health, burn out, and the unhealthy work/life balance that has become so prevalent in the healthcare sector. This is a story close to my heart, and one I’m looking forward to experiencing. Currently pencilled in for a 2023 release date, Assemble Entertainment recently announced that a playable prologue is available now… get yourselves over to your nearest eShop to try it – STAT!

Inkulinati

Inkulinati is a 2D strategy game that pits players against the titular Inkulinati, a force that brings animals, knights and all manner of strange creatures to life. The turn based battles take place within a mediaeval manuscript that has definitely taken inspiration from the Magna Carta.The hand drawn characters might look over the top but they are certainly able to utilise whatever they have to hand in an effort to win the ongoing war. These can range from the standard shield and pike attacks to a rabbit which secrets gaseous odours coming from their bums. 

The sheer ridiculousness of a realistic giant glove coming in to draw such eccentric creatures makes me feel that Monty Python, and more specifically, the drawings created by the wondrous Terry Gilliam, have inspired Inkulinati, but whatever the inspiration,Yaza Games have us chomping at the bit to get our hands on the finished product when it releases at the end of the year.

M. S. Salmon

We’ve told you before that the VGamingNews staff are suckers for a crime story, and you can’t do any better than a smoky film noir like M. S. Salmon from animation studios, SoybloQ. Set in the late 1960s and filled with an anthropomorphic cast, you take on the role of Ben Hearden, a penguin detective, as he tries to solve a murder on board the titular cruise ship.

In true film noir tradition, Ben will not only have to contend with the killer, but also himself, as the case on the M. S. Salmon shines a light on his own dark past. With their animation chops clearly on show even in the short trailer, it’s a story that’s bound to play out in dramatic fashion.

As their first foray into gaming, SoybloQ are looking to bring a blend of play styles to the table with M. S. Salmon, combining the more traditional point-and-click detective work with some on-rails shooting and even some gastro-sim elements too. It’s an ambitious project but one that looks incredibly fun, where premise, form and function seem to be aligning wonderfully. This is certainly one to keep an eye on as the project continues to develop.

Oddada

Joe: One of my favourite memories in gaming is getting a few beers with Ian and playing Chime Super Deluxe on the PS3 until dawn broke. It was a simple premise that had you building blocks and creating a lo-fi chillout track as you attempted to complete a tricky puzzle. Oddada from co-developers Mathilde Hoffmann and Sven Ahlgrimm appears to be in a similar vein. By utilising a toy train, complete with a metronome and tuning fork, players have to build blocks to create a toy town. Each block has a different tune and as pieces are placed onto the board the track builds, a musical symphony will come to life.

The developers have said that there is no real challenge to the game, instead it is down to the players to focus on the types of music they want to create. Once you’re happy with the track you’ve created, you can save it to a cassette tape (ask your mum). Hopefully the game allows sharing of your creations and to whet your appetite, a few samples are available to listen to on Oddada’s official website to give you a taste of what to expect but we’re excited to jump in as it is certainly looking at a change of pace from all of the violent and action heavy games players are used to.

Paper Trail

Paper Trail is a game we’ve had our eyes on for what feels like an absolute age. Newfangled Games are creating a unique top-down puzzle game that is set out like a picture book. The main character, who is obviously called Paige, sets off from home to explore a vast world and pursue her studies. 

In order to complete her quest, players have to take the pages of the book and fold them in ways that open new paths that allow progression to be made. From the opening few levels this seems straightforward enough but the game quickly toughens up and the environments turn more dark and foreboding. 

The comic book art style really draws us to Paper Trail which looks like a continental comic from the 1920s or 30s so we are eager to get our hands on the game when it releases next year. 

Super Catboy

Sometimes you want something new, but not something new-new, amirite? When only a bout of nostalgia will do, never fear because German developers Pixelpogo are scheduled to bring you arcade side-scroller run-and-gun Super Catboy in the early part of 2023.

With chunky pixel-art sprites and simple button-mashing gameplay, it’s clear that Super Catboy was inspired by 16-bit stalwarts like Castle of Illusion, Earthworm Jim and Mr Nutz, and is looking to bring 1990’s platforming to a new audience in the 2020s. This isn’t a high-brow, self-indulgent title that’s asking you to take a long hard look at yourself – this is an unashamed look back at the past, with a shredding title theme, throwback graphics and a funky soundtrack.

Want to try it out for yourself? Sharpen your claws, throw on your supersuit and head on over to Steam, where there’s a playable demo available now.

The Fabulous Fear Machine

Perhaps one of the most eye-catching games in recent memory, strategy game The Fabulous Fear Machine from Spanish developers Fictiorama Studios is absolutely dripping with style. It’s certain to gather a *ahem* cult following upon its release – and deservedly so. 

Having recently inherited the mantle ‘Master of the Machine’, it’s your job to use your influence to spread misinformation and fear across the globe, increasing your power over the populace and crushing anyone whose agenda differs from yours. With a heavy emphasis on both storytelling and strategic gameplay, the game is portrayed in 1960s comic book style, with loud colours and phenomenal pop art imagery that leaps off the screen. Whilst jaw-droppingly beautiful, The Fabulous Fear Machine is more than just a pretty face – it has the depth of gameplay to back up the stunning visuals.

Plant rumours and nurture them into terrifying legends to quell the man in the street, and send out your agents to spy on your rivals and sabotage their attempts to spread their own messages. You’ll have to manage your time and resources however, lest someone beat you to the punch and claim a key location for themselves, stifling the spread of your fear across the region. Slated for release in Summer 2022, we can’t be far away from the feeling the icy fingers of fear creeping across the land…

The Siege and the Sandfox

Despite only recently reviewing Souldiers, I simply can’t get enough of 2D metroidvanias, and stealth-platformer The Siege and the Sandfox from the UK’s own Cardboard Sword might just be the next hit that I’m jonesing for.

Taking on the role of the legendary Sandfox, you’ll need to explore a beautiful palace and the ruins beneath it while the surrounding city is under siege. You can use stealth to sneak up on your enemies and incapacitate them or simply glide past without them even realising. With a plethora of parkour moves at your disposal you’ll be able explore every inch of the gigantic palace, upgrading your skills and your equipment as you go. Just what is more deadly – the besieging soldiers, the palace guards, or an ancient evil lurking in the sands? 

The environments are rich, detailed and overflowing with charm; the colour palette cleverly plays with the light, emphasising that this is a mission to be undertaken beneath the cloak of darkness. Currently scheduled for a 2023 release, we’ll be keeping a sharp eye on the development – it won’t be sneaking up on us – that’s for certain!

You Suck at Parking

We actually covered You Suck at Parking in our favourite indie games at Gamescom 2021, and with Belgium developers Happy Volcano still putting the finishing touches on their wacky parking extravaganza, we thought we’d highlight it again.

In a game where your two options are “go” or “stop” (there’s no reverse!), the object is to barrel your way around a crazy course and bring a series of tiny cars to a halt inside the parking spaces dotted around the level. You’re working against the clock and once you’ve set off you can’t stop to catch your breath either, as stopping counts as your parking attempt! 

There’s speed boosts, magnets, fans and all sorts of other obstacles to make your parking even more tricky, as well as the ruinous husks of your failed attempts litting the track too. Despite the tight gameplay being very much the emphasis, the environments are incredibly eye-catching and the sedate music does its best to keep you from throwing your controller through the screen – really, this game is a wonderful package.

Blasting around the tracks is both hilarious and swear-word inducing, and the short levels make the gameplay incredibly addictive. While their Steam page gives a vague “2022” as their release date, we think that You Suck at Parking will be entertaining (and infuriating) gamers everywhere very soon.

ZERO Sievert

The top-down shooter is a genre as old as time, but one that continues to inspire a multitude of great ideas and awesome games. The next big hit for the genre might be ZERO Sievert, the post-apocalyptic pixel-art offering from Cabo Studios.

In a wasteland ravaged by terrifying monsters you’ll have to scavenge to survive, collecting food, gear and weapons to help on your travels across procedurally generated maps. The game boasts some incredibly deep weapon customisation too, offering you endless opportunities to build your perfect load-out to take on the atrocities of the fallen world with.

With sharp line of sight mechanics, gritty environments and a definite moody feel, ZERO Sievert looks to be a game whose atmosphere will keep you on the edge of your seat between showdowns with huge beasts and bloodthirsty survivors. Despite there being no concrete release date at the present, there is a playable demo on Steam – we’re hoping that ‘Coming Soon’ means ‘sooner, rather than later’…

VGamingIndies: Vol 3

We don’t need to tell you that there are a lot of video games being released every week and a lot of games simply go under the radar. Indie games in particular are often developed by small teams, usually without a billion dollar corporation behind them and they don’t have a chance to shine. 

VGamingIndies gives us a chance to talk about some of those smaller titles that we’ve played recently. We’re not scoring these games like we would if it was a ‘full review’. An arbitrary number isn’t always the best approach, especially with Indie games. Instead, we’re just laying out what we liked, what we thought didn’t work so well and leaving the choice up to you.

In Volume 3 we looked at feline darling, Stray and Egglien, an arcade-platformer from an impressive BAFTA competition winner. Click the buttons to jump to the game or carry on reading.

Egglien

I was a pretty standard kid; at 14 years old I was battling my way through the school day before spending my evenings shirking my homework so that I could watch CatDog and play Resident Evil 2 (don’t tell anybody!). A few things that I definitely was not doing at 14 was winning a BAFTA Young Game Designer competition and releasing a finished product on Steam, but that’s exactly what Portsmouth teenager, Alfie Wilkinson, has achieved with his action-platformer, Egglien.

Egglien tells the loose story of Asteri, an egg-laying alien whose body goes into overdrive after she receives a message from the far off planet Earth and being declared as ‘the chosen one’. This leads to a journey across the galaxy alongside her friend, as Asteri battles a plethora of bounty-hunting aliens who are out to make a few quick space bucks by taking down the chosen one. 

The story is pretty trope-laden and nonsensical in parts, but Egglien isn’t looking to win hearts with its plotline, but with everything else. I loved the visuals and sound in Egglien, where the three-tone colour scheme and funky chiptune tracks gave me a blast of nostalgia that landed somewhere between the C64 and the Gameboy Color. 

The action-platform shooter has an old school arcade feel about it – you steer Asteri around and hold the jump button to blast a stream of eggs towards the floor to propel yourself around. That egg propulsion doubles up as a weapon, and flying over an enemy whilst blasting eggs out of your *ahem* will see them off – once all of the enemies in the level have been killed then it’s on to the next one. Each of the five worlds ends in a boss fight that changes things up a little, though the final boss felt like a huge difficulty spike compared to the rest of the game. 

Sure, it’s a simple formula but it’s surprisingly effective; the controls are wonderfully responsive and swooping around to poop death on those below you is good fun; it harkens right back to the early days of console gaming and oozes nostalgia. The only thing missing is perhaps a little wrinkle to mix up the gameplay – something like pickups that alter your speed or controls, or maybe a time trial mode to add a layer of challenge to the otherwise straightforward gameplay.

Egglien offers a simple premise but nails the execution; with responsive controls, throwback visuals and a catchy soundtrack, it offers way more fun than you might expect at first glance. The story is a little hokey, but it throws back to arcade platformers like New Zealand Story, where the plot is just a simple vehicle to offer you a few levels and then a few levels more. With a playtime of just a couple of hours, Egglien is short but sweet, and represents an admirable first foray into game development. I have no doubt we’ll see bigger and even better things from Alfie Wilkinson in the years to come.

Stray

Key Info
Platform	PlayStation 5, PC – https://store.steampowered.com/app/1332010/Stray/
Developer	BlueTwelve Studio
Publisher	Annapurna Interactive
Positives	+ You play as a cat + Press to meow + Rather well put together story
Negatives	– Controls can be skittish – Graphical inconsistencies – Lack of photo mode
Price	£23.99
Played by	Joe

When Stray was announced in the PlayStation Future of Gaming event back in 2020, I knew I had to own it. The cyberpunk city home to autonomous robots instantly caught my eye and the prospect of playing as a ginger tomcat meant that Stray was going to be an instant winner. The game, created by BlueTwelve Studio, stars a feline who is trying to escape an underground labyrinth to reunite with its family. Joined on this adventure is a tiny drone companion, B-12, that narrates the story into a language the cat can understand. 

As I explored the unnamed city, a wholly unexpected story came to the fore, one that revolves around how the robots came to being and why there is a severe lack of fleshy mammals in sight. As with most indie games, Stray weaves in a meaning that permeates the experience. Social commentaries about the classist system and of totalitarian control are not themes you’d expect in a game where you play as a cute, backpack wearing kitty-cat, but here they are. 

The story isn’t as heavy on the player as that though; the themes are subtle and most of your attention is kept on the cat. You’re able to meow, scratch and push certain objects to interact with the world, which comes in handy when it comes to solving the environmental puzzles scattered throughout the world. Puzzles are kept to a minimum, as the game favours fetch quests, but a particular favourite involved a paint can and a well timed mew from the dedicated button that ended up causing more havoc than it ought to have. 

BlueTwelve have perfectly captured what it’s like to be a cat, with gentle purrs that can be heard through the speaker on the DualSense controller, and the finer details that are considered, like the back leg drifting when trying to corner at speed and the absolute stupidity that ensues when you get yourself stuck in a paper bag. The control scheme flips, and for a few moments, our normally composed feline frantically tries to escape by reversing, spinning around and generally having a fit – it’s excellently done.

For all of the hilarity of being a cat, unfortunately Stray does leave a lot to be desired. It only lasts a few hours and while this means the game doesn’t overstay its welcome, it does feel like the world screams out for more exploration. I cannot stress how enjoyable the game is, but something extra once the credits have rolled would have been nice. A photo mode would perhaps have been a nice little bonus that allowed players to take shots of the beautiful environments… and the cat. 

Stray is a charming puzzle game that initially tells the story of one animal trying to find its way back to its clowder. Being a cat is utterly adorable, meowing on demand should be a de facto feature of all games going forward, and the story has a real meaning behind it. It’s a shame then that a game with such a rich world to explore falls as flat as it does, simply because it is too short. As cute as the protagonist is, and how good the game is while it lasts, there’s sadly no incentive to come back to it once the credits have rolled.

VGamingIndies: Vol 2

We don’t need to tell you that there are a lot of video games being released every week and a lot of games simply go under the radar. Indie games in particular are often developed by small teams, usually without a billion dollar corporation behind them and they don’t have a chance to shine. 

VGamingIndies gives us a chance to talk about some of those smaller titles that we’ve played recently. We’re not scoring these games like we would if it was a ‘full review’ as an arbitrary number isn’t always the best approach, especially with Indie games. Instead, we’re just laying out what we liked, what we thought didn’t work so well and leaving the choice up to you.

For Vol 2. we take a look at a couple of short and snappy puzzle games, one released recently in the form of Blow & Fly, and one that we’ve been trying to talk about for ages – Donut County.

Click the buttons to jump to the review or carry on reading.

Blow & Fly

Blow & Fly is the latest puzzle game from the folks at eastasiasoft. You take on the role of a blowfish who has been let out of the aquarium and is on a quest to return to the sea. This is a physics-based puzzler that requires you to move and aim the blowfish through levels littered with obstacles in an effort to reach the toilet at the end of the stage.

By rolling and aiming, the fish can propel itself through one of seventy levels. Helping our little round guy out are various springs which launch you through the air, as well as gravity pads that give an extra squirt. This is wrapped up in a neat visual little package; the pufferfish is suitably cartoony in appearance and fits in with the environments. It’s rather simplistic and is nothing that will blow your mind, but it is a charming game.

The downside comes in the form of the control set up. Tying to aim while on the move is never going to be easy, especially when you have to avoid spikes and other nasty obstacles. Pin point accuracy is required but often the fish would slip just a little and it was enough to throw me into a spike. When I thought I got the hang of how far away to land the fish, the game would tighten up and my jump would be too short. Thankfully restarts are quick but having an inconsistent control scheme is rather annoying. 

The biggest flaw with Blow & Fly comes in the form of trophy hunting. Much like our review of Rift Racoon, eastasiasoft have decided to load all of the trophies within the first few levels once again. Once these have been collected, for some players there is no further incentive to carry on with the game. I understand there are two types of people that will buy the game: those who love trophy hunting, and those looking for a new puzzle game. But drip-feeding out the achievements and trophies would have been a nice incentive to push more people to experience the rest of the game, especially as it gets a lot tougher.

Blow & Fly has a straightforward premise, and an art style that is surprisingly nice to look at. Some of the later levels can get frustratingly tough as pin-point precision is needed and it’s a shame that all of the game’s achievements are front-loaded, as offering an incentive to stick with Blow & Fly a little longer would give it a little more credibility.

Donut County

Donut County is one of those titles that seems to always be on sale, and for relatively cheap. It was initially released in 2018; created by one-man developer Ben Esposito, who recently launched Neon White with publisher Annapurna Interactive. 

It stars a pesky raccoon known as BK who has set up a shop selling tasty treats in the titular town of Donut County. The problem is that BK has confused the round pastry snack with sinkholes, so has been unwittingly sending his customers and their properties to the centre of the Earth. Instead of fixing the problem, BK doubles down, sending more unwitting customers to the depths below. This is where I came in… playing as the hole itself, swallowing everything in my path. Move around the levels, gobbling up the environment means the hole gets bigger as the entire town is eventually enveloped.

It’s a wacky premise to be sure, but the plot of Donut County shines in between the handful of levels. BK’s human assistant, Mira, sets about trying to rectify the catastrophic damage and educate BK in the error of his ways. It’s here that the script really excels as BK takes everything on the chin, often with a ‘lol’. As the story develops it becomes clear that there is some heart in our destructive trash panda. 

The game only lasts a couple of hours and is best played over the course of a Sunday morning. I’ve not experienced a plot that had me in stitches from the get-go and held my attention throughout the entirety of the game in a long time. I realised just how many problems can be solved by sending an ever growing vortex to gobble up the issues. 

Donut County is frequently on offer somewhere, and is worth taking a dive. It’s one of the best short games I’ve played in a while and despite this, I can see myself coming back to it over and over again. It is well recommended despite its short run time.

VGamingLate: Child Of Light

Dear Reader,

Let me tell you about the Child of Light
An older game by Ubisoft, designed to surprise and delight
With a Princess trapped in a fairy tale land
And whose only vocal ability is to speak in rhyme
I gathered myself, not a merry band
And set off to finish the game without taking too much time

Child of Light tells the simple story:
Aurora, a princess, is whisked from her bed
Brought from Austria, to place of darkness and fury 
Her task is to escape before she is consumed by dread

In the 2D side scrolling adventure
Players guide the princess and her companion
A little fairy with illumination skills to defend her
From enemies hidden, to make the world less barren

As the game progressed, I fell deeper in love with the story
The tales told are clever, and not what I expected
It’s not a straight road that leads to glory
I was glad the Child of Light was a game I selected

Child of Light employes role playing elements
Such as levelling up and crafting experiments
You build Auora’s stats to help in battle
When she starts, she’s as slow as old cattle 
The levelling and crafting felt tacked on at first
But when I hit my stride, into life the game just burst
 
Along the way, strange people will join Aurora’s party
A rodent, a mermaid, a jester and more besides
They join her to help with her adventure and to act as guides
Most are kind and helpful, though one is full of wit and more than a little snarky

The artstyle, full of hand drawn watercolours, it's a really beautiful game.
Each character is full of personality and easy to remember
Although Aurora is the central character and gets all the fame
The support doesn’t fizzle out into an ember
Backgrounds are equally prevalent and well painted
The colours pop and I almost fainted
That last line was an exaggeration to paint the scene
I was taken back by what I’d seen

Musically the game is also quite striking
It’s twee and full of delightful plinks and twinkles
Later in the game though enemies are more than sprinkles
So the battle music becomes less charming and more biting 

Battles open on a singular screen
Enemies on the right, Aurora and her comrades on the left
Combatants are represented in a bar in the middle where all can be seen 
Once the player’s icon reaches the requisite action
It’s time to unleash an attack to leave the enemies bereft
But if an enemy strikes while Aurora charges her attack
This will lead to the battle’s protraction
As the character will be pushed back

It's a functional little battle system
Much like Final Fantasy games of yesteryear
But here are my words of wisdom
Battles can be drawn out and stuttery, although not severe

A delectable title is Child of Light
Its compact, not too challenging and a pure delight  
Battles can be janky and the music repetitive
But the enemies are almost nearly uncompetitive
Annoyingly the script isn’t perfect
Not everyone rhymes but the story is worth it

And to sum up my experience 
The Child of Light might be old
Sure the flaws it has, but I afford lenience
Because the world created is beautiful, not cold
A hidden gem that’s 6-7 hours long
Is worth your time I promise, I know I’m not wrong

Vesper: Zero Light Edition Giveaway

We’re back with another competition, and this time we have one copy of the recently released 2D adventure Vesper: Zero Light Edition on Steam up for grabs.

The game from Cordons Interactive released last year and has recently relaunched that includes a graphical overhaul and retooled environmental puzzles for players to sink their teeth into.

Here’s the synopsis:

Vesper is a visionary adventure taking place in a decaying world full of puzzles and mysteries to uncover, where your choices will change the future of an entire race. Seven is a small android, lost on an eerie planet full of perils and traces of an ancient civilization – with no powers and no ability to defeat enemies until he finds the Drive Gun, a weapon used to absorb lights, create darkness, and control minds.

An Authorial Vision: experience a unique sci-fi story, where each shot and camera movement is finely hand-crafted by their authors, Matteo Marzorati and Tommaso Loiacono.

While our Drew finishes the final touches of his review, for your chance to win a copy of Vesper: Zero Light Edition, simply fill out the form below:

Vesper: Zero Light Edition is out now on PC, click here to add it to your Wishlist.

VGamingIndies: Vol 1

We don’t need to tell you that there are a lot of video games being released every week and a lot of games simply go under the radar. Indie games in particular are often developed by small teams, usually without a billion dollar corporation behind them and they don’t have a chance to shine. 

VGamingIndies gives us a chance to talk about some of those smaller titles that we’ve played recently. We’re not scoring these games like we would if it was a ‘full review’. An arbitrary number isn’t always the best approach, especially with Indie games. Instead, we’re just laying out what we liked, what we thought didn’t work so well and leaving the choice up to you.

In our inaugural VGamingIndies we take a look at:

Paladin Dream

Paladin Dream is a straight down the middle type RPG; there’s no surprising twists or turns to uncover through the short run time. The kicker is that the vast majority of what’s on screen isn’t HitherYon Games‘ work, as it’s created using RPG Maker. Granted, the programme allows devs to write their own story arc and draw their own assets, but ultimately you’ll still be playing a game made within the bounds of an engine that is painfully showing its age. HitherYon Games have created their own sprites and some unique music, and both of which hold up well. You play as Josiah, a square jawed paladin, plagued by a dark past. You decide to pick up your sword and head out into the world to kill God or find out that you were the monster all along. You know the drill. 

If you think of the pre-PlayStation Final Fantasy games, then you’re approaching the correct experience. Movement around the map is done in a bird’s eye view and dialogue is rooted in a text box that usually repeats the same sentence each time you speak to an NPC. Combat boils down to you and your enemy taking turns slapping each other in the face until one of you falls over. Each fight is functionally the same, but mercifully Paladin Dream doesn’t force you into unacceptably grindy gameplay loops. In this case you’re able to follow the core story arc to completion without having to spend hours punching bandits just to progress to the next grind session. 

If you’re looking for a retro RPG experience then Paladin Dream might be for you, but so could thousands of other games. There aren’t any massive clangers which would have me call it a broken experience but it also lacks any kind of hook that would let me wholly recommend it. 

The Vagabond Emperor

The Vagabond Emperor puts you in the shoes of a character who has had enough of the state of the country and decides to be the nation’s ruler. (They might have also had a few pints when this revelation comes to them, but that’s neither here nor there.) As you set off on your journey, the land is thrown wide open for you to tackle this challenge in whatever way you wish. If you want to build a town and increase your reputation, that’s fine. If you want to explore and convince people to join you in your quest, that’s also cool. Hell, the developer (yep, singular), Wiggling Eyebrows, have even given players the option to breed with everyone to conquer the world Dominic Toretto style – with Family. 

The customisation is surprisingly deep and flows into the game play itself. The massive world is set out like a table-top RPG; the characters are represented like circular portraits and amble around the map until you interact with them. If you can’t or won’t convince them to join the quest, battles are equally flexible, either taking a turn based approach or a strategy-RPG style where two factions of cards will close in on each other and a bloody battle will ensue. Winning the battle and the remaining men will find their way onto the party, but if you lose then there are consequences. Missing limb or being given a degenerative disease are always a joy and impact the rest of the game. I had an arm lopped off early on which meant I could no longer hold a shield until I found a store to sell me an artificial replacement. It’s a great mechanic that gives a real weight to the quest. 

The Vagabond Emperor tries to do the impossible, giving you free reign on the genre of game you’re playing. It is primarily a 2D RPG with elements of dungeon crawling, town creations and family building mechanics all thrown into the mix. The trouble is that The Vagabond Emperor tries to do too much. It tries to be every genre of video game under the sun, but falls flat because of it. Combat in either guise is random and requires little-to-no skill, and the exploration feels more like fumbling around and hoping for the best. If Wiggling Eyebrows had concentrated on just one genre of RPG, the results would have been incredible. The story, as simple as it seems, is engaging and well written, and the fact there are a range of options and routes it can take is always welcome. As it is, The Vagabond Emperor has good structure but is let down by mechanics that desperately tries to please everyone.

Splatoon 3 Wishlist

With the 9th September 2022 freshly circled on our calendars as the day we’ll finally get our grubby tentacles on Splatoon 3, I got to thinking about my love for Nintendo’s squid-based shooter, and what I wanted from the upcoming instalment that was perhaps missing from Splatoon 2. I came up with the following five items that I thought would improve on the last entry, and help make Splatoon 3 the most popular game in the series so far.

5. Octo-Expansion-sized single-player mode

I completely appreciate that the main draw for a Splatoon title is the online multiplayer, but with a fresh IP with such a unique concept, Nintendo will be missing a trick if they don’t dig deeper into the mechanics and lore with a chunky single-player campaign for Splatoon 3. Each of the first two entries made admirable attempts at a solo mode by offering 32 levels in each game, but it wasn’t until the Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion dropped that we were given a real look at the possibilities for a solo campaign. Sporting more than 80 levels, a very cool new aesthetic and an awesome premise, the Octo Expansion should be the standard to which Nintendo should work to for offline play in Splatoon 3.

4. Bring back Splatfests, and make them longer

Even if I hadn’t been playing much Splatoon, the announcement of a Splatfest would always draw me back in. Sure, the continent-wide battles between cats and dogs, Spongebob and Patrick or ketchup and mayo were a little silly, but they certainly brought out the competitive spirit in the player base. With news that Splatoon 3 will no longer be region locked, I’m hoping that Nintendo will not only make the competitions global but make them last longer too. Rather than have Splatfests last just 24 hours, I propose that they last a whole week. There were so many Splatfests that I didn’t get to join in with because my Saturdays were filled with plans away from my Switch, and I’m sure I’m not the only player whose adult commitments at the weekend get in the way and who’d love the chance to join the battle on weekday evenings.

3. Make Salmon Run permanently available

While Turf War, Rainmaker and all the other multiplayer modes are undoubtedly fun, I never enjoyed Splatoon 2 more than when I was playing Salmon Run. Whether with a group of friends or with random players, blasting salmonids and collecting eggs was incredible fun. With the mode already confirmed to return in Splatoon 3 (along with all new salmonids to destroy), I want Salmon Run to be available all the time. I was quietly a fan of the time-locked rotating maps and modes as they encouraged me to get better at elements of the game that I wasn’t so good at, but Salmon Run was just so damned enjoyable that I want it at my fingertips whenever I fire up my Switch. Nothing was more upsetting than missing a shift at Grizzco Industries ’cause you had other plans when the mode was live.

2. Better squad management & matchmaking

Joining a group of friends and battling together shouldn’t be as much of a fuss as it was in Splatoon 2. What I want is to be able to join a couple of buddies (maybe fill up any empty spaces in my squad with random folks), and then start shooting at some bad guys who are about the same skill as me. What I don’t want is to play against people who make me look like I’ve never held a controller before, and what I definitely don’t want is for my pals to be randomised onto the opposing team and have our voice chat cut off when the game starts. And all of this assumes that we’re not booted from the lobby on two or three occasions before landing in a game in the first place. With each game only featuring a maximum of 8 players, it can’t possibly be as hard to get right as Nintendo made it look in Splatoon 2 – keep things simple and let folks play with their friends!

1. Fully integrated voice chat

Yes, better voice chat might seem like a strange item to have as my number one wish for Splatoon 3, but I cannot exaggerate how poor the attempt was in the previous entry. Nintendo has long been looked at as entirely out of touch in regards to online connectivity, but introducing a dedicated smartphone app and branded cable adapters as the means to talk to your friends while you played was spectacularly backwards, even by their own standards. Many players took to reliable off-system options like Discord, and while this certainly works, is it so much to ask for a squad-based shooter to have native communication between teammates in this day and age? Splatoon 2 was an almost-launch title for the Switch, so maybe Nintendo didn’t have their stuff together back in 2017, but with multiplayer goliaths like Fortnite, Overwatch and Apex Legends now sporting in-game voice chat on the system, it’s high time for Splatoon 3 to offer the same. In 2022, I just want to enjoy laughing with my friends without resorting to a nest of cables and poorly optimised smartphone apps.

Will you be picking up Splatoon 3 when it launches in September? What would be on your wishlist for the new squid-shooter? Let us know in the comments or on socials!

W.A.S.D. Video Game Event – London 2022

After two years of being stuck inside and only being able to cover games from afar we were ecstatic to be invited to the debut W.A.S.D. event in London! It was great being able to get some actual face time with developers and publishing staff and get to grips with some of the impressive games that they’re working on.

Hosted at the impressive Tobacco Dock in central London and spanning three full days, the event had a tonne of already released and upcoming games to try out, a host of interesting careers talks and places to buy swag. The layout and organisation was great, with each publisher having a sizable area to show off their games; this meant it was rare you had to wait more than a few minutes to get to a free station (at least on the Thursday and Friday when we attended) and you could bounce from one game to the next to your hearts content. 

We played a tonne of games over the weekend at W.A.S.D. and we’ve scribbled a brief run down of our favourites below. We’d love to go into more detail about each one, but with playing so many we’d be at it forever! If something catches your eye then we’d encourage you to click on the links and read more about the game – there really are some impressive titles coming in 2022!

Click on any of the links below to jump straight to the relevant game, or keep scrolling to check out all of our coverage:

The Ascent

The Ascent has been around a little while, but with the cyberpunk RPG popping up on Playstation in March of 2022, we wanted to give a go for ourselves. Set in a dystopian future where the shady Ascent Group rules the sprawling metropolis, you’re left battling your way through your district when the corporation suddenly shuts down and chaos reigns.

Let us tell you that the gritty sci-fi setting looks really impressive on the PS5 – the NPC design and animations particularly stood out, as did the level of detail in the environments and the contrast between the grimy factory floors and bright neon lighting looks wonderful. There’s some enjoyable gameplay on offer too, with mazy maps to explore and tonnes of gribbly creatures to blast through in true twin-stick style – why not grab a buddy and blast your way through the underbelly of the future in a co-op bullet fest?

Card Shark

Card Shark caught our attention by quite simply being something entirely out of the ordinary. You play as a rather downtrodden servant in 18th-century France who is befriended by an unscrupulous nobleman; he wants you to help him cheat at cards in exchange for a slice of the winnings. As a lowly table-servant (and therefore almost invisible to the pompous upper class around the tables), you’re in the perfect position to peek at cards and pass signals without arousing suspicion, but you’ll have to be careful to stay discreet, lest you and your partner be rumbled!

Armed with a charming, hand drawn period-painted look, some excellent narrative and some truly fun cheating mechanics, Card Shark will pull you into the seedy underbelly of French gambling houses. Perception, memory and quick wits will be required to master the game, but there’s a definite thrill at coming away with a big pot after some crafty sleight-of-hand wins you a game or two. Sadly, the demo available at W.A.S.D. was agonisingly short, but we came away with a wonderful first impression; we’ll be keeping our suspicious eyes on this one, for sure. 

Cult of the Lamb

Undoubtedly one of Drew’s games of the expo, Cult of the Lamb is a cross between Binding of Isaac and Animal Crossing, and he loved every moment that he spent with it. Part resource manager and part dungeon crawler, you control an adorable lamb, once executed but now reborn, who must build a cult in the honour of your dark saviour to repay the debt. You battle ungodly creatures, develop unholy powers and use your charms to convert other forest animals to your cause as you smite the non-believers!

Equal parts dark and adorable, we couldn’t stop smiling the entire time we played Cult of the Lamb, and think it’s going to be an absolute smash hit. The hand drawn visuals are downright stunning and the animations and character sounds are hilarious. Releasing this summer on all major platforms, we cannot wait to enthral the creatures of the woods and topple the blasphemers!  Praise be!

Honey, I Joined A Cult

The great thing about going to events like W.A.S.D. is getting to see what trends will be coming in the next couple of years. This year seems to be the management sim genre, where you build and manage your own little world. One of our favourites is Honey, I Joined A Cult from Sole Survivor Games. The aim of the game is simple: build a cult and get rich off the poor suckers grow your following. 

From the get-go the humour is on point, the chubby followers give off Cyanide and Happiness vibes and the music was a thumping 70s disco track that made us want to stay and play the full game. Unfortunately we did have to play more games but this is one cult we’d be happy to join!

How To Say Goodbye

While Drew was busy with To Hell With The Ugly, Joe spied an interesting game next to him that was open and boy was he glad he jumped on it. How To Say Goodbye is a puzzle game that’s about dealing with death. We played as a ghost who had recently passed and was looking for his brother in the afterlife. As we progressed, things started to get troublesome as dark spirits appeared in an effort to stop progression. The full story was being set up as the demo was ending (which is why I usually button mash through it so I don’t get pulled in!), but it left us wanting more. We need to know what happens to our little ghost pal. 

The puzzles themselves are presented on one screen, with the floor broken into square pieces. You have to manipulate the floor in order to move the ghost and get them to a door. Along the way, locks and keys were introduced to make progression a little more tricky. We’re keen to play more of this just on the artstyle alone, as it’s inspired by old French illustrations that makes for a really unique look.

Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure

As a fan of the original Earthlock, Drew was excited to get to grips with Ikonei Island, a beautiful island-life simulator set in the same universe as the 2016 JRPG. Ikonei Island is a relaxed, explorative affair with a bright and playful aesthetic and a wonderfully chill soundtrack, where you’re encouraged to collect resources and combine them to make new items that allow you to make the island your own. Impressively put together in just 13 months while the team takes a break from crafting Earthlock 2, it’s a complete change of pace from the series’ RPG roots whilst maintaining the entertaining lore of the Earthlock universe.

Inspired by Snowcastle Games Director, Bendik Stang’s time spent playing Stardew Valley with his children, Ikonei Island will offer up to four-player cross-platform co-operative play, so you and your friends can build an idyllic home for yourselves amongst the mysteries of the island. After a tumultuous couple of years, this lovely sim might just be the sedate change of pace we all need in 2022.

Imp of the Sun

We’re suckers for a metroidvania, and Imp of the Sun seems to be a wonderful entry to the genre. Playing as Nin, an imp sent down to earth, you must use the waning power of the sun to stop the world being cast into an endless night. It’s an open, non-linear adventure that asks you to explore lush jungles and mountain caves to rediscover Nin’s strength and stave off the Eternal Eclipse.

The bright, Peruvian-inspired imagery is beautiful and the playful characters are delightfully animated. There’s a tonne of collectables that will keep you busy and plenty of fun puzzles and enemies to tussle with too. With Hollow Knight-like mechanics and Guacamelee–style visuals, it has all the pieces to be a superb game, and Drew could have happily spent the entire expo playing the game all the way through!

Inscryption  

We’ve heard nothing but glowing reports about Inscryption since its release in October last year, but haven’t had a chance to sample it for ourselves due to our busy schedule… until W.A.S.D. Needless to say the praise is entirely justified, and Inscryptions blend of clever deck building card play, sneaky escape room mechanics and macabre storytelling is a marvel.

On the surface the gameplay is simple enough, but like the unreliable narrators you’re introduced to, there’s a hidden depth that takes a keen eye to master. Every minute of gameplay is bursting with a creepy atmosphere and you’ll find yourself going to any lengths to win the game and escape. We’ve played plenty of games like Inscryption but nothing quite like it. 

John Wick Hex

Yes, John Wick Hex has been out an age already, but we somehow almost entirely missed it and oh boy is it a stylish experience. Play as the titular hitman himself in an action packed turn-based strategy that’s packed with detailed mechanics and officially licensed images and voice actors. The gameplay is easy to pick up and rapidfire to play that gives an almost realtime feel to the turn-based affair.

There’s a real tabletop RPG feel to the action that emphasises Wick’s absolute mastery of his craft and allows you to flex your gun fu skills to take down goons in style. The cel-shaded visuals, wonderful lighting and graphic novel-style storytelling are eye popping, and the action doesn’t disappoint either – check it out if you haven’t already.

The Last Hero of Nostalgia

The Last Hero of Nostalgia is billed as a hard-but-fair (read: Soulsbourne) game with deep and rich combat and full character customisation, if you can say full customisation about a stickfigure! After struggling with a menu set up that required the use of the D-Pad and only the D-Pad, the game is literally Dark Souls but your character is a stick figure. As you run about the dungeon, everything from blood spatters to taking your health potion is brilliantly pixelated to comic effect and we rather enjoyed the look and presentation of this game.

The dungeon was surprisingly large and included enemies that took us down in two to three hits. Once we’d remembered our Elden Ring training however, this became a lot easier and things are much more forgiving than it lets on, although it’s still harder than other games we played over the weekend. The tough action mixed with a hilarious premise means that The Last Hero of Nostalgia is one to watch, so long as there’s a story deeper than “Dark Souls but your character was a stick figure lololol”. 

Lumote

Lumote is a beautiful puzzle game set in the depths of the ocean. You play as a Lumote, or as we will forever call it, Squishy, who’s a little bioform that needs help getting to a mysterious red light at the bottom of the ocean. The idea is to turn the path from red to blue by solving compact environmental puzzles. It’s a mix of Captain Toad’s pocket-sized puzzles but with Mario Odyssey’s control mechanics as you ‘possess’ marine life to help you make your way down. This is played in a sprawling world that is all present on screen. We played the opening ten minutes of the game so Squishy wasn’t really challenged, but the Wired team were on hand to assure us that the calm nature of the game can get a little tougher as you progress.

What also stood out for us, apart from the cutest protagonist since Sackboy, is that the soundtrack was incredible. It was hard to hear in a convention setting, even with headphones firmly on but from what we heard, it was a mix of electronic lo-fi with elements of oceanic waves gently caressing our ears. Lumote seems like a calming game to play after a long day at work. 

McPixel 3

There’s no other way to describe McPixel 3 than “utterly bonkers”. Third in the series that debuted in 2012, McPixel 3 sees you take on the role of the titular hero as he attempts to save the day in a series of rapid-fire emergency situations. Akin to a point-and-click WarioWare, you’ll be disarming bombs, stopping speeding trains and righting crashing aeroplanes in minute long skits with bizarre solutions.

The rough around the edges pixel art and truly strange scenarios won’t appeal to everybody, but if you have a wacky sense of humour and enjoy quick-fire mini games with a point-and-click slant, then McPixel 3 is one for you. I found myself laughing out loud through the sheer oddness of it all, and there’s undoubtedly fun to be had in stealing race cars, disarming explosive diarrhoea and kicking quite literally everyone in the nuts.

Monster Train

While it’s been out a good while already, we wanted to give Monster Train a look because we have a soft spot for a deck-builder and it’s definitely different to a lot of other games in the genre. With some Slay the Spire mixed with some Hearthstone and a splash of tower defence, Monster Train offers you some fun mechanics and the opportunity to choose your own route through the world that’s forever changing. 

Select new cards for your deck as your train rumbles across the map, upgrade them as you choose and use them to ward off ambushes as swathes of monsters set upon your train with the intention of derailing your adventure. It’s a fun premise that offers some variation from the norm, especially for fans of the genre.

Revita

Yes, we played another pixel art platformer because we just can’t help ourselves, but we promise you that Revita was well worth our time! Revita is a twin-stick-shooter X roguelike that is overflowing with charm from the minute you press ‘START’. Take charge of an unnamed protagonist and battle your way through floor after floor of procedurally generated challenges as you look to ascend a mysterious clocktower to regain your memories.

Trade off your health for new weapons and abilities, but be sure not to get overly confident – there’s a real bite to the gameplay that won’t make things easy on you. The sprites and environments are cute without being saccharine sweet and the soundtrack is next level impressive. There’s some really well considered accessibility options available too that makes Revita looks like the real deal – thankfully there’s only a couple of weeks to wait to find out!

Shadows of Doubt

Easily the most ambitious game we encountered at W.A.S.D., Shadows of Doubt is a stealth sleuth title that asks you to capture a serial killer in a fully simulated and living sci-fi-noir cityscape. Beneath the facade of its low fidelity visuals is an impressively open adventure; everything you see can be interacted with, every door you encounter can be explored and every person you pass in the street has an entire life that they will lead – with or without your involvement.

Even only playing Shadows of Doubt for just thirty minutes, the level of detail on show is staggering. The graphical style will inevitably turn some players off, but for those wanting a deep and thorough crime-solving experience, it wouldn’t seem to get much better than what ColePowered Games is currently working on.

Ship of Fools

Pulled in by the smooth and playful art style, we stuck around for the fun roguelike gameplay and the laughs when we played Ship of Fools. Sail your ship across dangerous seas and explore the Archipelago, and battle your way through a myriad of wacky sea monsters as you go. You’ll have to patch up your battered ship and manhandle your moveable cannons around in order to keep yourself safe, but with a host of fun weapons to do battle with, you’re sure to get to the loot if you persevere.

Ship of Fools, if you pardon the pun, is a blast. Peppering the baddies with cannon fire was huge amounts of fun, and we can only imagine how much more entertaining it will be when played in co-op mode, which is a big selling point of the title. We truly hoped that a game with those crisp, storybook-like visuals would be great fun, and so far, Ship of Fools proved us to be right!

Silt

For us, the game that undoubtedly excited us the most at W.A.S.D. was Silt, the debut title from UK-based developers Spiral Circus. Silt is a bleak underwater puzzler with an absolutely stunning visual style that’s incredibly engaging. As a lonely diver, you must use a mysterious power to possess the weird and wonderful marine life to solve puzzles, explore the deep sea and outrun some frightening predators. Joe got some The Swapper vibes, which can’t be a bad thing.

Drew was lucky enough to speak with the lead artist for the game, Tom Mead, and his enthusiasm for the project simply oozes through every inch of the visuals. The HR Giger inspired environments and creatures are genuinely unsettling, and the dystopian environment leaps off the screen – especially if you’re experiencing the sound through a headset. It’s surreal and atmospheric, and the sheer scale of the visuals make you feel like a very small and vulnerable fish in a huge and terrifying pond. We’ll be keeping a very close eye on Silt and we urge you to do the same.

Souldiers

We’re unashamed lovers of pixel art visuals here at VGamingNews and Retro Forge have put on an absolute CLINIC when it comes to their action platformer, Souldiers. We were completely blown away by the characterful sprites, detailed environments and impactful animations. And that’s not to mention the incredibly nostalgic soundtrack which cast us straight back to the arcade cabinet and the loss of so much pocket money.

Build your perfect warrior and battle your way out of Terragaya, a land that exists somewhere between the realms of life and death. With some puzzle platforming and metroidvania elements mixed in with the action, this is a cross of some awesome games and both looks and plays wonderfully. The combat is tough and there’s a sprawling world to explore, so you’ll have to stay sharp out there, soldier! Releasing in just over a month – this is one we’ll be snapping up without a doubt!

Terra Nil

A city-builder in reverse, Terra Nil asks you to terraform dead and uninhabited worlds into thriving ecosystems. By building turbines, solar panels and other ground-repairing gadgets, you can regenerate deserted wasteland into lush wetlands or forests teeming with wildlife before packing up all of your gear and moving on to the next struggling area.You’re charged with meeting certain temperature and humidity prerequisites and even with setting controlled fires to stimulate growth in an interesting simulation of realistic ecosystems.

With bright and attractive visuals, relaxed music and rich environmental sounds, Terra Nil is a wonderfully chill experience with a fantastic message about looking after the planet. The demo risks getting a little repetitive, but as a full game I have no doubt that Free Lives has a myriad of other challenges to bulk out the experience and give simulation fans a new twist on the classic genre.

Tin Hearts

Described to us as a Lemmings-style puzzler where you have to get all of the wind up toy soldiers to the exit, Tin Hearts has a charming Victorian aesthetic that immediately gives you a big dose of the warm and fuzzies. Originally built as a VR exclusive and still in the early stages of adjusting to console format, the controls in the demo were clearly a work-in-progress, but looking beyond those niggles Tin Hearts was really enjoyable to play.

Room by room, you explore the inventors house and unlock new toys that help you guide your toy soldiers around, from simple angled blocks to cannons, balloons and even toy trains! While sweet to look at, there’s a certain Victorian melancholy to proceedings, and the plot that unfolds takes you on an emotional journey through the story of the inventor’s family life. As big fans of Matrio vs. Donkey Kong and Krusty’s Super Fun House (yes, we know we’re showing our age with this reference!),Tin Hearts is a title we’re looking forward to unwrapping when the time comes.

To Hell with the Ugly

Some of our earliest gaming experiences were point-and-click adventures and, always keen to give new entries to the genre a try, we jumped at the chance to play To Hell with the Ugly, an intriguing project that’s been adapted from the Boris Vian novel of the same name. Take on the role of Rock Bailey as he awakens after a raucous night out with a spotty memory and a mean black eye, and help him unpick a series of mysteries in 1950s Los Angeles. Bolstering the standard puzzle mechanics is some fun turn-based combat that puts a great new spin on the classic formula..

The game has a striking visual style that replicates the ultra-cool block colour nightclub posters of ‘40s and ‘50s, with disproportionate characters that are both expressive and highly memorable. The soundtrack is a classy jazz affair that fits the period perfectly and there’s a witty and well-written script that draws you into the story from the get-go. Like any good mystery, To Hell with the Ugly feels like a book that you don’t want to put down; you can’t help but be dragged along by the strength of the characters and the intrigue in the plot.

Trek to Yomi

Perhaps one of the most stylish games we’ve seen in years, Trek to Yomi is a stunning action adventure in the style of a 1970s samurai movie. Presented exclusively in monochrome and showing off a wonderful use of lighting, Trek to Yomi is dripping with cinematic cool, and cleverly switches between 3D roaming and 2D combat to emphasise the classic one-on-one fight scenes.

The combat is suitably tactical and you’ll need to keep your wits about you if you want to progress because it doesn’t take much for you to be struck down. Flying Wild Hog have integrated plenty of difficulty options though, with their Kabuki Mode offering a more story-centric play through, while skilled players can look forward to unlocking the brutal ‘one hit kills’ mode upon completion of the main story. Joe especially fell in love with Trek to Yomi, and cannot wait to get his hands on the full experience – look for this one to make a big splash when it’s released on most platforms in early May.

The Unliving

What do you get when you gather a group of talented artists to make their own debut title? An absolutely stunning pixel art action roguelite apparently, as The Unliving from RocketBrush Studio will attest! Play as a Necromancer hell bent on bringing down the corrupt land of the living and rebuilding a world of the dead in your own image by slaying your human enemies and raising them as your undead minions.

The developers backgrounds in art are on full display with The Unliving, and the environments and animations are drop dead gorgeous from start to finish. The unit sprites are wonderful as well, with some added fun of seeing both alive and undead versions of each creature, and some great tactical elements to go alongside the characterful visuals. While Drew absolutely sucked at the game, he enjoyed his time clicking away and turning the human populace; it’s clear that The Unliving is a solid experience with a lot going for it beyond just the visuals – it will have a horde of fans upon its release.

We Were Here Forever

After wading through a fair amount of strategy and pixel art offerings, we decided to try our hand at something different, and exclusively co-op puzzler We Were Here Forever was a wonderful change of pace. You play as a pair of adventurers trapped in the bowels of a mysterious castle and armed only with a walkie-talkie and your own wits, you must communicate with one another to solve puzzles in the face of certain danger.

As long time tabletop RPG players, we found We Were Here Forever incredibly nostalgic – acting as each other’s eyes and ears and trying to accurately describe our surroundings and what we wanted the other player to do brought back great memories of D&D campaigns from days gone by. The demo showed off a really well crafted puzzle that looked great and offered a tricky challenge that was well balanced. We left feeling sure that We Were Here Forever will have an enthusiastic fanbase, especially among the escape room and tabletop dungeon crawler crowd.

Disclaimer

The VGamingNews team were invited along to WASD as press and while the cost of entry was covered by the event promoters, all additional costs was our own and we certainly haven’t been paid off by anyone. We’d like to say thank you to all of the developers, publishers, PR staff and players that we met at the event – it was a real blast and we can’t wait to be back next year!