I took it for a test drive this evening, so far so good. It's doesn't look much better to FH4 to me (1080p, 60fps on Series S), but that looked incredible too.


Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon

Non comfort zone gaming. Or more specifically, when a champion of my comfort zone decides it'd side hustle time, ups sticks and moonlights in a genre I don't particularly dig (:eyes:). I'm a huge fan of all things Shovel Knight, so I would've been powerless to resist even if he'd relocated to a game called Clockwork Tower Defence or Craft & Survive: Dougless Edition. Fortunately - after initially floundering for an hour or two - I ended up really enjoying it, which suggests to me that people who actually like screen filling gem match puzzle games might view this as something extra special, rather than 'surprisingly good'. Bust a Move 2, Baku Baku Animal and Mr. Driller are the only jewel poppers/block arrangers that I've really latched onto over the years. I know Tetris is an all-timer but I admire it more than I enjoy it. Anyway, Pocket Dungeon reminded me of when a friend of mine told me there was a Watership Down themed band called Fall of Efrafa and sent me a load of pics of the lush dark rabbity artwork from a record store. Then when I got it on the turntable it was part instrumental death metal, part devil screamo death metal, rather than the fetlocks blowing pipes of pan I was expecting/hoping for, and I was ever so sad. But then I ended up liking it anyway.

Back to the game, it really is rather good. It's Impossible not to compare it to Crypt of the Necrodancer/Cadence of Hyrule, so I won't try, but it's a match 'n pop game at heart. You'll get nowhere without focusing on arranging chains, which has always been where I struggle with the genre (no wonder I'm not a fan eh?). The Necromancer influence is present in the way you attack enemy types from an adjacent tile to whittle down their health, but there's a designated HP trade off for hits here. Unless it's the final hit a creature can withstand, in which case you don't catch a wallop in return. If an enemy is touching more of the same type they all receive the same amount of damage. Couple this with the fact that time moves slower when you're standing still, then factor in the fact that a depleting gem multiplier presents a sense of urgency that encourages faster play. If you survive long enough the level exit will appear, which must be unlocked with a key to pass through. If you run out of health you die. If the screen fills up you die. Even when I got good enough to finish a run* it always felt like I was in a sort of controlled fluster. Thankfully, it's hugely moreish and the characters you unock as you progress spice things up nicely. It's almost comparable to a vs fighter with how different each knight is to use, which is possibly the game's biggest achievement - it's hugely impressive how such a tight game isn't ruined by switching up so many fundamental rules. Thus far Treasure Knight, Shovel Knight and Polar Knight have been my guys, but I think I'll be ready for Shield Knight and/or Propeller Knight soon.

It's a roguelike and a successful run will take around 30 minutes. You can pay a toll to skip directly to unlocked areas, but the artifacts are so essential to me at my current skill level that doing so seemed like a fool's errand. Would I have played this without the cast of Shovellers? Definitely not, but I wouldn't have played Cadence of Hyrule without the Zelda trappings and couldn't stomach the thought of deck builders until Steamworld Quest offered me a familiar inn. Happy to be that guy here.

For £17.99 there's not an over-abundance of content. If you're willing to master the full roster it could eat up 30+hrs no problem, but for anyone looking to dabble rather than immerse themselves in the pocket dungeon 30% off might be a better biting point. [8]

Accessibility

Yeah the bar's definitely really high.  I'm also at 1080p @60fps.  On a budget plasma screen from 2011, so I'm not exactly digital foundry level with my complaints.

Pretty bang on review there!  Hate a shooter making you press buttons to pick up ammo, and I swear every level ended with 5 minutes of just walking around no idea where I was supposed to go, Spinal Tap backstage style.  But that story keeps you going, tremendous stuff.  If you’re gonna do this kind of story, go all in, and they certainly did that.

Hello Cleveland!

126. Rising Hell - Switch (3hrs)

Bitesize deep dive indie roguelike that does little to demand attention, considering the alternatives available, but has enough about it to warrant a look if you're after something cheap & twitchy.  It's an up the screen hack 'n slash, kinda like a less shooty flipped Downwell, where you collect currency from defeated enemies to pay for perks at various points en route to the top.  The levels have branching paths (you'll likely develop a preference for which stages to avoid), mini bosses and a big boss at the end.  Controls are okay, but it would have benefited from one or two more abilities.  A downward plunge wouldn't have gone amiss for a start.  It's all built around a Hellbreak move, a more powerful attack that's activated by timing your double jump within range of an enemy.  It's an odd choice and it almost works, but coupled with the damp squib dash it never quite feels like a joy to play.  Still, it had me on the hook until the credits rolled.  I was playing it on Retribution Mode, which grants you three lives instead of the standard one but slows the gifting of a certain item used for permanent upgrades (it had a name, but I can't be bothered to check - they look like purple diamonds).  My winning run came as soon as I upped the difficulty back to default, because it kept offering me tasty perks.  Roguelikes eh?  

It only has four levels and one of those is just a boss.  A victorious run takes around  20 minutes.  It's an okay game - there's a demo if anyone fancies a bash - but probably not worth your time unless a) you've exhausted all rogues and you demand more, or b) you're particularly keen on the idea of an ultra-light roguelike (or just love the whole demons and metal vibe - one glance at the gif tells you what it sounds like).  [6]

No way, I’m not sure how to see the exact hours but I’d guess between 20 and 30 hours.  It felt about the same as the other Horizons.

127. Super Crush KO - Switch (2.5hrs)

Very, very good wave based combat game from the makers of (the also superb) Graceful Explosion Machine.  It's another unknown EShop release that was given the nod on some sort of hidden gems list I found online (or possibly a Youtube roundup - I sometimes watch those too).  The closest comparisons are Guacamelee!, as Muzzy spotted when I started playing it, and the fast paced floating killstreakiness of ScourgeBringer.  It's an absolutely banging mix; miles better than the fight screens in Guac and far less demoralising than the painful-yet-brilliant SB.  

There are only 20 stages, including four (pitifully easy) bosses, but it's relentlessly enjoyable and there's plenty of scope for score chasing.  There aren't many games that balance their rules and player skills as expertly as this - it might look like a lolnope (I didn't even think it looked like it played particularly well from videos), but trust me the core gameplay loop is legit.  If you enjoy 2D action it's well worth spinning these plates.  It never felt like anything other than my fault when I got tagged - the player is always capable of being in complete control - and you could easily chuck words like balletic and kinetic at it without being wide of the mark.  

Yes, it's gaudy looking low budget indie side scroller about a sassy gal in a big jacket who's trying to rescue a kidnapped cat called Chubbz, but if you're willing to dive in you'll find a brief yet masterfully executed pure arcade experience.  This is (one of the many reasons why) why I deep dive the digital stores.  [8]

50: Grand Theft Auto V (PC) 9/10

I started playing this so I wouldn't be tempted to buy the GTA Trilogy for Switch until it came down in price.  It sounds like Rockstar looked after me though and made sure I wouldn't buy the trilogy by making it be a bit rubbish.  Anyway 5 holds up perfectly well*.  Much like Max Payne 3 it still looks and runs really well on PC.  It didn't look dated even though I played it before and after Forza Horizon 5.  The shooting is okay, the driving is good.  I wish there was more stuff to do in the water; the ocean swell is really impressive and the diving stuff works well.

The story is all over the place.  Really enjoyed Trevor.  I'm not sure why I find him so likable given he is mostly a vile piece of shit but I played as him whenever possible.  Compared to RDR2 this game doesn't want to make me hang out in its world; it's very well put together but I find a modern city and its outskirts less interesting than the wild west.  I did like cruising around listening to The Highwaymen though, and the story missions are regularly pretty damn good, the heists especially.  Thankfully you can skip bits if you fail too often, which is handy when you have to fly a helicopter under a bridge or some shit.

Tilly's review:

I thought that it was a beautiful game.  The circle is a bit of a bully.  He kept saying 'no, carry on with me' when the other guy wanted to stop.  The game is really adventurous.  My favourite part was being speedy near the end.  I give it 7/10.

Disclaimer: She gave it 1/10 last night and said it was the worst game ever, mostly due to the ending admittedly, but I guess she slept on it and changed her mind.

29. Ridge Racer Type 4 (PS) - 2hrs

One of my all time favourite PlayStation games, played it to death back in the day.

This has some of the very best graphics on the system, seeing this next to the original 1995 release is incredible. The PS was one of the systems with the biggest improvements throughout its lifespan imo.

Also, what is it about those old Namco intros? I was never one for CGI intros back then, but even to this day everytime I boot this up I watch it to the end. Definitely up there with the best from the era.

The soundtrack is absolute gold too, one of the best for any racing game for me.

This used to be a stone cold 10/10, but despite being an amazing PS game, that era has aged worse than most. It might not have had the impact of the original, and running at 30fps makes it feel a bit sluggish compared to the later entries, but this will always hold a special spot in my top arcade racers list.

9/10

My list

That's the one.

Hell yeah, scrubs up real nice on the Vita as well.  I remember kids in high school trying to tell me Gran Turismo had better graphics back in the day.  Madness.

£1.80 rn, such a good game.

A trailer, because it doesn't give much away:



The humour isn't as crude as this suggests either, please understand.

Nice. I'm on Toem next.