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Mat Panek

The Eyes Of Ara – Nintendo Switch Review

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Prepare to unravel the mysteries that lie waiting for you in The Eyes of Ara out now on the Nintendo Switch from 100 Stones Interactive.

The Eyes of Ara is an adventure puzzle game that has players investigating a mysterious signal that is coming from an old weathered castle sitting atop an isolated island. Up until recently the castle has laid dormant with only folk tales remaining of its origins and ghost stories surrounding its former occupants. Arriving by boat, players start to explore the castle room by room in an attempt to uncover the secrets of this mysterious location. Apart from the amazingly intricate main story puzzles there are countless other minor puzzles, hidden passages and collectables for those with a keen eye to uncover. 

The Eyes of Ara takes us back to the classics such as Myst and Riven, giving players a real sense of wonder and discovery. Just like those classics, there is an oppressive sense of isolation and confinement that gives the game a fantastic atmosphere. Environmental storytelling is fantastic and plays a key role, giving the player lots of backstory and minute details to look over, journals or notes to read and riddles to solve. Every nook and cranny has something to look at or discover, the whole castle feels very lived in and believable. Going into the world and its story any more would ruin the sense of discovery surrounding every fiber of this game. 

Control on the Nintendo switch is done with only a single Joycon or via the touch screen in handheld mode which is fine but never our personal choice on the console. User interface is simple and gets out of the way of the rest of the game, being easily hidden and recalled only when needed which is superb. Every puzzle involves solving and manipulating puzzles in a very natural and tactile way that has you moving, twisting or rotating objects that is fun and rewarding. Even objects that cannot be directly interacted with will give a knock or puff of dust when clicked on, making the world feel fully immersive. 

Full of elaborate and devious puzzles, The Eyes of Ara is absolutely for fans of the classic adventures games or lovers of fiendishly clever puzzles. An amazing feat for a one man game studio and a game that firmly asserts itself as a must play title, regardless of platform.

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Mat Panek, Chief Reporter
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

 

 

Disclosure: The Eyes of Ara [Nintendo Switch eShop code] was kindly provided by Stride PR for this review.

 

 

Narcos: Rise of the Cartel – Nintendo Switch Review

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Brief your team and prepare to take down the drug lords in Narcos: Rise of the Cartel from the team over at Kuju.

Narcos is a challenging turn-based action strategy game that is based on the hit Netflix series. Set in Columbia in the 1980s, you can play as the DEA in an attempt to take down the drug cartels or as the cartels themselves as they defend their business. The cartel side of the story is unlocked after a few short missions that help to get you familiar with the basics. Players can choose up to 5 agents that make up a squad, each of which has their own play style and abilities. From DEA agents with shotguns, Nimble but weak police and Spec Op officers with machine guns, different squad member classes allow players to find a play style that suits them. After setting up your team, players can take on a variety of missions that vary in difficulty and rewards to try and bring down these drug cartels or fight back against the Americans.

Playing of the game itself will feel very familiar to those with experience playing other turn-based strategy games such as XCOM. Players get one movement and one action, including firing at an enemy, reloading or carrying out a special action or skill, per turn and then it is off to the opposition for the same. Some missions require cash to deploy a team too but often yield greater rewards while others are free but are usually easier with little to gain. At the end of each encounter surviving team members are rewarded with a point that goes towards leveling up that character, eventually allowing the player to unlock better skills for each class. Any characters that die in the course of a successful mission are lost for good.

Levels are well set out giving players plenty of tactical options to try and there is some nice diversity in the themes including jungle drug labs and seedy neon city districts.

Narcos has some nice nods to the series it is taking influence from and includes live action story scenes that really add to the overall feel of the game but also doesn’t overstay its welcome. Just like the drug war in the 1980s, Narcos is very brutal and a level’s outcome can turn at a moment’s notice. With no easy way to restart a mission from the beginning, players will either have to live with their choices or do things the hard way. We also found on occasion that the character pathfinding will not always take the fastest or shortest route when moving, putting your team into danger needlessly.

Overall Narcos is a fun tactical game with plenty of intrigue, even for those not familiar with the series. While the unforgiving nature of the game may put off the casual player, those looking for a challenge will find it quite enjoyable.

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Mat Panek, Chief Reporter
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

 

 

Disclosure: Narcos: Rise of the Cartel [Nintendo Switch eShop code] was kindly provided by HomeRun PR for this review.

 

 

Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan – Nintendo Switch Review

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Grab your hat and whip, it’s time to venture into the jungle in Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan, out now from the team at COLLECTORVISION Entertainment.

In Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan players take control of an explorer that has stumbled into a Mayan temple just as the calendar has come to a finish and the unluckiest days begin. The feared deity Kukulkan has decided that he wishes to freeze time and only an outsider can foil his plans and fulfil the prophecy. To save the world and time as we know it, Sydney must reconstruct the Mayan calendar that has been divided into several segments and spread out to various god’s temples. Spanning over 11 different temples and facing 13 Mayan gods, players will have their work cut out for them in this epic quest.

Feeling very much like a love letter to the NES and its 8-Bit heritage, Sydney Hunter feels fantastic to control and responds exactly how players would expect an action adventure game to feel from that time period. Visuals are limited but always feel very rich and vibrant, lots of contrast means that there is rarely a boring screen and something fresh and interesting is always going on. Traversing each temple and discovering how each one works and its secrets, really feels like setting off on an adventure every time. Boss fights are simple, elegant and to the point, meaning that having to retry a failed battle never feels like a chore. Various items to find that will allow access to new areas as the game progresses, each one adding unique elements to the gameplay.

There is some fantastic humour sprinkled throughout that really adds to the charm and ensures that the game never takes itself too seriously. The soundtrack is also comprised of multiple beautiful chiptune tracks that really hit that nostalgic sweet spot and will easily get players humming along. Between the secrets scattered about in each temple and 2 different endings to see, there is plenty of reason to keep playing and discover everything Sydney Hunter has to offer.

Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan is a wonderfully charming and beautifully simple “Metroidvania” game that is sure to have players both old and new captivated. A must have title on whatever is your system of choice!

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Mat Panek, Chief Reporter
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

 

 

Disclosure: Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan [Nintendo Switch eShop code] was kindly provided by Novy PR for this review.

 

 

Remothered: Tormented Fathers – Nintendo Switch Review

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Uncover the dark and twisted secrets behind Remothered: Tormented Fathers from the team at Stormind Games, now on the Nintendo Switch. 

Remothered: Tormented Fathers is an intriguing and thrilling survival horror game where players take control of Rosemary as she tries to uncover the mystery of the Felton’s missing daughter. After confronting Mr.Felton, players will find themselves trapped in the Felton mansion seeking answers in an attempt to unravel the mystery. Using nothing except what you can find around you, players must navigate the dark mansion and solve puzzles while remaining unseen. Light is limited and this means that sound is a vital factor in Remothered, be it your own footsteps alerting enemies or telling the player exactly where the stalker is located. A good set of headphones is definitely recommended to help make player’s play throughs and general experience more enjoyable and atmospheric.

Using mechanics that should feel familiar to those that have played other survival horror games, Remothered is full of the usual puzzles that require multiple steps to complete. What creates the extra tension is that there is a single stalker, that is easily alerted to your presence, roaming the mansion constantly that cannot be eliminated. There are a few occasions though when it is possible to explore freely but these are few and far between. Some objects in the mansion can be thrown as a distraction and one time use defence weapons will break players out of a capture scenario but these are a limited resource.

Unfortunately on the switch, especially in handheld mode, Remothered does look a little muddy and resolution seems fairly low. This is obviously due to the limitations of the hardware but even in docked mode, some textures and objects are just rendered too low and this really breaks the immersion. We also ran across a few glitches where enemies got stuck in a short loop which really slowed our progress. Without headphones, even on a dedicated surround sound setup, we also found it very difficult to tell exactly where the stalker was located. Since there are multiple floors, a stalker above you sounds very similar to one in the next room. Once spotted it is often very difficult to break line of sight and escape, while this should add to the tension it often left us feeling frustrated in the unforgiving nature of the game.

While other platforms may display higher resolutions, having only played the Nintendo Switch version, it is a hard game to recommend. Remothered is full of superb ideas, fantastic tension and suspense that unfortunately starts to outstay its welcome in some places. 

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Mat Panek, Chief Reporter
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

 

 

Disclosure: Remothered: Tormented Fathers [Nintendo Switch eShop code] was kindly provided by Homerun PR for this review.

 

 

Reventure – Nintendo Switch Review

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It’s dangerous to go alone! Take Reventure, now available on the Nintendo Switch from the team at Pixelatto.

Reventure is a unique, non-linear adventure game that has players taking the role of the mighty hero in the age old quest of saving the princess. Players begin each run by waking up and starting out on their quest, grabbing whatever essentials they require as they go. What makes Reventure so unique is the fact that there are 100 different endings to the story, each one requiring different processes and giving a different outcome. Trip over and make a fool of yourself? Maybe tomorrow is a better day to adventure. Murder a guard? Go to jail for a few years! Each day it is up to the player to try and discover a new and possibly true ending to the quest. Every time the player discovers a new ending, time is added to the total time count that is displayed before the day begins. Equipment can be collected each run but it is best to only gather what supplies you need, each additional piece of equipment will restrict character movement a bit more.

Reventure has a very simple pixel art style and a soundtrack that evokes memories of retro JRPGs, tying together the games old school aesthetic perfectly. There are even a number of unlockable palettes that varies style or minimises it even more, depending on personal preference. The “tongue in cheek” attitude nods to other game series with references scattered evenly throughout the game but doesn’t rely solely upon nostalgia to achieve its goals.

Trial and error is the cornerstone of the Reventure experience, so get ready for plenty of repetition. Apart from a few unique events, the world is reset each day meaning you must collect any items over and over. Endings will also carry over onto your character visually each time, from losing your hat to being turned into another creature altogether. There are plenty of unique and funny outcomes but giving examples would spoil the satisfaction of finding them for yourself. Every time the player does discover a new ending a matching picture, unique to that conclusion, is added to the “Adventure Gallery”. There are also ending hints that will appear throughout the world as you play since some of the solutions are not as obvious or significant than others.

There is certainly a lot of charm and humour in Reventure but its repetitive nature can start to dull the games impact at times. Nevertheless it is a fun and rewarding game with plenty of satisfying “Ah ha!” moments to keep players coming back for more.

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Mat Panek, Chief Reporter
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

 

 

Disclosure: Reventure [Nintendo Switch eShop code] was kindly provided by Pixelatto for this review.

 

 

Pig Eat Ball – Nintendo Switch Review

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Time to eat tennis balls and barf your way to glory in Pig Eat Ball, the newest game from the team at Mommy’s Best Games.

Pig Eat Ball is a strange, top down Action-Adventure where King Cake has promised the hand of his daughter in marriage to the winner of his contest. Princess Bow has other ideas and enters the competition herself in disguise, players take control of the princess and must complete levels by sucking up all of the tennis balls in each level as fast as possible. Players take control of the Princess Although this may sound simple at first, as you eat more balls you grow in size. If players grow too big they are unable to squeeze past certain obstacles and must barf out enough balls to proceed. If players take damage a “Barf meter” appears which counts down time until you barf automatically, this can be reset by getting hit again. Barf can also be used to disable enemies for a short while. Power ups and unlockable accessories that each have their own pros and cons that let players adjust their playstyle to suit their needs.

With a pixel art style, multiple “worlds” to visit and paying homage to numerous old arcade games, Pig Eat Ball is a pretty interesting looking game. The story starts to pick up after you complete about a third of the first world and adds some more ridiculous intrigue into the mix.  Containing 100s of levels to attempt and lots of different variations to the formula certainly helps to keep things fresh with some little distractions in the hub world. There are also levels where you have to compete against AI in tasks ranging from collecting starts to making sandwiches. Levels award medals based on how quickly you complete them and allows players to compare scores with others online to give some good replayability. One use power ups can also be activated to help out players but these are generally hidden in the overworld or various levels. 

Pig Eat Ball is a fun and entertaining game with some cleverly crafted levels that is probably best played in short bursts. Full of cheeky humour, barf and off the wall characters it will certainly appeal to some players more than others but is well worth a go.

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Mat Panek, Chief Games Reviewer
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

 

 

Disclosure: Pig Eat Ball [Nintendo Switch eShop code] was kindly provided by Mommy’s Best Games for this review.

 

 

Rescue HQ – The Tycoon: PC Steam Review

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Emergency! Sound the alert, start the sirens and speed to the rescue in Rescue HQ – The Tycoon from Stillalive Studios on PC.

Rescue HQ is a management sim all about running and maintaining your very own all-in-one emergency department. Players start by setting up a small fire department and move onto others, including police and medical departments. As emergencies occur they will stack on the right hand side of the screen and it is up to players to decide the order in which they are resolved. Each emergency needs to be addressed within a set timeframe and takes a certain amount of time to complete, meaning it’s important to allocate teams, resources and vehicles based on qualifications and skills. Every emergency has a requirement that must be met from the number of personnel to equipment required. This ends up giving a “success rate” percentage before you dispatch, with a higher percentage meaning greater rewards. Completing a successful emergency rewards not only cash but also reputation points which can be spent to unlock new equipment. 

Although appearing to be a very simple looking game artistically, Rescue HQ is a complex and deep management game. The simple art style means that players can tell exactly what is going on at all times, regardless of how complex your headquarters starts to become. Departments will progress quickly and after a short time, players will have a beehive of activity across all three. Some major emergencies may require players to send two or even all departments to attend, meaning micromanagement is the key to success. Rescue HQ does also have some good tongue in cheek social commentary within the tutorial system that is presented by the eager and greedy Major.

Headquarters layout is very important, when staff are assigned to an emergency they must first head to their locker and prepare before boarding their vehicle. Players will quickly run out of space in the starting zone but more space can be acquired later on by purchasing adjacent plots of land. This does take longer than we would like to become available but it does allow players to learn the mechanics steadily rather than jumping forward too quickly. Games are divided into scenarios where players must last 5 weeks before endless mode is unlocked, this is our only real complaint about the game as it can be a bit of a grind. It is relatively simple to rework rooms in your headquarters though and maximising space is simple and rewarding.

Deceptively simple and pleasantly surprising, Rescue HQ is a game that we found ourselves happily putting in much more time than we expected. A great little game for those that like to whittle away hours trying to micromanage and streamline processes.

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Mat Panek, Chief Reporter
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

 

 

Disclosure: Rescue HQ – The Tycoon [Steam code] was kindly provided by Stride PR for this review.

 

 

Retro-Bit Sega Mega Drive 6-Button Arcade Pad – Review

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One of the most difficult challenges a retro game player will face is finding decent controllers. As hardware ages and starts to wear out, it can get harder and harder to find that one perfect controller or even a handful of decent ones (10 player Bomberman anyone?). Personally I have received bags of controllers and joysticks, only to find that the majority of them are brittle, weak or unresponsive. Sometimes 3-4 bad controllers can only be turned into 1 good controller and sometimes not even that! 

Thankfully there is a vast array of people attempting to keep us all playing those games we love, especially the team over at Retro-Bit. Having teamed up with SEGA themselves to recreate some of the most iconic and best (in my opinion) retro controllers around, Retro-Bit brings us both the Mega Drive (Genesis) and Saturn controllers. Available in both classic black or clear variants with original hardware connectors or USB so you can play on a wide range of devices, including the Sega Mega Drive Mini!

Having spent a lot of time recently playing on the original Mega Drive and noticing that my controllers were getting a little worse for wear, I opted for the classic connector in Crystal blue.

First impressions are overwhelmingly positive, the controller feels very solid and well built. Exactly like you would expect an original genuine pad to feel. Buttons feel beautifully responsive and the D-pad is tactile with no ghosting evident. There is some beautiful movement to the roll on the D-pad that you only get on a fresh new Mega Drive controller. As an added bonus, the cord length is almost twice as long as the original!

In fact, if it wasn’t for my personal colour choice (I’m a sucker for crystal plastics) and the Retro-Bit logo, it looks and feels identical to a genuine 6 button SEGA arcade pad from 1993. What higher praise could one ask for?

Retro-Bit has also announced a 2.4Ghz model, packed with an original and USB connector dongle, or Bluetooth only wireless version for every colour variant due around November 2019. I know I am excited to get my hands on the wireless Saturn controller for use with the Saturn and Nintendo Switch, stay tuned!

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Mat Panek, Chief Reporter
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

 

 

 

 

 

Observation – PlayStation 4 Review

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Reboot sequence initiated. Initialising. Launching review of Observation, the newest title from the crew of No Code Studios for the Playstation 4.

Observation is a Sci-Fi thriller adventure game with some puzzle elements thrown into the mix, set on the space station of the same name. The player controls the space station’s, Systems, Administration and Maintenance Operating System or “SAM” for short. After rebooting, SAM notices the crew missing and finds the space station drifting, orbiting Saturn instead of earth, after an unknown anomaly occurred. Players will have to recognize and carry out voice instructions from the initial survivor Dr. Emma Fisher as she attempts to restore power and figure out exactly what happened to the station. Starting off by following the progress of Dr.Fisher by using the on board surveillance system and using it to connect and interact with other parts of the station. The player is eventually allowed to use either the on board systems or one of the small spherical probes on and around the station. 

Observation does a great job of putting the player in the circuits of a cold AI that really changes the way you think about the whole situation at hand. If a voice print doesn’t match up will you accept it? If it does match but you don’t want to accept the command will you? From the offset there is something very strange going on and being put into an AI’s perspective changes the dynamics in a really unique way. SAM doesn’t feel like some omnipotent being the way HAL 9000 seems in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” he feels innocent and rooted far more in current technology. Observation is very methodical, camera controls are realistically slow and on board systems have a sort of clunky, outdated feel to them that even the crew’s logs complain about but this never feels like a hindrance.

The style of Observation is what really makes it stand out though, it strikes a balance between modern and slightly futuristic in all respects. The space station feels lived in with the daily life of the crew being visible but the Observation is still very clean and sterile meaning any overt deviation from order is jarring and strange. Camera effects and lighting play a major role, external station cameras are low resolution and fuzzy adding some great atmosphere while interior cameras are cleaner but still feel dated. There is always something eerie about the silence and isolation of space and the team at No Code have certainly got that feeling down to a science.

Observation is a fantastic Sci-Fi thriller that leaves the player with more questions than answers but definitely in a good way. A fresh take on a well worn genre with lots of little secrets and stories to discover. There are so many more good things to say about Observation but not without spoiling the mystery and charm players would experience by playing it themselves.

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Mat Panek, Chief Games Reviewer
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

 

 

Disclosure: Observation [PS4 code] was kindly provided by Power Up PR for this review.

 

 

Stela – Xbox One Review

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Get ready to set forth and fulfil your destiny in Stela, the latest title from Skybox Labs, out now on the Xbox One.

Stela is a wonderful journey portrayed as a 2.5D platformer that has players traversing through an unforgiving but beautifully cinematic world and witnessing the end of an ancient civilisation. Upon awakening in a mysterious cavern, players take control of an unnamed protagonist and make their way through various areas that are equally beautiful as they are deadly. Moving through devastated vistas, cinematic action sequences and solving puzzles, players will attempt to reach their journeys end. In juxtaposition to the stunning scenery there is an ever present tension in Stela, with very little safe refuge for players to stop and take in the sights. Hazards come from not only the decaying civilisation around you but also from savage beasts and mysterious creatures that inhabit the world.

From the first moments of the game, Stela is beautiful and at times becomes downright gorgeous. There are lots of very obvious cinematic moments for players to revel in but even in the downtime between these, every shot has been carefully positioned for maximum effect. The camera will often pan in or out as needed to really highlight the action or to give a better sense of grandeur. There is plenty of depth to the colour palette with each area feeling new and different but still eerily devoid of life. Adding to the ambience and overall style of Stela is the magnificent soundtrack, full of a diverse range of themes that includes subtle melodies to heart pumping tracks. Full of soft strings, ethereal tones, heavy horns and industrial sounds that really helps to magnify the tension, relief or sense of accomplishment the player feels from moment to moment.

Although most of the time the player is on a single plane, there are often times when the character will need to climb onto background ledges to solve puzzles or avoid danger. Controls feel excellent and are easy to understand with the player only needing to know simple grab controls for things like moving objects, sliding boxes or pulling switches. Mechanics are introduced gradually and start to overlap with each other to become more complex but often lead to some sudden deaths that remind us of the original Prince of Persia. 

Although Stela may not bring anything new to the genre, it is an absolute pleasure to experience. In a year full of beautiful games, it is one journey that should absolutely not be missed and one we look forward to getting a perfect achievement score in.

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Mat Panek, Chief Games Reviewer
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

 

 

Disclosure: Stela [Xbox One code] was kindly provided by Stride PR for this review.