May 16, 2019News
Last year, you may remember us announcing a 3D animated series based on the heartwarming adventure game of Rakuen.
Rakuen is a beautiful adventure game that features a hospitalised boy, who travels to the fantasy world of Rakuen with his mother. Upon its release, Rakuen was a firm favorite here at MPG, despite flying under the radar a little at first. Since then, however, the game has received overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam, earned a rating of 9.5/10 on Polygon, and received a Metascore of 84/100 by Metacritic. Priced at £6.99/USD$9.99, the game offers very good value for money.
On August 10th 2018, Laura Shigihara (the developer and publisher of Rakuen), posted a surprising and exciting trailer to her channel, announcing the future release of a 3D animated Rakuen series, entitled The Farmer in the Sky.
The cute trailer gave us a sneak-peak of what to expect in the animated series, which is set in the whimsical world of Rakuen. Since the trailer’s release, The Farmer in the Sky has been in development by Laura Shigihara and animator Slamacow.
However, fans of Rakuen will be pleased to know that the wait is over, as the first episode of the series, (entitled ‘Too Many Minimoris’) was posted on the YouTube channel of Morizora Studios three days ago on the 13th May. The Rakuen Steam page has confirmed that there will be more future episodes, and therefore to subscribe to the channel.
Apr 29, 2019News
LUNA The Shadow Dust is a point-and-click adventure and puzzle game developed by Lantern Studio, a small indie game design team of four. Unique features of LUNA include: wordless storytelling, beautiful cinematics, and a breathtaking original soundtrack. The game will release this summer of 2019 for PC, Steam, and mobile (iOS and Android).
Play as a young boy with his creature companion and solve puzzles to learn of the mysteries of the ancient tower that stands at the edge of world. Help the character bring back his lost memories and find out the darkest secret beyond the tower.
In addition to solving the puzzles inside the tower, you can also experience the world outside it with approximately 25 different locations. Moreover, players can jump and climb in the environments, and also interact with many different objects.
Furthermore, the developers have announced in their blog of March that there will be a new demo coming soon. For more information you can go to the official website here. Afterward, check out another point-and-click game, Trüberbrook with us here. That game also has a unique visual-style; built by miniatures and then rendered digitally.
Apr 23, 2019News
Deponia is a dumpster diving point and click adventure game. This game has been out since 2012 on Steam and has received very positive reviews. As of April 24th, 2019, you can now own this game on your own Nintendo Switch!
Deponia is a story about a young man, Rufus, who lives his life in mountains of trash in the garbage dump. One day, Rufus finds a lovely women who fell from the city in the sky, known as Goal. Rufus comes up with a scheme on how he will be able to stay with this woman and live with her in the heavens and leave behind his dumpster life.
This is a point-and-click game that will take the user on a journey through this whacky world. There are hours of dialogue and challenging puzzles to solve.
Deponia is available on the Nintendo Store as of April 24th and is $39.99. For more new games coming out on the Switch, check out Cafeteria Nipponica!
Apr 15, 2019News
Ary and the Secret of Seasons is an action/adventure game developed by eXiin & Fishing Cactus and published by Modus Games. It will be releasing during the third quarter of 2019 on PC, Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PS4. The game won Best Unity award at gamescom 2017, was a finalist for Indie Prize at Casual Connect 2017, and was nominated at several other award shows. It opens a range of possibilities for amazing environmental puzzles as you manipulate and navigate between all of the seasons.
Valdi, a world divided into four regions, has one specific climate for each region related to the four seasons. Balance and peace of Valdi was threatened by an evil mage 1,000 years ago. The mage was eventually defeated by the Legendary Warrior. The Legendary Warrior then sealed the mage inside the tomb placed in the very heart of the Dome of Seasons. The Guardians of Seasons were then formed to protect the Dome. Each Guardian owns a medallion that provides them with the power to control one season. For generations, Guardians of Seasons passed their knowledge from father to son.
You play as Ary, the impulsive daughter of Gwenn, the Guardian of Winter. A tragic accident befalls Ary’s brother and prevents his succession to her father’s role as Guardian of Winter. Ary then finds herself stepping up and, for the first time in centuries, a girl has become the new guardian. The Season Spheres are local zones where another season appears inside. Ary can now open up to 3 of them at the same time. For example, within the same area, Ary can jump from winter to summer.
To learn more about Ary and the Secret of Seasons, you can go to the official website here. For another adventure game with summer in mind, check out our article about the upcoming game Summer in Mara.
Apr 11, 2019News
Staxel, a farming and building simulation game developed by an indie studio called Studio Plukit, has just been fully released today (April 11th, 2019) on Steam and Humble Bundle. If you’re a fan of Minecraft, you’ll definitely enjoy these pixelated blocked-shaped graphics! You can check out our earlier coverage of the preview of the game here. Now, let’s look at what has changed since the completion of the game.
A new Magic Crafting System has been added to upgrade your tools and help you with the progressing of certain quests. Watch out for Star Bits, an important new crafting item, that will be falling from the night sky!
You can now speak to Mayor Maximilian to find out if any new villagers are waiting to move into town. You can befriend those villagers through daily chat, by giving them gifts, and by completing quests for them. Become best friends with the villagers and you can choose to have them move in on the farm and become your roommate! Speaking of friends, you can send mail and in-game currency to people online in multiplayer mode.
You’ll now be able to get this new dog at random as your starter pet at the beginning of the game, or at random by buying a dog house. Rabbits, a wholly new added species, are found at the pet store, or via a village amenity you’ll unlock by befriending a certain animal-loving villager.
As you find ancient relics and paintings, you can display your collections in the all-new Museum. This museum can be unlocked via a quest with a particular blue villager. The Museum is yours to build and fill with wonderful art!
Festivals are celebrated throughout the in-game year of Staxel. From hunting down rogue prank-playing fairies, to exploring vast new caverns full of loot, there’s a lot more to do besides farming in Staxel!
Throughout the game you’ll find new lands to visit, such as crystal caverns and floating mushrooms in the sky. Check out the new Portal Festival for these new worlds to explore.
Staxel in-game days are now longer so you can have more time to accomplish all of this adventuring! Each calendar season is now 30 days, instead of 16, to give you more time to experience the best that each season has to offer. Make sure to check your calendar to review the current season’s events.
You need to befriend a certain game-loving villager so you can take part in some fun and challenging minigames in the Arcade. Enter a digital world and gather the 4 magic items of the Demon King’s maze as you try to escape. The developer assures us that there will be a lot of jumping and platforming involved.
As for other updates, some tools, fishing, and the recipe book have been tweaked, special merchants added, status buffs and debuffs, a picture-taking mode, among other minor changes. Follow the developers blog for more information! For more farming games, check out our latest news on Ooblets here.
Feb 8, 2019News
A Reddit user has shared the exciting response he got from Kan Gao, who is the designer, writer, composer, and director of popular game To The Moon.
In the exchange between the user and the developer, the user enthusiastically asks whether there are any plans for the game to come to Nintendo Switch. Although rather cryptic, the developer appears to confirm a Switch release (or at least plans for one) in his reply.
However, it’s important to bear in mind that an official announcement confirming the port has not yet been made.
To The Moon is a Story-Rich indie Adventure game with a plot somewhat reminiscent of popular sci-fi thriller series Black Mirror. Although the game was released for Windows back in 2011, it is still highly regarded. This is evident with ‘overwhelmingly Positive’ reviews on Steam (where the game is often praised for its emotive narrative), and in the fact that the game was also released for MacOS and Linux in 2014, and for Android and iOS in 2017.
To The Moon features two doctors who are capable of giving patients on their deathbeds another chance to live, right from the beginning. The only catch is that the experience is only in the patient’s head, and that they will die once they reach the end of that life.
The game focuses on an elderly patient named Johnny, and the two doctors’ attempt to fulfill his lifelong dream. As they uncover fragments of his past, it becomes as ‘clear as day’ that Johnny only ever had one real wish; To go ‘To The Moon’.
Dec 15, 2018Reviews
Hunter’s Legacy: Purrfect Edition is yet another feline-themed Switch title. The game, which is described by its developer (Lienzo) as a Metroidvania adventure, is set in an exciting fantasy world filled with fierce foes. The game was released on the Switch eShop on 13th December for just $6.99.
Play and control Ikki, a heroic huntress cat with twin swords (are claws not enough?!), a bow, and magical abilities, in an attempt to save the Kingdom of Iripur from the evil Morodir in this action-filled 2D Platformer.
The original Hunter’s Legacy game was released on xBox, PlayStation, and Steam, where it received mixed reviews. Common complaints with the original included:
Hunter’s Legacy: Purrfect Edition is a definitive, improved version of the original game, exclusive to Nintndo Switch.
Despite these added and improved features, the game levels still lack variety and there are still inconsistent difficulty spikes.
Ikki, who is also known as the Heroic Huntress of Un’Amak, embarks on a quest in aid of the Iripur, a race of anthropomorphised cat people who have had their Fang of Alliance stolen by the evil Morodir. In order to restore peace, Ikki must locate three sacred orbs to unlock Morodir’s barrier and then retrieve the Fang of Alliance. As you encounter glowing rocks throughout the game, you will be given insight into the game’s backstory
The introduction to the game is kept very brief, with just a few cutscenes (which are shown below) that don’t provide a lot of context. Additionally, I found the narrative to be quite cliche.
The controls of the game are pretty simple. The arrow keys on your right joy-con will trigger Ikki’s moves, which include bow and arrow, sword, dodge-roll, plus more as you progress through the game, which is approximately 5 hours in length. As moves are triggered by the press of a single button, and that most of those buttons were attack moves, I appreciated that I didn’t have to fumble to fight foes.
The inventory in the game is great, as it’s de-cluttered and allows you to look at the entire world map. This map shows your current location, your destination, possible fast travel locations and where any chests in Ikki’s vicinity are located.
There are some tricky boss fights and challenging situations to face, which is something that a few critics say can be a rage-quitting factor. However, I really enjoyed it and very much felt like it was the sort of game where you could come home at the end of the day and play a game that doesn’t require too much thought. Additionally, players get a sense of fulfilment from unlocking new abilities, surely making the frustration worth it. Ultimately, it’s important to remember that despite certain parts being difficult, the game is not impossible to complete, and that save points are pretty frequent.
I really enjoyed the cute Metroidvania art style used in the game. Although subtle, there are design changes such as new animations for some characters. Additionally the game’s levels have been designed to be more fluid.
Owing to my weird sense of humour, I also liked Ikki’s variety of facial expressions, of which I may have made memes out of (sorry not sorry)
I found that the Switch version of the game ran very smoothly, and was a definite improvement to the PC version, which has been criticised for its framerate.
Additionally, in my opinion, there were no obvious visual differences between playing in handheld mode and playing in console mode.
I found the game’s soundtrack rather soothing and well-matched to the game’s environment. Initially, I really enjoyed Ikki’s cat noises (during combat, when attacked etc). However, as painful as it is for me say due to being a cat lover, these noises become darn annoying after a while. This is a sentiment shared by many who have played the original game.
Confession: I do still find the hissing amusing though.
To conclude, Hunter’s Legacy: Purrfect Edition is an affordable cat-themed Metroidvania game will alluring graphics and music. I’d definitely reccommend it to feline fans and those who like platformer games. However, whilst I do feel that the game is pretty and worth its retail price, it is let down by its limited context and narrative, and can be unfairly difficult at times. I feel inclined to agree with reviewers who have said that it doesn’t really offer anything new to the already quite saturated adventure-platformer gaming industry. However, it’s a pretty aesthetic game, and how can you not like a game with cats?
Dec 11, 2018News
We recently made a post informing readers that the Multiplayer update for Stardew Valley on Nintendo Switch was imminent.
We are delighted to announce that a set release date for the free patch has finally been confirmed.
The update is being released tomorrow, 12th December 2018.
Yep, you heard right. As of tomorrow, if you own Stardew Valley on Switch you’ll be able to invite 1-3 friends via Switch Online and local play. You can then decide whether you want to create a brand new farm together or use an existing save file.
Initially released on Steam back in 2016, Stardew Valley is a Harvest Moon-reminiscent RPG farming simulation with pixel graphics. Developed by ConcernedApe and published by Chucklefish, the game was very well received. It currently holds a 10/10 rating on Steam where it also has ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ reviews.
Stardew Valley has obtained a 10/10 rating on Steam, received numerous ports for a variety of platforms, and is still a chart topper on the Nintendo Switch eShop. It’s, therefore, safe to say that the game is highly regarded and popular.
The highly anticipated multiplayer update for the PC version of the game was released on 1st August 2018.