REVIEW: The Innsmouth Case on Nintendo Switch

Review by GamingCouchPotato Staff

In 2021 you don't really get many text-based adventure games, especially not on a console like the Nintendo Switch, but with The Innsmouth Case that is exactly what you are getting. Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, The Innsmouth Case is a horror/comedy adventure.

The gameplay itself is literally reading and following a book on screen, there are 35 chapters, and 27 different endings, so for those of you old enough, this is basically the same as those old 'choose your own adventure' books, where you would skip back and forth to different pages to follow the story, dependent on the choices you make.

On a console though, there is no cheating.

Here is a brief breakdown of the story:

"A desperate mother, a missing girl and a mystical place - a case could hardly be more challenging. To solve the enigmatic disappearance of little Tabitha Marsh, however, the toughest and cleverest detective of all is wanted... but he does not have the time - and so the job goes to you. This mysterious assignment takes you to the remote fishing village of Innsmouth, where nothing is what it seems…

Save the girl, solve the case, survive Innsmouth!"

As you play you will be given options, so for example, on the top half of the page might be an image of something, you are then asked a question about the image, and you will select an option from beneath, each time you choose such an option the story branches, meaning that each play through will be different.

You can even see one of the endings of the game within the first few minutes of the game, if you choose to simply decline to take on the job.

You will find yourself heading down a few dead ends as you play, but it is easy enough to retrace your steps, or use the chapter selection option, to allow you to get back to where you need to be, so you can choose a different story path to take. Every decision you make, really does affect the story.

Although the game is horror based, it does have a lot of humour, and the writing is well done throughout, there are a few grammatical errors here and there, the odd typo, but nothing that is too distracting.

The Good

For what is essentially a book, the graphics are very nice, there are some good animations, and the game will have you coming back to try new paths to find out the different endings. It is a well written book.

The Bad

For a console that is predominantly aimed towards the younger gamer, I am unsure that anyone under 30 will really want to read a game like this, on the big screen there is no chance, on the hand held I am not so sure.

Overall

If you enjoy visual novels, choose your own adventure type books/games, then you will enjoy this.  If you are a newbie to this genre, then perhaps this is not the game for you.

I score The Innsmouth Case on Nintendo Switch a fair 7/10

REVIEW: King of Seas - Xbox One

Review by Jon Donnis

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a preview copy of King of Seas for PC last year, and I enjoyed what little I did get to play, so fast forward to now, and we have the full console release, so I was interested to see how the game had progressed, and if it fit well on consoles.

Let's remind ourselves of the story. In King of Seas, you find yourself in a time of pirates, sea battles, treasure, Islands and even sea monsters.

Your father has been killed, and you have decided to avenge that death by fighting your way from the bottom of the pirating world, trying to reach the very top and becoming The King of the Pirates! (I have not changed my opinion on this one point, The King of the Pirates is an infinitely better name for this game than King of Seas, which not only seems to be grammatically incorrect, but does little to explain what the game actually is.)

Once you get into the actual game you will find yourself with a basic ship, to start your adventure you will complete tasks, that might be to accompany another ship and to keep it safe, or perhaps to just got out and attack other ships and steal their resources. Of course, there are things that will get in your way, whether that is much bigger and more powerful ships, changing weather conditions, or a sea monster trying to sink you. 

As you progress you will find new places to trade, upgrade your ship, you might even stop by a seemingly empty island and find yourself some treasure. Basically, there is plenty to do whether you want to follow the missions strictly, or just sail about attacking people and looking for treasure. 

There are different ships to own, different weapons and upgrades, as well as skills to help you along the way.

The graphics are simple but detailed, the sounds are perfectly fine, and control of the ship is intuitive.

The Good

The game plays well on Xbox, no complaint there, you will soon get used to the controls, the graphics are detailed, the sound effects are decent. 

The Bad

Going from playing this game on a PC screen to a large TV one major issue I have noticed is that the writing on the screen, in menus etc, is rather small. In general people play consoles games while sat on a sofa, they are not 5 inches from the TV like you are when you play PC games, unfortunately this is a common problem when porting a game from PC to console, the game developers never consider the different way gamers will play games on different formats. 

Overall

This is a fun game, I enjoyed the PC preview I played a while back, and I am enjoying the Xbox release too. There is enough depth to the game that will keep you coming back. As I mentioned earlier, my only real complaint is the small writing, I really do hate getting up and moving closer to the TV to read something, I am not getting any younger.

Also worth noting that the Xbox release allows you to download a free trial before you decide whether to buy it or not, so you have nothing to lose. Get it now!

I score King of Seas on Xbox One a solid 7/10

Review By Jon Donnis

Out Now - https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/king-of-seas/9pm0r43hpss7

 

Freddie Spaghetti 2

Freddy 2.0 is here! Freddy is spaghetti. Oh, and conscious.

Freddy 2.0 has got a job! The story starts as you plunge headfirst into the workplace. Overcome the environment, master your spaghetti and run to the coffee machine!

Don’t be late on your first day!

Freddy Spaghetti uses rope physics to simulate a squishy, stretchy, ropey character.

Features:
Fun and Easy Controls
Physics all over the place
Unique Levels
Hilarious and Captivating Story
Professional Narration
Heaps of Personality

Freddy Spaghetti 2 will be priced for 4.99 $ / € for all platforms, and it will launch on:
SONY America: July 23rd
SONY Europe: July 23rd
XBOX: July 23rd
Nintendo Switch (NA & EU): July 23rd

REVIEW: Yakuza: Like a Dragon on Xbox One

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is the 8th in what seems like a never-ending series of games.

But this is a new start in the series, unlike the previous games that followed Kazuma Kiryu, Like A Dragon follows Ichiban Kasuga.

"Ichiban Kasuga, a low-ranking grunt of a low-ranking yakuza family in Tokyo, faces an 18-year prison sentence after taking the fall for a crime he didn't commit. Never losing faith, he loyally serves his time and returns to society to discover that no one was waiting for him on the outside, and his clan has been destroyed by the man he respected most.

Ichiban sets out to discover the truth behind his family's betrayal and take his life back, drawing a ragtag group of society's outcasts to his side: Adachi, a rogue cop, Nanba, a homeless ex-nurse, and Saeko, a hostess on a mission. Together, they are drawn into a conflict brewing beneath the surface in Yokohama and must rise to become the heroes they never expected to be."

Using the same "Dragon Engine" from Yakuza 6 and Yakuza Kiwami 2, Like a Dragon will instantly feel familiar if you have played those two games, however there is one big change outside of the storyline elements. The real-time beat 'em up is gone and replaced by a turn-based RPG combat system.

This is a HUGE change, and if you are unaware of this change when you first start to play, that first battle feels weird as hell. Now I will admit I hated it at first, I really enjoyed the freedom of the real-time beat em up system of the previous games, the turn-based RPG system for the fights does feel constrained, especially early on, but you will soon get used to it, and as you unlock new special moves etc, then it does become enjoyable, if a bit tedious in a boss fight.

There is an auto mode when fighting, that enables the characters to do pretty much everything and you can just sit back, you still need to hit the odd button here and there to max out the power of certain moves, but it does make the fights easier.

Onto the game itself, like previous games there are endless sub-stories to complete, see a person on the street, speak to them, do a job for them, report back, collect a reward. You will also slowly build up a team, they can even join you in battles, and although you control them in the fights, outside of the fights, you will only control Kasuga. Another interesting element of the game is the jobs system, you can change jobs for your characters, and that in turn may change the way they fight in battle, upgrade their ranks and you will find you get stronger, faster and so on. Each job has a different look when you fight, different clothes to wear and more.

There is also the huge selection of mini games to play, whether that is heading into a SEGA arcade and playing Virtua Fighter 5, cart racing, collecting cans on a course, and the biggest one of all the management mini game, where you buy properties, assign employees, and try to raise the stock price of the business, hoping to eventually get to number one. If that doesn't sound like something you would like, well tough, because later in the game you will need to collect large sums of money, and one of the best ways to do that is the management mini game. It is a bit complicated at first, but you will figure it out, and there are plenty of guides online to help you out.

Although you can save your game at almost any time, there are some sections whereby you cant, usually it will be a scene where you need to battle through to an enemy boss, or the battle arena, or even under the city. In these situations a save before you start, and hope you are well prepared to get through it.

If you struggle in a fight and seem to be endlessly fighting and healing yourself, you are probably not strong enough and need to go away, grind a bit and raise your stats, or buy better weapons.

Regarding the weapons, you can buy them in shops, find them after battles, and even craft them.

There really does seem to be so much to do in this game, and you can get side tracked for hours doing things that have nothing to do with the main story. But that is fun. You will even fight a chimp, a tiger and a mechanical digger during this game!

The Good

The game looks and plays great, everything is smooth, the cut scenes although rather long at times, are all fun to watch.

The Bad

Although I have got used to the RPG elements of battle, I still prefer the beat em up style of previous games.

Overall

This is an epic game, if you went at it hard you can probably complete it in 12 hours, but then you won't enjoy it, sometimes the best parts of the game are the side stories, the silly things like growing pine seeds to then turn into a bonsai tree, to give to a girl to impress them. Silly but fun.

I score the game a solid 8/10

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Out now on

PS5

PS4

XBOX