REVIEW: Souldiers on PS5

Review by Jon Donnis

Souldiers is a 2D side scrolling adventure platform game.

The game starts off with a nice cartoon intro, and once you start the game proper you choose a class for your hero.

"Unleash the fury of your sword with the Scout, summon the wrath of elements with the Caster, or rain down arrows on your foes with the Archer."

The game will instantly remind you of some of the classic SNES games, both in looks and sounds.

The story is as follows

"While out fighting for the glory of their kingdom, you and your fellow soldiers are whisked away to Terragaya, a mystical land on the fringes of the afterlife. Your task is to locate the Guardian and move on to the next world. The hitch? You and your compatriots never actually died."

The complete your goals you will need to "slash, parry and dodge" through enemy after enemy, explore, and talk to other characters, and as you go you will be able to upgrade your skills and improve your equipment. You can dodge with rolls, and block your enemy, as well as jump out of the way too. All pretty standard combat stuff.

The fighting itself is decent, and the learning curve is just on the right side of tough.

Of the three classes you can choose from the Scout is the most intuitive, the Caster and the Archer class just seem a bit harder to get used to.

The graphics as you may have guessed is retro 2D pixel art. Everything looks as it should, and everything moves nice and smooth.

Boss fights are challenging, and you may find yourself taking multiple attempts to learn the patterns so you can finally overcome them.

The in-game map is excellent and will really help you keep track of everything from the save points, to points of interest, locked doors, chests and so on, this is important as you will need to backtrack often. There are RPG elements in the game, but they are not as important as you might expect, grinding is kept to a minimum, your character will improve as they pass levels too.

The Good

Beautiful animated pixel art, easy to pick up and play, and a fair learning curve.

The Bad

I hate backtracking in a game, some would say it is part of the genre, but I just want to get on with it and keep heading forward. The sounds etc are all very retro, and I turned the sound off to be brutally honest as the beeps and noise of scrolling text, which was very FF7 like, just started to annoy me.

Overall

A simple, fun 2D pixel platform adventure game.

Won't break any records, but also is a fine addition to your collection.

I score Souldiers on PS5 a fair 7/10

Out Now on PS5

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP1309-PPSA07348_00-SOULDIERS0000000

NEWS: - Ashland Dossier - Out Now on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox

Ashland Dossier is an espionage thriller packed with elements of turn-based stealth tactics and role-play adventure. Use your cunning, agility, and wit to finish off the Nazi plague for good this time. Ahead of you lies a deadly confrontation as the enemy threatens to drive the world into the depth of dreadful and pointless war once again.

After WWII, numerous Nazis managed to slip through the cracks and escape overseas. Like rats, they scattered around the world to hide in shadows believing that the long arm of justice will never reach them. However, this is one fatal delusion.

In the late 1950s, a private investigative organization has been formed. INCU (International Nazi Crime Unit) has only one specific goal in mind: to find such criminals and get them back for a fair trial.

You will assume the role of an officer that is looking for a group of the rottenest scoundrels. In the past, all of them committed extremely heinous crimes which are still left unpunished. Your goal is to find their trail, gather all the possible evidence, and finally bring them to justice.

Easier said than done, though. There is another new force that has just appeared out of nowhere – "Ashland". Unfortunately, these people will stop at nothing in their decisive effort to help runaway Nazis...

Key Features

Tense operations that include pinpointing, following, and extracting a suspect.

Rich lore and backstory of the unfolding events.

Scrupulous analysing of intel, evidence, and witnesses' testimonies.

Two playable timelines: 1960-1964 and 1941-1945.

Unique characters, unexpected plot twists, multiple endings.

A deep and realistic look into the truthful dreads of WWII.

Out Now on the following formats

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1174680/Ashland_Dossier/

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP1564-CUSA32572_00-CLABS0ASD2022031

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/ashland-dossier/9nbrncg3fx2c

https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/ashland-dossier-switch/

REVIEW: Remote Life on Nintendo Switch

Review by Jon Donnis

Remote Life is a side scrolling, 2D shooter, now as someone who grew up on R-Type, I have played countless shooters over the years, so how does Remote Life match up? Let's find out.

You find yourself taking on bio-mechanical type creatures which do in fact look quite similar to some of the aliens in R-Type, you play in a space setting as Pilot John Leone, your job is to save humanity, apparently single handedly, which doesn't seem very fair, but that is where we are.

You will have to complete 16 missions, and to do that you will need skill, guile and a nice collection of weapons (over 18 apparently).

The first big difference you will notice between this game and others of the genre is the twin stick control method. At first this will feel strange as classically in side scrolling shooters, you pretty much fire straight ahead, or straight behind, depending on the weapon you have. But in Remote Life you have directional control over where you fire. This can help you take out the enemy from all angles.

You have access to three main weapons that you can switch between, as well as an extra support weapon. As you progress through the levels you will collect power ups which will increase the ability of your weapons until you use them up. The main idea being that you save the upgraded weapons for when you will need them, whether that be larger enemies or even the boss fight. You can also pick up drones which will stay close to you and fire at the enemy, but they only last for ten seconds which seems a bit pointless. There is also no scoring system, no high scores etc, the only point of the game is to beat the levels.

There are some nice differences between levels, which help break up the regular style of gameplay, escort missions are one example. So there is more here than just nonstop 2D shooting.

Now time for a reality check, this game is tough, like really tough. And unfortunately, some of the game mechanics don't really help. The twin stick system is really hard to get used to, and never feels quite as accurate as it should, and with your ship being very weak, a couple of mistakes and you are dead. I played the game on a Nintendo Switch Lite, and even with my big hands, trying to control both sticks as well as the firing button and change weapon button, it left my hand aching pretty quick, now I did find a solution, I happen to have a spare wireless Switch controller, which you can connect to a switch lite, and the game did play much better on that, but obviously using a separate controller on a switch lite, makes the whole thing seem a bit silly.

There are also some issues with the visual elements of the game, the graphics are very good, everything is super detailed, the problem is that too much means it is hard to see enemy bullets as well as differentiate between background and foreground obstacles. You can however disable some graphical elements in the menu which does help a bit. 

Also, when using the menu, it becomes clear very quick that this game is a port from the PC version, as you have a cursor of sorts on screen that you move about to select the options. And this just feels weird on a handheld console.

The Good

Super challenging game, with fantastic high-resolution graphics, and when you consider this game comes from a solo developer, it is pretty impressive. There are plenty of weapons, which all are different and it is satisfying destroying a boss while you swap between your 3 main weapons.

The Bad

The game is a little too hard at times, and could do with a bit more work to improve some elements of the game. This is a PC port, and I think it is clearly suited to PC gaming.

Overall

The game has its problems, but it also has some strong points, and if you want a challenge from within the shoot 'em up genre, then this is one to look at.

I score Remote Life on Nintendo Switch a generous 7/10

Out Now on Nintendo Switch for £11.99

https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/REMOTE-LIFE-2213524.html

REVIEW: Pretty Girls Escape on PC (Steam)

Review by Jon Donnis

Followers of the site will know that I have reviewed a fair few of the "Pretty Girls" franchise releases, and I am glad to say I have another release to talk about today. This is the 16^th Pretty Girls title. And as with all of the Pretty Girls releases the format is a simple one, take a classic game, give it a fresh coat of paint, a few new gameplay options, and add Japanese anime style girls to the product. It is a simple format that seems to work almost every time. And I always seem to find myself scoring these games quite highly, so will Pretty Girls Escape keep a strong run of good games going? Read on to find out.

The game itself is a simple block falling puzzle game. The aim is to eliminate blocks of the same colour, (you can click on 2 or more blocks to make them disappear) and as you eliminate the blocks, a larger character block will drop. Get the character block to the bottom of the playable area, and to an exit.

Each of the 8 character has 6 levels, and as you beat the levels, you unlock costumes for the characters, which you can then turn into wallpaper for your computer. You can change costumes of the characters, set the background, have multiple characters in the scene and you can even change facial expressions. The characters all have their own personalities and are voiced by Japanese actresses.

An example of a few of them are.

 - KANON

 Kanon is an innocent and positive-thinking girl with a calm and gentle demeanor. She is a hardworking person who focuses on her goals.

 - YUKI

 Yuki is energetic, lively, and easy to get along with. She is active and has a good sense of humor, but at the same time, is a troublemaker.

 - RIN

 Serious, cool and dignified. Once she makes up her mind, she will not it.

There is no nudity, no sex, just classic "Bishoujo characters", which you will see in Japanese Manga and Anime.

Of course, if the game was as easy as I just described, you would beat it pretty quickly, however each character's set of levels is harder than the previous one. 

You will soon realise that just getting your character block to the bottom of the playable area is not enough, there is also something of a tilt option, where you press left or right and all blocks will move to one side or another. You will need to use this ability very tactically, you see as you play, the game throws in some obstacles, there might be bombs you need to avoid, or unmovable blocks, blocks that need to be broken, and then the craftiest gameplay mechanic of them all, you might need to also move little key blocks, to unlock the exit area for the characters, this all has to be done in a certain order, so you don't get stuck.

As well as the character stages and levels, there is also a challenge mode with 20 stages to beat, difficulty increasing as you go.

The Good

Zoo Corporation have once again taken a simple game concept and improved it, made it look great and added some depth to what is a simple game. I have never known a franchise to continually get the games right, especially a franchise where each game is a different type of game to the previous one. I am a fan of puzzle games, and although the game starts off pretty easy and you will fly through the first few stages, once the "gimmick blocks" are introduced, the game takes on a real level of tactics. Time really does fly as you play.

The Bad

I can't really think of anything, as a simple block falling puzzle game it works very well.

Overall

Zoo Corporation have done it again, another perfectly created puzzle game, a competitive price point of about £5, with a launch date discount too.

If you are a puzzle fan this is what we like to call a "no brainer", you should buy this game.

I score Pretty Girls Escape an excellent 9/10

Language: Japanese / English / Chinese / Spanish

Release Date: June 2, 2022 (Pacific Standard Time)

Price: 4.99 dollars

Player: Single player

Steam compatible functions: Achievements / Cloud / Ranking

Buy on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1997300/

REVIEW: Red Wings: American Aces on Nintendo Switch

Review by Jon Donnis

Red Wings: American Aces is set in World War 1, and from the moment you start the game you can tell a lot of care has been put into making the game look rather special. 

The game itself is centred around 3D dogfighting, you control a WW1 aircraft, and in pure arcade style you need to take out the enemy. 

There are 3 main modes, Online, Local and Campaign.

Online mode will have you fighting against others (maximum of 9) in pure dogfighting action, Last Man Standing, Score Battle, or Time Battle. You can even pick teams and battle against other teams online.

Local mode has you doing the same as Online mode, but against one other opponent, that being against another human player, or a CPU controlled opponent. 

Now as much fun as those two modes are, they are very much for the long-term interest of the game. But in the short term you need a challenge and this is where the campaign mode comes in. 30 missions to complete, each mission has certain aims. Maybe as simple as taking out a few waves of enemies, or it might be more specific like destroying hidden airships while fighting off the enemy trying to protect them. Bombing runs are fun, as well as the classic game of flying through hoops, (in this game you fly through a hope to refuel).

As you progress through the Campaign you can upgrade your pilot skills through a Skill Tree, as well as improve your special abilities.

For example, if an enemy is charging head on, a carefully timed barrel roll is perfect for not only avoiding their bullets but also destroying them if you make contact. You can also tag an enemy and get friendlies to attack on your command, as well as the quick U-turn manoeuvre.

As you complete each level you aware awarded stars depending on how successful you were and these are what you spend on the skills tree.

With 15 different planes to eventually unlock and use, there is plenty of choice as you progress.

The levels themselves all have different backgrounds and features, including thunderstorms and sandstorms, each creating their own problems for you.

The plane controls are pretty simple, speed up, slow down, barrel roll, quick turn, it all feels very natural, and you always feel very much in control.

Along with the arcade gameplay, there is a story to tell, and WW1 is a serious story, everything is told truthfully, with little sugar coating. You could argue that such a serious story takes away from what is a fun arcade game, however I felt that if you want to deal with a serious subject you have to be serious in telling that story.

The Good

This game really fits well on a Nintendo Switch Lite, which is what I played it on. I have played Red Wings on PC, but on a handheld console I just think the whole experience feels more fun. Everything looks great, and just the feeling or taking down an enemy in a hail of bullets never gets old.

The Bad

Nothing really, the game delivers on what it says it will.

Overall

I really enjoyed playing Red Wings: American Aces, it is a good old fashioned arcade shooter, but with modern graphics.

A fun experience that I can recommend to people of all ages.

I score Red Wings: American Aces a solid 8/10

Out now on Steam and Nintendo Switch

https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Red-Wings-American-Aces-2186122.html