REVIEW: Happenlance on PC (Steam)

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk

Happenlance is a pole-vaulting, jousting, climbing, fighting game. 

When you first start to play Happenlance, your first thought will be that this is just another climbing game, using your jousting lance to pole vault yourself and get as high as possible, and yes that is a major part of the game, but as you complete levels you will realise that there is much more to the game than just reaching as high as possible.

As well as climbing mountains, and buildings, you will also face traps that need to be avoided, seemingly impossible climbs that will need you to pick up or throw objects like boxes or balls, which you can then use as a base to fling yourself up high. You will also come across enemies trying to shoot arrows at you, a nice firm stab with your pole will take care of them. You can even defend yourself from the flying arrows by using your pole to knock them out of the air.

To say this game is tough might be an understatement, the controls are hard to get used to, I used a gamepad as I found that the easiest way, you control your character with the left stick, a small jump with one button, and your pole with the right stick. Alternatively, you can use keyboard controls and the mouse will control the pole. When I used the words pole vaulting, that really is how you fling yourself around. Luckily the physics aren't too realistic, and you can stick to certain surfaces, and pull yourself to safety.

You will get frustrated if you play this game, you will shout at the screen, and you will give up out of sheer annoyance at the difficulty of a level, but you will come back, and you will keep trying.

The graphics are fine for what they are, the backgrounds all look nice, the character is ok. The sounds however are terrible, if you have the volume up, your neighbour might thing you are watching something dodgy with the grunts and groans.

The Good

If challenging, climbing type games are your thing, then this will give you one hell of a challenge.

The Bad

If challenging, climbing type games are NOT your thing, then the difficulty of this game, might well put you off for good. 

Overall

Ridiculously hard, and with tricky controls, leaves me feeling frustrated and not challenged. The game does have its moments, when you finally get past that seemingly impossible obstacle, you do feel great accomplishment, but the problem is that around the corner is another seemingly impossible obstacle, and unfortunately watching others play the game on YouTube to help you figure it out, will become way too common, and even when you know what you should do, that doesn't really help you.

If you like a challenge, then give it a shot, but for me, it is just not something I could get to grips with.

I score this game a frustrating 6/10

There is a free to play demo you can download before you pay for the full game, check that out and decide for yourself.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1663410

REVIEW: Mermaid Adventures: The Frozen Time - PC (Steam)

 

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

So there is an evil octopus, and he has minions, and they are playing cruel tricks on the creatures that live in the Undersea World.

You play as a brave and beautiful mermaid called Alice, oh I cant be bothered with the story. Look it is a simple "Match 3" type puzzle game.

You play through the puzzles, that "awakens" other characters, and you save the Undersea World from the Octopus.

Every 10 levels you unlock another page of the story.

There are 80 levels, which include your classic Match 3 type puzzles, for those unaware, you draw a line with your cursor connecting 3 or more objects of the same style and they disappear, your lines do not need to be in a straight line either, you can go diagonal, up, down, left and right, as long as the objects match, the more you get the higher the score. There also some other types of puzzles, jigsaw, and hidden objects, memory match stuff. But the main game is the Match 3 type puzzles.

The problem with the game is that it is just not very good. I like that they made the effort to have a storyline, but the menus are too busy. The graphics are nice enough and the music is ok. But why you would pay money for this game when you can play similar games for free is beyond me. Not to mention that there are quite a few bugs.

The Good

Pretty graphics.

The Bad

A lot of bugs, and that you have to pay for the game.

Overall

In its current state I cannot recommend the game, I score it a poor 4/10

https://store.steampowered.com/app/798610/Mermaid_Adventures_The_Frozen_Time/

REVIEW: Journey - PS4

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Journey is a hard to describe game, but "Indie-Adventure" seems to be the common description used. Co-developed by Thatgamecompany and Santa Monica Studio, it was originally released on PS3 back in March 2012, and then re-released in July 2015 for the PS4. It has since been ported to Windows and iOS in 2019.

You play as a mysterious robed figure, you find yourself in a huge desert, the only thing you know to do is head towards a mountain in the distance. You will see other players also on their own journey, but you can't communicate with them. As you play you will soon figure out that you need to "activate" seemingly dull pieces of cloth, into vibrant colourful ones. You will collect things that will allow you to jump, and almost fly for short periods, you will run along desert landscapes, and then find yourself almost surfing down the other side of a hill. When I say it is hard to describe, it really is.

You will explore ancient caves, as well as activate those aforementioned pieces of cloth, that will allow you to reach high up ancient structures, which in turn allow you to activate relics, that allow you to progress through the area.

Although the game is relatively short (a few hours at most), there is a feeling of wonder as you traverse through the landscapes, if anything this feels more like an emotional experience than a game. When you finally reach the mountain, it truly does give off a feeling of wonder and accomplishment.

I won't spoil the ending, and I have been careful not to give away too much, as this really is a game that you should experience.

The Good

The graphics are stunning, the soundtrack is beautiful. And if you were lucky enough to add this game to your account during Sony's "Play at Home" promotion, then you really do have a classic on your hands. I say this, as I did just that, back in July of 2020, Sony made a couple of games available for people to download and keep for free. I added the game to my account and then forgot about it, and only now have I started playing it. And I am happy I finally did, but annoyed I never played it sooner.

The Bad

The game is quite short.

Overall

Not many games can be sold on the experience it gives you to play, the emotion it provides, this is one of those games.

It has won countless awards for being great, and I will also lavish praise on the game, a true classic I score 9/10

I uploaded a few minutes of gameplay, check it out below.

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/journey/

REVIEW: Super Kickers League on PC (Steam)

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Super Kickers League is a fun, arcade style football game. This is about as far from FIFA as you can get, this is not in any way a simulation, this is an arcade game, there are no referees to give you a yellow card, there are virtually no rules, other than who scores the most goals wins. This is the kind of old-fashioned arcade football game you could imagine playing for 10 minutes in an airport, or in an arcade on the side street of your town, (when they still existed). These days you can download them off the internet in a few minutes.

The main gimmick of the game is that your "Captain" has a special power, that might be to a super jump, or stop time for opposing players, or cause a meteor strike. These special powers can be used for a set period of time, and can help make the difference between losing and winning.

There are ten teams to choose from, various modes to play, from the usual exhibition game, to cups and leagues. To play certain modes you need to have completed previous ones to unlock, and yes this can be a problem, as I will mention later.

"Kickers Mode : Play with 3 captains to get many powers while you play!

Team Mode : Play with your favourite team and use your captain's power to win the match!

Retro Mode : Pixel and Football are all together! Feel the 90's vibes in this retro mode!"

You can play alone and local or online multiplayer. There are a few different camera angles to play with.

The game itself can feel very frantic to play, you won't really be stringing together 20 passes before scoring a goal, and nor should you want to. This is an arcade game, so everything is quick and to the point. Whether that is sliding for the ball from kick-off and shooting and scoring within 3 seconds, or going on a mazey dribble and passing the ball into the goal.

The different modes are ok, although not really that different, and the special powers although fun, I actually didn't bother too much with them, preferring to play regular football the best I could.

Now I did mention a problem, that being that to play certain modes you need to unlock them by completing other modes, for example, to play the League you need to play and win the cup first, that is fine, however the game does not save your progress, so unless you want to sit down and play for a few hours to unlock everything, you are stuck with the basic modes if you just want to play for 10 or 15 minutes. This seems to be a problem that has existed for a while, and there is no sign of it being fixed unfortunately. Obviously, this mainly affects the single player mode. If you are playing against a friend, then this is less of an issue.

The Good

This is a fun game; graphics are bright and colourful, gameplay is easy to pick up, and does not take itself too seriously.

The Bad

The fact your progress is not saved is a big problem, fix that and the game is a pretty decent little arcade kick about. The play area is also a bit small, perhaps bigger pitches would improve things, but then we are going into a more standard footy game environment that is perhaps not what the game is about.

Overall

Despite the saving issue, I am enjoying the game, it is everything that you would expect from an arcade footy game, lots of fun arenas to play in, easy to pick up and play.

I score Super Kickers League on PC a solid 7/10

Available from the Steam store at

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1210850/Super_Kickers_League/

REVIEW: Effie on Nintendo Switch

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Loading up Effie I suddenly felt transported back to the time of the Nintendo 64, and some of the classic 3D action-Adventure games of the day. The kind of game that you could just play without needing to think too much, just a fun easy playing experience.

Now despite the game being called Effie, she is in fact your daughter (or granddaughter, not sure), and you are telling her the story of what happened to you. How you were cursed by a witch when you were young, cursed with old age, and all because you never helped the witch out, mainly because you were lazy and then how you went off on a quest to recover your youth, by getting rid of all the black magic.

 

You will travel through an area called Oblena, a city that is full of said black magic, which the witch conveniently cast everywhere, you have your magic shield, (strangely called the Runestone) a shield that is literally your only way of attack and defence, but it can also be used to surf on, to travel on the over ground! Well, it is a magic shield so needs to do more than just defend you.

Effie is played in full 3D, you control your character with the left stick, and your view point with the right stick. You will fight foes, solve puzzles, and explore various locations. As you play your shield will grow in power, as you collect magic and you have a few different special attacks. 

The boss fights always involve the Witch, but each time the challenge will be a bit different.

The game itself can be completed in a few hours, and is relatively easy.

The Good

A good old fashioned 3D action-adventure game, that does not take too much thought to play. Nice easy gameplay, for a younger crowd.

The Bad

There are quite a few graphical glitches, which I put down to this being a port from a PC game. Hopefully these can be fixed over time.

Overall

A fun game, perhaps lacking in challenge for the more experienced gamer, but perfect for the younger gamer.

I score Effie a fair 7/10

There is also a great limited edition physical release of Effie.

Available at Amazon - https://amzn.to/3lcZKP8

Also, out now on the Nintendo Shop

https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Effie-1959110.html