REVIEW: Valkyrie: Journey To Midgard on PC (Steam)

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Valkyrie: Journey To Midgard is a simple, old school RPG.

Here is the basic story

"A Dragon Orb has been stolen from Asgard. Valkyrie has been sent down to Midgard to retrieve the lost treasure. The goddess must not only overcome fierce monsters, but also to face a dark conspiracy that will affect all of nine realms."

For a start, it sounds way more exciting than it actually is. 

You play as "Valkyrie", and you find yourself in a dungeon, sadly a pretty basic looking dungeon. You will die a lot in this game, and when you do die, you have to start at the beginning, luckily you will come across Save Crystals, so if you do die, just exit the game, and continue from a save point. Because not to confuse the save crystals (clear in colour) with red ones, which are a boss fight.

Each room of the dungeon will contain multiple paths, and along the way you will find coffins that may contain helpful items, like armour or weapon upgrades. You will also find statues you can pray to; they may give you a positive benefit or a negative one. And you will also come across monsters. Battles are turn based, and pretty simple to figure out. There are boss fights that you can avoid for a while, and then when you think you are strong enough, the next time you come across one you can choose to take it on.

The graphics are simple but fine, most of the time you are in the dungeons which are dark.  The sound effects are ok for what they are.

The Good

Simple concept, easy to learn, fun to have a quick go on, and see if you can get further than you did previously.

The Bad

There's just not that much to the game. But for £1.69 what do you really expect.

Overall

Not the best RPG you will play, but also not the worst, perhaps a nice starter RPG for newbies to the genre.

I give Valkyrie: Journey To Midgard a fair 6/10

Out now at

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1724470/Valkyrie_Journey_To_Midgard/

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

REVIEW: Hyperball Tachyon on PC (Steam)

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

From Rendah Games comes Hyperball Tachyon, a fast-moving 2D platform game, where you control a ball as you bounce and jump through increasingly difficult levels.

The basic idea of the game is to get from the start point to the finish line in as fast a time as possible.

At first things start out pretty simple, but soon you will face various obstacles including sand traps, water, spikes and so on.

Your ball can do a basic extra jump, but in the differing levels you will find things that help you and things that hinder you.

For example, a collectable that will allow you an extra jump, or columns of wind that will either push you along, or hold you down. This game is all about learning the physics of the ball, and using it to your advantage. 

There are lots of little hints while you play, and although the levels can be quite tricky, there is a strong feeling of accomplishment when you do finally get it right, and then the added interest of trying to beat not only your own score, but also trying to climb up that global leader-board and get as close to the top as you can. I notice that the game makers, Rendah Games, top every leader board. So, if you can manage to beat their time, then you know you have just completed a level in epic fashion.

You can change the appearance of your ball, and there are secrets to collect.

And with a small file size for a game, that will probably play on almost any computer or laptop, this is a simple platform game that you should seriously consider taking a look at.

The Good

Simple but fun graphics, easy control system, (much easier using a gamepad than the keyboard). Challenging levels with high replay-ability.

The Bad

I did notice a couple of graphics glitches, and the odd dodgy physics, but these are really small issues that will be fixed in future patches, I am sure.

Overall

A really fun, simple platform game, that is highly addictive. Definitely recommend this to your collection, if you are a fan of physics-based platform games.

I score Hyperball Tachyon on PC a solid 9/10. I really enjoyed playing, and I am going to keep playing to beat those high scores!

Out Now on PC/Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1696090/HYPERBALL_TACHYON/

REVIEW: The Legend of Tianding on PC (Steam)

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

The Legend of Tianding is a hand drawn 2D side-scrolling platform/action game, you play as Liao Tianding, a legendary Taiwanese Folk Hero. Set in the early 1900s in Colonial Japanese Taiwan, this is the type of game that instantly grabs your attention. 

Let's take a quick look at the official story.

"Based on real events, real people and real situations, The Legend of Tianding is an exploration of a place and time often overlooked and presented in the style of Traditional Chinese Manga.

Battle the colonial authorities in style with a tanto, waist sash, and fast paced Kung Fu in tightly tuned technical combat. Execute advanced aerial combos, steal weapons from your enemies, use your waist sash and grappling hook to fly around the battlefield, and strike fear into the hearts of your oppressors.

Take on incredible bosses like deadly courtesans, greedy businessmen, and even military leaders, each one guaranteed to challenge you with their dynamic abilities and brutal attacks."

You play in the Dadaocheng area of Taipei city, as mentioned earlier, everything is seemingly hand drawn, and although in general you play in a 2D manner, moving from cut scenes and menus, you do get a 3D view for a few moments, which is so well done. Everything is colourful and highly detailed.

Although a platform game, fighting is a big part of the game, and you will quickly learn new styles and attacks as you play, as well as defensive techniques. You will explore underground as well as over ground, and even on moving trains, and not forgetting some pretty tough boss battles.

The first boss fight you have is against Wang, now I have to come clean here, it took me a while to figure out how to beat him, as I clearly had not been paying attention, and didn't realise that when your health bar goes low, you can gain some health simply by pressing up on the d-pad. You will find save points throughout the game which also allows you to recover health, and store 3 health teas, or soups, not sure which, but you will take a sip of those in battle, and that will give you a health boost.

Playing the game which is very much drawn in a "Retro Traditional Chinese Manga" style, at times it is like playing a comic book.

Find talismans (talismen??) and upgrade your character, which in turn can also change your playstyle. 

The game does have a Robin Hood type element to it, steal from the rich, give to the poor, etc.

The Good

The graphics are outstanding, not enough can be said about that, just glorious to see. The gameplay is easy to pick up, the character easy to control, and you never feel overwhelmed as you learn new things. 

The Bad

The text on screen you have to read through is a lot, conversations go on a bit, and sometimes you just want to actually play the game as opposed to reading a comic.

Overall

This is a really good action platformer, looks and plays brilliantly. Some great characters to interact and fight with. A good learning curve, and detailed story to be a part of.

I score The Legend of Tianding on PC (Steam) a solid 8/10

Out now on Steam

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1406850/The_Legend_of_Tianding/

REVIEW: Faraday Protocol on Nintendo Switch

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Faraday Protocol is a first-person perspective puzzle game and walking simulator. I am playing this on a Nintendo Switch Lite.

Let's take a look at the official story of the game.

"You are Raug Zeekon: interstellar archeologist from planet Cunor. You have been sent by your company to investigate the source of a mysterious signal coming from an unexplored star.

The Bia Tool, an ancient relic of an alien civilization, is the first mystery you uncover when arriving in OPIS. Unsure of its true purpose you start wielding it to solve the challenges on your path. With its ability to absorb energy and the option to redistribute it to different machinery, you start digging deeper and deeper into the temples, encountering even harder puzzles that will test your savvy and abilities in problem solving. Are you smart enough to solve every challenge thrown at you?"

You find yourself on a seemingly abandoned planet, you head towards a huge structure, you pick up what appears to be some kind of laser gun. But you won't be fighting anyone today, for this is a puzzle game. Pretty quickly you figure out that you can use your gun (the bio tool) to absorb energy from one location and fire it elsewhere, and this is the general mechnic that you will be using to solve the puzzles. Each puzzle has a purpose of allowing you to proceed further into the structure. As you progress, the puzzles get harder and harder. The whole structure is seemingly a training guard, and as you play you will hear the voice of IRIS, an Artificial Intelligence that is there to help guard this ancient structure. The puzzles are described by the A.I. as tests. Hence the idea this is some kind of tarining ground.

The main gameplay is about transfering energy around, connecting areas in the correct order, which in turn may open a door or portal, open a stair case, move walls, open new areas and so on.

The puzzles themselves are logic based, and as such every puzzle if taken in a slow methodical way, can be beaten.

That said, I found myself stuck pretty often, but not so much because of the game, but because I forgot to think in a logical way.

The clues to solving a puzzle are always there, sometimes staring you right in the face, your job is to see them, and then figure out what you are supposed to do.

For example in one room you might see 3 differently coloured lights, in a different room there may be 3 differently coloured pillars. Connect the pillars with energy collected from other areas, in the same order as in the first room, and voila, puzzle solved and next area unlocked. You will need a good memory at times, or take a quick photo of the screen with your phone, to remind you of what you are looking for.

Unfortunately there is no hint system in the game, and as such you will at some point get frustrated enough to either give up, or look online for a walkthrough, something I did a few times, and as is always the problem with walkthroughs, as soon as you need to go use one, you will quickly go back to it the moment you got a little stuck.

The game is relatively short, more so if you do use a walkthrough for regular help.

The Good

Despite playing this on a Nintendo Switch Lite, the graphics were all crisp and clear, I never once felt like it would be easier or better to play on a big screen. The puzzles are all well thought out, and although tough at times, they are all logical. There are also some secrets to collect along the way.

The Bad

The lack of a hint system, or any real kind of tutorial or help system, is a major issue for me, I get so frustrated when games are released without such things, for the moment someone gets stuck, they are either gonna just give up, or they are gonna go watch a walkthrough, and once you make that an option to the player, they are gonna use it, and as such that does spoil the game, because let's be realistic, if you get stuck, and you know you just watched a walkthrough on youtube 10 minutes earlier, you are going to go back to it. But a simple help system would keep the player in the gamer, nudge them in the right direction, and the eventual feeling of achievement would still be there.

Also the game is relatively short.

Overall

A good puzzle game, with a unique mechanic, that being the gun. The whole game works well on Nintendo Switch. 

Despite the lack of a hint system, this game will entertain any puzzle fan, if only for a few hours.

I score Faraday Protocol on Nintendo Switch a fair 7/10

Out Now

https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/faraday-protocol-switch/

REVIEW: BitMaster on Nintendo Switch

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk

BitMaster seems like it should be a game made for Nintendo Switch, it is a twin stick shooter, you shoot at enemies while skating around on a hoverboard.

The game is described as being inspired by such classics as Geometry Wars, Crimson Land and Satellite Reign, but does it measure up?

There are 100 waves of enemies to face (20 different kinds of enemy), after 20 waves you will face a boss, and then another 20 waves and so on.

You can collect new guns and unlock new characters to play with, the environment changes colours, and different areas will benefit or harm your character.

For example, in one area your shield will regenerate faster, in another, your weapon may fire slower rounds.

As there are no levels as such, once you die, you die, you have to start from wave one again. With an average game time of anything between 5 minutes to half an hour, this is very much an arcade style, pick up and play type game, as opposed to one you will deliberately keep coming back to, to complete.

The graphics are colourful, and the changes in colours from wave to wave is nice. The soundtrack is ok. The gameplay does seem to fit the Nintendo Switch well. Playing on a Switch Lite, this is very much a game that I could spend 10 minutes on which waiting for something else.

Saying all that, the game does have some issues, the lack of proper levels means that you might get bored quick, and not see the point to start all over again. There is only one real game area to play in, and although it is relatively large, it is still the only one, and changing colours doesn't really make that much difference.

The Good

Bright colourful graphics and pick up and play gameplay, does mean that this game can have a place on your Switch.

The Bad

The game is limited, and perhaps overpriced on Switch, at around £5, it compares poorly pricewise to Steam, where it is under a pound currently on special offer.

Overall

This is a simple game, not one you will spend hours at a time playing, but if you want an addition to your Switch, that is good in short bursts then BitMaster is a game you should consider.

Out now on Nintendo Switch

https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Bitmaster-1984676.html