REVIEW: LIT: Bend the Light - Xbox One

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

LIT: Bend the Light is a simple puzzle game, set in a time before electricity had been harnessed, and the world was taken forward by great inventors, you find yourself moving mirrors, prisms and glass shapes to reflect light from point a to point b. 

Each level has multiple ways to be completed, and with relaxing music, this is a game that should satisfy your average puzzle fan.

There are only about 30 odd levels, and you will complete the lot in about 2 hours, they have tried to counter this by awarding achievements for solving the levels in different ways, but still the game is very short and doesn't offer much more than a few hours of chill out music, and basic puzzle play.

The controls aren't the best either, and some levels need an almost pixel perfect lines, and some levels you will find you will complete almost by accident, and here is where the biggest problem lies, because of the lack of levels and the need for more than one way to complete a level, you can find yourself just completing levels by randomly moving things, thus taking away the skill, and unless you are the kind of gamer that wants to play properly even when a shortcut is glaring you in the face, you will find yourself doing this the moment you figure out it is possible. Not to mention that some of the multiple solutions to a level are near identical, and it is hard to remember which ones you have already used. 

The Good

Presentation is very good, everything looks great, and the soundtrack is very relaxing.

The Bad

Frustratingly short game, hampered by poor control mechanics. The game is unoriginal, and despite the best attempts to give it some kind of background in a time before electricity, at its base it is a laser reflection game which we have seen a million times before. And with only about 30 levels which you will complete pretty fast, you will be left feeling like you may have wasted money on this.

Overall

Fun idea, nice graphics, but spoiled by poor game mechanics, and limited levels.

I score LIT: Bend the Light on Xbox One a frustrating 4/10

Out now on Xbox on https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/lit-bend-the-light/9njqwh8z687x

REVIEW: Ganryu 2 on Nintendo Switch

Review by Jon Donnis

Ganryu 2 is a retro style, 2D arcade platform game, instantly reminded me of Shinobi. 

Let's take a look at the storyline.

"After his victory against Kojiro, Musashi decided to meditate and try his hand at art, in the north of Japan, in the province of Hokkaido. During one of his meditations, a spirit contacted him : "Miyamoto Musashi, our fight is not over, I am waiting for you to finish our fight once and for all! All of Japan will pay for your insult! I'm waiting for you Miyamoto Musashi!"

There is no doubt for Musashi that the voice was the Sasaki Kojirō's one. His body was defeated, but his spirit remains, and his intentions were destructive. Miyamoto Musashi then understood that he would have to travel across Japan from north to south and go to the island of Ganryû-jima, where he firstly defeated Sasaki Kojirō, to fight again and liberate the spirit of Kojiro forever."

You might guess by the name, but Ganryu 2 is a sequel, now you will be forgiven for not hearing of Ganryu, since it was a late 1990s NeoGeo game.

You play as Miyamoto Musashi and travel through a 17th century fantasy Japan. The levels are split up, which as a whole become a Stage, and there are various Stages to complete.

Some levels will have you playing your classic side scrolling type arcade action, which is throwing ninja stars, or performing Ninja style attacks. Each level will have a boss, which you need to beat to progress. Some levels do change, for example the second level in the game has you riding on train tracks, where you have to time jumps from one trailer to the next, all the while fighting off the enemies. 

You will see some of the same types of enemies over and over, and the bosses although tough at first follow a routine that as soon as you learn, are quite straight forward to beat.

There are your usual collectables, 1ups, and health boosts and so on.

This is predominantly an arcade game, and in that sense, when you die, that's it, there is no playing from a level you reached previously, it is back to the start. This isn't a massive problem but might be frustrating to younger gamers who have never stood in front of an arcade machine putting in 10p after 10p.

The game is quite tough and unforgiving, and the controls can be a bit frustrating, the wall jumping can be tricky to master, and one little mistake with an enemy is costly.

The Good

I am a fan of the old school arcade side scrollers, this is what I grew up on, and playing this on a Switch Lite was fun. This is the kind of game you will pick up, play for 20 minutes or longer, usually till you die, and then put down until the next day.

The graphics are exactly what they are supposed to be, the sounds are as dodgy as they were in the 90s, so fit in well.

The Bad

The controls could be better, there seems to be options for the character that don't make much difference, and special attacks that are too rare to be used tactically. I also think you need to have a regular arcade mode, and a separate story mode that keeps your progress. Getting far in the game and dying, and knowing that you have to start from the beginning again feels more frustrating than it does challenging.

Overall

A game that reminded me of the countless hours spent in the arcade. 
More of a nostalgia game for people over 35 I suspect, but I thoroughly enjoyed playing.

I score Ganryu 2 a solid 8/10

Out Now on Nintendo Switch

https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-games/Ganryu-2-Hakuma-Kojiro-2175787.html

REVIEW: Chernobylite on PS4

Review by Jon Donnis

I have played a few Survival games recently, with mixed results, I still feel that I have not found a truly great survival game yet, so I come to Chernobylite with an open mind.

Chernobylite is a science fiction survival horror game. It somewhat mixes the classic survival type games with something more akin to a first-person RPG/Adventure game.

The game features a somewhat non linear story, although the start of the game is very linear until you get to the missions.

You play as a physicist Igor, an ex-employee of the famous Chernobyl Power Plant. You have lost your beloved Tatiana, and want to find them, hopefully alive. Although you play for yourself, you do have AI team mates, who you can send on missions, but you also need to make sure they stay healthy, have food, medicine, weapons and so on.

Once past the initial parts of the game, where you see ghostly images of Tatiana, you will settle down with your crew in a deserted building, each day you need to complete missions, as you complete the missions you will meet people, how you treat them and interact with them, will decide whether they become friends or enemies. You will also need to build up your base, craft beds, work stations and even mushroom gardens.

There is combat in the game, but stealth is your friend. There are also supernatural entities to worry about. Once a mission is complete you can use a portal machine to return to base, but sometimes it is worth searching around before going back, as there are often collectables around you will need to survive. Machine parts to craft items, gear, weapons etc, food, and more. The better prepared you are, the more chance of success you will have.

Making choices is a big part of this game, and those choices may or may not affect how things go later on. Now a great part of this game is that when you die, and you will die, you find yourself in a dreamscape of sorts, where you can see the results of your choices, and you can choose to go back in time and make a different choice, which of course then will change the future, change allies or enemies, even parts of the area itself, if you avoid destroying something you did previously.

The main object of the game is to reach the Heist mission. Now you can actually attempt this pretty much straight away, however without a team built up, weapons and full preparation, you will fail, so you might as well complete the daily missions, and make yourself and your crew as strong as possible.

The Good

The game looks great, the area the game takes place in was actually 3D scanned, so about as realistic as can be.
The gameplay is good, the mission concept works well, along with the crafting of items. The fact that choices really can make a difference is very much welcome.

The Bad

Controls at time can feel a bit clunky, and combat itself is not great, so you might find yourself playing in more of a stealth way, simply because that is easier and more fun. There are a few bugs in the game, especially early on. Things like a character getting stuck behind a door with no way to free them, so there only way to continue is to restart the checkpoint.

Overall

Chernobylite finds itself sat in many genres, without ever quite mastering one. Not fully survival game, not fully FPS, not fully RPG.

With that said, Chernobylite is an enjoyable game. And although the PS4 version is decent, the PS5 version is graphically a big difference.

I Score Chernobylite a solid 7/10

Out now on PS4 and PS5 at https://amzn.to/3MhHRJC

REVIEW: The First Tree on Nintendo Switch

Review by Jon Donnis

From the mind of David Wehle comes The First Tree. A 3rd person exploration / walking (galloping??) sim, that has you playing the part of a fox trying to find her missing cubs, which itself is part of a retelling of a dream that the narrator is talking to his wife about, but that also becomes a story of a son reconnecting with his estranged father in Alaska.

That might sound slightly complicated, but it isn't really. You play as the fox, but as you progress through the game, you will hear the conversation of the narrator. The story he tells of reconnecting to his father, becomes a parallel story to that of a fox trying to find their missing cubs.

As this is an exploration game /walking sim, this is more about the story, than the gameplay itself, you will explore areas, collect artifacts, dig up things that expand the story being told. And if you play with commentators' mode on, you can also find audio clips that further tell the story from the game makers perspective, and give insight into how the game was made, the thought processes and so on. I would highly recommend playing with the commentator's mode turned on.

You will play through various landscapes, each one as beautiful as the last.

The First Tree really is a game created by one man, and although his real-life wife is part of the narration, and a beautiful musical score, you can really feel that this is a creation by one man, and his love for the game shines through.

The stunning cell-shaded graphics are gorgeous to look at, the music is great, and although a relatively short game, about 2 hours to complete, the meditative nature of the game will leave you feeling quite fulfilled. I was slightly reminded of Journey on the PS4. If you were a fan of that, then you will like this.

There are puzzles to solve, and platforming elements, but nothing too difficult, mainly how to reach areas, powering up your jumps with butterflies, but in general this is more a game that you should play to really lower your heart rate, to relax to. 

The Good

This is more of an experience than a game, and it's a good experience, a deep and meaningful story, mixed with beautiful music and stunning graphics. A truly meditative game.

The Bad

There are sometimes long periods of you just going in one direction without much else going on, but if you have headphones on, and are relaxed in the moment you won't notice. And also, the game is quite short.

Overall

The First Tree is a meditative experience, that is the best way to explain it. No enemies to kill or avoid, just a chill out experience.

I score The First Tree a fair 8/10

Out now on Nintendo Switch

https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/The-First-Tree-1471960.html

The First Tree will be available for Nintendo Switch, as a Limited Edition and Special Limited Edition, with pre-orders launching on Sunday, 5th of December at 12 AM CET (midnight), only at Strictly Limited Games.

REVIEW: Road 96 on PlayStation 5

Review by Jon Donnis

You know what gamers have been clamouring for? A political game! Yay. (Said no one ever.)

Road 96 has you playing as a teenage trying to cross the border in the summer of 1996, playing in a similar way to the Telltale Games, adventure/point and click narrative driven adventure that is told from a first-person perspective etc, you need to basically take a journey, a road trip, as you make the journey you encounter various characters along the way, each character has a set of problems you need to follow their story, you have a completion percentage, so repeat plays will allow you to experience all parts of their story to reach 100%.

The game takes play in Petria, (which you are trying to escape) an authoritarian regime on the brink of real political change, and decisions you make will affect the outcome of the game, and with your ultimate aim to reach the border, your decisions will affect how or if you get there.

There are seven main characters to encounter, and the "events" that take place might just be a simple conversation, to breaking in to a building or searching a hotel for terrorists. The game itself is short, but by completing events you will unlock abilities which you can then use in new playthroughs by choosing "New Game +" should you decide to start again. So that might be new dialog choices, or things you can interact with. It does help the replayability factor, which is a necessity because the game is so short.

The first event that you find in the first episode is to help a stranded cop, they have lost a relative in the war, speak to them, and then decide how you will proceed, will you hitchhike but risk getting into a car of a stranger, whose motives you do not know, but will save you money, will you get on a bus, which costs a lot, but gives you the safety that hitchhiking does not? Whichever you choose, your choice will decide what you see next, who you will meet, what skills and abilities you might develop, as you get closer to the border. For example, the lockpick skill. Skills become permanent, so on your next playthrough, you might be able to use that lockpick skill to get inside a truck that is going to the border.

Think of the game as a short tree but with a lot of branches, and each time you play, you can access more of the branches.

The Good

The game plays well, it is easy to control, and if you are a fan of the Telltale style games, then you should find enjoyment in this.

The Bad

The voice acting is pretty naff in parts, and the political aspects of the game, are clearly coming from a left-wing perspective. Basically, Left Wing Good, Right Wing Bad. Do we really need this in video games, and considering the disaster Presidency of LEFT-WING authoritarians in Canada and the US right now, the game seems to be yet more propaganda, to get people to think a certain way, instead of just letting people see both sides in a fair manner, and then making their own minds up.

Overall

As a basic Telltale style game, it is decent enough, the political aspects are a bit hit and miss, and the voice acting is poor.

If you are a lefty liberal type, you will probably enjoy the game more than if you are an independent or more right wing.

I score Road 96 a 6/10

Out now on PS5

https://amzn.to/3uM6fwT