DICETINY: The Lord of the Dice

Developer: Fakedice
Publisher: JnK
Release: 2016
Platform: PC
Genre: Board Game/TCG

The saddest part of Dicetiny conforming to the ubiquitous “I know the reference” fanboyism hook is wasting some actually decent, cohesive art assets on parody content instead of developing Fakedice an IP to call their own--which would drop countless copyright infringements along the way as a bonus.

Is it?

Unfortunately it’s undercooked below surface level as well. Good ideas frequently don’t quite come together--at times because luck plays too much of a big role, at times for balancing/pacing issues, or even due to the eventual (sure as death and taxes) bug/crash hitting.

When planets align, levels feel like a blast to play. More often than not though, Dicetiny frustrates and wastes the player’s time.

Primal Light

Developer: Fat Gem
Publisher: Fat Gem
Release: 2020
Platform: PC (played), Switch, XOne, Mac, Linux
Genre: Action

Being Primal Light a game so deeply rooted in the past, it’s baffling to see gameplay mechanics elegantly nailed 30 years ago being convolutedly (unnecessarily so too) implemented in it: dashing, slipping down ladders, hanging from hooks, all need additional d-pad inputs here--never required in their original forms (e.g. Mega Man X, Aero the Acrobat, Darkwing Duck respectively); even sliding can get you stuck middle-action--despite its original flawless implementation in 1990’s Mega Man III setting the standard right off the bat. The aggravating fact that such moves can’t be canceled into others pile up against the game’s overall light-metroidvania feel too, and hidden passive charms aren’t game changers either--to the point they would’ve off-put exploration if extra lives and health/cure upgrades weren’t worth the trouble.

Getting stuck in ladders like it's 1986.

Besides the beautiful (even if uneven and not cohesive at times) pixel art, the game shines when it comes to boss battles though. The contained arenas make for a better opportunity for such custom movesets being fully explored, and the puzzle patterns emerging from that mix pose a decent challenge without being unfair or feeling like a slog.

Primal Light can be a good 16-bit retro fix for some players, but it works best as a reminder that aesthetics alone can only scratch the surface of what's frequently overlooked as a deeper nostalgia itch.

Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition

Developer: DrinkBox Studios
Publisher: DrinkBox Studios
Release: 2014
Platform: PC (played), PS3/4, X360/One, WiiU, Vita, Switch
Genre: Metroidvania

As a cross of platformer and beat ‘em up, Guacamelee doesn’t quite shine in either front: in the platforming side it’s floaty and sticky–more so when lucha moves are mandatory for traversing a level section or solving an environment puzzle; on the brawler hand it’s a bit too stiff and convoluted (crowd control can get very annoying as colored barriers and shifting dimensions pile up against the player) for its own good.

Good thing then it’s a delicious game to inhabit. The “día de muertos” setting is exquisitely realized through some top notch presentation (both in sound and visual arts, even if some vfx don’t connect properly in fights), interesting characters (side quest NPCs included) and terrific dialogue, while also lending the metroidvania aspect of the game a crucial hand–shifting between “alive” and “dead” worlds makes wonders for keeping the backtracking fatigue present in so many titles in the genre away for the most part of it.

Worldbuilding is the name of the game.

The addition of “Intenso” (a temporary superpower) in the updated iteration of the game, brings in a welcome extra layer of balance to its flow besides expanding the player’s agency on how to tackle the game’s challenges (specially when coupled with the not-only-cosmetic skins already there from the start).

Imperfect as it is, Guacamelee conjures a too-good-to-pass-up world dead/alive for a metroidvania buff who’s in for something beyond pure mechanics shenanigans.

Mighty No. 9

Developer: Comcept, Inti Creates
Publisher: Deep Silver
Release: 2016
Platform: PC (played), PS3/4, X360/One, WiiU
Genre: Action

There’s hardly anything left to say about Keiji Inafune’s Mighty No. 9 convoluted (and well documented) development. But as for the final product, gut feelings aside, there’s a faint soul to be found under the game’s debris; it’s just that it never quite shines through to the point of fulfilling its promising sparks of life in any front in particular.

Everything falls short due to a widespread lack of polish plaguing every aspect of the game. Beyond the most blatant tech issues (performance, vfx particles/shaders implementation, the eventual game-breaking glitch), even good ideas are held back by such hindrances–especially when it comes to balancing and fine tuning shortcomings. For instance, it rewards the player for keeping a fluent (and satisfyingly so) pace up with buffs, but the very same buffs disrupt the intended flow (more speed or damage affects traversal in both direct and indirect ways); levels and bosses sport interesting gimmickry premises but, for the most part, they overstay their welcome; a shoehorned stealth level towards the endgame annoys (instead of bringing something fresh to the table) the player who got that far by mastering entirely different skills; and so on.

Designs are genuinely interesting.

As said before, it has strengths. When it flows, it feels remarkably good–maybe to a “good 2D Sonic level” degree, even; the characters/enemies designs are great, and the hint system (which pitches a formerly defeated boss against the next best level) intertwines plot, level design and appeal smoothly; battle/weapons mechanics are interesting enough without being hard to grasp.

In the end, an honest approach may grant Mighty No. 9 isn’t the dumpster on fire one might think for its infamous reputation. But it’s surely undercooked–despite the amount of time and money spent (mostly by faithful backers) on it.

Pikuniku

Developer: Sectordub
Publisher: Devolver
Release: 2019
Platform: PC (played), Switch, XOne, Stadia
Genre: Adventure

Oozing charm on the presentation side–including some fantastic sound design/music–Pikuniku doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. From a promising tactile digital toy, it unfolds as a (light): metroidvania; collectathon; platformer; puzzle; action; highbrow indie title. Unfortunately, for the most part it drags.

The bouncy aspect of the original premise makes everything else (exploring, jumping around, hitting buttons, fighting) a chore, and it becomes more evident when backtracking (an integral, unavoidable part of the experience) comes into play, rendering an underwhelming feel to the 3-hour main campaign run (taking into consideration the amount of time spent solely on traversal matters, that is).

Blatant.

As for ~  v i b e s ~  Pikuniku’s smartass attitude fits Devolver’s catalogue well and may act as a selling point in the current dystopian late capitalist world, but if it’s the case humans (and videogames) survive such games might as well be seen as the 90’s mascots of our time: inadvertently silly and puerile.

MARVEL SNAP

Developer: Second Dinner
Publisher: Nuverse
Release: 2022
Platform: Android (played), iOS, PC
Genre: TCG

You know the most successful aspect of a game is PR when professional reviews are unanimous in pointing out “it’s too generous a F2P” even if it blatantly throws the player through a tunnel of tempting seasonal rewards that can only be snagged through some ol’ real money dropping–as casual players pass them by just to watch their locks refuse to rattle–every 3 weeks or so. But market stuff aside, yes: MARVEL SNAP breathes some (welcome) fresh air into the genre without simply resting on the strength of the tied-in IP.

The trimmed down main setup–12-card decks, only six turns before a full match is over–works surprisingly well not only for its by-design casual appeal; the twist of randomizing available playfields/locations (and the way such are progressively revealed as a match unfolds) adds up a good deal of variety (as an extra pinch of luck) to the mix while allowing the devs to keep a healthy, expansive framework without necessarily having to spend tons of resources on creating/balancing new cards again and again.

As for climbing the prizes ladder and getting extra cards, the way to go is… expanding the very collection itself. This “Collection Level” system is meant to “auto-cap” the amount of new cards a player can add to their ranks, once again elegantly avoiding constant “manual tweaking” by the devs when it comes to regulating the game’s economics. It’s such a Swiss Army knife of a feedback method that it can’t help itself being both good-natured and noxious to the player at the same time: e.g., as it randomly digs prizes from an invisible “tier pool” it relegates casual players to their “rookie” level for a long time before handling them a “chance to have a chance” of getting real game-changer cards; when synergy starts coming into play this gets even worse, since the odds of pulling more cards that are both a) good and b) work well together are slim. On the other hand, allowing a player to increase their Collection Level by spending resources on cosmetic upgrades to cards they already own lends them a decent deal of agency on how to do it in satisfying personal fashion.

The infamously tempting ladder.

Talking about cosmetics, there’s no cohesion to be seen among the collectible cards’ art pieces: they’re all over the place both aesthetically and quality-wise. A sad (but perhaps unavoidable) departure from how solid a “historic” curation approach–like the one previously available in Marvel Puzzle Quest, for instance–would have been with such a decades old IP-focused project; regardless, results tend to be good enough to keep it afloat, given the fact that the current audience’s nostalgia only trace back to, roughly, MCU’s beginnings or so. Credit where credit's due though, the game does pretty well in other presentation areas–especially VFX and sound design/music.

Issues aside, MARVEL SNAP is very well positioned to grow bigger by the day and become a F2P juggernaut–and an ever healthier one while at it. That’s only possible because the development team made the clever decision to plant its structural foundations far beyond some shallowly obvious Baby Groot fan service would.

The Nightmare Cooperative

Developer: Lucky Frame
Publisher: Blazing Griffin
Release: 2014
Platform: PC
Genre: Roguelike

The Nightmare Cooperative is one of the rare cases of a modern game that could be labelled “retro-hard” for the right reason: it’s tough for longevity’s sake, just like old times. Rather than being a compliment that just speaks volumes about the (apparently) deliberate imbalance of the odds against the player, especially in a genre in which making the most of every run tends to be vital: enemies usually take more than one hit to die, don’t drop loot or lend XP and ultimately defeat the purpose of reaching for treasure chests altogether--opening one with 2 coins will bring an equivalent number of enemies to the playfield, and such meagre rewards are rarely worth the trouble. Even growing the party by enlisting soldiers along the way makes it harder, since manoeuvring a bunch of heroes sharing the same inputs within such a crowded 9x9 grid is a recipe for frustration.

Art direction overall ups the game a couple notches.

So, fittingly enough, the fact that it’s on the short side plays in favour of the game since it never reaches the point of overstaying its welcome. The clean, polished art style makes it for awakening the completionist in the player and raises the “one more play” factor--even if it’s just for unlocking yet another new character (with a particular playstyle and neat flavour description of their own) before calling it a day. The controls and scene flows are just as slick as the art and doesn’t hurt the experience a bit either.

The Nightmare Cooperative may not be the best “value” proposition for such a potential buyer--even if the Steam Trading Cards can mitigate that a good bit--but it’s a solid product, the result of an interesting enough premise that’s well-executed enough to be worth being checked out.