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I read Nintendo Life’s review of this at work today and decided to pick it up. So far it’s only been released on the Japanese eshop store. All the western press seem to refer to it as Gal Metal so that’s what I’ve called this thread, although I can’t find any official English title for the game, just the Japanese title ガルメタル (ga-ru-me-ta-ru). I was wondering why it wasn’t translated as Girl Metal, so I checked my dictionary and apparently “girl” is usually written ガール, a slightly longer “ga” sound, so maybe Gal Metal is the best translation. (Side note, Gal Gun is written differently again in Japanese, ギャル - gya-ru.) Semantics aside, it’s a visual novel/rhythm action game. You can play using the joy cons, pro controller or even touch screen I think. I wanted to play with the joy cons as in this video: But the game wouldn’t recognize my joycons (I realised afterwards this was because I had them set as Controller 2, you have it set them as Controller 1 in the Switch controller menu) so I played the first chapter using the pro-controller. For the rhythm-action part of the game, it’s not about matching button presses with on-screen icons, it’s more about keeping rhythm with the song and trying to string together combos, but as long as you are doing that you are free to play however you like (but if you haven’t built up a sufficient score by the end of the performance, you will fail). In the first chapter there were just two button presses introduced, the bass drum and the snare drum (if memory serves), so it was really easy to play on the pro controller. I can’t say I understand what I’m supposed to be doing completely but o got a way high score than required so...so far so good. Later once i connected the joy cons properly I tried it with that, I got a much lower score but it’s the more fun way to play so I think I’ll stick with that for now. But it’s as much a visual novel/manga as it is a rhythm action game. Basically the story is, a group of alien octopuses come to destroy Earth because people from Earth sent a cd of metal music into space which subsequently destroyed the alien octopus planet, because...because that’s their weakness. So they’ve come to exact revenge. They abduct a young boy and girl (the girl is a drummer) and put the boy inside the girl’s body (like in the anime Your Name). The girl whose body the boy has taken over is a drummer in a school metal band, so she basically acts as your teacher. So basically you defend Earth against their attack by performing metal music. Yeah it’s pretty crazy... The reason that I say it’s as much a visual novel as it is a rhythm action game is that there was more more reading than rhythm-action in the first chapter, so your enjoyment of the game (and value for money) will be reduced significantly if you can’t read Japanese. So far there has been no mention of a western release but it’s early days I guess. In terms of the difficulty of the Japanese, it’s pretty similar to the manga I’ve read. I’ve studied around three-quarters of the regular use kanji so I have a pretty good base to work with. I didn’t have to look up new words too often in the first chapter (but the game does have kanji that I haven’t studied and it doesn’t give you the readings for them). But because there are no kanji readings it will be really good reading practice for me I think. The game is pretty learner friendly because the text doesn’t advance until you tell it to, and the writing is large and easy to read on the tv. The art style and animation has been relatively simple so far, it’s obviously not a AAA game. But it’s pretty cool, if nothing else other than a fun way to study some Japanese.

I'd head this game was good and i've had it on my sale watch list for a while. This week it was on sale so I bought it, started it and wish I'd bought it sooner. Did anybody else play Gregory Horror Show on PS2? I know @DANGERMAN and I were fans, can't remember if anybody else got on board. Anyways, The Sexy Brutale follows a similar design. In this game you, a preacher named Boone, awake in a huge casino/hotel during the yearly social bash called "The Sexy Brutale" where mysterious and murderous things are afoot. The guests of the party are stuck in a 12 hour loop, yet you have control over time via your stopwatch. This allows you to sneak around, following guests and listening to their conversations, assemble knowledge and use it to try to save them from their grizzly fate. There are grandfather type clocks scattered around the hotel and you can use these clocks as a starting point when you reset the time loop so you can start closer to an incident you want to investigate further as time is always of the essence. You have to find the key so as to wind these grandfather clocks up before you can use them though, it makes you work for any conveniences. The only other thing I'll add is that each time you save a guest you gain their mask and the ability therein, I shant give any examples as the discovery of this game is all part of the joy. You off start off not having a fucking clue whats going on, then you stumble across somebody's path, you follow, you listen, you pick up clues and you put them all together, you figure out where to be and at what time and it all comes together, you've saved the guest and it's back to not having a clue again. But the sense of achievement gained from the starting point to the conclusion is immense. It's actually exciting to see your plan come together and actually work. There only seems to be one key guest to save at a time, at least so far, so it's not too overwhelming. I've only saved three (well. four but two are in one questline) so i've no idea how things will evolve but i really wanted to put up an impression because somebody else really needs to play this game. Well, from what i've played so far you all do.

Oxenfree was released way back in January which I guess makes it a retro title by today's standards. I don't know about the PS4 or Xbox One but it's currently heavily discounted on Steam so now is as good a time to pick it up as any. As it turns out, I already own it. It looks like this. I just played it for sixteen minutes so I can give you sixteen minutes worth of impressions. So far it's been a pleasant side-scrolling walk and talk simulator. Not a million miles from Life is Strange if Life is Strange was side-scrolling. The conversations so far have been kind of typical preppy American teenage stuff. At the beginning of the game the characters are heading to some kind of after dark party on an island. The main point I'd like to make is that the game has a really good electronic soundtrack. The art style has a bit of Kentucky Route Zero.

Put a fair bit of time into this over the past couple days, think I'm around 5-6 hours in, about halfway through Episode 3. First thing I noticed was the step up in visuals over Rev 1, you can definitely tell this is a newer cross-gen title built for consoles with the lighting, particle effects, enemy designs and a lot of the texture quality being a huge step up from the first game, facial animations are markedly improved as well. The whole game though is vastly different. Rev 1 felt very contained to this one ship, very stuffy and claustrophobic - in a good way, it gave the ship an identity of its own - you do explore other locales sure, but the meat of the game is what happens on that ship with Jill and Chris. This though, feels totally different. You wake up with Claire in this Prison area, find Moira, you've both got these bracelets attached and there's someone listening/watching your every move. It's all very Saw and the look of it is very industrial, there's no other way to put it, it's very grey and rather bland. You do make it out of the Prison after the first Episode and the game picks up after this, but the environs still don't really wow me, everything has a generic kind of look about it that will feel familiar to those that have played RE4/RE5. I definitely appreciate the variation though, but wish the variation wasn't Prison to factory, one grey area after another. You seem to be stuck on this island in the middle of the Ocean, got serious Code Veronica flashbacks playing as Claire and all, but the island just doesn't have as much character as the ship from Rev 1 as of yet. I do like how they've tightened and mixed up the combat though. Being able to switch characters on the fly is great and leads to some cool puzzles along the way, I reckon playing with another human would be fantastic but the AI has done a competent enough job so far. The shooting feels less floaty and the bullet impact on enemies feels far more visceral and satisfying. The inventory management feels much sleeker and easier to pull off too, combining items into various bits and pieces and passing items between the two characters is much improved. So overall, I'm enjoying it, but can't help but feel it lacks a bit of character compared to Rev 1, it's just not that memorable so far, but hopefully it improves. I will say I'm liking the dual plot-lines and time periods, definitely keeps things feeling fresh, just wish you didn't have to repeat a locale with Barry after already going through it with Claire. A few pics:

So, this is one of the 5 games the wife got me for Xmas. Previous years have been... Tolerable... But this year THQ seem to have gone all in on the need for microtransactions. Unlike earlier instalments, this one has no old school story mode. So no Attitude Era, no Wrestlemania mode, nothing. Just create a character and go have a career. A 60 rated character who regularly fights opponents rated 70 or above. You can upgrade, but the attribute points, and the currency is so rare you're pretty much forced into paying real money to play through the career. I'm currently stuck on a 2-on-1 handicap match, getting hammered every time I attempt it. Gameplay is absolutely brainless. If it was tuned a little better it'd be great fun, and it'd make losing so much easier to swallow too. Graphics... Erm... Sometimes they're fantastic (see John Cena and HHH's entrances), and other times they're awful - see Big E. Sound is a mixed bag too. As you're playing through career you have a background soundtrack, but it's the same 10 songs over and over. There's a Kid Rock song on there I used to quite like. Not anymore. If you're obsessed with the series give it a go, but as far as I'm concerned, fuck WWE 2k18.

I saw Ed playing this earlier, I think a few might like it. The easy description is twin-stick shooter meets clicker. Here’s a video as it explains it much better than I can. It’s out on all the usual suspects but I bought the Switch version as I was looking for something addictive to replace my Stardew addiction. It’s pretty good so far though hasn’t quite got its claws into me. Comparing my current play to that video, my guns are underpowered and I’m not constantly getting money from the planets like he is so I suspect that’s an upgrade somewhere along the way. There’s a knowing-ness about the guy that pops up and gives you tool tips. One of his lines was, “to all the people that find my voice annoying, you should’ve heard the ones we discarded”. You can also turn his voice off in the menu.

I'm surprised there isn't a thread for this. It was on sale for the Switch recently and I've wanted to play it for a while. I'm a good chunk into this now and I'm quietly enjoying it. It's a relatively straight forward JRPG with a general plot about escorting a young woman who is going to willfully sacrifice herself for the greater good of the land. I think it has a similar general premise in that regard to Final Fantasy X. It's a meloncholic game what with it always kinda dark and snowing all the time with a very stripped back, piano based soundtrack with an art style similar to earlier Final Fantasy games. It's actually very Chrono Trigger in the combat system, it almost feels like its taken right out of it but they added a system linked to the Active Time Battle system where if you wait while your bar is full and able to make a move you can charge up stronger versions of your moves. It's a neat, subtle little risk reward system which I like quite a bit. It gives the battles a wee bit more tension. It hasn't wowed me with an amazing plot or character driven scenes but it's just a bitter sweet little 90s Final Fantasy game. It's cool, I'm glad I did end up liking it.

Where to start. What it is. It is definitely an old school Rare esq 3D platformer. From the music to the grunty dialogue, the duo of characters and the cohorts you meet along the way, it's pertty much Banjo Kazooie 3 in all but name. It's good from what I played so far but I know it will annoy people due to being the above. You can scale a height of platforms only to find you can't progress. Certain characters won't talk to you yet untill you do something later to unlock their progression. Everyone talks alot and makes bad jokes. You can see things you can't get to as you need to learn a move that comes later on and I think this kind of thing will piss people off. I love this kind of game, i'm on board, I knew what it was and that's what i want so im cool with all that shit. What i'm not cool with is the shitty camera. It feels like they've brought that with them as part of the nostalgia. It's not game breakingly terrible by any means but, for example, the boss of world one is up a slope. He's chuckingshit down at you and you have to avoid it. For some reason they've loked the camera really low down so it's hard to judge when to jump. Also, the movement when you move up slopes using your slope run move is awful. It's realy fast and even when you press left or right you go up a little bit first. This is super fucking frustrating on his third attack pattern and I felt like I shouldn't be getting this pissed of with the game on the first boss. It can also be hard to judge where platforms or collectibles are a la Banjo or Mario 64. They slightly deeper in to the background or more in to the forefront than you sometimes expect - extra annoying if that is a misplaced jump that sends you falling to your death or back to the beginning of a climb. But but but, it's great platforming for the most part. The controls are slick, it's a beatiful colourful world and it's all very jolly. Littered with collectibles and tons of stuff to do, it seems certainly great value for your money. It's just weird I have the same beef with it that I did with the Nintendo 64's flagship game. I'm only a couple of hours in, watch this space I guess.

I've seen a couple of people on my Switch friends list playing this. I completed the first one on the PC and then got it for free on PS4 so played through it again but I'm having difficulty remembering what is new in this and what isn't. It seems more focussed on exploring as a platformer - I don't feel like I've done anywhere near as much digging down as I remember doing in the last one. One ability I have unlocked which may or may not be new is the hook shot, which is pretty cool and I've gone back to old areas to find secret places. So far I give it the thumbs up. I was itching for a Metroidvania to play and this is more or less that.

My impressions from the Testpunch: Just played 30 mins or so of it. Surprisingly really enjoyed it, I did feel a bit of a tit flailing my arms about like a mad man but there's something incredibly fun and quite addictive about it, at the end of every match I always felt myself thinking 'can't wait to get into the next match'. I like the lobby system too, it always makes you feel involved and as part of a small community of fighters. I did have problems with the motion controls though, they felt a little imprecise to me, with the game getting left/right punches mixed up with grabs, I have no idea how to move left or right either, I was pretty much planted on the spot for every match although I could jump, dodging I couldn't manage. I did quite well too, managed to win my first 3 matches somehow by abusing the grab, got a couple of wins later too but didn't do so well in the last few matches though. The beach volleyball match type is great too. I can't believe how much I like this, I literally guffawed at this thing when it was at the Switch Conference in January and now here I am having a fucking amazing time playing it. Tried a few different characters after sticking with the machine Mae lookalike. Tried the Ninja, the string-arm lady and the big Mummy dude, seemed to get on well with big Mummy dude so will probably stick with him, love how he can regain health when he guards, that's a bloody godsend. I think the only thing I don't like is the 3/4 person 'fight' mode where you're all fighting each other, just doesn't feel very intuitive at all and you can get cheap-shotted from behind without being able to defend numerous times. Pre-ordered, not sure I'm gonna play the other test punch hour's this (and next) weekend as I don't want to get burnt out on it too early, but yeah, I'm sold. I've been so wrong about the Switch in general too, I absolutely fucking love it. Full game impressions: Played 2 hours last night and 3 hours today. My full game impressions pretty much echo my Testpunch impressions really. Played a lot of party mode online, getting used to all the controls etc. Again, had success with the Mummy but not as much as the Testpunch. Tried lots of other characters and really liked Ninjara so stuck with him for a while. Completed the Grand Prix mode with the Mummy on the easiest difficulty, not difficult at all and reminded me of the 50cc mode in MK really, was still fun all the same though. Today I went straight into Level 4 of the Grand Prix to see what the difficulty would be like (knowing if I finished it it would unlock the ranked online mode) with Twintelle. Hardly used her before but got used to her after losing a few times during the first fight and eventually made more progress than I expected. Made my way through the entire Lv. 4 GP without too many issues, had to retry quite a few fights 2-3 times but no big deal really. The final boss gave me a few more issues but I put him down within 4/5 tries. I was elated to beat the final boss and was cheering away when the game then revealed there was another boss I'd have to face that was even more difficult and annoying. I honestly didn't think I'd beat this guy, he has 6 arms and his attacks are absolutely devastating, was at it for AGES, about 30 tries later I FINALLY beat him and was jumping round the room with joy, incredibly satisfying but I really don't want to touch that GP mode again after that. Back to party mode after for a relax after the high octane action of the GP, trying different fighters again, really liked Min Min and the Cobra guy so may use them again in the future. So yeah, I still like it a hell of a lot, its just so deep, so satisfying but so approachable at the same time, still getting used to all the different characters strengths/weaknesses etc. Haven't tried Ranked mode yet since I unlocked it but I've no doubt its going to be intense as hell. Gives you a really good workout too! Can barely pick my arms up right now and was covered in sweat after I finished playing. Not really a fighting game guy at all but I adore this game, first fighting game that's clicked with me since Marvel v Capcom 3.

I'm not sure if you can call someone who plays the game on "Easiest" a challenger, but anyway... First things first, the Japanese version of the game only has the Japanese language on the disc so changing the console language does nothing. Oh well... I went into training with Ryu and learned how to do his Hadouken (the standard version and the fire version), his Shoryuken and his flying kick move that I've forgotten the name of. And his super, which I can usually pull off within five or so attempts of trying... Then I played through Arcade mode as Ryu on Easiest. I found that entering combos with the analogue stick was a bit slippery so I switched to the d-pad, although the analogue stick is still easiest for doing the forwards and backwards jump. After arcade mode I went online and played a few matches. I played a couple of casual matches against Violent Ken and Vega, and a couple of ranked matches against Ryu and Evil Ryu. I played three best of 3 round matches against them all. I lost them all except for one match against Ryu which I won. The guy seemed content to get into an endless Hadouken jerk-off fest and I somehow pulled two wins out of the bag, in one round I even caught him with a super to seal the deal haha. Take that! But on the whole I was destroyed. The guy playing as Vega destroyed me. It's hard to tell whether you should forward jump into people and kick them, or be patient and let them come to you. But I was usually fucked when I got boxed into a corner. Firing Hadoukens seemed to be my best option. But everyone I played seemed to have a much more comprehensive understanding of this game than me. For now I'll focus on playing through Arcade mode as everyone and see if there's a character I really like. I'll keep playing a few online matches too though because it probably the only way to get any better at this game...

I finished this with a crap ending the other day. I have since gone back and found all of my tank's (called Sophia III) upgrades, beat the end boss and unlocked some more game. So make sure you comb the game. So it's like Symphoney of the Night style Castlevania games and a bit like the Metroid series, so I guess it's a Metroidvania since we still haven't dreamt up a better name for the genre, yet. But you gotta comb the areas since there is no easy way to get around; like no warp points or shortcuts and that. And the game is set out in a level based way so if you miss something it is just a case of playing a level backwards. Some areas of Super Metroid felt like that, but this is a whole game of it. The action is good and weird, and feels satisfying. Starts off kinda Megaman-y but as you get upgrades that are either weapons with odd properties (like homing missiles, a thunder bolt that shoots downwards, charge beams and a big, screen filling anime laser and many more!). Enemies and the way they are placed often make experimenting with them fun and puzzle-y. You also have the ability to jump out of your tank and control a wee man. There are parts of the game where you take him into a cave or something and play this isometric shooter. And these parts are full of cool, weird action as well; even weirder, maybe. Your weapon has loads of modes: it can shoot a bullet, be a shotgun, be a machine gun and loads more. When you take damage you lose a weapon mode so to keep the best weapon (one that has a wide shot and shoots through walls) you gotta not get hit. The weapon is so good, though that you won't get hit. I would just use the R button to lock myself in a diagonal position and strafe around since not that many enemies have tracking shots and mostly shoot in four directions. Bosses are troublesome, though, and it's here where you will have to start working around your guns limitions and again adding a cool puzzle element to the combat. It's really a legit game and I liked it more than I thought I was going to. I just wish it was less obnoxious to get around at times. But other than that it's top Banana!

Didn't realise this had a single player mode, but the demo does so i bought it. it's pretty cool puzzle game, you swap between 2 characters and can cut each other up to make different shapes to help solve the puzzles. the puzzles - some slightly annoying, and the making shapes ones are a bit boring, but the rest are mostly very good. It's quite short for single player only - 45 levels, took i guess 2.5 hours maybe. it's supposed to be primarily a multiplayer game though and i can't really comment on the content there, other than the levels i played can be done with 2 players and there's 2 other modes for 2-4 players. it did seem like it would be fun in multiplayer. probably not worth the cost if you're just going to play it 1 player. hopefully get to try it in multiplayer at some point. anyone else pick this up? any multiplayer impressions?