Twinworld Game Reviews

Archive for January, 2020

January 30th 2020- Courtesy of Fabraz and Umaiki Games, Skellboy launches today on the Nintendo Switch! Take on a endless horde of squarely undead horrors with an array of items that’s as much autopsy as it is arsenal, as you swap around Skippy’s body parts and weapons to fit any situation that comes their way. It’s all in aid of defeating the dastardly Squaruman and thwarting his conquest of the Cubold Kingdom, a land exactly as pixelated as all these shape puns would suggest.

Skellboy is available now on the Nintendo Switch for $20.00 USD. There’s also some sweet merch available from The Yetee and the soundtrack will be available on vinyl courtesy of Black Screen Records. Skellboy will also be coming to Steam sometime later this year.

About Skellboy

Sometimes, when there is nobody up to the task, old heroes have to rise from the grave to save the day! Crush your enemies and make good use of their guts – literally, as you can augment Skippy with your foe’s body parts and weapons!

Help Skippy, the cubic skeleton, to fight off Squaruman’s endless forces of undead and vicious foes in this rectangular action packed cardboard adventure!

What’s inside?

• An expansive singleplayer experience across the interconnected Kingdom of Cubold full of square charming characters and edgy villains!
• A true action-rpg adventure that will test your skill and rewards exploration!
• Swap your bones for 100+ different body parts and items of friends and foes with (more or less) useful effects!
• 5 unique weapon types to clobber any foes you face!
• Special enemies and bosses that will truly test your mettle!
• A Vibrant 2d pixelart style that comes to life in a 3d world!
• Includes some rocking chiptune tracks and sounds!

Source: PR Email

SEOUL – Jan. 30, 2020 – Bookbound Brigade, the side-scrolling action platformer starring legendary characters from history and literature from developer Digital Tales and publisher Intragames, is out now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Steam for Windows PC.

An adventure teeming with beloved figures from fiction and history, Bookbound Brigade features eight playable heroes all moving as a single unit. Wield the powers of Nikola Tesla, Robin Hood, Dorothy Gale, Sun Wukong, Queen Victoria, Cassandra, and more, each with bespoke abilities and skills that help the entire team on their journey across five literary-themed worlds.

Guide the Brigade on a quest to recover the Book of Books, a powerful tome that binds the Literary World together. Without the Book in its rightful place, every word ever written will fade from memory, causing great and iconic characters to blink from existence. Knowing what is at stake, the Brigade begins their search to retrieve the Book and rescue the Literary World.

Traverse environments inspired by real-world locations and famous imaginary settings, all filled with secrets to uncover and obstacles to overcome. Push back against the forces of evil by harnessing powers like King Arthur’s fearsome charge with Excalibur and defensive Testudo shield or escape from harm’s way entirely with Dracula’s wings. Swap between four Brigade formations to access new areas, avoid enemy attacks, and navigate precarious platforms.

Interact with more than 50 non-playable characters from history and acclaimed works of fiction. Undertake sidequests, uncover lost relics, such as the Mona Lisa, and face off against bosses like Frankenstein’s monster and the fearsome Medusa on this trip through space and time.

“Bookbound Brigade brings so many popular characters from literature and history together in a humorous and entertaining package,” said Sue Yim, Overseas Marketing Manager, Intragames. “Whether you’re a bookworm, fan of Metroidvania-style games, or both, we’re excited to share Bookbound Brigade with you on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Steam today.”

Bookbound Brigade is out now on the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Store, and Steam for $19.99 / €19.99 / £17.99 / $30.00 AUD. The game features English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese language options. A special Steam bundle containing Bookbound Brigade and its original soundtrack will also be available for a limited time, running from the game’s Jan. 30 launch until Feb. 29.

For more information about Bookbound Brigade, please visit the official website, please follow Intragames on Twitter and join the Bookbound Brigade community on Twitter and Facebook. The Bookbound Brigade Facebook page will be running a weekly contest for fans: like the official Bookbound Brigade page for more details and a chance to win a copy of the game!

Source: PR Email

30 January, 2020 – Indie publisher Digerati is thrilled to announce that Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions will launch on consoles next month. Developed by Russian studio Onyx Lute, the second offering in its acclaimed laid-back puzzler series gives players a wonderland collection of fantasy-inspired, stained-glass jigsaws to piece together and enjoy.

Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions will be available to download 11/12 February on PS4 (NA/EU respectively), 13 February on Nintendo Switch, and 14 February on Xbox One. There will be a 20% launch discount on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, and a 20% discount for anyone who pre-orders Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions from the Microsoft Store.

Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions continues the high-bar set by the original, with beautiful puzzles, sublime soundtrack, and calming challenge. The original Glass Masquerade has been downloaded over 250K times across PC and consoles, and both games have garnered impressive Steam user reviews with 97% and 94% positive ratings respectively.

“Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions has a darker atmosphere to the first game – we really liked the idea of bringing the weird mood of stories such as Alice in Wonderland into the glass pieces and short texts that accompany the puzzles,” says Onyx Lute’s Timur Lazarenko. “We’re really happy we’ve managed to fit so many different sources of inspiration into a single cohesive experience.”

About the game

Glass Masquerade 2: Illusions is a dreamlike collection of artistic jigsaw puzzles to piece together at your own relaxed pace. Dive into the rabbit hole of the abstract and the fantastical, putting together stained-glass fragments to solve dreams and riddles. Enjoy baroque depictions of 20th century imagination, in puzzles more intricate and complex than the original.

Key features

• Over 30 artistic puzzles to complete
• Gorgeous stained-glass depictions of 20th century surrealism and fantasy
• New options to introduce greater challenge, such as randomized shard angles
• A new original soundtrack from composer Nikita Sevalnev
• Platinum Trophy and 1000G Achievements for PS4 and Xbox One versions
• Xbox One X Enhanced for super-vivid, picture-perfect puzzling in 4K

Source: PR Email

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – January 30, 2020 – Speaking Simulator, the hilarious game about an android struggling to infiltrate human society, dominates social situations with perfect pronunciation on Nintendo Switch and Steam today.

Create an android with the goal of living among and eventually subjugating the good people of Earth. Learn their mannerisms, their customs, their pastimes, and their way of speaking. Equipped with advanced speech emulation technology, it should be no problem at all. And yet…

Talking is not always easy for humans. This “human” tends towards awkward pauses, excessive eye contact, and inappropriate mouth noises. Wield tricky QWOP-style controls to manipulate the android’s lips and tongue to form accurate meat noises that hopefully sound something like words. Execute perfect gesticulation and the world will not stand a chance.

Scenarios start off as basic watercooler chat but quickly become more complicated. Challenges like shoveling peas into the android’s mouth mid-sentence make the inherent pain of human interaction even more apparent. The poor robot has an adverse reaction to people becoming suspicious of it: as it flubs more words, its face gradually starts to smoke and eventually explode. Emulating and infiltrating humanity with half a face might be…difficult.

The smoother the speech, the higher the score, allowing for more upgrades to ramp up the difficulty and the score threshold. Optimize Socio-Optic Dynamics to adjust eye contact with suspicious humans. Choose to install some new Expressive Facial Pistons to activate eyebrow wiggling to express intricate human face emotions. PC players can use their own faces to manipulate the android by enabling the webcam controller option in the control settings.

“01000100 01101111 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01110001 01110101 01100101 01110011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01101000 01110101 01101101 01100001 01101110 01101001 01110100 01111001,” said Jed Dawson, co-founder at Affable Games. “Making words is hard, but making words in front of humans is harderer. That is why we made Speaking Simulator. So humans like us can speak to other humans.”

Speaking Simulator is available in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, Korean and Traditional and Simplified Chinese today on PC/Mac via Steam. Korean, Russian and Simplified and Traditional Chinese will be available on Switch at a later date, with all other languages available at launch.

Source: PR email

London, United Kingdom – January 30th, 2020 – UKIYO Publishing and Overhype Studios are proud to announce that its critically acclaimed procedurally-generated tactics title Battle Brothers is coming to Nintendo Switch in 2020. Soon, you’ll be able to manage your merry band of mercenaries on the go!

Having launched on PC to rave reviews in 2017, Battle Brothers is a turn-based tactical RPG in which players accrue their own mercenary gang in a gritty, medieval fantasy world. You decide whom to hire, where to go, what contracts to take on, and how to manage your private militia. Running a company requires blood, sweat and tears as you balance your budget, equip your crew, and do whatever it takes to put food on the table as you wander through this unforgiving world.

Once in combat, Battle Brothers is a different kind of tactical affair, as you position your players into place. They best be well equipped, however, as different weapons will have different advantages and disadvantages against the rogue gallery of cronies. Split shields with axes, stun enemies with a mace, form a phalanx with spears, or crush enemy armour with a war-hammer. Everything in Battle Brothers is permanent, so once you lose a soldier, they’re gone forever. And if you lose your whole squad, it’s game over! The world of Battle Brothers is rough and unforgiving, ensuring that the stakes are always high both in battle and in the monetary management outside of it.

In addition to all of Battle Brothers’ tactical depth, UKIYO Publishing and Overhype Studios will release all DLC, including the Lindwurm, Warriors of the North, Beasts & Exploration, and Blazing Deserts expansions, adding a bevy of new gameplay mechanics, quests, creatures, equipment and more post-launch this summer.

“Battle Brothers was a big success for us on PC thanks to our passionate and supportive community that offered us loads of useful feedback,” said Jan Taaks from Overhype Studios. “Among other things a Switch version of the game was kept being requested to allow Battle Brothers to be played on the go. In addition, we can now bring our challenging, hardcore strategy game to a whole new audience on the Switch!”

“When we first saw Battle Brothers we were instantly in love with it and were really hoping that we could port it to Switch for a whole new audience,” said Martin Hann of UKIYO Publishing. “We love both tactics titles and gaming on the go, so this was a match made in heaven… only with a lot more decapitations.”

Source: PR Email

29 January, 2020 – Indie publisher Digerati is delighted to announce that it’s bringing the colorful 2D RPG-platformer Underhero to consoles next month.

The debut game from Venezuelan studio Paper Castle, Underhero is inspired by Paper Mario (among many other RPGs) and offers its own oddball spin on RPG adventures with a special timing-based combat system, old-school platforming fun, a quirky cast of characters, and a lighthearted story about an unlikely hero on an unforgettable journey to save a kingdom.

Underhero will be available to download 11/12 February on PS4 (NA/EU respectively), 13 February on Nintendo Switch, and 14 February on Xbox One. There will be a 20% launch discount on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, and a 20% discount for anyone who pre-orders Underhero from the Microsoft Store.

Underhero turns the hero journey on its head, casting players in the role of an underling who begrudgingly embarks on a perilous quest. Aided by a magical companion, the accidental adventurer must purge all evil from the Chestnut Kingdom.

“Underhero began as a humble passion project inspired by our love for Nintendo RPGs. After many years of hard work, we are extremely happy to share the world we’ve created with a bigger audience than ever before,” say Kay & Andie of Paper Castle. “Get ready to experience a unique battle system and a subversive story full of twists and turns, now on your favorite console!”

About the game

Underhero is an RPG-platformer where the chosen hero has failed, and an underling of the evil king reluctantly takes his place as the new hero. Use timing-based combat to defeat enemies as you venture across the land, face off against quirky bosses, and save the Chestnut Kingdom from your own evil boss, Mr Stitches!

Key features

• A side-scrolling RPG adventure, complete with lush pixel art and cartoony aesthetics
• Jump, slash, evade, talk, and bribe your way through a fantasy adventure with a satirical twist
• Turn-based combat… without the turns! Precisely timed actions are your most powerful weapons
• Level up, solve puzzles, find secrets in a world full of friends, foes, and weird inhabitants
• A wonderful original soundtrack composed by Stijn van Wakeren
• A story full of humor and mysteries awaits!

Source: PR Email

Krakow, Poland – January 28th, 2020. Publisher All in! Games revealed today that ‘It came from space and ate our brains’, first published in 2015 is now returning! Enjoy new features and a major overhaul as you boost your high score even higher on PC and consoles.

Who’s the most awesome alien slayer in the entire world? You are, obviously, and now you can prove it! ‘It came from space and ate our brains’ is a unique Arcade top-down shooter. Looking for addicting gameplay elements, four-player local co-op mode, and tons of aliens to send into oblivion? Yes, yes and yes? You’re in the right place!

A merciless alien species has invaded the Earth and they feed on human brains (duh). Wander the city and other atmospheric locations as a no-nonsense kind of guy with the two essentials in life—a flashlight and something to turn aliens into goo. Things look pretty bad and there’s chaos everywhere! Time to save the world! Again!

Find powerful weapons, use your flashlight and special powers to send the unwanted intergalactic guests back into space or just kill them, whichever comes first. Watch out—there are different alien types and they all think your brain is delicious! Survive hordes of enemies trying to corner you and get inside your skull… at least until you set a new high score and die like a badass!

Some of the coolest features in the game:

Six exciting, co-op, campaign missions that up to four players can enjoy locally

●    A brand-new prologue to the game, showing you how to become a pro in no-time

●    Survival mode to spice the game up

●    Completely re-done interface, making it easier to focus on slaying aliens

●    An incredible techno soundtrack that is sure to raise your heartbeat

●    Visually updated and upgraded over the original in every possible way

●    Re-balanced difficulty, making it more fun for both new and experienced players

Source: PR Email

IRVINE, Calif. – January 23, 2020 – Good news: you won’t need to lug around a 300-pound arcade cabinet to play your favorite arcade titles on the go because Shinobi and Fantasy Zone are now available as part of the SEGA AGES line-up for the Nintendo Switch!

Prepare to dispatch the hordes of evil in Shinobi with style thanks to a wealth of quality-of-life additions, including an AGES mode that gives the master ninja extra health and damage, difficulty level and stage select options, a rewind time feature, and a unique Cabinet display mode that replicates the look and feel of playing in an actual arcade.

Or you can take control of that cute, egg-shaped ship Opa-Opa in the bright pastel world of Fantasy Zone. Don’t be fooled by the colorful aesthetics, though – Fantasy Zone is known for its difficulty. Fortunately, this SEGA AGES release includes a very useful Coin Stock option to assist shoot-em-up newcomers, along with a Time Attack mode for a bonus challenge, extra bosses, and the ability to play as Opa-Opa’s brother, Upa-Upa!

About Shinobi

Ninjutsu master Joe Musashi returns in this classic side-scrolling platformer. He has been sent on a mission to single-handedly find and rescue all the children of the Oboro clan who have been kidnapped by a criminal syndicate known as ZEED. Utilize your sharp sword, shurikens, throwing knives, and even magic to defeat the enemy and free the hostages.

About Fantasy Zone

A pioneer of the “cute ’em up” genre, Fantasy Zone tells a surprisingly bleak tale about the mighty space warrior Opa-Opa’s journey for revenge in a pastel-colored world. Defeat enemies to collect coins and power up Opa-Opa in order to rescue the world of Fantasy Zone in this exciting classic!

Shinobi and Fantasy Zone are now available individually on the Nintendo Switch eShop in the Americas and Europe for $7.99 (with commensurate European pricing).

Source: PR Email

January 22nd, 2020 – Indie publisher Sometimes You is proud to announce that they’ll be bringing the award-winning puzzle adventure game, 7th Sector, to consoles on February 5th.

Developed almost solely by one person, Sergey Noskov, this cyberpunk odyssey has you controlling an array of different machines and solving all manner of puzzles as you set off to survive and learn the truth of this dark and mysterious dystopia.

7th Sector will be available on February 5th on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PS4 for $19.99 USD.

About 7th Sector:

Welcome to the 7th Sector, set in a mysterious cyberpunk world. Immerse yourself on this intricate path, solving different puzzles, facing its dangers, and collecting scattered information to discover the story of this world.

Gain control over several different characters, each with their own abilities that can help you navigate the world’s devices and machinery. Some of your choices and actions will determine the ending of the game.

Features:

• Atmospheric dystopian world
• Lots of varied and unique puzzles
• Control several characters
• Immersive soundtrack by “Nobody’s Nail Machine”
• Branching system with 4 different endings

Source: PR Email

CHICAGO — January 21, 2020 — Killer Queen Black, the strategic eight-player action platformer from Liquid Bit and BumbleBear Games, makes it easier to join the battle with highly requested new features debuting today.

Killer Queen Black’s player base becomes stronger by the day. Liquid Bit has heard their feedback: eight-player local co-op on one machine, Switch or PC, is now available via the latest update, Hydra (Patch 1.60). No internet connection or Nintendo Switch Online account is required; crush friends and enemies while rubbing elbows on the couch.

In addition to the highly requested local play update, new features such as selectable regions on Nintendo Switch are available. Check out the complete feature set of the Hydra patch:

• Eight-player local support for PC and console
• Region selection on Switch
• Custom (online) and local matches can be started by a single player
• Bots can fill out local and custom matches
• Teams in local and custom matches can now be automatically shuffled
• Streamer mode: Choose which names to display in-game and in menus
• Map pools now skew towards more variety and fewer repeats
• Various bug fixes and UI improvements

For cyber cafe and Arcade owners looking to break into the Killer Queen Black scene, a new commercial build is available on Steam. For more information on this build, please visit the commercial version’s Steam Cafe page. This is far from the end of Liquid Bit’s plans for Killer Queen Black: check out the roadmap to see what the team is dreaming up.

“Our community has been behind us the whole way and we are happily providing the most requested additions,” said Matt Tesch, co-founder of Liquid Bit. “Players can now host the ultimate Killer Queen Black tournaments and bring the full experience of the arcade home.”

Killer Queen Black is available now in English and on sale for $9.99 on the Nintendo eShop, Steam, the Humble Store, Discord. A Switch physical edition created by Nighthawk Interactive includes Nintendo Switch controller skins, a cartridge, exclusive game art on the box for $29.99. Killer Queen Black will be available on Xbox One at a later date.

Source: PR Email